- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (26 Sep 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1845767101
- ISBN-13: 978-1845767105
- Product Dimensions: 20 x 13.2 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 853,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Local is an exceptional read" - TheFourthRail.com "The story is a quick punch to the gut, with a nice hook and fantastic art" - ComicBookResources.com "This is the coolest short film never shown on the IFC or Sundance channels" - SequentialTart.com"
Product Description
Introducing Minx - a new line of graphic novels for young adults! It's the first time away from home - and the first year at a New York university - for four freshmen, all from different social circumstances and different parts of America. Meeting by chance, they become fast friends, but as their individual personalities are revealed and the pressures of living alone and of university life are brought to bear on them, will their friendships last?Eisner award-winning writer Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo) and artist Ryan Kelly (Lucifer, Local) present a story about growing up...and growing apart.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This graphic novel focuses around four friends who meet while at university and plan on getting a place together. The main character is Riley Wilder, a young woman who always follows the rules, does what she is told, gets good grades and has overly protective parents. Her parents are over protective because of her wild older sister. While at college, she starts meeting up with her sister again, and between that and a stranger texting her, her life slowly starts to unravel.
Drawn with a mixed style of various frames and full page spreads, the artwork in the book is wonderful. The story captures much of the essence of the university experience, also some of the confusion around family dynamics. The story is compelling and it looks like a second book is in the works because it ends with "see you next semester." It would be interesting to see where the story goes next. The four female characters are very well written, and at times, both inspirational and infuriating.
This short-lived graphic novel imprint produced some great stories for and about girls. They are books I will keep for my daughters for when they are older.
Drawn with a mixed style of various frames and full page spreads, the artwork in the book is wonderful. The story captures much of the essence of the university experience, also some of the confusion around family dynamics. The story is compelling and it looks like a second book is in the works because it ends with "see you next semester." It would be interesting to see where the story goes next. The four female characters are very well written, and at times, both inspirational and infuriating.
This short-lived graphic novel imprint produced some great stories for and about girls. They are books I will keep for my daughters for when they are older.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Great drawings, very good story
18 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback
Enjoyable romp through NYC behind the eyes of an NYU freshman who's reconnecting with her estranged big sister. Hard to resist these vicarious charms of the city, with all its hipsters and distractions and sights to see. Only slight drawback in the story is that the four girls are stated and presumed to be great friends, but we never quite see it happening, only hear about it. But it wasn't so hard to believe as to ruin the well-paced, beautifully-drawn story. The characters of Merissa and Angie are especially engaging, and the drawings on pages 34 and 59 are especially strikingly done.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
The New York Four
10 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
The New York Four (MINX)
To be honest, I originally wanted to hold off on getting this book because of its target demographic, but as soon as I saw the preview art on it I was sold. The art was every bit as good as Local's and Brian's writing was just as good.
I loved the format as well, I've always wanted to read a manga sized American comic. It has the same feel as a manga volume and it has the structure of one too. It's broken down into bite sized chapters, much like in manga, and you can easily finish reading it in about an hour or so (if you're a slow reader like me).
Like in Local, we have a female protaganist, Riley, who has just enrolled into NYU. She's a quiet character though and that dynamic soon comes into play; she has to fend for herself right from the get-go and she soon finds that university is just the beginning of her struggles. But, thankfully, she has help in the form of her girlfriends. Before long, this book unfolds pretty much the way you expect it to, 'girl' problems abound.
In other words, its just like Local but with a lighter tone. And that's great if you want more of that kind of storytelling. If you aren't looking for another Local, then I'm afraid you may find yourself getting bored very quickly. My suggestion would be to read the preview first and see if you like it; that's what I did and that paid off big time; this book will be a permanant fixture on my bookshelf.
To be honest, I originally wanted to hold off on getting this book because of its target demographic, but as soon as I saw the preview art on it I was sold. The art was every bit as good as Local's and Brian's writing was just as good.
I loved the format as well, I've always wanted to read a manga sized American comic. It has the same feel as a manga volume and it has the structure of one too. It's broken down into bite sized chapters, much like in manga, and you can easily finish reading it in about an hour or so (if you're a slow reader like me).
Like in Local, we have a female protaganist, Riley, who has just enrolled into NYU. She's a quiet character though and that dynamic soon comes into play; she has to fend for herself right from the get-go and she soon finds that university is just the beginning of her struggles. But, thankfully, she has help in the form of her girlfriends. Before long, this book unfolds pretty much the way you expect it to, 'girl' problems abound.
In other words, its just like Local but with a lighter tone. And that's great if you want more of that kind of storytelling. If you aren't looking for another Local, then I'm afraid you may find yourself getting bored very quickly. My suggestion would be to read the preview first and see if you like it; that's what I did and that paid off big time; this book will be a permanant fixture on my bookshelf.
As Much of a Tour Book as a Graphic Novel
24 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback
The New York Four is almost as much of a tour book as a graphic novel. Artist Ryan Kelly duplicates actual Big Apple scenes down to the billboards and graffiti practically, and writer Brian Wood splatters the text with you-are-there descriptions of the locale. He offers sightseeing tips, restaurant guides, record-store reviews and more; it's like getting a tour of the sites used in the making of the story while you're still reading the story.
It's a fun concept for a graphic novel, and with an illustrator as talented as Kelly, one whose work so effortlessly captures real life and true human features, it's a natural. Wood unfortunately dips into pedantry at times with his descriptions (he assumes his audience is not only completely unaware of New York, but also doesn't know who Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison are). No matter. The New York Four has more than enough charm to make up for this, starting with the fact that it's delightfully free of melodrama. It's not purposely dark and insular.
While The New York Four is ostensibly about four friends, the title could just as easily be about the 4 subway train. That's how deeply into the heart of the city the book delves, and how much it succeeds in capturing the look and feel of the city. The story centers primarily on just one of the gang of four (the other three are fascinating too, but they're seen primarily in sequel-preparing glimpses). Riley is a native New Yorker, but her freshman year at NYU is her first trip into Manhattan. She's been raised by obsessively overprotective parents in Brooklyn, pushed to excel academically but not allowed to develop her own interests. Even her personality is sheltered and underformed.
Riley's older sister was sheltered the same way, but she managed to escape years ago and hasn't spoken to her parents ever since. Now living with her boyfriend in downtown Manhattan, she's the wild child Riley longs to be, and her influence helps Riley to finally exert some of her own personality.
The New York Four centers mostly on Riley's quest for independence and her burgeoning social life, as well as her flirty text-message-only relationship with a mysterious stranger known only as Sneakerfreak. Riley and Sneakerfreak finally meet face-to-face in the final act of the novel, and it leads to the most surprising twist of the story and positions Riley and the rest of her cohorts for more interesting journeys in the city that never sleeps. That's good news. It will be fun to spend some more time--and to get plenty more New York City tips and tricks--in subsequent stories.
-- John Hogan
It's a fun concept for a graphic novel, and with an illustrator as talented as Kelly, one whose work so effortlessly captures real life and true human features, it's a natural. Wood unfortunately dips into pedantry at times with his descriptions (he assumes his audience is not only completely unaware of New York, but also doesn't know who Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison are). No matter. The New York Four has more than enough charm to make up for this, starting with the fact that it's delightfully free of melodrama. It's not purposely dark and insular.
While The New York Four is ostensibly about four friends, the title could just as easily be about the 4 subway train. That's how deeply into the heart of the city the book delves, and how much it succeeds in capturing the look and feel of the city. The story centers primarily on just one of the gang of four (the other three are fascinating too, but they're seen primarily in sequel-preparing glimpses). Riley is a native New Yorker, but her freshman year at NYU is her first trip into Manhattan. She's been raised by obsessively overprotective parents in Brooklyn, pushed to excel academically but not allowed to develop her own interests. Even her personality is sheltered and underformed.
Riley's older sister was sheltered the same way, but she managed to escape years ago and hasn't spoken to her parents ever since. Now living with her boyfriend in downtown Manhattan, she's the wild child Riley longs to be, and her influence helps Riley to finally exert some of her own personality.
The New York Four centers mostly on Riley's quest for independence and her burgeoning social life, as well as her flirty text-message-only relationship with a mysterious stranger known only as Sneakerfreak. Riley and Sneakerfreak finally meet face-to-face in the final act of the novel, and it leads to the most surprising twist of the story and positions Riley and the rest of her cohorts for more interesting journeys in the city that never sleeps. That's good news. It will be fun to spend some more time--and to get plenty more New York City tips and tricks--in subsequent stories.
-- John Hogan
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