Invincible Days HC
Publisher: NBM
Release Date: August 27, 2014
Price: $19.99
Creator: Patrick Atangan
Format: 128 pgs., Full-Color, 9"x6", Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-5616-3901-4
Age Rating: N/A
ICv2 Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
 
Unlike his earlier trilogy of folktale retellings in graphic form, this book is a series of episodic real-life tales told for adults.  Some of these episodes are autobiographical, but not all.  In between tales of lost pets and bad decisions is a thread relating to the slow deterioration and death of his grandmother.
 
An odd artistic style is chosen, in which only one human character is seen in each story.  This one, the viewpoint character, is always portrayed as a cute little animal, even in the ones where the cute little animal has a different cute little animal as a pet.  In many of the stories, only the words change from one panel to the next for several panels at a time.  This gives the stories a sense of serenity that was surprisingly interesting, especially when dealing with impending death.  On the other hand, not everyone will enjoy this almost minimalist approach to telling the stories.
 
Some of the tales involve alienation of one kind or another, and trying to or failing to deal with it.  A brief burst of profanity and the complex themes aim this book at teens and adults.  The "looking back" nature of the stories will make the most sense to them, as well.

--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California