What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – May 20th, 2025 – A Knight’s Tale, Captain America: Brave New World, Jason X and more

Captain America: Brave New World

This week actually sees more graphic novels than home video releases for the first time! But, we also get one massive blockbuster, three amazing catalog titles, a TV series, and a few foreign and other releases on disc. Then, it’s no less than eight new graphic novels that I dive into! Read on for all the goodness!

In This Week’s Column:

• Captain America: Brave New World (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)
• Jason Goes to Hell & Jason X  (4K Ultra HD)
• A Knight’s Tale (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)
• Dune Prophecy: Season One (4K Ultra HD)
• Themroc (Blu-ray)
• The Rapacious Jailbreaker (Blu-ray)
• Panda Bear in Africa (DVD)
• Godzilla Rivals: Round Four and Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II: Sons of Giants (Graphic Novels)
• The Sin Bin (Graphic Novel)
• String (Graphic Novel)
• Suitor Armor Vol. 2 (Graphic Novel)
• Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Graphic Novel)
• Monster High: New Scaremester (Graphic Novel)
• The Arrival GN (Graphic Novel)

Captain America: Brave New World (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: 

A new Marvel movie? Yay! A new Marvel movie in the post-Avengers Endgame era? Ummm… yay?

Look, I’m not one of those people who hates on everything Marvel has done since Endgame. I’m one of the few people who actually really enjoyed The Eternals, which was a huge flop for the studio. And my review of the upcoming Thunderbolts home video release will be a glowing one. But Captain America: Brave New World was extremely… competent.

The story sees Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson fully in the Captain America role now, and when his friend and mentor Isaiah Bradley is accused of attempting to assassinate President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (now played by Harrison Ford), Cap goes into action to uncover a new conspiracy.

But here’s the thing, the film draws on two main sources of setup. The first is the 2021 miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which makes perfect sense (although a lot of moviegoers might not have seen that yet.) But the other is 2008’s Edward Norton-starring The Incredible Hulk. That would be the one that came out before the MCU was even officially the MCU. It wasn’t a massive hit, so that makes it a strange place to draw characters and storylines from. Honestly, rewatching that movie before you watch this one would probably do you a world of good in terms of understanding and appreciating what’s going on.

Now, when the movie finally gets interesting is when the Red Hulk appears. Watching the film, it’s clear that that was supposed to be a surprise for the audience. I would be very surprised to find out that the filmmakers expected or wanted that element of the film to be at the center of all of its advertising. Either way, you can’t have avoided his presence, so I’ll say that the best part of the movie is when he finally shows up. And as much as I like Anthony Mackie as an actor and I enjoy him in the Avengers movies, his character just isn’t as interesting as Steve Rogers’ man-out-of-time. He feels a lot less unique and a lot more like just another super soldier in a super suit. Overall, I liked the movie, but I was far away away from loving it.

The 4K Video/Audio:

Not surprisingly, Captain America: Brave New World looks and sounds amazing in 4K Ultra HD. The imagery is extremely sharp, clean and clear, and the visual and special visual effects really shine in the premium format. Colors are bold and bright and contrasts are strong, with nice black levels. Obviously, the print is clean and devoid of any debris or blemishes. The surround soundtrack immerses your living room in the action, of which there is plenty, as the active surround channels and booming low-end bass ensure your ears are constantly picking up something new. All this while the dialogue never gets lost in the mix, resulting in a terrific sound presentation overall.

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio Commentary with director Julius Onah and director of photography Kramer Morgenthau
• Three Deleted Scenes
• Assuming the Mantle
• Old Scores, New Scars
• Gag Reel

Digital Copy Included: Yes 

The Wrap-Up:

Captain America: Brave New World is far from a train wreck, but it’s far from a slam dunk, too. It feels an awful lot like a movie Marvel made before they knew where they wanted to go with the MCU. Thunderbolts goes a long way towards fixing that issue, but as a stand-alone movie, Brave New World is just solidly okay.

Jason Goes to Hell & Jason X (4K Ultra HD)

The Movies: 

Arrow Video remains my absolute favorite boutique home video distributor of the modern age with not one but two awesome releases this week: Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X, the ninth and tenth movies, respectively, in the Friday the 13^th franchise. (They have also previously released the 2009 Friday the 13^th movie.)

Jason Goes to Hell is a unique movie in the franchise as it sees the spirit of Jason possessing various other people who go on killing sprees, making it both more interesting than the usual F13 movie and somehow also a little less exciting than your typical F13 movie, as Jason appears on screen relatively little. Of course, it has that amazing final scene with Freddy Kreuger’s glove that would eventually lead to Freddy Vs. Jason. Jason X, meanwhile, is just an absolute gem of a slasher film, with Jason getting upgraded after being cryogenically frozen and taking on the crew of a spaceship. It’s just deliriously fun, and I love it.

Arrow debuts both od these movies on 4K Ultra HD, and as usual has given them the full upgrade: remastered picture and sound, copious extra features, gorgeous cover art and new slipcovers. These are a dream for fans of Jason and the Friday the 13^th franchise.

The 4K Video/Audio:

The audiovisual upgrade for both movies is definitely noticeable, even if the films do show their age a little bit. Imagery is super clear with excellent shadow delineation, while colors are strong and image clarity is terrific. There’s a hint of grain, as is to be expected, but it’s never distracting. The surround soundtracks are solid efforts as well, creating nice, active atmospheres throughout the films while dialogue remains clear and present. Both films look the best they’ve ever looked on home video.

The Bonus Features: 

Jason Goes to Hell – 

• Introduction to the film by director Adam Marcus
• Faces of Death, a brand interview with special makeup effects creator Robert Kurtzman
• Undercover Angel, a brand new interview with actor Julie Michaels
• Mixing it Up, a brand new interview with composer Harry Manfredini
• The Gates of Hell, an archival interview with director Adam Marcus
• Jason vs. Terminator, director Adam Marcus on growing up with the Cunninghams
• Über-Jason, an archival interview with Kane Hodder on playing Jason
• Additional TV footage, with optional commentary by director Adam Marcus
• Theatrical trailer and TV spots
• Stills, behind-the-scenes and poster galleries
• Brand new audio commentary with film historians Michael Felsher and Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton
• Archival audio commentary with director Adam Marcus and author Peter Bracke
• Archival audio commentary with director Adam Marcus and screenwriter Dean Lorey
• Foldout poster
• Illustrated booklet

Jason X – 

• Introduction to the film by actor Kane Hodder
• Brand new audio commentary with film historians Michael Felsher and Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton
• Archival audio commentary with writer Todd Farmer and author Peter Bracke
• Archival audio commentary with director Jim Isaac, writer Todd Farmer and producer Noel Cunningham
• Scoring the Stars, a brand new interview with composer Harry Manfredini
• Outta Space: The Making of Jason X, an archival documentary on the making of the film featuring interviews with producers Noel Cunningham and Sean S. Cunningham, actor Kane Hodder and writer Todd Farmer
• In Space No One Can Hear You Scream, an archival interview with writer Todd Farmer
• Kristi Is a Headbanger, an archival interview with actor Kristi Angus
• Jason Rebooted, Sean Cunningham on Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X
• The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees, an archival documentary on the history of the character
• By Any Means Necessary: The Making of Jason X, archival making-of documentary
• Cast and crew interviews
• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Electronic Press Kit
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Stills, behind-the-scenes and poster galleries
• Foldout poster
• Illustrated booklet

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

While I don’t know if Arrow has any plans to get their hands on the first eight Friday the 13^th films (and I suspect that they won’t anytime soon because of licensing/rights issues), I can say that these two releases (along with their version of the 2009 movie) are some of the best F13 releases on home video yet.

A Knight’s Tale (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)

The Movie: 

I remember the summer of 2001 like it was yesterday. It seemed like it was the summer of blockbuster films, with movies like Jurassic Park III, Planet of the Apes (by Tim Burton), A.I. (by Spielberg and Kubrick), Pearl Harbor, Rush Hour 2, The Mummy Returns, Shrek, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, American Pie 2, and the first The Fast and the Furious movie. It was a summer to get excited about, and boy was I excited! But amongst all those big franchise entries, one of the movies I was the most excited about was A Knight’s Tale, a medieval jousting action/drama starring then-rising star Heath Ledger.

And you know what’s funny? While it wasn’t a massive hit – certainly not as big as it should have been – I would say it holds up as one of the best films on this list. The movie sees Heath Ledger as a poor man’s son who sneaks his way into a royal jousting tournament by impersonating a knight. Through a combination of moxie and kick-ass rock n roll songs, he starts to make a splash, which puts him at danger of having his secret revealed.

The film not only made Heath Ledger into a star, it also introduced us to Paul Bettany, who’s absolutely amazing in his role. The movie is bold and brassy and fun and moving and action-packed and dramatic; it blends genres deftly and it is a simply terrific movie from start to finish. It’s one of my favorites from the era. This week, Sony has released A Knight’s Tale on 4K Ultra HD for the first time and packaged it in a gorgeous Steelbook case, which I couldn’t be more excited about.

The 4K Video/Audio:

A Knight’s Tale is a bright and colorful film, and the 4K Ultra HD format treats it well. Everything looks vivid and shiny, the way the filmmakers intended, and it’s a visual treat to watch the movie, especially the action sequences, which are dazzling. The surround soundtrack is also constantly active, giving each speaker its own discrete sounds and activity, creating a nice bustling soundfield throughout. The rock music is loud and booming but never overpowering, so the dialogue remains clear. This is a very strong 4K release overall.

The Bonus Features: 

• Five never-before-seen deleted and extended scenes
• All-new Gag Reel
• New Quill and Quarterhorse: 2nd Unit Photography featurette
• Commentary with Director Brian Helgeland and Actor Paul Bettany
• 11 Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes
• 6 Original Deleted Scenes with Filmmaker’s Intros
• HBO Making-Of Special
• Music Video
• Domestic and International Trailers & TV Spot

Digital Copy Included: Yes 

The Wrap-Up:

I would bet you’ve either never seen A Knight’s Tale or you haven’t seen it in a long time. Either way, there’s no better time to discover/revisit it than with this outstanding 4K Steelbook release.

Dune Prophecy: Season One (4K Ultra HD)

The Show: 

Television series that are spin-offs of movies used to be cheap cash-ins, often low-budget fare that had little to nothing to do with the source material. The 1980s and ‘90s were rife with short-lived shows that tried to capitalize on popular movies. (How many people remember the Ferris Bueller TV show?)

Nowadays, however, movie spin-offs are a new breed. Shows like The Rings of Power or Reacher (which I know is based on a book series but also was previously made into two movies) can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and rival the quality of films seen in theaters. So it’s no surprise that while Denis Vilenueve is presumably hard at work on the third Dune movie, Warner Bros. would treat us to a TV series to hold us over in the meantime.

Dune: Prophecy is a prequel series that documents the beginnings of the Bene Gesserit, the matriarchal society of mystical women who secretly shape the Dune universe. Over the course of seven episodes, we witness the rise of the Bene Gesserit as two sisters from the House Harkonnen try to ensure human rule in the galaxy. The show stars Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Chloe Lee, and Travis Fimmell, and it’s clear that it is a massive production, much like the two recent movies.

For all that pedigree, however, the show is a bit of a tough go. I’m not a huge prequel fan to begin with, but it also has a lot of politics and behind-the-scenes machinations, which might explain a lot but isn’t always riveting viewing. The performances are uniformly great and the production values are outstanding, but I wish the show was a little more interesting or exciting.

The 4K Video/Audio:

Dune: Prophecy clearly has an impressive budget, so it looks outstanding on 4K Ultra HD. The imagery is extremely sharp, clean and clear, and the print is so crisp it sings. Colors are at a premium when allowed to be (it’s a very dark show overall) and contrasts are strong, with deep, rich black levels. The surround soundtrack immerses your living room in the world of the Dune universe, with active surround channels, a booming low end bass frequency, and rich, soaring music. All the while, the dialogue never gets lost in the mix, so it’s a much better experience than watching it on streaming.

The Bonus Features: 

• Building Worlds: Home Entertainment Exclusive (13 minutes)
• 11 Making-of Featurettes – Ranging between two and five minutes each

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

For die-hard Dune fans, and I suspect fans of Frank Herbert’s dense politically-driven novels, Dune: Prophecy will probably be quite satisfying. I was a little less impressed with it on the whole, but there’s no denying it’s a well-made series.

Themroc (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

Ummm… sometimes movies are just beyond me. Like, I’m a pretty well-versed guy, I’ve been reviewing movies for 25 years, and while I’m not a scholar, I can talk pretty intelligently about everything from B-movie shlock to film noir to Italian giallo films to Oscar-winning blockbusters. But Themroc is… well, it’s completely out of my wheelhouse.

The film is a French movie from 1973, and it is, I guess, about a man who is fed up with normal life under the rule of the day who starts a revolution of sorts of regular people rising up against the law of the land. But this isn’t a political movie; it’s more like a rebellion against boredom and ennui. But here’s the thing: the film doesn’t have any dialogue. It’s not a silent movie, either. Instead, the whole movie is told through the use of grunts and gibberish. It’s an arthouse movie to some extent, clearly, but honestly, it becomes a chore to slog through after a while, and it wasn’t for me.

This week, Themroc receives a nice Blu-ray release courtesy of Radiance Films that is sure to satisfy fans.

The Bonus Features: 

• David Thompson featurette (23 minutes)
• Claude Faraldo and Michel Piccoli television segment (17 minutes)
• Manuela Lazic featurette (23 minutes)
• Image Gallery (HD)

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

I’m not the most arthouse-friendly guy in the world, I realize that, so I’m sure there’s an audience out there that finds Themroc brilliant and groundbreaking. If you are among those people, this is a terrific release. For me, I think I’ll just stick to movies that make a little more sense.

The Rapacious Jailbreaker (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

Also from Radiance this week is The Rapacious Jailbreaker, a 1974 movie from Japan. It’s loosely based on the true story of a Japanese criminal who escaped from no less than seven prisons in his lifetime. In the film, Masayuki Ueda (played by Hiroki Matsukata) is convicted of murder and sent to prison. But he can’t stand confinement and escapes, and even though he’s recaptured and sent to another prison, he escapes again. And again.

If the film sounds like it could be a comedy, be assured that it’s not. It’s most definitely an action/drama film, and there are definitely a few tough or intense moments throughout. Prison movies that lean towards gritty realism probably weren’t the norm in Japan in 1974, so I think this movie stands out as a unique entry in the country’s filmmaking oeuvre at the time, and I was quite impressed by it.

Radiance’s new Blu-ray features new artwork and a few bonus features, and it’s an excellent effort for an older foreign film that’s worth preserving.

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio Commentary by Nathan Stuart
• Rule Breaker: An Introduction to Sadao Nakajima

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

The Rapacious Jailbreaker is a great little gem of a film; I had never heard of it before this release but I’m glad I got to experience it.

Panda Bear in Africa (DVD)

The Movie: 

I get a new animated movie to review once a month or so; typically they’re lower-budget affairs or movies from a foreign country that has been redubbed in English. They’re often marketed towards kids and they’re often largely forgettable.

If I’m being honest, Panda Bear in Africa checks all of those boxes, too, but it’s actually a fun little film. Perhaps because its English-language script was written by Rob Sprackling (who wrote the criminally underrated Gnomeo & Juliet), but Panda Bear in Africa is a fun little movie that kids will enjoy and parents won’t be annoyed by.

The film follows panda bear cup Pang as he travels to Africa to rescue his best friend Jielong, who happens to be a dragon and who also happens to have been kidnapped to be given to a young lion cub as a present. Along the way, Pang faces off with much bigger and much more vicious animals, and also befriends a monkey named Jojo. Sure, there are notes of numerous other movies mixed in here, but as far as an enjoyable movie goes, younger viewers should have a lot of fun with it.

The Bonus Features: 

• Featurette
• Trailer

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

I’m not saying Panda Bear in Africa is a masterpiece, and it won’t go head-to-head with the movies coming out of Disney or DreamWorks these days, but if your kid has already watched Kung Fu Panda 1-4 a hundred times each, this might be a nice new movie to kill some time with.

Godzilla Rivals: Round Four and Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II: Sons of Giants (Graphic Novels)

The Books: 

IDW continues their domination of the graphic novel landscape with the King of the Monsters with two new graphic novels, both of which are outstanding.

Godzilla Rivals: Round Four collects four giant-sized Rivals one-shots, all of which see Godzilla (or one of his compatriots) going up against a particular enemy. In this case, we see the big guy take on Manda, we see King Ghidorah go up against both Space Godzilla and MechaGodzilla, and we see Mothra tackle Hedorah. I really enjoyed all four stories in the book, even the Godzilla Vs. Manda outing. The art style in that story is so cartoony/indie-feeling that at first I was turned off by it. But the story is so well-written that I still found myself wrapped up in it. And Dave Baker’s King Ghidorah/Space Godzilla story is a real standout as well. Creators in the book include Tom Waltz, Dave Baker, Josh Trujillo, Jake Lawrence, Casey Maloney, Kevin Anthony Catalan, and Josh Cornillon. It looks great and read great, and it’s a ton of fun for Godzilla fans.

Yet somehow, I liked Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons II: Sons of Giants even better. This four-issue miniseries is collected into trade paperback from here, and while it’s technically a sequel, it reads perfectly well as a stand-alone book (although there’s clearly a third volume coming, based on the ending.) In this story, we learn about the Sons of Giants, a secret society in the early 1800s dedicated to protecting all knowledge of the Kaiju beasts that exist on earth. What is their purpose? How does the president of the United States fit into it? What is the real history of the world? It’s a super-fun and fascinating look at Godzilla and his brethren’s history in a new and unique way.

The Specs: 

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Format: Softcover (both)

Page Count: 184 pages (Rivals) and 128 pages (Dragons)

Cover Price: $19.99 (Rivals) and $17.99 (Dragons)

The Wrap Up:

Both of these graphic novels are outstanding reads and if you’re a fan of Godzilla, I can’t recommend them highly enough! Grab ‘em both!

The Sin Bin (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

Writer Robbie Thompson may be best known for being a longtime showrunner on Supernatural, which is one of my absolute favorite TV shows of all time. I’ve enjoyed a lot of his comic book writing, his latest effort of which is called The Sin Bin, which is effectively a mash-up of Supernatural and… hockey?

Yep, hockey. In The Sin Bin (which is apparently a hockey term for the penalty box, which I didn’t know as a non-Hockey watcher), we meet teen troublemaker Cat, whose father plays minor league hockey and gets traded from team to team. Early on, she discovers that he also fights monsters with a mystical hockey stick/sword. And of course, she wants to help. There’s more to it than that, but since a lot of that comes courtesy of a huge twist that comes halfway through the story, I don’t want to spoil it here.

IDW has now collected the six-issue miniseries into a trade paperback that includes all the covers plus some bonus materials, such as character designs, and it’s a really great collection!

The Specs: 

Publisher: IDW

Format: Softcover

Page Count: 152 pages

Cover Price: $18.99

The Wrap Up:

While there’s no denying that Robbie Thompson isn’t straying very far from his Supernatural roots, I’m okay with it (especially since I love Supernatural.) The Sin Bin is a really great book and I hope we’ll see more of it in the future.

String (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

Writer Paul Tobin brings us a unique new mystery with String, a new trade paperback from Mad Cave that collects the hit four-issue miniseries. In String, we meet Yoon-Sook Namgung, a 25-year-old Korean-American woman who “has the intriguing ability to see two types of strings connecting various people. The first is bright blue and reaches between sexual partners. The second string—dark black—stretches between murderers and their victims.” Using her powers as a sort of ad hoc private detective, Yoon-Sook finds herself in trouble when she sees a black string… to herself! Meaning she’s either about to be murdered or murder someone! Pairing with a put-upon police detective, the duo tries to solve multiple crimes, including a murder that hasn’t happened yet.

The book is a lot of fun, and the artwork by Carlos Javier Olivares is a perfect fit for the book. He’s got that kind of style that is messy and chaotic yet easy-to-understand, and that is a great metaphor for the story itself. The book feels like it could have been graffiti-ed on a wall, and somehow that fits it way better than it should.

The Specs: 

Publisher: Mad Cave Publishing

Format: Softcover

Page Count: 120 pages

Cover Price: $17.99

The Wrap Up:

String is a book that I had a lot of fun with. The characters are quirky, the writing is sharp, the artwork is frenetic, and the mystery will keep you guessing until the end. Definitely track this down before the inevitable sequel hits the shelves.

Suitor Armor Vol. 2 (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

A few months ago, I reviewed a graphic novel called Suitor Armor, which collected a popular web comic that I had never heard of. I also completely fell in love with said graphic novel, which surprised no one more than me. After all, on the surface it’s about a young lady-in-waiting (who’s secretly a fairy) developing a friendship (and possible romance?) with a magical suit of armor. I know, it doesn’t sound like it should work, but it absolutely does.

This week, we are treated to the long-awaited Suitor Armor: Volume 2 – long awaited only because I’m impatient; it’s actually only been a couple of months since Volume 1 came out — by the singularly-named Purpah.

In this volume, young lady-in-waiting Lucia — actually a fairy living among humans in a time when humans and fairies are at war – is becoming a mage’s apprentice. She’s also developing her relationship with Modeus, the enchanted suit of armor, who’s far more sentient than he is supposed to be.  Meanwhile, Lady Kirsi is set to marry the prince but doesn’t even know him, and Lucia still has to deal with a fairy spy in the castle dungeons and the sprite she captured but can’t understand. There’s a lot going on in Volume 2 and I absolutely loved every page of it!

As with Volume 1, Purpah creates endearing characters and her art is both simplistic and captivating, creating a world that you get more and more wrapped up in as it goes. I really, really enjoyed this book and I can’t for the next chapter of the story when Volume 3 comes out.

The Specs: 

Publisher: Ten Speed Graphic

Format: Hardcover or Softcover

Page Count: 288 pages

Cover Price: $24.99 (HC) or $17.99 (SC)

The Wrap Up:

Suitor Armor: Volume 2 is an endearing and delightful romance story with lots of action, magic, fantasy, humor, and intrigue. I would absolutely start with Volume 1 before delving into this collection, but once you have, you won’t want to wait to see what happens next! It’s definitely worth a read if you want to try something a little different than the usual graphic novel fare.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

I was very excited when I heard that Junie B. Jones was being made into a graphic novel for young readers. See, I used to read Junie B. Jones books to my daughter when she was young and I always enjoyed them (as did my daughter, naturally), so I couldn’t wait to see how she translated to graphic novel format.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus is an adaptation of Barbara Park’s very first Junie B. Jones book (which has the same name). It’s about Junie B. (don’t forget the B!) and her first days at kindergarten, with the focus of course being on riding the school bus, something that Junie B. is NOT excited about. It’s not a dense plot, obviously, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that writer Colleen AF Venable and artist Honie Beam have done an outstanding job of translating Junie B. to this new medium. The book is colorful and filled with small details that will delight younger readers and parents alike. It feels exactly like a Junie B. Jones book should, and it brought back a lot of warm and fuzzy memories for me.

The Specs: 

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Format: Hardcover

Page Count: 160 pages

Cover Price: $12.99

The Wrap Up:

If you have kids who are looking for something new to read and in the right age range of 5-10 years old, I highly recommend Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. If they happen to already be a Junie B. Jones fan, all the better!

Monster High: New Scaremester (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

Since 2010, Mattel has done a wonderful job challenging their own Barbie empire with Monster High, a doll line that has expanded into multimedia territory with cartoons, games, books, etc. The line takes influences from popular monsters in pop culture (typically vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghosts, etc.) and mashes them up with teenage girl characters and their supporting cast.

Now, IDW Comics has created a Monster High comic book, and the first four issue miniseries is collected in a new trade paperback called Monster High: New Scaremester. In addition to the four issues, you also get a story from the Free Comic Book Day comic as well as Issue #0.  

Now, obviously, since I’m not a tween girl, I’m not the demographic for this book, but overall I actually found it quite enjoyable. I like the way the franchise sticks to the monster theme in its everyday language, with things like “fearleaders” instead of cheerleaders, the “maul” instead of the mall, and so forth. The main four-issue story in this book, which involves a mystery that involves the school’s headmaster, is very enjoyable. I will say that the first story in the book, though, which I think is from the Free Comic Book Day issue, was a bit of a slog to get through. Don’t let that deter you from reading the main chapters of the book, though, as they’re much better.

The Specs: 

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Format: Softcover

Page Count: 144 pages

Cover Price: $17.99

The Wrap Up:

If you have a tween girl (or boy) in your life and you’ve been looking for a way to get them into comics, Monster High: New Scaremester is a great way to do it. It’s a fun story with recognizable characters and a good sense of humor.

The Arrival GN (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

Shaun Tan’s new graphic novel, The Arrival, is not a traditional graphic novel. It’s not about superheroes or aliens. It’s not in color. Heck, it doesn’t even have any dialogue. It is, however, a pretty impressive piece of artwork. It’s not without its flaws, but for people who like more elevated comics, this will probably fit the bill.

The book is about immigration. It follows a father who leaves his wife and daughter behind in his home country and arrives in a new country, struggling to find work and make connections with other people. The entire story is told without dialogue, but Tan’s uber-realistic art style makes it pretty clear what’s going on, for the most part. But here’s where some of my issues with the book come into play.

First off, while I could follow the story for 90% of the narrative, there are a few sequences here or there where I lost the plot thread because I couldn’t quite work out what was happening without dialogue. My other issue – and I fully understand that this is probably something other people will love about the book – is that the protagonist moves to a new land, but it’s in a fantasy setting. At first, you think it’s just a regular guy coming to, say, America. But in short order, you start to realize that this is world populated by fantastical creatures that resemble dragons and other mythical creatures. They’re all straight out of Tan’s imagination, so they’re hard to nail down, but they’re definitely not real. And, like I said, I think a lot of people will love that aspect of the story, but for me, I think I would have liked it better if it was more grounded in the real world. Either way, there’s no denying that Tan’s artwork is absolutely incredible; it’s reminiscent of Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret and it is a visual treat.

The Specs: 

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books

Format: Softcover

Page Count: 128 pages

Cover Price: $21.99

The Wrap Up:

The Arrival is the kind of graphic novel that isn’t really a graphic novel; it’s a storybook, a kids book for adults, an artbook and a fantasy all rolled into one. If that sounds like your kind of thing, I think you’ll really love it.