1. Star Trek ongoing.   Retcon of the original universe, and even original stories.  I'd suggest this for fans of the Nu!Trek movies, for the Retcon square.   Chekov could count as Teen Sidekick if you want to continue and fill in another square.   Tie-In to Show/Movie and Foreign Hero could count for further squares if you really want to marathon this series. 

2. The Maxx.   Dark and gritty, this tackles a lot of issues - mental health, trauma and homelessness.   It packs a punch to the gut, but is also gorgeously written with lush illustrations.   Writer is Artist, Antihero, Streetlevel, and Not Of This World would fit this series nicely.   

3. Edward Scissorhands: Parts Unknown.   Adorable and heartwarming, this is a brilliant tie-in to the movie.   Tie-into movie, Girl Power, Team Up and Teen Sidekick would all fit nicely for this graphic novel.

4. Bloodshot: Setting the World on Fire.   Amnesiac, nanite enhanced assassin.   I'm all in for this one!   Bloodshot is a complete badass, and he's a large part of why I fell in love with the Valiant universe.  Anti-hero, Novelist Writes Comics, Military Training and Loner all fit Bloodshot quite nicely. 

5. Lumberjanes Volume One.  Adorable girls at camp go on adventures and get into trouble.   Sounds too cutesy for me, but I was utterly charmed by this anyway.   Go figure!   Teen Sidekick, Team Up and Girl Power fit this nicely.   

6. Saga Volume One.   Space Opera about how war can tear apart families.   Oversimplified explanation, but anything that does justice to this would be pages long.   Brilliant!   Not of This World and Military Training would work well for this. 

7. The Rabbi's Cat.  Charming, thoughtful take on religion, politics, and most everything thrown in here.   And there's a talking cat who argues that he should have a bar mitzvah which is pretty much the most awesome thing I can think of.   Translated, Foreign Creator,  Turned into TV Show/Movie, and Writer is Artist work for this series. 

8. Spawn Origins Volume one.  A man comes back from hell as Spawn with no memory of who he is.  Although he was sent the Violator to... I wanna say help him, but his name is Violator so who's really going to believe that?   Origin Story, Foreign Creator, Loner, Military Training, Antihero, and Turned into TV Show/Movie work for this. 

9. Buffy Season Eight: The Long Way Home.   Buffy is resurrected and written by the writers of the show, with illustrators handpicked by Joss Whedon - from what I understand.   If you can't get enough Buffy, you need to read this.  You can keep this going for a while, to.   Not of This World, Tie-In to TV Show/Movie, Teen Sidekick, Girl Power, Team Effort and Military Training all can work.  

10. Atomic Robo Volume One.   Hilarious comic book.   Just fun, funny, with a lot of heart.  I could see this turning non-graphic novel readers into graphic novel readers, that's the level of fun.  Team Effort, Origin Story, and Not of This World could all be used for this series. 

This jumps a generation: Kim's granddaughter Megan, or Megs for short is a teenager, and she's curious as to what happened with Edward, although her mother refuses to talk about it at all.   When Kim dies, Megs only gets more and more curious, 

Edward, on his part, is lonelier than ever, and when he tries to rectify that situation, he only puts a town that already distrusts him and is ready to condemn him in danger.   It's a situation that only Megs can help him with - if she isn't so grounded she can't reach him. 

It's cute, and it feels like it fits into the Edward Scissorhands continuity perfectly.   It's well written and adorably illustrated, and it's perfect for adults or younger readers who have seen the movie - or even who haven't.  

One nitpick, but it wasn't even worth knocking down a half star: 

He saved I?   He saved Philip and me.

So, when I was a kid I watched Edward Scissorhands with my family.  Maybe I was too young.  In the years after watching it I would continue to fear that Scissorhands was hiding in my closet, have dreams in which the clawed fiend would stalk, in short I was really pretty afraid of Edward Scissorhands.  Not as afraid as I was of those Witches in the movie adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel of the same name, which actually caused me to vomit in fear, but still, Mr. Scissorhands haunted me.

I've long since out grown my fear of Johnny Depp covered in belts and stationary supplies, so I picked this up with only a sense of nostalgia rather than trepidation.

This is where I wish I could say that I was proven wrong, that the story was, like the movie, creepy, foreboding, yet also ethereal and beautiful (as those who actually liked that film would have said, I never saw it again and really don't much care).

The art was fun, a bit nostalgic for me as it reminded me of a lot of the cartoons I used to watch on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network back in the day.  Leth definitely has some comic drawing chops.  Her style definitely took the Scissorhands story away from the subtle creepiness and more into the Invader Zim zaniness.  Which was fine with me.

However, there were a few aspects that I didn't think worked that well.  The first of which is just the length of the comic itself.  It's pretty thick for the first volume of a series.  The story also leaves little to look forward to in further volumes.

That brings me to the story.  In short it's about Edward Scissorhands being lonely.  Surprise!  So he decides to breath life into another of the inventor's half finished creations.  Surprise!  And it turns out the little mite (whom he names Eli) is evil. And he's loose in the neighborhood.  Surprise!

As Edward brings his new friend to life, the grand-daughter of Kim (his love in the film) is rediscovering her grandma's diary and deciding to investigate.  Surpr-wait, that is kinda weird.  I don't think I would have thought that up.  I have to say my stranger-danger alert went on a bit when Scissorhands meets little Megan, like ewww...aren't you a little old for her?  I just don't think it's right.  But, that's just me.  Also, isn't Edward a little sad about the fact that Kim grew up, had kids, and got old all without him?

Next, the fact that the story is kinda meandering, nothing really happens and there wasn't any real climax or discovery in the story.  It was basically a rehash of the movie.  Townspeople scared by weird outsider.  Weird outsider saves town.  They make bush sculptures together.  End.

This seems like it'd really only appeal to super fans of Edward Scissorhands.  For the rest of us, it's a little too much to read, a little too light in the storytelling.  The best part was actually the end where all the people involved in the project talk about their awkward teenage years.  Literally the best writing and stories I read in the whole thing.

Edward Scissorhands Vol. 1

I think that if you liked the movie, you'll like this short first volume of graphic novels with Edward Scissorhands. It had been some time for me since I last saw the movie, but I really should watch it again. This graphic novel really reminded me of the movie. Not just because it obviously has Edward in it, but also the complete feel of the novel was almost the same for me.

The artwork resembles (at least for me) that of the American animation series that I used to watch as a kid. So even more nostalgia.

A lovely little book, looking forward to more Edward Scissorhands novels!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!