Not particularly clear, this volume is about the music industry in the last decade with a healthy dose of magic thrown in. Our main character, Emily, has surrendered half her personality to the Adversary. There's lots of references to 1980s music videos but it's all a bit too clever-clever for my taste.

I gave up on about two-thirds of the way through as I hoped that it would become clearer and less silly. Sorry but not for me.

Phonogram is the type of graphic novel that you feel really cool reading. At first it's a little confusing- it does that thing that a lot of fantasy books do where it just sort of throws you into the characters' world without much explanation. Pretty much all you need to know is that it takes place in England in the early 2000's, and the explosive Britpop scene of the 90's has faded into memory for most. Phonomancers are music-obsessed, and their spells and magic always relate to the energy that they feel when they listen to their favorite band, or are a part of a great live show. David Kohl is the Phonomancer that we follow through this volume: snarky, opinionated, and a bit of an ass, he's nevertheless easy to relate to in his struggle to let go of the scene he lived and breathed a few years ago. Even though at first glance he's moved on, his personality is still "rooted there"- and someone is messing with his memories. In order to save his own personality and remain a Phonomancer, he'll have to look into his past and face his future. 

Even though I had never heard of most of the bands David and his friends talk about, I can definitely relate to their obsession with music, as I was obsessed with Nirvana and grunge/indie in early high school and part of a fairly active metal scene in the last couple years of high school. Of course, it was nothing compared to the scale of what the characters in Phonogram experienced, but no matter how small the crowd, that energy was always there. And I remember the in-depth discussions of albums, songs, line-ups, live shows we had gone to and long-ago concerts we'd never experience... but our scene faded pretty quickly, and we all sort of faded into our own worlds with it. 

If you've ever felt that skip in your heart upon hearing your favorite song, if you've ever danced or moshed until your whole body felt like jelly and you knew you'd be a pile of useless mush in the morning, if you've ever argued with your whole heart about how music can change your entire being... this graphic novel is for you. 

xoLuna

I'm in love with this series and I can't wait! 

A while ago I picked up a new series from the library called the Wicked + the Divine and really enjoyed it.  It's a series that follows the Pantheon, a group of people who have come to embody certain mythological figures.  

The first volume centered around Lucifer (Luci) and her arrest and subsequent death and the conspiracy that surrounds those events.  See full review here: Review. 

The second volume continues to follow superfan Laura and her continued investigation into Luci's framing and murder.

From the first I was kind of mad that Lucifer, my favorite character from the moment she stepped into the panels, was taken out of the narrative.  (And judging from the Cosplay picture featured in the back of this book I'm hardly the only one to favor her).  However, despite the complete lack of Lucifer in this volume, I was still hooked from beginning to end.  And just like the first volume, the ending left me grasping for another chapter.  What a cliffhanger!

Along with Rat Queens this has become one of my current favorite series.  Which is a relatively new thing for me.  In the past most of the series that were on my watch list were manga, Bakuman and Mushishi were both ones that I couldn't wait to read, but I've never been huge on western comics.  Now I find myself wondering if I shouldn't just get these things issue by issue so I wouldn't have to wait so long to find out what comes next.

We'll see.

Since, now I'm stuck waiting for the next volume of Wicked + Divine to come out, I figured I'd check out another comic by Gillen.

 Phonogram vol. one Rue Britannia is about this guy, who is kind of a jerk.  He is a phonomancer, he gets magical energy from music and music is his magic.  Listening to the right record at the right time, going to gigs, that's his life.  Or it was.  His patron, the person who brought out his abilities is dying and with her passing, he will die as well.  Well, he won't die, but he will cease to be a phonomancer, he will cease to be the memories he's made and the person he's become as her patron.

The story frequently references Britpop bands (and others) and it might be a bit daunting to those who have no idea what went on in the London scene in the 1990's, but the story is still a compelling one and even if some of the musical references don't bring back memories of shows or illegal torrent downloads, the atmosphere is still palpable.

The artist and writer did a great job with evoking young people and their obsessions with bands and what that obsession could become in the right environment.  In many ways I could easily see how this could be a precursor to some of the ideas in Wicked + Divine.  I do like the Wicked + Divine more, I find Laura to be a much more likeable and relateable character than David Kohl, who more often irritated me than gained my sympathy.

I also think the magic was better represented in Wicked + Divine than in Phonogram, but still it's definitely an interesting first volume and I'll probably grab the next before too long.

Both of these series would fit into the Urban Fantasy genre easily.  Fans of War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, especially would like these as they involve rock music and pop culture as well as magic.