Woman World

By Aminder Dhaliwal

Drawn & Quarterly; 256 pages; $18.53

Imagine a world peopled only by women, due to a decline in male births, then depopulated even more by natural disasters, and you have Woman World. It shouldn’t be funny, but it is.

Dhaliwal, who’s from Brampton and now works for Disney TV Animation in Los Angeles, has collected her biweekly Instagram comic and some new material into a graphic novel, where the short cartoons blend into the story of a community trying to rebuild, united by a flag depicting “Beyonce’s Thighs.”

Woman World continues the science fiction tradition of futurekind discussing our society’s silliness, but with cleverness and warmth. There are serious issues there, including sexism and feminism, and human stories about love, sexuality and mental illness. But there are also ridiculous moments, like one girl’s obsession with Paul Blart: Mall Cop as she lives among the ruins. I laughed a lot.

Dumb

By Georgia Webber

Fantagraphics; 196 pages; $26.38

There’s a bittersweet quality to this graphic novel. It was produced to return a voice to a woman who was losing hers.

Dumb, subtitled Living Without a Voice, is Webber’s true story of the difficulties she faced as her ability to speak diminished, then unexpectedly stayed away. It’s a tough read in places, due to the rawness on the pages, many of which are covered with smears or scratches that illustrate what their creator has endured.

It’s a woman’s story, too, and that’s enlightening. Montreal creator Webber describes the unique problems for a woman who can’t speak, including how she questioned herself for using lipstick.

And this book shines a light on how Canada’s health care and welfare systems provide their own challenges for those forced to rely on them when they are already struggling with daily life.

Berlin

By Jason Lutes

Drawn & Quarterly; 580 pages; $50.44

Berlin is quite a book, in size and importance, the result of more than 20 years of work. It is no exaggeration to say it’s a masterpiece of its medium, with that depth of subtle storytelling that comics do best and a European-inspired style of line art that’s just beautiful.

It’s the story of a city and its people. Set between the world wars during the hedonistic time of the Weimar Republic, it depicts conflicts between left, centre and right as the Nazis rise to power, and the liberal lifestyles that were not allowed to continue. And, in the intertwined stories of the people — some real, some fictional — it shows the consequences of some of history’s most chilling events.

If you’ve been following this series since it began in 1996, this is the collection that reveals how it ends. If you’re new, it’s a well-timed arrival.

Brat

By Michael DeForge

Koyama Press; 160 pages; $29.95

Michael DeForge makes books that give your mind a workout, and here comes another one in the wonderful Brat.

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Get ready for this: the main character is Ms. D, a major celebrity due to her successful career as a juvenile delinquent. Yes, in this world petty crime is admired, especially if it’s a mean-spirited prank, and its perpetrators are adored, feted, interviewed and enriched. Ms. D is the most famous of all, but she fears she’s getting too old and losing her touch, and that’s where the story starts.

The idea, frankly, is bonkers, and superb. It’s all rendered in DeForge’s colourful, energetic style and there are laughs, many of them uncomfortable, on every page. These are not pleasant pranks, and that’s part of the gag.

Brat has a great deal to say about 21st century fame. Just don’t try this at home.