Here comes our first summer edition of the Ash Ave Comics Reading Group, to kick it off we’ll be reading Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla on Sunday, June 7th! Our Invisibles reading group will also be meeting in June, as we near the end of the series. Writer and artist Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla is a deranged retelling of the classic Cinderella story (Mizuno has also published her take on the fairy tales Hansel and Gretel and The Princess Mermaid) in which her family are zombies, and prince charming is in bad shape.
As a reminder our current Reading Club titles are 20% off of the listed price, and we encourage anyone interested in attending the reading group to prepay for the next monthly title a few weeks ahead of time.
Here’s our schedule for the next two months, all reading groups meet at 6 PM at the shop.
Sunday, June 7th: Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla
Sunday, June 21st: The Invisibles vol 6: Kissing Mister Quimper
Sunday, July 5th: Morning Glories vols 1+2
Sunday, July 19th: The Invisibles vol 7: The Invisible Kingdom
The Club meets at the shop on the first Sunday of the month to discuss a previously selected graphic novel, and club members will also choose the next month’s reading after finishing the discussion. The club currently also meets on the third Sunday of the month to discuss The Invisibles. Read the summaries below for more information on Cinderalla & The Invisibles volume 6
Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla is this uniquely styled artist’s take on the classic fairytale. Her delirious color illustrations, while displaying super-flat cuteness, also incorporate elements of grotesquerie and politically sharp black humor. Her style has been described as “cute-but-deadly” and “grotesque-cute.” Dad and the stepsisters are zombies, “Cinderalla’s” family runs a yakitori restaurant, and the sickly Prince is on permanent I-V support! Mizuno turns this classic story about class, labor, and the social role of women on its head with a distinctly post-pop, post-feminist consciousness.
In the sixth volume of the INVISIBLES collection, the group of freedom fighters must deal with the aftermath of their battle with the Hand of Glory. But as the Invisibles look to rest and regroup, they soon discover that this fight had far greater effects than their physical casualties. With King Mob growing even more violent and their leader Ragged Robin continuing to hide many secrets, the Invisibles find themselves dealing with time distortions, secret government installations, and their own warped pasts as they try to uncover the truth about the mind-controlling dwarf called Quimper.