Flight, Volume Two

This is the second volume in Kibuishi’s Flight series. As with the first Flight volume this is a collection of graphic short stories. I thought this volume was much, much better than Flight Vol 1. The stories were just consistently more entertaining and better quality.

This volume contains short stories from a variety of genres and styles. Illustration style varies widely, as do the story types. Most of the stories were appropriate for all ages but there were a few that were best suited for older teen and up. I was reading this with my 9 year old son looking over my shoulder at times and there were some stories that I skipped and came back to when he wasn’t there.

Highlights of the book for me were:
Inner Sanctum by Michel Gagne: Very cute story with beautiful artwork.
Solomon Fix by Doug TeNapel: This was a hilarious story and I enjoyed it a lot.
The Orange Grove by Kazu Kibuishi: Another touching story about a boy and his childhood friend being separated.
Ghost Trolley by Rad Sechrist: About a young boy who runs away from home and boards a train that goes between realms.
A Test for Cenri by Amy Kim Grant: I loved the fantasy theme to this one and the beautiful illustration. Not to mention is was action packed!
La Sonadora: Another beautifully illustrated piece about a girl who is trying to retrieve a star.

Although the above were my favorite, there weren’t really any stories in here that I disliked...which given the variety is pretty amazing.

Overall this was a wonderful collection of graphic novel short stories; I definitely plan on checking out later Flight volumes. I would highly recommend this Flight volume to fans of graphic novels. There is just such a wonderful variety of art and story in this volume, it is all very high quality and just a pleasure to read. ( )

A great range of story telling and art but the theme of "flight" that was present in the first volume seems to nearly have been abandoned. There is occasionally a small hint to the overall theme of this set of stories such as a butterfly in the background or a feather or an artistic emphasis on the sky. I really enjoyed the different artistic takes on the theme so to see less of that was disappointing. As with the first set, there were some stories and artistic styles that I enjoyed much more than others. I didn't like this set as much as the first so we'll see how the following volumes shape up. ( )

A great range of story telling and art but the theme of "flight" that was present in the first volume seems to nearly have been abandoned. There is occasionally a small hint to the overall theme of this set of stories such as a butterfly in the background or a feather or an artistic emphasis on the sky. I really enjoyed the different artistic takes on the theme so to see less of that was disappointing. As with the first set, there were some stories and artistic styles that I enjoyed much more than others. I didn't like this set as much as the first so we'll see how the following volumes shape up. ( )

A very imaginative and creatively drawn collection of short stories. Probably my favorite short story collection, although that isn't particularly hard since I find short stories strangely annoying. I will definitely be seeking out other volumes in this series and works by the authors/illustrators features in this one. ( )

Another visually stunning collection in this series. I was again impressed by how much weight is carried by the wordless submissions in this volume. ( )