Four graphic novels to close out summer 2022

Kikuo Johnson's 'Nessun Altro' (Coconino Press, 2022) follows a single mother, her introverted son, and a wandering musician uncle on a Hawaiian island far from tourist stereotypes, as they cope with grief. In 'Gli assediati' (Edizioni BD, 2022), Vincenzo Bizzarri and Stefano Nardelli set a choral noir in Foggia's Palazzine Ex-Onpi, where characters vie for opportunity against a common enemy: the state. Jordan Crane's 'Keeping Two' (Oblomov, 2022) depicts a young couple trapped in traffic, reading aloud, as tension escalates into a cyclical exploration of loss, solitude, and memory. Chiara Lagani and Mara Cerri adapt Elena Ferrante's 'My Brilliant Friend' into a graphic novel (Coconino Press, 2022), faithfully yet autonomously reimagining the 1950s Naples friendship between Lenù and Lila. All four titles were released in Italy in 2022.