by Steven T. Seagle (writer) and Teddy Kristiansen (artist)
©2004
Reviewed by Renette Davis
This is a graphic novel (a book where the story is presented in a comic-strip format) about a man named Steve who writes comics. When he was five, he and his brother Dave were given a Superman comic book to look at while their parents visited their Grandma, who was dying. That started Steve's dislike of Superman, and when he is asked to write a Superman story many years later, he's not sure he wants to.
Steve also saw something about Huntington's when he was a child but doesn't really know what it means until much later. When their father disappears, Steve and Dave find him, visiting their aunt Sarah in a nursing home. The aunt has Huntington's Disease.
The depictions of HD, in words and pictures, are pretty grim. Graphic novels are very popular with teen-agers at the library where I work, but I would be reluctant to recommend this book to a young person who is at-risk.
I don't particularly enjoy graphic novels myself, so I can't really compare it with other graphic novels. However, the summary in the Sno-Isle Libraries catalog says, "A compelling narrative told in a variety of experimental styles, IT'S A BIRD weaves two interlocking stories: one that ultimately explores our own mortality and another that dissects the symbolic and cultural elements which make up Superman's mythic importance. SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS."
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Created: Oct. 23, 2013
Last updated: Oct. 23, 2013