Where It's a Great Ride

Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules by Tony Cliff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The third in the series, and the longest, it is at least as much fun as the first two. This is like a 19th Century Indiana Jones, filled with archaeological finds, dangerous villains, and fantastic settings, and I really enjoyed it. I see the fourth installment is planned; I'm eager to see it come out.

Clues lead Delilah and Selim around the Mediterranean, from one amazing find to the next, solving a mystery that is somewhat in the style of the Da Vinci Code. The pacing is that of an action novel, though it doesn't take itself too seriously, staying fun and unpredictable. I seldom like the term "a good read," because it sounds condescending, but I feel like it applies here in a positive way.

Entertaining, coherent, surprising, and super readable in a way I seldom encounter in graphic novels, this is easy to recommend. If you like sword fights, chases on horse and camel, ancient palaces hidden in the desert, flying boats, and unusual artifacts, all with a force-of-nature female protagonist (and her Turkish friend), you'll be pleased with this book.

Recommended.

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Where I Liked It as much as the First One

Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling by Tony Cliff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second in a very entertaining series.

In this one, Delilah returns to England from the Middle East, still accompanied by Selim, the Turkish lieutenant who is her friend as well as her assistant and confidant. There is still a lot of derring do in this novel, with sword fights and chases and explosions, but we also see Delilah (not her real name) with her upperclass family, trying for the sake of her investigations to fit in once again with posh society. Her family doesn't know the extent of her wanderings and her exploits, but it's actually an interesting part of the story when they do learn. It defied my predictions, in a good way. Well done.

Delilah is trying to track down a British soldier who she knows to be a spy, as he has made it look as if she was responsible for his crimes. And in the process of hunting him down, she discovers he has worse planned and needs to stop him.

This graphic novel is a bit over 260 pages and is filled with beautiful, clear art that helps tell the story. From ballrooms and drawing rooms to forests and ocean-going ships, the novel is wide-ranging and fun. Recommended.

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Where I Find a Fun New-to-me Series

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For many reasons, I find many graphic novels (and comic books, tbh) hard to follow, often filled with art that I don't get and plots that I can't sort out. (I'm always asking "What's happening on this page?" "Why is he making that face?" "Who's punching whom?" "Where are they now?" "Is that the guy from the first page?" and other old-person questions...) Sometimes, the series (serieses? serii?) require so much study and previous experience with the characters that I despair of ever getting up to speed. For every Hellboy that I dive into and totally dig, there are five titles that I try, fail to understand, give up on, and end up trading back in. I keep making the effort, however, occasionally finding stuff to enjoy, title by title, and the ones I like I like a lot.

That includes Delilah Dirk. Super fun, light-hearted, straightforward, and easy to follow, and filled with gorgeous art, I found it a pleasure to read. Tony Cliff makes Delilah independent and capable without making her hard and funny without being caustic. Selim, the Turkish Lieutenant in question, is less adventurous and less cocky than Delilah, not to mention less skilled, but he's no buffoon, and even in this short-ish story he changes in all those dimensions. The story reads like Indiana Jones (which he says was an inspiration) with a similar mix of action and humor and drama. To this point, instead of bloody and dark, its violence leans toward the cartoonish and its outlook towards the sunny, with a bit of sweetness and kind people along the way. That's the right mix for my brain.

It's fun. This is the stuff I look for when the day is winding down and I don't want grimdark in my head. Others might find it too straightforward, but I dunno. It's not aimed at YA, but I had to look that up to make sure, because I think high school kids would like it as much as I did.

Recommended.

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