The New York Four

The New York Four is a book that is actually worthy of the title graphic "novel." The story and characters are as complex and interesting as in any prose novel or movie.Riley Wilder is a shy introvert, a feature which her parents have actually fostered because her wild and unruly older sister ran away from home. Riley's social life consists of texting with people she's met online, but has never met in person. But now that Riley is commuting from her home in Brooklyn to college in Manhattan, she's ready to start coming out of her shell. Of course wanting something and actually being able to make that drastic a change in personality are two different things.Riley finds and makes contact with her long lost older sister through her myspace page. Riley also reaches out to some other freshman girls who are looking for work, recommending they try the job she works at beta-testing SAT and PSAT tests.Unfortunately, even though Riley has made some real human connections, when somebody slips an e-mail address into her pocket, she finds herself back in old habits, obsessively texting with an anonymous friend, rather than spending time with her real ones.The story is written by Brian Wood, wirter of DMZ, Channel Zero, Local, and Demo. If you've read Demo, you know he's good at handling real world characters.The art by Ryan Kelly is amazing. His characters are individual and recognizable. His scenery is detailed and real. There's somthing in the background of every panel. And his zipotone (that's those dots used to make different shades of gray for any new comics readers out there) is some of the best I've ever seen.My only real complaint about this book is I want it to be longer than the 152 pages. There's so much story, so much personality to each of the characters, that there are parts that I really wish had been fleshed out more. To be fair, most of the Minx books are less than 200 pages, so the creative team may have had size restrictions.The Minx line was started to get American comics into the hands of people who were only reading Manga, or to appeal to people who read books but not necessarily graphic novels. I've read most of the Minx books and, so far, this one is the most solid. I think this book shows the potential for depth of story that comics have in a way that is accessible to new readers.

The New York Four (MINX)To be honest, I originally wanted to hold off on getting this book because of its target demographic, but as soon as I saw the preview art on it I was sold. The art was every bit as good as Local's and Brian's writing was just as good.I loved the format as well, I've always wanted to read a manga sized American comic. It has the same feel as a manga volume and it has the structure of one too. It's broken down into bite sized chapters, much like in manga, and you can easily finish reading it in about an hour or so (if you're a slow reader like me).Like in Local, we have a female protaganist, Riley, who has just enrolled into NYU. She's a quiet character though and that dynamic soon comes into play; she has to fend for herself right from the get-go and she soon finds that university is just the beginning of her struggles. But, thankfully, she has help in the form of her girlfriends. Before long, this book unfolds pretty much the way you expect it to, 'girl' problems abound.In other words, its just like Local but with a lighter tone. And that's great if you want more of that kind of storytelling. If you aren't looking for another Local, then I'm afraid you may find yourself getting bored very quickly. My suggestion would be to read the preview first and see if you like it; that's what I did and that paid off big time; this book will be a permanant fixture on my bookshelf.

I was a bit disappointed upon receiving New York Four. It wasn't the coming-of-age story I was expecting. Instead, it was bland and formulaic. Ryan Kelly's art is nice and serviceable, but also looks a bit rushed. Brian Wood's writing is frankly self-indulgent and constantly insists upon his own New York street cred. After a while, you're thinking "Ok, I get it. You like in NY." Not much of a real story. Save your money.

Lovely comic with a well told story. Highly recommended

I read this book was very unoriginal and predictable I almost stopped reading it it was a quick read I guess it would be great for someone very young and someone who doesn't know a lot of normal story plots . I loved the drawings I only spent a bit more than $4 on it so it wasn't a total waste . I cut out all the illustrations of NYC and threw the book away

I’m 35yo male with 2 kids I read this book 3 times over the last 10 years and I love it. For me it’s about the art, the story doesn’t matter by itself but compliments the art really well.

Mettez de côté votre réticence sur les comic books "pour filles". Ce titre, dessiné par Ryan Kelly et sur une histoire de l'excellent Brian Wood (Local, Demo, Northlanders, DMZ...) est à milles lieux d'une histoire gnan-gnan.Démarrant son année universitaire à l'université de New York, Riley va découvrir et apprendre la vie de cette ville qui ne dort jamais.Née à Brooklyn, Riley, élevée par des parents plutôt "littéraires", est une jeune fille réservée, une étudiante de qualité. Elle va essayer de convaincre trois autres étudiantes de génie de former un groupe de recherche pour réussir à se faire de l'argent facilement.Riley, au cours de ses pérégrinations dans les rues de New York, rencontrera une connaissance intime qui laissera pour toujours de profonde traces (pas plus de spoil !).Brian Wood ne tombe pas dans la complaisance facile d'un ouvrage à l'eau de rose. Au contraire. À travers les chapitres composant cet ouvrage, il battit un univers et des personnages solides et crédibles. On se laisse prendre au jeu, comme dans chacun de ses ouvrages... C'est l'un des meilleurs scénaristes actuels, aidé en cela par les dessins de Ryan Kelly qui utilise ici le mélange des genres comic book/manga/bd européenne.Cet ouvrage se situe dans la lignée de "Local" (des mêmes auteurs) mais s'adressant à un public plus jeune. Ce qui ne doit pas détourner le public plus mature à se lancer dedans !DC a arrêté la production des ouvrages de la collection "Minx". En revanche, certains des titres publiés seront repris et poursuivis dans la branche "Vertigo" où oeuvrent actuellement Brian Wood et Ryan Kelly.