The Way of the Hive

 

The Way of the Hive was originally published as Clan Apis more than 20 years ago, first as five comic books, then as a collected trade paperback, and it holds up incredibly well. It tells the tale of a young bee Nyuki, who grows from a larva under the tutelage of an older bee named Dvorah. It's a tale full of adventure, humor, and also some sadness, as you can read in my original, glowing review here. 

This updated edition is even better, as it is published in color, and features some touched-up artwork. If you want to learn about bees, including their lifespans, behaviors, or other biological information, this is the book for you. It's engaging, educational, and, best of all, entertaining. I consider it a must-have for a wide age range of readers.

This book's author Jay Hosler is a professor at Juniata College. He's published multiple comics and graphic novels about biology and evolution, including Last of the Sandwalkers, The Sandwalk Adventures, and Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth. He speaks about the reissue of this book in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this edition have sung its praises. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews summed it up in one word, "Sublime." Johanna Draper Carlson called it "timeless."

The Way of the Hive was published by Harper Collins, and they offer more info about it here.

Last of the Sandwalkers

Last of the Sandwalkers is graphic novel that tackles much. It is an adventure, a guide to insect life, and full of humor. The story involves a band of scientific explorers who venture out from their home to explore the desert. They initially think that beetles are the Earth's sole life form, but they get disabused of that notion when they find various skeletons and encounter weird feathered creatures that try to eat them. I could go through the cast of characters, but it would be simpler if you just looked at their introduction pages below:

Even though those pages above are not really telling much of how the story goes, they do capture much of what makes this book funny and informative. Also, I will warn readers not to put too much trust in Professor Owen, because he is up to no good at all.

I found the narrative itself very compelling, with strong characters, good plot twists, and lots of action and suspense. It has some fantastical elements, and the beetles act a lot like human beings, but overall it balances the facts with fiction well. Also, the artwork is at once attractive and energetic. Just look at the eye-popping detail in this action sequence:

Birds are jerks.

This book's creator Jay Hosler works as a biologist and cartoonist at Juniata College. He has created multiple graphic novels about various scientific topics, including Clan Apis (about the lives of bees), The Sandwalk Adventures (about Charles Darwin), and Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth. He talks more about his work on this book in this interview. He also blogs about his various works here.

The reviews I have read about this book have been largely positive. Publishers Weekly wrote that the book "mingles themes of family, forgiveness, and freedom of ideas, and even manages to make big-eyed, mandibled crawlers emotive without getting too cartoony." Kirkus Reviews summed up, "Hosler’s sincere excitement in both the pursuit of knowledge and the power of comics makes these bugs eminently memorable." Kara at Good Imaginations had some reservations about it, but also admitted "I think there is a lot of good here."

Last of the Sandwalkers was published by First Second, and they have a preview and much more available here.

Thank you, Gina, for the review copy!

Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth

First, let me start off that I am predisposed to like this book. I have read Jay Hosler's other comics, including The Sandwalk Adventures and Clan Apis. Additionally, I met Jay at the Sequential SmArt conference at Juniata College a couple of years ago, and got a chance to hang out, chat, and socialize with him. I even got to eat ice cream at his house afterward with a group of other folks. All this is to say that I know him a lot better than I know the typical writer/artist featured on my blog.

I should also reiterate that I love his comics. They are smart, funny, and a joy to read. This book, a sequel to The Stuff of Life, continues the narrative where scientist Bloort-183 is trying to explain life on Earth to an alien king. Their species is threatened by a disease and they think that examining life on Earth will help them find a solution. So Bloort-183 continues from speaking about DNA to talking about evolution. And whereas the first book was more a report, this one is pitched more as a presentation being made to the king and young prince. And because the latter has not really done his homework, he asks lots of clarification questions, which makes this entire enterprise much more readable and approachable. There are still some dense parts where lots of concepts and vocabulary are explained, but I think this book works overall in terms of being accessible than the first, mostly because it is pitched much more conversationally. Basically, it is Jay Hosler giving a series of funny, smart lectures via images.

Part of the reason for this reading ease is the wonderful artwork by Kevin and Zander Cannon. These two artists are masterful storytellers who are able to balance the exposition and action with a sense of humor. Their characters are vibrant and alive, and their diagrams extremely helpful and informative. Certainly the great storytelling chops they possess are on display in these pages:

The two Cannons are well known for their anthology Double Barrel, with Kevin's narrative Crater XV and Zander's Heck. They also collaborated on the science-themed graphic novels T-Minus and Bone-Sharps, Cowboys, & Thunder Lizards. Hosler is an accomplished science writer, having already published a number of other graphic novels about biology, including the aforementioned The Sandwalk Adventures and Clan Apis as well as Optical Allusions. He talks about his work on these books in this interview.

The reviews I have read about this book have been rather glowing. Kirkus Reviews wrote, "the book may not win over science-phobic readers, but it’s a solid introduction," suggesting it for "adults who want a refresher and high-school teachers searching for a simple primer." Educator Scott Hatfield concluded, "Its engaging characters, informed content, and clever illustrations make this book an excellent selection for anyone, young or old, interested in learning more about evolution." Publishers Weekly stated that by the end of the book readers will find "that they've learned a tremendous amount about earth's evolution, and have had more than their fair share of amusement in doing so."

Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth was published by Hill and Wang, and they provide a preview and more here.

New Drawing Flies Webcomic from Jay Hosler

Science graphic novelist extraordinaire Jay Holser has a new short comic in process about how the basics of ATP work.

He also has another completed comic about how photosynthesis works.

These comics are fun, informative, and vetted by expert scientists. Check them out!

The Sandwalk Adventures

Charles Darwin only took one major trip in his life, but boy was it a doozy. His voyage to the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle allowed him to see extraordinary wildlife that changed how he viewed nature and allowed him to come up with theories of evolution and natural selection. He published his theories in On the Origin of Species, one of the most influential and provocative works of science literature ever. This book is at the center of a great, ongoing debate about the roles of science and religion in the world.

The Sandwalk Adventures portrays a unique version of this debate while also relating Darwin's life history. It is an imagined conversation between Darwin and an eyebrow mite who thinks that Darwin is the God of all eyebrow mites. At first, Darwin thinks that he is going insane, but he comes to realize the remarkable situation for what it is. In the course of the story, Darwin explains his theories of evolution and how they work to counter the religious explanation. As a result, Darwin's theories get laid out in a humorous, concise, and understandable manner. Also, we also learn much about eyebrow mites and their biology.

Jay Hosler, the author of Clan Apis, is responsible for this work. Aside from his work as a graphic novelist, Hosler is an associate professor of biology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. Part of his academic mission is to create accessible science content in the form of comics. His meticulous research is evident in this volume with the copious annotations at the end of the book. More about Hosler's reasons behind creating this particular volume can be found in this NPR article.

Online critics in general have much praise for this book. Johanna Draper Carlson thought it was insightful, funny, and educational. Sweetwind at SciScoop appreciated the attention to details and and discussion and wrote that the book was great for all readers but especially younger ones. Mike Everleth agrees that the book works on many different levels and that it is a fun, sneaky way to teach children science.

The Sandwalk Adventures originally appeared as a 5-issue comic book series but was collected into one volume in 2003 by Active Synapse. A couple of preview pages are available here.

Clan Apis

There are a number of insect-based cartoon movies, such as the Bee Movie or A Bug's Life, but none of them do as good a job of combining biological facts and a fun plot as much as Clan Apis. This book follows the life of Nyuki from a larva to an adult. She is an unconventional bee in that she questions much of regular hive life. Her older sister Dvorah provides counsel and rationales for a lot of the rules that Nyuki challenges. Nyuki's life gets complicated once she leaves the hive and meets some of the outside lifeforms.

Jay Hosler is an associate professor of biology at Juniata College. He received his doctorate degree studying bees, and he provides lots of great facts about them within the narrative. He also presents lots of information about dung beetles, praying mantises, and spiders as well. There are lots of neat tidbits in here, such as in the names (Nyuki is Swahili for bee; Dvorah is bee in Hebrew). A lot of these facts and information come across within the course of the story in such a fun, breezy manner. Hosler is a great storyteller, and his pictures tell an ultimately very affecting tale.

Clan Apis received multiple nominations for Ignatz and Eisner Awards. In addition to professional recognition, the reviews are very positive, even ones from "hard" science publications such as Discover Magazine. Here is a page where many reviews of the book can be found.

This book was funded by a Xeric Grant. It consists of five chapters, each originally published as separate comic books. This collected version is published by Active Synapse.

The book's official page has many resources available, including links to the science behind the story, and some funny Science Cartoons. There is another cartoon on the site that is also in the collection, titled Killer Bee, where we discover that Hosler is very allergic to bees. Ironic, eh?