This week's Chapter Book of the Week isn't the first fictional dalliance with the darkest night for Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder...

We had to cram in at least one more Book of the Week this week, as we really didn't want you to miss out on the fantastic third instalment of a Graphic Novel series that has completely won us over...

Damn this is good, so good!

Once again we're taking a look at some YA coolness in comic form and I'm flying solo leaving little miss behind for this distinctly 'grown up' graphic novel, "Porcelain: Bone China" by Benjamin Read and Chris Wildgoose...

Once again we're delving into the glorious (but strictly not for kids) library of Improper Books titles with a look at something distinctly dark but richly imaginative.

Wordless comics must be incredibly tough to write and illustrate but thankfully when you've got an artist as talented as Chris Wildgoose to interpret your scenes, it's very easy to pick your way through the tale as it winds itself around your cerebral cortex.

"Butterfly Gate" starts off relatively innocently, with two children at play, catching butterflies in a net and stowing them away in jars. One particularly striking specimen leads the girl and boy on a merry dance into the deep dark woods. In the darkest part, they find an ancient artifact - a crumbling stone statue and a giant altar.

By accident they discover that the statue is more than it seems. Blood spilled on the altar causes a mysterious door to open - a door filled with a shining blue hypnotic light that entrances the children and leads them to commit a truly unspeakable and terrible act in order to open the portal to another world...

(It's at this point I once again stress that this is a comic more suitable for a YA / mature audience! Certainly it does not pull any punches and is quite graphic. I won't get into the nitty gritty of trying to slap an age rating on it as all kids are different. But there is gore and violence, so be prepared!)

Once through the Butterfly Gate, the two children soon realise that life on the other side isn't exactly peachy. It's certainly no idyllic playground for children, and the harsh reality of the other world is that it's a brutal regime where child slavery is the norm - and the girl and boy soon find themselves press-ganged into service as divers for sunken treasure, working for a cruel overlord.

Is this to be their fate then? Well I couldn't possibly give away the ending - suffice to say that this is merely episode 1 of an eventual 5 book series so you're only going to get a taste of their story in this first volume but it will definitely leave you wanting to find out more.

With shades of John Carter of Mars, fused with darkly gothic themes, "Butterfly Gate" is visceral, brutal but oddly beautiful stuff - certainly as you'd expect from Improper Books who seem to have cornered the market in gloriously original and darkly woven tales such as this.

"Butterfly Gate" is available in print and digital formats (and there's an excellent 12 page preview here too!) from the Improper Books website.

http://www.improperbooks.com/project/butterfly-gate/

We're taking a dip into YA waters with a couple of fantastic graphic novels from Improper Books.

Just in case you've no idea who Improper Books are, they're the publishers of some of the most original and stunning comics, graphic novels and children's books on the planet. We've previously reviewed the awesome "Night Post" by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder, and this talented collective have been busily working away on new titles to dazzle your socks off.

"Porcelain - A Gothic Fairy Tale" is the first of Improper Books' YA titles I've taken a look at, and I had to let Charlotte sit this one out as it's really not suitable for children. However, if you've got a surly teen sitting at home who rather likes graphic novels, they're in for a bit of a treat.

"Porcelain" book 1 introduces Child, a scruffy street urchin who hangs around with a collective of miscreants under the control of a bit of an artful dodger wannabe.

"Child" is sent over the wall of a mysterious old house to see if she can nab anything valuable. Tales tell that folk who trespass in the garden are never seen again, and Child soon discovers why...

Just before she's dismembered by two mysterious beasts, a man appears and chastises her for trespassing in his garden. Using her street-smarts and charm, Child manages to convince the kindly old man that she's lost and hungry, and before long begins a strange friendship as "Child" and "Uncle" bond over their shared loneliness.

The kindly old man isn't a wizard, as first suspected, but an expert alchemist, able to bring porcelain forms to life through dark magic.

Child is like the daughter he and his late wife never had, and soon Uncle begins to share his secrets and creations with Child, even instructing her on the art of animating these porcelain automata herself - with one house rule laid down at the outset. Child is forbidden to enter one locked room in the house.

Secrets never stay secret for very long, and curious children can't keep a promise. Child soon discovers Uncle's powers are only part of what makes the mysterious china models move...

This first book in an eventual 5-book series (I've also read Book 2 - Bone China - which I'll be bringing to you as another YA review very soon) was gripping from start to finish. Essences of Phillip Pullman's "Dark Materials" and a goodly dose of Dickensian quirkiness mask an obsidian black heart, and a darkly delicious tale of two distinctly different characters somehow drawn together by their own personal curiosities and fallibilities. Child with her quest to be someone better, someone whose voice can be heard and recognised, and Uncle with his thirst for necromantic knowledge and a deep-seated need to replace his long lost loved ones with companions that will last forever.

As I mentioned, "Porcelain" isn't suitable for children but it's hugely intelligently written, with the sort of setting I just find it impossible to resist with its mixture of storytelling magic and steampunk overtones lifting it to lofty heights.

Brilliant writing as ever from Benjamin Read, with truly stunning art from Chris Wildgoose, we told you a while back that Improper Books were a publisher to keep a very beady eye on and we weren't wrong...!

"Porcelain: A Gothic fairy Tale" is available now from Improper Books (in printed and digital formats)

'At Midnight, when all good folk should be abed, the Night Post rides forth to serve the dead.’ - Victorian Poem

When a book truly becomes a shared experience, it's like a glorious reminiscence. "Hey I saw that bit!" or "Did you spot the..." - delicious energetic chatter ensues when you share stories.

Wordless stories are tricky to get right. You want to be able to convey a plot, a flow, a path through without relying too heavily on the illustrations leading people by the nose - more gently coaxing them in the right direction.

So when we first saw a few early glimpses of "Night Post" by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder a few weeks ago ahead of its launch, we knew it was going to be something special. You see, straight away it tapped into that idea of a shared experience where observation, curiosity and also a good dose of familiarisation with fantasy all combine together to give anyone reading this wonderfully original wordless story a bit of a head start.

You've probably already sneaked a few glimpses of the book's amazing illustrations via our spotlight preview article from Halloween...

Wonderful wonderful witches! One of our favourite spreads, can you spot your favourite here?

...Night Post is a glorious homage to many fantasy stories but at its core it's the story of a seemingly ordinary everyday postie, who tucks his daughter in at night with a kiss, says goodbye to his wife, picks up his lunch and then heads out to work. Though, instead of heading for the normal post room, this postie has a special key that unlocks a door leading to...The Night Post. Here is where all the mail for (shall we say) "alternative" customers ends up and of course must be delivered just like the traditional mail.

As you'd expect, some of those recipients are a little bit 'out there' From ghouls to ghosts, from witches to sirens, it's a very tricky mail round fraught with danger. But our heroic postie knows how to deal with just about everything the underworld can throw at him on a very busy and hazardous night.

Back to that original point about observation and shared experiences, this book surely can't fail to appeal to just about everyone who's ever picked up a book in the last 100 years or so. Benjamin and Laura's lovingly crafted references and homages to children's characters and stories both old and new never fails to impress. Charlotte gobbled this book up greedily, her sharp little eyes far better at spotting familiar characters than my tired old ones (for instance, she spied Nemo and Dory, tucked away in a scene where Sirens, mermaids and The Creature From The Black Lagoon have taken over the local Lido!)

We also rather liked the Postie's unflappable demeanour, slightly cheeky in fact. Stealing a chunk of lollipop from the Witch from Hansel and Gretel's garden (and once again Charlotte pointing out who that witch looks like! He also comes out of a very familiar looking wardrobe with what looks suspiciously like a box of Turkish Delight!

It's a truly fantastic book, one that we can't stop thinking about and also one we won't stop going on about until you've gone and bought a copy (which you can do via the Improper Books website, or from quality indie comic sellers!)

This is the first publication we've seen from Improper and if it's an indication of the sheer quality of the titles they're publishing, we're going to be camping out on their doorstep to see what they come up with next.

You need this book, you really do! If you have any love for children's fantasy stories, you're going to find so many things in this that will give you goosebumps!


Charlotte's best bit: Too many to choose from but she truly loved spotting a certain magic carpet and lamp nestling in a treasure-filled cave, and also spotting the "Room on the broom" witch soaring through the skies!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliantly clever, original, funny and tinged with a taste of the macabre that just sang out to us like those Sirens in the swimming pool. Utterly glorious to go through this again and again, picking up on all the characters you might've missed the first time round. We absolutely cannot wait for Benjamin and Laura's next collaboration!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Improper Books)

"Night Post"

Written by Benjamin Read

Illustrated by Laura Trinder

Published by Improper Books