Eisner Award-winning author Mariko Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me) and Eisner-nominated artist Nicole Goux (Everyone Is Tulip) collaborate for the first time in This Place Kills Me, an electrifying YA graphic novel about ongoing abuses at elite, all-girls Wilberton Academy.
Abby Kita isn't impressed with this "hellhole these idiots call a school," as she sits in the audience watching Romeo & Juliet, the "esteemed" Theater Society's latest "stunning performance." Fifty-two days into being the new girl and she's still a pariah who's constantly (loudly) whispered about. She escapes the after-party and runs into the evening's star, Elizabeth, who assures Abby that "not fitting in here... that's a good thing." Their conversation proves eerily prescient: Elizabeth's corpse is discovered the next day while Abby's outsider status provides the zoomed-out perspective to figure out what really happened.
The "years... spent on this massive undertaking," as Tamaki acknowledges at book's end, are evident throughout the creative duo's impressive performance here. Tamaki sets the stage, mixing murder with bullying, homophobia, silence and collusion, and predatory abuse. Goux gloriously captures and enhances every scene, working in moody blues and muted peaches over black-and-white: predominantly blue signals "now"; more peach for "then." Goux's offsetting of the standardized school uniform via distinct socks and shoes is delightfully clever. Her entertainingly meticulous attention to detail manifests in placing Devo and Dune on the same bookshelf and "50% MORE" on a shared chips packet. Reference to "another mystery" teases a possible sequel; devoted audiences will surely appreciate an encore. --Terry Hong