Sing No Evil

With high-energy artwork and quirky humour, this graphic novel tells the coming-of-age story of Aksel, twenty-something guitarist with a stutter for the band Perkeros, who learns the power of sound and music as a form of magic-but not without aid and interference from the bandmates he must keep together: Lily, the streetwise keyboardist; Kevin, the hippie bassist who either is still working off an LSD trip from the '60s or really is a 600-year-old monk; Aydin, a Turkish immigrant who sings like an angel and threatens Aksel's dominance as frontman of the band and Bear, the drummer and (actual) party animal. And, not to mention, the rival bands they must literally battle to save their city from supernatural forces set loose by ancient music. A witty, weird mix of fact and fable based on archaeo-acoustics (the idea that ancient sounds can be recovered from markings on pottery-the Mythbusters explored this idea), this graphic novel draws its inspiration from ghost stories, the occult, contemporary pop culture and death metal rock'n'roll.