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Bookhunter
Ripped from today’s headlines, Bookhunter fires off and you can’t quit reading. The excitement is fulfilling. The year is 1973. A priceless book has been stolen from the Oakland Public Library. A crack team of Bookhunters (aka. library police) have less than three days to recover the stolen item. It’s a race against the clock as our heroes use every tool in their arsenal of library equipment to find the book and the mastermind who stole it.
Will the detectives catch this scoundrel? Find out in Bookhunter, the greatest comic of the new millennium. What a roller coaster ride of excitement! What an unexpected twist takes place! Do not begin Bookhunter unless you are prepared to finish it in one sitting.
Will the detectives catch this scoundrel? Find out in Bookhunter, the greatest comic of the new millennium. What a roller coaster ride of excitement! What an unexpected twist takes place! Do not begin Bookhunter unless you are prepared to finish it in one sitting.
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
5 people are currently reading
1089 people want to read
About the author
Jason Shiga
21 books157 followersJason Shiga is an award-winning Asian American cartoonist from Oakland, California. Mr. Shiga's comics are known for their intricate, often "interactive" plots and occasionally random, unexpected violence. A mathematics major from the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Shiga shares his love of logic and problem solving with his readers through puzzles, mysteries and unconventional narrative techniques.
Jason Shiga's life has been shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to his book jacket, he was a reclusive math genius who had died on the verge of his greatest discovery in June 1967. However, upon winning a 2003 Eisner award for talent deserving of wider recognition, a man claiming to be Jason Shiga appeared in front of an audience alive and well only to tell them that he had been living on an island in the South China Seas for the past 40 years. The man who accepted his award was Chris Brandt (also known as F.C. Brandt), who had disguised himself as Jason Shiga, and accepted the award at the behest of Jason's publisher (Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comic Books) and Jason himself.
At the age of 12, Shiga was the 7th highest ranked child go player in Oakland.[citation needed]
Jason Shiga makes a cameo appearance in the Derek Kirk Kim comic, "Ungrateful Appreciation" as a Rubik's Cube-solving nerd. Shiga is credited as the "Maze Specialist" for Issue 18 (Winter 2005/2006) of the literary journal McSweeney's Quarterly, which features a solved maze on the front cover and a (slightly different) unsolved maze on the back. The title page of each story in the journal is headed by a maze segment labeled with numbers leading to the first pages of other stories.
Jason Shiga's father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worked on the 1964 Rankin-Bass production Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Jason Shiga's life has been shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to his book jacket, he was a reclusive math genius who had died on the verge of his greatest discovery in June 1967. However, upon winning a 2003 Eisner award for talent deserving of wider recognition, a man claiming to be Jason Shiga appeared in front of an audience alive and well only to tell them that he had been living on an island in the South China Seas for the past 40 years. The man who accepted his award was Chris Brandt (also known as F.C. Brandt), who had disguised himself as Jason Shiga, and accepted the award at the behest of Jason's publisher (Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comic Books) and Jason himself.
At the age of 12, Shiga was the 7th highest ranked child go player in Oakland.[citation needed]
Jason Shiga makes a cameo appearance in the Derek Kirk Kim comic, "Ungrateful Appreciation" as a Rubik's Cube-solving nerd. Shiga is credited as the "Maze Specialist" for Issue 18 (Winter 2005/2006) of the literary journal McSweeney's Quarterly, which features a solved maze on the front cover and a (slightly different) unsolved maze on the back. The title page of each story in the journal is headed by a maze segment labeled with numbers leading to the first pages of other stories.
Jason Shiga's father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worked on the 1964 Rankin-Bass production Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews
May 29, 2018
Kudos for carrying this ridiculous concept all the way through and investing a clearly significant amount of effort in learning all sorts of technical details about bookbinding, 1970s phone systems, etc.
Additionally fun for me because of the local setting.
Additionally fun for me because of the local setting.
July 29, 2021
Just a so-so read.
September 1, 2021
I happened to find this 2007 fun book from Jason Shiga directed at a booklover audience--maybe particularly librarians. It's funny! The Library Police is investigating a mysterious forgery and theft of one of the Oakland Public Library's rarest volumes. The investigators and librarians have a very technical mastery of book details that is kind of hilarious. They are the opposite of tough noir detectives; they're nerd book detectives.
June 26, 2016
Brilliant.
Another small press comic read. Many times there is a good reason one of the large publishers isn't carrying a work. But other times you get something really fun and niche like Bookhunter.
Bookhunter is about Library Police in a world where they hunt down stolen books like Seal Team 6 hunts down terrorists. This is quick, fun, absurd, and super nerdy, with a ton of technical mess about book binding and such.
I'd describe it more to convince you to go read it, but it's free online at http://www.shigabooks.com/bookhunter.php, so just go there and give it a shot.
Another small press comic read. Many times there is a good reason one of the large publishers isn't carrying a work. But other times you get something really fun and niche like Bookhunter.
Bookhunter is about Library Police in a world where they hunt down stolen books like Seal Team 6 hunts down terrorists. This is quick, fun, absurd, and super nerdy, with a ton of technical mess about book binding and such.
I'd describe it more to convince you to go read it, but it's free online at http://www.shigabooks.com/bookhunter.php, so just go there and give it a shot.
January 10, 2020
Oh my god this was ridiculous! Pointless! Surprisingly technical! Amazing!!
No big descriptors here. There are library police. A book theft. It’s drawn brilliantly in a library. Only two books were menaced. And there is a phenomenal chase scene involving a card catalog that it is now my life goal to physically recreate.
It is readable here http://www.shigabooks.com/bookhunter.php.
Go read it!
No big descriptors here. There are library police. A book theft. It’s drawn brilliantly in a library. Only two books were menaced. And there is a phenomenal chase scene involving a card catalog that it is now my life goal to physically recreate.
It is readable here http://www.shigabooks.com/bookhunter.php.
Go read it!
November 30, 2007
If you like libraries, you will LOVE this book. If you like libraries of the pre-Internet era (card catalog, circulation stamps, etc), you will LOVE this book EVEN more.
The premise is that the Oakland Public Library employs a special police force (equipped with a SWAT team, guns, forensic experts, and so much more) to enforce library violations, such as overdue books, damaging library materials, etc. The team, led by special agent Ray, is called into investigate the theft of a precious incunabula on-loan from the Library of Congress, which has been replaced with an expertly-made forgery.
It's incredibly funny, full of book-nerd jokes (which may not be that funny to non-book nerds, but I personally found them hysterical), and sure to fulfill the fantasies of many librarians who have ever wished they had special forces on their side.
p.s. I also really liked Shiga's drawing style -- he uses the physical environment of the library to remarkable effect in many of his scenes. Now I need to check out his other books!
The premise is that the Oakland Public Library employs a special police force (equipped with a SWAT team, guns, forensic experts, and so much more) to enforce library violations, such as overdue books, damaging library materials, etc. The team, led by special agent Ray, is called into investigate the theft of a precious incunabula on-loan from the Library of Congress, which has been replaced with an expertly-made forgery.
It's incredibly funny, full of book-nerd jokes (which may not be that funny to non-book nerds, but I personally found them hysterical), and sure to fulfill the fantasies of many librarians who have ever wished they had special forces on their side.
p.s. I also really liked Shiga's drawing style -- he uses the physical environment of the library to remarkable effect in many of his scenes. Now I need to check out his other books!
July 30, 2017
I love libraries and I even work in one. This was just too boring for my tastes.
It kept me busy while I was reading it, but when it was over... it was over. Nothing really stood out and i wasn't thoroughly entertained.
It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode with the Library Police. An overdue book and they come hunting you down!!
Just please return your books!
It kept me busy while I was reading it, but when it was over... it was over. Nothing really stood out and i wasn't thoroughly entertained.
It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode with the Library Police. An overdue book and they come hunting you down!!
Just please return your books!
March 15, 2010
Absurdly technical, and also simply absurd. I think the card catalog fight scene at the end was my favorite part.
January 10, 2019
Because it's based in the Oakland Public Library. Lots of great inside librarian jokes in it. Super cute book.
December 27, 2017
If you like the idea of librarians as heroes, but want something a bit grittier than The Librarians tv show, this is the book for you. I'm definitely adding it to my "potential gifts for librarian friends" list. The only downside is how short the book was--I want more!
November 5, 2018
This is one of those books I'm thinking: How in peace name did I mange to get my hands on this?? It is a strange concept where the normal murder noir setting is now one of a book robbery and a hardened policeman trying to find it back. I like it though. The comic medium seems made to execute these kind of original strange concepts very well.
Ultimately though I think the story would have benefitted from more words and explanation to show us as readers what's going on.
Ultimately though I think the story would have benefitted from more words and explanation to show us as readers what's going on.
May 22, 2021
If the BAU from Criminal Minds investigated book crimes - it’d go a lot like this.
April 19, 2018
I forgot how I stumbled upon this gem and so glad I did. Oakland Public Library, 1973. A rare book has been stolen and it's up to Officer Bay of the Library Police to solve the case. Filled with library and archival tech & jargon to make me squeal with enjoyment. Witty and oh so enjoyable!
November 9, 2017
"Ler um livro inteiro com ilustrações na mesma cor acaba por ser não só monótono como cansativo para a vista. Os traços também são extremamente simples e as pessoas parecem-se todas umas com as outras."
Opinião completa no blogue: http://flamesmr.blogspot.pt/2017/11/l...
Opinião completa no blogue: http://flamesmr.blogspot.pt/2017/11/l...
December 11, 2017
I honestly was not quite sure what I expected of this comic, but the fact is that Jason Shiga blew me away. Bookhunter is a piece of crime fiction, in a sense, but set in a world not quite exactly like ours, in which the Library Police track down people who attempt to censor books, or steal them. After a short, but very effective opening, which introduces the world and the function of the Library Police, along with the protagonist, Special Agent Bay, the narrative proper begins. Here Special Agent Bay investigates the brazen theft of a rare volume on loan to Oakland Public Library, and all the complexities of this case.
Bookhunter is intense, with a good crime mystery at its heart, but also backed up by hardboiled action sequences, which one would perhaps easily believe not to be included in a story involving the Library Police. And Shiga's somewhat cartoony (for lack of a better word) style is eminently suited to the storytelling, and nevertheless sells the seriousness of the slightly absurd, yet brilliant premise.
I really enjoyed this a lot, and I will definitely be on the lookout for other things by Shiga.
Bookhunter is intense, with a good crime mystery at its heart, but also backed up by hardboiled action sequences, which one would perhaps easily believe not to be included in a story involving the Library Police. And Shiga's somewhat cartoony (for lack of a better word) style is eminently suited to the storytelling, and nevertheless sells the seriousness of the slightly absurd, yet brilliant premise.
I really enjoyed this a lot, and I will definitely be on the lookout for other things by Shiga.
August 21, 2016
A comic for bibliophiles or librarians!. Agent Bay is the Chief of the library police and he hunts down stolen books. Set in the 1970s the book opens with our hero in action. Then the rest of the book contains the main story involving the theft of an 1800s Bible on display in the Oakland Public Library. Bay is the type of officer who chases his suspects across the roofs of buildings and swings by cables when necessary. It was a fun little story that I enjoyed bur it is aimed at those with knowledge of books from paper content, bookbinding techniques and materials and library jargon. I did bookbinding years ago and am a lifelong library user and understood much of the bookishness. There is a certain dry humour as well which makes the book fun. If your only interest in books is reading them , this probably might be on the tedious side but if you like books for the sake of the actual product you'll get the jokes and jargon.
August 29, 2014
One of those rare and wonderful offspring of the digital revolution, Bookhunter is available online (free! at shigabooks.com) and is worth the load-time and slow scrolling.
Noir mystery with a sepia tone, Shiga writes out this hardboiled detective story about a rare book stolen from the Oakland Public Library (yes!) in 1973. Classic in tone, you half expect Bogey or Valient to wander into the frame and contribute a few choice lines.
Sufficiently twisty and turny, there are enough characters and subplots to make the reading worthwhile and thoroughly enjoyable. And, yeah, the idea of book police are pretty freaking cool.
Noir mystery with a sepia tone, Shiga writes out this hardboiled detective story about a rare book stolen from the Oakland Public Library (yes!) in 1973. Classic in tone, you half expect Bogey or Valient to wander into the frame and contribute a few choice lines.
Sufficiently twisty and turny, there are enough characters and subplots to make the reading worthwhile and thoroughly enjoyable. And, yeah, the idea of book police are pretty freaking cool.
July 5, 2011
An enjoyable and fun read, but so laden with jargon that I just had to ignore words and push through sometimes. I'm not talking complex scientific jargon (I consider myself a pretty scientific guy), I'm talking about phrases that actually left me wondering whether Shiga just made up some phrases to achieve an effect. Also, some parts of the story made me wonder if I was missing pages, because there seemed to me to be large leaps in logic. But maybe I was missing something.
All that aside, it was cute! And there was a lot of library action, which was entertaining. I'd reccommend it, I guess.
All that aside, it was cute! And there was a lot of library action, which was entertaining. I'd reccommend it, I guess.
January 18, 2012
If you are a library geek, especially a tech services one, this graphic novel is for you. I truly enjoyed it. Mainly because I like the idea of the library having a police force. Serving and protecting the collection from censorship and theft. Some of the technological things went over my head. I really think that you need to have worked behind the scenes in a library to relate or be geeky enough to do your research about it. All in all, I got to reminisce about the old card catalog and laugh my butt off at the actions of the library police. I recommend!
December 16, 2022
The video review is posted on my Youtube channel (Bookhunter starts at 12:12).
October 13, 2007
It's a 1970s action movie, using real library lingo--correctly! It might not be historically accurate (tattle tape, magnetic security gates, early computers storing records--were these things around in 1973? I sure wasn't, so I have no clue.), but it is a lot of fun.
May 31, 2012
Best library cop comic ever? Read it at the author's site:
http://www.shigabooks.com/indeces/boo...
http://www.shigabooks.com/indeces/boo...
November 7, 2014
This is so good! The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" video in the Oakland Public Library, with some Umberto Ecoish bibliophile mystery thrown in for good measure.
November 7, 2014
A little delightful afternoon snack for any bibliophile. The attention to terminology, technology, and historically accurate binding techniques is exquisite.
January 16, 2016
Really fun and quick. A must read for librarians, especially. Makes me want to work for the Library Police...
June 2, 2018
This is hilarous and would be an awesome movie if you could find anybody to film it with a straight face.
September 13, 2017
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5
From the whacked-out mind that brought us the Demon graphic novel series, comes a rip-roaring mystery-thriller graphic novel set in ... a library? Yup, a library!
It is 1973 and the Oakland Public Library has its own police force known as Bookhunters. They'e tough, seasoned, and a bit grizzled but gosh darn if they aren't good at their job. The library has a priceless book that they've borrowed from another library and now that book is missing. Special Agent Bay and his crack squad will investigate every angle and lead. But first they have to retrieve some overdue library books. Like a well-trained SWAT team, they bust down doors and negotiate with a patron holding the overdue books hostage.
The book is a tongue-in-cheek action-adventure story with librarians as tough as nails and Agent Bay as cagey as Grissom from C.S.I. or Temperance Brennan from Bones.
It's a bit violent, which is no surprise if you've read Jason Shiga, but because of the cartoony style of the art the violence doesn't feel quite so bad.
There's a lot of action and a lot of humor (perhaps my favorite moment was after Agent Bay shoots someone who wasn't had overdue books and wouldn't return them and as the book patron lies writhing on the ground in agony Bay simply says, "Shh!").
What I like about this (and Shiga's Demon series) is that we see a whole new possibility for graphic novels. Shiga pushes the possibilities and offers something we didn't quite expect, and we enjoy ourselves along the way.
Although a decade old now, this is definitely a book worth reading.
Looking for a good book? Bookhunter is a dark parody on the criminal investigation units seen quite often on tv, by Jason Shiga. It is fun and funny and worth reading.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.
From the whacked-out mind that brought us the Demon graphic novel series, comes a rip-roaring mystery-thriller graphic novel set in ... a library? Yup, a library!
It is 1973 and the Oakland Public Library has its own police force known as Bookhunters. They'e tough, seasoned, and a bit grizzled but gosh darn if they aren't good at their job. The library has a priceless book that they've borrowed from another library and now that book is missing. Special Agent Bay and his crack squad will investigate every angle and lead. But first they have to retrieve some overdue library books. Like a well-trained SWAT team, they bust down doors and negotiate with a patron holding the overdue books hostage.
The book is a tongue-in-cheek action-adventure story with librarians as tough as nails and Agent Bay as cagey as Grissom from C.S.I. or Temperance Brennan from Bones.
It's a bit violent, which is no surprise if you've read Jason Shiga, but because of the cartoony style of the art the violence doesn't feel quite so bad.
There's a lot of action and a lot of humor (perhaps my favorite moment was after Agent Bay shoots someone who wasn't had overdue books and wouldn't return them and as the book patron lies writhing on the ground in agony Bay simply says, "Shh!").
What I like about this (and Shiga's Demon series) is that we see a whole new possibility for graphic novels. Shiga pushes the possibilities and offers something we didn't quite expect, and we enjoy ourselves along the way.
Although a decade old now, this is definitely a book worth reading.
Looking for a good book? Bookhunter is a dark parody on the criminal investigation units seen quite often on tv, by Jason Shiga. It is fun and funny and worth reading.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.
May 28, 2022
Special Agent Bay takes another cop's shotgun and shoots the cop in order to maneuver himself into position. That's how the book starts and it just gets crazier from there!
A priceless book is missing, and the library police are called in to investigate. How did the thief get the book out of the library? Who is the thief? Where is the book? What is the thief planning to do with the book? Agent Bay works closely with Agent Walker from Documents and Agent Finch from Latent Prints to solve these mysteries and more. Obviously this is fiction, but the authority with which each fact is relayed makes it very, very easy to slip into a world where gun-toting maniacs enforce library rules.
Jason Shiga only has a single speed and real cops would surely ticket him if they could only catch up. This book is incredible with a very distinct art style. There's a strong feeling of watching a 70s action flick and, whether he was explicitly going for that, that's what it is.
A priceless book is missing, and the library police are called in to investigate. How did the thief get the book out of the library? Who is the thief? Where is the book? What is the thief planning to do with the book? Agent Bay works closely with Agent Walker from Documents and Agent Finch from Latent Prints to solve these mysteries and more. Obviously this is fiction, but the authority with which each fact is relayed makes it very, very easy to slip into a world where gun-toting maniacs enforce library rules.
Jason Shiga only has a single speed and real cops would surely ticket him if they could only catch up. This book is incredible with a very distinct art style. There's a strong feeling of watching a 70s action flick and, whether he was explicitly going for that, that's what it is.
January 9, 2024
When a rare book (the "Mendi Bible" belonging to John Adams, which was actually stolen briefly in 1996) goes missing from the safe at the Oakland Public Library in 1973, "Special Agent Bay" and his crack team of bookhunters get called to the case. Make no mistake, he's a shotgun wielding, car chasing, roof jumping action cop, complete with a team of forensic experts to back him up. The theft is an intricate one, and there's a lot of campy fun to be had in following the absurdly detailed procedural steps. Imagine a mix of 1970s cop films like The French Connection and Bullit with some modern TV procedurals like CSI mixed in, done in artwork that is simple, sly, and cartoony without going overboard. It's all good fun, filled with all kinds of book and library-related nonsense that's not to be taken seriously. There's a cute twist at the end, although it's never set up in any way to pay off, it just kind of happens. Still -- good times at the library!
January 23, 2017
A really fun comic book. Shiga has never let me down yet. The alternate universe in this book is very nicely realized. Not your usual fantasy or sci-fi send up, but merely an alternate world where books are treated very, very seriously. The action deserves special mention. The way Shiga frames and draws action sequences really sucks you in. It's like watching a competently directed action film where you can understand what is going on (i.e. before the more modern cut-cut-cut style of directing). I found the action sequences gripping and fun. The mystery was engaging as well. Not really in the sense of being able to figure out what is going on before the detective, but in really enjoying the methods the detective uses to solve the mystery.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews