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LIBRARY JOURNAL -- Meg Chancellor's world is falling apart-her mother has walked out, her father's best friend Cal is sexually abusing her younger sister Annie, and her father will do nothing about any of it. So Meg finds a new online world of paladins and princesses where she can become the hero she needs in real life. Eventually, the two worlds come together, with Meg taking control and finding hope. Grayson's (Batman) parable first appeared as a GLAAD Award-nominated Vertigo miniseries in 2001 and is set in the mid-1990s when MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) role-playing games became popular. Meg and Annie are the most multidimensional characters, both fighting their way through their problems in different ways. Bolton's (The Books of Magic) masterly gray-scale brushwork with only touches of color depicts the "real" world, while Phillips's (Criminal) blocky, vividly colored fantasy art creates the online realm as a confusing yet compelling place. VERDICT This coming of age that can happen at any age reveals our heroine finding power and peers while exploring her own gender fluidity. Seekers age mid-teens and up will empathize and learn from her quest.-MC

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY STARRED -- This sumptuous hardcover is set in the early digital age of the 1990s: the World Wide Web is text-based, access is via dial-up modem, phone bills are outrageous, and intrepid users create and push boundaries to define this new frontier. Meg Chancellor, a disaffected 20-something still living in her deeply dysfunctional family home, obsessively latches onto a fantasy RPG chat room where she reinvents herself as the fearless and chivalrous paladin, Sir Guillaume de la Coeur. Gender norms, conventional sexuality, and identity barriers are thrown out the window as she explores her character, adventures, and comrades-in-arms, but painful realities challenge her to confront the tension between her personas. Originally published as a three-issue series in 2001 by Vertigo, this compilation contains gorgeous art and coloring by Bolton (Shame) and Philips (Kill or Be Killed). The real world is depicted in a photorealistic moody monochrome while the online realm is enchanting and vibrant with prismatic color. Although Meg is sometimes unsympathetic and over-the-top, Nightwing writer Grayson's fast-paced and relevant coming-of-age drama brings alive the passion, promise, and compassion inspired by the budding online world. (May)