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Sunday, September 25, 2022
3rd Eye Comics: Meet creators Kami Garcia, Alys Arden & Isaac Goodhart this Saturday!
Troy-Jeffrey Allen on a new Lovecraft comic book
Interview: Florentino Flórez Takes on the Unknown in 'Lovecraft Unknown: Kadath'
Interview by Troy-Jeffrey Allen
Sep 19, 2022
Quick Reviews returns: Dirty Pictures, Fantastic Four, Mickey Mouse, Space Boy, McCay, Aimee de Jongh, and Orner's Smahtguy
...at least that's what I think I used to headline short review columns.
I caught covid for the first time this past week, probably at work where other people did, and I had just been transferred to the home office from a satellite one where I was one of two people showing up daily. I'm fine, that's fine, the disease is endemic now, and we've got vaccines to make sure most of us don't suffer badly from it, just like I haven't.
But it did mean that I ended up with some free time - at least 5 days in which I had to skip the events I had this weekend, which included a poker game, 2 comic book signings at Fantom Comics, a Pixar Inside Out exhibit preview at the Children's Museum, and a story-telling party. Instead I've been reading some of the graphic novels that came my way.
Dirty Pictures: How an Underground Network of Nerds, Feminists, Misfits,Geniuses, Bikers, Potheads, Printers, Intellectuals, and Art School Rebels Revolutionized Art and Invented Comix by Brian Doherty, Abrams, 2022 - This isn't a graphic novel. Instead it's a dense history with no pictures which is why I haven't finished reading it yet. Reason magazine editor Doherty's produced a readable, comprehensive history of who knew who, who was sleeping with who, and who was drawing with who, why, and when. This is not for the uninitiated, as it has no images and assumes a familiarity with the field that's a step beyond basic. As such, I'm enjoying it and learning from it, but at times it reads like a Who's Who of underground comix - that's not a bad thing, especially as the cartoonists themselves either died young or are dying now (Diane Noomin within the past month). It does mean that it can be a bit of a struggle to keep people straight, or honestly to pick it up again after putting it down. I've been trying to read a chapter at a time, no more or less, which works for me, but I'm not a major fan of the undergrounds in spite of being dedicated to comics history. If you're similarly dedicated, you should buy this.
Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross, Abrams, 2022 - I got a pdf of this from the publisher (who's been very kind about sending me material), and then was gifted a copy by my buddies at Big Planet Comics so it was clear the universe was telling me to read it. I also love the classic FF. Ross' hyper-realistic paintings have set a standard in superhero depiction for a couple of decades now, but he hasn't done a comic book in years. This time, he did it all including the writing, but not as a painted book. The story leaps off a plot point from FF #51, a Kirby-Lee story in which (here's the Kirby part) a minor character succeeds in copying the Thing's body exactly, fooling Mr. Fantastic into taking him into the Negative Zone, and then sacrificing himself to save Reed Richards. At 64 pages, this is exactly a story that could have been an FF annual in the 1960s. Ross's art is competent, being redolent of Kirby without descending into pastiche (Ross draws a photo-collage rather than making one as Kirby was doing at the time), and is steeped in FF history with respect. (Except for an unnecessary gag about Reed and Sue having sex, and Sue running out naked when the Baxter Building is breached by the negative zone, but hey, it's not 1968 anymore). The plot makes no more or less sense than Lee's ever did, and the hyperbole is cut back for modern audiences. I enjoyed this just fine, but it's a loving salute to a long-gone era. Although Ross does explain Captain Marvel / Rick Jones' nega bands which swapped their bodies in and out of the negative zone in the 1970s for longtime fans. As the first original comic book published by Abrams via licensing from Marvel, I'm sure it was a smart choice due to Ross's fans, but I don't think it'll bring any readers over to the FF.*
Mickey Mouse: Zombie Coffee by Regis Loisel, Seattle:
Fantagraphics, 2022 - For years, Fantagraphics has been publishing the adult Disney material that has appeared in the European market. Greg Bennett of Big Planet Comics Bethesda makes a point of keeping me up on it. Loisel first made his mark with a bawdy retelling of Peter Pan - now many years later, he's doing licensed work. This story replicates the feel of Floyd Gottfredson's adventurous Mickey with simulated comic strips set during the Depression. Mouseton is seeing a real-estate speculator trying to buy up a bunch of lower middle class homes to build a golf course, and Mickey, Minnie, Horace, and Clarabelle are in the front of the resistance while Goofy, Pluto, and Donald make minor appearances. The two main villains are the traditional lawyer Sylvester and Pegleg Pete, often seen in the early comic strips. Like the previous book, the story doesn't make a lot of sense and you just need to go along and enjoy the madcap corny and violent story for what it is. The mind-control agents, such as the zombie coffee and 25-cent hamburgers, are typical of the days of the comics in which someone would build a 5-story robot to knock over a convenience store for $25. Loisel did a good job in capturing the feel of the 1930s strip, and I recommend this to those who like the early adventurous goofball Mickey.
Stephen McCranie's Space Boy Volume 13 by Stephen McCranie, Dark Horse, 2022 - I've been enjoying these manga-influenced webcomics collections since the middle of the pandemic when someone at Fantom Comics recommended them to me. It's an American reworking of Astro Boy for the most part, but as will happen with longer-running strips, it's become something of its own too, although this issue returns to a Pinocchio-plot point that can't really be avoided without the book becoming a horror novel. One definitely can't start with this issue, which opens in the middle of a murder investigation and leads to more injuries via exploding roboot, but his art is very assured by this point and I'm enjoying the unfolding of the story in chunks, rather than reading it on the web.
McCay by Thierry Smolderen and Jean-Philippe Bramanti, London: Titan Books, 2018 - somebody recommended this recently and while I don't remember who it was, I respected them enough to pick up a copy. A French work, written by a distinguished historian and comics writer, this is an alternate biography of the ground-breaking cartoonist Winsor McCay, and proposes that he can turn himself into a fourth-dimension (not time) where a version of Slumberland can be built from his dreams. Silas, McCay's pen-name for some strips, is a real person with the same ability, who's an anarcho-Communist determined to kill people he thinks deserve it. The story makes no sense at all, just like McCay's own works, but is lovely - Bramanti wisely doesn't try to emulate McCay and uses a much sparer, yet still lush style. It's a fun read and homage to a master cartoonist.
Blossoms in Autumn, words by Zidrou and art by Aimée de Jongh, translated by Matt Madden - a slice of life story about two older (I wrote elderly until I realized the man is only 2 years older than I am) people - a laid-off furniture mover and a cheese store owner who meet each other, and fall in love. It's not a major work, but a perfectly good read and a pleasant couple to spend an hour with.
The Return of the Honey Buzzard, by Aimée de Jongh, translated by Michele Hutchison - this one was a bit more confusing because there's some magic realism going on in this and it takes a while to clue into it. On the other hand, it's been made into a movie, so perhaps I was just slow to pick up on the plot. Simon is about to lose his inherited bookstore, and won't go along with any of his wife's suggestions to sell and save what they can, when he witnesses the second suicide of someone around him. In his confusion, he meets a Lolita-like young woman (girl? her age is hard to tell) who needs assistance with school projects, we see the true story behind the first suicide, and begin to wonder if he'll make it to the end of the book. Oh, and the honey buzzard's return is a nature metaphor, not something you need to be watching out for in the corner of your eye.
Days of Sand by Aimée de Jongh, 2022 - her current book, researched here in DC, is off all things for a Dutch cartoonist to do, a story of the 1930s American dustbowl environmental disaster in Oklahoma, told through the lens (hah!) of a Farm Security Administration photographer from New York City. As she noted at the Library of Congress, this story is generally completely unknown in Europe, and largely forgotten here in America except by Steinbeck and Springsteen fans. de Jongh uses real government photos to lead into each chapter, and it's a moving account of a photographer 'going native' as it used to be phrased and becoming more sympathetic to the subjects of his camera than to his employers. The art is fantastic. The story is fine. The main character... a bit under-developed with daddy issues. Still, I'd recommend picking this up.
Smahtguy: The Life and Times of Barney Frank by Eric Orner, 2022 - I really liked this book. I didn't particularly expect to because it's a partial biography of a gay former-Congressman (by one of his former staffers) and I don't usually read political biographies, although I've been interested in gay cartoonists since moving to DC in 1983 and discovering that such a thing existed at all in the pages of the Washington Blade (back in print but no comics) and the Lambda Rising bookstore (long-closed but a new gay bookstore just opened this year). I was sheltered in 1970s New Jersey, sometimes for the good, and others not [full disclosure: I'm not gay, but didn't meet out people until I arrived at GWU]. Anyway, Orner was signing his book this summer at Solid State Books on H Street, I went, along with many of his former Hill colleagues, and was very impressed by the book. It took me a while to sit down and read it ... it's still a political biography... but it's well-worth reading to see how America has changed from those 1970s and how people like Barney Frank shepherded that change, sometimes by not leading from the front. I recommend this - enough that I interviewed the cartoonist a shamefully long time ago.
That's it for today - let me know if you want to see my trying to get my writing chops back with more.
*9/26 - Rodrigo Baeza sent me a note about this comics' history with permission to reprint it -
Saturday, September 24, 2022
Local part-time cartoonist Sarah Boxer reviews photo exhibits
Sarah's multi-talented and it was a pleasure to see her at SPX this weekend. I'm looking forward to reading this.
The Photographic Search for True West
That darn “Frank and Ernest”, Brodner and Flashbacks
Standardized tests are not indicative of potential [ "Frank and Ernest" letter]
Andrew Ryu
Andrew Ryu
Big kudos to the 'big lie' essay [Brodner] Bob Latham
Bob Latham
This educational comic strip will be missed ["Flashbacks"] Miranda Skelly Delmerico
Washington Post September 24 2022 : A15
Miranda Skelly Delmerico
Washington Post September 24 2022 : A15
Cavna on the slow strangulation of the newspaper comic strip
Is the print newspaper comics page in trouble?
Comics Research Bibliography citations update, 9/23/22
Gus Arriola and Gordo, agents of Mexican culture
By Joan Boudreau,
National Museum of American History's Oh Say Can You See blog November 17, 2021
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/gus-arriola-and-gordo
Jen Troy Talks CW Supergirl TV and Her new Graphic Novel
Aug 26, 2022
wordballoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNNVwOT2Cz8
Joe Illidge Talks Heavy Metal DC and More
Aug 25, 2022
wordballoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azU1AtKclEo
Rob Hart and Alex Segura's Crime Comic Blood Oath
Sep 21, 2022
wordballoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxNhezqLST8
ROSEMARY MOSCO for EXPEDITION BACKYARD — Sept 2022 Kids' Club Selection
Sep 18, 2022
Comix Experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viT1na70DaQ
NICK DRAGOTTA for GHOST CAGE — Sept 2022 Graphic Novel Club Selection
Sep 21, 2022
Comix Experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoUbucnT2LY
Off Panel #367: Cool World with Ryan Stegman
David Harper
Sep 19, 2022
https://sktchd.libsyn.com/off-panel-367-cool-world-with-ryan-stegman
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/sktchd/Ryan_Stegman_2022.mp3
Ep. 77 – MOB PSYCHO 100, by ONE
David Brothers et al
September 21, 2022
https://www.mangasplaining.com/blog/ep-77-mob-psycho-100-by-one/
The Raymond Briggs Interview by Paul Gravett
September 23, 2022
From The Comics Journal #250 (February 2003)
https://www.tcj.com/the-raymond-briggs-interview-by-paul-gravett/
Rob Liefeld Vs. Don Simpson Round Two – The Splitting Image Years
September 22, 2022
by Rich Johnston
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/rob-liefeld-vs-don-simpson-round-two-the-splitting-image-years/
Dynamite Doubles Or Triples Orders At FOC With Diamond Comics
September 22, 2022
by Rich Johnston
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dynamite-doubles-or-triples-orders-at-foc-with-diamond-comics/
Slipgate Complex – This Week's Links
Clark Burscough | September 23, 2022
https://www.tcj.com/slipgate-complex-this-weeks-links/
Animation Is Film Festival Announces Competition Lineup
'Little Nicholas' and 'My Father's Dragon' are among the films in competition. 'Wendell & Wild' will open the fest with its U.S. premiere.
Carolyn Giardina
September 22, 2022
Reviews - TUKI: Fight for Family [Jeff Smith].
Irene Velentzas | September 22, 2022
https://www.tcj.com/reviews/tuki-fight-for-family/
Reviews - Keeping Two [Jordan Crane]
Lane Yates | September 20, 2022
https://www.tcj.com/reviews/keeping-two/
'Count Crowley': Actor/Writer David Dastmalchian Talks The Future His Retro & Subversive Horror Comic
Josh Weiss
Sep 15, 2022
Political Discourse and Ideological Polarisation (sic) in the Narrative of the Tintin Comics
Abhay Shetty
International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences
Vol-7, Issue-4; Jul-Aug, 2022
https://ijels.com/upload_document/issue_files/38IJELS-10820221-Political.pdf
Diane Noomin, the underground cartoonist behind DiDi Glitz, dies at 75 [in print as Artist behind DiDi Glitz challenged boys club of underground cartoonists]
By Terence McArdle
Washington Post September 23 2022
online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/17/diane-noomin-cartoonist-didi-glitz-dead/
The Daily Heller: The Blues in Black & White [Tony Mostrom]
By Steven Heller
September 16, 2022
The Daily Heller
https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-the-blues-in-black-white/
The Brexit Effect: Part 1 – Comics Self-Publishers on the Significant Impact on Income After the UK's Departure from the EU
by Andy Oliver
September 12, 2022
https://www.brokenfrontier.com/brexit-comics-self-publishers-artists-income/
The Brexit Effect: Part 2 – Comics Publishers on the Loss of Vital Revenue Streams and Markets, and the Ever Rising Production Costs Post-Brexit
by Andy Oliver
September 20, 2022
https://www.brokenfrontier.com/brexit-effect-2-comics-publishers/
SCARRED BATMAN: ALAN BRENNERT's Surprising, Lasting Contribution to Superhero Mythos
Dan Greenfield on Sep 20, 2022
Smash Pages Q&A | Mike Dawson
The creator of 'Troop 142,' 'Angie Bongiolatti' and more discusses the second book in his 'The Fifth Quarter' series.
Alex Dueben
September 20, 2022
https://smashpages.net/2022/09/20/smash-pages-qa-mike-dawson/
Surfside Girls: Kim Dwinell
By Sheena McNeil
September 12, 2022
http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=3733
Doughnuts and Doom: Balazs Lorinczi
By Sheena McNeil
September 5, 2022
http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=3732
Order of the Night Jay: Jonathan Schnapp
By Sheena McNeil
September 19, 2022
http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=3735
Irma Kniivila and Tri Vuong launch "Everyday Hero Machine Boy"
By Paul Lai | September 19th, 2022
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/interviews/kniivila-vuong-everyday-hero-machine-boy/
INTERVIEW: Melanie Gillman Chats About Craving Queer Community in Other Ever Afters
Emily Lauer September 20, 2022
Melanie Gillman's "Other Ever Afters" Part 2: On Craft & Building New, Queer Fairy Tales
By Elias Rosner | September 20th, 2022
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/interviews/melanie-gillman-other-ever-afters-part-2/
Our favorite queer comics creators recommend the best queer indie comics
Where to start in comics' fantastic, growing world of queer fantasy, sci-fi, drama, YA, and erotica
By Tasha Robinson@TashaRobinson Sep 20, 2022
https://www.polygon.com/23355149/best-queer-comics-recommendations
The moon—it's for the birds
Michael DeForge's new graphic novel paints a human-free utopia.
by Megan Kirby September 20, 2022
https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/feature/the-moon-its-for-the-birds/
Dan Jurgens swings in with an all-new Tarzan series, 'Lord of the Jungle'
Chris Coplan
September 20, 2022
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/09/20/dan-jurgens-tarzan-interview/
Megan Huang unpacks her sequel 'Rangers of The Divide II: Into the Depths'
David Brooke
September 22, 2022
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/09/22/megan-huang-rangers-of-the-divide-qa/
Grappling with the 'Flash': Jeremy Adams talks wrestling shenanigans in #787
David Brooke
September 23, 2022
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/09/23/dc-comics-jeremy-adams-flash-787/
Declan Shalvey talks genres and heroes in 'Old Dog'
Chris Coplan
September 22, 2022
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/09/22/declan-shalvey-old-dog-interview/
Chuck Brown dissects the violence and healing at the heart of 'Flawed'
Chris Coplan
September 20, 2022
https://aiptcomics.com/2022/09/20/chuck-brown-flawed-qa/
With 'Ducks,' the creator of Hark! A Vagrant reveals her shadow side
September 22, 2022
Etelka Lehoczky
How Kate Beaton Paid Off Her Student Loans
"Ducks," the Canadian cartoonist's new graphic memoir, chronicles two years she spent working in the Athabasca oil sands, in northeastern Alberta.
By Sam Thielman
September 23, 2022
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-kate-beaton-paid-off-her-student-loans
'Firebuds' Gives a Face to Emergency Workers, and Their Vehicles
A new Disney animated series aims to instill helpfulness, commitment to service and a sense of community in its young viewers.
By Laurel Graeber
A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 23, 2022, Section C, Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: Emergency Workers Drive Into Children's TV.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/arts/television/firebuds-disney.html
Into the raunchy, violent danger zone of 'Archer'
Glen Weldon, Stephen Thompson, Kathy Tu
Pop Culture Happy Hour September 19, 2022
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/09/1122100222/into-the-raunchy-violent-danger-zone-of-archer
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1122100222
Patton Oswalt's Fall 2022 Comics Recommendations!
Andrew Sumner Sep 22, 2022
Forbidden Planet TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H2Y62PwNn0
The Weird and Wonderful History of Marvel Theme Park Rides
Marvel's theme park rides have often been out of left field for legal reasons, but Guardians of the Galaxy's success was a game-changer for Disney.
By Gavin Jasper | September 23, 2022
https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/the-weird-wonderful-history-marvel-theme-park-rides/