Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Coming in May from Image Comics is Madame Frankenstein, a seven-issue series written by Jamie S. Rich and beautifully drawn by Megan Levens. It’s got a great high concept: a blend of Frankenstein and My Fair Lady with a strong flavor of The Great Gatsby. It’s 1932, and Vincent Krall is reanimating Courtney Bow, the high-society lady he’s had his eye on who perished in a car accident. But it’s in future issues — I’ve had the pleasure of reading […]
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For a long while, this has been my most-anticipated manga release, even when it looked like we’d never see it in English, due to its specialized subject matter. What Did You Eat Yesterday? is about two men who live together, one a lawyer and accomplished home cook, the other a hairdresser. They talk over their day while we see in glorious detail what they’re eating, as prepared by Shiro. I wanted to see it so much that when a work […]
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I know a little about how these books are put together. Selection of a “master” depends on expected sales (of course), so they have to have an existing fanbase; whether the subject is willing to participate, to get all the historical art and sketchbook pages; along similar lines, possession of a substantial body of work; being a “name” to the comic market (so most often, some superhero work history); and apparently, a Y chromosome. I started thinking about this, because […]
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The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) in White River Junction, Vermont, has announced a new MFA track in Applied Cartooning. It’s a two-year program “designed to help students develop exceptional visual communication skills and apply those skills in fields outside of traditional publishing.” Examples given include “developing grade school curriculum that meets Common Core standards, using comics to promote healthcare in developing nations, developing a comics workshops for veterans, and creating visual mission statements for businesses and organizations.” It sounds […]
Read moreI like the mutant movies — yes, even X-Men 3 — but this X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer looks awfully dark and grim. 70s costumes rock, though. I guess, since Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films, is back, I should have more faith and hope. It’s certainly got an amazingly full cast. Most surprising to me: I realized that Marvel has *4* movies coming out this summer — Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the […]
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MoCCA Fest is two weeks away, so the programming is now available for Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 6. New this year is a reservation ticket system for two showcase events, since space is limited. If you want to see “Alison Bechdel and Howard Cruse in Conversation” or “Art Spiegelman and Joost Swarte in Conversation” (each 90 minutes), you need to reserve a free ticket on the website, “with any remaining seating to be filled on a first-come, first-served […]
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I found Muppets Most Wanted only mildly disappointing because I didn’t have very high expectations for it in the first place. There are spoilers below. I don’t regret going — KC and I laughed a bit, and it’s always good to see the beloved characters again. But perhaps my biggest let-down was that the puppetry isn’t as good as it used to be. When I first saw The Muppet Movie, there was such wonder in how transparently these bits of […]
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If you’ve been wanting to try the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic, issue #1 of season 10 is a terrific place to start. Christos Gage captures the character’s voices authentically, and he manages to cram in lots of exposition (to remind readers of the new status quo) while still keeping the storytelling interesting. Of most interest to fans is that just about EVERYone shows up here. Buffy’s fighting vampires with Spike, Willow has her magic back, and Xander, Andrew, and […]
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