Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
As you probably know, John Carter is the story of a Civil War veteran who, through a mysterious cave, winds up on Mars, which they call Barsoom. There, he becomes a warrior fought over by various tribes and winds up saving the planet from their own civil war. Two hours twelve minutes is a lot of adventure, but I’d heard good things. I have to say, I’m not a convert, but I’m very glad I got a chance to check […]
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I asked for a copy of this not-yet-published-in-the-US graphic novel because I thought it sounded like an intriguing take on chick lit in illustrated form. I was pleased by what I found, although Please God, Find Me a Husband! turned out to be something else altogether. This autobiographical tale begins with Simone Lia being dumped. She feels like a spinster, although she’d like to be in a relationship, so since she’s Catholic, she asks God for help. His answers — […]
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In Superman vs. the Elite (out June 12), Superman is played by George Newbern, voice of the character in the Justice League cartoon. He also played Superman in Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam. Newbern has most recently been appearing on Scandal, but to me, he will always be the guy from Adventures in Babysitting. Warner Home Video provided the following question-and-answer interview with him. Q: Where do you start as an actor when trying to create a voice for […]
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written by Galen Goodwin Longstreth; art by Maris Wicks In this wonderful picture book, each page is a complete illustration, with a rhyming caption over top describing how this large family — parents, four kids, large dog — decides to spend a day in the country, hiking in the woods, having a picnic, swimming in the river. It’s a terrific paean to enjoying the outdoors and being part of such a family. The art is amazing, too, with such active […]
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After vampires, fairies, and Frankensteinian monsters, this installment of the supernatural romance series gets back to the classics: ghosts. Nora and her family have moved into a new home that’s also a landmark, the prior home of a writer. Odd things start happening — the TV comes on by itself, small items go missing — until Nora sees Tom, a boy about her age who died over a century ago. He’s not the only ghost in the house, though, and […]
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I got a quick taste of the Dance Class comics by Beka and Crip as part of the Papercutz Free Comic Book Day comic. Since then, I’ve had a chance to read the two slim volumes released so far, and I’ve enjoyed them. So, You Think You Can Hip-Hop? The books, translated from the French (where it’s called Studio Danse), consist of single-page strips that each provide a gag. Yet reading a bunch of them together, a picture of these […]
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Christopher Hart, the bestselling author of how-to-draw books who doesn’t take criticism well, will be releasing another book on August 7 from Watson-Guptill. Manga for the Beginner Kawaii promises to teach readers “How to Draw the Supercute Characters of Japanese Comics”. The sell copy references Hello Kitty and Pokemon, for some quick reference points, in explaining “the superpopular manga genre of Kawaii”. (I wasn’t aware it was a genre, instead of a style or a design choice, but I also […]
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Given how much I enjoyed the first season of Sherlock, I’ve been eagerly anticipating this second season. When I heard that the episodes were clipped when they aired on PBS, I skipped watching them and went straight to DVD, which allowed me to wallow in all of them at once. I love this show, even more than Doctor Who. (They share a producer in Steven Moffat, who co-created Sherlock with Mark Gatiss.) It’s a wonderful modernization of the characters and […]
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