Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
If anyone’s left around here, you may have wondered where I’ve been for the past week or more. I became completely obsessed with Good Omens, which dropped six hour-long episodes on Amazon prime video at the end of May. I’ve already watched it three times so far — once straight through, once just for more of the Boyfriends (and to better understand the setup for a plot twist), and once to share with friends. (Brunch party, with red wine for […]
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Rumors were circulating over the past week that DC will be shutting down Vertigo. The imprint, which launched in 1993, was created for more mature content, and over the years, it’s been the home of some revolutionary titles (mostly horror and fantasy related), including Sandman, Swamp Thing, and Preacher. However, these days, the Comic Code Authority no longer exists, so there’s less need for a strong wall between types of comics; the visionary editors who gave Vertigo its unique feel […]
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Kate Leth has posted to her Patreon a comic called “Dry Spell: A Year Without Drinking”. In addition to her self-character bat being adorable, she brings forward some important points about why this was the right decision for her. I think many of us can relate to this panel, in particular: But there are a bunch more ways to deal with those things than alcohol, if that’s not what you want to do. Bravo to her!
Read moreI knew that there were a bunch of sites ripping images of manga titles out there, either scanlations or copies of the digital versions, but I hadn’t realized people were using YouTube to post videos of manga, turning the pages so you can read the whole thing by watching. I found this out because one of the big manga publishers is trying to shut it down legally. TorrentFreak reports that Shogakukan, one of Japan’s largest publishers and one of the […]
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Goldie Vance was an entertaining Nancy-Drew-type series featuring an energetic young woman of color in a retro beach hotel setting. It launched in May 2016 as a miniseries by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams; shortly became an ongoing series; and had movie interest announced at the end of 2017. It’s had four stories collected so far: Volume 1, October 2016; Volume 2, May 2017; Volume 3, November 2017; and Volume 4, by another creative team, and the first after it […]
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The Avant-Guards was my answer to a friend asking the question of whether there was any American comic that could be described as sports yuri (which is manga about girl-girl attraction). It’s written by Carly Usdin (Heavy Vinyl), illustrated by Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer), and this collection reprints the first four-issue storyline. (There are 12 issues planned in total.) The dynamic go-getter Olivia is determined to create a basketball team at her all-female drama school “The Georgia O’Keeffe […]
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There’s plenty of science fiction in comics, particularly if you lump many of the superheroes in that genre, but it’s rare to find science fiction (in any medium) that deals with religion, particularly one that does it well (as opposed to using it as a cliche). Invisible Kingdom, written by G. Willow Wilson and illustrated by Christian Ward not only does this, but it does so gorgeously. It’s clear that the world we’re shown here has been well-thought-through, with the […]
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Ted Adams, founder of IDW, was replaced as CEO in July 2018. (His replacement was replaced seven months later.) There was mention at that time of him returning in a new role. Now we know what that will be. The parent “integrated media company”, IDW Media Holdings, will be launching Clover Press, a “joint book publishing venture… led by the company’s co-founders Ted Adams and Robbie Robbins.” Clover Press is skipping out on the comic book market, focusing instead on […]
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