May 3, 2023 Johanna Andrews McMeel Leave a comment

Animal Rescue Friends

Young readers might enjoy these slight stories about kids helping animals, but overall, Animal Rescue Friends is bland. It’s written by Gina Loveless and Meika Hashimoto and illustrated by Genevieve Kote. Maddie finds a lost dog in the park and takes it home. Since her apartment building doesn’t allow pets, she has to take it to Animal Rescue Friends. She starts volunteering as a way to keep seeing the animal. She and another volunteer fight, which leads to a horse […]

April 22, 2023 Johanna DCU Original Animation Leave a comment

Animated All-Star Superman Returns in 4K

In 2011, All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely was adapted by Dwayne McDuffie into a movie-length cartoon. I reviewed the animated All-Star Superman back then. Now, as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studios, it’s been re-released on 4K. It features a Superman (voiced by James Denton) who decides to do everything he’s ever wanted when he thinks he’s dying, including revealing his identity to Lois Lane (Christina Hendricks), before a final showdown […]

April 20, 2023 Johanna First Second Leave a comment

Why the People: The Case for Democracy

Why the People: The Case for Democracy is another in First Second’s line of World Citizen comics, civics-focused non-fiction graphic novels that aim to “equip readers to be active citizens and informed voters.” I’m always a bit hesitant when I pick up one of these titles, as part of me hasn’t shaken the idea that educational works, particularly about politics and citizenship, are going to be too good-for-me to be entertaining. Thankfully, Why the People uses images and metaphors in […]

April 14, 2023 Johanna Marvel, Other Publishers Leave a comment

Doctor Strange (Folio Society Edition)

The Folio Society, the upscale publisher of limited editions, has released a fifth book in their Marvel Heroes series. (I previously talked about the Folio Society when I covered their Black Panther collection.) This time, it’s one of my favorite Marvel characters: Doctor Strange! As with the other books, Roy Thomas has selected the 13 stories reprinted here and written an introduction, explaining his choices. The hardcover is brilliantly colored, representing the psychedelic peak period of the Sorcerer Supreme. It […]

April 13, 2023 Johanna Books About Comics Leave a comment

Marvel Value Stamps: A Visual History

What a fascinating tiny bit of comic history! I’d only heard about Marvel value stamps before in the context of back issues with clipped pages. I had no idea of the scope of the project, or what any of them actually looked like. Marvel Value Stamps: A Visual History, edited by Charles Kochman, is incredibly comprehensive. Every stamp is pictured in the context of one of the letter pages where it first appeared, with a list of any other appearances, […]

April 10, 2023 Johanna Other Leave a comment

Presenting on Sherlock Holmes in Comics at 221B Con This Weekend

This coming weekend, April 14-16, 2023, is 221B Con in Atlanta, and I’m thrilled to go! It’s a fan-run gathering for those interested in Sherlock Holmes, any version through the ages, and it’s a fabulous time (based on how much I enjoyed attending for the first time last year). I will be presenting on Sherlock Holmes in Comics at 5:30 PM on Saturday. Come see me! I’ll also be one of the panelists for “Fan Friends in Real Life” — […]

April 6, 2023 Johanna Other Publishers Leave a comment

Crunch by Kayla Miller

Olive Branche, the star of the series beginning with Click (and most recently continued with Clash), faces a new challenge in Crunch by Kayla Miller. She’s got so many things she wants to do — guitar lessons, Berry Scouts, school politics, and a contest to make a short film — that basics like sleep and homework are falling by the wayside. The political challenge is particularly timely, as she and her friends set out to demonstrate that the school dress […]

April 5, 2023 Johanna Oni Press / Lion Forge Leave a comment

A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent

Isabella Rotman presents an incredibly important subject in straightforward, understandable fashion in A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent, fourth in the series of Quick & Easy Guides. Sargeant Yes Means Yes from the Consent Cavalry helps various couples get past assumptions to better understand how important (and fun) consent can be. The situations are common, the questions often unspoken but necessary, as the Sergeant points out. Topics covered include “what is consent?”, particularly affirmative consent. We learn about the […]

« 1 2 3 4 … 599 »