EW Releases List of 10 Greatest Graphic Novels With One I’ve Never Heard Of

Last week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly took a summer vacation by skipping out on most of its content and instead running lists of the “All-Time Greatest” movies, books, TV shows, etc. Each medium got a list of 100 items, each with a few sentences of description. It seems like quickly assembled, low-effort discussion bait, meant to increase hit counts as comments debate what was left out. (And as a double issue, that meant no fresh content for two weeks, so […]

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Robot Chicken DC Comics Special

Out on July 9 is the home video version of the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, a 23-minute animated parody of how the classic superheroes would act if they were frat boys. The opening sequence, which plays the old-school Super Friends cartoon theme as we watch a robot humping the Bat-signal, sets up the blend of crudeness and nostalgia to follow. I haven’t before seen any of the Robot Chicken specials, but they seem to be to comedy what podcasting […]

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Literary Life

After enjoying Mrs Weber’s Omnibus, I thought I’d pick up the remaining Posy Simmonds comic collection, Literary Life. The slim (76-page) squarish hardcover was published in 2003, reprinting strips from the Guardian. The format is such that this feels like a picture book, only for adults. It’s very approachable. It would make a terrific companion for anyone who enjoyed Simmonds’ Tamara Drewe, either book or movie version. The characters in these strips — aspiring country writer, bookseller complaining about chain […]

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The Garlicks Gets Publisher, No Release Date Yet

Last year, I gave Lea Hernandez guff over her failed Kickstarter for The Garlicks, a terrific concept about a family of vampires, including a teen aspiring graphic novelist. This year, she’s back with a publisher. Action Lab Entertainment has announced that they will publishing The Garlicks as part of their all-ages line (of which the best-known title is Princeless). There’s no publication date yet, probably because there’s still work to be done, but the publisher will have a preview available […]

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Smaller Publishers Merge: Boom! Acquires Archaia

Yes, that headline is muddled, because whether this is a merger, a joining of forces, or an acquisition depends on which press release you read first. The news is flying around the internet, however, that Archaia Entertainment, originally founded by Mark Smylie over a decade ago to publish his comic Artesia, is being bought by Boom! Studios. Archaia has been known for publishing Mouse Guard and putting out attractive, reasonably priced hardcovers, many of which are European reprints. Their licensed […]

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Confessions of a Hater

Caprice Crane has written several light novels for women (a genre often dismissively called “chick lit”), including Forget About It and Family Affair. I tried a couple of her previous books, and although the premises were intriguing, I didn’t care enough about the characters or what happened to finish any of them. Confessions of a Hater was different. It’s a Young Adult book, to start, with the classic plot of “geek girl finds way to be popular at a new […]

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They’ll Never Put That on the Air

I’ve always found stories of media censorship and attempted restraint interesting, because what offends people can be so arbitrary (and sometimes silly). This “oral history of taboo-breaking TV comedy” (as the subtitle has it) by Allan Neuwirth presents a collection of concerns over some of the best TV shows of all time, as told by the creators and executives involved. The opening chapter of They’ll Never Put That on the Air serves as a brief history of the sitcom, including […]

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Lone Ranger Features Released on YouTube

To promote the upcoming film The Lone Ranger, in theaters starting July 3 and starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, Disney has released two behind-the-scenes featurettes. They do the job, since I’m more interested in seeing the movie after viewing these promos. In “The Craft”, producer Jerry Bruckheimer talks about the practical effects and settings, and Depp almost gets trampled by his horse. The footage included is quite impressive, particularly the stunts. “Hi-Yo Silver”, as you might expect, looks at […]

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