December 18, 2012 Johanna Other Publishers 3 comments

Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me

Ellen Forney first came to my attention with Monkey Food, her collection of comics about growing up in the wacky 70s. Marbles takes a different autobiographical turn, capturing her struggles with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the resulting concerns over what it means for her as an artist. Like the previous book, it’s alternately touching, informative, entertaining, and at times, unbelievable. Marbles opens with a particularly revelatory, life-changing moment for Forney, as she gets the first stage of a […]

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 cover

December 17, 2012 Johanna DCU Original Animation One comment

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 Date and Details Announced

The second half of the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns animated feature set has been given a release date of January 29, 2013. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 is rated PG-13 and concludes the story based on Frank Miller’s classic graphic novel. It’s available as a Blu-ray Combo Pack (with DVD and UltraViolet, list price $24.98), a DVD ($19.98 list price), on demand, or as a digital download. This part of the film will feature Batman’s battles against […]

December 17, 2012 Johanna IDW / Top Shelf 2 comments

The Comic Book History of Comics

It’s been an astounding year for non-fiction comics, with such exceptional works as Economix, Science Tales, and Dirt Candy (also drawn by Dunlavey) released — and I haven’t even mentioned memoir! Probably the most fun of any such book — as well as the most self-referential in subject matter — is The Comic Book History of Comics by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey. It’s an incredibly dense book, with packed panels and wide-ranging coverage. It begins with the credited […]

December 16, 2012 Johanna Vertical Manga Reviews One comment

Message to Adolf Volume 1

One of the most famous of Osamu Tezuka’s adult works is now back in print in an oversized hardcover with a new translation by Kumar Sivasubramanian. The story of three men named Adolf is introduced to us by a reporter, Sohei Toge, who covered the Berlin Olympics in 1936. (Message to Adolf was originally published in the 80s, which made his age more reasonable.) His brother is murdered there, and the body, taken away by officials, disappears. While investigating, Toge […]

December 16, 2012 Johanna Abrams / Amulet One comment

Economix

How Our Economy Works (And Doesn’t Work) in Words and Pictures I’m lucky. My parents gave me a basic training in personal finance growing up, so I had the kind of economic background that served me well as an adult. For example, I knew how to avoid getting in over my head on a mortgage and why it’s a good thing to pay your credit cards in full every month. Many people don’t have that knowledge, because it’s in no […]

December 15, 2012 Johanna Books About Comics Leave a comment

Mastering Comics

Four years ago, the talented Jessica Abel and Matt Madden brought us an essential book on how to make comics: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures. Mastering Comics continues where that book left off, providing, as they term it, “a definitive course in comics narrative”. This is a topic I’m thrilled to see getting more attention, since the best-looking comics still need to have something to say. The book consists of four substantial sections: Building Stories — tools to generate ideas […]

December 15, 2012 Johanna Viz Manga Reviews Leave a comment

Honey Darling

If you like boys’ love stories and cats, Honey Darling is the perfect manga for you. SuBLime Manga has published this single volume by Norikazu Akira. Takahashi has no purpose in life until he finds an abandoned kitten he names Shiro. One night, Shiro gets sick, and Takahashi makes a fateful deal. He’s so indebted to the big, bearish vet that saves his cat that he agrees to become his live-in housekeeper. Dr. Kumazawa needs someone to clean, cook, and […]

December 12, 2012 Johanna Action Lab 4 comments

Princeless Volume 2 #1

The popular Princeless series, a fresh take on girls’ fantasy roles written by Jeremy Whitley, returns with a new miniseries in February. Now drawn by Emily Martin, this story features runaway princess Adrienne and her new friend Bedelia (a real pistol, a blacksmith’s daughter) setting out to save Adrienne’s sister Angelica, “the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom”. The King, their father, is complicating things, though, because he thinks that Adrienne’s masked identity is responsible for killing Adrienne. (If […]

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