Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
In this volume, new dad Daikichi continues the search for Rin’s mother he began in the first book. (Click that link if you want to know more about the series premise.) He also begins preparing the little girl to attend elementary school; they’ve barely bonded, and already she’s growing up. While it’s very important to the story and the reader to solve that mystery and settle the question of the little girl’s parentage, I most enjoy the everyday changes similar […]
Read more
Debuting on Tuesday, September 28, is a DVD collecting the Astonishing X-Men motion comic Gifted, based on the comic by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday and directed by Cassaday and Neal Adams. I’ve been harsh on motion comics before, but what I saw of it was better than I expected. The disc, list-priced at $15, contains six episodes and a handful of bonus features. The first episode, which is all I watched at one sitting, is 13 1/2 minutes long, […]
Read more
Or the Origin of Supergirl in a hour and 18 minutes. As newscasters tell of President Luthor’s impeachment and a rash of Kryptonite meteors, we see one particular space rock land in Gotham Harbor, and Batman heads out in a sleek Bat-boat to investigate. Once Supergirl is discovered, Superman becomes protective of his new cousin, his only relative, while Batman (and Krypto) are suspicious of her origin and motives. The underwater animation doesn’t have the feel of actually being underwater […]
Read more
Ed, Julia, and I enjoyed this year’s Small Press Expo, so we talked about it in the latest installment of the Manga Out Loud podcast. It’s great fun going over convention memories with others, since I wind up remembering things when I tell stories I otherwise wouldn’t. We talked about panels we attended, our general impressions of the show, and the many cool comics we got there. As part of discussing the critics panel, we also argue about The Comics […]
Read moreSmut Peddler, an anthology minicomic series dedicated to erotica (which means porn that isn’t mean or degrading), is returning! The last issue, #3, came out in 2005. As before, I’m part of the editorial group putting this together. This time around, we’re aiming for 150-200 pages, black-and-white, with a spine. Spear-headed this time around by Spike (Templar, Arizona), there’s already a submission page (link no longer available). Here are the key points: * The work must be sex-positive. The point […]
Read more
Highly anticipated by its devoted fans, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on November 9, three months after its theater debut. The Blu-ray (list price $40) is jam-packed with special features. (If I hadn’t already upgraded my system, this would be my excuse.) It’s also a combo pack, coming with a DVD version and a digital copy. Both the Blu-ray and the DVD ($30) offer bloopers, deleted and alternate scenes (with commentary from director/co-writer […]
Read more
I should have had my 2010 Small Press Expo convention report up by now, since it was last weekend (feels like much further away), but yesterday, Ed, Julia, and I recorded a podcast about it, so I feel like I’ve already shared my stories. What’s here is just some quick thoughts. The shortest version: it’s a great show, especially to find new, promising work, and well worth your time to attend. This year it was busier than I expected, with […]
Read more
The best-known webcomic about movies, Multiplex by Gordon McAlpin, will release its first book collection this week. Enjoy Your Show is available for order from the website. It contains the first 102 strips (which ran July 2005 – November 2006) with some art revisions and cleanup, plus a new 12-page story set on the opening night of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (authorized by Lucasfilm, according to the author). The bonus comics previously available in the PDF ebooks McAlpin sold are […]
Read more