Voices of a Distant Star

In the near future, an interstellar war separates two teens in love in Voices of a Distant Star. This short anime, while competently created (apparently by one guy on his home computer) appeals not because of the visuals — the character designs are familiar and uninspired, and the cross-cutting choppy — but because of the mood. I describe the two as “in love” because it’s the closest I can get to describing them (and “lovers” sounds silly, because it’s not […]

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Love and Capes #1

Thom Zahler has an appealing, cartoon-influenced style that’s just right for the romantic superhero comedy Love and Capes. Mark is the Crusader, a Superman-like hero. Abby is a detail-oriented bookstore owner who somehow has missed figuring out his secret identity. They’re in love, so he decides to stop hiding things from her. I love the way he shares his secret with her — when taking off his clothes to reveal his costume, she ignores what it means until he sits […]

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Amelia Rules!: What Makes You Happy

What Makes You Happy, the second book in the Amelia Rules! series, features a story in which a music magazine does a cover feature on Amelia’s Aunt Tanner, and Amelia becomes the center of attention for the wrong reasons. She isn’t very comfortable with this popularity by proxy, nor does she understand why Tanner isn’t more excited about the recognition. Amelia isn’t ready to deal with the idea of her aunt as a “hottie” or the adult reasons that Tanner […]

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Amelia Rules!: The Whole World’s Crazy

These all-ages color stories about a girl and her group of friends are funny and touching with enough bite to keep them from being too “kiddy”. Amelia’s parents have just gotten divorced, and she and her mom have moved in with her Aunt Tanner. Like many kids, she sees herself as the only normal one, surrounded by crazy friends and relatives. She hangs out with a varied group of misfits — some of whom really are weird, like Pajamaman, a […]

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More History on the Groping Scandal

Here’s a list of key links. Ronee Garcia Bourgeois reveals Taki’s name and announces the FOL Fund. L.R. Jonte nicely summarizes some of the reaction to the fund announcement while Katherine Keller lists key questions that needed to be answered (as well as pointing out that a messenger should pay attention to how she presents herself when representing a group) and discusses potential conflicts with the group’s charter. Jane Irwin writes a terrific piece about how she’s conflicted in supporting […]

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Naming Names

The Comics Journal finally names names in the groping scandal that’s resulted in lots of chest-puffing and finger-pointing online. As much as organizers have worked quickly to research the legalities of the [Friends of Lulu “Empowerment” Fund] and place it on firm ground, it’s hard to deny that it has come about out of desperation; it is the result of a profound wish to have something good come out of the sordid misery that in tiny increments and one unretractable […]

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Max & Lily

Boyish girl Max and girly boy Lily crack wise on anything and everything in their comic strips by Kris Dresen. The newer ones that ran online (link no longer available) are three horizontal panels, while the ones I started reading, originally in print collections, are based on a 12-panel grid. These two good friends (who would be awfully neat people to meet) discuss current events, including society’s skewed priorities, sexuality, politics, and perceptions, as well as their personal lives. The […]

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Sock Puppets Get Newspaperman Disciplined

As reported in the New York Times, [The Los Angeles Times] suspended the blog of one of its columnists after it was revealed that he had posted comments on the paper’s website and elsewhere on the web under false names…. [The actions] had violated the newspaper’s ethics guidelines, “which requires editors and reporters to identify themselves when dealing with the public.” That policy “applies to both the print and online editions of the newspaper.” I like that guideline, although I […]

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