I have been woefully remiss in not yet writing about the excellent Blacksad, which came out earlier this summer in hardcover from Dark Horse. The comic, written by Juan Díaz Canales and illustrated by Juanjo Guarnido, beautifully blends private eye noir with anthropomorphism. The book collects three stories, the last of which, “Red Soul”, hasn’t been presented in English before. Here’s the official promotional description: Private investigator John Blacksad is up to his feline ears in mystery, digging into the […]

Out this week is Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, the gorgeous graphic novel by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson about dogs who fight mystical forces. (But that description doesn’t do the series justice, or attest to the immense creative skill on display here.) The book collects the four issue miniseries along with the earlier short stories from the various Dark Horse Book of … anthologies. This complete story, “Stray”, provided by Dark Horse, originally appeared in The Dark Horse Book […]

To promote Archie #608, out April 21, Archie Comics has released this Rolling Stone magazine cover mockup hinting at the romance story between Archie and Valerie. These kinds of mashups make me giggle. And you know, there is so much more Archie could be doing with the Pussycats characters, in a world of Pussycat Dolls. I like that the company describes Valerie as the “beautiful songwriter/bassist” of the band, emphasizing her creative abilities. In this story, the Archies band and […]

I’m reading Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, but I’ve never read Astro Boy, so I found this character comparison chart particularly fascinating. I didn’t realize how much Naoki Urasawa was cleaning up the characters, making them more realistic than cartoony. The chart is by Xavier Guilbert, as part of his Pluto review (translated from the French).

Viz has released a promotional poster for 20th Century Boys that prominently quotes site reviewer Ed Sizemore. The line across the center reads, “20th Century Boys had me hooked before I even finished the first chapter… It’s a masterpiece.” Congratulations, Ed!

I love popular history and culture, so I’m always thrilled when they put a really old story in one of the Archie digests. (I would be even more thrilled if they bothered to cite when and where it first appeared and said who wrote and drew it.) This month, it was “Leg Work” in Betty & Veronica Double Digest #162. It seems that Mr. Lodge (who for once drives himself, without a chauffeur) is scandalized and aghast that his daughter […]

I’m trying Torchwood again because of James Marsters’ appearance in the first episode of the second season. Ridiculous and enjoyable all at once. So I was tickled to find this webcomic, called Torchwood Babiez. (Update: Archived here.) Somehow, all of the silliest elements of the show are even funnier when the characters are drawn as four-year-olds. Baby Jack “can’t get boo-boos” and Baby Ianto carries around a cyber-Barbie. The guest-star on page 8 cracked me up. Beware of cuteness overdose. […]

Matt Maxwell has put online the first chapter of Strangeways: Murder Moon, his cowboys and werewolves Western horror story, as a preview for the graphic novel due in March. This comic has an unfortunate history. It was originally supposed to be a series from Speakeasy; when that company folded, Maxwell decided to self-publish the work as a graphic novel. (The better choice, if you ask me.) He shares some of his thoughts on the change: “I really wanted to make […]