Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
You’ve likely seen at least some mention of the idiotic idea of the fake geek girl, since responses have been going on around the internet since the summer. Although I thought this was merely fanboy paranoia, I just found a classic example of the type. Let me back up. I’m still unpacking the various boxes of books arising from our move in August. (When you have over a dozen bookcases and need more to hold all the volumes, it’s not […]
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I’ve been a fan of Rachel Hartman’s work for 15 years now. Many readers won’t remember or haven’t heard of her comic work, but in the late 1990s, she created an amazing series of minicomics called Amy Unbounded about a young woman growing up in a medieval society. (Several issues were collected as Belondweg Blossoming.) Hartman created her own historical fantasy world, and it was astounding, full of details like what the musical instruments looked like and how the industries […]
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written by Galen Goodwin Longstreth; art by Maris Wicks In this wonderful picture book, each page is a complete illustration, with a rhyming caption over top describing how this large family — parents, four kids, large dog — decides to spend a day in the country, hiking in the woods, having a picnic, swimming in the river. It’s a terrific paean to enjoying the outdoors and being part of such a family. The art is amazing, too, with such active […]
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Christopher Hart, the bestselling author of how-to-draw books who doesn’t take criticism well, will be releasing another book on August 7 from Watson-Guptill. Manga for the Beginner Kawaii promises to teach readers “How to Draw the Supercute Characters of Japanese Comics”. The sell copy references Hello Kitty and Pokemon, for some quick reference points, in explaining “the superpopular manga genre of Kawaii”. (I wasn’t aware it was a genre, instead of a style or a design choice, but I also […]
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When I think of Mark Crilley, I fondly remember Akiko, the charming small-press comic that began in 1995. That was a long time ago now — the comic ran 50 issues, before spinning off another ten children’s prose books, and if it was a person, it would now be getting ready to graduate high school — and Crilley has done other books since then, Miki Falls and Brody’s Ghost. His newest publication gives readers the benefit of his experience, providing […]
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The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is an odd but rewarding experiment, a “novel in pictures” that tells its story through captioned vintage images, over 600 pieces of memorabilia in all. The book’s trailer pretends to show the construction of the scrapbook. It’s about Frankie Pratt, an 18-year-old New Hampshire village girl in 1920 who wants to be a writer. As she grows up, she attends Vassar, struggles in Greenwich Village, and runs away to Paris to heal a broken heart. […]
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On one level, it doesn’t matter what’s in this book. You take that name and that subject matter, and Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is already #1 on Amazon’s search for “how to write comics” before it’s even been released. On another hand, I’ve been looking forward to this volume, because it’s co-written by our friend Bob Greenberger, although you wouldn’t know it — the voice is distinctly Stan’s. The book is a survey/overview, but it’s well-formatted for browsing, […]
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Review by KC Carlson Normally, guys Joe Simon’s age should be retired. Kicking back. Taking life easy. Here’s a couple of things you should know about Joe. He’s 97 years old. He and his long-time partner Jack Kirby created a lot of comic book characters — including Captain America. He was Timely Comics’ (now Marvel Comics) first editor. He trained Stan Lee. (Let that one sink in a little.) He and Kirby created the romance genre and were instrumental in […]
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