The king of sprawling, feels-like-autobiography, multi-cast graphic novel soap operas, Alex Robinson, has returned with Our Expanding Universe. It’s dubbed a “spiritual sequel” to his best-known Box Office Poison, and that’s an accurate comparison. (Other Robinson books include Tricked and the regretful time-travel Too Cool to Be Forgotten.) The characters aren’t the same, but they’re recognizable in the same ways the BOP cast were. The significant difference is that Our Expanding Universe features older adults. Instead of wondering when their […]

Well, that was unexpected. I wasn’t sure how this romantic comedy about a long-distance relationship was going to play out, since I wouldn’t put it past author Thom Zahler to break my heart. Thankfully, we get a satisfactory ending, but one I couldn’t have predicted. A lot is lumped into this issue. After Carter and Lee met and fell in love, they had to figure out how to make their separation work for them — what with Carter co-running an […]

Long Distance #3 continues the comic romance by Thom Zahler in just the right ways. At first, Carter and Lee are floating on air. They’ve hit a major new point in their relationship, and their exhilaration at sharing their joy with friends floats off the pages. (It’s a modern romance, in that whether or not to say “I love you” is more significant than swapping bodily fluids.) I like the way there’s a whole cast here, with co-workers and family […]

Since I didn’t care at all about Saved by the Bell (the TV show), I only took a look at Saved by the Bell (the comic) because part of it was drawn by Chyna Clugston Flores, whose comic Blue Monday I adored. She alternates chapters with Tim Fish, and the book is written by Joelle Sellner. Sadly, while Clugston’s figures were cute teens, the content of the stories read like sub-par Archie. Zack frames Slater into detention so he can […]

Alex Toth is rightly recognized as a genius artist, with a particular facility for dramatic black areas. Bravo for Adventure was an aborted comic series about pilot Jesse Bravo, a swashbuckling adventurer, with everything related to it collected here in a handsome, oversized hardcover. The presentation is everything a history buff could ask for. Editor Dean Mullaney’s introduction lays out the project’s checkered past (with plans to publish interrupted) for those readers, like me, who’ve never heard of it before. […]

Out today is the first issue of Thom Zahler’s new project, after a lengthy run on Love and Capes, a terrific superhero romantic comedy. It’s Long Distance, and this four-issue miniseries drops the genre trappings to tell a straightforward romance. As you might guess from the title, it’s about a situation many of us have been in (or thought about). Carter is an ad agency art director from Columbus, Ohio; Lee is a NASA research scientist (and bravo to Thom […]

Never having watched the cartoon show, I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the new licensed comic. I shouldn’t have worried — writer Kelly Thompson and artist Sophie Campbell do a terrific job setting up and refreshing the premise for today’s audience. I want to call particular attention to Campbell’s art and the coloring by M. Victoria Robado. (You can see preview pages online.) The book’s style is clean, open, and exciting, due to the candy colors and the expressive, […]

Out next month is a dynamite pairing of two comic properties with old-fashioned flavor. Rocketeer / The Spirit: Pulp Friction works so well because the creators know their stuff. The characters sound right (and different from each other), their histories are acknowledged (without leaving out readers who don’t know them), and the look is nicely retro, clear and easy to read. It’s 1941, and the Spirit, Commissioner Dolan, and Ellen Dolan go to Los Angeles, where they run into Cliff […]