There’s a tendency, when working with a favorite property, to want to include all the well-known bits all at once. But in this case, the result is more like a checklist than a story. Many of the elements that fans know from the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle — a name that nowhere appears on this comic, by the way, although the incorrect line “Sherlock Holmes TM & © 2018 Dynamite Characters, LLC.” is in the indicia — […]

As part of a graphic series on self-care and mind/body understanding, Steve Haines (a chiropractor who teaches Trauma Releasing Exercises) writes and Sophie Standing illustrates Anxiety Is Really Strange. (They have also done Trauma Is Really Strange and Pain Is Really Strange, while Forgiveness Is Really Strange is written by Masi Noor and Marina Cantacuzino.) It wasn’t what I expected. It’s a 32-page comic on heavy paper that reads like an illustrated essay, with related quotes as footnotes on almost […]

Iron Circus’ newest book of erotica was a disappointment. I loved the idea of a varied bunch of fans hooking up at a convention — I was hoping it would be as fun as Dramacon, but with actual sex scenes — but I never got enough information about most of the cast to care about what they were or weren’t doing to each other. Niki Smith originally serialized the chapters that make up Crossplay online at a pay porn site, […]

If you’re interested in comics that show you what it might be like to live a different kind of life, you should check out Nico Harriman’s Diary of a Douchebag (available on ComiXology). It’s the story of a frat guy. Willie is the type of character that gets a lot of denigration lately, blamed for all kinds of regressive, abusive attitudes. And here, he deserves it, but by letting us see what happens to Willie in comparison to how he […]

Gothic Tales of Haunted Love is Hope Nicholson’s (The Secret Loves of Geek Girls) latest Kickstarted anthology, now available for order through your local comic shop. And it’s a great concept — inspired by the short-run early 70s comic genre of gothic romance, which featured spooky old houses, tragic young women in danger, and the potential of ghosts, a variety of creators have created new stories with today’s attitudes. There are 20 stories included, co-edited by S.M. Beiko, plus some […]

What an adorable Christmas trinket! Cassandra Jean‘s Reindeer Boy is wonderfully weird. As a little girl, Quincy thought she saw a little boy with horns under her Christmas tree. Now, as a teenager, she meets Cupid, a gorgeous young man with a full set of antlers. He charms the town and introduces them to his friends, all with antlers like his. They say they’re Santa’s reindeer. Quincy doesn’t fall under Cupid’s spell as quickly as everyone else, but she finds […]

This is the hardest kind of review to write. First Year Out: A Transition Story means well and supports a great cause, but it’s not very good comics. Sabrina Symington’s graphic novel covers key events in the first year of Lily’s life as a woman. She goes through laser hair removal to lose her beard, struggles to explain her change to her mother, narrates techniques for looking more feminine, reminds friends her pronouns have changed, and demonstrates voice training. She […]

Larry Gonick’s latest book, due out next month, is Hypercapitalism: The Modern Economy, Its Values, and How to Change Them, written by psychology professor Tim Kasser. He studies people’s “materialistic values and goals for money, possessions, and status” and the relationship between them and well-being. These connections are explained through Gonick’s cartoons. Hypercapitalism doesn’t have the humor I’m used to from Gonick’s other books. The opening, which introduces Kasser and his studies, explains that there are two parts to come, […]