Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Nobody does romance as well as Jamie S. Rich, and Love the Way You Love, illustrated by Marc Ellerby, is no exception. Side A Tristan is the lead singer of Like a Dog, an up-and-coming band. He’s returning home when he sees the perfect girl at the airport. When she later appears at that night’s show, it must be fate, only she’s engaged to the record company honcho who’s come to see about signing the band. This establishes the conflict: […]
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I finally read Lost Girls, but I’m not sure I have a lot to say about it. It was exactly what I expected, from the descriptions: three volumes of pornography featuring Alice (of Wonderland), Dorothy (of Kansas and Oz), and Wendy (of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys). There’s something here for every taste — boy/girl, girl/girl (the majority, by the numbers), boy/boy, rape fantasies — and some that seem to be included just to gather attention, such as incest, […]
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Tony Consiglio’s 110 Percent may have been overlooked by many readers because of its subject matter. It’s the story of three middle-aged women who are fans of the boy band 110 Percent. Although many comic readers will understand and perhaps sympathize with the dedication and even obsession of these women, it takes a willingness to approach their story that unfortunately, some may not have. These women aren’t young, cute, or sexy; they’re not even mildly attractive as they take their […]
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One of the Vertigo launch titles, Enigma still delivers power and insight today. Michael Smith is a normal man, trapped in routine, who over the course of the book discovers a childhood comic book hero come to life and experiences a sexual awakening. Since it’s written by Peter Milligan, readers won’t be surprised by the surreal way these elements are handled. Michael’s been dreaming about a masked man, a superhero called the Enigma. There’s also a mass murderer called the […]
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The creative team behind Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden — story by Dave Roman; art by John Green — went even wackier with this minicomic series. The tagline says it all: “The ANGST of being a teen — the THRILL of being a boat!” There’s not much more to it. Teen Boat goes to school, has a crush on the new girl, and has to put up with the local bully. Being able to turn into a small yacht […]
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Dylan Horrocks’ Hicksville opens with a quote from Jack Kirby: “Comics will break your heart.” Horrocks goes on to prove that epigram true, although in an unexpected way. Journalist Leonard Batts is in search of information on Dick Burger, “the most influential comic book creator of [this] generation”, a man whose Captain Tomorrow graphic novel sold millions. Batts visits Burger’s New Zealand hometown, Hicksville, a place where everyone reads comics and discusses them as other people would the weather. The […]
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Subtitled “a queer romance”, this simple soap opera tells of a holiday party where David meets Ethan. They share an attraction and a love of The Simpsons but Ethan isn’t quite what he appears to be. The figures in this minicomic are flat and basic, but the storytelling is quite confident. The first page turn ends on a cliffhanger that’s bound to keep the reader involved, eager to find out more. The next two-page spread manages to keep four threads […]
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This one-shot interested me because there are relatively few comics out there that deal with religious faith in a mature manner, without relying on the stereotype of the crazy fanatic. The Revival is the story of a couple journeying to a revival meeting in Kentucky in 1801. The particular gathering dramatized here was, according to the author’s research, “the largest camp meeting [the United States] had ever seen…. Estimates of attendance ranged from 10 to 25 thousand.” This scope isn’t […]
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