July 6, 2020 Johanna PR: What Not to Do Leave a comment

PR: What Not to Do: Make Packaging Too Clever

There are different levels of review and marketing lists, you know. From bottom up, so to speak, there’s the press release only, which means you don’t have enough audience or rank highly enough to actually see the product. They only expect you to reprint their promotional copy as “news”. In terms of actually being able to have an opinion on something, there are digital copies, which cost nothing and more often these days, are time-limited, so they expire. There are […]

July 5, 2020 Johanna Jonathan Cape Leave a comment

Cassandra Darke

Thank goodness we have global internet commerce, because it’s the only way I can keep up with the work of one of my favorite artists, Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe, Gemma Bovery). I think someone mentioned on Twitter that she had a new book out at the end of last year, so I eagerly ordered Cassandra Darke. The title character is thoroughly unpleasant. She used to run an art gallery with her ex-husband, whom she feels wronged by, until her cheating […]

July 5, 2020 Johanna Comic News Leave a comment

Dash Returns as Kickstarted Graphic Novel

Y’all know I rarely do this, because I still have conflicted feelings about crowdfunding and its risks. But I like Dash, which can be reductionally described as “the gay hard-boiled detective comic”. The most recent out was issue #5 in late 2018. (They say issue #6 has come out, but Diamond has it listed for August, so … keeping up with comics is hard.) Now, they’re Kickstarting the collection. Written by Dave Ebersole and drawn by Delia Gable and Vinnie […]

July 5, 2020 Johanna Other 6 comments

Thanks, Mike, for Sticking Around — Blogging About Blogging

Mike Sterling, of Progressive Ruin and Sterling Silver Comics, put up a post recently that brought back all kinds of memories. He looks at long-time comic bloggers (a group I am privileged to be part of, having run this site for over 20 years, although I like to think of it as a combination blog/website, since “blogging” feels as a term a little more self-indulgent than I aim for). Mike has been going over 16 years himself, and he’s unique […]

July 2, 2020 Johanna Television Reviews 2 comments

Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season

I finally got a chance to watch Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season, which came out on DVD in May. (That’s a year after this season debuted on Netflix, which is typical timing.) The season opens with a morose Lucifer, depressed after Chloe saw his real face (at the end of the third season, when he rescued her from assault-rifle attack). She’s bolted, on vacation for a month, so he mopes around, which allows us all a reminder of the key […]

June 28, 2020 Johanna First Second Leave a comment

Maker Comics: Grow a Garden!

The purpose of the Maker Comics line is admirable: to teach readers essential or entertaining skills in illustrated form. Unfortunately, while I was very interested in the topic, Maker Comics: Grow a Garden! by Alexis Frederick-Frost was the first series entry that disappointed me. It’s overwhelming. There’s too much background information provided too technically. Instead of feeling encouraged, as though I could try these processes myself (as I did after reading Maker Comics: Fix a Car!), I was frightened away. […]

June 28, 2020 Johanna Other Prose Leave a comment

Young Charlotte, Filmmaker

I was reminded how much I enjoyed Frank Viva’s work during a recent re-read of A Trip to the Bottom of the World With Mouse, so I thought I’d check out some of his other picture books. I should have done that earlier, since Young Charlotte, Filmmaker was perfect for me. Produced by The Museum of Modern Art in New York, it’s the story of a young woman who adores black and white and makes her own movies. Sometimes she’s […]

June 27, 2020 Johanna Comic Book Films Leave a comment

LEGO DC Shazam! Magic & Monsters

LEGO DC Shazam! Magic & Monsters is the latest original animated film blending two major brands, following in the path of Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis, and of course, Lego Batman. (And boy, I’m glad they’ve streamlined the titles.) This is great family viewing for a lazy afternoon (and aren’t most of them these days?), even if I did drift off a bit during the final big fight. It’s […]

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