June 8, 2015 Johanna Other Prose Leave a comment

Luna Luna

I don’t read a lot of children’s books, although they have certain similarities with comics. I found Luna Luna, though, refreshing and relaxing. Sam Ryan wrote and Hazel Mitchell illustrated this Zen-influenced fable about a little boy trying to capture the “misty summer moon, streaked with green and red and yellow and purple” he sees out his window. Each page spread consists of an illustration, full color with a predominant use of blues and purples, faced with several sentences of […]

June 8, 2015 Johanna Titan Comics One comment

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #11

I know big, galaxy-risking, four-part stories are seen as more important, but it’s the one-off, quieter, more personal scenes that I really like in this series. I shouldn’t be too complacent, though, since those openings are often just the first part of another big adventure. In this issue written by Nick Abadzis and illustrated by Elena Casagrande, Gabby and the Doctor are back in New York City, but Gabby’s friend Cindy is mad that she’s dropped out of touch. While […]

June 7, 2015 Johanna Action Lab One comment

Gronk: A Monster’s Story Volume 3

Gronk: A Monster’s Story volume 3 has the same appeal as the first book by Katie Cook. Each page is a four-panel strip, often quite funny. Dale’s still a beleaguered substitute parent, coping with the little monster Gronk. My favorite strips are those that either 1) comment on popular culture or 2) treat Gronk as the equivalent of a toddler, operating on her own logic and (usually) utterly destroying part of Dale’s world. You can imagine, then, how tickled I […]

June 7, 2015 Johanna Other Publishers 4 comments

Old Wounds #1-3

Old Wounds is a four-issue miniseries from Pop! Goes the Icon. It’s also available digitally on ComiXology. The first two issues are out, with #3 coming later this month. Writer Russell Lissau and artist John Bivens present a story that I should find too familiar, but the telling makes it unusual. As issue #1 opens, Michael Lane is told that his ex-wife has been killed when her home was blown up. Their secret, which Lane refuses to share with the […]

June 7, 2015 Johanna Comic News 4 comments

IDW Relaunches Comic Apps With Madefire

IDW has moved its branded iOS apps from ComiXology to Madefire, relaunching with an IDW app for the entire digital library (over 3500 comics and graphic novels, they say), plus specific apps for Transformers, Star Trek, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. The big difference? Their new apps allow in-app purchases, unlike ComiXology’s, which require a trip to a separate website so Apple doesn’t get a cut of the purchase. Forcing that action is customer-unfriendly and likely removes a lot […]

June 5, 2015 Johanna Comic News One comment

Hawaiian Dick to Return: When and How

Hawaiian Dick was a fun and gorgeous retro private eye series set in 1950s Hawaii that I was reminded of when I saw the recent movie Aloha, which is similarly a love letter to the islands. Last decade, there were two collections of the comic released — Byrd of Paradise and The Last Resort — as well as a five-issue miniseries, Screaming Black Thunder, that hasn’t yet made it to book format. But more will be coming! A quick conversation […]

The World's Greatest First Love volume 1 cover

May 31, 2015 Johanna Manga News Leave a comment

The World’s Greatest First Love Publishing Schedule Delayed

The World’s Greatest First Love: The Case of Ritsu Onodera was announced last June by SuBLime, and the yaoi community was happy. (The series was announced four years ago from Tokyopop but never came out before they shut down their publishing arm.) There’s a devoted fandom for works by Shungiku Nakamura (and an associated anime), and the plan was to release all eight books in the series bimonthly, starting in February 2015. Except things didn’t work out that way. Volume […]

May 31, 2015 Johanna Other Publishers Leave a comment

Metazoa

Metazoa just launched on ComiXology Submit. Story is by Peter Marshall Smith and art by Sandy Brion Spreitz. It’s described as anthropomorphic sci-fi and cyberpunk neo-noir. I found it redundant, too familiar in its setup and events to many other stories I’ve seen. It’s your standard “tough guy must walk these mean streets alone” premise, only everyone has an animal head. We’re told that Ram, a bear, is feared by most at the bar he visits, and he randomly beats […]

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