Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
I don’t normally link to infographics, but I thought this one was well-done, full of actual information, and not obnoxious about the source promotion. I had no idea there had been so many variations on what I thought was just red and blue webbing. Here’s a rundown of Spider-Man’s costumes from the beginning through the upcoming movie. I learned things! Infographic Created by HalloweenCostumes.com
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The first Young Romance volume must have done well, because here’s a second collection of classic love stories by masters of the comic medium Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. In contrast to that volume, which ranged more widely across years and titles, this one more closely approaches chronological coverage. The reprints here come from Young Romance #1-10 (with the exception of stories included in the first book) and Young Love #1-2, published from 1947-1949. A thorough introduction by comic historian […]
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Continuing Fantagraphics’ program of bringing notable manga to English in deluxe presentations — titles so far include important historical shojo The Heart of Thomas and Moto Hagio’s Drunken Dream as well as the cross-gender series Wandering Son — their newest release is Nijigahara Holograph. Author Inio Asano isn’t new to U.S. readers; his previous works Solanin and What a Wonderful World! were released by Viz four years ago. Nijigahara Holograph has the same strong focus on character, but with much […]
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Neil Slorance has put together a short, single-issue story about a home computer worker taking the night off to go look at the stars. It’s charming in its tone and straightforward about the need to stay in touch with the wider world. She — although the figure is simplified and almost gender-neutral, so I might be assuming — uses her father’s telescope and ponders her place in the greater world, reminding us of the importance of perspective and family. The […]
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It’s always nice when something much-anticipated turns out to be better than you hoped. Lumberjanes is a strong start to a girls’ adventure series written by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis and drawn by Brooke Allen. There are evocations of all kinds of “girls in the woods” victim stories, starting with Little Red Riding Hood, but these scouts are no victims or shrinking violets. When they hear scary noises, they spring into action poses, ready to defend themselves and their […]
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The next original DCU animated movie, Son of Batman, will be available for home video purchase on May 6, but attendees of this weekend’s California show WonderCon will be able to see the film tonight, followed by a panel discussion with stars Jason O’Mara (Batman), Sean Maher (Nightwing), Xander Berkeley (Langstrom), Stuart Allan (Damian), and filmmakers James Tucker (producer), Ethan Spaulding (director), Phil Bourassa (character designer), and Andrea Romano (dialogue director). (Can you believe this is the 20th!?! original animated […]
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Previews orders for this month are due tomorrow, so I wanted to call your attention to a title you might otherwise overlook. I don’t read many indy periodicals any more, but this one was really good, a satisfying single issue with a ton of options for where the series might go next. How I Made the World is written by Liz Plourde and drawn by Randy Michaels. It was one of the final Xeric Grant recipients. It’s the semi-autobiographical story […]
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Out next month from Drawn & Quarterly is Petty Theft by Pascal Girard. I haven’t read his previous works they’ve translated and released here, although Reunion sounded interesting, if uncomfortable. That’s the comedy category this book falls into, that of recognition of human frailty. Here are some preview pages. In Petty Theft, Pascal’s on his own after a long-term relationship ended. He’s running as part of his new life healthy resolutions, but when he trips over a rock and injures […]
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