September 22, 2013 Johanna Other Prose Leave a comment

The Doctor Who Franchise: American Influence, Fan Culture and the Spinoffs

Written in preparation for Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary this year, Lynnette Porter’s book The Doctor Who Franchise: American Influence, Fan Culture and the Spinoffs explores the question of how, if any, the show has become “Americanized” in its current incarnation, with specific focus on the Torchwood: Miracle Day Starz co-production (now airing on BBC America) and its lead, the “American” Captain Jack. Where the Doctor is part of the cultural fabric in the UK, here in the US, he’s a […]

September 20, 2013 Johanna First Second 2 comments

The Cute Girl Network

The Cute Girl Network looks like a modern romance novel, but there’s more to it than just a love story. Jane and Jack meet when she wipes out in front of him in a hipster-stocked town. Jack is something of a clumsy loser, selling soup from a food cart. Jane has recently moved to town, working at a skateboard shop and putting up with stupid guys who think she can’t skate because she’s a girl. The two slowly grow on […]

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic book 1 cover

September 15, 2013 Johanna IDW / Top Shelf 2 comments

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Books 1 and 2

I never would have thought I’d be reading, let alone recommending, a My Little Pony comic. (Thanks, review copies.) I’ve never seen the show, but these stories are fun and entertaining. I occasionally wonder about how horses, with their hooves, manage to do everything we see, but as long as I can suspend my disbelief, I enjoy the character interactions and humor. Both volumes are written by Katie Cook, with book 1 art by Andy Price and book 2 art […]

September 14, 2013 Johanna Marvel One comment

Goodbye, X-Factor — Series Ends With #262

Peter David’s run — and the title itself — ends on X-Factor with the recent #262. I found the series an entertaining read, combining heroics with old-school soap operatic complications as a diverse group of characters tried to work together in a superhuman detective agency. I particularly liked the personalities David gave the cast. I didn’t talk much about the recent storylines, because once you get into demonic wars and such, it’s hard to identify a good starting point, and […]

September 13, 2013 Johanna Comic News 3 comments

Illustrated Diaries Are Not Comics!

It’s a pet peeve of mine when people consider things like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries graphic novels. I know kids love reading them, and that’s great. They’re fun and entertaining. They’re just not comics. That distinction may not matter, or I may be being pedantic in harping on it, but I’m glad to see that Amazon, at least, now agrees with me, as reported by Dave Carter. He regularly puts together a list of the Top […]

September 11, 2013 Johanna Other Publishers Leave a comment

Blue Is the Warmest Color (Guest Review)

This review is by Kristine Downing, an old friend of mine who doesn’t typically read comics. When she last visited me, she noticed my copy of Blue Is the Warmest Color and expressed interest in reading it. I asked her to share her thoughts, and she sent the below. Blue Is the Warmest Color by author and illustrator Julie Maroh is a graphic novel first published in French in 2010 by Glenat as “Le bleu est une couleur chaude”. The […]

September 9, 2013 Johanna Motion Comics One comment

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk

As I previously wrote, Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk converts the six-issue comic miniseries by Damon Lindelof and Leinil Francis Yu to six 10-minute-ish “motion comic” chapters. It goes on sale tomorrow, September 10. The level of animation is lighter than I remembered from previous releases. For example, lips are made to move for dialogue, but eyes never blink, and nothing else on the page/screen moves. Movement looks like someone’s dragging paper cutouts around, or it’s done by moving the camera […]

September 8, 2013 Johanna Other Publishers 3 comments

Mixtape #3 Available, Plans for Rest of First Arc

It’s tough out there for an indy comic, particularly one telling slice-of-life stories about young adults. There are plenty of webcomics one can read for free with similar setups, so it requires a great deal of quality to stand out and justify the cover price. More, there’s the whole distribution question. People don’t know they want your comic unless they see it and know it exists, and that requires somewhere they can browse it, which requires a storeowner to take […]

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