Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
I read comics so I can experience lives I could otherwise only imagine. Often in comics those stories are fantastic; K. Thor Jensen’s Red Eye, Black Eye, in contrast, is much smaller in scale, almost frighteningly so. Don’t think events steeped in daily life are boring, though. Jensen’s life as captured here is far away from the kind most people live. Several years ago, he lost his job, his girlfriend, his grandmother, his city, and his apartment, so he bought […]
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Over the weekend, I decided to rewatch all the Beach Party movies, the American International teen film series that started in 1963 starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Here’s the list, with IMDB links. Beach Party Muscle Beach Party Bikini Beach Pajama Party Ski Party Beach Blanket Bingo How to Stuff a Wild Bikini If you’ve never seen them, go read about them and check out the cast lists. There’s something weirdly eye-catching about all of them. For instance, as […]
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Dream Sequence takes the next step beyond previous volume Talisman in dealing with alternative realities. Users with direct-interface brain jacks visit Elsewhere, the world inside Magri White’s head, to process their subconscious into dream-like visions in lieu of sleeping. It’s a virtual reality with all senses engaged, and because it’s the vision of a single creator, it’s a better experience than the corporate, computer-designed alternatives. Magri’s life is his art, and he’s building worlds literally shared by his audience (even […]
Read moreI’ve been doing some spring cleaning (shut UP! I know it’s June!), and while sorting through old papers, I found my copy of the Friends of Lulu booth guidelines from 1996. Since convention season is heating up, maybe some small publishers might find these tips helpful. (I’ve heavily excerpted the document to make it more general.) Opening the Booth A coordinator should have been designated in advance to take charge of booth setup. Make sure that all boxes and supplies […]
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Congratulations to Tim. Diamond has reversed its previous decision and will be offering Comic Foundry magazine. I’m not sure “ok, we’ll drop the price 27 cents” is really, as the headline says, meeting halfway, but the real test will be how many orders it gets. (Readers, will you be ordering the first issue? Does your store order shelf copies for customers to browse projects like this?) And I do wish Tim wouldn’t say things like “We were considering taking the […]
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The question of “what is comics” is often debated in certain circles (especially those academically inclined). There’s no one definition that satisfies everyone, although most have in common something about combining text and images to tell a story. When asked to think about comics, most visualize panels on a page, rows of boxes containing pictures and word balloons. Kabuki knocks that definition on its ear. In Skin Deep, artist David Mack demonstrates a different kind of comics, beautifully artistic blends […]
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The concept of the makeover is an important part of shojo manga. It’s important for the shy girl to be revealed, with a better haircut, as surprisingly beautiful or the geeky girl to become popular when she pays more attention to working on her looks. This series by Kiyoko Arai takes that concept and knocks it on its ear. Kiri is a very talented hairstylist who knows the transforming power of the right cut. She doesn’t much care about her […]
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“Manhwa Novella Collection” is Netcomics’ umbrella title for a series of anthologies containing shorter works, each focused on a notable Korean comic author. Here, I’m looking at Volume Two: 9 Faces of Love by Wann (whose Can’t Lose You has also been published by Netcomics). Personally, I’m not always fond of this technique. If I only care for certain types of works and/or particular authors, it bugs me to have (for instance) books numbered two and four on my shelf […]
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