Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Using the same methods I used last year for the Best Manga of 2010, here are the manga I most enjoyed and anticipated this year. I’m using a highly idiosyncratic definition of “best”, based mostly on what I looked forward to, wanted to re-read, and/or was willing to buy sight unseen. I have a few subcategories, under which I’ve ranked a maximum of five titles, with #1 being best. (Although in no category could I manage to fill out all […]
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The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is an odd but rewarding experiment, a “novel in pictures” that tells its story through captioned vintage images, over 600 pieces of memorabilia in all. The book’s trailer pretends to show the construction of the scrapbook. It’s about Frankie Pratt, an 18-year-old New Hampshire village girl in 1920 who wants to be a writer. As she grows up, she attends Vassar, struggles in Greenwich Village, and runs away to Paris to heal a broken heart. […]
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Mark Kalesniko spends the 400 pages of Freeway telling us that getting your dream job, if your dream is to work in animation for a huge franchise-building corporation, may be soul-crushing. This is not news to anyone out of their 20s. We’ve all heard about the monkey’s paw, “be careful what you wish for”, and we all know that companies that exist solely to merchandise toys aren’t in it for the art. Alex is a dog-faced artist stuck in a […]
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I’ve been remiss in not talking about Cathy Leamy’s comics before now. I mentioned her Greenblooded a couple of years ago, due to its unique subject matter (“an introduction to eco-friendly feminine hygiene”), but I haven’t covered her main series, the anthology Geraniums and Bacon. Each issue is 20 pages of introspection and observation, with expressive, cute, approachable drawings. Instead of being self-indulgent, her self-awareness is eye-opening. I learned things and took lessons in how to approach my own life […]
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I was stunned (in a good way) to see that the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly (cover-dated August 13) had a full-page column about this. Mark Harris’ column, entitled “I Am Woman. Hear Me… Please!” (which apparently isn’t available online) attacks Hollywood movies for how often they fail the Bechdel Test. In this simple evaluation, first formulated by cartoonist Alison Bechdel (Fun Home, Dykes to Watch Out For) in this comic 25 (!) years ago, a film passes if it […]
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Digital Manga, at their book site emanga.com, recently gave reviewers the chance to check out a variety of their titles online. I thought I’d take the opportunity to see what their Harlequin offerings (manga adaptations of romance novels) looked like. My Background With Romance First, the caveats: like most women, I have read romance novels in the past (although most recently, I’ve been dabbling in the smutty imprints, like Blaze), and while many of them are incredibly formulaic, that’s not […]
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I’ve loved this show since I watched the pilot. It’s fun, clever, adventurous, and imaginative. The dialogue is wonderful and knowing, and I love the suit-up Avengers homage montage when Wendy finally joins the team. If you don’t want to read all the detail, here’s the short version: buy the DVD set and enjoy it. The concept (there’s more information at my earlier link) is that artist Wendy (Natalie Morales) is temping at a lab to pay bills when she’s […]
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I wasn’t looking for another series to read, but I tried the first issue of this new-style anthology, and I was hooked. House of Mystery: Room and Boredom collects the first five issues of the series. Cain and Abel, the DC horror comic hosts from the 70s who lived in the Houses of Mystery and Secrets, respectively, make a two-page cameo at the beginning, but after that, it’s all new. The House of Mystery is now a bar outside dimensions. […]
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