Written by Nick Spencer. Pencils by RB Silva, inks by DYM.
DC Comics, May 2011.
Let me tell you about my second favorite Jimmy Olsen story. Continue reading Review: Jimmy Olsen #1
Category: Comics commentary
Comics commentary from our podcast regulars.
#290 Justifiable Homicide? pt 1: NEXUS
We begin a two-review series on comics that ask hard questions about whether murder can ever be justified. This week, Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus. Beginning in the early ’80s, Baron’s philosophical writing and Rude’s increasingly polished art presented the story of a the far future in which a man kills mass-murderers not out of revenge, but because he feels forced to “in self-defense.” Tim and Paul review.
Baron & Rude interviewed (May 2007)
Steve Rude recalls making Nexus (video)
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Review: Rocketeer Adventures #2
by Various.
IDW Comics.
This is issue 2 of an anthology tribute to Dave Stevens’s The Rocketeer. An homage to Dave Stevens’s homage to the 30s and 40s. I bet you can guess my review is going to be about how the creative energy here is diluted. Continue reading Review: Rocketeer Adventures #2
REVIEW: Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon.
Hill and Wang, 2010.
So, why does a publisher which doesn’t normally deal in graphic novels / comics decide to put out a book like this?
1) It’s a way to re-publish existing material. This is especially true for The Anne Frank Center whose mission it is to perpetuate her story.
2) They assume – mostly incorrectly – that graphic novels are currently trendy.
3) They assume that kids are too slow / callous to appreciate a prose presentation of the same material.
Continue reading REVIEW: Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography
#288 “Changing Ways” and “Heroic: A Womanthology”
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A creepy, rainy night. Mysterious red scars appearing on animals and people. Vicious wild pigs roam the streets. Justin Randall’s “Changing Ways” Book 1, published by Gestalt, reviewed by Tim and Brandon. |
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Heroic: A Womanthology, an anthology of comics created by women (some famous, others not yet) is currently in development and expected later this year from IDW. Tim talks to Athens-based participant Eugenia Koumaki, and IDW editor Mariah Huehner, about the background of and expectations for this project. |
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#286 Herge’s “The Adventures of Tintin”
Perhaps the most famous comic to come out of Europe is The Adventures of Tintin, by the Belgian known as Hergé. It’s known the world over and has appeared in more than 80 languages. Tim and Kumar discuss the comic’s appeal, Hergé’s expert cartooning, and some of the controversies that have swirled around the strip and its creator. Also, Kumar has some observations about the trailer for the upcoming Tintin movie.
- Tintin on Wikipedia
- Examples of story-reinforcing imagery
- Breaking down the layout of a Tintin page
- More Hergé symbolic imagery and page composition
- The Captain Haddock Insult Generator
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#280 Comics for Kids! No, really!
While comics continue to register in the American consciousness as being inherently “for kids”, conversely, the “Wednesday stack” crowd wring their collective hands about an apparent lack of comics readers under the voting age. There are comics out there for kids, but where can you find them? And, is anyone reading them?
Tim investigates these questions and more, with three guests: Buddy Scalera, author of Comics from Start to Finish and now a writer on the new Richie Rich title; Rashad Doucet, creator of My Dog is a Superhero; and Brent Erwin, Co-Publisher and General Partner at APE Entertainment.
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#278 “Jimmy Corrigan”, the Densest Comic Book on Earth
Chris Ware‘s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth started as a jokey, weird, serialized comic and evolved into a densely packed tale of betrayal, loss, and recovery. Not only that, but Ware’s extraordinary cartooning captures the mundane moments of everyday life as well as it utilizes symbolism on multiple levels. And not only that… Well, unlocking everything gathered into this 380-page tome is a task that can’t be completed in a one-hour podcast, but Tim and Kumar do their darnedest to cover all the bases.
- Jimmy Corrigan’s Spectacular Reality
- Matthias Wivel interviews Chris Ware in The Comics Journal
- Oedipus Supes – commentary on some of Ware’s older work
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#277 “Daytripper” & Mike Maihack (“Cleopatra in Space”) interview
A double-header episode this week!
First, Tim and Brandon discuss Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba‘s Daytripper. No, it’s not a time travel story (is it a story at all?); it’s a reflection on life and death. Is it fantastic, or trite? Depends on your point of view…
- Ba & Moon interview, with photo (BrazilNYC.com)
- “Ba” & “Moon” not their real names: Fabio Moon on “Sugarshock” (BrokenFrontier.com)
Then, Tim talks to Mike Maihack, the talented creator behind Cleopatra in Space, about motion lines, Web comics as a business, and more.
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#276 Two Emerald City Exhibitors: A Closer Look
Not wanting to leave Emerald City Comicon behind without giving a closer look to at least a few of the creators he met there, Tim chooses Web comics by two of those creators to critique with Mulele: Hominids by by Jordan Kotzebue, and Over the Surface by Natalie Nourigat. Plus: Panels for Primates (link is to Tim’s favorite selection), and the Web comic creator Tim regrets overlooking at Emerald City!
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