Category: critiques

Critiquing Comics #248: “The Blossoming City” pt 1 and “Loon News: The Comic Strip!”

The Blossoming City and Loon News

Ian M is a Japan-based Canadian creator whose work we’ve discussed on this podcast before. His work is often about Japan, but not necessarily about himself. In The Blossoming City part one, he begins the story (presumably true?) about a community garden in Sapporo, in a story that he tells in a variety of cartooning styles. Tim and Adam discuss.

Eric Paul Johnson is a podcaster who is publishing an archive of his since-discontinued comic strip Loon News: The Comic Strip! on Patreon. Tim and Emmet find that, while the art and lettering certainly improved over the years, perhaps the most notable thing about the strip is what it reveals about its author.
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Critiquing Comics #247: “Lovers Quarrel” and “Digital Bardos” #2

"Lovers Quarrel" and "Digital Bardos"

A love triangle. One member feels jilted and goes off the deep end. A gun is involved. Tim and Adam talk about the thriller Lovers Quarrel by Rob Capili, Ikos Karimlan, and Joy Mateo.

Meanwhile, Digital Bardos has returned! Hippie “digital god” Darren is selling the people on a technology that puts their minds in endless bliss while their bodies are used for slave labor. It’s all the rage, but Darren’s own son isn’t digging the scene. Tim and Jason discuss the new installment of King Klaus’s series.

Support victims of the Aussie bushfires

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Critiquing Comics #246: “Roy Beckwith and the Cursed Continent” and “A French Expat in the U.K.”

Roy Beckwith and French Expat

Roy Beckwith and the Cursed Continent is a western series by Nick Patch, Jarret Katz, and Fabi Marques. It looks great but it runs at a breakneck pace and seems to be introducing a few too many elements. Tim and Jason discuss.

A French Expat in the U.K., by Agathe Montagnon, was sold through the LDC Online Comics Fair last summer. It’s a quick and evenhanded look at some of the differences between the British and French cultures, as experienced by the author herself. American expats in Japan Tim and Adam take a look.

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Critiquing Comics #245: “Joe Mallard” 4-6 and “Dream Machine”

Joe Mallard - Dream Machine

Joe Mallard, a favorite of Tim and Jason’s from a year ago, is back! Creator Asante Amani has sent us issues 4-6 of this crime series. Did it go over with us as well as the first two issues did?

Ky Lawrence has created a trippy graphic novel about survivor’s guilt. In Dream Machine, our protagonist dreams he can sacrifice himself to bring his cancer victim twin back to life. Tim and Adam critique.

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Critiquing Comics #244: “God Summoner” and “The Keluarga Cable Ship Company”

God Summoner - The Keluarga Cable Ship Company

This week, a look at two great new comics submitted by their creators:

God Summoner, by Dio Zogaris and Manos Laouvardos, is a story in the fantasy genre. Tim and Jason thought “Meh” until they actually read it! This is a well-written story with beautiful black and white art.

The Keluarga Cable Ship Company, by Mereida Fajardo, gives us a father and son with communication problems, and a ship that lays down undersea cable through which, well, communication flows. Or doesn’t flow. But what makes the book stand out is its very unusual format that shows great thought and planning on the author’s part. Tim and Adam critique.

LD Comics Fair

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Critiquing Comics #243: “Fables of Fear” and “Black Plastic”

Fables of Fear - Black Plastic

Fables of Fear is an anthology horror title by Karl Brandt and David Parsons. Tim and Adam discuss; there are some good short stories here, but maybe they’re a bit … TOO short?

Black Plastic, by Josh Tierney and Nicci Busse is, as its writer says, a “karaoke cyber-thriller” graphic novel. That’s his description; Tim and Jason aren’t quite sure what to think of it. Are we getting too old for this comics-critique stuff?

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Critiquing Comics #242 “The Star Tide Shores” vol. 1

Star Tide Shores

The Star Tide Shores is an action space adventure comic that isn’t afraid to get a little deeper emotionally than, say, Star Wars. Tim and Adam enjoyed reading the first volume, by Henry Goeldner and Illuminated, and are here to give you the scoop.

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Critiquing Comics #241: “The Shapes” #4: El Puro

The Shapes

Samuel Edme’s comic The Shapes is… a bit hard to pin down. It looks like notebook scribblings, it has its faults, but it seems to have found an audience, which is all a comics creator can ask for. Bad? No. Not for us? Probably. Tim and Adam attempt to describe it anyway.

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Critiquing Comics #240: “The Night Brigade” and “Joe Mallard”

Night Brigade - Joe Mallard

Most Americans know little about the Crimean War (1853-1856). Adam McGovern and Bruno Letizia’s The Night Brigade may go some way toward filling us in on that conflict, and it does give us several historical figures, including Florence Nightingale – but it also features a werewolf. Tim and Adam critique.

Asante Amani‘s Joe Mallard gives us short detective stories that feel a bit like Matt Kindt’s work. Tim and Jason are hoping for more!

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Critiquing Comics #239: “Let’s Go, Coco” and “Digital Bardos”

Let's Go, Coco and Digital Bardos

What does an 11-year-old do when her “only friend” moves away? In Coco Fox’s “sorta” memoir Let’s Go, Coco, she joins the basketball team. But when you’re a pre-teen, everything’s fraught with challenges. Tim and Adam discuss this book – aimed at middle schoolers, but recommended for all ages.

As far from that world as possible is the first issue of King Klaus’ Digital Bardos (now live on Kickstarter). It introduces us to Darren — make that “All-Mighty Darren,” a digital god. The issue begins to answer the question of how he got that way. Tim and Jason critique.

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