#243 Frontline Combat

EC Comics are primarily remembered as gruesome horror stories, but the company published in other genres as well. One EC staple was war comics, which enjoyed great popularity during the Korean War. One such title was Frontline Combat, the comic that dared to admit that “Marines retreat!” The now-huge names behind the series — Harvey Kurtzman, John Severin, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, and more — primarily intended it as an anti-war book, but is it? Is it possible to simultaneously portray war as horrible, and painstakingly present the tanks and guns in all their glory? Tim and Kumar discuss.

#242 Sex comic: Art! Thor trailer: Trash?

Oglaf appears on the Web uncredited, with no merch store, and with plenty of well-written, well-drawn raunchy comedy. Very, very raunchy. Tim, Mulele, and Kumar dig on this comic (platonically).
The trailer for the upcoming “Thor” movie, though, does not impress. What were we expecting? Is Marvel starting to make their movies as inaccessible to the layman as their comics? What could have made this movie look more appealing to us?

#241 Dragon Ball

Though the highly influential manga series, and resulting TV show, are known for non-stop action and fighting, Dragon Ball started out as a comedy strip reminiscent of Akira Toriyama’s early work, Dr. Slump! Viz’s English versions have gone through various levels of censorship over time to adjust to the low level of sexuality that most Americans expect of kids’ books. Except, most of the characters themselves don’t understand sexuality, and that’s the charm of it; it’s best enjoyed (probably by kids as well) in its pristine form…if you can find it! Tim, Kumar, and Mulele review.

Visual censorship comparisons after the jump (NSFW but probably safe for Japanese kids):

Continue reading #241 Dragon Ball

#130 “Scott Pilgrim” and “Paul Has a Summer Job”

FLASHBACK! With the Scott Pilgrim movie coming soon, we re-present Tim and Brandon’s review of two Canadian coming-of-age comics: “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life” by Bryan Lee O’Malley, and “Paul Has a Summer Job” by Michel Rabagliati (originally presented June 2, 2008)!

#240 Kill “Shakespeare”

Approached by one of its co-authors, Tim, Mulele, and Kumar take him up on his suggestion to review “Kill Shakespeare” from IDW. However, we didn’t promise to like it.

Harvey Pekar, author of “American Splendor,” died recently at age 70. A remembrance of some of his work.

San Diego Comic-Con is over for another year. What are some things that we WISH would have been announced there?