As it’s widely regarded as one of the best comic book series of all time, Dana and Kumar try their best to rekindle their love for Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN nearly twenty years after its conclusion, only to find the plotting leaden, the art inconsistent, and the world-building frustrating. Has time stripped the series of its lustre, or are these two jerks just too old for it?
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Autobiographical comics are par for the course, but in 1972, Justin Green broke ground for the genre when he published Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary. Some of that broken ground hasn’t been trod since; how many autobiographical comics about a battle with mental illness have you seen done as wacky parody comics? Lightning-quick pace, phalluses everywhere, and a helpful instructional arrow pointed at a bunch of bananas? It’s unlike any autobio comic before or since, and your take on the subject matter may greatly depend on your upbringing. Tim and Kumar examine.
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While this podcast has covered the odd League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book here and there, no one has dared think of trying to discuss all of them in one episode… until now! Kumar and Dana take on the task, with special attention paid to Black Dossier (and the record that was recorded for it), the Century trilogy, and the injustice that Kumar feels was done to Volume 2 in the 2006 episode we republished yesterday!
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FLASHBACK! Fletcher Hanks created some bizarre, sadistic superhero comics in 1939-1941. Tim and Kumar discuss the Hanks collection I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, edited by Paul Karasik.
Also: Comic Book Comics #2!
(Originally published October 27, 2008)
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You’ve probably heard of Helen Keller, one of the first (but not the first!) blind & deaf Americans to become educated. If so, then you probably also know the name Annie Sullivan – Helen’s teacher. Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, by Joseph Lambert, is a graphic novel biography more of Annie than Helen, taking advantage of the comics medium to show symmetry in the lives and situations of the two women. It’s also pretty awesome.
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Dave Sim’s massive “Cerebus” series creates a dilemma for a comics reviewer. It contains some fantastic cartooning, hilarious scenes, and spot-on dialog. And yet… other parts feature highly misogynistic views and out-of-whack text-to-pictures ratios, both of which make it “hard to read” in different ways. Dana and Kumar re-read the second arc, “High Society,” and consider the good and the bad of the entire series, the mixing of satire and parody, and more.
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If you’re not Canadian, this week’s topic may be a bit of a head-scratcher. Louis, uh, who now? To Canadians, though, including our own Kumar and Dana, Riel is a famous historical figure of the 19th century who led a rebellion against the Canadian government. His story is the subject of Chester Brown‘s recent graphic novel which, while complete with end notes, also takes Shakespearean liberties with the historical record. And what’s up with the weird placement of characters on the page? An accident? No… nothing in this book is an accident.
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Even amidst the anything-goes craziness of the early Image years, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx was an outlier. While it included some superhero tropes, it wasn’t really a superhero book, nor was it like much of anything else on the market, then or now. While it definitely has its weaknesses, Kumar and Dana confirm this week that it was absolutely mind-blowing…and emotionally affecting.
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Go Nagai Creator, Story and Art; Takayuki S. / Mecha Design; Kazuhiro Amachi / Color; David Lewis and Alex Wald/ English Adaptation
First Comics, 1988
A few episodes back, I erroneously stated that Glenn Danzig was the first to bring Go Nagai’s work over to the US with Devilman (in which he infamously added nostrils to the characters for the American version).
This was categorically incorrect, and I should have known it at the time. Continue reading REVIEW: Mazinger
Adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
IDW, 2009.
Look, I’ll just say it.
I didn’t like it.
And it’s got nothing to do with Darwyn Cooke officially becoming a scab. I didn’t like it the first time I read it a year and a half ago, and I didn’t like it when I re-read it this week to write this review.
And yet here is a book that has been uniformly praised, as far as I can tell. I haven’t seen any dissent. And rightly so. The book is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Cooke’s ability to construct a whole world in a near-minimalist style is astonishing. If the opening spread of New York doesn’t knock your socks off, nothing will. (Even though I’m sure Cooke didn’t “draw” it in any traditional sense.) I acknowledge all of that.
