Casati: The Selfish Muse Vanna Vinci (writer and artist), Edward Gauvin (translator), Calix Ltd. (lettering) Europe Comics 2015 Set during the Belle Epoque, throughout great European cities like London, Paris, Milan, Rome, and Venice, and featuring outstanding creators and creatives of the era? I had to get my hands on the digital graphic novel from…
Book Review: Wide Awake in Slumberland
Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay Katherine Roeder University Press of Mississippi January 1, 2013 Given the current situation of newspaper comics, it’s sometimes hard to believe that a century ago they were big business, wildly popular, and the source of some of the most innovative…
Eleven Year Old Sasha Matthews Could Teach You A Thing Or Two About Making Comics
Want to make and publish your own comic? Eleven year old Sasha Matthews has all the answers. Well, maybe not all the answers, but this young lady certainly has a plan and, with the support of her parents, has already published two comics of her own and has her own publishing company, Rumble Comics. Her…
Postcard Valentines: The Game Changer
Valentine’s Day cards have mysterious origins and have undergone hundreds of years of transformation. But I’m not going to get into all of that. Instead, we’re going to focus on the popularity of postcard Valentines in the United States in the early 20th century. During the Victorian Age, people went all out on their Valentines….
Review: X-Files Revival, Episodes 1 and 2
Despite Ginnis’ lack of cable, Kate and Gin finally got the chance to discuss what they have been waiting for ever since it was first announced: The X-Files revival.
Zine Review: Jane: Documents from Chicago’s Clandestine Abortion Service 1968-1973
Jane: Documents from Chicago’s Clandestine Abortion Service 1968-1973 Firestarter Press, 2004 January 22nd marked the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Perhaps it is more apt to say it sort of legalized abortion as, according to a recent article from Mother Jones, over 1,000 state laws restricting abortion…
The Truth is Out There: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
There was a moment during The X-Files season ten premiere that made me sit up and cheer. It wasn’t seeing Mulder or Scully’s face again after all these years. It wasn’t about seeing an alien space ship crash, or an alien autopsy. The moment didn’t include explosions or romantic tension between our beloved protagonists. It…
Incredible Indie Tuesday: MLK’s Surprising Comic Legacy & Celebrating Black Comic Books
Every year, I try to celebrate Martin Luther King Day by delving into the life and times of Dr. King beyond the too-common reduction of his legacy to a quick soundbite. This year it involved comics, the way every major American holiday should! My best discovery this year was Montgomery Story, a short comic written…
Blood and Glitter: A Book of Art, Perspective, and Choices
“I don’t go into a session intending to make any kind of statement. I’m looking for the mysterious, how to explore the unique enigma of the situation. I think photography is as much about concealing as it is about revealing. The resolution lies in the art of freezing. The thrill is to seize the magic…
Interview with Grand Comics Database
Awhile back while researching for my first piece in my Red Sonja series, I found the Grand Comics Database (GCD) crucial to my research. GCD is a non-profit, international database for printed comics. The site’s goal is lofty – “the database will contain data for every comic book ever published in every country around the planet.”…
Art History Shipping: Who Should Get It On With Whom
Fandoms love to ship. And by that I mean, they imagine their favorite characters falling in love—whether or not that romance plays out in the story. Which character should be with which other character often leads to fond conglomerated names of the wished-for OTP (One True Pairing). Take “Korrasami” versus “Makorra” from Legend of Korra, for example. Shipping…
The Tuskegee Heirs Will Soon Take Flight
[Editor’s note January 14, 2015: The Tuskegee Heirs Kickstarter has launched!] As a kid, I was completely obsessed with the Tuskegee Airmen. I read biographies, killed my Tuskegee Airmen videotape, did my best to know everything possible about the people and the times. This was in part because my grandfather, himself a member of the…