Some writers sweat out their masterpieces in the wee hours after a day job or put all their efforts into one heroic month. My Great American Novel took eight years and $5,000 of my own hard-earned cash. It wasn’t a discourse on my generation or an allegory about consumerism. I self-published an all-ages graphic novel…
App Review: Promoting Productivity with Coffitivity
If I had my way, I would not work in an office, but spend most of my day working from a coffee shop or cafe of some sort. I find the ambient noise to be just enough to keep me focused. The bustle of the staff, people entering and leaving, gentle murmuring as people work…
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Hey Let’s Go! Calvin, Hobbes, and Snow
Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes plays around with a lot of snow. Snowballs, snowmen, snow forts—snow, snow, snow. It is used as both a plot device and a background in many different ways—never sentimental or sappy. Let’s take a look at the main functions of snow for Calvin: Mischief, Artistry, Philosophizing, and Fantasy.
Ten Things I Have Learned About Mental Illness from Jenny Lawson
I have been in therapy for over a decade now. I have tried a variety of medications and experienced a variety of diagnoses—mostly with the same theme: depression, anxiety, obsessive-depressive, obsessive-compulsive like symptoms, and so on. The Bloggess Jenny Lawson has depression, severe anxiety, avoidant personality disorder, occasional depersonalization disorder, self-harm issues, OCD, and trichotillomania….
DC Daily Planet: Language lessons, writing programs, and…insurance agencies?
Welcome to this, our first DC Daily Planet of 2016! As part of an informal new years resolution, I’m going to be playing around a little with the style and presentation method of this column in the future thanks to some feedback provided to me on twitter. Let’s do this. In a truly “yikes!” worthy…
Fail Better: Remembering Instead of Resolutioning
Last year, instead of resolutions, I opted for rememberlutions. I got this idea from a Buzzfeed article and thought the idea was pretty neat: “New Year’s resolutions can be energizing and motivating, but they can also lead you to beat yourself up; focusing on the previous year’s failures to figure out where to do better…
Ghost World is Ghostly
Ghost World has a backdrop of death. The characters are surrounded by the ghosts of people and places that have passed on and changed. Enid and Becky do their best to ignore the fact that we’re all going to die. The visual representations of death begin with the copyright page. Slightly younger versions of Enid…
Interview With Detroit Artist Emily Zelasko
Emily Zelasko is an up and coming Metro Detroit illustrator and comic writer who should not be missed. Her art is spunky, original, and immensely eye-catching. After seeing her work in person at the recent Kids Read Comics Con and ComiqueCon, I had the opportunity to ask Emily some questions about her work. How did you…
Review: Toil & Trouble #3
Toil & Trouble #3 Mairghread Scott (script), Kelly & Nichole Matthews (art), Warrent Montgomery (letters), Kyla Vanderklugt (cover) Archaia November 4, 2015 This issue, the midway point of this miniseries, finally reveals one of the most contested characters of Shakespeare’s canon—the engimatic Lady Macbeth.
Fail Better: What Do I Want to be When I Grow Up?
Right now, I am sitting at the dining table in my new home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, working on one of three things I’m supposed to write today. It’s starting to get cold here, so I’m bundled up and drinking some hot tea. I’m still settling in, so boxes are piled up around me and…
E – N – I – D: Ghost World and Name Fluidity
Ghost World Daniel Clowes Fantagraphics Books 1997 What’s in a name? Everything. Names play a big part in Ghost World. The characters are called by their legal names, nicknames, imagined names, and incorrect names. They receive these names through birth or social interaction, and the usage of these names communicate specific intentions.
Understanding the Da Vinci Code: Why Quest Thrillers Work
The first six or so pages of my paperback copy of The Da Vinci Code are taken up with a collection of praise and excerpts from favourable reviews, from publications of all types. People loved this book. And you know what? They were right. The Da Vinci Code is what they call an airport novel….