Action Comics #1 gets Superman’s origin story and “a scientific explanation of Clark Kent’s amazing strength” out of the way on the very first page, and the rest of the issue is devoted to his activities as a grown-up “champion of the the oppressed.” Though obviously his childhood with the Kents, and his infancy on…
Shakespeare on the Page: A Better Way
I was recently rereading Manga Shakespeare: Twelfth Night, and found myself surprised all over again by how much I like it, and how well it works. The Manga Shakespeare series, published by Amulet/Abrams in the US & Canada or SelfMadeHero in the UK, uses a “manga” drawing style (but the western left to right reading…
Fun Home On the Page and the Stage
Small and Big, Close and Far, Same and Different The award winning Broadway musical Fun Home, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir of the same name, is now on tour. By the time this goes to press, the production will most likely be in Schenectady. Or Providence. And somewhere else after that. Whenever shows go…
Made Men #1 Lumbers to its Feet
Made Men #1 Paul Tobin (writer), Arjuna Susini (art), Gonzalo Duarte (colors), Saida Temofonte (letters) Oni Press September, 2017 Made Men #1 would have felt like fun progressive pulp in the late 50s, early 60s, but feels dated now. It tells the story, largely in first-person captions, of a young woman calling herself Jutte Shelley….
The Dracula File Offers Bite-Sized 1980s Horror
The Dracula File Gerry Finley-Day, Simon Furman and Ken Noble (writers); Eric Bradbury, Geoff Senior and Keith Page (artists) Rebellion: 2000 AD October 16, 2017 (Originally serialized in SCREAM! issues 1-15, 1984 and Holiday Specials 1985-1988) The Dracula File offers cozy horror nostalgia. Both the art style and the text—“Meanwhile, behind the Iron Curtain, a KGB…
Kid Sherlock #3: “Missing Equipment” by Justin Phillips and Sean Miller is Light and Fun
Kid Sherlock #3 Justin Phillips (writer and letterer), Sean Miller (pencils and inks), Lesley Atalansky (colors) Action Lab Comics August 23, 2017 In the third issue of Kid Sherlock, the playground equipment for classroom 221 at Baker Elementary has gone missing, and the eponymous kid Sherlock and his faithful pal Watson solve the mystery of…