Hello discerning X-Fans. In my new series I’ll be exploring some of the best and strangest licensed X-Men books that don’t fall under the direct market comic book mantle. Join me on this *spooky referential comic book voice* Journey Into Mystery.
Leslie Stein’s Present is an Abstract Treasure
Present Leslie Stein (Writer and Artist) Drawn & Quarterly October, 2017 Leslie Stein’s Present has garnered the kind of praise that an artist can only dream of. “Like Kandinsky illustrating Virginia Woolf” reads a blurb by The Globe and Mail on the back of the book. Everyone everywhere, from Paste magazine to The Comics Journal…
I Guess We Still Need to Talk About Chris
This is a late, technical rebuttal: Chris Sims was never accused of sexual harassment by Valerie D’Orazio. I wrote the bulk of this piece soon after this Mary Sue piece re-lit the fuse on the old Catherine wheel and then forgot about it under the pressure of the season. Emma Houxbois, contacting me prior to…
I Spoke to Aleš Kot for a Month About Creating Days of Hate.
Interviewing Aleš Kot is something akin to reading one of their books. It’s a wholly immersive experience, one that’s quite unlike any other interview I’ve ever done. Over a month we exchanged emails about their new book Days of Hate, which will be coming out through Image later this year. The first issue is visceral…
Quarry’s War and the Inescapable Trap of Convention
Quarry’s War #1 Max Allan Collins (Writer), Szymon Kudranski (Artist), Guy Major (Colorist), Comicraft (Letterer), Charles Ardai (Consulting Editor) Hard Case Crime / Titan Comics 29 November 2017 If you’re like me, you may not be overly familiar with Quarry, the series of novels that inspired this comic, or the fact that it has also…
The Comic Book History of Comics #1: Fun, Detailed but Limited
The Comic Book History of Comics: Comics For All #1 Fred Van Lente (Writer and Letters), Ryan Dunlavey (Artist), Adam Guzowski (Colours) IDW December 20, 2017 We all know the term “graphic novel.” Most of us have graphic novels on our bookshelves. But where did this term originate? How did comic strips lead to comic…
Little Tails on the Farm is French Family Fun
Little Tails on the Farm Frédéric Brrémaud (writer), Federico Bertolucci (artist), Mike Kennedy (translator) Lion Forge Comics January 2018 Little Tails on the Farm is perfect for the parent who is tired of board books, but whose child isn’t ready for Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur just yet. Little Tails follows pals Squizzo and Chipper on a grand…
Sword of Ages Stars An Epic Heroine
Sword of Ages #1 Gabriel Rodriguez (Writer and Artist), Lovern Kindzierski (Colorist), Robbie Robbins (Letterer) IDW November 29, 2017 The first issue of Sword of Ages reminds of my childhood, partly because it combines, without contradiction or explanation, the mythic register of high fantasy with spacefaring technology, and partly because the protagonist, Avalon, is exactly…
Small Press Bites: Faves of 2017 Edition
Another year has come to a close, and in-between experiencing an existential despair heretofore unknown to me, I read a bunch of great comics. And so did our bevy of wonderful writers! And some of those comics happened to come from small presses, indie creators, self-publishing, and the internet. We’ve written up a collection of…
Adventure Time Vol. 13: Genuinely Mathematical
Adventure Time Vol. 13 Christopher Hastings (Writer), Ian McGinty (Artist), Maarta Laiho (Colors), Mike Fiorentino (Letters) BOOM! Studios December 26, 2017 Adventure Time Volume 13 is an epic story involving dungeons, space-time paradoxes, personal sacrifice for the greater good, and a look into the past. It starts with a visit to Finn’s childhood dungeon that his adopted dog-father…
Wolfenstein: Who Knew Killing Nazis Could Be This Boring?
Wolfenstein, Vol. 1 Dan Watters (Writer), Piotr Kowalski & Ronilson Freire (Artists), Brad Simpson, Greg Menzie & Thiago Ribeiro (Colorists), Jonathan Stevenson (Letterer) Titan Comics December 19, 2017
