While growing up in Senegal and spending summers in France in the ’90s, Juni Ba found lots of time to feed his active imagination with the likes of Xena, Beyoncé, manga, bande dessinées, and the Cartoon Network. When not busy watching or reading of the exciting adventures of any number of his favourite characters, he…
REVIEW: Djeliya Looks Into the Past to Sing a New Song for the Future
The apocalypse came with the push of a button. No one knows why, but the great wizard Soumaoro simply blew up the world one day. New leaders have arisen in the aftermath, though not all have the best interests of the people in mind. No one has thought to ask why Soumaoro destroyed the world…
REVIEW: The Secret to Superhuman Strength Connects Mind, Body, and Community
In the introduction to The Secret to Superhuman Strength, Alison Bechdel issues herself a swift, succinct diagnosis. Amid nonstop movement from panel to panel — she kicks, guzzles water, and shifts from a downward dog on an orange yoga mat to doing rapid bicep curls — she declares, “I’m not good at sports. I’m not…
A Marriage of Literacy & Tarot: A Chat With Brink Literacy Project CEO Dani Hedlund
If there was ever a tarot deck that was designed for avid readers, the Literary Tarot is it. This deck, which is being published by the Brink Literacy Project, aims to seamlessly marry classic and modern literature in an innovative way. Each of the traditional 78 tarot cards represents a piece of classic literature which shares…
A Fistful of Comics: Crowdfunding Roundup, May ‘21
Folks, the comics this month are weird, varied, and absolutely up-and-down incredible, so instead of listening to me talk about the weather for a paragraph, let’s jump right into the experimental, opportunistic, and entrepreneurial goodness. Here we go!
INTERVIEW: Jeff Smith & Vijaya Iyer on Kickstarting Tuki, Loving the Industry, and Having Fun
Cartoon Books Inc’s third graphic novel series, Tuki, went live on Kickstarter last week. It has already soared past its initial goal before writer and artist Jeff Smith and publisher Vijaya Iyer even knew what was happening. Iyer and Smith practically glow with excitement on the screen as we chat about the fun they are…
REVIEW: Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark
Since 1992, young readers have been learning to love books from Mary Pope Osborne and Salvatore Murdocca’s Magic Tree House series, following the illustrated adventures of Jack and Annie in clear, simple prose. Now, the classic tales are being reimagined in graphic novel form by Jenny Laird and Kelly and Nichole Matthews. But can this…
REVIEW: Dr. Love Wave and the Experiments #2
It’s been a year since the first issue of Dr. Love Wave and the Experiments left us high and dry, with a marina devoid of water and aliens lurking about. You’d think the second issue would come bounding in with all kinds of funky music and action. Instead, it pulls us back into its quiet…
A Fistful of Comics: Crowdfunding Roundup, April ‘21
Happy April! After a full 13 months of half-lockdown, the United States is finally on its way to getting folks vaccinated and, perhaps, in a position where we can see our friends in person without being afraid of causing a biological incident. I’m planning on using the few remaining months I have of not having…
REVIEW: The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook Serves Up Distressingly On-Point, But Hilarious, Political Satire
“What if everything the right thought about the left was real?” That’s the driving premise behind The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook, the latest from The Nib’s own Matt Lubchansky. To be honest, the premise puzzled me a little at first. On the one hand, I’m automatically a bit wary of anything that might end up being…
A WWAC Guide To Gumroad Day
Today is Gumroad Day, the day when the indie publishing platform lets creators take home 100% of all sales made on their site. In the interest of that, we here at WWAC thought we’d share a few of our favorite recommendations!
Stay Warm with the Sun and Sand Comic Anthology
After a streak of below zero temperatures in Chicago in the midst of the pandemic, I’m feeling the need for some escapism. Fortunately, I’ve got a little bit of warm, pandemic-free Florida weather sitting on my coffee table, in the form of the Sun and Sand Comic Anthology. Sun and Sand was originally set to…