I’ve said before that I love when we’re all surprisingly in sync with our monthly reads, and wow is everyone in sync this month – except for me! Below is mostly one comic that seems to have taken WWAC’s casual reading by storm, plus two very conceptually and aesthetically different recommendations. I think it’s a…
WWACommendations: God Bless the Mistaken, Ditching Saskia, Breadcrumbs and More
This month’s WWACommendations is a riot of emotions. Kathryn’s reading about the discomfort of grief, Emily’s got a memoir that involves funneling emotion into activism, Christa’s got a familiar recommendation that processes feelings of isolation, Kayleigh brings us a horror anthology which of course serves up a great deal of fear, and I’ve got a…
REVIEWS: ShortBox Comics Fair Favorites for 2024
Comics publisher ShortBox may have folded this year, but Zainab Akhtar’s annual ShortBox Comics Fair still has a sparkling present and future. Open for October, a fabulously curated collection of digital indie works are for sale online. Featuring a ton of creators, some established and some just starting out, it’s a grab bag of wonderful…
Daniel Crary on Opening Doors to the Comics Industry at Rose City Comic Con
Rose City Comic Con’s (RCCC) Creator Pro track, launched in 2022, presents the alt-creative paths within the comics industry: jobs in comics publishing, jobs in comics retailing, jobs in comics education (teaching or studying comics in K-12 and higher education settings). What’s unique about this track at RCCC is that there’s no requirement for special…
REVIEW: Grand Slam Romance 2: Major League Hotties Hits it Out Of The Park
Happy pride month, WWACers! Sapphics all over the internet need to read this book and start talking about it, right now! Grand Slam Romance 2: Major League Hotties by Emma Oosterhous and Ollie Hicks picks up where the first book of this series left off, amps up the magic, sports, comedy, and lesbianism to almost…
ESSAY: The Punk Rock of Geneviève Castrée
I became interested in artful comic books and strange, beautiful, punk independent music in the early to mid-2000s (for I wanted to make comic books and punk music, and other kinds of art), and so it was by luck, chance or providence that I became aware of the artwork and music of the Quebecois artist…
WWAC’s Favorite Small Press Comics of 2023!
It’s MarchApril?? Well, it’s never a bad time to read a list of our favorite comics from small presses, indie presses, and creators who self-publish! Specifically favorites — best-of lists promise a lot, and we’d rather just let you know what we loved. So grab a comic and hang out in that nice spring weather.
REVIEW: Time Under Tension is a Profound and Confident Memoir
“I never wanted to be someone just working for attention or praise, I’m just trying to put it all in order. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s serious, but it’s always me.” In a market saturated with graphic memoirs about early adulthood and finding oneself, it’s unusual to find one that feels genuinely original. Rarer still…
REVIEW: Redemption and Revenge Ring True in Darlin’ and Her Other Names
Two guides are hired to lead a hunting party. Black and white artwork marries a short narrative of some privileged yet unfortunate souls, with a surprising supernatural twist at the end that stayed in my brain years later. The first version of this supernatural western comic, titled simply Darlin’, was created by Olivia Stephens back…
REVIEW: Childhood Agency and Literary Freedom Break Free in Occulted
I am always checking for new graphic novels from Iron Circus Comics, one of my favorite publishers in the game who consistently bring strange and amazing comics and more. This recent release offers an eyebrow raising yet intriguing premise: it is a graphic memoir of cult survivor Amy Rose’s childhood in the late 90’s. Occulted…
REVIEW: Yennefer’s Body is an Emotional Blend of Horror and Autobio
I first reviewed Andi Santagata’s work in 2016 – seven years ago, which feels impossible but that is how time works. Those early issues of Trans Man Walking were all autobio, although looking back now I see the tendrils of horror working their way in. It’s honestly not subtle – the first issue’s cover features…
INTERVIEW: Tracy White Illuminates the Saga of Asylum-Seeking Teens in Unaccompanied
In Unaccompanied: Brave Stories of Teenagers Seeking Asylum, cartoonist Tracy White presents stories of migrant teens reaching the United States without parents, and going through the legal process of pleading their asylum cases here. Varied and harrowing, these stories illuminate the terrible situations these kids flee, and the system they need to navigate on arrival….
