It’s almost impossible to meet a person whose life has not been touched by cancer in some way, taking family, friends, or our own lives from us. For Matt Hawkins, creator of The Clock, that touch was his own mother who was diagnosed when he was only 17. At that time, she was given only…
Tres Dean: Professional Liker of The Rock
Tres Dean is a writer whose words can be found at GQ, Paste, Syfy, Geek.com, IGN, and more. He writes about shoes, geeky things, pop culture, and now he’s writing about The Rock in his very first book. For Your Consideration: The Rock from Quirk Books is a collection of essays exploring Dwayne “The Rock”…
Four-Colour Faves: Jackie Brown presents Mister Sinister
Whether he’s messing around in the Summers gene pool, or messing around in, well, the entire mutant population’s gene pool, Mister Sinister — nee Nathaniel Essex — is one of the most enigmatic villains the X-Men have ever faced. He’s always got something up his sleeve, and that’s just a small part of his charm….
Discovering We Ride Upon Sticks at the NYCC Book Club
New York Comic Con boasts several events every year, ranging from panels of superstars to custom sketches by beloved artists, to themed “experiences.” This year, it also included a series of NYCC book club meetings featuring a range of different upcoming books to be published by Penguin Random House. For each one, interested con attendees…
Ezra Claytan Daniels on Innovative Storytelling & Upgrade Soul
Most graphic novels exist in the form of books, meant to be read, leafed through and live on your shelf. But Ezra Claytan Daniels’ Upgrade Soul isn’t most graphic novels. It originated as an innovative, serialized story on iOS back in 2012. It was brought back into the public eye last year, when it was…
Curating “Ladies First”: An Interview with Caitlin McGurk and Rachel Miller
The impact of comics and cartoon art made by women is often lessened or missing altogether from historical narratives, and Caitlin McGurk and Rachel Miller are out to set the record straight. Together they have curated a new exhibit at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum titled Ladies First: A Century of Women’s Innovations…
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen is Comics’ The Good Place
I heard people rave about The Good Place for years before I actually watched the show, mostly because I don’t consider myself to be a sitcom person. I then I read Sam Anderson’s article in The New York Times, “What Makes ‘The Good Place’ so Good?” which convinced me that there was something going on…
Tim Seeley and Lysa Hawkins on Bloodshot’s New Nemesis: Eidolon
With the Vin Diesel-led film on the way, now’s a good time to do some groundwork on the character of Bloodshot, if you aren’t already familiar with him. Created by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin, and Bob Layton in 1992, Bloodshot has returned with a new series this year. Valiant Entertainment’s super soldier possesses powers of regeneration and…
Return to Harrow County With Cullen Bunn, Tyler Crook, and Naomi Franquiz
Clearly, Tyler Crook and Cullen Bunn were not ready to say goodbye to Harrow County and the dark and creepy goings on in the woods surrounding the home of Emmy Crawford. The southern gothic horror story, nee Countless Haints on Bunn’s personal website, has evolved since its creation, morphing from the ten-chapter serialized prose to…
Henchgirl’s Kristen Gudsnuk on Making Friends, Modern Fantasy, and Four-legged Muses
I felt very lucky to meet Kristen Gudsnuk at New York Comic Con this year. I was strolling Artist Alley and excited to see her books Making Friends and Making Friends: Back to the Drawing Board. These young adult graphic novels are published by Scholastic, and I had heard about how great they were. While I was…
Exploring Jeff Lemire’s Family Tree
In Jeff Lemire and Phil Hester’s upcoming comic, Family Tree from Image Comics, a girl becomes a tree. This new, original horror story follows the Hayes family on a backroads road trip across the country seeking a cure for Meg. Frightening and poignant, the first issue of the new horror ongoing combines elements of body horror, magical…
Street Noise: Taking a Stand and Giving a Damn With New Nonfiction Graphic Novels for 2020
In 2016, fifteen-year publishing veteran Liz Frances decided enough was enough. In the wake of the U.S. presidential election, she was compelled to take a stand and has “become passionately driven to advocate for the power of love and compassion in the face of hate and oppression.” Bringing that passion and her years of experience and…