Friday, February 23, 2024

Xmas in February – This Week’s Links

February 23, 2024 Philippines , Pinoy 0 Comments

The last links round-up of the month, as a This Week’s Links will sadly not fall upon the leaping 29th of February until 2036, at which point one must assume that the eschaton will have finally immanentized, and we’ll have bigger things to worry about, or linkblogs will have been replaced by some kind of topical cream, to be applied twice daily, but in the meantime, links, below.

This week’s news.

• Getting back into the swing of awards news, as the Los Angeles Times this week announced the finalists for the 44th Annual L.A. Times Book Prizes, with 2023’s Best Graphic Novels/Comics shortlist comprising Derek M. Ballard’s Cartoonshow, Emily Carroll’s A Guest in the House, Sammy Harkham’s Blood of the Virgin, Chantal Montellier’s Social Fiction, and Simon Spurrier and Matías Bergara’s CODA, as judged by Sloane Leong, Nero Villagallos O'Reilly, and Zach Hazard Vaupen.

• Annual comics sales report news, and ICv2 shared figures from the comic stores channel for 2023, with sales of comics and graphic novels down 8% overall compared to 2022, with retailers surveyed seeing a drop-off in sales of new periodicals and graphic novels, despite Comichron charting an increase in new comic book releases compared to the previous three years, perhaps due in large part to continuing struggles to rein in inflation, as the global economy remains volatile.

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, and news was shared this week of the death of Enrique Badía Romero, creator of AXA, and storied artist on Modesty Blaise during runs across the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and early ‘00s, who passed away earlier this month.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Leonard Pierce reviews the rare beauty of Julie Delporte’s Portrait of a Body, translated by Helge Dascher and Karen Houle - “Delporte occupies an unusual spot in the pantheon of comics autobiographists. Her work is, strictly speaking, neither confessional nor diaristic; it is easy to feel that she is telling us only what she feels comfortable saying - just as in her striking, small vignettes of nature and humanity, she is only showing us what she wants to show.”

• Tom Shapira reviews the clean storytelling of Tito Faraci and Enrique Breccia’s Tex: Captain Jack, translated by Vladimir Jovanovic - “Who is this Tex? Created in 1948 by Giovanni Luigi Bonelli & Aurelio Galleppini, he is the hero of roughly eight billion pages of cowboy comics, almost none of which are in a language I can read. I do own several albums, pocket collections and stray issues, though. On a recent sojourn through Europe I crossed three countries, and in each one, whenever I went into a corner shop, there amongst the magazines would be a Tex adventure. They have always been at least a pleasure to look at.”

 

AIPT

• David Brooke reviews the satisfying conclusion of Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, et al’s Batman #144.

• Robert Reed reviews the weakened impact of Brian Buccellato, Christian Duce, et al’s Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #5.

• Nathan Simmons reviews the compelling continuation of Simon Spurrier, Aaron Campbell, et al’s John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #2.

• Christopher Franey reviews the fun revelations of Saladin Ahmed, Aaron Kuder, et al’s Daredevil #6.

• Collier Jennings reviews the emotional finale of Jackson Lanzing, Colin Kelly, Kev Walker, et al’s Guardians of the Galaxy Annual 2024.

• Colin Moon reviews the jumbled messaging of Ann Nocenti, Paolo Villanelli, et al’s Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest.

• Alex Schlesinger reviews the evocative messaging of Deniz Camp, Luca Maresca, et al’s Children of the Vault.

• Rory Wilding reviews the enticing expansion of Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, et al’s Void Rivals Volume 1: More Than Meets the Eye.

 

The Beat

• Jordan Jennings reviews the accessible execution of Jim Zub, Roberto De La Torre, et al’s Conan The Barbarian – Bound in Black Stone.

• Sean Dillon reviews the permeating serenity of Matthew Erman and Sam Beck’s Loving, Ohio.

• Beau Q. reviews the interwoven mystery of Dan Watters, Sumit Kumar, et al’s The Six Fingers #1, and Ram V, Laurence Campbell, et al’s The One Hand #1.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the patient build-up of Brian Buccellato, Christian Duce, et al’s Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #5.

• Cy Beltran reviews the narrative decompression of Benjamin Percy, Robert Gill, et al’s X-Force #49.

 

Broken Frontier

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the complex beauty of Nino Bulling’s Firebugs.

• Andy Oliver has reviews of:

- The energetic fantasy of Emma Oosterhous and Ollie Hicks’ Grand Slam Romance. 

- The impressive inventiveness of Kry Garcia’s Guide to the Oblivion.

- The appealing flourishes of House of Harley’s Ugly Mug 7.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #126, Wolverine #43, and Fall of the House of X #2.

 

ICv2

Nick Smith reviews the interesting formatting of NBM Publishing’s Nina Simone in Comics.

 

Kirkus Reviews

Have starred capsule reviews of:

- The engaging earnestness of Jing Jing Tsong’s Fake Chinese Sounds.

- The charming expressiveness of Kathy MacLeod’s Continental Drifter.

- The timely accessibility of Yu Pei-Yun and Zhou Jian-Xin’s The Boy From Clearwater Book 2, translated by Lin King.

 

Multiversity Comics

• Christopher Chiu-Tabet reviews the compelling setup of Ed Brisson, Luca Casalanguida, et al’s The Displaced #1.

• Mark Tweedale reviews the unifying elements of Ram V, Laurence Campbell, et al’s The One Hand #1, and Dan Watters, Sumit Kumar, et al’s The Six Fingers #1.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Have capsule reviews of:

- The sensitive vulnerability of Denise Dorrance’s Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir.

- The celebratory interrogations of Ajuan Mance’s Gender Studies: True Confessions of an Accidental Outlaw.

- The entrancing lavishness of Jean-Marc Rochette’s The Last Queen, translated by Edward Gauvin.

 

Solrad

Kevin Brown reviews the insightful connections of Julia Wertz’s Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Edward Dorey interviews Elizabeth Fiend (aka Luna Ticks) about Brain: A Tender Tale of Two Sisters, comics as an anti-bourgeois art form, personal development, and challenging the status quo - “Due to their exclusivity, I am not always a fan of art shows. Comics are mass-produced and accessible to a wider audience. While one can likely find a [Robert] Mapplethorpe book showcasing his photographs, art exhibits remain confined to restricted environments. I always yearned to share my work with the masses. Comics are great because they are tangible objects. In contrast, with painting, one person may own the piece and usually exhibit it briefly rather than give it to others to touch and interact with.”

 

AIPT

• David Brooke and Nathan Simmons speak with Nicole Maines about Suicide Squad: Dream Team and Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story, and writing from your own experiences.

• Michael Guerrero talks to Tom Taylor about Titans, changing tones, building narratives, and embracing fan service.

 

The Beat

Deanna Destito chats with Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Dailen Ogden about WIFWULF, the origins of the book, and collaborative experiences.

 

Broken Frontier

Andy Oliver interviews Nigel Twumasi about Against All Odds, business evolutions, building a story universe, and the universality of personal experiences.

 

Forbes

Scott King speaks with Chris Claremont and Kevin Eastman about Wolverine’s 50th birthday, and the enduring appeal of the character.

 

Global Insight

Sean Woodard interviews Dr. Christopher Conway about recently donating Mexican and Spanish comics to Special Collections at UT Arlington’s Libraries, and lessons learned from researching comics.

 

ICv2

Rob Salkowitz talks to Mad Cave Studios’ Mark London about current market saturation, the publisher/retailer relationship, and growth through acquisition.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Shaenon Garrity interviews Peter Hoey and Maria Hoey about In Perpetuity, shifting between long form and short form projects, and inventing rules for the afterlife.

 

Women Write About Comics

Rosie Knight chats with Dave Schiedt about Mayor Good Boy Turns Bad, building a loyal fanbase, and the joys of seeing your gags come to life on the page.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Andrew White considers Fabrice Neaud’s Le Dernier Sergent 1: Les Guerres Immobiles, and the evolution of Neaud’s ongoing autobiographical project - “Neaud’s nibwork remains masterful, he continues to work primarily in a six- or nine-panel grid, and he combines naturalistic, moment-to-moment sequences with narrative-heavy and at times essayistic sections that jump nimbly between the personal and the political, the local and the global (though at times that expanded view can be a bit plodding, with a litany of references to world events that have no bearing on the plot).”

• Also for TCJ, Valerio Stivè and Alberto Brambilla write in remembrance of writer, artist, and historian Alfredo Castelli, creator of Martin Mystère, who passed away earlier this month aged 76 - “In 1966, the teenaged Castelli launched Comics Club 104, often considered the first Italian comics fanzine. Though his resources were meager, Castelli sought to investigate the chronologies of many American comic strips. This was not without misadventure; unable to fill a gap in the chronology of the Mickey Mouse daily strip, Castelli invented a fictitious artist, Al Levin, and attributed the unknown strips to him.”

• NPR covers the upcoming animated Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, with the history and origins of the first Black character in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, and a conversation with Craig Schulz and director Raymond Persi on the development of the animation.

• For From Cover to Cover, Scott Cederlund writes on the enduring societal fears of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys/21st Century Boys, and what we write about when we write about the end of the world.

• The contributors to Women Write About Comics reconvene to share their favourite manga titles from 2023, including Umi Kusahara’s Mothers, Datura Magazine No. 2 edited by Mar Julia and Sunmi, Yuu Morikawa’s Mr Villain’s Day Off, Poppy Pesuyama’s Until I Love Myself, Fujimomo’s Love, That’s an Understatement, Mokumokuren’s The Summer Hikaru Died, Yoko Komori’s Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand, Seiko Erisawa’s Box of Light, Ai Yazawa’s Neighbourhood Story, and Shirakawa Gin’s A Story of Seven Lives.

• Broken Frontier’s Andy Oliver continues a survey of creators left out in the cold by the Tales from the Quarantine crowdfunding campaign, the printed results of which, and charitable proceeds from which, are still to materialise from organiser Frazer Brown

• Over at Shelfdust, Steve Morris progresses along a journey into Journey Into Mystery, this edition checking whether the volatile simplicity of the machinations of Surtur in issue 642 is up to code.

• Paul O’Brien’s organogram of the villains of Daredevil continues, for House to Astonish, as this week The Boss is at the top of the chart.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as violence in the United States, Russia, and Gaza made way for branded footwear.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Starting the week’s selection with Udder Madness’ return from pasture, as Claire Napier and Tegan O’Neil look back at Dwayne Turner and Charles Holland’s Butcher Knight, its liberties taken with already fairly loose Arthurian legends, and appreciation of the work of Liam Sharp.

• Also coming back off of hiatus, 2000 AD’s Thrill Cast returns to the airwaves, as Molch-R and Steve Morris present a jumping-back-on point, speaking with Rachel Bellwoar and Zack Quaintance about getting into the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, and with Eob Williams, Arthur Wyatt, and Henry Flint about Judge Dredd: A Better World.

• Closing out the ‘oh, hey, that’s back’ trilogy for the week, from last month, NHK World-Japan released one of its sporadic officially translated episodes of Manben: Behind the Scenes of Manga with Urasawa Naoki, as Urasawa spoke with Hoshino Yukinobu about the making Kaitei (Ocean Adventurer Kaitei).

• Brian Hibbs welcomed Gary Clement to this month’s edition of the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club, as they spoke about K is in Trouble, artistic heroes, research trips to Prague, and changing things as you go when making comic pages.

• David Harper was joined by Kazu Kibuishi for this week’s edition of Off Panel, to discuss the return, and conclusion, of the Amulet series of graphic novels, as the ninth and final volume in the series hits the shelves, and the evolution the story has undergone across 16 years of publishing.

• Amalgam Age time at Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, as Calvin Reid, Heidi MacDonald, and Kate Fitzsimons look to crossovers between the Big Two, and outside of the work-for-hire world to the expansion of James Tynion IV’s Tiny Onion brand.

• Closing out the week with more Cartoonist Kayfabe, as Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg took a little looksee at the Frank Miller interview from Amazing Heroes #69; Larry Hama, Adam Kubert, and Fabio Laguna on Wolverine; John Byrne on Fantastic Four #232; Adam Hughes on Gen¹³; and the newly released Frank Johnson, Secret Pioneer of American Comics; before sitting down for a shoot interview with Alex Ross covering early days in the Chicago comic scene, teenage comics buying habits, and lucky breaks when juggling projects.

That’s your lot for this week, back next time in a new month and with new links.

The post Xmas in February – This Week’s Links appeared first on The Comics Journal.


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