Friday, March 8, 2024

Winds of March – This Week’s Links

March 08, 2024 Philippines , Pinoy 0 Comments

Another World Book Day™ come and gone, as countless children across the world trudged to their place of education dressed as the literary figures that mean the most to them - Mr. Natural, Maggie Chascarillo, Rorschach, the corner from Richard McGuire’s Here, etc, etc - while I, scant decades out of primary education, was just sat at home, as usual, compiling this week’s links, below, dressed in the formalwear that I don whenever I access the internet - youth is wasted on the young.

This week’s news.

• Inaugural comics prize news, and Image Comics announced that Knoxville’s Nirvana Comics is the winner of the first quarterly Retailer Appreciation Awards, conferring various Image-branded paraphernalia as a reward, designed to (deep breath) “galvanize recognition of members of the Comic Book Direct Market retail community that are going above and beyond to serve their customers” - such retailers can be nominated for the next award here.

• In other prize news, the Cartoonist Coop announced this year's nominees for their Minicomics Awards, with shortlists released for the science fiction, fantasy, autobiography, romance, and horror categories, winners to be revealed via livecast on the 14th of March, and a prize pool this year of $3700.

• Elsewhere, testing the very limits of the adage that ‘all publicity is good publicity’, Scout Comics this week announced that they are entering into a partnership with ‘Element Media Global, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Element Global, Inc.’, right around the time that creators working with the publisher had made public various allegations that they had not been paid, that inquiries regarding said payment had not been responded to or acknowledged, and that merchandise and cover decisions had been made without their approval, allegations which are, unsurprisingly, not mentioned in the announcement of a partnership with ‘Element Media Global, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Element Global, Inc.’, but were instead addressed via the classic “guess we better write a vague apology in the Notes app and post a screenshot of it on X (formerly known as Twitter)” format.

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, and news was shared this week of the passing of storied mangaka Akira Toriyama, creator of Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, who died on the 1st of March, at the age of 68, due to an acute subdural haematoma - Bird Studio released a statement, informing readers of Toriyama's passing, saying “We hope that Akira Toriyama's unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Valerio Stivé reviews the compressed rendition of Milo Manara and Simona Manara’s adaptation of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose - “Such intricate, virtuosic writing is difficult to translate into images. One would probably need to create an elaborate discourse on visualized language, as David Mazzucchelli and Paul Karasik did in adapting of Paul Auster’s City of Glass - but I’m not sure that that was Manara’s intention. When stripped to the basics of its plot, The Name of the Rose can be honed down to a crime story, a murder mystery in a medieval setting.”

• Tegan O’Neil reviews the pleasing sleaze of Penthouse Comics #1, edited by Adriana Yocum and Garrett Krebs - “It’s a time-honored tradition in the comics field that men’s magazines pay remarkably well. Hand-in-hand with that convention goes the traditional observation regarding Hugh Hefner’s aesthetic preferences: good eye, but terrible taste. As a frustrated cartoonist the man seemingly held no profession in higher regard, but as a patron of the medium he was quite happy to pay top dollar for the creation of trifles such as Little Annie Fanny.”

 

AIPT

• Ryan Sonneville reviews the mixed bag of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Rise of the Sith Volume 1.

• Colin Moon reviews the superfluous characters of Marvel Comics’ Strange Academy: The Deadly Field Trip.

• David Brooke reviews the gorgeous weirdness of Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men #1.

• Michael Guerrero reviews the captivating worldbuilding of Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins, et al’s The Bat-Man: First Knight #1.

• Collier Jennings reviews the generational differences of Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Esau Escorza, Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, et al’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution #1.

 

The Beat

• Justin Guerrero reviews the brand synergy of Acky Bright’s WcDonald’s The Manga: The Race to WcDonald’s.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the immersive crafting of Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins, et al’s The Bat-Man: First Knight #1.

 

Broken Frontier

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the charming inquisitiveness of Elise Gravel’s Club Microbe.

• Andy Oliver has reviews of:

- The fascinating history of Alan Dein, Jamie Anderson, Doug Luke, Roger Perry, et al’s Candy, Andy & the Bearandas.

- The intoxicating absurdism of Pierre La Police’s Masters of the Nefarious: Mollusk Rampage.

 

Four Color Apocalypse

Ryan Carey reviews the nuanced tapestry of Tyler Cohen’s Feather.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #128, Dead X-Men #2, Wolverine #44, Resurrection of Magneto #2, Cable #2, and Invincible Iron Man #15.

 

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics

Sanjoy Jana reviews the comprehensive analysis of Roma Chatterji’s Graphic Narratives and the Mythological Imagination in India.

 

Los Angeles Review of Books

Martin Dolan reviews the compelling questions of Tessa Hulls’ Feeding Ghosts.

 

Multiversity Comics

• Elias Rosner reviews the moral contrasts of Leah Williams, Marguerite Sauvage, et al’s Power Girl #6.

• Gregory Ellner reviews the core conflict of Joshua Williamson, Sean Izzakse, et al’s Green Arrow #9.

• Alexander Jones reviews the bold visuals of Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men #1.

 

NPR

Tahneer Oksman reviews the gorgeous rambunctioness of Maurice Vellekoop’s I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Have capsule reviews of:

- The addictive horror of Jay Stephens’ Dwellings.

- The impeccable curation of W. Maxwell Prince, et al’s Swan Songs.

- The abbreviated accomplishment of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Where the Body Was.

- The perverse nastiness of Brian Nathanson, Neil Gibson, Piotr Kowalski, et al’s The Many Deaths of Barnaby James.

- The mixed successes of Shawn Allene, et al’s Shook! A Black Horror Anthology.

- The lacklustre action of Travon Free, Martin Desmond Roe, et al’s Black Solstice.

 

Race & Class

Ry O. Siggelkow reviews the powerful inspiration of David Lester, Marcus Rediker, and Paul Buhle’s Prophet Against Slavery: Benjamin Lay, A Graphic Novel.

 

Solrad

Deshan Tennekoon reviews the horror credentials of Shigeru Mizuki’s The Birth of Kitarō, translated by Zack Davisson.

 

Women Write About Comics

Lisa Fernandes reviews the heartbreaking horror of Marvel Comics’ Marvel Zombies: Black, White and Blood #1; and the vibrant humour of Rainbow Rowell, Andres Genolet, et al’s The Sensational She-Hulk #1.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Robert Aman interviews Ville Ranta about personal histories with reading and making comics, autobiographical work and political cartooning, and the appeal and challenges of establishing oneself in the French comics scene - “Literature has always been very important to me. As a teenager, I wasn’t only immersed in comics; I also delved into poetry, novels, philosophy, essays - everything. I was quite a literary guy, and I still am. One of the significant challenges I’ve faced with comics is the belief that they should be more like literature. I yearn for more layers in comics, with profound themes addressed by the medium.”

 

AIPT

• Chris Hassan talks to Steve Foxe about X-Men ‘97, having your life path changed by a cartoon, and expanding out from 90s source material.

• David Brooke chats with Vault Comics’ Adrian Wassel and Damian Wassel about heading to Zoop to build the audience for Barbaric.

• Michael Guerrero interviews Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins about The Bat-Man: First Knight, and the first appearances of Bruce Wayne.

• Chris Coplan speaks with:

- Scott Snyder about Dark Spaces: Dungeon and working outside of your creative comfort zone.

- Jason Starr about Silicon Bandits and the joys of crime fiction.

- Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly about The Principles of Necromancy and modular storytelling.

 

The Beat

• Deanna Destito chats with Elliott Kalan and George Kambadais about Hercules, moving from villains to heroes, and favourite mythological characters.

• Diego Higuera speaks with Jimmy Broxton about Fully Loaded, combining science fiction and crime fiction, and having a centenarian protagonist.

• Avery Kaplan interviews Megan Brennan about Magic Girls: Kira and the (Maybe) Space Princess and shoujo manga inspirations, and Kazu Kibuishi about the conclusion of Amulet and reader reactions to the series.

• Rebecca Oliver Kaplan and Avery Kaplan talk to Chris Weston about Time Breakers, the history of the Helix Comics imprint, and time travel paradoxes.

 

Broken Frontier

Andy Oliver speaks with Anna Kopp and Gabrielle Kari about The Marble Queen and reflecting real-world experiences in genre fiction, and with Mereida Fajardo about stories evolving with the comics format and the upcoming Zinezilla Fair.

 

NPR

Ayesha Rascoe talks to Maurice Vellekoop about I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together, the layered meanings of the title, and the escape from reality provided by fantasy.

 

PEN America

Valentine Sargent interviews Kevin Huizenga about the rerelease of Curses, the invisible nature of Glenn Ganges, and the enduring influence of Chekhov.

 

Publisher's Weekly

ND Stevenson and Sara Varon discuss the Oscar-nominations for adaptations of Nimona and Robot Dreams, the journey of both books from page to screen, and the changes that occur to stories during such adaptations.

 

Smash Pages

JK Parkin chats with Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande about Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods and a shared love of Saturday morning cartoons, and Lara Pickle about I Feel Awful, Thanks and future projects.

 

The Walrus

Ariella Garmaise talks to Connor Willumsen about Bradley of Him, and the renewed relevance of the book as life imitates art imitating life in the current awards season.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Ian Thomas considers the history of one Francis “Frank” Castle, and writes on Kent Worcester’s A Cultural History of the Punisher, and the shifting cultural position of the corporate-owned vigilante killer - “Increasingly, Culture War is the tail that wags the dog. From the standpoint of power, waging Culture War is easy and more cost-effective than offering material benefits or improvements. It drives clicks. It drives fundraising. It drives elections. It even drives swatting and doxxing. In the rush of dopamine that accompanies a burst of righteous anger online, it’s all too easy to conflate talking and doing. But the signifier is rarely equal in portent to what it signifies.”

• Todd Klein has released The Art and History of Lettering Comics online, for free, as the book exists in blog-form for the time being, charting the evolution of comics lettering, and writing on notable letterers from across the various comics ages.

• For the School Library Journal Brigid Alverson writes on the current manga boom, and the difficulty in providing appropriate titles for a voracious middle school reader market.

• Over at Shelfdust, T. Trewhella looks back on Al Ewing and Lee Garbett’s Loki: Agent of Asgard #17, and the way in which the book wields the power of canon and continuity in its favour.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, for The Daily Cartoonist, as it continues to be an election year, lest we forget.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Ben Katchor hosted the annual Will Eisner Week meeting of the New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium, as Will Eisner Week Chair Danny Fingeroth spoke with author, screenwriter, and director Nicholas Meyer about Eisner’s The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the golden age of finding new reads in physical bookstores.

• Katie Skelly and Sally Madden were joined by Tina Horn for a discussion of the Thick Lines of Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's Lost Girls, examining the book's focus on taboo topics, controversies regarding stories deemed pornographic and the subjective distinction between pornography and erotic art, The Comics Journal's coverage of the book when it was released, and the various themes in Lost Girls that Moore engages with in other books.

• 2000 AD’s Thrill-Cast returned, as this week MOLCH-R spoke with artist Simon Harrison about Strontium Dog and Revere, artistic educations and portfolio reviews, planning page layouts, and thoughts on the creative process.

• Deb Aoki hosted the latest episode of Mangasplaining, as season four of the podcast drew to a close with a return to Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, checking out the penultimate volume of the manga, and the building culmination of the narrative and character arcs of the book.

• David Harper was joined by Brian Michael Bendis for this week’s edition of Off Panel, as they discussed new book Masterpiece, the origins of the project, Jinxworld’s various incarnations, and developing stories with collaborators in mind.

• Heidi MacDonald, Kate Fitzsimmons, and Calvin Reid reconvened for the latest episode of Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, as MacDonald reported from the recent ComicsPRO meeting in Pittsburgh, and the news of Scout Comics recent issues with compensating creators was discussed.

• A couple of visits to Word Balloon, as John Siuntres spoke with Tony Fleecs about Feral and Uncanny Valley and the passing of Ramona Fradon, and with Terry Dodson about The Art of Rachel and Terry Dodson and Emerald City Comic Con experiences.

• Closing out the week with some more Cartoonist Kayfabe time with Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg, as this week focus was given to Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown, theme song, Jack Kirby’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition, Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s Batman #1, Marvel and DC’s Amalgam Age, and 1996’s Wizard #64.

Those are all the links for another week, the rest are waiting in the wings for their moment in the spotlight.

The post Winds of March – This Week’s Links appeared first on The Comics Journal.


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