Friday, August 30, 2024

Rain in the Third House – This Week’s Links

August 30, 2024 Philippines , Pinoy 0 Comments

We head merrily into the third third of the calendar year, and with it some clear frontrunners are appearing for the prestigious title of Comic Book That Appears on the Most End of Year Lists - DraftKings already running competitive odds for the gamblers in the house, fantasy comics leagues watching the waiver wire nervously, various podcasters, YouTubers, Vtubers, and olde timey radio broadcasters speculating on who the eventual victor will be - but, in the meantime, we have more links, below.

This week’s news.

• Catching up with recent comics awards news, as the National Cartoonists Society announced the winners of the 78th Annual Reuben Awards, naming Hilary B. Price as the 2023 Cartoonist of the Year; the winners of the inaugural American Manga Awards were announced as part of last week’s Anime NYC, with Shin’ichi Sakamoto’s #DRCL midnight children taking home Best New Manga, and Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon winning Best Continuing Manga Series; and the winners of Kadokawa’s Next Manga Award were announced, with Takeru Hokazono’s Kagurabachi winning the print category and Kuwahali and Tetsuo Ideuchi’s Girl Meets Rock! winning the web category.

• In other manga news, a French tourist was arrested in Kyoto last week, after deciding to sign the walls of the Nakagyo Ward’s Manga Museum; and there are increasing reports out of Japan that credit card companies overseas are threatening to impose penalties on companies carrying sexually explicit manga, similar to Mastercard’s policies targeting online sex workers.

• Elsewhere, a fifth woman has made public accusations of sexual assault against writer Neil Gaiman - TCJ’s Chris Mautner has an article for PennLive which details previous allegations made against the author.

• A couple of comics-related GoFundMe crowdfunders, as Marvel and DC artist Thomas A. Tenney is raising funds to cover medical and living costs; and writer Brett Lewis has had a further surgery, following a previous emergency hemicraniectomy, and is raising funds to cover costs while in recovery.

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, and news was shared of the death of Elena Salcedo, VP of Operations for Top Cow, who passed away last week.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Frank M. Young reviews layered complexities of Dash Shaw’s Blurry - “No character is the traditional protagonist, nor is there a blatant antagonist. Existing is the act of heroism here; each character makes good or bad decisions, is kind or cruel to others and thinks selfishly or selflessly. There is no traditional moral compass — just a cast of individuals living their lives and doing their best to counter the chaos of existence with their own design of what a life looks like.”

• Hagai Palevsky reviews the narrative thrust of Luke Pearson’s How Long Have I Been Lying Here? - “From a visual perspective, collecting these shorts feels at once counterintuitive and perfectly natural: a demonstration of stylistic flexibility of the sort that only emerges from the lack of an established baseline.”

 

AIPT

• Christopher Franey reviews the wild twists of DC Comics’ Zero Hour 30th-Anniversary Special #1.

• Alex Schlesinger reviews the fitting finale of Marvel Comics’ Fall of the House of X/Rise of the Powers of X.

• Colin Moon reviews the explosive tantrum of Christopher Cantwell, Luca Pizzari, Germán Peralta, et al’s Thanos: Return of the Mad Titan.

• Collier Jennings reviews the theological meditations of Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, Ron Garney, et al’s BRZRKR: The Lost Book of B #1.

• Ryan Sonneville reviews the pleasant spookiness of Michael Schwartz, Ismael Hernandez, et al’s Armored #1.

• Chris Coplan reviews the familiar narrative of John Arcudi, Savannah Finley, et al’s Convert #1.

• David Brooke reviews the endearing positivity of Joey Esposito, Austin Bachle, et al’s Sesame Street #1.

 

The Beat

• Arpad Okay reviews the visual languages of Jen Wang’s Ash’s Cabin.

• Masha Zhdanova reviews the appealing details of Leehama’s Gourmet Hound.

• Steve Baxi reviews the hype matching of Garth Ennis, Patrick Goddard, et al’s Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley.

• Joe Grunenwald reviews the enhanced celebrations of DC Comics’ Zero Hour 30th-Anniversary Special #1.

• Ricardo Serrano Denis reviews the nuanced emotions of Michael Walsh’s Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #1.

• Sean Dillon reviews the overstretched gags of Tom King, Dan Parent, et al’s Archie – The Decision #1.

• Clyde Hall reviews the solid science of John Arcudi, Savannah Finley, et al’s Convert #1.

 

Broken Frontier

• Lydia Turner reviews the narrative eccentricities of Nev Bamshew’s Colours Side A.

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the nuanced characters of Loo Hui Phang and Hugues Micol’s Erased: An Actor of Colour’s Journey Through the Heyday of Hollywood, translated by Edward Gauvin.

• Andy Oliver reviews the energetic imaginativeness of Alba Ceide’s Jackeline’s Jacket; the smart humour of Josh Hicks’ Hotelitor: Luxury-Class Defense and Hospitality Unit; and the claustrophobic mood of Tom Philipson, James Patrick, Devlin Baker, et al’s The Stranger #1.

 

Eruditorum Press

Elizabeth Sandifer reviews the big swings of Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, et al’s The Power Fantasy #1.

 

Four Color Apocalypse

Ryan Carey reviews the winning immediacy of Darya Foroohar’s Insatiable, the narrative flow of Richard Alexander’s Selections From the Richy Vegas Songbook, and the welcome return of Hal Weaver’s Reluctant Sadist #8.

 

From Cover to Cover

Scott Cederlund reviews the additive changes of Grant Morrison, Yanick Paquette, et al’s Wonder Woman: Earth One.

 

Galleries West

Sarah Swan reviews the diminished returns of Walter Scott’s The Wendy Award.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men: From the Ashes Infinity Comic #11, Savage Wolverine Infinity Comic #4, Phoenix #2, and Wolverine: Revenge #1.

 

 Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies in Germany

Sean Sidky reviews the energising insights of Jewish Women in Comics: Bodies and Borders, edited by Heike Bauer, Andrea Greenbaum, and Sarah Lightman.

 

NPR

Tahneer Oksman reviews the thought-provoking questions of Ken Krimstein’s Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up With the Universe.

 

Solrad

Kevin Brown reviews the central questions of Amy Kurzweil’s Artificial: A Love Story.

 

The Washington Post

Emily Tamkin reviews the glaring absences of Ari Richter’s Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz: A Graphic Family Memoir of Trauma & Inheritance.

 

Women Write About Comics

Monita Mohan reviews the punching down of Mark Russell, Bob Quinn, et al’s X-Factor #1.

This week’s interviews.

AIPT

• Chris Hassan speaks with Netho Diaz about X-Men, drawing your favourite characters, competitive natures, and illustration goals.

• Chris Coplan talks to Cullen Bunn about The Autumn Kingdom and parent/child relationships, and to Maria Llovet about Violent Flowers and differences between comics publishing in the US and Europe.

 

Anime News Network

Kalai Chik interviews Mamoru Aoi about My Girlfriend's Child, the origins of the story, and striking a balance between informing and entertaining.

 

Anime Trending

William Moo and Isabelle Lee talk to Atsushi Kaneko about Search and Destroy, adapting the work of Osamu Tezuka, and the artist bleeding through to the art.

 

The AV Club

Cindy White speaks with Janie Hendrix, Mellow Brown, and DJ Ben Ha Meen about Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze, capturing the spirit of Jimi Hendrix, and the musician’s legacy. 

 

BBC

Ross McCrea talks to Marianna Mooney, Andrew Pope, Kathryn McGrane, and Titch Dixon about the Low Intensity anthology, and the aims for the publication.

 

The Beat

• George Carmona III Interviews DJ Ben Ha Meen about Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze, and transporting the musician into a cosmic adventure.

• Avery Kaplan speaks with Darrin Bell about The Talk, the origins of the book, its connection with readers, and adapting it to audiobook form.

 

Broken Frontier

Andy Oliver interviews Zoè Delautre Corral about April 17th, Fine Arts training, the layered appeal of comics making, and the allure of black ink.

 

Forbes

• Rob Salkowitz talks to Ken Krimstein about Einstein In Kafkaland and career paths and academia, and to Garth Ennis about Babs and the realities of what satire can achieve.

• Josh Weiss interviews Mike Mignola about Hellboy: The Crooked Man, adapting the story for the screen, and how the character of Hellboy plays to Mignola’s strengths.

 

The Guardian

Rachel Cooke speaks with Aimée de Jongh about adapting William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the origins of the project, and the symbolism inherent to the story.

 

Mission Local

Tamara Palmer talks to Eddie Ahn about Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice, and tabling at this weekend’s SF Zine Fest.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Brigid Alverson interviews Janie Hendrix, Mellow Brown, and DJ Ben Ha Meen about Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze, and adding to the musician’s legacy.

 

School Library Journal

Jasmine Amiri talks to Sara Quin about Tegan and Sara: Crush, the book’s genesis, collaborating with Tillie Walden, and shifting the setting of the story.

 

Smash Pages

JK Parkin speaks with Amy Chase, Bevan Thomas, David Brothers, Illuminated, John Konrad, Mariah McCourt, Nathaniel Wilson, Nick Mamatas, Reetta Linjama, Rodrigo Vargas, Tayson Martindale, and Van Jensen about the Perfect Crime Party anthology.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Dean Simons writes in remembrance of artist André Juillard, illustrator of Les 7 Vies de L’Épervier, who passed away last month at the age of 76 - “Looking at his work you are immediately drawn to his characters. Posture, gait, the tilt of a head, and direction of the eyes, conveying so much beneath the surface – even when expressionless. His lines are deliberate, usually clean and uncluttered yet with enough detail to give the impression of realism.”

• Also for TCJ, Greg Hunter examines the questions at the heart of Dash Shaw’s work, as new graphic novel Blurry embraces new concerns - “These aren’t formal invitations to contemplate Shaw at this stage of his career, and the ambiguity in Blurry is potent enough to discourage too many 1:1 connections. At the same time, the combination of creative choice as a subject, formal gestures that mark the presence of an author, and a return to images from earlier works (the airplane view from Bottomless Belly Button) makes Blurry as much an occasion for reviewing Shaw’s trajectory as he might ever host.”

• Finally for TCJ this week, Helen Chazan considers Leo Fox’s comics Boy Island and My Body Unspooling, the journeys of their central character, Lucille, and the multifarious aspects of transition the stories explore - “But the ghosts of transsexuals past cannot be saved. The ghosts could be us in a future where the anti-trans panic of today achieves a total victory, but they are clearly meant to stand for trans elders, the generations of gender outlaws who broke out of gender conformity before we even had rights to fear losing, and the many trans siblings who have been lost to death over decades of adversity.”

• For The Washington Post, ahead of the DC Comics Style Guide finally being made available to the public, Dante A. Ciampaglia charts its creation, speaking with artist José Luis García-López about its original creation, and examining its place in the evolution of DC as a publisher.

• Over at ICv2, Rob Salkowitz writes on the tech companies viewing AI comics generation as a new potential goldrush, and the various, self-inflicted issues faced by these start-ups.

• Tom Ewing kicks off a new series for Freaky Trigger, Discourse 2000, charting the history of the galaxy’s greatest comic, kicking things off with in-depth explorations of Dan Dare and Invasion!.

• Over at Shelfdust, Shaenon K. Garrity writes on Satoshi Miyagawa and Kai Kitago’s Superman Vs Meshi, the relative lightness of its central conceit, and its creators being in on the joke; and Garrity also has a piece for Publisher’s Weekly looking at the current crop of comics looking back to media properties from the past for their audience.

• Broken Frontier’s Andy Oliver reports on this year’s Small Press Day, which took place a couple of weeks ago, with photos taken at events from around the United Kingdom.

• Presented from Reimagining Species Relations, Gina Song Lopez has an essay examining the themes of gendered eating and anthropocentric fighting in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, and its mixed record when it comes to depictions of the above.

• Paul O’Brien continues a census of the villains of Daredevil, for House to Astonish, as this edition tests the extent to which The Indestructible Man is an ironic moniker.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as the DNC wound down, and the spotlight remained split between presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• The New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium returned with a new schedule of programming, as Ben Katchor hosted a conversation between Paul Buhle and Benjamin Fraser, as they discussed comics writing, editing, and criticism, and recent books The Bund: A Graphic History of Jewish Labour Resistance (edited by Buhle) and Fraser’s Ben Katchor monograph.

• Gil Roth welcomed Dash Shaw to this week’s edition of The Virtual Memories Show, as they spoke about Blurry, figuring out the structure of the book, 2x2 panel formatting, and film-making compared to comics-making.

• Brian Hibbs was joined by Maria Sweeney for an in-person meeting of the Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club, as they discussed Brittle Joints, the limitless nature of comics making, the origins and early versions of the book, and how books can change readers’ perspectives on life.

• David Harper welcomed Chris Samnee to this week’s episode of Off Panel, as they spoke about Batman and Robin: Year One, the evolution and development of the project, #Batober, and keeping yourself learning.

• Calvin Reid interviewed Loo Hui Phang for Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, as they discussed Erased: An Actor of Color's Journey Through the Heyday of Hollywood, beginning the collaboration with Hugues Micol on the book, and the intersectionality of the story’s approach to Hollywood history.

No more links, because the Paralympics have arrived, and so I can once more lose myself to the ambrosia of international sporting competitions.

The post Rain in the Third House – This Week’s Links appeared first on The Comics Journal.


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