ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/24/16 to 10/30/16

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Alex Hoffman on Will Dinski's TRYING NOT TO NOTICE, "a comic that explores the fundamental brokenness of people and the whitewash surfaces we paint over them."

* Matthew Daley reviews Simon Moreton's PLANS WE MADE, a book "with both a nostalgic warmth and tinge of regret that most readers can relate to."

* Andy Oliver takes a look at Rachael Smith's WIRED UP WRONG where "[t]here's a feeling of Smith not just creating for an audience herre but also seeking to make sense of the challenges she faces for herself..."

* Rob Clough reviews RUINS by Peter Kuper, "a story where love doesn't triumph over everything, as the happy ending here is that both characters find self-actualization apart from each other."

* Also, last week, Rob Clough wrote this excellent review of Noah Van Sciver's BLAMMO #9

* John Seven reviews two books from Minneapolis-based publisher UNCIVILIZED BOOKS, Caitlin Skaalrud's Houses of the Holy and Joann Sfar's Pascin.

* Paul Tumey really, really likes MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS by Emil Ferris, and does an excellent job of telling us why that is.

* Megan Purdy says that Margaret Atwood's ANGEL CATBIRD is "weird".

WHATNOT

* Sean T. Collins audaciously lists THE 33 GREATEST GRAPHIC NOVELS OF ALL TIME and then SARAH HORROCKS does it too! 

* And then Robin McConnell interviews SEAN T. COLLINS about all the (many) things getting done by Sean T. Collins

* Philippe LeBlanc interviews ANYA DAVIDSON about her new release from Fantagraphics, Band For Life.

* Alex Townsend's SEX, NUDITY, AND RAPE IN HORROR COMICS: WHERE ARE THE NEW LINES?

* "[T]he truest thing about a person, that person's real story, is just as often the thing withheld -- the silent thing -- as the thing offered."  So reads a passage from Vinson Cunningham's look at Brandon Stanton's new book HUMANS OF NEW YORK: STORIES.

* Wesley Morris' WHY POP CULTURE JUST CAN'T DEAL WITH BLACK MALE SEXUALITY.

* Steve Cutts video for Moby's song ARE YOU LOST IN THE WORLD LIKE ME?

* Kate Klonick's HERE'S WHAT IT WOULD TAKE FOR TWITTER TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT ITS HARASSMENT PROBLEM.