ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 11/21/16 to 11/27/16

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

* Rob Clough reviews Daryl Seitchik's new book from Koyama Press, EXITS, in which "what it means to be seen in relation to one's identity, especially as a woman, is at the heart of this book."

* Clough also writes short reviews of a few releases in the MINI-KUS! line: #31: It's Tuesday by Amanda Vahamaki, #32: R.A.T. by Lala Albert, and #33: BFF by Marie Jacotey.

* Andy Oliver takes a look at Throwaway Press' latest anthology, DIRTY ROTTEN COMICS #8.

WHATNOT

* Ben Passmore's LETTER FROM A STONE MOUNTAIN JAIL.

* Rozi Hathaway pens A SELF-PUBLISHER'S GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR SMALL PRESS COMICS PROFILE. 

* RESIST! 

* Youth in Decline has neatly packaged a bundle of FRONTIER 2 - 14 in a bundle for you to buy for all the people you love this holiday season.

* Keith Silva writes smart about Christopher Harris' new novel, WAR ON SOUND. 

* From the MIT Technology Review comes this piece titled, AI MACHINE ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND COMIC BOOKS ...  AND FAILS proving that machines are smart and comics are dumb.

* Alana Newhouse's HITLER'S BABIES: ANTI-SEMITISM, AMERICA, AND THE JEWS

A “Shopping List” For A (truly) Black Friday

I'm depressed. I can't write reviews right now. So, instead, for this week's

TINY PAGES MADE OF ASHES

on Comics Bulletin, I made a shopping list instead:

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 11/14/16 to 11/20/16

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

* Philippe LeBlanc writes a very personal review of Richie Pope's "Fatherson" contained in Youth In Decline's FRONTIER #13.

* Sacha Mardou's ON BEING A WOMAN IN THE MANLY WORLD OF DANIEL CLOWES is the sort of long-form criticism that we need more of.

* Kim Jooha's post on EUROPEAN ABSTRACT FORMALIST COMICS is an incredible repository of this sort of work and a primer as to what's going on.

* Rob McMonigal talks about Tillie Walden's webcomic, ON A SUNBEAM, and features some of its amazing panels.

* John Seven reviews Jessica Campbell's HOT OR NOT.

* Nick Hanover on the new hardcover release of Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn's ALEX + ADA.

* Not small press, but some amazing comics criticism: Ray Sonne's APOLLO: THE FEMININE SUPERMAN is absolutely first rate writing about comics.

WHATNOT

* Tom K. and Jordan from Uncivilized Books are launching a new kid's comics imprint, ODOD BOOKS. Give their Kickstarter a gander and throw some cash their way.

* Robert Tutton interviews Swedish Cartoonist Kim W. Andersson about his book, ALENA, and the horror genre.

* Robin McConnell interviews NOAH VAN SCIVER and SETH resulting in a fascinating conversation between the three of them.

* Glen Weldon's THE TERM "GRAPHIC NOVEL" HAS HAD A GOOD RUN. WE DON'T NEED IT ANYMORE.

* Adam Kirsch reviews Michael Chabon's new novel, MOONGLOW.

* J.A. Micheline's CRITICAL JAM #7: A RIGHT TO BE HOSTILE IN 2016.

* Cornel West's GOODBYE, AMERICAN NEOLIBERALISM. A NEW ERA IS HERE.

* Nikole Hannah-Jones' THE END OF THE POSTRACIAL MYTH

* Ijeoma Oluo's QUESTIONING SAFETY PIN SOLIDARITY REVEALED WHY I CAN'T TRUST WHITE PEOPLE. 

*Nick Hanover's THIS IS OUR FAULT: WHITE PEOPLE NEED TO STOP ASKING FOR EMPATHY AND FIX OURSELVES. 

* A Group of Editors over on Tablet have a post-election round-table discussion they title: IT'S "GIULIANI TIME" FOR AMERICA.

* And finally, this is strangely cathartic:

Small Books For Sad Times

Reviewing new books from 

Becca Tobin and Simon Moreton 

while trying to claw my way out of this depression.

READ THE REVIEWS HERE

Giving Up by Giving In: Still Reviewing CASANOVA: ACEDIA

I continue to write about Matt Fraction and Fábio Moon's CASANOVA: ACEDIA for Comics Bulletin.

It's short, so I'll just put the whole thing up here:

CASANOVA IV: ACEDIA #7 (Image Comics)

(W) Matt Fraction, (A/C) Fábio Moon

(Editor’s Note: The writer of this review wanted to give this “all the stars”, but our scale only goes up to 5)

It’s sometimes best to assume that you don’t know that you know what you don’t know that you know and then grab the bottle and head for the ocean. But sometimes when you do know that you didn’t know that you knew it already, it makes for shaky times and strange bedfellows.

Here’s what I know I don’t know about Casanova: Acedia #7:

1. What the fuck is going on.
2. Why that is spectacular.
3. When I can get more.

Here’s what I know I do know about Casanova: Acedia #7:

1. Everything is going on.
2. It is fucking spectacular.
3. I need more.

Given all this, it’s hard to even put the rubber to the road or light the head of the man screaming across the highway. Fraction and Moon just keep adding to a story that is fundamentally being told through subtraction, while maintaining a recursive narrative that keeps unfolding along a linear plane.

“How can the goddamn sunrise be different?” It can’t be if you remain the same person.

Strange forces continue to undermine and explode. Certain truths become that much more evident. Puzzle pieces once thought lost are now layered between slices of bread to make the most delicious sandwich you’ve ever eaten. I’m not even quoting Bowie anymore.

This thing has legs and the rest of us are running to catch up.

Because it’s about character — not just who but how.

Is there a fundamental self no matter who you think you are? Is there a “you” behind every mask you’ve put on (or has been put on by everyone else)? What makes a hero besides other people saying you’re one? Who gets to define the moral system? What’s up, chicken butt? We’ve got fundamental questions on the plate next to that pickle. Which one are you gunna eat first?

Don’t think too hard about this. You don’t have time. The next course is being served.

If you’re not reading Casanova: Acedia then don’t start without going back to the very start and then move forward in the circular motion that this sort of story demands. Trust that Fraction and Moon understand what they are doing and have your best interest at heart. Or not. I don’t know what you know, but I sure as hell know I love Casanova: Acedia #7 and everything is going on and it’s spectacular and I want more.

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 11/7/16 to 11/13/16

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

* John Seven reviews Tom Gauld's MOON COP, which he says is "about believing in something so much that you are willing to go through the motions of fulfilling a role that has no purpose in order to offer some concrete structure that proves it actually exists, even as other forces work against that hopeful fantasy."

* Andy Oliver on WHAT IS "HOME"? by Anja Uhren, a book that "invites us to consider how we characterise a concept thatt on one level embodies the most comfortable familiarity and yet on another proves to be nebulous and almost intangible in its definition."

* Shea Hennum's MOEBIUS AND BEYOND: AN INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN COMICS over on Paste.

* Phillipe LeBlanc takes a long and circuitous route in his review of Charles Forsman's REVENGER. It's fascinating, in a way, to witness this piece unfold and veer into unexpected places filled with sudden, off-putting tonal shifts and personal confessions that tighten your stomach in that kind of right-before-a-car-wreck way (also, just an opinion, but The Beat sure could use a copy editor).

WHATNOT

* Tim Goodyear interviews SHAKY KANE. They chat about a wide range of topics, including Kane's new book, Cowboys and Insects.

* 10 CARTOONISTS REACT TO TRUMP WINNING THE ELECTION

Four Shots at BLAMMO #9

For the past decade, cartoonist Noah Van Sciver has been publishing his one-man anthology series, BLAMMO. Kilgore Books has recently released the latest in the series and I was so impressed with it that I knew I had to gather some of my favorite writers to devote some time and energy into unpacking our reactions.

Given that, Justin Giampaoli, Keith Silva, and Alex Mansfield were tasked with choosing a single page or panel from Blammo #9 and use it as a platform for talking about the book as a whole. None of them read what the other was working on during this process. As testament to the thematic unity of Blammo #9, the writers all ended up talking about the same ideas of spirituality, artistic integrity, and the human desire to connect.

READ THE WHOLE REVIEW HERE

Justin Giampaoli's choice

Elkin's choice

Alex Mansfield's choice

Keith Silva's choice

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/31/16 to 11/6/16

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

Before that, though, let me implore you to please

GO VOTE!

COMICS CRITICISM

* Greg Hunter on THE SHIRLEY JACKSON PROJECT, edited by Robert Kirby.

* John Seven reviews Guy Colwell's IN FOX'S FOREST, "... a timely fable of ill-effects of coercion and detainment, of being true to yourself, of what is normal..."

* Ben Cowles' short review of TETRIS: THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY by Box Brown

* "A coloring book is a game played between the original artist and the person picking up drawing tools to fill in lines." Annie Mok reviews Anders Nilsen's new coloring book, A WALK IN EDEN 

WHATNOT

* Keenan Keller interviews BENJAMIN MARRA about his newest book, American Blood, and so much more.

* Daniel Harmon interviews JULIA GFRORER about her new book from Fantagraphics, Laid Waste.

* "This world is absolutely, unconscionably terrifying." Dan Nadel interviews ANYA DAVIDSON about her life, work, music, and her book, Band For Life.

* Ryan Claytor interviews TOM HART on the MSU Comic Art and Graphic Novel Podcast Episode #3 (as well as discusses all sorts of things going on at the Michigan State University Comics Studies program)

* Andy Oliver and the rest of the Small Pressganged over on Broken Frontier celebrate FIVE YEARS of publishing some of the best small press reviews by celebrating some of the creators who have been covered there since 2011.

* Michel Fiffe is offering a subscription to the next 6 issues of COPRA which includes issues 29 - 31, plus the final 3 installments of Copra Versus.

* Lars Martinson talks about the realities of self-publishing his latest book, TONOHARU: PART THREE, in terms of costs and distribution. Spoiler: Nobody's getting rich.

* Always a great read, Brian Hibbs' TILTING AT WINDMILLS series looks at The Long and Diminishing Tail of Graphic Novel Series.

* Looking for great comics criticism? Sometimes you have to support it! To that end, ROB CLOUGH has launched a Patreon. Please consider throwing him a couple of bucks a month. 

* READ THIS: J.A. Micheline's BLACK HEROISM AND "THE MAN" IN LUKE CAGE. 

* As goes San Francisco, so often goes the rest of the country. With that in mind, please read Tim Redmond's piece WHY TECH MONEY WANTS TO RULE SF