ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 1/15/18 to 1/21/18

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 on Anneli Furmak's RED WINTER, wherein "Furmark renders her story with a philosophical air, pushed forth by plenty of confessionary dialogue and self-examination, amidst the dark beauty of her artwork that offers a dark world of winter that hidden affairs can exist in as safe secrets protected by isolation."

* Robin Enrico reviews DAD'S WEEKEND by Pete Toms, in which "Toms' ability to render the intricacies of his character's performance only further accentuates the quiet desperation and despair they are going through."

* Jason Michelitch reviews BODY MUSIC, the new book by Julie Maroh, saying of it, "The visual style in Body Music is an assured synthesis of a fine arts attention to line and texture, and a cartoonist's vocabulary of caricature and iconic shorthand."

* Alex Hoffman writes about Joseph Remnant's new book, CARTOON CLOUDS, and wonders if the world really needs more books about white men "writing about the difficulty of making art." Hoffman also writes about Tommi Parrish's new book from Fantagraphics, THE LIE AND HOW WE TOLD IT calling it "one of the best graphic novels I've read in the past two years" which, coming from Hoffman, is high praise indeed.

* Andy Oliver looks at IT'S COLD IN THE RIVER AT NIGHT by Alex Potts, and writes "it's that feeling of recognition, that sense of shared experience regarding one of life's most fundamental yet often unattainable goals, that make this bleak psychological drama such a compelling read."

* Austin Lanri reads some comics and WRITES ABOUT THEM. This time he takes on Passing by Carta Monir (see below in the Whatnot section) and Blood Orange #2, a 2004 Fantagraphics Anthology.

* Ryan C. on Henriette Valium's THE PALACE OF CHAMPIONS, "Assaulting your eyeballs and sense of reason with equal gusto, Valium takes elements of old-school underground comix 'ugly art,' occult and Kabbalistic diagrams, and the other-dimensional architectural schematics of the visionary Paul Laffoley, adds in several drops of richly garish color, tosses it all in a blender, sets it on 'high,' and then pours what comes out five minutes later onto the page." Ryan also writes a review of AN EXORCISM by Theo Ellsworth. As Ellsworth is one of my favorite cartoonists creating today, I'm always interested in what other critics think of his work.

WHATNOT

* Nanette Asimov writes about last weekend's BLACK COMIX ARTS FESTIVAL in San Francisco.

* Rosie Knight's GET READY FOR A SILVER SPROCKET TAKEOVER in which she discusses both the San Francisco based small press publishing house and their slate of 2018 releases.

* Deepali Agarwal's HOW TO TALK TO MEN ABOUT COMICS.

* Carta Monir's comic on The Nib called PASSING.

* Joseph Nechvatal on Ugly Duckling Presse's THE BLIND MAN: NEW YORK DADA, 1917, a 1000-copy, boxed-set, limited-edition released as part of the Dada centennial celebration.

* Sarah LaBrie's WILL THE INTERNET DESTROY US ALL? ON FRANKLIN FOER'S 'WORLD WITHOUT MIND'.

* Bernard-Henri Levy's KING UBU, TRUMP'S DADAIST PRECURSOR.