ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 2/26/18 to 3/418

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 

* Hillary Brown on TOTAL JAZZ by Blutch, writing "What this book is actually about is synesthesia, or at least the process by which humans can translate one art form into another (as well as how they fail at it)."

* Matt Seneca reviews GOOD NEWS BIBLE: THE DEADLINE STRIPS OF SHAKY KANE published by Breakdown Press, calling it "the connoisseur's choice, unfiltered and very strange."

* Michelle White on THE INTERVIEW by Manuele Fior, writing "The unhurried pacing has us wandering through a story that asks questions about fidelity, human connection, and generation gaps."

* Andrea Ayres previews A QUICK AND EASY GUIDE TO THEY/THEM PRONOUNS by Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson. "It's a great handbook for those looking to use pronouns in a more inclusive and welcoming way. It also has wonderful tips for those who use gender-neutral pronouns."

* Rob Clough on Hannah K. Lee's LANGUAGE BARRIER, where "language goes from being humorously foolish to actively dangerous and destructive, rendering people into objects."

* Shea Hennum reviews RESIDENT LOVER (mini kus! #66) by Roman Muradov, writing that within Muradov's art "simplicity conceals ambiguity, and elegance conceals emotional fissures."

* Scott Cederlund also reviews RESIDENT LOVER (mini kus! #66) by Roman Muradov, "a story about the forms of these connections we make with people and places."

* Andy Oliver on THREADS: FROM THE REFUGE CRISIS by Kate Evans which "documents life in the Calais Jungle -- the much-publicised refugee settlement in France -- from the perspective of a volunteer helper, fully exploiting the empathetic qualities of that artist/reader bond to present an uncompromising piece of graphic journalism."

* Alex Hoffman writes about CHICKEN BOY by Vinnie Neuberg, writing "None of it feels new, specifically, but it's a synthesis of a lot of different inputs that works really well."

* Robert Kirby presents a story called "Scott County Memories", an excerpt from cartoonist John Porcellino's FROM LONE MOUNTAIN.

* And while not about a small press comic per se, Veronique Emma Houxbois' review of Amancay Nahuelpan/Matteo Pizzolo's CALEXIT #2 from Black Mask Studios is the kind of critical analysis that more and more people should be reading/writing/supporting. Of it, Houxbois says it's "on how the conversation and policy on immigration has changed between issues of Calexit and how comics as a medium is the best place for dystopian and speculative fiction for rapidly changing times." IT'S THIS WEEK'S MUST READ.

WHATNOT 

* Over on her Mindkiller podcast, Anya Davidson interviews MARGOT FERRICK, "a moving and far-ranging talk about motherhood, prayer, ballet, Long Island, sex, Catholic ritual, the enduring appeal of Eva Hesse and much more."

* Andy Oliver interviews KATRIONA CHAPMAN on Katzine, Self-Publishing, and her new Graphic Memoir Follow Me In from Avery Hill.

* All week, Katie Skelly has been doing a CARTOONIST'S DIARY over on The Comics Journal.

* Ida Neverdahl has a comic on Vice called ANXIETY which is pretty interesting.

* According to J. A. Micheline, Shing Yin Khor's comic SAY IT WITH NOODLES; ON LEARNING TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF FOOD "is a best of 2018 comic and it's only February." Trust JAM on this one, folks.

* Philippe LeBlanc has posted another installment of his wide-ranging round-up over on The Beat called SMALL PRESS AND INDIE COMICS GALORE.

* Steven Hendricks on SALAMANDER: A BESTIARY which is a collection of poems by Leonard Schwartz highlighted by woodcut prints by Simon Carr.

* Introducing It's Nice That's ONES TO WATCH 2018, "which shines a light on 12 emerging talents who [they] think will conquer the creative world in 2018."