ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 4/20/18 to 4/27/18

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

* Robin Enrico on Benji Nate's CATBOY, writing "In a world that is unkind to our protagonists, we feel reassured in the knowledge that their friendship will pull them through."

* Shea Hennum on Manuele Fior's BLACKBIRD DAYS which is "incredible fun to read."

* John Seven reviews IT'S COLD IN THE RIVER AT NIGHT by Alex Potts, writing "Places and relationships can not only offer the chance for obscure knowledge to be realized, but they can also hint at hostilities that might merely be caution. How you are able to navigate either depends on your ability to read the difference."

* Rob McMonigal on THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO MEDITATE AND OTHER LESSONS by Yumi Sakagawa, in which "Sakugawa offers advice on how to make your life better by looking at your approach, and regardless of how much you agree with the spiritual side of her arguments, it's impossible not to want to think about your thoughts."

* Alex Hoffman pens this short review of the 2016 zine, LIFE CAN (NOT) EXIST HERE by Vreni Stollberger and Iasmin Omar Ata.

WHATNOT  

* Alex Thomas interviews LUKE HEALY about his new book, Permanent Press, from Avery Hill

* Kat Overland interviews LOTTIE PENCHEON about her new book from ShortBox, Summer Break, which is "a candid look at her experiences with depression in 2017, rendered in her signature round, cute style." The interview also offers "exclusive preview pages" from the book.

* Speaking of ShortBox (which we should all be doing much more often), over on TCJ, Sloane Leong interviews NIVEDITA SEKAR about her upcoming book published by ShortBox called Your Mother's Fox, "a 36-page color comic about a woman on a melancholic American road trip astride an ancient magical fox."   

* Rounding out the ShortBox interviews, Steve Morris talks to JOE SPARROW, whose comic Homunculus appears in ShortBox #8 (pre-orders end 2/27/18!!),

* Anya Davidson talks to GINA WYNBRANDT about "her apartment, her job, her art-making process, boys, capitalism, Puerto Rico, dancing, fashion, isolation, and the internet."    

* Mikey P. interviews MELISSA PAGLUCIA about her work on Above the Clouds.

* Zack Soto and Mike Dawson interview JOSH SIMMONS on the latest episode of Process Party and "discuss things that make us uneasy, societal collapse, personal boundaries, and reassessing older work through the viewpoint of the person you are now."

* The University of Leicester has put out a CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS FOR "MISSING PANELS" -- "Missing Panels focuses on the impact a lack of representation has on the lives and mental health of members of BME communities. Specifically, we are looking for contributors to create 2 or 4-page full-color comics."

* Nola Pfau goes into REGARDING BRANDON GRAHAM by talking to Carta Monir and others regarding the behavior of Graham and the ramifications of their coming forth. Her ending to this piece, "Believe victims. Believe women." is spot on.

* For some reason, VICE is still letting Nick Gazin write about comics and comics-related things. He writes about his experiences from this year's MoCCA Fest, and, while it is good someone was there to cover it, I really wish it was someone other than Nick. It's time to rest the snark. I'm only linking this here to prove a point, I guess.

* Nick Hanover writes about Moodie Black's new album LUCAS ACID, calling it "a remarkable album, but more than that it’s a remarkable experience, an unfiltered display of an artist’s hope, anguish and anxiety gifted to us when we need it most."

* Over on Tablet, Wesley Yang writes an article titled MY FAVORITE ANTI-SEMITE: GREGOR VON REZZORI.