ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 6/22/18 to 6/29/18

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

* Daniel Schindel reviews GUMBALLS by Erin Nations, saying "reading Gumballs is like getting different bite-sized experiences vended to you one at a time. For Nations, self-described as intensely introverted, this is a middle ground between complete memoiristic interiority and incorporating other points of view into his work. Many of his shorts speak to a desire to connect but trepidation toward people, and with Gumballs he charts both his own gradually mounting self-actualization as a trans man and his imaginings of other people’s thoughts."

* Rob Clough on BEHIND THICK GLASS, I SAW THE STARS by Rob Jackson, whose "overall message is: there's always someone bigger than you, but there are ways around that."

* Kevin Bramer looks at GOITER #2 by Josh Pettinger

* Chris Mautner on THE NEW WORLD: COMICS FROM MAURETANIA by Chris Reynolds, writing "There’s an overwhelming sense of loss that suffuses The New World, of missed opportunities and time eradicating the landmarks that were once held importance to you. It’s not nostalgia, per se, as much as it is an awareness of the passage of time, a recognition that special moments, once obtained, are impossible to return to or recreate."

* Robin Enrico reviews Iasmin Omar Ata's MIS(H)ADRA, writing "What makes the work stand out is that unlike many other graphic narratives dealing with disease not only is this one is fictional (though based on the creator’s own direct experience) it also comes from the perspective of someone in their early twenties. It is refreshing to see such a new take on the narrative of chronic illness, one in which the protagonist not only should be in the prime of their lives but is not."

* Sam Ombiri on MERE by C.F., "a personal document of art in that it doesn’t care what it’s documenting. Rather it is more preoccupied with how it’s documenting it." 
WHATNOT

* Robin McConnell interviews TOMMI PARRISH about their latest book.

* Tara Booth has new comics up on Vice: PISSING IN NATURE, STARTING FIRES, AND BEING AFRAID OF THE DARK.

* Seo Kim also has another comic on Vice called DRAWER FULL OF TAKEOUT UTENSILS.

* Gina Brandolino has another installment of Comics Academe on WWAC, this one titled LOOK HARDER: CHOOSING COMICS FOR THE CLASSROOM.

* Austin English has this MUST READ column up on TCJ this week called SIMPLIFY, STUPID in which he wonders if Will Eisner really deserves more acclaim than Don Martin, compares Crumb's "Short History of America" to corny Green Lantern comics, sticks up for Carlos Burgos and Anke Feuchtenberger, and pans Kristen Radtke."

* Daphne Milner has this really interesting essay called FROM @TABLOIDARTHISTORY TO THE ROYAL COURT: SOCIAL MEDIA'S INFLUENCE ON ART CRITICISM

* Kayleigh Hughes wrote WHY IT WILL NEVER BE THE WRONG TIME TO LIZ PHAIR'S EXILE IN GUYVILLE and you should read it because it is a pretty spectacular piece of writing.