ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 6/1/18 to 6/8/18

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

* Rob Kirby presents an excerpt from THE LIE AND HOW WE TOLD IT by Tommi Parrish, which "relentlessly interrogates issues of gender and sexuality, pointing out that strict binaries are mostly jerry-built and easily broken."

* Michelle White on Rosemary Mosco's BIRDING IS MY FAVORITE VIDEO GAME, "a collection of fun, quasi-educational comics combining weird science, cute visuals, sweet wit, and a strong environmental message."

* Chris Ware reviews SABRINA by Nick Drnaso, calling it "a perspicacious and chilling analysis of the nature of trust and truth and the erosion of both in the age of the internet -- and especially, in the age of Trump."

* Dominic Umile on the recent graphic novel, WEEGEE: SERIAL PHOTOGRAPHER, by the Belgian cartoonists Max de Radiguès and Wauter Mannaert, a "portrayal of a vulnerable man starved for fame." 

* Brian Nicholson takes a quick look at DOGNURSE by Margot Ferrick, "a gorgeous book..."

* Rob Clough on BLACK EYE NO. 3, Ryan Standfest's black humor anthology from Rotland Press, in which "there's a running theme of visceral failure and humiliation, of things coming to a crashing halt."    

* Austin Lanari on Patrick Kyle's NEW COMICS #6, saying "what makes Kyle's comics experimental is a strange division of labor wherein a visually lush, strange world is largely left up to the reader to interpret as characters stop, fully aware, to talk to the reader and explain rules that nobody could have ever inferred."

* Ryan C. reviews books by Kalen Knowles and Pat Aulisio in his WEEKLY READING ROUND-UP.

* John Seven looks at Michael Kupperman's ALL THE ANSWERS, "a multi-faceted memoir of the collision between the public and the personal, how the tremors move through the decades, and how we would all do well to pop through our cultural bubbles to look back and trace the origins of who we are, why we are this way, and why it sometimes hurts so much when we don’t feel like we actually did anything to make it hurt."

* Austin Price on LAND OF THE SONS by Gipi, calling it "a book that feels ultimately arbitrary, unconvinced of its own arguments or point because they are so confused."

* Alex Hoffman reviews Molly Mendoza's THE WORST, calling it "an absolute must-read."

* Sam Ombiri on Jon Chandler's JOHN'S WORTH #3.

* And finally, Philippe LeBlanc has made a return to his SMALL PRESS AND INDIE COMICS GALORE round-up posts over on The Beat (which I can never decide if they are Criticism or Whatnot). LeBlanc does such a better job at this sort of thing than I do (probably because he is Canadian), and it is really great to see him return. Now I just need to convince him to write for YCE again.

WHATNOT

* Sam Jaffe Goldstein interviews ELI VALLEY, covering "the chaotic farce that is the relationship between the American Jewish community and Israel ... as well as the inherent male toxicity of Zionism, and the endemic hypocrisy in justifications for Israel's actions."

* Daphne Milner talks about and to GEORGE WYLESOL over on It's Nice That.

* Dakota McFadzean has a new comic up on Topic called SOON WE'RE BOTH SCREAMING.

* Gina Wynbrandt has a new comic up on Vice called JUSTIN BIEBER'S TOILET.

* Over on WWAC, Tia Kalla writes this very informative piece called DON'T EAT THAT: TAPAS'S INCUBATOR PROGRAM giving us a point-by-point breakdown of their "shitty contracts."

* This week's MUST-READ is Transmyscira: ¡No Pasarán! by Véronique Emma Houxbois -- a deep dive into conservatism, superheroes, Comicsgate, and more.