ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 7/6/18 to 7/13/18

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

* Sam Ombiri has been reading and re-reading GANGES 4 by Kevin Huizenga, leading him to write "There’s an aspect of this method of sequencing that resonates with the idea of seeking the truth or the essence of the moment by cutting crucial aspects. By implying that there’s a comic to read, that the reader has been reading. Then this comic that’s at the service of a construct, that has intricate rhythm, suddenly deprives the reader of moments the reader has been made so keen to read. The comic plays with the reader’s patience."

* Tom Kaczynski looks at EDDY CURRENT by Ted McKeever for his Event Horizon Column at TCJ

* John Seven on Gipi's LAND OF THE SONS, saying it is "the story of the first step to regaining some aspect of humanity, which will only come from a genuine connection. Connection is the only way that information is transferred and qualified, it’s the only way that wider priorities are created." Seven also has this review of Aaron Costain's ENTROPY which he ends by writing "If entropy is an inevitable disorder in the universe, Costain suggests that it is created by the human desire for order — and that is the creation we should be concerned with."

* Wayne Alan Brenner has this great write up regarding THE WINNER by Karl Stevens, writing "it can be said of Stevens that he’s like if Samuel Johnson were simultaneously his own Boswell: He’s living his life and creating the work, and, in much of that work, recording and commenting on living his life and creating the work."

* Rob Clough reviews the third issue of NERVENKRANT, Katherine Wirick's minicomics serial about Dada artist John Heartfield, writing "Wirick is creating a history of one man's wrestling with enormous concepts like art, beauty, nationalism, madness that aren't just abstract ideals--they are factors crashing into his every day life." 

* Jason Sacks on BIZARRE ROMANCE by Eddie Campbell and Audrey Niffenegger which has "an off-kilter sort of energy, as if the couple were slowly getting to know each other better through their art."

* Robin Enrico writes about 30 MILES OF CRAZY! #5 - 6 by Karl Christian Krumpholz, writing that in these issues, Krumpholz "demonstrates not only a keen ear but also a clear eye for how to use his cartooning to capture a certain ecstatic truth about his world."

* Tegan O'Neil on A PROJECTION by Seekan Hui saying "Hui’s character designs stretch the limits of legibility, but her skill with color and composition means that the book looks beautiful even when you find yourself spending a minute staring at a page that stubbornly refuses to cohere into narrative."

WHATNOT

* Robin McConnell interviews FIONA SMYTH about her work.

* Jamaica Dyer has a comic up on Spiralbound called THE BALCONY.

* Ron Rege Jr. has a comic over on Popula called EVERYTHING IS FREE.

* Sarah Horrocks has been putting up some amazing work as part of TCJ's A CARTOONIST'S DIARY this week.

* Nina Vandenbempt has a comic up on Vice called THE FRIDGE IS A TEMPORARY KINGDOM.

* A couple Kickstarters of note: BATTLEARC 2088 -- a 40-page one-shot cyberpunk comic by Danny Djeljosevic and Brett Marcus Cook -- and WE HAVE TO GO BACK --  a post-apocalyptic romance comic about the effects of stress and shifting dynamics in a long-term relationship created by Jordan Alsaqa and Sally Cantirino.

* Chase Magnett quietly sneaks some really good books into his THE 10 BEST COMICS OF 2018 SO FAR over on Comicbook.com.

* Megan Abbott has this interesting essay on Slate called THE BIG SEEP: READING RAYMOND CHANDLER IN THE AGE OF #METOO.