ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 10/20/18 to 10/26/18

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 LIVE/WORK #1 and #2 by Pat Palermo writing, "While the story is an Altman-esque caper centered around the lives of a small group of twenty-somethings on the periphery of the New York fine art scene, it is Palermo’s ability to capture all the tiny points of verisimilitude of that time, that place, and those roles, that make it shine."

* Chris Gavaler reviews DIRTY PLOTTE: THE COMPLETE JULIE DOUCET published by Drawn and Quarterly, "a startling body of work that further deepens Doucet's place in the comics cannon."

* Ryan Carey on FEARLESS COLORS by Samplerman in which "there’s a unique and entirely-accidentally-arrived-at rhythm and flow to this work, both within the individual selections themselves, as well as in their overall assemblage, that mimics something akin to storytelling in the same way that the images mimic, and distort, the pages they’re 'sampled' from. The overall effect is not unlike what one would probably achieve if they tore (or, better yet, cut) up some old comics to tiny shreds and dropped them into the business end of a kaleidoscope."

* Rob Clough reviews PETEY AND PUSSY: PUPPY LOVE by John Kerschbaum of which he writes, "What Kerschbaum does in this book is less like a traditional narrative and more like a juggling act that gets more and more complex and dangerous-looking, but it all resolves neatly in the end."

* John Seven on ALT-LIFE by Thomas Cadene and Joseph Flazon.

* Austin Price doesn't like A HOUSE IN THE JUNGLE by Nathan Gelgud very much, writing "A story this seemingly abstract seems like it must have something to say; when it’s revealed it does not the brain flails, desperate to ascribe importance where there is none. If the experience feels frustrating that’s because it is. A House in the Jungle is counterfeit weirdness, cargo cult surrealism that cobbles together an illusion of the enigmatic the better to impart a sense of significance and awe to its pipsqueak epiphanies."

* Annette Lapointe writes this plot-heavy review of BRAT by Michael Deforge.

WHATNOT

* Liel Leibovitz writes this interesting take called IN THE NEW 'HALLOWEEN,' A PARABLE ABOUT JEWISH SURVIVAL which at one point features, "With violence against Jews everywhere on the rise, with terrorism growing more gruesome, and with the institutions designed to safeguard civil society too often insistent, like Haddonfield’s best and brightest, that the killers can somehow be converted, we realized—or, at least, most of us did—that if we want to survive, we have to take action." This may or may not be a hot take. I guess it all depends on how much shit you've had to swallow of late as a Jew.

* Scott Travis has a comic up on Vice called WALKING THE DOG AT THE HOSPITAL which has a dog in it (and, perhaps, an existential crisis).

* More sad comics! Check out Lydia Conklin's SAD YAK on Popula.

* Aude White has a comic on The Believer called NOTES ON A RELATIONSHIP.

* Whit Taylor asked cartoonist Katie Fricas to create an original comic for Illustrated PEN and the result was this comic called POSTPARTUM.

* Over on BookRiot, Christine Hoxmeier collates responses to Laura Bishop's Tweet and titles it #IAmNonbinary: A CELEBRATION OF NONBINARY CREATORS.

* Matt Giles writes this long-form reminiscence titled "THIS HALLOWEEN IS SOMETHING TO BE SURE" AN EXAMINATION OF LOU REED'S NEW YORK.