ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 5/13/19 to 5/17/19

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught our eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Liam Conlon on Annie Mok's ORGASM ADDICT which "exists in the space between the dreamy, spellbinding lyrics of our favorite songs and the hurried bustle of a life pulled in many directions."

* Alex Hoffman reviews PTSD by French cartoonist Guillaume Singelin which he finds "frustratingly hollow."

* Ryan Carey writes about Tana Oshima's FILTHY which "represents the purest distillation of her ongoing artistic project to date and is not to be missed under any circumstances."

* Caitlin Rosberg reviews ISLAND BOOK by Evan Dahm who "deftly leaves many questions still open by the end of the book, but far from feeling unsatisfactory, the ambiguity is comforting and authentic."

* John Seven on A SHINING BEACON by James Albon which "embraces the idea of the fantasyland of authoritarianism, of countries under suppression as a kind-of nightmarish wonderland that any Alice could wander through. But to its credit, it doesn’t simplify any of its conclusions, and it draws parallels well beyond the specific mode of government it portrays."

* Daniel Elkin reviews VISION PART ONE by Julia Gfrörer, writing "Gfrörer seems to suggest there is some sort of evil energy at the heart of eroticism -- that a woman’s unbridled sexuality is a gateway to powerful forces that can and should upend the status quo."

* Tony Esmond writes about MARBLE CAKE by Scott Jason Smith.

* Chris Gavaler on the new release from Abrams ComicArts LIVE OAK, WITH MOSS, a poem by Walt Whitman that features illustrations by Brian Selznick. In it, "Selznick responds to Whitman's numbered but non-narratively ordered cluster by developing its verbal imagery into tightly sequenced and linked visual progressions."

WHATNOT

* Alec Berry has the latest update on the CODY PICKRODT LAWSUIT. Good news!

* Koyama Press announces its FALL 2019/WINTER 2020 SEASON! So many great books!

* Andrea Shockling has a powerful new comic up on her Subjective Line Weight site called ANDREA'S BARIATRIC DIARY.

* Alex Dueben interviews MARIKO TAMAKI about her new book with artist Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me.

* Brian Hibbs takes his annual look at numbers from BOOKSCAN. Always a fascinating inside look at comics publishing.

* Michael Cella talks to and explores the taxidermy/ceramic art of HOLLIE DILLEY.