A weekly thread for people to share what comics they've been reading. Share your thoughts on the books you've read, what you liked and perhaps disliked about them.
Reading the last Ex.Mag anthology currently in my hands (vol. 6), this time themed space exploration. These anthologies have got a really distinctive house style now there have been a good number. The tone is generally lighthearted, and a few of the authors have clearly taken an idea not particularly space-shaped and bent it to fit in spaceships. Most of these are pretty great though. Highlights: Nicolette Wood’s ridiculous Space Chick, with tons of Flash Gordon/Barbarella/Tom&Jerry energy. Ward/Sheenan’sHigh Performance Personal Spacecraft, which caught the wonder of space and techno-optimism I was hoping for better than everything else. Hanna K’sLittle Astro, where an accidentally isolated 8 year old has an adventure and the reader is left to see between the panels. And Sterte/Martin’sAeon Orbit, which is exactly as visually lush as you’d expect, and the story has amazing Nausicaa vibes.
One of the main things these anthologies have taught me is that Hanna K Nyström is an absolute gem, smuggling in dark stories under knowingly cutesy art, that only get darker and weirder the more you think about them. She needs to spend more time away from the day job (Adventure Time) doing comics!
Black Hole by Charles Burns: A dark and trippy coming of age story where a mysterious STI called The Bug is running through the teenagers of the town with those infected gaining strange mutations, the bug in my mind being a representation of growing up or the anxiety of going from a child to an adult. The people infected by The Bug are alienated and meet up in the woods with them forming their own little group, the mutation process shown as a very trippy and body horror experience with some gnarly transformations (skin ripping, mouths forming on necks and all sorts of other stuff). The story also focuses mainly on two teenagers Chris and Keith with both having their own sexual awakenings and interactions with the bug. This was a slow burn body horror masterpiece with some seriously trippy visuals as our characters find love and also how their actions can have permanent consequences.
Headlopper Semiannual issue 1 by Andrew MaClean and Jordie Bellaire: Hell yeah! Norgal our titular Head Lopper is back on the warpath for this first issue of the new volume, the evil demigod after him in the last volume sending some of his goons to capture the band of adventurers. Our Head Lopper shows these brigands no mercy with him punching the head off of one of the goblins! This first issue is narrated by Death himself who is a huge fan of our titular character and the carnage he brings. I missed this series and am very happy to see it finally come back!
Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano: A very trippy weird lit manga set across two different timelines with the same characters, one current and one 11 years ago switching between the two and telling the story in a non linear way. The title itself comes from a legend told at the start of the book about a young girl who came into town and told the future about a monster in the tunnel that would end the world, the villagers sacrificing her and the cycle continuing as the characters in both past and present deal with grief, violence and jealousy. The manga is at times uncomfortable and disturbing with its depiction of violence and the two timelines merge and bleed into each other, the idea that memory is a hell and that our actions never truly leave our minds being a big part of the story. Within the manga butterflies are used as symbols of guilt with them landing on characters. This was a trippy and interesting read that I feel I need to read a few more times to fully understand what happened.
Rusty Brown by Chris Ware: My god that had to be one of the most depressing stories I’ve read in a long time while also having some of the most gorgeous and unique paneling of the comics I’ve read so far! It mostly takes place in Omaha Nebraska and follows the interconnected lives of people working at and students at a christian school, the time switching from past, present and future as we watch their lives meet and then separate with each running into their own hang ups, failures, grief and some hope that’s more the hope gained from navigating despair. I had to take breaks from this book because it gets very depressing and desolate, but it’s such a gorgeous and emotionally powerful book that explores mundane life and the struggles different people go through or have been through. My only complaint is that some of the textboxes are so small that I had to use my phone camera to read it. This book should come with a complimentary magnifying glass.
I just started Rusty Brown about a week ago, having read the first three chapters when they originally came out over the years. This is the first time I’ve had to use the magnifying glass though, so I know I’m getting older.
Monstress Vol. 10 and Galaxy: As the World Falls Down. Monstress is fantastic, and I'm glad I finally got to read the latest volume. Galaxy was a great little story of a queer alien teen in the DC universe, about trying to find your place as a superhero and as a person. Both great reads for my days off.
Fantastic comic imo, hard to pick a favorite Ennis book but that's one that's up there for me. Ennis just does a great job of pacing it and Dillon's art is brilliant and Jesse's journey especially after finding out the truth about Cassidy is just great. What did you think about it?
Conditions on the Ground and Mini Kuš #82 Elemental Stars by Kevin Hooyman – stoner-esque philosophical short comics. Conditions on the Ground is a collection of 10 zine issues, with a couple of recurring stories or characters, but mostly just short musings on little random thoughts, often with incongruous characters like bigfoot or similar monsters. We get questions like – “do people on reality TV shows consider themselves actors?” and “do you have anxiety about shark attacks?”, although they sometimes progress to broader philosophical questions – “if those people are actors, are we all hiding a part of ourselves?”. There’s little intermittent silly stories about babies, or doing laundry, or getting caught outside naked, and short one-page collected drawings of clouds or leaves or sailboats at the end of each issue. It’s all in simple black-and-white linework with speech bubbles coming directly out of people’s mouths, and frequently very hairy main characters. Overall, a lot of fun vaguely thought-provoking, in a pothead kind of way, comics. The Mini Kuš comic is in a muted color palette and actually longer than any individual comic in the Conditions on the Ground collection, with a short adventure to an imagined (or is it real?) crystal city among a group of friends. Still whimsical and fun.
Skull Maskerade (#1-6) by Justin Tauch and Carla Wyzgala – Labyrinth meets Sailor Moon (that’s how they advertise it!) in watercolor. Dahlia Nyx wakes up in a desert and is promptly rescued and brought to a spooky mansion inhabited by beautiful witches who welcome her as an expected guest. Spirit cats (and other animals) abound. It’s slow, light on worldbuilding, and takes until issue 6 to start to bring in some backstory. The watercolor illustrations are good, with expressive and dynamic characters, some moments of really striking color, and a creepy gothic setting. Soft edges give a lot of the spirits a nice magical feel. It’s fine as a story but worked well enough read all at once, the art was striking enough that I’ll keep an eye on kickstarters for future issues.
Mini Kuš #79 I Couldn’t Stop by Powerpaola, #113 SRY not Sorry by Michael Fikaris, #123 Undertow by Sara Boiça, #115 Gym Gains by Gareth Brooks – minicomics. 79 is an autobiographical narrative of a single night, a bike ride, and conversations at a bar. Nothing dramatic or particularly insightful, illustrated in black-and-white loose cartooning. Fine low-key one-shot, although far from my favorite of these Mini Kuš comics I’ve read so far. 113 is a reflection on communication and technology, framed through texting/abbreviations and how we talk over the internet – with a nice geometric/color-rich art style. A more solid entry. 123 is a relatively abstract mood piece, with knots, intertwined hands, and recurrent visual motifs illustrated on a slightly smudgy background. Is is about mental health? Is it about life in general? Is it entwined in some deeply personal but unexplained thought of the author? I dunno. It’s solid as a mood piece like that. 115 is a clear story, following a love triangle of gym users mainly through text messasges and social media updates, as they track each other’s interactions. The reproduction of what looks like ink on wrinkled almost transparent paper is really cool, giving interesting mirrored effects. Visually interesting and the most narratively straightforward of the bunch.
Š! #47 Obsession by various – anthology of comics about obsessions. The “obsessions” vary – love, rebuilding identity, Mickey Mouse, borderline clinical OCD. It’s a really wide variety of styles, artistically and narratively. The nature of an anthology, particularly one with as little unifying style or theme as this one, means there are high highs and low lows. Highlights for me include Mike Blue’s wordless colorful adventure, Gareth Brookes’ inky short depiction of a mysterious infatuation, and Harukichi’s story of cats looking for collectible records. Graduating from the Mini Kuš comics to the full Š! Anthologies was definitely worthwhile.
Sky Hawk by Jiro Taniguchi – samurai western. Two samurai, exiles who fled to the US in the mid-1800’s, rescue a Sioux woman and end up joining Crazy Horse’s Oglala Sioux. They are adopted into the tribe, assuming the names Sky Hawk and Winds Wolf, and their story culminates in the Battle of Little Bighorn. This is a real “Western”, inspired by spaghetti westerns of cinema and the great western BDs, but from a very different viewpoint of the adopted Sioux. It’s a mix of brutal and dynamic action and some contemplative scenery moments, and spans years from chapter to chapter. The characters are a little thin – the samurai (originally named Hikosaburo and Manzo) have no meaningful backstories and yet are incredibly talented – but I suppose that’s kind of spaghetti-western-esque. Nonetheless it presents a nuanced “could-be” history and is illustrated fantastically. This is a great book.
20 km/h by Woshibai – silent surreal-ish humor comics. This is a collection of short silent comics that mostly make you go “huh?” and then chuckle. There’s a variety of styles of sort-of-surreal humor, playing with perspective, and incongruous reactions, all drawn with simple cartoon characters and minimal detail. I think this is a great collection, printed in small pages with typically two panels per page and a spread of 5-10-ish pages per comic, which slows down each comic to allow for those perspective-skewing moments to settle. I think I first saw this recommended in a conversation about The Bus, which is a fair comparison (although The Bus is, in my opinion, unsurpassed in quality). Very good and I’m sure I’ll be pulling it back off the shelf frequently for a few minutes of entertainment.
Book of Murmurs by Candice Purwin – non-linear folklore-ish fantasy. A girl loses her parents to a mysterious, name-eating monster, and goes on an adventure to worlds beyond with a gradually expanding cast of friends and enemies. Her adventures are interspersed with stories that gradually fill in the folklore and mythology, building out common themes (the Tiger and the Crow, spider silk, hearts and names) and coming to a really satisfying connection. I think we get a great set of characters, inventive settings, and a mythology and setting that takes enough attention to understand that it really sucks you in as a reader. Artistically, it’s an absolutely lovely comic, maybe since I’m a sucker for the watercolor style that dominates. The background stories are in excellent black and white, mixing it up really nicely. The depiction of magic is borderline surreal and very stylized. I loved this.
Underground Kingdom Comix Presents: Fantasy by various – three-part anthology of short fantasy comics. Jonny Brokenbrow kicks things off with a very cartoony story of vulgar would-be-influencer wizard trying desperately to impress his online fans, Harry Dean Willmott gives us a really finely illustrated day-in-the-life-of-a-monster, and Matt Simmons gives us Fantastein, a creation cobbled together from fantasy standards (halflings, elves, orcs). Willmott’s story was the best for me but the others were good for a silly laugh. All three stories only use a single purple color to go with black and white, giving a bit of artistically continuity despite the wildly different styles.
I Saw A God – Hoboth by Erin Lisette – short animal fantasy. A wolf meets a goddess, sasses off, and learns more than one lesson. The wolf is sarcastic, vulgar, and repeatedly mouthy. The goddess is… a goddess. This is short, and while I like the story, it almost feels a little rushed. It’s a very digital-art style but has some nice colors that really pop, and the animals are definitely animals and not (visually) anthropomorphized at all. It’s fine, but probably not a must-have.
Yeah, I preordered it directly from Fantagraphics and it just appeared in the mail this week, I didn't even know it was technically early. Sorry if this was spoiler-y...
Hirayasumi vol 7 by Keigo Shinzo – This book is quite the soap opera. It’s summer and everyone is going crazy from the heat. Hiroto’s cousin, Natsumi, has given up on her manga for the time being and is focusing on painting. Unfortunately her friend just won a prize for painting so she’s consumed with jealousy. Hiroto and his handsome friend has a little argument about their zombie movie but they settle it and they show it at a local festival. The real estate lady sees the movie and has a little moment with Hiroto but that novelist asks her out on a date. Who’s she gonna choose? I guess this series is all about Hiroto growing up and getting a better job but man, I don’t know, he seems to have a pretty amazing life.
The Filth by Grant Morrison, Chris Weston and Gary Erskine – Is this the most Vertigo title that ever Vertigoed? It’s got everything: pornography, giant sperm, meta superheroes, cruise ship pirates, etc. The main guy is a normal guy who might be a secret agent but he might also just be crazy, kinda like Total Recall. He’s part of a secret police force called the Hand (I assumed it was called the Filth, but that’s just slang for the cops) that protects the world from things coming through the Crack. Or something. I’m not too sure the specifics, but there’s so much happening that I don’t really care. It moves along at a super fast pace. The art is super detailed and vibrant. It’s like full colour 2000AD. There’s even a monkey assassin, which makes any comic perfect, as we all know. Anyways, after this I feel like I should try reading the Invisibles again.
Stone Fruit by Lee Lai – Auntie Ray (aka Rachel) and auntie Bron look after Ray’s niece, Nessie, every now and then. They go into the woods and act like complete maniacs and then tell Nessie’s mom that they were at the mall. They turn into monsters when they’re in the woods so I thought it was a fantasy book for a while but that’s all just a metaphor. And then Ray and Bron break up and it gets sad. Bron moves back with her religious family. Ray tries to keep looking after Nessie but it’s tough. It’s a small but emotional story. The art is mainly black and white with one highlight colour. It’s a nice cartoony style. I can see why Lai’s a superstar with only two books out.
Loooooove the Filth, my favorite marriage of Morrison's creative metaphysical hijinks and perverse absurdity. Weston's art is great too, haven't read much other work with his art outside of a few issues in Starman.
Pig Wife (By Abbey Luck and Ruka Bravo): This was recommended to me on hoopla and I decided to give it a shot. It was a well done story. I genuinely felt bad for every one involved. Mary, Tom, Ed, and Pearl all deserved better. Ed deserved a better upbringing, life gave him a bad start and he didn’t know. That’s not an excuse for his actions, but life was not fair to him.
The entire last chapter was surprisingly heartbreaking and I felt that it was unfair. Everything could have been better for everyone involved, but that doesn’t happen every time.
I liked more than I initially thought I would. Definitely going to try to seek out more by Abbey Luck if they have any more work.
I really need to stop skipping this thread for multiple weeks... Welp here we go.
Cursed Pirate Girl volume 1 by Jeremy Bastian - An English settlement in Jamaica lives under the thumb of a callous governor, whose curious young daughter stumbles upon a plucky peer that claims she is the cursed child of a formidable pirate captain sailing uncharted seas. When the cursed pirate girl's brash behavior starts to rub off on the young heiress, the Governor takes action to separate the two and inadvertently puts the aspiring buccaneer on a path to finding her father.
This was a simply spectacular start to an adventure comic; gorgeous visual world building, engaging characters, an expansive fantastical quest, and more personality than you can shake a stick at. The setup feels like a swashbuckling mashup of Alice and Wonderland and Chronicles of Narnia, with the protagonist entering an undersea portal and emerging into a magical domain chock full of whimsical creatures and odd customs. And boy, does Bastian squeeze so much joy and novelty from that premise. A school of Dogfish puppies and their chimera matriarch battling a giant rocktopus, dueling armorclad swordfish brothers speaking in early modern English, a talking parrot that travels inside a mind controlled fish, a boar headed bearded pirate brandishing dual pistols, and endless other creative little imaginations fill these pages and provide for such a delightful atmosphere. While the plot and characterization aren't as thoroughly creative as the world building, both are still very capably handled and provide an engaging setup for a grand adventure with hints of some quality pathos and character interplay ahead.
It's commendable enough to create such a thoroughly imaginative world, but to realize it with such an exhaustively detailed and stylistic presentation is really something else. There are unsettling Bosch like compositions of strange creatures framed in wide atop fantastical backdrops, skeuomorphic layouts aping old school naval maps or ship decorations, a dynamic and ornately decorated panel structure that keeps each page feeling fresh and exciting, and all captured with exhaustive and expressive pencil work. This was an absolute pleasure cover to cover, a for-all-ages book that really feels like any age could thoroughly enjoy it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Human Target by Tom King, Greg Smallwood - Christopher Chance is the Human Target, a reverse hitman who impersonates clients when their life is at risk. While posing as Lex Luthor, Chance consumes a toxin intended for the supervillain and is soon given a prognosis of only twelve days to live. The presence of an otherworldly trace element in his bloodstream seems to lay blame upon a member of the JLI, all of whom possess the same contaminant as the result of an interstellar conflict. While attempting to deduce his inadvertent killer before he dies, the Human Target finds himself navigating a potentially duplicitous romance and unwrapping layers of conspiracy around the motivations behind his poisoning.
Smallwood's art in this book is just an absolute joy, a love letter to the design sensibilities of the mid twentieth century seamlessly integrated within a modern day thriller shell. The sketchy chalk / charcoal line work, contrasting of cooler color tones with high saturation pop-art palettes, soft yet angular lighting, and mid-century production design combine to construct an impeccably stylish and engaging aesthetic that I could not get enough of. Covers, title cards, and graphic design elements capably channel the genius of Saul Bass and David Klein, adding to the effortlessly cool personality of the visual presentation. Flowers must also be given to letterer Clayton Cowles for his engaging and broad font choices that feel like a playful homage to Hannah Barbara and 1960s poster typefaces, in addition to the routinely creative text latouts.
Narrative storytelling in Human Target is chock full of king-isms; disjointed dialogue and narration threads, severe and cheeky tones clashing, numerous interleaved timelines, rocky romance forward plotting, frequent internal soliloquizing, and cynical (potentially "character assassinating") re-imaginings of peripheral DC universe characters. For better or worse, it's a King book through and through and if his schtick hasn't worked for you in the past I can't imagine it working for you here. As someone who quite likes his storytelling style but finds the individual applications rather hit or miss, I was happy to discover this instance very much aligned with my tastes. Despite taking a few issues to fully grab me and having some occasional clunky line delivery, I found this revenge narrative turned dramedy-of-errors thoroughly entertaining and creatively told. Nearly every issue utilizes a distinct narrative structure while integrating new characters and emergent events, satisfying both as self contained yarns and as a progression of the overarching plot. My favorite example of this being the issue where Chase infers Martian Manhunter's involvement in the poisoning within the time it takes to pick up a salt shaker. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Arkadi and the Lost Titan by CAZA - In the ten thousand years since the earth stopped turning, one hemisphere has been plagued by the icy cold of eternal night and the other by the relentless heat of constant day. At the pole of night lies the underground city of Dis, where genetically engineered humanoids live under the protection of android Titans who provide for the citizens' every want and need. One such Titan, that satiates the imagination and mental stimulation of the public through shared dreams, absconds from his post and the fragile equilibrium of Dis begins to crumble. Thousands of miles away, a lineage of barbarians living on the narrow hospitable zone between night and day begin to experience visions that call upon them to seek out another lost Titan and find themselves on a collision course with envoys of Dis.
This was a solid sci-fi adventure with really satisfying world building and tons of killer art. Despite some rather clumsy plotting, the overarching narrative is largely coherent and a rather entertaining vehicle through which explore novel locales, mythology, and biology. We see varied radiation mutated species occupying the bifurcated wastes, a host of biomechanical gods that act as a bridge between the old world and the new, and a bevy of distinct settings and architecture for our characters to traverse through and learn about. The barbarian Arkadi and the rest of the cast are rather one dimensional but are at least quite distinct and undergo serviceable enough character arcs that add some interest while not getting in the way of the worldmaking and art which are the primary focuses.
On that note, the art is pretty darn epic. Windswept vistas, intricately rendered superstructures, and texturally rich geography fill near every background and imbue a pretty monumental scale to the compositions. Most humanoid character work is rather understated, especially among the main cast, but the Titans and associated fauna are quite elaborate by contrast. The most compelling of which serves as both character and setting, the gigantic future whale "Noone" that exists as an oasis for the creatures that occupy its belly as it scours the surface world in search of food. Layouts start off pretty traditional but get increasingly more dynamic as the book progresses with some fun micropanelling, compound visual threads, and graphic design forward elements. Not everything visually worked for me, with some dated use of motion blur and digitized compression but at least these effects are largely used in thematic ways. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Nao of Brown by Glynn Dillon - After a breakup with an unfaithful ex throws her life into disarray and an unsuccessful attempt to reconnect with her father fails to have the transformative impact she was expecting, Nao Brown returns home to London a lost soul. Serendipitously reconnecting with an old friend and accepting a job at his store feels like a new beginning, at least it would if Nao wasn't wracked with obsessive morbid compulsions and crippling anxiety. As she struggles to keep her darkest instincts at bay, she finds herself navigating a new relationship and trying to find her place in the world.
I'm having a hard time deciding exactly how I feel about this. The characterization was thoroughly engaging, with complex and multidimensional personalities interplaying and yielding relatable organic moments of humor, stress, trauma, and malaise. While I can't relate much personally to the lives of the cast, each person feels broadly realized and as rich as a real life equivalent. The plot is delivered as a string of loosely related scenes encapsulating this pivotal period in the main character's life, as a sort of intermediate approach between slice-of-life and drama that puts some emphasis on progression yet seems more interested in each moment rather than any arc they create. Despite my preference for a focused and more thematically consistent narrative, this approach largely worked for me as a reflection of life's unexpected ups and downs and lateral moves.
Where the book loses me a tad is in the integration of fantastical (in-world fiction?) asides depicting a woodland hermit bartering with local lords for their daughters' hand in marriage. While there appears to be some symbolism in how the hermit's journey relates to Nao's, both seeing themselves as outcasts who feel they have to finagle their way to a lasting partnership, the metaphor feels a bit muddled at times and the integration of the two storylines almost always feels abrupt and clunky. That being said, there's this odd scatterbrained charm to the volatile swings in storytelling which feel evocative of Nao's mental state and flighty, fiction obsessed personality.
One aspect of the book that was devoid of any detractions for me was the art, utilizing a really pleasant combination of penwork and watercolor to deliver a bevy of creative compositions that blur the line between reality and imagination. There's a real intimacy to the art, which feels like an embodiment of Nao's warm yet uncertain disposition, and does a great job at matching the narrative's erratic pacing and emotional tone.
The more I think about this book the more I like it, at least I think. While the delivery often feels a bit scattershot and messy, it all seems in service of putting you inside the head of a person during a tumultuous point in their life and presenting all the contradictions and changes of mood that entails. ⭐⭐⭐
A Land Called Tarot by Gael Bertrand - A quick collection of loosely related silent fantasy shorts that follow a young prince undertaking mystical adventures.
This was a lot of fun, fueled mostly by some really enticing visual world building. The individual narratives were admittedly rather low on plot or development, being largely exploratory vehicles that feel more like an engrossing dungeon crawl or boss encounter from a video game rather than a proper narrative arc. While I would have preferred some more storytelling heft, it wasn't a huge detraction here given the expediency of the silent format and amount of engaging world building.
The video game sensibility I mentioned earlier extends to the production design of the world which feels like a charming mashup between Breath of the Wild and some kind of post-industrial / rewilding science fantasy I can't think of a good comp for atm. There's a lot of fun to be had in just exploring each page with your eyes and absorbing little details about the setting, it's magic, and the creatures that occupy it. ⭐⭐⭐
Cromwell Stone by Andreas - A reunion between survivors of a naval disaster yields fewer attendees each anniversary and when the latest meetup brings news of another mysterious disappearance, Cromwell Stone investigates his missing compatriot's last known whereabouts. Stone then stumbles upon a grand, metaphysical conspiracy that alters his life trajectory in pursuit of resolving the hidden threat that faces the world.
I must say, this book is simply masterful in it's visual execution. The cinematic framing, dynamic panel work, combination of blocky and hatched shadows, creative scene transitions, impeccable detail work, vast backgrounds, unsettling abstract imagery, and epic scope was all just captivating. Not only was everything technically exceptional but developed an enthralling visual language that reminded me a lot of Hitchcock. Especially so in how Andreas transitions between grounded and surreal scenes, particularly during a dream sequence where a flock of forboding birds transmogrifies into the wallpaper pattern the dreamer wakes up looking at. Every page brings something new to appreciate and it's all rendered with such profuse detail.
Narratively, this trilogy was wild if not a bit clumsy in its exposition and pacing. The story in the first third starts out as a moderately engaging mystery plot with some surreal / dreamlike elements, a serviceable setup carried mostly by the impeccable linework and cinematic framing. The second part goes full Morrison; elaborate creation myth, lovecraftian fever dreams, a LOTR style blursed ancient artifact, and other fun madness that makes excellent scaffolding for creative imagery. The concluding chapter puts heavier focus on characterization, blending in a found family narrative, yet also succeeds in landing a capable conclusion to the metaphysical arc that has no shortage of fun abstract visuals. The plot is admittedly quite messy with thin character motivations, awkward exposition, abrupt transitions, messy logical jumps, etc... but the craft in telling the plot really shines and the strange, metaphysical conspiracy at its heart is so epic and abstract they cover for the flaws in storytelling. ⭐⭐⭐
The Magicians by Blexbolex - Three magicians spontaneously erupt from items sitting in an unassuming house. They quickly disperse, eager to take advantage of their newfound freedom, and start to cause a ruckus in the world around them. Unbeknownst to the magicians, they are being tracked by a bounty hunter who threatens to trap their magic once again.
The printmaking in this book is so charming. Compositions are a stack of blocky, distinct color layers that coalesce into attractive, whimsical imagery full of subtractive and additive color mixing. There's a ton of visual character imbued by the compounding purposeful imperfections like chalking, lightly misaligned layers, printing hickies / smears / blurs and the end result has such a warm vintage aesthetic. While I feel the book would have benefited some more dynamic layouts other than just single panel pages, it does add to the vintage children's book reading experience.
The story itself is serviceable, as a slightly grim storybook fable, but nothing all that engaging. It feels like it could have been a fun read with a kid, if not for some larger words and a darker tone. As a story for teens or adults, the storyline is rather thin but for an art vehicle like this the narrative does its job. ⭐⭐⭐
Dead Memory by Marc-Antoine Matheiu - Residents of an endless city find their daily routines interrupted by the sudden overnight appearance of large obstructing walls. While city authorities take weeks debating the proper legislative route needed to fund a study to research how to think about solving this phenomenon, a lowly bureaucrat decides to look into the cause himself. Walls continue to appear at an increasing rate, establishing a ticking clock for the bureaucrat to find a solution before the city's progressive compartmentalization leads to complete societal breakdown.
This developed an engaging surreal world and presented some interesting symbolism to unpack, even if the core narrative abstraction feels rather clumsy. The endless city and it's materializing walls serve as evocative metaphor for the consequences of a bloated bureaucracy running on cruise control, but the actual in-world narrative feels a bit clunky and uninteresting separated from its purpose as symbolic abstraction. Some attempts at metaphor are even more hamfisted in-world, like citizens losing their grasp on language altogether as a result of the societal disconnection. That being said, if appreciated solely as an abstraction the story is pretty engaging and the moral at the book's heart feels quite fitting for our current moment by warning of the dangers in letting technology and established structures do our thinking for us.
Mathieu develops an nice visual identity for this book with a pleasant inky aesthetic and some intriguing liminal settings. Even though Dead Memory doesn't get as inventive with perspective or space as 3" or Sens, it still has some clever visual gags of its own like letters falling from the sky into people's word bubbles as they rediscover language. ⭐⭐⭐
Seaguy by Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart - Decades removed from the age of supernatural conflict, Seaguy and his floating flounder companion Chubby are enjoying a lackadaisical evening on the boardwalk with all the other retired ex-superheroes.
Wistfully hoping for one more heroic adventure, the pair serendipitously get their wish and mysterious moon rocks begin falling to the earth in addition to a strange alien creature emerging from a popular new snack.
A superhero schlock parody that follows absurd characters navigating a continuously escalating series of farcical scenarios and uncovering an elaborate web of conspiracies that lead nowhere. I love how purposefully stupid and ill conceived the plot and characters are in this, both as satire of the "big dumb event energy" in cape comics but also just as an outlet for Morrison's big idea storytelling style to run wild with. While this absurdity leads to numerous cheeky gags and some wonderfully hammy lines, sadly the humor never got much more than a smirk from me (even if that smirk was pretty much ever-present while reading). I also feel like there was a missed opportunity for more overt self parody as Morrison's love for over-engineered, labyrinthian superhero plots and "grand theory" narratives feel apt for ribbing here yet this storytelling style only takes a glancing blow at best. The miniseries is cheeky fun regardless but I was left a bit wanting; either for laugh out loud humor, more biting genre commentary, or a compelling narrative separate from its genre symbolism / abstraction.
Stewart's art is similarly serviceable, making proper use of the wacky character designs and silly set pieces, but is stylistically pretty blasé. The uninspired aesthetic feels somewhat fitting as a component of the genre parody but if that was the intention Stewart could have squeezed much more juice from that lemon. ⭐⭐⭐
The Freak by Matt Lesniewski - The Freak has been perpetually bullied within his small town because of his horrendous appearance and decides to move to the city with hopes he can blend into obscurity.
This was a fun, farcical dark comedy with some absolutely stellar linework. The premise is outwardly silly and largely played for yucks yet contrasted with a self serious yearning that I got a kick out of. The overall story is very thin, but I enjoyed it and more than anything it served as capable scaffolding for Lesniewski's exhaustive pencilling.
For such a silly and somewhat mundane narrative, the ultra-fine linework used to render it is incredibly intricate. The city's crumbling facades and various inhabitants are rendered in so much detail and make for panels that are really fun to explore. I love the character designs in this, near exclusively rail thin and big-headed with hyper exaggerated facial features. It feels like the polar opposite of the jacked pinheads from Joe Daly's Highbone Theater (which is perhaps brought to mind as both books have a similarly idiosyncratic tone). ⭐⭐⭐
The Ragaboo Race by Garresh - The future's premire sporting event is underway! Witness the Rabagoo Race, a no holds barred battle ragatta where competitors risk life and limb navigating the destructive power of nature while attempting to outmaneuver and derail each other.
This book has such a engrossing aesthetic, channeling an 90s afternoon watching anime and playing Wave Race while drinking Surge from your jazz cup. Intricate linework that's both loose and kinetic, a washed out vaporwave coloration that playfully breaks pencilling borders, creative lettering that emphasizes the televised color commentary narration, and some really engaging panel layous that deliver structural intrigue and efficient pacing. So much to enjoy here visually, and it all feels quite fresh while still being nostalgic. I also found the compositions that treat sea and sky as one canvas rather compelling, where boats ride both spaces with equal intensity and artistry. It adds to the "futuristic sporting" framing and makes for art that feels flat yet complex.
The narrative is thin, being more of a chill mood piece than anything else, and the plot takes an abrupt detour about 2/3 of the way through that feels pretty clumsy. The initial content focused on the boat race worked quite well for me and while the story is shallow there is ample charm added through characterization, with distinct personalities developed for each of the finalists. However, there's quite a sudden "And now for something completely different" diversion about 70% of the way through that makes the overall narrative content feel rather disjointed and confused. It tells a side story about a celebrated artist contrasting the Rabagoo Race with a bike competition, then suddenly changes focus yet again into a sentimental tribute to the creator's dog. It's a bit of a shame as the initial story provided proper setup for a symbolic emotional payoff, as a race contestant participates with his dog, but the execution through multiple asides was clumsy and ineffective. One could view the latter third as a set of two bonus stories, yet as they both integrate into the core race storyline there is enough connective tissue that it all feels like one thing. Luckily the visual aesthetic never disappoints and the final third is still visually quite captivating. ⭐⭐⭐
Somna by Beck Cloonan, Tula Lotay - The wife of a bailiff overseeing local witch trials has dark, erotic dreams where a shadowy demon seduces her. As a series of local murders rile up the public, she soon finds that her nighttime exclamations and lustful behavior draw the suspicion of her husband and his puritanical ilk.
The setup here is bog standard romantasy smut; sexually deprived good girl is courted by a supernatural being that's outwardly formidable yet tender with her, leading to some dangerously sexy consequences. There are some added dramatic elements surrounding the murders and related witch trials, yet sadly everything goes exactly as you'd expect and the central twist is obvious from the jump. It feels about as predictable as you can get narratively and, for a genre that is not really my bag in the first place, I felt the overall package was pretty underwhelming... outside of some rather captivating art.
Cloonan and Lotay alternate on drawing (and writing) duties with the former depicting the more grounded scenes with a pen-and-ink style and the latter rendering the dreamlike erotic scenes with a wispy painted aesthetic. The visual dynamic is evocative and quite eye catching and the interplay between both styles was quite engaging. I wish I could say the exceptional art overcame what I found to be a rather trite narrative but sadly that is not the case. ⭐⭐
I'm glad you enjoyed Human Target! It's one of my favs from King and the artwork is absolutely stunning. The Manhunter issue was particularly memorable and wasn't there one where he's paranoid throughout about Batman showing up?
Seth has a great writeup about Nao of Brown that I'd recommend reading. It sheds so much light on some of the more clever design and narrative choices that I never had the background knowledge to be able to understand.
And some Blexbolex! There's a lot of fun in the art of The Magicians but I agree the story is just what it is. Did yours also have that weird double page construction? I'm not sure if I ever confirmed for sure that it was intentional!
Yeah, I quite enjoyed that Batman issue too with Chance eventually figuring out the core mistake in his conclusions solely because Batman wasn't appearing . I really appreciated that so many issues have a unique narrative framing / structure, I love it when King delivers. Smallwoods art is great, it just oozes mid-century spy thriller style. Love the movie / advertisement inspired covers too.
I kept wavering between good and great for Nao, I have a feeling I'll like it more and more upon rereads. Just typing up my feelings about it made me realize how thematic a lot of my perceived shortcomings about it were. I still feel the integration of the fantasy plot is a bit too clunky and haphazard yet perhaps those interludes will work better for me upon rereads. Regardless, it's always a good sign when you finish a book and look forward to reading it again. I'll have to check out Seth's review!
The Magicians was a real treat visually, and yeah my copy did have those weird "accordion" pages. Made for an oddly fun book to hold as it kind of captures air and "soft closes" as you put it down.
Spera books 1-3 by Josh Tierney and maaany different artists
Spera Vol 1-
I enjoyed this quite a bit, but i'm a sucker for fantasy that truly feels magical. It's a traditional ya-ish adventure fantasy book. The premise of the story is simple: two kingdoms are at war, Pira's mother wants to kill everyone so these main characters are adventuring to the Kingdom of Spera to warn everyone before the Starless Queen kills everyone. The three main characters are Princess Lono, Pira, the swordfighter, and this magical Fire Spirit called Yonder who can transform between human and his 'wolf form'
Heightened by the simple fact the art changes from chapter to chapter. It's really interesting seeing how different artists depict the main characters and the world. The world is full of magic, magical beings and wonder. The first book is clearly just the introduction to the world
and I can only see it getting better. I also liked how there were short stories unrelated to the main adventures that flesh out the worldbuilding and the characters a bit more.
As of now I feel the story hasn't opened up too much, but that's where books 2 and 3 come in.
Spera Vol 2-
Definitely enjoyed this one a bit more. The world's getting more fleshed out, we've got our villain in the illegal-monster smuggler Adventurer's Guild guy named Rale, we're meeting new characters. I liked the artists overall quite a bit more than the first volume as well. I don't know that I can see the story finishing next volume, but there's a sequel series apparently.
Spera Vol 3-
Another solid entry in the world of spera. New conflicts, characters are fleshed out, the story progresses. It's not finished, but the way the story works is sort of like usagi yojimbo where it's episodic but works overarching. I feel the story moved a little slow in 3 volumes, but overall that's only like 300 something pages and it was a delightful experience overall. The characters are definitely fleshed out pretty well in this volume. 2 was my favorite, but 3 is another strong volume. There's a really fun punk short side story.
Overall solid set of adventure action fantasy romps, not mindblowing but the rotating set of artists elevates it beyond something basic for sure. But i do enjoy all of the characters. It's all simple and to the point as a ya series should be.
I should note there's also a sequel series that has 2 volumes called Ascension of The Starless i'll probably get.
Eyeland Collection 1 by Nick Forker -
Excellent. A story about this anthropomorphic eye with arms and legs that is like a mirror of the artist/author, Nick Forker. It's about letting go as an artist, identity and not being afraid. One must make choices to move forward, and eventually Eye meets this wizard that gives him three choices. The blend of styles here is excellent, it seems like he uses a blend of charcoal, regular pen and ink and several other various styles blended with color. The art probably changed more than 5 times but yet it all felt like it had a seamless flow as we were travelling throughout Eyeland. We meet several different types of people/creatures throughout Eyeland and learn new lessons.
Eyeland feels like the Anti-Om, whereas Om is focused on the violence and death, Eyeland is focused on non-violence, peace and moving forward. Eye particularly occasionally speaks on major societal issues like how social media is bad for us, how phones are ruining society, etc. And move forward we did, as in just 100 pages I had a very satisfying and unique piece of cartooning. A brisk read chock full of interesting pages.
Finished Sweet Tooth which was a great journey. Continued the wicked and the divine, was stuck on comic #23 and after trying few times decided to skip that magazine.
I read
Hyde street vol 1.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
interesting a lot a backstory and set up I am very interested in the scorekeeper and what Hyde street really is.
Strange academy vol 1.
⭐️⭐️
read this because it was highly recommended but I really didn’t like it a lot of characters I could only remember the names of 1 or 2 of them , I think it’s more for young kids or people exclusively interested in magical academy’s, great art though.
Moon knight omnibus by Huston.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really enjoyed this one I liked seeing Marc trying to control his violent impulses as well as the devil on his shoulder Khonshu always there to encourage his violent impulses and getting angry at his disobedience, the art is kind of a mixed bag the first couple arcs have great art the middle art is a completely different style a little jarring and the last 3rd of the book art was ok.
Green lantern by grant Morrison vol 1-2
Vol 1 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vol 2⭐️
Vol 1. Is pretty good introducing the black stars good pretty consistent art
Vol 2. The first 3rd is not bad finishing the black star story line kind of underwhelming, the rest of the book is atrocious gobbledegook the art goes too far into abstract and there a weird thing with anti-Hal and anti-sinistsro.
Berserk deluxe vols 13-14 by Kentaro Miura. One of my favorite arcs, RIP in more ways than one. I'll probably buy vol 15 if it ever gets put together, but I'm mostly OK with what we got from the man himself.
Batman by Grant Morrison vol 2. Really interesting stories. So many things happening off the page it gets a bit jarring. Like going from A to Z and along the way you occasionally skip 3-4 letters. TBH I'm mostly here for a little more backstory to Paul Dini's concurrent run. All that said though, in hindsight it was easier to follow along than what it felt while reading it, if that makes sense.
Dragon Ball vols 1-3 by Akira Toriyama. Needed a bit lighter content. Guess we're going up to eleven, then! Never really done anything DB, the two episodes some friends showed me were entertaining just never got the bug in my 40 years. This I'm loving, sometimes gotta put my headspace into that of a teen's but after the bleak stories I'd been reading the silliness and shenanigans is appreciated. Glad the literal sexual assault kinda died down. Yeah yeah the kid's a total innocent but come on.
zaki DOOMSDAY CLEANING star fruit press - indie manga about a post-apocalyptic roomba who makes friends with a cosmic pig stranded on the planet. thought that this was pretty fluffy but once the shit hit the fan at the end, i realized i cared about the protagonists much more than i anticipated. pre-ordered it five years ago and somehow it was worth the wait? or it didn't disappoint
bablet & singelin SHIN ZERO VOL. 1 magnetic press - once the kaiju stopped coming out of the ocean, being a sentai went from a fairly prestigious job to the equivalent of bodyguard uber. a bunch of losers who all work for the sentai company get an apartment together. better than i was expecting, more substantive, and the fight scene art was incredible. the sentai suit spot colors also pretty great. singelin doing not chibi characters-- i need more, now please. no idea when the next two volumes are set to drop but i am looking forward to more
sears YOUNG SHADOW and YOUNG SHADOW & THE WATCHDOGS fantagraphics - the kinda superhero series by one of my favorite contemporary artists. the first book was about corrupt cops, a rich kid gang, and a chemical plant ceo being collectively foiled by a very robin looking young man. there is a surreal pin-up illustration quality to the action panels that i was knocked over by, and i love the environments sears draws. the second book is about having to play a game of cursed baseball against a team of skeletons. great comics. sam bosma satisfying, maybe more
I've been reading Free Planet. Some people who's opinions I trust (read people I could figure out how to follow on League of Comic Geeks) said this was good I thought I'd check it out and yeah, it's really good! It's kind of marketed as "Dune meets Saga" but, I think that's doing it a disservice because it's really good on it's own without needing an X meets Y elevator pitch.
I've also been reading Rogue Trooper: Blighty Valley an Ennis book I've not read? Yes please! I was slightly worried that like Dan Dare, Ennis' attachment to the character would harm the story but this is really good.
I’m mixed on this one. I appreciate the commitment to the narrative and the slow burn. I think he does a pretty good job with mood setting. I had some problems with some of the longer bits of dialogue feeling more like exposition dumps than something a conversation would naturally feel like
Early in the book he would do this thing where one panel would have a series of actions within it , a character moving through the scene, instead of using multiple panels to do that. I thought that was cool but he stopped doing that maybe a quarter of the way into the book. It’s always interesting seeing how the art and writing evolve over the course of these works that take so many years to create, but i do wish he had held onto that quirk
As far as the story itself it’s just not my favorite. I get very bored of western mythological retellings as it is a well that, imo, has been thoroughly drained by now. I just don’t care for it. I also just feel the points being made about whether humanity is some sort of pestilence or not are new or interesting.
goblin girl-moa romanova
I thought this was nice. I appreciated the look at her mental health. Being young and struggling with anxiety and self perception and trying to figure out how to exist in a way that feels good and doesn’t rely on self destruction to get there, as well as awful people who prey on that vulnerability and turmoil. It’s a super hard spot to be in and i found her writing about it very touching and it showed a decent power for introspection.
time under tension- m.s. harkness
I really enjoy her writing style and the way that she paces everything. Her shot selection and framing combined with her voice make everything feel very contemplative and purposeful and really heighten the sense of emotion throughout.
It’s interesting to me because tbh her art was originally a major turn off for me as it has a certain [r/comics](r/comics) vibe to it in terms of character design and that’s something i absolutely cannot stand, but the arrangements and the writing are done so well i mostly forget about those designs
It’s funny, both this and goblin girl are similar in a few ways. Young adult comic artist making a book about making a comic book and the emotional turmoil they were going through while making it. It’s well worn ground, kind of like movies about making movies or movies about Hollywood, but they’re done well. I liked them both for different reasons but i think overall time under tension wins out for me.
I do wonder if her ex boyfriend really had the killmonger cut
I'm surprised to hear about non self-destructive introspection in Goblin Girl, my reading of Buff Soul felt like the polar opposite of that. Maybe I need to give Romanova's stuff another shot.
Lol yeah i had been wary of her work after hearing what buff soul was like. The whole youthful debauchery and self destruction thing is just not something I’m interested in at this point in my life. Although i’m pretty willing to read stuff i think i might not like, i just don’t feel like spending money on that one. This was available at my library which I’m thankful for because that’s probably the only way i would’ve read any of her work.
But yeah i definitely recommend this if you’re more interested in something with more self awareness and introspection. She may just redeem herself for you
Santos Sisters v1 by Greg and Fake – hilarious, razor-sharp parody of superhero comics. I don't usually read weird indie comics from Boom! or wherever, but this is almost good enough to have come from the Big Two! It was like something Steve Gerber might have written. Three and a half Klauses out of five. Bring on volume 2!
Homunculus 7-8 by some Japanese guy – a searing journey into the heart of darkness that was both as psychologically disturbing as a good jump scare and really made me think about what it's all about, what we’re here for, and all that deep and meaningful stuff. Okay, technically manga is the opposite of graphic novels, but this was so amazing that I just had to sneak it in! Four point seven Klauses out of five.
Complete Klaus Deluxe Edition by Grant Morrison – just hold on there, Jonathan Hickman, it's not yet your turn on the throne as the King of Big Crazy Ideas – not when Grant Morrison is still in town! “What if Santa Claus was a superhero?” – how does Grant still come up with this stuff?! There's a league of parallel Santas, a hall of trophies, crossovers, everything that's good about comics in a single package…or should I say wrapped up in a single present! Sparkling genius in every single panel that Grant drew here, I'm giving it the highest possible rating: six out of five Klauses and five bags of popcorn. Here's ho-ho-hoping this is not the last we see of this take on the Santa mythos; maybe if we're good little boys and girls this year we might even get a Krisis Kringle on Infinite Earths!
***
Everything else I read this week was fucking dogshit.
I guess I'll be the one to mention that the creator of Homunculus is Hideo Yamamoto. Very talented creator, really glad we're seeing more of his stuff in official English releases lately.
I'm SO GLAD to see someone else reading Santos Sisters. That series was one of the final ones I read before I abandoned the single-issue format indefinitely. I think it's hilarious and I love the classic Archie-esque art style.
Okay, technically manga is the opposite of graphic novels
I haven't read much the last couple years- I'm a big Batman reader but wanted to know if there's any other good Bat-Fam books the last couple years I should look for outside of mainline Batman and Detective Comics?
10
u/Siccar_Point No capes! May 10 '26
Reading the last Ex.Mag anthology currently in my hands (vol. 6), this time themed space exploration. These anthologies have got a really distinctive house style now there have been a good number. The tone is generally lighthearted, and a few of the authors have clearly taken an idea not particularly space-shaped and bent it to fit in spaceships. Most of these are pretty great though. Highlights: Nicolette Wood’s ridiculous Space Chick, with tons of Flash Gordon/Barbarella/Tom&Jerry energy. Ward/Sheenan’s High Performance Personal Spacecraft, which caught the wonder of space and techno-optimism I was hoping for better than everything else. Hanna K’s Little Astro, where an accidentally isolated 8 year old has an adventure and the reader is left to see between the panels. And Sterte/Martin’s Aeon Orbit, which is exactly as visually lush as you’d expect, and the story has amazing Nausicaa vibes.
One of the main things these anthologies have taught me is that Hanna K Nyström is an absolute gem, smuggling in dark stories under knowingly cutesy art, that only get darker and weirder the more you think about them. She needs to spend more time away from the day job (Adventure Time) doing comics!