April 2013
3 posts
The animation school at New York Film Academy offers nine-semester conservatory-based, full-time study undergraduate program in Animation. Students produce short films with an in-depth understanding of cinematic principles and practical creative application of appropriate narrative concepts. The BFA degrees in Animation is a rigorous mixture of hands-on experiential work, employing...
4 tags
ADD Reviews Jim Rugg's Supermag
Jim Rugg’s Supermag (published by AdHouse Books) is kind of like the AdBusters of comics magazines — it takes a familiar format and recontextualizes it to display Rugg’s many and varied illustrative modes. There’s no single narrative; short stories and random pages from hypothetical comics co-exist within Supermag’s pages. Readers of Rugg’s Afrodisiac graphic...
2 tags
March 2013
4 posts
3 tags
Somebody Said Marvel's "Secret Invasion" Was A...
It isn’t a story, it’s the bare bones of an idea for a plot that a story could have been built on (but was not). What you describe (“shape-shifting aliens invaded years ago”) is what Gaines and Feldstein called “springboards,” and they kept them on 3x5 cards at EC Comics so they had a place to start. (Pro tip: a story doesn’t fit on a 3x5 card — not...
“Don’t do comics. Comics will break your heart.”
– Jack Kirby
2 tags
Best Wishes, Kim Thompson
Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson has just released a statement that he’s been diagnosed with lung cancer. I’m sure I speak for my partner in crime, Alan David Doane, in saying that Kim is a huge inspiration and influence, and we wish him a speedy recovery.
—Christopher Allen
4 tags
Chris Sprouse Off Card Superman Story
Lots of people are congratulating Chris Sprouse for asking DC to replace him on hatemonger Orson Scott Card’s upcoming (or not) online Superman story. And yes, he did the right thing. But when you read his statement, which even in this headline is misconstrued, Sprouse says nothing about DC’s decision to hire Card, nothing about gay marriage or gay rights. He is merely uncomfortable...
February 2013
1 post
Michl Hartny.: I Just Wrote This To DC Comics →
Here’s a fine letter to DC Comics objecting to the hiring of hatemonger Orson Scott Card to write some Superman comics. michaelhartney:
Hi, DC!
My name’s Michael Hartney. I’m as big a Superman fan as you’ll ever meet. I have bought Superman comics every Wednesday since I learned to read, which was nearly 30 years ago. Superman was the subject of my blog and my one-man show. My name is...
January 2013
2 posts
1 tag
“What makes [Superman] interesting other than that he’s really, really strong?...”
– Quote of the Day | ‘What makes Superman unique?’ | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment
This is basically every kid ever, if you think about it for longer than a half-second. This isn’t a Superman thing. It’s not profound. It’s just the human experience. It’s...
1 tag
“Since we’re on the topic of creative changes, one of the things that was a big...”
– B&B: “Constantine” Creative Changes, 900 Issues of “Detective” & More - Comic Book Resources
Follow-up question: “When the news broke, Simone herself said that she was informed she was no longer the new writer. That doesn’t sound as temporary as simply waiting on her next plot. Can you...
December 2012
3 posts
1 tag
Peter A. David Suffers Stroke
Comics writer Peter A. David suffered a stroke while on vacation with his wife. He cannot move much of the right side of his body and is experiencing vision problems. Please consider sending him your best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Chris
1 tag
ADD's Farewell to American Elf
Click over to Kochalkaholic to read my thoughts on the end of James Kochalka’s American Elf daily diary strip. — Alan David Doane
3 tags
“It was just another comic book art job.”
– Steve Ditko on Amazing Spider-Man.
November 2012
3 posts
3 tags
Grant Morrison's Eroding Significance Apparently...
I understand completely why Grant Morrison is so insecure about his place in comics history in comparison to Alan Moore, but someone should really explain to Morrison how much weaker and more inferior he ironically makes himself appear with such verbose defensiveness. The work of the two writers should speak for itself, Grant, and let history decide how much you did or didn’t matter. This...
4 tags
Iron Man #1 (2013)
I think this is Vol. 6 of this comic, right? I’ll be brief. Kieron Gillen has written books I’ve liked, and Greg Land has done some art I’ve liked, but as he’s a Photoshop artist that is to be expected. Oddly enough, the scenes I imagine to be more “drawn” than posed, the stuff with Iron Man flying around in his new black and gold armor, is the most appealing....
3 tags
David Brothers on Cerebus: High Society Digital...
Excellent, detailed, and (unlike the product itself, clear) piece on the Kickstarter-funded digital edition of one of the more highly regarded stories in Dave Sim’s Cerebus epic. Unlike David, I didn’t fund this project, but like him, I’ve read very little Cerebus and was curious whether this would be a good place to start. This sounds like too much information, or at least a ton...
October 2012
3 posts
6 tags
Daredevil - End of Days #1 (of 8)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack
Pencils: Klaus Janson
Finished Art & Paintings: Bill Sienkiewicz
Marvel Comics
Brian Michael Bendis has taken his share of knocks as a writer over the years. Those distinctive stylistic tics that marked him as fresh over a decade ago have settled into formula, some might say self-parody, not unlike other distinctive writers like Chris Claremont...
“Grant Morrison’s latest creator-owned series is already in motion as a feature...”
– Newsarama.com : Wu-Tang’s RZA Teaming with Grant Morrison for HAPPY Film
This is the full text of Newsarama’s post about Happy! getting optioned or produced or whatever.
Darick Robertson, co-creator, designer, and artist, is not mentioned, even though Newsarama is an actual comics site that...
5 tags
Avengers Vs. X-Men #12
Story: Marvel Hivemind
Script: Jason Aaron
Artist: Andy Kubert
And so Marvel’s latest carnival ride grinds to a halt, creaking with metal fatigue, bolts scattered across the fairgrounds. I don’t know if it’s the long or short straw, but Aaron draws the one making him wrap it up.
In full disclosure, I haven’t technically read all of this series. That is, I’ve read...
September 2012
10 posts
6 tags
Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #7
“Arcadia Part 3: 120 Days of Sod All”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Jill Thompson
Vertigo Comics, from The Invisible Omnibus $150 USD
I have to hand it to Morrison: only half a year into the series and he spends a issue on Sadeian cruelty and depravity, challenging material for a publishing imprint very early in its lifetime, its “edgy” material thus far mostly to do...
4 tags
Swamp Thing #0
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Kano
DC Comics. $3.99 USD
There are parts of this issue I loved. Those would be pages 1-3. We seem to be seeing the story of a Swamp Thing prior to Alec Holland, a skinnier one who lived in a cabin in Manitoba and helped grow the crops after the spring thaw. I would’ve been quite happy learning more about this guy and seeing how Kano drew him.
But then...
5 tags
Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #6
“Arcadia Part Two: Mysteries of the Guillotine”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Jill Thompson
Vertigo Comics, from The Invisibles Omnibus $150 USD
As with the middle of the first story arc, Morrison gets a bit jammed up with a multitude of ideas and attitudes he wants to get across, leaving artist Thompson with some crammed pages she does her best to make interesting. The Invisibles...
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Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #5
“Arcadia Part One: Bloody Poetry”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Jill Thompson
From The Invisibles Omnibus, Vertigo, $150 USD.
The issue opens with King Mob witnessing an Indian puppet show, the Dalang (puppeteer) depicting a battle from The Mahabharata. Mob’s friend, Agus, tells him that the Dalang is more than just a puppeteer. He makes you believe you are witnessing a war,...
The Top Shelf 2012 Massive $3 Sale!
It’s that time of year again — time to stock up on amazing comics from one of the industry’s best publishers, at rock-bottom prices. Here’s the scoop, from Top Shelf’s Chris Staros:
For the next two weeks — thru Friday September 28th — Top Shelf is having its annual $3 web sale. When you visit the site, you’ll find 170 graphic novels and comics on...
4 tags
Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1...
“Hexy”
Absolute Vertigo 1995
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Vertigo Comics, from The Invisibles Omnibus $150 USD.
“Hexy” is a short King Mob solo adventure, from an anthology special highlighting then-current Vertigo series with exclusive original material. Fegredo has a much more aggressive style than Steve Yeowell’s on the previous Invisibles...
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Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #3
“Down and Out in Heaven and Hell Pt. 3”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Vertigo Comics. From The Invisible Omnibus $150 USD
The first story arc of the series concludes this issue, with few surprises but it’s executed well. After a sweet scene of Dane and Tom O’Bedlam tossing the ol’ Frisbee around like best mates, Dane bids goodbye to his angry,...
4 tags
Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #3
“Down and Out in Heaven and Hell Pt. 2”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Vertigo Comics. From The Invisibles Omnibus, $150 USD.
I noted that the second issue seemed to be a sort of rethink or regression from the first issue, a way to approach neophyte Dane’s entrance into the world of The Invisibles from a different angle. I suspect that part of the reason may be...
4 tags
Locke & Key: Grindhouse
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez
IDW Publishing.
I hadn’t read any Locke & Key before, but I read a tweet or something that said this was a great done-in-one story. It isn’t. Who thought stiff, EC Comics lettering was a good idea? The art is fine but cramped due to Hill’s overblown dialogue. We get that three bad French-Canadians have invaded Keyhouse and intend...
4 tags
Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #2
“Down and Out in Heaven and Hell Pt. 1”
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Vertigo Comics. From The Invisibles Omnibus $150 USD.
This issue feels like the first episode of a television series after the pilot, when some changes have been made. That’s not what happened here, of course; this issue was probably written before the first issue was drawn and it came out a...
August 2012
9 posts
4 tags
Christopher Allen on The Invisibles Vol. 1 #1
“Dead Beatles”
Writer - Grant Morrison
Artist: Steve Yeowell
1994. Vertigo Comics
From The Invisibles Omnibus. $150 USD.
A shameful secret, but I sort of never read The Invisibles. Actually, maybe worse, I read the first nine or ten issues when they came out but dropped the book. Sometimes you’re ready for stuff and sometimes you aren’t. I think a lot of it had to do...
2 tags
Troop 142
Writer/Artist: Mike Dawson
Publisher: Secret Acres $20 USD
This is a graphic novel about a bunch of kids at a summer camp sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. It could be straight-up comedy, it could be an earnest coming of age story, and it could be a critique of the BSA philosophies. And it turns out it’s all of these things. I’ve enjoyed Dawson’s work since his...
2 tags
A Very Spidey '70s
It’s not really that important that Spider-Man is 50 years old this year, but it’s nice he’s still around. He was probably the first superhero I ever drew as a kid, and it’s really no wonder he’s the favorite character of so many comics readers, because he’s the first nerd hero. He made it okay to stick your head in books and learn about Science or anything else...
2 tags
ADD on A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: Lovers'...
What else is there to say about Rick Geary’s Treasury of 19th/XXth Century Murder series, published by NBM? The series has been going on forever, every volume is a delightful and offbeat look at a genuine historical murder mystery, and Geary is probably one of the three or four most talented and accomplished North American cartoonists alive today. If sales were based on quality alone, each new...
2 tags
Look at 'em Go, Look at 'em Kick
The idea behind Kickstarter seems very 21st century, does it not? As we become one global village, constantly connected by iPhones and Twitter and that new one where you pin stuff to your computer (which seems to me like it would damage the screen, but what do I know?), more and more we’ve seen people use technology to reach out and hit somebody up for a buck or two. In the internet age of comics,...
3 tags
R.I.P. Joe Kubert 1926-2012
I would point you to more knowledgeable comics historians like Mark Evanier and Tom Spurgeon for their thoughts on the passing of this comics giant, but I do think it’s important to note this passing. As a Marvel Comics aficionado, I didn’t grow up reading much of Kubert’s work, as much of his career was spent at DC, so I don’t have any particular nostalgia for Sgt. Rock or...
4 tags
Rolling Stone's 15 Essential Batbooks
Sean T. Collins does yeoman work here with a tough remit. From the Intro, he admits some of the books on the list are deeply flawed, and some, like Batman: Court of Owls Vol. 1 and Batman: Earth One are too new to be considered “essential,” and I daresay neither will be considered essential, ever. But I can understand their inclusion. I would nitpick that as much as I like them, three...
10 tags
Christopher Allen Reviews First X-Men, Hawkeye and...
Marvel dropped three books this week that are all examples of their constant, never-ending and yet often contradictory mandate to keep coming up with fresh takes on characters at least 40 years old, while keeping these fresh takes from alienating the existing, aging readership.
First X-Men #1 (of 6)
Writers: Neal Adams & Christos Gage
Artist: Neal Adams
For those George Lucas types out...
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Seven Funnybooks That Changed How I Saw Comics
Sometime this year, and I am not exactly sure when, I passed a milestone of having read comics for forty years. The first time I remember being given a stack of comic books was at the age of six, recovering from having my tonsils out. Ice cream and comic books in the recovery room — yes, America, our health care system has really deteriorated since 1972.
Over these four decades, some comics...
July 2012
7 posts
3 tags
Massive Dump
And another series drops off my list as Brian Wood’s The Massive #2 shows that Wood, at times, forgets how to write anything someone would want to read. Dystopic adventure on the high seas, motherfucker! You have to work to make that boring, but Wood succeeds, with still-empty characters and almost nothing happening. Exotic names like Kamchatka and some statistics aren’t what readers...
11 tags
My Comics July
I’ve been doing more of my own fiction-writing these days, as well as a lot of reviews of movies and other things at my other blog, so it really seems like a modest but achievable goal is to do maybe one or two comics posts here every month. Thus, since I’m going on vacation this weekend and not likely to write anything else for a week or so, my Comics July.
It’s just under a...
1 tag
A Galaxy of News
Just a short note that the site that spawned Trouble With Comics, Comic Book Galaxy, is back as a daily blog of news and commentary written by myself. So if that sounds like something you might be interested in, have a look at the new version of Comic Book Galaxy. It’s a modest beginning, and will likely remain modest, but it’s there, and I thought you might want to know. A lot of the...
4 tags
Captain Marvel #1
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Dexter Soy
Marvel Comics
Carol Danvers is like a lot of Marvel females. A sort of love interest who gained superpowers and then went through a lot of shit like power loss, rape, and alcoholism, because that’s what happens to women in the Marvel Universe. Maybe worse in the DC Universe.
Writer DeConnick has a lot to either work with, avoid, or...
4 tags
ADD on The Dark Knight Rises
So, The Dark Knight Rises. I had zero desire to see the movie based on the incomprehensible trailer. I had not much cared for Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and felt pretty strongly that the director had failed to truly confront or address the issues he danced around in his second Batman movie, the Heath Ledger one. (Was it called The Dark Knight? I feel like it was but can’t...
9 tags
Marvel What Now?
Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive news on Marvel Now!, the wave of relaunched series in the wake of Marvel Comics’ latest hit comics event, Avengers vs. X-Men. The facts as presented in the article: At least three new or relaunched books, including Avengers by Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena, Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender and John Cassaday, and All-New X-Men by Brian Michael...
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The '80s: Not Just for Thomas Dolby Anymore
The best thing to happen in June might very well have been Tom Spurgeon’s series of posts on comic books he read in serial form in the 1980s. The best thing for me, anyway — your mileage may vary. But for me, the 1980s was the decade I matured into comics — I reached adulthood and started buying them with my own money, and my tastes were codified by many of the titles Tom wrote...
June 2012
10 posts
1 tag
A Word on Klaus Janson
I love tributes to artists, and believe me, I would never speak ill of anyone who takes the time to publicly appreciate a Nora Ephron or Andrew Sarris or Tony DeZuniga or any other important artist, critic, or entertainer who has died. But the older I get, the more death I see, and the more I regret not telling, or at least not putting the thought out there into the world, how much I love an...
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David Mazzucchelli Daredevil: Born Again Artist's...
There’s one page in this magnificent volume that has a caption that says something like “This single page is the only one in this book not reproduced from the original art.” It’s a cover image of reporter Ben Urich, made small in his terror, having been brutally attacked and his hand broken by an enormous, evil nurse sent by the kingpin. Somehow the presentation of the book...
7 tags
Spurge Interviews Ed Brubaker
We’re huge fans of both individuals here at TWC, and it’s always great when Tom Spurgeon chats with perennial ace writer Brubaker, which they’ve been doing for years now. This one is maybe just a little more special, because in addition to more familiar territory like discussing the latest work (Fatale, including great insights into the strengths of longtime Brubaker collaborator...
3 tags
The Massive #1
Writer/Creator: Brian Wood
Artist: Kristian Donaldson
Dark Horse Comics. $3.50 USD
Brian Wood is back with another dystopic science fiction comic. But unlike DMZ, this one is set on water. That makes sense, as global warming is going to melt the polar ice caps and cover more land. But this isn’t Waterworld. It feels much more inspired by the Discovery Channel show, Whale Wars. Wood takes...
2 tags
Scrampance
“Scrampance,” a former colleague once told me, was her mother’s word for what was for dinner when the cupboards were nearly bare and you were down to nearly nothing. Tom Spurgeon’s latest Five for Friday asks, essentially, what are the last five comics buying impulses you would give up? In other words, if you had just about lost all interest in comics, what would be the...
