Common Currency
Dominique Goblet and the Architecture of Self
The Belgian artist is among the most empathetic of artists working in the comics form, with each project pushing further the boundaries of interpersonal hermeneutics. Continue reading
A No-Deal Christmas
Cassandra Darke, the titular protagonist of Posy Simmonds’ latest comic, is the cartoonist’s most heroic figure so far, and the book is an assertive step in the direction of more proactive social engagement. Continue reading
Under a Black Sun
James Pisket’s Dansker (‘Dane’) is the story of a broken man, trapped in the shadow of the Armenian genocide and by the trauma of his youth. Continue reading
The Green Hand and Other Stories
Nicole Claveloux’s comics give fantastic flight to common emotions in colors and landscapes that border on the surreal, and are glimpses of a road not taken, in which comics evolved differently. Continue reading
The Tumult of Liberty
Three French-language comics demonstrate the challenges raised for creators by the remarkable aesthetic and thematic developments of the last twenty years. Continue reading
Praying for It
Chester Brown’s Mary Wept over the Feet of Jesus is a logical extension of the examination to which was subjecting himself in Paying for It, and which arguably goes back as far as 1992’s The Playboy. Continue reading
A Child of the Revolution
In The Arab of the Future, the French-Syrian cartoonist Riad Sattouf remembers an errant childhood spent in France, as well as the Libya of Muammar Gaddafi and the Syria of Hafiz al-Assad. Continue reading
Angoulême Year Zero
Angoulême 2015 will be remembered chiefly for having taken place under the hovering specter of terrorism. But beyond that, it was a memorable year in several respects: a year of protest, reform, and even cautious optimism. Continue reading
