Seattle’s Short Run Comix & Arts Festival 2023
A brief report from the Short Run Comix & Arts Festival 2023, a free one-day minicomic and zine show held in Seattle.
Article Archive
Yoshiharu Tsuge’s Vagabond Rapists, 1968-1972
From 1968-72, the comics of Yoshiharu Tsuge were awash in surreal, dreamlike texture – and filled with images of sexual violence. Helen Chazan reads deeply to reconcile these elements of Tsuge’s work into a new statement of his oeuvre-spanning theme: the desire to vanish.
Photos from the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival: Small + Indie Press 2023
Are you ready for photos? That’d better be a yes, because Chris Anthony Diaz has a comprehensive document of the first-ever Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival: Small + Indie Press show, held on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
“Thank God for Comics”: The Daniel Warren Johnson Interview
Jake Zawlacki talks science fiction, story construction, personal faith and what’s cool with Daniel Warren Johnson, a standout writer/artist of contemporary American action comics.
Golden Lawns, Village Green – This Week’s Links
I’m feeling better, thanks for asking! It’s great to see the world rumbling along regardless of my participation.
Excerpt: Innocent Omnibus Vol. 1
A preview of the forthcoming English translation of a period seinen manga by cult artist Shin’ichi Sakamoto.
Retail Therapy Pre-Mortem Edition: Geoffrey’s Comics and Hi De Ho Comics
In light of the news that two California comics retail institutions will be closing at the end of the year, Zach sits down with Geoffrey Patterson II of Geoffrey’s Comics and Hi De Ho Comics.
A Visit with M.S. Harkness in Pittsburgh
Matt Petras reports from a visit the cartoonist M.S. Harkness paid to The Copacetic Comics Company in Pittsburgh, upon the release of her new book, Time Under Tension.
“You Don’t Need Permission”: An Interview with Lawrence Lindell
Cartoonists in conversation today, as Whit Taylor interviews Lawrence Lindell, artist and publisher of minicomics and zines, whose debut graphic novel Blackward was recently published by Drawn & Quarterly.
November Has Come – This Week’s Links
Got the bug at a Halloween party last weekend, and honestly it’s what I deserve for socializing.
Adult Comics
A reader of comics since the days of EC and MAD in the 1950s, Bob Levin now grapples with the idea of AI comics, through a book that purports to critique AI by using it.
The Keith Giffen Tribute
Critics, cartoonists and colleagues pay tribute to the late Keith Giffen, as assembled by Austin English.
Keith Giffen, November 30, 1952 – October 9, 2023
Noted and notorious, a superstar behind the scenes – Keith Giffen was one of the major players of superhero comics in the American direct market for nearly half a century. Andrew Farago unpacks the work and the influence of Giffen, who died earlier this month.
“This Book Is About My Hatred Of Chaos”: Daniel Clowes on Monica
There’s been a few Daniel Clowes interviews in the last few weeks, but none go as deep as John Kelly does today. Learn the secrets of Monica – or at least as many as the author is willing to tell.
Lost in the Shadows – This Week’s Links
“I’m here to deliver smiles.” I perform my katana routine to volcanic applause.
Reports from the ShortBox Comics Fair
Hagai Palevsky visited the ShortBox Comics Fair, that annual month-long market of new digital comics, and came away with five reviews of experimental and satirical works.
Inside the Canada Comics Open Library with Rotem Anna Diamant & Jordan Reg. Aelick
Continuing her journey through the Toronto comics scene, Kim Jooha interviews Rotem Anna Diamant & Jordan Reg. Aelick of the Canada Comics Open Library, which is dedicated to community access and artist involvement.
These Are The Damned – This Week’s Links
“Even though the ideal is high, I never give in,” I whisper, switching to Bluesky Social.
The Cartoonist and the Paint Lady
Combing through library archives, newspaper files and his personal collection, Michael O’Connell assembles a beguiling portrait of Milton Caniff, young and hungry, drawing industrial cartoons for a charismatic young editor.
“Boy Am I Glad I’m Not In This Business”: Catching up with Larry Marder
Catching up with the creator of Tales of the Beanworld, extensively travelled through the art and business of comics and several bordering terrains.
DJ Please, Pick Up Your Phone – This Week’s Links
What, I’m at a funeral… no, NOT for my career in writing excerpt text…
The Structure of Expressions in Manga
Natsume tackles the fundamentals of manga composition: the particular qualities of pictures, words and panels that deliver meaning to the reader. With examples from the work of Tiger Tateishi, Tori Miki and Natsume himself!
Arrivals and Departures – October 2023
October brings another batch of tricks and treats (small press and self-published comic books) for RJ Casey to read, and for you to read about.
“Something As Bland As Possible”: The Making of Sunday, with Olivier Schrauwen
One of the standout comics of 2023 is the fourth and final installment of Olivier Schrauwen’s Sunday, a 468-page depiction of one day in the life and mind of a self-centered man. Matt Seneca questions the artist on the making of this proudly unextraordinary epic.
