Article Archive
Three Comix and Reflections Thereon
Bob grapples with three comics—all with varying degrees of venom within—and questions whether or not having a point is required, or if a point of view is enough.
Al Jaffee, 1921-2023
An obituary for Al Jaffee, one of the last of the legends, and a truly beloved American cartoonist.
“It’s Like Putting Together A Puzzle”: An Interview With Daria Tessler
Risograph and scratchboard, handmade and silk-screened – Daria Tessler’s direct approach to comics making has seen her release all sorts of work over the last few years, and it looks like publishers are starting to catch on. She and Jake Grubman sit down to discuss comics – how to read them, how to make them, and how to navigate surviving them.
And Now I’m Fourteen Stories High – This Week’s Links
This post is your internet Easter bonnet. Put it on your head.
The Ruins of Space Battleship Yamato: An Essay on Matsumoto Leiji and War
The manga artist Matsumoto Leiji died this past February, leaving a wide and varied body of work behind him – though he is perhaps best remembered for his lyrical SF comics. In this excerpt from a 1997 book, Natsume Fusanosuke considers how the famous Space Battleship Yamato represented the idea of war for a generation too young to have seen it for themselves.
Mile High Comics
Zach speaks with one of the most well-known comics retailers in the world, Chuck Rozanski, who has refused to let capitalism, right-wing zealots, a coal-covered floor or a brain bleed stop him from doing what he loves: running Mile High Comics.
Joe Giella, June 27, 1928 – March 21, 2023
Andrew Farago pens an obituary for one of the key inkers of the Silver Age of superhero comics, and a longtime artist—credited or otherwise—on serial newspaper strips. Beloved by his peers, Joe Giella died last month at the age of 94.
Fantasy Baseball: Gina Wynbrandt and the Making of a Meme
What’s it like to become a meme? To have a piece of your work picked up and excerpted, quoted, evoked in a place far removed from comics? RJ Casey chats with Gina Wynbrandt over just such an episode.
“Stories Can Live On Their Own”: An Introduction to, and Exploration of, MMYOPE
Ryan Carey explores some of the most mysterious comics to emerge from NYC in a while – the allegorical, often-wordless graphic novels of MMYOPE.
Cartoon Networking: A New Cartoonist Cooperative is the Latest Group of Creators to Seek Strength in Numbers
Zach Rabiroff talks to the founders of the Cartoonist Cooperative, a new organization seeking to provide community aid for comics artists in the midst of a hazardous economic environment.
“The Political Aspect Of My Work Is Asserting That Comics Like Tits & Clits Do Have Social Value”: A Discussion with Sam Meier
Edward Dorey speaks to the editor of the new Tits & Clits compendium about academia, feminism, and the shifting historical reputation of comics.
A Sociocultural Oral History of Tits & Clits
Among the comic book titles of the underground era, few were as memorable as Tits & Clits. On the occasion of a new omnibus collection, Edward Dorey sits down with editor/co-founder Joyce Farmer, editor Mary Fleener, and latter-day publisher Ron Turner to hear the story of this groundbreaking erotic anthology for women.
Show Them It’s About The Work – This Week’s Links
When times look tough, news will carry you like a strapping lover, aloft thru the brambles of dull care. -from my novel, The Corrections
Murderers’ Row: Lee Weeks
Beginning a new irregular feature, in which Tegan treats the artists in collaborative genre comics the way writers are more often treated: as authors of their own oeuvre. First up is the slick and shadowed stylist Lee Weeks.
MyComicShop.Com
Zach speaks to comics retail fixture Buddy Saunders about how he went from the early days of comics mail order to online comics behemoth – and all the direct market stores he ran in the meantime.
Doucet and Valium, Angoulême and Marseille
The artist Marc Tessier presents a massive photo record of recent exhibitions in Angoulême and Marseille dedicated to Julie Doucet and the late Henriette Valium.
“I Prefer To Explore The Contradictions, The Nuances”: A Conversation with Valencian artist Ana Penyas
Scholar Esther Claudio-Moreno sits down with the artist behind We’re All Just Fine for a discussion of art, language, politics & generational attitudes in Spanish history.
European Journal 2023, Part 2: Paris and Angoulême
Bill Kartalopoulos is back with the second and final part of his 2023 European travelogue, including stops at bookstores and exhibitions in Paris, and the festival at Angoulême!
Comics Brut-al
In 2021, Paul Karasik introduced the world to the ultraviolent 1940s homemade comics of child artist James Kugler. Now, on the occasion of those comics receiving a scholarly presentation from the University Press of Mississippi, Karasik reflects further on war and cartooning.
Dialogue Balloons: Lucy Knisley
Jason and cartoonist Lucy Knisley talk about shared pencil obsessions, parenting nuances, and comics for children.
At Image, Comic Book Workers United Takes Another Step in a Long Union Walk
A report on the ratification of the first union contract for employees of Image Comics: a historic moment in the labor history of comic books in the United States.
