Good morning, folks. Today we have another review from the indefatigable Rob Clough, this time his take on Thomas Herpich's White Clay. Here's a sample:
"Mensch" and "The Wedding Cauldron" are examples of just how comfortable Herpich is working in a fantasy milieu, even if both go way beyond the scope of a typical fantasy story. "Mensch" is about a soldier in some ancient war who falls and is replaced by a different version of himself, a better version who had been the better nature of himself that he had long ignored. Once again, the idea that there's a better version of one's self that's lurking out there, waiting to take over comes to the fore in this comic. The real kicker is that Herpich convinces the reader that this other self deserves to take over. "The Wedding Cauldron" is about a man discovering these impish little shape-changing creatures who perform mischief at a wedding he doesn't really want to be attending. The melancholy fellow feels his spirits lifted by following them into the forest, even as the imps are terrified that he will kill them, especially since one of their disguises works so poorly. Once again, Herpich is interested in people hiding and literally changing their identities, only it's from an outside perspective this time around.
Elsewhere:
—Interviews Dept.Journal writer Chris Mautner interviews Journal writer Marc Sobel about Sobel's new book, The Love and Rockets Companion. ICv2 interviews the indescribable Jack Katz on the republication of his First Kingdom.
—History Dept. No one's going to beat this series of posts by Todd Klein on the history of DC Comics for a while. Start here and keep going. And Ladies Making Comics does a short profile of the under-appreciated Dori Seda.
—Miscellaneous. The Lambda Literary Review gathers comics recommendations from LGBT cartoonists, including Harold Cruse, Ellen Forney, Roberta Gregory, and Justin Hall, among others. The Projects festival has announced their upcoming lineup. Jacob Canfield compares Steve Ditko to Jack T. Chick.
