Arrivals and Departures – March 2024
RJ Casey is back to give you a healthy start to spring with even more sleep schedule tips! Plus three zine reviews.
Features
Sunset Falls on Sunset Park: Joseph Koch on Closing his Comics Warehouse
The site of countless comics-buying pilgrimages will vanish this summer, as the Koch Comics Warehouse, a towering trove of pamphlets, books and everything else, closes down for good. Zach Rabiroff chats with proprietor Joseph Koch about this decision, and what happens next.
The War on Gaza – 3.12.24
This is the sixth installment of Joe Sacco’s column, “The War on Gaza.”
Artists in Conversation: Lucy Knisley Interviews Lonnie Mann
Lucy Knisley, a cartoonist well-known for her work in memoir, interviews Lonnie Mann, who’s just released his first book-length work of autobiographical comics, Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood.
Winds of March – This Week’s Links
“To my successors, I leave… these links!” (All the lawyers oooohh.)
Notes on A Cultural History of the Punisher
Ian Thomas presents his notes on A Cultural History of the Punisher, a recent book from veteran writer-on-comics Kent Worcester which seeks to analyze the shifting context of Marvel’s inescapable vigilante character.
How Ville Ranta Conquered France
Robert Aman sits down with Finnish cartoonist Ville Ranta, whose work ranges from memoir to historical fiction to ribald political satire – with a special emphasis on his efforts to swim in the big pool of French comics publishing.
Second Verse, Same As The First – This Week’s Links
Eight and a half weeks… I’m no Mickey Rourke.
Malcy Duff’s I Don’t Know What I’m Doing
Presenting: a special online edition of a lecture delivered by Scottish cartoonist Malcy Duff on the intuitive nature of drawing comics.
Ramona Fradon, 1926-2024
An obituary for one of the first women to draw superhero comics, with standout works throughout the Silver Age and beyond; Ramona Fradon died on February 24, aged 97.
“And The Bad Ones Will Be Forgotten, And The Good Ones Will Be Remembered”: A Conversation with Harry Nordlinger
Zach Rabiroff chats up an impresario of contemporary underground horror comics: Harry Nordlinger, editor and publisher of the ongoing comic book anthology Vacuum Decay, and artist of comics like the recent Floating World release Night Cruising.
Xmas in February – This Week’s Links
“Who’s a good boy?” The dog transforms into news links. “Holy SHIT.”
The War on Gaza – 2.23.24
This is the fifth installment of Joe Sacco’s column, “The War on Gaza.”
Alfredo Castelli, 1947-2024
A loving tribute to a hugely prolific, hugely curious writer, artist and editor of Italian comics, and a scholar of world comic strips. Alfredo Castelli died on February 7, 2024, aged 76.
The Aesthetics of Brutes
The artist Andrew White discusses Le Dernier Sergent 1: Les Guerres immobiles, a major new work from French cartoonist and memoirist Fabrice Neaud.
Art, Politics and Punk: An Interview with Elizabeth Fiend, aka Luna Ticks
Edward Dorey interviews Elizabeth Fiend, aka Luna Ticks: musician, television host, zine-maker, and contributor to underground comics like Weirdo and Tits & Clits in the heat of the punk era.
Valentine’s Day Is Over – This Week’s Links
THIS IS THE CIA, I COMMAND YOU TO CLICK THE ABOVE LINK, THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS THIS.
Who Built the Mouse in the House the Mouse Built?
Steven Brower details the lineage of famous public domain cartoon character Mickey Mouse, who is not the great man of history, but instead one of several cats, rabbits, foxes, etc., before and after.
Arrivals and Departures – February 2024
The classic burden: too many comics. Yes, RJ Casey bought too many comics at November’s Short Run Comix & Arts Festival – too many for last month, so here’s an extra-long column reviewing the rest of ’em.
The War on Gaza – 2.13.24
This is the fourth installment of Joe Sacco’s column, “The War on Gaza.”
“I Will Always Choose Reality”: Dave McKean, Retrospective
An extensive talk with one of the most instantly recognizable stylists of the past 35 years, on the occasion of a mammoth new retrospective, Thalamus: The Art of Dave McKean.
Friday Night’s A Great Night (For Football) – This Week’s Links
The Super Bowl is this weekend?! Pilot, turn this jet around!
John G. Miller, 1954-2024
Cartoonist and publisher Rob Miller eulogizes the Scottish underground cartoonist John G. Miller, who died this past January, aged 69.
Natsume Sōseki and Manga
We are pleased to present a brief essay by the late manga historian Shimizu Isao, an expert on Meiji period cartooning; here, he elucidates the connections between early 20th century literary titan Natsume Sōseki and the cartoonists of his day.
