Westergaard and the World’s Most Notorious Cartoon
Matthias Wivel grapples with the thorny legacy of Kurt Westergaard, the Danish artist behind the most notorious editorial cartoon of the 21st century thus far. Westergaard died last July.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Post-Mortem
Our European correspondent on Charlie Hebdo and the attacks upon it, with attention paid to freedom of speech, iconoclasm, offensive cartoons, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism.
Angoulême est Charlie; Chinese Partnership; Otomo Grand Prix
A report from the first day of the Angoulême festival.
The Tears of the Prophet
A critical look at the heavily anticipated, seven-million-print-run issue of Charlie Hebdo published in the wake of the Paris attacks
The Cage Stands As Before: The Comics of Yvan Alagbé
The elusive French-Beninese comics artist Yvan Alagbé returns to expand upon his 1994 masterwork Les Nègres jaunes. The result is one of the most intricate, challenging, and moving grand family narratives in comics.
Trondheim on the Angoulême Grand Prix
The outspoken cartoonist (and former Grand Prix winner) addresses controversies surrounding the festival’s most prestigious award.
Institution and Individual
The winners in the main categories at this year’s Angoulême festival raise interesting questions about French cartooning and satire.
Stop Making Sense!
That grubby minicomic you grabbed off the bar, or found plugging the vent in the convention hall bathroom, which made no sense to you at the time, and probably makes even less now, was likely signed Dongery.
The Power of Galactus
Eurocomics legend Fabrice Neaud abandons the autobiographical form … to emulate John Byrne?!
