Portrait of the Artist as a Young Otaku – Frank Miller and Ronin
Revisiting the Frank Miller/Lynn Varley epic of the early ’80s as a story of fanboy dreams – embraced, defied, and deified.
Features
Zineth 1: Small Press and Self-Published Comics in the Pandemic Era
Paul Tumey presents the debut installment of Zineth, a new series surveying current developments in small press and self-published comics! First off, Paul checks in with a wide variety of cartoonists and distributors to see what’s new during the pandemic… and it’s a lot.
“If The Marks Are Perfect, How Can You Relate To Them?”: An Interview with Gareth Brookes
Gareth Brookes may be responsible for the first comic about historical medieval plagues that was inspired by a real life Drake related Tik Tok craze, and if he’s not, he’s certainly responsible for the first one to be made utilizing pyrography. Joe Decie catches up with the cartoonist about why Brookes keeps attacking the page…and whether he can even stop himself at this point.
David Anthony Kraft, 1952-2021
We look back at the life and career of comics writer, fan, journalist, interviewer, historian & publisher, David Anthony Kraft.
Bought, Not Opened, And Thrown Away – This Week’s Links
There’s no sleepy days of summer in store for this thing called comics: but how to keep up with the neverending onslaught of news, reviews & points of view? Well if you don’t have the stones to just up and quit–always an option!–than turn to your pal Clark Burscough, who has compiled a dossier of all known values, prepared links to said things, and left it waiting, on the other side of a simple click. Make your play, sibling!
Fear and Loathing with David Anthony Kraft: A Savage Interview with Marvel’s Most Outspoken Writer!
In this interview from The Comics Journal #35 (June 1977), David Anthony Kraft, who is best known for his Comics Interview magazine, talks about his career up to that point. This was conducted as he was working on his “Scorpio Saga” run on the Marvel comic The Defenders.
Excerpt: Haway Man, Klaus!
Thanks to Breakdown Press, we’re pleased to share this excerpt from Haway Man, Klaus!, by Richard Short.
Expanded Comics: The Conceptual Comics of Ilan Manouach
From our print edition – Kim Jooha makes an argument for Ilan Manouach’s controversial conceptual projects which socially critique classic comics.
“I’m Trying To Capture That Certain Energy”: Eddie Raymond, on Working with Strangers
Sitting down with the founder of Strangers, one of a prominent new wave of zine editors with a hand in small-press comics publishing and distribution.
Five Years Left To Cry In – This Week’s Links
Do you know how dangerous it can be to randomly go roaming the internet for comics news, reviews and points of views? Buddy: take a look at that pipeline situation. It’s rough out there! Why not place your faith in the good orderly direction of Clark Burscough’s hands, and allow him to send you towards the artform’s latest twists and turns? It’s the only sensible choice!
Bob Montana’s Archie Newspaper Comic Strip…And Who, Actually, Invented Archie
Is there a secret history to the beginnings of Archie and his fellow Riverdalians? Bob’s been doing some reading and researching, and is ready to deliver his hot take, that take being: “Maybe!”
High Gear: An Appreciation of Maurice Tillieux
Delve deeper into classic European comics with this career overview of Maurice Tillieux, creator of Gil Jourdan and other smooth-riding BD classics.
WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH THE CBLDF?
Jeff Trexler, interim executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, pitched to us an essay on strategies for rebuilding an ethical environment at the beleaguered organization. We agreed, so long as its points could be discussed in a follow-up interview. Here is that essay, and that interview.
John Paul Leon: 1972-2021
Ian MacEwan presents this obituary and tribute to John Paul Leon, an artist’s artist, admired for his work on series like Earth X and The Winter Men, who died this past weekend at the age of 49.
Like To A Diver In The Pearly Seas – This Week’s Links
You have to find a reason when your feet hit the floor, and it would probably be a better one if you didn’t come from the web. But that’s where you are, and you’re about to meet a friend: Clark, who has all the comics news, reviews and points of view from the past week that you could need. Your petty resentments can come with you. They always have before!
SHOWCASE: Shary Flenniken’s Trots and Bonnie
And now for something very special – a collection of recent Trots and Bonnie illustrations from creator Shary Flenniken!
Adventurous Girls: Shary Flenniken’s Trots and Bonnie
To celebrate the new edition of her influential, hilarious and still-vital Trots And Bonnie, Shary Flenniken spoke with James Romberger about the trip it took to get here, all the Air Pirates and Lampoons along the way, and what is occupying her time these days.
Two Girls & A Dog Walk Into America
Shary Flenniken’s Trots and Bonnie strip is available once more, and Bob is here to talk about why that’s such a big deal, and what today’s readers should be prepared before their first meeting with the girls.
You Got Time To Duck? – This Week’s Links
Every week, the comics news attempts to defeat Clark Burscough. “There’s no way he can blurb us all”, they say. And yet, every week their reviews, interviews and points-of-views are sliced, diced, codified and linked to in one simple column, where they can be archived unread for future generations to ignore. Wait: that’s not what is supposed to happen! Get to clicking, you children of fortune!
I Like Crap
Disposable lives amidst a disposable culture in a disposable comic – Austin Price tackles the world of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man, a boys’ manga not unlike many other boys’ manga, and many other disposable things. Yet there is something about the buzz of the motor on this thing…
Excerpt: Tummy Bugs
Thanks to Breakdown Press, we’re pleased to share this excerpt from Tummy Bugs, by Leomi Sadler.
“No More Hand-Wringing; We Lopped Off Their Hands”
Tegan O’Neil gets in the ring with Michael Deforge’s latest collection of crowd-pleasing, critically-accliaiming comics Heaven no Hell. Are all these hosannahs deserved?
“Don’t Overthink It!”: Walter Scott & Michael DeForge, Chatting Online
The two young Canadian comics veterans, in conversation. Topics include the performance of being alive while online, the usefulness of multiple creative outlets, and expectation management.
I Don’t Recall Saying “Good Luck” – This Week’s Links
“The world’s too big”, they say: well, make it smaller! Small enough to fit into one single column, containing links to all the comics news, reviews and points of view that were unleashed this past week. We could ask Clark Burscough to do it. What’s this? He already has! Get yourself caught up right now!
