Malleable Madness: Plastic Man from Jack Cole to Kyle Baker
Tom Shapira takes a fond look at the only non-Jack Cole Plastic Man comics anybody ever mentions: the Kyle Baker run from 2004.
Features
Alterations & Alloys: CF at Anthology
Matt’s here to report back on the welcome return of the massively influential (but still under-discussed) CF, whose latest work from Anthology shows an artist still operating at full power.
“Providence Was Really Exhausting. Finishing It Felt Like Finishing College”: An Interview With Jacen Burrows
The artist behind Crossed, Punisher: Soviet and Providence speaks with Alex about how he ended up responsible for some of the most diabolically unsettling images of the last decade, and what it’s like to go from Alan Moore to Garth Ennis.
Before They Were Funnies: Pictures and Stories in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times
The history of comics has to have a starting line, assuming you’re not one of those people who brings “cave drawing” to the party. Dirk Vanderbeke is here to make the case for going medieval.
In The House Of Flies – This Week’s Links
Will there ever be news again? Oh buster: of course there will be! Why, here’s a whole week’s worth of it to sink your teeth into, and it’s all about comics, comic books, and things that are comics but other people call “properties” or “content”, while blood pours out of their eyes! Click away!
Comics Against Confederates: Black Lives Matter and the Battle for Graham, North Carolina
Ryan Holmberg’s pursuit of comics and imagery related to contemporary protests resulted in multiple trips to Graham, North Carolina, where racist monument lovers are being met with nonviolent protest, legal and political confrontations…and comics, zines, & art.
Water For Polyhedrons: The Mechanomorphic Art Of Giorgio Carpinteri.
With new comics work from a comics legend making its way to English, Simone Castaldi is here to catch you up on what the monolingual have been missing out on.
Ron Cobb: 1937 – 2020
The influential illustrator, cartoonist, designer and all around imagination machine has passed away. Steve Ringgenberg looks back at a life well drawn.
When He Speaks He Never Says It Twice – This Week’s Links
This week, Clark links to it all–the good writing and the other writing, the creative thoughts and the rote enthusiasm: your comics house has many rooms, and some of them feature food served via trough. Excelsior!
Morrill Goddard: Godfather Of The “Comics”
Morrill Goddard is nearly unknown because the man had a passion for anonymity. All that we know about him is divulged herewith—in connection with what we have been calling “comics” for generations.
“My Reservation About This Project Was That I Don’t Love Everybody’s Work”: An Interview with Drew Friedman
Coming off the heels of his collection of American President portraits, Drew Friedman has begun his next collection of historical obsession: underground cartoonists, from Z to A. (That would be from Zap to Arcade.)
A Picture Isn’t Always Worth A Thousand Words
Eisner and Harvey award winner Juanjo Guardino’s latest ouvrage may never cross the Atlantic. Bart’s here to make a case for why, as well as why it probably should.
“I Liked Superheroes The Best”: An Interview With Steve Englehart
A dependable, influential writer for both Marvel & DC Comics sits down with one of his biggest fans for a rapid fire journey through the hits, the misses, and the super-heroes that filled the pages: ladies and gentlemen, it’s Steve Englehart.
Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction) – This Week’s Links
It’s time to check in for your weekly dose of comics news and links: there’s a lot of shows to catch up on, new pieces of writing on old pieces of comics, and Clark’s found it all–no stone is unturned. In fact, if you believe you’ve got an unturned stone: you’re a filthy liar!
Excerpt: “Hemingway in Comics”
A series of TCJ articles on Ernest Hemingway’s comic book appearances became a book deal, and that book deal has resulted in a book, which now appears back here, as an excerpt: it’s the circle of (promotional) life.
Bob Fujitani: 1921 – 2020
A look back at the long and prolific career of Bob Bob Fujitani, whose comics work included co-creation of Solar, many years on Flash Gordon, and a relationship with nearly every major Golden Age publisher.
“Am I Paying Attention To Anything Useful At All?”: A Conversation With Keiler Roberts
Keiler Roberts grapples with the place of comics and artistic creation in her life as the school year begins, and shares some coping strategies that have served her over a difficult summer.
Their Other Last Hurrah – Cinema Purgatorio
Tom Shapira takes a look at the recently concluded series of comics by Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill. No, not those. The other ones. Yeah, the ones from Avatar.
“I Joke That For An Extreme Over-sharer, People Don’t Know Anything About Me Or My Life.”: An Interview with JB Brager
JB Brager’s comics and zine work challenges, educates and inspires, often in equal measure. In this conversation with Ian Thomas, they talk about their earliest inspirations, the responsibilities that come with teaching and what they’ve got planned for the future.
Absolute Terror Field – This Week’s Links
Clark’s collection of comics news & reviews this week inadvertently makes the case that certain people in comics–a large number of them–might benefit from examining the oldest of mysteries: “looking at a calendar”.
Trapped in Hell with the New Mutants
Before they appeared in cinema to the acclaim of none and an audience in love with risk, The New Mutants appeared in a series of relatively well loved Marvel Comics in the 1980s: but you already knew that, didn’t you? Or maybe, you just thought you did…
The Passion of the Christ (Boy): Recent Work By Evan Dahm
Austin Price takes an extensive look into the work of Evan Dahm, whose most recent work The Harrowing of Hell sees the talented cartoonist once again grappling with language, the power of story (and the story of power) in a way that calls back to his ongoing project, Vattu.
An Incoherent Chat with George Horner
George Horner’s comics-adjacent work is aimed at the Louvre, MOMA, and “a spinner rack in some comic book nerd’s basement man cave”, and he provides enough examples in this conversation with Mark Newgarden for any reader to make the call.
Gleaming The Cube – This Week’s Links
All aspects of comics made an appearance this past week: the good, the bad, the craven, the greedy, the Jim Davis. Clark’s got the links, and you’ll make the time–how can you not?
