Features

Friday Night’s A Great Night (For Football) – This Week’s Links

| February 9, 2024

Heading into another Super Bowl weekend, with various heaps of snack food to hand, and betting slips clenched between my fingers like terrible, doomed confetti, as I haltingly type out this week’s links, below.

This week’s news.

• Starting the week by checking in with some recent comic book crime files, as reports out of Tokyo revealed that two foreign nationals had been arrested for posting leaks online of Weekly Shōnen Jump, with publisher Shueisha later releasing a statement affirming the company’s drive to protect their copyrighted materials - anime and manga publishers have increased their anti-piracy endeavours over the last few years, with the Content Overseas Distribution Association pursuing prosecution of those outside of Japan’s borders who host or distribute copyrighted media.

• Elsewhere, ICv2 shares the news that the Certified Guaranty Company has filed suit against two former employees, alleging theft and label tampering - recent court filings reference the issuing of a temporary restraining order against defendants Brandon Terrazas and Ayana Terrazas, ahead of an injunction hearing that is set to take place later this month, with the company also seeking punitive damages from the pair - this case coming in the wake of the recent discovery that a number of highly-graded collectible comics may also have been swapped out of their previously sealed containers for lower-grade versions of the same titles.

• Sticking with the world of comics collectibles, this time looking to the original art market, and a growing number of Cadence Comic Art’s former clientele took to their social media platforms of choice over the last couple of weeks to inform people that they were ‘no longer represented’ by the company (or very similar words to that effect), and stating that anyone with unfulfilled original art or commission orders should direct their information requests to Cadence - no further comments have been given by the company at this time, other than a steady whittling down of the artists featured on their website.

• Moving back to the boardroom, as Disney’s very public corporate squabbling continues, with the group of activist investors seeking to wrest control of the House of Mouse having published their ideas regarding the breaking up of the murine multimedia monolith, while the company itself looked elsewhere in the animal kingdom for support and drafted in extended relations of the Clan McDuck to fight in their corner, before releasing a stronger-than-expected earnings report and shoveling $1.5 billion of investment into Epic Games, just like Uncle $crooge would have done (???).

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, and news was shared this week of the passing of comics artist and writer Alfredo Castelli, creator of Martin Mystère, who has died at the age of 76.

• News was also shared of the passing of comics artist and educator José Delbo, a storied creator on various titles for Marvel and DC, who has died at the age of 90.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Chris Mautner reviews the unnerving horror of Jay Stephens’ Dwellings #1-3 - “Now, this sort of thing–mixing the cute and family-friendly with the tarnished and terrifying–has been done before many, many times, especially in comics, and usually only for shock value. But Dwellings works exceedingly well, mainly because Stephens plays it completely straight.”

• Hank Kennedy reviews the affecting authenticity of Clarrie Pope and Blanche Pope’s Welcome Home - “The confluence of genres in Welcome Home—drama, comedy, romance—do an excellent job of capturing the experiences of day to day life. There is also an element of what I’d consider magical realism, given that the housemates' two pets can talk, with the dog quoting Trotsky and the cat voicing the opinions of right-wing tabloids. For obvious reasons, the two don’t get along.”

• Tegan O’Neil reviews the remarkable debut of Richard Blake’s Hexagon Bridge #1-5 - “The project is science fiction, but not sci-fi action. There is, I believe, one explosion in the series; it comes out of nowhere and isn’t even properly explained. It’s primarily a story about exploration, reaching out into the profound unknown. Spoiler alert, there are no scary boogums at the other end of the space bridge.”

 

AIPT

• Ryan Sonneville reviews the emotional power of Estelle Nadel and Sammy Savos’ The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival.

• Colin Moon reviews the youthful freedom of Manuele Fior’s Hypericum, translated by Matt Madden.

• Jules Greene reviews the engaging accessibility of Amy Chu, Alexander Chang, and Louie Chin’s Fighting to Belong! Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander History - From the 1700s through the 1800s.

• Collier Jennings reviews the political intrigue of Bryan Hill, Stefano Caselli, et al’s Ultimate Black Panther #1.

• David Brooke reviews the shifting perspectives of Chip Zdarsky, Andrea Sorrentino, Giuseppe Camuncoli, et al’s Batman #142.

• Piper Whitaker reviews the winning finale of Joanne Starer, Natacha Bustos, et al’s Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #6.

• Andrew Isidoro reviews the enjoyable romances of DC’s How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days #1.

 

The Beat

• Justin Guerrero reviews the distinctive style of Jeff Parker, Mike Norton, et al’s NinjaK Superkillers Book 2.

• Merve Giray reviews the growing romance of namu, Seomal, P, et al’s Under the Oak Tree, Season 1-3.

 

Broken Frontier

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the smart subversion of Deena Mohamed’s Shubeik Lubeik.

• Andy Oliver has reviews of:

- The beautiful storytelling of Mike Armstrong’s Bigger.

- The tactile experimentation of Mereida Fajardo’s The Painted Nuns of Santa Catalina.

- The entrancing eloquence of Zoè Delautre Corral’s April 17th.

- The birthday celebrations of DC Thomson’s Beano #4222.

 

Contemporary Jewry

Matt Reingold reviews the enriching choices of Jewish Women in Comics: Bodies and Borders, edited by Heike Bauer, Andrea Greenbaum and Sarah Lightman.

 

Four Color Apocalypse

Ryan Carey reviews the simple complexity of CF's Croyden's Grail.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #124, Wolverine #42, and Dead X-Men #1.

 

ImageTexT

• Brandon Murakami reviews the narrative strengths of Mylo Choy’s Middle Distance: A Graphic Memoir.

• Karen Libby reviews the poignant history of Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer’s Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith.

• Rachel M. Hartnett reviews the problematic shortfalls of Scott Bukatman’s Black Panther (21st Century Film Essentials Series).

• Sam Cowling reviews the impressive understanding of Christopher Gavaler’s The Comics Form: The Art of Sequenced Images.

• Hiba Aleem reviews the fascinating insights of Strong Bonds: Child-Animal Relationships in Comics, edited by Maaheen Ahmed.

 

Journal of International Women’s Studies

Peter Tshetu Jr. and Brian Pindayi review the illuminating explorations of No Straight Lines - The Rise of Queer Comics, directed by Vivian Kleiman.

 

Kirkus Reviews

Have starred capsule reviews of:

- The beautiful precision of Christine D.U. Chung and Salwa Majoka’s Viewfinder.

- The sumptuous world of Oliver Bly’s The Mushroom Knight.

- The brilliant blend of John Vasquez Mejias’ The Puerto Rican War: A Graphic History.

 

Multiversity Comics

• Christopher Chiu-Tabet reviews the topical heroics of Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Kyle Higgins, Marco Locati, et al’s Moon Man #1.

• Alexander Jones reviews the derivative hero of Bryan Hill, Stefano Caselli, et al’s Ultimate Black Panther #1.

 

Women Write About Comics

• Louis Skye reviews the confusing premise of Al Ewing, Luciano Vecchio, et al’s The Resurrection of Magneto #1.

• Caitlin Sinclair Chappell reviews the sensual thrills of Maria Llovett’s Crave #2.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Gina Gagliano presents a conversation between Karina Shor and Natalie Norris about publishing debut graphic memoirs, (Silence, Full Stop and Dear Mimi, respectively) and the decision to tell their stories through the medium of comics - “[Karina Shor:] Don’t you agree that this is a process which gives you control over your story? Even if the control is how much you decorate a page, or what colors you choose. And to find meaning in the trauma itself is to accept reality and add a “yes and” attitude to it - meaning I can do something with the trauma now. And that feels productive as opposed to just horrific. So even though this process is so tedious, I feel it’s empowering.”

 

AIPT

• Chris Hassan speaks with Steve Foxe about Dead X-Men #1, divvying out the character spotlight on a team book, and working between different superhero eras.

• Chris Coplan talks to Dave Baker about Mary Tyler MooreHawk, demanding more from the reader, and existential forks in the road of life.

 

The Beat

• Ricardo Serrano Denis chats with Max Allan Fuchs about The Motherfucking Fucker, wrestling gimmicks dictating reality, and crowdfunding campaign success.

• Avery Kaplan interviews Mohammad Sabaaneh about Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine, political cartooning as effective communication, and settler colonialism.

• Zack Quaintance talks to Chris Condon about Night People, the origins of the project, working with author Barry Gifford to adapt the source material, and the timeless quality of the original book.

 

The Hollywood Reporter

Ryan Gajewski speaks with Rob Liefeld about calling time on working on Deadpool titles, the health issues behind the decision, and finishing up on a title on your own terms.

 

ImageTexT

Margaret Galavan presents a quartet of interviews between students and queer cartoonists from the 1980s-1990s, with conversations between Ansley Burtch and Hope Barrett about OH…, and Brooke Tymoniewicz and Rebecca Gordon about Lesbian Contradiction: A Journal of Irreverent Feminism, while Britney Megnath shares thoughts from N. Leigh Dunlap about Morgan Calabrese, and Julia Whisenhunt speaks with Sina Shamsavari about Concerned Müthers and BoyCrazyBoy.

 

Nerdist

Tai Gooden talks to Amy Chu about Fighting to Belong!, getting into comics in college, improving intersectionality in teaching history, and making history engaging for younger readers.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Jon Holt and Ayumi Naraoka present a translation of Shimizu Isao’s 1980 essay on the influence of novelist Natsume Sōseki on manga during the Meji period of Japan’s history - “The publisher made a typo in the kanji spelling of Sōseki's name, using the wrong character of 嗽 “sō” instead of the first kanji 漱 “sō” in the author’s pen name, Sō-seki. They might have intended it to be a play on words suggesting that this "seki” [i.e., cough, or to spread germs] person was now well known all over Japan. By the way, “Sōseki” actually means a person who is very stubborn.”

• Also for TCJ, publisher and cartoonist Rob Miller presents a remembrance of the life and work of underground artist John G. Miller, who passed away last month at the age of 69 - “In every printed context though, Miller's work remained utterly singular, and once witnessed never erasable from the mind’s (black and) whiteboard - pictures worth more than a thousand words…”

• Finally for TCJ, Joe Sacco’s series of visual columns ‘The War On Gaza’ continues, with previous instalments also available to read here.

• For The Guardian, Phil Hoad reports from 2024’s edition of the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême, as the ongoing return to in-person events reflects the booming market for homegrown comics and international offerings.

• For NPR, Hadeel Al-Shalchi writes on the history of Naji al-Ali’s Handala, a symbolic cartoon character born from the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, now being drawn in tribute by artists from Italy and Japan to support calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

• Solrad presents an essay from Shea Hennum on possible ways in which a decommodification of the making of, reading of, and writing about comics may be actualised, in the face of an age of rampant debt, inequality, and declining free time.

• Over at Shelfdust, William Shaw looks back on the debut of Al Ewing, Rob Williams, and Simon Fraser’s Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, and how good tie-in media can expound upon its source material.

• From the world of open-access academia, a new issue of ImageTexT brings with it an article by Svitlana Stupak on the evolving image of the Cossack in Ukrainian graphic narratives exploring national identities, and a paper from Laura L. Beadling examining the connection between Foucault’s concept of heterotopias and the graphic memoir of Lucy Knisley.

• For Jurnal Mantik, Muhammad Subhan Asra writes on the position of Line Webtoon in the Indonesian market, the duality of digital platforms as producers and distributors of media, and the imperial nature of such platforms.

• Paul O’Brien’s survey of the villains of Daredevil continues, for House to Astonish, as the Leap-Frog jumps into proceedings surrounding the reveal of Matthew Murdoch’s ‘secret twin brother’. Excelsior!

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, as the continuing conflict in Gaza, American border controls, and HRH King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis all made the headlines.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Catching up with a couple of recent meetings of the New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium, as Ben Katchor hosted a talk from Michael Fikaris on the anthology work of comics imprint Silent Army, comics workshops, and the wider Australasian comics scene; and Austin English hosted a talk from Allee Errico, reading (and singing) from froggie.world, and speaking on the power of autobio comics, and comics as poetry + imagery.

• Jesse Thorn welcomed Bill Griffith to the latest episode of Bullseye, as they spoke about Nancy and Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller, the attractive nature of Bushmiller's lettering, Nancy's hair, the comedic construction of Nancy strips, and making readers laugh with Zippy the Pinhead.

• Calvin Reid, Heidi MacDonald and Kate Fitzsimons looked across the atlantic for the latest edition of Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, recapping recent awards news from this year’s Angoulême International Comics Festival, before looking back closer to home for Eisner news, and ongoing turmoil in the direct market.

• David Harper welcomed Chip Zdarsky to this week’s episode of Off Panel, as they discussed recent and upcoming work-for-hire and creator owned projects, getting a book to print, and writing endings and licensed characters who generally don’t have endings.

• Closing out the week with some more Cartoonist Kayfabe, as Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor looked back on The Comics Journal #195’s interview between Hart D. Fisher and Rob Liefeld in the wake of the Rob Liefeld Inc., Extreme Studios, and Maximum Press v. Image Comics lawsuit and the publisher’s countersuit.

That’s your two minute warning for this week, back next time with more post-match analysis

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