It’s hard to claim that Tatsuki Fujimoto is anything other than the mainstream mangaka of the moment. Chainsaw Man wasn’t his first longform series—that title belongs to the eight-volume Fire Punch—but it certainly placed the author on the threshold of stardom. As a result, it’s easy to forget what came before it. Tatsuki Fujimoto Before… Read more »
Sure, the dark substance oozing out from the corners of the bathhouse could be mold growth from the moisture, but it’s gelatinous enough to drip from the tiled ceiling onto the otherwise pristine white shirt of the new employee replenishing fresh towels. That mysterious fungus, or whatever it is, provides the organizing principle of Erik… Read more »
Jason and cartoonist Lucy Knisley talk about shared pencil obsessions, parenting nuances, and comics for children.
A report on the ratification of the first union contract for employees of Image Comics: a historic moment in the labor history of comic books in the United States.
When I look at news, I just want to shout! Oh no, the wolves.
Who says comic book movies get ignored at the Academy Awards? A comparison between the Oscar-nominated short film Ivalu and its comic original.
Since we’re on the subject, you know who draws a pretty decent Hulk? Erik Larsen. Never had a regular run on the title but he did draw the character a few times. He did a year on The Defenders with Kurt Busiek around the turn of the century that featured the classic lineup – you… Read more »
The sports bra stays on during sex. Breasts are bound and untouched while the ass gets dildo-fucked, so when Ingken, in the post-coital afterglow, tells their girlfriend Lily “I don’t really think I’m a woman,” you might believe the response of “I’ve never seen you as a woman.” You might also believe Ingken when she… Read more »
In this essay from 2012, Natsume Fusanosuke examines images of the body across 70 years of manga history – with a special emphasis on how the body (and the spirit) is transformed through physical training.
Gay themes–or, at least, same-sex romantic themes, a distinction that is more important than it might seem at first–are so ubiquitous in manga that it might seem that Japan is more welcoming of sexual minorities than it actually is. In particular, it might seem odd for the legendary artist Gengoroh Tagame, who has been crafting… Read more »
In this expansive essay from 2020, Abhay Khosla explores the story of, the glory of, the creator of Dilbert.
I, for one, am old enough to recall the Leisure Town parody of Dilbert…
Act I So I guess what it comes down to is that I’ve underrated Jim Rugg for a significant amount of time. When I trip merrily down the primrose path of memory I’m struck by how I’ve enjoyed the products of his career, for the most part. And also by how little I’ve rated him… Read more »
Retail Therapy returns to Pennsylvania to take a look at a different perspective on selling comics in Philadelphia, as Zach sits down with Michael Yates of Atomic City Comics.
Two things about the cover of I Am the Law. One is that the book, a serious and footnoted discussion of the 2000 AD strip Judge Dredd in the context of real-world politics and policing, is subtitled How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future. The book’s introduction actually says: “The strip did not ‘predict’ our world… Read more »
Contrary to some initial promises about all of the great punk rock albums Trump’s election was going to produce, the last several years have been (occasional bursts of ingenuity notwithstanding) rather tepid across the board in terms of producing well-executed satire, not to mention artfully articulated outrage. Perhaps it’s because people simply can’t come to… Read more »
Reimena Yee’s extensive comics-making career encompasses adult comics, kids’ comics, serialized webcomics, print comics and illustration. The winner of the 2022 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist, Yee’s webcomic Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life has also been featured in an exhibition at the British Library. My Aunt Is a Monster, Yee’s latest graphic… Read more »
The view up here is stunning… I can see all the news…
What’s it like being an awards judge at a major international festival? Bill Kartalopoulos takes you inside the Bologna Children’s Book Fair as far as decency will allow in this inaugural chapter of his European Journal 2023.
Elizabeth Colomba’s and Aurélie Lévy’s Queenie: Godmother of Harlem is a story as complex and captivating as its leading lady: Stephanie St. Clair, a.k.a. Queenie. Bound in a black and gold Art Deco-style hard cover, the text promises glitter and glamour, but its stark black and white interior delivers the gruesome reality of the American… Read more »
Chris Diaz takes TCJ on a massive look back at Seattle’s Short Run Festival, which celebrated its 10th Anniversary (and its first edition following COVID-related postponements). Comics, the people that make them, and the events that happen when those things come together!
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your life? If you could go back in time to undo it, would you? Even knowing it would change everything else – even any potential good that came about as a result? That’s the question at the heart of G.I.L.T., our subject for the day – but,… Read more »
What is a whore? A whore is political. A whore is a sex worker, a free lover, an outsider, an expensive gift, a woman, a woman-like object, sexually obtainable, socially apart. A symbol of decline or revolution, failure or absolution. If woman is not man, a whore is the woman who is not woman –… Read more »
One of the most well-known figures in corporate-owned superhero comics returns to the direct market, single issues, and Frank Miller. We catch up with Dan DiDio about what’s different this time.
