Features

Superstition, Fear, and Jealousy – This Week’s Links

| April 26, 2024

We find ourselves landed firmly in the middle of the uneasy, murky no-man’s land  between Record Store Day and Free Comic Book Day, two holidays devoted to mercantilism and the collectionist mindset, and so what better way to pass the time than to pore over the mint-in-box selection of this week’s links, below.

This week’s news.

• Starting the week with reports out of Tehran that cartoonist Atena Farghadani has been arrested and beaten by agents of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, after attempting to post caricature artwork on a wall near the palace of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - Farghadani has been arrested multiple times for drawing political cartoons and other acts of protest, most recently in June 2023, and served 18 months in prison following an arrest in 2014, reduced from an original sentence of 12 years and nine months, for charges that included insulting members of parliament through paintings.

• Checking in on what Dark Horse parent corp Embracer Group are up to, following last year’s failed $2 billion deal that may or may not but probably may have been with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the Swedish holding company will imminently be transforming into a trinity of individual, publicly listed corporate entities, with Dark Horse soon to find itself part of the LARP-sounding ‘Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends’, in a move which apparently seeks to “...unlock value in the high-quality assets of Embracer Group following the successful completion of [its] restructuring program.”

• Elsewhere, Abrams ComicArts, the former imprint of Abrams Books which became a full division of the publisher just over a year ago, made good on its promise to expand into the manga publishing market by this week announcing the launch of new manga imprint Kana, headed by Rodolphe Lachat, and also announced a new deal with Frank Miller Presents to publish ‘select titles’ from Miller’s company.

• Comics prize news, and the Los Angeles Times last week announced the winners of their 44th annual Book Prizes, naming E.M. Carroll’s A Guest in the House as winner of 2024’s Graphic Novel/Comics category.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

Yiannis Papadopoulos reviews the successful comedy of Fabcaro and Didier Conrad’s Asterix and the White Iris - “Being called upon to bring a timeless, almost legendary series to life in new adventures is no easy task. The weight of responsibility is enormous; created by Albert Uderzo & René Goscinny in 1959, Asterix has sold over 400 million books and is considered a national treasure of French popular culture, nurtured across successive generations.”

 

AIPT

• Marvel Maximus reviews the playful puzzle of Tom King, Rafael de Latorre, et al’s The Penguin #9.

• Christopher Franey reviews the witty fun of Chris Giarrusso’s Mini Marvels: Spider-Sense.

• Alex Shlesinger reviews the wonderful balance of Marvel Comics’ Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed.

• Colin Moon reviews the narrative continuity of Al Ewing, Leonard Kirk, et al’s Avengers, Inc.: Action, Mystery, Adventure.

• David Brooke reviews the dark brilliance of Mark Russell, Laci, et al’s Death Ratio’d.

• Chris Coplan reviews the emotional heft of Dan Watters, Ram V, Matthew Roberts, et al’s Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives! #1.

• Collier Jennings reviews the pacy fearlessness of Kevin Eastman, David Avallone, Ben Bishop, et al’s Drawing Blood #1.

 

The Arts STL

Jason Green reviews the pleasant surprises of Graham Chaffee’s Light It, Shoot It.

 

The Beat

• Joel Savill reviews the charming comedy of Jinushi’s Smoking Behind The Supermarket With You, translated by Amanda Haley.

• Bob Proehl reviews the violent opening of Alex Segura, Michael Moreci, Geraldo Borges, et al’s Dick Tracy #1.

• D. Morris reviews the disappointing shift of Si Spurrier, Ramon Perez, Vasco Georgiev, et al’s The Flash #8.

• Cy Beltran reviews the varied styles of Marvel Comics' Daredevil #8.

• Christian Angeles reviews the layered world of Kristen Kiesling and Rye Hickman’s The Harrowing, and the delicate balance of Zoe Thorogood’s HACK/SLASH: Back to School Issues #1-4.

 

Broken Frontier

Andy Oliver reviews the straightforward clarity of Fabien Toulmé’s Hakim’s Odyssey Books 1-3, translated by Hannah Chute; and the visceral experience of Beck Kubrick and Christof Bogacs’ Meat4Burgers: Welcome to Burgertory.

 

The Guardian

Rachel Cooke reviews the deft hilarity of Luke Healy’s Self-Esteem and the End of the World.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #135, Fall of the House of X #4, and Dead X-Men #4.

 

Kirkus Reviews

Have starred capsule reviews of:

- The heartfelt humour of Lucy Knisley’s Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair.

- The charming originality of Christopher Lincoln’s The Night Librarian.

- The tender empathy of Johanna Taylor’s The Ghostkeeper.

- The intense brilliance of Solomon J. Brager’s Heavyweight: A Family Story of the Holocaust, Empire, and Memory.

- The collaborative exploration of Ondjaki and António Jorge Gonçalves’ Our Beautiful Darkness, translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann.

 

Multiversity Comics

• Brian Salvatore reviews the dragging extras of DC’s Nightwing #113.

• Christopher Egan reviews the engaging bizareness of T.P. Louise and Ashley Wood’s 7174AD #1.

• Alexander Jones reviews the triumphant moments of Gerry Duggan, Lucas Werneck, Jethro Morales, et al’s Fall of the House of X #4.

• Corrina Lawson reviews the immersive intensity of Kris Bertin, Alexander Forbes, et al’s Hobtown Mystery Stories: The Case of the Missing Men.

• Elias Rosner reviews the desolate beauty of Sebastian Girner, Kelly Williams, et al's The Dead and the Damned #1.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Have capsule reviews of:

- The transportative experience of Bianca Xunise’s Punk Rock Karaoke.

- The expansive examinations of Molly Knox Ostertag’s The Deep Dark.

- The poignant interactions of Rosena Fung’s Age 16.

- The breezy earnestness of Andi Porretta’s Ready or Not.

- The deep relatability of Theo Parish’s Homebody.

 

Solrad

Hagai Palevsky reviews the purposeful economy of Liam Cobb’s What Awaits Them.

 

Women Write About Comics

Lisa Fernandes reviews the solid entertainment of Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, et al’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1-2.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

Zach Rabiroff interviews Trina Robbins about A Minyen Yidn (Un Andere Zakhn), adapting the source material into a graphic novel, and Jewish comic book history - “You don't have to work for Marvel or DC. In graphic novels, you can tell a real story without men beating each other to a pulp.”

 

AIPT

David Brooke talks to Dan Watters and Ram V about Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives!, the characters surrounding the Creature, and coming up with opening lines.

 

Broken Frontier

Andy Oliver interviews Isabel Greenberg about Young Hag, the enduring joys of folk tales and mythology, and the importance of the comics events community.

 

The Guardian

Anita Chaudhuri speaks with Nancy Beiman about FurBabies, retiring from teaching animation and moving to cartooning, and the origins of the strip.

 

ICv2

Milton Griepp presents a two-part conversation with BOOM! Studios Filip Sablik about the publisher’s plans in the current comics market.

 

Multiversity Comics

Mark Tweedale interviews Rob Williams and Pye Parr about Petrol Head: Welcome to the Non-Human Race, and the storytelling decisions behind the book.

 

NPR

Eleanor Beardsley talks to Marjane Satrapi, Abbas Milani, and Patricia Bolanos about Women, Life, Freedom, and the protest movement the book uses comics to depict.

 

Observer

Nick Hilden interviews Gianluca Costantini about Zodiac, illustrating the dialogues that form Ai Weiwei's graphic memoir, and the role that drawing can play in activism.

 

Otaku USA

Danica Davidson chats with Yu Pei-yun, Zhou Jian-xin, and Lin King about The Boy from Clearwater: Book 2, telling the story of Tsai Kun-lin, and Tsai’s involvement in the project.

 

Polygon

Toussaint Egan speaks with Ram V and Evan Cagle about Dawnrunner, the origins and gestation of the series, and the communication and connections at the heart of stories.

 

Print

Steven Heller interviews Jonell Joshua about How Do I Draw These Memories?, the origins of the book, and answering the question posed by the book’s title.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Chris Burkhalter talks to David Lapp about The Field, the graphic memoir’s beginnings in classroom storytelling, and not fearing the great outdoors.

 

The Workprint

Mary Fan interviews Walter Greason and Tim Fielder about The Graphic History of Hip Hop, the reader reception for the book, and where the future volumes take the story.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Andrew Farago writes in remembrance of the life and work of artist and historian Trina Robbins, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 85, with further remembrances collected and presented from Robbins’ peers, colleagues, and friends - “In the pages of Trina’s books, many artists whose works had not seen print in a half century or more were acknowledged and embraced by modern audiences. She also celebrated newer and younger artists, many of whom saw their names and their artwork in a proper, professionally published book for the first time thanks to Trina’s efforts.”

• Also for TCJ, Tegan O’Neil considers Frank Miller’s Ronin and its follow-up Ronin Book II, the legacy of the former, and the state in which the latter arrives into the modern world - “Because, it should go without saying, there’s no way to introduce Lone Wolf & Cub to American audiences once again. Kojima and Kazuo Koike are about as well ensconced in the pantheon as you can imagine. Everyone’s a weeb now. Hell, I’m a weeb now.”

• Chihiro Ishikawa and Ryohtaroh Satoh report for Nikkei Asia on the trials and tribulations of the current manga market, speaking with creators about the difficulty establishing oneself on digital platforms and the financial realities of being a midlevel creator.

• As Marvel brings The Micronauts back to print in omnibussed form, From Cover to Cover’s Scott Cederlund shares thoughts on the visual impact of Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden’s original run on the title.

• From the world of open-access academia, in Mythlore, Zachary Rutledge writes on the parallels to be drawn between Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows’ Providence.

• From Dissonant Heritage: Concepts, Critiques, Cases, Claudia Cerulo examines Jérémie Dres’ graphic memoir Nous n’irons pas voir Auschwitz, and the way in which comics can be an effective form to represent traumatic war experiences.

• Paul O’Brien’s census of the supervillains of Daredevil continues, for House to Astonish, as this week the varied antagonists ushered in by one Roy Thomas includes Death’s-Head (no relation).

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, for The Daily Cartoonist, as Australia seems distinctly unimpressed by X (formerly Twitter), and the condemnation of student protests to continued killings in Gaza upholds a long and storied tradition.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• Austin English chaired the latest meeting of the New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium, as author and TCJ contributor Bob Levin spoke on personal history with writing, from the laws on sexual behaviour, through short stories, and on to comics criticism, sharing the joys that can be derived from putting letters on the page.

• English also hosted, alongside Gretta Johnson, a recent comics reading event at Brooklyn’s Grimm Brewery, with readings given by Ben Katchor, Lale Westvind, Dash Shaw, Walker Tate, E.A. Bethea, Sam Seigel and August Lipp, which are now available to watch online.

• David Harper welcomed Jacob Phillips to this week’s episode of Off Panel, as they spoke about Newburn, That Texas Blood, and The Enfield Gang Massacre, the logistics of running that kind of schedule as a freelancer, and collaborating with Francis Ford Coppola on Megalopolis’ tie-in graphic novel.

• Gary Lactus and The Beast Must Die bring more SILENCE! ringing into the world, as this week the sports and lifestyle podcast discusses (eventually, amongst other things) comics making comics; and long running comics in the form of Wendy Pini and Richard Pini’s ElfQuest, Dave Sim’s Cerebus, and British comics institution Viz.

• Calvin Reid was joined by Manuele Fior for Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, as they discussed Hypericum, the mystery of reality in Venice, childhood superhero animation watching habits, and skateboarders of the cartooning world.

• Closing out the week with a few Word Balloon visits, as John Siuntres spoke with Scott Shaw! about Scott Shaw!s Comix & Stories, Maurice Broaddus about Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified, Steve Bryant about Evie and the Helsings, Sanford Greene about DOOM and Bitter Root, and Jason Aaron about Batman: Off-World.

No more links for April, next month: MAY.