In Deadly Earnest: A Conversation with Kate Lacour

Katie Skelly uncovers the beating heart of Kate Lacour’s Vivisectionary by sitting down with the creator behind a book that has been referred to as “neocomics” by some, “unsettling” by others, and “kind of goofy, kind of creepy” by its own creator.

| October 21, 2019

Gary Groth on Bill Schelly

I don’t remember when I met Bill Schelly, but it may have been as late as 2006, when he pitched the idea of a Joe Kubert biography to me. It may have been earlier—and we may have corresponded briefly in the 1970s, as two teen-age comics fans putting out fanzines—but if we did, it would’ve… Read more »

| September 27, 2019

The Purpose of Shittiness

Bob Levin’s all caught up on the early years of Casanova Frankenstein, and he’s ready to play tour guide. Buckle your seatbelt!

| August 27, 2019

No Choice But Comics: Kramers at X

Matt Seneca peeled back the cover of Kramers Ergot 10 and found enough comics nitroglycerin inside that he felt the need to pull in editor Sammy Harkham for some background on the thinking behind its assembly.

| July 16, 2019

Héctor German Oesterheld’s Contributions to Mort Cinder

While the construction of Mort Cinder has been noted to be a flexible and collaborative effort between Breccia and Oesterheld, there are distinct and recurrent motifs in it which suggests it was not put together for reasons of mere entertainment or with little forethought. If anything, there is a coherence and depth in its plotting which suggests a steady hand at the tiller.

| December 17, 2018

Watching the Penguins

Nick Thorburn’s Penguins is one of the more unusual comics of the year. Read it quick–according to Thorburn, we might melt into a puddle of goo at any moment.

| November 27, 2018

Fantagraphics vs. Everyone (Part Two)

In this excerpt from We Told You So: Comics as Art, the long-awaited oral history of Fantagraphics Books, the topics covered include: the uncanonization of a direct sales manager, criticizing Will Eisner, the mole in the Journal, Fiore vs. Pekar, and Capital City vs. Diamond.

| December 16, 2016

Fantagraphics vs. Everyone (Part One)

Another excerpt from We Told You So: Comics as Art, the long-awaited and exhaustive oral history of Fantagraphics Books. This section’s leading characters include Barry Windsor-Smith, Jim Shooter, Helena Harvilicz, Frank Young, Eric Reynolds, and Tom Spurgeon.

| December 15, 2016