Drawn in
What the %$#! Happened to Comics? With these five words (and four cleverly chosen symbols) began a fascinatingly unique event in comics history. Under the shadow of the massive NATO conference that overtook the Windy City for the weekend of May 18-20, the University of Chicago mounted a historic meeting of the minds entitled Comics: … Continue reading
My youth in a comic book Detroit
Beginnings, in life and literature, make or break a story. Writers can agonize over their first line (as I, not coincidentally, just did) to ensure the reader is hooked immediately into a world about to unfold. Challenging, yet convenient, is the ability to rewrite, revise, and retcon your story until it is the perfect synthesis … Continue reading
How do you solve a problem like Siobhan?
Superheroes are for boys! With these four words, my five year-old niece Siobhan cut right through my chest and pulled out my heart. She was so adamant when she said it, you’d think it had been on the news or something. Admittedly, five year-olds tend to be adamant about everything, from why the purple crayon … Continue reading
Recreating the Golden Age
Oh, it was… err… big and bright and great and easy to understand. The world was simpler. “No adventure went on for too long, I do recall that. Things were more open and shut. And no one died. At least not often. Nowadays you fly off for a moment, you come back and two or … Continue reading
Speak softly and carry a big sword
If there’s any truism worth adapting to the pastime of reading comic books, it’s that a good shop is hard to find. Last summer, after several years of ordering my comics online, I decided it was time to go back to shopping locally. Sure, I was saving a few bucks by buying through a website, … Continue reading
Mutants and misfits
You should know right away that I am not a fan of black-and-white comics. Oh, make no mistake — it doesn’t matter to me whether or not a book is printed on four-color pages. What I mean to say is, I like stories I read to move past the traditional good vs. evil, light vs. … Continue reading
Super-heroines, stains and all
My favorite comic book characters have invariably always been the ladies. Maybe because there were less of them when I was growing up. Maybe because their costumes were more fabulous than those of their male counterparts. Probably because, when written with care, the super-heroines always seemed more intuitive, more vulnerable… just more real than most … Continue reading
Date this, not that
We’ve all seen those little segments on fluffy morning “news” shows or the similar comparative layouts in fitness magazines — those ones that urge you to substitute one high-calorie meal for a delicious but healthier alternative. Eat this, not that, they say. You can have a black coffee, sausage sandwich and an orange for the … Continue reading
Kassandra Heller, Eric Orchard, Rebecca Dart, Alexis Barattin
Peeps to watch out for is a look at some of the next generation of up-and-coming creative people in the arts. For this installment, I’ve selected four very different and very, very talented artists working in book and graphic novel illustration, animation design, and more. With an emphasis on 2D illustration, these artists started out … Continue reading
Reed Gunther: An interview with Shane and Chris Houghton
Shane and Chris Houghton are pretty excited. Reed Gunther Volume 1 came out last week, and it’s the first graphic novel ever for their hit comic book series about the affable misadventures of the beguiling, bear-riding cowboy of the same name. Created, written and drawn by the Houghtons, this trade paperback from Image Comics collects … Continue reading
