Sequential State – the comics criticism archive of Alex Hoffman

Month: January 2017

  • Review: Bat-Man Is Lost In A Woods #1 by David Enos

    Review: Bat-Man Is Lost In A Woods #1 by David Enos

    Review: Bat-Man Is Lost In A Woods #1 by David Enos Many corporate comics promise a reimagining of a classic superhero. Rebooted series promise all-new, all-different characters or revisions of characters that have been used continuously in one form or another since the 1930s. Over the arc of history, that has meant changing the joke-cracking,…

  • Review: Musnet: the Mouse of Monet, Vol. 1 by Kickliy

    Review: Musnet: the Mouse of Monet, Vol. 1 by Kickliy

    Review: Musnet: the Mouse of Monet, Vol. 1 by Kickliy The first half of the ODOD Books Kickstarter package came this weekend, and I immediately started in on the headline series, Musnet: the Mouse of Monet. Nominated for the 2017 Prix Angoulême in the Youth Category, the series has been picked up for English publication by Uncivilized Books through…

  • Review: American Steel by Danielle Chenette

    Review: American Steel by Danielle Chenette

      One of the smaller publishers in the Chicagoland scene, Believed Behavior is a mixed online/offline publishing project by cartoonist Andy Rench. The core of the concern’s publishing activity is the Believed Behavior newsprint anthology, now up to issue #3. (You can see my thoughts on the second issue here.) Believed Behavior also periodically releases…

  • Review: Joyride by Zoë Taylor

    Review: Joyride by Zoë Taylor

    There’s been an upswing in what I might call “lo-fi comics”that I’ve noticed recently on tumblr and instagram, and Joyride, Zoë Taylor’s latest major book from Breakdown Press, seems to epitomize that movement. Taylor had a selection in the comics anthology DÔME printed by Breakdown Press and Lagon Revue at Angouleme last year, but Taylor is…

  • Review: The Train by Chihoi / Hung Hung

    Review: The Train by Chihoi / Hung Hung

    In 2014, Conundrum Press, through their Conundrum International line, printed The Train, a collaborative comic based on Taiwanese poet Hung Hung’s award-winning serialized short fiction Wooden Horses. Originally published in 1998, this story was later adapted into a graphic novel in 2007 by Hong Kong-based artist Chihoi. Unlike many comics adaptations, in The Train, the comic and the…

  • Review: Libby’s Dad by Eleanor Davis

    Review: Libby’s Dad by Eleanor Davis

    2016 was a year for Eleanor Davis comics. First it was Frontier #11: BDSM,which I reviewed in February last year. Then a big pile of pages from her cross-country bicycle trip, which are now being collected by Koyama Press. Davis’ latest, Libby’s Dad, is a 40-page full color saddle stitched comic from Retrofit. When Retrofit…

  • 2016 Year in Review

    I did a year in review for Sequential State in the year 2014 & 2015, so this is yet another blogging tradition for Sequential State. Consider this your stakeholder’s meeting minutes. Some quick metrics for the interested: Posts: 68 Books Reviewed: 70 Interviews: 3 Con Reports: 2 Audio & Video Content: 5 Followers:  1317 Shows:…

  • Comics That Challenged Me in 2016: The Complete List

    Tumblr handlles listed so that you can check out the cartoonist and publisher if desired. Check out the capsule reviews at the following links: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 This list is ordered randomly. Carpet Sweeper Tales – Julie Doucet, Drawn and Quarterly…

  • Comics That Challenged Me in 2016: Part 6 (of 6)

    This is it: the last edition of the Comics That Challenged Me in 2016 list. The full list (a compilation of the comics discussed in each of these 5 breakdown posts) will go up tomorrow. I’ve heard from some of you on twitter and I’d love to keep talking about these comics. Part 1 | Part 2 |…

  • Comics that Challenged Me in 2016: Part 5

    We’re nearing the end of the list – it’s only today and Friday and we’ll have finished up this year’s exercise in identifying the comics that challenged me as a reader and critic in 2016. I would love to hear your feedback on what has become an annual tradition here on Sequential State. Part 1 | Part 2 |…

  • Comics That Challenged Me in 2016: Part 4

    Welcome back! This is part 4 of this 6 part list of comics that challenged me as a critic or as a reader in 2016. Admittedly, this part has 5 entries, but really 9 separate comics. Let’s get right to it. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part…