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Quick Picks #11 – More Manga
Quick Picks is an occasionally written series of microreviews of books I’ve read over the past two weeks. This episode contains 3 manga microreviews.
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Review: Outside With The Cuties by Mariana Pita
I’m always excited to learn about cartoonists from other parts of the world. Mariana Pita is a cartoonist whose work has slowly started to break through into the English-speaking market. Her comic A Day was originally submitted to the Comics Workbook 2015 competition,and she has a new minicomic coming out this fall from kus. In…
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Review: Yellow Light #1 by Raziel Puma
I’m glad that there’s a tradition of short story anthologies in comics. In comics you can accomplish a lot in a few simple pages; it’s a medium well suited to the format. The last few years have been great for short story collections, and this year also looks good – we’ve got Carolyn Nowak’s first…
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Review: Dull Margaret, written by Jim Broadbent and illustrated by Dix
When I heard that Fantagraphics was publishing a graphic novel loosely based on Dulle Griet, the 16th century oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, I was intrigued. Bruegel’s art has always been fascinating to me because of its scope and its sheer chaos. Every painting I’ve ever seen of his work seems packed to…
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Review: Grip #1 by Lale Westvind
I’m used to reading Lale Westvind’s comics in small doses. Her comic Yazar & Arkadaş, which I reviewed last year, was only 28 pages – but it packed a significant punch. Westvind’s work has an intense physicality and her comics are breathtaking in their scope, power, and drama. Earlier this year, Perfectly Acceptable Press published…
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Review: Perfect Hair by Tommi Parrish
Today I have the pleasure of publishing a review of Tommi Parrish’s Perfect Hair by noted small-press critic and art collector Shawn Starr. Shawn originally brought my attention to Tommi Parrish’s work, so I’m happy to have host some of his writing here on Sequential State. If you are interested in having your writing published on…
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Review: Runaway Hearts by Sean Christensen
I recently picked up a selection of work from Berlin-based publisher Colorama Press. One of the more curious pieces is a graphic novella by Sean Christensen titled Runaway Hearts. Christensen is a part of the performance and zine collective Gridlords, based in the Pacific northwest. Runaway Hearts was published in early 2017 in an edition…
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Review: Mechaboys by James Kochalka
James Kochalka is one of a handful of hyperproductive cartoonists working in small press comics. His recent output has rotated between Johnny Boo comics, which target a younger subset of readers, and comics like Superf*ckers Forever, which are more teen & adult oriented. Kochalka’s latest graphic novel Mechaboys is firmly in that later camp. Published in…
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Review: The Weaver Festival Phenomenon by Ron Regé
When I first started reading art comics, Ron Regé’s work was a cipher to me. I didn’t get what he was doing, and I didn’t really know what to do with it. But there was always something magnetic about his comics – despite not understanding why, I kept coming back to his work. That magnetism,…
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Review: The Strange by Jérôme Ruillier
There are some books that demand attention – not because they are flashy, or because they are written by a well-known author, but because they describe perfectly the current moment in time. The Strange by Jérôme Ruillier is that kind of book. In The Strange, Ruillier documents the story of an unnamed undocumented immigrant and his journey to try…
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Review: Soon We’re Both Screaming by Dakota McFadzean
I know Dakota McFadzean best for his strip comics and his work on the IRENE anthology. McFadzean has a wry sense of humor; his comics are dark, sinister, and sit on the line of creepy and funny which is unlike much of the work I see in comics that follow the same formal patterns. McFadzean…
