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Review: The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs by Celine Loup
I’ve never loved horror movies. I’m not interested in jump scares or splatter effects. But I love horror comics, often because they force their readers to re-examine the world and their assumptions of it. And that’s exactly what Celine Loup‘s graphic novella The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs does. Loup published a more […]
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Review: Bad Gateway by Simon Hanselmann
Welcome back, dear reader. On Monday, I ran an interview with Simon Hanselmann that I hope you take the time to read. The initial focus of the interview (although it ended up being fairly far-ranging) was Hanselmann’s latest graphic novel, Bad Gateway. Clocking in at 176 pages, Bad Gateway is Hanselmann’s latest collection of Megg […]
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Review: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Rosemary Valero O’Connell
The 2019 Small Press Expo Ignatz Award nominations were announced last week, and Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero O’Connell’s new graphic novel, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me garnered nominations in three categories, which is a stunning accomplishment. Mariko Tamaki is a well-known author of comics. Her graphic novel This One Summer (illustrated by […]
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Review: Trans Girls Hit the Town by Emma Jayne
As a cis-gendered white man, I have the privilege of “public privacy.” I’m not going to get yelled at or threatened with a police call if I’m talking in another language in a coffee shop. I can walk down a street by myself and not get harassed or catcalled. I can get in a rideshare […]
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Review: Pope Hats #6: Shapeshifter by Hartley Lin
AdHouse Books has been publishing Pope Hats for nearly a decade. The series has been critically lauded, and a new issue is often the cause for celebration. The last few years have been revelatory for the series and its creator. With the publication of Young Frances (a collection of issues #1-3 and #5 of Pope […]
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Review: A Fire Story by Brian Fies
California has been repeatedly battered by a series of wildfires in recent years, and Brian Fies, author of Mom’s Cancer, had his life upended by the 2017 Tubbs fire. In response, Fies wrote A Fire Story, initially a short piece posted online. This 19-page off the cuff reportage of the incident at the time of […]
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Review: Off Season, by James Sturm
James Sturm has had an interesting couple of years as a cartoonist. His latest book, Off Season, was serialized on Slate, starting in September of 2016 and running through the presidential election and its aftermath. While the final compiled version, out this year from D&Q, is cleaned up and expanded, it is a fascinating examination […]
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Review: Harukana Receive v. 1-3, by Nyoijizai
A few months ago, I stumbled across the Otaku USA review of Harukana Receive, a new-ish sports manga from Seven Seas. The comic attracted some early attention and garnered a 12-episode anime adaptation in 2018. Six volumes are currently on the Seven Seas publishing schedule through 2020, and the fourth volume was just released last […]
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Review: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Maia Kobabe’s recent memoir Gender Queer, recently published by Lion Forge, operates in two modes: first as a poignant personal history of growth and self-acceptance and an intimate revealing of eir struggles with gender in modern culture; and second, as a sort of introduction to nonbinary gender identities for cis-gender readers. Let’s start with the […]
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Review: BTTM FDRS by Ezra Clayton Daniels & Ben Passmore
Horror as a genre has a long history of addressing systemic injustice and BTTM FDRS falls firmly in that vein. Published by Fantagraphics, BTTM FDRS is the latest comic from Ezra Clayton Daniels and Ben Passmore, two rising stars in the small press comics world. The book stars Darla, a young and talented clothing designer […]
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Review: Ginseng Roots #1 by Craig Thompson
Craig Thompson has something of a reputation amongst indie comics readers, both good and bad. The first issue of his new serialized comic, Ginseng Roots, comes out this July, and his publisher Uncivilized Books sent a review copy earlier this month. Thompson’s last major literary work, Habibi, continues to leave a sour taste in many […]
