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Review: Beverly by Nick Drnaso I’m trying to push through some writer’s block on a pile of newish comics. The first on the list is Beverly, the debut work of Chicago-based cartoonist Nick Drnaso. Beverly was published in the Spring by Drawn & Quarterly in trade paperback. There’s a sort of malaise to Beverly that…
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Comics Review: The Hospital Suite by John Porcellino

Review: The Hospital Suite, by John Porcellino John Porcellino is a stalwart of the indie comics scene. King-Cat Comics is going on its 26th year, and Porcellino’s zine distro, Spit and a Half, was how I bought some of my first indie comics at SPACE in Columbus last year. Late in 2014, Drawn and Quarterly released…
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Review: First Year Healthy by Michael DeForge Plenty of folks have spilled ink on Michael DeForge’s latest print comic First Year Healthy. The book defies explanation, which is likely what makes it so fascinating. Its slight stature and bright imagery makes it seem more like a Little Golden Book than an alt-comic about mental illness,…
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Review: Benson’s Cuckoos by Anouk Ricard Benson’s Cuckoos is my first encounter with the work of Anouk Ricard, a French cartoonist who is also the celebrated author of the Anna & Froga children’s books. Benson’s Cuckoos, despite sharing the same anthropomorphic characters and loose, blocky illustration style as Anna & Froga, sheds off much of…
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The Anxiety of James Sturm’s Market Day

James Sturm’s Market Day is one of the defining graphic novels of 2010. It follows a shetl artisan, Mendleman, at the turn of the Industrial Revolution. He has built a life around making high quality rugs. The financial stability of his family hinges on selling 8 rugs he has made. When he finds out that…
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Review: Petty Theft, by Pascal Girard

