Tag: comics

Reader’s Corner: PW’s 2024 Graphic Novel Critics Poll

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Myself and a number of other (far more estimable) writers were asked to vote on the best graphic novels of the year for Publishers Weekly.

The results are in!

For the second year in a row, the top spot on PW’s annual graphic novel critics poll is shared by two titles. The debut graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls (MCD) and the graphic novel Victory Parade by Leela Corman (Schocken) both received a total of five votes from PW’s panel of 11 critics. These powerful works, while distinctive in style, are remarkably similar in theme, with both delving into the inheritance of trauma across generations, particularly depicted through the fraught dynamics of mothers and daughters…

Reader’s Corner: Fall Graphic Novels

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My latest graphic novel roundup for the Minnesota Star-Tribune ran over the weekend:

Four new graphic novels showcase a range of approaches and subjects, from deadpan horror comedy to a subversive retelling of an American classic, a fantasy adventure about a magical world next to our own and an odds-and-ends collection from an American master that is more than the sum of its parts…

Reader’s Corner: New York Comic Con 2024

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On my way to last week’s New York Comic Con, I overheard an attendee telling a non-geek civilian that it was “bigger than San Diego.” I silently scoffed. Then I arrived at Javits.

Not sure how the final attendance numbers worked out in this comic East Coast-West Coast beef, but given the thousands of people swarming the booths, inhaling chicken fingers on the go, running for all the exclusive collectible sales, and taking pics with various roaming cosplayers (plenty of Ghostbusters and Lady Deadpools, along with the odd Darth Maul and Son Goku), New York is clearly giving San Diego competition.

I was there covering the annual ICv2 state of the industry talk (2023 numbers are down a bit from 2022 but still substantially up from pre-COVID) and related panel discussions (when in doubt, get Keanu Reeves to lead your comic Kickstarter campaign) for Publishers Weekly.

Reader’s Corner: Great New Graphic Novels

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I covered a quartet of great new graphic novels out this winter for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Four graphic novels, among the many fascinating titles hitting stores this winter, delve into a range of subjects: the stark politics and emotional legacy of the Mariel boatlift, a family’s fraught experiences with digital reincarnation, thrilling exploits of hip-hop’s pioneers and a graphic adaptation of a beloved Italian book series…

Reader’s Corner: ‘Zippy the Pinhead’ to ‘Nancy’

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I interviewed Zippy the Pinhead creator Bill Griffith about his new book on the mastermind behind the comic strip Nancy. Griffith is speaking about the book, Three Rocks, with Matt Groening at San Diego Comic Con.

My interview ran in Publishers Weekly:

How do you feel about going to Comic-Con?

It’s not my turf—I don’t find too many readers who are doing Spider-Man cosplay. Although I would love it if somebody did Nancy and Sluggo cosplay while I’m in San Diego. Then I would forgive them all of their transgressions.

Reader’s Corner: Of Punks, Relationships, and American Anxieties

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In my latest graphic novel round-up for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, I covered three new titles which excel in very different ways:

  • Nick Drnaso’s Acting Class is another entry in his series of blank-faced, haunting, Lynchian nightmares about American anxiety.
  • James Spooner’s The High Desert is a thoughtful, cutting memoir about growing up a black punk rocker in the middle of nowhere.
  • Jordan Crane’s Keeping Two starts with everyday relationship tension before spiraling out into something far weirder and devastating.

You can read the reviews at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Reader’s Corner: Marvel Comics vs. Penguin Classics

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Next month, Penguin Classics is doing the seemingly unthinkable: collaborating with Marvel Comics for their first line of comics anthologies. It’s kind of a big deal and is likely cause discussions of the “whither Penguin?” variety.

I wrote about this unlikely collection for The Millions:

Largely devoid of the ironies, ruminations, and absurdities of less mainstream and traditionally “higher-brow” comics, the three entries in the Marvel Collection revolve around combat and struggle. Together, they comprise more than a thousand pages of exceptionally reproduced color panels whose artistry ranges from the merely competent to the spectacular. At many points, Black Panther, Captain America, and Spider-Man are not unlike Odysseus—tested by an array of villains, undone by their own arrogance, tempted by glory, unsure of their fates…

Screening Room: ‘The Old Guard’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Adaptations, Comics-Graphic Novels, Film - NewLeave a comment

Based on Greg Rucka’s comic-book series, The Old Guard is a big-budget attempt to start a new action franchise, this one centered around a band of centuries-old mercenaries who are (mostly) immortal.

The Old Guard launches today on Netflix. My review is at Slant:

Smartly prioritizing the bond of relationships over action in the way of the modern franchise series—doing so more organically than the Fast and the Furious series but missing the self-aware comedic patter of the Avengers films—The Old Guard is in the end only somewhat convincing on both counts…

Here’s the trailer:

Reader’s Corner: ‘The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski’

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My interview with graphic novelist Noah Van Sciver, author of The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski, ran in Publishers Weekly:

You’ve written three books about Fante Bukowski, a delusional, arrogant, and slovenly character. Do you find something admirable in his belief in his own greatness?

I’m always interested in people who are obsessed with one thing, like people who become obsessed with comics history. I think it’s admirable to dedicate your life to this role. But now I have to think about it. Is he admirable? He’s dedicated to being a drunken writer [laughing]. I don’t know if that’s admirable, though…

Reader’s Corner: Stan Lee’s Marvelous Life

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My interview with Danny Fingeroth, author of the new biography A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee, was just posted at Publishers Weekly:

What do you think accounts for Lee’s ability to create such an incredibly long-lived roster of characters?

Stan is pretty much the only comic creator who the casual person on the street would know. Because he became the voice and face of not just Marvel Comics but the comics industry, there was a long time when Marvel had no publicity department. Stan was in the office most days, he was available, he always had a quip and a quote. Stan took that on. He realized that this would be his vehicle for extending himself and Marvel beyond the attention of people who read comics. He cultivated it. Why nobody else took that on is hard to say…

Screening Room: ‘Avengers: Endgame’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Comics-Graphic Novels, Film - New1 Comment

My article, “Is Avengers: Endgame a Miserable Bore or Something Worse?” was published at Eyes Wide Open:

It’s official: We’ve been had. Avengers: Endgame is many things. A complex web of interlocking character arcs. A masterpiece of corporate synergy. A box office hit whose take various publications simply cannot stop fawning over. It is not a good movie, or even a passable one. Yet somehow this great yawning bore of a cinematic black hole will end up being remembered as the great smash hit of 2019…

Writer’s Desk: Let the Magic Happen

On By chrisbarsantiIn Books, Comics-Graphic Novels, WritingLeave a comment

When graphic novelist Alan Moore (Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was asked by a fan what “happens” to him when he writes, this is in part how he replied:

I know that my consciousness, if I am immersed in writing something demanding, is moved into a completely different state than the one which I inhabit during most of my waking life…

When you descend into this level of our reality, the code of our reality if you like, then whether consciously or not; whether deliberately or not, you are working magic. So, the answer to your question as to what happens to me when I write, is the most banal and useless answer you will ever get from an author: the magic happens…

One of the secrets to writing, it would seem, is to allow yourself to descend into that fugue state and just let the magic work its way through you.

It seems to have worked for Moore.

Reader’s Corner: Social Justice at Comic-Con

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Though it will probably spur a backlash from the troll-ier corners of fanboy world, this year’s San Diego Comic-Con—the ever-more-massive pop culture lollapalooza currently taking over a good part of the city’s downtown—features a broad focus on diversity and social justice issues.

Per the San Diego Union-Tribune, here’s a few of the events being highlighted:

  • Panel: “Radical Activism in Comics”
  • Panel: “What Rebellions are Built On: Popular Culture, Radical Culture, and Politically Engaged Geeks”
  • Voter registration drive led by Indivisible and Black Mask Studios

Also, Black Mask Studios is releasing a special convention issue of their Trump-versus-California comic Calexit, with all proceeds going to help immigrants and their families in the San Diego area.

Reader’s Corner: Investigating Your Father

On By chrisbarsantiIn Books, Graphic NovelsLeave a comment

In All the Answers, Michael Kupperman tells the story of the strange childhood of his father, a brilliant professor who in his youth starred on a hugely popular wartime radio show called Quiz Kids. It’s an engrossing and emotional personal history in which Kupperman discovers more about his reticent father on the Internet than through living with him.

My interview with Kupperman is in the current Publisher’s Weekly.