ouch
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Monday, 21 February 2022 21:25 (two years ago) link
Otoh it’s very ok to do silly things that make you happy or slightly happier
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 21 February 2022 22:20 (two years ago) link
Like it’s possible to indulge in nostalgia without becoming a gamergater, a comic book guy, or Rob Lowe on the football pitch in St. Elmo’s fire
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 21 February 2022 22:22 (two years ago) link
spending all your time going to physical stores, collecting comics and books to try to reattain the feeling you got in 20s... and continuing to do that that rest of your life even though you never got that feeling again. Spoken by a character in his 40s.
It cut deep.
― Nhex, Monday, February 21, 2022 8:48 PM (yesterday)
I got this feeling back by going to second hand book shops (usually charity shops like oxfam). I didn't think it would ever come back, but it's beautiful and I guess it might fade away in time too. I think part of the reason it went away is because comics that excite me are really hard to find and a lot of them are either on tiny print runs, not widely distributed or they don't actually make actual comic books, just comicky things on instagram, which I can barely look at now because my account has been broken for several months now (fuck you instagram).
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 22 February 2022 18:56 (two years ago) link
My experience is you gotta go cold turkey for a while and then the enthusiasm resurfaces.
This does prevent me from being the Authorative Chronicler Of Culture During My Lifetime that 18 year old wanted me to be tho.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 10:39 (two years ago) link
But what is this being compared to? Does everyone still get excited about other shopping? I still get as much excitement looking for music and books as I ever did, and charity shops are more exciting because they're unpredictable. With comic shops I feel a cynicism that I don't even get when looking at the film sections of shops, because I dislike a lot of the publishers, Diamond and so much of the readers; film business is also stupid, largely shaped by even more stupid tastes so I don't know why it never put a cloud over film buying.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:05 (two years ago) link
Maybe it's because films are so ubiquitous, they never seemed that special. My first few visits to a comic shop were total ecstasy because newsagents only ever had a handful of them and book shops had a very small section at that time
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:08 (two years ago) link
the new comixology… everything.. sucks so incredibly bad
― mh, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:40 (two years ago) link
Breaking my nearly 100% lurker status to share some thoughts on comics I've read recently:
The Children of Mu-Town by Masumura Jushichi - a quiet tragedy about a gradually dying housing complex in Tokyo called Marigaoka. The story centers around two friends Juichi and Hajime, yakuza related maybe earlier twenty somethings trying to figure their shit out. Vivid spectacular art, a story centered around the brutality of neoliberalism (sorry) and gentrification, and writing that somehow manages to feel sparse and dense and confounding all at once.
Heaven No Hell by Michael Deforge - fantastic collection, my introduction to Michael Deforge, a writing style that reminds a lot of the best of James Tate. Hilarious and confident and a wonderful rendering of this burdensome world.
Magician A by Natsuko Ishitsuyo - six short stories that are interconnected in slight ways and are all about sex, but honestly saying that they're about sex seems shallow and nearly misleading. Sex here is adjacent to pleasure and more a method of maybe gaining some competitive edge in their worlds. Success, whatever that might mean, is the main drive of all the various protagonists, and they aim to achieve it with a casual ruthlessness and a resolve that suggests that makes it appear as though they will never reach resolution. It's not meant to be titillating, is weirdly funny, surreal, complex, unsettling and has haunted me since i read it.
― bridge of donkeys, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:49 (two years ago) link
Liked those first two, will check out the third!
Ant Colony is another DeFporge banger.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:51 (two years ago) link
Oh great, I will definitely seek out Ant Colony
― bridge of donkeys, Wednesday, 23 February 2022 16:30 (two years ago) link
even bad deforge is generally worth a read
i will check out Mu-Town
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 23 February 2022 20:35 (two years ago) link
I’m finally reading Tom Strong, which I always assumed was the dud of the ABC line and avoided, but it’s fun! Chris Sprouse’s work improved somewhat since his JLI work.
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 26 February 2022 23:37 (two years ago) link
oh yeah, it totally ruled
― Nhex, Sunday, 27 February 2022 00:07 (two years ago) link
Yeah loved Tom Strong. As far as ABC duds go I remember losing my patience with Promethea's "magic: let me explain you it" thing but it's been ages since I read it.
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 27 February 2022 10:56 (two years ago) link
https://www.tcj.com/this-town-is-big-enough-for-all-of-us-ralf-konig-on-lucky-luke/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=this-town-is-big-enough-for-all-of-us-ralf-konig-on-lucky-luke
Cool interview with Ralf Konig on his new Lucky Luke volume.
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 27 February 2022 11:22 (two years ago) link
Really enjoying this collection of the Friday Foster newspaper strip from the early seventies - gorgeously groovy artwork from Jordi Longarón:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/friday-foster-editor-christopher-marlon-interview/
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 3 March 2022 09:36 (two years ago) link
that's on Hoopla - will check it out. I remember greatly enjoying the Pam Grier movie
― Nhex, Thursday, 3 March 2022 15:56 (two years ago) link
Figure this makes more sense on here than on the ILB what you reading thread:
Very close to finishing All The Marvels, an ex-ilxor's book of essays based around his reading, indeed, everything Marvel published since the first appearance of the Fantastic Four.
I suppose the point of the book is that the continuity modifies the reading experience, that having decades of writers and artists work on these properties makes new moments resonate in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Obv I'm not impervious to that, or I'd never have gotten into Marvel and DC in the first place, but on that level the book doesn't really convince me much that it's all worth it; the reboots and re-imaginings are described in ways where you can see how they would matter to the character, but not why they would "matter" in a larger sense outside of insular continuity porn.
Prob the weakest chapter is on the NORMAN OSBOURNE PRESIDETN era, partially because there's so much happening that the chapter has much more description than analysis, but then the analysis itself suffers majorly from this weird liberal amnesia - he views the whole thing as prophetic of Trump, when really it was writers reacting to and digesting the Bush era.
Much more enjoyable are the chapters where he focuses on a single character - Shang Chi, Black Panther - and just kinda guides you through what the best runs of it are, and usually the strenghts he pinpoints in those are unrelated to continuity. The chapter on Ms Marvel and Squirrel Girl is also v good.
I'd be totally up for further installments of just letting me know who his fav runs on Doctor Strange or Ghost Rider or whoever are.
― Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 5 March 2022 15:01 (two years ago) link
That project reminds me of the Flaming Carrot’s origin story: “he read too many comic books in one sitting, and became simple”.
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 5 March 2022 16:27 (two years ago) link
haha, quoted in the first chapter!
― Daniel_Rf, Saturday, 5 March 2022 16:59 (two years ago) link
Lol
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 5 March 2022 23:13 (two years ago) link
Ut!
― bad luck banging, or Lorna Doone (sic), Sunday, 6 March 2022 01:04 (two years ago) link
Has anyone read Island Book and/or its sequel by Evan Dahm?Kinda fascinating to me - definitely aimed at kids, kind of a moral adventure/fable fantasy that delves into different theologies and politics. It's good work, I think. The author also did another GN (for adults) called The Harrowing of Hell, a telling of Christ's descent into the underworld following his cruficixion, to give you where his head may be at.
― Nhex, Sunday, 6 March 2022 05:18 (two years ago) link
came across a long LOC from Ward Fowler in a 1985 comic.
― beepy fridges (sic), Thursday, 17 March 2022 00:20 (two years ago) link
Oh gawd. IIRC I had LOCs in an issue of Love and Rockets (terrible teenage rubbish from me but at least I was on the right side of history) and in an issue of Thriller by Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor Von Eeden (which history has p much forgotten, but was considered something of a big deal among my circle of London comic bk fans in the 1980s).
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 17 March 2022 01:47 (two years ago) link
tbf Thriller lasted about four issues before the creative team imploded or were driven off by editorial interference or w/e, so even a collection of the full 7 or 8 issues would only further impede historical recognition
― beepy fridges (sic), Thursday, 17 March 2022 02:21 (two years ago) link
*checks: seven issues with the creators, 12 in total.*
― beepy fridges (sic), Thursday, 17 March 2022 02:22 (two years ago) link
I had a letter printed in the Marvel UK punisher series, and in Justice League Europe ragging on Gerard Jones (!) so at least I was on the right side of history there too
It goes without saying that my entire head and torso would implode from embarrassment if I saw them again
I remember feeling v proud to be published though. I didn't realise until I worked in magazines two decades later, that basically no one writes letters and basically every one gets printed
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 17 March 2022 13:47 (two years ago) link
I had one in Yummy Fur, a few issues into the Ed sequence… I THINK that was all but there might be something horrid I have suppressed
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 17 March 2022 14:11 (two years ago) link
Oh I also had a letter in an early issue of Warrior where I think I said something like, this Alan Moore fellow seems quite promising ...
A friend once submitted a long, thoughtful letter to the American Marvel comic The Champions. it was printed, complete with his name and address, but severely cut down to read just "The Champions issue X was a masterpiece of comic book art!"
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 17 March 2022 15:56 (two years ago) link
lol the champions
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 17 March 2022 16:20 (two years ago) link
Micronauts #26 back in the day, had letter printed for a No-Prize (signed by Bill Mantlo).
A year or so later, I got a letter from an African kid/guy (who I assume got my address from that issue), which started out "Hey, let's be pen pals" and ended with "Can you send me $250?".
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Thursday, 17 March 2022 17:00 (two years ago) link
Micronauts 26… that was during Broderick’s run iirc? I remain an unabashed fan of that series incl the ‘new voyages’
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 17 March 2022 17:42 (two years ago) link
I was printed in Mickey Mouse! At 13!
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Friday, 18 March 2022 00:52 (two years ago) link
Yes on Broderick, good memory!
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Friday, 18 March 2022 19:52 (two years ago) link
This publisher is new to mehttps://starfruitbooks.com/Hideshi Hino book I haven't read and I've never heard of Noroi Michiru
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 19 March 2022 19:04 (two years ago) link
I had a letter in Legion of Superheroes in, I don’t know, 1990-1992 timeframe? That’s the only one I think, though I sent a few to different comics over the years.
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 22 March 2022 01:40 (two years ago) link
Inspired by that Douglas Wolk book, I'm reading Christopher Priest's run on Black Panther. Pretty fucking badass! Acknowledging the US govt (even with the fig leaf of "a rogue faction of") working with South American mercenaries to topple T'Challa in Wakanda, a govt spook saying "we could have given this to the Hand or Mossad", Black Panther making it clear he joined the Avengers because he saw them as a potential threat to his country (really annoying that the Coates run had him walk this back).
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 11:29 (two years ago) link
Yeah, I reread it a few years ago, it still holds up! I held off the reread for a while because I thought I was missing an issue near the end, which I thought I must have somewhere around here, but of course it was Marvel sticking in a random two-parter from someone else just before the final arc.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 12:06 (two years ago) link
I want to strongly recommend "The Days That Disappear" by French writer/artist Timothé Le Boucher. It's a sci-fi psychological romance thriller of sorts that... you know what, it would be best to just go in cold. It's not available in English to the best of my knowledge but there's a scanlation by the estimable phillywilly available online in two parts here:
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Days-That-Disappear/TPB-Part-1?id=181860https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Days-That-Disappear/TPB-Part-2?id=181861
The art, the concepts and the writing are remarkable. Moebius-level good imo.
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 15:00 (two years ago) link
2-for-1 gift voucher sale at Fantagraphics this weekend: buy the upcoming Love & Rockets box set, get $400 in discounts off future purchases.
― beepy fridges (sic), Friday, 25 March 2022 23:56 (two years ago) link
So glad to hear they're finally reprinting Love & Rockets. The wait is over!
― When the Pain That You Feel is the Bite of an Eel, That's a Moray (Old Lunch), Saturday, 26 March 2022 00:41 (two years ago) link
tbf there will be pages and stories in this that have never been reprinted
― beepy fridges (sic), Saturday, 26 March 2022 01:16 (two years ago) link
Well of course there will be. Which was enough of a reason for me to order the forthcoming Woodring collection (of material I otherwise already own) but I own some of the L+R material in three different formats at this point, which seems like a sane place to stop.
― When the Pain That You Feel is the Bite of an Eel, That's a Moray (Old Lunch), Saturday, 26 March 2022 16:58 (two years ago) link
oof, $400 far too rich for my blood. if i ever get back to collecting L&R i'll probably stick to those small paperbacks
― Nhex, Sunday, 27 March 2022 17:13 (two years ago) link
Read a Lupin III collection. Very fond of Monkey Punch's facial expressions (closer to Mad magazine than anything in US superhero comics) and how his backgrounds bend and strech in this expressionistic manner. But boy are these stories rapey.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 28 March 2022 10:40 (two years ago) link
L&R collection looks amazing in theory, but I have never not hated the comic reading experience with big hardbacks
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 28 March 2022 11:35 (two years ago) link
I also put off buying their hardcover Eightball set because of $$$, even tho my original comics are long gone, so I'm glad to see they're going to bring out a cheaper paperback edition of that, and maybe they'll do something similar with L&R.
https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/the-complete-eightball-1-18-reprint
Facsimile editions of the L&R issues themselves probably still the best way to read this material imho, where the separate worlds are rubbing up against each other rather than kept apart.
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 28 March 2022 12:42 (two years ago) link
I don't know if I agree with that - having read the books in the giant hardcover collections I think made me appreciate it more than I would have in a drip feed. It's not the easiest to follow as it is with the massive number of characters and stories over decades
― Nhex, Monday, 28 March 2022 13:57 (two years ago) link
RIP Carlos Pacheco.
― Vernon Locke, Friday, 11 November 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link
O'Neill's "Nemesis the Warlock" was some mind warping strange comics to my teenage mind. That artwork kinda freaked some people out. I seemed to recall there being some issues with a US printer as the employees thought it was was obscene at one point in the 80s.
I'd say that series, Marshall Law and a graphic novel that he did with Pat Mills for DC called Metalzolic are worth searching out.
― earlnash, Friday, 11 November 2022 23:25 (one year ago) link
I never read Nemesis because it looked so creepy. I still find it creepy! But will give it a shot.
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 12 November 2022 16:23 (one year ago) link
I’ve always felt like there’s a very “my brain does not want to look at that” quality to O’Neill’s art, which is probably why he’s so great!
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 12 November 2022 16:26 (one year ago) link
Not a printer - the CCA.
― Vance Vance Devolution (sic), Saturday, 12 November 2022 17:37 (one year ago) link
I need to get on Orochi soon
Kerascoet's Beauty is getting a paperback reprint this month
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 12 November 2022 20:39 (one year ago) link
For the single-digits number of people still following the big two:
Any thoughts on DC Universe Infinite Ultra, other than that name being a mouthful? They're claiming the yearly price is "introductory" and going to go up to an unspecified number at the end of the month. I'm not sure if I care about getting new comics sooner, but I'm wondering how expanded the Black Label/Vertigo selection is
― mh, Tuesday, 22 November 2022 17:14 (one year ago) link
Might be appealing for a one-off year’s payment based on what’s in the vertigo library.
Weirdly I am finally rediscovering the joys of paper collected editions. I’ve had Jason Aaron’s Avengers run on my iPad for years and never wanted to read it; but now I’m whizzing through it after taking the trades out of my local library
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 22 November 2022 19:49 (one year ago) link
i flip through the current books but it's impossible to care tbh
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 22 November 2022 20:27 (one year ago) link
I got the Dorian Gray adaptation by Corominas today and it's pretty stunning, I haven't seen much else like it. I don't think it has ever been in english but I guess a familiarity with the source material will helphttps://www.danielmaghen-editions.com/catalogue/dorian-gray/
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 26 November 2022 18:41 (one year ago) link
Kentaro Miura - Giganto Maxia
Kaiju desert adventure with nice creature and setting designs. The main characters (an increasingly young looking girl who pisses on a wrestler to keep him energized) are insanely powerful so it feels like the opposite of the struggle in Berserk.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 3 December 2022 19:14 (one year ago) link
I found it a little slight and it seemed just open ended enough in case he managed to finish Berserk so who knows if there was grander plans.
I didn't think Japan (written by Buronsen) was especially good but I hadn't heard of King Of Wolves until today, has anyone read it?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 3 December 2022 19:32 (one year ago) link
Reading the first Nemesis The Warlock omnibus in honour of Kevin O'Neill. I love that the humans are the bad guys but not in an essentialist way - there are humans who join the good side but crucially they are not promoted to main character status for it. Also surely this is one of the main influences on Warhammer 40k?
The art is uniformly excellent, wild stuff - by O'Neill but also Bryan Talbot and Jesus Redondo, whom I'd never heard of but who def holds his own.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 5 December 2022 11:27 (one year ago) link
I know I'm late to this, but I've just noticed how much Martínez looks like his face has been drawn by Ken Reid in this picture
https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1606364688756899844/UAUvB9Wa?format=jpg&name=medium
― soref, Friday, 23 December 2022 19:46 (one year ago) link
really should be speech bubble next to him saying "ERK!!"
― soref, Friday, 23 December 2022 19:50 (one year ago) link
i am doing my yearly reread of Berserk in honor of the final miura volume being released. astonishing how quick he got so good and how incredibly complex and dark the story is.
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Friday, 23 December 2022 21:24 (one year ago) link
exporting the ILB what did you read this year tradition because hell why not:
* - I really loved this
Grandville: L'integral, Bryan TalbotGil Jourdan - Premieres Aventures, M. TillieuxHyperthick #1-3, Steve Aylett*Crisis Zone, Simon Hanselmann*Warlock, Jim Starlin et alPopeye Vol.1: 1986-1989, Bobby LondonMickey Mouse: Race To Death Valley, Floyd GottfredsonThe Caterer, Steve Aylett*Red Flowers, Yoshiharu TsugeDancing Plague, Gareth Brookes*Black Panther, Vol.1, Christopher Priest, Mark Teixeira et alLupin III: Greatest Heists, Monkey PunchMiles Morales, Vol.1, Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garron et alSobek, James StokoeMisty, Vol.2-3, Malcolm Shaw et alMickey Mouse: The Man From Alcatraz, Romano Scarppa*Chartwell Manor, Glenn HeadThe Swamp, Yoshiharu TsugeBeta Ray Bill: Argent Star, Daniel Warren JohnsonGuardians Of The Galaxy, Vol.1, Al Ewing, Juann Cabal et al*Hellboy Vol.6, Mike Mignola, Scott Hampton et alPoussey: L'integrale, Peyo*The Thief Inoue Akizazu, Osamu TezukaApollo's Song, Osamu Tezuka*Red Seas, Vol.1, Ian Edginton, Steve Yeowell* The Good Asian, Vol.1&2, Pornsak Pichetshote, Alexandre Tefekghi et alThe Birth Of Kitaro, Shigeru Mizuki* Paralell Lives, Oliver SchrauwenConcrete Surfer, Pat Mills, Christine EllinghamThe Man Without Talent, Yoshiharu TsugeJudge Dredd: Complete Case Files Vol.1, Matt Wagner et alTMNT Adventures, Vol.2, Dean Clarrain, Ryan Brown et alSeven Soldiers Of Victory Vol.1-4, Grant Morrison et al*Chainsaw Man, Vol.1-6, Tatsuki FujimotoGood Night, Hem, JasonUmma's Table, Yeon-Sik HongJinty: Land Of No Tears/The Human Zoo, Pat Mills et alCaptain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, Dan Abnett, Tom Mandrake et alFalconspeare, Johnson-CadwellOrochi Vol.1-2, Kazuo Umezzo*I Want You, Lisa HanawaltKeeping Two, Jordan Crane*The Best Of 2000AD, variousSomething Is Killing The Children, James Tynion IV et al*Newburn, Vol.1, Chip Zdarsky, Jason PhillipsStages Of Rot, Linnea SterteReckless: Follow Me Down, Ed Brubaker, Sean PhillipsAbsolute Sandman, Vol.1, Neil Gaiman et al*Nemesis The Warlock, Vol.1, Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill et al
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 13:41 (one year ago) link
> *Nemesis The Warlock, Vol.1, Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill et al
oh, i should've picked this up from home at christmas.
― koogs, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 16:55 (one year ago) link
and then sold it on amazon to some sucker
"1 Used from £190.00"
― koogs, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 17:03 (one year ago) link
points of overlap
*Crisis Zone, Simon HanselmannMickey Mouse: Race To Death Valley, Floyd GottfredsonSobek, James Stokoe*Chartwell Manor, Glenn HeadApollo's Song, Osamu Tezuka* Paralell Lives, Oliver Schrauwen*I Want You, Lisa Hanawalt*Newburn, Vol.1, Chip Zdarsky, Jason Phillips
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 18:34 (one year ago) link
Something I should say more often: nice drawings, shame about the faces
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 31 December 2022 20:43 (one year ago) link
Here are the TCJ Best of 2022 lists:
The Best Comics of 2002
My reaction is similar every year to the point where it's a ritual: I look forward eagerly to the lists; once I read them am horrified by the bulk of them*; find comfort in the lists of Jog, Tucker, Cynthia Rose**, Ristau, Nicholson***, one or two others; revert back to my default state of ruing the State of Modern Comics (TM) (or should that just be modern comics criticism).
*Giving the side-eye this year to any list featuring Jordan Crane. Great editor, good cartoonist, but some of the most bathetic scenarios known to mankind (which is saying a lot in indie comics).
**Had no idea there was a new version of Objectif Pub (a gorgeous 1980s compilation of ads drawn by cartoonists, mostly of the ligne claire/Atom Style a la Chaland, Benoit, Clerc etc.) - one of my most treasured, ah, objects.
***Even the good lists suffer from a fill-in-the-blanks predictability: here's RJ Casey with a New Yorker cartoon, here's the 2000AD entry for Jog; here's Tucker with the edgy DC genre entry.
Ah, I'm just being crabby.
― gjoon1, Sunday, 1 January 2023 13:14 (one year ago) link
Rolling Comic Books 2023
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 23 February 2023 21:30 (one year ago) link