January 15, 2018

ICYMI -- Small Press Comics Criticism and Whatnot for 1/8/18 to 1/14/18

Highlighting some great small press comics criticism being published, as well as other random things that have caught my eye over the past week.

COMICS CRITICISM

* Robin Enrico on RALPHIE AND JEANIE VOLUME 1 by Alabaster Pizzo, which "showcases her range as an artist in creating more widely accessible work while still maintaining the emotional core of her earlier heavy-minded work."

* Sayalee KarKare looks at Leslie Stein's collection, PRESENT, saying, "It is these little moments of life, of desperation, loneliness, and connection that Stein specializes in, capturing perfectly the colors of each state of elation, sadness and despair with her broad palette of colors."

* Ardo Omer writes about her reaction to Xia Gordon's KINDLING. I really appreciate the honesty of her review. Reviews that allow me insight into both the work being reviewed and the reviewer writing the review are some of my favorites (as you could probably guess, if you've ever read any of my reviews)

* Christine Ro on MAGRITTE: THIS IS NOT A BIOGRAPHY by Vincent Zabus and Thomas Campi, which is "more interested intensions between the desire to know an artist and the dangers of over-romanticizing them."

Leonard Pierce reviews SLASHER by Charles Forsman, wherein "the raw presentation with which Forsman unspools the narrative, both simple and thoughtful, gives it room to go about its task with plenty of air to knock out of us, and it manages just enough in the way of twists and upheavals to give it some depth of meaning, even as its brutality threatens to crowd it off the page."

* Sam Ombiri has some thoughts about DNA FAILURE: BRITISH WEAPON COMICS by Leon Sadler

* Ryan C. on Tyler Landry's SHIT AND PISS, which inspires him to write, "this is a predatory existence, and when our back is against the wall, we have no choice but to not only accept, but to embrace that fact. The strong will survive, and those who have been too strong for too long will inevitably sow the seeds of their own destruction somewhere deep within the by-product of their own excess."

* John Seven looks at Alexis Deacon's GEIS, a "parable of power and authority, by way of the Grimm Brothers, and through the lens of breathtaking illustration work that captures wonder and darkness together."

* Scott Cederlund on MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS by Emil Ferris which "perfectly captures that moment in our lives where we're between seeing the world through a child's eyes and understanding it from an adults point of view."

* Andy Oliver on KATZINE: THE GUATEMALA ISSUE by Katriona Champman, "comprising gentle social commetary, addictive trivia and small insights into her everyday routine, it's alost a sequential art Sunday supplement version of Chapman's life."

* If you hadn't noticed, I tried as best as I could to avoid linking to any "Best Of ..." type posts in this round-up over the past month or so, but I will make an exception here because it's Alex Hoffman and he frames it as COMICS THAT CHALLENGED ME IN 2017

WHATNOT

* Broken Frontier announces its SIX SMALL PRESS CREATORS TO WATCH IN 2018, all of which seem to be hugely talented. 

* In response to a series of tweets by Erik Larsen, one of the founders of Image Comics, Chase Magnett writes this editorial titled THE DANGEROUS IDEA OF A COMICS MERITOCRACY

* Art Vinyl announces THE BEST RECORD COVER ARTWORK OF 2017.

* Ben Yagoda writes a piece for Slate called THE REVIEWER'S FALLACY: WHEN CRITICS AREN'T CRITICAL ENOUGH which, while I don't agree with everything Yagoda says, is at least worth a read.

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