MetroPulse Stories: Comics & Graphic Novels

Spa Fon! Fantagraphics Does the World a Favor and Publishes Affordable Reprints of Classic EC Comics

coury@metropulse.com (Coury Turczyn) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:10:00 -0000

There are lots of important works in the history of comics. But there are just a few comics that are absolutely vital to understanding America’s cultural history. A new series of reprints from Fantagraphics spotlights what is possibly the most creative, groundbreaking five-year span in comics publishing, ever.

A Challenge to Read all of the 'Star Wars' Comics Reveals the Trends of Another Era

grayt@metropulse.com (Travis Gray) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:39:00 -0000

There are nearly 500 issues of Star Wars comics, more than 35 real human years’ worth of them, beginning with Marvel's series in the ’70s to Dark Horse's continuing run.

French Cartoonist Lewis Trondheim Takes Funny-Animal Comics to New Heights

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:10:00 -0000

As the title indicates, things definitely take a dark turn in Lewis Trondheim’s just-released Ralph Azham: Why Would You Lie to Someone You Love?, the first part of Fantagraphics’ planned translation of his ongoing fantasy mock epic about a wise-ass slacker duck who can predict births and deaths.

Chris Ware Redefines the Graphic Novel With 'Building Stories'

gervinc@metropulse.com (Cari Wade Gervin) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:15:00 -0000

The first thing you will notice about Building Stories (Pantheon) is its sheer size. The latest work from artist Chris Ware is encased in a box as big as the seat of a chair—11 1/2 inches wide, 16 1/2 inches long, 2 inches thick. It looks like a board game, and those of us with normal-sized bookshelves are going to be hard-pressed to figure out where to fit it in.

Zombie Cliches Plague Master Storyteller Gilbert Hernandez's New Comic, 'Fatima'

coury@metropulse.com (Coury Turczyn) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:41:00 -0000

Gilbert’s no stranger to tackling money-making projects or B-movie tributes, but if Fatima is intended as a shameless glomming onto a pop-culture trend already on its way out, then it’s an odd one.

'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' Ends With a Weird Whimper

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:13:00 -0000

Few writers could make stopping the end of the world as much of a downer as Moore does here.

Comics Giant Jack Kirby Gets the Full Critical Treatment in Charles Hatfield’s 'Hand of Fire'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:20:00 -0000

It’s conventional wisdom that Kirby is one of the most important comic-book artists of all time, and probably the single greatest superhero artist ever.

Grant Morrison’s Metaphysical Superhero Saga 'Flex Mentallo' Finally Makes It Back Into Print

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:42:00 -0000

Flex Mentallo is a brilliant, thrilling, dizzying story about imagination and fiction, in addition to being a rousing psychedelic adventure story that forecasts Morrison’s bewildering and incomparable mainstream epic Final Crisis, from 2008

A Reformatted 'Corto Maltese' Is Better Than None at All

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:26:00 -0000

The recent English-language publication of Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese: The Ballad of the Salt Sea (Universe) should have been a moment of triumph for European comics in America.

Forever Moebius: The Legacy of French Illustrator Jean Giraud

coury@metropulse.com (Coury Turczyn) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:35:00 -0000

No matter how fanciful or surreal they may be, Moebius' comics come to life with simple, direct lines that make you believe in the intricate details they reveal. Surely, you think, he must have seen these things he recorded. Moebius died last month at the age of 73, yet his imagination can be seen everywhere in our popular culture, in creations far more successful than that lost arcade, even if most Americans aren’t aware of his influence.

'The Strain' and 'Buffy' Make Vampires Seem Surprisingly Relevant

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:08:00 -0000

What the world needs even less than a new pop-culture vampire franchise is somebody saying that the last thing the world needs is another pop-culture vampire franchise. So let’s examine Dark Horse’s new series The Strain on its own terms.

'Action! Mystery! Thrills!' Captures the Weird Spirit of Comics' Golden Age

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:39:00 -0000

Compiled and restored by comics historian Greg Sadowski, this new volume from always-reliable Fantagraphics Books serves up 176 covers from a decade when comics were still trying to figure out what they were—and what they could be.

Fantagraphics Pays a Long-Overdue Tribute to Walt Kelly’s 'Pogo'

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:24:00 -0000

The appeal of Pogo is impossible to ignore but hard to describe. A big part of Walt Kelly’s genius lies in plain old expert craftsmanship. His skill was such that his hand almost became invisible.

Considering 'Tintin' in the 21st Century

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:56:00 -0000

The world Tintin inhabits and represents, seen from a modern adult perspective, seems cramped and problematic. But I read them when I was 8 or 9 years old, when finding a realm of endless adventure—of sunken ships and spy rings and opium smugglers—nestled inside the panels of those slim, 60-page books felt like something magical.

Hellboy Back in Mexico

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:09:00 -0000

Some of the best Hellboy adventures of recent years have been Mignola’s collaborations with underground fantasy legend and Heavy Metal veteran Richard Corben, particularly the 2010 one-shot Hellboy in Mexico, in which Hellboy joins a team of luchadores to drink and fight vampires in the 1950s.

Kate Beaton Makes Comics About Pirates, Nancy Drew, Brahms, and Canada

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:43:00 -0000

Beaton combines a relentlessly nerdy interest in historical figures and literary characters with a flowing but precise pen-and-ink style.

'Supergods' Reveals Grant Morrison as a Big Thinker, But Not a Deep One

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:00:00 -0000

Initially part of the brash wave of young British writers (along with Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman) who turned American comics upside down in the late 1980s, Morrison has played both sides of the comics game during his 30-year career.

Ed Brubaker Introduces a Streamlined Shield-Slinger in 'Captain America' #1

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:25:00 -0000

Writer Ed Brubaker has wrapped up five years of complex storylines—from the Civil War crossover series that pitted Cap against Iron Man to the return of Cap’s World War II-era sidekick Bucky Barnes to Cap’s apparent death and resurrection—to prepare for Captain America #1, a gentle reset that is accessible and coherent and balances necessary exposition with genuine thrills.

The Death of the Human Torch May Restore the Fantastic Four to the Top of the Marvel Universe

everettm@metropulse.com (Matthew Everett) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:23:00 -0000

Most readers seem to regard FF writer Jonathan Hickman’s first major bombshell on the book as at best a brief interruption on the way to the team’s 50th anniversary and at worst yet another craven cash-in.

Darwyn Cook's Slick 'Parker' Adaptation Is as Good as Comics Get

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:00:00 -0000

Few genres are as well-suited to the comic book medium as crime noir. Its emphasis on mood over action, its trademark stylistic flair, even its broad-stroke characters translate seamlessly to the panel—which is probably why gangsters and gun molls are stealing more and more spinner-rack real estate from costumed do-gooders. Once a staple of the drugstore funny-book market, crime comics have made a tremendous comeback in recent years.