FLASHBACK! A comic strip gag can be a deceptively simple thing. Once you take it apart — “deconstruct” it, one might say — you find that it actually has many moving parts. Click to enlarge Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden‘s How to Read “Nancy” takes a close look at each of those parts — as well as arguing persuasively for Bushmiller’s underrated art…

What does an 11-year-old do when her “only friend” moves away? In Coco Fox’s “sorta” memoir Let’s Go, Coco, she joins the basketball team. But when you’re a pre-teen, everything’s fraught with challenges. Tim and Adam discuss this book – aimed at middle schoolers, but recommended for all ages. As far from that world as possible is the first issue o…

FLASHBACK! It’s been more than 70 years now since the debut of Archie comics, featuring (though not quite from the beginning) America’s favorite love triangle of Archie, Veronica, and Betty. Along with Jughead, Reggie, and the rest of the gang, these characters keep us coming back for more, changing with the times while still presenting an idealize…

Eternals are only human, I guess! In Eternals issues 9-12, many of the Eternals exhibit a segregationist attitude toward the Deviants, and just about everybody assumes Karkas is going to kick the Reject‘s butt in a fight based solely on how they look. Meanwhile, are the Celestials kind, or sadistic? Tim and Emmet discuss Jack Kirby‘s statements on …

FLASHBACK! A then-recent R. Crumb compilation is reviewed by a Crumb connoisseur (Kumar) and a Crumb newbie (Tim). The book features Crumb at his sweetest and his most shocking. But can this (or any book) claim to be the perfect Crumb compilation? (Originally published June 30, 2008.) Brought to you by: To the Batpoles! podcast Our supporters on Pa…

Once again we take a look at some comics submitted by their creators; we talk about what we liked about them and what could have been better. Jane Jet book 1: Nuclear Shadows, by writer Amal Desai and artist Paul Essenson, recalls Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer — the art, the jet-pack concept, the time period — but it deals with a woman getting out of an …

FLASHBACK! While Alan Moore and J.H. Williams’ Promethea, published from 1999 to 2005, is not one of Moore’s most remembered works, it’s not because the author wasn’t at the top of his game. Kumar and Emmet find it to be entrancing, even if you don’t buy into the various magical and spiritual elements that Moore built into it. Also, inevitably, the…

FLASHBACK! Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie debuted in 1924 and was a big success. FDR having not yet turned him against organized labor, Gray shows hardworking Annie going on strike in one of her many jobs. Tim and Kumar discuss the ’20s strips, their strengths and idiosyncrasies (one strip=one day?!), and how Gray’s outlook changed later. In obs…

Back in Critiquing Comics 154, Tim and Mulele discussed 2019’s Captain Marvel; Tim enjoyed it, Mulele did not. Now that we’ve arrived at the time to give it a full review as part of “Tim Catches Up with the MCU,” another viewing has helped us both to clarify our positions and see things we didn’t realize the first time around. Join us as we take a …

FLASHBACK! Twenty years after the first collection of Hicksville was released, creator Dylan Horrocks talks to Emmet about how the comic looks to him now. Some of the work’s commentary on the comics industry turned out to presage subsequent developments, and in some cases he ended up not going far enough! Also, his source for a Jack Kirby quote tha…

Reading the original Jack Kirby iteration of The Eternals shows that the MCU movie based on the title was rather dour, where Kirby’s version veers into wackiness! Sersi shows quite the sense of humor. SHIELD agents appear who just can’t seem to accept that they can’t get the upper hand on giant space gods! People … Continue reading #814 Jack Kirby’…

Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game is a baseball manga for people who don’t care about baseball. A tragedy early in the story helps to shape the narrative, but there’s also a good dose of unexpected comedy, and sequences that really make us want to cheer for Ko and his friends as they work toward the goal … Continue reading #813 “Cross Game”: Baseball man…

Jonah Lobe, after many years designing characters for video games, has recently turned his attention to comics. He’s the illustrator of Marvel Anatomy: A Scientific Study of the Superhuman, in which we can finally learn just what’s going on inside characters like Wolverine, Venom, and Modok. He’s also on the verge of his first Kickstarter … Continu…

On the surface, Sammy Harkham’s Blood of the Virgin is about an editor of b-movies in 1970s L.A. who has greater artistic aspirations, but it’s also rich with unexpected explorations of character and narrative approaches, themes about the creative process, responsibility, and being an immigrant, and Harkham’s best art and writing to date. Over a … …

Batman meets Italy’s humorous horror icon Dylan Dog in a beautiful three-issue series, originally published in Italian and recently released in English from DC. Tim and Emmet could recommend it on the art alone, but the story gives us a lot to discuss as well, including very rich conversations between characters and an interesting take … Continue r…

Paul Pate releases his third “Detective Perez” graphic novel, called Autotropolis, a turned-to-eleven detective story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Tim and Jason find a lot to like and not too terribly much to advise on — though of course almost any work can still be improved! Right? Griz Grobus, the latest from Simon … Continue reading C…

Sure, comics are great for fantastical stories, but they can tell intimate, personal stories as well — or sometimes the personal and the fantastical mix well. Artist and writer Pidge is the creator of the series Infinite Wheatpaste, which employs this method. Avery Hill has just published a collection of the series, called Infinite Wheatpaste … Con…

So many Jack Kirby creations focus on gods, from The Mighty Thor to New Gods; he picked up concepts from myth or elsewhere and made them his. Kirby’s The Eternals makes no bones about where its inspiration came from: Erich von Däniken’s 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?. This week Tim and Emmet discuss the … Continue reading #808 Jack Kirby’s “The Et…

Clover and Cutlass is a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired fantasy YA comedy web comic by Toby Boyd. Adam joins Tim to discuss. Coiled to Strike is an anthology book from Wildstar Press, featuring numerous artists and writers, focused on the adventures of legendary wild west antihero Emory Graves. Jason joins Tim to critique. Brought to you … Continue r…

Friend of the show Irene Strychalski, former artist of such Marvel titles as Gwenpool and Silk, has been focused on her original title Fiendish, a lushly drawn (and colored, by Carlos Nicolas Zamudio) fantasy story. This week, Tim and Patrick discuss the first two volumes. Also, Tim presents a mini-review of Safer Places by Kit … Continue reading #…

Berserk volume 12 left us at a crucial point: The Band of the Hawk were to be sacrificed so that Griffith can join the Godhand. Horrified, Tim and Kumar moved quickly on to volume 13, which left us… horrified, in a less fun way. Casca is raped, in an unnecessarily long, confusing, and (ick) titillating … Continue reading #806 “Berserk” v. 13 & 14: …

This week, an interview with Tessa Hulls, author of the graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts. It’s about her Chinese grandmother’s persecution by Chairman Mao’s government, the mental illness that resulted, the effect that had on Tessa’s mother and then on Tessa herself. It’s about Chinese history, trauma, psychology, family relationships, and more. Tim i…

FLASHBACK! Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli’s comics version of City of Glass, a 1985 novel by Paul Auster, is an amazing adaptation of an unfilmable novel. Tim and Kumar assess the herculean task of adapting it, in probably the only medium capable of doing so: comics! We re-present this episode in observance of Auster’s passing … Continue readi…

Kentaro Miura’s Berserk can be upsetting, fascinating, offputting, incredible, and even sometimes a bit comedic, as Tim and Kumar have found over the past several months. All those qualities appear again in volumes 11 and 12, as the story of the extended flashback reaches its climax with Griffith’s horrific accession to the God Hand. Join … Continu…

What did Marvel expect Jack Kirby to do with a 2001: A Space Odyssey series? Especially when they told him not to create any ongoing characters? What we got included the Monolith and the Star Child, but with unmistakable Kirby bombast. After concluding his story of superhero-obsessed Harvey Norton in issue 6, and a one-shot exploration … Continue r…

As Jack Kirby’s adaptation of the movie/novel 2001: A Space Odyssey sold well, Marvel asked him to turn it into a series — but then tied one hand behind his back by asking that he not create ongoing characters for fear they’d become property of MGM rather than Marvel. As Tim and Emmet see in … Continue reading #802 Jack Kirby’s “2001” #1-5: An Inte…

Critiquing Comics returns, with a comic that we just couldn’t put down, and one that we couldn’t quite pick up on! Jason joins Tim to discuss Rebirth of the Gangster: The Complete Collection, a crime novel with incredible forward momentum by Writer CJ Standal and Artist Juan Romera. Then Adam and Tim critique Toe & … Continue reading Critiquing Com…

The character of Swamp Thing originated in House of Secrets #92 in 1971, drawn by Berni Wrightson and written by Len Wein. That story served as a first draft for the real origin story in Swamp Thing #1, with the same creative pairing. This week, Tim is joined by writer for CBR and Screen Rant … Continue reading #801 Swamp Thing Begins: Issues 1-13 …

Batman and the Outsiders was one of DC’s top sellers in the 1980s. This time, Tim is joined by John Trumbull to take a close look at the second volume of the series, which includes the reveal of Halo’s origin, exploration of Metamorpho’s, the 1984 L.A. Olympics, time travel, and more. Don’t forget the Mike … Continue reading #800 “Batman and the Ou…

Kentaro Miura’s Berserk can be confounding. Reading volumes 9 and 10 prompts us to ask “Just what genre IS this comic, anyway?” While it still has plenty of over-the-top action and violence, it also has gratuitous sex, comedy, and even some horror elements. And now we finally have hints toward why the “present” of volumes … Continue reading #799 “B…

After the gravitas of Avengers: Infinity War, which ended in a blaze of glory only for the villain, what did we want next? A fun, lighthearted romp of a movie. Right? No? Well, that’s what we got and this movie is certainly fun. But it doesn’t resolve a single thread from Infinity War. Mulele struggles … Continue reading “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (201…

FLASHBACK! Though the highly influential manga series, and resulting TV show, are known for non-stop action and fighting, Dragon Ball started out as a comedy strip reminiscent of Akira Toriyama‘s early work, Dr. Slump! Viz’s English versions have gone through various levels of censorship over time to adjust to the low level of sexuality that … Cont…

FLASHBACK! In 1998, under the “Marvel Knights” banner, Christopher Priest began the first ongoing Black Panther title in nearly two decades. Panther was a relatively unknown character to many Marvel readers at the time. With the aid of “Emperor of Useless White Boys” Everett K. Ross, and artists like Mark Texeira and Joe Jusko, Priest … Continue re…

Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon pokes fun at fantasy games and cooking manga tropes, exploring what it would really be like to be a character in a fantasy game, arranging your life in ways that wouldn’t really make sense in the real world. This week, Kumar and Emmet do a deep dive on this consistently … Continue reading #798 “Delicious in Dungeon”…

Kel McDonald‘s Murky Water is about a paranormal investigation police unit looking into the death of a man from drowning – in his very dry living room. (Currently being Kickstarted!) Tim and Adam critique. Then, Jason joins Tim to review Lucy Sullivan‘s Barking, about dealing with depression in an inadequate mental health care system. … Continue re…

Jack Kirby’s 1976 adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey is an odd combination of the Stanley Kubrick movie, the Arthur C. Clarke novel, and Kirby’s own research and dramatic inclinations, which sometimes were pretty out-of-step with the tone of the film! This week, Tim and Emmet discuss this out-of-print treasury edition comic, where it borrows … Con…

If you read New York’s Village Voice newspaper between 1974 and 1995, you are probably familiar with Stan Mack‘s Real Life Funnies. If not, hold on to your hat! A forthcoming book from Fantagraphics collects many of the strips, all ripped from real life, and taking full advantage of the Voice‘s lack of content guardrails. … Continue reading #796 St…

FLASHBACK! There’s no doubt that Superman is one of the most significant characters in the history of American comics. He ended up setting the template for what would be the dominant genre in American comics after the Comics Code came into effect. Of course, the types of stories told in those comics, and their tone, … Continue reading #479 Some of …

FLASHBACK! Reviews of Asterios Polyp blanket the Internet; why need we pile on? Well, for starters, to counteract all the reviewers who think that giving a story synoposis = explaining what the book’s about. That approach falls far short with Polyp, so Tim and Kumar are here to explain what they feel David Mazzucchelli’s masterwork … Continue readi…

Cap and the Falcon have found the underground bunker of the aristocratic forces hoping to take over America on the Bicentennial, but the location of their secret weapon, the Mad Bomb, is still a mystery. What next? How about a love story? But wait a minute – this love story between Cap and a sick … Continue reading #795 Jack Kirby’s “Capt. America …

To mark the recent passing of artist Ian Gibson, Kumar and Dana dive into a long-overdue discussion of his masterpiece with writer Alan Moore, The Ballad of Halo Jones. Halo Jones is an early work by Moore that was never completed, but it is rich, immersive, and fully developed at every turn, from the characters … Continue reading #794 “The Ballad …

While Kentaro Miura’s Berserk is meant to feature the swordsman character Guts, in volumes 7 and 8 the focus is on Griffith and the progress made – at ANY cost – toward his dream of having his own kingdom, a machine in which Guts is just a major cog. Casca is the other major figure, … Continue reading #793 “Berserk” v 7-8: The Battle for Doldrey…

Tim continues to catch up with the MCU! This film is awkward to review nearly two years after it came out, with Tim going through the speculation about how this story will play out in Avengers: End Game that those who are already caught up, including Mulele, already know the answers to. Listen to relive … Continue reading “Avengers: Infinity War” (…

Cap and Falcon are trapped in an underground bunker where elites plot to destroy the Bicentennial celebrations and take away Americans’ freedoms. In Captain America and the Falcon 195-197, they participate in the “Kill-Derby” to retrieve Cap’s stolen shield break up the bad guys’ underground civilization. Tim and Emmet continue their look at Jack K…

Monica is Dan Clowes’s richest and most rewarding book in years, combining the surrealism of early works like Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron with the multi-genre anthology approach of his more recent books. What does it all mean though? Kumar and Dana try to come to an understanding of it, spoiling almost every … Continue reading #791 Daniel Clow…

Chantal Montellier‘s Social Fiction, published by New York Review Comics with a translation by Geoffrey Brock, is a collection of comics fueled by political anger, hauntingly farsighted satire and attacks on consumer culture. Emmet and Kumar review the collection, which still feels vibrant and at the same time prophetic, given the original publicat…

When Jack Kirby returned to Marvel in 1975, the first series he worked on starred the character that was one of Kirby’s earliest claims to fame: Captain America, created in 1940 by Kirby and writer Joe Simon. Before Kirby returned, Cap’s book became Captain America and the Falcon. As Kirby begins his run, he deftly … Continue reading #789 Jack Kirb…

FLASHBACK! Planning a murder that you think will prevent future murders? That’s the premise — or, at least, one of the premises — of Monster, Naoki Urasawa’s 18-volume series. Set in Germany, the series focuses on the unintended consequences of Dr. Kenzo Tenma’s good deed; he saved the life of a boy who turned out … Continue reading #291 “MONSTER” …

FLASHBACK! We begin a two-review series on comics that ask hard questions about whether murder can ever be justified. This week, Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus. Beginning in the early ’80s, Baron’s philosophical writing and Rude’s increasingly polished art presented the story of a far future in which a man kills mass-murderers — not … Continue r…

In 1993, the Image revolution was underway, itself a result of the 1986 earthquake brought about by Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Moore was on a mission to counteract the wave of “grim and gritty” comics he had inadvertently helped to start. This led to Moore’s 1963 series, a combination … Continue reading #788 A…