The Comics Super Blog!
Churchland’s delightful creations jump from the web to print in ‘The Hchom Book’ from Image Comics.
While she’s probably better known for comics like Beast, Elephantmen and her various contributions to the 8HOUSE shared universe, my favorite Marian Churchland work has always been her blog. For years she’s posted images of her own want lists, Dragon Age fan art, and these cool little goblins and the world she envisions they live in. Like this guy:
Continue reading “Marian Churchland’s blog goblins get a print collection in September”
McNamara discusses his latest collaboration with artist Tony Talbert, an original graphic novel about vampires, the pharmaceutical industry and immortality.
A vampire stockbroker from the 1980s reemerges in the present day to find that a pharmaceutical industry wants to sink their teeth into him — and steal his immortality. Writer Jason McNamara (The Rattler) teams with longtime collaborator Tony Talbert (Continuity, First Moon, Less Than Hero) to bring this “mature readers” adventure to life. They’re joined by inker John Heebink and colorist Paul Little.
Using Kickstarter, the team hopes you’ll help them see their vision become a reality. We ran a preview of the new book last week, and I caught up with Jason to learn more about the new book, Kickstarter and more.
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Jason McNamara on ‘Sucker’”
Plus: Police investigate Mangamura, the world’s largest comics collection and more.
Passings: The Belgian artist William Vance, creator of the French-language series XIII, has died at the age of 82 from Parkinson’s disease. Born William van Cutsem in Belgium in 1935, Vance served a year in the military and then studied for four years at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. He began working for Tintin magazine (not the eponymous series, as stated in one obituary) in 1962, drawing four-page stories, and then launched the his first series, Howard Flynn (written by Yves Duval). He also was the artist for Bruno Brazil, and then he took over as the artist of Bob Morane, a series that had been started by Dino Attanasio. In 1984, he and Jean van Hamme launched XIII, a complex series partially inspired by Robert Ludlum’s Bourne character. Vance illustrated 18 volumes of XIII, which sold over 14 million volumes and was adapted into a television series. In 2010 he announced his retirement due to Parkinson’s disease.
Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: ‘XIII’ creator William Vance passes away”
Jason McNamara and Tony Talbert team up to kickstart a new ‘grind house vampire adventure.’
The Rattler co-creator Jason McNamara has returned to Kickstarter with his longtime collaborator Tony Talbert for a new vampire tale called Sucker.
McNamara and Talbert have worked together on several projects in the past, including Continuity, First Moon and Less Than Hero. This time around they’re creating “a grind house vampire adventure” geared toward mature readers. John Heebink and Paul Little round out the creative team.
And we’ve got a 10-page preview you can check out below.
Continue reading “Sink your teeth into a preview of ‘Sucker’”
Xavier Fauthoux to write and draw a graphic novel about the Godfather of Soul.
IDW Publishing has announced plans for a graphic novel based on the life of the Godfather of Soul. Written and illustrated by Xavier Fauthoux, James Brown: Black and Proud will be available in stores in October.
“Tracing the life of this cultural juggernaut, Black and Proud, paints a rich portrait of a true larger-than-life American personality,” said Justin Eisinger, Editorial Director of Graphic Novels and Collections at IDW, in a press release. “Even readers more than casually familiar with Mr. Brown’s career and achievements will find plenty of new revelations and details that add a deep complexity to a celebrated cultural icon. And that’s something so powerful about the contemporary non-fiction movement in graphic storytelling.”
Continue reading “IDW to publish graphic novel biography of James Brown”
The hardcover is due out Sept. 5.
Image Comics has announced plans to publish an English-language hardcover version of Perdy, by French cartoonist Kickily.
The western graphic novel stars Perdy, a woman who “loves two things: sex and robbing banks—no particular order.” After getting out of prison, she returns to her wild ways to pursue “the biggest score of gold this side of the border. And if anyone gets in her way, they’ll be pushing up petunias.” Dargaud BD will publish the French edition of the book.
Continue reading “Image brings Kickliy’s ‘Perdy’ to America”
‘This is a story for people who can relate to falling in love with someone they least expected.’
My Boyfriend is a Bear is about a woman dating an American black bear. As a woman in East Los Angeles, it’s far from her worst relationship, and the two navigate a new relationship and its many challenges in ways that are bizarre but also touching. It is quite possibly the most touching interspecies relationship since Gonzo and Camilla started dating on the Muppets. Written by Pamela Ribon and drawn by Cat Farris, the book is also one of the funniest and most emotionally honest romance stories of the year.
Pamela Ribon is best known in comics for writing Slam! at BOOM! Studios and for writing Rick and Morty at Oni, though she’s also a well-known novelist, screenwriter, memoirist and filmmaker. Cat Farris has drawn a number of comics including Emily and the Strangers, the minicomic series Flaccid Badger and her webcomic The Last Diplomat. They answered a few questions about why they made a romance story involving a nameless bear who likes to wear an Arcade Fire T-shirt.
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Pamela Ribon and Cat Farris on ‘My Boyfriend is a Bear’”
The creator discusses her latest graphic novel from Fantagraphics, political activism, PowerPoint and much more.
In her new book Why Art? Eleanor Davis tackles some of the questions around what art is, how we respond to it, how artists think about it and try to use it. Which may sound dry and perhaps dull but in Davis’ hands the idea becomes something strange and unexpected and at times laugh out loud funny. Davis describes one character in the book, “If she were a bad artist her art would be a lie and people would hate it. Instead, somehow she has made the statement into her truth.” This statement could be applied to Davis and her work. For many of us over the past few years she has become one of the essential cartoonists working right now.
Davis has also become very political active and currently serves as the membership coordinator for Athens for Everyone. We spoke recently about her book, political action, finding one’s artistic voice and coming to understand that everything is easy. She also mentioned the graphic novel she’s working on now and she answered, why art?
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Eleanor Davis on ‘Why Art?’”
Ryan Ferrier and Roger Langridge’s graphic novel will arrive from Dark Horse this fall.
Ryan Ferrier and Roger Langridge’s Criminy has gone from concept to a graphic novel, and now Dark Horse has announced more details about the project — including a publication date.
The publisher says that the “humorous, absurd tale about a family on the run” will land in stores Septe. 19. They also revealed the book’s cover:
Created in conjunction with the Center for Cartoon Studies, the program offers $1,000 to each winner.
Slate has announced the winners of their annual Cartoonist Studio Prize, which awards $1,000 to the year’s best print comic and webcomic.
This year’s winner in the print catgeory is Keren Katz for The Academic Hour, published by Secret Acres.
Continue reading “Keren Katz, Michael DeForge win 2018 Cartoonist Studio Prize”
‘It’s like all the characters in the book have their own universe.’
Anneli Furmark’s Red Winter is a stunning book. It is a love story where the grand romantic scene and gesture happens in the opening pages. It is a narrative that is fractured told from multiple points of view, none of whom understand everything that’s happening. It’s about the politics of 1970’s Sweden and how they intersect with people’s lives. It is an impression of a time and of a place that is rendered and colored beautifully that lingers lost after one finishes reading he last page.
Furmark was kind enough to answer a few questions about her book and how she works.
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Anneli Furmark on ‘Red Winter’”
Following a successful Kickstarter, Franklin discusses how the graphic novel landed at Image Comics.
Last month Bingo Love came out from Image Comics. Written by first-time graphic novelist Tee Franklin and illustrated by Jenn St-Onge, it’s a realistic love story that jumps from 1963 to the present before ending in 2038. It tells the story of two women, Hazel and Mari, who meet when they’re young and are reunited decades later. It’s a story with a happy ending, which is not to say that the book is not also a fraught and complicated journey for the characters.
Franklin is known to many in the comics community for her journalism. She’s written short comics for various anthologies, but after a successful Kickstarter, the book looks to be one of the breakout comics of the year. The book has already gone into a second printing before it was ever published, and Image isn’t run by fools; Franklin announced her next project at Image Expo shortly after Bingo Love hit the shelves.
Continue reading “Smash Pages Q&A: Tee Franklin on ‘Bingo Love’”
