Phase 7 #13
by Alec Longstreth
Self-Published
There aren’t enough good things to say about Ignatz-winner Alec Longstreth and his comic series Phase 7. In some of the series’ latter issues, Longstreth writes about his personal history with comics and explains the story behind Phase 7. Arguably, his more personal stories have made those issues his [...]

The Rabbi’s Cat 2
By Joann Sfar
Pantheon
Joann Sfar’s The Rabbi’s Cat series is comprised of the kinds of books beloved by many comics-inclined adults: packaged like children’s books, they read as if they were written for grown-ups. Beyond making great reading material for the subway (so that you can watch other people secretly watching you), these [...]

When I approach the Dark Horse booth near the entrance of the New York Comic Con showroom floor, David Lloyd appears deeply engaged with someone standing on the other side of the signing counter. His eyes flit from the fellow occasionally, only to put the finishing touches on a large sketch that dominates the inside [...]

A Man of Certain Talents
By Douglas Noble
Strip for Me

There’s a real pleasure in finding something you enjoy, only to discover that it’s got a sizable back catalogue attached. I had such an experience recently with Rufus Wainwright, hearing his latest album on the jukebox, loving it, and then finding all is previous albums on [...]

Insult to Injury 7
by Ben Rosen
Self-Published
Last year I wondered what would happen to my favorite high school cartoonist when he grew up and joined the college nation. It turns out he just got funnier, hipper, more expressive, and more productive. I kind of wonder if Ben Rosen hasn’t been studying enough during his [...]

Snake Oil 01
by Chuck Forsman
Self-Published
It’s an esoteric comic from one of the Center for Cartoon Studies’ finest, so you know it’s good.
Chuck Forsman’s Snake Oil 01 jumps between its character’s personal stories while it continues to progress forward in time to tell a multi-faceted story. Like the TV show Lost, in a way, but [...]

Tales of Unusual Circumstance
By Joey Weiser
Author House Books
The title of Joey Weiser’s first collection is more than just the simple homage to classic EC books betrayed by its front and back covers. Tales of Unusual Circumstance is as much a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the world of pre-code comics as it is an over-arching mission statement [...]

UK Web And Mini Comics Thing Anthology 2008
By Various Artists

The offer of this column, and the buxom cheerleaders and G&Ts that come with it, came a little late for me to plan, and afford, a field trip to The UK Web And Mini Comics Thing in London. Still nursing a bruised ego from [...]

Aqua Leung
By Mark Andrew Smith and Paul Maybury
Image Comics
You’re reading along in the first book of Aqua Leung, Mark Andrew Smith and Paul Maybury’s new graphic novel series. The narrator, the all-knowing millennium tortoise—a giant underwater tortoise whose millennia-old wrinkles ripple like waves over his body—is relaying the history of Atlantis and the story [...]

All We Ever Do is Talk About Wood
By Tom Horacek
Drawn & Quarterly
As one of the medium’s longest reigning genius, it’s nearly impossible to quantify Charles Schulz’s impact on the comic strip. Nearly every strip that has been conceived subsequently owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to Schulz’s long-running strip Peanuts, and while plenty have borrowed [...]