COMICS FOR SERIOUS

THE COMICS JOURNAL: 'The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred' #1 by Hine and Kane

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:01:00 -0500

THE COMICS JOURNAL: 'The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred' #1 by Hine and Kane:

Reviewed the first issue of The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred for The Comics Journal. Issue two came out this week and may actually be even better than the first one. Dunno, Kane and Hine are just going nuts with this series…

THE COMICS JOURNAL: 'Streakers' by Nick Maandag

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:03:05 -0500

THE COMICS JOURNAL: 'Streakers' by Nick Maandag:

Now contributing to The Comics Journal which is like, woah. My first review is for Nick Maandag’s really funny surprisingly touching, often downright depressing comic Streakers (brandon).

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Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:26:27 -0500

"childhood predators" from 'kramer's ergot' #8

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:43:00 -0500

Think of Dash Shaw and Frank Santoro’s “Childhood Predators” in the newest Kramer’s Ergot 8 as the comix equivalent of a Big Black song: a sincere slab of real-world, low-stakes, work-a-day fucked-upness manifested as actually putting yourself on the line contrarian art. It details the luring in, arrest, and life-ruining of a 20 year-old who was caught in a sting by one of those child predator catcher trick shows, wherein a grown-ass man pretends to be a 14 year old girl. When the comic begins and the pedo-looking cop describes getting in the mind of a 14 year-old, you think this strip’s about a pedophile (Todd Solondz’s twee nihilism comes to comix!) and not the media machinations that pile-on the most unsympathetic aspects of our population. It is foreshadowing the strip’s point, which if you reduce it, is perhaps a little dopey though vital—who is sicker, the society that entraps perverts to ruin their lives and puts it on TV, or the pervert?. But it is nevertheless bold and enraged and in that sense, pure Steve Albini. And man, it’s got that classic Santoro half-finished feel, like you’re being ripped off of some lines and colors, only you aren’t—it’s just that you’re used way too much big dumb effort and so, the comic’s more like a healthy, square meal and not the triple cheeseburger combo that the comics world has spoiled you with. The way he draws the grainy lines of a television, eerie and tormented, indicating mood while communicating that what you’re viewing is from video tape is astounding, and there’s a comedy to the takedowns of the pedophile that’s straight outta Shaw’s Bodyworld. And illustrating the 14 year-old as faceless is both clever (because she ain’t real) and ethical (the reader can’t sexualize or project feelings onto her). Also: Airbrush! Gorgeous cheesy oddly moving airbrush! Given Santoro’s more recent strips—Blast Furnace Funnies or the ones on his Tumblr—this may seem like it’s harsh or cynical or too knowing, but it’s just another hard-assedly sincere rumination on being alive in the 2010s (brandon).

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Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:35:50 -0500

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Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:32:51 -0500

Woah, this is awesome. Attack The Block and Conan the Barbarian...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:47:08 -0500

Woah, this is awesome. Attack The Block and Conan the Barbarian were the best comic book movies of 2011 by the way.

Them's The Vagaries: #31 - Night of the Living Dummy II

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:14:40 -0500

Them's The Vagaries: #31 - Night of the Living Dummy II:

themsthevagaries:

You rejoin a Sean and Brandon Soderberg conversation already in progress with our heroes actually getting around to discussing Brandon’s top five comics of 2011. Featuring how comics are like the Wire’s album of 2011, tuxedo t-shirts and vikings.

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Part two of my comics rant for the podcast Them’s The Vagaries. Sean and I finally get to my five favorite comics of 2011 (Wolverine: The Best There Is…, Gangsta Rap Posse #2, Welcome Fever, It’s Me—The Magic #1, Thickness 1 & 2, and Northlanders #41) and there are lots of weird tangents in these 90 minutes, including a moment where I imagine what Wolverine’s penis looks like (brandon).

jesse9000: “old woovren” aka old man logan?

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:03:29 -0500

jesse9000:

“old woovren” aka old man logan?

Them's The Vagaries: #30 - It Came from Beneath the Sink!

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:06:00 -0500

Them's The Vagaries: #30 - It Came from Beneath the Sink!:

themsthevagaries:

Sean and Brandon Soderberg skype up a storm about the state of comics at the end of 2011 in the first of a two-part TTV comics special. Hint: There’s a lot to be mad about.

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Sean McTiernan of the rap and other things podcast Them’s The Vagaries asked me to participate in some year-end proceedings and talk about my favorite comics of 2011. What transpired was a two-hour conversation about comics which didn’t even begin to address my 2011 picks until like, the 45 minute mark. Wisely, our discussion has been split in two parts. The first part is me contextualizing and complaining about comics-–think of this as a comics in 2011 state of the union address: On DC’s 52 event being a big joke, why Grant Morrison’s Supergods is the comic criticism equivalent of Walter Pater’s The Renaissance, how licensing and movie deals are killing comic books, and why alt-comics nerds like Daniel Clowes and Seth are the worst. Part two will be up later in the week (brandon).

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Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:15:31 -0500

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Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:12:16 -0500

10 Best Comics Of 2011

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:07:04 -0500

1. Gangsta Rap Posse #2 by Benjamin Marra
2. Wolverine: The Best There Is by Charlie Huston & Juan Jose Ryp
3. Thickness #1 and #2 edited by Ryan Sands & Michael DeForge
4. Northlanders #41 by Brian Wood & Marian Churchland
5. Welcome Fever It’s Me - the Magic! #1 by Keenan Marshall Keller
6. Blast Furnace Funnies by Frank Santoro
7. Flash Roughs/ In a Hole: Jul-Aug 2010 by Matt Seneca
8. Night Animals by Brecht Evens
9. Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, & John Severin
10. Ice Man & Angel One-Shot by Brian Clevinger & Juan Doe

(brandon)