RSS feed for Forrest HelvieCONNECT WITH SEQUART
TRENDING ON SEQUART
BOOKS FROM SEQUART
BOOKS ON GRANT MORRISON
BOOKS ON ALAN MOORE
BOOKS ON WARREN ELLIS
BOOKS ON TV AND MOVIES
NEW SINGLES
Forrest Helvie
Forrest Helvie teaches developmental English at a community college in Connecticut and is a member of the Comic Book Collectors' Association (CBCA) board of directors. He is also working on his doctoral dissertation, which will focus on the relationship between American literature and comic book superheroes.
BOOKS AND MOVIES BY FORREST HELVIE
 The Devil is in the Details: Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil (contributor) |
TOP MAGAZINE CONTENT BY FORREST HELVIE
Sharpening the Image: Introduction
Comic readers from Gen X and (older members of) Gen Y remember 1992 as a sort of zeitgeist for comics. Change was in the air in all strata of the field
OTHER MAGAZINE CONTENT BY FORREST HELVIE (29 TOTAL)
Of Cats and Lizards: An Interview with Jason Brubaker—Creator of reMIND
Comixology has defined part of its business model by giving away first issues of on-going series and samples of other comics as a means of catching reader’s attention and hooking their interest for the long-term.… [more]
What Makes for a Great Joker Story: In Defense of Batman #17
Recently, I wrote a review on Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman #17—the much-anticipated finale for the “Death of the Family” story arc, and I gave it a solid “10.” (I’ll spare the details as… [more]
Interview with Andrew Goletz from Gray Havens Comics – You Are Not Alone Anthology
Gray Haven Comics is an independent comic publisher making a name for itself with its on-going anthology, The Gathering. Recently, publisher Andrew Goletz began mobilizing fellow comics creators—both pros and up-and-coming writers and artists—to contribute… [more]
Jim Valentino’s Shadowhawk: Year One
At the time of Image Comics’ inception, Jim Valentino openly admitted to being the least known founder. Valentino stated in the first edition of the trade paperback of Shadowhawk vol. 1 that “I was pretty… [more]
A Review of Darkness Outside of the Night
I am fortunate to have enjoyed the opportunity to write for Sequart over the past year and a half. From one-shot reviews, articles and editorials, to beginning to write selections for my serialized critical book,… [more]
A Review of Star Wars #1, “In the Shadow of Yavin”
Script: Brian Wood. Art: Carlos D’Anda. Colors: Gabe Eltaeb. Lettering: Michael Heisler. Cover Art: Alex Ross. Brian Wood is a creator who, over the past few years, has built an impressive resume working in the realm of both creator-owned… [more]
Sharpening the Image: Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, the Man and the Comic that Started It All (Part 4)
Part Four: Final Thoughts
Sharpening the Image: Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, the Man and the Comic that Started It All (Part 3)
Part Three: When Pictures Aren’t Worth a Thousand Words
Sharpening the Image: Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, the Man and the Comic that Started It All (Part 2)
While one certainly should not judge a book by its cover, applying this adage to the cover of a comic book can be problematic.
Sharpening the Image: Rob Liefield’s Youngblood, the Man and the Comic that Started it All
By many accounts, it was Rob Liefield who initiated talks about forming Image Comics and encouraged other rock star artists of the late 1980s and early 1990s into breaking away from the mainstream to form… [more]
A Peek Behind the Curtain: Into North Korea with Guy Delisle in Pyongyang
Guy Delisle’s travelogue, Pyongyang, takes readers on a journey to a country that has been closed off to the West for years, and instead of dispelling fears of a fascist nation oppressing its people in… [more]
Comics as Catharsis: Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home
Comic literature is truly an exciting field, as it expands its canon to include more than the super-hero genre that got things started in the 1930s and ’40s.
Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp and the Fine Line
Have you read David Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp? If not, you should. This graphic novel exemplifies the type of comic that makes excellent use of its visual components and economic use of language
My Introduction to Manga, Part 2: A Mechanical Emerson for the Future in Urasawa’s Pluto
In 1942, Isaac Asimov introduced the world to the three laws of robotics and, in doing so, set the stage that later science fiction writers interested in writing about robots would have to cross.
My Introduction to Manga, Part 1: Suppli Takes on Batman and Loses. By a Landslide.
Like many Western comic fans of a certain age (which will go unmentioned), I have had little exposure to manga and anime.
Kafka and The Bunny Suicides
During the last week of December, savvy shoppers are aware of the 50% discount on new calendars for the upcoming year.
Black Hole… Where Everyone is Welcome!
Charles Burns’s Black Hole starts off like so many other bildungsroman stories before it: girl and boy meet, girl and boy fall in love, girl and boy experience sex together for the first time, girl discovers… [more]
The Anxiety of Influence and Failed Sequels: Frank Miller and The Dark Knight Strikes Again
“I mean the criticism teaches not a language of criticism […] but a language in which poetry already is written, the language of influence, of the dialectic…” (Bloom 25).
The Difficulties of Being “Just” Good and Bad in Comics of the New Millennium
In 1974, Frank Castle—also known as The Punisher—made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #129, and the comics world was introduced to what would become one of the most popular anti-heroes—though he certainly was not the… [more]
Jimmy Corrigan and Smartest Deconstruction of the Superhero in the World
When dealing with 20th-century novels, James Joyce’s Ulysses is arguably the most significant work in terms of its influence on writers who would follow in the modern and postmodern traditions.
The Adventures of Tintin in Critical Controversy
It is commonly held that the United States helped create the comics art and literary genre; however, what is often overlooked is the significant comics community thriving in Europe during these early years, particularly in… [more]
Life on Another Planet: Because the Options Here Don’t Look Great
The notion of discovering intelligent life on another planet and discovering new worlds in space might initially seem to be an exciting field of exploration rife with optimism.
Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman: Science Fiction or Science Fiction Appropriated?
Like traditional literature, graphic novels and comics approach the science fiction genre in a variety of different ways, and this should come as no surprise given the various approaches to sequential art in the United… [more]
Habibi: Open Dialogues with Difficult Literature
My first impression upon picking up my copy of Craig Thompson’s latest work, Habibi, was one of both excitement and trepidation.
Rethinking “Modern Era Comic Books Aren’t Bad… They’re Just Not Worth the Money”
In the Spring 2010 newsletter of the Comic Book Collector’s Association, I wrote an article called “Modern Era Comic Books Aren’t Bad…They’re Just Not Worth the Money.[1]”
Comics Journalism: Learning about Current Events through Funny Books
It’s an exciting time to work in the field of comics today, even for those us—the comics critics and scholars—who possess far less artistic ability to create captivating images or weave spellbinding tales.
Why I Believe in Comics
On NPR, there is a program called This I Believe… where respondents briefly explain their particular belief about a certain topic in around 500 or so words.
Fresh Off the Boat: Stories of the Americanization Process in Anya’s Ghost and American Born Chinese (Part Two)
While Anya’s Ghost subtly weaves the theme of the “FOB” and the struggle with Americanization into its story of coming of age and the supernatural, Gene Luen Yang’s award-winning American Born Chinese takes direct aim… [more]
Fresh Off the Boat: The Americanization Process in Anya’s Ghost and American Born Chinese (Part One)
One concept that often shows up in multiethnic literature is the “FOB”— Fresh Off the Boat—immigrant.