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Southern Bastards #16: Moving the Goalposts
There are eerie and tempting parallels between Coach Boss and a certain American President-elect. Both are brutal, simple-minded, deeply insecure tyrants, and both have a tendency to move the goalposts and declare victory when an… [more]
Descender #17: Connections
Descender takes a turn in issue #17 (released just before Christmas last year). This innovative and emotional science fiction comic has spent its past five issues on “singularity” stories, focusing on one character at a… [more]
Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All! The Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks
In the first of two forewords to Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All: The Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics), Paul Karasik describes the cult Golden Age cartoonist Fletcher Hanks as the “village… [more]
Arrival: Science Fiction for Grownups
Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, has the structure of a magic trick. It slowly, carefully, shows us something in its first few minutes, then gives us about 70 minutes of misdirection before showing us what… [more]
Why I Admire Rogue One
First, a warning: here there be spoilers. Seriously, spoilers. Spoilers… Okay? Still here? Good. Let me start by admitting that Rogue One is an imperfect movie. Ian Dawe has done his usual excellent job talking… [more]
Revisiting Crimson Empire
Written by Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley and illustrated by Paul Gulacy, Crimson Empire first premiered in 1997, and followed the exploits of a former Imperial royal guard Kir Kanos, as he tries to seek… [more]
Rogue One Stumbles, then Soars
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is appropriately titled. It isn’t a “Star Wars movie” in that it isn’t about the Skywalker family, nor is it about the specific large mythic arcs that define that… [more]
Southern Bastards #15: The Taste of Ribs and Defeat
Here we are again in the steaming tribal vendetta-filled world of Southern Bastards. Craw County continues, here in issue #15, to be a community that measures is worth based on the standing of its high… [more]
Lake of Fire #3: Oaths
The situation faced by the crusaders in Lake of Fire is becoming increasingly desperate in issue #3. Theo has been badly wounded, the Keep is surrounded by aliens intent on getting in, the people are… [more]
Descender #16: A Real Killer
All of the characters in Descender (with the possible exception of the TIMs) have an undercurrent of rage and confusion. Their world changed so dramatically, and so quickly, with the Harvester attack that it re-drew… [more]
Sinner Man: Lawrence Block’s Long Lost Novel is Back in Print
Lawrence Block’s Sinner Man was originally published under a pseudonym, nearly fifty years ago. This month, Hard Case Crime is bringing the book back into print under Block’s own name. The story behind the book’s disappearance… [more]
Yoga Hosers: A Kevin Smith Film, Through-and-Through
It’s difficult to review a movie like Yoga Hosers. It’s so deliberately made for a specific group of people who are immersed in jokes and references from the podcasts of Kevin Smith that one wonders… [more]
Manifest Destiny #24: Making Camp
The latest Manifest Destiny brings the “Sasquatch” story arc to an end in fairly spectacular fashion. These story arcs function quite a bit like seasons of television, and Chris Dingess has fashioned a whopper of… [more]
Christopher Guest’s Mascots Delivers to the Fans
Christopher Guest movies are endearing because they’re about people who are this close to stardom, but there’s a narrow and deep chasm between them and their dreams. Even Spinal Tap (which of course was not… [more]
Reborn, from Mark Millar and Greg Capullo Makes Its Debut
The long-awaited collaboration between Mark Millar and Greg Capullo is now here in the form of Reborn, which debuts today. The book is certainly blessed with a deep bench of talent (Jonathan Glapion is the… [more]
Lake of Fire #2: Heroes
Lake of Fire, by Nathan Fairbairn and Matt Smith, seems to be mixing what we would expect from a “crusaders vs aliens” storyline (lots of fights, strange eruptions from wounds) with a fairly robust and… [more]
Descender #15: Effie
Descender’s”singularity” series continues in issue #15, with a new and interesting twist: a love story. But there’s nothing sentimental or false about this particular love story; it recounts a tragic, wise and emotionally realistic relationship… [more]
Raiders! Tells the Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
Like many kids who grew up in the 1980s, including me, Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos liked to create little movies in their backyards with their parents’ video cameras. (Mine was a Star Trek pastiche… [more]
For the Love of Spock: An Imperfect Portrait of a Fascinating Man
Adam Nimoy’s long-awaited documentary about his father, For the Love of Spock, is now playing in selected theatres and is available for streaming purchase on several services, after a storied build-up and crowdfunding campaign. Conceived… [more]
Invisible Republic Begins a New Arc in Issue #11
The new story arc of Invisible Republic, which begins here in issue #11, is a bit of a departure from previous issues and arcs in this compelling and complex science fiction drama. Readers will remember… [more]
Manifest Destiny #23: Tales of Captain Helm
It’s become apparent that the Captain Helm story in the pages of Manifest Destiny serves, at least in part, the same function that Tales of the Black Freighter did in Watchmen. This is emphatically a… [more]
The Lost Work of Will Eisner Adds to an Impressive Legacy
Available now from Locust Moon, The Lost work of Will Eisner gives us a glimpse into the evolution of both an artist and a medium. The collection presents two strip-based comics runs from the master… [more]
Lake of Fire #1: Crusaders vs Aliens in an Innovative, Compelling New Comic
There’s been quite a lot written about The Crusades, but it seems like modern historians agree on one thing: they were a great excuse for Christians of a certain persuasion to engage in some serious… [more]
Manifest Destiny #22: The Eyes Have It
Like many men of their era, Lewis and Clark were “blessed” with an overabundance of positivity and confidence (more for Lewis than Clark, but they each believed in the soundness of their society and their… [more]
Descender #14: Bandit’s Lonely Vigil
The latest issue of Descender is the third in a series of five issues termed “Singularities” by the comic’s creators, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, but it’s easily the most creative and appealing thus far.… [more]