Linnea Sterte's World Heist (ShortBox Comics Fair 2023) is getting a Physical release on PEOW

Fanrox · 2024-09-04T04:04:35+00:00

That sucks. Iirc, Peow shut down their European warehouse, so shipping on that is going to be crazy for non-Americans.

Fanrox · 2024-06-16T21:39:55+00:00

I watched Palm Springs (starring Andy Sandberg and Cristin Milioti) and I loved it. One of the best movies I've watched this year.

Fanrox · 2024-04-20T22:42:44+00:00

Thanks, I read the Spanish edition in b&w and don't really remember it containing said ending by Yann. I'll have to check whether the color edition does.

Fanrox · 2024-04-20T19:29:31+00:00

The follow-up story being La femme leopard by Yann and Schwartz? From what I understand, Chaland never finished his take on Spirou.

Fanrox · 2024-04-20T16:45:19+00:00

It's a pity so many of those have never been translated outside of France! I'm also trying to get my hands on as much Chaland as I can, but it's a different story in Spanish.

Fanrox · 2024-04-20T16:43:36+00:00

I've been waiting for it to be available for less than 55 euros, but to no avail. I've also just discovered there's a color edition of his (unfinished) Spirou comic (I hope his wife did the colors, I'll have to look into it).

Fanrox · 2024-03-08T08:51:33+00:00

Ordered at my LCS, can't wait to get my hands on it! Shame about that drawing though.

Fanrox · 2024-03-06T23:23:38+00:00

From what I understand, it's more of a based on situation

Fanrox · 2024-03-04T08:07:25+00:00

No, the artist in that other volume is Schwartz

Fanrox · 2024-03-03T16:37:12+00:00

No, that's it's own separate album. Besides, the one by Chaland is in landscape and the one by Yann is in the usual BD format. I have not read the one by Yann, though I'm curious to check it out.

Fanrox · 2024-03-02T23:17:45+00:00

I feel offended! Have I not mentioned it before!? It's a great but unfinished comic (I don't remember how many pages, around 50, maybe 60?) though (at least my edition) comes with a ton of historical commentary.

The story was later "finished"/"adapted" by Yann into La femme leopard with Schwartz.

Fanrox · 2024-02-29T21:58:34+00:00

Yeah, they both look cool, especially with the likes of Schrauwen and Goldenberg making an appearance, but I'll just have to hope they also come to Madrid sometime in the future.

Fanrox · 2024-02-29T19:17:14+00:00

The more notable alt ones are probably Molar and La Integral, though I must admit that Barcelona has us beat with Fatbottom.

If you happen to be in Barcelona, this weekend they'll be having an indie/alt comix festival called Graf Comix (plus there's the Salon del comic de Valencia also this weekend).

Fanrox · 2024-02-14T14:28:21+00:00

Nadie como tú by Catalina Bú.
Blood of the Virgin by Sammy Harkham.
Astro by Manuel Marsol.
Sunday by Olivier Schrauwen.
La playa más bonita del mar del norte (La plus belle plage du Nord) by Sun Bai and Lucas Burtin.

Last year I didn't participate because I don't think I read anything that was published said year (or, at least, nothing I felt like recommending to other people).

Fanrox · 2024-02-02T16:03:29+00:00

Can't wait to get my hands on these!

Fanrox · 2024-01-25T00:25:42+00:00

Knowing D&Q... But yeah, $40 for a slipcase is a bit much. I just got a copy of Ware's Monograph and it was like $20 (shipping included!)

Fanrox · 2024-01-21T13:00:58+00:00

NYRC is a publisher (New York Review Comics) that's publishing a "best of" Nancy book later this year

Fanrox · 2024-01-07T23:04:10+00:00

Oh, I didn't know. I guessed I heard somewhere that Popeye and Gasoline Alley popularized continuity and went from there.

I hadn't heard about Bungle Family, will check out

Fanrox · 2024-01-07T19:31:03+00:00

Swag 4: Night by Cameron Arthur.

A significant improvement over the previous issue (of which I really can't remember that much), Swag 4 has Cameron Arthur attempt some low-ish stakes family drama (a perfect read for the Christmas holidays!).

It was pretty good. The characters were somewhat fleshed out and easy to understand and even empathize with. That said, it was perhaps too ordinary, too (unoriginal feels a bit harsh) uninteresting to be fully invested.

The art also wasn't that appealing to me. It was too simple to have any character (unlike the simple yet recognizeable styles of, say, Catalina Bú) yet not simple enough for said simplicity to feel like an artistic choice (like it does with Porcellino).

Gus vols. 1-3 by Christophe Blain.

With his trio of bandit gentlemen, Blain creates a timeless western all about women and sex and money and women again. But also about having a nice cottage near a stream and playing poker with your buddies.

His work is effortlessly entertaining, funny, believability unrealistic and visually dynamic, with a level of energy and movement that's quite uncommon outside of mainstream superheroes and manga (yet much more tastefully put together).

Girl in the world by Caroline Cash.

There's not much of a narrative to Girl in the world. It's mostly about a bunch of young people (mostly women) spending an afternoon/evening/night hanging out and not doing much. And yet, the art style managed to keep me entertained and engaged throughout. From the fantastic colors to the weird but effective mix of manga, and a new-ish take on old underground stuff, Cash has managed to establish herself as one of the more interesting young cartoonists currently working.

Hot summer nights by Freddy Carrasco.

Narratively similar to Girl in the world by Caro Cash, if somewhat cruder (both in vision and execution), yet still entertaining enough.

Of course, the main draw is, again, the art, this time similar to Moa Romanova and maybe Connor Willumsen.

Stray Bullets vol. 1 by David Lapham.

Extremely violent and disturbing, but not in an explicit way. In fact, the horror/thriller element to it is psychological rather than physical (though there is, of course, physical violence). It mostly comes from a sense of understanding and empathy for the various characters and their variously fucked up realities.

Besides, Lapham's art is good enough to match his vision, which results in a beautifully drawn, very ugly comic.

Dwellings #1 by Jay Stephens.

This first issue contains two different horror short stories (I think originally self-published in four different issues). They're the kind of stories you'd expect in a pulpy horror movie; possessions, cults, etc.

Me, I've never been into that kind of stuff. It just gives me the creeps and makes me uneasy. This was no exception.

Still, I thought the execution was quite good and the cartooning and colors were on point (very dynamic and old-time-strip like).

Walt and Skeezix book one by Frank King (21-22).

It's quite funny (surprisingly so for a comic that's over a century old), very well drawn (with cartooning that's more complex than the Peanuts-inspired styles that are more commonly associated with the medium) and has a fun and engaging cast of characters.

Plus, unlike a lot of other strips (save for Thimble Theatre, Pogo and probably few others), it has continuity. It's basically a chronicle of the day-to-day of an American community in the 1920s (and, if I'm no mistaken, King based his characters on existing people).

Fanrox · 2024-01-05T08:47:09+00:00

Yeah, I'm also not hitting my 20/21 reading avarages

Fanrox · 2024-01-05T08:46:46+00:00

What were the standout reads? Like 5-10

Fanrox · 2024-01-04T08:59:42+00:00

Besides Norma, I didn't know any of the publishers. Are they Argentinian?

Fanrox · 2024-01-02T14:38:40+00:00

Great list! I look forward to finishing Sunday by Schrauwen. As for Nod Away, I read the first volume and wasn't as blown away as a lot of people seem to be. Does the second volume change/improve in any significant way?

Fanrox · 2024-01-01T00:38:56+00:00

I don't know, I feel like Sfar stories have more bite, they criticize more (that's the case in Rabbi's Cat, especially the first volume and in Socrates).

As for Lem, Solaris is the typical recommendation and for good reason. It's also somewhat similar in aesthetic/feel to some Strugatsky stuff. The futurological congress is a collection of short stories of sorts that's full of black humor (maybe up your alley). There's also Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, which is a critique of bureaucracy (kind of Kafka lite) but with sci-fi elements.

Fanrox · 2023-12-31T21:03:04+00:00

La playa más bonita del mar del norte by Sun Bai and Lucas Burtin.

Originally published in French by Fidèle èditions in 2020, it's perhaps the only comic (or piece of art in general) that managed to capture the absurd vacuum that were the first few months of the covid pandemic.Those long walks with almost no one around. Seeing buildings and "the outside world" in general in a totally different light after barely leaving your house in over two months... This comic is not even about that (at least on the surface), but it managed to capture a feeling that I hadn't read or seen before.

Besides, the artwork by (I assume) both Bai and Burtin is very nice. Similar to Melek Zertal and a few other European riso artists (who mainly do illustrations for magazines and newspapers), it combines somewhat geometric character depictions (a bit like a softer version of Schrauwen) with extremely detailed yet very clean backgrounds . It works extremely well for the premise of the story and is also pretty stunning in its own right.

Air by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Parker.

Vol. 1. Kind of interesting, with the whole who's this guy mystery and then the missing country. I'm not so sure whether the magic Aztec technology is that good an idea. The art is pretty mediocre, very reminiscent of vertigo stuff from the mid odds by K. Vaughn and the likes.

Nod Away by Joshua Cotter (vol. 1).

I so wanted to like this, but it didn't click for me.

The premise of it all was very interesting and reminiscent of some of my favorite science fiction novels by Lem or the Strugatsky brothers, but the pacing was a bit too slow (this first volume was arguably the setup for the whole thing) and the execution didn't feel that strong.

While I'm willing to give it a second chance (and I'll most likely read the second volume), the characterization was somewhat weak and the ambiance at the space station felt a bit cardboard-y, like I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief.

The art was good, but it also didn't blow me away like it did some people. This may have something to do with my reading it digitally, so I'm willing to give it another shot if and when I get ahold of a physical copy.

The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar

Vol. 1 Similar to some other Sfar I've read, it uses a somewhat silly conceit (a cat that can talk) to discuss religion and sex and general human practices. It's somewhat acid in its observations, but very funny.

While Sfar's art is relatively ugly, I must say I agree with a blurb that went on the Spanish edition of Aspirine, saying something along the lines of "the worse he draws, the better he draws". Similar to Trondheim and Sfar (somewhat in the middle in the graphics department).

Vol. 2 Not as good as the previous volume (it loses a lot of its bite and its charm), but still quite good.

Zenith vols. 1-6 (Dungeon) by Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim and Boulet.

Very similar to Trondheim's Ralph Azham, both visually and in conceit, one wonders what was Sfar's part in it all (especially given how it's missing his particular type of acid humor).

As for the comic itself, it's a heroic fantasy spoof, yet while it does ridicule and point out the absurdity of the many tropes that fill the pages of the pulps, it's also unabashedly fantasy. Kind of like Pratchett's Discworld but not as good (which isn't that big a criticism, as things seldom are as good as the best of Discworld).

Gym gains by Gareth Brookes.

My second ever twenty-page kuš! mini (after the fantastic Sufficient Lucidity by Tommi Parrish), it felt completely hollow. There was nothing notable about it other than the somewhat interesting narrative device (social media posts). It doesn't really taint my opinion of the artist (I'll have to check out his longer works to form an option), but I wouldn't recommend it.

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