Garfield minus Garfield

Writer and Illustrator: Jim Davis
Garfield removed by Dan Walsh

What's it about? 
Garfield is a fat orange tabby cat, who likes pizzas and being sarcastic.  He hates Mondays, diets and doing things.  As a cat, he naturally knows he's better than everyone else, particularly his owner Jon and the dog, Odie.  Garfield has been running as a comic strip since the late 70s and is beloved by many people the world over.  There's been a film, TV shows, toys, mugs, t-shirts, all sorts of merchandise.

What Dan Walsh has done, is take Garfield strips and remove Garfield from them.  This invariably leaves Jon looking, well, decidedly odd.

Green Manor part 1: Assassins and Gentlemen

Writer: Fabien Vehlmann
Illustrator: Denis Bodart
Lettering and text layout: Imadjinn
Translator: Elaine Kemp
Publisher: Cinebook

What's it about?
A cup of tea? A drop of milk? A spoonful of poison?
At first sight, nothing would make the very select club called Green Manor stand out from any other English club. Yet behind its thick walls, sunk into its deep chairs, hides the biggest bunch of con artists, bandits and murderers that Queen Victoria’s England has ever seen.

Can there be a murder without a victim and a murderer? Is the pride of Scotland Yard worthy of his reputation?  Can murder complement art?

Green Manor contains several different tales of murder and mayhem, as told and implemented by the members of a posh gentleman's club in Victorian London.  These fellows are boorish and pompous, intoxicated by their own cleverness.  As a consequence, the challenges issued from one to another are fantastic (in the old sense of the word), foolhardy and border on the ridiculous.

Gingerbread Girl

Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Colleen Coover
Publisher: Top Cow Comic Top Shelf Comix (not Top Cow, that's a different publisher, they publish Witchblade, not the most feminist of comics series, it's a bit porny, approach at own risk. Google them if you want)

What's it about?
It's about a girl who has a sister grown from her homunculus, by her mad scientist father.  Or it's about a girl who's a major tease and can't decide what she wants.  Or it's about a girl in the early stages of a new relationship.  Or it's about how other people see this girl.  Or it's about the effect of parental divorce.  Or it's just a fun little story full of fantasy and giggles.

Well, that last bit may not be true.  There's funny, unusual episodes, but it's not really a comedy.  Annah is the lead character, and she may or may not be crazy.  She thinks she has a sister, but it may be fantasy.  It may be real.  Who knows?  Either way, she thinks she's lost her sister and it's having a profound impact on her life. 

Paul Dini's JINGLE BELLE: Naughty and Nice

Written by Paul Dini
Illustrated by Stephen DeStefano

Lettered by Sean Konot and Stephen DeStefano
"Little Matchstick Girl" Illustrated and lettered by Barry Caldwell
"Jingle Belle Conquers the Martians" painted by Lawrence Marvit
Chapter one illustration by Bill Morrison
Chapter two illustration by Lynne Naylor

Publisher: Oni Press

What’s it about?
Jingle Belle is a punctual comic produced by Paul Dini, which he's been releasing every Christmas since 1999. Either in the form of short stories ("one shot" issues), or little graphic novels which have been either collections of previous short stories or original material.
They have been mostly printed in black & white comics.

Naughty and Nice is the first Jingle Belle book I'd recommend starting with.
It contains Jingle Belle's first two stories from Winter 1999 and 2000, as well as a bonus colored story from "Dini Double Feature #13" and some original content (one page stories and pin-ups) by various artists including Evan Dorkin, Alex Ross, Sergio Aragonés, Jill Thompson & Coop.

Jingle Belle is the eponymous daughter of the legendary Santa Claus.
With a father that mostly spends his whole year thinking about all the children across the world and preparing for one very special night, Jings is the rebellious daughter that every parents fears to have.
With a passion for mischief, the little elf girl tries to get by living surrounded such a strict family business.

The book also has an introduction by Eddie Gorodetsky (TV writer and producer behind such shows as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air & Saturday Night Live).

Western

Writer: Jean Van Hamme
Artist: Grzegorz Rosinski 
Letterer: Imadjinn 
Translator: Jerome Saincantin 
Publisher: Cinebook

What’s it about?

This is set in 1868, when America was being colonised and white folk were staking out their claims across the nation.  Ambrosius Van Deer investigates a claim that his long lost nephew, presumed stolen by native Americans (except the book calls them Red Indians) several years ago, has been rediscovered.  The meeting is made, plans are revealed, and  we skip forward 15 years.  The lad has grown up and has made his own way in the world.  Events conspire to send him back to Van Deer's daughter, Cathy.  Then the real tragedy begins.

This is a story of identity, of struggling to survive, of staking your claim in the world, and of family.  It’s heart wrenching, beautifully told and beautifully painted.

French Toast Comix

A webcomic, by Becky Hawkins

(Images posted with author's consent)

What's it about?
French Toast Comix is an autobiographical webcomic by a lady who works as a cruise ship musician.  She's Jewish, gay and draws pretty much anything that happens in her life.  Strips might appear about a coffee shop, her mum, cruise ship culture, new places that she's visited, her art class, anything (also - stealing giant porcelain cows)!

It's not as linear as a lot of web comics, in that it mostly reads more like stand alone events.  However, you can buy more structured print mini comics if you like (see the more information section at the end of the review). Many of the entries have a text blog accompanying them, giving more information about the events being depicted.

iZOMBIE Vol. 1: Dead to the World

Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Michael Allred
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Publisher: Vertigo Comics

"Combine the two most horrible tastes you can imagine... like motor oil and someone else's vomit... and you won't even come close to this level of nasty. Yeah, I eat brains."

What’s it about?

iZombie is a a sort of fantasy story taking place in an urban environment.
It takes places in our modern times and updates old movie monster archetypes.

The story is told from the point of view of Gwen, Gwendolyn Dylan, who works as a gravedigger.
She's in her 20s and is actually a living dead! A zombie if you will.
Her best friends are also other undead creatures. Ellie is a genuine ghost, she seems to come from the 60s and can't leave the places she visited. Scott, aka Spot, is a were-terrier.

Gwen as no recollection of her death and her memories of her past are slowly fading from her mind.
To stay alive, or rather undead, she needs to eat brains.

This comic isn't actually an horror story, but plays a lot with elements and tropes from the genre.
It is more of a detective series, mixed with some drama and romantic clues.

Halloween month: We Kill Monsters

To kick off our now annual Halloween month we bring you a guest post, from the land down under: 

Michelle is an Australian-based writer and all-around geekified girl. she loves comics, sci-fi, and talking or writing about either of those two things. She'll pay good money without question for any comics written by Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver, Ed Brubaker, or any books written by Connie Willis. One day her name will be on the front of a comic book, right underneath the words "Written By". One day....

You can find Michelle at one of these domains:

Wordpress: Runaway Writings

Tumblr: The Geekified Girl

Twitter: @mishla

 

Writer: Christopher Leone

Artist: Brian Churilla

Inker: Hilary Barta, Brian Churilla, Richard Ellis

Colourist: Ronda Pattison

Letterer: Jeff Powell

Publisher: Red 5 Comics

What’s it about?

Jake and Drew are mechanically inclined brothers who stumble across a genetically enhanced secret. When Jake is attacked by a monster that appears out of nowhere and injures his arm, he soon finds himself with more trouble than he can handle. His arm heals itself almost instantly but by the next day his arm has transformed into that of the creature he was attacked by – complete with super strength.

An unusual entry into our review system..

As you probably know, we usually review trades of published comics or webcomics as a whole series, but today we shall make an exception. I recently discovered a short strip giving advice to a 12 year old on how to deal with sexual harassment, or perverts, as the strip puts it. It’s great! Here is the first part of it:

Read the whole entry here.

It’s part of the Sneaky VFX comic strip you can find the rest of the their webcomic here.  I understand that this is a variation from their usual strips, but based on this entry I heartily recommend you check it out (and forward the link to all teenage girls)!

Now, who says comics can’t tackle serious issues effectively?

Understanding Bandes dessinées - a guide to European comics

© Dupuis.

Comic books... Mangas...
Different names, same basic idea.
As popular as they might be in their local birthplace, there's a form of funny books that simply isn't as well documented and known outside their countries' border. European comics. What is known, in various languages, as "Bande dessinée" (literally, "drawn strip") the french term for Franco-Belgian comics.
Though I like to also count as such comics from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, as well as many more regions and to some extend, those from the UK as well. (more on that later, below!)

Mostly, they aren't as well represented on the net outside specific regional websites.
Perhaps its due to a lack of information regarding them or documentation beside the few high profiles long running series (Tintin, Lucky Luke or Astérix come to mind).
Or the irregular exportations of those few books, try to get a complete run of Spirou in english, at a single editor and on a regular format.
The problem is that if you don't read French (or Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc..) and aren't ready to end up importing those from way across the sea, you might end up letting quite something pass by you. And you won't know what you will be missing...

© Casterman.

So here's a little in-details blog post about European comics, a brief look at their histories, the various editors, the genres and some personal thoughts and recommendations.
And if there's some demand, I might review some of these books, some series I'm a big fan of.

Blankets

Writer/Illustrator: Craig Thompson
Publisher: Top Shelf

What's it about?
In an autobiographical tale, Craig Thompson tells the story of his childhood and adolescence, focused through the lens of first teenage love. In many ways, it is a very typical and relatable story of growing up.

Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian family in Wisconsin, Craig struggles with his relationship with his brother, with God, and the other people in his life. Plagued by feelings of inadequacy heaped on him by his parents and other adults, and rejected by his peers at school, Craig is a loner who isn't quite sure where he fits in this unpleasant, trying world.

Characters of Colour in non superhero Comics

Just to take a break from the superhero aspect of all these posts, today we will focus on the non superpowered denizens of the comics medium.


You can read our other posts in the series as follows:
women (part one), women (part two), men (part one),  men (part two), men (part three), the X (wo)men, men (part four), men part five and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

You Are Here

Writer and Artist: Kyle Baker
Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics

What’s it about?

This book is the story of Noel Coleman. A successful painter who lives in the country just outside New York with his lovely girlfriend and endures her harsh mother everyday. But Noel isn't just a painter. He's also an ex-con artist and jewelry thief. Now he's back in NY City to sell his apartment and get rid of his past, all these secrets start catching up.

Once his fiancee arrives his problems are only starting...a serial killer starts chasing him, his friends get mixed up between a fiancee and a killer on his steps...

Will Noel be able to live to see a new day and future with his girlfriend?  Will he be able to tell her the truth?

Will they both survive?

Free Comic Book Day 2011

Every year, on the first Saturday of May, (May 7th this year, and in just a few week's time!) there is an event called Free Comic Book Day (FCBD).  This is exactly what it sounds like - an opportunity to get comics for free!

All you need to do is go into a comic shop, or other participating venue, (for example my local library takes part), and they will give a selection of free comics.  These free comics are ones specially produced for FCBD - in other words, you can't pick just anything from the shop and expect not to pay for it.

At the time of writing, comics being given out this year are as follows:

Morning Glories Volume 1

Writer: Nick Spencer

Art: Joe Eisner

Colours: Alex Sollazzo

Letters: Johnny Lowe

Design: Tim Daniel

Publisher: Image

What’s it about?

Come walk with us into the halls of Morning Glory Academy.  We join six new students about to start at this impressive private school for the rich and talented.  However things seem a little odd.  The book’s opening chapter begins with a booby trapped exploding blackboard and ends the scene with a mysterious transparent hand feeding off a student’s head…

Oh yeah, Morning Glory is not your usual school.  The teachers have an agenda, the other students seem to be in on the plot and the six new attendees are soon fighting for their lives.

Air: Letters from Lost Countries

Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: M. K. Perker
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher 
Colors: Chris Chuckry
Publisher: Vertigo Comics

What’s it about?
The story of Air follows Blythe, a young woman who's afraid of heights but didn't let that stop her from becoming an airline stewardess.  As the story progress, we're introduced to a large colorful cast of characters and intrigues that might just turn a bit more dangerous than the skies itself:

Quickly, Blythe meets a very strange mysterious man, named Zayn (or is it..?), finds herself in the middle of terrorism plots lead by the Etesians, sky pirates/vigilantes and witnesses the discovery of the hyperpraxis, a new science, a revolution that might just change humanity's relation to technology itself.

Air is all about its characters and their relationships, all sorts of relationships!  It covers the relations we have with technology, and also the relations we form with myths, our world, pictures and words.
Air is all about the all encompassing air we share, the very space of it and the different sort of things that occupy it. Time. Memories.

Simply put, Air is a modern tale of myths and legends. As the story goes, the supernatural occupies more and more of the scene, fantasy elements enter and alongside this our main characters develop and grow.

Gear

Created, Written and Drawn by: Doug TenNapel
Colorists: Joe Potter and Katherine Garner
Publisher: Fireman Press Ltd (issues)/Image Comics (tpb)

What’s it about?
Gear is a fantasy/scifi tale done by the very talented famous cartoonist Doug TenNapel.

Now, in case you haven't been introduced to TenNapel before, let me do it for you;
Doug TenNapel is an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the video game and cartoon character Earthworm Jim, which has now been turned into a very popular franchise. He has worked on various mediums over the years including cartoons, comics and games. He designed the look of the adventure game The Neverhood and worked on the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch, which was very loosely based on this very comic.
And most recently he worked on the internet live mini-series Go Sukashi! and Sockbaby.

Gear takes place in a very unique fantasy world where there lives a lot of anthropomorphic animals.
There, the various factions (species) are in wars over their borders. The cats in the south are trying to expand their land, while the dogs in the north are turning their defenses into offensive forces. Meanwhile an army of insects is preparing to invade both.

The story follows a group of four cat "soldiers". Waffle, Mr. Black, Simon and Gordon. They aren't the smartest bunch of the cat troops but they've got heart and good intentions.  One time they happen to high-jack one of the Guardians - mysterious robotic totems in the forms of either cats or dogs.
But when things seemed to be going fine everything starts falling apart quickly... The troops are launched, the insects attack and our team gets caught in-between.

There's also a mysterious artifact everyone seems to be after called "gear" which seems to have strange powers over the Guardians and our cats befriend one of the insects, Chee.

International Women's Day! Part two

Following on from yesterday's post, today is International Women's Day and we shall round up with the other books about women we have featured.  No superheroes this time around.

LGBT History Month presents The Ballad Of Halo Jones

written by Alan Moore
art by Ian Gibson
Publisher: Rebellion

What's It About?
“Where did she go? Out. What did she do? Everything...” That Alan Moore, he knows how to write a tagline, I'll give him that. Also billed as 2000AD's “classic feminist space opera” this book follows the adventures of one Halo Jones from the depths of the Hoop, a ghetto for the unemployed of a future Earth, and out into space. As is pointed out more than once she's no one special but on her travels she'll become involved in spectacular events and a war that defies the laws of physics.

This book collects all three serials of Alan Moore and Ian Gibson's The Ballad Of Halo Jones.

LGBT History Month presents The Sandman: A Game Of You

written by Neil Gaiman
pencils and inks by Shawn McManus
additional art by Colleen Doran and Bryan Talbot
additional inks by George Pratt, Stan Woch and Dick Giordano
colours by Danny Vozzo

What's It About?
Recently divorced, Barbie has moved to New York and now lives in a small, rundown apartment building. There she is part of a Tales Of The City-esque community of fellow renters: her best friend Wanda, secretive Thessaly, troubled couple Hazel and Foxglove and the downright creepy George. Broke and single, Barbie drifts with no particular direction in life. Its a simple life, if a trifle dull.

As a child she had a series of recurring dreams, a story that unfolded night after night. The dreams ended years ago but now they're back: the characters of her dreams have come to New York to find her. She has a world to save and there are forces out to stop her, even kill her. But is this other world real? And can you die in your dreams?