Posts tagged Comics

The first Jeff Lemire comic I read was Essex County, his huge (and I mean huge) tribute to rural Canadian life. As a guy who grew up on the cusp of the community that Essex portrayed, I felt a little bit of attachment to it; in the long haul, it’s one of my favourite graphic novels to read start-to-finish,and I can definitely recommend it as essential Canadian lit.

Lemire’s style isn’t one I thought I’d end up liking, but now I have an appreciation for how much emotion he can pack into panels that are the opposite of sharp, clean lines. Below is my review for his earlier title, Lost Dogs, which I had a chance to pick up at TCAF 2012. Click the read more link to see it.

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I don’t really remember when I first came across Becky Cloonan’s art. To be honest, it probably came from seeing her work with Brian Wood, one of my favourite comic writers; their work on Demo really inspired me as to what indie comics could be.

Recently, she’s been putting out her own comics; one called Wolves, and the other called The Mire. I picked up both at TCAF 2012, and was fortunate enough to get them signed by her. I sat in one a writer’s panel the next day, and got to hear Becky talk about her perspective as both a writer and artist, and it was just interesting to hear that point of view.

I really liked her books; hit the “Read More” link below to read what I thought in detail. If you enjoy what I’m writing, give me a like, reblog, Facebook like, or recommend me to a friend! You can also follow me on Twitter. 

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I’m not sure why, but for the last little while I’ve been on a pretty big kick when it comes to autobiographical comics.

Perhaps it’s because I’m going through some pretty big changes in my life right now, and seeing what other people are going through/have gone through acts like a bit of a salve. Being able to relate to a story really increases my enjoyment of it, and stories rooted in personal journeys (not necessarily non-fiction) tend to resonate especially well.

I picked up Jeffrey Brown’s Unlikely at TCAF this year after looking at the back and determining that this might be something I could dig. It reads:

250+ pages of young love, sex, drugs, heartbreak & comedy.

How could I say no to that, right?

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Today’s Wednesday, so that means new comics are in stores across the world! I’ve been doing some reviews for the Silver Snail, one of Toronto’s highly-regarded comic shops; they’ve been kind enough to let me post them on their site. Below you’ll find my reviews, and a short excerpt. Click through for the whole shebang!

• Skullkickers #14 (Image) [link]: Pictured above, Skullkickers gives us a great shakeup to the current story with both a setting and character change. This book brings the funny.
• Invincible #91 (Image) [link]: I’m really getting tired of this book, as I feel like it’s been just coasting since the Viltrumite War ended. It’s supposed to be one of those “break between arcs” stories, but it just. won’t. end.
• Batman #9 (DC) [link]: One of the best books this week. If you’ve been following the Night of the Owls crossover, this will be a pretty cool issue. However, there’s some problems with a little too much, too fast.
• PICK OF THE WEEK: Mega Man #11 (Archie Comics) [link]: Easily my pick of the week because it somehow manages to bring a robotics ethics debate into a children’s comic. On top of that, they managed to make it entertaining, well-plotted and simple enough that a reader will get something new every time they read it. Props.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Got any requests for books you want me to read/review? Send me an ask!

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