Inés Estrada’s ‘Alienation’: Virtual Reality via Comics Grids
Inés Estrada's disturbingly plausible imagination effectively beams Alienation's dystopic future into readers' heads via the antiquated analog technology of ink and paper.
Chris Gavaler
Chris Gavaler is an associate professor of English at Washington and Lee University. His books include On the Origin of Superheroes (Iowa 2015), Superhero Comics (Bloomsbury 2017), Superhero Thought Experiments co-authored with Nathaniel Goldberg (Iowa 2019), and Creating Comics co-authored with Leigh Ann Beavers (Bloomsbury forthcoming 2020). He is the comics editor at Shenandoah magazine, and he blogs weekly at thepatronsaintofsuperheroes.wordpress.com.
‘Apologetica’, a Nihilistic God, and a Plastic Landscape
It's as if the objects of consumption have consumed their consumers in Ben O'Neil's absurdist Apologetica.
Amplify: Graphic Narratives of Feminist Resistance
The juxtaposition of the comics and their prose-only afterwards in Amplify are intriguing, but the result is a surprising undercurrent of mistrust in comics to represent history independently of traditional scholarly apparatus.
Brian Selznick Communicates Wordlessly with Walt Whitman in Abram’s ‘Live Oak, with Moss’
Language and image never combine in Abrams' Live Oak, with Moss; they are distant lovers, if you will, as divided as Walt Whitman and Brian Selznick are as collaborators.
Graphic Fiction ‘Angola Janga’ Brings Forth the History of a Kingdom of Fugitives
Poignant motifs travel through Marcelo D'Salete's graphic novel of Brazil's Angola Janga, a kingdom of runaway slaves.
Graphic Novel ‘The Structure Is Rotten, Comrade’ Is at War with Itself
Blurgits—the drawing of multiple limbs to suggest motion— is effective in Yann Kebbi's artwork for The Structure Is Rotten, Comrade, creating a world teetering on carefully crafted incoherence—which is well suited to Viken Berberian's script.
Manuele Fior’s ‘Red Ultramarine’ Evokes Picasso — to a Point
While Manuele Fior's Red Ultramarine is far from abstract expressionism, it is a pleasure to find an artist-writer who regards the art of his images to be equal to the narrative they convey.
It’s Rare to Find Horror Executed So Perfectly in Graphic Fiction As It Is in ‘Beautiful Darkness’
If you're used to the blood splatter of slasher films or the evil monsters of supernatural thrillers, be warned: Beautiful Darkness covers an abyss of horrors far deeper.
On Sex and Self-Image in ‘Blossoms in Autumn’
I usually cringe at story-halting gratuitousness, but the best thing about Blossoms in Autumn is the sex scene.
Pussycats, Lesbian Vampires, and the Blood-Splattered Erotica of Emily Carroll’s ‘When I Arrived at the Castle’
There's a lot of yarn for this cat to untangle in Emily Carroll's When I Arrived at the Castle.
How Male Dominance in French Grammar Affects Julie Delporte’s ‘This Woman’s Work’
Julie Delporte's graphic memoir, This Woman's Work, documents her private and professional search for her place in a male-dominated field and world.
Graphic Sex and the Graphic Form in ‘The Perineum Technique’
The world of The Perineum Technique is sort of our own world, and sort of not. It's an area between.