You Become the Watcher in Eric Haven’s ‘Cryptoid’
In his latest work, Cryptoid, Eric Haven takes an idiosyncratically weird approach to the horror genre of the Weird to produce a hybrid graphic novella that belongs to no genre but his own.
comics
Nazism Repackaged? A Closer Look at the “Fascist Subtext” of ‘Attack on Titan’
Many fantasy writers have incorporated the visual footprint of the Third Reich into their fictional worlds. Few, however, have done so as extensively as the creator of Attack on Titan, who revisited this terrible chapter of history not to find inspiration for a fearsome antagonist, but to excavate the divisive ideas that lay buried there.
The Two Worlds of Graphic Novel Umma’s Table
Where fiction typically emphasizes plot, Yeon-Sik Hong's Umma's Table emphasizes a rich layering of events that creates the artful impression of memoir-like fiction.
A Boy, a Dog, a Gang of Peanuts, and the Meaning of Life
For all the Charlie Browns in the world, Library of America has published The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life.
‘Horizontal Collaboration’ Tackles Sexist Judgements on Women’s Lives in War-Time
Horizontal Collaboration, the superb French comic by Navie and Carole Maurel, reassesses the sexist biases of history.
Tsuge’s ‘The Man Without Talent’ Is a Perfect Manga Parable on Capitalism’s Failed Dreams
In The Man Without Talent, Tadao Tsuge captures the element of fantasy reflected in the childish utopianism of free market capitalism and the committed entrepreneurs who are its happy-go-lucky evangelists.
Despair and Hope in Chris Ware’s ‘Rusty Brown’
Chris Ware's parallel storytelling, his ability to jump time periods, and his meticulous attention to detail create an immersive world in Pantheon Graphic Library's compilation, Rusty Brown.
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.
‘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.