Maestro Van Sciver enters middle-age and hits his stride here in the ninth issue of his auteurist anthology, Blammo. This issue is packed cover to cover with comics tightly corsetted bya requisite inclusion of those ancillary aspects associated with the traditional comic book form. Starting with the enigmatic clown in the woods cover image that is backed with an inside front cover full of pæans of praise to his work from top comics professtionals, the issue then plunges straight into 44 consecutive pages of solid comics storytelling that brings readers a dazzling dozen distinct pieces woven together into crazy-quilt whole. The issue is...

How's this for value: the complete 360 page graphic novel in hardcover for the same price as the 160 page Book One in softcover issued by Fantagraphics a couple years back? Not only that, but this edition completes Kim Thompson's excellent translation that he started for Book One. Originally published in six volumes in France between 1996 and 2004, this edition represents the first time the complete story has appeared in English. As readers of David B.'s recently released Babel already know, he is a formidable graphic stylist with a strong and sure line and a great sense of how to use blacks to create a balanced page. Epileptic is the...

This is it: The ideal antidote to these trying times. Slim’s wit, style, charm, and grace will make the world vout oroonee in no time. As with all Proper Boxes, this one includes 4 CDs packed to the limit (102 tracks total!) for over 5 hours of music -- all remastered in the UK at the highest possible standards for music recorded during this period -- and a 44 page booklet containing a comprehensive history of Slim's career along with fab photos, old ads, record labels, and, best of all, complete track by track annotation -- where you’ll note the appearances of Slam Stewart, Ben Webster, Zutty Singleton, Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie...

Ron Regé, Jr. strikes again! What Parsifal Saw collects Regé's work since The Cartoon Utopia. The two key pieceshere are "Cosmogenesis," illustrating the "secret doctrine" of Madame Helena Blavatsky, the key figure in the history of Theosophy (which had a significantinfluence on the first generation of modernist artists, notablyPiet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky), and"Diana," Regé's unique spin on W*nder W*man; both originally appeared in (now out-of-print)self-publishedmicro-editions. Also included are: "Pythagoras," which first appeared in The Pitchfork Review (andlater in Best American Comics 2015!);Regé's brilliant use of Alex...

Another impossibly good album from the one and only Joe Henry. Amazingly, you can listen to the entire LP online at his site, HERE (Just click on "Launch MP3 player to listen"). And while you're listening to it, you can take a moment to read the note he penned on the day of its release, HERE. And, please note that both the package and booklet covers feature photographs taken by Eugene Smith in Pittsburgh, PA during his epic Dream Street project of 1955-56.

Unstable Molecules is one of the best graphic novels Marvel has produced... well, possibly, ever, but, to hedge our bets, let’s say, "in quite awhile." In any event, it is like nothing Marvel has ever produced in the past. It is a textual analysis of comics done in comics, and it is one of the finest ever produced -- certainly the finest ever produced by Marvel! It should be considered in the context of Understanding Comics and Hicksville as much as the Fantastic Four. Telling the "true" story of the "real people" that the Fantastic Four were based on, this book is a work of metacomics and a dream come true for students of narrative theory...

2022 has clearly been a watershed year for Ms. Julie Doucet. Firstshe won the 49th Angouleme Festival’s Grand Prix(only the third woman to do so). Then, a month later, her first (drawn) comics work in 15 years,Time Zone Jwas published to a flurry of press, including in theNY Times(along with stalwarts,TCJandThe Beat and others). A result of all this publicity is that it, apparently, generated a significant early demand for the book – as we initially struggled to get and keep it in stock. But, the pressure has abated, and we've managed to put in a good stock.

This rigorously produced volume takes the physical form of a 176 page, full color, oversize, smyth-sewn hardcover, printed in Italy on heavy flat-white stock. It opens with a thoughtful and deeply engaged introduction by New York Review Comics co-founder, Gabriel Winslow-Yost and then proceeds through a judiciously selected – by Sammy Harkham, no less – array of CF’s work from the first decade of our current millennium, before concluding with a casual yet absorbing interview with CF, conducted by Rob Goyanes, that is surprisingly revealing, shedding significant light on CFs personality and process, and in particular on the crucial...

Finally! A new – and very improved – edition of Seiichi Hayashi's manga masterpiece of alienation has been releasesd by Drawn and quarterly. This new edition has a nice heft and feel, and the design has been slightly tweaked for a mild aesthetic improvement, but the big change is the addition of a 60 page, illustrated essay by manga/gekiga/Garo scholar, Ryan Homberg. The inclusion of this essay will enable all readers to better situate Hayashi's work in manga history and better appreciate his achievements. As Red Colored Elegy is over 45 years old, andHayashi's work is far from typical manga fare, Holmberg's essay is a crucial improvement...

It's here! The new volume of comics pedagogy by The Funnest Teacher in the World, Lynda Barry! As most watchers of this space are likely already aware, Ms. Barry was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (aka "the genius award").Making Comicsprovides further evidence that this award was well deserved.

This much anticipated follow up to her previous work,Syllabus, also based on her experiences teaching at the University of Wisconsin, follows the same format, using it to dig deeper into the cave of creativity. In the 200 pages of this facsimile composition bookwe leave the safe,well defined confines of the symbolic realm and are...