Bubbles #19 is 48 pages long

Four Interviews:
- Nathan Cowdry
- Daria Tessler
- Matti Hagelberg (conducted by Ana Pando)
- Power Comics

Headers for interviews done by George Olsen

Articles:
- Angoulême Photo Album
- Readers Favorite Comics of 2023
- Bubbles Con Information

Comics by:
- Cameron Arthur
- Rahel Suesskind

Reviews of over 30 new comics, Comics in my Mailbox, more!

Hot off the press it's Part One (of Three) of Broken Wires, the first continuing series from the Texan comics creator who we are happy to say is currently living and working here in Pittsburgh, allowing us to bestow the "Made in Pittsburgh" honorific upon this production, the first of his to be so designated.  Cameron Arthur is the master of the slow burn, and with Broken Wires being divided into three issues, he can really stretch out.  This 24-page, Golden-Age-comic-sized issue is pretty much all set up, but a great set up it is.  Four characters – Marcy, Ben, Ruben and Artie – are all met in medias res, in Texas, – on the job, on the road or in the home – and each is given six pages in which their situation is laid out and their characters – along with the barest hints at the plot – are revealed, in page after page of tightly controlled, well-paced comics, leaving you waiting in anticipation for the next issue, just like a good comic book should.

Swag six is another black & white, magazine size comic book from Cameron Arthur. It runs a full 42 pages of comics, plus a contents page and a notes page; all under one wraparound cover.
All of the comics in this issue employ a four-tier page layout; most of these pages are then divided into the standard, classic eight-panel grid, but with divergences and variations when called for by the unfolding drama.  Panel composition is a clear priority here, followed by panel-to-panel transitions; the beat.  Taken together these make for a highly æsthetic reading experience of the kind that is very hard to come by in contemporary comics. In other words Cameron Arthur is keeping alive a classic adventure comics tradition that goes way back, to Roy Crane, Noel Sickles and Alex Toth in particular, and then bringing to it perspectives informed by the world we live in today.  

A spirit of fatalism pervades this issue.  In the world as shown here, resignation and acquiescence appear to be the way of all flesh; initiatives are not rewarded.  The issue starts and ends with enigmatic one-pagers. In between we have an epic 36-page old-school tale of a motley crew of seaborne treasure hunters whose troubles begin as soon as they spot land.  There’s plenty of discussion – there are stories within stories – but not much in the way of decisive action.  This is followed by a four-page tale of a world in which the characters seem to have no say in their own destinies; all feels preordained, and meaning is hard to come by.

Each of the stories here is multi-layered, and each rewards multiple readings.

GONE!

Here's a nifty handmade edition of the second issue of Cameron Arthur's new series, Broken Wires.  This edition is of a mere 50 copies, each hand-numbered, and each of which has a unique, hand-colored front cover!  No two exactly alike!

The story continues through the same quadripartite structure featuring a sequential focus on each of the four main players – Marcy, Ben, Artie and Ruben – all of whom converge at the school for the Christmas play.  The art also continues to employ the same crisp, rhythmical structure, with each even, four-tier page featuring between seven and twelve panels. 

And here's a note from the publisher, Phantoro Press:

"Cam printed up a test edition of BROKEN WIRES part two in this week's post-election nightmare haze to distract himself from it all and because it's a Christmas issue.  The journey from this comic's initial idea in the author's mind to material plane objecthood is like many others. Maybe even like every musician who has ever tried to record a Christmas record in July. The process of making a Christmas comic book often comes with scheduling woes because it seems Christmas appears earlier every year on the consumer calendar horizon.  So for the super fans out there, who would like to read the next part of the story before we get it all properly printed, here's your chance. Edition of 50. Available through Copacetic."