Patrick Keck's years-in-the-making scopophilic epic – that was largely, but not completely, serialized on Study Group – has at last now touched down in our physical reality in this hefty hardcover volume, published in a limited number by Fantagraphics Underground.  Weighing in at well over a kilogram, this volume delivers over 200, eye-popping 9" x 11" pages of full color comics designed to stimulate optic nerves.  Anyone who has yet to do so, should carve at least a few minutes out of their schedule to check it out in its online form, HERE. 

 

Anyone looking for a way to put their childhood Batman fixation firmly behind them should consider Dream of the Bat as their ticket to freedom.  What we have here is the swellegant second edition.  It is published by the Paris, France-based Mansion Press (but is, neverthless, completely in English), with high quality production throughout.  This edition is a French-flapped (naturellement!), 164 page, 8 1/2" x 11", softcover – with minor embossing – printed on a nice, heavy, light cream paper stock.  Sixteen-years-in-the-making, this satiric deconstruction of a superhero mythos is composed of four separate tales:

Mark of the Bat by Josh Simmons  (2007) Twilight of the Bat by Josh Simmons and Patrick Keck (2017 ) Birth of Bat by Josh Simmons (2021) Death of the Bat by Josh Simmons and Patrick Keck (exclusive to this edition) Unpublished illustrations and bonuses by guest artists! (including 15 new works exclusive to this second edition)

The four tales run roughly 120 pages in total and were all created in black & white; the roughly 40 pages of illustrations and bonuses are, for the most part, in full color.

After finishing this, you'll at last be able to kiss Batman goodbye and move on to the better things that comics have on offer.   Also, you may come to the conclusion that Fredric Wertham was right about Batman all along...

IMPORT

Fans who discovered Patrick Keck through his work with Josh SImmons on Dream of the Bat who were hoping for a chance to see him stretch out in a different vein have had their wish granted here in the pages of Crusher Loves Bleeder, Bleeder Loves Crusher, a nice hardcover collection which, in addition to the nearly sixty page title story, also brings readers the forty page  "Cattails, Fart Around, Very Good Death" and ten page "Feederfly Gallery."  All crisply printed in black & white on flat, off white stock.

Fanta sez:

A boy loves a bug and a bug loves a boy, but can a bug love a boy for more than his blood?

The old-timers in Texas's Erzsébet county say that nature don't ask permission, it feeds when it needs. But the bloodsucking bug in this here yarn got to thinking that nature ought not be absolute. Would you believe that this guy would rather dry up 'n die than ruin another picnic by taking his thirsty fangs to the softest baby with the deepest veins? And would you believe, just when he's ready to die of thirst and turn to dust, a sickly human boy named Thum — a kind-hearted crusher done crushin' — finds our starving bug — a big-hearted bleeder done bleedin' — and hatches a plan to invite this feederfly back to where he slumbers?

'Cause what difference does it make to a deep sleeper if you punch a hole real gentle and slurp-slurp real quiet? When the fully sated feeder's kin catch wind of his safe space for suckling, he realizes that there are matters more complicated than how and when to die. Does Thum's frail frame house enough blood for the swarm or does devotion to the hive leave Thum a husk? How do you choose between those who are kind to you and those who are just your kind when one lives for the other's suffering? Better pick quick, little bleeder, or you bet yer butt you'll regret it.

 

Specs

Pages 120 Format Hardback Color Black and white with some color. Dimensions 8.8" × 11.4" ISBN-13 9798875000355

Since 2019, The Museum of Modern Art has commissioned cartoonists and illustrators to craft stories about their experiences inside and outside the museum. Editors Alex Halbertadt and Arlette Hernandez have gathered together here, in the 184 pages of this horizontally formatted, 6" x 12", full color hardcover, twenty-five of those comics, all taking place in the comp;any of – and inspired by – modern art, primarily that shown in and/or part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City (NYC).  These comics have been created by a stellar array of cartoonists, including Jon Allen, Gabrielle Bell, Barbara Brandon-Croft, Jessica Campbell, Roz Chast, Ted Closson, Liana Finck, Ali Fitzgerald, November Garcia, Anna Haifisch, Mari Kanstad Johnsen, Patrick Keck, Lee Lai, Ellen Lindner, John Vasquez Mejias, Danica Novgorodoff, Tommi Parrish, Ben Passmore, Weng Pixin, Anna Sarvira, Walter Scott, Bishakh Som, Karl Stevens, Chris Ware (whose contribution is a stand-alone, pull-out / fold-out poster; of course), and Erin Williams.  

The horizontaliity of the format* makes for a reading experience akin to that of reading mammoth sized daily newspaper strips of spectacularly diverse approaches, intents and manifested styles.  We will admit to having had some trepidation that the work would veer towards the precious and/or self-consciously arty – but no!  Our concerns were misplaced.  The work presented here largely adheres to the cartoonist ethos and stays true to the comics making / reading  experience.  So, readers whose personal Venn diagrams show a strong overlap between museum going and comics reading have a very good chance of connecting with much of the work that this collection contains.  If that sounds like you, then we  can say, "Recommended!"

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*Two of the contributing artists – Ben Passmpore and John Vasquez Mejias – decided to "flip the script" (read, format), and chose to go vertical instead, necessitating a ninety degree rotation of the book and making for yet another take on the (very) Old School daily strips that also sometimes ran vertically in the paper, as dictated by space requirements.