In this time of corrupt politics, police brutality, media dereliction, and increasingly vicious culture wars, there's perhaps no graphic novel more relevant today than the brilliant and blackly funny
Transmetropolitan.
Created by Warren Ellis back in 1997 and inspired by prescient sci fi novel
Bug Jack Barron, the series covers the work of
gonzo journalist, vulgar misanthrope, and all-around magnificent bastard
Spider Jerusalem in a
sprawling futuristic vision of New York so chaotically advanced that humans splice genes with alien refugees, matter decompilers are as common as microwaves, and a new religion is invented every hour.
As a callous Nixonian thug nicknamed
The Beast prepares for his re-election to the presidency, a primary battle heats up between a virulent racist and a charismatic senator whose
rictus grin masks some disturbing realities. When Jerusalem delves into
the machinations of the race, he breaks into a web of conspiracies that threaten the future of the country -- a problem only he, his
"filthy assistants," and the power of
intrepid journalism can defeat.
More: Read the first issue (or
three) -
browse images from
the new artbook -
Tor's read-along blog (
another) - Jerusalem's
touching report on cryogenic "Revivals" -
dozens of original sketches and
sample pages -
timeline -
quotes
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 17, 2011 -
55 comments
Manya was a short comic series, created in the ’90s, by writer Jen Benka and artist
Kris Dresden. The sporadically published series covered life from the point of view of young female living in the city. A couple of those early issues are now available online:
Marie is about a meeting, of sorts, between Manya and Marie Curie, the scientist who did pioneering research on radiation.
Falling deals with the aftermath of the death of a friend from AIDS.
Jitterbug did an interview with Benka and Dresden, where they
discussed the creation of Manya and other works.
posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Dec 11, 2011 -
5 comments
"...they essentially published years of comics for the sole purpose of saying 'Fine, that's how you want it? Here you go. Enjoy.' They made a character out of pure sarcasm, and he had his own ongoing series for a hundred issues."
Chris Sims on Azrael.
posted by griphus
on Dec 2, 2011 -
28 comments
Frank Miller is a giant among comic book creators. He gave us
The Dark Knight Returns, which rewrote the book on Batman and comics in general. He also gave us seminal versions of Daredevil, Batman, and Wolverine. His
Sin City and
300 books are a triumph of design, if not subtlety.
Lately, though, he's taken a different path. He recently released
Holy Terror, which
in 2005 was to have featured Batman, but now features a renamed stand-in fighting Al-Qaeda. It has been nearly
universally panned as a piece of ugly, anti-Muslim propaganda.
Last week, Miller blasted the "Occupy" movement
on his blog, describing the participants as, "louts, thieves, and rapists," who, "can do nothing but harm America" and pointing to the looming threat of Al-Qaeda.
posted by Legomancer
on Nov 14, 2011 -
227 comments
In February, DC Comics imprint Vertigo will finally reprint Flex Mentallo by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Vertigo unveiled
a new piece of artwork by Quitely that will serve as the cover to the new deluxe edition. Long regarded as
one of the finest superhero comics ever published,
heavily annotated online, and
subject of much study, the work has been out of print since its initial publication in 1996 due to
a lawsuit with bodybuilder Charles Atlas's company. Atlas claimed that the title character infringed on his image, but
DC successfully argued that Flex Mentallo's origin was a parody of Atlas's famous print ad, "
The Insult That Made a Man Out of Mac". Despite its victory, DC had decided not to reprint the book and original issues of it often go for $30 or more each on
eBay, though most who've read it at this point have done so via scanned copies from BitTorrent. When the new deluxe edition is finally published in February, it will leave
Alan Moore's Marvelman/Miracleman as one of the last great superhero stories still waiting to be reprinted (though Marvel is clearly
working on that, too).
posted by davextreme
on Nov 1, 2011 -
108 comments
Why people like digital comics: you can charge for them, and they look pretty on an iPad. Why people like webcomics: they're free. - Warren Ellis looks at
The Broadcast Of Comics.
posted by Artw
on Oct 11, 2011 -
14 comments
Jim Shooter, the
comics writer and former Marvel Editor-in-Chief has weighed in on DC's comic relaunch,
The New 52.
Shooter is no stranger to
controversy regarding his tenure at Marvel and has received his share of
criticism over his handling of female characters. He also claims his analysis is more about the writing and artwork but nevertheless, he has added this comment to the chorus of
complaints about the
handling of DCs
female characters and
female fans:
"But, let it be known, personally, I didn’t like the way the female characters were portrayed. It’s not that I think that there is anything, any situation or any type of character, male or female, that cannot be done if it is done with rare excellence and surpassing skill. The problem is that, too often, comic book writers and artists who belong in creator kindergarten think they’re already Ph.D’s." [more inside]
posted by happyroach
on Oct 7, 2011 -
41 comments
We've all gotten used to the idea that certains movies will be available only on certain cable channels, that certain albums will be available only via certain webstores, etc. However, it does seem a little bit stranger of an idea when applied to hard copy books. And
yet...
posted by Ipsifendus
on Oct 7, 2011 -
51 comments
In Issue 391 of the Batman magazine published by Editorial Novaro there is a Flash adventure titled "The Flash Stakes His Life On You." This comic is the most important literary argument of recent months. The Flash vs. Gurdjieff by Alejandro Jodorowsky. bonus craziness: The comics journal talks to
Alejandro Jodorowsky (Sample answer: "This question is too long and annoying for me. I stop to fart.")
posted by Artw
on Oct 6, 2011 -
27 comments
Four friends who collectively call themselves Igloo Tornado wrote a series of fictional tales of the love between Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig, plus some jokes from their Satan worshiping neighbors, Daryl Hall and John Oates. This land of make-believe is contained in
Glenn & Henry Forever. There isn't a preview in one handy location, but various
interviews,
reviews, and
blogs have posted
some of the comics (more:
Henry has no shoes, Hall & Oats play D&D,
a postcard from Henry to Glenn, and
a page from Danzig's diary). Danzig,
often the butt of internet jokes, was not thrilled. His thoughts were made into
a final comic. Oh, and there's
an anti-Christmas animation special/advert. And
a gallery show with more artists joining the fun.
posted by filthy light thief
on Oct 3, 2011 -
18 comments
