We Live Here! Graphic Novel - SMALL PRESS PREVIEW

in

By Zack Quaintance — I recently came across a really interesting graphic novel project on Kickstarter, and it’s called We Live Here! A Graphic Novel about Detroit Housing Justice. The concept is that the book is tied together around the theme of the intertwined waves of urban revitalization and opportunism that are sweeping/have swept through Detroit in recent years. It’s a graphic novel story in which the author bases the scenes on the page on interviews with members of the activism group, Detroit Eviction Defense (DED). And it’s one of the more thoughtful and fascinating comics projects I’ve come upon in some time.

Read More

A DARK INTERLUDE, Vault's FEARSCAPE sequel - HYPE

in

By Zack Quaintance — It’s been a rough year, folks, both within comics and in the real world writ large (usually an unpleasant place to think about). The COVID-19 pandemic shut down new comics distribution, and, more concerning for growing publishers like Vault, it took away the industry’s ability to hand sell comic books and trade collections during the summer con season. It’s not great. We did, however, get some great news this week — the singular Vault Comics series Fearscape is getting a sequel (though, don’t call it that). Whatever it is, it’s called A Dark Interlude.

Read More

Swamp Thing #140 - Classic Comic of the Week

in

By d. emerson eddy — Last week, in mentioning landmark first issues of new creators coming on to an existing title, I mentioned Swamp Thing #140. It's undoubtedly lesser heralded than the others, so I wanted to talk a bit about it this week. Swamp Thing, as you should be able to tell from my bio blurb down there, is one of my favorite characters in comics. The mud-encrusted muck monster was one of the first characters I gravitated towards as a kid and is certainly the one that I've been following the longest. While Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, & Rick Veitch may have been the instigators of my love for this series, the run to close out this volume of the series that began in Swamp Thing #140 with Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Phil Hester, Kim DeMulder, Tatjana Wood, and Richard Starkings may well be my favorite.

Read More

The Wicked + The Divine #10: Wic + Div Re-Read

in

By Alex Batts — Welcome back to another entry in The Wicked + The Divine Re-read Project! With this installment in the series we reach a new milestone…we are in the double digits! This week the spotlight gets put on the tenth issue of the series, and we see the great Ragnarock (the concert, not the end of days). Now that the intro is out of the way, onto the issue!

Read More

HOWL, a sci-fi graphic novel - SMALL PRESS PREVIEW

in

By Zack Quaintance — It always feels like there are too many good projects on Kickstarter, with too many great writers and support talented artists to keep up with…which is to say I particularly enjoy Kickstarter projects that give me a chance to interact with the work of a large group of creators. Today’s small press preview is certainly one of those. I’d like to introduce all of you to Howl, a community comic written by Tom Abbosh that aims to hire a new illustrator for each chapter of the book.

Read More

Check out these panels from DC Comics’ TWILIGHT

in

By Zack Quaintance — As keen watchers of my Twitter account are no doubt away by now because I wouldn’t shut up about it yesterday, I wrote a long piece looking at the lost DC Comics sci-fi classic Twilight. Much of this piece was a contemplation of why such a complex, rich, and imaginative comic never took hold as an innovative DC classic of the era, especially given the amount of ambitious and experimental DC material from the time that is now beloved.

Read More

The Mighty Thor #337 - Classic Comic of the Week

in

By d. emerson eddy — When a new creative team takes over a long running property, there are a number of ways they can approach it. Sometimes it's a seamless transition, carrying on some of the plot threads and characters of previous teams, other times it's a complete overhaul of what's come before. Of these latter, some of them live on in memory as near complete reinterpretations of the characters, new ways to think of them, that are absolutely mind-blowing. Among the most long-lived and beloved reinterpretations, we've got Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, Doom Patrol #19, Swamp Thing #140, and Daredevil #227. As well as another of my favorites, The Mighty Thor #337, from Walter Simonson, George Roussos, and John Workman.

Read More

Hey, let's all read GRANT MORRISON'S DOOM PATROL

in

By Zack Quaintance — I’ve doing a one-issue-per-night reading project on Twitter basically since September 2018 or so, having in that fashion read Sandman, Hellboy, Animal Man, and, most recently, Stray Bullets. Now, I’d like to read Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol run, on which is primary artistic collaborator is Richard Case. At the same time, I’d also like to be more communal and organized about it, which is why I’ve created this page.

Read More

SMALL PRESS PREVIEW: Monitor by Wampler, Mkheidze

in

By Zack Quaintance — Today’s small press preview is Monitor, a new sci-fi comic that launched for sale online in early April. The book is buy Moscow-based writer Damian Wampler, along with artist Elisabeth Mkheidze and colorist Lukasz Juskiewicz. It is a blue-toned sci-fi adventure romp that incorporates familiar tech elements and questions of today, including data, privacy, and whether being forever connected via the Internet means overall giving up some freedom.

Read More

New Comics Release Dates for May 2020

in

By Zack Quaintance — As most folks reading this website are no doubt aware, very few new comic book releases have eked out during the past six weeks. You can read all about this more news-oriented comics sites, but the simple reason why is that the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of American daily life, shuttering comic book shops, comic book printers, and comic book distributors.

Read More

Isola #1 - Classic Comic of the Week

in

By d. emerson eddy — “You can be addicted to a certain kind of sadness,” warbles Gotye in his own now modern classic, Somebody That I Used To Know. It's true, though. We often look to sad songs, sad stories, and such while we're feeling down. Part of it is undoubtedly a search for kinship, a familiarity with others in a similar situation, and a seek for cathartic release.

Read More

The Wicked + The Divine #9: Wic + Div Re-Read

in

By Alex Batts — These introductions seem to become more and more unnecessary given the lack of change in my life while being quarantined (I hope everyone is staying safe!) so with that said, on to this week’s issue, which is The Wicked + The Divine #9!

Read More

No One's Rose #1 - Comics Anatomy

By Thomas Maluck — Hello Bookcase readers, I’m Thomas Maluck, filling in for Harry Kassen for this installment of Comics Anatomy. When Harry invited me to write a guest piece, I thought about different comics I hold in high esteem and what superlative qualities stood out for dissection and highlighting. I decided to pick something brand-new and of the moment - No One’s Rose from publisher Vault Comics.

Read More

KITH + KIN, an anthology - SMALL PRESS PREVIEW

in

By Zack Quaintance — This isn’t a new or insightful statement, but the breadth of new comics being made these days is really stunning. For example, I recently read Spitting Image, which was published by the Nashville Review, a literary magazine out of Vanderbilt University in that city. Spitting Image is the work of writers Brittany Matter and Heather Ayers, and artist Sally Cantirino. In this story, they’ve collaborated for a tale that spans 10 pages.

Read More

Grand Abyss Hotel - 'Neoliberalism has become a state religion'

in

Toren Chenault — I had a hard time figuring out how to write this piece. I knew I wanted to, because there’s just so much going on right now. Typing it right now, I can’t fully capture it with just my words. I hope you’re all staying safe, and if you’ve been impacted by the pandemic, my heart goes out to you. It’s hard to capture situations like this with words and art. It’s a special talent when artists can fully capture the state of things, of the world. And I think comics often do it well, and in the most creative ways. Sometimes words or pictures can scare us, make us feel uncertain, more so than we already are. But it feels good knowing we aren’t alone in our anxiety, anger, and concerns about life.

Read More

Breakings of the Bat: When Batman Villains Team Up

in

By Kimota1977 — It goes without saying, but the Batman has always had one of the greatest and most diverse rogue galleries in all of comics. Incredibly this rogues gallery of unique and disparate villains each with their own gimmick and angle have had some fairly similar “evil schemes” over the years. One of the most common plans shared amongst the Batman villains?

Read More

Favorite Comics: On BUZZKILL and being a buzzkill

in

Buzzkill helped me realize a lot of that stuff for the first time. That I wasn’t going to get a lot of people back in my life, and that was okay. That the best thing I could do was to stay away from a lot of people I’d hurt. It made me realize that you don’t have to be the hero of the situation, that it was okay to simply not be the villain.

Read More

X-Men Legacy #300 - Classic Comic of the Week

in

X-Men Legacy #300 was the end of an era. The capstone to the second volume of X-Men that had begun back in 1991 with Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, though it was specifically a celebration of the series when it had the X-Men Legacy moniker. Through “Marvel Legacy math”, this anniversary issue included the 24 issues of the second volume of X-Men Legacy, but not any enumeration from volumes three (the vampires) or four (the all-woman team) of the adjectiveless X-Men series. So it stuck with creators most emblematic of the X-Men Legacy era itself to tell this jam issue.

Read More

SMALL PRESS PREVIEW: Barking by Lucy Sullivan

in

By Zack Quaintance — Today’s new SMALL PRESS PREVIEW is Barking by Lucy Sullivan, which was published this month by Unbound Books. The book is ethereal and haunting, and it uses stunning comics art to get at serious themes and questions. Born out of creator Lucy Sullivan’s own mental health crisis, the book is a winding journey through that experience, told as powerful allegory.

Read More

SMALL PRESS PREVIEW: Palomino by Stephen Franck

in

Today we’re featuring Palomino by Stephen Franck, and it’s a story that combines the largely-forgotten California country rock scene of the early 1980s with a classic Los Angeles neo noir crime story. That’s one hell of an interesting pedigree of themes, history, and ideas. And that high level of interesting is certainly bore out in the preview artwork that’s been revealed on the project’s Kickstarter (live now), which you can also just go ahead and check out below.

Read More