By various (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-147-3
As I reviewed the last Comics Journal and nobody complained I think I’ll do it again.
The Journal is the foremost English-language publication dedicated to the Art of graphic narrative, covering comics and related events domestic and global, interviewing creators, disseminating the facts and even advertising the best and most challenging product. They’ve done it competently, passionately and proudly for decades. You may not always agree with the opinions expressed – editorial or from the many insiders who have been featured – but you’d be an idiot to ignore or dismiss them if you care at all about the industry or the medium.
This latest offering, another substantial square-bound format, black and white with lots of colour where necessary (and not just as a glossy, shiny lure for the easily distracted) features a short cartooned interview (this time with John “King-Cat” Porcellino) rendered in cartoon form by Noah Van Sciver, lots of industry information on events and publications and some genuinely heartbreaking obituaries including unsung giants Frank Springer, Ric Estrada and our own Adrian Kermode.
The feature article relates the incredible story of one of those all-too-frequent, tragically missed moments that could have re-shaped our industry. Canadian Michel Choquette is a brilliant man and has always been fascinated by the creative arts – all of them. Among his many achievements: he was a key part in the birth of the incredibly influential National Lampoon. He had this idea in 1971 to produce the greatest comic in the world.
Just how close he got to putting Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby, Federico Fellini, Art Spiegelman, Wally Wood, Abbie Hoffman, Neal Adams, the Buscemas, Gene Colan, William Burroughs, Ralph Steadman, Gahan Wilson, Moebius, Barry Windsor-Smith, Will Eisner, Archie Goodwin, Goscinny and Uderzo, Gray Morrow, CC Beck, Frank Zappa, Salvador Dali and many more between four-colour covers and how it all fell apart makes for incredible reading…
But wait: there’s more! Following a fabulous Josh (Skyscrapers of the Midwest) Cotter interview, there’s hordes of scintillating reviews for such disparate gems as Kramers Ergot #7, American Flagg!: the Definitive Collection, Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Volumes 1-4, Jockie Ormes: The First African-American Woman Cartoonist and many more. There’s an extended look at Jiro Taniguchi and Natsuo Sekikawa’s astounding manga series ‘The Times of Botchan’ and a superb retrospective on animator Myron Waldman and his truly unique creation Eve, (running to 41 glorious picture-packed pages) and challenging articles on Gender and Comics in Chicago and comics dealing with Autism (Circling Autism by Kevin Greenlee) plus regular columnist RC Harvey contributes another unmissable piece with his appraisal of cartoonist Kirk Anderson in The Banana Republic in the Mirror.
French Comics festival Angoulême stars in the Continental Drift section ‘Hicksville 2009′, whilst Donald Phelps analyses the Prophetic Romances of MP Shiel in Cosmic Vagrant and Kenneth Smith continues his New Logic of the Psyche with part 3: The Secret Language of the Ineffable Self.
Content this intriguing and challenging can only whet the appetite for the great big celebratory issue #300 looming on the horizon. I can’t wait…
www.tcj.com
© 2009 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All images/photos/text © their respective copyright holders.