Comic Books
The best new graphic novels
Slide show: On subjects ranging from war and love to physics and prostitution, 10 dazzling new illustrated books SLIDE SHOW
For every savvy comics fan there’s a reader who loved “Persepolis” or “Fun Home” but feels lost in the comics section of his or her local bookstore. This selection of 10 great “graphic novels” (an unfortunate term, since so many of the best works in the genre are nonfiction) published since the beginning of the year is for the occasional comics reader, a tip sheet on some of the best new work in the field.
With that in mind, these are books with reasonably complete narratives and a minimum of the following:
1. Superheroes: True, some die-hard fans will never tire of this motif, but for the rest of us the Burden of Specialness is like gum with all the flavor chewed out.
2. Scene after scene of characters in their mid-20s sitting around in cafes kvetching about their love lives.
3. Three dozen identical panels in which the schlubby protagonist stares off into the middle distance, followed by one nearly identical one in which he sighs.
4. Darkness, oh such very dark darkness. This quality is probably a lot more appealing if you live with one of those chirpy moms who’s always urging you to think positive.
Some of these books are sheer eye candy. Others are simply drawn yet emotionally and intellectually complex. (Nevertheless, it’s astonishing how much a gifted artist can convey with what at first may seem like a childish scrawl.) It’s an intriguingly international bunch, too, by artists hailing from Japan, Brazil, France and Canada, as well as the U.S., who have chosen subjects that are even wider-ranging. Physics, prostitution, arctic exploration, war, slavery, fate and the unfathomable mystery of ordinary city streets are only a few of the themes they tackle. Prepare to be dazzled.
Laura Miller is a senior writer for Salon. She is the author of "The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia" and has a Web site, magiciansbook.com. More Laura Miller.
How to make history, Jane Eyre and superheroes funny
Kate Beaton, creator of the comic "Hark! A Vagrant," on the art of telling jokes about things people take seriously
Kate Beaton The characters in Kate Beaton’s hit webcomic, “Hark! A Vagrant,” are familiar, and also not. There are the three Brontë sisters, checking out surly guys: “So passionate!” “So mysterious!” “So brooding!” swoon Charlotte and Emily, while Anne Brontë (author of “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” in case you didn’t know she existed), retorts, “If you like alcoholic dickbags!” “No wonder nobody buys your books,” hisses Charlotte. Inspector Javert from “Les Misérables” is detailed to the Bread Crimes Division. Raskolnikov tips off his own police nemesis by penning an Op-Ed titled “Murdering Old Ladies: Not Even a Big Deal.”
Continue Reading Close
Laura Miller is a senior writer for Salon. She is the author of "The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia" and has a Web site, magiciansbook.com. More Laura Miller.
Pow! Boom! Why DC relaunched iconic comic books
Even Superman can't escape tough times. Publisher Jim Lee explains why DC relaunched all 52 comic books this week
Superheroes tried to battle a world of bookstores closures, digital piracy and iPads this week with a bold publishing initiative from DC Entertainment. Facing eroding sales, the publisher of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, among other icons, decided to relaunch the entire line with 52 new No. 1 issues and reader-friendly back stories. In addition, the entire line will now be on sale digitally on the same day it goes on sale in print.
Continue Reading CloseThe fascinating contradictions of Bill Plympton
In an interview, the Oscar-nominated animator encourages artists to work the fringes and stay true to themselves
Bill Plympton.(Credit: Léonard Bourgois-beaulieu) Bill Plympton may very well be the godfather of adult cartoons and comics. He’s that rare artist who has spent decades on the fringes, yet also seen his drawings in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Vogue, Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. He’s a cult filmmaker who has also been nominated for Academy Awards for his shorts, both the “Your Face” and the “Dog” series.
Plympton’s work on Fox’s “The Edge” and MTV’s “Liquid Television” in the 1980s and ’90s were so ahead of their time it’s amazing the networks allowed it — but he now bemoans the lack of American distribution for adult cartoons. (My personal favorite of his is “25 Ways to Quit Smoking.”) He hates Internet piracy, but loves the international audience it has provided him. He’s collaborated on videos with both Kanye West (“Heard ‘Em Say”) and Weird Al Yankovic.
Continue Reading CloseDrew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
“Misfits:” British superheroes just want to be teens
An interview with "Misfits" creator Howard Overman on having superpowers without being at all heroic
They're not out to save the world... just themselves.(Credit: Contract Number (programme)) Who among us has never wished for superpowers: the ability to read minds, turn invisible, make yourself irresistible to the opposite sex, or fly? That fantasy plays into a very human desire to stand out and be better than the common man. It’s not exactly a new concept, either; one only needs to look at America’s history of comic books (or, more recently, comic book movies) to see that given the choice, most of us would take great powers and deal with the great responsibility later.
Not so for “Misfits,” a British comedy-drama about to begin its 3rd season on the E4 network. The five teen protagonists are neither heroes nor antiheroes: They are “troubled youths” hit by lightning while performing community service. And they spend most of their time hiding their newfound abilities, wishing they’d just go away. They’re mistrusted by the authorities and have less desire to save the world than to save their own crumbling relationships. “Misfits” feels less like a superhero show than an episode of the original “Skins” — if Tony were immortal and talked to the dead and Sid could turn back time whenever he screwed up.
Continue Reading CloseDrew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
How comics influence graphic designers
Five celebrated designers talk about how their work has been shaped by Batman, Captain America and others
Fine artists look down on graphic designers. And graphic designers look down on comics artists.
Like all generalizations, this one isn’t entirely true. For one thing, a great number of successful designers look into the work of comics artists, very often and very closely.
Continue Reading ClosePage 2 of 19 in Comic Books



