A comiXologist recommends…
WWE #1 by Dennis Hopeless, Serg Acuña, and Doug Garbark
Seth Rollins has seen his share of ups and downs in the world of professional wrestling (pronounced ‘rasslin’). He ran with The Authority, ditched the Shield, betrayed his closest friends, and made some bold plays for power. Seth’s story is a tale as old as time; warriors fighting in an endless cycle to prove they are the strongest go back to our earliest legends, our earliest literature, and our earliest comic books. Pro wrestling is no different. The only real difference is the ring, the consistent live-action showmanship, and the belt.
That damned belt. In the all-new WWE #1, out now from BOOM! Studios, we are given a glimpse of the struggle these warrior poets suffer to become legend and hold the fabled belt as their own. We are also given a hint of the fresh challenges that await them when they reach the top. Winning the belt doesn’t put a champion on Easy Street. Winning the belt welcomes all comers to challenge whosoever it is deemed “Number 1.”
I am getting very carried away, so I’ll try to keep it down to earth. Dennis Hopeless has written an unabashedly loving piece of wrestling drama. He writes without irony, applying total affection for these characters. Seth Rollins’s fight to the belt is relatable and easy to get super pumped about. Triple H is presented as the villain he always should be, and I love that. Hopeless has clearly staked his claim in the WWE universe with this opening issue, and I’m really hoping I can get my hands on issue #2 already (however unlikely that is).
I am going to close out on Acuña’s art. The dynamic line and storytelling Acuña’s brush presents fits just splendidly. Seth Rollins’s tough guy faces and fights are so well and truly over-the-top picture perfect I’ve read it four times through to get a good idea of what sets this apart visually from older wrestling comics. This one takes itself entirely seriously, and it is excellent fun because it succeeded in that way. Acuña’s ability to add drama and gravitas to all the wild and sweaty fights makes this book.
And when Seth Rollins pouts… Acuña’s ability to draw a wounded pout is just top notch. I’m talking top shelf angst.
Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he is trying to work around his schedule to get in some wrestling viewing to satiate his primal need for violence. But let’s be real, he’s probably gonna just watch Roadhouse again.
A comiXologist recommends…
GOD COUNTRY #1 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Jason Wordie, and John J. Hill
The team behind Buzzkill is back with a look at family, loss, age, and cosmic gods brawling. I’m writing of course about the anticipated God Country #1, out just this past Wednesday from Image. In this new jaunt, Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw send some Kirby-esque badasses and a big damn sword down to West Texas and put it in the hands of a man suffering from Alzheimer’s. Also, the sword is 12-feet long and composed of cosmic-space-god-magic so we can assume some wild and outrageous antics will ensue.
Cates opens the story with Roy, the family man, rushing to his father’s farmhouse in West Texas. Roy’s father, Emmett, has been slowly slipping deeper into the later symptoms of Alzheimer’s for some time. Emmett was found wandering the highway far from home and when police attempted to escort him home he broke an officer’s jaw. It is around this point where Roy’s wife and daughter come into Emmett’s farmhouse only to run right back out upon Emmett’s reveal. Emmett is loud, paranoid, doesn’t recognize his family, and is swearing obscenities to high heaven.
Roy’s wife takes their daughter and drives away because she’s at her wits-end with Emmett’s uncontrollable mood swings and worsening condition. It’s about here in the story where a giant storm unlike any Texas had ever seen or will ever see again descends upon the house, with Roy and Emmett inside obliterating it. From the rubble out climbs Roy and a 20-foot tall demon that looks real hungry. For the rest of this one you have to buy the issue! It is issue #1. There is no better time!
Seriously though, I love this concept. Aging Texan and his family confronted with Kirby’s New Gods! That is so cool! I’ve been kind of looking at this one as a point of reference in Kirby’s cultural impact from a very specific position. This is the Texan spin on the New Gods like Jersey Gods a few years back was obviously about New Gods appearing in New Jersey. Each references specific iconographic elements of their region with an effective love and respect that can only come from being from the place in question. This issue is an exceptionally strong opening from an exceptionally strong writer/artist pairing.
If anybody remembers the end of Buzzkill will know that specific tone of grounded self-deprecation amidst the fantastic. A sardonic charm that bleeds through when these two work together is all over this project. It is just wonderful.
Matt Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he’s finishing up Book 3 of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Third one started off kinda real slow, but the tail-end is just carnage, carnage, carnage. :D
A comiXologist recommends…
VIOLENT LOVE by Frank J. Barbiere and Victor Santos
Did you notice how much true crime had a cultural moment in 2016? The surge began with 2014’s Serial podcast, 2015’s Making a Murderer docu-series and the wave grew this year with two different OJ Simpson television miniseries, American Crime Story, plus dozens of other shows, books, and movies “inspired by” or “based on” true events. If you have any space in your pop culture diet for another crime yarn, I’d like to suggest to you Violent Love written by Frank J. Barbiere, art by Victor Santos and design by Dylan Todd.
For any fan of noir/crime/pulp fiction, Violent Love embraces a couple of familiar tropes; the lead characters are an outlaw couple à la Bonnie and Clyde or The Honeymoon Killers. Daisy Jane, college-aged daughter and part-time bank-robber, is seeking revenge and Rock Bradley is hired muscle. The series is set in the southwest during the late 1960s and early 1970s but our narrator, former lawman Mr. Lou, is recalling the time that this particular outlaw couple saved his life. The reflections of a retired lawman is something we most recently have seen in the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men but in this usage the narrator gives the comic an added authenticity.
Though Violent Love does embrace some of the conventions of crime fiction, it’s no slave to them. Normally the star-crossed, crime-committing couple stories are about the men finding their femme fatale soul-mate (I’m looking at your Badlands and Bonnie and Clyde). This is, from the first page, Daisy Jane’s story. The result of this choice is that Daisy has much more agency than women many of these kinds of stories. Violent Love is also equal parts romance. Daisy and Rock don’t meet until issue #2 and in an instant it is apparent that we will see these characters grow into their romance. This comic is beautiful. Victor Santos’s art is so engrossing, I found myself downloading the digital copies onto my computer so I could zoom in panel by panel. This comic feels both modern and of the 1970s at the same time.
There is no doubt about it that Violent Love is for mature readers due to some nudity/sexual content and the level of violence (I mean the word ‘violent’ is in the title). In issue #1 a scene neared the line of gratuitousness, but hang in there. This scene is essential to Daisy’s motivation for the entire story and justifies it’s existence. Santos makes the wise choice to obscure some of major acts violence in impressionistic strobe-light-paced panels. Also, the violence is not disposable; these characters aren’t sociopaths and the violent acts they commit do have psychological impact on them.
Josh is the email marketing manager at comiXology who can neither confirm nor deny if he’s been to New Mexico
A comiXologist recommends…
THE RIFT #1 by Don Handfield, Richard Piers Rayner, and Leno Carvalho
The Rift #1 is the new Red5 property presented by Hawkeye or, as we also know him, Jeremy Renner. While I do not know what “presented by” means in this case, there is no other title with an Academy Award nominee attached to it, so it must be interesting. Luckily, it is.
We open on a mundane, middle-America setting: Kansas, present day, mother and son riding in a car going to… somewhere not important. When all of a sudden, CRASH! BOOM! WHIZ! Something on fire falls out of the sky and crashes before them! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Superman? No, it’s a plane. To be exact it is a vintage P-40 Warhawk, right out of 1936.
Like many first issues, The Rift #1 is a quick foray into a new world with a mysterious question that needs to be answered. In this case, how did a World War II fighter pilot flying in Southeast Asia transport to modern day Kansas? Of course, our mother/son duo are stuck in the middle of this conflict while a secret government agency tracks down the strange time-traveler in order to avert a world-ending crisis.
If you are looking for answers, you will not find any in this issue. Instead you will find a story that raises many more questions. I would like to know why the government always has to be so secretive about these odd phenomena when they pose such a deep threat.
Here’s to hoping that The Rift continues to be intriguing and different from the norm.
Dane Cypel feels like a time traveler sometimes, especially after sleeping for 10 stright hours.
A comiXologist recommends…best of 2016 edition!
Wow. What. A. Year.
Despite all of the “wonderful” things that have occurred throughout, I present three things that will certainly help end the year on a better note. These three books are harrowing tales of heroism, intrigue, and really excellent art.
Warlords of Appalachia #1-3 (BOOM!)
Warlords is a simple tale of an America that has been torn apart after a second civil war. Kade, the protagonist, leads a guerrilla war against a group of tyrannical augmented federal soldiers. Seemingly cornered, outgunned, outmanned, and hopelessly lost, he and his fellow rebels continue the fight against these overwhelming odds. Warlords is a fun “what if” that turns the alternate future tale on its head. Issue #4 will be releasing in January, so make sure to catch up on it all now.
Head Lopper Vol. 1: & The Island Or A Plague Of Beasts (Image)
Head Lopper is goofy, weird, and downright fun. When I first saw this book, I was hesitant. It looked too strange, too far from my norm, but when I got into it, it was charming and comedic. The titular head lopper, Norgal, is simple. He slashes. He fights. He is a hero. There is not much too him. It is the side characters, though, that really make it; in particular Agatha The Blue Witch. Her quirks and side comments are perfectly-timed and witty… and she is just a severed head.
The Sheriff of Babylon Vol. 1: Bang. Bang. Bang. (DC)
Sheriff is a tale of conflicting worlds centered within the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000’s. There are two protagonists, Chris and Sofia, with very different outlooks and motivations. Chris is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type; loyal, idealistic, and almost-typical. Sofia, on the other hand, is complex, incredibly strong-willed, and very complicated. This first volume has an overwhelming tension that builds, and builds, until the eventual release, which then prompts the second volume.
There were some good things about 2016, so do not lose all hope.
Dane Cypel realized that there was a common theme amongst these books after he finished writing this. There is a distinct lack of Sci-Fi, but maybe 2017 will be better with that.
A comiXologist recommends…best of 2016 Star Wars edition!
2016 for Star Wars followed after a strong 2015 showing. Not only with the movies (loved Rogue One), but also with great books (my favs: Ashoka and Bloodline) and many more comics.
Focusing here just on comics for 2016, we have:
- The continuation of the main Star Wars story
- End of the 12-part Kanan series
- End of the 6-part Vader Down story arc
- 5-part Obi-Wan & Anakin miniseries
- End of the 25-part Darth Vader series
- Start of the Doctor Aphra series
- Start of the Poe Dameron series
Of those, I want to highlight two that stood out to me.
- I LOVED the Vader Down story arc. It’s one of the few times you got to see how awesome Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, actually is. Not Anakin, NOT the ”father” Darth Vader in Episode V or VI, but Darth Vader in his angry prime and why he was so feared across the galaxy.
- I’m a huge fan of the Han Solo mini-series. It started off a little slow (despite being about a race!), but it really picks up at the end. And, gives a glimpse of the smuggler/shoot-first/second character of Han Solo in Episode IV, and how he transitions into the “hero” that we know him to be in Episode V/VI.
When Star Wars was acquired, I was skeptical when they abandoned the EU (expanded universe). But over the past couple years I’ve been very happy to see how the Lucasfilm Story Group has tied ALL the media into one cohesive canon today. Can’t wait to see how the Star Wars universe continues to expand even more in 2017.
Douglas Hwang is director of product at comiXology and the human subjugate of Qwerty the cat.
A comiXologist recommends… Dynamite Holiday Sale edition!
ART OF ATARI by Tim Lapetino
My family never owned an Atari 2600 growing-up, but I had a friend who did. I would be concerned to know the total number of hours we “wasted” staring at his television playing Moon Patrol. I always hated it when our parents forced us to play outside with the claim that we were in danger of suffering from “square eyes.” I did then, and still do, dispute this existence of this condition.
Reading Art of Atari is a joyful nostalgia trip. I can understand how a child’s imagination would explode with excitement when confronted with the cover art for Star Ship or Space War, despite their relative minimal on-screen graphics.
It’s great to see the originally uncredited artists of this work get some recognition through this book.
As well as presenting final, and alternate, artwork for numerous games (check-out the alternate cover art for Pac-Man by Hiro Kimura), there are also accompanying anecdotes, of which my favorite concerns E.T. The story as to how millions of E.T. game cartridges (often referred to as the one of the worst games ever) came to be buried in a desert in New Mexico is worth the price of admission alone.
How did E.T. come to be created? Did E.T. bring the video game industry to its knees? The book presents a fascinating perspective.
Towards its end the book presents some wonderful examples of prototype Atari hardware that never made it to market. Unfortunately the Atari Mindlink was canned because it gave users “a headache after just a few minutes of use”. Oh what a different world we could have been living in.
Editor’s note: Art of Atari is included in the Dynamite Holiday Sale, running through Jan. 2!
Gregory Long is a Software Developer at comiXology. As the only Australian in the office it’s his responsibility to slip an extra shrimp on the barbie.
A comiXologist recommends…Best of 2016 Edition!
Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse Than A Man and Vision Vol. 2: Little Better Than A Beast by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Michael Walsh, and Jordie Bellaire
Early on in the writing process for my own sci-fi book, my co-writer and I were struggling with the core arc for one of our characters, a robotic A.I. teenage girl named R.A.I.Ch.E.L. who had been a recent addition to a rather strange human family. The clearest path would have been to have her deal with her own sense of humanity and belonging and self, but we dismissed the idea out-of-hand because it seemed like the story had already been done to death. From Frankenstein to Pinocchio to Not Quite Human, the story of the construct that wished it was human had already been wrung of all its potential. Or so we thought.
Over the past year, Tom King has proved both of us dead wrong. And I could not be happier about it. Vision (2015-2016) is a brilliant, mature science fiction story that is incredibly human despite (or more likely, because of) its protagonists’ lack of humanity. It is moving, thoughtful, and at times hilarious. The story follows Vision of the Avengers as he attempts to establish a family in the DC suburbs, and struggles to find a “normal” life. The Visions are so awkward with one-another and with their neighbors, and of course things start going poorly in a variety of ways, from the chuckle-worthy to the terrifying, leading to a page-turning suspense story that moves the series along at a break-neck speed.
What truly makes the story unique, I think, is not that it focuses on how a robot struggles to find humanity, but why. Vision finds himself not only working hard to teach his family to behave “normally,” but also doubly-hard to convince them why it’s a worthwhile endeavor. Striving for human-ness can never truly succeed, the book seems to say, but the attempt itself is, in many ways, more human than anything most actual humans will ever achieve.
Vision (2015-2016)’s creators took a story-trope that, by this point, should have had no more to give. And they ended up with a masterpiece. Go read this right now.
Mike Isenberg is a Production Coordinator at comiXology, co-writer of First Law Of Mad Science, and contributor to the New York Times bestselling FUBAR anthology series. He lives in Harlem with his cats, Tesla and Edison.
A comiXologist recommends…
REGGIE AND ME #1, by Tom DeFalco, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Sandy Jarrell, and Jack Morelli
Hey, have you heard about the coolest, most handsome, most beloved dude in all of Riverdale? That’s right, it’s Archie Andrews Reggie Mantle! I mean, why call it Archie Comics when you could call it REGGIE Comics, am I right?
Welcome to Reggie and Me, the brand new, modernized approach along the lines of the new Archie ongoing comics. The real question upon hearing the title was, who exactly is the “me” in this scenario. Is it Archie? Nah, not that loser. Betty? Veronica? Dilton?! No, no, and no. The “and me” of Reggie and Me, and narrator of this first issue, is Reggie’s DOG, Vader (that NAME!). No one else could live up to being Reggie’s best friend than man’s best friend, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Vader is as salty as a cat but as loyal to Reggie as you would expect of any pup, and he throws just as much shade as his owner at those who dare rub Reggie the wrong way.
I knew I had a soft spot for Reggie ever since the story on page 821 of the Archie 1000 Page Comics Blowout (yes, we’re that serious about our Reggie hype). Even though it’s no Betty/Reggie à la page 821’s story, I appreciate insight into why Reggie of comics past would have been so intent on dating Midge despite Moose, usually literally, blocking his path. We already see hints of it in this issue, but I also really look forward to more humanizing away from the black and white persona of resident Riverdale villain and bad boy. That doesn’t mean they make excuses for Reggie’s antics; he is undoubtedly a bully and doesn’t earn much love from Riverdale High’s students except when he throws his dad’s money around, but there’s a lot to explore about Reggie, why he acts like he does, and what it will take to change that.
Go ahead and finally bask in the glory that is Reggie and Me. HE would say it’s the best comic to come out this week and probably ever. After all, Reggie said it and, “HE wouldn’t lie.”
Jen Keith works at comiXology and usually likes the good boy characters but wants Reggie Mantle to be happy, even if she’s not entirely sure he deserves it.
A comiXologist recomends…
DOCTOR APHRA #1 by Kieron Gillen and Kev Walker
I am usually not fond of expanded universes. More often than not, the expanded universe goes off the rails. Concepts, philosophies, and ideals that are presented in the source material often fall to the wayside as less developed elements come into play. Doctor Aphra #1 appears to be on a different course.
Coming off the heels of the Vader series, Doctor Aphra #1 follows the eponymous character into her life and her specific world. Aphra is not a hero, in fact she is cold-blooded and ruthless. I like villains, so this was welcome. So much of the story felt familiar; the call-backs, the set-up, even the team. It all feels and reads like archetypal Star Wars. This familiarity will certainly speak to fans.
What this series does especially well is to provide a different perspective. Much like the upcoming film, Rogue One, Doctor Aphra #1 shows a different character in a different place. It is fun to see someone who is more self-serving/Imperial-aligned than the usual scoundrel-with-a-heart. The Rebellion has been done SO much, we know the names of the characters who take out the trash on the light Rebellion cruiser that was in some of the background shots in Return of the Jedi. Yeah, the Empire are the bad guys, but delve into that more. Give us a new take in this rebooted universe.
Doctor Aphra #1 is doing that- so here is to hoping it continues on that journey.
Dane Cypel would much rather be in Starfleet than the Imperial Navy, but we all know being on any kind of spaceship would be worth it.
A comiXologist recommends…
GHOST RIDER #1, by Felipe Smith, Danilo Beyruth, and Tradd Moore
Ghost Rider returns with the release of Ghost Rider #1. An object from space, Amadeus Cho and the all-new, all-different Wolverine make an appearance in this new story for the Spirit of Vengeance.
The issue has a lot going on, and being unfamiliar with the character, left many questions. It is not an origin, which for a #1 is refreshing to see. Instead, this takes place at some random point after the character has been established. [Editor’s note: Check out All-New Ghost Rider for Robbie Reyes’s Ghost Rider origin story!] There is an endearing scene at the beginning where Robbie is teaching his younger brother about car mechanics and for most of the issue, the Spirit of Vengeance is not vengeance-ing; he is being a brother. Of course, SOME conflict needs to be introduced and it is, in the form of some odd purple space-goop.
Perhaps the strangest point of this issue is the part with Amadeus Cho. In a story about Ghost Rider, why is the Ghost Rider not involved with an object that has crashed from space in his town? Instead, Cho (as the Hulk) takes on a mutated mouse who then escapes and wreaks havoc. While this alien menace is stirring trouble, Robbie and his brother get ice cream and run into a gang. While it provides an interesting aside, why are the Hulk and Wolverine there? The next issue will certainly go into this further so I would like to see how it all plays out.
My familiarity with Ghost Rider comes from the hilariously awkward Nicholas Cage films, so I went into this issue thinking it would be similar. It was not. It was confusing at times, but it was a fun read, especially with the Smith/Moore adventure at the end. It is worth a read.
Dane Cypel’s only involvement with ghosts was busting them with a proton pack. The Ghost Rider, though, seems like he would fight back if he was going to be busted.
A comiXologist recommends…
HAPPINESS by Shuzo Oshimi
Makoto Ozaki is no one special – first year high school student, class doormat to a popular clique of students, pitied by the former class doormat; Ozaki is a timid young boy simply trying to survive school. But one night Ozaki has a chance encounter with a mysterious girl that rips him out of his mundane life and into a world of bloody horrors. This is Happiness.
Mangaka Shuzo Oshimi begins with a familiar premise of an average kid whose life is forever changed when he’s turned into a vampire (spoiler), but where many stories would immediately show you the power fantasy of new strengths and abilities after becoming a vampire, Oishimi instead gives you the mental and emotional toll of this dark change.
When Ozaki starts developing a deeper blood lust the art begins to warp, becoming more finely rendered but distressed – really conveying an unraveling of control. As Ozaki’s stress and thirst heightens the art begins to transform like Ozaki into something more sinister, adding to the darkening tone of the story.
Happiness elevates a potentially average vampire origin into something greater by allowing the art to break the quiet normalcy of Ozaki’s timid life with horrifying scenes rendered in perplexing, terrifying, yet often, beautiful ways.
If you’re a fan of slow-burn horror like Let the Right One In I highly recommend Happiness.
Reviewer’s Note: Happiness Vol. 2 just became available on comiXology 11/29/16.
Ivan Salazar is the PR & Events Specialist at comiXology and is a part of the Marketing team.
A comiXologist recommends… reveling in this beautiful book.
A.D. After Death #1 by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire
It would be an understatement to say that, after reading this, I was in awe. If Cypress Hills is a masterpiece created by Van Gogh, then AD: After Death is a masterpiece created by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire. It is not an ordinary comic book, but rather a ravishing novel at its best and it is my true, biased, irrevocably permanent opinion that everyone should/must read it.
The fluid and painterly watercolor reveals the technique of an artist who is in complete harmony with the liquid possibilities of this uneasy medium. The brush touches the surface and the water, filled with paint, flows down in the direction it pleases, creating magnificent textures and washes. Strokes of ink are sketchy and confident, portraying enough detail, but not too much to overbear and tire the eye. The mastery of light verses shadow, depth of field, and aerial perspective is so overwhelmingly beautiful. Everything from the watercolor blob on the opening page - following in the best traditions of abstract art, where emotional feeling mattered more than intellectual - to the dream-like drawings, cut-out pasted white paper pieces for the text and the typewriter font, all looks like something truly taken from an artist’s diary, who painted it en plein air, allowing readers to experience the story as if it were real biography and not fiction. The comic panels are also used sparingly, giving the art breathing room without having to “box” everything in. Art and story both are open and free in the usage of space and graphic elements.
As I was reading, it had the most profound effect on me. I could almost sense the coolness of the mountain air, the windy day in Florida and the gray overcast sky with the bit of a sun poking through, the smell of grass fields, the barn, all due to the mastery of the art. It is worthwhile to mention the amazing portrayal of the stormy skies towards the end of the book. The splotches of paint are fierce and active - this art very much reminds me of expressionistic paintings from the masters of old. It makes me want to pick up brush right now and paint, paint, paint.
The story itself is a fantastic, out of this world journey of memory, of past and present colliding together. This first issue is definitely more of a plot setting than a stand alone book and it leaves you hungry for more – more of this wild, death-free, beautiful world, more of this character revealing himself and his life story, more on how it will all evolve.
If you, like me, enjoy developing your artistic and intellectual sense, I highly insist that you rush to open the covers of this book and teleport yourself into the fictional world of prose, imagination and beautiful art.
Yekaterina J. Cheban (Kat) is a graphic designer at comiXology.
A comiXologist recommends…
KING: A COMICS BIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR, by Ho Che Anderson
Ho Che Anderson’s King covers the expected territory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life. We see his journey from local pastor to his participation in sit-ins through the late 1950s and 60s up through his ascent as a leader of the Civil Rights movement in the fateful March on Washington. But what distinguishes Anderson’s take on Dr. King’s legacy is its refusal to rarefy its subject. This is a powerful attempt to show Dr. King in full. In his personal life, we see Dr. King struggle through a troubled marriage. We see his drinking and cavorting with other women. We see him doubtfully confront the weight of his accomplishments and his role in the movement for racial equality. Despite his eventual triumphs, this is a version of King that can never rest easy.
Anderson’s black and white style immediately sets the perfect tone for such a laborious tale. In the opening pages, we see a young Martin, etched in shadow, creeping through the back of a church towards his father. The scene calls to mind the harsh tonality of Lynd Ward’s woodcuts or the lightning of the German Expressionists. It’s uneasy, dreary. But it’s an opener that properly sets the stage for the story of struggle that’s to come in the next 200 plus pages.
Beyond the stylistics of this remarkable opening, Anderson uses a barrage of other techniques to make this story come to life. Particularly moving is his integration of newspaper prints from key moments in King’s life as well as the lives of his contemporaries like Rosa Parks. Anderson sets out with his eyes on the history of the Civil Rights movement and not just the narrative of Dr. King.
Another compelling quality of Anderson’s comic, perhaps the counterpoint of the expressive take on the key moments in the life of Dr. King and his contemporaries, is the focus on “The Witnesses”, a collective of anonymous, fourth-wall breaking respondents that punctuate the proceedings with their own commentary. We hear from the young acolytes who praise Dr. King and the doubtful who see him as a false prophet. It’s an equitable tapestry that honors the difficult climate of the times and the complexity of the journey Dr. King embarked on personally.
In the wake of a tiresome election that calls to mind the struggles of Dr. King’s journey, this is not a read to miss.
Taylor Morgan is a merchandiser at comiXology.
A comiXologist recommends… having it all (but maybe not all at the same time)
SNOTGIRL #4, by Brian Lee O’Malley and Leslie Hung
I follow many fashion bloggers and makeup artists on various forms of social media. I also have horrible allergies, and with all of these being true, it was easy to pick up the first issue of Snotgirl. Lottie Person seemingly has it all. A wildly successful fashion blog, a devoted fan base, her own fashion line, an amazing sense of style, oh, and she’s gorgeous. What most don’t see is that, behind her perfect exterior, Lottie is pretty miserable. The only friends she has are a catty array of fellow fashion bloggers, including Normgirl, and Cutegirl. Her ex-boyfriend, Sunny, is dating her former intern, Charlene (the horror!), she may or may not have just killed someone, and her allergies are so terrible that she’s willing to take any medication in order to alleviate her symptoms.
In issue #1-3 we follow Lottie through a series of dramatic events including meeting, maiming, and resurrecting her new friend “Coolgirl,” several run-ins with her ex and his new girlfriend, fashion mishaps, and finally a police investigation headed by Detective John Cho, who may or may not have a slight Lottie obsession. Issue #4 begins by answering a few questions about the night Lottie mixed allergy medicine and whiskey back in Issue #1. Lottie goes to Normgirl’s engagement party, runs into Sunny, has a cute moment with him, and then is quickly reminded that she’s still alone. The issue ends with Detective/stalker John Cho meeting Lottie outside of her apartment and letting her in on some evidence he’s acquired by that aforementioned allergy pill/whiskey night.
I like Snotgirl a lot. There’s fashion, drama, mystery, and it’s relatable in many ways, particularly to how social media/texting/technology is overly present in our lives. The art is presented in a fashion sketch sort of way where suddenly an arbitrary pair of shoes is exchanged for a carefully thought out selection, paired with the perfect dress, and accessories. The colors are vibrant, and fit perfectly with the story. Overall it’s a fun book that holds my interest, and I’m looking forward to seeing Lottie’s outfits, and continuing drama in Issue #4.
Kiersten Wing is a graphic designer at comiXology.