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All posts in Comics are for Everybody

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Rock and Roll Manga

February 17, 2009 • Tiina Johns

The cover of Inio Asano’s new manga, Solanin, caught my eye—this band-aid faced, toque wearing, worried looking girl. What’s her deal?

Solanin follows Meiko, a young Tokyo woman who feels like she might not be making the most of her life. Meiko takes a look at her savings account and realises she can survive for a few months without an income. She quits her boring office job without any real plans, just the excitement of knowing she won’t have to work every day.

Meanwhile, her boyfriend Taneda is getting his old band, Ratti, back together, and thinking about quitting his day job too. They live like this for a while—Taneda writing new songs, and recording a demo, and Meiko spending her days in that bored/blissful state of unemployment, mostly playing video games and meeting friends for coffee.

And then, (spoiler alert!) I’m going to tell you what happens because I feel like this is where Solanin gets good.
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WHY I LOVE J. BONE

February 10, 2009 • Tiina Johns

Canadian illustrator and comic artist J. Bone does so much adorable, amazing stuff. I love him. Here are some reasons why.

J. Bone drew this picture for Wonder Woman Day.

It’s been the desktop on my computer for a month. How can I grumble about all the work I have to do when I’m looking at that?

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Big Ol’ Slice of Octopus Pie

February 2, 2009 • Tiina Johns

I’ve been reading an inordinate amount of web comics lately. Probably because I’m broke and it’s too cold to go to the library, but I need new comics in the way that ladies on TV need chocolate and shoes.

Web comics are great because you can say you’re “working” when you’re really just catching up on Cat and Girl. These cartoonists work tirelessly (or probably often, tiredly) to put their stuff online for free. So read it! That’s what it’s there for.

My latest web comic addiction is Meredith Gran’s Octopus Pie.

Set in New York, the story follows a young woman, Eve Ning, her stoner roommate, Hanna, and a cast of characters including various boyfriends, co-workers and a loyal cat. It’s pretty hip, indie, and perfect for the early twenties crowd, which is not usually the kind of stuff I go for. But like Scott Pilgrim, Octopus Pie is one the few comics that supersedes its hipness, and is just a charming, funny, and great-looking comic.

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Takes Two to Make it Outta Sight

January 25, 2009 • Tiina Johns

One of the things I love about comics is that they encourage collaborative creativity. While some comics are created by one lonely soul, many are the result of what those in the industry call a “creative team.” Doesn’t that sound like a fun team to be on? Most mainstream comics have a writer and an artist (as well as an inker, a colourer, and a letterer). I think it’s really cool to see how two creators (creative teammates? I don’t think they say that in the industry) come together to make a comic. Both the writing and the art are essential, and they play off of and inform one another to give you the story.

Ellen Forney is a much-loved feminist cartoonist, whose work has appeared in all sorts of places including Bust magazine. She does amazing collaborative work with a diverse range of people, including writers, activists, chefs, potheads and even her grandma. Many of these collaborations appear as “How To” guides.

This is collaboration with with everyone’s favourite comedian, Margaret Cho:
Click to enlarge

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GAY TEEN SUPERHERO TV SHOW, KA-POW!

January 20, 2009 • Tiina Johns

The internet is a-buzzing with the news that Stan Lee is developing a new TV show about a gay superhero. Stan “the man” Lee is, of course, the godfather of Marvel comics and co-creator of basically every Marvel character you know, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Daredevil.

The Telegraph reported last week that Stan Lee was “to create world’s first gay superhero.”

Um, no. Not even close.

There are tons of gay superheros, and have been for years. And not like, five. Hundreds. Gayleague.com offers a pretty comprehensive list.

There’s Midnighter and Apollo—Batman and Superman-esque characters, who first appeared in The Authority comics, and then in Midnighter.

They are totes in love, and have an adopted daughter.

Both teams of Marvel teen superheros boast queer couples: Karolina Dean & Xavin of Runaways and Wiccan & Hulkling of Young Avengers.

Renee Montoya from Gotham Central, who became the new Question, is a lesbian. And she used to date Batwoman.

Northstar, of the Canadian Superhero team, Alpha Flight, is probably the most well known gay superhero. He had what so many queer characters in all sorts of fiction have—a controversial outing and an unfortunate death.

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The Weird and Wonderful Templar, Arizona

January 13, 2009 • Tiina Johns

I recently discovered Templar, Arizona through the Comics Worth Reading blog. Their must-read Stupid Publisher Tricks feature inspired me to set aside all my DC and Marvel books for a while, and check out some more web comics.

The world of web comics can be a very diverse place, since anyone can publish their comic online. That is, anyone with lots of time, energy, talent, dedication and the right tools…

Templar, Arizona is a web comic created by a woman named Spike, whose bio made me actually LOL. It’s posted three times a week, a page at time, but rather than being a newspaper style comic, Templar is a graphic novel style, on-going series.

The story follows Ben, who moves from Washington to the imaginary town of Templar, to write for their alt weekly. But more importantly, Ben is escaping from his life in Washington, for a host of reasons—some of which become clear and some of which remain cryptic.

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Kazu Kibuishi’s Daisy Kutter

January 5, 2009 • Tiina Johns

Do you think about alternate universes a lot? Yeah, me too. I especially love post-apocalyptic sci-fi Western worlds. I like space and robots, and I also like cowboys and livin’ off the land. Put them together and you’ve got a perfect world.

So I was delighted to read Kazu Kibuishi’s, Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, a Young Adult graphic novel about a tough as heck cowboy lady in the robot-filled old West.

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MY TOP TEN COMICS OF 2008

December 30, 2008 • Tiina Johns

Okay, I’m not saying I support hierarchies, or that all art needs to be graded and ranked, but I LOVE top ten lists. So here’s my totally biased and completely personal list of the best comics of 2008.

10. Omega the Unknown
9. The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
8. Runaways: Dead End Kids
7. Janes in Love
6. The War At Ellsmere
5. RASL
4. Skim
3. All Star Superman
2. Swallow Me Whole
1. Emiko Superstar

Details after the jump.

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SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE

December 21, 2008 • Tiina Johns

For a gal with all the powers of Superman, Supergirl has had a pretty rough go of it. In the sixties Superman sent her to live in a crappy orphanage and only got her out when he needed a pawn in some plan (usually to make Lois jealous). Her origin story is confusing: She’s Superman’s cousin? She was sent to earth to kill him? She was built by Lex Luthor? In the past few years, she’s often been drawn less as a teenage girl, and more as a creepy male fantasy. Oh yeah, and she totally died.

But things are looking up for Supergirl lately, in the main DC universe and otherwise. She has her own new, all ages-friendly series, Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in 8th Grade.

Issue one was adorable, fun, and surprisingly, a little complex.

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ANGRY KIDS? ZOMBIE DOGS? KILLING PEOPLE WITH YOUR MIND? HOORAY FOR DEMO!

December 16, 2008 • Tiina Johns

It’s cold as heck out, and the dreaded holiday season is here, so I’ve been dealing with it by curling up with some old favourites. I just reread Demo, a collection of twelve monthly comics written by Brian Wood and drawn by Becky Cloonan. It’s an awesome collection of angsty teenage stories, with Buffy or X-men-style metaphors where fantastic elements represent intense emotion.

Brian Wood is generally loved by the ladies for his focus on female characters (Local, The New York Four) and his cool blend of politics and realistic characters in an alternate future, sci-fi-ish setting (DMZ). Becky Cloonan perfectly renders young folks in styles ranging manga-y to stark black and white. Her punk-pirate book, East Coast Rising, is fun as heck.

Each of the twelve issues collected in Demo are individual stories, linked together loosely with the theme of angry youth, and hidden power.

(Beware, there are some swears after the jump.)

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