The Penguin

I'm back to reviewing stuff! That's right, folks...every so often, whenever I feel like it, I review some comics or books or movies or whatever that I think are either really good, really bad, or just important. For my first review in a long time, here's Wet Moon by Sophie Campbell. Wet Moon Book 1: Feeble Wanderings Sophie Campbell Oni Press I was handed Wet Moon Book 1: Feeble Wanderings by a friend with little introduction except a mysterious look, a kind of sidelong glance that could indicate mischief or apprehension. Glancing at the cover, I was immediately struck by the fact that, despite showing its main character, this image and title gave away absolutely nothing. Who is this cute, pudgy goth babe? Why does she appear to be shrinking from encroaching blackness, yet leaning forward with a hungry, curious look? What the heck does "Wet Moon" mean? Whatever it means, this is one hell of a weird, funny, haunting comic...and gives new meaning to th...

Holy crap, it's been a long time since I've done one of these! As you may know, I'm committed to introducing many less-read comics to the masses. Since moving to Lansing and patronizing the Capital Area District Library , I've been able to read an enormous number of amazing comics and graphic novels that I wouldn't have had a chance to read otherwise. CADL has an extensive graphic novel section, the largest I've ever seen (granted, I haven't been to too  many libraries), and it's an honor and a privilege to plug them whenever possible. So, without further hairdo...I mean, ado... on to the comics! 1.  7 Miles a Second (Vertigo 1996; Fantagraphics 2013) Written by David Wojnarowicz Illustrated by James Romberger and Marguerite Van Cook. 7 Miles a Second pulses with rage as David looks back on his childhood hustling on the streets of New York, and forward to his eventual death of AIDS. The artwork is a primal, visceral scream of tumbling bioin...

Amulet Written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi I picked this one up at the library, in the kid's comic book section (there's some good stuff in there). The story concerns a girl named Emily, and her discovery of a magic amulet. Having lost her father in a car accident, Emily, her mother, and her brother Navin move into their great-grandfather Silas's home. When Emily's mother is kidnapped by a tentacled creature in the basement, Emily and Navin set off in search of her. Their journey takes them to the home of Silas and his robotic assistants; it is his dying wish that Emily take the stone and save the strange parallel earth from the wicked Elf King and his army. Along the way, they are menaced by the Elf Prince, Elf soldiers, various strange creatures, and the seductive power of the Amulet. Kazu Kibuishi delivers a solid series, illustrated in a loose cartoon style. The story is kid-friendly, but engaging enough that any comics reader will find it satisfying; there are...

1. Swallow Me Whole Nate Powell Swallow Me Whole is a haunting, nightmarish treatment of suburban adolescence. The story follows the mental journeys of half-siblings Ruth and Perry. They have mental problems to begin with - Perry sees a tiny wizard who tells him to draw things, and Ruth is obsessed with patterns in her insect collection - but as they get older, Ruth sinks steadily deeper into her madness, and Perry finds it more and more difficult to resist the Wizard. Nate Powell is not content merely to chronicle events as an observer - his art draws the reader in, forcing us to experience the characters' mental states for ourselves. Understandably this makes for a confusing read...but what a confusion. The light, incomplete, nebulous drawings translate into a mental fuzziness, compounded by the alteration of dialogue text; the only really clear moments are those of extreme darkness, when Powell slops on great gouts of shadow. The cumulative effect is extraordinarily spooky. Mad ...

At some point, way back in the misty dawn of time [of this blog], I said this was a comics blog. It hasn't really turned out that way, aside from a few sketchbook pictures here and there. I thought it was high time I put in a couple of comic book reviews, just to spice things up. The following is a series of very short reviews of comics I've read. Most of these come from the library where I work - we have a moderate collection. Because I'm lazy, the reviews will probably be quite short, depending on what I want to say about it. Also, if you've never heard of any of these comics or creators, all's the better - I've become a bit of a connoisseur, I've found, of comics nobody's ever heard of (although this review will include some more commonly-known titles and artists). (By the way, starting from this point, I might be using the word "comickers" a lot - it simply means, "comic book artists". It's just a bit easier than saying "...