tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40321652007-05-25T09:44:08.410-04:00Sean McGurrBlogger421125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-8669593796129275962007-05-25T09:38:00.000-04:002007-05-25T09:44:08.428-04:00

It's become clear to me that I can't keep up with these reviews anymore. I have a few written, but I've fallen off of reviewing every graphic novel I've read. Oh well. Using Library Thing, you can see what I have read lately. As you can probably tell from my reviews in the past, I tend to read books that I already have a predisposition to like (no reason to read books you don't like). So if you

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-54692500341908416982006-12-13T22:56:00.000-05:002006-12-13T22:57:27.480-05:00

Hiatus Over in January The Graphic Novel Journal will start publishing new reviews every Tuesday and Thursday starting January 2.

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1161885864152533412006-10-16T08:00:00.000-04:002006-10-26T15:11:07.316-04:00

Hiatus I've been taking a break from comics and graphic novels recently--there have been a bunch of great books out recently--so the journal will be on hiatus for a bit. I'm also putting together some new comics to debut at SNAP!. Look for new reviews later this year.

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1161020914882664042006-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:002006-10-16T13:48:34.883-04:00

A Few Perfect Hours by Josh Neufeld When others relate their travel stories--no matter what format: essays, pictures, slideshows, seemingly endless monologues--it can be hard to stay awake. Why should you care about what happened to others? It is a challenge all travel writers face. Comics creators have the same problem. Even though they have the added benefit of being able to show pictures, they

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1161020709564650222006-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:002006-10-16T13:46:19.326-04:00

Drawn & Quarterly Showcase No. 4 by Various I dig Mome and enjoy most of the other literary comics anthology that have been sprouting up over the past few years, but am consistently impressed with the work that is featured in the Drawn & Quarterly anthology. Drawn & Quarterly Showcase No. 4 (2006, Drawn & Quarterly, Amazon listing) has solid pieces by three disparate artists. I've enjoyed

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1160423627228450662006-10-05T08:00:00.000-04:002006-10-09T15:55:05.063-04:00

AEIOU: Any Easy Intimacy by Jeffrey Brown More autobiographical troubles with women are presented in Jeffrey Brown's AEIOU: Any Easy Intimacy (2005, Top Shelf Productions, Amazon listing). This time he focuses on his relationship with Sophia, who he is set up with by a friend. If you've read Brown before, you know what you are going to get here: crudely-drawn, but oddly engaging panels; a quick

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1160423435723293702006-10-03T08:00:00.000-04:002006-10-09T15:50:35.743-04:00

When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs Growing up in the late 70s and early 80s, nothing scared me more than nuclear war. Fear of the bomb was constantly with me and I found myself daydreaming about what I would do if I survived a nuclear blast. Of course that was silly as the chances of my surviving would be slim, especially since I lived near a major city that was almost certainly high on the

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1159535283410373712006-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-29T09:14:42.410-04:00

The Sandman Vol. 4: Seasons of Mists by Neil Gaiman In The Sandman Vol. 4: Seasons of Mists (1992, Vertigo/DC Comics, Amazon listing), Neil Gaiman's extended saga takes off. The storyline here is probably the strongest and most exciting in the series. For readers who enjoyed the short stories, but now want access into the extended Sandman Universe, this arc, rather than the first volume or "The

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1159535491731250962006-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-29T09:12:07.583-04:00

Legend of the Green Flame by Neil Gaiman While in Seattle a few weeks ago, I found a Neil Gaiman comic I didn't know existed, Legend of the Green Flame (2000, DC Comics). Ironically, the script by Gaiman was lost for a number of years. He wrote a Green Lantern and Superman script that couldn't be published because it didn't fit the continuity of the DC Universe at the time. The script was lost,

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158848508155519492006-09-21T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-21T10:21:48.160-04:00

Playback Adapted by Ted Benoit and Francois Ayroles It has often been said that the best trait of comics is the ability to adapt to just about any genre. Obviously the biggest success has been in superheroes, but there are fantastic comics in science fiction, biography, realism, non-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. At first blush, an unproduced noir screenplay by Raymond Chandler would seem to be

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158848336094279462006-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-21T10:20:21.860-04:00

The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman One of the shortest books in the series, The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country (1995, Vertigo/DC Comics, Amazon listing) is a collection of four short stories from the series which barely feature the title character at all. Yet each is a great read and indicative of Neil Gaiman's skill as a storyteller. The World Fantasy Award winning "A Midsummer

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158369800415035362006-09-14T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-15T21:23:20.416-04:00

Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection by Ellen Forney I'm usually not a big fan of comic strips, but Ellen Forney's Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection (1999, Fantagraphics, Amazon listing) strip published in alternative newspapers around the country is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Despite being just a bit too young to remember the 70s in detail like Forney

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158369544828319272006-09-12T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-15T21:19:04.830-04:00

Ocean by Warren Ellis You could do worse to pass the time on a short flight than to read Warren Ellis's Ocean (2005, Wildstorm/DC Comics, Amazon listing). Well-known for his use of imaginative ideas that have a basis in science, Ellis weaves a tale about the discovery of strange sarcophagi underneath the ocean of Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Weapons inspector Nathan Kane is called in to

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158369066093096602006-09-07T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-15T21:17:20.716-04:00

Concrete Vol. 6: Strange Armor by Paul Chadwick With the publication of Concrete Vol. 6: Strange Armor (2006, Dark Horse, Amazon listing), the seven volume reprint collection of (I believe) all the Concrete stories is now complete (yes, volume seven came out before this volume). Now there is a long wait until Paul Chadwick puts out a new series. The mini-series collected here retells Concrete's

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158368853346140212006-09-05T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-15T21:08:37.480-04:00

Renfield: A Tale of Madness by Gary Reed Too often in comics, horror means gore and mayhem. Just because there are vampires and zombies roaming around does not mean that you have a horror comic. Horror should have real suspense. It should make you feel uncomfortable as you read it. Most of all, it should scare you long after you put it down. Renfield: A Tale of Madness (1995, Caliber Comics,

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1158368697368515692006-08-31T08:00:00.000-04:002006-09-15T21:05:21.676-04:00

The Left Bank Gang by Jason Norwegian artist Jason has been making a splash with his recent books Why Are You Doing This, Hey...Wait, and Sshhhh!, but his most recent book, The Left Bank Gang (2006, Fantagraphics Books, Amazon listing), is the best one yet. The main character is Ernest Hemingway eking out a living in Paris in the 1920s. His friends F. Scott Fitzgerald (and wife Zelda), Ezra

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1156866108353607072006-08-29T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-29T11:41:48.366-04:00

The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman My original plan was to reread a volume of The Sandman a month starting last year, but I've been sidetracked with all my other reading and life in general. But coming back to this series after reading it once already allows me to pick up things I didn't notice the first time around. The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House (1990, Vertigo/DC Comics,

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1156418283825456382006-08-24T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-24T07:18:03.840-04:00

Concrete Vol. 6: Think Like a Mountain by Paul Chadwick Much speculative fiction takes as the starting point a what if question. What if the world was attacked by Martians? What if an asteroid was on a collision course with Earth? What if superheroes existed in the real world? For the most part, authors are concerned with how events might change the world. In Concrete Vol. 6: Think Like a

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1156296696591133542006-08-22T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-22T21:32:09.076-04:00

But I Like It by Joe Sacco Even though Joe Sacco has always made himself a character in his journalist comics such as Palestine and Safe Area Gorazade, he has never been the focus of the books. Rather, like a good journalist, he follows the story and doesn't make himself a part of the story. These are outstanding and important works and while they often have humor as a part of the story, it isn't

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1156037255127748592006-08-17T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-19T21:27:35.143-04:00

Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) by Bill Willingham The seventh volume of the fairytales in the real world series, Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) (2006, Vertigo/DC Comics, Amazon listing), continues to be one of the most fun reads in comics. Author Bill Willingham puts together an entertaining and imaginative story. After six volumes of reading about western European fables, Willingham

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1155663996602024102006-08-15T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-15T13:46:36.616-04:00

Can't Get No by Rick Veitch Can't Get No (2006, Vertigo/DC Comics, Amazon listing) follows Chad Roe, an executive at a permanent marker company. After his company is sued by the city for its role in the rampant graffiti, Roe goes on a lost weekend and ends up getting extensively marked by his own product. He doesn't quite wake up until Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. Presumed dead, Roe goes

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1155581913211279052006-08-10T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-14T15:04:13.526-04:00

Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know by Paul Gravett Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know (2006, Collins Design, Amazon listing) is the best reference book on graphic novels that I have seen written. Others usually fail in one of a few ways: they focus only on one type of graphic novel; they don't have a sense of history; they aren't easy to read; or they seem slapped together to

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1155059181957780742006-08-08T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-08T13:46:34.233-04:00

Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies As someone whose mother passed away from cancer, I read Mom's Cancer (2006, Abrams Image, Amazon listing) with a bit of trepidation. I was worried it would bring back too many bad memories, or worse, not ring true. But Brian Fies is able to capture the experience honestly without turning the book into a cliche. It is sad, fun, brutal, but most of all, real. The author

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1154613228411494252006-08-03T08:00:00.000-04:002006-08-03T09:55:15.763-04:00

The Fate of the Artist by Eddie Campbell I find myself having a hard time explaining the autobiographical works of Eddie Campbell. His Alec books have been outstanding works, if not that easy to categorize. His latest book, The Fate of the Artist (2006, First Second, Amazon listing), is no exception. It is a great work, but one that defies description. Using a mix of media (watercolors, photos,

Sean McGurrtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032165.post-1154459763642695382006-08-01T20:00:00.000-04:002006-08-01T15:16:03.660-04:00

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 15: Silver Sable by Brian Michael Bendis Collected within Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 15: Silver Sable (2006, Marvel Comics, Amazon listing) is the first annual of the series and a five-issue story arc featuring the Silver Sable. The story is your basic Ultimate Spidey story: witty repartee, lots of action, guest stars, and debuts of new characters. But what makes this

Sean McGurr