Superhero stories mesh easily with New York, whether it’s the new Jessica Jones series, which follows its super-strong private investigator around a noir Manhattan, or the first appearance of Batman, in 1939, soaring over the city.
Comics
Posted inArt
At the New Museum, Jim Shaw Plays Artist and Curator
The title of Jim Shaw’s current retrospective at the New Museum, The End is Here, comes from the title of his first zine made in 1978, displayed in a vitrine on the first floor of the exhibition.
Posted inArt
An Army of Artists Draws Batman
There are few fictional characters that can be evoked through just a symbol, but Batman is one of them, with the outline of his flying namesake, or a suggestion of the crime fighter’s black mask.
Posted inArt
As He Releases His New Book, Adrian Tomine Talks Beginnings and Endings
Comics artist Adrian Tomine’s latest collection, Killing and Dying, took a long time to materialize.
Posted inBooks
Two Comics Narrate the Unsaid and the Unknown
A common piece of advice to writers is to show, rather than tell.
Posted inBooks
Publisher of Small-Format Comics Gives Emerging Authors a Big Break
At just 24 pages, each comic in British publisher Nobrow’s 17×23 series is designed to be an accessible gateway for readers to discover emerging authors, and for those authors to create what is often their first print publication.
Posted inNews
A Pakistani Comic Book Fights Religious Extremism
This week, Pakistani high schools are distributing comic books that authorities hope will dissuade at-risk teenagers from joining militant organizations like the Taliban.
Posted inArt
Women’s Rage: A Conversation with the Creator of ‘Bitch Planet’
A comic book industry veteran for the last decade, Kelly Sue DeConnick first earned her chops adapting manga to English.
Posted inArt
How to See a World in a Corner of a Living Room
What do the ’80s post-punk band Liquid Liquid, faded family photographs, and Art Spiegelman have in common? All contributed to the creation of Richard McGuire’s latest graphic novel, Here.
Posted inBooks
New York’s Beloved, Independent, Union-Busting Bookstore
On the Books, written and drawn by Greg Farrell and released by Microcosm Publishing, is a firsthand comics account of contract negotiations at the Strand in 2012 — or, as the book’s subtitle puts it, “A Graphic Tale of Working Woes at NYC’s Strand Bookstore.”
Posted inBooks
Drawing the Dark Journeys of Drifters
For a digest of comics stories and intricate, free-standing illustrative work called The Lonesome Go, St. Louis artist and writer Tim Lane profiles familiar, typically unshaven folk: bar flies, train-hopping drifters, biker types.
Posted inBooks
The Existential Adventures of a Daredevil Escape Artist
Years before NYC-based artist and writer Paul Pope was garnering Eisner Awards for an intricate, boundary-challenging Batman series, he was making a name for himself working at a Japanese comics publisher. At night, however, Pope was crafting the story of how a circus’s sinewy escape artist earns his keep.