The Devil Is In The Details — But God Might Be, Too : David Tea’s “Five Perennial Virtues” #12 : “Pearl”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
1y ago
Something tells me that if the late, great Steve Ditko didn’t harbor a sense of utter disdain for mysticism (I know, I know, weird considering he created the character of Dr. Strange) that he’d like David Tea’s comics : intricate bordering on the obsessive, singular in their approach, making little to no allowances for popular taste, and more than a trifle inflicted with/influenced by (depending upon one’s point of view) a kind of esoterically-flavored cultural and even political conservatism that probably doesn’t have much of a place in the MAGA clown car even though it shares at least a few ..read more
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An Atypical Wreck : Steven Arnold’s “Perry Midlife”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
1y ago
Speaking as someone who’s been there, done that, and is still doing it, trust me when I say that the existential dread that comes with aging is as serious as a fucking heart attack. Certainly, it has to qualify as a “first world problem” — there are any number of countries in the process of being ground under economically, militarily, or both where simply living to see another day is reason enough to be grateful regardless of how many ticks of the calendar one has endured — but that doesn’t mean those of us who have the privilege of even being able to worry about such things aren’t terrified ..read more
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The Other Side Of The Fold : Robb Mirsky’s “The Lemonade Brigade”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
The “tag line” above the title of Robb Mirsky’s new self-published mini The Lemonade Brigade tells you right away that he gets it : why do kids in the suburbs tend to get themselves into any kind of trouble they can find? Because they’re bored — and they damn well should be! When you’re surrounded by people (or, in this case, lemons) who have traded in happiness for the single-dullest approximation of security one can imagine, people who are literally running out the clock on their own lives, you’ll do anything to relieve the tedium. Especially, I suppose, if those people are your own parents ..read more
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The Color (And Black And White) Out Of Space : Henry Crane’s “Late In The Years”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
Like a bolt out of the blue, multimedia artist Henry Crane’s first (and, to his credit, first self-published) comic, the generously and gorgeously oversized Late In The Years, hit toward the tail end of 2021 — and proceeded to sit on my monstrously-proportioned “to be read” pile until just a couple of weeks ago. Which is my loss, really, because this isn’t just a good comic, or a great comic — it’s a fucking tour de force, which is not a term I invoke lightly or, for that matter, particularly often. To my (admittedly dubious) credit, however, I’ve since made up for my tardiness by reading the ..read more
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To Boldly Go — : Alexander Laird’s “Oubliette”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
Purely as physical objects, Alexander Laird’s self-published comics are things of exquisite beauty : lovingly riso-printed, uniquely formatted, conceptualized to a degree that’s flat-out exacting, they stand as a testament to both dedication and determination in equal measure, their execution representing an inherently harmonious marriage with the singular creative vision behind them. I honestly don’t know of any cartoonist who works as hard at holistically integrating the creative with the technical, whose inner artist is so “in tune” with their outer artisan. Each of Laird’s books has the l ..read more
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The Otherside Of Madness : Andrew Zakolodny’s “Deadnauts”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
I’ve seen some wild shit in my time as a comics critic, but for sheer conceptual bravado, few things can match Ukrainian cartoonist Andrew Zakolodny’s new Strangers-published surreal mindfuck Deadnauts, a combustible admixture of high-concept science fiction, drug-addled paranoia, black humor, militaristic uber-violence, and gross-out body horror — among other things. If you’re even remotely squeamish, this is a book you want less than zero to do with. But, hey, if you’re not — Well, if you’re not, one of the first things you’ll learn is that the curious term “otherside” in this review’s titl ..read more
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Comics As Unresolved Labyrinth : Bruce Zeines’ “Life Out Of Sequence”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
Confession time : the title of this review isn’t mine. But it sure is good, so I appropriated it — fortunately, from the very book we’re here to take a look at, so I needn’t feel too terribly guilty. And, in truth, the notion of graphic sequential storytelling as an “unresolved labyrinth” is only one of many that stuck with me long after I closed the covers of cartoonist Bruce Zeines’ 2021 self-published opus on the nature of very medium he’s utilizing, Life Out Of Sequence. Time, spatiality, the unique properties and possibilities that a blank page to be populated by juxtaposed words and ima ..read more
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A Rough Kind Of Magic : Frances Cordelia Beaver’s “On A Cute One”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
Can earnestness and heart alone carry a 600-plus-page graphic novel? It’s a question I’d never thought to ask myself before, but was forced to upon completion of Philadelphia-based cartoonist Frances Cordelia Beaver’s new self-published tome On A Cute One, both because of where and how the book shines and where and how it comes up short. To be clear : what it does well, it does really well, and the ways in which it misses the mark aren’t “deal-breakers” by any stretch, so maybe I’ve answered my own introductory question here already, but nevertheless, let’s dig a bit deeper. After all, this i ..read more
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The Crowded Abyss : Garresh’s “Disco Lavante”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
Here’s the thing : on paper, at least, there’s no compelling reason why Scottish cartoonist Garresh’s Disco Lavante (Strangers Publishing, 2022) shouldn’t all make sense. It’s straightforward, uncomplicated, maybe even tidy. We’ve got lost souls endlessly roaming the void that exists beyond the pale courtesy of a good, old-fashioned suicide cult, and finding that — generally speaking — whatever sort of “existence” there is after this one ends probably isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Kinda like life on Earth, I suppose, only weirder, more oppressive and, if you can believe it, even more point ..read more
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A Mystery “Unfolding”
Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)
2y ago
I’m all for formalist experimentation — even for its own sake — but Kimball Anderson’s self-published mini Unfolding (which I think was released in the latter part of last year, but I could be wrong about that — in any case, that’s when I got it) is formalist experimentation with an added layer of purpose beyond “just” or “only” that tacked on : utilizing typed text and collage, it manages, in the space of just 12 pages, to interrogate the very nature of information-gathering and information-sharing on levels both practical and conceptual. Consider : there is something about someone or someth ..read more
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