I've mentioned this before, but I'm not big into high fantasy. It probably stems from reading an overload of DragonLance books as a child (I still have the cracking, falling-apart copies of the books I "borrowed" from my babysitter), but tales of heroic swordsmen and gray-robed mages and demons from another dimension just don't do it for me. There are a few exceptions (Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy springs to mind), but on the whole, it's a genre that doesn't exactly get my loins stirring.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
High Fantasy Slashes Its Way Into the Modern World
Posted by Lauren Davis at Thursday, January 28, 2010 30 comments
Labels: fantasy, high fantasy, lars brown, north world, oni press, the epic of conrad, urban fantasy
Friday, January 22, 2010
Need a Valentine's Day Gift? Webcomics to the Rescue
On the Roman holiday of Lupercalia, young men would slaughter dogs and goats, cut small thongs from the animals' flesh, and run naked through the city, whipping young women to ensure their fertility. These days, Valentine's Day is less about physical pain (unless you count high heels) and more about emotional anguish. And instead of leather thongs, we generally pelt the unsuspecting objects of our affection with paper cards and novelty gifts. Need to do some pre-Valentine's shopping?
- The Diesel Sweeties V-Day card collection is chock full of pork, Darwin, and good old fashioned nihilism.
- For something more on the boobs and boozing side, there's the Girls with Slingshots card pack.
- For the non-cynic, Eros Inc. is ordering up a set of sweet, straightforward cards.
- And if you prefer your romance with a dash of cyanide, Wondermark's mix-and-match cards come in Fallen, Bear, Paper, Whisper, and Pretend.
Posted by Lauren Davis at Friday, January 22, 2010 27 comments
Labels: cards, gifts, merchandise, valentines, webcomics
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Odds and Ends: Teen Lit, Haiti, and 69 Love Songs
- The Young Adult Library Services Association has released its annual list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens. Among the honorees are Zuda's comic Bayou, the first volume of Gunnerkrigg Court, the dead-tree reworking of Hurricane Katrina webcomic A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and webcomic regulars Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier's manga X-Men adaptation, X-Men: Misfits 1. [via Fleen and The Webcomics Outlook]
- Want to help victims of the Haiti earthquake? Girls Drawin' Girls is soliciting artwork and merch for a charity art sale. Proceeds will go to the American Red Cross.
- A group of London-based artists is illustrating each track from the Magnetic Fields' 1999 album 69 Love Songs. Could make for a cool Valentine's Day gift if you're into synthpop and lovey dovey presents. [via Drawn!]
Posted by Lauren Davis at Thursday, January 21, 2010 25 comments
Labels: charity, music, odds and ends, webcomics, young adult
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Small Victories in a Wicked World
I swear, Warren Ellis finds the best stuff.
This week, the whiskey-soaked madman of Whitechapel shared Small Victories, a new photo webcomic by Sarah Sharp. A little bit A Softer World, a dash of Pictures for Sad Children, and a wicked sense of humor -- and it's just a few days old. Plus, I'm always a sucker for a good zombie joke.
Posted by Lauren Davis at Wednesday, January 20, 2010 27 comments
Labels: photo comic, sarah sharp, small victories, webcomics
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Webcomics Reimagined as Crappy Syndicated Comics
- HijiNKS Ensue, pictured at the top, not only features a hi-larious moment of confusion, it also contains an important lesson: not all movie downloading is illegal.
- Octopus Pie translates one of its pages into a four-panel strip, complete with editors' notes. Note to aspiring comic creators: you readers are morons.
- Unshelved finally cashes in on that one librarian joke you just know they've been dying to use but never dared touch.
- Just A Bit Off apes the immortal edge and relevance of Blondie.
- For Edmund Finney, Dan Long takes the imagined syndicated comic through its glory days, its 25-year mark, and the "ready for retirement" comic.
- Diesel Sweeties used to be syndicated, and R Stevens has posted what things would look like if it still were.
Posted by Lauren Davis at Wednesday, January 13, 2010 60 comments
Labels: ifitweresyndicated, jeph jacques, syndicated comics
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Questionable Content: The Book
Posted by Lauren Davis at Tuesday, January 12, 2010 53 comments
Labels: jeph jacques, print comics, questionable content, webcomics
Monday, January 11, 2010
What the Hell, Zuda?
I'll be the first to admit that I don't really get Zuda.
Posted by Lauren Davis at Monday, January 11, 2010 22 comments
Labels: competition, dc comics, zuda comics