Tintin mash-up covers by Dan Hipp

I love Dan Hipp's art; I like when an artist's work is distinctive and instantly recognisable, but the pyschadelic gamer/ing elements in it make me happy too. Here's some alternative Tintin covers he did, mashed up with some famous films (the Alien one is my favourite, as expected):

Dinosaur Love

I have been after the Encyclopedia Prehistorica:  Dinosaurs book for a while and my gorgeous cousin bought it me for my birthday (thanks, Clark!xx) Quite honestly, it is even more magnificent than I'd imagined it to be: and I had HIGH expectations, being a mad on all things dinosaur related. It's been put together by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart; Sabuda is famed for his pop-up and paper engineering work and this is a prime example of his incredible skill.

Each double page spread has one, main large pop-up beast scene, and then at least four smaller flaps which open up to reveal more text and pop-ups. It's a feat of engineering and design, with information compacted in every space, yet never does it feel cluttered or squashed in. There's information and trivia on the outer of the flaps as well as inside and they tuck neatly into secure cardboard corners to best preserve them from spilling out and being easily torn. And the colours used are just beautiful.

I took a few photos to try and show you how spectacular this book is, but it's best seen in person. If you like dinosaurs, or know anyone who does, I can assure you this is the perfect gift. I really want the Sharks volume in this series now!

Ungh.

I went to my sister's today and she gave me this as an early birthday present (it's on Friday). I've told myself I'm not allowed to read it until I've finished this assignment and made some headway into another. SO.....HARD....

How nice is that? Printed Pages

Printed Pages
Spring 2013 £4.

Last year saw the publication of their first annual, and now online art/design collective It's Nice That have launched a quarterly magazine with an attractive £4 price-point. It has a very nice, striking french-flap cover which I've reduced to blandness through my anti-technology powers, but the circles and colours all contrast effectively and it's printed on a lovely thick gross-grained paper. But what of the contents? Well, it's a mixture of interesting articles, but the best thing about it is its accessiblity: for me, even specialist material should be allow any reader to pick it up and be easily read and understood, and PP certainly accomplishes that.

It opens with one of those 'come and look at my quirky interior design' home features, the home being that of Omar Sosa of Apartmento fame. Sosa's schtick is photographing homes as utilised living spaces, a more natural way of looking at how people interact with their home surroundings and furniture. He seems like a nice enough chap, but let's be honest: those kind of features rely on the general crapiness of all involved: the reader's nosiness and envy in poking around another's home and either coveting or bitching about it, and the usually awful bluster or pretentiousness of those with their living areas on display. Subverting that by showing 'normal' interiors doesn't really work.

The main spread in PP is a flurry of pages devoted to an interview with Chris Ware, who's been pretty much everywhere since Building Stories. Ware talks here about the connection between out realities and fiction and how inter-connected it all is. I appreciate what Ware does, although I'm not a fan (I like the form of it, but not the content), as it were: he has an instantly recognisable visual language, his art style, to me, is all about control- each aspect of it neat and ordered, thought out and planned, removed and distant, which is juxtaposed against the themes he cyclically works with: of extreme feeling or emotion: loneliness, depression, sadness. In a way his work is very much like his people/characters: a projection of a pleasing, contained outer facade with deep emotion within. I always like looking at his stuff though.

There's an interview with some people I've never heard of- a  young lady called Hanly Banks who after listening to an album of musician Bill Callahan for a while decided to make a movie out of it. Banks just drove down to one of his gigs and gave him a rock, talked with him and he agreed to being followed around for a year so so she could make her movie. These stories are cute and all nice and indie, but I never believe them. The film got successfully kickstarted and by all intents and purposes was a great success and well-made, so don't mind my cynicism.

I've never been a gamer by any definition, but lots of comic creators are and the increasing influence of gaming in comics is prevalent with people like Zac Gorman, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Nick Edwards etc. I've read comics about Zelda and Sonic and Animal Crossing and loved them, without having any knowledge of them at all. I really love reading about the creative, animation and art side of it though, so this interview with Jon Goode was really cool. Goode is the guy who designed the original Guess-Who and its characters before they were all turned into generic little composites. He's worked on Action Man and My Little Pony and it's interesting to hear him talk about the changes in focus in game design and art over the years (money-focused as usual).

The final highlight was a solid piece on outdoor sculpture spaces, featuring the Yorkshire Sculpture Park amongst others. Overall Printed Pages is off to a flying start: they've obviously approached it the right way: nifty production values, a clear, clean layout with a focus on diverse, quality content. Seek a copy out. 

A skinny skinny: Graham Chafee's Good Dog

I'd been hearing a bit on the whisper-sphere about Graham Chafee's Good Dog, so in a moment of academic task avoidance I hit Fantagraphic's site to see what the skinny was (forgive me my trespasses okay? I've always wanted to say that). I have a weird habit where I only like to read a few lines of blurb or summary and that's enough to gauge interest; I like to  leave as much of the discovery to the actual reading of a book as I can.

Anyway, the skinny: I pre-ordered it. I have a feeling it's a book that will make you cry. If you want a longer skinny, there's the full preview complete with pages below.

'Ivan, who is plagued by terrible nightmares about chickens and rabbits, is a good dog — if only someone would notice. Readers accompany the stray as he navigates dog society, weathers pack politics, and surveys canine-human interactions.

Good Dog's story and pen-and-ink art are deceptively simple, but Chaffee uses the approachability of the subject matter as a device to explore topics such as independence, security, assimilation, loyalty, and violence. Preteen-and-up dog fanciers, especially, will warm to the well-meaning Ivan and his exploits with a motley assortment of Scotties, Bulldogs, and mutts. Chaffee combines illustrative gravitas with cartooning verve and creates a richly textured, dog’s-eye view of the world. The story is a rousing Jack London-esque adventure as well as a moral parable.'

Inside Philippa Rice's fantastic sketchbooks

Philippa Rice has been posting scans of her sketchbooks on her Tumblr blog and they're pretty damn great: you should go have a look at them all. Rice is probably most well-know for her online webcomic, My Cardboard Life, done in a collage style, and also for Soppy, featuring her and Luke Pearson doing little couple-y things, but I love her 'drawn' illustration from what I've seen in various contributions to anthologies -Nobrow, Bimba, and the mini-comics she's done: Longboy, Looking Out. Hope she gets to do a longer form comic in that kind of style because she's so bloody talented!  

Here are some of my favourite sketchbook pages:

Nobrow 8 Hysteria: all shook up

Nobrow 8 Hysteria edited by Alex Spiro and Sam Arthur

Nobrow Press

Here we go then: the lovely smelling eighth volume of Nobrow’s titular anthology, packed this time with comics and illustration spreads of a hysterical nature, hotly anticipated by myself due to the lofty standards set by its Eisner-nominated predecessor.

One of the complaints I hear most often about Nobrow is that it tries to do too much: the illustration, the comics, the theme which ties it all together; it can be bitty and abstract, and that is sometimes true. I’ve never found it to be a problem: it’s always stuffed with interesting, quality work and while contributions are linked together by an umbrella theme, it’s not really the kind of text that’s supposed to read as an overarching narrative.

But themes schmemes. The thing that I find irresistible about it is the sheer volume and variety of material on offer: a kaleidoscope of art styles, ideas and approaches: I understand how that could be seen as a weakness or overwhelming, but I think it gives it depth, making it one of the few publications that truly lends itself to multiple readings. Yes, sometimes it feels more cohesive than others, but it’s only ever let down when the ration of bad contributions to good contributions is skewed. Generally, it WORKS.

Hysteria works.

The illustrations are more visceral and indelible than the comics, perhaps because the concept of hysteria is more associated with a snapshot of a single, extreme moment, which better befits interpretive illustration. It’s there in Emannuelle Walker’s crazily neon patterned elephants, it’s there in Markus Farber’s overly stuffed, pill-swigging, innard-exposing, geometric shard totem man, it’s there in Rebecca Dart’s intensely focused, frenetic pile of warrior women, it’s there in the incessant zealous chatter of Vincent Mahe’s religious figureheads. The illustrations have one shot to grab attention and convey their message, and boy, do they take it: succeeding in eliciting an instant emotive response from the reader.

The comics operate a little differently; more ponderous and conversely not as immediately powerful. The ones that that work best are similarly sparsely worded: Karine Bernadou’s great opener, which manages to infuse the zany vibrance of the illustrative side, as Hysteria herself tries to take a a break from it all, Dustin Harbin’s interchangeable animal-head popping suit is delightful: beautifully drawn and executed- the pace of the switches, the gradual increasing hysteria and the perfect burst of the eventual punchline all just wonderfully done.

Zack Soto’s  sweet, overtly theatrical space opera is another highlight: I’m a real fan of his colouring- an almost light phosphorescence and neon, and I love the blend of translucence and cartoony he achieves in his art- it’s almost ethereal yet simultaneously dynamic. Jose Dominga’s contribution is word minimal and effective: the brash repetitiveness of the rude red  ’blah’ everywhere, crowding the page, until both reader and character find an eventual oasis of escape.

Dilraj Mann’s collaboration with Laura Halliwell is the undisputed comic pick here: perfectly nuanced in detail and tone- the blue tones and washes, the swollen, sullen lips and attitude, the suddenly awkward voluptuous bodies and the cruel  nature of teenage girls. Something in the way he draws faces and features here is strongly reminiscent of The Simpsons: small plump lips, tapering chins, quizzical eyes.

There are some mis-steps: Matteo Farinellas’ The Wandering Womb is as bad as it sounds: neither incisive or witty and Kyle Smart’s Hysteria Limited misses any sort of mark, but overall this is another brilliant effort from editors Sam Arthur and Alex Spiro, with simply too much goodness to list or miss: pick it up.

Comics: Karine Bernadou, Luke Pearson, Ross Phillips, Andrew Waugh, Nick Edwards, Bob Flynn, Zack Soto, Jose Domingo, Dustin Hrabin, Kyle Smart, Matteo Farinella, Marc Torices, Philippa Rice, Dilraj Mann with Laura Halliwell

Illustration: Emmanuelle Walker, Vincent Mahe, Shimrit Elkanati, Marta Monteiro, Bianca Bagnarelli, Tom Haugomat, Pawel Mildner, Nicolas Galkowski, Eirian Chapman, Sam Bosma, Ana Pez, Pierre Ferrero, Sam Chivers, David Lucas, You Byun, Andrea Kalfas, Claire De Gastold, Kenard Pak, Carmen Segovia, Masaka Kubo, Natasha Durley, Keith Negley, Robin Davey, Marta Monterio, Markus Farber, Puno, Gwendal Le Bec, Andrew R Maclean, Rebecca Dart, Jim Rugg, Wiliam Grill

Hey, Hey, YO.

Hello, I've decided the best time to pick up blogging again is here, right at this very moment, whilst I'm working 26 hour weeks, with 6 assignments and a group presentation due mid-May. But DON'T WORRY (you weren't). Fail or pass, I aim to do so as mediocrely as possible. To be honest, I just miss being able to take shitty pictures of what comics I'm reading slapped together with some sloppy writing and then shoving it in your face and going 'HERE'. It's an acquired taste and I have acquired it (along with pepperings of capitalistion for emphasis: blame John Allison- I ain't taking that bullet).

Jonathan Cape sent along two of my most anticipated releases of the year: The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins, and Drowntown, written by Robbie Morrison, and rather stupendously illustrated by Jim Murray. Neither book disappointed. Collins' book will go on to be a classic, I think. Two things: 1) it reminded very much of Raymond Briggs in its combination of surreal and real and social melancholia and 2) the sheer amount of different panel layouts, sizes, orientations, etc he uses is staggering and yet it reads like a dream, never feeling obtrusive or forcibly experimental. 

Drowntown could have been tailor written for me: bull-headed private eye, future set sci-fi with genetically altered talking animals living alongside humans, a steadily drowning world= I can't imagine a scenario in which I would dislike this book. But Jim Murray's art is everything here: I'm not even going to attempt to describe it (I'm going to give it a stab when I review it, so it's unfair I should butcher it twice), just trust me and buy this when it comes out in June.

A couple of books from Turnaround: The Initiates by Etienne Davodeau and Julios' Day by Gibert Hernandez: not read either of these yet. The Initiates is about a wine-maker and a cartoonist swapping jobs for over a year and sounds lovely all round. Julio's Day has been roundly praised everywhere, but  I've still not been able to get into any of the Hernandez brother's work; we'll see how this one goes. 

First Second sent over a bunch of their releases, reviewed Lucy Knisley's Relish at The Beat and Odd Duck over at FPI: for me First are one of the best comics publishers out there at the moment in terms of quality comics, beautifully produced, with a wide appeal: you can tell a whole lot of hard work goes on in those offices, and it shows. Anyhow, Red Handed by Matt Kindt, is fantastic and really cinematic in feel. Featuring a mercurial detective with a 100% solve rate, a series of weird crimes in the city leave him suspecting a bigger play. Kindt does a very clever and unusual thing, where the detective is at the heart of this story, yet we never get to spend time with him, always seeing him through other's eyes, newspaper articles, TV clips. It's a great, great book.

  White Clay by Thomas Herpich and the third volume of Dungeon: finally picked up White Clay in Travelling Man- Adhouse books take a wee while to get to the UK- this was released late last summer, I think. Dungeon I nabbed for 70p in the TM sale, read the first, not read the second, but at that price it would have been offensive to leave it and I intend to get them all anyway.

The Half Men by Kevin Huzeinga, Oily Comics April package: which gives me issue 13 of Lou, so of course I'm going to have to buy all the previous ones- I see what you did there, Oily. Also contains my first Michael DeForge comic, Elizabeth of Canada #2.

Giant Fighters and Night of the Giants by Isaac Lenkiewicz : I love the amount of detail that Lenkiewicz puts into the production of these self-published comics: spot glossed(?) skulls and silhouettes and little drawings really makes it feel special. Also dude draws giants/goblins SO WELL: all gnarly and slow and ponderous (ponderous may be stretching it, they're pretty thick). Look, I don't know about brushes and pens and lines and things, but I'm gonna waffle on about these and Lenkiewics' art in another post:  I came to his work via his Broadbright story in Nobrow's 17x23 Showcase, but I love his minis the best: they're much more expressive and flowy and characterful. I like that people recognise his talent and he's busy with projects and books, but I'm just greedy and I want more comics like these. If you haven't checked out his stuff, you really, really should. Really.

Patch and illustration by Drew Millward: gonna give the drawing to Andy if he behaves himself. Maybe.

It's been rad: I'm off to write a bit more about prison libraries  but I've almost finished a write-up of the new Printed Papers magazine/journal from the dudes of It's Nice That, so if you're interested, it should be up by Wednesday at the latest.