Deconstructing Comics

While the last three issues of Captain America and the Falcon we looked at were rather underwhelming, issues 209 to 211 give us all the kooky science fiction and Kirby Crackle we could want! The appearance of Arnim Zola, in his first face-off with Cap, has revitalized the story. But Falcon seems shunted off to … Continue reading #845 Jack Kirby’s “Cap and Falcon” 209-211: An Uncle Sam Person

We conclude our look at 2015’s Fant4stic, directed by Josh Trank. Trank’s behavior on the set (and on Twitter) have been nothing but bad for his career, and studio meddling was nothing but bad for a film that wasn’t a good take on the FF, but might have at least been a better film if … Continue reading #844 The Fantastic Four on Film: “Fant4stic” (2015) pt 2: WTF does Doom want??

Should a director re-interpret a property when nobody wanted it re-interpreted? 2015’s Fant4stic, directed by Josh Trank, turns getting superpowers into an exercise in body horror. Much of its inspiration comes from Bendis and Millar’s very straightfaced Ultimate Fantastic Four comics, Trank threw in a liberal helping of The Fly and Scanners. Tim, Kumar, and Jordan (in another … Continue reading #843 The Fantastic Four on Film: “Fant4stic” (2015) pt 1

After the (connected) short stories of Safer Places, Kit Anderson‘s new book is a full-on graphic novel called Second Shift (again from Avery Hill) which has gotten some breathlessly positive reviews from writers who give the impression they totally understand it. At Deconstructing Comics, our reviews tend to be more nuanced. What did we think … Continue reading #842 Struggling with Kit Anderson’s “Second Shift”

FLASHBACK! Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun is a slim graphic novel by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes and Zosia Dzierzawska, about the titular famous Irish architect that most people have never heard of. Kumar and Emmet found it beautiful and intriguing; here’s their review. (Originally published August 28, 2019.) This episode includes a new intro from … Continue reading #633 “Eileen Gray: A House Under the Sun”

Ken Krimstein‘s Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came up with the Universe builds on the fact that these two stars of the early 20th century were part of the same friend group at one point and builds it up into what NPR described as “Alice in Wonderland meets The … Continue reading #841 Ken Krimstein on Einstein, Kafka, and comics in general

Joe Sacco has been covering the Israel-Palestine conflict in varying forms since 1991: first in Palestine, then in Footnotes in Gaza, and most recently in War on Gaza. It’s too much for Kumar and Dana to contain in their heads all at once, both in terms of information and emotion, especially for poor Kumar, who … Continue reading #840 Joe Sacco’s books on the Middle East

FLASHBACK! The 1990s DC series Starman is one of comicdom’s most fondly remembered series. Interestingly, says series author James Robinson, it seems to be more popular now than it was when it was actually in production! James joins Tim and Ryan Haupt this week to look back on various aspects of this iconic series, including … Continue reading #385 The Legacy of “Starman”

Fables of Fear is an anthology horror title by Karl Brandt and David Parsons. Tim and Adam discuss; there are some good short stories here, but maybe they’re a bit … TOO short? Black Plastic, by Josh Tierney and Nicci Busse is, as its writer says, a “karaoke cyber-thriller” graphic novel. That’s his description; Tim … Continue reading Critiquing Comics #243: “Fables of Fear” and “Black Plastic”

FLASHBACK! This week a wide-ranging discussion between two Canadians, Koom and Ian, about comics in Canada. The talk centers on Montreal-based publisher Drawn & Quarterly, and two books from their catalog: Michel Rabagliati’s 2005 book Paul Moves Out, and the latest from Jillian Tamaki, Boundless. Also, some deep background on the history and people behind … Continue reading #559 Drawn & Quarterly and Canadian comics