From Moses to Mad Max, wandering in arid desert lands evokes a journey for self, for destiny, and of course for survival. Usually it marks a transitional place in the wanderer’s life — think of the Aboriginal walkabouts in Australia that are conducted in the passage from youth and into adulthood, but also stand as […]
Review: The mind-bending wild west meditation of ‘The Smell of Starving Boys’
In Frederik Peeters and Loo Hui Phang’s The Smell of Starving Boys, the words “virgin land” are used several times to describe America’s West. The idea is that this area is untouched, but photographer Oscar Forrest points out to his fellow expedition member Stingley, it is not untouched. It just hasn’t been possessed by white […]
Review: Living the dream in ‘Stardust Nation’
This mysterious work adapted by Booker-nominated author Deborah Levy from her own story captures the dynamic between two advertising men, Tom and Nikos, who have some bond between them that seems to be melding who they are, or at least who they think they are. We greet the day with Tom, who doesn’t truly greet anything. […]
Review: A Kafkaesque coming-of-age-tale by Pieter Coudyzer
Walking a line between a depressing coming of age tale and a Kafkaesque expression of emotional hurt manifesting itself physically, Outburst ends up twisting both of them together into a probably inevitable horror finale. But Pieter Coudyzer does ask an interesting question — what if your place of respite is also an affliction that tortures […]
Preview: Josephine Baker by Muller and Bouquet captures a whole era and a timeless hero
If you’re looking for a real-life badass heroine, you won’t find a better one than Josephine Baker.
The Beat’s Best Comics of 2016
Featuring Beat staff members and special contributions from some of the best cartoonists of the year. It was a wild year but there were some good comics to keep us entertained and thinking.
Kibbles ‘n’ Bits 11/14/16: “All are equal at a comic con”
§ Nice Art: It seems the comics world has come to a standstill for some reason. So here’s a preview of a 2017 graphic novel: Gauguin: The Other World by Fabrizio Dori, part of SelfMadeHero’s Art Masters series – they’ve also published books on Munch, Van Gogh and Picasso. The book comes out in March: […]
Review: Two successful bios of very different men
It’s always a pleasure when a new graphic novel biography comes out about someone I know absolutely nothing about, and I certainly had no clue about the existence of Roger Casement. Fionnuala Doran‘s The Trial of Roger Casement covers exactly that, the circumstances by which he was tried for treason in the United Kingdom and […]
Comic Arts Brooklyn Debuts Part 1: punks, witches, cats, 3D Jim Woodring, more
This weekend it’s Comic Arts Brooklyn in Williamsburg and here’s a look at the books that will be debuting. Thanks to all the contributing publishers and cartoonists for supplying the info and lightening our wallets.
Because there were so many new and exciting books I’m splitting this into two parts. Look for part two tomorrow!
24 Hours of Halloween: The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, David Hine and Mark Stafford
The inspiration for the Joker is said to be this story by Victor Hugo about a mutilated man who aims to become the voice of a generation. It’s not really a “horror” story per se but often real life and social commentary can be just as scary as Michael Myers. Available on Sequential. Heidi MacDonaldHeidi […]
