Sniffles ‘n’ Bits 3/16/18: You won’t believe how Banshee looks now!

§ I have the sniffles so these bits will, perforce, be brief.

Here's my ☘️BANSHEE☘️ redesign and the stream of me inking it https://t.co/Td94Q81pRP#Xmen #redesign #Banshee pic.twitter.com/ajTS1ByxDN

— Declan Shalvey BOG BODIES out NOW (@declanshalvey) March 15, 2018

§ Tomorrow is St. Patricks Day and I won’t be kibbling, but here’s Irish cartoonist Declan Shalvey’s take on Irish superhero Banshee. Hawt.

§ BTW, TODAY is St. Eusebia’s Day. Celebrate in your own fashion.

§ The big graphic novels of the years are starting to roll out and here’s a look at Bizarre Romance, the collaboration between Eddie Campbell and Audrey Niffenegger.

One interesting feature of their collaboration is that Campbell, best known as a cartoonist with three decades of classics behind him, is a formidable writer and erudite raconteur on any number of subjects, whereas Niffenegger, who has sold millions of copies of her prose books, is also an accomplished visual artist and maker of limited edition artist books. For Bizarre Romance, they stuck to a fairly strict division of Audrey writing and Eddie drawing, and mostly kept to their lanes… with a few amusing exceptions. “I had to have Audrey draw some of the characters in ‘Thursdays,’” said Campbell. “None of the stock characters in my repertoire could do the trick.” Campbell, for his part, made one small contribution to the writing, putting the narrative of one of the stories, “Motion Studies: Getting out of Bed,” into the present tense, as is conventional for comics. “At first I was outraged,” said Niffenegger. “Why are you me?”

§ The standalone comics section at Book Riot may be long gone, but they still run some good pieces like this 5 Fabulous Queer Comics Anthologies listie by Laura Sackton.

§ At WaPo , they look at Lion Forge’s Puerto Rico benefit book, Puerto Rico Strong:

All proceeds from Lion Forge’s “Puerto Rico Strong” will go to the United Way of Puerto Rico. Cover art by Naomi Franquez. (Lion Forge) St. Louis-based comic book publisher Lion Forge is joining the relief efforts to assist those still in need in Puerto Rico after the destruction of Hurricane Maria. All profits from Lion Forge’s just-released “Puerto Rico Strong” anthology, written and illustrated by some of the top Puerto Rican and Latino talent in the comic book industry, will go to the United Way of Puerto Rico. Lion Forge’s pledge will assist with nonprofit child-care facilities, community schools and health-care centers. Lion Forge will match the first $25,000 made from “Puerto Rico Strong,” with Diamond Comic Distributors also donating 5 percent of retail sales to United Way of Puerto Rico.

This story even prompted a tweet by Dan Rather.

[Disclosure: this site is owned by a sister company of Lion Forge.]

§ Oh and speaking of books of the year, here’s a review of Young Frances, the loooooong awaited “Pope Hats” colelction.

Lin’s visual style is accessible, his characters just cartoony enough to allow a very broad expressive range. Young Frances is not exactly a funny book, but Lin knows how to balance stillness and introspection with levity, and his character designs – of Castonguay in particular – and sense of visual rhythm invite the occasional chuckle. The book is notable, too, for its loving illustrations of Toronto streetscapes, which will not only delight those familiar with the city, but contribute to Lin’s tone, always anchoring his big, existential ideas to particularities: this sidewalk, this subway line, this house.

§ The internets went F*CKING NUTS after the New Gods/Ava DuVernay announcement! Particularly strong style were the casting suggestions. Let us play along will I sip Nyquil. Who would YOU cast as the New Gods? Sound off in the comments!