Gene Luen Yang remembers the first comic he ever bought: DC Comics Presents #57 Superman & the Atomic Knights. “That comic book blew my mind,” Yang said in a phone interview. “Pretty soon after buying that comic, I was making comics of my own.” [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Yang was in fifth grade at the time, and he […]
Colorblind Comics
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Colorblind Comics: Violet Austerlitz reflects on early influences of ‘The Satanic Mechanic’
The world of Violet Austerlitz’s self-published comic The Satanic Mechanic first appeared in a short story. “The very, very early origins came from a little piece I wrote that was published in Little Village,” Austerlitz said in an interview in an Iowa City coffee shop. The piece, “What Happened to Violet Kubicek,” was published in […]
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Colorblind comics: Iowa’s Phil Hester takes on science, mythology, and world religion in ‘Mythic’
Phil Hester is arguably the most prominent Iowan in comics. Hester has written and drawn a wide array of titles since breaking into comics while still a student at the University of Iowa. His credits include acclaimed runs as the artist for Green Arrow with writers Kevin Smith and Brad Meltzer. Hester’s current project is […]
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The history hiding behind the capes: an interview with Chris Gavaler
Chris Gavaler takes issue with novelist Michael Chabon’s origin story for superheroes. Writing in The New Yorker, Chabon, author of the comics-driven, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, maintained: “There were costumed crime-fighters before Superman … but only as there were pop quartets before the Beatles. Superman invented and exhausted his […]
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Sneak Peek: Check out an online-only segment of our interview with Dr. Deborah Elizabeth Whaley on black women in comics
In issue 192, which drops tomorrow, LV features an interview between Rob Cline and Dr. Deborah Elizabeth Whaley, University of Iowa professor and author of the book Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels, and Anime. You can read the whole conversation when it hits the stands, but in this teaser, she shares her […]
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Comic buyers’ guide: Top 5 picks for the holiday season
Perhaps you need a comics pick-me-up to beat back the winter blahs. Or maybe you’re shopping for those hard-to-please readers on your list. Or maybe time has gotten away from you, and you wonder what comics are worth your attention. Here are five great books for whatever your comics need might be. Batman/Superman Vol. 1 […]
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Comics: A look back at Phantom Jack
Sometimes, something forgotten and flawed is just as interesting as, if not more interesting than, something new and perfect. Case in point, the 2005 Speakeasy Comics edition of Phantom Jack I found on the benefit table outside The Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City. I’d never heard of the title, but a quick examination revealed that […]
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Comics: Young adult graphic novel ‘Peanut’ is sweet without being saccharine
In Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe’s Peanut, a girl named Sadie decides to inform her classmates at her new high school that she’s deathly allergic to peanuts…
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Local comic ‘Lost in the Wash’ explores unlikely monsters
In the awarding-winning graphic novel Lost in the Wash, writer John Ira Thomas, who lives in Coralville, and artist Will Grant, an Iowa City native who lives in Minneapolis, have crafted a tale that pays homage to Dungeons & Dragons, horror comics of the past and schlocky, scary movies. The story…
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Colorblind Comics: Chronicling the adventure of Deshi and his search for a corpse bride
Danica Novgorodoff’s latest graphic novel, The Undertaking of Lily Chen, takes as its jumping-off point an old Chinese practice known as “ghost marriage.” In…
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Comics: ‘Powers’ strikes the perfect blend of police procedural and superhero intrigue
Powers is what I always recommend to folks who have grown tired of traditional superhero stories. I have been an avid reader of the ongoing series by…
