Category Archives: Graphic Literature

What’s New for the 15th of September: Two Fat Ladies, Welsh mythology, a de Lint written video and other matters

There are few joys to compare with the telling of a well-told tale. — Charles de Lint’s Yarrow: An Autumn Tale What am I playing? That’s June Tabor & Oysterband’s Ragged Kingdom which Vonnie saye Very Good Things about: ‘Tabor has reunited with … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 1st of September: June Tabor does grim ballads, a Latina rocker named Cecilia Villar Eljuri, Lucky Peach’s guide to cider, a Breton peasant’s memoir, music by Guy Clark, a film from Guillermo del Toro, a noir comic, and other matters…

Only thin, weak thinkers despise fairy stories. Each one has a true, strange fact hidden in it, you know, which you can find if you look. — Diana Wynne Jones in Fire and Hemlock Now it is by some storytellers said … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 1st of September: A Firefly novel, our most criticised review, a pair of dark mangas, recreating Medieval English Ales, Balkan music history, ‘Excitable Boy’ in Bluegrass style, Emma Bull’s favourite tune, on blackberries and less tart matters…

“Stories,” he’d said, his voice low and almost husky, “we are made up of stories. And even the one’s that seem the most like lies can be our deepest hidden truths.” — Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose We raise a lot of … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 21st of July: Elizabeth Hand’s favourite libation, Chicago’s ‘Saturday in the Park’ and other matters

Saturday in the park,  I think it was the Fourth of July — Chicago Care to sample our newest Summer ale? It’s called White Chalk Horse IPA and has a nice, light taste. It’s been very popular. It’ll go well with the … Continue reading

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What’s New for the 9th of June: Byrds live, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Conan the Barbarian, Indonesian Pop, Elizabeth Bear reads us a story, a history of ice cream and other tasty matters…

Some stories are literally true; some of them are figuratively true; some of them are wrong. That’s the nature of stories, isn’t it? They show us all the highlights of the world, but they never leave us certain we can … Continue reading

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Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Jess Nevins’ Heroes and Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Who among us hasn’t, at one time or another, played the “What if….” game with characters, ideas or settings we’ve found particularly appealing? Maybe we spin out a colourful yarn in our head, or if we’re inspired enough, we put … Continue reading

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David Peterson’s Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, Vols. 1-3

Given the popularity and critical acclaim of David Peterson’s Mouse Guard series (as witness our own very positive review of the first book, Mouse Guard: Fall 1152), it was almost inevitable that there would be spin-offs. And indeed, Peterson has … Continue reading

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Justin Hall, ed., No Straight Lines

It’s tempting to say that comics underwent a radical transformation in the 1960s and ’70s. They didn’t. What did happen was that comics as a medium, with the rise of underground comics through the agency of R. Crumb and his … Continue reading

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Alex Woolfson’s Artifice

I’m not sure how I ran across mention of Alex Woolfson’s Artifice, but I did. It originated as a Web comic, and what I saw of it interested me enough that I bought the hard copy. Deacon is a prototype … Continue reading

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Brian Vaughan’s The Escapist

The Escapist is an original comic creation springing from Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. And though it’s not at all necessary to have read that marvelous novel to enjoy The Escapists, readers should, because … Continue reading

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