Comics College
Comics College: Kim Deitch
The Search for Smilin' Ed
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
A rotten sinus cold/upset stomach plus an ungodly amount of day-job work has kept me from event attempting to work on Comics College. Thankfully, the ever-erudite Bill Kartalopoulos graciously volunteered to write this month’s entry, about the legendary underground cartoonist Kim Deitch. And it just so happens that Bill’s the perfect person to write about Deitch and his legacy, as he curated a show featuring the artist at MoCCA not too long ago and also wrote the intro for Deitch’s latest book, The Search for Smilin’ Ed.
So with that, I’m going to take some Advil and lie down. I leave you in Bill’s more than capable hands.
- September 24, 2010 @ 12:15 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Harvey Pekar
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
This month we’re paying homage to a writer who left us a little too recently and too soon, the late, great Harvey Pekar.
- August 27, 2010 @ 04:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Eddie Campbell
Fate of the Artist
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Welcome to this month’s edition of Comics College. Today we’ll be looking at the body of work of one of the medium’s most unique creators, Eddie Campbell.
- July 30, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics college: Art Spiegelman
Maus Vol. 1
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Today we’ll be traipsing through the body of work of one of the most significant (if not exactly prolific) American cartoonists of this modern age, Art Spiegelman.
- June 25, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College | Harvey Kurtzman
Mad Archives Vol. 2
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Today it’s time (long pat time actually) to take a look at one of the most influential and undisputed masters of the comics medium, Harvey Kurtzman.
- May 28, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Lewis Trondheim
Sequence from 'Mister O'
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Today we’ll be crossing the Atlantic to take a look at the one of the most prolific cartoonists of the past 30 years, either in Europe or America, Lewis Trondheim.
- April 30, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Chris Ware
Quimby the Mouse
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
This month we’re examining looking at the career of one Chris Ware, who’s name you may have seen bandied about in certain circles here and there. He’s certainly become one of the more divisive figures in comics — those who love him proclaim him to be one of the finest and most important cartoonists working in the field today, while those who dislike him describe his work as cold, overly precise, depressing and overly pretentious.
I don’t believe any of those descriptors are true (at least not to the extent that his critics seem to think they are) but I can see where those who have for one reason or another avoided his work thus far may have difficulty finding an entry point. So let’s see if we can alleviate that problem somewhat …
- March 26, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Neil Gaiman
Absolute Sandman Vol. 1
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
This month at Comics College we’ll be taking a look at the work of one of the true celebrities in the comics world, Mr. Neil Gaiman, who has been in the news a bit lately, thanks to a certain award-nominated film and a big profile piece in The New Yorker.
Now, Gaiman is an incredibly prolific writer. and his comics output alone is quite impressive. be concerned mainly with his comics work and less so with his novels, screenplays and other material.
- January 25, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Robert Crumb
The Complete Crumb Vol. 4
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
With everyone and their uncle sounding off about his new adaptation of the Book of Genesis, I thought it might be a good time to look at the work and career of Robert Crumb, and offer an introductory entryway for those who up till now have been hesitant to dip their toes in his water (so to speak).
- December 21, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Osamu Tezuka
Phoenix Vol. 4
Welcome to Comics College, a semi-monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Today we’re looking at one of the most influential and prolific and cartoonists in the world, a man who’s body of work reportedly encompassed more then 150,000 drawn pages in just about every genre known to man. And that doesn’t even begin to mention his pioneering work in animation. I’m speaking, of course, about Osamu Tezuka.
- November 16, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Jack Kirby
Welcome to Comics College, a (sort of) monthly feature here at Robot 6 where we provide an introductory guide to some of the most significant artists, writers and creators in comics and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Little did I know when I chose Jack Kirby as my second entry more than a month ago that his name would be splayed across the headlines of comics blogs and message boards as his family announced their intention to attempt to win back the copyrights to various Marvel characters. Despite the questionable rancor from some parties, the news provides a perfect opportunity to revisit Kirby’s work, as he remains one of the great colossi of American Comics, perhaps its most significant creator, depending upon who you talk to. He’s certainly one of the most prolific.
But Kirby can be tough for some folks. Modern readers used to the Image school of exaggeration or a more photorealistic (or PhotoShopped at any rate) style of superhero comics tend to balk at Kirby’s blocky, dynamic style, especially in his later period when it verged on outright expressionism. What’s more, he was always a better artist and idea man than a writer, and his dialogue when working solo can come off as turgid and forced, especially when he’s trying to sound “hip” and “with it.” I know as a teenager and young adult I found Kirby’s work initially too odd and different from what I was used to as a comic reader to enjoy. It wasn’t until I forced myself to sit down and immerse myself into his world that I learned to appreciate his oeuvre and became a devotee.
Keep in mind: Kirby’s output was so vast that to try to encapsulate it here in a simple blog post is a mug’s game. In other words, there are going to be omissions — volumes left out and series ignored, either due to the fact that I simply haven’t read them yet or because I just didn’t have the time and space to include them here. I feel confident enough in my recommendations, but feel free to pick on my negligence in the comments section.
- October 19, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics College: Los Bros Hernandez
Love and Rockets New Stories #1
Welcome to a new feature we’re starting here at Robot 6 titled “Comics College.” Once a month (or more if time permits) we’ll be examining the body of work of a particular cartoonist or cartoonists of note in the hopes of giving newcomers and the generally uninitiated an entry point. Because let’s face it, there are a number of notable creators who have had lengthy careers in comics and figuring out where to start when reading their ouevre can be tricky, especially if not all of their material is easily available in print.
“Comics College” was inspired largely by the AV Club’s Gateway to Geekery and Primer features. More specifically, it was inspired by their attempt to provide a overview of Gilbert (“Beto”), Jaime and Mario Hernandez’s Love and Rockets series. I found I disagreed with a number of the suggestions and points they made, enough so that I decided I needed to do my own version.
Which is why we’re beginning our debut post with a look at the Hernandez brothers. A lot of readers out there are wary about trying to dip their toe in the Love and Rockets waters and it’s not surprising. The series has been going on for decades now in a variety of series and formats. Their reputation for telling long involved stories, can seem overwhelming and scary for those unsure where to begin.
So, come, take my hand and let me be your guide …
- August 20, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner