There are several web sites that I read every day, but the Comics Curmudgeon is one of my favorites. Put together by Josh Fruhlinger, the site uses the daily comics page as a springboard to freely mock the solipsism and often-insane plot twists of legacy comic strips ranging from Mary Worth to the Family Circus.

The humor generally favors insiders, as a familiarity with characters and recent plots is usually necessary to get the jokes, but there are some great standalone gags as well. The most recent is a particularly Aryan Family Circus whose punchline includes a talking snowman that could have been pulled from a Hunter S. Thompson acid trip.

Of course, as FLYMF readers know, there have been whispers that all isn’t right in the Keane household for some time now.

As Pyongyang, the graphic novel by Guy Delisle, makes clear, illustration is an ideal tool for capturing the isolation and paranoia of North Korea. Part of the reason is necessity; the use of cameras and video recorders is strictly controlled in the police state, making recaptured sketches the most effective means of presenting the place’s absurdities. But the subjectivness of drawing is essential too, providing a means of capturing the subtext of glances and gestures when a more literal presentation might betray the gap between what North Koreans may believe and what they’re forced to say they believe instead.

Continue reading Complete Control →

Comic book fans might want to throw away an afternoon exploring one of the better time-wasters I’ve stumbled upon lately: the Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters webpage. The site features an exhaustive listing of the religions of comic book characters, both mainstream and obscure, with numerous links and bios supporting their assertions.

What do we find out? Superman is Methodist, Spider-Man is Protestant, the Thing is Jewish, and Colossus is an atheist thanks to his Communist upbringing. There are also representatives from the subterranean Lava Man religion, Femizonian female supremacists, and God, who’s made a few comic book appearances. (Interestingly, there are characters who’ve met God but still don’t believe in him…notably, the Savage Dragon.)

It’s always bittersweet when you hold an idea for a long time and then see that someone else has acted on it before you had the chance. In the case of the Comic Strip Library, however, it’s a bit of a relief, seeing as it was probably a lot of work! The web site, hosted by Zachary Chavez, features full scans of classic U.S. comic strips that have entered the public domain, namely Winsor MCay’s gorgeous Little Nemo In Slumberland and George Herriman’s oddball Krazy Kat. (Later Krazy Kat strips can also be found at Peter Campbell’s Coconinio County.)

All are worth a read, but there are also plenty of other classic comics in the public domain that can’t be found on the web…maybe there’s room for me yet!

Jack Kirby is enjoying one hell of a resurgence. New hardcover editions bearing his name seem to be issued weekly, ranging from his foundational work at Marvel (the Fantastic Four Omnibus series—I’m waiting for the first installment to be reprinted) to his more cosmically outrageous solo work, such as the Fourth World, Silver Star and Devil Dinosaur. A recent Marvel superheroes stamp collection produced by the Post Office is almost an homage to his talents, as many of the featured characters were invented or defined by Kirby’s pen. Even the New York Times has gotten into the act, offering an editorial by Brent Staples that acts as a posthumous pat on the back.

Continue reading The King Shares the Throne →