tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62537552007-12-09T22:11:12.452ZSarahBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1138061487440086952006-01-23T23:44:00.000Z2006-01-24T00:11:27.480Z

Walt and Skeezix is an absolute joy of a book. A project of publishers Drawn and Quarterly and Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan), the idea is to put the complete Gasoline Alley strip, from its very beginnings onwards, back into print and restore this forgotten masterpiece to the reading world. Creator Frank O. King started the strip in 1919 and originally intended for the daily newspaper strip to be

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1123100087938275152005-08-03T21:07:00.000+01:002005-08-03T21:20:22.460+01:00

With all that has happened in London in the last couple of weeks Will Eisner’s last work has gained a kind of relevance that he did not intend- it does after all deal with a specific theme- but sharpens into focus how humanity, for all its advances, still has an intense suspicion and dislike for what it does not understand, and has a deep-rooted fear of what could be disturbingly called “the

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1118347109693224392005-06-09T20:34:00.000+01:002005-06-09T22:43:26.586+01:00

Whilst looking through the site with a colleague from my place of work, I went onto BOTW and started going through some of the reviews. Now I didn't tell my co-worker that I was the one who wrote the reviews but his remark was succinct: "What are they doing, reviewing or writing the books?” My reply was said with just a little tongue in cheek, "Yeah, he does go on a bit. Very long-winded, doesn't

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1118272341378852242005-06-09T00:08:00.000+01:002005-06-09T00:12:21.383+01:00

Darcy's Book of the Week has undergone some changes tonight. As you can see, we're now publishing the full text of the reviews to the 'review blog'. That is because Darcy's other half and html Goddess has decreed it should be so. And she's always right. It's also now 'monthly' as time has been scant of late, life gets in the way as ever. But we're back, and on track. Enjoy. Regards, The

Sarahtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1116754435306288292005-05-22T10:31:00.000+01:002005-06-08T22:18:17.963+01:00

It’s been nearly twenty years since Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli gave the Bat-Man a new, grim and gritty origin. Everyone knew the original. Parents shot down in front of him at an early age, vows revenge, trains body and mind, ponders how to go about it, criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot, bat flies through window, ba-doom, light bulb above head, puts on cape. And believe it

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1109432414623932052005-02-26T15:36:00.000Z2005-06-08T22:53:00.326+01:00

Returning to the last review and Avengers Disassembled, I've now read the full graphic, instead of it being a monthly piecemeal, and come to the conclusion that this is one of the finest pieces of story-telling in comics today. It's an exciting, full of blood and thunder, well-paced tale with fine art and mood setting colouring. With its examination of the heroic ideal, it’s a fine addition, not

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1107993425787652042005-02-09T23:54:00.000Z2005-06-08T22:13:44.076+01:00

Now and then, I get asked why I don't review any actual comics on the site, just graphics. The main reason for this is that I believe it to be unfair on the book, the creators and publishing house to either praise or berate one issue of what could possibly be a successful long-running saga or change of direction that could improve or destroy. It would be like basing any critique of the whole of

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1102154456655365252004-12-04T09:58:00.000Z2005-06-08T22:53:40.810+01:00

When Love and Rockets was a (somewhat) on-going comic I didn't pay too much attention to the Locas section of it. Then, the magazine was usually split into two sections- Jamie Hernandez was the writer/ artist on Locas, detailing life among the Mexican community of Hoppers, South LA, whilst his brother Gilbert was writer/artist on Heartbreak Soup about life in Palomar (reviewed 03/12/03). Not

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1099679260982137872004-11-05T18:24:00.000Z2005-06-08T22:54:55.786+01:00

Whilst preparing to write this review, the death of Christopher Reeve appeared in the news. It was sad moment in my life for me and yet, strangely fortunate in that it made this review more relevant to the premise and idea of the hero. Here was a man who epitomised the very meaning of this over-used and somewhat devalued word. Someone who did not wish for the role he was to be given so late in

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1098220034763627652004-10-19T22:04:00.000+01:002005-06-08T22:55:33.930+01:00

Comics can be a lot of things. As part of the entertainment and mass media industry, comic’s can- and are- be used for both enjoyment and education. But in their quest to be seen as a viable and important literary genre, a lot of writers, artists and critics forget what it was that brought them to comics in the first place- fun. “We need to be respected “, they cry. “We are an effective art

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1093203775151409682004-08-22T20:39:00.000+01:002005-06-08T22:56:16.626+01:00

Picture yourself as an ordinary American male on October 2, 1950. America is at the height of its post-war celebration. The feeling that you have is one of an America with a bright future, you have a lifestyle that together with changing social and political conditions will mean an end to war, poverty and hunger. The city you work in is vast and gleaming, enhanced with whatever new-fangled

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1090349871905388852004-07-20T19:55:00.000+01:002005-06-08T22:02:01.200+01:00

Old age and all the regrets and musings about life it brings happen to us all. Have no doubt about this. We will grow old and die. This is the natural order of things, and I would not wish for it to be any different. Advances in science and social life may mean that I will live longer than my parents or grandparents, but I have no wish for an unnaturally long life or immortality. That would only

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1088624668499807692004-06-30T20:42:00.000+01:002005-06-08T22:57:13.770+01:00

Well into the saga of Omaha, in a double page of silent snapshots, the writer Kate Worley and artist Reed Waller depict what some of the characters are doing on Christmas Day morning. Amongst the photos is one of JoAnne Follett. JoAnne has been in the story since the beginning and been shown to be a manipulator, a prostitute, a blackmailer, a woman sleeping her way to the top and at the point

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1086402525504609132004-06-05T03:26:00.000+01:002005-06-08T22:58:21.020+01:00

Epic This is a word that should not be bandied around lightly. For such a small word, it can conjure up vast panoramas, lengthy tales of adventure and valour, struggle against over-whelming odds, the very majesty of life and nature itself. Indeed, a word to be used with care. What it does not stand for, and all too often does, is arse-numbing banality masquerading as intellectual probing,

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1083797215296711832004-05-05T23:46:00.000+01:002005-06-08T23:00:22.013+01:00

A mixed bag this week. So let's get down to it:- First up is BATTLE VIXENS from Yugi Shiozaki and published by Tokyopop. The tale of Hakufu Sonsaku, a teenage schoolgirl who loves nothing more than a good kick-ass battle. An unwitting member of a mystic sect of warriors (whose ancestors tried to re-unite China, and failed), she is feisty, powerful, "racked and stacked" and a total klutz. It's

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1081500828455850082004-04-09T09:53:00.000+01:002005-06-08T21:50:48.733+01:00

And so, finally it has come to the end. All hail, and farewell, Cerebus. Like all long sagas, it has an unsatisfactory ending. With more questions than answers, but even within this, as Cerebus sees his life flash before his eyes, Sim manages to get one last fart joke in. Does Cerebus die, as he was told by the Judge, "Alone. Unloved. Unmourned"? Yes. And I must admit that I was somewhat

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482386559066852004-03-18T13:59:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:48:27.610+01:00

Today, under your very noses, there is a crime being committed. This cruelty is being enacted by rank amateurs, wielding precision instruments, inflicting the utmost pain, and suffering upon their subjects. As they sit, in the glare of their computer screens, inputting data that can fundamentally alter the look and genetic make-up of their helpless prisoners, one can only wonder how they can

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482283471378172004-02-25T13:58:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:47:36.203+01:00

Ok. If you remember characters such as these - Adam Eterno, Big Klanky,Black Max, Dolmann, Faceache, Fishboy, Frankie Stein, Galaxus, General/Admiral Jumbo, The Iron Fish, Janus Stark, Kelley's Eye, Kid Chameleon, Robot Archie, The Spellbinder, The Spider, The Steel Claw*. Then, you read way too many British comics as a child, and are lying about your age. Characters like this (and hundreds

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482229677213552004-02-04T13:57:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:45:52.580+01:00

Excitement, mayhem and adventure are the order of the day as the Digger girls return. The first Gold Brick collection to be in color sees Gina, Britanny and Brianna going to such places as the Halls of the Extremely Dead, Muthia, the local shopping mall, Jade and the Explorers Society Banquet. Meet such diverse creatures as Djinn, dragons, leprechauns and tuna fish. Have inventions that would

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482176451066112004-01-29T13:56:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:43:19.633+01:00

Ok. I have something of a confession to make. I love old, dark house movies. Baronial mansions fog bound on lonely moors or in swamps, trapdoors, hidden passages in the library, sinister butlers, clocks that strike thirteen, Bob Hope, bogus policemen, families with dark secrets, disappearing bodies, clawed hands coming out of the paneling, cats, canaries, Arthur Askey and "Stinker" Murdoch,

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482128682681732004-01-27T13:55:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:40:58.860+01:00

It’s a sad fact in every comic-book reader’s life, that we all get jaded by the genre now and then. Plots get repetitive, art seems more and more slap-dash, writers run out of good ideas and then want to inflict everything they see as wrong with the world upon the poor reader, who wants nothing more than something entertaining or thought-provoking. But then, something will come along to remind

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482077752600162004-01-07T13:54:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:38:30.993+01:00

Time to return to one of the greatest works in literature written. Latter Days is the latest volume in the saga of Cerebus (number 15, if you're interested) and sees Sim returning to the comedic stance of earlier stories. After the somewhat tortuous preceding volumes (Form and Void, Going Home), this is a welcome relief. Whilst these volumes were full of wit and had incisive, powerful insights

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080482009983910922003-12-10T13:53:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:36:42.303+01:00

WAR (Ughh!! Good God y'all)!!! What is it good for? Absolutely.............., well quite a lot actually. Getting rid of stroppy dictators, establishing a parliamentary democracy, iconic leather images, giving the rest of the world a whipping boy in the French and we won't even go into what the Romans ever did for us. Ok, I'm being a little facetious here, but war has delivered much that the

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080481962140276982003-12-03T13:52:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:36:05.453+01:00

The soap opera is a long established tradition both in writing, on the small screen and on radio. Its serialistic style and format give writers the opportunity to introduce characters that will take them from the cradle to the grave, put them through various trials and tribulations, play with topical situations and in some rare cases make the readers or viewers more aware of what is going on in

Darcytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6253755.post-1080481907699292512003-11-05T13:51:00.000Z2005-06-08T21:35:28.403+01:00

It was whilst watching Kill Bill and in particular the Blue Leaves House fight scene, that I had the funniest feeling that I'd seen all this before. It wasn't any other Hong Kong or Asian movie or even Itchy and Scratchy and it wasn't until I did some comic reading this week that I realized. I was watching a Punisher comic. Especially one written by Garth Ennis. Garth Ennis has made no bones

Darcy