Comics
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Comics Store
The beloved comic store on Sackville has been called the best of its kind on Canada, nay, the world. “Now we want to look like it,” says owner Calum Johnston. This means a rearranging of stock, sales to clear out some back issues, bookshelves replacing spinning racks and eventually, new flooring, all to create what […]
Posted inArts + Music
Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli (Pantheon)
Since its release in August, David Mazzucchelli’s original graphic novel Asterios Polyp has been praised by critics as a masterpiece, and deservedly so. I have no doubt this book will be at or near the top of every comic reviewer’s Best of 2009 list. The book tells the story of a middle-aged, pretentious, semi-successful architect […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Muppet Show: Meet The Muppets (Boom! Studios)
Boom! Studios, a smaller big comic book publisher, launched their new Boom! Kids line earlier this year, which features comics based on the Disney-owned properties Pixar and The Muppets. Time will tell if this arrangement lasts now that Disney owns Marvel. Hopefully nothing will happen that affects the Muppet Show comics that cartoonist Roger Langridge […]
Posted inArts + Music
Kate Beaton’s drawing lessons
Sitting in Uncommon Grounds on Argyle, she is hunkered over a new comic about Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre. Her brown eyes are hidden behind her brown hair as she inks in her pencil drawings of the “celebrated liberator of South America” and his right-hand man. Kate Beaton’s comic, Hark! A Vagrant, covers […]
Posted inArts + Music
X-Men Origins: Wolverine lacks emotional drive
The “origins” chapter for X-Men: Wolverine barely even serves as filler. At the end of the movie, Wolverine loses his memory. This implies that viewers shouldn’t be bothered to keep track of Wolverine’s backstory, when he can’t even remember it. The only justice is that the movie’s forgettable, anyway. It lacks a concise emotional drive. […]
Posted inArts + Music
Comics biz suits up for Free Comic Book Day
Calum Johnston opened Sackville Street’s Strange Adventures 17 years ago. Today it’s one of the most popular comic-book stores in Halifax. “I’ve always liked comics,” Johnston says, “and I like sharing them.” The economic downturn has flipped many businesses on their heads as they struggle to make ends meet. But as they get ready for […]
Posted inArts + Music
Neil Gaiman’s glory
Those that are familiar with Neil Gaiman’s fanciful, fairytale, dreamy, literary oeuvre are equally familiar with the various cinematic incarnations of his work. But the most significant is the upcoming Coraline, directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Henry Selick, followed by 2007’s Stardust by Matthew Vaughn (director of Layer Cake and a producer of Guy […]
Posted inArts + Music
Doctor Enns strips down comics
Captain America as war propaganda. Class divisions between Archie and Veronica. The secret gay life of Batman and Robin. This is a taste of the topics that are part of a new English course called Cartoons and Comics, in its third week at Dalhousie University. Some readings are taken right from the pages of Marvel, […]