Watching Comics: Masked Panther

 Masked Panther is the YouTuber who i envision my own channel looking like, if i was ever to jump into the fire. I love the passion he brings to his comics reading, and envy his understated off-the-cuff style.

I first came across a Masked Panther video as one of those suggested viewing videos under a SleepyReader666 video. Back then he was mostly sharing Marvel Masterworks or DC Archives. Here's a recent one similar to those...

I was impressed with his thematic representation of his DETECTIVE COMICS collection, just a great selection of individual issues from #513 to #795...

Another fun one was his analysis of the FANTASTIC FOUR #52 facsimile edition with the first appearance of his namesake, Black Panther...

Although there are obviously a lot of fans of Archie Comics, I don't see their publications in my corner of Comics YouTube. So nice to see this view of one of their 1000-page books...

Please check out Masked Panther's channel for more great videos and comics presented in a unique way.

New Comics in March Part Three

SHOP.2000AD.COM NEW RELEASE 3/29:

PANDORA PERFECT TPB story by Roger Langridge and art by Brett Parson

Reprinting my favorite series from the all-ages "Regened" issues of 2000 A.D.

PARTNERSANDSON.COM NEW ARRIVAL 3/24:

PRO WRESTLING COMICS 2-IN-1 by Pat Aulisio

PANELSYNDICATE.COM NEW RELEASE 3/22:

PARANOIA KILLER: VIRYA by Victor Santos

QUIMBYS.COM NEW ARRIVALS 3/25:

I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU #6 from Kevin Budnik

BARFOLOGY #1 from Sick Mutt

MARSHA, MARSHA, MARSHA from Holly English

NOT PICTURED: COMIC VOMIT by Xena Lopez

GOSHLONDON.COM NEW ARRIVALS AS OF 3/27:

ALL THE THINGS I KNOW by Zebediah Keneally

A 380-page graphic novel from European publisher Apartmento

RAMALLO VS. ILLEGAL BATMAN by Ed Pinsent

FORGOTTEN BATMAN #2 also by Ed Pinsent

TAKE ME TO THE PLACE I LOVE by Claire Napier

MR. HARDEE by Michael D. Kennedy

BIGGER by Mike Armstrong

SHADE OF RED VOLUME #1 by Various

Serialized on Webtoons

All above images from Gosh London site

HUEY VOLUME #3 by Levi Friedman

HERE'S WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE ON PREVIEWSWORLD.COM FOR 3/29:

A surprise (to me, anyway) new book from Rich Tommaso...

Two new ones from Silver Sprocket...

I've never read any Cathy Malkasian, sadly...

Nostalgia for the 80s SUPERBOY TV series and SUPER GOOF is going to make it hard to pass this one by...

DOMINOBOOKS.ORG RESTOCKS FROM FREMOK.ORG AS OF 3/27:

Buy now! These Fremok books usually sell out quickly.

BARQUES by Vincent Fortemps

CIMES by Vincent Fortemps

I AM THE EYE CLIMAX by Pakito Bolino

The above three are Fremok titles new to the Domino store.

CRAM #2 edited by Andrew Alexander. Contributions from Floyd Tangeman, Allee Errico, AT Pratt, etc.

LOWTIDE #6 by CF

Replica of the 2002 publication by archivist Noel Freibert

BABY BOOM by Yuichi Yokoyama from UK publisher Breakdown Press

PAULGRAVETT.COM CHOICES FOR TOP 30 GRAPHIC NOVELS IN MARCH 2023:

The monthly list on Mr. Gravett's blog should be essential reading for anyone interested in quality comics. Check out the link for his annotated listings.

LISTEN, BEAUTIFUL MARCIA by Brazilian Marcelo Quintanilha; BLESSED CURE by Brazilian Mario Cesar; 83 DAYS IN MARIUPOL by Don Brown; ANAIS NIN: A SEA OF LIES by Swiss cartoonist Leonie Bischoff; BLOOD OF THE VIRGIN; THE ABOLITION OF MAN; ADHERENT by Chris W. Kim; CHARISMA'S TURN: A STORY OF GIRLS AND THEIR GIFTS by Monique Couvson and Amanda Jones; CONSTELLATIONS by Kate Glasheen; DAUGHTER OF SNOW AND CINDERS by Valencian Nuria Tumarit; DESEGREGATING COMICS: DEBATING BLACKNESS IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN COMICS edited by Qiana Whitted; DIANA: MY GRAPHOC OBSESSION by Sivan Piatgorsky-Roth; DICEMAN COMPLETE EDITION by various; ENLIGHTENED TRANSSEXUAL COMIX  by Sam Szabo; ETOILE: THE WORLD OF PRINCESSES & HEROUNES by Macato Takahashi; EVERY DAY: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by David Levithan and Dion MBD; GEORGE'S RUN by Henry Chamberlin; HOGBOOK AND LAZER EYES by Maria Bamford and Scott Marvel Cassidy; IMPOSSIBLE PEOPLE by Julia Wertz; LOST IN TAIWAN by Mark Crilley, MEMENTO MORI by Finnish cartoonist Tiitu Takalo; MYSTIC DEBRIS by Justin Gradin; NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE: THE STORY OF HER LIFE by Monica Foggia and Italian artist Valeria Quattrocchi; PET PEEVES by Nicole Goux; SALOME'S LAST DANCE by Daria Tessler; THE 10,000 DISASTERS OF DORT art by Jose Ortiz and Jose Gonzalez; THE AMAZING CAMEL TOE by Claire Duplain; THE COLOR OF ALWAYS edited by Brent Fisher and Michele Abounader; and, WE LIVE HERE by Jeffrey Wilson and Bambi Kramer.

Five Highlights from THE COMICS JOURNAL 34

Cover by Dennis Fujitake from 1971, a regular contributor to early TCJ and Fantagraphics comics.

THE COMICS JOURNAL #34 (MAY 1977)

NEWSWATCH: (Credited to Mitch Itkowitz) Tim Conrad's Almuric adaptation published in EPIC ILLUSTRATED #2-#5 (1980-81) is referenced: "Following the conclusion of the 3-D Man series in MARVEL PREMIERE, Thomas has slated a tryout for the Liberty Legion, pencilled by newcomer Rick Hoberg. That series will be followed by one starring Almuric, drawn by Tim Conrad..."

ADVERTISEMENT: The Berkeley Comic Art Fair presented by Comix World's Clay Geerdes May 22  1977. Some background on the fair from his newsletter:

COMIX WORLD #68 (March 15, 1977) Organizer Clay Geerdes plans panels on "the new funny animals" and "the one on production distribution & copyright law" and Ted Richards would be sketching.

 COMIX WORLD #69 (April 1, 1977) Organizer Clay Geerdes reports guest Fritz Leiber will read from his latest novel OUR LADY OF DARKNESS. Another panel announced is "The Politics of Comics".  Movies and cartoons courtesy of Carl Cohen. "An artists jam is planned for the evening." There was a dealer's room with comics, comix, pulps, and "memorabilia".

UNDERGROUND COMIX: Bill Sherman reviews KURTZMAN KOMIX from Kitchen Sink Press. Bill contributes some intelligent analysis of Harvey Kurtzman's little seen Marvel solo comics work. "But, generally, particularly in the full stories, the art is a joy. Kurtzman's characters have an elastic quality and a childish sense of their bodies that is ideal for his purposes. Satiric exaggeration and comic overreaction are the staples of his plots, and they're effectively conveyed through the art."

FANDOM REVIEW: Fanzine and small press comic (referred to as Strip Fanzines back then) review column by Doug Fratz. He reviews THE ILLUSTRATED HARVEY KURTZMAN INDEX by Glenn Bray; WOWEE KAZOWEE #2 from future "Astro City" inker Willie Blyberg (with contributions by 80s B/W boom stalwart Peter Iro);  Greg Spagnola's BESTIALITY anthology; DEADSPAWN #2 anthology edited by Joe Treacy with contributions from familiar names in 80s independent comics Doug Hansen, Marc Hempel, Ron Wilber, and Joe Sinardi; COMIX UNLIMITED #2 published by Vincent Kimzal, with some very early Brian Buniak comics; NO SEX #3 published by David Heath Jr.; CLYDE'S COMICS AND STORIES #2 with a funny animal comic strip by Matt Feazell; VIBRATORY PROVINCIAL NEWS #3 by the legendary Roger May; Clay Geerdes' COMIX WORLD newsletter on underground comix; and finally, TETRAGRAMMATON FRAGMENTS which is still being published today by the United Fanzine Organization.

A rare original from DEADSPAWN #2

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Broken Frontier in Review 3/25

Just a week since our last check-in with my favorite comics website. It's all Andy Oliver this week, and a special announcement at the end...

SUGAR AND OTHER STORIES reviewed by Andy Oliver 

Joy San

product page

HORNY & HIGH VOLUME #2 reviewed by Andy Oliver 

Ed Firth

product page

NOW #12 reviewed by Andy Oliver 

product page

According to the press release, Broken Frontier Jam Bookshop and Alternative Press will be organizing more live events around this special day. Hopefully, more international small press cartoonists will again join in this year.

My Comics Reading List: Zomoid Illustories

50. ZOMOID ILLUSTORIES (3-D ZONE, 1989)

I recently saw this on a Comic Book Manifesto haul video, and thought it funny we both bought such an obscure comic from the same online retailer.

This reprints eight full issues of ZOMOID ILLUSTORIES, one excerpt, and (I believe) a new cover by Carol Lay. Also a historical essay by Ray Zone and Dale Luciano's interview with him from THE COMICS JOURNAL.

According to Ray Zone these were xeroxed four-pagers made by folding an 8 1/2 × 11 sheet of paper in half and letting the artist (sometimes anonymously) do whatever they wanted with the space.

The best of the selection here (imho) is the Gary Panter id explosion over four pages. I love Panter's comics and this is prime 80s work from him, some dense automatic abstract narrative. 

It's great to get a chance to see some of the early alternative mini-comics that are direct antecedents of what we see at Domino Books today.

My Comics Reading List #6

 My second round of Silver Sprocket reads borrowed from the Hoopla Digital app:

45. MAGICAL BEATDOWN VOLUME #1 by Jenn Woodall

Holy crap! This is fucking brutal.

46. GOLDEN RECORD by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

47. RITUALS by Nicole Goux

The above two are basically art books, although both have their own kind of narrative tying the incredible images together.

48. FUNGIRL: VULVA VIKING by Elizabeth Pich

Pich is keeping the spirit of classic underground comix alive and well. If you aren't simultaneously disgusted and laughing, you aren't the audience for this book.

49. MONTANA DIARY by Whit Taylor

I've always wanted to try Whit Taylor's autobiographical comics, and I wasn't disappointed. Clear line art and a compelling, in a lofi way, storyline.