Comix Reading List #30: Metal Hurlant Ah!Nana Hors-serie

 30. METAL HURLANT: AH!NANA HORS-SERIE (Les Humanoides Associes) Hoopla

This book is an excellent chance to see the work of pioneering French women underground cartoonists, suffice to say they blew their male contemporaries away in terms of breaking taboos and were their equal in terms of graphic innovation.

Here's a rundown of the artists included:

CECILIA CAPUANA (6 stories)  Her art is an intense hyper-delineated style that would have fit in well in the U.S. undergrounds.

NICOLE CLAVELOUX (4 stories) The stories reprinted here are precisely drawn, much like commercial art of the time, although with Claveloux's brilliant surrealism.

FLORENCE CESTAC (2 stories)  Cestac draws in a cartoon style that looks back on early animated cartoons sometimes.

MARIE-ANGE LE ROCHAIS (1 story) Ahead of her time with images that look like altered photos..

TRINA ROBBINS (5 stories) A legend even back then!

OLIVIA CLAVEL (2 stories) Clavel was the great revelation of this volume, an energetic scratchy style that stands out among the more traditional styles of the others.

KELECK (2 stories) She had a nice loose style that is great for depicting the twisted subject matter evident in these selections.

CHANTAL MONTELLIER (5 stories) I loved the NYRC translations of Montellier, none of the shorter works reprinted here were included in that volume.

Unsolicited opinion: I've always believed that either pornography or censorship could not exist without the other. The perception of taboo subjects like incest and sexualization of children, wouldn't exist without people such as the cartoonists of AH!NANA expressing the things they've experienced in life through their art. I personally find some of the images contained within these pages disturbing, but I would have loved for this magazine to have survived and evolved as a safe place for the personal expression of women cartoonists in France and beyond for many years (like WIMMEN'S COMIX in the U.S.), rather than an inspiration in the distant past for future generations.

AH!NANA #8

This was the least controversial cover of the last four issues! Click through the link above, GCD has cover scans and list of contents for every issue.

From the description of the book on the Les Humanoides Associes site:

"Ah! Nana was the first French comic book periodical produced by women, for women between 1976 and 1978.

"Coming from the abundant galaxy of Métal Hurlant, it represents a pioneering adventure in the world of French comics. Its content reflects a great deal of freedom and the feminist concerns of its time, to address the most delicate as well as the most taboo subjects of the society of the late 1970s: art, fashion, but also incest, female sexuality, etc. " (translated by microsoft bing)

Comix Reading List #13-#29: Cranium Frenzy 11-27

Steve Willis, screenshot

Talking Small Press Comics #59

This most welcome burst of creativity from Obscuro un-legend Steve Willis comes almost two decades after his last full-length comic. Warning: reading this many Steve Willis comics in a row may tend to make your grip on reality waver.

13. CRANIUM FRENZY #11 (Steve Willis)

This is a wild ride. Willis tells his story backwards and forwards at the same time. Morty the Dog returns in a hilarious role.

14. CRANIUM FRENZY #12

Here Morty narrates a fantasy where all the jerks in the world stop being jerks.

15. CRANIUM FRENZY #13

This changes format with many short strips that play with form. A longer strip with an unusual depiction of the devil is a highlight (see cover above).

16. CRANIUM FRENZY #14

The main story here is a nightmare world of tiny men and a cyborg monkey head appendage.

17. CRANIUM FRENZY #15

The cover feature is a short about "Milton Teagle" (Google him) and a mysterious headband. I love the longer, convoluted Morty the Dog story in this one. 

18. CRANIUM FRENZY #16

The best part of this new run of comix from Steve Willis is the sheer variety from issue to issue, a half dozen stories in this one ranging from a penguin beak salad to collapsing into one's own cranium.

19. CRANIUM FRENZY #17

A weirdo camping trip starring all of Willis’s characters from the above cover. Secrets of Morty the Dog revealed, maybe.

20. CRANIUM FRENZY #18

Some wonderful visual experiments this issue, so much fun to see Steve Willis still playing with the formal language of comics after more than five decades

21. CRANIUM FRENZY #19

A booklength surreal quest by Morty the Dog culminating in a turn as a stand-up comedian and a meta conclusion with creator Steve Willis (creator and created have an eternally adversarial relationship)

22. CRANIUM FRENZY #20

I guess all of Steve Willis’s comix are autobiographical in the sense his subconscious is spilling directly onto the page. However, I really enjoyed this look back at some of his memories of the unusual personalities of the Pacific Northwest. 

23. CRANIUM FRENZY #21

Despite the chronic cranial elbowitis on the cover, the final grim story is my favorite. It's this dark undercurrent running near the surface of a lot of Willis’s stories that perfectly complements the dream-like nature of his comix.

24. CRANIUM FRENZY #22

The middle story has multiple narratives happening at the same time, the thread with Morty arguing with a pretentious crowd observing the main narrative is hilarious.

25. CRANIUM FRENZY #23

I don't even have words for this improvisational insanity, not for Willis newcomers as your virgin brain may implode.

26. CRANIUM FRENZY #24

The epic Mini-comics Crossword Puzzle is the highlight here. Historian and Historical Figure Bruce Chrislip was later announced as the only one to solve the puzzle.

27. CRANIUM FRENZY #25

A collection of one-page strips. I particularly like the grotesque creatures on page 12.

28. CRANIUM FRENZY #26

A booklength tribute to the history and tribulations of left-handed people. Highly recommended. 

29. CRANIUM FRENZY #27

"The Rupture" combining a talking chihuahua and people who wear their bike helmets inside with a post-apocalyptic culling of various other annoying groups of people. (A bit of a sequel to #12, in essence)

Enjoy this regular dose of McCleary Madness while it lasts.

New Alternative and Small Press Arrivals (February Week 1)

 1. Midori Onchi collection (taco.shop-pro)

"Midori Onchi Collection of Works "Entrance to Sleep"

0067429

DETAIL

Following "Used Book Coast", this is Midori Onchi's second collection of works. This is a compilation of works published in the manga magazine "Gento" and SNS from 2017 to 23, with unpublished works added.

Included works----

My Room Gento No. 14 2017.9

Black Mass Gento No. 15 2019.7

Find a room Gento 16 2020.12

Entrance to Sleep Announced on SNS 2021.4

Tower Kitato Shobo 50th Anniversary Booklet 2022.5

Tamago announced on SNS 2023.1

Child of Fever Unpublished 2023.10

Unpublished 2023.12

4-frame manga announced on SNS 2023.5~11" (store description translated on microsoft bing)

2. COLD HEAT #2 (Copacetic Comics Company)

 "Discovered during the move" was this classic alternative genre comic by Frank Santoro and Ben Jones. Issues #3 and #4 also newly available.

3. BABSY AND MAUDE (Domino Books)

Molly Dwyer first solo comic, another talent from Philadelphia.

4. RUINAS (Gatoshop)

Abstract comics by Pachiclon, from Ediciones Hungria in Mexico City.

5. UK ETS ADLI (HE LOVES HER) (Gosh Comics London)

A new (to me, at least) comic from Cole (INDIGENEITY IN COMICS) Pauls.

6. S! #49 (kushkomikks)

The latest KUS! anthology is special in containing no less than EIGHT local Latvian artists. It's also great to discover unfamiliar artists from the U.S. like Walker Tate.

7. I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU #11: OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2023 (Radiator Comics)

There are so many diary/autobiographical comics out there (this isn't even the only one on this list), I was impressed with the loose cartooning-style on the samples included with this one.

8. LAMBCHOP LIPGLOSS (Wasted Ink Zine Distro)

Some excellent full-color work by Sam Grant in this one. That cover alone is worth the price of admission.

9. MEDIOCRIDAD INNATA #3 (Other Books LA)

Mexico City artist Abraham Diaz selected works from 2016-20, old-fashioned magazine-sized Xerox zine. instagram

10. NON BINARY (Little Deer Comics)

Columbus, OH cartoonist Melanie Gillman full-color autobiographical comic.

BONUS: Last week we missed Steven Solomon's new mini announced on bluesky titled: Bones Pulp Mini Comic

Comix Reading List #12: The Swords of Heaven, The Flowers of Hell

 12. THE MICHAEL MOORCOCK LIBRARY: THE SWORDS OF HEAVEN, THE FLOWERS OF HELL (OOP) Hoopla

Not a lot to say about this one, it was fun to have the opportunity to see what passed for graphic novels in 1979. The painting by Howard Chaykin looks back to the classic illustrators of the first half of the twentieth century, while still keeping a modern sensibility (his trademark sex and violence). 

New Alternative and Small Press Comix Arrivals (January Week 5)

 Special bluesky edition, for the fifth week...

1. We don't like to single out publishers or creators as better, in the small press world we explore everyone is putting their personal visions out into the world. However, kus! deserves special recognition as a publisher who help creators with VERY personal visions get their work delivered in the highest quality packages. The entire 2023 lineup from the Latvian publisher is still available as a bundle:

2.  Hudson, NY bookstore Pure Folly Books has posted several alternative comics in stock recently, including CLAMP #5 and Alessa Kreger and Jordan Jeffries. A real sight is there selection of small press comics:

Go to their profile page and call or email if you see anything you want to order!

3. Floating World Comics to collect Josh Pettinger's GOITER releasing April 23, 2024. Available for pre-order now...

4. Speaking of Floating World Comics, Harry Nordlinger has copies of NIGHT CRUISING in his shop, along with several issues of VACUUM DECAY and this new mini-comic...

5. Ies[tyn] Or No Zines was a longtime follow on twitter BE, his unique sometimes abstract drawings are much missed. They've been posting a few actual comics pages on their bluesky timeline lately. Here's a detail...

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

6. We can't go a week without highlighting a new arrival to Domino Books. The surprise of the month may be Neoglyphic Media publishing Matthew Thurber...

7-10: Ines Estrada updated her already stacked gatoshop.mx store on 1/25 with numerous cool objects, plus these comics:

Estrada is running quite a few sales, bundling multiple items at hard-to-resist prices. Next update scheduled for 2/24.

Comix Reading List #11: The Other Sides of Howard Cruse

 11. THE OTHER SIDES OF HOWARD CRUSE (OOP) Hoopla

I have to admit to being turned off by the "bigfoot" style of Howard Cruse in the past, so it was a perfect opportunity to be able to immerse myself in the complete "Barefootz" saga in this book. Appearances are definitely deceiving with this Cruse series, the supporting cast alone is peopled with a nymphomaniac, roach roommates, Lovecraftian monster, and a starving artist. The art is equally surprising with the look of a typical newspaper gag strip, however interspersed throughout is some underground comic worthy surrealism (page 20, 21, 44, 74, 75, 78, 85). There are quite a few other books collecting Howard Cruse's work, but I think this "Barefootz" and miscellaneous strip collection is a good bridge to his more well-known work.

Comix Reading List #7-#10: Nicole Rodrigues X 4

NICOLE RODRIGUES Biography/Photo

7. SIMULATION (2019) Partners and Son

An early effort, but that cover is definitely a sign of things to come.

8.FLOWING PATH (2020) Partners and Son 

A big leap forward for Rodrigues, this is compellingly printed in reds and greens. They weave an ecological message through surrealism, body horror, and some well-done visual metaphors.

9. BLANK FRAMES 2nd Edition (2023) Partners and Son (sold out from where I bought a copy, try the link in title)

Even more ambitious than FLOWING PATH, this is my favorite of the four. Nicole Rodrigues explores multiple planes of existence and parallel world theories. The writing is strongest in this one with many poetic passages. Nicole Rodrigues really makes some dense pages visually without sacrificing storytelling (brilliant purple and orange color printing in this second edition, as well).

10. MEASURE OF PERCEPTION (2023) Partners and Son 

I read this one twice and still couldn't figure out what their focus was in this comic, turns out there are several shorter pieces from the REPTILE HOUSE anthology throughout this book! The printing on this one is incredible, experimenting with different techniques and paper stocks. Highly recommended if you like their longer form stories.

ComicKkrakK discusses SIMULATION, FLOWING PATH, and BLANK FRAMES at the 4:20 mark of this video. Thanks to Terence for introducing us to these books!