Teacher Librarian magazine reviewed a couple historically based graphic novels of ours saying for Bluesman:

“A moody masterpiece of fiction that is all the more compelling because every word of it could be true. [Uses] a broad visual palette that matches its dramatic variety of emotions.”

And on Rick Geary’s “The Lindbergh Child“:
“The master of historical nonfiction in graphic novels contributes one of his best efforts. Simultaneously factual and poignant.”

The French woman writer who composed the delicious stories found in First Time is interviewed by the site Sequential Tart. A fun and funny inside look at the process that reunites a number of artists including Dave McKean.

My next animated editorial cartoon tackles the autoerotic asphyxiation crisis. Michael Hutchence. David Carradine. Who will be next?

Three reviews of note have appeared recently:

“This is an outstanding Dungeons and Dragons parody that serves as a stand-alone story. Readers will be entertained, even those unaccustomed to comic fantasy fiction. These anthropomorphic characters are well drawn, and the snappy dialogue is craftily paired with Boulet’s stunning imagery.“

School Library Journal on Dungeon Zenith vol.3

“Geary fathoms what makes comics such an ideal form for true crime lovers. I know there are true crime readers out there who like to be disciplined by their authors, who like to be told who done it and why, and I suppose such readers won’t appreciate Geary’s adamant refusal to direct our conclusions. But Geary understands that the real pleasure of reading history, criminal cases, and comics is that we aren’t rendered passive. And he recognizes that the discomfit we feel from not knowing all the answers can be assuaged only by knowing more, always more. Geary’s mastery—as both artist and storyteller—is allowing us to feel comfortable in our uncertainty by describing it with precise detail. In this way, his slender books written in formulaic style brilliantly capture not only the historical moments he records within their own pages, but our own. “

Guttergeek on Famous Players and Lindbergh

“Byun is clearly a talented draftsman with narrative ambitions. Mijeong showcases Byun’s relatively accomplished illustrative style.”

Publishers Weekly on Mijeong

This was something I considered as well something a little more broad to evoke atmosphere. Color shifts and temperature changes would have been fun and kept things simple, but in the end I decided to go with this:

Next week I’ll get back to talking about character development for THINGS UNDONE.

=s=

I posted this illustration that I had done of Iggy Pop as a way of further introducing myself to the NBM audience. I even had a nice response from Dan. However, techno-idiot that I am, I accidentally erased the entire post while attempting to make a correction AND while trying to add the cover image of my new NBM book, Vatican Hustle. I’m new to Word Press so I hope you’ll all bear with me. I’m slowly but surely conquering my inner Luddite. And you get to watch!

Anyway, I’m taking another crack at posting this since I don’t want Dan thinking he’d imagined it.

I’ll post again with a sneak peek at some pages from Vatican Hustle

and some insights about the characters. Wish me luck.

Marc Mason at Comics Waiting Room has just reviewed two of our recent books:

“MIJEONG is a stunning Korean manhwa. The ending packs a powerful one-two punch and sticks with you far beyond when you put the book down. Each tale in the book has at least some merit to it, as even the weaker ones are accompanied by Byung-Jun’s stunning artistic talents- this is an amazing looking book. This is a versatile and talented creator and I’d be interested in seeing more of his work.”

“Even more visually stunning is ARLENE’S HEART by Victoria Frances. Frances’ artwork is astonishing to behold- there were countless pages that I couldn’t help but wonder how they’d look framed and on a wall. Quite an unusual reading experience.”

One of the things I always get asked when I tell people my new book is about Turkmenistan is if Turkmenistan is a Muslim country. It borders on Iran and Afghanistan and like both those countries the majority of Turkmen would claim to be Muslim. Unlike those two countries Turkmenistan was under Soviet rule for most of the twentieth century. There was a strong Russian influence and as a result almost all the men I knew drank. One evening I was drinking vodka with cubes of pork fat for chasers. I asked the men around me whether they were Muslim and they all said yes. I then asked them about the vodka and the pork and they waved their hands and said they were “modern Muslims.”

So Islam really doesn’t come up too often in my book. In fact it’s only mentioned once in the whole story. In this panel and the one that immediately follows it.