DEATH, TAXES and PHILOSOPHY: Reviews For Three New Releases Arrive
August 23, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog, Reviews
(From top to bottom; LOVERS’ LANE: The Hall-Mills Mystery by Rick Geary, TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS by Stan Mack and PHILOSOPHY: A DISCOVERY IN COMICS by Margreet de Heer
Which Book Does PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY Call, “A Near Perfect Union Of Pictures And Words”?
August 15, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog, Reviews
I’ll give you a hint, it’s set here…
Review Round-Ups: Here’s What The Critics Are Saying…
August 7, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog
Image from Bubbles & Gondola by Renaud Dillies
“The timing of this book couldn’t be better, speaking as it does to what the citizens of a well-off community value, and how they shirk social responsibility. The lesson is plain, yet sensitively and elegantly rendered.”
The AV Club on The Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince
“Wilde’s beloved allegory is beautifully and smartly adapted by master craftsman Russell…The tale of the lifeless boy and the faithful avian is conveyed sweetly and with great heart.”
The Miami Herald on The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde:The Happy Prince
“P. Craig Russell has taken an interesting approach to illustrating this tale: he includes all the text from Wilde and adds a visual element to enhance and compliment that text…It’s his classic and timeless art style that elevate and enhance this story so well. It’s worth noting that Russell does everything on this book: layout, design and lettering along with the art. A meticulous artist who doesn’t do anything without a reason.”
Comic Book Daily on The Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince
“I first read the prose in my late teens and it’s stayed in my heart ever since. Here P. Craig Russell has done wonders with the work, his fine, clean line lit with lambent colours. I even love what he’s done with the speech bubbles linked to their square-boxed, qualifying commentary. More than anything, though, his art here is the ultimate essay in tenderness.”
Page45.com on The Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince
“The book is charming and sweet and well told. Gillies does very attractive comics, and his work can definitely be shared with kids who will probably appreciate this story.”
Comics Bulletin on Bubbles & Gondola
“Dilles’ engaging cartooning style is a bod to Krazy Kat, and he paces the book with a categorial whimsy that is simultaneously well-plotted and fanciful.”
Comic Buyer’s Guide on Bubbles & Gondola
“Despite the whimsical drawing and fanciful setting, one can’t help but feel that this is an intensely personal book for Dillies. This isn’t simply a book about writer’s block, but about a specific kind of aspiration and the blocks against that aspiration.”
“Despite focusing on two young girls, this is a very adult book. There are strips making jokes about the theory of relativity, adult toys, violence, and alcoholism. The twins’ mother’s sexual frustration and odd ways of coping with that frustration is a major storyline throughout the collection. The book derives a lot of its humor from the ridiculousness of seeing 8-year-olds make jokes about adult topics, such as the Neo-Nazi classmate who says the Holocaust never happened or when Kinky and Cosy have drinks in a bar with some aliens…The plotline involving the mother falling in love with the recycling bin, for example, was a bit too out there.”
No Flying No Tights on Kinky & Cosy
“A very bittersweet tale about love and how it fills our lives when it’s there and how we feel its absence…This is a book for pet lovers, the romantic, and anyone needing a pick-me-up.”
Portland Book Review on Stargazing Dog
“This melodramatic horror story should be popular with manga fans…The black-and-white drawings are bathed in pastel shades of pink, blue, and lavender, adding to the otherworldly tone of the story.”
School Library Journal on Rohan at the Louve
Watch The SDCC Comics and Journalism in a New Era Panel
July 24, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog
Moderated by Publishers Weekly‘s Calvin Reid and featuring Stan Mack, Susie Cagle, Andy Warner, , Ed Piskor, Dan Carino and Chris Butcher.
Stan Mack Chats Up TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS
July 23, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog, New Releases
Following it’s debut at San Diego Comic-Con, Stan Mack’s TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS A History in Comics of the American Revolution has been garnering quite a bit of attention.
Stan appeared on the local San Diego Fox affiliate with fellow political cartoonists Paige Braddock and Doug TenNapel to discuss their work.
At SDCC, Stan appeared on Publisher’s Weekly “Serious Pictures: Comics and Journalism in a New Era” panel which also featured Ted Rall, Chris Butcher, Dan Carino, Ed Piskor, Andy Warner, Susie Cagle and Calvin Reid.
Reid told the audience that, “comics journalism “makes a complex narrative easier to understand.””
Mack shared his take, “Unless you’re on the front line doing breaking news stuff, we (cartoonists) tend to see the human side of politics, so [my work] was a picture of what was going around the people behind the explosions.”
Stan also appeared on the panel “Progressive Politics in Comics” with by Susie Cagle, Cecil Castellucci, Shannon Watters and Gail Simone. After the panel, he spoke with San Diego Jewish World about TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS and the commonalities with an earlier work THE STORY OF THE JEWS: A 4000 YEAR ADVENTURE, which turned out to be the theme of “oppression.”
““This (TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS) is kind of a bottom’s-up history as was my Jewish history.” In the Jewish history, “what I imagined was my family in all these different centuries traveling and what they were facing.” His more recent book looked at “rising up against oppression coming from England.” While the colonists were oppressed economically, oppression for the Jews was both ” intellectual and physical, there still was that idea of people fighting against the system, trying to make some headway.””
Stan also spoke to FishbowlNY about how after reacquiring the rights to the book from now defunct publisher, Avon, he, “kept the original book in a drawer waiting for the right timing. He fine tuned the copy, while trying to make the American Revolution appear more relevant.”
“If you look at the elements: there’s taxation, depression, there’s the battle between big government and small,” Mack says. “… There’s a lot of stuff that resonates with the issues of the day.”
And finally, in a fantastic interview with with Salon, Stan discusses how the book addresses life in America today.
“Whether it’s health care, immigration, the tentacles of big government, foreign relationships, the environment — all of this year’s political issues seem to come down to a battle between, as I say in my book, Aristocraticks versus Democraticks, profit versus virtue, and individual liberty versus the public good.
Unlike the dangers that people in other countries face if they criticize their governments, about the biggest risk the Tea Party faithful and Occupiers face is having a Fox broadcasting crew chase them down the street waving microphones and cameras. And that’s because our Bill of Rights — which, by the way, was opposed by former revolutionaries John Adams, Hamilton, and Washington, and was pushed for by ordinary citizens until it was included — protects them.”
Stan Mack’s TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS A History in Comics of the American Revolution will be released later this month.
Stan Mack’s TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS
July 11, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog
Stan’s book, will premiere this week at San Diego Comic-Con, and we’ve already got an early review and fantastic interview with Stan already!
Stan Mack’s Taxes, The Tea Party, and those Revolting Rebels brings Mack’s keen eye and ability to blend the everyday and the profound to the story of the American Revolution. Originally published in 1994 as Stan Mack’s Real Life American Revolution (a shout-out to his long-running Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies), it has been updated and is as fresh today as it was back then. Mack has done his homework, so this is not a retread of the standard story; he brings a new perspective and a lot of hey-I-didn’t-know-that facts to the history we all thought we knew.
Stan also spoke with Imprint, a magazine focusing on art and design, about the book and providing a pretty good reason to check it out.
“If you read my book, you will no longer have to swallow what the right or the left tells you about the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the Bill of Rights. You can swallow your own conclusions.”
Read the full interview HERE.
Stan Mack will appear on two panels this week at Comic-Con; “Progressive Politics and Comics” on Thursday, July 12 at 1:00 PM in Room 32AB, and “Serious Pictures: Comics and Journalism in a New Era” on Sunday the 15th at 3:00 PM in Room 32AB.
Happy Reviews For THE HAPPY PRINCE
July 10, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog, Reviews
It certainly seems like reviewers have found P. Craig Russell’s latest volume of Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales, The Happy Prince, to be a truly special release.
Comics Alliance recently named Russell’s body of work on their top list for titles that resonate with LGBT readers noting, “his adaptations of fairy tales and operas have showcased his gifts for innovative storytelling and rich aesthetics, and his ability to capture beauty on the page is extraordinary.”
“The Happy Prince was a great story with wonderful art that while simple contained the magic that is great storytelling. This is one master complimenting another and it’s worth having in any collection and spans all age gaps.”
“Sharing this volume with a younger child, however, is the perfect excuse to revisit your own childhood and enjoy basking in sunny assurances that there is such a thing as cosmic justice, and that it will prevail.”
“As usual, Russell’s art is transcendent, transporting the reader to a world where even trash dumps have their own textured, fine-lined beauty. Those things that are supposed to be beautiful fairly glow, as if painted in layers of oil like the Old Masters Russell resembles, and not merely ink and watercolor on paper.”
NBM Publishing Announces 2012 San Diego Comic-Con Debuts and Signing Schedule
July 6, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under Author Appearances, Events
Come Visit Us at Booth 1528
In anticipation of Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012, NBM Publishing today announced the company’s Comic-Con exclusives, including a free 35th ANNIVERSARY SAMPLER and the premieres of Stan Mack’s TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS: A History In Comics of the American Revolution and Rick Geary’s TREASURY OF XXTH CENTURY MURDER LOVERS’ LANE: The Hall-Mills Mystery.
TREASURY OF XXTH CENTURY MURDER LOVERS’ LANE: The Hall-Mills Mystery
By Rick Geary
New Brunswick, New Jersey, Thursday, September 14, 1922.
Reverend Hall and Mrs. Eleanor Mills take a stroll in the town’s park in the evening. Shots are heard. 2 days later, their bodies are found laying on the ground very neatly next to each other with her hand on his thigh, love letters strewn around them, the scarf on her neck covering up the deep bloody slit in it. Reverend Hall, himself married, was in an open secret of an affair with Mrs. Mills, a married woman of his choir.
The perfect ingredients for a juicy scandal and fascinating investigation which the nation’s press hungrily devours. Alas, no clues or evidence are sufficient to make an indictment stick.
Was it suicide? A jealous rival? The case reopens again 4 years later as new information is brought to light, indicting the reverend’s wife but she is an upstanding member of her community, denying to the last that her husband had any affair…
TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS: A History In Comics of the American Revolution
By Stan Mack
Here’s the fun way to learn all about the Birth of the United States: in comics!
“A cartoonist de-mythologizes the Founding Fathers and makes them more ‘like us’”says the New York Times.
Uncannily relevant to today’’s world. Learn about the original revolt against taxes: the Boston Tea Party, and the original Occupy movement: the Rebels in revolt against the status quo. A whimsical and informative pictorial history featuring a chubby, insecure King George III, rebellious and misunderstood colonists, loudmouthed and insensitive aristocrats, and more.
Updated from the original Stan Mack’s Real Life American Revolution published by Avon books in 1994.
35th Anniversary Free Sampler
Includes a look at our fall titles including TAXES, THE TEA PARTY, AND THOSE REVOLTING REBELS: A History In Comics of the American Revolution by Stan Mack, PHILOSOPHY A DISCOVERY IN COMICS by Margreet de Heer, ABELARD from artist Renaud Dillies and writer Régis Hautière, and the latest volume of our Louvre series, AN ENCHANTMENT by Christian Durieux!
Stan Mack will appear on two panels; “Progressive Politics and Comics” on Thursday, July 12 at 1:00 PM in Room 32AB, and “Serious Pictures: Comics and Journalism in a New Era” on Sunday the 15th at 3:00 PM in Room 32AB.
Stan Mack will be appearing at the NBM Booth (1528) on Thursday 2:30-4:00 and 5:30-7:00, Saturday 10:30-Noon and 4:00-5:30, Sunday 10:30-Noon.
Rick Geary will be appearing at the NBM Booth (1528) on Thursday 10:30-Noon and 4:00-5:30, Friday 1:00-2:30 and 5:30-7:00, Saturday 1:00-2:30 and 5:30-7:00.
Brooke A. Allen (A Home For Mr. Easter) will be appearing at the NBM Booth (1528) on Friday 4:00-5:30, Saturday 2:30-4:00 and Sunday 1:00-2:30.
Cornnell Clarke of the Eurotica series, Peanut Butter, will be making appearances at the booth throughout the weekend.
Some Kind Words About BUBBLES & GONDOLA
June 19, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog, Reviews
“Renaud Dillies does something only a few comic artists are good at: he purposefully uses a series of simplistic images only to surprise us when beautiful scenes show up all of a sudden. Chris Ware is a master at that, but Renaud Dillies brings in a vintage appeal that will fascinate anyone who likes old Disney cartoons or fine art. Bubbles and Gondola is one of the few comics I’ve ever found that came close to attaining the synthesis of high and low art that I haven’t seen since Jacques Tardi‘s comics from five decades ago.”
Have you read it yet? What are your thoughts?
NBM Review Round-Up!
June 15, 2012 by Stefan Blitz
Filed under NBM Blog, Reviews
With such a wide variety of titles, we’re pretty fortunate to get a pretty amazing cross section of reviewers.
Here are a few kind words about several of our titles:
“A moving story for all devoted pet owners and animal lovers.”
“The jokes are, for the most part, snarky, sarcastic, and clever…The plotline involving the mother falling in love with the recycling bin, for example, was a bit too out there…This collection is fun and funny, until it just got too weird for my taste. Kinky and Cosy are smart, cute, and a bit disturbing all at the same time.”
“As with the previous graphic novels in The Louvre Collection series, this fourth installment features well-rendered art and a compelling plot…Araki’s book will be relished by readers who are fans of the manga format, especially those interested in art and art collections.”
The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti
“An honest and non-ideological recounting of the facts of the case, told in a straight-forward manner with a minimum of sensationalism (and no invective). In the course of the unfolding story, Geary’s attention to detail is consistent and impressive. Not only does he present us with the evidence, but he also cites the source for that evidence, and raises the questions about its validity, and explains any misgivings about those questions. The illustrations, likewise, are strikingly literal, with just the right mix of minute detail on the one hand, and clarity and simplicity on the other.”
“I will be examining the first pages of random comics. Today’s page is from Brownsville, which was published by NBM… This is a graphic novel, so they don’t care about making you turn the page because you’re probably going to decide to buy this based on other considerations. But just because they don’t need to do it doesn’t mean they take the first page off. This page shows a lot in just five panels, and it hints at quite a bit to come. It’s well constructed, and leaves the reader wanting more. That’s how it’s done!”
“Things are constantly moving in this book, even if, like Salvatore discovers, all that movement wound up plopping him back at the beginning of the journey. De Crecy ensures the reader that the fruitlessness of Salvatore’s journey doesn’t extend to the entertainment value and sheer delight found in his cartooning.”
– High-Low
