The latest on Greg Houston’s recent GN Elephant Man comes from Sequential Tart:

“As a broad parody of Superman, I thought this first issue was spot on. I thought the humor in Elephant Man was great, the writing is definitely the comic’s strongest asset. The over-the-top dialogue was outstanding, particularly the rants of Handsome Dirk. All the characters are ludicrously drawn and really matched well with the humor. My favorite side characters were the Big Hair Tough Girls.”

Grade: 7 out of 10.

The Gutter Geek blog at The Comics Journal says:

“In the end, the book is little more than an extended Kurtzman-and-Elder-era-Mad magazine spoof on superhero comics, but who needs more than that. And Houston’s line work, which crackles with just a little bit of genuine crazy on top of the rigorously enforced wackiness, is a frenetic and occasionally grotesque delight. Houston suggests on the cover that this might well be the first in a series. I suspect he is joking, but I will confess I am kind of hoping he means it.”

Rob Clough, elsewhere at The Comics Journal said:

“There isn’t much that’s subtle about Greg Houston’s new comic from NBM, Elephant Man #1, and I don’t think the artist would have it any other way.”

But he regretted that: “I would have preferred more time being spent on the oddities of Baltimore, like The Big Hair Tough Girls.  These ass-kicking donut shop workers are exactly the sort of thing Houston does best: a loving caricature of something ridiculous and unpleasant.  The Ralph Steadman/Bill Plympton/Mort Drucker qualities to his line remained in full effect, as the reader was rewarded on page after page with funny & gross drawings.  This is a comic to be looked at more than to be read, other than for conceptual context.”

“Graylight is an excellent example of how flamboyance can enhance, rather than impair, a convoluted, magical story. Nowak may not explain everything in the story, but her generous visuals invite the reader to suppose what Graylight is in their own fashion, whether it be a romantic phantasmagoria or a subtle, spell-ridden myth.”

And Ian Burns on the Comics Journal site provides probably the best explanation of Nowak’s complex graphic novel which beckons you to decipher its many angles…

Andrew Wheeler on Little Nothings 3

“It’s White’s line that makes the story work.  His figures look like a cross between Bob Fingerman and Bryan Lee O’Malley, with oversized heads and big eyes on the men, and sexier features on the women.  There’s even a touch of Dan DeCarlo at work here in features like Rick’s nose.  The pale orange wash adds to the sickly quality of the story’s visuals, reinforcing that sense of deterioration. Cleverly-designed and executed work.  It doesn’t overstay its welcome in terms of length, it’s clearly told and darkly humorous. ”

Rob Clough, The Comics Journal on Things Undone.

Trondheim’s Little Nothings keeps rolling on on the web:

Rob Clough at The Comics Journal:

“I always found myself drawn to his autobiographical material the most.  He’s self-deprecating without being mawkish, introspective without navel-gazing and consistently funny. At this point, I hope Little Nothings runs forever.  It’s already my favorite diary comic of all time and certainly in the top 10-20 of all-time comics autobio.”

Michael Lorah at Newsarama:

“It’s just great art, perfectly suited for his deadpan delivery, yet sufficiently emotive to carry the most subtle emotion. 
Lewis Trondheim is one of the world’s most respected and acclaimed cartoonists.  Little Nothings remains his most personal work, a collection of observations and personal outlooks, self-effacingly and ironically  hilarious. So long as Trondheim continues creating work as strong as Uneasy Happiness, the comics world will be a bright place.”

“There’s a high level of cartooning skill on display in every panel, to the point where Houston fairly demands that the reader stop and linger on the images. A book that moved from mere self-indulgence to a uniquely comedic explosion of tightly-constructed gags and funny drawings.”

Rob Clough over at The Comics Journal on Vatican Hustle

Gutter Geek reviews our Bringing Up Father:

“This is the third volume in NBM’s new series of classic comic strip reprints, and it is their best thus far.  

What McManus discovered in “Bringing Up Father” was a way to make the gag-a-day formula “flexible,” as he put it—to introduce new characters, new adventures, new environments and new economies without ever losing sight of the core of the joke. This volume reveals the artist coming to an awareness of that potential and the new possibilities as a cartoonist that he—and indeed the medium—has not fully realized up to that point. Perhaps the greatest pleasure in McManus’s work is the palpable pleasure that he always takes in his work, long after many of the most gifted cartoonists grew bored and began to phone it in. The dawning of that pleasure is on display in this terrific volume.”

And to know more about Naomi Nowak, author of the recently released Graylight,  here’s a recent interview on Jazma Online.