Rarely in discussions of apocalyptic fiction is friendship brought up. My personal observation is that the genre focuses on whatever topic is relevant in the current political discourse (i.e., Planet of the Apes). Whenever human interaction is brought up, it’s usually the worst ways possible. Many apocalyptic storytellers seem to think humanity’s negative qualities will […]
Boston Terriers and Desert Vibes: A Conversation with Jay and Sanders Fabares of “The Pale”
Not too long ago, I wrote a review of The Pale, a black and white mystery comic about the discovery of a burned corpse in a small desert town. Jay and Sanders Fabares are the husband/wife duo behind the comic. Sanders writes the comic while Jay handles art duties. They have been making the comic […]
In Sarah Nelson’s Daniel, Toxic Masculinity is Vampiric
Over time the metaphorical meaning of the vampire has diversified, shifting away from its earliest existence as a literary representation of xenophobic beliefs. Whatever cultural fear or anxiety vampires come to represent is dependent on the context of the story and the storyteller’s motivations. Sarah Nelson’s Daniel, a horror webcomic about a young man turned into a […]
Fluid Exchange: I Roved Out by Rupert Everton
Since their origin, comics have proven extremely adaptable and with that in mind, it’s no wonder that their history has long been tied up with sex. From the hidden but long established connection to pornography that the Big Two have to Tijuana Bibles to R. Crumb, comics have never been dissociated from sex, yet we […]
Drugs & Wires is a Clever and Flashy Cyberpunk Alt-history
For the most part, I never got the appeal of alt-histories. I had nerdy high school friends who would carry around hefty Harry Turtledove tomes about “the second American civil war” or apocalyptic visions of a Nazi-run America. Given that we’re currently living in what feels like a spin on that latter alt-history, maybe I […]
Rising Sand is a Gorgeous, Intriguing Epic
Finding truly refreshing post-apocalyptic works these days is difficult, given how much more frequently they’re popping up. But Jenn Lee and Ty Dunitz’s sprawling webcomic Rising Sand is an innovative and engaging spin on the genre, taking current anxieties about global warming and impending doom and filtering them through fantasy tropes. The result is a gorgeous, well-developed […]
The 100 Best Comics of the First Half of the 2010s: Part 1, 100-81
People tend to reminisce about long gone eras, arguing that things were always better way back when. But when it comes to comics, there’s no denying that the 21st century has seen the medium explode in unprecedented and unpredictable ways. For many people, that has come primarily in the form of the advent of the […]