Hey, I wanted to take a second to spotlight Matt Graupman’s Spinadoo Comics here for two reasons.
The first is obviously the comic itself, which is “slice of life” family moments told in what is fast becoming the traditional (four panel grid) journal comic style. One of the things I very much like about Matt’s comic strip is the extreme perspective and angular points of view that he works into his strip. It’s a really admirable quality in a sea of journal comics (this one included) which consist mainly one and two shots of people talking from the waist up. The visual variety of his comics make them well worth your time.
The other reason I wanted to highlight Graupman’s site is the truly impressive collection of current journal comic creator links. I remember being inordinately fond of the Journal Comics Jam! site a few years back, but a quick breeze-through of the links provided there show that many of the daily comikkers included in that page are no longer drawing daily strips. Matt’s collection of links has some real gems, many of whom I wouldn’t have encountered without his generous linkage.
I always mean to do something similar- spotlight comics I enjoy and provide links to them, but Matt’s got it all over me. I’m going to have to give it a go sometime though.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Staying on the comics front, I was quite happy to find Candy or Medicine at the Cincinnati Comic Expo two weeks’ back.
Candy or Medicine is a comics anthology edited by Josh Blair. It definitely helped the sale in that one of the anthologies has a cover by my current favorite journal comic artist going right now, Sam Spina, but I was immediately impressed with the production quality and care that Blair clearly puts into each volume. I love the idea of having a nice, locally produced comics anthology with a variety of contributors. I definitely recommend sending a couple of bucks Josh’s way to check Candy or Medicine out.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I’m currently reading The People of Sparks by Jeanne Deprau. It’s a sequel to Deprau’s The City of Ember; Ellen and I listened to Ember as an audiobook on a car ride from New York to Ohio and enjoyed it quite a bit. Ember was a sneaky, kid-friendly take on the fate of humanity after the apocalypse and while I was completely contented with the ending, I was equally curious about where the author would take the concept in a second book.
The People of Sparks suffers in the way that most sequels do- an overabundance of new characters and a “back to basics” approach for her protagonists Lina and Doon which leaves the two of them separated for the greater part of the story. I also thought it was a bit of a shame that Deprau dispatches of some of the more (enjoyably, for readers) villainous characters from the first book as an afterthought… although thinking about it rationally, I can’t see how she’d be able to keep them around without completely derailing the story she wants to tell here.
It’s a lesser sequel, but Deprau’s a talented writer of children’s fiction and I’m probably going to take a run at one of the other books in the Ember series one of these days.
odds and ends
Posted in commentary with tags candy or medicine, deprau, Jeanne deprau, Josh Blair, matt graupman, odds and ends, sam spina, spinadoo comics, the city of ember, the people of sparks on October 1, 2010 by Christopher PearceHey, I wanted to take a second to spotlight Matt Graupman’s Spinadoo Comics here for two reasons.
The first is obviously the comic itself, which is “slice of life” family moments told in what is fast becoming the traditional (four panel grid) journal comic style. One of the things I very much like about Matt’s comic strip is the extreme perspective and angular points of view that he works into his strip. It’s a really admirable quality in a sea of journal comics (this one included) which consist mainly one and two shots of people talking from the waist up. The visual variety of his comics make them well worth your time.
The other reason I wanted to highlight Graupman’s site is the truly impressive collection of current journal comic creator links. I remember being inordinately fond of the Journal Comics Jam! site a few years back, but a quick breeze-through of the links provided there show that many of the daily comikkers included in that page are no longer drawing daily strips. Matt’s collection of links has some real gems, many of whom I wouldn’t have encountered without his generous linkage.
I always mean to do something similar- spotlight comics I enjoy and provide links to them, but Matt’s got it all over me. I’m going to have to give it a go sometime though.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Staying on the comics front, I was quite happy to find Candy or Medicine at the Cincinnati Comic Expo two weeks’ back.
Candy or Medicine is a comics anthology edited by Josh Blair. It definitely helped the sale in that one of the anthologies has a cover by my current favorite journal comic artist going right now, Sam Spina, but I was immediately impressed with the production quality and care that Blair clearly puts into each volume. I love the idea of having a nice, locally produced comics anthology with a variety of contributors. I definitely recommend sending a couple of bucks Josh’s way to check Candy or Medicine out.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I’m currently reading The People of Sparks by Jeanne Deprau. It’s a sequel to Deprau’s The City of Ember; Ellen and I listened to Ember as an audiobook on a car ride from New York to Ohio and enjoyed it quite a bit. Ember was a sneaky, kid-friendly take on the fate of humanity after the apocalypse and while I was completely contented with the ending, I was equally curious about where the author would take the concept in a second book.
The People of Sparks suffers in the way that most sequels do- an overabundance of new characters and a “back to basics” approach for her protagonists Lina and Doon which leaves the two of them separated for the greater part of the story. I also thought it was a bit of a shame that Deprau dispatches of some of the more (enjoyably, for readers) villainous characters from the first book as an afterthought… although thinking about it rationally, I can’t see how she’d be able to keep them around without completely derailing the story she wants to tell here.
It’s a lesser sequel, but Deprau’s a talented writer of children’s fiction and I’m probably going to take a run at one of the other books in the Ember series one of these days.
1 Comment »