Word: comix
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...live without them. They are inexorably tied to the history of American comic books. After the 1950s restrictions on comic's content, the popularity of superheroes kept the medium alive while simultaneously stigmatizing it as a children's entertainment. Beginning with the first generation of "underground" comix artists, most cartoonists interested in exploring the artistic possibilities of the medium have treated superheroes like a form of radiation - an invisible energy best left ignored lest you get seriously burned. Recently that prejudice has been eroding as more and more alty comix artists work on superhero projects for Marvel...
While the vast majority of attendees spent their time pursuing the mainstream interests of superheroes, manga properties and movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, fans of alternative comix had plenty to choose from. Proof of a rising tide lifting all boats, the indy publishers I spoke to were enjoying brisk and often record-breaking sales. Montreal's Drawn & Quarterly declared it the best year they ever had at San Diego, with Adrian Tomine's just-released "Scrapbook," a collection of ephemera by the former wunderkind, selling the best. The Seattle-based Fantagraphics reduced its table by half...
...pleasures of conventioneering is finding books you would otherwise never see. This year San Diego yielded two surprises. Sam Hiti's self-published "End Times - Tiempos Finales," is the first of a projected nine-volume series of graphic novels. Thanks to a Xeric grant, the fund that assists new comix creators, the professional-looking 116-page, square bound, three-color book was priced to move at a mere $10. The quick-paced story involves a Spanish-speaking demon-hunter named Mario Roman, who, summoned by the prayers of a plagued town, battles a giant monster. Well above average for such...
...pioneer of the comix form, Tezuka (1928-1989) has been enjoying a spate of U.S. releases in the last couple of years. Dark Horse continues to publish his Astro Boy series (see TIME.comix review) while Vertical Inc. just released volume four of the gorgeous eight-volume "Buddha" series (see TIME.comix review). Meanwhile VIZ has been publishing the first of the "Phoenix" books - the master's unfinished, twelve volume magnum opus. The fourth, "Phoenix: Karma" (366pp; $15.95) has just been released. The fifth volume, "Resurrection," is due in November. (Sadly, the remaining seven have not yet been contracted for publication.) While...
...Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix: Karma" reaches near nirvanic heights. As entertaining as any comic can be, it miraculously also achieves what lesser religious comix strive for and fail at: enlightenment. Though it seems doubtful that readers will change their lives thanks to "Karma," they cannot avoid being touched by its deeply humane philosophy and egoless artistry...