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Become an Ultimate Comic Book Nerd

January 4, 2012
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The Comics Journal 301Comic books have certainly come a long way—while there are plenty of folks who still don’t think of them as art, there are more and more who regard them very highly. The Comics Journal, published by Fantagraphics Books, has been putting out issues full of comics scholarship and history since 1977. The most recent issue, #301 is a giant, 600+ page doorstop full of goodies for the hardcore comics enthusiast.

The Book Of GenesisR. Crumb’s Genesis

A big chunk of this issue is devoted to R. Crumb’s fully illustrated version of the The Book of Genesis. A lengthy interview with the father of underground comics reveals that he regrets ever taking the job in the first place! He secluded himself from society for four years to complete the intricately detailed work, and while he admits that his drawing skills improved greatly, in the end he took a lot of flak for his efforts. Despite striving to be more faithful to the text than many previous comics versions of the Bible, reviewers chide him for either not being precise enough, or not injecting more of his own style.

Aardvark Epics, Mad Fold-Ins, and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Notebook sketch by Jim WoodringOther features in the journal include selections from Jim Woodring’s bizarre sketchbook and an evaluation of Dave Sim’s fantasy series Cerebus. A conversation between Mad Magazine legend Al Jaffee and younger humorist Michael Kupperman tackles the art of parody, how words can ruin a comic, and the changing state of the industry. Joe Sacco, renowned for expertly researched comics journalism, talks in an interview about the difficulty of both researching and illustrating decades-old whitewashed atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

Gerald McBoing Boing : Based On The Academy Award-winning Motion Picture by Dr Seuss

Racism, Sound Effects, and the Decade in Comics

Elsewhere we find an examination of racism in 1930s comics, discussion of how to teach comics creation classes, and several reprinted Gerald McBoing Boing stories (did you know he was created by Dr. Seuss?). A retrospective article highlights the top 15 trends seen in U.S. comics in the past decade, but I’ll let you pick up your own copy of The Comics Journal #301 to find out what they are.

 

Author Bio:

Chris Gray is an Extra Help Librarian. He never let his mom’s embarrassment stop his comic book nerdiness.