I’ve got some updates for y’all:
- I added Cold Heat Special #10 to my online shop. When you order it from me, I’ll draw something in it for you!
- The Rough House Comics Collective will be selling some of my comics (Cold Heat Special #10, Tranz #2, Vortex #3, and Vortex #4) at the Houston Indie Book Fest (AKA the Indie Book Fair at the Menil Fest if you’d like to avoid the Facebook page) this Saturday May 3rd on the Menil lawn. They’ll be debuting the second issue of the Rough House Comics anthology. While you’re there, if you haven’t been, I recommend that you visit the Cy Twombly gallery. An art sanctuary.
- This week’s installment of Skew over on the Study Group Comics site ends on a cliffhanger!
- I’ve been reading a lot and drafting some essays on fsf books. I’ve also been thinking about my role as an amateur critic. With Amazon and Goodreads, just reviewing individual books doesn’t seem like enough. I want to compare, make connections, look at and define categories. But until I get around to realizing my ambitions, I recommend that you read the chilling fantasy-horror Mother of Winter by Barbara Hambly (not sure if it’ll stand on its own if you haven’t read the preceding Dark trilogy, but plotwise, it’s a separate book); the nautical fantasy trilogy Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb; and the speculative biology hard sf novella “The Island” by Peter Watts, which you can read for free, alongside the rest of his backlist, on his site.
- I’ve neglected posting recent reviews of individual Vortex issues and the complete saga, so here’s a bundle, with quotes and links:
- “I find the zip-a-tone in particular to be hypnotic and beautiful in its own strange way, just as I’m drawn to Cardini’s comics despite his obvious influences” – Rob Clough reviewing Vortex #4 and Tranz #2 on his High-Low blog
- “It’s a beautiful mind fuck of a book” – Kevin Bramer reviewing Vortex #3 at Optical Sloth
- “Vortex’s greatest strength…is it’s thematic subtlety, allowing un-narrated action to evoke themes of self-knowledge and self-determination” – Taylor writing up the complete series on the Impossible Books blog (full disclosure: Impossible Books sells Vortex in their distro)
- “Enjoyable art, but music-video level story telling” – Ulises Farinas reviewing Vortex #1 on Think Faest
- “I don’t believe in originality, but his work is at least personal and doesn’t make concessions of any kind” – Gabriel Corbera, creator of Monday Suicide, reviewing the complete series
Cold Heat Special #10 interior. Photo by Glade Hensel.
Untitled Part VI (A Painting in 9 Parts) by Cy Twombly, from an online gallery. The shapes of the canvases for these green room paintings remind me of Jim Woodring drawings.
Page 14 of Skew.
