Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Indypendent's Arun Gupta on Democracy Now!


Respected Indypendent journalist, Iraq War specialist and my good friend Arun Gupta was in a three-way debate on General Petraeus' role in the Iraq War. There are video and audio streams.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/9/as_petraeus_urges_delay_of_troop

(Photos from Democracy Now!)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Recommended Reading/Viewing List

Rather than barraging you with a list of the films and books I've read, I'll post a monthly recommended reading/viewing list. The list will comprise of stuff I've read or seen the previous month. Let's get cranking:

Films
Scanners, written and directed by David Cronenberg
Le Temps De Loup, written and directed by Michael Haneke
No Country for Old Men, screenplay and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy

Books
Blindness by Jose Saramago
Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison

Comics/Graphic Novels
Making Comics by Scott McCloud

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Review of World War 3 Illustrated: Facts on the Ground


Review of World War 3 Illustrated: Facts on the Ground


(panel from Seth Tobocman's Disaster and Resistance)

The Indypendent printed Hueso Taveras' review of the World War 3 Illustrated Collective's latest anthology.

Here's an excerpt:

While most comics anthologies like Mome and Drawn and Quarterly aim for diverse and multicultural content, World War 3 Illustrated has consistently provided a breadth unmatched even by contemporary publishers. For their latest anthology, Facts on the Ground, the collective culled stories from around the world, including Baghdad, Johannesburg and El Salvador. As the title suggests, most are first-hand accounts, featuring everyday folks up against institutionalized corruption.

The first comic, by writer and Voices in the Wilderness activist Cathy Breen with artist Edowyn Vazkez, illustrates a letter by an Iraqi woman and the daily perils she faces in occupied Baghdad. Peter Kuper captures the complicated and sordid story of last year’s Oaxaca teachers’ strike and their battle with the state’s murderous, corrupt governor — which ended with the death of numerous people, including journalist Brad Will — in his firsthand mixed-media account “Oaxaca.”

Other comics take a look at familiar locales. Standouts include Seth Tobocman’s excerpt from his new book Disaster and Resistance (AK Press), about the struggle of residents of a NOLA housing project to return home after the devastation of Katrina and authorities. Mac McGill’s “Hurricane Katrina” is a meticulously rendered expressionist pantomime about life, loss and hope of New Orleans residents. Fly’s interview with Bill DiPaola serves as the basis for her rollicking, illustrated history of radical environmentalist group Times Up! “NYC Cyclists Memorial” is Christopher Cardinale’s lyrical and poignant mixed-media comic about the bicyclists killed by motorists and the city’s inhospitability to bicyclists.


Read the full review.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Comics Great Steve Gerber, RIP

(Photo from: http://www.stevegerber.com/sgblog/)

Comics creator Steve Gerber (Howard the Duck; Man-Thing; Omega the Unknown; Thundarr, The Barbarian) died earlier this week. I never read any of his comics but recently I read an interview with him and his intelligence and wit came shining through, encouraging me to look at his work.

Feeling incredibly inadequate talking about him, I'd rather let you read about him from people who knew him a hell of a lot better.

http://comiccritique.com/columns/gcolSt499.html
(where I heard the news)
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_02_11.html#014809 (from Steve's longtime friend Mark Evanier)
http://www.stevegerber.com/sgblog/
(Steve's blog)

Peace,
Frank

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Monday, February 4, 2008

Praise for "Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm"

Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm written by Percy Carey and illustrated by Ronald Wimberly came in at number 9 of Time magazine's Top Ten Graphic Novels for 2007. And CNN's Best of the Rest 2007.

See my interview with Percy Carey at Comic Critique.

© Frank Reynoso, Feb. 4, 2008, All Rights Reserved