Tag Archive for 'Johnny Ryan'

The End of an Era

From Beatty's overture

By Thomas Thorhauge

It was a surprise when Sammy Harkham and Picture Box publisher Dan Nadel announced their plans for Kramers Ergot 8 about a year ago. Some of us had assumed that the monumental Kramers Ergot 7 had been the decadent word in what has been by far the most groundbreaking comics anthology of the new century.

Despite good intentions and hard work, Kramers Ergot 7 was a disappointment, but on the other hand it was a book with everything to lose and little to gain, and at any rate it marked a fitting finale to a great run.

As an aesthetic project, Kramers Ergot has succeeded beyond the wildest expectations, and especially the breakthrough Kramers Ergot 4 remains the high point of helmsman Sammy Harkham’s anthology series. Continue reading ‘The End of an Era’

Picks of the Week

The picks of the week from around the web.

  • Rory Stewart on Libya. Comparisons with Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq perhaps help explain the relatively orderly and peaceful aftermath in post-revolutionary Libya.
  • Laura Hudson on the mainstream comics industry’s moronic sexism as manifested predictably, but egregiously in DC’s misguided “relaunch.” The must-read article on this latest low in American comics publishing.
  • The Johnny Ryan interview. Excellent and candid interview with one of comics’ prime humorists in the lengthy but engrossing Comics Journal tradition.
  • Joshua Allen Harris’ plastic bag sculptures (above). I’ve hyped them before and I’m doing it again. They’re amazing.