The weather’s turned cold and stuff, so I think it’s time to spend a day reading comics. And accompanied by music from 1982 only.
| Kate Bush: The Dreaming |  |
12:03: Betas by Nick Maandag (Drawn & Quarterly)
This book feels kinda displaced in time — it’s about PC Madness Gone Wrong etc, and is probably meant to be read as a parody of right-wing fears of sorts?
And there are some funny bits in here.
But reading this is just page after page of these conversations that aren’t very entertaining, so the book becomes a joyless slog for the most part.
I’m wondering what the reactions to this book are (if any), because you could also easily read it as an earnest alt right depiction of How Things Are These Days — they’d be reading this going “ha ha ha so true own the libs ha ha ha”…
I can find virtually no reviews of this book, which is very strange for a book from Drawn & Quarterly. Those people are usually really good at getting their books in front of reviewers. Here’s somebody who totally interpreted it “the other way”:
You get the point pretty early on – it’s political correctness gone mad!!1 – but Maandag continues to hammer home this very obvious message over and over throughout the book. Tim can’t get ahead because of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) hirings, despite his seniority at the restaurant (and his passivity because, hoho, he’s a beta), while their boss has to crawl around on all fours all day because of White Atonement Day (chortle, wot a beta).
Very odd that there aren’t any reviews from the usual outlets… perhaps this book is too toxic (or bewildering) to touch? Did D&Q try to keep the release secret? 🙀
| Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel 4 |  |
12:56: Yearly 2026 by Andrew White
Wow, Andrew White has been productive this year. His “Yearly” series for 2026 consist of four books and a process pamphlet. I think I’ll just read a couple today…
I’ll start with A Catalogue of Reasons.
It’s not clear at all at the start what the book is going to be about.
But as the book progresses, it becomes clear that it’s about Picasso and Apollinaire…
… but also about Alice B. Toklas after Stein’s death.
It’s enthralling! And very moving. I love the way it flows. And the artwork is perfect.
| The Cure: Pornography (1) |  |
13:21: Pear Shape by Nick Thorburn (Fantagraphics)
From the sublime to the disgusting, I guess?
But it turns out that the most disgusting thing in this book is the cover, really.
It’s mostly short and depressing gag strips — the kind we like. It’s a solid book.
13:38: Mystère dans le grenier by Dorothée de Monfried (E-Voke)
Oops! This is a children’s book. I didn’t know that E-Voke had gone into the children’s book business.
It’s about a bunch of cute dogs that are scared by noises coming from the loft. If I were three, I would have loved this book. I’m not, but I still think it’s very charming.
13:42: Etikett #3
This is an old Swedish magazine that I happened upon in a used book store the other day — I’ve never heard of it before, but it looks intriguing, so I picked it up.
It’s pretty funny.
Very transgressive.
Huh, there’s a bit cut out of the copyright credits? Weird.
The comics are mostly American (from National Lampoon or something?).
Here’s why I bought the magazine — Tintin in Lebanon. It’s well done.
| Simple Minds: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) |  |
14:12: Smoke Signal #46 edited by Floyd Tangeman (Desert Island)
It’s an anthology issue…
And most people get two pages each, I guess.
It’s pretty great.
| Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) |  |
14:32: Nestor Burma: L’hommes et sang bleu by Malet/Moynot (Faraos Cigarer)
MOYNOT does a pretty good job at emulating Tardi… but some of the colouring here is a bit odd. I mean, it’s supposed to emulate the sun in Marseille coming through shades and stuff, but it’s still kinda disturbing.
I did start to wonder whether Moynot is drawing on a tablet now, because some of the linework looks kinda tabletey… but apparently non? The article says that he does some of the layout en numérique, then draws on paper, and then scans it in to do the colouring and shading on a tablet. I still wonder whether he does (some) of the inking on the tablet?
| Depeche Mode: A Broken Frame |  |
Anyway, this is a classic Leo Malet story — very hard boiled, what with Burma stumbling around semi-drunk a lot of the time, and getting beat up, and the dames etc etc. It’s fun.
And now I’m gonna go buy some candy and run some errands.
Candy achieved!
| Blaine L. Reininger & Alain Goutier: Paris en Autumne |  |
18:04: Mad about DC (DC Comics)
This is a collection of gags made by people who normally do super-hero comics for DC, and as you’d expect, some of it’s pretty unfunny. But a surprising number of things are very amusing.
| New Musik: Warp |  |
Mostly the ones that make fun of ads, for some reason or other.
See? It’s pretty funny here and there.
18:47: Wishbone #1 by Nate Garcia
I really like Garcia’s artwork.
This book reminds me of 90s indies comics (complimentary). It feels like it may be the first in (perhaps) a longer series? I’m aboard.
| Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft: Für Immer |  |
19:03: And One Night More by Andrew White
This book is hypnotic.
It’s about the making of A Thousand and One Nights…
… and it gets at the story through repetitions and spiralling back all the time. It’s fantastic! So engrossing. And such lovely artwork.
| Tuxedomoon: Ninotchka |  |
19:28: Causeway #33-38 by CF
I’ve been saving up the Causeway issues from the past er year? because I wanted to read them as a bigger chunk, and I guess the time has come. Hm, is the newest one from 2025? Huh.
Anyway, some of these are more illustration (lovely)…
… and some are stories (intriguing).
| King Crimson: Beat |  |
19:38: Brownfield Action Family #1 by Ted May (Revival House Press)
This is another book that feels like a 90s indie comic (in a good way)…
It’s a surprisingly straightforward (for the most part) young-people-drama kind of thing, but it’s told in an engaging fashion.
This was apparently made over a long period of time, but I hope May continues this story toot sweet.
19:57: Gawk Zine by Nazir Hedgepeth
You see so few comics inspired by R. Crumb these days…
This is a lot of fun.
20:03: The End
And now I think I should make some dinner, so that’s enough comics for today, unfortunately. It was pretty much all pretty good? Except that one book.