MW was published in Big Comic from 1976 to 1978. This was a few years after Tezuka’s own comics magazine, COM, folded in 1972. Serialisation began right after the end of Vietnam War in 1975. MW—the titular chemical—is a fictional counterpart of dioxin. Dioxin or Agent Orange was used by the US to launch a … [Read more…]
Blue Is the Warmest Color is the first full length graphic novel by Julie Maroh. It was originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude. A character composed of letters and diary entries Julie Maroh constructs the story from letters and diaries left by the protagonist—Clementine—after her death. The recipient is Emma—Clementine’s … [Read more…]
Things to know before reading While it is possible to enjoy the book without having any background of the Israel–Palestine conflict—just the way I had read through the book when I bought my copy years ago—the understanding of this piece of work gets elevated once the reader is exposed to the context in which the … [Read more…]
If there is one word that describes The Castafiore Emerald, it has to be deception. This is one Tintin album that is not like any of the other Tintin albums. There is no villain, no adventure, no travel, no action, or anything else that can be remotely associated with the hallmarks of a typical Tintin album. This … [Read more…]
I kept bumping into Solanin in many automated suggestion lists—they seemed to predict what I might like, based on my tastes. A few months ago, I decided to trust these suggestion algorithms and pick the book up. In my opinion, it is a coming of age story of the protagonist, Meiko Inoue. Somebody who has read … [Read more…]
A few days ago, I received my copies of Yowamushi Pedal Volumes 1 and 2 in English. I have already seen the anime and have read scanlations of the manga. It was one of the bicycling mangas that I wanted to see translated in English. I was happy to see Yen Press doing the translations. I … [Read more…]
Recently, I travelled through Vietnam. While I was in Hue, the cultural capital of Vietnam, a weird thought raced through my mind, “Can I get Tintin in Vietnamese?” Before coming to Hue, I was in Ha Noi and stayed in the Old Quarters. I explored the entire place on foot but did not come across … [Read more…]
About the collection “The title is simple. The talent is spectacular.” – that’s what the blurb on the volume’s back cover says. Someone couldn’t have come up with a more apt description of the book. Batman Black & White (now retrofitted with a ‘Volume 1’ tag along its spine) is an anthology. It contains many … [Read more…]
Bone promises to be an epic fantasy comic in the veins of Lord of the Rings. So does the blurb say. Whether the comparison holds or not, I can only justify when I have gone through all the nine volumes. I will be commenting on the first two volumes in this post. The rest shall … [Read more…]
A sketchy album Of all the albums of Tintin, Land of Black Gold remains the sketchiest book in my opinion. When I was a kid, I read this in Bengali and never got my head around many things that were happening in the story. I enjoyed the parts where the Thompsons were lost in the … [Read more…]
