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Do Comics Publishers Need Readers Anymore? Part One – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
It's easy to forget now, but when Marvel Studios launched in 2008, the move was met with a fair amount of then-understandable skepticism --- after all, not only had the publisher sold away the film and TV rights to most of its "A-list" characters in a series of bad deals largely brokered by Smilin' Stan…
The Devil Is In The Details — But God Might Be, Too : David Tea’s “Five Perennial Virtues” #12 : “Pearl” – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
Something tells me that if the late, great Steve Ditko didn't harbor a sense of utter disdain for mysticism (I know, I know, weird considering he created the character of Dr. Strange) that he'd like David Tea's comics : intricate bordering on the obsessive, singular in their approach, making little to no allowances for popular…
“The Devil’s Grin” Treads Where Angels Fear To – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
Following up a masterpiece is always a tall order, regardless of the medium --- just ask Francis Coppola, Michael Cimino, Harper Lee, and Pink Floyd, among others --- but following up an ACCIDENTAL masterpiece? That's almost wholly uncharted territory. All of which is to say that I don't think Alex Graham set out to make…
Do Comics Publishers Need Readers Anymore? Part Two – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
If you look at the copyright indicia notices typically printed on the inside front covers of most nominally "independent" comics, you'll find that the trademarks for the book in question --- as well those for all its characters, their distinct likenesses, and what have you --- are jointly held by the principal members of that…
The Other Side Of The Fold : Robb Mirsky’s “The Lemonade Brigade” – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
The "tag line" above the title of Robb Mirsky's new self-published mini The Lemonade Brigade tells you right away that he gets it : why do kids in the suburbs tend to get themselves into any kind of trouble they can find? Because they're bored --- and they damn well should be! When you're surrounded…
A Very Personal Masterpiece : Julie Doucet’s “Time Zone J” – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
As art, as narrative, as formalist exercise, and as graphic literature, there's no way to describe Julie Doucet's long-awaited return to the medium she helped revolutionize, the recently-published Time Zone J, as anything other than a triumph. And quite likely a staggering one at that. But that doesn't mean that getting through it isn't a…
How The West Was Fun : Nate Garcia’s “Gecko” – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but the law of averages dictates that one of these days, Nate Garcia is just gonna take this whole thing too far. His comics about tennis-shoes-wearing cowboy Alanzo Sneak, his horse Sheena for whom he harbors an unhealthy longing and/or obsession, and their anthropomorphic…
There’s No Such Thing As Ordinary : Alex Nall’s “Town & County” #1 – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
If you'll cast your mind back to the admittedly dark later days of 2016, you'll recall that there were two common reactions from the so-called "coastal elites" with regard to the electoral college victory of a certain syphilitic game show host who is now, according to his closest former aides, living in some kind of…
An Atypical Wreck : Steven Arnold’s “Perry Midlife” – Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse
Speaking as someone who's been there, done that, and is still doing it, trust me when I say that the existential dread that comes with aging is as serious as a fucking heart attack. Certainly, it has to qualify as a "first world problem" --- there are any number of countries in the process of…