At any rate, it's a broad term, and Brunetti gives it a broad definition, broad enough to be able to include the work of Henry Darger along with comic strips and passages from comic books and graphic novels. Many of the expected usual suspects are represented—Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Los Brothers Hernandez, Chris Ware, Harvey Pekar—but so too are some artists whose reputations are still being built. You'll also find modern comic strips from the likes of Tony Millionaire, classic comic strips like Gasoline Alley, excerpts from works like Maus, and unique pieces like Art Spiegelman's comic-strip essay on the influence of Charles Schulz's Peanuts entitled "Abstract Thought Is a Warm Puppy."
Whether you're enrolling in a metaphorical Comics 101 class or seeking an advanced degree in the medium, this tome makes for a perfect textbook.
Star Wars: Tag and Bink Were Here
Dark Horse Comics
If George Lucas' Star Wars saga can be compared to Shakespeare's Hamlet (I know, that's a big "if"), then Tag and Bink are its Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. At least, that's what writer Kevin Rubio would have us believe in this graphic novel, a sort of Star Wars equivalent of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Who are Tag and Bink? They're two anonymous members of the rebellion who were serving on Princess Leia's spaceship when it was boarded at the opening of the first film, but chicken out when it comes time to repel Darth Vader. They opt to dress up as Storm Troopers, and, through a series of disguises, end up crisscrossing paths with the real heroes throughout the rest of the book.
The characters are fairly indistinguishable smartasses, but Rubio deftly finds ways to insert them into key scenes from the first trilogy of movies—basically every time there are two anonymous Storm Troopers key to the action, it ends up being a disguised Tag and Bink. Rubio even uses them as a vehicle to savage the lesser installments in the series, explaining why Boba Fett goes out like a punk in Return of Jedi and acts like a womanizer in Lucas' digitally rejiggered version of Jedi. The next trilogy takes a much more thorough (and well-deserved) beating. Rabid Star Wars fans, or those who grew up liking the original series and hating what became of it in the 21st century, should find plenty to love about this lovingly crafted parody.
Blank Vol. 1
Tokyopop
American artist Pop Mhan has done plenty of comics work for hire in his distinctive, manga-influenced style, but Blank marks his first attempt at writing and drawing his own story, and in the form and format of the Japanese comics that so obviously inspired much of his past work.
The book is named for its amnesiac hero, a dimwitted, horny, teenaged martial arts master who escaped from a mental institution with only one memory, the name Aki Clark. He believes he's a secret agent assigned to protect her, and follows her around in a variety of silly, transparent disguises (a mailbox, a school lunch lady, a wall).
In truth, she doesn't need protection, as she's just as good a martial artist as Blank is, and he may actually be a terrorist assigned to kidnap her. Hilarity ensues—as does some rather bloody slapstick and the will they/won't they romance of so much manga.