Spandexless

Comics Without Capes

[spandexless]

Spandexless is creating comics journalism and an annual comics anthology. | Patreon

Follow Spandexless on Patreon: Read posts by Spandexless on the world's largest platform enabling a new generation of creators and artists to live out their passions!

Our Patrion page is live! If you want to help shape the future of Spandexless, I hope you might consider becoming a patron!

While, of course, some of the money will go towards the basics that will keep the site ad-free, most of the money patrons donate will go towards paying guest writers for the website as well as helping secure talent for the Spandexless Annual anthology (more details on that process coming in January).

[spandexless]

Looking for article subjects

Looking to start working on my backlog of posts for Spandexless in 2017. We're not doing reviews anymore but rather focusing on longer and more spaced-out features.

Do you have a project coming out next year you'd like to feature? Would you be down to just talk really in depth about comics and industry issues? Do you have a burning desire to write an analytical or academic comics essay? Hit me up!

[spandexless]

Home

Changes beginning...

[spandexless]

[comicartsbrooklyn]

CAB 2015 application is live!

[spandexless]

Comicker Digital Launches

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Comics Publisher Delivers Creator-Owned Series to Readers

Austin, MN (February 26th, 2015) - With comic books continuing to reach an ever-growing audience, a new publisher aims to bring more creator-owned series to readers directly.  Founded by Saori Adams and Sean E. Williams, Comicker LLC is launching today with its Comicker Digital label on its website, ComickerDigital.com.  

“Currently, Comicker Digital is releasing series as ad-supported webcomics, collected as issues on comiXology and DriveThruComics, and through our subscription mobile app which is being developed and powered by The Horizon Factory,” Adams said.  “We realized that not all readers want their comics the same way, so we're giving them as many options as possible.  One size doesn’t fit all anymore.”

“The same goes for creators,” Williams added. “We've talked to tons of professionals who can’t take on a full second series, but have enough time for a few pages per month.  Our release schedule and format gives them that flexibility.  As a writer myself, this was something I wanted to see happen personally.”  

Williams wrote the NEW YORK TIMES best-selling third volume of the FAIREST series, FAIREST: THE RETURN OF THE MAHARAJA, for DC/Vertigo, as well as issues of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES and SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN at DC Comics.  Additionally, he co-created and co-writes ARTFUL DAGGERS, which is published first on comiXology by Monkeybrain Comics and collected in trade paperback by IDW Publishing.

Comicker Digital is launching with five series, including THE CASEBOOK OF RABBIT BLACK, written and illustrated by Kate Sherron, SOME KIND OF BLUE MOON, written by Michael D. Stewart, illustrated by Thomas Boatwright, and lettered by James Greatorex, GRIMFISH, written and illustrated by Aaron Pittman, LOST ANGELS, written by David Accampo and illustrated by Chris Anderson, and the webcomic edition of ARTFUL DAGGERS, co-written by Williams with Adam P. Knave, with art by Andrew Losq and lettering by Frank Cvetkovic.

“Eventually, we plan to move into print as well, but in order to get off the ground as quickly as possible, launching as digitally first made the most sense,” Adams said.

With today’s launch, Comicker Digital offers easy accessibility for readers, and flexible scheduling and support to help creators tell the stories they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

[spandexless]

TCAF 2015 The Toronto Comic Arts Festival

Toronto Public Library presents @ Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street

Saturday, May 9, 9am-5pm Sunday, May 10, 11am-5pm Free to attend

www.torontocomics.com

TORONTO, CANADA—Announcing the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2015! Over 300 cartoonists from Canada and around the world are on their way to Toronto this May, to celebrate the very best in comics, graphic novels, bandes dessinées, and manga! A week-long Festival of readings, launches, and art events culminating in a massive, FREE two-day exhibition at Toronto Reference Library, May 9th and 10th, 2015!

For more than a decade, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival has showcased the incredible comics art being made here in Canada, and invited the attention of the international cartooning community. The 2015 programme continues to build on those successes, with an increase in programming, and a renewed focus on Canadian cartoonists from coast to coast!

TCAF 2015 will welcome a remarkable array of authors! Highlights from the author guests include:

Charles Burns: Creator of Black Hole, one of the most important graphic novels of all time, Burns will be at TCAF to celebrate his recently completed new graphic novel series X’ed Out (Pantheon Books).

Eleanor Davis: An outstanding cartoonist and editorial illustrator (The New Yorker, New York Times), Davis’ recent graphic novel release How To Be Happy (Fantagraphics) is one of the best graphic novels of 2014, and TCAF is thrilled to welcome this cartoonist to Toronto.

Gurihiru: This dynamic cartooning duo hails from Tokyo, Japan, and is beloved in North America for their original graphic novels set in the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse).

Lucy Knisley: A long-time supporter of the Festival, Knisley’s memoirs and travelogues are well-loved across the continent. Knisley attends as a Featured Guest in 2015, in support of her new travelogue/graphic novel Displacement (Fantagraphics).

Scott McCloud: Creator of the essential comics text Understanding Comics, TCAF will welcome McCloud to Toronto in support of his acclaimed new graphic novel The Sculptor (First Second Books).

Barbara Stok: Hailing from The Netherlands, Stok has an impressive collection of graphic novels to her credit. TCAF is happy to welcome her as a Featured Guest of the Festival in 2015, in conjunction with her debut English-language graphic novel release Vincent (SelfMadeHero), an important and critically-praised biography of Vincent Van Gogh.

Jillian Tamaki: With her cousin Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki’s 2014 TCAF Debut This One Summer (Groundwood/First Second) took home a Governor General’s Award, a Caldecott Honor, and a Printz Honor. In 2015, Jillian Tamaki will release SuperMutantMagicAcademy (Drawn & Quarterly), her hilarious new graphic novel.

Chip Zdarsky: Hometown favourite and emerging international superstar Zdarsky (a.k.a. Steve Murray) is welcomed as a Featured Guest for 2015! Best-known for his ground-breaking comic series Sex Criminals (with writer Matt Fraction), spring 2015 will see the launch of his new series Kaptara (Image Comics) with fellow Toronto illustrator Kagan McLeod, and a relaunch of Marvel Comics’ Howard The Duck.

And these are just the first nine featured guests among the more than 300 Canadian and International cartoonists participating in the 2015 Festival.

Featured guests will continue to be announced through February and March, with special guests from France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. and Canada still to be revealed!

TCAF 2015 will also feature several programming spotlights, including a special tribute to esteemed Canadian graphic novel published Drawn & Quarterly, on the occasion of their 25

th

Anniversary.

Additional Programs will be announced in February and March, including the CSSC-SCEBD Academic Conference, Library & Educator Day, Word Balloon Academy, Comics Vs. Games 4, Gallery Showings, Screenings, and much more. Visit TCAF online for up-to-the-minute updates.

[spx]

Just in case you’re inclined to read the whole press release…

Small Press Expo Announces 20th Anniversary Guests Jules Feiffer, Lynda Barry and James Sturm in a Tribute to the Comics of the Alt-Weekly Newspaper

Bethesda, Maryland; June 12, 2014 – This year is the 20th Anniversary of SPX, which will be held September 13 and 14, 2014 at the North Bethesda Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. For our 20th birthday, we are pleased to announce Jules Feiffer, Lynda Barry and James Strum as the first of a number of guests for a celebration of the rich and vibrant comics world of the alt-weekly newspaper.

Nearly seventy years ago, a teenage Jules Feiffer entered the comics world as an assistant to the famous Will Eisner. He soon made a name for himself via his ground-breaking comic strip Feiffer, which ran weekly in the Village Voice for over forty years. Mr. Feiffer and his eponymous strip is considered the Godfather of the alt-weekly newspaper comic.

Active as a cartoonist, playwright, novelist, children’s book author, screenwriter and professor, Mr. Feiffer’s incredible career has included an Academy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters & the Comic Book Hall of Fame, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the National Cartoonists Society. He will be at SPX 2014 to sign his latest graphic novel, Kill My Mother, which will be released this summer from the Liveright Division of W.W. Norton.

In 1979, Lynda Barry’s seminal Ernie Pook’s Comeek began appearing in the alt-weekly The Chicago Reader. For nearly two decades, her comics — which appeared in over seventy newspapers nationwide —  inspired several generations of independent cartoonists who saw themselves in her characters, and recognized their struggles in her stories.

Since retiring the strip in 2008, Ms. Barry has been active as a teacher running workshops for hundreds of students a year and doing her best to show people that everybody can be creative. She is now an assistant professor at the Department of Art at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Advance copies of her book, due out in October of this year from Drawn & Quarterly, Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor about teaching art to all skill levels, will be available at SPX 2014.

Co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies James Sturm has an amazing resume. In addition to the ground-breaking school he started, Sturm co-founded The Onion as well as The Stranger, Seattle’s legendary alt-weekly newspaper, where he served as the comics editor. Mr. Sturm worked with Art Spiegleman on ‘Raw’ in the 90’s, and was a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Mr. Sturm also found time to put out graphic novels such as Market Day from Drawn & Quarterly, and The Golem’s Mighty Swing on his own imprint, Bear Bones Press. A true champion of comics, Mr. Sturm has won both an Eisner Award, and a Xeric grant. In addition, his writings and works have been published in The New York Times and The New Yorker.

About SPX

Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit that brings together more than 600 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. SPX also has a two tracks of of panel discussions and interviews with this year’s guests that run through both days of the event.

The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show. All works nominated for Ignatz Awards are donated to the Small Press Expo Collection at the Library of Congress, which is the first institutional collection in the United States dedicated to the indie comics field.

As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org.

[shaqzine]

SHAQZINE DEBUTS AT TCAF 2014!

"What’s a Shaqzine?

You don’t have to know sports to know anything about Shaq—just like how you don’t have to know astronomy to feel the life-giving warmth of the sun! Shaq’s reputation off the court makes him a true Renaissance man, and cultural icon. Dare we say, Most Likely to be Voted Ambassador of Earth? We dare. Anyway, you get the idea: Shaq is pretty great.

This is Shaqzine: the century’s most important anthology about the man, the myth, and the legend that is Shaquille O’Neal.”

***Preorder your copy of SHAQZINE here***

[benhumeniuk]

I’ve got a stake in this (heck, I’ve got a comic in this!), so I invite you to consider preordering. I saw a preview copy last weekend, and there’s a lot of fine, humorous, celebratory work in there, including some great pieces by fellow Houston cartoonists. (Did you know H-Town is a hotbed of cartooning? I’m telling ya.)

[spandexless]

Now I'm even more upset I didn't get to go to TCAF this year. 

[trevisocomicbook-deactivated202]

PREMI/PRIZES: 1.000 € L’associazione Fumetti in Treviso bandisce, nell’ambito del Treviso Comic Book Festival 2014, il Terzo Concorso Internazionale per Nuovi Autori “TCBF” realizzato in collaborazione con la Scuola Internazionale di Comics. Il tema del concorso 2014 è “fuga di…

[kushkomikss]

TCBF announces their third international comics competition for new authors!

[comixology]

SEATTLE—April 10, 2014—(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire comiXology, the company that revolutionized the digital comics reading experience with their immersive Guided View technology and makes discovering, buying, and reading comic books and...

[spandexless]

Missed MoCCA

So I missed out on day 2 of MoCCA due to being admitted to the hospital (I'm okay) and I'm SO MAD about all the comics I missed.

Submit to us your best MoCCA pics or stories and we'll post them here!

[spandexless]

March (Book One): The Revolution Will Be Illustrated

by David Anderson

History classes in public school never have the luxury of going in-depth into a subject. I don't think any class I ever went to in high school ever made it past the Civil War or World War II. Everything has to be ankle-deep synopses so that you can get as big and broad an overview as possible, that you might not be totally lost in college. Who knows what you might be expected to do with that knowledge if you didn't go to college, of course. But as far as the Civil Rights movement went, nobody gets a good picture of how important, how interesting, and how violent it was until they do history classes and self-education outside of 12th grade. I can't speak for anyone outside the US, of course. I know the Civil Rights movement had an impact on the rest of the world, but as far as my expertise on that subject goes, I at least know the shape of the issue's shadow.

March (Book One) is a great place to begin your own education on the Civil Rights movement, as it's a first-hand account by Congressman John Lewis of his life growing up in the transitional period of the mid-twentieth century and becoming a member of the Big Six, the men considered to be the most important and influential figures in the movement for the right of black Americans to vote. Anybody who graduated high school might know that the CR movement was directed at least by Martin King and Malcolm X, but they might not know the others involved- I certainly didn't growing up. Lewis knew King personally and helped organize sit-ins at white-only diners in Georgia. That's pretty hardcore. Lewis is one of the kinds of historical figures that might not be celebrity material the way King and Malcolm were, but they were still obscenely important to their respective causes. Kind of like Von Steuben, or Tesla before internet nerds found him. I imagine it must have been unreal for Nate Powell and Andrew Aydin when they worked with him on this.

March (Book One) covers Lewis's early life all the way up to the beginning of the civil rights movement, showing Lewis' role in the first activist pushes in Georgia. Throughout the novel, Lewis narrates his life and shows us the major influences that drove his later career in activism and politics. As a kid he baptised his chickens and snuck off to school to learn instead of tending his farm duties. It seems fitting that he should become a kind of rebel preacher in the years leading up to the first protests for equal voting rights. Yet despite a rural upbringing, city life fascinated him.

The book starts off with a tense energy as we witness a peaceful demonstration assaulted by racist cops, but then relaxes that tension by allowing Lewis to talk about his youth while in his senate office in the present. It's got a nice calm feel to it, but there's still moments of darkness to be had. According to the authors, Book Two promises to be much darker. But for now you can bask in the first book's rustic tone and feel good to watch Lewis wonder at how easy it is to buy candy in the city. When the protests and the nonviolent tactics classes begin, there's still a sense of optimism, that in spite of the long odds, a victory was in the making. Who knows what Book Two holds, but I expect it to show us what endangered the cause from within and out.

Between his episodes of development as an activist we are reminded of the watershed moments that defined Lewis' time. Brown v. The Board of Education, the murder of Emmett Till, and the first speeches by Martin Luther King set the tone for the experience of the Civil Rights activist.

There is nothing bad to say at all about the art. Powell's style is amazing for this memoir. What I am most delighted by is his style's emotional range. He can draw friendly characters facing off against the angriest people you ever saw, and the juxtaposition feels natural. Powell is illustrating a story based on some very serious and often dark subject matter, but he wouldn't need to change his style at all if he wanted to make a kids' book. The key ingredient in his work is his shading. He knows how to make a scene tense or relaxing using shadows alone. Even with soft, iconic faces, his characters are capable of every level of drama.

This, like other historical graphic novels I've reviewed, is a rare thing—even rarer than graphic novels of this kind at all. This is an illustrated autobiography. Words might never have been able to capture what we can see summed up in this book. And the fact that Lewis dictated this puts it head and shoulders above other comic biographies like the one about Richard Feynman or Logicomix, written long after their subject matter's deaths. It's historical gold, as far as I'm concerned.

The best moment, for me, was when Lewis recounts his first night in jail. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be surrounded by dozens of comrades crammed into a tiny room. Were it not for their determination, a scene like that might have been a hopeless torture scene, but instead it's inspiring to watch as they rally together and sing. I remember thinking it was cool when internet activists decided to troll the Church of Scientology years ago, but I can't even imagine what it must have been like to know you were in the middle of a veritable war for basic human rights.

I don't think I need to elaborate much more on how good March (Book One)  is. It's a rare thing to see a primary source of history presented like this. You lose nothing by buying this book, and only knowledge to gain. Yes, I'm paraphrasing Marx, wanna fight about it? Yeah, keep walkin', chump. I always win thumb wrestles.

 March (Book One) is an autobiographical story by Congressman John Lewis' with script by Lewis and Andrew Aydin. Art by Nate Powell (natepowell). Published by Top Shelf (top-shelf-comix), ask for it at your local comic book shop or buy it direct from Top Shelf as a book or ebook.

Also, congratulations to the creators and the whole Top Shelf team on March's selection by Michigan State University and Marquette University to be a part of their curricula for 2014! Read more buzz about March here.

[jamietanner]

Kickstarter Office Hours at MoCCA

Hey, will you be at the MoCCA Arts Festival in NY this weekend (April 5-6)? Want to chat about your Kickstarter comics project idea? Or chat about any other questions you have about Kickstarter or comics or life in general, or just have an awkward guy who works at Kickstarter (that’d be me) hold your hand and tell you everything’s gonna be okay?

"Office Hours" may be too strong a term for this, but I would love to have such a conversation with you, if you so desire. Just give me a shout here on Tumblr, or on Twitter, or via this form. Or just look for a bald guy wearing the green button you see above and tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be walking around the festival late afternoon Saturday and all day Sunday, and would be happy to meet up and talk. Oh, and I’ll bring some mini-comics in case you want to swap, too. Sound good? Good!

See you there?

[spx]

2014 Ignatz Awards Submissions Are Open!

Tis the time to submit your comics for consideration in Small Press Expo’s festival prize, the Ignatz Award. Submissions are open to all independent comics creators and publishers. 

Note: You do not need to be an SPX 2014 exhibitor to submit, nor do you need to attend Small Press Expo to win.

Fame, fortune, glory and drink tickets galore await you!

Ignatz nominees are selected by a super-secret jury of creators (a new group each year) and voted on by attendees and exhibitors of Small Press Expo 2014.  

As a part of the SPX Permanent Collection at the Library of Congress, all Ignatz nominees will automatically be sent to the LOC for permanent preservation.

Previous Ignatz winners include Kate Beaton, Michael DeForge, Lisa Hanawalt, Jaime Hernandez, Kevin Huizenga, Jillian Tamaki and Craig Thompson to name just a few! The Ignatz Categories

All work will be eligible in all applicable categories, which include:

Outstanding Artist

Outstanding Anthology or Collection

Outstanding Graphic Novel

Outstanding Story

Promising New Talent

Outstanding Series

Outstanding Comic

Outstanding Minicomic

Outstanding Online Comic

Dat Rat

Speaking of “Promising New Talent,” starting in 2012 we began asking the winner of this particular award to create their own version of George Herriman’s brick-throwing rat (thank you Daryl Ayo and Lale Westvind!).

Last years’ well-deserved winner, Sam Alden produced the wonderful illustration above for our use in 2014.

The Ignatz Submission Process In order to be considered for an Ignatz nomination, six copies of a work published between June 1, 2013 and May 31, 2014 should be sent to: SPX Ignatz Awards c/o Big Planet Comics 4849 Cordell Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814

USA ** Please note this is a different address from last year. **  Links to comics eligible for the Outstanding Online Comic category should be emailed to [email protected].  

All submissions must be received by June 7, 2014.

Full guidelines are available at http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz-guidelines.

All questions should be sent to the Ignatz Award coordinator, Eden Miller, at [email protected].

[spandexless]

IT IS TIME. Get ON it comics folks!

[spandexless]

SPX and Sex Positivism: Where Did I Put My Fifth Wave

by David Anderson 

What's the one thing feminists and Christian extremists have in common? They both hate porn.

Bad jokes aside, that pretty much summed up my own view on the issue of pornography for the longest time, at least until I started actually learning more about feminism. Then I found out that feminism didn't necessarily hate porn, it just tended to hate porn that defined women along certain parameters. People tend to like sex, but yeah, for the longest time American sex culture told men to do what feels good and told women to do what doesn't hurt. Now that those premises are thawing away we're starting to see a more even distribution between men and women, straights and gays indulging in sexual media. I mean, it's still going to be a while before we can say we have no issues with it, but I think we can be pretty comfortable thinking that sex media will be less male-centric and more egalitarian as time goes on.

SPX (spx) actually had a bunch of sex-themed comics on display for all kinds of people. The one book I saw on display the most was Smut Peddler by C. Spike Trotman and a collection of other artists. Billed as "lady driven dirty comics", it's got about 350 pages worth of material for you to, well, do the voodoo that you do so well with. The cover itself will tell you it's also for "men of exceptional taste", so if you thought this was going to be the kind of thing you could only enjoy by declaring yourself a feminazi and swearing endless war on men, don't worry, you're just being narrow-minded.

Another comic on sale was the decades-old Love and Rockets, the Hernandez Brothers' long-evolving opus filled with hammer-wielding, sexually liberal mayors, transsexuals, and female luchadors. There was another booth selling small pinup comics (I regret that I never caught the name of the booth, another casualty of my memory) which used modern comic styles for an old World War II cultural staple. I noticed a few other smaller collections being sold too, and if I remember right they were pretty girl-centric too. Didn't look too closely though. Some of these weren't necessarily fun-time material, but since they're sex themed they belong in the conversation as different points of reference.

On a gut-feeling level part of me wondered if it was hypocritical to be promoting sex comics at SPX when there was so much face-palm inducing agitation over how DC and Marvel handle sex. But when you think about it for more than five seconds there's not really a double standard- in DC and Marvel the issue is how a male-centric perspective drives the development of female characters. Male artists and writers, for example, deciding that they understand rape enough to include it in their comics, or DC sweating and babbling when trying to explain that a Wonder Woman movie would either please men and piss off women or vice versa(or at least that's what it sounds like the problem is to me). Meanwhile people are still freaking out about Miley Cyrus dancing around a stage, and that event (along with the reactions to it) is a pretty good example of how weird American sexual culture is.

Conversely, the independent comic scene is a place where extremists and reasonable people can do what they want and print whatever kind of fetish gets them through the day. Smut Peddler was popular with a certain crowd in 2003, so they brought it back and catered to that same crowd. There was no executive dropping in to say "well, we really need to score big with the 18-45 year old male demographic". It's a bottom-up approach, so if it gets popular it's because of how much popularity it built versus relying on market inertia to make money. Maybe nobody bought Smut Peddler, I have no idea. If nobody did that would be a statement about the sexual values of the people who attended SPX, just as much as its popularity would be. So that's the economic explanation of it.

At its base, the difference between people's reaction to DC and Marvel versus their acceptance of sex comics in SPX has to do with "Sex Positivism" versus "Sex Negativism"- DC and Marvel are criticized for both quietly and loudly shunning what they see as unattractive bodies and defining their female characters by their genitalia before all other attributes (Negativism) while comics like Smut Peddler try to explore the issue of sex while affirming that people ought to feel good about their sexual preferences rather than feel like they're not living up to a standard (Positivism). In other words, to quote South Park's Cartman: Mr. Indy Comic doesn't judge you. Mr. Indy Comic likes you just the way you are. As long as nobody's getting hurt you can do whatever makes your brains' enjoyment glands secrete fun chemicals.

TL; DR: Porn isn't necessarily chauvanistic on either side of the gender fence and SPX seems to be a place where it's okay to explore that.

So I guess this piece was me rambling about an issue that I'm still only ankle deep in, but I figured I'd write it up and see if it was worth discussing.

[spandexless]

Satan's Soldier #1 - 3

by Patrick Smith (patrickhasabeard)

Satan's Soldier might be the craziest thing I’ve ever read.

And given that I’m familiar with Tom Scioli’s previous work that is saying something.

Satan’s Soldier is basically Scioli’s deconstruction/exploitation of Superman, or at least Superman if he had no morals whatsoever.

And its great.

So great that I can't seem to form paragraphs to explain how great it is.

To put it another way, it's hard to put my finger on exactly why I think it's great because over the course of these three issues it features a lot of scenes that if I read them in a mainstream superhero comic I would probably hate it with every fiber of my being. Without getting into spoiler territory Satan’s Soldier involves scenes with child murder, rape being threatened towards the only female character , genital mutilation, and the off-screen deaths of millions of people. Its basically Mark Millar territory but Scioli comes at it in such a way that when I saw these scenes I either laughed or gave it a slow clap. Because he comes at it, at best, like a type of grand satire or, at least, he understands your expectations and takes it in a direction you could never see coming.

However, despite all that, there isn't any real narrative to these books. There’s a plot, and character moments sure, but really it's just Scioli experimenting with his style. If you're familiar with his work you know Scioli’s biggest influence is Jack Kirby and although that influence is readily apparent here it's a lot rougher with a lot of color work that borders on or becomes outright psychedelic. I actually think this might be an experiment on Scioli’s part to see if he can be as fast as Kirby, which isn't to say that the books are sloppy but there is definitely frantic pace to the storytelling especially in the third issue where almost the entirety of the book is double page spreads. He makes Superman into such a fever dream of moral depravity and intergalactic destruction that it becomes the only comic I’ve ever read that I’ve felt the need to wear stunna shades while reading it.

We’re living in a pretty divisive era for cape comics. Most either go for a misguided attempt at emotional maturity via middle school shock value or they go for a sort of nostalgic fluff. Not all mind you, but there's room for a broad satire like Satan’s Soldier that uses the tropes of the genre and the defining traits of a character like Superman in ways that can still be thought provoking and completely bonkers in equal measure. With the end of Satan's Soldier (which is an assumption with the end of issue three and more could be on the way) Scioli is taking the golden age of superheroes and placing it in a hot pink hellscape where nothing is off limits and nothing is impossible as long as you have some talent wielding a pencil. Satan's Soldier scares the crap out of me but it makes me appreciate what Siegal, Shuster, Binder, Swan, and Kirby did with Superman all the more.

TL;DR: Satan’s Soldier is a bombastic reading experience that works off the image of Superman as sadist to fantastic results.

Satan's Soldier is written and illustrated by Tom Scioli. You can purchase the issues through his store or read it online on his website.