Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

I went to Comic-Con and actually came back with comic books. Go figure! Above, Congressman John Lewis with his graphic novel debut. Below, some reviews.

Brian Ralph, Reggie-12
Giant Robot readers who lovingly recall the two-color strip that owned the back page for years should be stoked about this. I know I am. With jumbo proportions and a very cool spot-UV job on the cover that has to be seen to be believed, this deluxe collection makes the strips look better than they ever did in the magazine. Bigger, bolder, and run side-by-side, the craftsmanship and storytelling are revealed to be every bit as masterful as the strips that inspired them–Felix, Atom, Nancy. Essential not only for fans of vintage manga but classic comic strips in general. [Drawn and Quarterly]

John Stanley, Nancy
I was already familiar with (and smitten by) Ernie Bushmiller’s strips via the Kitchen Sink reprints, and these stories from the Dell comic books are similarly essential. The four-color reprint gloriously captures the Little Lulu writer’s take on Nancy from 1957 through 1958, and is loaded with surrealism, class consciousness, and classic storytelling. Can be read by children and dissected by art majors with equal enjoyment and gusto. [Drawn and Quarterly]

Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro
For EC Comics freaks and Takashi Miike junkies alike, this is the holy grail of Japanese horror comics and it is finally being made available to the mass market. Somewhere between The Addams Family and The Twilight Zone in character and tone, the classic manga series which began running in 1959 follows a one-eyed monster boy and his equally whimsical and monstrous yokai friends. Too creepy, fun, and culturally pervasive for words. Just go get it already. [Drawn and Quarterly]

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I went to Comic-Con and actually came back with comic books. Go figure! Above, Congressman John Lewis with his graphic novel debut. Below, some reviews.

Brian Ralph, Reggie-12
Giant Robot readers who lovingly recall the two-color strip that owned the back page for years should be stoked about this. I know I am. With jumbo proportions and a very cool spot-UV job on the cover that has to be seen to be believed, this deluxe collection makes the strips look better than they ever did in the magazine. Bigger, bolder, and run side-by-side, the craftsmanship and storytelling are revealed to be every bit as masterful as the strips that inspired them–Felix, Atom, Nancy. Essential not only for fans of vintage manga but classic comic strips in general. [Drawn and Quarterly]

John Stanley, Nancy
I was already familiar with (and smitten by) Ernie Bushmiller’s strips via the Kitchen Sink reprints, and these stories from the Dell comic books are similarly essential. The four-color reprint gloriously captures the Little Lulu writer’s take on Nancy from 1957 through 1958, and is loaded with surrealism, class consciousness, and classic storytelling. Can be read by children and dissected by art majors with equal enjoyment and gusto. [Drawn and Quarterly]

Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro
For EC Comics freaks and Takashi Miike junkies alike, this is the holy grail of Japanese horror comics and it is finally being made available to the mass market. Somewhere between The Addams Family and The Twilight Zone in character and tone, the classic manga series which began running in 1959 follows a one-eyed monster boy and his equally whimsical and monstrous yokai friends. Too creepy, fun, and culturally pervasive for words. Just go get it already. [Drawn and Quarterly]

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Hot damn! Three new movies by three of my favorite filmmakers: Kim Ki-duk, Wong Kar-Wai, and Stephen Chow. Pietà, the latest film by Kim Ki-duk, depicts a ruthless and violent money collector who is embraced by seemingly the only person with the power to tame him: his long-lost mother. The events are as brutal as the premise is simple,  bolstered by layers of symbolism and the blackest of humor. The critique of capitalism could be seen as cartoonish but I thought it was hilarious. Somewhere between playing chess with Death or Socrates learning a Kansas song, the goon’s downfall is loaded with meaning yet amusing to no end. It doesn’t hurt that the movie is masterfully filmed with no filler or irony, and I’m stoked that the Drafthouse Films version comes with English-subtitled interviews and extras. The Grandmaster, the long-awaited Ip Man bio by Wong Kar-Wai, is as gorgeous and frustrating as his fans might expect. Tony Leung is enigmatic and powerful in the title role as Bruce Lee’s sifu, and successfully carries battles that range from the spectacular (in a train station) to the profound (using a piece of cake). Zhang Ziyi is equally magnetic, and perhaps has the most charged role as a rival grandmaster of kung fu. Sadly, Chang Chen’s role seems cut short. But ultimately, the characters are mere parts of the shifting eras, philosophies, and politics of China. Small parts of a bigger picture that will look incredible on American screens with a Comic-Con premiere. Stephen Chow’s follow-up to Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, and CJ7 has practically no western appeal whatsoever. And it’s too bad if the Journey to the West prequel doesn’t get a proper U.S. release like Pietà or The Grandmaster, because it’s brilliant. Mixing the fully realized universes  of Chow’s last three films with the no-holds-barred humor of earlier classics like Flirting Scholar, The Mad Monk, or Justice, My Foot!, Chow impossibly balances between the deep and the profane, art and entertainment, high and low. In Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, Chow stays completely behind the camera but his vision and imprint are unmistakable, while Shu Qi gives yet another performance of a lifetime as a vivacious demon hunter who is smitten with her less-than-equal played with measured gusto by Huang Bo. Check out the trailers for Pietà, The Grandmaster, and Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons and then seek out the movies.  
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Hot damn! Three new movies by three of my favorite filmmakers: Kim Ki-duk, Wong Kar-Wai, and Stephen Chow. Pietà, the latest film by Kim Ki-duk, depicts a ruthless and violent money collector who is embraced by seemingly the only person with the power to tame him: his long-lost mother. The events are as brutal as the premise is simple,  bolstered by layers of symbolism and the blackest of humor. The critique of capitalism could be seen as cartoonish but I thought it was hilarious. Somewhere between playing chess with Death or Socrates learning a Kansas song, the goon’s downfall is loaded with meaning yet amusing to no end. It doesn’t hurt that the movie is masterfully filmed with no filler or irony, and I’m stoked that the Drafthouse Films version comes with English-subtitled interviews and extras. The Grandmaster, the long-awaited Ip Man bio by Wong Kar-Wai, is as gorgeous and frustrating as his fans might expect. Tony Leung is enigmatic and powerful in the title role as Bruce Lee’s sifu, and successfully carries battles that range from the spectacular (in a train station) to the profound (using a piece of cake). Zhang Ziyi is equally magnetic, and perhaps has the most charged role as a rival grandmaster of kung fu. Sadly, Chang Chen’s role seems cut short. But ultimately, the characters are mere parts of the shifting eras, philosophies, and politics of China. Small parts of a bigger picture that will look incredible on American screens with a Comic-Con premiere. Stephen Chow’s follow-up to Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, and CJ7 has practically no western appeal whatsoever. And it’s too bad if the Journey to the West prequel doesn’t get a proper U.S. release like Pietà or The Grandmaster, because it’s brilliant. Mixing the fully realized universes  of Chow’s last three films with the no-holds-barred humor of earlier classics like Flirting Scholar, The Mad Monk, or Justice, My Foot!, Chow impossibly balances between the deep and the profane, art and entertainment, high and low. In Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, Chow stays completely behind the camera but his vision and imprint are unmistakable, while Shu Qi gives yet another performance of a lifetime as a vivacious demon hunter who is smitten with her less-than-equal played with measured gusto by Huang Bo. Check out the trailers for Pietà, The Grandmaster, and Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons and then seek out the movies.  
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