comics | The Smart Set

In Defense of Riverdale

Sloane Dzhitenov — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 11:30:00 +0000

When it was announced last summer that the upcoming season of Riverdale would be its last, I was — to say the least — heartbroken. Here was a show that was seemingly endless, sprawling across not just six seasons — each of them 19 to 22 episodes a piece — but also a multitude of timelines, approximately […]

The post In Defense of Riverdale first appeared on The Smart Set.

The Man with Talent

Chris Mautner — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 14:30:13 +0000

If you were to ask an expert (and that would most decidedly be not me) who were the true greats in the world of manga — your Charles Schulzes or your Jack Kirbys, for example — those whose influence spread far and wide across the medium — two names that would likely roll off the […]

The post The Man with Talent first appeared on The Smart Set.

A Collection of Shorts

Chris Mautner — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:30:22 +0000

It seems as though every decade or era in alt-comics’ brief history can be marked by a flagship anthology. The underground comics movement of the late 1960s and ’70s was largely shaped by titles like Zap Comix and Arcade. In the 1980s, it was Raw and Weirdo that marked comics’ growing avant-garde. In the ‘90s, […]

The post A Collection of Shorts first appeared on The Smart Set.

Making MAD

Chris Mautner — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 13:16:24 +0000

The news last month that MAD Magazine was drawing to a close (reprints will continue to be shuffled out over time, but in terms of new material the publication is kaput) was not, to be honest, that surprising. While it has had an impressive six-decade run, it, like all print publications, has had to deal […]

The post Making MAD first appeared on The Smart Set.

Making Change

Chris Mautner — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 11:36:53 +0000

Hey. Remember that stationary store in your hometown? The one located at the top of the hill on the main drag? It had been around for three generations. You used to go there with your dad on Sunday mornings to pick up the newspapers. If he was in a generous mood he’d get you some […]

The post Making Change first appeared on The Smart Set.

Bagge and Lane

Chris Mautner — Thu, 23 May 2019 13:07:51 +0000

Few cartoonists have had as varied a career as Peter Bagge, at least when it comes to his range in subject matter. He started out in the 1980s as part of the then post-underground scene, doing goofball, slapstick comics where exaggerated, cartoonish characters with rubbery limbs and mouths that seem to open at a 180-degree […]

The post Bagge and Lane first appeared on The Smart Set.

Line of Sight

Chris Mautner — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 12:30:11 +0000

It begins and ends with the line. You start at one point and follow it along to whatever path it takes you, assuming you can find a way out at all. Sometimes the line is precise, authoritative and angular. Other times it is playful, chaotic and ornate. On one page, it is tightly wound and throbs […]

The post Line of Sight first appeared on The Smart Set.

Comic Countdown 2018

Chris Mautner — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 12:30:35 +0000

Once again it’s time to look at all the “funnybooks” I read over the past 365 days and try to determine which are my most favorite of favorites. Many of the comics I wrote about for this column over the past year – Prism Stalker, Yellow Negroes, Why Art? – would easily make that short […]

The post Comic Countdown 2018 first appeared on The Smart Set.

Dirty Plots

Chris Mautner — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 15:41:06 +0000

It’s unusual for anyone to wish they could be as cool as a cartoonist, but Julie Doucet is the rare exception to that rule. In her groundbreaking 1990s series, Dirty Plotte, Doucet delineated an aesthetic that was brazen, clever, funny, and broke taboos like they were cheap ceramic plates. Reading her comics, you could be […]

The post Dirty Plots first appeared on The Smart Set.

Translating Identity

Chris Mautner — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 13:07:00 +0000

While at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Md., earlier this month, I attended a panel entitled “Trans Memoir.” During the program, a small group of transgender cartoonists talked about how comics provided them with a mode of self-expression in which they could delineate their best, ideal selves and talk about issues and emotions — […]

The post Translating Identity first appeared on The Smart Set.