Editor’s note: There’s spectacular power in a simple list. It’s just so potentially affecting; there’s no pomp, no ceremony, no nonsense — all the power is just what’s there. That sense of power is what leapt to mind when Ground Control’s own Aging Punk Murray Thomas presented his list of the best albums released in 2016 to me as nothing more than a list of ten titles and about a sentence in the way of description for each. It was...
A critical evaluation of Apocrypha Now! by Mark Russell & Shannon Wheeler. The folks over at Top Shelf Comix know what the comics-reading public wants, and that’s a witty retelling of the Apocryphal writings of the bible. You know these Apocrypha and Gnostic books? They were the stories of the bible that history deemed unworthy to include in the official cannon, for some reason. They were considered redundant, or false, or their authorship doubted. Whatever the case may be, they’re...
A critical evaluation of Renée by Ludovic Debeurme. Readers need to buckle up and strap on their helmets, because this book is going to take you on an emotional ride and it’s going to get uncomfortable. Renée should be applauded for getting so many things right in a medium that is honestly either misunderstood or under-appreciated. Who says comics can’t look fresh and tug at your heartstrings in a disturbing way? There are a lot of ideas floating around in...