little lulu

While the word “comic” is right there in the name, the medium of comic books is more often associated with action, or maybe melodrama, than it is with humor. But one man, John Stanley, brought humor to comics in the middle decades of the 20th century in ways that no one before ever had, and that few have matched since.

Little Lulu is a truly iconic figure in the world of cartoons. At her peak in the 1950s, she towered over Times Square, broke down gender stereotypes, and was read by millions in comic books and newspapers around the country --- a massive level of success that was achieved through the dedication and vision of her creator, Marjorie Henderson Buell, a woman who navigated the treacherous waters of the publishing business and kept full control over her signature character.

We are not the mainstream. That's a truth understood by anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or in any other way queer. We are not the audience. We are not the market. We are not the people. It's also a truth understood by a lot of people with a passion for comics...

Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY: * Numbers ^ Exodus % Genesis ¢ Colossians ^ % BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR HC Scott Snyder, Jock & Francesco Francavilla's double-headed Batman/Commissioner Gordon serial from Detective Comics was one of the chief attractions of the pre-reboot DC (and had a lot of impressively over-the-top

Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY: * Watch me jumpstart ^ They're not witches % The closer you are, the quicker it hits you ¢ Cigarette tricks * % ACTION COMICS #1 Grant Morrison, Rags Morales and Rick Bryant relaunch the flagship superhero comic book. OK,...

Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY: * Big guns ^ Big swords % Big chops * ^ ABC WARRIORS: THE BLACK HOLE This is the second collection of stories involving Pat Mills' robot-warrior team--essentially a cross between Metal Men and Sgt...

Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY: * Small things, looking up ^ Large things, looking down ^ AVENGERS #16 I still don't know if alternating issues in the same storyline drawn by John Romita Jr...

Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY: * Gloves ^ Moustaches % Eyebrows ¢ Oaths % ¢ ACTION COMICS #898 Paul Cornell and Pete Woods' Lex Luthor serial continues to slither toward its climax; this time, he meets up with Green Lantern's completist-collector stand-in Larfleeze. % ...

"Reading Comics" author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY * I become a transparent eyeball % Braver five minutes longer ^ Like a vegetable bud ¢ Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis % ¢ BATMAN: ODYSSEY #6 The first leg of Neal Adams' miniseries concludes; this thing has been getting more and more off-the-map as it goes along, li

Savage Critic and "Reading Comics" author Douglas Wolk runs down the hottest comics and graphic novels coming out this week. KEY * Foxy @ Batty % Tubby ¢ Spandexy ^ Politics-y (p.s. if you are in the U.S. and eligible to vote please go do so before you read further) * ¢ ABSOLUTE ALL STAR SUPERMAN Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's stab at telling the greatest Superman story ever g