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Image Comics Goes Furry -- For Once
10 years ago
General
ISLAND #6, edited by Brandon Graham and Emma Rios (Image Comics, $7.99)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0....._=cm_cr-mr-img
reviewed by Roochak
I'd never heard of ISLAND 'til now, but the latest issue of the Image Comics anthology series features a grab-the-furries wraparound cover -- a real eyecatcher on a rack full of this week's JUSTICE LEAGUE spinoffs. That cover and the thirty-page lead story, "Badge of Pride," are by popular artist Onta, of Hardblush dot com, and they show that he's no slouch at doing quietly dynamic slice-of-life stories when he's not busy drawing gay furry porn. A group of friends spend a day at the pride parade, and the story lets us eavesdrop on four young gay men and their very different modes of self-expression (and self-acceptance) in the public forum. I really enjoyed it.
Can't say the same about the rest of this issue. Gael Bertrand's "A Land Called Tarot: Le Bateleur" ("The Magician") is a beautifully drawn, wordless fantasy comic in which the reader is invited to linger over each exquisitely rendered panel while allowing his imagination to roam, filling in the details of the story that the drawings only hint at. It's a collaborative work between artist and reader, but I've never been a fan of the one-random-event-after-another school of fantasy, especially when I have to do half of the artist's job for him. It's just not my thing.
Australian artist F Choo provides some mysterious endpapers, Katie Skelly contributes a fashion ad parody, and there's an unreadable three-page whatever by Sarah Horrocks. A mixed bag, and a reminder of why I'm leery of anthology comics in general.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0....._=cm_cr-mr-img
reviewed by Roochak
I'd never heard of ISLAND 'til now, but the latest issue of the Image Comics anthology series features a grab-the-furries wraparound cover -- a real eyecatcher on a rack full of this week's JUSTICE LEAGUE spinoffs. That cover and the thirty-page lead story, "Badge of Pride," are by popular artist Onta, of Hardblush dot com, and they show that he's no slouch at doing quietly dynamic slice-of-life stories when he's not busy drawing gay furry porn. A group of friends spend a day at the pride parade, and the story lets us eavesdrop on four young gay men and their very different modes of self-expression (and self-acceptance) in the public forum. I really enjoyed it.
Can't say the same about the rest of this issue. Gael Bertrand's "A Land Called Tarot: Le Bateleur" ("The Magician") is a beautifully drawn, wordless fantasy comic in which the reader is invited to linger over each exquisitely rendered panel while allowing his imagination to roam, filling in the details of the story that the drawings only hint at. It's a collaborative work between artist and reader, but I've never been a fan of the one-random-event-after-another school of fantasy, especially when I have to do half of the artist's job for him. It's just not my thing.
Australian artist F Choo provides some mysterious endpapers, Katie Skelly contributes a fashion ad parody, and there's an unreadable three-page whatever by Sarah Horrocks. A mixed bag, and a reminder of why I'm leery of anthology comics in general.
The owner of Hardblush, Onta, was asked to do this comic by the editor of the series.
According to Onta's Twitter, anti-furry trolls are going apeshit on 4chan over this and he couldn't be happier. :-D