interviews, online

Talking with Charles Schneeflock Snow on SORDID CITY BLUES

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Since 2003, Charles Schneeflock Snow has been writing and drawing Sordid City Blues, which chronicles the lives of young urban adults faced with difficult questions of relationships and faith. Sacred and Sequential met with Mr. Snow in a comfortable corner of the Internet to discuss his work and his recent resumption of the series after a five-year hiatus.

Sacred and Sequential:  Thanks for talking with us, Charles. Let’s start with the most straightforward question: What motivated you to write Sordid City Blues?

Charles Schneeflock Snow: It’s an obsession. I worry about sex and religion a lot (both by themselves and in combination). Drawing comics is the main way I cope with things that worry me, so here we are.

S&S: What kind of response to your work do you get (or expect to get) from readers who identify as Christians? How might this response be said to differ from that of other audiences

Snow: Well, I know some Christians who like the comic, and identify with the characters’ lives. Which doesn’t differ too much from the response of more secular readers, honestly. But SCB doesn’t have much penetration into Christian culture – there’s a long list of doctrinal and moral prerequisites you need for that that I could never live up to.

Which is fine. I’d never want SCB to be a “Christian” comic. Christian is a fine noun, but a terrible adjective.

From SORDID CITY BLUES Continue reading Talking with Charles Schneeflock Snow on SORDID CITY BLUES →

from the Internet, reviews

COMICS WORTH READING on “The Tithe” #1

The Tithe #1 coverJohanna Draper Carlson, the long-time driving force behind Comics Worth Reading, recently issued her review of The Tithe #1 from Image Comics, and it was too fitting not to reprint here (with her permission):

The Tithe is a heist story set in a megachurch carried out by a bunch of hackers.

I have no idea what’s going to happen next, and that’s a good thing when it comes to adventure comics these days. Launching the book with a quote by Jim Bakker while pointing out his time in jail sets a certain mood as well.

Matt Hawkins writes and Rahsan Ekedal draws the tale. A heavily armed crew wearing Jesus masks breaks into the cash room of a church that’s raking in the dough. Meanwhile, the many screens surrounding the gesticulating preacher are hacked by “Samaritan” to show what the leader is really up to with all that money.

Two FBI agents, a church-going family man and a reformed hacker, are sent to find out who’s behind the theft, but along the way, they wonder why the pastor is lying about how much money was taken. This is one in a series of thefts, and all the churches hit turn out to be committing fraud, which makes the agents less than sympathetic to the case they’re investigating.

Religion is an important motivator for a lot of people, but most comics stay away from it. I’m intrigued to see a book with a distinct point of view (against greed and hypocrisy) that’s taking a more nuanced approach.

The dialogue tilts a bit too much toward the expository, with characters telling each other their histories and motivations, but the art is solid without being as exaggerated as one fears from a Top Cow title. The text pages tell Hawkins’ history as a former Christian, which helps put the material in perspective, as well as showing character sketches for the two agents. (The publisher provided a digital review copy.)

Image’s page for The Tithe calls the FBI agents’ quarry  a “modern day Robin Hood,” but the religious overtones (and imagery) seem too strong to overlook. (Or, alternatively, it may make one rethink the religious themes of the Robin Hood myth itself.)

Issue #2 debuts May 20, 2015.

contributors, levity, reviews

Review of HOLY F*CK #4: “…I Still Want to Read It”

HOLY F*CK #3 coverToday  marks the release of the fourth and final part of Nick Marino and Daniel Arruda Massa’s Holy F*ck. The issue brings a high-action conclusion to Jesus, Satan, and the nun Maria’s struggle against Zeus, Isis, and the multi-pantheonic corporation Polydynamis’ attempt to plunge the world into nuclear chaos and feast off the belief they hope this will inspire.

There are three narrative threads running throughout Holy F*ck #4: Jesus’ attempt to stop Polydynamis’ missiles; Satan and Maria’s fighting their way through the diving company board; and Zeus’ attempt to keep his coalition together in the face of this final thrust. This choice of words is not haphazard; without spoiling what seems to be the major gag of the issue, the way Jesus handles the missiles cannot be described in any other way. (Ok, maybe a little spoiler: as a colleague put it, “their title is truth in advertising!”) Meanwhile, his companions blast their way through a small horde of nameless god-grunts before arriving in front of Zeus to effect the series’ final, and somewhat anti-climactic resolution. The whole thing is over too quick, rushing through developments so as to give more room to milk a couple of jokes.

I have reviewed the three previous issues for Sacred and Sequential, and consistently found Holy F*ck to be missing that certain something that would bring me to feel that I’ve really enjoyed it as a whole. The artwork has been consistent and the writing has delivered several independently funny gags that have not fully meshed with each other, making the final product seem directionless, almost scattershot. Still, every issue has managed to keep me wanting to see what happened next. Sadly, I feel that where the series ultimately ends up, with a nod to corny sit-com endings, just isn’t all that satisfying.

Continue reading Review of HOLY F*CK #4: “…I Still Want to Read It” →

academic, articles and essays, contributors, reviews

What Makes A Scholar’s Pull-List? Part 1

Those who study comics are often avid consumers of the medium. How do I select comics for myself? I cannot read or afford everything. Nor is every comic equal in my eyes as an object of study. What does my list say about me? Or about comics today?

This post and my next outline my pull-list as an extension of my scholarly interests. These items suit my eclectic tastes, but they also identify several trends in recent publishing themes (especially from Image). I could say that the Gods Have Returned, but that seems overly simple. As A. David Lewis’ recently released American Comics, Literary Theory and Religion makes the case for the centrality of the superhero afterlife, I think there’s a broader case to be made for the emergence of religious themes as the narrative choice of the day. The gods have returned, yes, but we’re also going to hell (Hellboy in Hell), heaven/hell (The Life After), and bringing all of the spirits along for the ride (Wytches, Wayward, and Hexed). It’s a veritable Great Awakening out there, readers.

Here’s what my physical list looks like. It is surely missing at least another half-dozen titles I’m currently vetting for their pull-worthiness. This is from my local comic shop in Irvine, California:

DMcConeghy's Pull List as of 3/25
DMcConeghy’s Pull List as of 3/25

As you can tell, my love for Image’s title selection is literally overflowing. I shun the conventional superhero titles from DC and Marvel. (I read the latest Thor but I have recently dropped Ms. Marvel when it became apparent that her religious identity was becoming more gimmick than substance and when Marvel decided her character would be crossing over into multiple other titles.) For clarity this makes my list:

  1. Low
  2. East of West
  3. The Wicked + The Divine
  4. Manifest Destiny
  5. Supreme Blue Rose
  6. They’re Not Like Us
  7. Rasputin
  8. Wayward
  9. Chrononauts
  10. Nameless
  11. Hellboy: 1952
  12. Outcast
  13. Wytches
  14. Ody-C
  15. Hexed
  16. The Devilers
  17. The Life After

See if you can imagine what drives this diverse collection. Continue reading What Makes A Scholar’s Pull-List? Part 1 →

academic, events

VCU’s Library Exhibit: Comics & “Religious Imagination in Popular Culture”

Virginia Commonwealth University is featuring a new gallery exhibition entitled, “Gods and Prophets, Sages and Saints: Religious Imagination in Popular Culture.” Their James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections feature a variety of comics works that,

while the temptation is to assume that religious expression in popular media must be kitsch–or at least bad art–and probably bad theology, a closer look reveals a more complex reality. While many examples of those stereotypes exist, there are also examples of deep spirituality and fine storytelling resulting in works of great power and beauty.

No reviews of the exhibit have been made known yet to Sacred and Sequential, however:

@ the intersection of religion and comics: Graphic Religion