I love the British Museum, and go there a lot (it’s a five minute walk from work, a fine lunchtime diversion). But it does annoy me too. They closed the Japanese gallery a couple of months back, in favour of some more offices. I was told that i[…]

The Essential Human Torch
Is this the most oxymoronic comic title ever? Was there a less essential Marvel superhero title in the so-called Silver Age of the ’60s? I often forget that the Torch even had a solo career. The odd good villain does s[…]

There is an essential dilemma when reviewing popularisations of specialist subjects. If I know enough about X to determine whether this introduction to X covers the ground throughly and accurately, without omission or distortion or misrepresentation,[…]

I’ve no idea whether Calendar Girls is a good film or not, though I’m always content to watch Julie Walters in anything. I’m reacting here without seeing the film. For those who don’t know, it’s about a true story, a cle[…]

I’d heard glowing recommendations from a couple of friends, so had to try Lorrie Moore. It’s a long time since I’ve read a novel so satisfying on every scale and level.
Her use of words is bright and playful, her sentences sharp and[…]

(an addendum to Tom’s Prisoner Of Zenda item below): there was once a daily newspaper strip called Thimble Theatre, and its creator, E.C. Segar, needed his lead character, Ham Gravy, to take a sea voyage. He introduced a rough and tough sailor,[…]

A lot of old comic fans are very keen on the intelligence and comparative realism of modern superhero comic books, but I miss the heroic stupidity of the old days. The Atom, DC’s superhero with shrinking powers, is a terrific example.
His origi[…]

The Neptunes Present… Clones
Let’s get the bad bit out of the way immediately. What is this Spymob/High Speed Scene pair of tracks in the middle of the album? Tedious rock tracks that are utterly out of keeping and not obviously linked in[…]

Guido Crepax has died. It’s hard not to have mixed feelings about the material this Italian comic creator chose. There’s often a fine line between sexual freedom and liberation for female characters, and old-fashioned exploitative porn, a[…]

Hokusai in Two Art Contests
(a footnote to my comments about Hokusai below) Art was often treated as a competitive spectator sport in Japan two hundred years ago. Hokusai often took an astoundingly original approach.
In one he commandeered an open sp[…]