PRESS FOR LIVING THE LINE TITLES:
REVIEW: Her Frankenstein reviewed at Publishers Weekly (starred review). ""Kawashima’s suspenseful thriller is cinematic and beautiful, full of the indelible imagery―an eerily calm seascape, a discarded mask, a featureless face―that established him as one of the leading names in Japanese horror comics. It’s a must-read for fans of Junji Ito and Emil Ferris’s My Favorite Thing Is Monsters." "
PRESS: SMUDGE overview, interview at Publishers Weekly.
PRESS: UFO MUSHROOM INVASION discussed at ICV2.
REVIEW: Her Frankenstein reviewed at Anime News Network. "...grim and fascinating, and the extensive essay about the creator adds some excellent context and history to the book. "
REVIEW: Centralia review at The Low Countries. "an extraordinary acid adventure that ingeniously mixes the genre of the western with science fiction, all against the backdrop of global warming and civil war. But the work is also, and above all, a breathtaking graphic immersion that gives meaning to what is referred to as the ‘ninth art’. "
INTERVIEW: Brandon Graham talks comics, Moonray, pinups, porn, and more on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast.
PRESS: Her Frankenstein on Publishers Weekly Spring 2024 Manga Preview
PRESS: Anime News Network on Her Frankenstein and SMUDGE.
PRESS: Fandom Post on SMUDGE and Her Frankenstein
REVIEW: Abolition of Man reviewed by Bob Levin for The Comics Journal. "...raises head-rewiring issues capable of, if not causing one to jump naked out of windows, launching a thousand seminar discussions."
PRESS: Writing for The Comics Beat, Joel Saville discusses Her Frankenstein and the new SMUDGE manga imprint.
PRESS: Brigid Alverson writes for ICv2 on Her Frankenstein and the new SMUDGE manga imprint.
REVIEW: Obscurities in Miniature on Moonray.
PRESS: Publishers Weekly discusses Moonray. "These Graphic Novel Tie-Ins are Ready to Play".
REVIEW: Library Journal on Moonray. "[A] fascinatingly surreal, richly imagined cosmic odyssey."
REVIEW: Centralia reviewed by Greg Burgas for Atomic Junk Shop. "...a beautiful book."
ACCOLADES: PLAZA by Yokoyama Yuichi and translated by Ryan Holmberg, shortlisted for Sophie Castille Award.
INTERVIEW: Matt Battaglia discusses House on Fire with writer Bret Easton Ellis. "The first object I've come across that addresses in fiction this particular madness that spread across America and the world during the Covid 19 pandemic... House on Fire is about what we all collectively suffered during those years, condensed into one tragic horror story."
INTERVIEW: Carson Grubaugh and Sean Robinson discuss AI image generation and Abolition of Man at PreviewsWorld.
REVIEW: Branches Culture reviews CENTRALIA: "Dizzying and seductive, funny and dramatic..."
REVIEW: Axel Kielland reviews The Abolition of Man for Empirix: "JG Ballard filtered through Franz Kafka and Terry Gilliam's Brazil wrapped in what looks like pencil drawings and woodcuts generated by an uninspired Francis Bacon-spambot... a valuable addition to the comics field."
REVIEW: Joshua Young reviews House on Fire for Human Events. "...the must-read graphic novel of post-COVID America. "
INTERVIEW: Carson Grubaugh discusses Abolition of Man in the Washington Post.
REVIEW: Leonard Pierce writing for The Comics Journal reviews Erik Kriek's The Exile. "It’s easy to imagine it on a big screen, so effortless are the mechanics of its plot and story, but it never tries to be anything but a comics tale of the old school, and it is the better for it. Like so many of its characters, it faces a changing future with a steadfast determination not to let the old ways slip away."
REVIEW: Tom Batten reviews The Exile by Erik Kriek for The Library Journal. "Kriek’s luscious brushwork, attention to detail, and refusal to impose modern notions of morality or justice on his characters result in an immersive, provocative saga. "
REVIEW: The Strange Death of Alex Raymond reviewed by Andrew Rilstone. "I don't think I understand it. I certainly wouldn't presume to review it. I will, at least, attempt to describe it. "
INTERVIEW: Miel Vandepitte interviewed for PREVIEWSWorld about Centralia
INTERVIEW: Erik Kriek interviewed for PREVIEWSWorld about The Exile
REVIEWS: PLAZA reviewed for Solrad
INTERVIEW: Sean Michael Robinson interviewed by Beyond Wednesdays, discussing the Abolition of Man.
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond, reviewed by Bob Levin for The Comics Journal. " But who says you have to make sense? That stories must resolve? Strange Death is a grand book. Sit down; strap in; take the ride."
PRESS: Living the Line, Abolition of Man spotlighted in roundup of 2022's Small Press Expo (SPX)
PRESS: Forbes spotlights The Abolition of Man.
PRESS: FBC News spotlights Clarence Dass' Sala Ni Yalo: Path of the Shades
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in La Covacha. "...a unique comic. A conjunction of research, history, storytelling, art, technique and lettering taken to the limits that graphic narrative allows us. "
PRESS: Breakfast at Fiji One spotlights Clarence Dass' Sala Ni Yalo: Path of the Shades
PRESS: Tagata Pasifika spotlights Clarence Dass' Sala Ni Yalo: Path of the Shades
PRESS: Bleeding Cool: Abolition of Man First Comic Entirely Drawn by A.I.
REVIEW: Awesome Comics Podcast tackles Yokoyama Yuichi's PLAZA
ACCOLADES: Eisner Awards: Strange Death has been nominated for an Eisner Award for "Best Reality-Based Work"!
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Panels & Prose. "... deft and truly illuminating rumination on the aesthetics of comics in their historic context. "
ACCOLADES: Strange Death of Alex Raymond One of TRIPWIRE's Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2021
ACCOLADES: Strange Death of Alex Raymond One of Forbes' Best Graphic Novels of 2021
ACCOLADES: Strange Death of Alex RaymondWALDEN POND BOOK's BEST COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR ADULTS 2021
ACCOLADES: Strange Death of Alex Raymond Honorable Mention on Publishers Weekly's 2021 Graphic Novel Critic's Poll
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Forbes, reviewed by writer Rob Salkowitz. "...one of the most intense and obsessive graphic novels ever created."
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Publisher's Weekly. "...obsessively detailed, demanding, and dazzling..."
REVIEW (in Norwegian): Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Empirix. "... by far the most conspiratorial, intertextual and compulsively researched comic book release this year. "
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Comic Book Historians. "[David] Lynch could make a hell of a movie out of this."
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Kirkus Reviews. ""The finely detailed, highly stylized art [...] is beyond masterful and a true accomplishment."
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in BOOKLIST, Starred review, July 2021. "Every page is visually enthralling. This is an astonishing aesthetic artifact..."
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond Greg Burkas, writing for Atomic Junk Shop. "There’s no doubt that this is a masterpiece, a work of staggering genius by a creator who knows a thing or two about creating great comics. It’s also perhaps the most insane thing you will ever read, and I’m not sure it hasn’t driven me mad. "
REVIEW: Strange Death of Alex Raymond in Library Journal, reviewed by Jason T Steagall.
"The reader is taken on a winding road of technical prowess, ingenuity, history, and betrayal, with the death of Raymond as the binding story. "
INTERVIEW: ComicCon 2021 panel, Graphic Novels Lost And Found
VIDEO PREVIEW REVIEW Strange Death of Alex Raymond: Cartoonist Kayfabe
VIDEO PREVIEW REVIEW Strange Death of Alex Raymond: Uncanny Omar for Near Mint Condition
"What I am sure most people are going to call a masterpiece, because it rightly deserves to be. It is freaking awesome. I was blown away."
INTERVIEW: Carson Grubaugh interviewed for WESU's Pint O' Comics show
REVIEW: Steven Thompson, for Forces of Geek.
"The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is a beautifully designed volume with endlessly clever use of pages, panels, black ink, and blank space. It’s clear that before his unfortunate medical issue, Sim has mastered the very photorealistic techniques he writes about as the art is the kind one continues to stare at long after one has finished reading the page."
PRESS: Plymouth Review, September 1st 2021
PRESS: The Beat.
PRESS: John Freeman at downthetubes.
PRESS: Reviewed at The Awesome Comics Podcast.
PRESS: Milton Griepp for ICv2
Advanced quotes for Strange Death of Alex Raymond:
"Comics’ answer to Finnegans Wake, an inspired work of obsessive genius that will take a long time to untangle."
— Rob Salkowitz, Senior Contributor, FORBES
“With Strange Death of Alex Raymond, Sim and Grubaugh crafted a must-read masterpiece on the beauty and tragedy of comics.”
- Joseph Keatinge, Shutter, Ringside
“Possibly the most creative and imaginative piece of cartooning by one of the best cartoonists of all time.”
— Jimmy Gownley, author of Amelia Rules! and 7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up
“The Strange Death of Alex Raymond is one of the most spectacular comics I have ever read or seen. I can't recommend it enough, although you may hate it. Bizarre and beautiful and completely unique. “
— Jim Rugg, Cartoonist Kayfabe, Street Angel, The P.L.A.I.N. Janes
“This is a master work. I’m honoured to have even laid eyes on it.”
— E.S. Glenn, author of Unsmooth, cartoonist for The New Yorker
"A must-read for anyone interested in the history and craft of comics"
— Brandon Graham, King City, Multiple Warheads, Prophet, Rain Like Hammers
“Grubaugh provides a brilliant and fitting conclusion to what would have otherwise been one of the most notable unfinished works of recent times. I for one am excited at holding the completed Strange Death of Alex Raymond in my hands.”
— Gary Spencer Millidge, Strangehaven, Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman