aaron and ahmed Archives - Graphic Policy

Bleeding Cool – DC Roadshow Hits Dallas – Million Dollar Ad Spend, Justice League Beyond And Black People – Some interesting nuggets from this, I’m still not sure DC “gets it” when it comes to building the community.

SouthWard Patch – Meet Newark’s Own Batman – Cory Booker has the title of “Superman” taken already. And for those that doubt me, follow his Twitter feed.

Truthout – Introducing Ladydrawers – Great to see this on a pretty high profile site.

Around the Tubes Reviews:

CBR – Aaron & Ahmed

Review – Aaron and Ahmed: A Love Story

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Brett

Vertigo has taken up the reigns of a major publisher putting out some pretty ballsy pieces of work lately. Aaron and Ahmed is a complicated piece of work and though it’s been over a week since I finished reading it, I’m still struggling to fully grasp it. The title of the graphic novel calls it “A Love Story” and boy is it a messed up one, full of abuse (mostly in the psychological sense). “What causes terrorism?” the graphic novel asks, but much the answer to the question, the graphic novel is deep and opens up more questions.

The tale is a metaphor of love following a member of the army who has a twisted relationship with a member of Al Qaeda in Guantanamo. While at first glimpse the story focuses on the question of what makes a suicide bomber commit that act, the bigger question is why do we do anything we do? Most importantly why do we fall in love?

Written by Jay Cantor with art by James Romberger, I struggle with the story. On the surface it creates a cop-out answer as to why people murder in the name of God and terror, but deeper down it very well may nail why we act on love and feelings. They rather risque surface story is a cover and has so many depths much like the subject matter itself.

The tail touches on 9/11, the war on terror, terrorism, torture and love. It’s an in depth and complicated tail and one weeks after reading I’m still thinking about and wishing I had someone to discuss it with.

Around the Tubes

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Brett

The week has actually been pretty quiet so far. It’s almost like the quiet before the storm that is summer major events and conventions. Here’s the news you might have missed over the last 24 hours.

Around the Blogs:

Bleeding Cool – Redundancies At Dark Horse Comics – Always sad to see staff layoffs.

Comicvine – Behold These Pics of the Batman Live Theater Show – Did Joel Schumacher design these costumes?

Comic Book Resources – Sales Estimates for March, 2011 – CBR takes on March sales.

The Beat – DC Month-to-Month Sales: February 2011 – DC doesn’t do well in numbers but takes a lot of the top spots.

The Beat – March sales: Comics blah, GNs more blah – The Beat has their take on sales.

Con Coverage:

Comic Book Resources – CBR’s Con Wrap: Kapow! Or Splat?

Comic Book Resources – WC11: The Stars of “Human Target”

Comic Book Resources – When Words Collide: MoCCA 2011

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund – CBLDF Has a Wonderful Time at WonderCon 2011

The Beat – MoCCA 2011: The Photo parade

Around the Tubes Reviews:

Blogcritics – Aaron & Ahmed

Geekweek – Aaron & Ahmed

Geeks of Doom – Moon Lake Volume 1

Primary Ignition – Nemesis

Where’s the Right’s Outrage?

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Brett

The first issue of Fear Itself featured a protest at what we can presume is Ground Zero. DC/Vertigo has released Aaron and Ahmed which looks at the causes of terrorism. The right has been completely silent (at least we can’t find anything).

Maybe they’re too distracted by the budget and beating up on the President to rage? Maybe the rage is faux like their news?

Pick of the Week – Aaron and Ahmed

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Brett

I first saw an ad for Aaron and Ahmed in the back of a DC Vertigo title and immediately wanted to read it. The graphic novel takes a look at the cause of terrorism. I’m sure the graphic novel will ruffle some feathers all around, and that’s exactly what literature needs to do, make you think and question. This is an absolute read.

Aaron and Ahmed – See above.
Ultimate Comics Captain America #4 – This series has been amazing as we meet the Captain America of Vietnam and are asked to question what we know.
Fear Itself #1 – It’s Marvel’s major event. The prelude didn’t overall impress me, but here’s hoping the series itself is solid.
Chew #18 – One of the best comic series on the market. Fun, funny and beyond entertaining.
Image debuts – Nonplayer #1, Green Wake #1 Blue Estate #1 and a few other quality releases of already debuted series makes a solid week for Image Comics.