Comics Alternative

This week the Two Guys with PhDs Talking about Comics discuss three very different titles. They begin with Joshua W. Cotter's Nod Away (Fantagraphics), an ambitious sci-fi narrative that explores the impact, and the costs, of technological progress. At least that's what the guys think the book might be about. As both Andy W. and Derek point out, one of the distinguishing features of this book is its ambiguous or equivocal nature. There are many moving parts to this story -- hive communication, inter-dimensional wormholes, suspended animation, unexplained quests -- and the guys aren't entirely certain how all of the pieces fit together. But that's OK. Part of the beauty of Nod Away is that it paints a narrative picture best observed from a broader context, while at the same time the fine detail of Cotter's art compels us to investigate its many intricacies. The guys also speculate as to the significance of the title, another meaningfully uncertain facet of this book. Next, they look at Austin English's Gulag C