Uncategorized

With everything going on at the moment many of us are finding comfort in the smaller things. To help you discover new ways to relax and find solace, we asked 18 comics creators to tell us about the cosy and comforting comics and books that they turn to when times get tough! From manga monsters to spooky cult hits, sprawling sci-fi to golden age comedy, comic strip classics all the way through Big Two stalwarts this curated collection has it all!

Jen Bartel

Jen Bartel

It was only released just last year, but Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau is one of my top recommendations for a lovely comfort read. It’s a young love story about protagonists Ari and Hector, set against the backdrop of Ari’s family-owned bakery in a small coastal town. I’ve also really been enjoying reading Demon Slayer on the Shounen Jump app—the main character, Tanjiro, is extremely empathetic and shows a great deal of care for everyone around him—which is an example that I think all of us can try to follow right now.

Vita Ayala

Dark Horse

This is going to sound strange, but my comfort book is Hellboy. Part of it is that I love a good supernatural story or fairy tale, but mostly it’s because of Hellboy himself. He’s a man that should, by all accounts, be despicable and destructive, but he wants nothing more than to do good and be good, and dedicates his life to helping people (and saving the world). Something about his steadfast refusal to give into the darkness like everyone expects of him is really uplifting. Also, he punches Nazis. Gives me the warm fuzzies.

Danny Lore

DC Comics

Planetary: This love letter to a million different genres of pulp and comics is a must re-read for me in dark times. It is a story about all the wonder and weirdness that humanity is capable of, while never ignoring the horrors we’ve inflicted. I come back to this book to remember that we’re responsible for our own stories, for our own paths, both fictionally and in the real world. It inspires me.

Mariko Tamaki

DC Comics

Mine is Dear Justice League by Micheal Northrop and Gustavo Duarte. Because it’s really sweet and funny and you can read it with your kids.

Nicola Scott

DC Comics

One of my favorite series of the last…long while…is Madam Xanadu by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder. The centuries spanning story is a delightful coming of age, and magical awareness, adventure with the most sublime art and colors. Thoroughly charming.

Sina Grace

First Second Comics

My pick for a fave cozy comic is Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau! The story follows Ari, whose family owns a small-but-beloved bakery in a town that is too quiet for his lofty ambitions. Just as Ari begins to feel the walls closing in around him, we meet Hector- a guy in town looking to take on a job at the bakery. What happens is a truly lovely story about self-discovery, budding romance and baked goods!

Readers of all ages should grab a box of pastries (or some bread n butter), sit back with some tea or coffee, and revel in the visual poetry that is Bloom. The artwork in this book is just so sweeping and gorgeous that you can’t help but get caught up in this coming-of-age story about two lost boys who find a lot when they spend some time baking together in the kitchen. Seriously, I keep this one around as a reminder of why I love comic books.”

Sam Humphries

Viz Media

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is:
1. The only long-form manga work of beloved anime legend Hayao Miyazaki available in English.
2. One of the greatest comics I’ve ever read.
3. A portal to escape somewhere new — a beautiful, sweeping, imaginative fantasy realm.
4. About a young girl making a difference in a world where humanity struggles to survive.
5. A story about hope in uncertain times.

Annie Nocenti

Fantagraphics

Well, perhaps in the British sense of a “cozy” I’m comforted by comics with an edge of unease. And I love humane monsters, so I would say that reading Emil Ferris’s My Favorite Thing is Monsters is my idea of solace, in that if you feel like an outsider in any way, her graphic novel can flip the switch on that, embrace and transport you into feeling good about yourself…

Kelly Sue DeConnick

DC Comics, art by JH Williams III

Half of us are gonna recommend Sandman. The other half are wrong.

Steve Orlando

DC Comics

For me, this book has to be Flex Mentallo, one of my favorite books ever, and rejuvenating to me both creatively and emotionally. This is a book about the wonder of youth overcoming the fatalism of adolescence and the rationalism of adulthood. Flex, to me, is the ultimate hero to combat the letdown of hard times—he’s absurd, he’s aggressively positive, and he believes in us all. When all the superheroes go home, or give up, Flex is there. And sometimes you need a big, dumb, kind man in a tiger speedo to help you back on your feet.

Kaare Andrews

DC Comics

Sugar And Spike: Written and drawn by Sheldon Mayer in the 50’s—and lasted 15 years! I picked up the Archive Editions hardcover on Ebay and my kids immediately stole it from me and, not only devoured it, they loved it. Two babies who can’t understand grown-up talk and grown-ups who can’t understand baby talk. A little Dennis The Menace… a little Calvin and Hobbes. And a reminder that a book can survive 60 years of wars, political unrest, pretty much whatever humanity can throw at ourselves and still be fun and relevant today. A little giggle for the days ahead.

Marc Andreyko

HarperCollins

In this scary and isolating time, one way to feel cozy and amongst friends is reading one of my very favorite comics: Scott McCloud’s ZOT! Exciting, clever, smart, and overflowing with love and friendship, ZOT! is a near-perfect read. And it’s collected in a great TPB (w/ commentary)! Hopeful, inspiring, and never what you expect, ZOT! is a classic waiting to be rediscovered. You’ll thank me, I promise:) stay safe and be kind to one another!

Amanda Deibert

Flying Eye Books

I’m going to answer this as a mom and suggest Hilda—the children’s graphic novel series written and illustrated by Luke Pearson. I find the art and imagery soothing as does my daughter and it’s all about a young girl who grapples with a world that is partly based in reality and part Scandinavian folklore and folk tales. Dealing with the unknown, the fantastic and the sometimes scary in beautiful, whimsical ways really feels appropriate right now. It’s comforting for me and for my 5-year-old and as we’re together 24/7 right now. That’s a win.

Liam Sharp

Humanoids

My comfort reads—and I have to pick three—are mostly nostalgic. The first would be Don Lawrence’s visionary ‘The Trigan Empire‘, just recently collected again in a beautiful edition from Fleetway. It blew my mind when I was 8 or 9, and still does to this day. The second is Moebius’s ‘Arzach‘. Wonderful dreamscapes, enigmatic and beautiful freeform art, and a couple of bad jokes. Seminal, and just right to read by the fireside before bed. Lastly John Byrne, Terry Austin and Chris Claremont’s ‘Starlord‘. A perfect one-shot from the late 70’s that gave us a glimpse of the future greatness of these industry titans. Enjoy!

Jon Davis-Hunt

Scholastic, Jeff Smith

Bone – The complete Edition. The perfect mix of comedy, drama and epic fantasy, wrapped up in some of the most inventive black & white artwork out there. Incredible world building too. And actually laugh out loud funny. Black Sad. Dark Horse reprinted this incredible French comic series in English, with Vol 1 providing the first 3 albums. A gripping film noir detective story, set in a world of talking animals that is one part Sin City, two parts classic-era Disney. Features the type of stunning artwork that just makes you stop and study every panel. Amazing. All Star Superman. Probably the comic I have read the most, apart from Akira. Brilliantly inventive, fun, poignant. An absolute tour-de-force of storytelling from Frank Quietly. A book you can return to again and again.”

Dan Parent

Fantagraphics

My fave cozy comics vary, but start with old Harvey comics from my childhood. I still have a large collection I like to go through. And then I will sit and reread the best comic of my adulthood, the collection of New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke! I also want to reread my Love and Rockets collection by the amazing Hernandez Bros. And the best way to escape for me is to get lost in old MAD magazines, which are the best pop culture time capsules out there!

Stephen Mooney

Bill Waterson

Since I was a kid, the book I turn to for comfort reading has always been Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes. There’s so much warmth and knowing, wry humor in those strips, which, combined with the truly outstanding, lush artwork, transport me back to sunny afternoons in my back garden as a little boy. Nothing but happy memories and unadulterated joy in those pages, for me. Highest possible recommendation!

And if you want a classic novel to pick up, Mike Carey suggested this iconic series:

Scholastic

I’d recommend the Borrowers novels by Mary Norton. There are four (ignore the fifth, written two decades later). They follow the adventures of the Clock family, Pod, Homily and their daughter Arrietty. The Clocks are tiny humanoids living in the skirting boards of a country house like mice. They’re evicted from their home after Arrietty lets herself be seen by a human boy, and travel across a beautifully evoked rural England in search of a new place to live. Trust me. These bite-sized, addictive books will make you homesick for a world you never knew.

Header Image: First Second, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics

The post Comic Book Creators Recommend Their Fave Cozy Comics appeared first on Nerdist.

In the fight against the spread of the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, has been providing the public with straight-forward updates on the deadly virus. Due to conflicting statements about COVID-19 by the president of the United States, which critics say are misleading, Dr. Fauci has countered some of President Donald Trump’s points and it has been frustrating the president, according to The New York Times.

President Trump understands that the general public and the media know that Dr. Fauci is deemed credible with the information he tells everyone. With that being the case, Trump has given him more leeway to contradict him than he has with any other officials in his camp. But the president doesn’t want the public to feel the threat is as serious as some public health experts have been saying.

In an interview recently published by Science Magazine, Dr. Fauci responds to questions about ‘surviving’ Trump’s contradictions at White House press conferences in response to the coronavirus outbreak. “Well, that’s pretty interesting because to [Trump’s] credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say.”

Some reporters have questioned if the White House is encouraging people to practice “social distancing”, why is the stage at the press conferences showing the opposite? Dr. Fauci responds, “The situation on stage [for the press briefings] is a bit more problematic. I keep saying, “Is there any way we can get a virtual press conference?” Thus far, no. But when you’re dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times, and then it happens. So, I’m going to keep pushing.”

For the past two days, Dr. Fauci has been absent from the press conferences and the public has taken notice. When Monday’s news conference began, Twitter started trending with the #WhereIsFauci hashtag, and reporters started questioning his absence.

According to USA Today, Trump said Fauci was at a task force meeting during the press briefing. “He’s a good man. I like Dr. Fauci,” Trump said. “He’s not here because we weren’t discussing” issues that he is best at addressing, the president said.

Source: Barancsi Dóra / EyeEm / Getty

A Texas family showed how you can still celebrate important milestone birthdays even if it falls during “The Great Quarantine of 2020.”

Brittney Bush-Rudd, a resident of Mansfield, a suburb outside of Dallas,Texas, tweeted a photo of her daughter Jacey “Cece” Rudd having the time of her life during her recent fifth birthday on March 19.

“It’s her birthday! And we are making it the best we can by staying positive, hopeful and happy!” Bush-Rudd wrote. “We’re practicing #socialdistancing but all other imaginary friends are here to turn up!!!”

Jacey can be seen surrounded by her pink party decor with a huge smile on her face as she holds a can of lysol.

Her originally party consisted of a bowling and arcade outing, made complete with a weekend trip to Legoland and a few Barbie doll purchases. Bush-Rudd told the New York Post that she was forced to call off the celebration with Jacey’s friends due to the fact that across the globe families are self-quarantining because of the coronavirus.

Bush-Rudd shared the decision to cancel was hard for a variety of reasons.

“This year has been very big for her because she has a speech disability. She has made a lot more sounds in school and is learning to speak better,” she said. “We’re just so happy that she enjoys school and has a lot of friends there.”

But although the party would be small, she decided to go forth with celebrating her baby girl. Jacey’s guest list included her imaginary friend “Wendy,” which is also the name of one of her friends at school.

“She and the imaginary Wendy watch ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ before going on the bus to school to see the real Wendy,” Bush-Rudd said. “But I think the invisible Wendy is named after the show because she tries saying her ‘How you doing’ catchphrase.”

In the VIP section along with Jacey and Wendy, was her mom and older sister Jillian. The group enjoyed a Sara Lee cake from the grocery store, and Jacey’s grandmother cooked chicken. The experience made Bush-Harris appreciative of the moment.

“It really made our whole family realize that life is about the small stuff,” Bush-Rudd continued. “Everything we did wasn’t much, but she liked it anyway. A kid is thanking you for Lysol and a doll!”

Clean beauty lover Brooke DeVard is a true ingredients junkie. So much so, she even makes many of her own products at home. The host of the award-nominated Naked Beauty podcast stopped by The Color Files to talk all things skincare, makeup, hair, and hacks. She let us in on a few of her favorite products, and even shared how her hair has become a bit of a joint venture between her and her dear husband.

“My husband is so funny. He has such strong opinions about my hair to the point where it kind of annoys me,” she told ESSENCE. “He loves my natural hair. When I’m wearing my hair out in a big Afro, he’s like, ‘This is how I love your hair. I wish you could be like this every day.’ And I’m like, ‘I love it too. I’m not doing protective styles because I don’t love my hair. It’s just a lot of work.’ I think when he met me, I was wearing a curly ‘fro hawk. On Valentine’s day he’ll request it.”

Many of us would give anything for that level of attention and appreciation for our beauty routines. That’s real couple goals. But when she’s not collaborating on styling with her hubby, DeVard is figuring out ways to hack her hair to its best form. As an expert in trial and error DIY beauty, she’s figured out some interesting ways to take her products to the next level.

“Before it even goes into my shower, for every single conditioner I own I open the bottle and I add some of my own oils at home,” she said. “I’ll add castor oil or avocado oil into the conditioner bottle because I just want that extra moisture and slip. So that’s a good beauty hack.”

Noted. And DeVard goes hard for customizing when it comes to her skincare too.

Navy Liner + Pink Gloss . Hair // old #washandgo I >A post shared by Naked Beauty Planet (@nakedbeautyplanet) on Jan 13, 2019 at 7:51am PST

“If you’re making eggs for yourself, you know exactly how you want them cooked. When you start to make, let’s take body scrub for example, you can be like, ‘I want to add more avocado oil because I like when I rinse it off how it feels on my skin. Or I want to add more tangerine essential oil because I want that fresh citrusy scent.’ You know, everyone has their own things that they like. And when you learn how to make your own products, you can get into making your dream product,” she added.

But don’t expect her to take on launching a brand anytime soon. Her career at Instagram and her popular podcast keep her busy enough. She is, however, still chock full of ideas for anyone who thinks they can execute them.

“I love a good beat. But I also love clean beauty and I love clean ingredients. I think the person who figures out how to make a really great cosmetic that has the right pigments and shows up on our [melanin-rich] skin, but it’s clean is going to make a killing,” she finished. “For now, I’m just trying to focus on doing my main job and doing the podcast.”

To find out more about DeVard’s beauty routines, favorite products and personal beauty story check out the latest episode of The Color Files.

The post Naked Beauty Host Brooke DeVard Has A Great Hack For Your Hair appeared first on Essence.