Before I get back in the flow of too much activity, nauseating heat and humidity, and forget to mention it, I was in Columbus over the weekend and stopped by the Wexner Center for the Arts to see the Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond exhibit. It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area.
My sister, who has no interest in comics outside of Doonesbury and Dilbert, went with me and really enjoyed it. She was particularly interested in the narrative on how Smith draws inspiration from classic cartoons like Popeye, Pogo and The Spirit, and she loved the murals that provide a backdrop. She didn’t pick up an armload of comics from the gift shop on the way out, but she certainly came away with a better understanding of sequential art.
Speaking of an armload of comics, I hadn’t seen the full-color versions of the books that Scholastic has been releasing. I still think the pages work better in black and white, but the coloring is handsome in its own way, and I like the subdued palette that was used.