Nathan Holic

Author: nholic

  • Saranac Interview Posted

    The Saranac Review, where I published a short story called “Between Panels” (alternating between traditional text and illustrated comic page), has just posted an interview with the author (me). I’ve posted the link to their site on my “Links” page, which you can access above, or right here. I say some truly remarkable and brilliant…things.…

  • Best American Comics?

    Each new year, it seems, the genre of “literary comics” (my term of choice is “graphic narratives”) grows and matures just a little bit. Thirty years ago, when the comics medium was dominated mostly by teenage/escapist fare, the most important evolution in the comics medium was the rise of “comix,” a sort of indignant response…

  • Natural Disasters, Graphic Novels, Blogs, Bio-Comics!

    “A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge” is a graphic novel that demonstrates the underlying theory that made Art Speigelman’s “Maus” so haunting, memorable, and successful. In our current culture, saturated by televised images of destruction, we sometimes need to see major tragedies and disasters in a completely stylized way in order to avoid becoming desensitized.…

  • “Housekeeping vs. The Dirt”: Reader’s Guilt

    Hornby’s introductory essay for “Housekeeping vs. The Dirt” should be required reading for anyone who experiences any conflict in his/her reading life, and for any student or teacher of English/Literature. In the academic world, we are constantly made to feel bad if we don’t read a certain amount each month, if we haven’t read certain…

  • Mixed-Media Fiction: Sink or Swim?

    “The Raw Shark Texts” is an interesting concept that never really rises above “interesting concept.” It’s a breezy read, moves very quickly and sometimes develops real suspense, and the plot is well thought-out, but it still feels superficial by the very end. Perhaps this is because the characters feel as if they could have been…

  • Chabon as the (Long) Short Story Writer

    “Werewolves in Their Youth” is a refreshing short story collection, mostly because Chabon is an author who is unafraid of telling a long story and allowing you to truly sink into the story itself. Too often, American short fiction in the past 20 years seems to place its sole emphasis on concision, almost as if…

  • “Pandorum”: The Latest in the Space Horror Genre

    “Pandorum” certainly wants to be the sort of sci-fi/ horror film that will be remembered for decades to come by a cult following of horror nerds. Even at its most gruesome, it really wants to be liked, paying careful attention to plot and style and offering strange twists to keep the viewer from ever tuning…

  • Middle-Class Guilt and “The Blind Side”

    When I first saw the trailers for “The Blind Side,” I thought it was a joke. Sandra Bullock as a rich white lady who helps an under-privileged gigantic black boy to become a successful football player? After I realized it was serious, it just seemed like it would be a blatantly offensive story. Never mind…

  • Shopaholic: The Rise of the Chick Flick

    I once read a Roger Ebert in which he made an interesting distinction between a “family movie” and a “children’s movie,” arguing that some films are great because they *do not* attempt to cater to an entire family, but instead speak solely to the children. Some family movies, he said, get so caught up in…

  • “Iron Man” as 9/11 Literature

    I originally wrote this quick review on the night that I saw “Iron Man” (way back in 2008), but I figure I’ll see the sequel soon, so we’ll see if some theories on 9/11 Literature are furthered… What’s great and interesting about “Iron Man” is that it marks a cultural turning point. We’ve snapped. For…