SUPERMAG

by Jim Rugg

SUPERMAG is Jim Rugg's latest print project… a magazine-sized collection of comics and art. It showcases his interests in genre work, irreverent humor, graphic design, drawing, and typography. SUPERMAG features new work as well as collecting the best of his recent anthology contributions. Jim Rugg's past work includes Notebook 2010-2011, Afrodisiac, Street Angel, the PLAIN Janes, and Rambo 3.5.

Genres: Comics

56 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2013

About the author

Jim Rugg is an Eisner and Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist based in Pittsburgh. His books include STREET ANGEL, The PLAIN Janes, The Guild, Afrodisiac, and Notebook Drawings. Awards and recognition from the Society of Illustrators, AIGA, Communication Arts, Print magazine, American Illustration, SPX, and Creative Quarterly adorn his mantle.

His studio is pencils, paper, ballpoint pens, ink, Photoshop, cats, and comics.

Reviews

[Tucker Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s difficult to point towards anyone who has fully delivered more on the anthology front than Jim Rugg. A 56-page, full-color collection of art ranging from comics, concept art, and cover illustrations to movie posters, concluding with a full-page index documenting a range of interests that, by rights, should make any cartoonist’s bullfrog green, Rugg’s Adhouse-published Supermag is a ferociously satisfying art object that manages to entertain far more than the first seventeen things that pop into my head when I think of the words “art object.” For someone unfamiliar with Rugg, it seems quite possible that there’d be a momentary stutter of disbelief when informed that what one is seeing is the work of one man, so complete is his ability to replicate and fuse the styles of others with that of is own. A personal favorite would have to be one of the pages easy for the Journal‘s readership to ignore, that being the page where Rugg draws a bevy of female super-heroes backing up his Afrodisiac character on a South Central rooftop in 1992. Someone who didn’t burn off those years plowing through Marvel Comics might fail to realize that what looks at first like a Lee/Liefeld pastiche is something even more delectable, even nerdier: it’s a homage to all those second-rate scrubs who spent the late-’90s aping that style, lest they choose instead to earn their rent in a different, non-comics, profession. Poking fun at Lee & Liefeld is easy–but picking on Whilce Portacio and Steve Skroce is evidence of ice-watered veins

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A showcase of one of the comics medium's great chameleon artists - Jim Rugg. Not shy about his diverse set of influences, Rugg mirrors the design and aesthetic of numerous comics legends like Charles Burns and Daniel Clowes, classic comic strips, EC comics, and way more. Supermag is basically a love letter to the medium, presented in a handsome package to showcase Rugg's love of design as well. It's not really filled with any interesting to read comics, but the great artwork and design is sufficient for lovers of the medium to appreciate.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

I dug this one. Rugg does a one man anthology. It's a mixed bag, I question if some of these pages are actually finished projects. That said, there's so much in here and at such variety it works. When you're reading something and wondering if Charles Burns submitted a story, it makes for one hell of a showcase. I really enjoyed this and being published in a large format makes it really pop.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a showcase of Jim Rugg's amazing ability to draw in virtually any style. That in and of itself is worth viewing. But because of that, there's very little to the stories themselves, which makes me wish we'd seen a few less genres and a few longer plots.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

No real stories per se, just a showcase of what Jim Rugg can do. And his talent is very well displayed here. Here's to hoping that he releases another graphic novel some time soon.