IN APPRECIATION OF “D’ARC TANGENT”

The first and only issue of D’Arc Tangent was published in 1983. It is one of my favorite independent comics, and I find it sad that this excellent limited-run series was never completed, or that very few comics fans have apparently heard of it.

In 2005, I submitted two non-fiction proposals to McFarland Publishing, one for The Clive Cussler Adventures: A Critical Review and another for Gutter Wars, an anthology of critical reviews of (in my opinion) some of the best independent comic books from the Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties, a period I like to call the Indy Revolution. McFarland accepted the Gutter Wars proposal before The Clive Cussler Adventures, and I got as far as writing a history of the comics industry up to the Indy Revolution and a critical review for D’Arc Tangent before unexpected circumstances made completing Gutter Wars impossible.

For fans of D’Arc Tangent #1 or for anyone who would like to discover or find out more about this wonderful comic book, I am sharing my review for the first time anywhere:

“Now I know I have a heart, ’cause it’s breaking.”

-The Tin Woodsman, The Wizard of Oz

Can a robot possess a soul?[1] And how important are the choices we make in life? These questions are at the heart of D’Arc Tangent #1, published by ffantasy ffactory in 1983.[2]

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REVIEW