Oliver Ho

About Oliver Ho

Oliver lives in Toronto. He has published several books for children, and worked as the senior front page editor at Yahoo Canada and MSN Canada. Currently, he works as an editor at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. His website is http://www.OliverHo.ca.

Features

Masters of Horror Manga: Kazuo Umezu and Hideshi Hino

By Oliver Ho

Perhaps more so than any other artists, Kazuo Umezu and Hideshi Hino defined the genre of horror comics in Japan, an influence that extends to the West, and also to the world of J-horror films. [20 November 2009]

American Liars and the Enforcers of Honesty

By Oliver Ho

A hard-boiled history of the lie detector revels in the seedy deceptions at the roots of the search for a truth-telling machine (plus: it exposes the kinky origins of Wonder Woman). [2 October 2009]

Dylan Dog vs. Hellboy: A Study of Pulp and Pop Pastiche

By Oliver Ho

Horror stories and Mignola's cultural project with Hellboy, at home and abroad. If Hellboy is the all-American, indestructible demon with the Right Hand of Doom, then Dylan Dog is his handsome, eccentric, phobic (and horny) European cousin, with a penchant for the clarinet. [26 August 2009]

Manga and Minimalism: The Shared Visions of Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Raymond Carver

By Oliver Ho

One is an acknowledged master of the modern short story, and the other is an influential figure in the world of alternative Japanese comics. [4 August 2009]

‘Japanese Goth’: A Manifesto for the Beautiful Macabre

By Oliver Ho

This book seeks to place Japan's fashion subculture known as "Gothic Lolita" on a continuum of fine art, fashion and literature. [22 April 2009]

Reviews

Celebrating Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

By Oliver Ho

Although the comics were primarily about entertaining children with joy and comedy, Schulz didn't shy away from more complex interpretations, even wondering if his strip was "cruel". [23 November 2009]

Ultraviolet: 69 Blacklight Posters From the Aquarian Age and Beyond by Dan Donahue

By Oliver Ho

Ultraviolet is a unique, informative and thought-provoking experience. And if I stare at these pages long enough, maybe they'll start to move. [30 October 2009]

Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater by Eric P. Nash

By Oliver Ho

Nash offers a study of kamishibai's influence on modern manga, and how Japanese comics differ from American ones (as well as answering a common question: "What's with the wide eyes?"). [21 October 2009]

George Sprott: 1894-1971, A Picture Novella by the Cartoonist Seth

By Oliver Ho

An almost overwhelmingly beautiful book-as-art-object, George Sprott also tells an intriguing story with an intense and pervasive mix of melancholy, nostalgia, introspection and gags. [17 September 2009]

In Pursuit of Elegance by Matthew E. May

By Oliver Ho

Imagine a poetic little book that synthesizes ideas about the ineffability and mystery at the heart of the concept of elegance. [15 September 2009]

Believer, Beware, ed. by Jeff Sharlet and Peter Manseau

By Oliver Ho

How does a person live with the concepts of religious belief or non-belief without falling prey to fundamentalism or intolerance, or simply feeling foolish? [9 September 2009]

Blogs

Mixed Media: Analog Singing Skull: Cassette Tape Skeletons [20 November 2009]

Graphically Speaking: Masters of Horror Manga: Kazuo Umezu and Hideshi Hino [18 November 2009]

Graphically Speaking: From Gekiga to Good Raymond [2 August 2009]