"An ace-looking book..."
- Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, American Gods, Coraline)
"John Rovnak's Panel to Panel book is truly a wonderful collection of insightful interviews and thoughtful conversations, conducted with a completely original style and refreshing point of view--well worth its weight in historical depth and value."
- Kevin Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Heavy Metal Magazine)
"A cornucopia of fascinating articles, interviews and strips that span the spectrum of the American comics industry, from the extraordinary inner worlds of storytelling giants such as Alan Moore and Dave Sim, through the writing of Jack Kirby and the art of such luminaries as David Mack, Rick Veitch, Jaime Hernandez and Jim Woodring, to topics as diverse as Archie Comics and Robert Crumb and indy stars like James Sturm and James Kochalka, in Panel to Panel, John Rovnak has produced an eclectic, intelligent, informative and thought-provoking book that is truly passionate about our medium."
- Bryan Talbot (Tale of One Bad Rat, Luther Arkwright, Grandville)
"Panel to Panel posed too imposing a brick to digest. But I poked into favorite creators: Moore, Woodring, Sakai and Hernandez. The insights forced further reading. Got a vicarious thrill seeing poetry and comics flirting and making out. Thought I knew Mark Bode well, but learned even more. I'm STILL reading it and will till no PANELS remain!"
- Denis Kitchen (Kitchen Sink Press)
"A wonderful collections of essays, interviews and art that provides an invaluable, eclectic view of the many facets of the comics medium."
- Christopher Golden (Baltimore: The Plague Ships)
“If we can’t get more John Rovnaks in this world, let’s all support the John Rovnak we’ve got…”
- Stephen R. Bissette (Tyrant, Saga of the Swamp Thing, Taboo)
"I think Panel To Panel is a sensational venture. One that I'm eager to lend my name and hand to!"
- Gene Colan (Tomb of Dracula, Iron Man, Daredevil, Howard the Duck)
“Panel to Panel looks totally Wahoolazuma to me. Thumbs up!”
- Larry Marder (Tales of the Beanworld)
"VERY interesting, informative, eye-opening book. So good that my ego wishes that I was in it."
- Michael Allred (Madman, X-Statix, Marvel NOW’s FF)
"It was a real charge to read this first issue - I think its amazingly interesting and well put together."
- Paul Jenkins (Wolverine: Origin, Hellblazer, The Sentry)
"It's totally fantastic and unique as Hell. Pretty high-and-lowbrow book with no wishy washy middle! Can't wait to get it in my hands!"
- Mort Todd (VEX, comicfix.com)
“Panel to Panel brings back the glory days of people writing about comics seriously, but still celebrating it with wide eyed wonder.”
- G. Michael Dobbs (Escape! How Animation Broke into the Mainstream in the 1990s)
“Panel to Panel is an unusual beast...it is both eclectic and relevant for most of today's audience. It is a great mosaic of how good and how interesting comics can be”
- Gary Reed (Caliber Comics)
Maybe the French government just didn’t know how to properly translate Zbok, Rrrrrrr, and Wam, although Tsk Tsk seems to translate well.
Seriously, though, it’s amazing that they were so consistent in deeming the actual artwork as objectionable.
Is this censorship continuing?
Dear Jon
Fortunately this censorship is no longer butchering the french edition of US comics. As far as i remember it completly ceased around the early 2000′s- In the post world war II era Gaulist, communist & catholics for different reasons judged the US entertainment industry as a tool for “cultural imperialism” (sic). The communist party & the catholic church were powerfull till the mid 80′s where they went more marginal. Strangely enough this “butchering” of US comics forced me to read the “real thing” and therefore improve my knowledge of the english language!! I still don’t like translations of US comics nowadays ,sometimes i just read old french edition for nostalgic & comedy value !!
Much like Jean-Luc, I remember reading the French translations of Marvel Comics published first by Lug and Artima, then by Semic, and sought the originals, thus also improving my knowledge of English. But what fascinated me more at the time was the strange translations of names such as the “Hatemonger” or “Northstar” (translated as “Vega”).