The Comics Reporter

May 16, 2012

Go, Look: Girl Apocalypse

posted 7:40 am PST | Permalink

"Unpublished Cartoonists Should Have Solid Drawing And Humility Skills"

My vote is that we all check out of the rest of the day's comics news and take a walk or something, with maybe a link-detour to this funny Paul Karasik post about the Master Class he's teaching at CCS this summer. I'm all for Mr. Karasik doing whatever he wants, including teaching, although I think all this real-world work is getting in the way of his true calling of writing entertaining, comics-related Internet posts.

That's not Karasik art, by the way. That's from Lewis Trondheim's Les Petits Riens, in several sustained sequences the greatest comic ever made about just walking around and looking at stuff. Seriously, I get psyched when Trondheim mounts a sidewalk when I read one of those translated books from NBM the same way I used to get excited when Batman's ass hit seat in the Batmobile.

It's a weird year, isn't it, all this creator's rights stuff and big-ass publishing events crowding into the sustained art- and alt-comics explosion? When Fantagraphics publishing Disney and Schulz and the EC stable doesn't even crack the top 20 of "huh?" in the new comics reality, you know times are odd. It's hard to believe that several months ago it was hard to find a hook for an anniversary article on the old Creators Bill Of Rights that McCloud and those guys shepherded into existence. Now it's all we talk about, with some severely depressing frontier about the implications of exploitation throughout comics left to explore -- and potentially end friendships -- in the weeks and months ahead. Plus we're in the midst of digital, for pity's sake, which is like the transition from drug stores into comics shops except less about the loss of spinner racks and more about the emergence of a magic technology by which comics are easily accessible and even sort of readable on computer screens.

So one time around the block and then back to it.

posted 7:35 am PST | Permalink

Go, Look: Maybe My Favorite Golden Age Story

posted 7:30 am PST | Permalink

More On Cartoon-Related Controversies In India

The latest round of political uproar over cartooning in India -- a country with a rich tradition of editorial and newspaper cartooning and a bright future as a market for longer-form works -- has triggered the usual number of think pieces. The New York Times has a mini-survey of some of the major editorial cartooning players. Mangesh Tendulkar thinks the entire cartooning tradition is in deep trouble. A piece at Reuters emphasizes just how strange it is for a 60-year-old cartoon to be excised from a textbook, not to mention that every inclusion of a cartoon is likely to be reviewed -- as I recall, I saw a lot of cartoons for the first time in textbooks, including Mauldin's distraught Lincoln Memorial cartoon after Kennedy was shot. A piece at The Economic Times excoriates the fragile political culture where these kinds of things are even a concern.

posted 7:00 am PST | Permalink

Go, Look: A Gift From The CCS Class Of 2012

posted 6:30 am PST | Permalink

This Isn't A Library: Notable Releases To The Comics Direct Market

Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.

I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.

*****

FEB121067 ARE YOU MY MOTHER A COMIC DRAMA HC $22.00
One thing that's appealing about this new Alison Bechdel work is that other than it ostensibly being about her mother in contrast with her last major work's focus on her father, I know nothing about it. Another thing that's appealing is that Bechdel's in a creative place right now I don't have to know much about what she has planned to know that I want to check it out.

FEB121116 CROGANS LOYALTY HC $14.99
This is the third book in Chris Schweizer's series of historically-informed morality tales via extended family anecdote. I just read them: I enjoyed this one and the other two quite a bit. There's a feel to this book that's very appealing, something I think is the reward for the research and preparation work that Schweizer puts into these volumes.

FEB121149 BUT I REALLY WANTED TO BE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST GN $24.95
These are stylishly drawn, personal-observation cartoons from Margaux Motin, the art maybe distracting from the really fine line Motin straddles between "humor based on the kinds of things people really think about" and "please stop talking now."

MAR120040 BPRD HELL ON EARTH DEVILS ENGINE #1 (OF 3) $3.50
JAN128084 HELLBOY TP VOL 02 WAKE THE DEVIL (6TH PTG) $17.99
Two from the Mignola-verse. I've mentioned here that there are definitely people that have based their comics consumption on this material, either mainly or solely, but I sometimes wonder how many. Then I wonder why it isn't more. You could be perfectly happy, I bet, just buying these comics, the way that a comics reader could have been happy keeping themselves to the EC line in the early '50s or the Marvel line in the early '60s. The series effort above features artist Tyler Crook.

MAR121230 FLOWERS OF EVIL GN VOL 01 $10.95
This one's staring back at me right now, and I haven't taken the plunge. Jog's description here makes it sounds like a BBC comedy-drama as it might be shown on North American basic cable, the kind of thing where the execution of the basic premise is full of eye-popping moments for readers familiar with the basic soap-opera models on which it's based.

MAR120037 CONAN THE BARBARIAN #4 $3.50
MAR120033 RESET #2 (OF 4) $3.50
MAR128079 FATALE #1 5TH PTG (MR) $3.50
MAR120499 SAGA #3 (MR) $2.99
MAR120609 DAREDEVIL #13 $2.99
MAR120587 WINTER SOLDIER #5 $2.99
MAR120884 ADVENTURE TIME #4 $3.99
The Conan is Brian Wood and James Harren, and sounds pretty interesting if it approaches the kind of off-book treatment discussed here. Reset #2 is the second issue of Peter Bagge's latest effort, which makes it a must-buy for me. The next two are from Image's latest, high-profile efforts to feature new series work from established creative teams -- Brubaker/Phillips (for whom a fifth printing is good news) and Vaughan/Staples (a book that's delighting a lot of advance-readers for that kind of material, based on almost incremental story movement). The Daredevil and Winter Soldier comics get a pick-up and look-at based on reputation in the men-beating-each-other-up genre. The Adventure Time book is the indie/not-really-indie comic of the moment, drafting in the wake of the growing-in-popularity cartoon.

FEB120290 DEADENDERS TP (MR) $29.99
Whoa, there's a lot of Ed Brubaker on the list this week. This is a not-exactly-successful effort from early last decade, heavily -- albeit informally, mostly -- hyped at the time and probably possessed of sales figures that would more than warrant its continuation were it to be published today. Warren Pleece art.

MAR120398 COMPLETE CHESTER GOULDS DICK TRACY HC VOL 13 $39.99
This is your giant "I can't believe we get collections like this on a routine basis" book of the week.

MAR121180 BEST OF ENEMIES HIST OF US & MIDDLE EAST RELATIONS HC VOL 01 $24.95
New David B. on a weighty, worthy subject -- in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Filiu. It was hard for me to type anything past "David B." and not leave the computer to start driving to the nearest store that would have this -- probably about nine hours away, actually. But for the sake of this column, it's good to know that it's out and you should of course consider yourself super lucky if you shop in the kind of shop that carries a shelf copy. I'm also voting this the book that everyone references as the one they didn't get to reading as the year begins to slip away from them, like the Katchor last year.

*****

The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.

To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.

The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.

If I failed to list your comic, that's on me. I apologize.

*****

*****
*****

posted 6:00 am PST | Permalink

Go, Look: From Under The Stairs

posted 5:30 am PST | Permalink

Collective Memory: Tony DeZuniga, RIP

Commentary and reaction around the Internet to the passing of the comics illustrator Tony DeZuniga (1932-2012).

*****

Institutional
* Entry At The Philippine Comics Art Museum
* Lambiek Entry
* Wikipedia Entry

Past Interviews, Profiles And Articles Of Interest
* News Of His Recent Hospitalization 01
* News Of His Recent Hospitalization 02

Audio
* Comics Podcast Network Index
* Jamie Coville

Blog Entries
* Alex Dueben
* BigFanboy.com
* ComicBook.com
* Grantbridge Street
* Johnny Bacardi
* Mark Evanier
* Michael Aushenker
* Robot 6
* SciFiPulse.net
* The Beat
* The Comics Cube
* The Mary Sue
* tropicalpenpals.com

Facebook
* Author Page
* Personal Page

Message Boards
* ComicVine.com

Miscellaneous
* PCAM Art 01
* PCAM Art 02
* PCAM Art 03
* PCAM Art 04
* PCAM Art 05

News Stories and Columns
* Asian Journal
* Comic Book Resources
* Comics Should Be Good
* Digital Spy
* Examiner.com
* GMA News
* iFanboy
* Komikero Dot Com
* Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation
* Savage Critic (Index)

Photos
* 5 Of 7
* deant316
* jbcurio
* Lady, That's My Skull 01
* Lady, That's My Skull 02
* Lady, That's My Skull 03
* Lady, That's My Skull 04
* Lady, That's My Skull 05
* Scott Edelman 01
* Scott Edelman 02
* tonydeziniga [sic]

Twitter
* JamesDRobinson
* Search On Name
* Tony Moore

Video
* An Interview 01
* Superheroes II -- The Art Of Tony DeZuniga
* Tony DeZuniga
* Tony DeZuniga Art Exhibit Opening
* Tony DeZuniga Bidang Pinoy
* Tony DeZuniga Draws For Club Batman 01
* Tony DeZuniga Draws For Club Batman 02
* Tony DeZuniga ExpoComic 2011
* Veteran Pinoy Cartoonist
* Video About His Recent Health Problems 01
* Video About His Recent Health Problems 02

*****

*****

*****
*****

posted 5:00 am PST | Permalink

If I Were In Portland, I'd Go To This

posted 4:30 am PST | Permalink

Forthcoming Comics-Related Events, This Month And Next

Go, Look: Russ Maheras' Sketch Variations Of Those Classic Mars Attacks Cards

this has something to do with a Mars Attacks anniversary-related promotion that Russ has explained to me at length and which I still don't understand; I'm sure it's google-able, though; as it's not really comics, looking at this nice set is about the extent of my interest

posted 3:00 am PST | Permalink

Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* Bob Temuka writes about all of the positive things he sees in comics right now.

* there's hasn't been a ton of reconsideration of Watchmen as a response to new of Before Watchmen; here's one web site that is hosting at least one super-close reading. I think I also saw some stuff over on Hooded Utilitarian, maybe? One reason it might be nice for critics to take a look back at the original book right now is that despite claims to the contrary, these new works will for most audiences have some sort of impact on the original -- if only by providing narrative detail on story events from the original whose power derives in part from their ambiguity, a filling-in-the-blanks that will be hard to shake.

* I probably should have paired something up with yesterday's news of a Watchmen toaster, but there are some nice Spain Rodriguez originals here.

* Greg McElhatton on Frankenstein Alive, Alive! Sean Gaffney on FLCL Omnibus. Rob Wells on two new Popeye-related releases. J. Caleb Mozzocco on Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors. Bart Croonenborghs on Otto: Keep On Rowing. Johanna Draper Carlson on Courtney Crumrin #2. Some person named Ben on Dear Creature and Hotwire Vol. 1.

* this is the banner for Hope Larson's A Wrinkle In Time effort you'll soon see behind her signing space at various conventions and bookstores.

* Mike Dawson and Alex Robinson talk to Tony Consiglio.

* I don't always read J. Caleb Mozzocco's walk-throughs of solicitation copy for forthcoming mainstream comic books -- okay, I never do -- but I did this time because it's #12 issues on various titles DC Comics relaunched last year. His guess that they've pushed Martian Manhunter into a heel turn seems worth noting: I thought that character could have used one at some point just to help get him over as a crazy powerhouse to be taken more seriously. Yet I also imagine this will be less effective in a "new" universe because everyone has seemingly arbitrary motivations and moral standing. I have a very limited appetite for musing on superhero stories, but one thing that's interesting to me about DC storytelling generally is the underlying assumption that soaks these books that its characters are awesome. Every single event series they did in the last dozen years was about recognizing the fundamental awesomeness of its biggest characters; this new 52 is about using this notion as a springboard towards new permutations of that awesomeness. The problem is, after multiple relaunches including a continuity-severing one across the board, those characters no longer have much of a connection if any at all to the thirty years of mostly goody-good stories that provided the baseline against which these more "realistic" depictions push. Instead of providing a very clear reason for these characters doing what they do in these initial issues, the creative hivemind seems to just kind of assume everyone will get where Batman is coming from because, well, "it's Batman." With other heroes, where there's a departure of a complicating of their original motives and motivations, the assumption is that readers will stick with it because "it's still Superman" (or whomever). That might be true, people might largely figure that, but I don't think these assumptions are as powerful and versatile in terms of allowing other characters to react to them as was a cushion of decades of comics establishing this as so.

* Alyssa Rosenberg looks at the Grant Morrison book on superheroes and does the kind of thing I largely failed to do in the previous paragraph.

* finally, Sean Kleefeld is one of several comics culture commentators to pick up on some photos of Jack Kirby enjoying himself, even dancing.

posted 2:00 am PST | Permalink

Happy 11th Birthday, Savage Critics!