The Comics Reporter

February 7, 2012

Go, Read: Loss

my apologies if that's not the name of it

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Garry Trudeau On The Chicago Tribune's Bouncing Of A Recent Daily

Michael Cavna has Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau's comments on the Chicago Tribune bouncing one of his dailies because it had a code through which people could donate to schools in need. The Tribune claimed they have a policy against people doing something with their strip directly in their self-interest. It should come as a surprise to no one that this policy looks to be, at best, inconsistently and poorly applied.

posted 6:10 am PST | Permalink

Anthony Horton, 1968-2012

Anthony Horton, the New York City man whose story of living in tunnels beneath the city and unlikely friendship with a children's book illustrator became the subject of the graphic novel Pitch Black, died on February 5 in a fire in one of the rooms he kept underground.

Horton was raised in New York's foster care system after being given up by his parents.

In 2004 he struck up an extended conversation with the artist Youme Landowne during a series of subway rides around the city. Their friendship and Horton's unique experiences in carving out living space for himself underground led to the 2008 graphic novel from El Paso's Cinco Puntos Press. Horton and Landowne are both credited for the story; Landowne made the art. While it was conceived of as an all-ages book, Landowne expressed hope in interviews supporting the work that adults, particularly those that ride the subways, might take notice of the book and its subject matter.

An artist in is own right, Horton was in jail from 1990 to 1991 and then again from 1999 to 2003 for crimes related to assault; he was actually incarcerated at the time the book was released for possession of stolen property. His collaborator described Horton's existence at the time in terms of it being a continuing struggle against addiction and despair.

According to the Times article, Horton's final resting place was a home he created for himself in a space "about 150 feet north of the Queens-bound platform at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue."

Anthony Horton was 43 years old.

posted 6:00 am PST | Permalink

Go, Read: Michael Chabon On His Fictionalized Stan Lee + Jack Kirby

posted 3:30 am PST | Permalink

Please Consider Lending A Helping Hand To Rick Trembles

The Montreal-based cartoonist Rick Trembles details via a Facebook post a lengthy ordeal by which he was evicted from his rent-controlled apartment under severely dubious circumstances. He's looking for a job and is willing to send folks information for paypal donations if they ask. If you've ever enjoyed his comics, his Internet presence or simply hate to see people screwed over for the sake of profit, please take some time to read Trembles' post and considering extending a helping hand. That goes double for anyone that might be able to hire the guy.

thanks, Brad Mackay

posted 3:10 am PST | Permalink

Go, Look: Early, Slightly Naughty Gag Cartoons Of Dave Berg

posted 3:05 am PST | Permalink

Bundled, Tossed, Untied And Stacked

By Tom Spurgeon

* Gilles Roussel -- the prolific cartoonist working under the pen name "Pierre Boulet" -- talks about forthcoming projects and provides an informal history of French webcomics -- in this interview with Ao Meng.

* Brigid Alverson has a nice piece up at PW about Jimmy Gownley coming to the end of his book contract with his Amelia Rules concept, and his future plans that include work that's not Amelia-related.

* this interview with Laura Park reveals two projects I didn't know about: a picture-book and a young adult's work. Any comics or illustration we get from Laura Park is a wonderful thing, I don't care what it is. She mentions her MOME work and short stories in general, which makes me wonder if an enterprising editor couldn't get into her publicly posted art and comics and combine it with the MOME material and whatever else is out there and we could have a Laura Park collection. Update: I've since been told she might have one in the works with Atomic Books, which would be great news, indeed.

* everyone but me -- and maybe you, so I'll mention it here -- already knew that Bleach is heading towards its conclusion. Sadly, I probably mentioned it on the blog at some point.

* DC apparently has some new kind of publishing initiative planned for this summer.

* Ken Eppstein wrote in to point out that Nix Comics has a new Kickstarter effort going.

* finally, I'm just now catching up to the fact that Bernie Mireault has a new, full-length graphic novel out: To Get Her. It's discussed here, and available in webcomics form here. I hope to have more on this in upcoming weeks.

posted 3:00 am PST | Permalink

Go, Bookmark: The Screwball Comics Blog

posted 2:25 am PST | Permalink

Go, Read: James Sturm On Why He's Boycotting The Avengers

James Sturm has written a longish piece for Slate on why he's boycotting Marvel's forthcoming Avengers movie, how Marvel wouldn't exist without the contributions of Jack Kirby, and even why a boycott probably won't take hold in a way that causes the company damage. Sturm is writing for a general audience but chooses to employ specifics and various well-known, related cultural signifiers, which is the major reason why the piece is as long as it is.

One thing that's interesting about this is that Sturm won an award for his Fantastic Four work not ten years ago. To my mind this makes him a Marvel author who's reoriented his position on this matter. At the time of the release of Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules, Sturm didn't have a lot of moral qualms about doing that work. Here's an exchange from our 2004 interview:

TOM SPURGEON: Is there any queasiness working with characters that were part of a dispute? Maybe Stan's recent lawsuit is a contractual dispute rather than a work-for-hire dispute, but it's driven by rhetoric that claims these characters have been exploited unfairly and he's been exploited unfairly. Is it the fact that these specific characters don't hold any extra queasiness for you at all?

JAMES STURM: Like in what sense?

SPURGEON: You have $10,000 in the bank, but Marvel doesn't send Jack Kirby's children trade paperbacks of their father's work when it's re-released.

STURM: Boy. But if you extend that argument to your day-to-day existence, on how you shop and how you spend money and how you interface with the world, you couldn't touch anything. You know what I mean? It's like, we live in a tainted fucking universe. Every pair of shoes you buy was probably stitched together by someone being paid ten cents an hour under ungodly conditions. And that's not to excuse myself, but are you getting at that maybe I shouldn't do this out of concern for...?

SPURGEON: It's one thing to get work-for-hire from an artist who is ceding control of his characters to you, but you're signing a work-for-hire agreement with a corporation that may have, or may not have, unfairly taken these characters from the artist to begin with.

STURM: What the fuck have I done, Tom? What the fuck have I done? Holy shit. Black mark on my soul.

I don't know. Obviously everyone's ethical standards vary, but I just don't feel I've made an egregious ethical breach. I think the question is valid and I'm glad you raised it. But for me, a few things play into it. First, Kirby himself returned to work for Marvel. Second, Marvel has changed owners several times since Kirby's stints there. Finally, I have never heard of any boycott by Kirby's heirs -- or anyone else for that matter -- calling for writers or artists to refrain from using characters he created.

Kirby created something 40 years ago that has so influenced and shaped comics history and I look to honor it. I hope that comes across in the book. Kirby's imprint is all over Unstable Molecules, his art adorns each cover (and several interior pages). My position at Marvel is no different than Kirby's was: work-for-hire.

I'm sure every character that was created some writer feels propriety for. I shouldn't do that Stingray graphic novel because somebody who developed him feels cheated? Remember that stupid character called Stingray from Marvel?

SPURGEON: Red and white costume and a fencing mask.

STURM: The Fantastic Four are characters, due to the role they played in my childhood, I feel connected to. When I'm reading this stuff as a kid, I don't know any of this stuff. These characters don't have owners. They exist. They're like cultural icons. Same with Peanuts. They belong to the public in a sense. This could just be me trying to rationalize my actions... Money wise, when you look at all the time I put into this project, it's obvious that it wasn't done for the money. If anything, I'm trying to restore a certain dignity to the character. The Fantastic Four was about this family who were superheroes. But they were a family first, right? That's what made the book tick. That's what I was trying to get at, this dysfunctional family that love/hate relationship they all have with each other. I think that's what Lee and Kirby were trying to do, right?"

I think this is stuff always worth talking about. None of the positions worth having are easy, and it's always possible to string together some series of details that shift the argument one way or the other until we feel better about what we've done or chosen not to do. That's what we do now. The Internet has turned us all into moral Perry Masons, worrying testimony from ourselves on a series of imaginary witness stands, never quite getting that slam-dunk, tear-filled confession that makes everything click into place.

In the end, I think the broader principles and meanings should guide us. Marvel should have treated Kirby better when he was alive, and making up for it by treating his legacy better now would be a wonderful, just thing to do. Any executive that makes this happen would be doing a great and honorable and potentially rewarding thing. Restoring Kirby's legacy in a way that matches what outside actors have done on that artist's behalf should include some sort of financial arrangement with the family. Jack Kirby isn't a comics sob story; in the context of all the popular arts his story stands out as one with a particularly ungenerous ending to match the contributions made. He was shoved to the side of the official narrative until he pushed back a bit, something for which a certain kind of angry fan has never forgiven him. Kirby had to fight to get some small amount of original art back, even.

Comics should be better than that. Comics can be better than that. The number of people that have received more money and more credit for less inspired, sometimes flatly derivative, sometimes just caretaker-style and paper-shuffling work with what Kirby made, up to and including people with the power to do something, is significant and slightly heartbreaking. With great power comes great responsibility, and I'm not sure how you define great power in our culture better than four billion dollars.

posted 2:20 am PST | Permalink

Go, Read: Ward Sutton Reviews Quiet

posted 2:15 am PST | Permalink

Forthcoming Comics-Related Events, This Month And Next

Go, Read: An Andrew Schick Interview

posted 2:05 am PST | Permalink

Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* Diamond has apparently instituted some kind of awards for comics stores doing comics store things. I'm not sure I'd know if these were actually awards that had been around for several years. I'm not sure what to think of t-shirt displays having awards-level status. Hooray?

* Craig Fischer writes about one of the Skywald magazines over at The Comics Journal. That's sort of a lousy description of the article, to be honest with you, but there is such a discussion in there.

* Juan Fernandez talks to Ed Piskor. Mark Hensel talks to Ryan Cecil Smith. Ao Meng talks to Ryan Cecil Smith. Misty Lee and Paul Dini talk to Mark Evanier. Vaneta Rogers talks to Gregg Hurwitz. Chris Arrant talks to Cliff Chiang. Dave Richards talks to Jeff Parker. Tim O'Shea talks to Matt Gagnon.

* Daryl Cagle has a post up of cartoons about the current crisis in Syria. Speaking of which, I guess Ali Ferzat's plight was discussed during a meeting of the UN Security Council.

* the CBLDF will be hitting the ComicsPro annual meeting in a big way.

* Dan Nadel caught a really fine article from Jessica Abel about moving her family to France for a year. I like matter-of-fact articles about cartoonists and their lives because I think it clears up some of the mystery for young people that might want to pursue cartooning as a vocation.

* most of the articles still being done on DC's new publishing initiative are going deeper and longer, at least in terms of the discussion of creators' rights. Here's one by Matthew Surridge.

* not comics someone really needs to make that list of comics-related illustration in various gaming rules booklets and 'zines of that period.

* I'm not sure there's any real overlap between comics and the Annie Awards, beyond the obvious connection through cartooning. I guess animators compete in the NCS awards including being up for the Reuben.

* not comics: it's the rare art critic that color-coordinates his wardrobe to match the art.

* Drew Sheneman on five graphic novels. Johanna Draper Carlson on Bakuman Vol. 9 and various other manga. Greg McElhatton on Friends With Boys. Sean Gaffney on Negima! Magister Negi Magi Vol. 33.

* finally, some sort of tempest in a teapot about some cartoon or something.

posted 2:00 am PST | Permalink

Happy 59th Birthday, Richard Bruning!

posted 1:00 am PST | Permalink

Happy 36th Birthday, Mark Haven Britt!

posted 1:00 am PST | Permalink

Happy 83rd Birthday, Alexandro Jodorowsky!

posted 1:00 am PST | Permalink

February 6, 2012

Go, Look: Sarah And The Seed

posted 4:15 am PST | Permalink

British Cartoonist Mike White Passes Away

Mike White, a veteran British industry comics artist best known for a run on Roy Of The Rovers in the late '80s and early '90s, his collaboration with young 2000 AD writers, and a general high level of craft including a knack for adapting to the basic art styles of his fellow illustrators, has passed away. Steve Holland's lengthy appreciation of White's career posted here indicates he was likely in his mid-sixties.

White began as an illustrator in the early 1960s with the publisher GM Smith/Micron in their publications aimed at girls. He moved to the Jackaroo Joe in IPC's Valiant publication in 1965 and then took on a number of assignments closely adhering to other artists' chosen styles. He split time in the late '60s and early '70s between Fleetway and DC Thomson, doing mostly stand-alone strips for the latter.

Holland notes that White became a regular at the controversial magazine Action -- a primary and direct antecedent for 2000 AD that ran from 1976 to 1977 -- contributing to the features Hell's Highway, Death Game 1990 and The Running Man. He naturally slipped into a similar role at 2000 AD, including some work on some of the best-remembered early-'80s short features by Alan Moore. This included the Abelard Snazz feature (the episodes "The Return Of The Two-Storey Brain," "The Double-Decker Dome Strikes Back" and "Genius Is Pain"), Future Shocks ("The Regrettable Ruse of Rocket Redglare," "Bad Timing, " "Eureka" and "Look Before You Leap") and Time Twisters ("The Reversible Man" and "Going Native"). Of these works, "The Reversible Man" is probably the best known; while the notion of a man living his life in backwards fashion wasn't exactly a new idea for science fiction readers of the day, the story is cleverly executed and White's pages exude strength and clarity.

White sidled into sports strips in the mid-1980s, initially with a feature in Champ and eventually working his way into a lengthy gig on the prominent feature Roy Of The Rovers. He is cited with giving Roy an aggressive look more in tune with the times and being the artist in charge when Roy Race and the Rovers went through a number of their late-career milestones and major story moments. In the 1990s White began to take on more illustration work; White's most high-profile comics gigs in recent years were for Commando.

posted 4:10 am PST | Permalink

Go, Read: Cartoon Fact-Checking

posted 4:05 am PST | Permalink

Publishing Notes: One Piece, DC DM Sales Spin, Les Librairies

* the latest volume of One Piece looks to have matched the initial print run of the last, record-setting installment.

* DC Comics major players John Rood and Bob Wayne have done two interviews worth reading if you track direct market sales and/or DC Vs. Marvel as sales entities more generally: ICv2.com; Newsarama. I never believed DC's pre-New 52 spin that they didn't really care about something like market share because of their focus on bottom-line numbers, but the general giddiness over DC sweeping January's Top 10 in the periodicals Direct Market plus John Rood deciding not to engage a question about bottom-line numbers by citing that top 10 sweep pretty much puts a stake in the heart of that canard. Some people have written me saying that these interviews that the pair do are disasters PR-wise, but I think there are some clearly effective things in there: I think describing DC publishing initiatives in terms of being beneficial for their retail partners really works for them, for example.

* this article from the Guardian showed up in my morning searches for a random of a bunch of postcards, and I'm not sure how VAT issues have an impact on that country's comics sellers, but the idea that a string of retailers might be valued for their cultural contributions and that this notion should shape policy is pretty powerfully appealing.

posted 4:00 am PST | Permalink

OTBP: The End Of The Fucking World #4

posted 3:30 am PST | Permalink

Go, Read: ComicsAlliance On Pizza Island Closure

Laura Hudson over at ComicsAlliance covers the recently-announced closure of the Pizza Island studio space by talking to the members of the studio about their immediate plans. This includes Kate Beaton, who also made recent news for announcing some adjustments in her cartoon-making work schedule. Beaton gets off a funny line about the level of interest in what is essentially just a place where a bunch of cartoonists went to work. There is some of that, for sure: the temptation to type "Pizza Island diaspora" is significant and of course inherently ridiculous. In the end I think the attention comes because it's useful to look at the intersection of a bunch of careers as a way to get a snapshot on the state of the art form. It's a fine approach to that kind of story, and a good piece by Hudson.

posted 3:25 am PST | Permalink

Go, Look: A Dylan Horrocks PSA

posted 3:20 am PST | Permalink

Daily Cartoonist: Chicago Tribune Pulls Doonesbury Strip

It hasn't made the news yet -- at least it hasn't made the wire stories searchable by Google -- but Alan Gardner and the readers of his Daily Cartoonist blog caught that a recent Doonesbury was pulled by the Chicago Tribune via an announcement on the GoComics blog. Here's the thing, though: they can't figure out why and I really can't, either. The strip in question contained a scannable code through which a reader could be directed to the DonorsChoose.org site. This might have conceivably triggered something at the Tribune in terms of a broad policy aimed against solicitation or outside coding, although a couple of Gardner's cartoonist readers note that other cartoonists have put codes in their strips before without reprisal. An additional oddity is that this may be the most benign strip that Trudeau's run in a while, as he's been focused on the Republican nominees for President for a bit now.

posted 3:15 am PST | Permalink

Go, Bookmark: The Secret Voice

posted 3:10 am PST | Permalink

Daily Blog Archives
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011

Full Archives