July 2, 2009
Bundled, Tossed, Untied And Stacked
By Tom Spurgeon
* the writer Kurt Busiek
has re-launched his web site, and among its many features offer up a blog. Kurt Busiek always wins when he's on the road, so for him to develop a home field is slightly terrifying. Anyway, there should be a bunch of cool ephemera on the site as well as news and opinions regarding the modern stuff, so bookmark away.
* the site Webcomics.com
is back up and running.
* that
Treehouse Of Horror with the KE gang
sure looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.
* there will apparently be a collection of Johnny Hart's religious-themed strips,
I Did It His Way,
according to a post at the Oregon Faith Report. This was something that the late cartoonist had been working on just before his 2007 passing.
* I think I'll be writing one of these every week until the damn thing is in my hands, but Brett Warnock
notes that
Alec: The Years Have Pants is at the printer. If all the other publishers suspended publication, the second half of 2009 would still be a big hit for this book.
* there will be an English-language version of Reinhard Kleist's Johnny Cash biography
out this autumn.
* as expected, Fantagraphics
will be releasing Jason's back catalog in books formatted like the recent Low Moon. Expect
Almost Silent in early 2009, and
What I Did in early 2010. That same post notes a new Jason book for Summer 2010, the full-color
Werewolves of Montpellier.
* the Gosh! comics blog
has news of two projects about which I knew nothing: a Sunday Press collection of early 20th Century Oz comic strips called
Queer Visitors From The Marvelous Land Of Oz and
The Actress and The Bishop #1, collecting some of Brian Bolland's sporadic feature of the same name.
* King Features
has launched a feature called Captionary through its on-line services. As one might guess, this is feature where people are allowed to write captions for cartoons provided by a line-up of King Features cartoonists.
* finally, I'm probably playing catch-up with this one, but it looks like
Dark Horse Presents, which was previously done in conjunction with the reeling social networking site MySpace,
will stand on its own two legs at Dark Horse's site until MySpace stabilizes.
posted 11:00 am PST |
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Bill Hume, 1916-2009
William Stanton Hume, a multi-talented artist who worked in a panoply of fields,
died on Saturday in a health care facility near Columbia, Missouri. He was 93 years old.
In a professional life that included stints as a ventriloquist, an actor, a playwright, an art director, an animator, a newspaper man and a photographer, Hume's period as a cartoonist was specific and typically successful. Hume served in the Navy in World War II after failing to find work as a cartoonist or on a newspaper staff. He opened an art studio in Columbia after the war and like so many ex-servicemen was called to duty in the early 1950s. Part of his duties as the Naval Air Station in Yokosuka, Japan was the base's newspaper
The Oppaman. The cartoons he did with writer John Annarino for the paper about life as lived by servicemen in relation to Japanese women and Japanese culture became enough of a hit to lead to a short series of books. Hume's spotlight character was named "Babysan."
A photos and covers to his books -- including a pair featuring Babysan --
are available at Christopher Wheeler's site.
Hume is survived by a son, a daughter and several grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife.
posted 8:20 am PST |
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Go, Look: Michel Fiffe Presents Trevor Von Eeden Interview Extras
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Tom The Dancing Bug Wins 2009 AAN Award In Best Cartoon Category
Ruben Bolling's
Tom The Dancing Bug took the cartoon category in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' 2009 awards program, held last week in Tucson. The weekly effort appears in around 50 newspapers and on Salon.com. Second place went to Jen Sorensen for
Slowpoke, third went to Kenny Be for
Hip Tip and
Worst-Case Scenario, and honorable mention went to Dwayne Booth for
Mr. Fish.
A feature called "Superhero vs. Autobiographical Comics" that ran in the
Metro Times won second in the innovation/format busting category.
A full list of winners in PDF form can be called up by clicking
here.
posted 8:10 am PST |
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Roger Langridge, Master Sketcher
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Watchmen's Run On Bookscan Ends
This site doesn't really follow the analysis of Bookscan numbers provided by the comics business news site ICv2.com, but it's worth noting that
Watchmen ended a year-long run at the top of its charts by slipping to a two position behind the latest volume of
Bleach. That is an amazing sales achievement for a book that had already sold so many copies and that was created twenty years ago. As one might expect, a lot of the rest of the chart is filled with manga volumes from series in their prime or near-prime.
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Go, Look: Bucky Barnes In Smallville
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Go, Look: American Cartoonist 1953
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Go, Look: Li'l Abner #74
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Go, Look: Another Gefe Site
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Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* comics blogging godfather Neilalien
discusses Marvel's latest plans for Dr. Strange.
* the writer J. Caleb Mozzocco
looks at the hidden meaning and life messages in the host of editorial cartoonist about the late pop star Michael Jackson.
* Mike Baehr
is right: that
is maybe
the best caption ever.
* finally, the retailer and industry advocate Brian Hibbs shares Comix Experience top-sellers for the first half of 2009:
books and
comics.
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I Still Miss John Cullen Murphy
passed away five years ago today
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Quick hits
Craft
New Leon
Exhibits/Events
Geoff Johns At Opening Of Store
History
Eee-yikes
Best Splash Page Ever?
Frankenstein And The Sexy Gal
Industry
Where Ideas Come From
Interviews/Profiles
CBR: Steve Saffel
Newsarama: Mark Waid
Newsarama: James Stokoe
Newsarama: Howard Chaykin
Newsarama: Glenn Eichler, Nick Bertozzi
Not Comics
Salinger Wins Lawsuit
Eight-Year-Old Me Was Right All Along
Publishing
Amulet 2 Books
Reviews
Brian Heater: Johnny Hiro
J. Caleb Mozzocco: Various
Zak Edwards: Runaways #11
Greg McElhatton: Fight Or Run
Leroy Douresseaux: Kurohime Vol. 12
Richard Bruton: Detective Comics #854
Michael C. Lorah: Disaster and Resistance
Johanna Draper Carlson: Choco Mimi Vol. 1
Johanna Draper Carlson: Hikaru No Go Vols. 13-15
July 1, 2009
This Isn't A Library: New And Notable Releases To The Comics Direct Market
*****
Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's 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. But were I in a comic book shop tomorrow I would more than likely pick them up, give them a read, and then slam them back into the racks while I bellowed "Yahtzee!"
*****
MAR090056 SOLOMON KANE TP VOL 01 CASTLE OF DEVIL $15.95
Is this any good? I liked that character when I was a kid. Probably the hat.
DEC084062 BUCK ROGERS IN 25TH CENTURY DAILIES HC VOL 02 $39.99
If I ever win the lottery, all comics shops will benefit.
APR090741 MUPPET SHOW #4 (OF 4) $2.99
The Roger Langridge Appreciation Tour 2009 ends. Fun mainstream comics.
MAR094365 BRAT PACK NEW EDITION TP (MR) $19.95
One of the nastier classics of the dissection of superheroes genre.
MAY090295 SAVAGE DRAGON #150 (NOTE PRICE) $5.99
Maybe the most stealthily influential mainstream comic book series out there.
MAY090218 ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE BOOK THREE #3 (OF 4) $3.99
I really like this material as far as superhero comics go, although admittedly I'm only catching up to it in chunks.
MAY090130 BATMAN AND ROBIN #2 $2.99
Another issue of the Morrison/Quitely, Adam West/David Lynch take on the caped duo.
MAY090234 GREEK STREET #1 (MR) $1.00
New Peter Milligan at a pick-me-up price.
APR090283 EMMA VOL 09 $9.99
Unless I'm missing something, the best of the popular manga series installments out this week.
APR090377 ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #17 $2.99
Robert Kirkman's third project has yet to find its own feet, but the whole creative team is trying really, really hard.
MAR092466 SWORD #18 (MR) $2.99
I surely do love the Luna Brothers. The
Torque of modern hero fantasy comics.
MAY090479 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #15 DKR $2.99
The best all-time Marvel Event would be if Tony Stark became so popular in the Marvel Universe that everyone grew a version of his mustache. That would be stupendous.
FEB098560 FAR ARDEN HC (MR) $19.95
Kevin Cannon's rollicking sea adventure and meditation on exploration as death. That's a heck of a price point.
MAR094445 SYNCOPATED GN $16.95
Brendan Burford's anthology moves to a book publisher; I'm looking forward to reading this one.
FEB094285 COMICS JOURNAL #298 $11.99
I'm looking forward to #300, but this issue's Ba/Moon interviews sounds intriguing.
*****
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 didn't list your comic, I'm sure someone else out there has.
*****
posted 11:00 am PST |
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Allan McDonald Safe Back Home
The Honduran cartoonist
Allan McDonald and his daughter
have been allowed to return home after being taken from their home by military authorities. McDonald also lost what's been reported as all of his cartoons and drawing materials: they were burned by those same authorities. McDonald says that international pressure helped expedite his release.
posted 8:25 am PST |
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Let's All Please Consider Allowing The Harvey Awards To Fade Away
I hated writing
yesterday's Harvey Awards nomination report. The morning after nominations are released should be a time for congratulating the nominees and wishing them good luck. It should be a starting point for some good-natured arguing over which nominees are deserving and which aren't. Instead, the announcement became hijacked, at least for me, by the fact that one of the leading nominees barely published anything in 2008 and sported an awards history that indicates they would have been a surprise choice in a year they were flush with released material. John Gallagher and the other folks at
Buzzboy and Sky Dog Press did nothing wrong, but they had to be asked some tough questions because their showing in the 2009 nominations demanded that kind of attention. It was odd, and unsettling, and said nothing good about the state of the Harvey Awards.
I think it's time we all gently make a push for the Harveys to shut it down. It's not just that I or others out there might object to some of their nominees, that this group of folks may not like the
Witchblade manga, or that another group of folks doesn't think much of the comics being produced through Zuda, or that in this great Golden Age of Comics any awards program that nominates a Nascar comic probably needs to have a jacket thrown over its face and rushed out of the room. Silly things are going to happen with every awards program, and even though there are more silly things than usual this year, and they hardly make a positive case for the Awards, none of them particularly say "it's over." The fact that multiple nominees are up for current awards for past work, that's also the kind of glitch that's arguably part of having a comics awards program. These things happen. None of that means the Harveys are okay, and in fact the Harveys' primary problems are deeper than the sum of these concerns and cut to the core of their identity.
The first, fundamental reason the Harveys should consider shutting it down is that they've experienced a run of no-confidence votes from the professional comics population for almost a decade now. Maybe more. The Harveys' great distinction is that they draw from a professional pool of voters as opposed to an industry pool. But not enough professionals vote. The reason why oddball nominees keep floating to the surface is because the nominations process depends on a level of direct professional participation that they haven't been able to achieve. Such participation is just laborious enough that enough people pass; this places strain on the entire system. Because the overall voting is so thin, a simple, effective, understandable, get-out-the-vote e-mail campaign becomes much, much more likely to not just influence but
dominate any single year's awards. It's always been like that. If you know enough backstage industry names, you can track the history of the Harveys by the individual company employee who got people to vote that year -- or at least figure out where Chris Oarr was working and when. No amount of awards reform is going to change this. And support is weak throughout. The Harveys has long been an itinerant awards (Dallas, Pittsburgh, New York, The Phantom Zone, Baltimore), and the ceremony as it exists now in the safe haven of a perfectly fine comics convention is poorly attended. I'm told that at a recent year's show, the keynote speaker didn't even bother sticking around for the awards presentations.
The second reason why the Harveys should consider shutting it down is that they offer nothing to the overall awards landscape except, well, more awards. That they ever did offer up something unique was sort of an accident, a combination of a significant lean towards mainstream material by the Eisners for a stretch and Kim Thompson being interested enough in the Harveys to provide his professional friends, creators with whom he worked and eventually readers of the TCJ message board with information as to what had come out in the previous year -- a huge leg up when faced with that startlingly blank sheet of nominating ballot. That's right -- the Harveys have always been subject to the manipulation of one or two devoted individuals, it's just that it used to be the very smart and genial Kim Thompson and his admirably, relatively catholic-comics reading circle of influence on behalf of a certain kind of comic instead of random and self-interested flashpoints popping up year to year on behalf of specific projects. The Harveys might be able to boast of being a pros-only award, but not only is that slightly distasteful, the assumed levels of participation don't support this notion as a significant marker of the awards, and it certainly doesn't show in the results.
At this point, the Harveys neither provide a strong contrast with the Eisners nor do they do anything uniquely their own the way that the Ignatzes (a small press festival award), the Maisie Kukoc (a cash award for a mini-comics maker), even the Reubens (cartooning in all its aspects, newspaper-focused) do. You could probably save the Harvey Awards with an administrative overhaul and a lot of attention and time and maybe even money, but why? What are you saving exactly? I can get behind that "you're not the boss of me/don't take my awards away" impulse, but what really goes away if the Harvey Awards go away? Other than Jim Steranko emceeing to a crowd that looked like the "Springtime For Hitler" audience, is there even a single highlight from past awards programs? The fact that they're smart enough to honor newspaper strips is nice, but not a compelling reason to keep an entire awards program in the face of industry neglect almost a decade old now.
The third reason why the Harveys should consider shutting it down is that the resources and energy currently spent on the awards could be focused on some other way to honor the memory of the great Harvey Kurtzman. There are so many creative ways this could be done now. There could be a scholarship to one of the cartooning-interested schools for someone that in return promised to, say, work up a comics pitch for a glossy magazine. There could be a cash award given to a cartoonist that mirrored Kurtzman's professional path in moving from a sure thing to some less certain but artistically satisfying project. You could have a floating award given to any cartoonist that matched
any one of Kurtzman's varied career accomplishments -- drawing attention to the vast number of areas in which Kurtzman worked and excelled. There could a Kurtzman Honor devoted to satire. There could be a speaking series. There could be a program by which six winners get flown to NYCC to pitch to a devoted panel. That's two minutes of thinking about ideas, from one person. There are any number of options out there, all of which I suggest might be a better match than recognizing a selection of very good current comics-makers that may or may not have been thrust into that position because so very few people decided to participate. Harvey Kurtzman, was a great, one-of-a-kind comics maker. He deserves to be the namesake of a great, one-of-a-kind honor.
So I really hope that the awards considers shutting things down. It's time. I say this with all due respect to Mr. Kurtzman and to all of the people who've worked hard on these awards over the years. I say this as a past multiple-time Harvey Award winner. And I say this as someone who had to look on Wikipedia to see if I'd ever won one, because honestly? I couldn't remember.
posted 8:20 am PST |
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Xeric Foundation's Spring '09 Recipients
The
Xeric Foundation has announced its latest round of grant recipients and that $22,002 will be disbursed in support of the five comics projects.
*
Joe Boruchow, for
Stuffed Animals: A Story in Paper Cutouts
*
Adam Bourret, for
I'm Crazy
*
Tymothi Godek, for
!
*
Adam Hines, for
Duncan the Wonder Dog
*
Joshua Smeaton, for
Haunted
The Xeric Foundation, an organization founded by Peter Laird that splits its attention between comics self-publishers and Western Massachusetts charities, began to award money in 1992. Past winners include David Lasky and Tom Hart. The next deadline for application is September 30.
posted 8:15 am PST |
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If I Lived In Seattle, I'd Sign Up For This
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AAEC Con Underway In Seattle
Although the big story going into the convention is
the idea being raised of an unlikely and impractical merger, it's worth noting that the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists yearly meeting gets underway today in Seattle. This looks like a fine slate of programming to me
program.pdf
but I think more important than ever will be the series of informal conversations and the mood of the overall assembled. The usual drop in formal editorial cartooning positions became a terrifying plunge this year, while at the same time the possibilities have slightly expanded in terms of cartoonist involvement in whatever forms American journalism embraces in the next quarter-century. I wish I could go to all the panels, and I wish I could sit in the bar 20 minutes before closing time and talk things out.
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If I Were In LA, I'd Go To This
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Go, Look: Those Bank Robber Blues
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Go, Look: Bill Everett, Joe Maneely
also: buh
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Go, Peruse: Frank Santoro's Shop
it's worth it just to look at the art and read Santoro on this stuff
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Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* Heidi MacDonald
dug up a fun article from the San Diego Reader where one of their columnists cuffs to the floor recent calls for convention center expansion -- or at least calls into question the figures being used. The first half of the thread that follows is interesting reading as well. A bit of news in that article is that the W is in trouble, but I can't imagine this is surprising to CCI-goers: that hotel almost always has rooms available, and no one I know that's stayed there has liked it much.
There's discussion at MacDonald's original posting, too.
* it's not comics, but
the complete Topps Mars Attacks Trading Cards set is one of the standbys of pleasurable visual pulp culture, last century edition.
*
Shaenon Garrity on samurai manga.
* go to D&Q's site
through here and tell them about your local comics shop.
* one thing that's great about the non English language sites is that you get interviews with professionals and discussion of material out of the comfortable North American release schedule expectations, if that make sense. Case in point:
an interview with Miriam Katin.
* not comics:
a bookstore closes via twitter (via someone I forgot; sorry).
* I've added a pair of quotes from the great writer about comics Bob Levin
to yesterday's obit for BN Duncan. Duncan was a unique cartoonist, and I wish we could find more ways to talk about the legacy of someone like that over whatever passes for the latest flash-paper comics controversy.
* not comics: I'm personally all over the place regarding issues of digital pricing -- for example I think the book publishing industry's resistance to $9.99 books is more about preserving an infrastructure than anything else -- but I think
Malcolm Gladwell does a pretty good job in terms of the constraints a mainstream article has of throwing water on some of the goofier arguments made by technological enthusiasts. It's not a complete brief, so I imagine it will be dismantled in a bunch of fussy little nerd courts over the next several days, but even then there's a lot of room to expand his arguments as well as dig into and discredit them. One thing I never see people bring up is when you're extolling the virtues of selling something for free over selling something for 14 cents, this means someone has to be selling it for 14 cents despite the pressure of a competitor selling their stuff for free. I frequently wonder about the long-term applicability of these principles and if they're not just a staked position that only works against standard ways of doing things, and sometimes not even then.
* finally, I bought
this originally just for the cover. I think there was either a poster of this or someone at Fantagraphics had put up one of the cover proofs as a poster.
posted 7:30 am PST |
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Happy 60th Birthday, Mike Baron!
posted 7:15 am PST |
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