January 31, 2008
CR Review: Life Sucks
Creators: Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, Warren Pleece
Publishing Information: First Second, soft cover, 192 pages, May 2008, $19.95
Ordering Numbers: 1596431075 (ISBN10), 9781596431072 (ISBN13)
First Second's disappointing Life Sucks brings to comics the same kind of listless quality that saturates a significant percentage of modern television and film. Once you have a grasp on its cute premise -- a vampire whose life is built around a degrading service labor job and quotidian, day-in and day-out, step-above-subsistence living -- you're stuck with a few uninspired riffs on that basic subject matter and some nice-guy, pretty-girl romance scenes straight from one of the new wave of nebbish TV shows like Chuck. The story even tries to get some dramatic mileage out of the concept that "real-life" vampirism isn't as glamorous as its fictional or on-screen counterpart, a trope that felt tired when other creators worked similar territory ten years ago. What's a shame is that Life Sucks is a solid, professional effort in most ways. It's recognizably well-crafted. There's nothing you can point at and say, "There. That's what's wrong with this," nothing that would cause you to isolate a moment and show it to a nearby friend as a shocking failure of craft. Jessica Abel and Gabe Soria have a keen, perhaps shared ear for empty-headed dialog. Warren Pleece's art juggles the required attractive elements of the story and its equally important minimum-wage realism with understated aplomb.
The problem with Life Sucks is that these craft elements serve an uninspired idea. "Slacker vampire" feels like the kind of thing that gets cooked up rather than the end result of creative impulse, the sort of artistic effort that if the concept really is awesome in the eyes of its creators then they've forgotten to let the rest of us in on why. If not for the luxurious way in which it unfolds, this would read exactly like the kind of poorly disguised movie pitch that drives way too many American comic books. The generous amount of time we spend with the characters in Life Sucks does not mean an equivalent level of dramatic development. The authors dance around refining or exploring their central idea past the tag line stage, at least in the thematic sense. There are hints that something should be made of Dave's attitude and unwillingness to invest in his own life as a parallel to those who are similarly disaffected only without the fangs, but that fails to build into anything at all beyond a cynical, overly facile point or two at book's end. Working with such a restrictive canvas, the creators would have to manage stellar set pieces throughout and execute every piece of the story with the skill and precision of a Spartan regiment for Life Sucks to be a rewarding read. They don't come close. Other than some giggle-worthy moments where we learn our protagonist Dave lacks proper vampire abilities because of poor diet and general laziness, there's nothing memorable scene to scene, nothing in the way of a surprising twist that might draw some thematic weight into play. I found it a chore to finish, and easy to forget. I wouldn't be surprised if its media rights have already been sold.
please note the art is taken from an ARC, not an actual copy, and is likely of a much poorer quality
posted 5:00 pm PST | Permalink
Maryland Bill To Curb Cartoon Speech?
The American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that a bill up for passage in Maryland regarding the commercial use of soldiers' names and images may keep art using those things from being made. In a hearing before lawmakers in Annapolis, the ACLU representatives pointed to Mike Luckovich's "Why" cartoon as an example of the kind of art that might be threatened under the new law. Luckovich's cartoon, where Atlanta-Journal Constitution built the word from the names of the then-2000 American dead in the Iraq conflict, is believed to be significant contributor to his 2006 Pulitzer Prize win. The bill can be read here. I have no idea why a law in Maryland would have an effect on free speech in Atlanta, but I don't like the bill in principle. I also have no idea know why the usual protections for use of an image don't apply in most cases, nor can I gauge the significance of such use, which make me believe it's an issue being driven by politics.
posted 1:00 pm PST | Permalink
Your Danish Cartoons Hangover Update
* The National Library in Denmark has announced plans to archive the original Muhammed cartoons that sparked worldwide riots, political turmoil and economic boycotts in the first few months of 2006. They will not be made available to the public for at least 10 years. The piece in the Guardian speaks to a moderate imam, the group that spearheaded protests in Denmark, and a Syrian ambassador with not unexpected but not alarming results.
* Arla Foods, perhaps Denmark's most high-profile major corporation and a target for boycotts in the period after the publication of the Danish cartoons, has recovered 95 percent of lost business and intends to have that figure up to 100 percent when figures are released for the end of 2007, this article says.
posted 10:15 am PST | Permalink
Around the World in Hate Cartoons
* according to this report in Israelenews.com, cartoons are a significant element in a media incitement campaign by Palestinian cartoonists against Israel. Cited specifically is the cartoonist Omaya Abu Hamada, who works under the pen name Joha. This kind of article usually pops up whenever there's any instance of political significance in the Middle East involving Israel, like there is right now.
* this article provides a decent if slightly histrionic summary of a controversy over a satirical ad decrying the recognition of the Hawaiian native people as an indigenous people. It gets sort of interesting in that several of the people criticizing the ad seem to be government officials of some sort or another; it's much less interesting once you look at the actual ad and try to figure out why they keep calling it a cartoon to the exclusion of any other description.
* a cartoon that outed a 33-year-old Philadelphia narcotics officers as having some serious issues regarding race causes one article to ask that since the officer probably didn't make the cartoon himself, how deep might a racist network go?
I fully realize that there are alternate viewpoints on the nature of these cartoons, even within the stories themselves, and trust on the readers' ability to process a headline in the spirit in which it was intended.
posted 10:10 am PST | Permalink
Neil Kleid: NYCC 2008 Being Scheduled For Passover Is "Frankly Insulting"
The creator Neil Kleid has written an open letter to organizers of the New York Comic Con, explaining why Passover will keep Kleid and other observant creators from attending the show, and why beyond his own feeling about it this is deeply unfortunate. NYCC switched from a February show in its first two years to its current April 18-20 dates for 2008, a move one guesses to place the convention in a month more amenable for people wishing to visit New York and to place it more directly in the mainstream of the yearly convention calendar.
thanks to Lea Hernandez
posted 10:00 am PST | Permalink
OTBP: Revised Edition of Tom Roberts' Alex Raymond: His Life and Art
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Go, Read: Guy Davenport As Cartoonist
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Go, Bookmark: Scott Eder Gallery
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Go, Read: The War on Fornication
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Go, Read: Brubaker and Phillips' Criminal Vol. One, Chapter One at MySpace
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Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* heads up: applications for the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship are due today.
* Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie are making a joint appearance at Gosh! on February 2 to celebrate the UK release of Lost Girls; this is worth mentioning because of the extreme rarity of Alan Moore making this (or any, really) kind of appearance.
* James Vance takes a look at the superhero comic book's connection with the older adventure/pulp tradition, including an unexpected mid-essay appreciation for Dell's Brain Boy.
* Nat Gertler writes in to cure my befuddlement over the Captain Billy's Whiz Bang publication arriving in Direct Market stores yesterday. "It's a reprint of the February, 1922 issue of that (in)famous mag. I'd used the term 'historical' rather than 'nostalgia', as it's not aimed at people who have fond memories of it (they'd be a little long in the tooth) and more at those curious about it."
* the cartoonist Adrian Tomine is on NPR's Fresh Air program today.
* unlike Mike Allred, Pia Guerra doesn't have a spinner rack.
* more coverage here of the forthcoming comics "sit-in" planned for February 10 by which several cartoonists plan on protesting the way their strips are perceived and purchased according to race. The participating cartoonists are Darrin Bell (Candorville), Cory Thomas (Watch Your Head), Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha), Steve Bentley (Herb and Jamaal), Jerry Craft (Mama's Boyz), Charlos Gary (Working It Out and Cafe Con Leche), Keith Knight (K Chronicles), and Stephen Watkins (Housebroken).
* there's probably something profound in this anecdote about a comics retail employee making an AIDS joke to a customer who simply wanted to buy a comic book, but I'm not sure I want to think about it for as long as it takes to figure it out.
posted 9:30 am PST | Permalink
Happy 48th Birthday, Grant Morrison!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Happy 41st Birthday, Laurent Bidot!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Quick hits
Exhibits/Events
Go See Loustal Exhibition
CBLDF's Y The Last Party Event Previewed
Industry
The Greatest Honor in Comics
Another Day, Another Comics Survey
I Am Greatly Confused By Your Cartoons
Interviews/Profiles
Mangaka Documentary
Newsarama: Pia Guerra
Newsarama: Mark Millar
Newsarama: Ed Brubaker
Newsarama: Ed Brubaker
CNN.com: Brian K. Vaughan
Newsarama: Brian K. Vaughan
Free Library of Philadelphia: Adrian Tomine
Tiamat's Reviews: Kurt Hassler, George Walkley
Publishing
Devil's Due Loses GI Joe
DC Bringing Ambush Bug Back
Reviews
Joe Decie: Life of Whiner
Patrick Greene: Civil War
Graeme McMillan: Various
Adam Prosser: Glamourpuss #1
Don MacPherson: Pax Romana #1
Richard Marcus: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
Cory Doctorow: Nextwave: Agents of Hate, Vol. 2
January 30, 2008
CR Review: More Old Jewish Comedians
Creator: Drew Friedman
Publishing Information: Fantagraphics, Blab!, hardcover, 36 pages, February 2008, $16.99
Ordering Numbers: 1560979143 (ISBN10), 9781560979142 (ISBN13)
There are all sorts of things you can say about More Old Jewish Comedians. You can discuss the elegant art direction by Monte Beauchamp and this work's place in the Blab! series of thin, tightly-focused art books. You can talk about subtle changes in Drew Friedman's style 25 years ago to now. You may throw out a line or two about the whites that Friedman uses to suggest how skin sometimes reflects light in a photograph and how this forces the eye to take in the picture entire. You can compare this book to the last one on the same subject. You might mention the lengthy introduction by Larry Gelbart, or bring a little comics formal theory to the table and ask the reader to view this sequence of portraits as a comic whose images connected by a central theme rather than a narrative, and how they're at once funny and sad, the life force of so many self-made show business successes pushing through the wrinkles and liver spots. You could talk about the great atmospheric elements to Friedman's work, how his best portraits make you feel and sense and smell a moment and a place.
Or you can reprint Friedman's freakishly awesome depiction of Larry Storch and not have to say anything.
posted 5:00 pm PST | Permalink
This Isn't A Library: New And Notable Releases To The Comics Direct Market
*****
Here are those books that jump out at me from this week's probably mostly 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 following -- I might not buy any -- but were I in a comic book shop I would likely pick up the following and look them over, potentially resulting in mean words and hurt feelings when my retailer objected.
*****
OCT070044 PREDATOR OMNIBUS TP VOL 02 $24.95
Volume two?
NOV070275 Y THE LAST MAN #60 (MR) (NOTE PRICE) $4.99
Judging from the press coverage, this last issue of the successful series would be the release of the week not featuring Bucky packing heat. It's been interesting to watch the rush of people confessing their affection for the high-concept, serial drama -- does anyone know what Pia Guerra is doing next?
OCT071974 CASANOVA TP VOL 01 LUXURIA (MR) $12.99
Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba's handsome and entertaining march through pop culture influences obvious and less so gets a softcover release.
NOV072137 CAPTAIN AMERICA #34 $2.99
A new Captain America. Unfortunately, I had Roscoe in the pool.
NOV073644 BADGER SAVES THE WORLD #2 (OF 5) $3.99
My brother's going to be mad if he hears this is up to issue #2 and I haven't gotten it for him.
OCT073486 BAGHDAD JOURNAL AN ARTIST IN OCCUPIED IRAQ HC (JUN052939) $34.95
I'd really like to see this one; it sounds lovely, and it's admirable concept.
SEP073718 AMULET HC VOL 01 STONEKEEPER $21.99
SEP073717 AMULET SC VOL 01 STONEKEEPER $9.99
Speaking of lovely, this should be quite nice-looking, and at a killer price-point.
NOV073239 CAPTAIN BILLYS WHIZ BANG $5.99
I assume this is some sort of nostalgia project or homage to the long-ago humor magazine with a small but obvious connection to comics.
DEC073303 KIDS OF LOWER UTOPIA GN VOL 01 $21.00
I've seen Toc Fetch comics around several times, but I've never read one. They're certainly distinctive-looking.
NOV073415 WHAT WERE THEY THINKING TP VOL 01 (RES) $14.99
Stan Lee once self-published some gag books with captions written over stock photos, and at one point later on tried to launch a syndicated feature with the same concept.
*****
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.
To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, 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.
If I didn't list your new comic, you're welcome to assume the worst of me, but it's likely I just missed it. I am not a good person.
posted 11:00 am PST | Permalink
Matt High: Cold Cut Closed; To Re-Open In Illinois Sometime In February
According to a post yesterday on Matt High's livejournal in what he calls "unofficial" news, the beleaguered distributor Cold Cut closed shortly before Christmas and will re-open in Illinois some time in February. The company, High's post says, will have brand-new owners. The decades-plus distributor and hardy survivor well into a Diamond dominance era that reduced what used to be a multi-distributor landscape into so much rubble made news last summer when they announced they were up for sale. The last several months could have been additionally difficult for the distributor, as in general because of the risk involved in passing material through a chain of distribution such companies operate in part on the confidence invested them by companies that they will be able to do this. The company's web site was active as of late last year, and little had been heard from them in a while.
thanks, James Owen
posted 10:10 am PST | Permalink
Paul Eberhart: 1935-2008
Paul Eberhart, a journalist who moved into sales at King Features Syndicate and became the group's director of operations during a 20-year career at the company, died on Sunday. He was 72 years old.
Eberhart grew up in Pittsburgh, attending high school and college there. He began work for United Press International news service in 1961, and then moved to New York as news editor in 1966. He served as that news organization's managing editor from 1975 to 1979. He then went to King, where he put in 20 years during that organizations last great run as a company that not only syndicated an enormous amount of material including cartoons but processed that material through the offices. He retired in 1999 to the Jersey shore.
He is survived by a wife of 53 years, three children and eight grandchildren. Services will be held tomorrow.
posted 10:05 am PST | Permalink
OTBP: New Jackie Ormes Book
The new Jackie Ormes book by Nancy Goldstein, Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist, doesn't lack for fascinating subject matter: Ormes' laudatory career, the thriving black community in Chicago in the mid-20th Century, black newspapers and their role in the communities they were sold, the lack of merchandising aimed at black children, left-leaning politics of the era, investigations into the same, women working in fields where men dominated... kind of a laundry list of things I like to read about. It's also by a publisher that as I recall seems interested in doing some comics-related books, the University of Michigan Press. There's a web site here, and Editor & Publisher covers the release here.
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Go, Read: Eatniks Sketch Story
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Go, Look: Exploding Head Man
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Go, Read: Gary Groth's 2005 Paul Hornschemeier Interview From MOME
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Go, Look: Hombre Arana Covers
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Go, Read: The Men From Mars
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Go, Look: Roy Krenkel Illustrations
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Go, Bookmark: The New Yorker's Eustace Tilley Contest Flickr Page
seen at FLOG
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Go, Look: Ukrainian Children's Book Illustrations Posted at The Comics Journal
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Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* the cartoonist and humorist RK Laxman received the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2007 award last night during a function in New Delhi. His "Common Man" creation was cited in the wire article.
* I received this e-mail yesterday from Patrick Jodoin:Dear Publisher,
We have been receiving many questions with regards to recent problems at Quebecor World. We wish to inform you that Imprimerie Lebonfon Inc. or Lebonfon Printing is a privately owned company and is completely independent of Quebecor World since March 2006. Our printing and distribution operations are not affected by the current situation at Quebecor World.
If you need more informations or have any questions I can be reached at [number redacted] or at [ditto e-mail]
Thank you.
I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but having to reach out to people to assure them because of someone else's well-publicized financial trauma has to suck.
* in the stuff for free department: Brian Wood is making available Public Domain, the design notebook from his Channel Zero series; Matthias Wivel points out how you can download PDFs of Alberto Castelli's history Eccoci ancora qui.
* the cartoonist Mike Allred owns a spinner rack and has his mail delivered by boat.
* is it my imagination, or is ICv2.com rolling their news stories out instead of loading them all up overnight?
* according to this short piece I totally missed, Disney may go after the artist and magazine responsible for the cover of a satirical magazine cover that makes use of their conception of the Winnie the Pooh characters to make a blunt point about something else altogether. Does that make a difference? It seems to me that you should be allowed to satirize characters like that but it's actually sort of questionable to use the currency of someone else's creation to make a point unrelated to those characters, the same way you should be allowed to blog about a photo in the newspaper, but swiping someone's photo to illustrate your own story about the subject matter is wrong. That's probably just me, though, and that's certainly not a legal opinion for anywhere but nerd court.
* Thought Balloonists digs into Thierry Groensteen's The System of Comics but they do so in a way that suggests you still have to.
* the Seattle Times ran a short interview about the Frye Art Museum's hosting of Todd Hignite's R. Crumb exhibit. I think people should make use of the Frye every chance they can and everyone should see as much R. Crumb art as they can, so this works out kind of perfectly.
* the cartoonist Jeff Smith is making his only planned public appearance of the year at Symphony Space in New York on February 10.
* a couple of mentions on Euro-Comics news sites suggest that Casterman has a new site. I'm not familiar with the old one, so I could be totally wrong.
* the writer Calvin Reid takes a brief look at Simon and Schuster's efforts in comics publishing, both stand-alone books and planned comics series. I never know how to feel about stories like that. I'd like to see the Hope Larson book, but the rest of the books leave me cold. The thing is, they're probably supposed to. I'm not a 10-year-old kid with a pass to my school's library choosing a book to take back to class with me. I'm trying to imagine what I would felt about comics adaptations of my favorite prose books growing up, and I'm not sure I would have been all that into them despite my attraction to comics, especially once you removed the relative scarcity that made every comic sort of exciting back in the 1970s.
* if there was ever a story that made me want the entire modern industry to go away and be replaced by the industry circa 1974, warts and all, this is that story.
* the mainstream-focused pop culture commentary empire Wizard promoted longtime employee Joe Yanarella to Senior Vice President -- Operations. Unlike under-the-radar industry buzz that seemed to characterize other recent promotions amidst their Dresden-like pummeling of the company's creative departments (latest to give notice, I hear yet haven't confirmed, is Anime Insider designer Brad Bowersox) as perhaps more cosmetic than substantial or policy-changing, what I'm hearing about this one from a couple of people is that it may be important in terms of expectations regarding the convention side of Wizard's business, which in recent years has managed to accrue negative momentum.
posted 9:30 am PST | Permalink
Happy 51st Birthday, Guy Gilchrist!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Happy 47th Birthday, Denys Cowan!
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Happy 55th Birthday, Fred Hembeck!
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Happy 37th Birthday, Robert Goodin!
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Quick hits
Craft
How a 9-Panel Grid Builds Tension
Exhibits/Events
Art In The Toon Age
Go See Patrick Oliphant
Ros Chast at Dartmouth
Gigantic Report From Alan Grant Lecture
History
Le Soir Sees Angouleme as Turning Point
Industry
I Hate Your Cartoon
Person Dismayed By Comics
Person Dismayed By Comics
Your 2007 BF Awards Winners
On Being an Unusual Customer
Augie De Blieck Jr. on Marvel-Soleil Deal
Retailer Sells 95 Copies of Tekkonkinkreet
Interviews/Profiles
PWCW: Jeff Smith
NPR: Ed Brubaker
Comicgate: Scott McCloud
Comics Waiting Room: Dan Slott
Publishing
M
This Is Slightly Creepy
Prince of Persia Page Previewed
More Star Trek Year Four From IDW
Character I've Never Heard Of From Show I Don't Watch Won't Be Appearing In Comics I Don't Read
Reviews
Alex Weisler: White Rapids
Sean T. Collins: I Killed Adolf Hitler
Jerrie Whiteley: Schulz and Peanuts
Sean T. Collins: The Last Musketeer
Shannon Smith: Candy or Medicine Vol. 2
January 29, 2008
CR Review: Watching Days Become Years #4
Creators:
Publishing Information:
Ordering Numbers:
I have a total art crush on Jeff LeVine's series Watching Days Become Years right now, and I'm not sure I can articulate exactly why it hits me the way it does. I'd like to try. This is a comic book series from a very small publisher, Sparkplug Comics Books. Despite its familiar dimension the book itself is printed on slightly heavier stock than one might expect, giving it definite heft. The cover is half-photo and half-text block, with no indication of comics content inside. It's a solid object, not quite a book but absent of the ephemeral qualities we ascribe to classic funnybooks.
LeVine is probably best known for the 1990s series No Hope, and if you flip through an issue of the new series really quickly, the structure resembles that effort. There are several short stories, from one-pagers to multiple-page efforts, and LeVine lingers on almost of all the pages either placed directly within the action as a character or as the eyes through whom the reader watches the story unfold. What seems different about this work is that many of the stories LeVine chooses to tell are much more reserved, much less forced than some of the early work, both in terms of mood and the quality of the narrative. There are greater contrasts between moments where he seems to be gently reflecting on a moment and those in which he acts as a participant.
When this sense of distance and maybe even withdrawal rubs up against more humorous and direct anecdotes, it does feel a lot like the array of modes through which we view the world as we get older, the way memory collapses into moments -- a snatch of dialog, and an anecdote or two. Also, LeVine is a better artist now, which allows the sensibility with he depicts a street scene or a collection of object act as its own commentary, to suggest a moment of pleasure from seeing something arranged a certain way, or to evoke in non-literal fashion how a viewpoint felt beyond what was simply seen. LeVine's comics capture moments the way we seize on memories, those that come idly to us, those that reflect a certain mood of type of quiet engagement. I don't know of too many cartoonists that have been able to engage modern this delicately, and his confident use of some of comics' most appealing formal strengths adding resonance. I'm not sure it's for everyone; the effect I describe might not hit different people the same way and anyone divorced from that measured effect would no doubt have an extremely different view of the comic's content moment to moment. It's a very good comic for me right now, though, and I'm grateful for that.
posted 5:00 pm PST | Permalink
Angouleme Attendance Figure: 220,000
I'm not exactly sure where he got it, but Gianfranco Goria at the indispensable afNews site has a figure up for attendance at last weekend's Festival International de la BD Angouleme: 220,000. My understanding going in is that recent attendance had been around the 200,000 mark, so that would be a significant improvement.
News about the show is definitely in the wind-down, summary phase, but ActuaBD.com has a brief interview up with Grand Prix co-winner Philippe Dupuy that talks a lot about his current projects, both with and without longtime creative partner Charles Berberian. Dupuy says that the duo will continue their Monsieur Jean books through the milestone of the character's 50th birthday. The bit that popped for me is that Dupuy also has a book out with Loo Hui Phang at Futuropolis in May called Une Election americaine, which unless I'm completely whiffing the French seems to be about drag queens in Arizona. Matthias Wivel appraises the Grand Prix selection. This interview with the French minister of culture Christine Albanel done on site is fun if you want to read a high government official rattle off her comics reading past like your typical Comics Journal interview subject. It also suggests that French cartoonists may not enjoy the same status tax-wise as creators in other art forms, which surprises me.
Update: I'm told that Une Election americaine has been out since May 2006! I have no idea why they were talking about it. Mon francais est tres mal, although I should have enough on the ball to read a date on French Amazon.com. Sheesh.
posted 10:05 am PST | Permalink
More Hints That The Jailing of Editor in Belarus Had Wider Political Context
This blog post suggests what seems to be cohering into conventional wisdom about the recent sentencing and imprisonment of Belarus newspaper editor Aleksandr Sdvishkov of the now-shuttered publication Zgoda, ostensibly for reprinting the Danish cartoons: that there is a wider political context centering around the office of the president. This would seem supported by the fact that the publication was shut down for what some articles openly state was supporting the losing candidate in the last presidential election. Sdvishkov is believed to be the only journalist tried and sentenced to prison for reprinting the controversial cartoons.
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Go, Bookmark: David Reddick's Blog
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Go, Look: Inventura
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Go, Look: Israeli Comics UK Show Site
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Go, Look: The Human Powerhouse
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Go, Look: Baby PSAs, Part Two
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* go, read: three of the cartoonists working for the Nickelodeon publishing juggernaut have created Mobius comic strips.
* not comics: Marvel and EA decide to terminate their deal, which was basically that EA could make games starring characters not covered by individual deals elsewhere, along with one of those things where EA was going to create characters that Marvel would then put into comic book form that never seem to ever amount to anything. The articles suggest that the one product to come out of the deal, "The Rise of the Imperfects," was something of a failure.
* publisher Chris Oliveros at Drawn and Quarterly shares the good news that Jason Lutes has been making a lot of Berlin pages, to the point where the comic book will be appearing in a fashion more like comics did in 1992 than the rate they tend to be released in 2008.
Although my inexact writing is at fault, I hope no one thought I was questioning the proper announcement of new issues of Berlin. It was more like I was wondering after a reaction of shared anticipation-to-read and excitement from fans and retailers that used to greet the arrival of popular new alt-comix comic books, including Berlin. I don't sense that to the extent I used to for any titles other than maybe Eightball and Optic Nerve, and as a fan of comics in the comic book format, I miss it. It may be that I'm at an age where I'm disconnected from that kind of reading experience, but I suspect it's further evidence that comics really is focused on the trade now. No matter the wider implications, more Berlin has me excited to hit a comics shop, and a flood of Berlin is terrific news.
* not comics: Joe Quesada crosses a picket line.
* a livejournaler named Jastor writes in amusing fashion about his early childhood obsession with being Spider-Man: "At my graduation from Kindergarten, I was actually very well behaved. For the first ten minutes. Ten minutes was about as long as I could go before I started to have extremely elaborate fantasies about being Spiderman."
* the San Jose Mercury-News talks to Darrin Bell about eight black strip cartoonists' forthcoming action designed to draw attention to the way their strips are perceived and purchased, and then reviews comics by black creators, both comic strip and comic book.
* the writer Ken Parille looks at an under-examined element of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's appropriation of comics imagery: the lettering.
* there are a lot of Marjane Satrapi interviews, but only one on The Colbert Report.
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Happy 32nd Birthday, Giwrgos Tsoukis!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Happy 50th Birthday, Jeph Loeb!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Happy 36th Birthday, Brian Wood!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Happy 32nd Birthday, Ryan Kelly!
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Quick hits
Craft
Sean Phillips Inks
Nick Abadzis Sketches
Sean Phillips Thumbnails
Dave Lasky Draws a Poster
History
Personal Takes On Superheroes
Don MacPherson on WGA Settlement and Marvel's Past
Industry
It's All About the Sales
David Welsh on Storefronts
Johanna Draper Carlson Leaves Savage Critics
Interviews/Profiles
ComiXology: Fred Chao
Shuffleboil: Bryan Talbot
Telegraph: Johnny Hicklenton
Shuffleboil: Gregory Crewdson
Las Vegas CityLife: Greg Rucka
Not Comics
Best List Ever
Best Video Ever
Chris Butcher in Japan Episode #243
Publishing
David Welsh on Omnibus Manga Trend
Run, Batroc, Run: Captain America's Got a Gun
Reviews
Paul O'Brien: Various
Chris Mautner: Various
Koppy McFad: Dear Julia,
Paul O'Brien: X-Men #207
Charles Yoakum: Local #8
Michael May: Astronaut Dad
John E. Mitchell: Percy Gloom
Al Kratina: Broken Fender #1
Charles Yoakum: Annihilation Vol. 3
Paul O'Brien: Astonishing X-Men #24
Leroy Douresseaux: I'll Be Your Slave
Graeme McMillan: Wonder Woman #16
Charles Yoakum: Gentlemen of the Road
Johanna Draper Carlson: Kagetora Vol. 8
John E. Mitchell: The Best American Comics 2007
Sean Kleefeld: Legends of the Dark Crystal Vol. 1
Douglas Wolk: Wizzywig Vol. 1, WWH Aftermath: Damage Control
January 28, 2008
CR Review: Lust
Creator: Ellen Forney
Publishing Information: Fantagraphics, hardcover, 168 pages, 2007, $19.95
Ordering Numbers: 978-1-56097-884-8
This book confused me. It's kind of freakishly gorgeous, running about the size of an address book and boasting a cover that not only features a smart, straight-forward design, but is smooth to the touch in a way where I kept picking it up and putting it against my skin. I suppose that could be my personal kink, and if I were one of the dozens of people from whose personal ads in the alt-weekly The Stranger this book is drawn, that might be the subject of my advertisement. And that's where things get muddled. For as much as you're likely not interested that I'm holding the book up to my cheek, that's how I feel about the content of every ad drawn by Forney that makes it into this book. Despite the usual cute, hinted-at warnings on the back cover and in the introductory text, there's little that interests about other people's desires put into print advertisement form -- unless , I suppose, reading such utilitarian confessions is one of your things. An attempt to bolster that material with a few interviews and an introduction that sets those interviews up doesn't go deep enough in providing specific human insight into what people want or why they want it or why the rest of us should be interested.
The way Lust proves most interesting is as the journal of a long-time freelance assignment, Forney putting her pleasing art style to use in a way that provides enough visual versatility neither she nor her regular audience gets bored. It's not stunt work, either. For the most part, Forney is restricted to a space that shares at least the same proportion from illustration to illustration, and she very frequently works within the confines of a ruled square. Forney draws lively, happy figures that I imagine works as a kind of positive grace note on a request or desire where some people might disapprove. Her lettering's attractive here, too, which is important given the central role of the text. If you like Forney's other work, you'll want this; it's really just an art book with a thematic twist. If you're looking for some sort of dissection of personals writing or left coast sexuality circa 2007, it's really just an art book with a thematic twist.
posted 5:00 pm PST | Permalink
International Press Institute Criticizes Legal Action Vs. Cartoonists in Turkey
The International Press Institute (IPI) has sent out a release drawing attention to a story that hit Turkish newspapers last Thursday: Musa Kart and Zafer Temocin were the subject of preliminary legal proceedings for caricatures of Turkey's president. This is slightly confusing in that past actions and threats of same against Kart and other cartoonists came from the office of the Prime Minister (currently Recep Tayyip Erdogan) as opposed to the office of the presidency (currently Abdullah Gul), although one supposes the result is the same. Oddly, the press release fails to mention the aggrieved party, which makes me think they may be holding back in case it is Erdogan and not Gul that's the offended party here, but that's just a hunch.
Both Kart and Temocin are cartoonists for the daily paper Cumhurryet, and the link describes the cartoons in some detail.
posted 10:05 am PST | Permalink
First Peek Back at Angouleme Festival
Although there will be a collective memory and Bart Beaty may take a more ruminative look back in a future column, it's fun to look around at initial impressions from the just-completed Festival International de la BD in Angouleme. Wire stories from Agence France-Presse Australia's ABC News have news briefs that reflect their specific geographical interests. China View has posted a small photo array that emphasizes the way the town transforms itself in terms of comics material. I'd suggest that aside from the role played by commerce, the biggest difference between conventions here and festivals there is the size of the towns where they're held and how the shows settle into them. France 24 looks at the Chinese presence at this year's festival. French comics press mainstay ActuaBD.com profiles the Grand Prix winners in straightforward fashion. Paul Gravett reprints an interview he did about BD and related subjects that might be a good place to get an overall impression of that market, if it's one with which you're unfamiliar. And if you missed our own Bart Beaty's first, initial, affectionate sigh of an article on the weekend in southwest France, it's nestled below today's postings here.
from Best Album winner The Arrival
posted 10:02 am PST | Permalink
Comics Chronicles: 2007 Was The Strongest Year in the DM Since 1995
John Jackson Miller sent me a note with this link to the Comics Chronicles Direct Market numbers for December, which allows them to do the fourth quarter of last year and the entire year 2007. The jist? All sales categories were up, including overall unit sales. They put Diamond's total 2007 at $429.9 million, which they say is a gain of nine percent. Overall, that makes 2007 the best year for the Direct Market since 1995, a time when the market was still receding a bit following 1993's astronomical numbers. If you're not a numbers person, the Comics Chronicles numbers are pretty easy to parse once you get past the initial visual impression of there being so many categories. If you are a numbers person, you hit the link 15 seconds ago and aren't reading this anymore.
December's issue of Thor, one of Marvel's high-selling 2007 titles
posted 10:00 am PST | Permalink
Go, Look: Cool Max Illustrations
thanks, Gil Roth
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Missed It: Major TCJ Interviews With Major Alt-Comix Generation Talent
Franz Fuchs wrote in to point out that with the Fantagraphics web site re-design has come the posting of three great, long TCJ interviews in PDF form.
*****
Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez:
*****
Peter Bagge:
*****
Jim Woodring:
*****
All three are really good; the Hernandez Brothers one came out in 1988 and had a major impact on a lot of young comics fans, including me.
There are more interviews with Fantagraphics cartoonists on this index page.
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Go, Read: Lengthy Profile of the Forgotten Cartoonist Billy Ireland
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Go, Read: The Ten-Cent Plague
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Go, Worship: Aroc of Zenith
Jog stumbles across a gigantic webcomic by legendary Flames of Gyro creator Jay "The First Cartoonist With An Original Comic Published by Fantagraphics" Disbrow
posted 9:45 am PST | Permalink
Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* I had fun last night appearing on Fanboy Radio. For some reason I was super-paranoid that I was going to curse, which made me watch what I said a little bit. Also, it was funny in that while I spend some time in the morning writing about comics I don't have many friends with whom I talk about geek stuff, so I might have seemed a little too excited to sound off on some of those topics! My thanks to Scott and the gang for having me on, and for the nice words in their intro.
* this may be the most entertaining article to surface over the weekend, how longtime Judge Dredd writer Alan Grant surveyed his 1980s science fiction work and found that a lot of it has become true.
* it's also hard to go wrong with a Steve Duin profile of Colleen Coover, well-illustrated.
* or a profile of Lew Sayre Schwartz by Eddie Campbell. This is a strong day in general.
* like this: the writer and critic Jeet Here wrote in to call attention to this post and its subsequent support pages over on Michael Barrier's super-popular site. It compare a breakdowns script for a 1949 Porky Pig comic book to the final product. Barrier also has some observations on the comic coming at it from an animation standpoint. I don't see a date on the essay, but I sure haven't seen it before.
* I'm not sure how I missed it, but Soleil and Marvel have signed an agreement by which Marvel will release several graphic novels into the American book market. This make sense in the way that Soleil is a big mainstream publisher I believe best known for its fantasy series and an approach to illustration and emphasis on figure drawing that should logically appeal to Marvel's core customer. Marvel finding material to introduce to the bookstore shelves makes a certain amount of sense as well. This might cause some trepidation in the way that North American audiences have almost never had an appetite for works from the French mainstream, let alone one that goes deep into anyone's catalog. It's almost to the point with these kinds of deals where even the fans are less "Wow, new graphic novels for me to buy!" than they are "Wow, new graphic novels for me to buy five years from now when they cost a dollar from Abebooks.com."
* Editor & Publisher previews the upcoming Anne Mergen exhibit at OSU. Mergen was the only female editorial cartoonist working in the US when she began working in 1933, and she enjoyed a 26-year career. It may just be my imagination, but it seems that OSU has been doing an admirable job putting its exhibit and curating spotlight onto forgotten or under-appreciated female cartoonists, which is a great thing. The Mergen exhibit opens Friday.
* not comics: they change comic book plots in adapting them to film in Asia, too.
* go, read: Evan Dorkin looks at some drawings in a housecleaning and ruminates on the DC rule against letting folks write and draw anything in their comics.
* speaking of strong days, the "go, look" section of this blog update, which will roll out soon after this post and remain placed above it in a spatial sense, has to be the best collection of things to look at we've had up here so far this year. So if by any chance you scroll past that section, please don't today!
* I'm told a great portion of this Murs video takes place at Golden Apple.
posted 9:30 am PST | Permalink
Happy 57th Birthday, Todd Klein!
posted 9:15 am PST | Permalink
Quick hits
Craft
Artist On Preparing Art For Zuda Project
Exhibits/Events
Go, See: Take The Bassa With Sabba
History
Punch 29
Punch 30
On the Smurfs at 50
Theories on Comic Book Death
Whatever Happened to Art Bouthillier?
Industry
Aurora and Yen Press Profiled
Convention Drought Over in Fort Wayne
Interviews/Profiles
The Star: Rem
The Observer: Chris Riddell
About.com: Brian K. Vaughan
The Journal Times: Stephan Pastis
The Oakland Press: Tiffany Peterson
Digital Strips: Scott Yoshinaga, Audra Furuichi
Publishing
Jason Aaron to Wolverine
Noting Wimpy Kid Success
David Reddick Launches Blog
Montreal Gazette Drops Strips
Notes From One Paper's Comics Survey
Dave Sim's Secret Project #1 Explained, Sort Of
Why is Doonesbury on the Editorial Page; Not Mallard Fillmore
Reviews
About.com: Y Square
Tina Tsai: Read or Die
Pauline Wong: Zig Zag Vol. 1
Richard Krauss: Death, Cold as Steel
Richard Crowson: Schulz and Peanuts
Richard Krauss: Tim Corrigan's Comics & Stories #17
January 27, 2008
Conversational Euro-Comics: Bart Beaty Reports In From Angouleme 01/27/08
By Bart Beaty
Napping on the train back to Paris this morning, I was awoken by a friend who whispered only "Dupuy Berberian," and a huge smile crossed my face. A perfect cap to one of the best Angouleme's I have ever attended. The Festival moves from strength to strength to strength with its presidency, honoring two cartoonists who are deeply committed to the form in its all its glorious varieties. Another wonderful selection -- I am counting down the days until next year already.
This was the first time in many years that I feared I may not take in all of the Festival. So much to see, and the weather had everyone lingering longer on the patios at lunch, giving the whole enterprise a more casual air. True, a few of the exhibitions seemed haphazardly put together, but the show pieces more than made up for it.
The CNBDI performed better than it has in years. In the lobby, a lovely, if small, showing of Bottaro originals. Taking the place of the Imaginary Museum exhibit which had ruled the main space for the past half decade, a phenomenal Argentinian comics exhibit curated by Jose Munoz. This was a must see, lovingly presented and showcased a ton of raw, and often little known, talent. The Munoz exhibit itself, though modest, was also lovely. Upstairs, to cap things off, a plethora of Ben Katchor originals. All in all, the Museum outdid itself once again.
Crowds seemed intense but reasonable on Saturday, which is to say that the biggest tents weren't terrifying. A number of books, including a few I was interested in, sold out, which had publishers in a good mood. The Festival will release some raw numbers in a couple of days, but I am sure everyone seems happy by the move back to the centre of town.
Well, not everyone. One tiny whiff of scandal seeped out on Saturday night at the awards when the winners of the Fanzine Prize lambasted the Festival for what they perceived as shoddy treatment. It is true that the location of the fanzine tent beside a tent whose main draw is the ultra-mainstream Soleil was less than ideal, and the tent itself was smaller than in the past, with some presses unable to get tables. The twinned draw of Italy's Canicola and America's Buenaventura Press right at the end of the tent seemed unable to attract the crowds, and I fear that the fanzine publishers might not have done as well as they would have liked. A location closer to the small press tent would've likely helped them.
But that public airing of (legitimate) grievances was one of the few sour notes for a Festival where everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The awards themselves were nicely presented, with an opening that featured an Argentinian singer, a guitarist and Jose Munoz live drawing in accompaniment -- an awesome sight. Equally gratifying was the generous reception accorded Carlos Sampayo, Munoz's longtime collaborator. Speeches were short and the awards moved along in a lively fashion, which is not always the case. Shaun Tan's victory, coming as it did with Tan not in attendance, seemed to take many by surprise and take some air out of the proceedings. My sense is that the work is not well known yet in France, though it will obviously garner more attention now.
All in all, a great turn around for Angouleme after last year's dismal performance. I will be back in a couple of days when I'm less exhausted with some more thoughts on the significance of the prizes, and maybe even a photo or two.
*****
To learn more about Dr. Beaty, or to contact him, try here.
Those interested in buying comics talked about in Bart Beaty's articles might try here or here.
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*****
posted 8:45 am PST | Permalink
Festival Prize at Angouleme Goes To Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian
Various on-line comics news sources bring first word this morning that the Angouleme Festival has awarded its biggest, overall honor to Charles Berberian and Philippe Dupuy, the pair behind the Monsieur Jean albums and a concurrent autobiographical series about their creation. If true, this would be 1) an excellent choice based on the quality of work, 2) the capper on a sustained Festival endorsement of the 1990s generation that began with previous choices Zep and Lewis Trondheim, 3) the first time a pair of artists has been named together.
The festival's Grand Prix is a singular honor in comics: not only is it an international award, not only is a massive amount of press attention focused on the winners' work, he/she/they also act as a principal focus for publicity leading up to next year's festival and serve as that festival's president, having direct influence if not outright responsibility for such things as the composition of the prize jury and the exhibits at the event. Plus, if I remember right, you're announced to the Festival by standing on a balcony and drinking champagne, kind of like the comics version of the smoke that announces a new pope, but with alcohol. It's one of the coolest things in comics.
Dupuy and Berberian's comics are published in North America by Drawn and Quarterly, and I recommend them all.
posted 6:30 am PST | Permalink
Go, Download Or Simply Read: Warren Craghead's New Work "Lisboa, Lisbon"
posted 6:00 am PST | Permalink
Five Link A Go Go
* go, read: Dustin Harbin reviews The Complete Persepolis
* go, read: Peter Simeti of Alterna Comics interviewed at ComiXology
* go, look: ComicsPRO announces their annual meeting details
* go, look: the creative outpourings of the Fantagraphics staff
* go, read: musing on the end of a comic book series
posted 5:00 am PST | Permalink
FFF Results Post #106 -- Oh, Brother
Five For Friday #106 Results
On Friday afternoon, participating CR readers were asked to "Name Five Famous Comics Brothers." Here are the results.
*****
Joe Ollmann and Tom Spurgeon
1. Hernandez
2. Hildebrandt
3. Crumb
4. Freak
5. Snoopy and Spike
*****
Dave Ferraro
1. The Luna Brothers!
2. The Summers Brothers! Cyclops, Havok and Vulcan
3. Charles Xavier and Juggernaut -- half-brothers...
4. Linus and Rerun from Peanuts!
5. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!
*****
Will Pfeifer
1. Leiber
2. Buscema
3. Deitch
4. Van Pelt (Linus and Rerun)
5. The old Batman villains Tweedledee and Tweedledum (they had to be brothers, right?)
*****
Marc Arsenault
The Leibers: Stan Lee and Larry
Speed Racer and Racer X (it was manga first)
The Summers: Havok & Cyclops
The Fabulous Furry Freak
Charles Xavier and Cain Marko (Juggernaut) (step brothers) from Berkeley, CA! And! No relation to Flint Marco the Sandman!
Freak on!
*****
Joe Schwind
Wallace and Theodore
Lucien and Louis
Hector and Paris
Jesse and Frank
Moe and Shemp
*****
Tom Bondurant
1. Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
2. Thor and Loki
3. Linus Van Pelt and Rerun Van Pelt
4. Jor-El and Zor-El
5. Adam Kubert and Andy Kubert
*****
Dave Hook
Tom and Joe Ollmann, great subject! I may be forgetful, but this was actually rather hard to come up with. Some of the brother combo's noted are perhaps somewhat cheap or hopeful, but here they are.
1. Scott (Cyclops) and Alex (Havok) Summers
2. Matt and "Mike" Murdock, (Daredevil's imaginary twin brother!)
3. Juggernaut and Professor X (all right, Juggernaut is his step-brother)
4. Nick Fury and Scorpio
5. Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu, and Midnight (yet another evil step-brother)
Hawk and Dove and the Furry Freak Brothers (both already taken) are among my favorites as well.
*****
John Vest
1. Kim and Simon Deitch
2. Tom and Rick Veitch
3. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
4. Zippy and Lippy
5. Black Bolt and Maximus The Mad
*****
Josh Fitzpatrick
5) Buscema
4) Luna
3) Pander
2) Kubert
1) Hanuka
*****
Evan Dorkin
1) John and Sal Buscema
2) Huey, Dewey and Louie
3) Hans and Fritz
4) Stan and Larry Lieber
5) The Thompson Twins (some say not, but they're referred to as brothers or twins in several Tintin volumes. If Snowy says it's so, I say it's so)
*****
Donnie Sticksel
Tomax & Xamot (GI Joe)
Black Bolt & Maximus
Matt & Mike Murdock
Don and Goody Rickles
The Trigger Twins
*****
Don MacPherson
1. Nick Fury & Scorpio
2. Aquaman & Ocean Master
3. The Fillbach Bros.
4. Cyclops & Havok
5. Professor X & Juggernaut
*****
Fred Hembeck
1. Stan and Larry Lieber
2. Herb and Mike Trimpe
3. Bill and Abe Vigoda
4. Matt and Mike Murdock
5. Adam and Stephen Strange (twins separated at birth -- and by galaxies and dimensions, too...)
*****
Kurt Busiek
1. The Jordans -- Hal, Jack and Jim
2. The Brothers of the Spear
3. The Summers - Scott, Alex and, uh, the third guy. Vulcan.
4. The Blood Brothers, who usedta fight Iron Man
5. The El brothers, Jor and Zor.
*****
Dean Milburn
1. Huey, Dewey & Louie Duck
2. Linus & Rerun van Pelt
3. Garth & Mekt Ranzz
4. Alex & Scott Summers
5. Orm & Arthur Curry
*****
Sean T. Collins
Buscema
Summers
Hernandez
Kubert
Tomax and Xamot
*****
Shannon Smith
Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Sal and John Buscema
The Kuberts
The Pander brothers
The Luna brothers
*****
James Langdell
1. Caplin (Al and Elliot)
2. Murdock (Matt and fictional Mike)
3. Post (Russ and Ron)
4. Van Pelt (Linus and Rerun)
5. Bat (Bemitched, Bemothered, and Bemildered)
*****
Chris Arrant
1. Kubert, Andy & Adam
2. Hernandez, Jamie & Mario & Gilbert
3. Luna, Jonathan & Joshua
4. Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba
5. Goldman, Steve & Dan
*****
El Tio Berni
1. Dupont & Dupont (Tintin)
2. Thor & Loki
3. David B & Jean-Christophe (Epileptic)
4. Sandman & Death
5. Dalton (Lucky Luke)
*****
Booksteve
1 - The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
2 - Lightning Lad and Lightning Lord
3 - Sal and John Buscema
4 - The Hangman and the Comet
5 - Superboy and Mon-El (sorta)
*****
Andrew J. Mansell
1. Rerun and Linus
2. The Liebers
3. The Caplins
4. Buscemas
5. The Raymonds
*****
Dave Knott
* Beagle Boys
* John & Sal Buscema
* Joe, William, Jack, and Averell Dalton
* Peter Parker and Ben Reilly
* Stanley & Larry Lieber
*****
Jeet Heer
Langridge Bros.
Friedman Bros.
Deitch Bros.
Brian and Greg Walker
Fleischer Bros.
*****
Bryan Munn
Brothers of the Spear, Dan-el and Natongo
Ches and Wal Nut
Pierre-Francois and Jean-Christophe Beauchard
Dalziel Brothers
Lightning Lad and Lord
*****
Thanks to all that participated. As always, joke responses greatly appreciated but may or may not be published, or published as letters, for reasons you can e-mail me about, and missives with more than five responses truncated. Please be on the lookout for the next Five for Friday.
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