Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* a convention note: MoCCA sent out an e-mail last week saying they still had some 2011 festival tables on sale at the pre-January prices. You can download an exhibitor application here, and I would assume you could ask questions through .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

* I recommended the Isaac Moylan/Sean Collins collaboration I Remember When The Monsters Started Coming For The Cars last night, but this morning taking a peek at it again it reminded me of something I was always surprised they never did in the Hulk films: put onto celluloid one of Greenskin's random inflictions of violence upon random people otherwise living their lives. Both films always kept the Hulk's violence within instances of the anti-military narrative or other, similar, plotlines. Bruce Banner never woke up from anything that would have made the average person feel horrified and slightly ashamed and terrified about what might come next. "Well, I turn into this giant, green being, and then I seem to put down a series of assholes that mean me harm." This is a problem? The Hulk himself, this embodiment of uncontrolled anger that never did anything but facilitate plot points, therefore seemed a lot smaller and less random and less scary than he might have been. They were monster movies without a monster.

* not comics: whoa, Tintin pictures!

* I made a vow a long time ago not to write about comics projects that generate a lot of press if I can't somehow at the same time get my hands on some actual comics, so I hope to read these soon.

* '90s nostalgia isn't a personal favorite, but you sort of have to give it up for the decade-defining awesomeness that is Thor Corps.

* this Mike Bertino illustration for LA Weekly keeps easy company with his recent, nice-to-look-at work.

* I don't know exactly what's going on in this article, but I've just made it my life's mission to own a set of Moomin dishes.

* Jason Thompson reviews Japan, Inc. I was one of hundreds of college student that used this as a economics text book, in my case back in Winter 1988. I don't remember it being any better or any worse than any other textbook I had for a subject for which I didn't care.

* I forgot to mention this story about Mort Walker closer to the time it actually happened. It's pretty self-explanatory. That seems like a very sweet honor, and I wouldn't have minded at all eating a burger and laughing with my college friends near a wall full of vintage Mort Walker cartoons. I imagine for most people it will be background they'll hardly remember, but such is the way of life, right?

* I didn't watch the first episode of the AMC adaptation of Walking Dead last night as I was on candy duty, but I'm a fan of the series and think it works particularly well as a serial comic book. One key element from my perspective -- for those of you who have dabbled and felt that they were missing something, or haven't read it at all -- is that Kirkman tweaks two pop culture concepts to great effect. The first is that as an ongoing comics series the dread and horror of a zombie-devastated world increases as the comic keeps going, and thus the format helps Walking Dead avoid the pitfall that zombie movies have where a reasonably quick resolution or at least a stopping point is required and played against. The second is that as an independent comic book, Kirkman is free to take the story in whatever direction he wants, which may not be a big thing to you and me as grizzled veterans of such works but if this is the first comic book series you've read outside of the cape and cowl corner of the field, or the first piece of zombie fiction you've experienced outside of watching a lot of largely formulaic genre movies, that freedom from acting as a corporate property caretaker must seem ruthless, inspired and slightly unhinged. I don't believe that comics works hit with people if they aren't well-crafted and generally effective in the way they execute what it is they're trying to execute, but inspired twists on formula or happy accidents of popular sub-culture can add some spice to the stew, that's for sure. Here's a review of the series to date.

* not comics: the always-interesting Robert Boyd talks about the difference in literary criticism and art criticism in terms of markets served.

* James Kochalka, involved parent.

* not comics: how come every time I see a photo of Bob Crane I think of Bill Maher?

* speaking of photos, I really like this one from the Long Beach Comic Con.

* when I was younger I used to laugh at the older comics readers I knew for finding the Image school of art repellent in exactly the way they found it repellent. Now I'm the old guy and I looked at this image from that new Superman: Earth One book and I found it vaguely distasteful in some undefinable way. I think it's the abdominal muscles, but I'm not sure. Also, please let my psychiatrist not be reading the site today.

* not comics: there's no way to know if this will be any good, although as I've been watching In The Loop semi-compulsively (thanks, Gil), I sure hope so.

* not comics: how come this never comes up in discussions of great comics-to-film adaptations?

* finally, it's good to hear the longtime writer-about-comics Alan David Doane had a successful rent sale. He expresses his appreciation here, and notes the stuff that's remaining and/or has been added. He wrote me an e-mail saying every package save one has already been sent.
 
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