* there were some problematic elements to some designs used by TK Ryan, but it was also one of those strips that seemed to streamline its art style and it moved forward, and looking back at the art style from the first few years reveals almost a completely different feature. These are pretty handsome.
* bundled extra: forgot that we'll see an issue of Pope Hats this month. I'm beginning to think that I was so oriented towards serial comics publication that I'm never going to get used to any system that puts books first.
Your 2018 Eisner Awards Nominees
I was super crabby just publishing this article, and I'm not sure why. Thirty-two categories -- I might be wrong, I was typing quickly -- struck me as an extravagance; it took me three hours to format the article and I didn't even link the work to corresponding pieces of material. I don't think it was a particularly great year in comics. I know everyone tries to make the best work they can and the critics involved try to praise the best work they can find, as best as they're able to say so. The dance of it just struck me as sadder than usual this year, the whole exercise.
There are a lot of comics people in pain and a lot of people desperate for money right now. Many are scared to death. Some of them were at one time near money that resulted from comics; other times I've had people tell me that the possibility of living comfortably or healthily based on making comics seems like a distant fantasy. Even for ten minutes. It's a joke everyone else gets to laugh at. Nobody seems to find whatever life that results from ink and paper to be a particularly easy one, although some feel at better advantage than others. I think I would find a master flowchart related to the Avengers movies of who made what and when related to what kind and degree of work to be soul-crushingly depressing. The Mike Mantlo news made me sad: a brother's love and support tossed against the shore. We get another round of Men In Black soon. We'll get a cycle of hopeful changes in the industry soon after. And off we go.
I want sloppy, beautiful, devastating art. I want experiences through art that are troubling and terrifying and joyful. I want to be desperate to catch up.
The object of my affection may not be the same as yours, and in fact I hope it isn't. I want to die with my head on its shoulder.
*****
*****
Best Short Story
* "Get Naked in Barcelona," by Steven T. Seagle and Emei Olivia Burrell, in Get Naked (Image)
* "The Ghastlygun Tinies," by Matt Cohen and Marc Palm, in MAD magazine #4 (DC)
* "Here I Am," by Shaun Tan, in I Feel Machine (SelfMadeHero)
* "Life During Interesting Times," by Mike Dawson (The Nib), https://thenib.com/greatest-generation-interesting-times
* "Supply Chains," by Peter and Maria Hoey, in Coin-Op #7 (Coin-Op Books)
"The Talk of the Saints," by Tom King and Jason Fabok, in Swamp Thing Winter Special(DC)
*****
Best Single Issue/One-Shot
* Beneath the Dead Oak Tree, Emily Carroll (ShortBox)
* Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox (Dark Horse)
* No Better Words, Carolyn Nowak (Silver Sprocket)
* Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, by Chip Zdarsky (Marvel)
* The Terrible Elisabeth Dumn Against the Devils In Suits, Arabson, translated by James Robinson (IHQ Studio/ Image)
*****
Best Continuing Series
* Batman, Tom King et al. (DC)
* Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Rich Tommaso (Dark Horse)
* Gasolina, Sean Mackiewicz and Niko Walter (Skybound/Image)
* Giant Days, John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal (BOOM! Box)
* The Immortal Hulk, Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, and Ruy José (Marvel)
* Runaways, Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka (Marvel)
*****
Best Limited Series
* Batman: White Knight, Sean Murphy (DC)
* Eternity Girl, Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew (Vertigo/DC)
* Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Mark Russell, Mike Feehan, and Mark Morales (DC)
* Mister Miracle, Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
* X-Men: Grand Design: Second Genesis, Ed Piskor (Marvel)
*****
Best New Series
* Bitter Root, David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Green (Image)
* Crowded, Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt (Image)
* Gideon Falls, Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Image)
* Isola, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl (Image)
* Man-Eaters, Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Image)
* Skyward, Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett (Image)
*****
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)
* Johnny Boo and the Ice Cream Computer, James Kochalka (Top Shelf/IDW)
* Petals, by Gustavo Borges (KaBOOM!)
* Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths, Graham Annable (First Second)
* This Is a Taco! By Andrew Cangelose and Josh Shipley (CubHouse/Lion Forge)
* Tiger Vs. Nightmare, Emily Tetri (First Second)
*****
Best Publication for Kids (ages 9–12)
* Aquicorn Cove, Katie O'Neill (Oni)
* Be Prepared, Vera Brosgol (First Second)
* The Cardboard Kingdom, Chad Sell (Knopf/Random House Children's Books)
* Crush, Svetlana Chmakova (JY/Yen Press)
* The Divided Earth, Faith Erin Hicks (First Second)
*****
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17)
* All Summer Long, Hope Larson (Farrar Straus Giroux)
* Gumballs, by Erin Nations (Top Shelf/IDW)
* Middlewest, Skottie Young and Jorge Corona (Image)
* Norroway, Book One: The Black Bull of Norroway, Cat Seaton and Kit Seaton (Image)
* The Prince and the Dressmaker, Jen Wang (First Second)
* Watersnakes, Tony Sandoval, translated by Lucas Marangon (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
*****
Best Humor Publication
* Get Naked, Steven T. Seagle et al. (Image)
* Giant Days, John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal (BOOM! Box)
* MADÂ magazine, edited by Bill Morrison (DC)
* A Perfect Failure: Fanta Bukowski 3, Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics)
* Woman World, Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)
*****
Best Anthology
* Femme Magnifique: 50 Magnificent Women Who Changed the World, edited by Shelly Bond (Black Crown/IDW)
* Puerto Rico Strong, edited by Marco Lopez, Desiree Rodriguez, Hazel Newlevant, Derek Ruiz, and Neil Schwartz (Lion Forge)
* Twisted Romance, edited by Alex de Campi (Image)
* Where We Live: A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas, edited by Will Dennis, curated by J. H. Wzilliams III and Wendy Wright-Williams (Image)
*****
Mest Reality-Based Work
* All the Answers: A Graphic Memoir, Michael Kupperman (Gallery 13)
* All the Sad Songs, Summer Pierre (Retrofit/Big Planet)
* Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, Box Brown (First Second)
* Monk! by Youssef Daoudi (First Second)
* One Dirty Tree, Noah Van Sciver (Uncivilized Books)
*****
Best Graphic Album -- New
* Bad Girls, Alex de Campi and Victor Santos (Gallery 13)
* Come Again, Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)
* Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1, Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (DC)
* Homunculus, Joe Sparrow (ShortBox)
* My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
* Sabrina, Nick Drnaso (Drawn & Quarterly)
*****
Best Graphic Album -- Reprint
* Berlin, Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly)
* Girl Town, by Carolyn Nowak (Top Shelf/IDW)
* Upgrade Soul, Ezra Claytan Daniels (Lion Forge)
* The Vision hardcover, by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and Michael Walsh (Marvel)
* Young Frances, Hartley Lin (AdHouse Books)
*****
Best Adaptation from Another Medium
* Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Ari Folman and David Polonsky (Pantheon)
* "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection, adapted by Junji Ito, translated by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)
* Out in the Open by Jesus Carraso, adapted by Javi Rey, translated by Lawrence Schimel (SelfMadeHero)
* Speak: The Graphic Novel, Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll (Farrar Straus Giroux)
* To Build a Fire: Based on Jack London's Classic Story, Chabouté (Gallery 13)
*****
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
* About Betty's Boob, Vero Cazot and Julie Rocheleau, translated by Edward Gauvin (Archaia/BOOM!)
* Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, Pénélope Bagieu (First Second)
* Herakles Book One, Edouard Cour, translated by Jeremy Melloul (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
* Niourk, Stefan Wul and Olivier Vatine, translated by Brandon Kander and Diana Schutz (Dark Horse)
* A Sea of Love, Wilfrid Lupano and Grégory Panaccione (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
*****
Best U.S. Edition of International Material -- Asia
* Abara: Complete Deluxe Edition, Tsutomu Nihei, translated by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)
* Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Inio Asano, translated by John Werry (VIZ Media)
* Laid-Back Camp, Afro, translated by Amber Tamosaitis (Yen Press)
* My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, Nie Jun, translated by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe/Lerner)
* Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Akiko Higashimura (Kodansha)
*****
Best Archival Collection/Project -- Strips
* Pogo, vol. 5: Out of This World At Home, Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
* Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Strips in Color (1959–1960), Jack Kirby, Wally Wood et al., edited by Ferran Delgado (Amigo Comics)
* Star Wars: Classic Newspaper Strips, vol. 3, by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, edited by Dean Mullaney (Library of American Comics/IDW)
* The Temple of Silence: Forgotten Words and Worlds of Herbert Crowley, Justin Duerr (Beehive Books
* Thimble Theatre and the Pre-Popeye Comics of E. C. Segar, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
*****
Best Archival Collection/Project -- Comic Books
* Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition, edited by Paul Levitz (DC)
* Bill Sienkiewicz's Mutants and Moon Knights... And Assassins... Artifact Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
* Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet (Drawn & Quarterly)
* Madman Quarter Century Shindig, Mike Allred, edited by Chris Ryall (IDW)
* Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise Gallery Edition, edited by Joseph Melchior and Bob Chapman (Abstract Studio/Graphitti Designs)
* Will Eisner's A Contract with God: Curator's Collection, edited by John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)
*****
Best Writer
* Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)
* Tom King, Batman, Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)
* Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Doctor Star & the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows, Quantum Age (Dark Horse); Descender, Gideon Falls, Royal City (Image)
* Mark Russell, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound, Lex Luthor/Porky Pig (DC); Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
* Kelly Thompson, Nancy Drew (Dynamite); Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Mr. & Mrs. X, Rogue & Gambit, Uncanny X-Men, West Coast Avengers (Marvel)
* Chip Zdarsky, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One (Marvel)
*****
Best Writer/Artist
* Sophie Campbell, Wet Moon (Oni)
* Nick Drnaso, Sabrina (Drawn & Quarterly)
* David Lapham, Lodger (Black Crown/IDW); Stray Bullets (Image)
* Nate Powell, Come Again (Top Shelf/IDW)
* Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
* Jen Wang, The Prince and the Dressmaker (First Second)
*****
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
* MatÃas Bergara, Coda (BOOM!)
* Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)
* Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)
* Sonny Liew, Eternity Girl (Vertigo/DC)
* Sean Phillips, Kill or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (Image)
* Yanick Paquette, Wonder Woman Earth One, vol. 2 (DC)
*****
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
* Lee Bermejo, Batman: Damned (DC)
* Carita Lupatelli, Izuna Book 2 (Humanoids)
* Dustin Nguyen, Descender (Image)
* Gregory Panaccione, A Sea of Love (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
* Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
*****
Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)
* Jen Bartel, Blackbird (Image); Submerged (Vault)
* Nick Derington, Mister Miracle (DC)
* Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)
* Joshua Middleton, Batgirl and Aquaman variants (DC)
* Julian Tedesco, Hawkeye, Life of Captain Marvel (Marvel)
*****
Best Coloring
* Jordie Bellaire, Batgirl, Batman (DC); The Divided Earth (First Second); Days of Hate, Dead Hand, Head Lopper, Redlands (Image); Shuri, Doctor Strange (Marvel)
* Tamra Bonvillain, Alien 3 (Dark Horse); Batman, Doom Patrol (DC); Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Multiple Man (Marvel)
* Nathan Fairbairn, Batman, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman Earth One, vol. 2 (DC); Die!Die!Die! (Image)
* Matt Hollingsworth, Batman: White Knight (DC): Seven to Eternity, Wytches (Image)
* Matt Wilson, Black Cloud, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); The Mighty Thor, Runaways (Marvel)
*****
Best Lettering
* David Aja, Seeds (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
* Jim Campbell, Breathless, Calexit, Gravetrancers, Snap Flash Hustle, Survival Fetish, The Wilds (Black Mask); Abbott, Alice: Dream to Dream, Black Badge, Clueless, Coda, Fence, Firefly, Giant Days, Grass Kings, Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass, Low Road West, Sparrowhawk (BOOM); Angelic (Image); Wasted Space (Vault)
* Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)
* Jared Fletcher, Batman: Damned (DC); The Gravediggers Union, Moonshine, Paper Girls, Southern Bastards (Image)
* Todd Klein -- Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald (Dark Horse); Batman: White Night (DC); Eternity Girl, Books of Magic (Vertigo/DC); The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest (Top Shelf/IDW)
*****
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
* Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)
* The Columbus Scribbler, edited by Brian Canini, columbusscribbler.com
* Comicosity, edited by Aaron Long and Matt Santori,  www.comicosity.com
* LAAB Magazine #0: Dark Matter, edited by Ronald Wimberley and Josh O'Neill (Beehive Books)
* PanelxPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, panelxpanel.com
*****
Best Comics-Related Book
* Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978, Keith Dallas and John Wells (TwoMorrows)
* Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists, Martha H. Kennedy (University Press of Mississippi)
* The League of Regrettable Sidekicks, Jon Morris (Quirk Books)
* Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser, Dewey Cassell with Jeff Messer (TwoMorrows)
* Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography -- Beyond the Fantasy, Florent Gorges, translated by Laure Dupont and Annie Gullion (Dark Horse)
*****
Best Academic/Scholarly Work
* Between Pen and Pixel: Comics, Materiality, and the Book of the Future, Aaron Kashtan (Ohio State University Press)
* Breaking the Frames: Populism and Prestige in Comics Studies, Marc Singer (University of Texas Press)
* The Goat-Getters: Jack Johnson, the Fight of the Century, and How a Bunch of Raucous Cartoonists Reinvented Comics, Eddie Campbell (Library of American Comics/IDW/Ohio State University Press)
* Incorrigibles and Innocents, Lara Saguisag (Rutgers Univeristy Press)
* Sweet Little Cunt: The Graphic Work of Julie Doucet, Anne Elizabeth Moore (Uncivilized Books)
* by request extra: I was honored to be a part of a successful crowd-funding campaign organized in part by that great friend of comics Caitlin McGurk to bury the late cartoonist Barbara Shermund with her family. Shermund was a unique talent and an important cartoonist in capturing an element of the experience of women in comics form in the 20th Century. The campaign started with McGurk's excellent work in curation of a show at the Billy Ireland, a show that may get to travel a little bit. There were lot of great cartoonists and generous souls that donated to that campaign. I hope that future campaigns of this type exploded out of the great and raise their needed amounts in 24-, 36-hour bursts of appreciation and pride. I believe that the future of comics is care for cartoonists, and a humane standard for a foundation of that care is the community burying its dead. Kudos to McGurk and her team.
* finally, some not comics: I never thought about this very much, but I suppose that some folks process things like the manufactured narrative moment when Robin was murdered by Joker as something that happened with an actual human-type story element involved rather than a phone-in contest at its center. Stories read by kids can be tough that way, even before the demands and relentless serials and their ability to go to absurd lengths to keep the string of events constantly moving forward. I think it's that the stories do both at the same time that I find most interesting.
This Isn’t A Library: New, Notable Releases From Comics’ Direct Market
*****
Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.
I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.
*****
NOV180723 FULL BLEED COMICS & CULTURE QUARTERLY HC VOL 03 $25.00
I haven't jumped into bed for a long weekend with the Full Bleed hardcovers, but I love that they exist in a period where most writing about comics is on the low-end of on-line permanence. The more projects that leave you scratching your head about their unlikely nature, the better off all of us are. It's been a while since I've read a Morrison and he's been good for at least one fun one once a decade since Amazing Heroes.
FEB190137 CRIMINAL #4 (MR) $3.99 FEB190470 ACTION COMICS #1010 $3.99 FEB198467 DIE #2 4TH PTG (MR) $3.99 FEB198468 DIE #3 3RD PTG (MR) $3.99
I like Criminal as a serial, and it may be one of a handful of well-conceived offerings of that type this entire century to date. If there were a dozen more comics like it out there, I'd have actual books on my bookshelves. I enjoy these Superman comics by Brian Michael Bendis, although it's not a priority buy just because my general tastes are elsewhere now. I'd love a cop TV show and a sitcom this generally accessible and solid, for sure. Die is running up the multiple editions and the subsequent printings that indicates an indy-genre hit, and we're due one with a gaming theme given the resurgence of that world in recent years.
FEB191405 PHOEBE & HER UNICORN GN VOL 09 UNICORN BOWLING $9.99
The Phoebe & Her Unicorn books are a regular buy from me, both familiar and completely idiosyncratic like my favorite 1970s high concept strips in paperback form.
FEB192023 WE DIG WORMS SC $6.99 FEB192022 STINKY SC NEW PTG $6.99
There may be one or two more of these books from the deeper parts of the TOON catalog. But the ones I see offered here are solid efforts. You want all the comics Eleanor Davis ever does.
JAN191911 ART OF PLOOG HC VOL 02 $49.00 JAN191912 ART OF PLOOG LTD S&N HC VOL 02 $275.00
I don't always know who the hell is buying certain art-book projects, but I can figure out the kind of person who would want one in this case, because that includes. I wish I lived in a different tax bracket to facilitate an easy buy for work like this. You don't have to own everything, though, and I will check this out in public-copy form at some future date and really enjoy that, too.
JAN191933 PHANTOM COMP DAILIES HC VOL 15 1957-1958 (RES) $60.00
I would have made the Plug the image, but I could find a flat cover. I hate those three-quarters angles ones, and I'm not even sure I know why. I love with equal passion the Wilson McCoy era of Phantom, a crudely solid adventure strip that's 10 percent from the land of loopy people. I laugh at least once every 50 pages.
*****
The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.
To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.
The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.
If I failed to list your comic, that's because I hate you.
Mark Waid Provides Update On His Comicsgate-Related Case Here. Waid seems pretty happy with this recent development.
Me, I never feel safe about lawsuits until those involved have been retired for ten years and/or perhaps passed away. There have been a lot of bad decisions made in a lot of courtrooms, and this will likely continue intermittently until the end of time.
I do think this particular update gets at the heart of what I worry after in this recent case and a few others like it, the idea that there's a righteous threat for people to oppose that should keep people from expressing opinions within an artistic community. A negative opinion of someone shouldn't be conflated with an unfair outcome, ever. It's two very different things, with different standards.
At any rate, I hope this case goes away sooner rather than later.
The LCP Is Now The LCSP: May Its Reign Be A Short Run
It's probably time we start looking at micro-analysis of all of theses article about comics shops closing. We used to do this for Local Cartoonist Profile -- what kind of comics those that got those write-up were doing, where they were living. There are geographical nuggets of information and how those shops present themselves that are important with the shop closure pieces.
It seems to me we're seeing more stories about real estate costs hurting these ruggedly local merchants, and that the primary virtue of the stores in trouble are their community. I've always thought comics culture has made too much of the community aspect. I have never sought community at a comic book shop, but I have sought plenty of 1970s Jack Kirby at less than $2 a pop. Is a fan community of people looking at screen a fan community or a phone community? Who knows?
Two connecting to look for as well is few article about a catastrophic cause and more about the desire people have enjoy multiple career across a business lifetime. Expect a lot of retiree second businesses to have stapled paper involved somehow over the next 20 years. All bets are off if one of the extinction events finally rolls into plain view.
Comics By Request: People, Places In Need Of Funding By Tom Spurgeon
* it looks like the aggressive sales of the last several days may be in the past, but I'm sure Wayne Alan Harold could use any extra sales you might think of supplying given the recent sicknesses of P. Craig Russell's longtime publishing partner.
* Bill Mantlo's family has exhausted their resources taking care of the injured writer. This was depressing when we originally learned about it, and just sort of nauseating and awful for how much money has been earned in the last half-decade by work he co-created for Marvel with none of it diverted to improving his situation. Marvel could take care of this pretty easily, although there are the usual reasons why this can't happen that don't seem to matter when someone of sufficient standing decides they want them to happen.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up * bundled extra: Bob Levin will someday soon write about Edward Gorey -- at least an introduction's worth.
* I know how Hollywood works enough to know I shouldn't even think this stuff is worth noting because it's inevitable, but I'm tired of Success Of Marvel articles the don't mention the comic book creators, primarily Jack Kirby. They didn't even provide names to the creators that drew Nick Fury as Samuel L. Jackson, an act of creation they deem important enough to single out. It is quite the achievement that Marvel's team turned some of those movies into franchises, but they wouldn't have been movies without being comics first. If I had to replicate one of those achievements to gain entry into heaven, I wouldn't have chosen Jack's. The idea that Marvel turned a bunch of lousy leads into real estate gold has been overstated. If Kevin Feige was talking to pop culture observers that somehow thought Billionaire in A Robot Suit helmed by Hollywood's most desired "we-want-this-guy-to-have-a hit" actors of the moment was a dog, he was talking to all the stupid ones and ignoring a bunch of those I kept running into that thought this pretty difficult to fuck up. That big a movie, maybe not, but some sort of jaw-dropping reversal of severe risk? Come on.
* it sounds like Graeme McMillan found that "we're going to make you the new Marvel or at least the next Netflix deal" article from a while back as dumb to the point of dishonesty as I did. That was so cynical and awful I had to sleep on a pile of NYRC books for three days just to stop barfing.
* finally: here's a nice story from that nice man Steve Duin about a nice-sounding comics store. Let's all sell the things we love.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* it is so sad that anyone associated with billions of dollars of profit generation has to have family members go into debt for their primary care. Literally drunk bros in Vegas, some of the worst people on the planet, are more generous tipping people who stood near cards that came their way for a couple of hours than creative industry people are for an act of creation that provided them with untold riches. We are an awful people.
* this is a loathsome story about a loathsome human being: Al Capp. That world is still with us because those that lived through it still are. Also because it's still with us.
Lauren Weinstein, Keiler Roberts Win This Year’s Cartoonist Studio Prizes
That's Roberts and her print entry Chlorine Gardens up top, with Lauren Weinstein's Fronter #17 story "Mother's Walk" on the bottom. Co-sponsor Slate has a write-up here. In addition to both of those comics being good ones, I think they're representative of the moment. Seek these comics out.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up * for no particular reason I'd like to present this Fred Guardineer panel. Reading the paper in-costume is just asking for it, really.
* bundled extra: a comic-con related story in the Criminal series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips will be out this summer for SDCC.
Bundled, Tossed, Untied And Stacked: Publishing News By Tom Spurgeon
* New York Review Comics had a colossal year last year and it's a momentum they've kept into this one. Some of these books look great, and it's nice to see former Picturebox stalwart Frank Santoro find a publisher for his recent book published in Europe before its this North American partnership.
* industry veteran Dave Roman will be editing a line of graphic novels drawn on key moments in American history, which sounds cool. We'll get to see some more history comics from Chris Schweizer, a cartoonist I like very much working in that mode. Dibs on the script for a Henry Highland Garnet bio. We are definitely getting to the point where kids comics have comparable weight to every other type of comic based on any number of measurables.
* here's a follow-up at the Washington Post about Darrin Bell's win in the editorial cartooning category of the Pulitzer Prizes. The focus seems to be Bell's shift from politically-cognizant strip cartoonist to more formal editorial cartoonist.
* finally: Pittsburgh congratulates the Pulitzer finalist Rob Rogers, even if it wasn't too long ago the on-time regional fixture was walked to city limits and given a bindle.
* this book from Abrams seems to me way more interesting to comics all by itself than that pile of dreadful-sounding garbage foisted on the world via last week's movie convention whatever that was. Comics have been better than film for a long time now, we own the 21st Century, and I hope the new few panels of forthcoming comics announcements at comics shows are covered by comics sites in something approaching that breathless manner.
Assembled, Zipped, Transferred And Downloaded: News From Digital By Tom Spurgeon
* the magazine Draw!will be offering a podcast with veterans Mike Manley, Jamar Nicholas and Bret Blevins. There's a resurgent interest in podcasts generally which should fuel a lot of relaunches and reinvigorated efforts through the end of this year.
* longtime creative partners and friends Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld have launched a podcast Scene By Scene. It does look like we'll be getting another wave of focused podcasts, including from a lot of name cartoonists. I hope there's more fun stuff than cynical.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up * the idea of spacing out these genre franchise films enters the discussion. That could have an effect on comics down the road, and could also not have any effect at all.
* by request extra: the fundraiser for medical bills caused by a post-convention hemorrhage suffered by Joyce Chin is at its halfway point. Please consider giving.
* here's a focus on the forthcoming hotel sale at SDCC. This used to be a more stressful time of the year, as I think more of a professional freelance pool depended on going to SDCC and depended on getting a room from their list in order to facilitate such a strip. I would imagine almost everyone that still uses SDCC in that matter has some sort of connection to the professional round of room securement. Not all, though.
* spoke to a number people about the passing of industry veteran writer James Hudnall two days ago, a day short of his 62nd birthday. One thing to remember is that like many old creators, Hudnall's career was dominated during its last half-decade by health issues for which he couldn't pay without community help, which was a tough sale for some given his conservative leanings. I hope in the next few decades we can do better for older creators. We now know that comics have literary value and immediate pop-culture currency. Caring for creators is the next industry-defining crusade. Our continued best wishes to those who felt a more personal loss here.
Random Comics New Story Round-Up
* here are parts of Alex Jones' massive deposition about his use of Pepe The Frog. It's good to hear from the accompanying article that Jones is something of a last holdout here. I think Matt Furie had a right not to lose his character that way, and I know that he was losing his character to that use because people kept asking me why Furie was allowing it before he snapped back via lawsuit and threat of same.
Bundled, Tossed, Untied And Stacked: Publishing News By Tom Spurgeon
* some initial details about covers and broad plot lines for the Jonathan Hickman-led X-Men efforts at Marvel. I think there is a lot of room with that particular set of characters to do some attention-grabbing things, and it's a smart move to hire someone that's interested in narrative comics on the conceptual letter like the writer in question.
* Gene Luen Yang's occasionally mentioned graphic novel of one year (2014) in the life of a youth basketball team is apparently due in 2020.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up * here's an attempt at an oral history of webcomics. I haven't found time to go read it yet. I can't imagine anything like this would make anyone 100 percent happy. Webcomics weren't only legitimately and terrifically diverse and wide-ranging and thus hard to pin down, it suffered from an additional blind-men-feeling-an-elephant factor where folks could be made to feel as if their corner of that world were the entire world. I appreciate the attention to webcomics as its own thing, no matter how it turns out. Let's hope.
* not comics: more Walking Dead television. I've been staring at those shows to see if they gave me an idea what might be done with the comic book longterm, and damned if I can tell anything worth reporting.
* not comics: Preacher will end after season four. I was never a great fan of that comic book series, but there was some interesting writing and acting on that TV show. It was super-uneven, though. I always wonder what happens to great big comics series like that if the legitimizing TV show is more of a handshake than high-five.
* Gary Tyrrell focus his Mocca Festival coverage on what various folks within his primary coverage area might be up to in the near future. Lot of names, lot of news.
* I've had two conversations in the last two days with cartoonists that seem to believe that the acquisition of original art is a big deal ready to become a bigger deal in the current comics landscape. I'm not going to argue; that's a great way to make a bit of money. It just doesn't apply to everyone, even in the best of circumstance. Still, it might be worth considering allowing pages to stay together in a way that would facilitate this kind of sale.
* finally, David Willis crushed the last iteration of Dumbing Of Age in its ask phase.
* not comics: Andrew Weiss is going to write about his father's passing. This sort of personal essay used to be a lot more common 10-12 years ago, so I'm looking forward to devouring this one.
* another day, another flare of the general issue of pirating comics. Given sales, especially single-unit comic book sale, the idea that some are choosing to read for free is bound to be an issue. I still hew pretty closely to the creators rights construction here.
* finally, if you missed it congrats to Katie Skelly on her near-immediate sell-out of a first printing of Maids #1 and jump in line for the mid-April second printing now.
The Never-Ending, Four-Color Festival: Shows And Events
By Tom Spurgeon
* here's a preview of this year's MoCCA Festival, with a focus on the Society of Illustrators' new political cartoons show. I wonder if that show is the one that has the highest turnover at five and ten year intervals.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up * Matt Seneca on Little Bird.
* Samantha Puc digs into recent allegations against creator Jai Nitz about a series of harassment incidents. It is tough reading, but I hope as many people as possible dive into it. There was a time, and it might still be that time for some people, were it was weirdly demanded of harassment incidents that they follow a really rigid Afterschool Special scene of violence expressly declared against protestations of same. Puc's description of near-perpetual, aggressive disruption of boundaries seems to paint a different picture and I think a more revealing one that doesn't allow a script out. Both are incidents of violence, and everything like them needs to be gone forever. Our deepest sympathies to the victims in this case. Dark Horse has ended their relationship with the creator.
This Isn’t A Library: New, Notable Releases Into Comics’ Direct Market
*****
Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.
I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.
*****
FEB191279 GIANT DAYS #49 $3.99 SEP180593 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN JUBILEE ED HC $75.00 FEB190138 DIE #5 CVR A HANS (MR) $3.99 FEB190139 DIE #5 CVR B MACK (MR) $3.99 FEB190217 WALKING DEAD #190 (MR) $3.99 JAN190870 WAR OF REALMS #1 (OF 6) $5.99 FEB191761 CANNABIS ILLEGALIZATION OF WEED IN AMERICA HC GN (MR) $24.99 JAN191899 IS THIS HOW YOU SEE ME HC LOVE & ROCKETS $19.99 DEC181798 LEAVING RICHARDS VALLEY HC $32.95 FEB191983 WINSOR MCCAY THE COMPLETE LITTLE NEMO HC VOL 01 1905 TO 1909 $80.00 FEB191902 ADVENTURES OF ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT HC $29.95 JAN198945 APOCALYPSE TACO $14.99
I'm off to a doctor's appointment this morning so I'm behind on this. I also trusted the Diamond page on what the big hits of the week might be, so I'm going to spend some time when I get back working in images for Leaving Richards Valley and the Jaime. Beyond that, I think you can look for those two books, the Cannabis book from Box Brown, whatever that Adventures book is doing and that weird Taco book. I'll rewrite to fit in a couple of hours.
*****
The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.
To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.
The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.
If I failed to list your comic, that's because I hate you.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up * Chris Schweizer, one of those people where there could be like five guys in the world doing comics and it would still feel like a fertile medium because he was involved, has a Patreon. I image his rewards are very, very good ones.
I was sorry to hear about the passing of artist Leslie Sternbergh Alexander, a cartoonist that worked my memory is sparingly but to strong effect in a variety of tonal approaches -- MAD-style humor, even -- within the comics art form, and the sort of figure that seems a part of comics communities that are all but gone these days. My condolences to her friends and fans. Reading between the lines looks like there may have been some opportunity for the artist to say some farewells, and I hope that's the case.
Comics as a collective group of historians interested in its art has always done a poor job with woman creators, and with no generation more so than the women of the undergrounds and the fractured post-underground period. You can see in Alexander's work a level of accomplishment that would send us scurrying after a brand-new cartoonist of any gender, and much of the work exudes a welcome freshness in terms of making the medium work in new ways because not many of them have yet been popularized. I hope you'll take a moment in this one artist's story and some of her work, and know that there will always be those that flash through and others step away after only a little while longer. Once they're done, their legacies depend on individual acts of curiosity and grace notes borne of memory.
You can start here and work through what was out immediately upon her passing.
By Request Extra: P. Craig Russell Material For Sale To Benefit Publishing Partner Wayne Alan Harold
The sale is here. Harold suffers from recurring bouts of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and I'm sure every bit can help in these tough times. Russell's kind of a national treasure, too, and under-valued in the discussion of the development of comics with an adult sensibility. My best to him. Please consider helping if you can and are so inclined.
Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* the artist Jai Nitz was accused of unwanted attention and harassment at the University of Kansas, forcing him to leave his table at this weekend's convention in Kansas City due to "family emergency" and forcing a promise from publisher Dark Horse the allegations will be investigated. Nitz graduate from the school in 1998 and was a guest of the journalism department when according to the allegation the predatory behavior took place.
* missed that the Snagglepuss as 1950s gay southern playwright comic DC did last year won the GLAAD media award last week. That's an interesting award for how the context has changed even within mainstream/indy-genre comics. It no longer feels like a prize just for having popular-seeming characters reflect a bit of the variety of the real world. What it is now hasn't yet become all the way clear.
* this is a subject of interest to the comics communities, too. Two things popped out about the article. There is no difference between between now and 2014 not explained by recent political turmoil. Still, I think a lot of what's going on is that the processes involved have aged community to community. There were opportunities for perpetual on-line engagment as far back as 1994, but not in this limited, and specific a way. You get a hyper-customized meal of nonsense served to you and don't have to engage in the smallest amount of effort to be entertained by it. No one likes to engage in arguments about things getting dumber and more self-indulgent -- no one likes a whiny egghead but that seems more substantially different in the content of that part of life than anything else. The first cousin of dumb is cruelty.
* by request extra: I was honored to be a part of 
FEB190137 CRIMINAL #4 (MR) $3.99
* Dominic Umile profiles 
* Brian Heater talks to 
A
* it looks like the aggressive sales of the last several days may be in the past, but I'm sure Wayne Alan Harold could use 
* bundled extra: Bob Levin will someday soon write about 
* Josh Kramer on 
* for no particular reason I'd like to present this Fred Guardineer panel. Reading the paper in-costume is just asking for it, really.
* New York Review Comics had a colossal year last year and it's a momentum they've kept into this one. 
* 
* 
* the idea of 
* Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg 
* 
* 
* Brian Canini 
* Dominic Umile on 
* Laura Snapes on 
* Matt Seneca on 
FEB191279 GIANT DAYS #49 $3.99
* Chris Schweizer, one of those people where there could be like five guys in the world doing comics and it would still feel like a fertile medium because he was involved, has a Patreon. I image his rewards are very, very good ones.
* missed that
