Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* in the first of three posts worth noting at Comics Worth Reading, DC Comics has decided to issue a single price for Canada and the US. This is not only economically justified, it's worth noting because DC still had the biggest swing in prices between the two countries.

* there's some superhero board chatter about news that Joe Quesada is taking his on-line feature whereby he answers questions from readers from Newsarama to MySpace Comic Books. Marvel doesn't have a history of making strong distinctions between types of press, so I don't automatically see this as some sort of dismissal of hardcore comics culture, as much as it's probably just a feature that interested its new home whereas other potential features didn't. There are also rumors that Newsarama and Marvel are semi-feuding and that this new venue for Quesada is a result of that frostier than usual relationship. That could be true -- for all anyone tells me anything these two entities could be wearing straw hats and overalls and firing buckshot at one another in convention parking lots -- but in this case it seems to me that this is the kind of move that might have been done no matter what the relationship is like right now.

* this gushing, anticipatory post from John Jakala about Viz doing Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk over again made me smile. It's good when people look forward to reading specific expressions of comics entertainment rather than surfing the general awesomeness of comics all the time.

* there's not a whole lot that's new or even very specific in this interview with Chris Crosby after Chris and Teri Crosby bought out the other half of Keenspot's ownership, but it does seem to indicate that the recent revenue plan was not just something that was announced after the deal, it was something made possible by the deal.

* the writer Neil Gaiman answers a couple of questions about the Absolute Sandman books, including the tricky one about whether or not someone with limited funds should buy these volumes, too.

* the writer Michael Fleisher re-emerges with an interview. He says that his lawsuit against Harlan Ellison and Fantagraphics didn't cost him a dime. Shouldn't it have cost him a dime?

* Johanna Draper Carlson has a short essay up on the interesting subject of those moments when the desires of the consumer runs at cross purposes with the desires of the retailer; comics is dysfunctional in that this happens probably more than it should, and that there's an assumption that when things run at cross-purposes it's in no one's interest to try and figure out if things can be worked out in one direction or the other.

* there are frequently things in mainstream newspaper articles here in North America that make me cringe, but nothing with this kind of weight.

* if you're a creative person of any kind, you should at least scan this article and the article to which it links to make sure it doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know. Knowledge is power.

* this story about Steve Gerber is funny and touching, but it's also a warning about the financial risks that can be involved in leading a live dominated by creative pursuits. As a pair of readers e-mailed this to me, it's likely that someone major linked to it first; I apologize to that person.

* I totally missed this story about cartoonist Moyoco Anno taking a respite from work due to health-related concerns; nor did I immediately see this short piece about Kodansha's plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shounen Magazine. While I'm in the same news ballpark, I enjoyed this short analysis on the publishing chances for PiQ.

* finally, here's a fine essay from Gary Groth on the great Jules Feiffer.
 
posted 9:30 am PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives