Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* "despair" looks to be the theme of this weekend's meeting of the National Cartoonists Society, a yearly event held this year in southern California. That should be a tight Reuben race, incidentally, unlike past years when there was an obvious winner among the nominees.

* the writer Tucker Stone compares recent Batman comics to Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America which I believe without knowing for sure is close to starting its final act. I read a bunch of Brubaker Captain Americas recently and the weird thing about them is that they basically substitute the presence of the Cold War and its aftermath for the presence of World War II and its aftermath: the latter an undercurrent that percolated under the surface during the better parts of the character's 1960s/1970s run. It's smart of Brubaker to do this. A murky, unresolved background against which Captain America stands in bold relief is a big part of what made those older comics good, and other Captain America eras have felt untethered in comparison. At the same time, I think the guys 40 years ago had an advantage in that a war no one discussed except in the most banal ways may have made for a better undercurrent than a Cold War no one talks about but which no one really feels anymore, either. Despite the general pulpy fun of the comics, I think Brubaker's done a better job showing the connections between World War II and the Cold War that followed than showing how either have a spiritual presence in the modern day -- except for how certain Marvel characters are really, really old. I get the sense this might have been an even better bunch of mainstream comics had they rolled out in the early 1990s.

* as expected, Thursday one-day passes at July's Comic-Con International have sold out. Sunday one-day passes remain. I'd make a push for getting those Sunday passes, but I haven't been there on Sunday in 10 years.

* the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain performed ahead of expectations while still losing money in the first quarter of 2009.

* not comics: meeting Miyazaki.

* not comics: best retirement wishes to Kay Rankin.

* finally, here's an explanation for the Emily The Strange lawsuit against her "inspiration": it clears the decks for an Emily the Strange movie.
 
posted 7:30 am PST | Permalink
 

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