Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* Jacob Covey isn't lying: the Conrad Groth sketchbook is an amazing damn thing. I remember talking to a cartoonist from the first dozen pages that was nearly having a nervous breakdown trying to work himself up to the skill level of those who had already contributed.

* the cartoonist Craig Thompson talks about suddenly feeling like you've lost your graphic novel many hundred pages in.

* I thought this post about the Avengers and its classic line-ups versus the massively successful Bendis-era line-up was fairly interesting. It makes total sense that Marvel's not going to return to a less successful model, particularly one that best serves 45-year-olds, but it's also true that an Avengers movie isn't going to have Wolverine or Spider-Man in it. Well, probably not. Complicating things further, what such a movie will likely resemble is that Ultimates stuff, which goes by a really long name now. I know I had a point -- oh, I remember: It hit me reading this that unlike in the past when older fans complained about the way things used to be, there's a whole generation of comics fans that's between 35 to 45 that's spent a hugely unnatural 25-35 years being a significant audience for superhero comic books that if still hanging around is going to have to wave goodbye to a lot of concepts like "classic Avengers" over the next few years.

* the writer Sean Kleefeld breaks down a recent Brad Guigar reader survey in terms of comparing two questions and what that says about the comics reading habits of those readers.

* not comics: people keep e-mailing me links to this story about the ongoing retail Armageddon, including bad news for bookstores. That means someone had it first. Sorry, someone.

* the cartoonist Evan Dorkin pays tribute to the late Yoshito Usui.

* one feature that I frequently use but never link to is J. Caleb Mozzocco's look at Previews offerings from the big mainstream comics companies. It's smart, it's to the point, and reading it is about as much time as I want to spend musing on their respective publishing strategies. Here's his latest Marvel; here's his latest DC.

* man, Carl Burgos drew one wacky-looking Thing.

* I'm not certain I follow Alan Doane through all the permutations of this mini-essay, but I do think the relative reluctance to make any kind of overture to creators makes a difference as to how people might potentially see the enforcement of these contracts. It's difficult when you read about a bunch of dopes on a second-tier TV show getting extravagant gifts from the network when their show wins an People's Choice Award to think of comics creators directly responsible for a half-billion dollar movie driving God knows how much more licensing revenue not seeing a dime. My friends are more generous to whatever guy is working the craps table in Las Vegas casinos than most comics companies are to their creators on such matters, and my friends still charge each other for gas money.

* not comics: Marvel and a company that sounds like it has something to do with bowel movements is having a contest for budding limited-motion cartoonists to make them a limited motion cartoon starring their characters. Johanna Draper Carlson expresses her doubts that this is a good deal for the contest winner.

* finally, Jog takes a look at the comic that came with a specific edition of Magical Mystery Tour. There was a FOOM comic that baffled me for years when I was a kid where Professor X was replacing all the X-Men with eggs and one of the eggs says "I Am The Walrus." This has nothing to do with that.
 
posted 7:30 am PST | Permalink
 

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