The Comics Reporter

November 30, 2013

Happy 43rd Birthday, Frank Tieri!

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were In NYC, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were Near Malta, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were In Cleveland, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

Ted Rall: “I Have Been Censored By Daily Kos”

There's a post here by the cartoonist Ted Rall about a site called Daily Kos sending him a note saying they would rescind his ability to post at the site -- which he was doing for free, and of his own volition -- because of their problems with his depiction of President Obama, which they feel is racist. Here's a Rall cartoon featuring the President.

I think that's a pretty standard depiction according to my memory of Rall's cartoons featuring the president.

I'm not sure there's a whole lot to say here. I wouldn't think for a second that Rall actively wants to portray the president as ape-like; that's just way too ugly to think anyone could operate that way. As Rall's friend Ruben Bolling points out here Rall depicts a lot of politicians as having less-than-human features that could be accused of simian tendencies and has a brutal, simple art style generally. Then again, I'm not sure what that proves except it provides a more forgiving content for Rall's intent. If it's the depiction that's the problem it can be a problem in one case out of six but still really be a problem; if it's the intent that's the problem then the context becomes crucial.

In the end, I'm unclear how Rall's intent is in question. Re-reading the letter Rall received, the letter-writer doesn't seem to be accusing him of intentional acts of perpetrating racist ideas; this person and whomever they represent is choosing not to allow Rall to post cartoons that encompass a recurring depiction he/they find troubling because of their racial implications. It's the art they seem to have a problem with, not Rall's intent, not Rall. At least that's how I read it. I'm also confused how their asking him to stop posting and then Rall making it public is on the Daily Kos people as something that will stain Rall's reputation in future google searches.

Could it be as Rall claims a politically motivated attack? I guess. I mean, most sites like traffic, but I suppose it's possible that a dissenting opinion like Rall's might be so unpleasant or in some ways upset the readers that they would ask him to change his depiction in the hopes that he'd quit rather than just directly bouncing him from the site. I'm having a hard time figuring out why a feint would be pursued instead of a direct ban, but I suppose it's possible.

I guess I stand to get called Rall's "enemy" for not jumping on board or whatever, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. I'm happy to run letters pointing out how I'm a dummy.

If I could recast the discussion, I'm much more interested in a site using reader-uploaded free content and then wanting an editorial say over that content on an interpretive issue. That seems really problematic in terms of running any kind of site, but I'm not one that pays much attention to political churn as sport, no matter how successful a site may be. Maybe this happens a lot in that world.

posted 3:55 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 38th Birthday, Matt Fraction!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 63rd Birthday, Gary Panter!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

FFF Results Post #359—Holiday Season Stories

On Friday, CR readers were asked to "Name Five Comics Publications With A Holiday Story In It That You Enjoyed." This is how they reponded.

*****

Tom Spurgeon

1. Marvel Team-Up #1
2. X-Men #143
3. Justice League Of America #110
4. Lobo's Paramilitary Christmas Special
5. The Great Treasury Of Christmas Comic Book Stories

*****

Dave Knott

* Panic #1
* The Batman Adventures Holiday Special
* Li'l Santa
* Bone Holiday Special
* Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer

*****

Sterg Botzakis

1. Christmas with the Superheroes #2
2. Spider-Manâ€™s Tangled Web #21
3. The Christmas Spirit by Will Eisner
4. GLX-Mas Special #1
5. Walt Disneyâ€™s Donald Duck: Christmas on Bear Mountain

*****

Scott Dunbier

1) Our Army At War #241 -- The Dirty Job by Bob Haney and Alex Toth
2) Batman #219 -- Silent night of the Batman by Mike Friedrich and Neal Adams
3) House of Mystery #191 -- Night Prowler by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson
4) Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special one-shot -- by Keith Giffen, Alan Grant and Simon Bisley
5) Hellboy Christmas Special #1 -- A Christmas Underground by Mike Mignola

*****

Andrew Mansell

1. Captain America's Bicentennial Battles -- Independence Day
2. Batman #237 -- Night of the Reaper -- Halloween
3. V for Vendetta -- Guy Fawkes Day -- November 5th
4. The first major Great Pumpkin Story -- Complete Peanuts Volume 6
5. Basher Bains -- Spirit Archive Vol. 17 -- A Christmas Spirit

*****

Buzz Dixon

1. Walt Disney's Christmas Parade "A Christmas For Shacktown"
2. The Vault Of Horror #35 "...And All Through The House"
3. Jonah Hex #34
4. Blankets
5. Santa Vs. Dracula (now running)

*****

John Platt

1. Marvel Treasury Edition # 13 (Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag)
2. Bone Holiday Special
3. Hellboy Christmas Special
4. Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking
5. Comic Relief: Drawings from the Cartoonists Thanksgiving Day Hunger Project

*****

Mark Waid

1. Teen Titans #13 (1968)
2. Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (The Deadman story)
3. Limited Collectors' Edition C-34
4. Four-Color Comics #367 ("A Christmas For Shacktown")
5. Spirit Section December 19, 1948 ("Basher Bains")

*****

Chris Duffy

1. Giant Superhero Holiday Grab Bag (Marvel Treasury Edition) 1974
2. Giant Superhero Holiday Grab Bag (Marvel Treasure Edition) 1975
3. Santa Claus Funnies #2
4. Christmas With Mother Goose (Four Color Funnies #201)
5. X-Men #143

*****

Oliver Ristau1

1. Vault Of Horror (Vol. 1) #35 ... mostly because of "Shoe-Button Eyes" by Johnny Craig and Graham Ingels.
2. Donald Duck #367 ... Carl Barks' "A Christmas for Shacktown" of course.
3. Punisher Silent Night #1 ... Andy Diggle and Kyle Hotz are rougher than Christmas.
4. Postcards -- True Stories that never happened ... "Send Louis his underwear" by Matt Dembicki and Jason Copland mentions Christmas, Easter and New Year on its first page. More ain't possible.
5. DC Universe Holiday Special '09 ... "Stille Nacht". Enemy Ace. Drawn by Howard Victor Chaykin.

*****

Sean Kleefeld

1. Justice League of America #110
2. Marvel Two-in-One #74
3. Bone Holiday Special
4. GLX-Mas Special
5. Fin Fang Four Return

*****
*****

posted 2:00 pm PST | Permalink

The Comics Reporter Video Parade

Nick Abadzis Interviewed

Dan Wasserman Interviewed
via

Gabrielle Bell Videos -- Not Even Sure Of The Order, To Be Honest, So Apologies In Advance

Steve Lieber In Travel Portland Commercial

Grass Hut At NYCC

Superfuckers Video In Russian

posted 6:00 am PST | Permalink

CR Week In Review

The top comics-related news stories from November 23 to November 29, 2013:

1. Eyes move across the Atlantic for a pair of significant stories in terms of non-US awards: the winners of the second BCAs; the "official selections" of the Angouleme Festival.

2. The end-of-the-year job maneuvering has begun.

3. Call goes out from the Southern California based society of comics-makers CAPS that the great Stan Sakai could use some help in closing the gap on a shortfall regarding homecare health insurance, necessary because of the issues facing wife Sharon. Please consider giving.

Winner Of The Week
Your Angouleme Nominees.

Losers Of The Week
Any folks that get left out a bit this holiday season due to the massive wave of companies, individuals and organizations all making a holiday plea for support based on something other than a direct commercial exchanges of goods or services for cash.

Quote Of The Week
"Rowe (who, by the way, is a cartoonist's dream in his own right, being very tall and lampost-slender and golliwog-haired) loves to give people lots to look at in his cartoons because he's sure that people really do 'pore over' and fossick in cartoons when they're given lots to look for." -- Ian Warden

*****

today's cover is from the all-time series Classics Illustrated

*****
*****

posted 12:00 am PST | Permalink

November 29, 2013

Go, Look: Spraypainting With Seth Tobocman

posted 8:00 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were Near Malta, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were Near Ridgewood, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were In Brooklyn, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were In Malta, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

If I Were In Seattle, I’d Go To This

posted 6:30 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 56th Birthday, Brian Basset!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 43rd Birthday, Johnny Ryan!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 52nd Birthday, Brian Pulido!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 61st Birthday, Keith Giffen!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 63rd Birthday, Chris Claremont!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

Happy 51st Birthday, Ruben Bolling!

posted 3:00 pm PST | Permalink

November 28, 2013

Please Consider Including Stan & Sharon Sakai On This Year’s Post-Thanksgiving Holiday Shopping List

The writer and comics historian Mark Evanier has some more detail about the situation in which that lovely gentleman of comics, Stan Sakai, has found himself regarding the health situation faced by his beloved wife Sharon. He and Sharon are insured but they are feeling the pressure of a shortfall regarding time and money necessary for full-time homecare. As someone that's been sick in the past and is still paying bills over and above what my insurance covered, I can sympathize with this much more tragic situation facing one of our great comics professionals.

This is a day when we usually orient ourselves towards holiday shopping, and there is a ton of great and worthy stuff out there, a lot of which will be included in this year's Shopping Guide, arriving on Sunday. Steve Morris is doing us all the favor of posting about sales that start today and if you have a favorite comics creator you might check in on them individually -- like Ryan Cecil Smith and his original art pages sale here. A lot of the shopping that we'll be doing this year is advocacy buying, helping out folks with a need for a successful business season above and beyond simply maximizing profits.

What I'm hoping is that maybe we can start with Mr. Sakai, or at least make some room for him in the midst of everything else we're doing. There's going to be an art auction -- details here -- and I hope if that applies to you you'll consider participating. I hope that you'll also donate cash. All I could afford is a small amount, but I figure every bit helps. CAPS -- which is a small industry group of comics-makers of which Sakai is a part -- put up a way to donate directly here that I used. I guess it's down, though, and I'm not sure why. I know how frustrating that is, and if you want to do something right now you're welcome to paypal me at [email protected] and I will send the money to CAPS. I've done that in the past and I know it's not perfect but it's something.

You can also send money directly to Tone Rodriguez, 5740 Craner Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91601 via the old-fashioned way of check or money order. Anyway, thanks for considering it.

Update: Pat McGreal at CAPS tells me they won't have their paypal fixed for weeks due to the explosion of interest. If paypal is the only way you want to go here, or can go, please feel free to do it through me at the e-mail address above; I've done it before for old-timers with no Internet access, so it's not a new thing for me. Thanks again.

posted 11:15 pm PST | Permalink

Go, Look: Roger Langridge L’il Ernie Art, Of All Things

posted 11:00 pm PST | Permalink

Your 2013 Behind The Lines Cartoonist Of The Year

Behind The Lines, which I believe is the National Museum Of Australia's cartooning program, has named David Rowe its cartoonist of the year at the same time they are launching an exhibition of his work. One piece of oft-repeated conventional wisdom about cartooning in Australia is that there's an abiding appreciation for the political cartooning that's done there. Rowe gets the honor in one of those difficult years for cartoonists: where the same story, a massive run of nasty political fights swirling around the office of the prime minister, has dominated for maybe 20 or more months now. One way Rowe seems to sustain commentary on those issues is by running through an endless array of visual metaphors which in and of itself serves as commentary on the clownish parade aspects of modern politics. I imagine it helps that his work is visually intriguing, particularly his use of color.

posted 10:55 pm PST | Permalink

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