News Emerald City 2010 – Con Report

Posted by Gavin Lees on March 16th, 2010 at 11:57 AM

News Journalista for March 16, 2010: The world that happened in

Posted by Dirk Deppey on March 16th, 2010 at 8:38 AM

RIP: Turhan Selçuk, John Kane ♦ suspect arrested in Glauco Villas-Boas murder ♦ oh, and the Kirbys sue someone or other ♦ more

Essay Harvey Kurtzman and Modern American Satire (Part Two of Two)

Posted by M. Thomas Inge on March 16th, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Even before Mad, Kurtzman had achieved an enviable reputation among comic-book artists and writers for the excellence of his work at EC comics, a firm that had been producing since 1950 what have been considered some of the best-written and drawn stories in comic-book history. He was especially noted for the careful research and meticulous detail of his work, as represented by the editing and writing that went into the Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat titles. Disturbed by the lies and the ultra-patriotism he saw in the other war comic books at the time, just as the Korean conflict was under way, he set out to deglamourize combat by showing it to be the grim, debasing, and dehumanizing thing it was in reality.

Previously: PART ONE

Blog Guttergeek: the Week in Review

Posted by Jared Gardner on March 15th, 2010 at 7:23 PM

Reviews of Jason Shiga’s Meanwhile, Lewis Trondheim’s Little Nothings Vol. 3, and C. C. Colbert and Tanitoc’s Booth this week at the Guttergeek wing of the TCJ emporium!

Blog Minis Monday: Morgan Pielli and Jen Vaughn

Posted by Rich Kreiner on March 15th, 2010 at 1:00 PM

Over time, last year’s Maine Comic Arts Festival in Portland has come to seem increasingly like a particularly productive orchard. Here’s more of what was plucked.

Blog Sunny Fundays

Posted by R.C. Harvey on March 15th, 2010 at 12:14 PM

Spending a few more minutes with the Sunday funnies where a cartoonist can do wonderful things with color and the extra space.

Blog Nina Paley and Others Respond

Posted by Noah Berlatsky on March 15th, 2010 at 11:52 AM

To wrap up our copyright roundtable, I’ve highlighted some of the comments we received about copyright from Nina Paley, animators, composers, singer-songwriters, and others.

News Journalista for March 15, 2010: Why I work here

Posted by Dirk Deppey on March 15th, 2010 at 11:38 AM

Brazilian cartoonist Glauco Villas-Boas and son murdered ♦ two Americans detained over Muhammed-cartoon murder plot ♦ more

Review Blazing Combat

Posted by Robert Martin on March 15th, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Archie Goodwin, et al.; Fantagraphics Books; 216 pp., $22.99 (hardcover), $19.99 (paperback); B&W (Hardcover ISBN: 9781560979654, Paperback: 9781606993668)

A major goal of publisher James Warren’s 1960s comics was to recreate the glory of the 1950s EC line for a new generation. Blazing Combat was his answer to the Harvey Kurtzman-edited Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, the war comics that were EC’s most highly regarded titles after Kurtzman’s Mad. The series’ writer/editor, Archie Goodwin, followed Kurtzman’s approach very closely. The stories were set in various wars throughout history, and they emphasized human drama over jingoism and sensationalism. Goodwin even corralled several of Kurtzman’s illustrators, including John Severin and Wallace Wood, to contribute work. The series only lasted four issues, but it is among the high points of 1960s comics, and this handsome collection is one of the most welcome reprint volumes of the last few years.

Interviews Tom Kaczynski at the 2009 MoCCA Festival

Posted by Kent Worcester on March 15th, 2010 at 6:14 AM

Tom Kaczynski and I spoke on stage at the 2009 MoCCA Festival on June 7, 2009. What follows is an edited version of our conversation. Some of the topics we covered include Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, architecture, utopianism, and communist…