We've got two columns for you this morning. First, R. Fiore, who contemplates Jeet Heer's Françoise Mouly biography, In Love with Art. Here's a snippet:
At this point is there any more important editor in periodical illustration than Françoise Mouly? With so many erstwhile venues for illustration being driven online, where any illustration is rendered into spot illustration, The New Yorker could be the big time all by itself. Unless Spiegelman comes into the office with her we have to assume this is an adventure without him. The New Yorker cover of the William Shawn era was essentially wallpaper, the perfect decoration for the better kind of dentist's office. (Not least because it didn't matter how old the magazine was.) The New Yorker cover of the Mouly era is not only more topical than it used to be, but is also frequently a one-image narrative. The ultimate Mouly-era narrative cover is Adrian Tomine's November 8, 2004 cover: A young man and woman spot each other reading the same book in subway trains going in opposite directions, and not only have not encountered but will lose each other in a second's time. (Though it would have been a hell of an advertisement for Chance Encounters classifieds if they had them.) The effect is to put the cartoonist at the center of the world of illustration.
And then Frank Santoro stops by to reflect on last weekend's CAB show, and then very briefly interview Alex Schubert, the creator of Blobby Boys:
Frank: How was CAB?
Alex: Man, I was in a bad mood the whole time. I stayed in an Airbnb, and it was the fucking shittiest place I've ever seen. I opened the door, and the doorknob fell off. Broken glass and cigarette ashes everywhere. I'm not joking when I say that I cried a single tear.
Elsewhere:
—CAB Reports. There are too many of these to link to, but three that you might find interesting can be found by Mary Kinney, Andrew White, and Secret Acres (who have cleverly capitalized on their always-popular con report posts by sneaking in ads for their upcoming books). There's also a comics-con exhibitor survey taking place right now at Devastator magazine, for those interested in participating.
—Miscellaneous. CBR interviews Trina Robbins about her latest (and apparently last) history of women in comics, Pretty in Ink. Richard Bruton reviews Oliver East's Swear Down. Bill Everett biographer Blake Bell picks his ten favorite Everett covers. And not-comics but potentially interesting to those readers familiar with modern-day manga, James Polchin reviews an exhibition of Japanese Edo-period erotic art at the British Museum.
