Dec. 4, 2009: Is it a recession thing?

December 4th, 2009 by Dirk Deppey

 

“Like, I love Scott Pilgrim as much as the next guy who plays Rock Band stoned on Saturday afternoons, but why would you recommend a mass market in media res installment of a rad series… as a Christmas Gift? i.e. Shouldn’t you wait till the omnibus or deluxe edition or movie version replete with Michael Cera’s pedophantic face plastered all over the cover comes out before you offer it as a gift? OR, wouldn’t you recommend all volumes in print? Is it a recession thing?”

 

Recently smuggled out of our undersea base:

  • R. Fiore considers Brooke McEldowney’s 9 Chickweed Lane
  • R.C. Harvey ponders how comic strips blend word and image for the purpose of comedy.
  • Anne Ishii heps us to the work of avant-garde Japanese cartoonist Ayako Okubo.
  • Marc Sobel presents the fourth installment of his five-part examination of Gilbert Hernandez’s Birdland
  • Kent Worcester reviews The Beats: A Graphic History

 

Above the Fold

 

  • Life in interesting times

    • Former Harrison Daily Times cartoonist Bob Drebelbis died on November 16, at the age of 94.

    • Best served cold: Hours after Lucasfilms and Reed Exhibitions announced that the Star Wars Celebration convention would take place on August 12-15, 2010 — the same date as the Gareb Shamus-owned Chicago Comic Con, oddly enough — Wizard announced that the latter convention would be rescheduled for the following weekend. Burn!

    • Tom Spurgeon catches word that the Angoulême Comics Festival may be changing the structure of the prizes that it hands out… again.

    • A Cleveland, Ohio African-American newspaper is mired in controversy after depicting a local politician as Aunt Jemima in a cartoon.

      In unrelated news, the Age of Newspapers officially ended on Wednesday.

    • In Kentucky, the Jessamine County Public Library will be moving its copy of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier to the adult section. The Jessamine County Library, you’ll recall, made headlines when it fired two librarians who attempted to thwart a request for the book by an eleven-year-old girl.

    • Sweden’s Stockholm District Court has denied a plea from Hollywood movie studios to shut down a torrent-tracking site that the studios claim “is a re-branded copy of one previously operated by The Pirate Bay.”

      (Link via Kevin Melrose.)

    • Dynamite Entertainment has purchased the rights to Dabel Brothers Productions’ roster of properties.

    • The romance publisher Harlequin is the latest to post comics online to their website.

    • Plastic Logic is signing up a host of participating magazines in advance of the launch of their QUE Reader device sometime next year.

    • Sean T. Collins speaks with Dark Horse publicity coordinator Jim Gibbons.

    • Old-school indy cartoonist Rich Tommaso abandons print for the Web.

 

 

——— ¡Journalista! continues after this commercial message. ———

 

Profiles

 

  • Olivia Snaije on Joe Sacco

    The Footnotes in Gaza author talks about his new book.

    •  

  • Gavin Sheehan on David Mack

    In conversation with the creator of Kabuki.

    (Above: detail from the cover of Mack’s Kabuki: The Alchemy.)

    •  

  • Elliott Serrano on Ted Rall

    A Q&A with the editorial cartoonist.

    •  

  • Jeffery Klaehn on Norm Breyfogle

    The veteran Batman cartoonist discusses his career.

 

Reviews

 

  • Abhay Khosla on Dark Reign: The List: X-Men #1

    “The obvious conclusion to draw from Dark Reign: The List: X-Men #1 is that at the close of 2009, a woman with an appetite for sex is apparently the very definition of fear and horror for Marvel comic creators and their audience.”

    •  

  • Greg McElhatton on Luna Park

    “I thought I’d sussed out the book by the halfway point, knew how I felt about it overall. And then, not once but twice, the book pulled the rug out from under me. And with each instance, my opinion of Luna Park rather radically changed.”

    (Above: panel detail from the book, possibly ©2009 Kevin Baker, Danijel Zezelj and/or DC Comics.)

    •  

  • Andrew Edwards on Grandville

    “The universe [Bryan] Talbot creates is visually stunning and intellectually engaging.”

 

Also

 

Comics and Art

 

  • Leif Peng: Henry C. Pitz

    Congratulations to Peng on his new position as a professor at Mohawk College!

    (Above: illustration from the December 1956 issue of Collier’s Magazine, nicked from Peng’s Henry C. Pitts Flickr page.)

    •  

  • Online portfolio: Rebecca Solow

    Lovely fantasy-themed art.

    (Above: :The Witch of Willowby Wood,” ©2009 Rebecca Solow.)

    •  

  • Illustration blog: Travisty’s Beard

    A collaborative effort by artists and animators from the PDI/DreamWorks studio.

    (Above: illustration ©2009 Lindsey Olivares. Link via Jerry Beck.)

 

Also

 

Multimedia

 

  • Comics-related podcasts

    • Panel Borders‘ Alex Fitch speaks with Logicomix writer Apostolos Doxiadis (33.5MB).

    • This week on Inkstuds, Robin McConnell welcomes Far Arden creator Kevin Cannon as guest (52.2MB).

    • Another week, another episode of Mike Dawson and Alex Robinson’s Ink Panthers Show, fortified with your minimum daily requirement of Dustin Harbin (38.6MB).

    All podcasts are available in downloadable MP3 audiofile format.

 

Events Calendar

 

Today:

  • December 4 (White River Junction, VT): An opening reception for “Bears and Blisters: An Exhibition of Colleen Frakes and Ken Dahl” takes place at the Center For Cartoon Studies on Main Street, beginning at 7PM. Details here.

 

This weekend:

  • December 5 (New York City, NY): The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival takes place at Our Lady of Consolation Church on Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn, from 11AM-7PM. Guests include R.O. Blechman, Charles Burns, Gabrielle Bell, Kim Deitch, Gary Panter, Ben Katchor, Lauren Weinstein, Adrian Tomine and many others. Details here.

  • December 5 (London, England): Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo will be signing books and meeting readers at the Forbidden Planet Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue, from 1-2PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Stevenage, England): Writer Paul Cornell makes an appearance at Limited Edition Comix on Market Place, beginning at 1PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Salt Lake City, UT): David Mack will participate in a variety of events at the main branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library on East 400 South, beginning at 2PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Washington DC): Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerker will discuss his work at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, beginning at 2:30PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Berkeley, CA): American Born Chinese author Gene Yang will discuss his work at Eastwind Books on University Avenue, beginning at 3PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Portland, OR): A release party for C. Allbritton Taylor’s One Model Nation takes place at Floating World Comics on Fifth Avenue, from 6-9PM. Details here.

  • December 6 (San Pablo City, Philippines): The San Pablo Comics Festival takes place at the Lion’s Den Clubhouse. Details here.

  • December 6 (Silver Spring, MD): The documentary Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist will be screened at the AFI Silver Theatre on Colesville Road, beginning at 12:15PM. Admission is $10. Details here.

 

Want to see your comics-related event listed here? Email a link to dirk@tcj.com and let me know. Please include an online link to which I can send people for more information. No sales-only events, please — it’s nice that you’ve marked things down at your store or website, but I won’t be listing it here.

Posted in News Round-Up | Comments Off

Dec. 3, 2009: White nerdy guys

December 3rd, 2009 by Dirk Deppey

 

“Something that benefited me as a woman who read superhero comics is that I never thought of most fans as just like me. I knew from the start that my tastes were different and so I was always a proponent of the ideas that 1) more diversity would be good and 2) having different tastes from mine was ok. But a lot of these guys running stores never had to face that, because the fandom they knew mostly was white nerdy guys like them.”

 

Recent communiques from the secret clubhouse:

  • Marc Sobel presents the third installment of his five-part examination of Gilbert Hernandez’s Birdland.
  • Kent Worcester asks, “Whatever happened to Phil Evans?”
  • Shaenon Garrity reviews Jason Shiga’s Empire Park, and ponders the comics that she can’t seem to pack.
  • Rob Clough begins a series of looks at anthologies by Center for Cartoon Studies students and alumni with a review of Werewolf!
  • Chris Lanier reviews The Wolverton Bible.
  • Noah Berlatsky reviews Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit Vol. 1.
  • Anne Ishii covers the Crayon Shin-chan waterfront.
  • The one you’ve been waiting for: Kenneth Smith begins blogging.

 

Above the Fold

 

  • [Top Story] Life in interesting times

    • Marvel Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company have announced that their merger will officially take place on December 31.

    • Roll this headline around in your head for a moment: Tokyopop CEO considers using fan translators.

    • ICv2 has BookScan’s estimated top-ten bestselling adult graphic novels in the bookstore trade for November. Top of the list: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis Illustrated. Meanwhile, the glorious output of Japanese industry captured three-quarters of the list.

    • Marc-Oliver Frisch presents his month-to-month comparisons for publisher sales to Direct Market retailers, now updated for October. J. Caleb Mozzocco offers a bit of commentary on the numbers.

    • Mike Rhode is betting that the Washington Times‘ comics section isn’t coming back.

 

 

——— ¡Journalista! continues after this commercial message. ———

 

Profiles

 

  • Chris Mautner on R. Sikoryak

    The comics chameleon is interviewed.

    (Above: Ziggy meets Voltaire in this sequence from Masterpiece Comics, ©2009 R. Sikoryak.)

    •  

  • Adam Miller on Ryan North

    A chat with the cartoonist behind Dinosaur Comics.

    (Above: sequence from the strip, &copt;2009 Ryan North.)

    •  

  • Esther Keller on Nadja Spiegelman

    The writer of Zig & Wikki in Something Ate My Homework discusses her children’s-comic debut.

    (Link via Heidi MacDonald.)

 

Also

 

Reviews

 

  • Johanna Draper Carlson on The Color of Earth, Water and Heaven

    “Some may find the floral symbolism in this series overwhelming or too precious, but to a receptive mind, it’s refreshing in its quiet reflection. It’s still rare to see such a detailed exploration of women of different generations.”

    •  

  • Jeremy Briggs on Lucky Luke: The Oklahoma Land Rush

    “This is a quick, easy, fun read for adults which is eminently suitable for young readers and with Christmas coming up it could well be worth considering as a present for younger sons and nephews since, if they like this one, there are plenty more titles for them to collect.”

    (Above: panel from the book, ©2009 Morris, Goscinny and/or Dupuis.)

    •  

  • Tom Spurgeon on The Talisman #1

    “The result is an okay, workman-like, reasonably readable comic book that bored the crap out of me.”

 

Also

 

Commentary

 

  • John Adcock: John Stanley’s footprints

    “John Stanley used certain themes and plots over and over.”

    •  

  • Laura Hudson: Better than boobs

    It’s true: Hope Larson really is better than boobs.

    •  

  • Jason B. Jones: Why you should read comics aloud to your kids

    “My six-year-old likes for me to read comics aloud to him–especially if he’s talked his mother into buying one that’s slightly too old for him. That way, if I silently edit the language, he knows exactly what the inappropriate parts are — which, of course, he promptly commits to memory!”

 

Business & Craft

 

  • Steven Grant: Narrative in comics, continued

    The discussion continues with a look at Will Eisner’s work on The Spirit.

    •  

  • Vom Marlowe: The art and craft of xkcd

    “See, I think there’s a lot to be said for simplicity and humor and just plain getting the point across. The art needs to serve the point of the communication.”

    (Above: sequence from the strip, ©2009 Randall Munroe.)

 

Comics and Art

 

  • Gabriel Corbera: John Stanley’s Little King?

    Was the renowned children’s-comics writer behind this comic-book take on Otto Soglow’s character?

    •  

  • Homepage: Badaboum Twist

    “Comics in English, drawn by a French-speaking guy married to an American citizen.”

    (Above: sequence from the a recent strip, ©2009 David Libens. Link via James Sturm.)

    •  

  • Scott McCloud: “The Lost Cat”

    “Here’s one from the vaults. A one-page comic I did in 2004 for the short-lived Prophecy Magazine. Since very few people saw it at the time, I figured I’d share it here.”

    (Above: sequence from the strip, ©2009 Scott McCloud.)

 

Also

 

Multimedia

 

  • Jay Tomio: In Search of Steve Ditko

    I’ve linked to this once before, but I seem to recall it being yanked offline shortly thereafter. Anyway, here it is again: Jonathan Ross and Neil Gaiman’s documentary trek to meet the reclusive Spider-Man co-creator.

    (Above: screenshot from the video.)

    •  

  • Douglas Wolk: Kant explained

    The Critique of Aesthetic Judgement illuminated… through comics!

    (Above: screenshot from the video. Link via the Inkwell Bookstore Blog.)

 

Comics Culture

 

  • Anime News Network: Japan Media Arts Festival Awards winners

    Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga took the grand prize. Full list of winners at the link.

    •  

  • [Your not-comics link of the day]
    Too Much Joy lead singer Tim Quirk takes us through his royalty statement from Warner Brothers, to explain why it’s essentially nonsense.

    (Link via Noel Murray.)

    •  

  • [Your Scans_Daily link of the day]
    A Marvel moment, courtesy of Colleen Coover.

    (Above: sequence from an unidentified issue of X-Men First Class, ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.)

 

Events Calendar

 

Today:

  • December 3 (Seattle, WA): An opening reception for “Friends of the Nib,” showcasing the work of local cartoonists, takes place at theHoward House on Second Avenue, from 6-8PM. Details here.

  • December 3 (New York City, NY): Ted Rall will be reading from and signing his new book at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art on Broadway, beginning at 7PM. Details here.

 

This week:

  • December 5 (New York City, NY): The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival takes place at Our Lady of Consolation Church on Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn, from 11AM-7PM. Guests include R.O. Blechman, Charles Burns, Gabrielle Bell, Kim Deitch, Gary Panter, Ben Katchor, Lauren Weinstein, Adrian Tomine and many others. Details here.

  • December 5 (London, England): Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo will be signing books and meeting readers at the Forbidden Planet Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue, from 1-2PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Stevenage, England): Writer Paul Cornell makes an appearance at Limited Edition Comix on Market Place, beginning at 1PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Salt Lake City, UT): David Mack will participate in a variety of events at the main branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library on East 400 South, beginning at 2PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Washington DC): Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerker will discuss his work at the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue, beginning at 2:30PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Berkeley, CA): American Born Chinese author Gene Yang will discuss his work at Eastwind Books on University Avenue, beginning at 3PM. Details here.

  • December 5 (Portland, OR): A release party for C. Allbritton Taylor’s One Model Nation takes place at Floating World Comics on Fifth Avenue, from 6-9PM. Details here.

  • December 6 (San Pablo City, Philippines): The San Pablo Comics Festival takes place at the Lion’s Den Clubhouse. Details here.

  • December 6 (Silver Spring, MD): The documentary Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist will be screened at the AFI Silver Theatre on Colesville Road, beginning at 12:15PM. Admission is $10. Details here.

 

Want to see your comics-related event listed here? Email a link to dirk@tcj.com and let me know. Please include an online link to which I can send people for more information. No sales-only events, please — it’s nice that you’ve marked things down at your store or website, but I won’t be listing it here.

Posted in News Round-Up | Comments Off

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