July 2, 2009: Everyone’s baffled
July 2nd, 2009 by 
Dirk Deppey
“Thanks to the various sales and distribution fiascos of the 1990s, comics shops have pretty much been reduced to hardcore superhero fans and a smaller collection of art-comics readers for their bread-and-butter, which effectively cuts off the oxygen for publishers of most other kinds of books. And ‘most other kinds of books’ is what most other people in North America tend to read.”
A reminder: ¡Journalista! will be going dark from July 3-10, while I take some time off and grab a little much-needed rest and relaxation. The blog returns on July 13.
Oh, and here’s a treat for Journal readers: An art gallery and trimmings from Michel Fiffe’s interview with Thriller artist Trevor Von Eeden, which can be found in the new issue of The Comics Journal.
Above the Fold
- [Top Story] Allan McDonald freed from Honduran custody
Link: Editor & PublisherThe Diaro el Heraldo de Honduras cartoonist had been detained for 24 hours by the military, following the overthrow of President Manuel Zelaya, an action that McDonald opposed in his work.
- [Top Story] Life in interesting times
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Is failed e-publisher Wowio set to return, or is it a Potempkin recovery? - Dark Horse editor Sierra Hahn discusses MySpace.com and the perils of online alliances with Andy Khouri.
- Matthew Weaver speaks with the pseudonymous masterminds behind the recently linked Persepolis 2.0 remix website — which was created with Marjane Satrapi’s blessing, it turns out.
(Link via Michael Schaub.)
- San Francisco retailer Brian Hibbs lists his store’s bestselling graphic novels and comics pamphlets for the year so far.
- Sandy Bilus presents excerpts from Marvel Comics’ 1993 report to investors, which was produced in comic-book format, it turns out.
- Andrew Wheeler offers tips on selling your book through Amazon.
- Jason Thibault offers 23 ways for a comic artist to survive and thrive in any economy.
(Link via Rich Johnston.)
- Steven Grant explains where most comic-book creators get their ideas: They steal them.
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- [Top Story] Newspaper Armageddon Watch
- In the U.K., the Trinity Mirror publishing company has announced plans to close nine Midlands newspapers.
(Link via Fading to Black.)
- The Newspaper Guild local has rejected a contract proposed by the Indianapolis Star that “would have included a 12 percent pay cut for all Guild employees.”
- The St. Paul Pioneer Press has laid off nine employees.
- Also in Minnesota, “the Star Tribune is asking the New York judge in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization to abrogate the company’s contract with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.”
(Link via Romenesko.
- According to Jeffery Pijanowski, “only” 277 newspaper employees lost their job in June. Wait — that actually is good news, when you consider how many had been fired in previous months.
- Megan McArdle:
We could herd every new media type into camps and force them to become shorthand/typists, and newspapers would still be in just as bad shape as they are now. We could take down Google News, and it would barely register in their bottom lines. Even if every newspaper and magazine in the country entered into a binding cartel agreement not to put more than a smidgen of free content on their websites, newspapers would still be losing money, and closing by the dozens. It’s the economics, stupid.
- In the U.K., the Trinity Mirror publishing company has announced plans to close nine Midlands newspapers.
- [Publishing] Charts Time!
Here’s this week’s USA Today top-150 bestselling books list — move along, nothing to see here.ICv2 offers up BookScan’s list of the twenty bestselling graphic novels in bookstores for June. Three volumes weren’t manga.
The latest New York Times graphic-euphamisms charts go up on their website on Friday. Purely for comedy value, here’s last week’s lists.
In Japan, the twelfth volume of Asa Higuchi’s baseball drama Ookiku Furikabutte makes its debut atop Anime News Network’s top-30 bestselling manga list, which is compiled from data offered by the Oricon and Tohan bookstore chains.
(Right: The cover to Bleach Vol. 27, the bestselling comic in the bookstore market for the month of June, according to BookScan.)
Literary Comics
- [Profile] Emmanuel Guibert
Link: Jamin Brophy-WarrenAn interview with the cartoonist behind Alan’s War and The Photographer.
- [Profile] Joseph Patrick Larkin
Link: Arion BergerThe author of The Arcade of Cruelty discusses his work.
(Link via Kevin Melrose.)
- [Review] Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 1
Link: Paul ConstantMichael Kupperman’s absurdist humor strips “should amuse just about anyone who can read.”
- [Review] Various titles
Link: Rob CloughQuick takes on three recent works.
- [Comics] “Birthday Boy”
Link: John LeavittContinuing the Daily Cross Hatch series of “Subway Stories.”
(Above: sequence from the four-page strip, ©2009 John Leavitt.)
Pop Comics
- [Profile] Richard Comely
Link: Kevin SwayzeA conversation with the artist behind the longrunning Captain Canuck.
- [Review] Marvel Divas #1
Link: James Hunt“Beneath the layers of mis-marketing, there actually is a decent comic in there somewhere,” says Hunt of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic’s superhero soap opera.
- [Review] Johnny Hiro
Link: Brian HeaterFred Chao’s genre romp “is a rather graceful balancing act.”
- [Review] Detective Comics #854
Link: Richard BrutonWell, a review of the Greg Rucka/J.H. Williams Batwoman portion of the comic, anyway.
- [Comics] Dreamstar
Link: Dark Horse PresentsCome on, these are Gilbert Hernandez superhero comics we’re talking about, here. What’s not to love?
(Above: sequence from the story, ©2009 Gilbert Hernandez. Link via Laura Hudson.)
- [Comics] “Sadie Hawkins Day”
Link: PappyA classic Al Capp riff in comic-book form.
(Above: sequence from Li’l Abner #74, ©1950 Capp Enterprises, Inc.)
- [Comics] “The Machine World”
Link: Sherm CohenHere’s a delightfully weird story featuring Jack Ehret’s Hortense the Lovable Brat.
(Above: panel from Jingle Jangle Comics #22, ©1946 Eastern Color.)
- [Multimedia] Blazing Combat and beer
Link: Comic Book HatersDJ Sloofus, Schooly G and Umbrellaman return for another season of drink-enhanced comic-book reviews, this time in streaming video.
(Above: screenshot from the video.)
Manga
- [Review] Various titles
Link: Katherine DaceySummary judgements on three recent shōjo books.
Cartooning
- [Profile] Fred Ludekens
Link: Leif Peng (one, two, three and counting)All week, Peng is excerpting segments from an interview with the commercial artist found in the Summer 1964 issue of Famous Artists Magazine — along with copious examples of his art, of course. Thursday’s segment may be up by the time you read this.
- [Comics] Eldon Dedini cigarette ads
Link: Ger ApeldoornA series of print advertisements featuring work by the celebrated Playboy cartoonist.
- [Art] Harrison Cady
Link: Golden Age Comic Book StoriesA gallery of work by the classic American illustrator.
Comics Culture
- [Scene] Spring 2009 Xeric Award winners announced
Link: Heidi MacDonaldCongratulations to Joe Boruchow, Adam Bourret,Timothy Godek, Adam Hines and Joshua Smeaton.
- [Commentary] Everyone’s baffled by the Harvey Awards
Link: Tom Spurgeon, Joe Keatinge, Heidi MacDonald and Travis SeitlerWell, at least everyone has something to talk about…
(Last link via Johanna Draper Carlson.)
- [Multimedia] Comics-related podcasts
- Animator and cartoonist Gene Deitch was a recent guest on the Boing! podcast (83.1MB).
(Thanks to Mike Rhode for pointing this one out via e-mail.)
- Seattle public-radio station KUOW speaks with Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi about her work, her experiences in Iran and the recent unrest over that nation’s presidential election (24.7MB).
(Link via David Lasky.)
- Uptight creator Jordan Crane talks comics on this week’s episode of Inkstuds (85MB).
- Comixology presents a conversation with Some New Kind of Slaughter writer A. David Lewis (26.3MB).
- It’s a cornucopia of reviews in the latest installment of the Comic Cast (23.1MB).
- Jeff Lester and Graeme McMillan offer up a short episode of their comics-review program, Wait, What? (12.7MB)
- If that’s Mike Dawson and Alex Robinson, it must be a new episode of the Ink Panthers Show (39.4MB).
All podcasts are in downloadable MP3 audiofile format.
- Animator and cartoonist Gene Deitch was a recent guest on the Boing! podcast (83.1MB).
- [Your not-comics link of the day]
Snow White: The Sequel: a ribald, full-length animated film available in eight episodes.(Above: screenshot from the third installment.)
- [Your Scans_Daily link of the day]
Celebrate Canada Day with Kate Beaton.(Above: Detail from one of the cartoons, ©2009 Kate Beaton.)
Events Calendar
Today:
- July 1-5 (Seattle, CA): The 53rd convention of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists takes place at the Washington Athletic Club. Relax — if you haven’t heard about it by now, you won’t be attending anyway. Details here.
- July 2-5 (Los Angeles, CA): Anime Expo 2009 happens at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Figueroa Street. Guests include Yun Kouga, Yasuhiro Nightow, Takashi Okazaki, Yamila Abraham and many others. Details here.
- July 2 (Minneapolis, MN): The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy Jam takes place at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe on Central Avenue, from 6:30-10PM. Details here.
- July 2 (New York City, NY): This month’s House of Twelve Jam takes place at Jack Demsey’s Pub on 33rd Street, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
This Week:
- July 3 (White River Junction, VT): A release party for new books by Colleen Frakes, Denis St. John, Morgan Pielli and Jen Vaughn takes place at Revolution on Main Street, from 6-9PM. Details here.
- July 3 (Tokyo, Japan): Join gonzo cartoonist Shintaro Kago as he celebrates the release of his latest book at Matching Mole in Koenji, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
- July 4 (Dublin, Ireland): Summer Edition 2009, billed as “an artists’ book, comic and zine fair,” takes place downstairs at Filmbase in Temple Bar, from 11AM-5PM. Details here.
- July 5 (Berkeley, CA): What sounds like a casual memorial service for outsider cartoonist B.N. Duncan will be held on the corner of Haste and Telegraph, from noon-5PM. Details here.
Next Week:
- July 10 (San Francisco, CA): An opening reception for a new exhibit of original work by Bay Area cartoonists — including Mark and Vaughn Bode, Robert, Maxon and Ailine Kominsky-Crumb, Dan O’Neill, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, and S. Clay Wilson — takes place at the Electric Works Gallery on Eighth Street, from 6-8PM. Details here.
- July 10 (New York City, NY): Michael Kupperman will make an appearance at Brooklyn’s own Desert Island Comics on Metropolitan Avenue, from 7-9PM. Details here.
- July 11 (New York City, NY): The Asian American ComicCon takes place at the Museum of Chinese in America on Centre Street, from 10AM-5PM. Guests include Derek Kirk Kim, Larry Hama, Misako Rocks!, Fred Chao, Tak Toyoshima, Christine Norrie and many others. Details here.
- July 11 (Seattle, WA): Join Peter Bagge for an exhibit opening and book-release party at the Fantagraphics Bookstore on Vale Street, from 6-9PM. 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.
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