Another Baby Step
(Comics Retailing) How conservative are most comics shops? Put it this way -- they shine a steady spotlight on both kinds of comics, superheroes and costumed adventurers. Deviations from this formula is always risky, and I think it's safe to say DC Comics had this factor in mind when it announced a new limited-returnability program yesterday. Newsarama has the story:

"Late Friday, DC announced [its] new Share the Risk program that offers limited returnability for comic retailers on select titles beginning in April, and running through September. According to the publisher, when retailers order the selected issues in quantities at or above their earned discount tiers' minimum quantities they will be eligible to return up to 20% of their initial orders.

"DC’s press release for the program reads: The program kicks off in April with GREEN ARROW #23, BEWARE THE CREEPER #1, MUCHA LUCHA #1, and SWEATSHOP #1. These books will be announced as returnable at a later date in Diamond Dateline and will be eligible for returns for a limited time only. Retailers will be billed for the titles in the normal way and then credited for the returns at a later date."

Green Arrow is the ringer in this list; the other three titles are by quirkier cartoonists known for their work elsewhere. Beware the Creeper is written by Jason Hall, best known for his work on the Pistolwhip series of books, while Sweatshop is a satire of the comics industry created by Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStefano and Bill Wray. ¡Mucha Lucha! is adapted from the Latino-themed children's cartoon of the same name by writer/creator Eddie Mort.

All things considered, it's a pretty canny move. The discounts will encourage retailers to be a bit bolder in their ordering, giving them an incentive to purchase more copies than the number of art-comics fans and the occasional child who may shop in their stores; two of the titles are superhero stories, which makes this look a little less like a blunt attempt to shove weird comics down anyone's throats. Add to this the fact that retailers have been making noises about returnability for years and you've got an impressive amount of sugar to help retailers swallow that diversity-in-comics medicine -- in any other market, two essentially minor titles being chaperoned into the comics shops by their mask-wearing cousins might be seen as excessive attention, but like I said, this is the Direct Market we're talking about. If a company of DC's stature and reputation is going to work toward expanding the range of titles available, baby steps like this are the order of the day.
Posted @ 4:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Shelfspace of our own
(Comics Retailing) Speaking of baby steps -- as I've mentioned previously, trade magazine Publishers Weekly has been keeping an eye on efforts by art-comics publishers to improve their position in the mainstream bookstore trade. Now they've checked in with an in-depth look at Drawn and Quarterly's latest move, an illustrated pamphlet entitled A Drawn and Quarterly Manifesto:

"Chris Oliveros, the Manifesto's designer, said that the company created the new booklet in part because it just signed a distribution agreement with Chronicle Books and was confronted with the problem of how to sell the books once they were distributed. 'Of course, one of the big hurdles is that most bookstores in North America don't have a proper graphic novels section,' Oliveros said. 'We wanted to try to address that problem by showing booksellers that there are more graphic novels than just Art Spiegelman's Maus (Random, $14) and Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan (Pantheon, $29.95).'

"The Manifesto itself lists several graphic novels that fall outside of the common superhero stereotype, including Joe Sacco's Palestine (Fantagraphics, $24.95), an illustrated journalistic account of life in the war-stricken region, and Ben Katchor's sorrowfully poetic Beauty Supply District (Pantheon, $22).

"Oliveros is convinced that graphic novels are suitable for all bookstores, saying, 'I used to think that the target centers would be in large urban centers. But lots of stores in smaller cities actually have success as well.' "

We've come a long way from the days when "adult-themed graphic novels" were defined by works like Frank Miller's Dark Knight, but there's still many miles yet to be covered. If art-comics are to survive, it's going to take any number of efforts like this. Thankfully Oliveros is on the case.
Posted @ 4:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

IranAmok: Tehran ayatollah declares nation safe from 65-year-old cartoon
(Censorship) I really intend to lay off this story until something significant occurs -- no, really -- but it's hard to do when everyone involved keeps pushing this farce forward with a straight face. In today's installment, coutresy of Payvand, Substitute Leader of the Tehran Friday Prayers Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati took the pulpit during weekly prayers to praise the people who rose up to defend the late Ayatollah Khomeini against attacks by Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

"The ayatollah said the demonstrations by the public and the seminarians was in fact a lesson to those who act thoughtlessly while calling for the Judiciary to deal with such a case of insults.

"He thanked the people who have come to the scene and disappointed the agents of the enemies and said there are however agents of enemies who have infiltrated in many organizations."

Okay, no more until something significant happens. This time for real.
Posted @ 4:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Tiny little site update
(The Comics Journal) Yesterday I mentioned a minor site update still yet to come, and here it is -- two tables that were cut from Carl Nelson's news report in TCJ #249, on how newspapers deal with changing comics strips without raising a furor.

Told you it was a minor update.
Posted @ 4:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Website updates
(The Comics Journal) Been a busy Thursday evening here at Casa de ¡Journalista!, but I'm now in the home-stretch. Here's what I've spent the past seven hours working on:

• The Comics Journal Winter 2003 Special Edition: I've got a couple of odds and ends to clear up a little later today, after which I'll actually have the homepage updated to reflect our latest offering. Okay, I forgot to copy a couple of things before I left the office this evening, otherwise I'd be done now; to make it up to you, I'll post the links to the free stuff right now. First up is the trimmings from our feature interview with William Stout. Please note that there's essentially enough snippets here to make up a good interview all by themselves. Also, for the next few weeks we'll once again be previewing cartoons from our typically mammoth Cartoon Section, which will be online for just one week before vanishing to make way for the next one. First up is a weird one by Phoebe Gloeckner -- we asked her for comics, she gave us medical charts! Man, I love Phoebe...

• Audio Archives: It's that time of the month, kids. This month's interview excerpts are from Gary Groth's 1983 interview with Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. Beck, the old Crusty Curmudgeon himself, which ran wa-a-ay back in TCJ #95. It's a fascinating look back at the Golden Age of comics, and even includes Beck's remembrances of his role in the lawsuit DC Comics brought against Fawcett for plagiarism over the Big Red Cheese. Enjoy.

• As if that weren't enough, I'll even have a short little addition to the website tomorrow; sort of an added bonus to those of you who picked up a copy of TCJ #149.

Don't say we never gave you nothin'.
Posted @ 5:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Fighting for your right to comics
(Censorship) Hey, it occurs to me I haven't plugged our pals at The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in, what, a couple of weeks? Shame on me. Anyway, our favorite vanguards for funnybook freedom are running their latest series of auctions to raise money for their continuing efforts; items up for bid include signed prints and posters by Gary Trudeau, Frank Miller, Dave Sim and Frank Frazetta, plus a couple of surprises. Check it out, and make a bid if you see anything that strikes your fancy.

What do you mean, you're not a member yet?
Posted @ 5:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Harvey goes to Sundance
(Comics and the Movies) The Sundance Film Festival opens today in Park City, Utah, and both Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner are there. They'll be attending the premiere of the new film American Splendor, which writer-directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman created from Pekar's comic book. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the story:

"Everyone connected with American Splendor hopes big things will come out of the festival. The biggest would be a theatrical release: The film was made for HBO Independent, and at the moment it is scheduled to premiere on HBO.

"But no date has been set for that, and the directors are hoping that their film follows the example of Real Women Have Curves from last year's festival. It, too, was made for HBO, but after it made a huge splash at Sundance -- including winning the Dramatic Audience Award -- it was picked up for release in movie theaters first.

" 'The film is definitely open to being released theatrically,' Pulcini said in a phone interview from New York. 'I am hopeful for that.' "

In addition to the well-deserved ego-boost, Pekar also hopes to score some writing gigs at the festival as well. Hey, as long as the opportunity's there...
Posted @ 5:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Seven Evil Bastards
(Copyright Law) Every time someone cuts away a part of the U.S. Constitution¹, a little piece of me dies; I'm very American in that regard. Yesterday, by a 7-to-2 vote, the Supreme Court did exactly that when it upheld the constitutionality of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The case before it was Eldred vs. Ashcroft, which challenged the constitutionality of the extension on the grounds that the Founding Fathers had meant for copyright to be of a limited duration. The story is everywhere; here's the Associated Press report:

"Hundreds of thousands of books, movies and songs were close to being released into the public domain when Congress extended the copyright by 20 years in 1998.

"Justices said the copyright extension, named for the late Rep. Sonny Bono, R-Calif., was neither unconstitutional overreaching by Congress, nor a violation of free-speech rights.

" 'We are not at liberty to second-guess congressional determinations and policy judgments of this order, however debatable or arguably unwise they may be,' Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority."

Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, one of the lawyers who argued the case before the court, has posted a copy of the majority ruling on his website in PDF format, as well as the dissenting opinions by Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens. Here's the crux of Breyer's argument:

"The economic effect of this 20-year extension -- the longest blanket extension since the Nation's founding is to make the copyright term not limited, but virtually perpetual. Its primary legal effect is to grant the extended term not to authors, but to their heirs, estates, or corporate successors. And most importantly, its practical effect is not to promote, but to inhibit, the progress of 'Science' by which word the Framers meant learning or knowledge."

What he said. A collection of links to opinions from around the internet can be found at intellectual-property weblog Copyfight (link courtesy of The Shifted Librarian). This case was the subject of my second weblog entry, but I doubt you could find a better argument for limited copyrights than the one written by John Bloom for The National Review.

Bastards.

¹ Section eight, clause eight, in case you were wondering.
Posted @ 2:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Marvel to Stan Lee: "See you in court"
(Comic Books) Speaking of bastards, Marvel Comics has responded to Stan Lee's lawsuit against them, which seeks financial renumeration for an alleged breach of contract over residuals from movie and television tie-ins. The Pulse's Heidi MacDonald has the story:

"In papers filed in US District Court on January 3rd, Marvel denies that any money is owed to Lee in terse legalese. While acknowledging that Stan has worked at Marvel or a Marvel predecessor since 1939, and that Stan was editor and, interestingly, that 'Lee was involved in the creation of the identified characters.' (those characters being Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil and The Incredible Hulk) the papers also state that no money is due Lee under the infamous 4(f).

"Other aspects of the case that Marvel does not dispute include the facts that Lee did serve as a Marvel spokesman, and that 'Spider-Man: The Movie opened on or about May 3, 2002 and was reported to have broken certain box office receipt records.'

"The answer ends with a standard motion to dismiss Lee's case."

As MacDonald notes, the next step in this lawsuit will be a period of discovery, unless a settlement is reached.
Posted @ 2:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Australia declared Transformers-free zone
(Comics Retailing) Back in November, a variety of comics publishers discovered that they didn't have the right to distribute comics based on licensed characters outside of North America. Now Australia's Daily Telegraph is reporting that the sudden loss of product is harming comic-book shops Down Under:

" 'A lot of popular titles are just no longer available,' said Ian Gould, co-owner of Brisbane's Ace Comics.

"Last year at a German comic conference, it was discovered a company which produced the English-language version of Transformers -– one of the year's top-selling comics -– had only secured rights from toymaker Hasbro to distribute it in North America.

The news spread, and now spin-off comics such as Masters Of The Universe, GI Joe and hugely popular Japanese titles such as Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing cannot be distributed in Australia until their status is decided."

Apparently Marvel isn't the only company haunted by the inability to read the contracts they sign. It's a shame that foreign retailers are the ones who seem to be paying for it.

(Thanks to Tim O'Shea for suggesting the story.)
Posted @ 2:00 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Noted briefly
(Potpourri) I'm afraid work has caught up with me, and thus I don't have time for the usual full entries today. Eschewing the usual snotty commentary, here's what's happening in the world of comics:

• Franz Drappier, better known to his readers simply as Franz, died on January 8th. The Belgian cartoonist's work appeared in a variety of publications, including Spirou, Tintin and Pilote. He was 54. (Thanks to Peter Breedveld, who informed us on our message board, and Egon for catching the thread that I must confess slipped by me.)

• Dutch cartoonist Jaap Vegter died on January 13th. Vegter created socially conscious comics for a variety of publications, perhaps most notable a weekly strip for Vrij Nederland. He was 68. (Thanks to Reinder Dijkhuis, who also brought the news to us on our message board.)

• IranAmok continues -- the furor that wouldn't die concludes a full week, as reports emerge that Hayat-e No has been "targeted by arsonists" (the report is vague on the details), and conservative Tehran shopkeepers closed their businesses for an hour in protest of what was, I repeat, a 65-year-old cartoon alleged to have slandered the late Ayatollah Khomeini.

• Attention Chicago: renowned cartoonist Ivan Brunetti will be teaching a seven-week course in cartooning at Columbia College, starting in February. The cost is $300; enroll now if you want in. (Thanks to Andrei Molotiu, who informed us on our message board. The TCJ message board is truly the overworked comics blogger's best friend...)

Sorry for the brevity. If it's any consolation, there'll be a double site-update on Friday in which we'll preview The Comics Journal Winter 2003 Special Edition and update our Audio Archive page with MP3 excerpts from Gary Groth's 1985 interview with Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. Beck. Last call on the Jaime Hernandez files, everybody!
Posted @ 2:10 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Here comes the flood
(Comic Books) I took a quick potshot at Marvel's planned wave of new comics a while ago, I may well have missed the underlying story. Fortunately, Rich Johnston is on the job:

"So what exactly is the significance of Marvel's name for this new slew of mentioned titles? Well, a few sources seem to indicate that "First Wave" is just that, the first of many new titles to come this year. I understand that Marvel seem to be considering increasing their number of titles in the market in an attempt to regain market share. Currently, DC beat Marvel on total sales, when reorders are counted, but do so with many more titles than Marvel. Looks like it's time for the House Of Ideas to live up to its name again. Either that or go down the Bob Harras route of flooding the market till it collapses. Let's see which one they choose, shall we?"

Just what the direct market needs -- more superheroes! How small can they cut that pie?
Posted @ 2:30 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Take it from the top
(Comics Retailing) It must be good to be Chuck Rozanski. As the owner of Mile High Comics, Rozanski sits at the top of what he claims is the largest comics retail business in America, with projected sales of $7.5 million for 2002. Most of this income comes from his mail-order business, which sells the out-of-print back issues less likely to be found at your local comics shop -- at a nice mark-up, of course. The Denver Business Journal breaks it down to what's important:

"Comic books aren't just for kids. The first issue of Action Comics, where Superman made his debut in 1938, is worth as much as $350,000, and has appreciated in value by 23 percent in the past year.

"Few can afford to spend that much on a comic. The steady money comes from selling fans back issues of comics that may not be extremely rare or valuable. Rozanski calls those the 'bread and butter' of his business. But for fans trying to complete their collection of Spider-Man, Batman or even Plop! comics, Rozanski deals in treasure."

It should be noted that when Marvel first announced its notorious "no re-orders" policy, Rozanski was one of the few retailers to defend the practice, on the grounds that "[f]or publishers to print additional copies of a given title is use of working capital that may very well have a zero rate of return." If you're DC Comics, of course, those additional copies are what makes you the #1-selling publisher in the industry, but then they hire accountants and marketers who presumably know how to track such things and make the proper estimates. Let's cut Marvel the benefit of the doubt and assume they can't afford such extra employee baggage -- especially when a lack of inventory leads to scarcity in the Mom-and-Pop shops, which in turn leads to increased mail-order sales for Mile High Comics...
Posted @ 2:30 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

IranAmok watch: Cartoon evidence of "fifth column"
(Censorship) My apologies to those of you who may have grown tired of this story, but I just keep finding fascinating nuggets and seemed to have developed a compulsion to share. Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency reports on an editorial in the Monday edition of Kayhan International, which takes speculative political intrigue to levels about which even I at my industry-bashing best can only dream. Dig it -- someone infiltrated the staff of Hayat-e No and printed a 65-year-old American editorial cartoon that clearly and obviously defamed the late Ayatollah Khomeini, in order to discredit its publisher:

" 'Was it to divert public attention, as well as that of the media, from the opinion polls trial where it was established and also confessed by the defendents that acts of espionage were committed?' asked the daily.

"Very apparently it was so. The perpetrators, in all probability, selected Hadi Khamenei's newspaper because he happens to be the brother of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Therefore, the criminals intended to create much ado by publishing their material in the daily of the Leader's brother, it pointed out.

"The current mischief, if juxtaposed with the trial of the bogus polsters, will bring to light the fact that the 'Fifth Column' does exist in the Islamic Republic, it contended."

You just can't make this stuff up. Okay, okay -- I just can't make this stuff up; I could never convince myself that anyone would believe me.

Plagiarism watch: The term "IranAmok" was originally used by a Washington DC political magazine (either The New Republic or The Nation, I forget which) to describe the Iran/Contra scandals of the late 1980s, and is hereby borrowed with due acknowledgement.)
Posted @ 2:30 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

This is how we do it
(Editorial Cartoons) For a nice study in contrasts with the above entry, here's a timely column by The Hartford Courant's ombudsman, Karen Hunter, who interviewed Courant editorial cartoonist Bob Englehart after a cartoon deriding Connecticut state workers for their "cushy retirement plan" provoked what has become, for him, the usual stream of hate mail:

"Have you ever regretted a cartoon that was printed?

" 'No. I have to go through such a process that by the time a cartoon is published, if there is ever one that anyone doesn't like, it doesn't get in. That's how it's been ever since the famous "Screw you" logo slipped in. [A screw drawn through the U in Northeast Utilities' logo gave the logo a new meaning.]... I submit a sketch to [Editorial Page Editor] John [Zakarian] -- on a rare occasion, he'll kill it. Then it goes to [Publisher] Jack [Davis]. He's had problems with a cartoon, but he has not killed one of them.'

"Do the hundreds of letters in The Courant's archives criticizing you bother you?

" 'I accept it as part of the territory. In most cases, I feel sad for those readers. We're used to being lied to. I'm giving them an honest opinion. What do I have to gain? People hate it because they are so used to being lied to. This charge of insensitivity is bogus, fascist, left-wing fascist. It stops people from communicating. Insensitivity is an empty, cowardly charge.' "

Note the absence of arrests, as well as the state of Connecticut's curious refusal to close the Courant for its terrible, terrible defamation of government figures. A word to any stray Iranian readers: this is how democracy is supposed to work.

(Link courtesy of Romenesko's MediaNews.)
Posted @ 2:30 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Hardline Iranian theology students still protesting 65-year-old cartoon
(Censorship) Hallaluyagobble! Yeaterday I told you about an uproar that occured in Iran after reformist newspaper Hayat-e No ran a 1937 editorial cartoon concerning FDR's troubles with the Supreme Court, which left the Islamic Right convinced it was a secret attack on the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Twenty-four hours passed with no indication of cooler heads in sight. Enough commentary -- let's let The Islamic Republic News Agency tell the story:

"Chanting slogans, the protestors, some clad in blood-soaked shrouds and carrying black-colored flags as a sign of mourning, set out from the former house of the late Imam to gather at the Qom theology school where they issued a tough-worded resolution.

" 'We emphatically want all state officials, especially the Judiciary, to take firm action against this seditious cultural move and confront with infiltrators in the press,' the protestors said in a part of the resolution."

Hayat-e No editor Hadi Khamenei, who in addition to being the current Ayatollah's brother is also the Tehran representative to Iran's parliament, took to the floor of that legislative body and defended himself, citing his credentials as a veteran of the revolution that deposed the Shah. Given that all of this operates against the backdrop of an ongoing struggle between popularly elected reformists and theocrats anxious not to lose their grip on power, I hope I can be forgiven for assuming that the "controversy" is more a pretext to take down a political opponent than anything else.
Posted @ 2:55 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Your funnybook calendar
(Comics Events) There's plenty of comics-related exhibits and gatherings taking place around America in the next few weeks or so. Here are some of the highlights:

• January 17th: Let's start in New York City, where the Museum of Modern Art will host an evening of programming that celebrates the work of cartoonist and animator R.O. Blechman, beginning with a multimedia presentation by the artist at 6:15 PM (which will include a wide sampling of animated works by his studio The Ink Tank, featuring collaborations with Joost Swarte, James Kochalka, Mark Marek and more), followed by a screening of Blechman's Emmy award-winning animated version of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale at 8:45 PM, accompanied by a live chamber orchestra. Visit their website for more information. (Those of you in the UK will have a shot at seeing The Soldier's Tale in February -- click here for details.)

• January 17th: Meanwhile, folks in Pittsburgh, PA can treat themselves to the opening reception of a new gallery exhibit of comic art, fine art and zines at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery, beginning at 6 PM. The show features original art by an impressive who's who in the art-comics world -- Clowes, Ware, Gloeckner, Hernandez, Barry, Millionaire, Doucet, Sacco, and the list goes on and on. The exhibit runs through March 21st.

• January 25th: On to San Francisco, where The Cartoon Art Museum plays host to the Trina Robbins-curated exhibit "She Draws Comics: Great Women Cartoonists". Included in the show are works by Edwina Dumm, Grace Drayton, Nell Brinkley, Dale Messick, Roberta Gregory, Lee Marrs, Marie Severin, Lynn Johnston and a host of others. A reception will be held on February 1st at 8:00 PM; the exhibit runs through June 8th. You might want to see this when you show up in town for --

• February 1st: The Alternative Press Expo, which runs through the 2nd. This is one of the two big small-press gatherings of the American comics scene; do I really have to tell you more? Click the link for details.

• February 7th: Our tour of events next turns to Gainesville, FL, where the 2nd Annual University of Florida Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels opens its doors to the public. Artists officially attending include Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Dianne Noomin, Art Spiegelman and Robert Williams, plus various academic types (including a plethora of TCJ contributors) who'll be making presentations. The conference runs through the 8th; admission is free.

• February 9th: If the above events are a little too artsy for your tastes, perhaps you'll want to be in Seattle, WA when the Emerald City ComiCon debuts. This one-day gathering features an assortment of such genre-comics luminaries as Erik Larson, Darick Robertson, John Cassaday and many more. Indy comics fans are encouraged to stop by the main floor, where the exhibitors will include Top Shelf, Oni Press, and maybe even Fantagraphics (if I can find someone willing to assist me with a table).

I'll provide a reminder for some of these events at the end of the month.
Posted @ 2:55 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Iranian newspaper shut down over 65-year old cartoon
(Censorship) Saturday was apparently "Everyone Act Like a Lunatic Day" in Iran. The reformist newspaper Hayat-e No found itself facing an uproar among hardline Islamists after running an 1937 American cartoon which satirized Franklin D. Roosevelt's troubles with the Supreme Court. The cartoon, a fuzzy copy of which can be seen here, depicts FDR's giant thumb crushing down on the head of a robed, bearded man labeled "Supreme Court" and was used to illustrate a story about politics in the USA -- but this hasn't stopped reactionary clerics from claiming that the cartoon depicts the late Ayatollah Khomeinei and protesting anywhere they can muster enough bodies. For further details we turn to Voice of America:

"A statement on the newspaper's website apologized for any misunderstandings the caricature might have caused. The statement also explained that newspaper employees had no intention of insulting anyone and that the suspect cartoon had nothing to do with Iran.

"Newspaper officials said Hayat-e No would remain closed for two days out of respect for public opinion, but would resume publication on Monday."

Later, a story from Associated Press reporter Ali Akbar Dareini (carried in The Sarasota Herald-Tribune) reported that the Special Clergy Court had ordered the paper closed, and summoned editor Hadi Khamenei (the brother of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) to face "unspecified charges". Hadi, who opposes his older brother's hardline Islamist politics, is reported by Iran's state-run radio to have been freed after posting a bond. Damn, Iran is one fucked-up place.
Posted @ 3:35 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

A funnybook fashion tradition
(Commentary) Memo to superhero comic-book artists: cloth draped over the female breast is just as subject to gravity as every other solid object. When was the last time you saw a woman's t-shirt cup under the breasts in form-fitting fashion? Do you realize that for this to work in real life you essentially have to create "boob socks" in which to slide them?

I've often gotten laughs out of wondering aloud whether your average super-duper artist has ever actually seen a grown woman naked. Now I'm starting to wonder whether they've even seen a grown woman clothed....

(Yes, yes, I know I already posted this to several comics-related message boards Saturday -- I just wanted a nice permanent record of my coinage of the term "boob socks", is all. Seriously, what percentage of superhero comics feature boob sock-wearing female characters, do you think... sixty percent? Seventy? Inquiring minds want to know.)
Posted @ 3:35 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Sunday Scraps
(Potpourri) Turning to things less mammary-fixated -- the following are a series of links that have collected in my notes but for a variety of reasons never made it to this weblog before now:

• In June of last year, Washington DC's Institute for Policy Studies responded to a perceived attack on civil liberties by holding a gallery exhibition of cartoons that had come under criticism for their expressed viewpoints, entitled "Freedom Illustrated: The Art of Civil Liberties". Now the American Civil Liberties Union is hosting an online version of the show, which features works by such artists as Aaron McGruder, Tom Tomorrow, Jen Sorensen, Matt Wuerker, Ted Rall, Ann Telnaes, Lalo Alcaraz and a host of others. (Link via Boing Boing.)

• Posy Simmonds' book Gemma Bovary was at the top of a lot of people's "best of" lists a while back; now she's running a new weekly strip in The Guardian's books section, entitled Literary Life. New Simmonds cartoons should always be cause for celebration. (Link via Egon, which also has news of a planned revival of the works of Frederic Wertham -- no permalinks of course, so scroll down and read.)

• Bugpowder recently linked to a fascinating page which lists illustrated biographies of over 150 international cartoonists and illustrators working from 1700 to the arly 1900s. If you're a fan of classic cartooning, these pages contain eye-candy you're sure to enjoy.

• Reader Michael Dooley was kind enough to email me a link to Charlottesville, VA's newsweekly C-Ville, which this week used the new strip-cartoonist anthology Attitude as an excuse to profile some of its contributors, including local artist Jen Sorenson, Ted Rall, Ruben Bolling, John "Derf" Backderf and Dan Perkins (a.k.a. Tom Tomorrow).

• Here's a few miscellaneous Bill Mauldin links. Weblogger Franklin Harris, who works as an editor for Alabama's Decatur Daily, emailed me a link to this interview with Mauldin's son David that his paper ran recently. Meanwhile, The Arizona Republic celebrates Mauldin's roots in Phoenix, describing his run as a cartoonist for Phoenix Union High School's student newspaper.

• You know, for someone who gets indignant every time I tweak superhero-comics readers' noses, NeilAlien sure is gallant about linking to fanboy horror stories. Gotcher nose, Neil! MOO hoo ha ha ha....

• CNN profiles Kim Deitch's new Pantheon graphic novel, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which is currently being discussed in our book club. (Thanks to Jeff Mason for the link.)

• As if running a weekly Posy Simmonds strip weren't enough, The Guardian also recently reviewed Joe Sacco's Palestine, which just made its UK debut as a collected edition from Jonathan Cape. Farther afield, Maltese website di-ve.com celebrates the local boy made good. Go, Joe!

• Massachutsetts' Daily Hampshire Gazette brings word of a new musical-theater piece Ben Katchor is creating in collaboration with musician Mark Mulcahy, entitled The Slug-Bearers of Kayrol Island, or The Friends of Dr. Rushower. The show will be performed at MASS MoCA in North Adams on the 17th and 18th at 7:30 PM. Call 413-662-2111 or visit their website for further details.

• Newsarama's Daniel Robert Epstein checks in with this interview with cartoonist Bob Fingerman about his new graphic novel, Beg the Question, as well as his literary plans for the future.

• Over at The Pulse, Jen Contino interviews Ian and Ty Smith about their new Oddjob collection from Slave Labor. You know, I admire a man brave enough to use the word "hinky" in a sentence without embarassment.

• Back at Newsarama, Matt Brady talks to Australian small-press cartoonist Bruce Mutard about his new graphic novel The Bunker, which is set for an April release from Image Comics, of all people. That Jim Valentino -- is he indy comics' most unlikely agent or what?

• Fans of whimsical cartooning will want to check out this hinky website devoted to the advertising art of Dr. Seuss, which contains a veritable cornucopia of hand-drawn goodness. (Link courtesy of Scrubbles.)

• UK tabloid The Daily Mirror, longtime home-base for Reggie Smythe's Andy Capp strip, is reporting that Smythe's hometown of Hartlepool is currently raising money to immortalize his popular creation with a bronze statue.

• He isn't there yet, but he's trying: The Abilene Reflector-Chronicle details amateur cartoonist Thomas Woods' attempts to get his comic strip Ed & Ted syndicated.

• Jump Start creator Robb Armstrong likes to help out by conducting free one-day cartooning classes in schools all over his home state of Pennsylvania. He recently taught such a class in Springfield, and The Springfield Sun was there to watch him work.

• Finally, online cartoonist Mark O'Neill has been drawing his strip, Potluck Parish, for two years now. When he decided it was finally time to propose to girlfriend Ann Parkhurst, naturally he elected to do so in his daily comic strip (temporary link). Connecticut television station WTNH has the story. Can't you just here the anchorpersons smiling and joking before they sign off for the night? Speaking of which --

"Boob socks." Man, I crack me up! See you Monday.
Posted @ 3:35 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

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