TCJ Audio Archives: Walt Kelly speaks
(The Comics Journal) We're going into repeats again this month, with an encore presentation of cartoonist Gil Kane's conversation with Walt Kelly, creator of the classic comic strip Pogo. The interview (reproduced here in full) took place during a 1969 meeting of the National Cartoonists Society; Kane, an early proponent of the idea of comics as art, found an acerbic subject in Kelly, whose answers were witty, informative and just a bit profane. Added bonus: at several points during the interview, Kelly calls for information from an elderly but still sharp Rube Goldberg, who was seated in the audience. Enjoy this conversation -- we'll be back next month with new excerpts from our massive collection of interview audiotapes.
Posted @ 4:00 PM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Die, Comcast, die
(Excuses, excuses) Hey, kids! Guess whose cable modem finally started working again, after twelve hours of inactivity?

This month's Audio Archives -- a repeat, as mentioned yesterday -- will be posted a little later this afternoon. ¡Journalista! will return Monday morning at the usual time.
Posted @ 2:05 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Today's news
(Potpourri) Blah blah blah, insert non-descript opening comment here. We know what we're here for, so let's get to it:

• The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority has declared an advertisement which ran in the adult satirical comic book Viz to be racist. The ad, for telecom company Onetoo Ltd., contained an altered photograph in which a gorilla's head was superimposed upon the body of a black woman. The BBC has a report.

• In Japan, the winners of the 25th Yomiuri International Cartoon Contest have been announced. The ¥2 million grand prize went to Thailand's Eakasit Thairaat, whose strip beat out 7,912 other entries from 66 countries and territories. The winning cartoons can be seen at the website of Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, which sponsors the annual event.

• Canadian editorial cartoonist Roy Peterson has been named an officer of the Order of Canada. The Vancouver Sun, which publishes Peterson's work three times a week, takes a moment to sing his praises.

• The Atlanta Journal Constitution runs an Associated Press story hinting that Cathy Guisewite's comic-strip character Cathy may get married. Is this an unheralded act of character development in a strip where "character development" is a contradiction in terms... or is Cathy simply about to jump the shark?

• It's only because I'm such an obsessive Howard Chaykin fan that I note this: according to Newsarama, Dynamic Forces is bringing American Flagg! back into print. (All apologies -- I know a goodly portion of those reading this weblog do so expressly to get away from lame TV Guide shit like this. I'll try not to make a habit of it.)

• "I’ve been trying for years (and in many different ways) to make my comic strip less enjoyable." Chris Reilly, Steve Ahlquist and Carl Mitsch interview the man behind Smell of Steve, Brian Sendelbach, for The Pulse.

• Silver Bullet Comics' Tim O'Shea speaks with Dan James, creator of the new The Octopi & The Ocean from Top Shelf.

• A local gallery show highlighting the work of various art-cartoonists gives The Baltimore Sun's Chris Kaltenbach an opportunity to examine the new breed of comic books.

• Harvey Pekar offers an appreciation of the comics journalism of Joe Sacco for New York alt-weekly The Journal News. (Link via Egon.)

• Broken Frontier's Shawn Hoke (temporary link) digs into the work of indy-comics legend Julie Doucet.

• Also at Broken Frontier: the second part of Matt Maxwell's skewering of a recent Newsarama interview with Marvel overlords Joe Quesada and Dan Buckley. (Here's a temporary link to part one, for those of you who've lost track.)

• Writing for PulpLit, Tim O'Neil reviews the first volume of David B.'s Epileptic.

• Over at ICv2, Texas retailer Buddy Saunders reflects on what the whole kids-and-comics controversy launched by the improper marketing of DC's Outsiders #8 says about the comic-book industry.

• Fumetti.org's Laurent Melikian has more photos from Angoulême.

• Weblogger Sean Collins examines the legacy of the Rhode Island comics collective known as Fort Thunder.

• Over at The Comics Waiting Room, reading the new comic by Sophie Crumb leads Marc Mason to ask: "Why don't more cartoonists' kids follow in their parents' footsteps?" Actually, I think it's a little more common than Mason realizes; off the top of my head, both Kim Deitch and Roberta Gregory are the children of professional cartoonists. Matt Groening's dad was an amateur cartoonist who once gave the life of a freelance gag artist a try, if I remember correctly. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. It may not be the norm, but cartooning running in the family isn't quite a rarity, either. (Standard disclaimer: The Comics Waiting Room is a newer Blogspot site, so the permalinks don't work. The item in question is currently the topmost item for January 28th, titled "Crumb: TNG.")

• Adam Stephanides continues reviewing Japanese-language comics. I enjoy these posts, primarily because it gives me a glimpse into the manga being published overseas that don't exactly fit in with the marketing plans of American companies. (Another standard disclaimer: newer Blogspot site, the permalinks don't work -- you know the drill. The item in question is currently the topmost item for January 28th, titled "THE MANGA I BOUGHT MOST RECENTLY.")

• I'm embarrased to admit that I lost track of Teresa Ortega for a few weeks. Here's a short review of Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan.

• On the off-chance that the above link was a little too conflict-of-interesty for you, here's Laura Gjovaag (temporary link) with a short review of a book which failed to resonate with her: Gilbert Hernandez' Palomar.

• The ongoing Watchmen cross-blog discussion continues. Four Color Hell's Todd Murry compares the two apocalyptic 1980s graphic novels Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns. Meanwhile, Ampersand examines the theories put forward by Eve Tushnet and Jim Henley, ultimately siding with Tushnet.

• Dave Intermittent presents a manga-related conversation overheard at a comics shop. Yes, it's just a fad... right?

• Steven Wintle links to a vintage 141-strip run of Frank King's Gasoline Alley dailies. Steven Wintle fucking rocks.

• Did you know Comixpedia has a blog?

• John Jakala links to this Gail Simone Usenet post for its comedic value, but I gotta tell you: The Justice League in teddies? I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Gail Simone should write all DC's comics.

• There are some news items so stereotypically geeky and pathetic that you can only wonder if you haven't perhaps stumbled across a well-disguised Onion parody by mistake. This is one such story.

Finally, a personal note to Graeme McMillan: I feel your pain. Wonder what they'll say when they discover next month's Audio Archive is a repeat?
Posted @ 4:55 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Today's news
(Potpourri) Another day, another collection of news headlines and links from the world of comics and cartoons:

• Telecom IDT Corp. has announced its intention to buy a minority share of stock in Archie Comics Entertainment LLC; the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement is said to be a step towards the production of an animated film based on Dan DeCarlo's creation Josie and the Pussycats. Reuters has a report.

• Philips Electronics is gearing up for the production of a "slim, five-inch display panel upon which users can download newspapers and magazines," capable of displaying detailed images, which can be rolled up and stored in a pen-sized holder. The device will use e-paper technology developed by E Ink. Editor and Publisher has details.

• Comics news-site Sequential reports that Chester Brown's graphic novel Louis Riel has been named one of 2003's top five non-fiction titles by Canadian publishing trade newspaper Quill & Quire.

• In a news item posted to both our own message board and Comicon.com, the Cartoonists Rights Network's Joe Spann reports that Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes has received a threatening email claiming to be from someone in Saudi Arabia The threats are most likely over a cartoon lampooning Shiite cleric Ali Sistani, the Iraqi ayatollah currently giving that nation's interim government grief over direct elections.

• Syndicated strip-cartoonist Aaron McGruder is once again ruffling feathers by referring to U.S. national-security advisor Condoleezza Rice as "a murderer" -- this time on the nationally-syndicated television program America's Black Forum. World Net Daily's Paul Sperry has the story.

• According to ICv2, an angry parent confronted North Carolina retailer W. Alan Davis over "inappropriate content" found in a copy of Outsiders #8 sold to her child. The article quotes extensively from a letter written by DC management in response, which acknowledges that retailers did not receive adequate warning of the book's content. I'd confess to being surprised that we don't see more of this, given the contents of much of today's offerings from Marvel and DC, save for the fact that there just aren't many children actually buying such comics in the Direct Market anymore.

• Hiring news: The Pulse notes that Matt Idelson has been promoted to DC senior editor. Perhaps he can see to it that retailers get a little more warning about books like Outsiders #8.

• Michigan Web Comics is a group of web-cartoonists that meets each month to drink coffee and talk shop. If you're in the area and this sounds like your cup of joe, click the link for details.

• Alan David Doane conducts a short but informative interview with comics writer Ed Brubaker.

• Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages speaks to local boy Ryan Kelly, the artist behind the satirical, sci-fi graphic novel Giant Robot Warriors.

• Writing for Silver Bullet Comics, Clifford Meth calls upon Marvel Comics to do the right thing by Dave Cockrum. It'd be nice if they did, but I'm afraid this is Marvel we're talking about here. The odds are not good.

• Steven Grant explains why he won't be naming the "winners" of the Finger Awards, which you'll recall from last week was a freelancers-only competition to name the worst comic-book editors in a variety of categories. For strictly voyeuristic reasons I am of course disappointed by this, but it's hard to fault his reasoning, I suppose.

• Generally, when I link to Silver Bullet Comics' "The Panel," it's to play another fun-filled game of "Who Has the Clue?" This week's round-robin on lettering, however, features a number of interesting comments -- I'd say Roger Langridge has it by a nose, but there are several good responses.

• New York City newspaper Newsday's John Hanc summarises the comic book's past, it's stagnant present and uncertain future. (Thanks to Stuart Kaufman for emailing me the link.)

• Todd Murry reviews Drawn & Quarterly Volume Five for Four Color Hell.

• Silver Bullet Comics' Darren Schroeder examines Nakedfella Comics #8, by Australian self-publisher David Blumenstein.

• Weblogger Sean Collins recently lost his job, and is asking readers to hit the tip jar so as to help him pay for the site.

• Dave Intermittent describes how people who rail against "decompressed storytelling" tend not to know just what it is they're talking about. (On that note: it's Brandon Thomas, not Brandon Stenger, and the scene in question occurs in the first issue of The Dark Knight Returns, not the second.)

• Tim O'Neil reflects upon public attitudes about manga in both America and Japan. (Standard disclaimer: it's a newer Blogspot site, so the permalinks don't work. The item in question is currently the topmost item for January 28th, titled "My Oh My.")

• Jim Henley just can't -- stop -- blogging -- Watchmen! This time out, he answers an email from Rich Puchalsky concerning the book's possible riffs on Jewish cultural traditions, and answers other reader mail on the graphic novel as well.

• In a two-part series of posts, Steven Berg examines the themes and strategies of Grant Morrison's New X-Men.

• Adam Stephanides reviews the two-volume, Japanese-language manga I'm Home by Ishizaka Kei, a tale of a man who, Memento-like, has lost his short-term memory and must relearn the shattered pieces of his life. Stephanides makes this sound like an interesting piece of work -- I wonder if there are any plans to translate it into English. (Standard disclaimer: it's another newer Blogspot site, so again, the permalinks don't work. The item in question is currently the topmost item for January 27th, titled "MANGA CORNER: I'M HOME.")

• Rick Geerling wonders at the "online fanboy syncophant" phenomenon. (Standard disclaimer: it's yet another newer Blogspot site, so again, the permalinks don't work. The item in question is currently the second item for January 27th, titled "No Sugar Makes Rick Go Ranty.")

• The Comics Treadmill describes a visit to a decidedly kid-unfriendly comics shop. (Link via Laura Gjovaag.)

• Via Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin, here's a well-stocked online archive of Tijuana bibles, those little porn comics that used to titilate your great-grandfather.

• Dara Naraghi links to an essay on the technogeek news-site kuro5hin.org, which examines the depiction of mental illness in Batman comics.

Finally, that Calvin & Hobbes page to which I linked yesterday exceeded its page-serving limits shortly after I posted the link (though I strongly doubt that I had much to do with it, unless the majority of y'all are reading this at 6 AM). To make up for the suddenly dead link, here's the unofficially official rules of Calvinball.
Posted @ 3:30 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Today's news
(Potpourri) Here's what's happening in the world of pen and ink:

• Our "dog bites man" story for the day: ICv2 examines BookScan's graphic-novel bestseller list for the week ending January 18th and discovers that, yes, manga is still beating the living shit out of its Western counterpart in the bookstore arena. In addition, newspaper strip collections are now being included in the list, which makes funnybook publishers look even worse. Weblogger Shawn Fumo takes a closer look at the numbers ICv2 provides.

• A brief note in The New York Times arts section (registration required) brings word that the Syrian cartoonist Raed Khalil has won a United Nations Correspondents Association award -- and rejected it because the award is named after an Israeli cartoonist, Ranan Lurie. According to The Times, "Mr. Khalil said his prize was for a cartoon about 'peace and love in the world.' The cartoon showed two men on either bank of a river, watering a plant that linked the two sides. 'It is not about peace between Syria and Israel,' he said."

• Peter David's webmaster, Glenn Hauman, offers an update on former DC editor Julius Schwartz's condition.

• In Fort Collins, Colorado, an editorial cartoon in the local weekly paper, The Rocky Mountain Bullhorn, has angered mayor Ray Martinez and caused him to wage a veritable one-man crusade against the paper. The cartoon, by Nathan Thrailkill, uses the mayor to take a swipe at an ordinance which permits local police officers to detain illegal immigrants. Denver alt-weekly Westward has a report. (Thanks to Joe Littrell for emailing me the link.)

• Newsweek profiles Jonathan Shapiro, otherwise known as Zapiro, whom the article calls "arguably South Africa's best-known syndicated political cartoonist."

• Over at Dynamic Forces, Rich Johnston interviews Peter Bagge.

• Cheryl Chow of The Mainichi Daily News summarizes an article from Shukan Jitsuwa on the ubiquity of grown Japanese men reading comics on commuter trains, and the staid people still scandalized by this state of affairs. (Link via Artbomb.)

• Scottish tabloid The Glasgow Daily Record celebrates the impending fiftieth anniversary of Leo Baxendale's classic Beano strip, The Bash Street Kids.

• What, is "Underground" Online actually trying to live up to its name? No -- it's just Rich Watson, "U"O's Editor In Charge Of Not Sucking, with a nice little small-press scene report from Detroit, Michigan. (Incidentally, remember that Gene Colan interview to which I linked yesterday? It's an old link, posted again to their homepage but not marked as archival. Why do I bother?)

• Daryl Cagle offers advice for aspiring editorial cartoonists. (Standard disclaimer: there are no permalinks. The item in question is currently the topmost item, dated "January 24, 2004.")

• Phoebe Gloeckner explains why she'll be evading the "How autobiographical is your work?" question in her upcoming interview for The Comics Journal. (Link via Sean Collins.)

• Jim Henley was on a roll yesterday. He starts off with Brandon Thomas, decompressed storytelling, Bendis & Maleev's Daredevil and the problems with Darwyn Cooke's DC series New Frontier. He then provides a follow-up to his second response to Eve Tushnet's Watchmen essay.

• I missed this yesterday: Henley also links to an interesting essay by Abu Aardvark on the end of Dave Sim & Gerhard's Cerebus. For a longer and more comprehensive look at the Little Grey Bastard, here's Kelly Rothenberg's article on the subject from Americana. (Last link via Tangognat.)

• Also missed yesterday: Bugpowder's Pete Ashton congratulates British comics anthology Sturgeon White Moss on winning the Fanzine Prize at the just-concluded comics festival in Angoulême, France. Sturgeon White Moss is a "fanzine?"

• On a related tip: Fumetti.org's Silvano Beltramo gives us a full page of photos from Angoulême.

• Sean Collins responds to Bill Kartalopolous' review of the Craig Thompson graphic novel Blankets.

• Pam Korda responds to my comments (sixteenth item) on the shonen ai manga Fake, then reviews the third volume in the series.

• Mike Sterling provides a list of comic-book flexidiscs.

• This is Steven Wintle's happening and it freaks him out!

• I am not, repeat not, linking to Ray Smuckles' blog.

• Courtesy of Scrubbles.net's Matt Hinrichs, here's the Calvin and Hobbes Snow Art Gallery.

• Mike Sangiacomo uses his Newsarama column to browbeat a retailer who didn't order his comic book, then disingeneously acts surprised when said retailer seemed less than happy to be talking to him on the phone. (Link via Graeme McMillan.)

Finally, how easy is it to option a comic-book property in Hollywood? As Comixpedia's T. Campbell notes, alleged cartoonist Rob Liefeld just sold the rights to a non-existent comic book. This makes the second vaporware film project with Liefeld's name on it; the first, Shrink, has been in pre-development hell for almost two years now, and is currently tied to Jennifer Lopez' fading film career. Follow that dream, Rob!
Posted @ 3:30 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

Today's news
(Potpourri) Yes, we're still in "mini-¡Journalista!" mode. My schedule simply isn't allowing me much wiggle room right now, sorry. Anyway, here's what popped up over the weekend:

• 36-year-old Philippe Chappuis, otherwise known as Zep, has won the 2004 Grand Prix de la Ville d’Angoulême for his popular comic character Titeuf, according to this French-language news report (Google translation). Learn more about Zep and Titeuf in this Ninth Art essay by Marcos Castrillón. (Links via The Pulse.)

• California comic-book store Brave New World Comics was burglarized a week ago, according to a press release from their website. The thieves apparently knew exactly what they were looking for, as they ignored the cash register and instead made off with an unlisted number of collectible statues, as well as roughly $1700 worth of classic comic books kept in a glass case. In the process of breaking into the store, they sent a considerable amount of broken glass flying through the store, which effectively rendered the children's comics section untouchable. A list of stolen comics is available at the link.

• What the hell is the deal with Morocco and editorial cartoons? Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi recently lodged a formal complaint with Moroccan police over an editorial cartoon printed by the weekly newspaper Al Ousboue, which parodied Gaddafi's decision to allow inspectors to verify the destruction of his nuclear weapons program, and an investigation has been launched. Channel News Asia has the story.

• Derek Birnage, once the editor for the British children's comic book Tiger and co-creator of the football strip Roy of the Rovers, has died at the age of 90. U.K. tabloid The Sun offers a short obituary.

• This is only vaguely related to comics, but painter and collage artist "Jess" (a.k.a. Jess Collins) died last Friday at the age of 80. Collins was among the first fine artists to incorporate comic strip iconography into his gallery work, creating a number of "Tricky Cad" collages in the early 1950s, which rearranged and re-contextualized Chester Gould's Dick Tracy. The San Francisco Chronicle offers a posthumous appreciation of the artist. (Link via Michael Blowhard.)

• In India, The Hindustan Times' editorial cartoonist Sudhir Tailang has been announced as being among this year's recipients of the Padma Shri, an award given by the government in recognition of distinguished service to the nation in any field. Naturally, the paper takes a moment to brag.

• The latest comic-book entrepreneur to make the multimedia leap is Cracked publisher Dick Kulpa, who's just signed a deal with Film Roman to create works for DVD and video based upon strips and concepts from the venerable Mad knockoff, according to Florida's Palm Beach Post.

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the film adaptation of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor has been nominated for still another honor: The Writers Guild's award for best screenplay.

• I realize this is in part a promotion for a new softcover comics collection (I almost didn't post it for this reason), but a number of comics shops are organizing a "24-Hour Comics Day" on April 24th. Silver Bullet Comics has the press release.

• Following up on a story from last Wednesday: the town of Chester, Illinois has decided to hold its annual Popeye Picnic downtown (at least for now), thus heading off an increasingly acrimonious argument over the future of the annual celebration of the town's most famous export, cartoonist E.C. Segar. Illinois television station WQAD has the Associated Press report.

• National Public Radio's Susan Stamberg spotlights Art Spiegelman. The linked page includes a plethora of streaming audio -- including an excerpt from audiotapes of Spiegelman interviewing his father, Vladek, for the graphic novel Maus.

• Malaysian newspaper The Star features an interview with internationally renowned cartoonist Lat, conducted by a group of school children.

• "Underground" Online editor Raymond Neal gives us a long conversation with veteran comic-book cartoonist Gene Colan.

• Dilbert creator Scott Adams describes his first job for The Oakland Tribune.

• Your conflict-of-interest moment for the day: L.J. Douresseau speaks with Fantagraphics marketing dude Eric Reynolds and cartoonist/designer Seth about the upcoming Complete Peanuts series for Comic Book Bin (temporary link).

• Science news-site SciScoop will be conducting an interactive interview with scientist and cartoonist Jay Hosler, who will be asked questions suggested by people posting to the above-linked thread.

• West Virginia's Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail profiles local boy Beau Smith, author of the western-themed Wynonna Earp.

• Comixpedia's Leah Fitzgerald speaks with Ju-Lian, creator of the manga-style webcomic Rules of Make-Believe.

• Also at Comixpedia: Neil Cohn ruminates on the definition of comics and the business models which hold comics and graphic novels back.

• At Tech Central Station, Joshua Elder examines the funnybook industry's current status as an idea for Hollywood. He also notes that former publishing shell-game artist Scott Rosenberg is one of the men behind the current fad. Why doesn't that make me more sympathetic to the phenomenon?

• Graeme McMillan wonders just how unnecessary Alan Moore's run on the Rob Liefeld series Supreme really was at Broken Frontier (temporary link).

• Writing for New Jersey's Newark Star-Ledger, Allan Hoffman offers this week's introductory primer on webcomics. One quibble: when did this weblog find itself "among the best spots for finding comics?" I mean, it's nice to be mentioned in the news and all, but what the fuck?

• Fine-art website Absolute Arts shines a spotlight on an upcoming permutation of the Toronto Comic Jam, which for the next month will be transformed into "a participatory, interactive exhibition" at offthemapgallery.

• Time.com comics critic Andrew Arnold examines Paul Hornschemeier's new graphic novel, Mother Come Home.

• Ninth Art's Marcos Castrillón introduces us to Juan José Guarnido's Prix d’Angoulême-winning Blacksad.

• Big Sunny David reviews the Sleeper trade paperback by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. I wish I could offer as hearty an endorsement of the book as David, but this is another one of those books where the hard-boiled spy atmosphere gets ruined for me everytime someone shows up in a cape and tights. It's sort of like watching a production of Glengarry Glen Ross where the cast breaks out in a rousing polka number every fifteen minutes -- the unnecessary intrusions of the genre conventions needed to sell the book in the Direct Market are simply too jarring for me to properly enjoy this book.

• Bill Sherman's read enough underground comix to know just how unoriginal Mark Millar's new comic The Unfunnies really is, and his review of the series reflects it. Why is Mark Millar considered a good writer, anyway? I've diligently read everything alleged to have made Millar's reputation (save for The Ultimates, which we don't have in the TCJ library), and I still don't get it. Essentially, Mark Millar is Warren Ellis without the ideas, Grant Morrison without the imagination and Garth Ennis without the character. He's a second-generation copy of other (and better) writers, as remixed by Spinal Tap. Millar's biggest plus seems to be the ability to crank out scripts on deadline, but that can't be the source of his reputation for anyone this side of an editor. So why is it?

• Kevin Melrose offers a short summary of the latest installment in Publishers Weekly's ongoing CrossGen Deathwatch.

• Chris Puzak summarizes the discrepencies being found among Wal-Mart's discounts for online graphic-novel sales (some of which were first discovered on this TCJ.com message-board thread).

• Jim Henley, John Jakala and Steven Berg comment on Eve Tushnet's recent Watchmen essay.

• Massachusetts retailer Jim Crocker set up a manga table at a local anime film festival last Saturday, and promptly got mobbed with customers. Shawn Fumo was there to report.

Finally, here are 44 panels that always work, courtesy of Wallace Wood and Ivan Brunetti. (Thanks to Elijah Brubaker and Andrei Molotiu for posting these links to our message board.)
Posted @ 5:20 AM by Dirk Deppey | permalink

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