Today on the site, Frank Santoro turns over Riff Raff to guest columnist John Kelly, who reports from this year's SPX and focuses specifically on two international guests in attendance, Dylan Horrocks and Joan Cornellà.
In a 2013 interview that ran on the website missfiocchetti.com, Cornellà had this to say of interviews: "One day a guy wrote me a message on Facebook. He told me he was a fan interested to make an interview in a Starbucks. I acceded to met him and when I arrived there I found some kind of crazy ex convict trying to steal [sic] me with a fork."
While I would have loved to have spoken to him at length, and I had no plans to "steal him with a fork," Cornellà was very pleasant and we chatted off and on throughout the weekend. When he spotted a piece of paper I was carrying that had artwork by Drew Friedman on it, Cornellà asked me if I knew Friedman. I replied that I had known him for many years, had done a long interview with him for TCJ years ago, and had recently spent a day at Friedman’s house, interviewing him again.
“Tell him he’s my favorite cartoonist,” Cornellà said. “When I was just starting to draw comics I used to try and copy his work. I will show you next time.”
“You could have picked an easier artist to try and copy,” I said and he laughed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere:
—Commentary. Julia Wertz wrote a post on online harassment. Anyone who hasn't read it yet should.
Dash Shaw writes about form. "In comic pages, form decisions are content decisions."
—Interviews & Profiles. Oliver Ristau and Shawn Starr talk to Blaise Larmee.
Henry Chamberlain talks to Jonathan Lethem about this year's volume of the Best American Comics.
Abraham Riesman visits Adrian Tomine in his studio.
—Misc. It's the twentieth anniversary of Conundrum Press.
Sean Howe shares a 1977 letter to Jimmy Page from the Ordo Templi Orientis that mentions the occult group's "personal ambassador" Steve Englehart (also a longtime Marvel writer).
—Video. Too many videos for you today.
Pat Moriarty on Serbian television promoting a documentary about the Seattle comics scene (via):
Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly interviewed by Jeff Smith for CXC (via):
More Art Spiegelman in Ohio, this time discussing his teenage fanzine:
Finally, Eleanor Davis's acceptance speech at this year's Ignatz Awards:
