Paul Coker Jr., 1929-2022
Andrew Farago presents a heartfelt tribute to Paul Coker Jr., a pro’s pro of comics and animation, with comments by MAD colleagues and prominent admirers alike, and dozens of images spanning his entire career.
Features
“My Purpose Is Simply To Tell People’s Stories”: A Visit with Igort, and a Look at His New Ukrainian Notebook
Valerio Stivé pays a visit to a living legend of Italian alternative comics, for a discussion of his recent “Notebooks” of personal stories from Ukraine and Russia – and a special preview of his next book, on the 2022 invasion.
Too Hot the Eye of Heaven Shines – This Week’s Links
They told me I’d flown too close to the sun. But I was hotter than that.
Sempé Fidelis: Jean-Jacques Sempé, 1932-2022
The world mourns the loss of one of its most talented artists, Jean-Jacques Sempé.
The Transgenerational Manga Sazae-san and Its Meaning
Can you feel nostalgia for a time that you can’t remember – even from before you were born? Maybe it’s not nostalgia, but natsukashisa. In this 2014 essay, Natsume Fusanosuke examines Sazae-san, a Japanese pop culture institution which began as a newspaper strip addressing the current day, and became a television platform for fond feelings in an eternal midcentury.
Taking a Look at Dirty Pictures (without the pictures)
John Kelly takes a look at Brian Doherty’s new history of underground comics – and takes his concerns to the author.
“If I Could Do Anything, I Reckon I’d Just Keep Doing This”: An Interview with Daniel Locke
Artists in conversation, as Joe Decie chats with Daniel Locke, a specialist in scientific and nonfiction comics in the UK small-press and graphic novel scenes.
No Sense Of Duty, No Sense Of Destiny – This Week’s Links
Get on the hotline to news! 1-900-TCJ-NEWS, $2.00 for the first minute, $0.45 each additional minute.
Here Comes Tomorrow: The Last Ronin
Tom Shapira dives deep into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, a ‘dark future’ Turtles comic marking the return of the series’ original creators… sort of.
Ardent Spirits: The Dive Bar of Comic Art
Cynthia Rose peels back the history of the secret life inside the bar Père Lunette: comic art born of militant politics. While the 19th century bar served society’s lowest, it also welcomed socialists, anarchists and Communards. In Père Lunette, we watch caricature evolve and witness the art’s most troubled hours. Its art personifies laughter as resistance.
Sid Jacobson, 1929-2022
Mark Arnold, editor and publisher of The Harveyville Fun Times!, remembers the longtime Harvey editor Sid Jacobson – also a novelist and a Billboard Top 10 hit songwriter, who enjoyed late-in-life popularity as a writer of nonfiction comics. Jacobson died on July 23.
“We All Are Frustrated Artists”: An Interview With David F. Walker
It’s time to catch up with Eisner-winning comics writer David F. Walker, whose work encompasses new DC superheroes, classic Marvel team-ups, Shaft, successful crowdfunding campaigns, and a fascination with auteurs.
All Those Oh-So-Nears – This Week’s Links
There’s only one way to resolve the ongoing issues at Warner Bros. I am going to buy Superman and rename him Mr. Toilet.
Half Note Art
What can Picasso tell us about cartooning? How can we define ‘drawing’ in the greater tradition of visual art? Andrew Field has a few suggestions.
Memories of Supaidāman
In the wide world of international cultural exchange, few comics are more curious than the brooding, violent version of Spider-Man drawn by Ikegami Ryōichi in the early 1970s. Now, for the first time in English, Ono Kōsei, one of the facilitators of that project, reveals the secret origin of Supaidāman.
“You Have To Swallow Your Fear And Do The Thing Anyway”: An Interview with Maria Llovet
The novelist Jean Marc Ah-Sen discusses fear, desire, and artistic practice with Spanish artist Maria Llovet, known for her extended collaboration with the writer Brian Azzarello on Faithless, and a suite of stylish solo work.
Halcyonity Is Relative – This Week’s Links
Whew, it’s too sunny out for news! (A cartoon news imp appears.) “Oh-ho, well then, I will erase all news from the world forever.” Nooo, Mr. News, I didn’t mean it!! “Well, okay…”
The John Wagner and Alan Grant Interview
In this 1988 discussion from The Comics Journal #122, writers John Wagner and Alan Grant define their politics (and those of Judge Dredd), compare Dredd artists, and talk about coping with the seemingly random taboos of British comics censorship.
Alan Grant, 1949-2022
Tom Shapira remembers the hugely prolific writer of British and American comics, capable of gruesome violence and tender introspection. Grant died earlier this month.
