It's the mid-week break:
On the site today we bring you:
-Mike Dawson talks to cartoonist and educator Jessica Abel via TCJ Talkies.
-Hayley Campbell reviews Victor Kerlow's Small Victories, starting with the envelope it arrived in.
-Sophie Yanow's interview with Brecht Evens on his work and geography. Here's a taste of what I think is a fine contextualization of Evens:
Evens is hesitant to call himself a part of a “scene,” citing his international outlook. However, this outlook seems to characterize a group of young, upcoming Belgian cartoonists, whose work is cross-pollinated by many art forms and locales: Evens’ former classmate and friend Brecht Vandenbroucke has found an international presence online and in various publications through the likes of England’s Nobrow Press and the Latvian anthology KUS!
And elsewhere:
Tom Spurgeon contributes a thoughtful obituary of the French comics giant Paul Gillon, and provides a link to a fine appreciation, to boot. I can't figure out how Tom writes these things so well and so fast.
TCJ contributor Chris Mautner scoops us with this incisive interview with Dave McKean on the artist's new book, Celluloid. We'll have a review soon, just you wait. I've read and puzzled over the book. I'm curious what readers will make of it.
The New York Times on Paying for It, or as Jeet wrote to me, "The NY Times referred to Chester Brown as looking like 'a praying mantis with testicles.' That has to be the first reference in the Times to a cartoonist's genitals." I hope it's not the last!
I'm very pleased a book is being planned about the great Don Donahue. There aren't really any comparable figures, and he sure was involved in a lot of important culture outside of comics.
Over on his own site (sniff, we miss you), Dustin Harbin expands on his thoughts about comic book awards, sparked by his Cartoonist's Diary stint last week. The comments here have some good back and forth.
The New Yorker has a video up of someone you never hear much about -- Tom Bachtell, who does the Talk of the Town spot illustrations. It's a pleasant diversion and insight into a very specific craft.
And, just for kicks, here's an article I enjoyed about the Warhol market at New York magazine.
