Hi there,
Today Anne Ishii brings us an essay about generational shifts in comics and publishing culture. I'm particularly proud of this one. Here's a bit:
When I suggested comics were shifting from navel-gazing and self-loathing to absurdist plot victories to my 27 year old business partner Graham Kolbeins (i.e. young), he countered with examples of the depressed characters in Simon Hanselman’s “Meg Mog and Owl” and mentioned the importance of critical reader feedback, including Hanselman’s criticism of Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit. I asked him if perhaps the Internet engendered flame wars at the expense of a real dialogue. He says, “I think we’re going through a normal negotiation of terminology but exacerbated by the Internet and the rapidity of change that technology brings. Sexual identity in particular had gotten so much more specific and profligate in its categories, and that’s exciting on the one hand for youth who are struggling to define themselves, but sometimes eye roll-worthy for older people still getting used to the LGBTQ standards.”
Such a dilemma raised by the young typically raises the ire of the older. There is no better case in point than magazine editorial obsession with an ironic person’s greatest bugaboo: political correctness.
Elsewhere:
This weekend if Comic Arts Br0oklyn, filled with dandy new things like the new Clowes, Puke Force, Crickets #5, Frank's new book, a new Comics Workbook, and so much more. Our own Naomi Fry is interviewing Dan Clowes on Sunday at noon.
Some links...
Amazon's first physical storefront is more about data gathering than selling, which makes perfect sense.
A documentary about Israeli comic books is on its way...
Writing about comics doesn't pay much (actually, writing on anything doesn't pay much) but Robert Hughes made bank back in the 80s.
