Today on the site:
Ryan Holmberg delves into occupation-era Japan and some things that got lost.
When I first started using the Prange, I was asked to watch a tutorial video about the collection. There were some clips from the Occupation period. One of them shows a Japanese boy and a Japanese man, if I remember correctly, reading an American comic book while sitting on the curb. The footage, I am told, came from the National Archives, also located in College Park. I have not bothered yet to hunt it down, though some day I will. The Prange has an amazing collection of press photographs, and I assumed that they must have similar images. But the curators could recall no such item, and within the subject categories under which the photographs are listed, there is no entry for comic books. Look at any twelve manga in the Prange collection and you are likely to find concrete evidence of the influence of American comics. But how great it would be to have an image of Japanese actually reading them!
Elsewhere:
Art Spiegelman's WORDLESS! is coming to Chicago. I regret having to miss it in NYC. Don't be like me.
A comics reprint fantasy football list over at The Comics Reporter.
The LA Review of Books on that new Alan Moore biography.
Tom Scioli on Larry Hama's G.I. Joe.
The Chicago Tribune has a brief comics roundup.
I will be in LA this week and part of next, so Tim's taking over. Go easy on him.
