On this exciting comic book convention weekend we present Matthew Thurber's Letter to a Young Cartoonist.
What is the meaning of the Internet? And what can be done about it? I am 36. Like Virgil in Dante’s Inferno I come from Another Time, the pre-Internet era, to guide you, Young Cartoonist through the architecture of Hell. Young Cartoonist, born in 1990 (shudder!!!) I ask you, what does the Internet mean to you? Is it your preferred medium? Is it your Life? Is it your Wife? An altar of sacrifice, at which you offer up your artwork, hoping to feel like someone cares even tiny bit? Even one Like?
Historically cartoonists drew on paper. Why? Only because it’s available and cheap. People who draw will also draw on tables, on their clothes and shoes, on walls, and on bathroom stalls. People will draw with sparklers and with lawnmowers to create crop circles. People will draw with invisible lines to connect the dots in the Milky Way. It is evident that people who want to will draw in any available format, whether it is a beautiful sheet of hot-press watercolor paper or a virtual 3D space in Google Sketchup or the skin of a water buffalo. The desire to make marks comes with no predetermined appropriate surface.
Elsewhere:
I'm pleased to report that I have seen a copy of Frank Santoro's new comic, Morgan, and it rules very hard. Go forth and acquire it at CAB! Also, be sure not to miss Leon Sadler and Lando's table, as well as the Breakdown Press table, which has some fine debuts from Inez Estrada, Antoine Cosse and Ryan Holmberg's latest vintage manga publication by Matsumoto Masahiko.
In NYC for the CAB? I suggest you visit Tomato House tonight for Anya Davidson's art show, as all as Takeshi Murata's Om Rider at Salon 94 on Bowery at Stanton.
A graphic novel account of union negotiations at NYC's beloved Strand bookstore has just been published. More here.
The Beat has a round-up of people misunderstanding James Sturm's very funny and accurate comic strip.
Steve Heller previews the new Ed Emberley book.
