Comics Journal

Although it was mentioned in this week’s event listing (thanks, Aaron!), it’s worth pointing out again: James Jean is having his first solo art show opening this weekend. Do you think it will be incredible? We do.

Welcome to the New Year, and welcome to a whole new cycle of big stories, little stories, Internet kerfluffles, and wonderful surprises. As we go forward, as is our tradition, we take a look back and ask industry professionals, pundits, and random oddballs to take a spin as prognosticators to see what 2009 will bring. We’ve also added a bonus question to see how our panel will deal with the inevitable decline of civilization into an exciting CGI action movie. Let’s get right to it. An aside to everyone who has been dawdling on getting their answers back: Yes, I will still run them if I get them. Part II appears tomorrow.

Bryan Lee O’Malley, cartoonist

2009 Projects: I am just finishing up SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE UNIVERSE which is scheduled to hit stores on February 4, 2009.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? The sad mishandling and dismantling of DC’s Minx imprint after just eighteen months.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? We’ll learn that comics are 100% recession-proof. Ha ha, I’m trying to be positive.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: Instantly killed with a headshot while awkwardly loping towards a bottle of water.

Jim Starlin, cartoonist
2009 Projects:Strange Adventures that begins in March.  Working with artists Manuel Garcia and Rafael Albuquerque.  The eight-issue miniseries will have Adam Strange and Comet in the lead feature and Bizarro in the backup slot.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008?  Dan Didio surviving everyone predicting he was toast at DC.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009?  Probably Dan Didio getting fired from DC.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? At this moment, savoring warm weather again somewhere wet and sunny.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be:  I’ll be the timekeeper.

Jimmy Palmiotti, writer, artist
2009 Projects: For IDW the LAST RESORT series, for DC COMICS, more JONAH HEX, POWERGIRL, a few unannounced books and a whole mess of multi media stuff I cant talk about yet.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? That company wide crossovers alienate new readers and that no one really wants a weekly comic book… at least around my house.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? The JONAH HEX movie, And unfortunately the rise in comic prices.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? JONAH HEX hitting issue 50, POWERGIRL monthly, smaller companies becoming bigger AND MAYBE Jonah finally getting nominated for something…anything. .

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: MAX of course… I have never been one to sit around and wait for the help of others.

Ben “Witchity” Templesmith, cartoonist
2009 Projects: PRESIDENTS OF THE USA  art/portrait book due in January! DOCTOR WHO: THE WHISPERING GALLERY one-shot in February with Leah Moore & John Reppion!
A miniseries entirely about anal probes and mutating crotches with Chris Ryall called GROOM LAKE.
Hopefully the first inklings of a book that will break the internet into sixteenths & make you feel dirtier than a pair of Britney Spears’ knickers ( when she actually decides to wear them ) called CHOKER.

More WORMWOOD when I can fit some in! 

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? Apart from the fact I’m still allowed to get my stuff printed? ( Yes people are that insane! ) I’d personally say it’s the ongoing saga of how Hollywood are dealing with taking what they can from comics and what the actual benefit to the health of the industry there is in that, (especially when it comes to things like SDCC ) as well as the inevitable “how will comics fare in these economic times” type stuff. 

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? It’ll be how either the sky is falling with the economic crisis or how amazingly the comics business is weathering the storm I guess.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? A new issue of Shaolin Cowboy? I can live in hope. My other *real* guilty pleasure is figuring out what I’ll do once my exclusive with IDW is up towards the end of 2009. Promised to work with some many people that if half of it comes off, I’ll stil be busy til 2012! ( Notwithstanding economic conditions of course. )

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: So long as I get to wear a leathery loincloth, studded shoulder pads, a decent sized mohawk & eat dog food, while riding in my swine turd powered mean machine with some juice in the tank, I’ll be happy.

Peggy Burns, Associate publisher, Drawn and Quarterly
What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? LYNDA! BARRY!

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? D+Q’s 20th, natch!

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? LOST!!!!!!

Todd Allen, consultant/professor/etc.

2009 Projects: Next couple immediate aren’t too interesting to comix-at-large (which may come as a relief to DC’s PR department)

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? Comics-based movies taking over the _worldwide_ box office. #1 Dark Knight, #4 Hancock (comics-inspired), #5 Iron Man, #13:Wanted, #16: Incredible Hulk, #19: Jumper (comics-ish + David Goyer); #30: Hellboy II.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? What Marvel does with the $10 million they’ve put aside for digital. Mind you, they’re already doing paid download in Europe with cellphones as the platform. While Marvel’s officially expecting to reap the rewards in 2010, by Q4 we have a chance of seeing 1) expansion of the digital subscription program, 2) shorter waits from print to digital, 3) some form of paid, single-issue downloads. If the downloads are in Europe, you can consider it in field-testing for the U.S.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? Len Strazewski returns to comics.

Calvin Reid, Senior News Editor, Publishers Weekly

2009 Projects:
Launching a new blog by me and a landing page and dedicated URL for PW Comics Week

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? A Federal court apparently righting a terrible wrong by awarding the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel, a share of the copyright to one of the most famous comic book characters ever.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? Comics publishing and the Economy (but also the Watchmen movie)

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? Besides a New York Yankees World Championship? Well either Scott Pilgrim Volume 5 or the publication of David Mazzucchelli’s much anticipated Asterios Polyp (even though I’ve already read it. Hee hee)

David Seidman, publicity manager, author

2009 Projects: Publicity for NBM and Papercutz; teaching comics writing via MediaBistro.com

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? This is more a trend than a piece of news, but here it is: the slow descent of iconic super-heroes (except Batman) from atop the graphic-novel bestseller lists.  Look at the most popular GNs on Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, and ICv2.com, and you’ll see Joss Whedon’s BUFFY and SERENITY, Jeff Kinney’s DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, a number of titles by Alan Moore and Brian K. Vaughan, and plenty of FULL METAL ALCHEMIST, NARUTO, and other manga — but not much Superman, Wonder Woman, Hulk, or Captain America.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? I have no idea.  If I could predict the future, I’d bet on the ponies.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? I hope to be dating more — a situation that will undoubtedly involve both pleasure and guilt, if my future relationships are anything like my past ones.

Mike Carey 

2009 Projects: The new incarnation of X-Men Legacy, beginning right after the current arc and centring on… someone who’s not Professor X. Also a new monthly book from Vertigo (no title as yet) which will be announced at NYCon.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? The return of the scourge of the early nineties - “event” fatigue.  And probably not a moment too soon.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? The shock discovery - probably announced by some European quantum physics laboratory - that there’s a parallel universe where Dave Sim’s theory of lights and voids actually makes some kind of sense.  A stubborn few will continue to assert that these findings relate not to Dave but to British character actor Alastair Sim, star of “Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s”.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: spare tyre.

B. Clay Moore
 
2009 Projects: Black Vault (Top Cow), Creator owned project at WildStorm to be announced soon, 76 & Hawaiian Dick (Image), Billy Smoke (Oni).
 
What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? The creator-owned vs. work-for-hire “debate.” Which should never have been a debate.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? The continuing diversion in revenue-generating models between the Big Two and everybody else.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: Pointing out that none of those gigantic phallic guns is really loaded with anything but blanks.

Jeff Parker, writer, artist
2009 Projects:  An ongoing AGENTS OF ATLAS series, and a creator-owned book called MYSTERIUS THE UNFATHOMABLE with Tom Fowler at Wildstorm. These are the two books that stocking heavily will ensure comics shops weather the Recession well- only these. 

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? That one of the big companies (Marvel) started getting serious about providing online content. When we’re all one day buying serials cheap in digital form to read on some flexible interface and later getting the collections as real books, this is where it started. Looking at last year’s prediction, I see that I started to talk about this and then switched to the more exciting “tragedy at Comicon” prognostication. I was almost right for once! Well, by my own measure. 

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? DC will do something drastic. Yes, more important things will happen elsewhere, but fans online will talk about that drastic thing DC did, whatever it was. 

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: The long-faced gyrocopter pilot who will pull you out of hell just in time! 

Richard Thompson, cartoonist

2009 Projects:A daily comic strip, Cul de Sac, a weekly cartoon, Richard’s Poor Almanack, and some freelance stuff.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? For me, the gradual evaporation of newspapers.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? The same, alas.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: The guy in the back of the theater with popcorn and Twizzlers.

Joshua Hale Fialkov, writer
2009 Projects: This year should see the release of the next book by Elk’s Run artist Noel Tuazon and myself.  I’ve been working my butt off to make sure it was worth the wait.   I’ve also got more work from Top Cow, including more issues of Cyblade, and something top secret and creator owned.  I’m also REALLY excited about the Dark-Hunter manga I adapted for St. Martin’s Press and the Dabel Bros.   Plus my first Marvel work should hit stands.  Big year all around.


What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? Crossover burn out?  You look at the success of some pretty unique and weird books (Umbrella Academy comes to mind), and realize that maybe people don’t need all of their comics intermingled into some sort of doctoral theses in alternate universes.  I’m hoping that we may finally get to see some fun, stand alone stuff in 2009.   The other thing that comes to mind is the faltering of many mid-level stalwart publishers.  For the most part, they’re the ones breaking new talent and pushing the boundaries of comics, so, here’s hoping they can all make it through the recession.


What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? I know what I’m worried it’ll be… economic downturn crushes comic industry.  Luckily, we’re a bunch of persistent bastards over here, so, I think we’ll triumph over it in the long run.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? Hanging out at home in my underwear watching Gilmore Girls with the wife is pretty high up on my To Do list.

Vito Delsante, writer
2009 Projects: Before They Were Famous: Babe Ruth (Simon & Schuster/Feb ‘09) and FCHS (AdHouse Books/Aug ‘09)

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? The movies (Iron Man and Dark Knight at the top) and how good they actually were.  This is the first time I can remember sitting on the literal edge of my seat for a comic book movie.  The recession and how little it affected publishers, and how much it affected retailers.  The presidential race, while not directly a comic-related event, can also be considered a big story since it was the first time in all the years that I can remember that the comics industry actually mobilized and put their weight behind a candidate.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? It won’t be a comic story, but how the country rebounds in the face of the recession.  It’s not going to be easy or quick, but once it happens, I’m sure it will affect comics in some way.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? Heroes Con ‘09.  My favorite con of the year and the most fun event of the convention season.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: I’m sure everyone is going to say “Master Blaster” so as much as I’d like to echo that, I’ll just opt for the role of a gyro pilot

Shaenon K. Garrity, cartoonist, editor

2009 Projects: This year my collaborator Jeffrey Wells and I started a new daily webcomic, Skin Horse, at (logically enough) skin-horse.com. It’s about government bureaucracy as it applies to killer robots and beast-men, and for some reason there is also cross-dressing. My weekly comic Li’l Mell, over at girlamatic.com, updates each Wednesday, currently with art by the wonderful Neil Babra. The rest of the time I continue to serve as a freelance manga editor and rewriter for Viz Media. My book CLAMP in America, about the manga superteam CLAMP, will be out from Del Rey in the summer of 2009.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? Webcomics seemed to come into their own as a legitimate business model, although I’m not sure if they actually became a legitimate business model, or if the rest of the comics industry is so confused and floundering that flinging crap at the Internet and hoping something sticks makes as much sense as anything else.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? How the economic crisis affects our little industry, natch. In particular, if one or both of the big bookstore chains goes under or closes a significant number of stores, expect some serious bad mojo to go around. On the plus side, if “The Spirit” and “Watchmen” aren’t too embarrassing, maybe we can all keep sucking on Hollywood’s teat just long enough to weather the storm. (I hope you’ll be kind enough to interpret that last clause not as a clumsy mixed metaphor, but as a timely reference to Isaac Singer’s holiday story “Zlateh the Goat.” Happy Hanukkah!)

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. I plan to spend the next six months painstakingly assembling every Muppet Christmas special and movie ever produced in order to host a summer film festival entitled “Muppet Christmas in July,” and I feel no shame about that.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: Like everyone else who worked in the comics industry before the collapse of civilization, I will feel perfectly at home in the sunless underground shit farms.

Bryan Talbot, cartoonist

2009 Projects: My next graphic novel, Grandville. It¹s a steampunk detective thriller with anthropomorphic characters. It¹s been real fun working on it, after spending about 5 years working on Alice in Sunderland, which was like doing a bloody Phd. It¹s out October Œ09.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? For me it¹s the continuing growing acceptance of graphic novels by the mainstream literary world. If only someone would come up with a better name for them.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? Alan Moore coming out of comic retirement…again.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? Watching the new series of Shameless. I don¹t know if it¹s shown in the US but ­ like Borat - it¹s so wrong, it¹s funny.

Nat Gertler, writer, publisher

2009 Projects: As the publisher of About Comics, I’m getting ready to publish The Blank Comic Book, to be unleashed on innocent eyes this February. And we’re gearing up on the About Infinity SF/fantasy comics line — http://www.AboutInfinity.com/

As a writer, I’m hunting for a real-world humor artist for my completed graphic novel script The Proxy. So if anyone reading this is the bastard love child of Dan DeCarlo and Adam Hughes with a burning desire to be hideously underpaid, they should get in touch with me.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? Soooo much stuff! Long gone are the days where you could read everything that came out. Gone are the days when you could read everything that was of good repute. Now you can’t even read (or afford) all the stuff that’s of good repute and seems like your kind of stuff. You haven’t finished the Joss Whedon Runaways and there’s a new Faith Erin Hicks GN out and your a volume-and-a-half behind reading Complete Peanuts and still haven’t broken open issue 1 of GalaxyQuest to see if they’ve done it justice. And all the time, that big thick honkin’ book of Jaime Hernandez sits in the corner, glowering at you and making you feel guilty for not having broken it open yet. 2008 means never looking around and thinking “there’s nothing to read!”

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? Sharp pains for comics publishers that depend primarily on the bookstore market.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? Enjoying how well the Watchmen movie captures Dave Gibbons’s work, without worrying about how well it captures Alan Moore’s.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: King of the Peanuts book library, and all who want access must pay my price! Projects you are working on you want to mention:

Joe Hovorka, retailer, Tales of Wonder
2009 Projects:  We’re launching ToWDistribution, a distribution company for graphic novels remainders. It’s gonna be ‘uge.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? The reliance on big events to move units at the expense of non-tie-in books became even more accute. I also thought DC’s inability to get much traction on anything not affiliated with Geoff Johns or Grant Morrison was significant and troubling.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? Well, the Watchmen film. Heck, it be argued that hype for this thing made it the biggest story of 2008 as well.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be:  I’ll sell peanuts at the Thunderdome.

Richard Starkings, publisher, lettering guru

2009 Projects: We are currently putting together the second ELEPHANTMEN hardcover, FATAL DISEASES, for publication in early 2009!

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? We lost three greats this year — Rory Root, creator of the awesome COMIC RELIEF store, Mike Wieringo, FF artist and co-creator of TELLOS and Mike Turner, TOP COW protegé and creator of FATHOM. There were other stories that impacted our industry this year, but the loss of these three warm and loving human beings, barely in their middle ages, really struck me and made me stop to think.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? The WATCHMEN movie — yeah, I was the one that said that last year, but y’know, it was still a big deal THIS year anyway!

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? The DOCTOR WHO specials and the agonizing wait to find out who Steven Moffatt has cast as the new Doctor.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: Treating people with road rash.

Kiel Phegley, writer

2009 Projects: I’ll continue my freelance journalism gigs for CBR, Marvel.com, Wizard, MTV’s Splash Page and a few other places, but personally, the thing I’m most excited about is launching my own comics interview blog sometime in the next two months.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? I don’t know if most folks would count this as one story, but it seems to me that 2008 was the year that the industry’s post-crash/post-Millennium growth period finally peaked. Well, maybe peaked is the wrong word. Let’s say the industry plateaued. 2008 saw the release of several new works by legendary talents, more than a half dozen comic movies whose varied successes had some impact on comics sales (to say nothing of the thousands of Watchmen copies sold damn near a year before that movie’s release), a handful of other good to great graphic novels, two more mega events from Marvel and DC, continued expansion by traditional publishers into digital media and vice versa and something like 12 zillion more copies of Naruto sold. But, you know, nothing stood out as the “it” moment or book of the year. With the economic crisis hitting late in the year and killing the last of any possible new publishing ventures for the foreseeable future, I think 2008 is going to be best remembered as a year that kinda felt like the last few years and showed people what comics in general will be like for quite a while.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? God, can it be anything else except the wait to see who gets crushed by the recession first and then worst? For all the talk that’s already been done on this subject, most of what people in comics have experienced so far is stress and speculation, but post-Christmas shopping, the economic picture for the supposedly recession-proof comics game should become much more real. Judging from nothing but guesswork, I’d say that if things get as bad as we’re all worrying they will, the first signs of hard times will hit in the retail sector. I just learned over Christmas that my hometown comics shop is closing in January after nearly 25 years in business, and the Borders situation doesn’t look too hot either. I really hope I’m wrong on all accounts though.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2009? I kind of want to see that “Fanboys” movie not only come out but make a lot of money just to give the finger to the Harvey Weinstein (I don’t know exactly how making him a ton of money will qualify as giving him the finger, but you get the idea). So I’ll go see it opening weekend and hope that its release means “5-25-77″ will get released somewhere I can see it some day.
Peter Bagge, cartoonist

2009 Projects:“Second Lives” — a graphic novel for Vertigo. Also started doing monthly comics for DISCOVER Magazine. About scientists! Whoo hoo!

What was the biggest story in comics in 2008? Dunno.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2009? Dunno! I suck at predicting things.

When the world turns into a Mad Max movie, my role will be: A rotting corpse on the side of the road. With maggots. Gotta have maggots!

With the happy holidaze over, everyone is back to fretting over the economy, which makes total sense, since the economy pretty much nuked the holidays if you were a retailer. John Jackson Miller is back to report that January is the cruelest month, breeding double-digit revenue drops from the dead earth:

Again, individual reports of closings and openings don’t give us the full larger picture — every store’s situation is different — and the macro performance for the comics industry in the 2007 appears to have run ahead of the general economy. But January is a month for comics industry watchers to keep an eye on. The first month of the historic “dead quarter” usually sees the slowest sales of the year, and back at the end of the last boom, something like 1,100 stores closed in January 1994, kicking off a six-year downturn. Product mix also deserves a special look in this time — there are a number of non-comics lines that are performing more weakly than comics, so the “diversify, diversify, diversify” call of the mid-1990s might be creating some additional downside exposure now for shops heavily invested in slow sectors. Something to keep an eye on as reports come in…

In a worrisome second post, Miller does a month-to-month analysis that quantifies the usual drop, leaving you free to fret over what this year’s plunge will be:

December 1996 to January 1997: -15.3%
December 1997 to January 1998: -27.7%
December 1998 to January 1999: -15.2%
December 1999 to January 2000: -18.5%
December 2000 to January 2001: -8.9%
December 2001 to January 2002: -3.6%
December 2002 to January 2003: -4.8%
December 2003 to January 2004: -19.9%
December 2004 to January 2005: -26.7%
December 2005 to January 2006: -17.0%
December 2006 to January 2007: -4.8%
December 2007 to January 2008: -7.0%

Chris Butcher takes a look at the overall American manga business and concludes that the direct market — i.e. the comics shop system — will be very important to manga in America despite its general indifference to manga, and manga publishers’ indifference to the DM:

- I am not convinced that things will ever get better in the Direct Market, for manga. I feel that Diamond Comics’ near-monopoly is the only thing it has going for it, and when the product is available elsewhere they just can’t compete as distributors. When they do have an exclusive–a monopoly–on an item, look at the haphazard way in which that item is handled! Ultimately, faith by publishers in the direct market is often misplaced.

Butcher touches on many things — the manga glut, the arrival of adult “Art” manga as a viable category, and much more. It’s as good a start to the year’s musings as you’re likely to find.

In slightly more optimistic news, Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly points out that of ALL the stocks tracked on the PW Stock Index, only ONE rose in 2008…and that was Marvel:

The stocks on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index lost nearly half their value in 2008, tumbling 46.6% for the year, a steeper drop than the 33.8% decline posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Only one of the 16 stocks on the PWSI had an increase in its share price in the year—Marvel’s rose 15.1%, thanks in large part to a successful movie slate. John Wiley had the smallest decline in the year and, like most companies on the PWSI, remains solidly profitable. One of the few companies that has been losing money is Borders; its stock price plunged 96.2% to finish the year at 40 cents per share; the chain’s stock has been trading at under $1 since December 1.

§ Finally, for a big picture overview, if you believe — like the Beat — that greed is bad, you may enjoy this postmortem of the sleep of reason from two economists at the New York Times.

Mark “Wanted” Millar is now such a celebrity in his native Scotland, that we have to read about his health issues in the newspaper:

Marvel comics writer Mark was raced to hospital after his temperature soared to 103 and he developed extreme flu-like symptoms.

The problem was an adverse reaction to Mark’s medication for his Crohn’s disease. No matter where we read about it, our reaction is simple and emphatic: Get well soon, Mark!

It’s worth noting that there are just as many women as men represented in this week’s events. Happy coincidence or a sign of things to come in 2009? Time will tell!

Monday, January 5

Berkeley, CA, 6 PM - Michael Chabon in Conversation at Berkeley Rep

Michael Chabon, author of the Pultizer Prize-winning comics-based novel THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, will speak on stage with San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre as a benefit for the Park Day School. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online.

Wednesday, January 7

Brooklyn, NY, 5 PM - Misako Rocks! at Barnes & Noble

Brooklyn’s Court Street B&N hosts an event with cartoonist Misasko Rocks! in support of the first volume in her DETECTIVE JERMAIN series of young readers manga from Henry Holt.

Saturday, January 10

Santa Barbara, CA, 1 PM - 3 PM - Briana Miller at Charles Schulz Museum

The Charles M. Schulz Museum presents author and mini-comics author Briana Miller as part of its monthly Cartoonists-in-Residence program.

Saturday, January 10

Kenilworth, NJ, 1 PM - 7 PM - Danielle Corsetto at Wild Pig Comics

Cartoonist Danielle Corsetto braves the wilds of New Jersey to make an appearance at retailer Wild Pig Comics, where she will sign the second print collection of her weekday webcomic GIRLS WITH SLINGSHOTS.

Saturday, January 10

New York, NY, 6 PM - 9 PM - James Jean “Kindling” exhibition opening reception

Artist James Jean , well known in these circles for his gorgeous covers to Marvel and DC comics, especially FABLES, debuts his first solo exhibition at the Jonathan Levin Gallery in NYC, with an opening reception Saturday evening. The exhibition runs through February 7.

Saturday, January 10 - Sunday, January 11

Phoenix, AZ, 5 PM - 9 PM - Tony Parker at Atomic Comics

Tony Parker, penciler for of BOOM! Studios‘ WARHAMMER 40,000 series, will make two separate appearances at Atomic Comics retail stores in advance of the Phoenix Comicon later this month. He will be at the Phoenix Metrocenter location on Saturday, and the Paradise Valley location on Sunday.

Posted by Aaron Humphrey

There should doubtless be more links from the last week or so, but these are a few things we had tucked away:

§ The short lists of the Cybil Awards Graphic Novel nominees have been announced. It’s a blogger-chosen award for children’s and teen literature. The lists are reminders of how the kid and YA graphic novel lists swelled in 2008.

§ ComicsCareer.com aims to run an interview a day in 2009 — that’s 365 cartoonists!

§ Tom Spurgeon’s yearend interview series wraps up with

• Kurt Busiek
• Matt Forsythe
• Batton Lash
• Abhay Khosla — A MUST read which we may be commenting on further.
• Karl Stevens
• Matt Fraction

§ J. Caleb Mozzocco’s Best Comics of 2008.

§ Is it really amusing that this “Best of” list includes both ACTION COMICS and Kevin Huizenga?

§ NPR (!) moves Toward a Comics-Geek Taxonomy.

§ Relieved to see other bloggers are packrats just like us.

§ We received a rather cryptic email urging us to check out a website which seems to deal with old Black Terror comics(above). Judging by that splash page, The Black Terror specialized in thwarting child-trippers.

§ Barbie’s getting edgier and video games are to blame!
The company wants to return the doll to her roots, doing everything from revamping the corporate structure that oversees Barbie to changing the way the doll is photographed for ads. The goal: to make Barbie fashionable again with older girls, who are dropping her for other, edgier playthings like video games.

§ Plus, we note with sadness the passing of Glenn Goldman, the owner of Sunset Blvd’s Book Soup, a store where we whiled away many hours in our youth, and an early supporter of graphic novels, among many other things.

And there’s a lot of it…

We had a nice holiday, but it taught us one crucial, crucial lesson…don’t ever, ever start playing Desktop Tower Defense.

Via Flickr. From 1939.

[Thanks to Paul for the link!]

All apologies — “circumstances” intervened yesterday. See you tomorrow.

Events Calendar

This Week:

• December 3 (Baltimore, MD): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Ron Regé Jr., Kevin Huizenga and John Pham appear at Atomic Books on Falls Road, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
• December 3 (Peoria, IL): The Dinette Set creator Julie Larson will appear at the Lakeview Branch Library on Lake, beginning at 7PM. Details here.

This Week:

• December 4 (Pittsburgh, PA): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Kevin Huizenga, John Pham, Ron Regé Jr., Matthew Thurber and Frank Santoro appear at the BrilloBox on Penn Avenue, from 5-10PM. Details here.
• December 4 (San Francisco, CA): Join Gene and Adrienne Colan for an opening reception honoring Gene’s new show, “Colan: Visions of a Man Without Fear,” at the Cartoon Art Museum on Mission Street, from 7-9PM. Details here.
• December 4 (Seattle, WA): Jobnik! author Miriam Libicki presents a comic reading/slideshow at Hillel UW on 17th Avenue, from 7-8PM. Details here.
• December 5 (Philadelphia, PA): Kevin Colden, Johnny Zito, Tony Trovarello and Miss Lasko-Gross will be appearing at Brave New Worlds on Second Street, from 6-8PM. Details here.
• December 5 (Graz, Austria): Anna-Maria Jung will present her new comic, Xoth! Die Unaussprechiliche Stadt, at the Filmzentrum im Rechbauerkino on the Rechbauerstrasse, beginning at 8PM. Details here.
• December 6 (Concord, CA): Bone creator Jeff Smith will be signing books and meeting readers at Flying Colors Comics on Treat Boulevard, beginning at noon. Details here.
• December 6 (Mountain View, CA): Longtime Marvel artist Gene Colan makes an appearance at Lee’s Comics on Rengstorff Avenue, from 2-4PM. Details here.
• December 6 (London, England): Kickback author David Lloyd will sign books and meet readers at Orbital Comics on Charing Cross Road, from 3-5PM. Details here.
• December 6 (New York City, NY): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors — oh, a gazillion of them — will appear at Brooklyn’s own Desert Island on Metropolitan Avenue, from 4-10PM. Details here.
• December 6 (Los Angeles, CA): A reception for Anders Nilsen’s new show “Landscapes and Smoke” will be held at the LittleBird Gallery on Glendale Boulevard, from 7-10PM. Details here.
• December 7 (Providence, RI): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Souther Salazar, John Pham, Kevin Huizenga, Ben Jones, C.F., Rick Altergott, James McShane and Pshaw will appear at Ada Books on Westminster Street, from 6-9PM. Details here.

Want to see your comics-related event listed here? Email a link to dirk@tcj.com and let me know. Please include an online link to which I can send people for more information. No sales-only events, please — it’s nice that you’ve marked things down at your store or website, but I won’t be listing it here.

“The Law is a blunt instrument. It’s not a scalpel. It’s a club. If there is something you consider indefensible, and there is something you consider defensible, and the same laws can take them both out, you are going to find yourself defending the indefensible.”

Above the Fold

• [Publishing] Devil’s Due lays off staff
  Link: Jonah Weiland

  Editors Cody DeMatteis and Mike O’Sullivan and marketing manager Brian Warmoth are rendered redundant, as the genre-comics publisher restructures.

 

• [Publishing] Invincible sales analysis
  Link: Von Allen

  Sales of early issues of Robert Kirkman’s superhero series dropped steadily — and then began to rise. What turned it around? Allen advances a theory.

  (Above: A scene from our Tiny Nerd Culture War, as found in Invincible Vol. 6: A Different World, drawn by Ryan Ottley. ©2006 Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker.)

 

• [Publishing] When to send out a press release
  Link: Brad Guigar

  As someone who receives way too many hype e-mails, I suspect you’d be surprised by how many people need to be told this sort of thing.

 

• [Consumer news] New this week
  Link: Joe McCulloch

  A look at the best-sounding books scheduled to hit the comics shops tomorrow.

Literary Comics

• [Profile] Harvey Pekar
  Link: JBooks.com

  Paul Buhle talks to the American Splendor writer about how Judaism has affected his work and worldview, in a conversation available in streaming audio.

  (Link via David Pescovitz.)

 

• [Profile] Alison Bechdel
  Link: Emma Brockes and John Zuarino

  Two interviews with the creator of Fun Home and Dykes to Watch Out For.

  (Above: a moment from Fun Home, ©2006 Alison Bechdel. Thanks to Eric Phipps for e-mailing me the link.)

 

• [Review] The Lagoon
  Link: Tom Spurgeon

  Spurgeon doesn’t think that Lilli Carre’s book “quite adds up to anything approaching a novel, which is unfortunate only in that there are themes and visual elements here that could have carried the reader into some fascinating, dark places over a few hundred pages.”

 

• [Review] Glamourpuss #4
  Link: Steven Bari

  Dave Sim fucks Alex Raymond’s corpse.

 

• [Review] The Annotated Northwest Passage
  Link: Don MacPherson

  Scott Chantler’s frontier drama has “a certain simplicity to the good-guys-versus-bad-guys plot that’s appealing, but the creator uses that simple conflict as a foundation for a more complex structure.”

 

• [Review] The Blot
  Link: Chris Mautner

  Tom Neely’s 2007 breakout book, in a review originally published in The Comics Journal.

Pop Comics

• [Profile] Bryan Talbot
  Link: John Reppion

  The Grandville author discusses his new steampunk thriller.

 

• [Profile] Christophe Blain
  Link: Michael Lorah

  An interview with the creator of the Western comedy, Gus and His Gang.

  (Above: sequence from the book, ©2008 either Christophe Blain or whoever first published it in France.)

 

• [Profile] Rich Koslowski
  Link: Jennifer Contino

  An interview with the creator of the fanboy satire The 3 Geeks.

  (Above: sequence from the new book, The 3 Geeks Slab Madness!, ©2008 Rich Koslowski.)

 

• [Review] The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli Vol. 1
  Link: Katherine Dacey

  Jay Piscopo’s YA adventure book “falls short of the mark, demonstrating just how hard it is produce a comic that’s fun, educational, and aesthetically pleasing.”

 

• [Review] Batman #681
  Link: Joe McCulloch

  Another look at Grant Morrison and Tony Daniels’ conclusion to the “Batman RIP” storyline.

 

• [Review] Promethea
  Link: Johanna Draper Carlson

  A look back at Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray’s exploration of occult schema in pulp-adventure dress.

 

• [Commentary] Secret Invasion
  Link: Spencer Ackerman

  So, was this miniseries/crossover event the exact point where Brian Michael Bendis’ writing chops turned to mush or what?

  (Link via Sean T. Collins.)

 

• [Comics] “Toxl the World Killer!”
  Link: Fortress of Fortitude

  It doesn’t get any more Jack Kirby than this.

  (Above: sequence from Weird Mystery Tales #2, ©1972 DC Comics.)

 

• [Comics] “The Coin of Evil”
  Link: Karswell

  W.W. Jacobs’ take on “The Monkey’s Paw” is pretty straightforward, but I really like the expressive linework he brings to the job.

  (Above: sequence from Out of the Shadows #11, ©1954 Standard Comics.)

Manga

• [Review] Two by Takehiko Inoue
  Link: David Welsh

  Looks at the opening volmes of two basketball-themed dramas, Real and Slam Dunk.

Comic Strips

• [Review] Prince Valiant: Far From Camelot
  Link: Allan Holtz

  The first collection of Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz’s take on the classic Hal Foster strip.

Editorial Cartoons

• [Profile] Eric Devericks
  Link: Allen Breed

  The Seattle Times cartoonist deals with being downsized.

Digital Comics

• [Profile] Lora Innes
  Link: Xaviar Xerexes

  The author of the historical romance The Dreamer discusses her work.

Cartooning

• [Analysis] Dr. Seuss vs. Maurice Sendak
  Link: Noah Berlatsky

  Inspired by Donald Phelp’s column in the latest issue of The Comics Journal, Berlatsky compares the two artists.

 

• [Craft] Famous Artists Cartoon Course: Anatomy
  Link: Comicrazys

  The latest chapter in this serialization of the legendary instruction series.

  (Above: Rube Goldberg demonstrates the way that anatomy means different things to different professions.)

 

• [Craft] Dave Sim draws Glamourpuss
  Link: YouTube

  Streaming video capturing Sim’s process of drawing an issue of his new comic-book series.

  (Above: screenshot from the video.)

 

• [Comics] Whitney Darrow Jr.
  Link: Harry Lee Green

  A gallery of Darrow’s gag panels for the New Yorker.

  (Above: cartoon from The New Yorker Album 1955-1965 Fortieth Anniversary, ©1965 The New Yorker Magazine, Inc.)

 

• [Art] Clair Weeks’ Goodbye Book
  Link: ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

  The Disney animator was presented with this scrapbook, filled with art and best wishes from his co-workers, when he left for India in 1952.

  (Above: a sketch by Ambrozy Paliwoda.)

 

• [Art] Maxfield Parrish
  Link: Golden Age Comic Book Stories (one, two)

  More book illustrations from one of the giants of 20th century American commercial art.

  (Above: a piece from the 1899 edition of Kenneth Grahame’s Dream Days.)

 

• [Art] Mihály Zichy
  Link: gallery one, gallery two

  The 19th-century Hungarian artist was famous for his erotic drawings, which combined sharp classical skills with red-hot content.

  (Above: “Liebe,” first published on or around 1911.)

 

• [Art] “Rouse” drawings
  Link: Dan Picasso

  I really loves these pieces from Popular Science Magazine, by an artist known only as Rouse.

  (Above: One of the examples posted at the link. Man, that’s good linework, isn’t it?)

 

• [Snark] Emily the Plagiarized
  Link: You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice

  Above, left: an excerpt from Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont’s 1981 children’s book, Nate the Great and the Lost List. Above, right: some sort of “Emily the Strange” promotional thingie. Okay, the whole Emily concept was never very original to begin with; it’s essentially Christina Ricci playing Wednesday Addams, but without the personality. But still.

  (Link via Valerie D’Orazio.)

Technology

• [Software] Digital file formats for comics
  Link: Sean Kleefeld

  An explanation of the various methods currently used for moving comics files around online.

Comics Culture

• [Commentary] 2008 in review
  Link: Brian Heater

  Heater presents the first of a two-part conversation with Tom Spurgeon, in which they discuss the big industry-related events of this past year.

 

• [Your not-comics link of the day]
  Star Wars, as interpreted by Donnie and Marie: part one, part two.

  (Above: screenshot from the video found at the first link. I offer no apologies.)

 

• [Your Hey Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time!! link of the day]
  George Orwell’s Big Brother, as interpreted by Takeshi Miyazawa.

 

• [Your Scans_Daily link of the day]
  The most fucked-up porn comic you’ll read all month. Seriously, don’t click.

  (Above: I don’t want to know.)

Events Calendar

This Week:

• December 2 (Montpelier, VT): Dykes to Watch Out For creator Alison Bechdel will appear at Bear Pond Books on Main Street, beginning at 7PM. Details here.

This Week:

• December 3 (Baltimore, MD): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Ron Regé Jr., Kevin Huizenga and John Pham appear at Atomic Books on Falls Road, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
• December 3 (Peoria, IL): The Dinette Set creator Julie Larson will appear at the Lakeview Branch Library on Lake, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
• December 4 (Pittsburgh, PA): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Kevin Huizenga, John Pham, Ron Regé Jr., Matthew Thurber and Frank Santoro appear at the BrilloBox on Penn Avenue, from 5-10PM. Details here.
• December 4 (San Francisco, CA): Join Gene and Adrienne Colan for an opening reception honoring Gene’s new show, “Colan: Visions of a Man Without Fear,” at the Cartoon Art Museum on Mission Street, from 7-9PM. Details here.
• December 4 (Seattle, WA): Jobnik! author Miriam Libicki presents a comic reading/slideshow at Hillel UW on 17th Avenue, from 7-8PM. Details here.
• December 5 (Philadelphia, PA): Kevin Colden, Johnny Zito, Tony Trovarello and Miss Lasko-Gross will be appearing at Brave New Worlds on Second Street, from 6-8PM. Details here.
• December 5 (Graz, Austria): Anna-Maria Jung will present her new comic, Xoth! Die Unaussprechiliche Stadt, at the Filmzentrum im Rechbauerkino on the Rechbauerstrasse, beginning at 8PM. Details here.
• December 6 (Concord, CA): Bone creator Jeff Smith will be signing books and meeting readers at Flying Colors Comics on Treat Boulevard, beginning at noon. Details here.
• December 6 (Mountain View, CA): Longtime Marvel artist Gene Colan makes an appearance at Lee’s Comics on Rengstorff Avenue, from 2-4PM. Details here.
• December 6 (London, England): Kickback author David Lloyd will sign books and meet readers at Orbital Comics on Charing Cross Road, from 3-5PM. Details here.
• December 6 (New York City, NY): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors — oh, a gazillion of them — will appear at Brooklyn’s own Desert Island on Metropolitan Avenue, from 4-10PM. Details here.
• December 6 (Los Angeles, CA): A reception for Anders Nilsen’s new show “Landscapes and Smoke” will be held at the LittleBird Gallery on Glendale Boulevard, from 7-10PM. Details here.
• December 7 (Providence, RI): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Souther Salazar, John Pham, Kevin Huizenga, Ben Jones, C.F., Rick Altergott, James McShane and Pshaw will appear at Ada Books on Westminster Street, from 6-9PM. Details here.

Want to see your comics-related event listed here? Email a link to dirk@tcj.com and let me know. Please include an online link to which I can send people for more information. No sales-only events, please — it’s nice that you’ve marked things down at your store or website, but I won’t be listing it here.

“But let’s ask: when people talk about a book like BLUE BEETLE failing, isn’t that an inherently different conversation, just by virtue of being a DCU title? Is the BLUE BEETLE conversation nothing more than — “Why won’t the guy who buys BATMAN, SUPERMAN, X-MEN, SPIDERMAN, etc. also buy this other book? Why aren’t the people we squeeze and squeeze and squeeze for money — why can’t we squeeze some out of them, for this other book instead?” Isn’t that a question with its answer built into it?”

Above the Fold

• [Top Story] 35 years later, S. Korean retailer’s murder conviction tossed
  Link: Lee Chan-ho

  Comics-shop owner Jeong Won-seop was convicted in 1973 of raping and murdering a the daughter of a police officer, following a confession extracted through what Jeong later contended was torture. Last Saturday, a court agreed that this was unlawful and released him.

 

• [Top Story] In recovery

  Man, cartoonists and comics professionals have really been taking a hit lately, haven’t they? The latest person to wind up on the wrong side of a doctor’s clipboard is Shel Dorf, who’s been hospitalized since April. Larry Shell passed along an e-mail from Charlie Roberts, partially reprinted below:

  Wanted to let you know that Shel has been at Sharp Hospital in Kearny Mesa since April……yes, April (!)

  David Siegel called us Wednesday night about this, and my wife Joan and I went down to Shel’s home in Ocean Beach near San Diego on Thanksgiving where his brother Mike is moving everything out. I’ve known Mike since the 1980s, though it’s been some 20 years since I’ve seen him.

  Today Joan and I went with David Siegel to see Shel. He’s lost some weight and is fragile, but we had a brief and friendly visit with him. He’s extremely hard of hearing, and is apparently on pain medication but at least we were able to see him and he was glad to see us. The head nurse told us Shel will never be well enough to go home again, but otherwise he’s stable.

  Mike plans to eventually move Shel closer to a critical care hospital near Mike’s apartment in L.A. The visit to Shel’s was pretty emotional, as the first job I ever had in San Diego was helping Shel with his lettering on Steve Canyon, while Joan transcribed some of his interviews. We lived right around the corner from Shel from August 1983 to August 1987. I also made several trips to LA with Shel as unofficial photographer while he did his interviews, and got to meet some amazing people.

  Those who’ve read his interviews or benefited from his early work in launching the San Diego Comic-Con off the ground might want to send him a card expressing best wishes at:

  Sharp Hospital
  7901 Frost Street
  San Diego, CA 92123

  While we’re here, let’s follow up on some other stories involving cartoonists and comics professionals suffering medical emergencies:

  • Via “ZapComixGirl” on our message board, an update on the slow recovery of underground cartoonist S. Clay Wilson, whom you’ll recall was recently released from a San Francisco intensive-care unit after being found on the street with a catastrophic head injury:

    I thought y’all might want to know that Wilson spent a lovely Thanksgiving with his devoted girlfriend Lorraine yesterday at the hospital. He did not remember what Thanksgiving was and she had to explain it to him. She gave him a pad of paper and pens and pencils which he happily embraced to his chest although he did not draw. He is articulate but sometimes his syntax is skewed. He is walking with assistance. His health is still a little shaky since the hospital was worried about blood clots because of his platelet count. He wants to go home. He will soon be moved to a live-in physical therapy center. His recovery will take a long time and I’m sure any assistance people can offer will be appreciated! Lorraine reads all of his mail to him so keep up the positive fan mail and notes of encouragement!

  • Roger Coombs catches up with The Australian cartoonist Bill Leak, likewise recovering from head injuries after falling from a balcony.
  • J.K. Parkin and associates are currently assembling a series of auctions to benefit California retailer Carla Hoffman and her husband, both of whom suffered serious burns in the recent brushfires that plagued that state. To find out how you can help, click here.

  (Above: S. Clay Wilson flanked by his creations in a handbill for a 1982 exhibition in New York’s Museum of the Surreal and Fantastique, ©1982 S. Clay Wilson.)

 

• [Top Story] Why the Christopher Handey prosecution is ridiculous
  Link: Ursula Vernon

  A good rant explaining why people shouldn’t be jailed for owning sexy comics.

  (Link trail: Sean T. Collins ← Jim Henley.)

 

• [Publishing] How to market your comic book
  Link: James Sime

  Sime presents an example of a retailer-targeted mailer that hit all the proper marks, with photo examples.

  (Link via J.K. Parkin.)

 

• [Retailing] Comics-shop Web design
  Link: Kevin Church

  Church begins a series of essays examining a variety of websites and explaining what works… and what doesn’t.

 

• [Consumer news] Coming soon
  Link: Mike Sterling

  Sterling finds the most dubious items from the latest Diamond catalog, so you don’t have to.

Literary Comics

• [Profile] Art Spiegelman
  Link: Rosie Blau

  Thought that every publication imaginable had already interviewed Spiegelman? Well, you forgot about the Financial Times. Also: Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson reviews the cartoonist’s collection of early formalist strips, Breakdowns.

 

• [Profile] Lynda Barry
  Link: Sean Rogers

  The conclusion of Rogers’ two-part interview with the author of What It Is. Part one is here, in case you missed it.

 

• [Profile] Ed Piskor
  Link: Top Drawer

  A Q&A with the creator of the Wizzywig series.

  (Above: sequence from the forthcoming second issue, ©2008 Ed Piskor.)

 

• [Profile] Nate Powell
  Link: Lindsey Millar (one, two)

  Spotlighting the creator of the new book Swallow Me Whole.

 

• [Scene] “Comics and Social Conflict” panel discussion
  Link: MIT Comparative Media Studies

  Streaming audio from a recent event featuring Ho Che Anderson and Diana Tamblyn, moderated by Jeet Heer.

 

• [Scene] Eurocomics roundtable
  Link: Tucker Stone

  A report from a recent panel discussion in New York City featuring David B., Igort, Isabel Kreitz, Nicolas de Crecy, Max, Jaromir 99 and Jaroslav Rubis.

 

• [Scene] Matt Groening and Art Spiegelman at Comica
  Link: Jim Medway

  A cartoon report from a recent London appearance by Matt Groening, Art Spiegelman, Gilbert Shelton, Spain and others.

  (Above: sequence from the comic, ©2008 Jim Medway. Link via Richard Bruton, who also has a round-up on other Comica-related coverage.)

 

• [Review] Book of Boy Trouble Vol. 2
  Link: Greg McElhatton

  The second volume of this gay-themed anthology series features work by Howard Cruse, Tim Fish, Steve MacIsaac and others.

 

• [Review] Fishtown
  Link: Jillian Steinhauer

  Kevin Colden’s urban drama “locks the reader into a chilling cycle of violence and betrayal.”

 

• [Review] The Man Who Loved Breasts
  Link: Brian Heater

  Robert Goodin’s comic “seems as interested in telling a story as devising a well-delivered joke.”

 

• [Review] Love and Rockets
  Link: Jaffa Aharonov

  A look at the Amor y Cohetes collection, as well as the first issue of New Stories.

 

• [Review] Graphic Classics: Ambrose Bierce
  Link: Bill Sherman

  The Devil’s Dictionary author’s works are adapted by a variety of artists in this collection.

 

• [Review] Alan’s War
  Link: Rob Clough

  The latest examination of Emmanuel Guilbert’s WWII tale.

 

• [Review] Ganges #2
  Link: Sandy Bilus

  Videogames and the Dot-Com Boom, as interpreted by Kevin Huizenga.

 

• [Review] Various titles
  Link: Douglas Wolk

  New comics from Kevin Huizenga and Steve Ditko. I repeat: new comics from Kevin Huizenga and Steve Ditko.

 

• [Commentary] Zap Comix
  Link: Ben Myers

  Myers looks back at the groundbreaking underground-comix anthology series.

 

• [Comics] Capacity
  Link: Publishers Weekly

  An excerpt from Theo Ellsworth’s new collection of short stories.

  (Above: sequence from the comic, ©2008 Theo Ellsworth.)

Pop Comics

• [Profile] Kathryn Immonen
  Link: Tom Spurgeon

  An interview with the Patsy Walker: Hellcat writer.

 

• [Profile] Faith Erin Hicks
  Link: Steve LeBlanc

  The author of Zombies Calling and The War at Ellsmere talks about her work.

 

• [Profile] Bryan Talbot
  Link: Joseph McCabe

  The cartoonist discusses his forthcoming steampunk detective-thriller Grandville in this short Q&A.

 

• [Review] Ex Machina Vol. 7: Ex Cathedra
  Link: Matthew Brady

  The latest outing in Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris’ tale of a superhero turned mayor.

  (Above: panel from the book, ©2008 Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris, perhaps? Or is it WildStorm?)

 

• [Review] Batman #681
  Link: Sean T. Collins, Don MacPherson and Tim O’Neil

  Three views on the conclusion of Grant Morrison and Tony Daniels’ “Batman RIP” storyline.

 

• [Review] The Eternals
  Link: Tom Crippen

  Crippen states that Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr.’s update of the classic Jack Kirby series is “to boredom what a head-on auto collision is to fear and pain: a cataclysm that can be outlived but never analyzed.”

 

• [Review] The DFC
  Link: Molly Bruton

  The new children’s comic from the U.K., as seen by a nine-year-old girl.

 

• [Review] Various titles
  Link: Tucker Stone, Chris Mautner and Paul O’Brien

  Comics for everyone!

 

• [Commentary] Spider-Man’s Brand New Day results
  Link: Christopher Bird

  So one year into the nullification of Peter Parker’s marriage and a new weekly title, did the revamp work? Kind of…

 

• [Comics] Fred Guardineer’s magicians
  Link: Golden Age Comic Book Stories

  Five early adventure stories by the Golden Age giant, all featuring magic-using protagonists.

  (Above: sequence from a Zatara tale from Action Comics #1, ©1938 DC Comics.)

 

• [Comics] Two by John Stanley
  Link: Pappy

  Sluggo and Heckle and Jeckle tales!

  (Above: Me disguise-um self as cheesy racist stereotype! Sequence from Tip Top Comics #220, ©1958 Whoever Owns The Sluggo Character.)

 

• [Snark] Surprising ending to Watchmen movie revealed
  Link: Steve Holland

  Spoiler warning!

Manga

• [Analysis] How much does doujinshi cost to produce?
  Link: Canned Dogs

  Breaking down the figures.

 

• [Profile] Makoto Yoshitani
  Link: Blaine Harden

  A chat with the author of the office-worker themed Otaryman series, which has become popular among Japan’s overworked business class.

  (Link via Brigid Alverson.)

 

• [Profile] Tina Anderson
  Link: Anime News Network

  The OEL yaoi writer discusses her work.

  (Link via Simon Jones.)

 

• [Review] The Manga Guide to Statistics
  Link: Joe McCulloch

  A decidedly shōnen book on the subject by Shin Takahashi and TREND-PRO, Co., Ltd.

 

• [Review] Yōkaiden Vol. 1
  Link: David Welsh

  The first volume of Nina Matsumoto’s light-hearted supernatural adventure series is praised for its wry authorial voice.

 

• [Review] Various shōjo titles
  Link: Matthew Brady

  Books by Matsuri Hino, Natsumi Matsumoto and Yuki Obata.

 

• [Commentary] Food-themed manga
  Link: Alexander Hoffman

  Recommendations for a variety of titles centered around cooking.

 

• [Commentary] Naoki Urasawa on Bob Dylan
  Link: Eastern Edge

  A short look at the Monster creator’s 2007 collaboration with musician Koji Wakui, a book entitled Talkin’ About Bob Dylan.

  Above: Urasawa’s cover to Wakui’s album, released at the same time as the book.

 

• [Comics] Kobayashi Yoshinori’s cranky right-wing rants
  Link: Steven Schultz

  Schultz translates a strip by a famed conservative manga-ka who specializes in railing at what’s wrong with Japanese society. This time out: Fuck the whales!

  Lately, I’ve been really interested in Kobayashi Yoshinori. He’s famous for being a right-wing cartoonist. There aren’t many of those, in any country! He publishes a magazine called “WASHISM” — either a pun on “washi” (meaning, “me”, or “me-ism”), or a parody on “fascism,” depending on who you ask. Mr. Kobayashi prides himself on being a straight-talking populist who stands up to bad guys and says what the politicians are afraid to say. He’s not one of the scary, black-truck thugs of Japan. He’s more like Rush Limbaugh — a friendly, funny guy crusading for justice , (making his opponents seem weak-minded, illogical, and humorless). But unlike American populists who hate them some book-learnin’, Kobayashi tries to be very logical and well-reasoned in his approach. His comics are a deliberate mix of reasoned argument, self-righteous thunder, and self-mockery/bad puns. It’s an ingenious mix : too much logic is boring, so we have some preaching. But too much preaching is kind of egotistical, so we have some humor to bring it down to earth. Too much humor and you lose your focus, so we have the logic! He’s been doing comics for over 20 years, but he’s no shy OTAKU — he does public speaking and debating with other politically-minded showbiz people. He also travels to other countries, mostly third-world Asian countries, and talks to the people there.

  Unfortunately he’s also quite insane.

  While we’re here: “Sex karate intensive training class is now in session!” Not comics, but oddball as hell.

  (Above: panel from the strip, ©2002 Kobayashi Yoshinori. Links via Jason Thompson.)

Comic Strips

• [Review] Cul de Sac This Exit
  Link: Alex Carr

  I believe that this is the first collection of Richard Thompson’s fan-favorite strip.

 

• [Review] Complete Popeye Vol. 3
  Link: Pol Culture

  Slapstick and character comedy dominate in this edition of E.C. Segar’s classic strip.

 

• [Commentary] Cultural diversity in the funny pages
  Link: Sean Kleefeld

  We’ve come a long way, it seems.

 

• [Multimedia] Mell Lazarus
  Link: Mike Lynch

  A series of streaming videos from the Miss Peach creator’s November lecture at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Also via Lynch: a video profile of current Dick Tracy cartoonist Dick Locher.

  (Above: screenshot from one of the Lazarus videos.)

Editorial Cartoons

• [Comics] George Herriman cartoons
  Link: Allan Holtz

  Another sampler of early editorial drawings from the creator of Krazy Kat.

Digital Comics

• [Review] The Great Outdoor Fight
  Link: Andrew Hickey

  Chris Onstad’s first mass-market Achewood collection builds up “a picture of an actual real life, loose ends included, without sacrificing narrative momentum or coherence.”

 

• [Review] FreakAngels Vol. 1
  Link: This Was All a Bad Idea, Gary Tyrrell

  Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s post-apocalypse drama.

  (Above: panel from the book, ©2008 Warren Ellis. First link via Larry Cruz.)

 

• [Commentary] What digital comics downloads should look like
  Link: John Jakala

  A well-considered examination of how print publishers should sell their wares online.

Small Press/Minicomics

• [Review] New Construction #2
  Link: Sean T. Collins

  The new anthology mini features work by Kevin Huizenga, Ted May and Dan Zettwoch.

 

• [Review] So… Buttons
  Link: Shawn Hoke

  Another look at Jonathan Baylis, T.J. Kirsch, Mr. Alan and David Beyer Jr.’s autobiographical collection.

 

• [Review] Center for Cartoon Studies comics
  Link: Rob Clough

  A variety of minis from tomorrow’s up-and-coming cartoonists.

  (Above: image from Colleen Frakes’ Woman King, ©2008 Colleen Frakes.)

Cartooning

• [Profile] Ronn Sutton
  Link: Bill Baker

  A conversation with a courtroom sketch artist.

 

• [Business] Marketing and finance tips for artists
  Link: Mark Anderson

  A round-up of links.

 

• [Craft] More on emotional line weight
  Link: John Kricfalusi

  The Ren and Stimpy creator’s inking discussion continues.

 

• [Comics] Comic Life
  Link: Lew Stringer

  An illustrated look back at the 1916 run of the early U.K. cartoon magazine.

  (Above: panel from “How Burglar Bertie Busted a Bobbie and Bagged a Blancmange,” from Comic Life #910 — click the link to read the whole thing.)

 

• [Art] John Chad
  Link: portfolio

  Art and comics by the Center for Cartoon Studies teacher.

  (Above: illustration ©2008 John Chad. Link via Gary Tyrrell.)

 

• [Art] E.H. Shepard’s Winnie the Pooh drawings
  Link: Bibliodyssey

  The original illustrations that helped capture the public’s imagination.

  (Above: an original drawing for the book Winnie-the-Pooh. Link via Dadanoias.)

 

• [Art] Classic science illustrations
  Link: Andrew Lindstrom

  I doubt that I’m the only person here who’s a total sucker for this stuff.

  (Cover for the June 1957 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, artist unknown. Link via Cory Doctorow.)

 

• [Commentary] Saul Steinberg’s “conceptual cartooning”
  Link: Tom Lubbock

  An examination of the famed New Yorker cartoonist’s work.

The Comics Press

• [Scene] (Just about) everybody leaves Blog@Newsarama
  Link: J.K. Parkin

  So how’s the new ownership working out, Matt? Johanna Draper Carlson offers commentary.

Comics Culture

• [Scene] 2009 ACBD Prix de la Critique nominees
  Link: Le Briographe

  I totally missed this: The choices for the Association des Critiques et journalistes de Bande Dessinée award.

 

• [Review] Unpopular Culture
  Link: Chris Mautner

  Bart Beaty’s examination of Eurocomics in the 1990s.

 

• [Commentary] Ten comics that made me cry
  Link: Shaenon Garrity

  Better than the title makes it sound.

 

• [Your Drawn! link of the day]
  Dig on the whimsical art of Tyler Parker.

  (Above: illustration ©2008 Tyler Parker.)

 

• [Your not-comics link of the day]
  Tim Arango reports that Atlantic Records’ digital-download sales have surpassed income from CD sales. Plant a milestone here, somebody.

  (Link via Slashdot.)

 

• [Your Hey Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time!! link of the day]
  Here’s writer C.S. Lewis, as drawn by Josh Howard.

 

• [Your Scans_Daily link of the day]
  Ivan Brunetti and Evan Dorkin take on Superman and Batman.

  (Above: sequence from Bizarro Comics, ©2003 DC Comics.)

Events Calendar

This Week:

• December 3 (Baltimore, MD): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Ron Regé Jr., Kevin Huizenga and John Pham appear at Atomic Books on Falls Road, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
• December 3 (Peoria, IL): The Dinette Set creator Julie Larson will appear at the Lakeview Branch Library on Lake, beginning at 7PM. Details here.
• December 4 (Pittsburgh, PA): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Kevin Huizenga, John Pham, Ron Regé Jr., Matthew Thurber and Frank Santoro appear at the BrilloBox on Penn Avenue, from 5-10PM. Details here.
• December 4 (San Francisco, CA): Join Gene and Adrienne Colan for an opening reception honoring Gene’s new show, “Colan: Visions of a Man Without Fear,” at the Cartoon Art Museum on Mission Street, from 7-9PM. Details here.
• December 5 (Philadelphia, PA): Kevin Colden, Johnny Zito, Tony Trovarello and Miss Lasko-Gross will be appearing at Brave New Worlds on Second Street, from 6-8PM. Details here.
• December 5 (Graz, Austria): Anna-Maria Jung will present her new comic, Xoth! Die Unaussprechiliche Stadt, at the Filmzentrum im Rechbauerkino on the Rechbauerstrasse, beginning at 8PM. Details here.
• December 6 (London, England): Kickback author David Lloyd will sign books and meet readers at Orbital Comics on Charing Cross Road, from 3-5PM. Details here.
• December 6 (New York City, NY): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors — oh, a gazillion of them — will appear at Brooklyn’s own Desert Island on Metropolitan Avenue, from 4-10PM. Details here.
• December 6 (Los Angeles, CA): A reception for Anders Nilsen’s new show “Landscapes and Smoke” will be held at the LittleBird Gallery on Glendale Boulevard, from 7-10PM. Details here.
• December 7 (Providence, RI): Kramers Ergot 7 contributors Sammy Harkham, Souther Salazar, John Pham, Kevin Huizenga, Ben Jones, C.F., Rick Altergott, James McShane and Pshaw will appear at Ada Books on Westminster Street, from 6-9PM. Details here.

Want to see your comics-related event listed here? Email a link to dirk@tcj.com and let me know. Please include an online link to which I can send people for more information. No sales-only events, please — it’s nice that you’ve marked things down at your store or website, but I won’t be listing it here.