2009 January
What are you reading?
Welcome to another edition of “What Are You Reading,” where we talk about what comics we’re currently in the midst of perusing and hopefully encourage you to share as well.
This week our special guest is Joe “Jog” McCulloch, of Jog The Blog fame. In addition to regularly posting insightful and erudite criticism on his blog, Joe is also a regular contributor to the Savage Critics site and has a new review of Chris Blain’s Gus and His Gang in the lastest issue of Bookforum magazine.
And so, without further delay, here’s what we’re reading:
- January 18, 2009 @ 08:47 AM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Chapter 1 Collected
Step on in, why don't you?
As you might gather from the title, Chapter 1 of Strangeways: The Thirsty has made it over here to Robot 6 and is collected in one place for easy viewing.
Just head on over to the “Strangeways” link to the right there, or just click on this very chunk of text and you too can read it for yourself.
Sure, like anyone’s reading this on a Saturday. But maybe on Monday you’ll want a few minutes escape from the daily grind.
Speaking of Monday, the first page of Chapter 2 will be posted then, so tune back in, even if you’re an expert in all things Thirsty.
- January 17, 2009 @ 02:44 PM by Matt Maxwell
Your Mileage May Vary
Final Crisis #6
In celebration of our relocation, the “Variations on a Theme” column is undergoing a slight change.
Well, really, just a name change. You are now reading “Your Mileage May Vary” which is essentially the same column but with the added bonus that once a month or so, I get to post my opinion about… something. (I haven’t figured that part out yet.)
This week, the big topic among all of you seems to be Final Crisis #6. If you’ve read it, you know what I’m talking about. If not… Well, don’t continue reading this post.
- January 16, 2009 @ 05:44 PM by Melissa Krause
Good news about Lance and Carla Hoffman
Lance and Carla, celebrating their release
Our friends Carla and Lance Hoffman, who were badly burned in November during the Tea Fire in Santa Barbara County, Calif., were released from the hospital on Wednesday.
According to an update on the Lance and Carla Fund website, the two made Olive Garden their first stop. “They were celebrating and taking in a myriad of smells and sensations after two months of hospitalization,” writes Lance’s mother Linda Hoffman. “It was an exciting time!”
They will stay with Lance’s grandmother in La Habra so they can continue physical and occupational therapies with burn specialists at UC Irvine Medical Center.
What’s more, Carla is Twittering again: “was, in fact, en fuego. Hello world.”
In related news, the eBay auction of the original artwork generously donated by Walt Simonson ended today with a winning bid of $5,799. We at Robot 6 are floored by the outcome, and extremely grateful to Mr. Simonson.
The proceeds from that, and our other auctions, will directly benefit Carla and Lance.
- January 16, 2009 @ 04:56 PM by Kevin Melrose
Larsen fires back at Wacker in Spider-Man dustup
Savage Dragon #137
The back and forth continues about the appearance of Barack Obama in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #583, which sports an alternate cover featuring the president-elect.
But this particular thread involves Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen and Amazing Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker.
It began last week when Larsen posted on a message board that he feels “very betrayed” by Marvel because, in his eyes, the publisher duplicated elements from Savage Dragon #137 — namely, the incentive cover and the use of the “terrorist fist jab” — and used as a story element a shape-shifting villain masquerading as the president, which he’d done previously in an issue of his long-running series.
Then yesterday, Wacker responded with an email to Robot 6 countering Larsen’s assertions: “The idea that this was off-limits because the President-Elect had appeared on another comic cover (or that we wouldn’t have had this idea without Erik Larsen) is beyond preposterous.”
And now Larsen has fired back:
- January 16, 2009 @ 01:43 PM by Kevin Melrose
The latest on S. Clay Wilson
The Art of S. Clay Wilson
Oregonian columnist Steve Duin has an update on S. Clay Wilson, who is recovering from a severe brain injury he received more than two months ago:
Wilson — who spent two-and-a-half weeks in the ICU at San Francisco General and is now in a rehab facility — has regained most of his verbal skills, Chamberlain said Thursday, but is still struggling with short-term memory and tricks of the imagination. “He can be a little delusional,” Chamberlain said. “This morning, he thought the feds were interviewing him, when it was just a doctor. If he has an intense dream, he wakes up and that’s his delusion. He can’t grasp the difference between reality and his dream life, which has always been really vivid.”
Duin’s story also states that Wilson has been “drawing like crazy,” doing a lot of color work.
- January 16, 2009 @ 01:26 PM by Chris Mautner
Catching up with Strangeways: The Thirsty
If you click on it, something will happen.
Not everyone’s going to have time to read the whole thing before chapter two starts up on Monday. That’s okay, I understand we’re all busy here and have our own lives to lead.
If you want the sixty second CliffsNotes version, just glance over the following. I’ll even try to make a way for you to actually see it at full size, having been emboldened by my successes in posting yesterday. You’ll probably have to click on it or wave a headless chicken carcass over your keyboard or something.
I think that if you click on it, it’ll take you to the flickr page where it’s currently housed. This is an inelegant solution until I figure out how to make it link back to itself. This is what happen you give a monkey WordPress…
And if clicking on the image doesn’t work, then try clicking on this link. One day I’ll get this right.
- January 16, 2009 @ 11:03 AM by Matt Maxwell
Talking Comics with Tim: Nathan Schreiber
Power Out
Talking Comics with Tim will typically run once a week on Mondays, but periodically as time and events permit, I’ll be providing supplemental editions. Today I’m happy to present my brief email interview with ACT-I-VATE‘s newest creator, Nathan Schreiber, regarding his webcomic, Power Out, which launches today. Here’s the brief official concept description: “When a massive, region wide power out hits the east coast, a kid who is more dependent on technology than people has to suddenly figure out how to survive without either.”
Tim O’Shea: The whole story is done in light blue hues, as opposed to traditional black and white or full color. What was your thinking in going this route?
Nathan Schreiber: The environments in Power Out are huge – the water tower, the woods, you even see the curvature of the earth at one point. And big things happen: the entire east coast goes off the electrical grid, the army starts evacuating people – it’s very apocalyptic! But when you paint it all blue, all these big things get a cold, kind of indifferent quality – like a silent nuclear explosion. I think it’s just the right tone for a kid who’s all alone and just finding out how big the world really is.
- January 16, 2009 @ 10:23 AM by Tim O'Shea
Food or comics | A roundup of economy-related items
Barnes & Noble
• Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest book chain, laid off 100 employees in its New York headquarters this week, pointing to a recent downturn in sales. The cuts amount to about 4 percent of the headquarters staff. [The New York Times]
• The Virgin Megastore in New York City’s Times Square will close in April, to be replaced by a Forever 21 fashion store. The Virgin stores carry graphic novels alongside music, movies, video games and clothing. [The New York Times]
• The restructuring at Random House Publishing Group, which ended Thursday, has resulted in the layoffs of Random House’s Modern Library editor Judy Sternlight, Ballantine’s Villard editor Bruce Tracy, and Ballantine’s Anika Streitfeld and Liz Scheier.
There also were a couple of promotions: Nina Taublib, former deputy publisher of Bantam Dell, is now publisher and editor-in-chief, overseeing Bantam, Dell, Delacorte, Delta. Scott Shannon has been moved up to publisher of the Del Rey and Spectra imprints. [GalleyCat]
• Blogger Jonas Hinckley relates an anecdote from a retailer about a regular customer dramatically slashing his pull list. [Comix 411]
- January 16, 2009 @ 09:11 AM by Kevin Melrose
Who is Shadrach Stone?
Shadrach Stone
Stuart Moore has launched a new production blog for Shadrach Stone, a a four-issue series written and created by Moore, and penciled, colored and co-created by Jon Proctor. On the blog, Moore describes the story as thus:
SHADRACH STONE is a paranormal adventure story, a sociopolitical allegory, and an occasionally nasty character drama. But mostly, it’s about lies. The lies we tell ourselves to get through the day; the lies our leaders tell us so we’ll fall in line. The lies that become our accepted truths, and the ones that flare and turn to ash before the pure light of truth.
The book is listed as coming in 2009 from Penny Farthing Press. Check out the blog for more on the story and more of Proctor’s gorgeous art.
- January 16, 2009 @ 08:28 AM by JK Parkin
Who watches the Hot Topic customers?
Hot Topic's "Watchmen" hoodie
A Watchmen hoodie can be yours, or Alan Moore’s, for a cool $48.
Great, now I have Burn Down Hot Topic stuck in my head.
(via Pink Kryptonite)
Update: Stephen Gerding posted a snapshot last month of a Watchmen in-store display.
- January 16, 2009 @ 08:22 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
From "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," by Evan Dorkin
Industry | The Xeric Foundation has announced the latest round of grant winners. [The Comics Reporter]
Pop culture | In a nod to the passing of Patrick McGoohan on Tuesday, cartoonist Evan Dorkin posts his strip “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” from Dork #11. [Evan Dorkin]
Creators | Robot 6 contributor Chris Mautner talks at length with cartoonist Scott Adams about the Dilbert 2.0 collection, the evolution of the strip, process and … well, a lot of stuff. [Panels and Pixels]
Industry | The deadline for the Jay Kennedy Scholarship, awarded to the best college cartoonist, are due on Feb. 6. [The National Cartoonists Society Foundation]
Creators | Stan Lee chats about radioactive spiders, the longevity of his work, and Paris Hilton, and finally answers the question “Has your success made you popular with the ladies?”: “I never had much trouble when I was single. I got along pretty well with girls. I love females and get along beautifully with them. But at this age there’s not much action there.” [Details]
Creators | Artist Frazer Irving talks about breaking into comics, and not taking success for granted: “I have made so many epiphanies. You know that saying ‘you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone’? Well, I always thought that applied to objects or people, but it can also be applied to artistic ability. The fuel for my art, my motivation, was taken away last year when I was going through a rough time. So now I put a lot more into my work.” [Barking and Dagenham Recorder]
Pop culture | Earlier this week the British newspaper The Telegraph ran the headline, “Stan Lee ‘to create world’s first gay superhero’,” accompanying an article about Stan Lee’s collaboration with author Perry Moore on the TV adaptation of Moore’s book Hero. The headline, as inaccurate as it is, has been picked up by numerous other media outlets. Now Lyle Masaki steps in with some helpful headline rewrites. [AfterElton.com]
- January 16, 2009 @ 07:26 AM by Kevin Melrose
Freaky Friday: The Enlarged Kirby edition
Time for another edition edition of Freaky Friday, where we plop all the oddball, lovely, does not fall into easy categorization links in one swell foop so you can spend the day avoiding as much work as possible. Ready? Let’s begin …
ART
* Tom Hart shares some “Enlarged Kirbys.”
* Daryl Cagle shows us how to draw departing President George W. Bush.
* Douglas Wolk has been posting samples from his convention sketchbook on his blog and the stuff is simply amazing. Look at this for instance. Or this!
- January 16, 2009 @ 06:30 AM by Chris Mautner
Robot Reviews: A.L.I.E.E.E.N.
A.L.I.E.E.E.N.
A.L.I.E.E.E.N.
Written and Illustrated by Lewis Trondheim
First Second; $12.95
You gotta hand it to Lewis Trondheim. If he didn’t actually find discarded comics from alien children at a UFO landing/picnic site, he’s damn convincing about it. A.L.I.E.E.E.N. (Archives of Lost Issues and Earthly Editions of Extraterrestrial Novelties) isn’t the screwed-uppest comic I’ve ever read, but it’s up there. It is – pardon the expression – alien.
I’m not familiar with Trondheim’s other work (though I will be after this), so I wasn’t sure what to expect from A.L.I.E.E.E.N. at first. Or rather, I thought I was, but I totally wasn’t.
A quick look at the cover and first few pages reveals some cute alien creatures. In the introduction, Trondheim refers to the book as a “comic strip for extra-terrestrial children,” so I went in expecting sweet and funny. That didn’t last long though. It’s on page two that the first adorable, little creature gets its eyes skewered on sharp tree branches. Maybe alien kids find that funny; I have no idea.
The concept behind the book is brilliant and it’s brilliantly executed as well. I’ve read some reviews of A.L.I.E.E.E.N. claiming that it’s funny for earth-people too, but I didn’t think so. The alien creatures in it are too sweet for me to find humor in their violent deaths. But I think that maybe that’s sort of the point? I read the entire book in slack-jawed astonishment. Not disgusted exactly, but bewildered and intrigued. I couldn’t stop turning pages to see where it was going to go. How much more horrifying could it get? Continue Reading »
- January 16, 2009 @ 06:07 AM by Michael May
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Viz part two
So no sooner do I post that initial Viz line-up than I get the company’s latest catalog in the mail, with a whole bunch of titles I were unaware of. Oh well. Let’s continue our preview with a look at what the house that Naruto built has planned for the summer:
JUNE
Detroit Metal City Vol. 1 by Kiminori Wakasugi. I’ve heard quite a few good things about this, a seinen comedy about a shy, aspiring musician who finds himself fronting an indie death metal band. To his horror he discovers he’s pretty good at it. It’s already been made into an anime series and a live-action movie over in Japan. $12.99.
- January 16, 2009 @ 06:00 AM by Chris Mautner