2010 May
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Tintin
Legal | Leo Cendrowicz examines the issues surrounding the upcoming trial, set to begin Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium, over whether to ban Herge’s Tintin in the Congo for its racist portrayals of native Africans. The legal battle was launched three years ago by Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese man living in Belgium, who wants the book removed from the country’s bookstores, or at least sold with warning labels as it is in Britain. “It shows the Africans as childish imbeciles,” Mbutu Mondondo says. “It suggests blacks have not evolved.” [Time.com]
Conventions | Amid Amidi reports that Comic-Con International has raised the price of additional-exhibitor badges from $75 to $200: “As anybody who has ever exhibited at Comic-Con can tell you, artists typically don’t earn truckloads of money at the event, and when all the costs of booth rental, travel, and lodging are factored in, the obscene $200 exhibitor badge essentially guarantees that an independent artist will leave the convention empty-handed.” [Cartoon Brew]
- May 4, 2010 @ 08:34 AM by Kevin Melrose
Life.com’s new photo gallery: ‘In Praise of Classic Comics’
A Vietnames child reads a comic bought by Vietnamese soldiers in January 1973 (photo by John Downing)
Life.com has just added a gallery called “In Praise of Comic Classics” that spotlights comics, and children reading comics, in photos dating back to the 1930s. Well, not just children: There’s also a photo of a bespectacled young chimp named Kokomo Jr. — I’m not making this up — lounging with a comic in his owner’s New York City apartment. I can’t make out what the title is, but the back cover features a cartoonish ad for Chesterfield King cigarettes. (Hey, kids! Cancer Comics!) It’s a great collection, well worth checking out.
- May 4, 2010 @ 05:36 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim: Joshua Cotter
Driven by Lemons
Every once and awhile an email interview evolves far beyond my basic questions. But never has an email interview grown into something as constructive, candid and insightful as this email interview with Joshua Cotter. Longtime readers of Talking Comics with Tim may remember my email interview with Cotter last year. Back then we discussed Skyscrapers of the Midwest as well as the (then upcoming) Driven by Lemons (a 13-page preview of which AdHouse offers here). Cotter was such a fun interview then I wanted to catch up with him again this year. I wanted to discuss Driven by Lemons some more (now having had a chance to take it all in). I sent Cotter my questions and waited. Soon he replied with the following. I was amazed that after pouring all of this effort into his initial reply he was also still willing to reply to my (compared to what he had to say) inadequate questions. I can’t agree with everything Cotter writes (nor do I think he expects or wants anyone to agree with him). Where I most disagree is his assessment of himself. He’s an acutely astute and informed observer of the human condition who does not give himself enough credit for his emotional and intellectual efforts to get to a better place, literally and figuratively.
Hey, Tim. I bet you weren’t expecting this. Below is something that came out of my brain this afternoon. I started answering the questions, but I’ve been writing for hours and wanted to send it to you, since it may take the interview in an entirely different direction than you intended. And if you’d rather just ignore the pre-question rambles, I’d completely understand. I can find an outlet for it somewhere… but like I said, I’m tired. Here goes…
- May 3, 2010 @ 02:11 PM by Tim O'Shea
Comics Cavalcade | Iceman, unemployment and Brian Ralph
Every day people post comics on the Internet. Here are a few that caught our eyes.
- May 3, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by JK Parkin
Response to end of Zuda contests restrained but largely positive
Reaction has been subdued to Friday’s announcement that Zuda has ended its monthly competition format.
The news comes two and a half years after the launch of DC Comics’ online imprint, and follows scattered incidents in which competitors were accused of cheating or being overly aggressive in their promotion. The process also has been criticized for seemingly favoring the superhero, action/adventure and horror genres. In his blog post announcing the end of the competition approach, Ron Perazza, vice president of creative services, acknowledged some of those shortcomings while praising the merits of the format. However, he didn’t say yet what might replace it.
Response to the announcement has been largely positive, even on the Zuda Comics message board (even if, as you might expect, it’s accompanied by a little hand-wringing). From elsewhere in the blogosphere:
- May 3, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Dustin Weaver’s Free Comic Book Day sketches
The Joker
What’s better than free comics? How about free comics + the chance to get a sketch from the artist of Marvel’s cool new Shield series? Artist Dustin Weaver shares several sketches he did during his appearance at Tony’s Kingdom of Comics in Oregon this past Saturday for Free Comic Book Day.
- May 3, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
All aboard: Two webcomics for the road
Michael Jonathan is introspective
Two diary webcomics launched recently, both of them telling the story of the creator’s journey, but that’s where the similarity ends. Fried Chicken and Sushi is Khalid Birdsong’s lighthearted, partially fictionalized account of his time as an English-language teacher in Japan. Birdsong has a dynamic, cartoony style and a good-hearted sense of humor—he’s quick to laugh at himself, and he’s never mean. Michael Jonathan is Jewish is longer, more detailed, and more serious, but fascinating in its own way; it’s the story of Jonathan’s “birthright trip” to Israel. While Birdsong made it all the way to Tokyo in a handful of strips, Jonathan has set a more leisurely pace, with so many side trips that he has yet to make it onto the plane to Israel. It’s a more introspective comic, as befits the tale of a spiritual journey. Both are still in the early days, so this is a good time to jump on board and start reading. (Thanks to Lauren Davis for pointing me to Michael Jonathan is Jewish.)
- May 3, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Preview: Joe Daly’s Dungeon Quest
Dungeon Quest
Joe Daly’s Dungeon Quest won a Jury Prize at Angouleme this year, and Bart Beaty gave it a favorable mention in our What Are You Reading? column a while back, saying it was one book he would break his no-serialized-stories rule for. ICv2 sums up the book’s appeal as “Delightfully unique stoner/philosopher dialogue, distinctive character designs, and hilarious over-the-top RPG-style action,” and this morning they have a six-page preview that shows what they are talking about. The book debuted at MoCCA last month and is scheduled for general release in June.
- May 3, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Brigid Alverson
Start reading now: Breckinridge Elkins
Breckinridge Elkins
Here’s a mighty nice looking new webcomic, and it’s based on the work of Robert E. Howard: Breckinridge Elkins, the story of a good-natured hillbilly. The creative team of Gary Chaloner and Eisner winner Cayetano Garza are behind the comic, which is just getting rolling as of this writing. If this piques your curiosity, you can read Howard’s public-domain Breckinridge Elkins stories here. (Found at The Beat.)
- May 3, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Jack Kirby invades Switzerland!!
pages from Kamandi #6
Because no nation may remain neutral where the King of Comics is concerned! PictureBox publisher Dan Nadel has posted a mouth-watering assortment of pictures from the Jack Kirby art show he and British critic Paul Gravett have curated for the Fumetto comics festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. The show occupies three (count ‘em!) floors and consists of 150 pages of Kirby art, including the complete Kamandi< #6 and almost the entirety of Fantastic Four #54. You can find out more about the exhibition at Fumetto’s website, and much much more from Gravett’s lengthy essay on Kirby in general and the exhibit in particular. Can some of North America’s convention organizations start thinking along these lines, please oh please?
- May 3, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Rock out to the music of the ’60s Spider-Man cartoon
Move over, Bono and the Edge: Now this is the musical Spider-Man I’m interested in! Cold Heat cartoonist Frank Santoro and retailer Bill Boichel of Pittsburgh’s Copacetic Comics bring our attention to a pair of posts on the blog of free-form radio station WFMU, in which the secrets of the groovy background music from 1967-1970 Spider-Man animated series are revealed at long last. Here’s part one, here’s part two.
Everyone knows the famous “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can” theme music, but the jazzy, freaky tunes that soundtracked Spidey’s fight scenes and swings through the city have always been a bit of a mystery. WFMU’s Kliph Nesteroff tracked them down to an English stock-music library, which is where shows ranging from Doctor Who to Dallas bought them and used them as well. Nesteroff put together an awesomely long podcast comparing the music as heard in the episodes themselves to the crystal-clear original recordings. At the speed of light, they’ve arrived just in time to make your Monday a lot more fun-sounding.
- May 3, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Gene Colan: ‘I can’t wait to get back to earning money and getting to work’
Gene Colan
Daniel Best gets an update on the health of legendary artist Gene Colan from the man himself, who’s in a rehabilitation center after breaking his shoulder in a fall.
“I lost my balance and down I went, on my back,” the 83-year-old artist said. “It could have been worse, but the doctor told me that it was fortunate that they don’t have to operate and put in a ball joint. It turns out that the hairline fracture will heal, I just have to be patient. That was all they had to say, and he was right because I can do a lot more with that hand now, I can even draw a little bit, just a little, and I’m getting my handwriting back which I couldn’t do before. So I’m doing a few things that I never did before I came here. It’s coming back, slow but sure.”
News circulated last month that Colan had been injured, and that some of his artwork was missing, leading some to incorrectly report that he had been mugged. In the brief Q&A, the artist explains the situation with the art — “they are listed as perhaps stolen” — discusses his recovery, and reacts to the outpouring of support from fans.
“I can’t wait to get back to earning money and getting to work,” he told Best. “I just want to start making a living again. I should be thinking more of retirement, I suppose, but I don’t even think about retiring. I need to draw, I love it, so why should I give it up?”
Just a reminder: Clifford Meth has set up an auction to benefit Colan.
- May 3, 2010 @ 08:14 AM by Kevin Melrose
This weekend, it’s the Toronto Comics Art Festival
Toronto Comics Art Festival poster, by Daniel Clowes
The seventh Toronto Comics Art Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St.). Admission is free.
Featured guests are Daniel Clowes, Roger Langridge, Jeff Lemire, Paul Pope, Dash Shaw, James Sturm, Charles Vess and Jim Woodring. The full list of exhibitors can be found here.
The Comics Journal has a solid rundown of what creators will be bringing to the event, while the National Post’s Afterword blog spotlights several who’ll be attending: Ryan North; Dave Lapp; Ed Brisson; Philippe Girard; Box Brown; Matt Kindt; Tim Fish; Tom Daly; Benjamin Rivers; Nick Maandag; Brian Hoang; Abby Denson; Audra Furuichi; Britt Wilson; Jose Villarrubia; John Martz; Cecil Castellucci; Chris Hallbeck; Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr; Vicki Nerino; Matthew Loux; Phil McAndrew; Gary Groth; Miriam Libicki; Aaron Costain; and Rob Jackson.
- May 3, 2010 @ 07:01 AM by Kevin Melrose
What are you reading?
Greendale
Happy day-after-Free Comic Book Day to everyone, and welcome to another edition of What are you reading? Our guest this week is Rick Marshall, editor of MTV’s Splash Page blog. To see what Rick and the rest of the Robot 6 crew have been reading this week, read on …
- May 2, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin