2011 August
Bryan Talbot announces third Grandville graphic novel
The phenomenal cartoonist Bryan Talbot has announced that he’s doing a third book in his anthromorphic steampunk series Grandville through Dark Horse. Titled Grandville: Bete Noire, Talbot states he’s already begun working on the book, so a book release could happen as early as next year.
The Grandville tells a violent mystery story set against the backdrop of an alternative historical world where England was conquered by French dictator Napoleon and only in modern times resumed being a sovereign state. At the center of this is two regular police offers named LeBrock and Ratzi, who seek to uncover this mystery while dealing with the political realities and the lifestyle of one living in a steampunk world.
And they’re all animals.
CBR interviewed Talbot prior to the release of both the inaugural volume and the sequel Grandville: Mon Amour, so read those and get ready for more Grandville to come.
- August 8, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by Chris Arrant
What Are You Reading? with Akira the Don
Amazing Spider-Man #666
Today our special guest is the recently married Akira the Don, a musician and artist whose latest album, The Life Equation, can be heard on his website.
To see what Akira the Don and the Robot 6 crew are reading, click below.
- August 7, 2011 @ 01:58 PM by JK Parkin
A Month of Wednesdays: The Smurfs, The Pet Avengers and every new graphic novel I read in July
The Astro Smurf (Papercutz) Despite mild—or should I say morbid?—curiosity, I’ve decided to hold off on seeing the new Smurfs movie until it’s on DVD. Or has been on DVD for a few years. Mostly because I’m afraid that seeing it will make it that much harder for me to enjoy Papercutz’ repackaged reprints of Peyo’s original Smurfs comics, which, even in the seventh volume, remain a surprising amount of fun.
The Astro Smurf features the unnamed Smurf whose defining characteristic is to be the first Smurf to fly into outer space and visit another planet. Papa Smurf and the rest of the village go to great (bordering on insane) lengths to make the little Smurf’s dream come true, even if it’s not technically possible for Smurf technology to send a Smurf into outer space. It’s paired with another story of Smurf tech, as a pair of Smurfs invents a submarine, and Gargamel builds his own sub to destroy it (That one’s titled “The Smurf Submarine,” not “The Hunt For Blue October”).
As with previous volumes, there are some less-than-perfect packaging decisions and questionable translation choices, but they’re more glitches than mortal wounds—The Smurfs trades remain one of the better amount of quality comics to price of comics values on the stands.
- August 6, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by J. Caleb Mozzocco
Robot Reviews | Bake Sale and Anya’s Ghost
Bake Sale
Bake Sale
by Sara Varon
First Second, 160 pages, $16.99
Anya’s Ghost
by Vera Brosgol
First Second, 224 pages, $15.99
As insufferably precious as Sara Varon’s comics can seem at first glance, they’re frequently suffused with a melancholy that belies their outward cutie-pie nature. Most of her books deal with the tricky nature of friendship, both our essential human need for connection and companionship and also how we often define our own identity through our contact with others. She rarely sugarcoats these relationships, either — Robot Dreams had a rather nasty betrayal at its focal point after all. That all can seem like heady stuff for an all-ages book, but Varon smartly refuses to delve too deep into psychology blather, preferring to keep the actions and visuals as simple and self-explanatory as possible.
- August 5, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics creators whip up some recipe comix for Saveur
One step in New Yorker cartoonist Farley Katz's recipe for Summer Seafood Boil
Foodie magazine Saveur has a new feature on its website: Recipe Comix, real-life recipes by famous comics creators (apparently the folks at Saveur read a lot of webcomics). Check out a manly chili recipe by Ryan North (Dinosaur comics), an elegant presentation of Oyakodon from Frank Gibson and Becky Dreistadt (Tiny Kitten Teeth) and chocolate ice cream by Dorothy Gambrell (Cat and Girl), among others. Go, read, taste!
- August 5, 2011 @ 02:05 PM by Brigid Alverson
Fantagraphics reveals covers for upcoming Barks, Gottfredson collections
Fantagraphics has revealed the final cover to Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes, the first volume in their series of Carl Barks collections. In addition, you can get a good look at the cover and spine courtesy of a brochure they published to promote the book.
- August 5, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Amazing Spider-Man #49 cover art expected to go for $100,000
Amazing Spider-Man #49
Heritage Auctions expects the original art for the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #49 to go for around $100,000 when it goes up for auction later this month.
Drawn by John Romita Sr., the cover features Kraven the Hunter and the Vulture double-teaming Spider-Man. According to Ed Jaster, senior vice president at Heritage Auctions, it’s only the second cover by Romita they’ve offered for auction.
In addition to the Spider-Man cover, several other comic-related items will go up for bid in Heritage Auctions’ Signature Vintage Comics & Comic Art Auction on Aug. 17-18. These include Victor Moscoso’s original treatment for the wraparound cover to Zap Comix #4, Steve Ditko’s original art for page 17 of The Amazing Spider-Man #12, a George Herriman hand-colored Krazy Kat Sunday comic strip and a page of art from an unpublished Superman story by Joe Shuster, Paul Cassidy and Wayne Boring.
- August 5, 2011 @ 10:02 AM by JK Parkin
Zeroing in on Com.X comics
After some bumps on the road after their launch in 2000, the British comics publisher Com.X Comics is quickly turning into a publisher to watch. It became best known for the hero series Cla$$war, which took the idea of superheroes in a more realistic and brutal direction, not unlike contemporaries such as The Authority did at the time. But the aforementioned bumps on the road — scheduling, loss of artists — saw Com.X fail to follow through immediately on their first hints of success. But all that is changing.
In 2008 Com.X reorganized and recommitted itself as a publisher, organizing a new slate of titles that’s coming out in 2011. Ross Mackintosh’s Seeds offers a touching autobiographical story of a man dealing with his father’s death from cancer, and the faux-journalism coverage of a super-hero universe with 2010′s Forty-Five opened the door for an entire line of titles beginning with the upcoming Blue Spear. Their next big title is Babble, a project by Lee Robson and Bryan Coyle concerning a secret universal language and why it’s been shrouded from the public for centuries.
And Com.X’s eye for talent continues with the use of phenomenal artists like Cosmo White. During its early years they showed a remarkable eye for talent by being among the first to note uber-talented artists like Joshua Middleton, Steve McNiven, Cary Nord, Trevor Hairsine, Ben Oliver, Travel Foreman and Neil Googe. Those talents quickly found work at Marvel and DC, but Com.X continues to find the next big things before the big publishers do.
- August 5, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Roger Langridge launches Snarked! blog
Issue #0 of Roger Langridge’s creator-owned comic Snarked! is out in stores now, and Langridge has launched a blog, Snark Island, that will feature bonus content for the series. His other blog, Hotel Fred, will continue to be the source for news about all his projects.
“SnarkIsland.com is more of a portal to Snarked-specific content, like character descriptions and themed desktops and so forth, as well as a way for people to send mail to the comic,” he explains. “It’s sort of like a complement to the letters page which will appear in the print version.” If you have seen Snarked! #0, you’ll know what he’s talking about. Langridge fills out the back pages with an interesting miscellany—a newspaper, a poster, puzzles, and the full text of Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Walrus and The Carpenter,” on which the comic is based. Hopefully the blog will be a good playground for Langridge to experiment with more side content.
- August 5, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Why the new Spider-Man matters; a look at ‘work for hire’
Miles Morales
Comics | In a post subtitled “Why the new biracial Spider-Man matters,” David Betancourt shares his reaction to the news that the new Ultimate Spider-Man is half-black, half-Latino: “The new Ultimate Spider-Man, who will have the almost impossible task of replacing the late Peter Parker (easily one of Marvel Comics most popular characters), took off his mask and revealed himself to be a young, half-black, half-Latino kid by the name of Miles Morales. When I read the news, I was beside myself, as if my brain couldn’t fully process the revelation. My friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was … just like me? This is a moment I never thought I’d see. But the moment has arrived, and I — the son of Puerto Rican man who passed his love of comics to me, and a black woman who once called me just to say she’d met Adam West — will never forget that day.”
The New Yorker, meanwhile, posts the opening on an essay from the year 2120 that looks back at the cultural significance of the new Spider-Man. [Comic Riffs, New Yorker]
Legal | Analysis of the Kirby estate/Marvel case continues, as both Modern Ideas and Copyhype look at the concept of “work for hire” in light of the ruling. [Modern Ideas, Copyhype]
- August 5, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | Putting a smiley face on the 1970s Superman
Superman #233, January 1971
DC’s superhero comics of the ‘70s and ‘80s will always fascinate me — not just because I grew up on them, but because they represented the first steps past the Silver Age. While the latest members of Marvel’s Bullpen sought to maintain the momentum Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko brought to their creations, DC’s writers, artists, and editors took their iconic charges in new directions. We all know what Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams did for Batman, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow. We can see some of what Kirby wanted to do for Superman, and we know what writers like O’Neil, Elliott S! Maggin, Cary Bates, Martin Pasko, and Marv Wolfman ended up doing. Of course, the period brought two revamps (and a revival) for Teen Titans, the first making them into an un-costumed youth group, and the second involving Wolfman and George Pérez….
… and at this point the post threatens to turn into another Tom Goes Down The Old-Comics Rabbit Hole extravaganza. Haven’t we had enough of these indulgences?
Well … yes and no. I bring it up (again) on account of the Retro-Active books, and specifically Retro-Active ‘70s-style Superman. I talked about the book’s merits in our last What Are You Reading? roundup, so today let’s look at the nuts and bolts of Superman in the Bronze Age.
- August 4, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Cameron Stewart recommits to Sin Titulo
Cameron Stewart has been on a roll as of late, becoming one of the key artists in Grant Morrison’s Batman stories as well as a go-to guy for licensed titles like IDW’s Suicide Girls and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed graphic novel. Between all that, however, Stewart has found some free time to recommit to his Eisner-winning webcomic Sin Titulo.
With one reviewer describing Sin Titulo as “out-Lynching David Lynch,” the enterprising series is a study in pacing and mood that is good in daily installments or saved up for marathon reading sessions every couple months (that’s me, at least). Stewart has already posted two new pages this week, with a plan to do three or four each week until the end of the series. Stewart has plans to release Sin Titulo as a print book in 2012, so even if you’re not the type to read comics online then you’ve got reasons to look out for Cameron Stewart.
- August 4, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Robot Review | Resistance, Volume 2: Defiance
Resistance, Volume 2: Defiance
Written by Carla Jablonski; Illustrated by Leland Purvis
First Second; $16.99
I have fond memories of reading the first volume of Resistance. I was on a road trip with my family last year and took it with me to read in the car along with First Second’s other kids-vs-nazis book, City of Spies. I couldn’t help but be struck by the different approaches each creative team took to their similar subject matter. City of Spies is a romping adventure book while Resistance looks seriously at the reality of what opposing the Germans must have been like for children. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition and I loved both approaches so much that in comparing the two I missed some other themes, at least in Resistance. I may have missed some in City of Spies too, but reading the second volume of Resistance all by itself has allowed me to see aspects of it that go deeper than just “boy, it must have been scary for kids in those days.”
There were several themes that I expected to find in Defiance: freedom, loyalty, courage; stuff like that. What I was surprised by was a strong message that hit closer to home than those lofty ideals: relationships – especially family ones – and how incredibly hard they are. It’s difficult to live with other people – even ones that you love – and balance the variety of needs and priorities that come with several people sharing their lives. Traditional family roles can help with that (for good or ill), but what happens when your country is occupied by invading forces and everything you know and are familiar with has been turned upside down if not completely destroyed? As a mother whose husband has been taken by the Germans to work in their labor camps, how do you balance the needs of your children with the demands of putting food on the table, especially when those very Germans are extorting your livelihood for their needs?
There’s so much going on in the life of poor Mme. Tessier that it’s tempting to focus on her, but this isn’t her story. Mostly it’s Paul’s, her only son, but also it’s Paul’s sisters, teenaged Sylvie and young Marie. Though not quite a teenager himself, Paul struggles with what it means to be the man of the family; balancing that responsibility with his passion for undermining the Germans’ control on his town any way that he can. He’s not doing a very good job of it though. It’s too much to ask of a young boy and helping the Resistance is getting in the way of supporting his mom, especially when he learns that the militant Maquis are camped in the woods nearby. Joining them would mean making a real difference; much more dramatic than drawing propaganda posters and distributing flyers.
- August 4, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May
Taiwanese animators tackle Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man
Next Media Animation asks where are the Asian superheroes
Next Media Animation, the Taiwanese studio responsible for offbeat animated explanations of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and The Dark Knight Rises teaser, has moved quickly to address the announcement of a half-black, half-Latino Spider-Man. But NMA wants to know why Spider-Man couldn’t be Asian “or, better yet, Taiwanese.”
“There are few well-known Asian superheroes,” the narrator says. “The most recent was Kato in The Green Hornet, which bombed at the box office. Asians traditionally have been portrayed as villains, such as Fu Manchu characters or dastardly dragon ladies. Asia’s time in the superhero spotlight is long overdue. What are you waiting for, Marvel?”
- August 4, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
When male Justice Leaguers strike a (Wonder Woman) pose
Illustration by Kelly Turnbull
Cartoonist Kelly Turnbull, creator of the webcomic Manly Guys Doing Manly Things, turns to illustration to make a hilarious and biting point about the depiction of women in superhero comics, selecting David Finch’s variant cover for Justice League #1 (below) as her target.
In response to a comment that “we’re reaching a point of just complaining about any and every little thing,” Turnbull replied: “The point of contention still is, as it always was, that people are getting tired of seeing all of the female leads drawn with body language and uniforms that make them appear less heroic, powerful, legitimate, and all-around able to be taken seriously than their male counterparts.” To underscore her point, she offered a look at Wonder Woman’s male teammates might look like in similar costumes, striking a similar pose. Aquaman’s flaccid trident may be particularly cruel commentary about a lack of power …
Visit Turnbull’s blog to see the full illustration, with Green Lantern, Batman and Superman.
- August 4, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose