Michael May
Food or Comics? | Higher Earl Grey
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
NonNonBa
Chris Mautner
If I had $15, I’d grab the latest Lio collection, Zombies Need Love Too. Cartoonist Mark Tatulli has one of the better newspaper comic strips going these days.
If I had $30, I’d nab what is clearly the book of the week, NonNonBa, the latest book from Shigeru Mizuki, author of Onward Toward Our Noble Deaths. NonNonBa aims more toward Mizuki’s traditional milieu of Japanese folklore and yokai monsters, though this book is more autobiographical in nature in that it deals with his relationship with his grandmother and how she instilled in him an interest in the spirit world. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this release.
My splurge for the week would likely be one of two books from First Second: Either Baby’s in Black, Arne Bellstorf’s fictionalized tale of the sadly doomed Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe, or Mastering Comics, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden’s follow-up to their previous how-to textbook, Drawing Words, Writing Pictures.
- May 8, 2012 @ 01:34 PM by Michael May
John Rozum (sort of) writes Batman with a lightsaber fighting a shark
This past weekend saw the opening of Gallery 1988: Melrose‘s “Memes” show, celebrating the gallery’s eighth year by having 100 artists pay tribute to “the Internet’s greatest creations.” One of those artists is Xombi writer John Rozum, who, in addition to writing scary comics, is also a talented maker of cut-paper art. For his meme, he recreated in collage form the painting that went around a year or so ago by an unknown artist that featured Batman fighting a shark with a lightsaber. And since he included a word balloon suggesting a larger group of events, I’m going to go ahead and stand by that statement that this is a Rozum story.
- May 7, 2012 @ 12:00 PM by Michael May
Charles Burns’ X’ed Out sequel due in October
I was initially resistant to the idea of buying what are essentially hardcover, single issues of a comic book series, but Charles Burns’ X’ed Out ultimately wore me down. Though it was $20 for only 56 pages, that was trumped a little by the over-sized design and obvious Tintin influences, and a lot by the numerous recommendations from people I respect. I’m so glad I changed my mind.
One of the sucky things about the single-issue format (regardless of how handsomely it’s packaged) is waiting for the next issue and it’s been two years since X’ed Out. Fortunately, that wait is coming to a close this Oct. 9 with the release of The Hive. It’s $22 now and still only 56 pages, but the second volume of Burns’ untitled trilogy promises to be as unmissable as the first. The publisher describes it this way:
- May 7, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
Richard Sala warns, ‘It will all be over before you know it …’
Richard Sala (Delphine, Cat Burgler Black) has posted a six-page, six-chapter comic about monsters, genre women and the fleetingness of life. If you like that first page, you’ll want to check out the others featuring witches, vampires, jungle girls, mummies, a bandita, a pirate, a cheerleader, and an ape in a tux. Like life, you won’t want it to end as quickly as it does.
- May 3, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Michael May
Free Comic Book Day: They’re not all free!
Jason Inman of Sh*t Comic Book Nerds Say fame sent along this Free Comic Book Day promo video. It’s funny and has me more excited to visit my local store on Saturday (and spend some money at their big sale), so maybe you’ll enjoy it too. Which free comics are you looking forward to?
- May 3, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
Shooting Batman
Bang!
Harald Haefker’s awesome Flickr photostream has tons of pop culture greatness, including high-resolution photos of movie serial superheroes and posters featuring Divine, but my favorites are in his collection of behind-the-scenes photos from the Adam West Batman series. Which do you like best?
- May 2, 2012 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
Retailer refuses to stock Before Watchmen
Why not?
At the MoCCA Festival panel on running a comics shop, the topic of Before Watchmen came up as part of a discussion of pull lists. Tucker Stone, manager of Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn, volunteered that his store wouldn’t be ordering the miniseries except for those customers who’ve already requested it.
ComiXology’s David Steinberger was in the audience and asked Stone to clarify why that was. “We’re gonna lose money,” Stone said. “We’ll probably lose customers. It was a decision that was made.”
I wasn’t there, and it’s difficult for me to interpret Stone’s additional comments without hearing his tone of voice or reading his body language, but based on the panel report, it sounds like this was a decision that wasn’t without controversy even among Bergen Street’s staff. Stone continued, “When I heard that decision, I said that’s a bad idea. That’s an explanation that I’ll have to give over and over again.” But, “as time has gone on, as I’ve seen online response to that project … This is just gross, and we don’t want to be part of this one. We’ll participate with the grossness they did to Kirby on the Avengers books, but this one …”
Heidi MacDonald attended the panel and reports that her tweets about it “got a vociferous response from pros and retailers alike who felt that Bergen Street was being irresponsible and leaving money on the table.” That raises some interesting questions about the role of retailers in creators’ rights issues. Should shop owners serve their own sense of right and wrong (not that all retailers agree about what that looks like in this situation) or does that not matter compared to the mandate to serve the customer? I don’t feel qualified to cast judgment either way until I have a comics shop and a family and employees that depend on how I run it, but it’s fascinating to think about.
Comics shops uniquely personify the struggle many comics fans are experiencing as they think about these things. Which matters more: creators’ rights or my right to read what I want?
(John Douglas’ Watchmen Too: The Squid cover from Relaunched!.)
- May 2, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May
Food or Comics? | Spiritwurst
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Spirit World
Graeme McMillan
Well done, DC: For the second time, I’m suckered in by your wave of new launches. This week, if I had $15, I’d drop a chunk of that on Dial H #1, Earth-2 #1 and Worlds’ Finest #1 (All DC, Dial H and Worlds’ Finest both $2.99, Earth-2 $3.99). What can I say? I really love the DC Multiverse as a concept, and I’m curious to see what the new Dial H is like.
If I had $30, I’d add some more new launches in there: Jim McCann and Rodin Esquejo’s Mind The Gap looks like a lot of fun (Image, $2.99), as does the first issue of New Mutants/Journey Into Mystery crossover Exiled #1 (Marvel, $2.99). On the recommendation of many, I’m also going to grab The Spider #1 (Dynamite, $3.99) to try out David Liss’ writing; I had a lot of people say good things about his Black Panther, so I’m looking forward to this new book.
Should I feel the urge to splurge, DC have again won the day: Spirit World HC (DC, $39.99)? Genre stories by Jack Kirby from my favorite period of his work that I’ve never seen before, including some that have never been reprinted before? Seriously, there’s no way I couldn’t want this book.
- May 1, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May
First look at Ben Templesmith’s Batman for DC digital-first series
Ben Templesmith tweeted this sneak peek of his version of Batman featured in DC Comics’ digital-first Batman anthology series. B Clay Moore is writing the story. Now you’ll have to excuse me so I can go buy an iPad.
- May 1, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
Faith Erin Hicks has a Tumblr sketch blog
And that’s all you need to know.
- April 30, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Michael May
Sam Hiti’s Darth Vader and Son
I love Jeffrey Brown’s cute Darth Vader and Son comics. I also love Sam Hiti’s very different version of that theme. And so will you.
- April 30, 2012 @ 01:00 PM by Michael May
Conflicted about The Avengers? Here’s your solution
Many comics fans are struggling right now to find a workable position to take on the issue of creators’ rights. On one end of the spectrum are folks who have no problem boycotting everything Marvel and DC Comics do until past and present creators are treated fairly. On the other end are those who simply don’t give a crap and are all for corporations doing whatever they’re legally entitled to. Somewhere in between though are those of us who are torn between wanting to see creators treated fairly and being really super-excited to watch The Avengers. What are we to do about that?
My insistence on seeing a film seems really freaking petty when Chris Roberson is willing to give up work over these issues, but at the end of the day, I know I’m gonna go see that damned movie. My not seeing it won’t make a bit of difference to Jack Kirby’s family — and besides, what did Robert Downey Jr. ever do to me, anyway? And yet … Chris Roberson.
Fortunately, Jon Morris has an awesome solution. “So how about this?” he writes. “You’re probably going to go see The Avengers and, judging by the early reviews, you’ll probably enjoy it. How about — as a thank you to the creators who brought you these characters in the first place, who gave you something to enjoy so much — you match your ticket price as a donation to The Hero Initiative?”
Morris is a genius, and we should do what he says. I know I will, and not just my ticket price, but that of my wife and son, who are big fans of the Marvel movies. If you can afford to, maybe consider doubling your ticket price for a donation, just to cover someone else who doesn’t know about the creators’ rights issue or hasn’t heard of The Hero Initiative. The point is, if you care about creator rights, but don’t think that boycotting is the answer for you, donating however much you’re comfortable with to the support of those creators is an excellent idea.
- April 30, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
You cannot keep Rob Hanes down
Rob Hanes Adventures #13
And that’s just the way I like it. Rob Hanes Adventures creator Randy Reynaldo has announced that the 13th issue of his indomitable, but sporadic, all-ages adventure series will hit in July.
Continuing RHA‘s tradition of telling stand-alone stories inspired by various genres and (often) current events, the issue will contain two, self-contained tales. “Crime Takes a Holiday” sounds like a crime caper set in the French Riviera, while “Not Your Father’s Private Eye” is set in a fictional version of the Arab Spring uprisings.
I’ve read most of the Rob Hanes Adventures series and they’re great fun for young readers as well as older fans of Milton Caniff-esque adventure comics. You can get more info and see some sample pages at Reynaldo’s website.
- April 26, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by Michael May
Quote of the Day | Creators are supposed to struggle
Poor Superman
Many [artists], in fact, are effectively entrepreneurs, but have little of the regard of the lavishly paid, mythically potent CEO. A working artist is seen neither as the salt of the earth by the left, nor as a “job creator” by the right — but as a kind of self-indulgent parasite by both sides. Why the disconnect?
– Scott Timberg, writing for The Salon about the lack of sympathy creators of art receive from society at large. His article is especially timely considering the current conversation about creators’ rights going on in the comics industry.
Timberg has a lot of thoughts on the subject. He asks what it means to be a successful artist in the U.S., and talks to freelance creators who are seeing less and less paying work as traditional patrons are going out of business or looking for cheaper artists. He talks about the popular ideas that the creation of art is a leisure activity (as opposed to actual work) and that artists are supposed to struggle. It’s an excellent, thought-provoking piece.
Part of what makes it thought-provoking from a comics standpoint is how it meshes with the attitudes of many comics fans toward the people who make these things we love so much. Or even the attitudes of some current creators about the treatment of creators in the past. It’s not industry-wide, of course, but there’s still a startling lack of respect or understanding, or something, for how tough the creative life can be. It’s a truism that “no one goes into comics to get rich,” but is that the same as saying that creators should expect to get screwed because that’s just the way it is?
- April 26, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
Food or Comics? | Popeye or popcorn
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
AvX: Vs #1
Chris Arrant
If I had $15, I’d go all-in on AvX: Vs #1 (Marvel, $3.99). As a story format-junkie, this seems like an ideal supplemental series to the event comic series as we know it – I may have read it wrong, but this seems low on continuity and high on action – kind of a throwback to the condensed comics of the ’60s, I hope. And seeing Kathryn and Stuart Immonen on this together is a big deal – wish they’d get more chances like this! Next up would be the finale of The Twelve, #12 (Marvel, $2.99). I argued with myself about waiting for the trade at this point, but at the end of the day I’m more interested in this than a lot of everything else going on out there. Plus, I bought the eleven previous issues so I should finish it out, right? Next up would be Spaceman #6 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99). I’m finding this series benefits from a deeper re-reading prior to each new issues, but it’s paying off in spades in terms of my enjoyment. This is definitely a palate cleanser after Azzarello and Risso’s run on 100 Bullets, but in a good way. Finally, I’d get Daredevil #11 (Marvel, $2.99). The Eisner Awards judges got this one right when they piled nominations on this book, because Waid, Martin, and Rivera have really made the quintessential superhero book here. The fill-ins from Khoi Pham and Marco Checchetto seem off-putting, but they’ve earned some lee-way after the murderer’s row of creators who started the book. Can’t wait to see Samnee on this, however.
If I had $30, I’d start off with an interesting looking project that’s gotten no press – Airboy: Deadeye #1 (Antarctic Press, $3.50). Chuck Dixon and Ben Dunn — what a pairing. After that I’d go back to get Supercrooks #2 (Marvel/Icon, $2.99); Mark Millar knows how to sell a high-concept, but it’s Leinil Yu that’s making me come back past the first issue. After that would be an Avengers two-fer: New Avengers #25 (Marvel, $3.99) and Secret Avengers #26 (Marvel, $3.99). I dropped off New a few issues back, but with this new issue covering some never-before-seen connections between Iron Fist and the Phoenix Force, I’m back in for this one. And Secret Avengers, well, Remender’s on a roll with his Marvel work and this is continuing on that without being an Uncanny X-Force retread. And guest artist Renato Guedes seems a better fit for this than his work on Wolverine.
If I could splurge, I’d lunge for a copy of The Art of Amanda Conner (IDW/Desperado, $29.99). I was fortunate enough to get a digital review copy of this earlier, and seeing it like that only made me want this more. Rather than just being a template art book plugging in her work, the design and packaging really go along with what you’d expect from Amanda’s tongue-in-cheek comic style. Reading this makes me want to go back and track down her earlier work that I missed.
- April 24, 2012 @ 01:04 PM by Michael May