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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Stuck in the Middle

Libraries | There's still more follow-up to the removal this week of Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age from two middle-school libraries in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Teachers still have access to the anthology -- it depicts language and sexual reference that at least one parent found objectionable -- and may use it in class.

An editorial in the Argus Leader calls the school board's decision "a reasonable approach that balances the need to provide suitable guidance for kids when dealing with sensitive topics without falling prey to censorship." CBS affiliate KELO, meanwhile, continues its coverage of the story with a look at how books are selected for libraries. Tom Spurgeon also has reaction from two of the anthology's contributors. [Argus Leader, KELOLAND.com]

Creators | Jeet Heer digs up writings by a young Dave Sim expressing, in no uncertain terms, his disdain for the work of Jack Kirby. [Comics Comics]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes [Updated]

Stitches: A Memoir

Publishing | Publishers Weekly teases its forthcoming lists of the best books of the year with a Top 10 that includes David Small's National Book Award-nominated memoir Stitches. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | UK newspaper The Times rolls out a package marking the 70th anniversary of Marvel Comics with profiles of Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., 70 facts "you didn't know" about the company, and a gallery. [Times Online]

Publishing | Back issues of Cerebus Archives, Dave Sim's bimonthly DVD extras-style collection of letters, stories and artwork, are now available through print-on-demand publisher ComiXpress. [ComiXpress]

Blogosphere | Mike Nebeker, co-host of the Geek Tragedy Podcast, passed away Oct. 27 from an apparent stroke. He was 41. According to this blog entry, his co-hosts plan on Tuesday to post a new episode that will contain their farewells and Nebeker's unaired interviews from the Alternative Press Expo. After that, they'll take some time off from the podcast. [Geek Tragedy Podnotes]

Comic strips | Amazon has announced the 10 finalists for its Comic Strip Superstar contest. [Digital Strips]

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Talking Comics with Tim: Donna Barr

Donna Barr

Donna Barr is a creator with a rich history in the comics industry. As noted in her Wikipedia profile (which Barr directs people to): "Common elements in her work are fantastic human/animal hybrids and German culture. She is best known for two of her series. One is Stinz (about a society of centaur-like people in a setting reminiscent of pre-industrial Germany). Originally published in 1986 as a short story in a hand-bound book, it was then serialized in the Eclipse Comics series 'The Dreamery,' edited by Lex Nakashima. It was picked up by Albedo creator Steve Gallacci under his Thoughts & Images label, moving on to MU Press and its imprint Aeon Press. It was then self-published under A Fine Line Press.

Her other long-running series, The Desert Peach is about Pfirsich Rommel, the fictional homosexual younger brother of Erwin "The Desert Fox" Rommel. Beginning in 1987, it was set in North Africa during World War 2). The first three issues were published by Thoughts & Images. Additional issues were published by Fantagraphics Books, Aeon Press, and then self-published. Other works include Hader and the Colonel, The Barr Girls, and Bosom Enemies.

Barr has also recently published a number of novels, including Permanent Party, An Insupportable Light, and Bread and Swans. The last two of these feature Stinz and The Desert Peach, respectively. Some of her later books take advantage of the new print-on-demand technologies."

Barr and I initially started this email interview to discuss Afterdead, her project currently running at Webcomics Nation. My thanks to Barr for her time and to Joey Manley for helping to facilitate this interview.

Tim O'Shea: While some veteran creators are new to webcomics, you are not--as you've been running your work with Joey Manley's various sites since 2003, I believe. How did you jump into webcomics well before some of your contemporaries and what attracted you to the medium?

Donna Barr: Joey asked me to. It's a good decision; he's one of those GOOD publishers that make me feel I haven't gone to the dark side.

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You know, some folks take up stamp collecting

Cereblog

Talk about ambition. Leigh Walton and Laura Hudson have created a new comics site, titled Cereblog, devoted to (as you may have already guessed) Dave Sim's seminal (and just a wee bit controversial) series Cerebus. Their goal? To dual critique all 300 issues, one each week.

Cerebus: A Diablog (or sometimes Cereblog) is an ongoing close reading in two-part harmony. Neither of us was born yet when Cerebus was launched, and neither of us has previously read very much of the series. We’re curious to see what Dave Sim’s work, in all its twisted glory, has to say to a new generation of readers. Grab your own copy and read along with us!

All kidding aside, so far they seem to be off to a strong star. Here, for example, is Leigh on issue one:

What’s interesting about the “Cerebus is an aardvark” juxtaposition — seemingly the point of the comic — is that the comic largely doesn’t notice. The opening few pages of this issue, when the human characters are shocked to see a warrior aardvark riding a horse and entering a bar, comprise pretty much the only time in the series (I think) when the comic draws attention to the conceit. “Thought later he would be called the finest warrior to enter our gates, at the time, he was but a curiosity…” “I can’t serve YOU here… YOU’RE A…” etc. But then he’s hired by two thieves to join their heist, with a minimum of hesitation, and that establishes the treatment for the rest of the book: Cerebus is funny-looking, and he’s recognized as an unnaturally skilled warrior, but he’s not a dog walking on its hind legs or anything.

Please join me in wishing them the best of luck. By the time they get to Reads, they'll need it.