whether I like it or not...

The headline on Darrell Etherington’s article says it all: “Comics Should Jump on the iOS Subscription Bandwagon.” His argument is a consumer-based one: He has the apps, but at $1 to $3 a pop, comics are too expensive a habit for him, so he proposes a subscription model that basically gives the reader a 50% discount for paying up front—$25 for 12 issues, say. Etherington thinks that would boost readership, but it could also carry some risks. For one thing, readers who are accustomed to getting print magazine subscriptions for $10 or less per year won’t find that price point attractive (although magazine subscriptions do seem to be more expensive on the iPad, so the price is getting pushed up anyway). And in an industry notorious for delays, 12 issues does not necessarily equal a year’s worth of comics. And for superhero comics (which I think is what Etherington is talking about here), following a single series won’t necessarily give the reader a satisfying experience. Dropping three dollars here and four bucks there for you weekly comics is one thing; lining up $200 worth of annual subscriptions (even though that includes a hefty discount) just to be able to follow the events in a fictional universe could prove to be a troubling reality check to some readers.

Etherington quotes Jesus Hates Zombies creator Stephen Lindsay, who divides the comics audience into three groups: “those inside the industry who buy comics to support one another, the casual reader, and the collector.” I’m impressed that he sees creators as a large enough group to merit a mention. Collectors will always want to have the physical comic, but Lindsay sees the casual readers as a potential market. I’m not sure how well that works with complicated superhero universes, because it takes us back to the problem of accessibility: How will the reader know which Thor comic, say, to subscribe to? I’m not sure it’s possible to be a “casual reader” of superhero comics any more. (For those who want to get on the bandwagon, though, I like the feature that the New Yorker magazine subscription has: Your subscription allows you access to back issues as well. That could be a real boon for new readers.)

On the other hand, creators of self-contained indie series who are good at promoting their work could do very well with this model. This is the sort of work that is mainly sold in comics shops but has very little appeal to the typical comics-shop customer; putting it out on the iPad could attract that larger audience that is more interested in the story or the subject matter than the medium. I’m thinking here about literary comics like Fun Home as well as comics that appeal to a narrow group of deep enthusiasts, such as comics about paintball or spelunking. This is really just taking the webcomics model to the next level, and adding a cost, but unlike internet users, iPad users have been trained to pay for their content from the beginning.

This sort of subscription is different from the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited subscription, which allows access to all comics for a limited amount of time; this would be strictly limited to a year’s worth of a single title. It’s not clear to me what the status of your comics would be once the subscription ends; presumably you could download them and keep them, although downloading again might be a problem. That’s a much bigger issue for comics readers than the magazine audience, and one that would have to be clarified at the outset. But with the bumps ironed out, subscriptions might turn out to be a good deal for readers, who would get their comics at a discount, and creators and publishers, who would get paid up front for year’s worth of sales. So come on, comics innovators—bring it on!

Sales don’t come in quick enough (book distribution takes up to 6 months to pay us) and we end up accumulating over $4,000 worth of interest ever year, even though we’ve maintained a small profit for the past 3 years, that profit has been quickly eaten up by the bills we have. The worst part is, our company debt is around $28,000 – which isn’t even a lot for most small companies. But due to the fact that we can’t even make new books to spur new income – the debt has become stifling and will eventually take its toll on us within 1 to 2 years.

So unless they can raise some money pronto, they are going to go into a death spiral of debt. The amount they are trying to raise seems laughably small—$1,000, much less than most Kickstarter drives—but apparently that will keep the wolf from the door for a while. Interestingly, the lowest level of the drive consists simply of buying their books—you fork over $10, you get a $10 book as a “reward”—although a few of the listed books cost more than $10 and at least one costs less. Of course, the indie page cuts out the distributor and thus the distributor’s cut and the time lag in payment. This really goes to Simeti’s point: Alterna’s books are selling well, they just can’t get paid for them, and in a way, the Indie GoGo page is just a direct sales channel that will get a bit of juice from the added publicity of Simeti’s plea. What’s more, it’s a sales channel with some good incentives, as the rewards escalate quickly, and you can get some original art for short money. A plea for funds isn’t really a marketing plan, but maybe this is just what Alterna needs—to sell fewer books through Diamond and Amazon and more on their own.

By now you may be wondering “Who are these people?” Alterna is a small indie house that Simeti describes as “sort of the Island of Misfit Toys in the comics world.” Almost all their output is graphic novels, not monthly comics. They recently announced they were publishing an updated edition of Rafer Roberts’s Plastic Farm, and they were also the home for Mr. Scootles after the creator of that comic had a bad experience with a previous publisher. Their highest profile book was probably Jesus Hates Zombies, which moved to another publisher, 215 Ink. They also publish the manga-influenced Formera and Bret Herholz’s Gorey-esque Sherlock Holmes comics. (Kate Dacey reviewed two of their comics for younger readers at Good Comics for Kids.) As is often the case with small publishers, their line is a bit uneven, but there is some quality work there. On the other hand, Alterna’s case is not unique; these are tough times for small publishers.

The third and final issue of Marvel’s Strange Tales II arrives in shops Dec. 8, and will feature stories by James Stokoe, Michael DeForge, Toby Cypress, Harvey Pekar and Ty Templeton, Nick Gurewitch with Kate Beaton, Eduardo Medeiros and Benjamin Marra, among others.

And thanks to our friends over at Marvel, we’re pleased to present two preview pages from the anthology today, featuring Stokoe’s Silver Surfer tale (who we alreayd know draws a jaw-dropping awesome Galactus), and DeForge’s Spider-Man, Jubilee and Iceman.

Check’em out after the jump.

*****

by James Stokoe

By Michael DeForge

For example, I am generally speaking a diary-comics skeptic, and thus point #7, “Diary comics: stop it,” strikes me as advice potentially worth heeding, especially for new cartoonists looking for a way to channel their energies. On the other hand, point #3, “Make comics for people who don’t make comics,” though it sounds like a good enough idea, basically writes off vast swathes of the medium’s best work:

Why is anyone other than your comic making friends and a few select interested parties going to read an art-damaged visual tone-poem about the inside of your psyche? Learn how to engage and entertain people. It’s a profoundly useful skill.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve read plenty of engaging and entertaining art-damaged visual tone-poems about the inside of cartoonist’s psyches.

Elsewhere, Allison argues against living in expensive cultural capitals like London because your financial situation will take time and energy away from actually making comics, and drops the hammer on print:

6. Making pamphlets is ridiculous

Comic book pamphlets are largely read by ageing comic book fans looking for a monthly fix. Generating two such booklets a year is not medicine enough for anyone. Don’t fetishize the object, it is part of another era. There are now many better ways to reach an audience.

Love it or hate it, something tells me this manifesto will have no problem finding a wide audience. Read the whole thing.

(via Kate Beaton)

Sarah Glidden, as drawn by Sarah Glidden

When she set out for Israel, Sarah Glidden was carrying some baggage — strong opinions about the country and some suspicion about the sponsor of her tour, Birthright, which provides all-expenses-paid trips to Israel for young Jewish people. “How shall I put it? … When there is an expensive trip offered for free, there is always bound to be a downside to it,” she told the magazine Haaretz.

To keep her skeptical eye, Glidden decided to make a graphic novel about her trip, and the result is How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, which came out this week. Glidden shares her experiences in Israel, and discusses how she turned that into a graphic novel, in the Haaretz article, which is well worth a read. But this Horatio Alger aspect is what caught my eye:

Like many independent cartoonists, she rented a booth with several other cartoonists at the MoCCA Festival at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York, and sat down to sell her mini-comics to passersby. When a man wearing a badge identifying him as representing DC Comics, one of the giants of American comic-book publishing (owned by Time Warner ), showed interest in her mini-comics, she didn’t get excited.

“I thought there was no way DC Comics was going to be interested in someone like me. I’m a beginner; [I thought] they only publish comics about superheroes and fantasy. But I told him what it was all about and he bought a book and went away. Two days later, I got an e-mail saying that he was an editor at Vertigo publications [a division of DC specializing in comics for adults], and that they wanted to publish it. Only then did I realize that Vertigo does many things that are political. It was a dream come true.”

Tagged for greatness at her table at MoCCA. Who knew?

(PWCW just ran a preview, so you can see what all the fuss is about.)

Courtesy of our friends at Marvel Comics, we’ve got not one, not two, but three exclusive looks at next week’s Strange Tales II #2. First up, after the jump, check out a page from a Power Pack/Wolverine team-up story by David Heatley (My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down). Then come back at 9 a.m. Pacific for another one!

*****

Alternative Press Expo

The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, is coming up this weekend in San Francisco. The show runs this Saturday and Sunday at the Concourse on 8th Street. This year’s special guests include Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Tony Millionaire, Renee French, Rich Koslowski, Megan Kelso and Tommy Kovac. In addition to an exhibitor’s room packed with comics of all shapes and sizes, they also have panels, workshops and even a “speed dating” event to help pair up writers and artists.

Here’s one more round of stuff to do/buy at the show. I’ll be there both days and will hopefully get a chance to blog from the floor.

Kid Beowulf

Kid Beowulf creator Alexis E. Fajardo will be at table #535 selling books and sculpts, as well as doing sketches, throughout the weekend. He’s also hosting one of the workshops on creating comics:

Workshop, Sunday Oct, 17 3pm: Character Design in Kid Beowulf

Meet cartoonist Alexis E. Fajardo and get the inside scoop on how he creates and designs characters for his all-ages, graphic novel series Kid Beowulf. Alexis will walk through his character creation process including the research, early sketches, pencils and inks for his newest book Kid Beowulf vs. El Cid!

Fantagraphics

Fantagraphics posted today that they’ll have several “display only” books at their booth, for you to look at before they’re even available to buy, including new Castle Waiting and Jason.

Farel Dalrymple

Artist Farel Dalrymple has made last-minute plans to attend APE; he’ll be at the Conundrum Press booth #312, with copies of studygroup 12.

The Graphic Novel Project

High Tech High’s The Graphic Novel Project, where a team of high school students from Chula Vista, Calif. create their own comics, will have their second major issue, Nice Meeting You, Goodbye, at booth #404.

Students created a full length color comic addressing the rising problem of high school dropouts. This project took a year of hard work requiring the entire team to pull long hours with many weekends involved to make the comic the best product possible.

HTH Graphic Novel Project used a collaborative process that included 18-20 students ranging from 9th to 12th grade working in departments. Departments ranged from Research & Design, Illustration, Digital Art, Lettering, and Production.

Of the technology used to create the work, none was more valuable than the Wacom technology to digitally render each page for the entire graphic novel.

Research & Development for the book was a rigorous research process that included interviewing more the 25 students, teachers, parents, and local dropout center personnel. A professional writer was brought in to use as an editor for each step of the writing and story building process. The project was completed in a little over 15 weeks.

By bringing the issue of Nice Meeting You, Goodbye to the Alternative Press Expo, the HTH Graphic Novel Project hopes to spread the social message of high school drop outs, and also gain a larger audience of this issue and issues to come.

“This project will change the way that other schools look at after school activities.” Says Luke Piedad, contributing author and student. “The process has opened my eyes to a wider perspective on life and avenues to explore journalism.”

Alternative Press Expo

The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, is coming up this weekend in San Francisco. The show runs Saturday and Sunday at the Concourse on 8th Street. This year’s special guests include Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Tony Millionaire, Renee French, Rich Koslowski, Megan Kelso and Tommy Kovac. In addition to an exhibitor’s room packed with comics of all shapes and sizes, they also have all sorts of panels and even a “speed dating” event to help writers find artists (and vice versa).

One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet is that this year they’ve added a full slate of creator workshops, where you can learn how to draw facial expressions with Raina Telgemeier and market a comic that’s easier to read than to describe with Larry Marder, among many others. In other words, APE isn’t just about talking about and buying comics, it’s also about learning to create and sell them yourself.

Prior to the show, I’ll be posting what various companies and creators have planned for APE. If you’d like to be included, email me the details on where you’ll be, what you’ll be selling and all that good stuff. (I’d send them quickly, though, since the show starts on Saturday and I’ll likely just do one more round-up tomorrow).

And now let’s see what folks have planned …

*****

Sparkplug Comics

Sparkplug Comics will have many creators and books at table #118:

Sparkplug Comic Books will be at APE this weekend. Saturday and Sunday October 16th & 17th. There will be a group of us: David King, Virginia Paine, Tim Goodyear, Rina Ayuyang, Tim Root, Sophie Yanow, Renee French and Chris Cilla will be in attendance at the table or around it. We will be at table 118 next to Tom Neely’s I Will Destroy You at 119 and Pigeon Press at 120.

At APE:

* Renee French will be premiering her new book H-Day at the Picture Box booth at APE table 226. Renee will also have an artists spotlight interview at 6pm on Saturday.
* I’ll be on a panel at 1pm on Saturday with Susie Cagle, Thien Pham and Gene Yang talking about Bay Area comics over the years: http://www.comic-con.org/ape/ape_prog.php
* Sparkplug will have a ton of new distro comix at the Sparkplug booth including Crime World 2 by David King, Anais in Paris by Mardou, You Don’t Get There From Here #16 by Carrie McNinch, Act Five by Steve Ditko, Benol the Huckster by Max Mose and Gazeta edited by Lisa Mangum & Maria Sputnik

Koyama Press

Koyama Press will be at APE for the first time at table #728 with Michael DeForge:

We’ll have new books by Tin Can Forest – ‘Baba Yaga and the Wolf’, Aaron Leighton’s ‘Spirit City Toronto’ and ‘Wowee Zonk 3′. Michael DeForge will have two brand new prints . Mickey Zacchilli will be joining us with her new zine too! There will be other Koyama Press titles and this is your last chance to pick up LOSE!

Puna Press

Puna Press will be on hand with two new books:

The San Diego based publisher Puna Press is appearing at APE for the second year in a row. Puna Press has found the bay area to be a natural audience for its books, which are known for combining art and poetry, and art prints.

Barzilla and Other Psalms by Edwin Decker, the award-winning author of San Diego CityBeat’s “Sordid Tales” column, and Less by the award-winning artist Ted Washington, are two of the books featured at the APE from Puna Press.

Omaha Perez

You can find comics creator Omaha Perez at table #304:

I will have a small selection of original art for sale as well as books and comics, including this little comic which will only be available directly from me. PITCHES features my character designs and teaser art for a project with legendary comic writer JM DeMatteis, a scene from a sci-fi project with writer Richard Raleigh, plus scenes from HOLMES VS. HOLMES (yes, a sequel!) and my latest project, THE DRUDE. Please swing by and pick one up!

The Couscous Collective

The Couscous Collective, which includes Shaenon K. Garrity and Andrew Farago, will have its first anthology, Forest, at the show:

The Couscous Collective is pleased to announce the publication of its first anthology, FOREST, making its debut at the 2010 Alternative Press Expo. This 48-page collection of all-new material showcases the talents of seven of the founding members of the Bay Area-centered artist collective.

This magazine-sized publication features a full-color cover by rising star Konstantin Pogorelov and a brand-new comic featuring the cast of Skin Horse, the popular webcomic created by Shaenon K. Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells. Wells will be making his first-ever appearance at this year’s Alternative Press Expo.

Contributors will sign copies of the new anthology at APE tables #237 and #238. Individual works from each artist will also be available for purchase.

The 2010 Alternative Press Expo also marks the debut of the second collected volume of Skin Horse, by Shaenon K. Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells. The initial print run was financed through a fundraising drive on Kickstarter.com, a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors and explorers. The entire project was funded within 18 hours of its initial posting, and ultimately raised 200% of the capital needed for publication.

Couscous Collective members Andrew Farago and Shaenon K. Garrity conduct a workshop on writing humor comics on Saturday at 3:00pm at the Alternative Press Expo. This seminar, Write Funny!, is free with paid admission to APE.

The Couscous Collective was founded in 2008 as a collective of Bay Area visual artists and storytellers whose works “satisfy a variety of appetites.” Members include printmaker Liz Conley, cartoonist Elena Diaz, designer Pancha Diaz, museum curator Andrew Farago, cartoonist Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrator Konstantin Pogorelov, manga authority Jason Thompson and cartoonist Leia Weathington.

Conundrum Press

Robin McConnell will be at table #312 with a selection of books from Conundrum Press, including the debuting Inkstuds, a collection of interviews from the radio show of the same name.

Dub Comics

Jon Vinson of Dub Comics will have a new graphic novel, Edge of the Unknown, at booth #437:

EDGE is the story of Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle getting drawn into investigating a series of brutal murders, in 1920′s Hollywood. Inspired by their real-life friendship, it’s a hard-boiled mystery with a horrifying twist. It also “guest stars” H.P. Lovecraft, (since he actually did ghost write a story for Houdini in 1924 [EDGE is filled with tons of fun historical reference like this]).

Brian Anderson

Brian Andersen, creator of So Super Duper, will have a new comic, Friend of Dorothy, at table #603:

Friend of Dorothy

I’m an indie comic creator who self-publishes a line of awesome gay-themed comics (19 comics and counting) that are super fun, super cute, and totally for everyone, gay or otherwise. My books are funny and delicious and wonderfully fresh and cheeky!

My newest comic is called “Friend of Dorothy,” about the world’s first Oz-inspired Superhero! I was just interviewed about this new comic and my entire line of indie comics by Gay.com.

The One Comic Book that Should Make San Francisco Boycott APE!

Russ Kazmierczak, Jr., creator of Amazing Arizona Comics, is planning to shut down APE with his book:

Every year, independent comic book artists storm San Francisco with the dream that their work will be discovered and adored by fans, but one artist already accepts that his comic book will most likely be scorned and ridiculed, as well it should be.

Russ Kazmierczak, Jr., the writer and illustrator behind Amazing Arizona Comics, is bringing his unabashedly Arizona-oriented work to San Francisco, one of the most vocal cities against the Grand Canyon State’s immigration bill, SB 1070.

“When I moved back to Phoenix this year, I had no idea I’d be in the cross hairs of a nationwide boycott!” Kazmierczak explains. “I created Amazing Arizona Comics to help process the craziness going on around me.”

The first two issues of Amazing Arizona Comics are available now and will be on sale at the K.O. Comix booth #729 at APE. These issues star characters like Speed Cameron and June Monsoon, who are super deputies called “Arizonauts” in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s posse.

“Sheriff Joe has been pretty secretive about his financial records lately,” Kazmierczak continues. “Who says he isn’t hiding a secret super deputy program?”

Ironically, Kazmierczak isn’t a fan of attracting controversy, as evidenced by his concern for the future of the Alternative Press Expo. “I’m from Arizona, and I’m bringing a comic book about Arizona to APE. So, San Franciscans boycotting Arizona shouldn’t come to APE! I hope I don’t end up shutting down the event forever!”

Semantink Publishing

Benjamin Glibert, director of publishing for Semantink Publishing, said they would have copies of Mythoi, among other stuuf, at booth #440:

Semantink will be at booth 440 this weekend with plenty of fun for anyone that stops by. MYTHOI writer James Ninness and cover artist Kevin Warwick will be signing both Saturday and Sunday as well as Joe Pezzula, Marcel Losada and Daniel Touchet, who all work on our weekly web-comic, THE UNDERGROUNDS.

We will have merchandise aplenty, including our newly released MYTHOI TPB, as well as stickers, T-shirts, and posters. Everyone that buys something will be entered into a raffle to win a limited edition MYTHOI laser engraving.

The Devastator

Geoffrey and Amanda, publishers of The Devastator, will have volume two of their humor anthology at the show:

The Devastator

The Devastator is pleased to announce we are the “Must See TV” of Comic Con Inc.’s Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco! This will be our first ever exhibition at APE. We’re as excited as Dr. Frasier Crane starting a new life in Seattle. We’ll be “living next door” to LA-based comedy newspaper ZOMBIE Worldwide at booth #335, just like Ross and Phoebe in the legendary sitcom Friends! Expect lots of laughs, giveaways, memorable characters and at least one Sweeps Week Wedding at our booth!

This weekend at APE marks our first-ever preview of The Devastator #2: Sci Fi. Our auspicious second volume is headlined by the talents of Adult Swim creators Jon Schnepp (“Metalocalpse,” Titmouse #1) and Angus Oblong (“The Oblongs”); and Ignatz Award-winner R. Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics). The Devastator #2 will be available in stores and online December 1st.

Our house contributors hail from “The Simpsons,” “The Daily Show,” “Ugly Americans,”“Veronica’s Closet,” “Onion News Network,” Cracked.com, McSweeney’s, Drawn and Quarterly, DC Comics and BOOM! Studios.

We’re celebrating The Devastator’s first APE with awesome new stuff: Art prints from both books will be sold for the first time, and we’ll unveil The Devastator #2 cover, drawn by R. Sikoryak! Limited edition, APE-exclusive The Devastator #2 posters will be available as gifts with purchase Saturday, October 16th!

The Devastator is an independent publication founded in 2009 by Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows, two comedy writer-editors from Los Angeles. Reading humor and comics as punk youths inspired them to bring back satire in print. (Also, staring at screens all day has given them Uromysitisis.) Now, The Devastator is available in more stores than ever. We’re carried everywhere from Meltdown in Los Angeles to Forbidden Planet in the UK! Check out devastatorquarterly.com/stores for a full list of retailers.

For more information, visit devastatorquarterly.com/about

Lovesick Robot Press

Lovesick Robot Press will have “homespun comics that don’t suck” at the show:

LOVESICK ROBOT PRESS: HOMESPUN COMICS THAT DON’T SUCK Six New Titles Debuting at the Alternative Press Expo

Lovesick Robot Press (LSR Press) is set to debut four new titles at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco on October 16 and 17th, 2010. They will be releasing Beware Brothers #1 by Pietro Norante; “Guys With Swords Vol. 2”, “YATTA!: A Chun Li fanzine”, and a book of astronaut illustrations set to Robert Browning’s “Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, all by Christopher MacDonald.

Most of these titles will be available both digitally and in print, with the digital releases being slated for December 2010. Special bonus content will be offered with the printed versions of these titles and the digital content will be available to read for free at the Lovesick Robot Press website. Lovesick Robot will also be selling related merchandise including original t-shirts, buttons, prints and sticker designs.

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came illustrated by Christopher MacDonald – available October 2010!
Robert Browning wrote “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” in 1855, taking the title from a song sung by Edgar in Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” This new interpretation of the 150 year old poem retells the tale using astronauts, outer space and asteroids as a visual aid.

YATTA!: A Chun Li fanzine by Christopher MacDonald – available October 2010!
Who loves Chun Li? Everybody loves Chun Li. This fanzine is a celebration of the beloved character who will forever be engrained in our generation’s childhood memory.

Beware Brothers Issue #1 by Pietro Norante – available October 2010!
Two brothers, minding their own business, when alluvasudden… robots attack! The Beware Brothers must use all of their cunning to create the tools to destroy the evil robots using nothing but garbage — can they do it before the world is destroyed?

Guys With Swords Vol. 2 by Christopher MacDonald – available October 2010!
For two years running, Christopher MacDonald has been depicting characters that are departure from what is “sexy” in mainstream gay culture. Guys With Swords Vol.2 is the year-two sketchbook collection of an under-represented perspective of the beauty in male sexuality.

EAT YOUR FUCKING VEGETABLES: Gardening and Cooking Tips from an Amateur Schmuck by Christopher MacDonald & Beki Parham – available October 2010!
“Gardening is the ultimate in hardcore bad-assery. And I’m not talking about flower gardens; fuck those. I like gardening because you can eat the result, and it’s good for you. It serves an important purpose, if you let it. So get ready, bitches. This is an attempt to crawl through all the bullshit and show you, the consumer, that it isn’t as hard and expensive as you thought. I am not an expert, and you don’t need to be. I speak from my own personal experience as a novice, slightly plant-retarded gardener.”

The Sinister Truth

A bit about “The Sinister Truth: MKULTRA”. A Cold War satire of the CIA’s mind control program of the ’50′s, this 102 page black-and-white graphic novel chronicles the clandestine agency’s attempts to “remove” Fidel Castro from power with a bungling Manchurian Candidate and an assortment of assassination equipment straight out of ACME: exploding cigars, poisoned wet suits and a plan to dose the dictator with LSD before he was to give a speech on live television. The CIA was also trying to make Castro’s beard fall out during the same broadcast. All of this lunacy is based on declassified documents sourced directly from the CIA courtesy of FOIA (some of the real smoking guns are included in the back of the book!).

The Bride

Artist George Webber will have his latest print at the show:

The Bride

“The Bride” is the latest Limited Edition Numbered Print by artist George Webber of No Cash Comics to be offered at this year’s APE Expo.
It’s well know that George is no stranger to Pin-up Girls, Monsters and Lowbrow Hot Rod art, as any one of his zines, sketch books or prints will prove.
But this year the defining lines of those genres are starting to blur more than ever and “The Bride” is the first in a series collector prints that will be a new high for the artist.

You can find George and his Prints and Comics at the No Cash Comics APE table #737

Sean Dietrich

Sean Dietrich will be at booth #738 with three new books:

I’m currently on tour from San Diego promoting my 3 new books ‘Bubbles from Atlantis’ (which debuted on Amazon.com at #3 in the South region), ‘I Brought the Gutter’ (my 180pg art book detailing over 700 live art shows I’ve done), and ‘The Fruits of Our Labor’, and will have copies of the books for purchase as well as prints, originals, shirts and sketches.

Cartoon Art Museum

San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum will host a party Saturday night at 8 p.m., featuring several APE special guests:

The Cartoon Art Museum hosts a fun-filled evening of Storytime! and Graphic Details on Saturday, October 16, 2010 from 8:00-11:00pm in celebration of the 2010 Alternative Press Expo (APE). Special guests include featured artists from the Cartoon Art Museum’s Storytime! exhibition Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) and Raina Telgemeier (Smile!). Also appearing will be Amy Martin (The Single Girls), whose work appears in the current Small Press Spotlight. Popular syndicated cartoonist Keith Knight (The Knight Life, The K Chronicles), cartoonists Jon “Bean” Hastings (Smith Brown Jones: Alien Accountant, Haunted Mansion) and Rich Koslowski (Three Geeks, Geeksville), will also be in attendance. An updated list of party guests can be found at the Museum’s booth at the Alternative Press Expo. This party also celebrates the release of Keith Knight’s new Knight Life book, Chivalry Ain’t Dead.

Admission for the event is on a sliding scale, from $5 to $20, with guests encouraged to donate whatever they can to support the Cartoon Art Museum.

All proceeds from this reception will benefit The Cartoon Art Museum, a non-profit educational museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and display of original cartoon art in all its forms.

Get in line for cool comics

As is my wont, I made the one-day (the one day being Saturday) trek to Bethesda, Md., along with Joe “Jog” McCulloch for the annual Small Press Expo. Perhaps the Earth’s rotation is spinning ever faster, but this year’s show seemed a bit of a blur to me, even by previous years’ standards. Before I had a chance to say “Sorry, I’m tapped out and can’t buy your mini-comic,” it was after 6 p.m. and time to go home. Fortunately I took some pictures to help my fading memory keep the show alive in my tumescent brain. Or at least, I tried to take some pictures.

Gabrielle Bell and Vanessa Davis

Joe and I got there about 10 minutes before the official opening, but they let us in anyway, no doubt because of the snazzy VIP badges we scored. There was already a notable crowd that grew considerably as the day wore on. Based on my fleeting observations it seemed to be made up of the usual number of men, women, families, hipsters, young people, middle aged folks with big beards and just plain fans.

What was the book of the show? Was there a book of the show? Hard to say. New books from the larger (relatively speaking), big-name publishers tended to drown out some of the smaller, hand-stapled offerings. Everyone seemed to be eager to get their hands on the newest volume of Acme Novelty Library over at the D&Q table. A couple of folks I talked to said they couldn’t wait to pick that up. Likewise, I saw a number of folks walking around with Vanessa Davis‘ latest book, Make Me a Woman. I also wasn’t expecting them to have copies of the new, hardcover bound Palookaville as well. That was a nice surprise.

Tom Devlin wants you to read 'Red Snow'

Elsewhere, Top Shelf finally had copies of their Ax anthology for sale. Picturebox had new graphic novels by Renee French and Julie Doucet, as well as Monster, an anthology of work by former Fort Thunder associates and like-minded individuals. They also had a sample copy of Brian Chippendale’s If-n-Oof, a little brick of a book that strongly whetted my appetite for its eventual release.

Dan Nadel protects his sole copy of 'If and Oof'

Over at the Fantagraphics table, Jaime Hernandez had a steady stream of devotees seeking his signature, helped by the fact that the company had the latest and third Love and Rockets volume available. Fanfare/Ponent Mon had finally gotten their long-promised anthology Korea As Viewed by 12 Creators off the presses and on the show floor. AdHouse, meanwhile, seemed to attract a steady stream of customers as it had both a new issue of Paul Pope’s THB: Comics from Mars #2 and Adam Hines’ Duncan the Wonder Dog, an impressive and massive looking book that seems to be building up a steady buzz.

Frank Santoro pitches comics

Frank Santoro was also on hand as usual, over by the PictureBox selling a variety of long-forgotten (Video Jack anybody?) mainstream comics out of his longboxes and raving about their various qualities to anyone who stopped by. Listening to Frank extol the virtues (or lack thereof) of, say, Coyote or Tiger-Man has become a real con highlight for me.

Joe "Jog" McCulloch, Copacetic Comics' Bill Boichel and me

I helped out with two panels, both of which I thought went rather well. The first focused on Market Day author and CCS co-founder James Sturm. Sturm had a slideshow all prepared that delved into his bibliography, the creation of the school, and his recent decision to go offline for a few weeks. All I really had to do was give a general, glowing introduction, ask two relevant questions after he was done and then open the floor to audience questions. Pretty easy on my part and Sturm seemed really happy with the panel, so it was win-win as far as I was concerned.

SPX tends to be a family affair. Here's Jay Hosler and his two sons, Max and Jack

The second panel I was on was the critics roundtable, which also featured Jog, Gary Groth, Johanna Draper Carlson, Ken Parille, Tim Hodler and Caroline Small. Many jokes were made (several by me) about how fistfights were likely to break out at this year’s panel due to an minor Internet kerfuffle between Small and Hodler (among others) Everyone was gracious, polite and thoughtful though, which no doubt depressed and bored some of those in the audience. I think Heidi MacDonald in particular was hoping for blood to be spilled.

Most of the discussion centered on the the question of experience/knowledge versus being naive about certain genres and methodologies, how the wealth of material makes any sort of blanket coverage difficult and academic versus mainstream reviewing. I recorded the panel and will have a transcript and/or downloadable mp3 file available sometime before 2010 ends.

Tim Hodler and daughter Ramona

After the panels were over Joe and I grabbed a beer with Comics Comics’ Tim Hodler, who had his daughter Ramona in tow, and who has to be one of the best behaved babies I’ve ever seen. Nothing like talking about Alan Moore and Garth Ennis while drinking Sam Adams and watching an 11-month old play with a paper napkin and go “ba ba ba.” Everyone should have that experience.

Dustin Harbin does the old banana = phone joke

For me the social aspects of SPX have long since equaled or even overridden the chance to blow a wad of dough on new, exciting comics (although I did that too). Meet people like Dustin Harbin, Zack Soto, Caroline and Ken, as well as say hello to people I haven’t seen since MoCCA or the last SPX show. Many other bloggers have already commented on this, but it seems as though half of the primary reason for the show’s existence is for people to schmooze with like-minded souls.

Oh, you want to know what I bought? Quickly then: the new Acme, the new Palookaville, Afrodisiac, the Ax anthology, Monster, Julia Wertz’s Drinking at the Movies, the new Love and Rockets, Fire and Water (i.e. that Bill Everett book), the lastest Dodgem Logic, Jim Rugg’s Rambo 3.5, Kevin Huizenga’s The Wild Kingdom, a bunch of old Kyle Baker Shadows, and some other stuff that I’m not remembering right now.

One of the show’s best highlights for me, however, was when First Second’s Gina Gagliano introduced me to Ben Hatke, whose book, Zita the Spacegirl, will be published by the company early 2011. Hatke was there with his daughter Angelica, who had made her own minicomic, Chicken Adventures, which she had been selling at the show for $2 a pop. She had two copies left and offered to sell me one. “This,” I promised her, “will be the first comic I read when I get home.”

Image ganked from Hatke's website

And it was.

Adam Strange Archives Vol. 1

Welcome to another round of What Are You Reading. With JK Parkin in the midst of San Diego Comic-Con madness, I’m taking over the WAYR duties for this week. Our guest this week is blogger, noteworthy critic and Newsarama contributor Matt Seneca.

Find out what Matt’s been reading (he’s got a long list), and be sure to include your own current reading list, after the jump …

Batman Beyond #2

Tim O’Shea: After discussing the first issue of Batman Beyond with one of our readers, Lockjaw, a few weeks ago, I decided to pick up the second installment in the six-issue miniseries. I should not have been surprised, but DC editorial has decided to inject Hush into the Batman Beyond future continuity. Any appearance of Hush elicits an automatic groan from me, but I have to give Adam Beechen credit for summarizing the convoluted Hush backstory in a succinct manner. Plus I’m a sucker for grumpy elderly Bruce Wayne. I’ll likely be back for next issue.

Double shot of Jeff Parker this week. I’m almost too sad about the series’ cancellation (and a tad bored by the 3-D Man storyline [sorry Parker]) to enjoy Atlas 3. But note I said “almost.” Ken Hale/Gorilla Man is too great a character, no matter what, to not enjoy the story. I am happy to say I enjoyed Thunderbolts 146. In fact, it’s likely the
first time I’ve completely enjoyed the team dynamics, banter and general plotlines since the era when Kurt Busiek wrote it (yea, it’s been awhile since I enjoyed the series).

Dear IDW, I cannot thank you enough for the $2 oversized prelude to The Outfit — featuring Richard Stark’s Parker in The Man with the Getaway Face. Darwyn Cooke is a damned genius when it comes to layout, I could just look at his art and forget the words. But even his lettering style (which combined with the art) evokes an alluring Alex Toth vibe to it, which just absolutely demands my attention and respect. October 2010 cannot come soon enough, in terms of this project.

I never expected Gail Simone to be able to return Welcome to Tranquility, but she has. Considering how the first series ended, I was really thrown (as Simone intended) by how she mixed up the status quo on this series. And she continued to shake things up throughout this first issue, much to my delight. I’ll be back next issue to see if what I read was the truth or a major deception. Either way, I’m hooked, again. I just hope the emoticon-faced character upgraded to an iPad …

Last, but definitely not least, I want BOOM to do more comics like CBGB. The book is a blast to read. I absolutely cracked up with how artist Marc Ellerby handled celebrity likenesses in the story. I know it’s unlikely to sell well, but every indie fan who has understandably ignored past BOOM! work should do themselves a favor and check this
out. Here’s who is involved: Kieron Gillen (Phonogram), Rob G (Couriers), Sam Humphries (MySpace Comics), and Ellerby (Love The Way You Love). Featuring a cover from Jaime Hernandez (Love & Rockets). After reading Humphries for the first time here, I look forward to seeing more from him.

Super Maxi-Pad Girl #3

Michael May: Though you probably know from the title if Super Maxi-Pad Girl is your sort of thing, I’m finding that my opinion about it has softened somewhat since the first couple of issues. Creator Daniel Olson sent me the third one and I’ve either gotten used to the concept enough to relax about it or it’s genuinely less gross. Not that it’s completely toned down. I mean it’s still a superhero metaphor for menstruation, which makes it twenty-four pages of jokes about bodily fluids. But no one gets hit in the face with a used pad in this issue and some of the characters are starting to endear themselves to me. Especially the cute little Papyrus and Cotton, the ancient, sort of Golden Age versions of Super Maxi-Pad Girl who show up in a storyline about time-travel.

Meanwhile, Neal Shaffer and Luca Genovese’s The Awakening is an intriguing mystery, but the conclusion is rushed and leaves too many questions unanswered. It says “Volume 1,” so maybe there’s more to come, but it’s unsatisfying on its own.

Sean Collins: As I write this it’s Saturday evening and my power has been out for three and a half hours. On a hundred-degree day. Beating the heat with comics!

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 6

Please click the links for full-length reviews of the books I read this week…

Batman R.I.P., by Grant Morrison, Tony S. Daniel, and Lee Garbett: A blast of a book, with wonderful creepy villains and Batman at his crazy best.

King-Cat Comics and Stories #69, by John Porcellino: A study in what comics do well, using the fewest lines possible.

Scott Pilgrim Vol. 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, by Bryan Lee O’Malley: The comic of the hour, deservedly so.

Brigid Alverson: Sam Costello sent me the print edition of his Split Lip webcomic, and I’m enjoying it, if one could be said to “enjoy” stories that deliberately induce discomfort. Let’s just say they are very effective. It’s an anthology of short horror stories, all written by Costello and illustrated by different artists, and the ones I have read so far all rely more on psychology than blood and guts, although insects and spiders have figured largely in the first few stories. The writing does have a few hiccups—there were parts of the stories that weren’t entirely clear to me—but the overall effect is very impressive. The stories are available for free on Costello’s website, but the book is a smoother read and the large format and lack of distractions help immerse you in the stories.

Twin Spica

Also this week I read the second volume of Twin Spica, a manga about a young girl who dreams of being an astronaut. In this volume, Asumi, the heroine, is 15, and she is just starting her astronaut training course at the academy. This story of young students striving to succeed, complicated by personality conflicts, is a standard manga
trope, but  creator Kou Yaginuma really breathes life into it, with characters and situations that feel genuine, and a nicely detailed art style that brings the setting to life. This is a slim volume, but I felt like I got a satisfying chunk of story plus a few bonuses. It ends on  cliffhanger, though, so now I can’t wait for volume 3.

Matt Seneca: I’m in a place right now where I hardly ever “read” comics if I’m not reviewing them.  Unless the book’s an utter masterpiece, panel to panel to page to page to cover to cover can get to be a slog for me.  Currently I’m finding a lot more enjoyment and reward in “looking at” comics than actually “reading” them.  As such I’ve started to keep a big pile going at all times, maybe a foot tall of hardcovers and magazines and board-and-bagged issues and whatever else.  Books cycle in as I acquire them, cycle out as I finish or get bored with them.  Sometimes I’ll take in one page of everything over the course of a few open minutes.  Sometimes I’ll take as long as I need to blaze through a book just to have absorbed it and be able to move on.  Sometimes something hooks me and I leave the rest of the comics behind until I’ve wrung every last drop out of it.  No matter what, the Pile is always there.  I like to think of it as an apartment tower to live in, each floor composed of a new fictional world, a different friend on every level.  Let’s take a walking tour.

Valentina

Hands down the biggest book for me right now is Valentina, the Italian maestro Guido Crepax’s ode in brush and ink to the beautiful woman who sluices through his panels like honey through open fingers.  In my opinion it’s absolutely the most important work not to have been resurrected by the Golden Age of Reprints — lushly drawn, supremely engaging comics that have as much human heart to them as formal mastery.  Crepax’s art is a kind of proto-Frank Miller looking mix between Jim Steranko, Alex Raymond, and Andy Warhol at his pop-art best.  By turns vigorously cartooned and stunningly illustrated with what might be the best ink line the medium’s played host to, it’s a comic with the stuff of real life to it, whose movements through time and space give off the silent, bright intimacy of great art or dreams.  The psychoerotic history of a young photographer named Valentina Roselli, it’s by turns action-packed, contemplative, sexy, and difficult — but always limitless, always pushing at the very furthest boundaries of what comics can do, and more often than not expanding them.

NBM published two English-language volumes of Valentina through their Eurotica imprint a while ago, but Crepax drew hundreds and hundreds of pages of the book (including a lot of the best ones) that remain untranslated.  There are many opulent Italian-langauge Valentina hardcovers that the confirmed fan can have pretty cheaply with a little looking; probably not the way to discover the book, but the best for just enjoying it.  If you’ve ever had a really powerful experience with foreign film you’ll know what I mean.  Looking at Crepax’ panels through the watery screen of a language barrier gives the images an almost hypnotic power, a dreamlike resonance that’s as close to unforgettable as comics come.

If you want Valentina for beginners, though, a few translated stories were serialized in Heavy Metal magazine between 1981 and ’84.  By that point in time the bastion of porn-y Eurocomics is generally considered to have passed its prime, but the good issues from the early ’80s are still better than just about anything you’ll get off the new racks.  Along with Valentina you can find  formalist shorts from Moebius, the great post-post-Kirby work of Yugoslav master Enki Bilal, achingly gorgeous sci-fi meanderings by Francois Schuiten, Richard Corben comics… and more than that, HM had a real atmosphere to it during this period.  It’s both bizarre and appropriate to turn a page of Jim Steranko’s vastly underrated Outland onto a review of the new John Cale record.  You can do a lot worse than digging through the Heavy Metal back issues at your local shop.  The stuff is only lost to time if no one reads it.

Solo #8

Of course, that sentence applies to just about any brilliant, uncollected comics series out there — for example, DC’s Solo.  You’ve probably heard of this mid-2000s experiment in art-comics from the more adventurous of the Big Two publishers, but even if you were reading it, odds are you stopped at some point.  The book got canned for poor sales with two completed issues left unpublished, one of the greater shames of the last decade in mainstream comics.  The quality fluctuates from issue to issue as different artists take the book’s reins to do whatever they want with the DC library for 48 pages, but it’s between like the four- and five-star levels, with every one offering up bounties worth of eye candy and usually more than one good story to read.  I most recently went through Teddy Kristiansen’s issue; the Danish painter is a guy who doesn’t get talked about a lot, but he’s an absolute master of the form, searing his pages with rough, bleak textures, spidery lines, and Cubist forms moving through giant, enigmatic cities.  He’s a hell of a writer, too, the brusque, emotional self-penned stories collected in his issue showing up even Neil Gaiman’s contribution.

His art also draws a remarkably straight line to the next book down in the Pile: Frank Santoro’s epic, big-hearted Storeyville, originally published as a tabloid-sized comics newspaper and given a massive deluxe hardcover by Picturebox a few years ago.  This thing never goes back on my shelf for long; it’s a primer in a unique, lovely form of comics art, crystallizing a beautiful moment in every panel while still rushing headlong through a full-steam story that reads like George Herriman adapting Mark Twain.  Each giant page is like a canvas that talks: there to read as fast as you can the first few times, then to savor the soft colors, the expressionistic pen marks, the compositions of forever more.  Both a look back through history into the gritty, pulp-mill Americana that spawned the comics medium and a signpost for tomorrow’s cartoonists to follow, it’s inspirational in every way a comic can be.

Same goes for Frank King’s Walt & Skeezix, a comic that isn’t a million miles from Storeyville in tone or execution.  The difference is that while Santoro looks back into yesteryear, King’s work is yesteryear itself: a great, long-unheralded comic reprinted for the audience of connoisseurs it always deserved.  While Santoro gives us a blurred, smeary, half-remembered splinter of the past, D&Q’s thick, lovingly designed Skeezix hardcovers are the next best thing to taking a history class.  King’s warm, wistful, robustly cartooned daily strips chronicle the real-life-speed development of a family around bachelor Walt and his foundling son Skeezix.  It’s probably the best work of character development in comics history, as King adds an up incident a day for years, creating human beings so fully rounded that before long the reader feels like part of the family too.  Walt & Skeezix is much more than a character piece, though: with its massive scope and quiet, observant tone it feels as much about the passage of time itself as the sprawling cast’s daily lives.  By volume 4, the most recent in the series, a good decade of American history has gone by, and the reader’s been shown as much of the world people lived in during the 1910s and ’20s as what they ended up doing in it.

Evoking a real world, whether past, present, or future, is the highest goal of comics, and while few succeed in the naturalistic mode of King, many have taken up the challenge of contemporary family drama and tailored it to their own skill set.  Witness another D&Q reprint hardcover, last year’s mammoth, revelatory Complete Doug Wright. Wright was one of the many forgotten men of Canadian cartooning until this career retrospective reintroduced him to the comics world, but his work has lost nothing in immediacy or charm during its wilderness years.  This bountiful, generously sized book reprints enough of Wright’s commercial art to double as an impressive monograph, and even includes some top-notch biography, but we’re here for the comics — and the decade of Wright’s mischievous-kid strip Nipper collected here does not disappoint.  Inhabiting a space somewhere between the minimalist gags of Dennis the Menace and the aesthetically minded Canadiana of comics by Seth (who designed this book), Nipper flies by in passage after passage of mid-century modern design and youthful exuberance.  It’s laugh-out-loud humor material from beginning to end, but what stands out most is Wright’s way with a pen.  Inscribing every panel with a perfect blend of detail and simplification, master of a shorthand most cartoonists would kill for, Wright’s light, immaculate art stands tall with that of any other master of his time period.

Travel

And speaking of midcentury modern, as well as master cartoonists from the ’50s and ’60s, the constructed, elegant end of Silver Age superhero art finds its answer to Kirby’s rough bombast in the work of Carmine Infantino, particularly the Adam Strange Archives.  Delicate and so dated they seem genuinely alien, Infantino’s space-age collaborations with writer Gardner Fox and inker Murphy Anderson are a strand of hero comics that died with their era, but provided just as much to follow up on as the pathos and slam of the early Marvel stories they sat next to on the newsstands.  Fox’s scripts are deft and considered, with more thinking and conceptualizing to them than mainstream comics would see again pre-Alan Moore, while the art is simply incredible.  Graceful and full of color, Infantino brings as much design and visual imagination to his pages as any pre-Steranko action artist, giving Fox’s quaint, Ray Bradbury-ish ideas a sunny beauty and convincing verve while Anderson brushes an illustrative luster over everything.  They haven’t made hero comics like these in over forty years, but heaven knows why.  Hermetically sealed by a history that’s passed them by, the best Adam Strange stories are visions of a more beautiful future that sadly never came to pass.

As to futures that still have a chance, you can’t do any better than checking out comics by Yuichi Yokoyama, without a doubt the most advanced and forward-looking comics artist working today.  Yokoyama draws like a robot, or maybe a Martian who’s been told about the comics medium but never actually seen examples of it.  His art is all straight black lines, zip-a-toned artificiality, postmodern architecture and jutting angles, with no room for any human warmth or feeling.  Even the Japanese characters that form his panels’ sound effects double as repetitive design elements.  Two things tend to happen in Yokoyama’s stories: nothing (men spend 200 pages taking a train ride from point A to point B) or everything (an entire city is destroyed and its inhabitants murdered by a fully-armed “ladder truck”).  Either way, something is always in rapid motion through the sterile, imposing beauty of Yokoyama’s landscapes, and there is always the prediction of a future for both comics and the world in general, often one too alien to fully understand.  If you’re interested in the big picture, in what comics will look like in a hundred years rather than twelve months, check out Travel and New Engineering.  They may absorb you, they may scare you, they may amuse you, they may even bore you, but you’ll be marked by them no matter what.

The Importance of Being Earnest, as seen on the iPad

At the Prism Comics website, Charles “Zan” Christensen takes a look at the maybe-we-will-maybe-we-won’t world of the Apple app store.

The iPad has been getting plenty of raves as a comics reader, and yet, as Jason Snell points out in his recent exhaustive look at the device’s comics capabilities, the technology may be great but the content is spotty, with some comics available for in-app purchases, others available only as single apps, and quite a few unavailable altogether.

Christensen’s story explores why that is, and it’s an important question. Remember, print comic distribution is already a near-monopoly, at least when it comes to comics stores, and with Diamond refusing to carry books that don’t reach a minimum number of orders, the market has become bleak indeed for new and niche publishers. Webcomics seemed like the logical alternative, but no one wants to pay for webcomics. But iPod/iPhone/iPad users have been trained from the beginning to pay for their content, so these are logical outlets, and Apple’s terms are actually quite good for publishers.

Except that Apple is being very selective about which comics it will carry, and that selectiveness seems to go not only to content but also to how large and established the publisher is. As Christensen points out, Apple shut down a swimsuit catalog app because it had pictures of women clad only in bathing suits but left Sports Illustrated alone.

When asked about the Sports Illustrated decision, Apple Senior Vice-President Phil Schiller explained.

“The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format,” Schiller said.

This double standard is quite evident in the comics selections; Marvel’s Kick-Ass was allowed, while Jesus Hates Zombies, which the creator mantains is less gory, was not. (Full disclosure: I haven’t read either one.) And Michael Murphey of iVerse, one of the first comics apps and a well-established fixture in the app store, says that Apple allows violence, brief nudity, and swears at about the level of an R-rated movie:

“Apple has those exact things that you mentioned listed as part of their guidelines—you can check those things off, and the book will be rated appropriately. The only area that Apple is really saying ‘no’ to, from our experience at least, is pornography, or things that come very close to being pornography.”

Yet Tom Bouden’s adaptaton of The Importance of Being Earnest was rejected from the app store on the basis of half a dozen images, all showing two men kissing or embracing but not having sex, and none depicting full frontal nudity. Apple finally allowed the comic with big black rectangles over the “offending” images.

And the Yaoi Press YA title Zesty, which is the mildest gay-friendly comic in the world, was also rejected, even after bowdlerizations like changing “I’m strictly dickly” to “Don’t get burnt, girls. I’m flaming!”

The question I am left with, after reading Christensen’s comprehensive article, is whether Apple is homophobic or small-press-phobic. My guess is the latter; if Sports Illustrated had a special gay-themed issue, or Marvel did a superhero version of Fake, they would probably be allowed in. And in fact you can get plenty of gay-themed comics via the Kindle app—they just don’t look very good, as Kindle is a terrible comics reader, and creators get a much smaller cut of the profits.

But that’s the peril of monopoly: Apple’s choices probably make good business sense for them, at least according to some sort of logic, but they also squeeze out a lot of new creators for whom the iPad is the most promising platform. As Peter Bonte, the publisher of Bouden’s comic, said: “The big problem for now is the random nature; I can see the problem with ‘boob-apps’ on the iphone but genuine literature and art is the victim of this.”

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading. Our guest this week is blogger and critic David Uzumeri, who can be frequently found at Funnybook Babylon, Savage Critics or Comics Alliance. Guy gets around.

And now we have him here as our special WAYR guest! To find out what David and everyone else at the mighty Robot 6 is reading this week, simply click on the link below.

Twin Spica

Brigid Alverson: For some reason, Twin Spica looks much older than it is—the cover has a yellowish cast, and the images of shooting stars have a Sputink-era feel to me. It actually came out in 2000 in Japan, and it has a really timeless, very classic manga feel to it. It’s the story of a young girl, Asumi, who is training to be an astronaut. This first volume is partly a story of the kids making it through the first round of rigorous tests and partly the backstory of Asumi, her family, and the mysterious lion-headed man that only she can see, all of whom have associations with space. It’s a very good read, with plenty of challenges for a  nice assortment of likeable characters, so I’m looking forward to following the whole thing.

Nathan Edmondson gave me an advance peek at the first two issues of The Light, which he is writing and Brett Weldele is illustrating. The story is classic horror—incandescent lights have suddenly developed the power to kill anyone who looks into them. I love the art in this story—in keeping with the theme, the art is very luminous, and Weldele does a nice job of capturing different types of light, such as streetlights against a sky at daybreak, incandescent light on a gray afternoon, or a plane silhouetted against its own lights. The story looks like typical horror: A Terrible Peril has occurred and the hero must flee. Like many horror stories, this seems to assume that the danger is geographically limited—if incandescent lights are emitting a strange virus in one town, wouldn’t that be true everywhere? However, Edmondson quickly sketches out a few strong characters, including an interestingly flawed hero and his obnoxious teenage daughter, which grabbed me right from the start.

The webcomic Cleopatra in Spaaace! flagrantly fails the Zuda Test: Cleopatra and her cat have spent the first 15 pages battling robots, but I have no idea who they are or why they are doing this. Doesn’t matter. Mike Maihack’s lively cartoony art makes this comic a delight to read, and the fact that Cleopatra is now escaping in a space bicycle shaped like The Sphinx gives me hope that there will be much zaniness to come. I liked it so much that I went and checked out Maihack’s earlier comic, Cow and Buffalo, in which the eponymous animals are barnyard superheroes. It’s goofy and funny, and reading the archives should keep me going until the next Cleopatra update.

Artesia Vol. 1

Michael May: I’m going through Mark Smylie’s Artesia series again and just finished the first book. I remember being struck with the beauty of his art the first time around as well as the depth of the world he created. It’s almost too deep a world with all the names of gods, kingdoms, and a huge cast of characters being overwhelming at times. But it’s impossible to let that put you off reading it. The art and characterization pull you through. Artesia herself is a fascinating, seductive character and you can’t not want to spend time with her. And of course, the proper names and plot not only get easier to manage in subsequent readings, but becoming familiar with them also lets you discover nuances that you missed the first time around. If anything, I love it more now than I did when I originally discovered it.

I also read the first issue of Saint James Comics’ Indigo Blue. It’s a dystopian-future story about people who are genetically spliced with animals and end up being hunted. The main character is a half-man/half-dog named Blue who’s an agent in an underground organization trying to fight back against their oppressors. It’s a clever way of doing an anthropomorphic animal comic. When I say that, it reminds me a bit of Elephantmen, but there’s such a different tone to Indigo Blue that comparison is unfair. Unlike the dark, luxuriously paced Elephantmen, Blue is a fast-moving adventure comic. What the two do have in common though is that I like them both quite a bit.

Muppet Show #3

Tim O’Shea: It’s Schrödinger’s cat week for comics apparently. Why? Well, when I opened the latest issue of Roger Langridge’s Muppet Show comic (issue 3 of the ongoing series), I was bewildered and surprised to see the Muppets Lab sketch use the Schrödinger’s cat reference involving Beaker and a number of ties. I saw one of Langridge’s bits involving Fozzie coming from a mile away (as he probably intended). But the writer/artist gave a depth to Fozzie that: A) I never thought was a phrase I would say in reference to a Muppet B) Allowed the issue to end on an incredibly sweet note, which is not one might expect from a bear that personifies vaudeville

Jeff Parker’s approach toward the Avengers (in Avengers vs. Atlas 3) demonstrates yet again his strong grasp of Marvel’s history and character dynamics. I was rolling along enjoying the time travel-based tale, more so because the writer used the characters’ confusion about being displaced in time to clarify the story for readers (for me, time travel stories too often fail because the narrative gets too jumbled to simply follow and enjoy). Then I was slightly bemused when Bob (The Uranian) started explaining Schrödinger’s paradox to Ken (Gorilla Man), but only thought of the Schrödinger coincidence for a second–given that I was enjoying the story. Two other nuances to Parker’s writing to enjoy. At one point in the battle Namora returns Cap’s shield to him (by throwing it in a rampaging Hulk’s face). This prompts Cap to say: “Thanks for getting her back.” I didn’t ever recall it being referred to as having female characteristics before so I asked Parker on Twitter if this something he’d come up with doing. Parker’s response was “Yeah, I’d like that one to catch on!” Secondly I enjoy the manner in which Parker shows what a tight-knit team they are, given that the Atlas team members do not call each other code names in the heat of battle, but rather call each other by their first names.

Imagine my surprise in the midst of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s Nova 35 (with Mahmud A. Asrar and Scott Hanna on art), when Reed Richards started lecturing his fellow heroes about the principle of (wait for it, wait for it…) Schrödinger’s cat. That is right, I pulled the Schrödinger hat trick of comics reading. Or maybe I should call it the Schrödinger turkey. I might have suffered the Schrödinger coincidence in this instance a smidge better, if the quality of art and pacing in this installment had not seemed rushed and somewhat forced.  I’m all for a monthly comic meeting its deadline, but I would be willing to wait a few weeks if it meant the art team could bring a stronger story.

Hercules: Fall of an Avenger 1 (of 2) reminds me of the kind of Marvel comics I read in the 1970s and 1980s (in a good way). I cannot recall the last time I read a Marvel comic that actually referenced previous adventures, complete with footnote references of what issue was being referenced. It was a nuance that warmed the heart of this silly fanboy.

I’m no fan of the X-Men Forever series, given that writer Chris Claremont has an affinity for convoluted continuity. But I was overjoyed when I found out that Louise Simonson was coming back to do an X-Factor Forever five-part miniseries, taking off from when she left the original X-Factor series back in the early 1990s. I like how Simonson views the core X-Factor characters, as evidenced in this late 2009 December CBR interview: “Writing them again is a lot of fun – like visiting with old friends. These characters are ‘retro,’ in that they’re heroic. Sure they’re tortured and flawed, but they try to use the powers they’ve been given to protect the weak and make the world a better place. Even though, sometimes, it’s hard to know what’s right and what’s wrong in an imperfect world.” It’s a series where Hank McCoy has never considered using a litter box, he’s actually happy–he smiles. Sure it’s retro, but it’s the closest that Hank has been to his old Stars-and-Garters self than he has in years. (Speaking of Stars and Garters–you must visit Bully’s Beast/Stars and Garters celebration that he hosted this week — bonus points to Bully for his hilarious Amazon bargain banner)

Befriend and Betray

Matt Maxwell: BEFRIEND AND BETRAY – Alex Caine
How does someone go from blue-collar Montreal to Special Forces to working undercover against drug triads, the KKK and not one but two infamous motorcycle clubs (Los Bandidos and the Hell’s Angels)? If you ever wanted to know, then this is the book to read. As much as I’d like to say this was pleasure reading this was…you guessed it…research. But at least research allows you to read interesting things sometimes.

Spent four solid days on Google for the following keywords:
Maya civilization, Maya priesthood, Tezcatlipoca (who is Aztec, not Maya), Tohil (who is Maya, not Aztec), Maya sacrifice, Maya ritual practice, maya ritual object, modern mayans, life in a Yucatec village, maya cosmology. More often than not, I was doing image searches and then finding related text sites. Google is a truly awesome for breadth of research. I mean, awesome. Depth? Well, not so much, really. Not unless you have membership on various academic sites.

Various translations of the Popul Vuh. Some more interesting than others (yawwwwwn).

Someone needs to do some awesome Mayan comics. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be me.

Oh, started reading SWALLOW ME WHOLE, but I’m going to have to reserve comment until I get through the whole thing. Which should be around Christmas at this rate.

Prison Pit Book One

David Uzumeri: Aside from the standard bevy of weekly comics I buy – which is a lot, usually between 15 and 25 – I’ve been doing a lot of external reading and related watching.

My main reading project, which I’m taking a short break from, is Dave Sim’s infamous Cerebus – an insanely fascinating thing to be coming at from a first-time reader’s angle. I’ve got a longer post coming up this week on Comics Alliance about my experience reading the first two phonebooks, but in short, I’m continually bowled over by the book’s intelligence and creativity. By the time you hit High Society, it’s abundantly clear why the book has the creative legacy it does. It’s a shame about where it’s all going to go, but balancing act between genius and madness and all that.

Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit is something I keep coming back to – and not just because it’s the only comic book I’ve ever seen that can actively liven up a party. It’s a hilarious, visceral and quick read – if you’ve been reading for fifteen minutes, you’re studying it too hard – and while it’s not something I’d recommend to everybody, it’s still over a hundred glorious pages of Jack Kirby via… shit, I can’t even think of anything as extreme as this. The Postal videogame, maybe. But for really dumb fun, this is pretty much unbeatable. I’ve considered that maybe the fun isn’t as dumb – that maybe Cannibal Fuckface’s journey through the wastes of the prison pit are a Bunyan-style metaphor for, I don’t know, man coming to terms with the restrictions of modern life, but then I remember it’s a comic that features the term “burnt jizz,” and I stop thinking and laugh.

I’m still habitually rereading Grant Morrison’s clockwork-precise Batman run, as well, largely because every new issue seems to reveal new layers in all that’s come before. This book is still a puzzlesolver’s dream, riddled with clues and hints and revealing metaphors. Meanwhile, at Marvel, Jonathan Hickman’s work – especially the excellent Secret Warriors – is doing the same, providing real reread value through careful teasing of the central mystery. Not that this is all of the appeal of these titles – they both feature good character work, excellent pacing, etc. etc. – but the way these titles are almost reader-participatory in the way they disseminate clues is insanely fun.

Finally, I’ve been watching (not comics, but related) the entire Doctor Who/Torchwood sequence, in order because I’m the sort of continuity nut who wants to properly follow plot threads between the two parallel narratives. Until about a month ago I’d never seen an episode in my life, but starting with Eccleston’s first episode I was almost immediately able to interpret aspects of Who continuity as they were introduced by finding incredibly similar comics-related concepts. The “time war” that separates the old production of the show and the new, for instance, is a pretty direct analogue to Crisis on Infinite Earths, filling an almost identical narrative function – to reboot the universe, keeping what the writers liked and dumping what they didn’t. On top of that, though, it’s just clever, rollicking sci-fi action, at its worst entertaining and at its best, like when Steven Moffat or Paul Cornell are writing, thought-provoking and affecting.

Jay Stephens tradiing card

AdHouse publisher Chris Pitzer has put up a Flickr set of his Alternative Artist Trading Card Series. What exactly is that you ask? I’ll let Pitzer explain:

Back in the mid-90′s, before AdHouse, I was a grade-A fanboy. As such, I thought up a project where I would send my favorite artists a blank trading card for them to illustrate. I created the back, which had a brief bio, sample art, and more than likely typos. There were three volumes of these cards. And by “volumes” what I would do is make a mini-book of each series that I would then send out to each participant of that volume.

It’s an impressive who’s who of the then-burgeoning alt-comics scene, including folks like Joe Matt, Xaime Hernandez, Jim Woodring, Evan Dorkin, Jeff Smith and many, many more. The art’s rather spiffy too. Chris Ware’s in particular is rather eloquent. (via Tom)

SPX 2009

My official report on this year’s Small Press Expo is up on the main CBR site, but I thought I’d take a few extra minutes and share some additional, hopefully more in-depth impressions of this year’s show.

1. Man it was crowded. Maybe it was because it was in a different ballroom this year (although only just one room over). Maybe there were more artists and tables than in previous years. Whatever the reason, SPX 2009 was packed, easily the most crowded I’ve seen it in a while, at least on Saturday, when I attended. I found myself frequently having to apologize as I attempted to make my way through the aisles, my increasingly heavy burlap bags slugging innocent folk left and right.

Many of the attendees and exhibitors I talked to agreed that it seemed like a busier Saturday as usual and most said that they were doing well sales-wise. I take that as a good sign, not only for the show, but for the indie comics scene in general. Obviously the show still provides a good opportunity for fans of inide comics to get out and revel in them.

2. People really love Kate Beaton. If you needed any further signs that the comics world is moving from print to digital (and perhaps back again) then you should have tried to make your way past the Webcomics side of the room, where Kate Beaton took on her appointed role as Queen of All She Surveyed, with a long line of the faithful anxiously waiting to purchase a sketch or book from her. She wasn’t the only Webcomics artist that seemed to be pulling in customers — Girls With Slingshots creator Danielle Corsetto seemed to have a steady throng of admirers — but Beaton was by far the most popular person in the room. I have no idea what larger significance that holds other than Beaton makes cool, funny comics that people like.

3. People really love comics criticism. That’s the only reason I can come up with to explain with the Critics Roundtable panel I was on was so well attended. They certainly weren’t there to see me. They might have been there to see Gary Groth or Tucker Stone (David Welsh, whom I finally had the good fortune to meet afterward, told me one of the reasons he attended was to see if Stone talked the same way he wrote. Short answer: Yes). Tucker later joked that everyone there probably was a blogger themselves, or had a comic they wanted to get reviewed. it was a lot funnier when he said it.

Anyway, it was an entertaining discussion though I didn’t get to say much beyond “Um, er” and I was really honored and grateful to be a part of it.  You can download an audio file of the panel over at Sean T. Collins’ site.

4. People also really like that new Simpsons comic. Lots of people — at least the people I was talking to — seemed to be all agog over that new Simpsons Treehouse of Horror comic featuring indie folks like Kevin Huizenga, Ben Jones and Jeffrey Brown. PictureBox was selling copies of it at their table, and it kept coming up in conversations like “Have you seen that thing yet? Good lord.” I’d almost call it the Book of the Show, except …

5 I’m not sure there was any Book of the Show. Every year people try to suss out what the “big book” of SPX — the one that everyone’s buzzing about — is. apart from the Simpsons book, there didn’t seem to be too much of that kind of guessing this year, at least not that I could make out. People seemed to really dig Josh Cotter’s Driven By Lemons, though, which AdHouse was selling early copies of. Folks also seemed enthused by the latest issue of Cold Heat, and by Lisa Hanawalt’s new comic, I Want You. But there didn’t seem to really be any one title that broke through to the top of the pack and become the book everyone wanted or at least wanted to see, the way, say, Brian Chippendale’s Ninja did.

6. I cannot stick to a budget. I can make all the promises I want to about keeping within a reasonable range of spending, I ain’t gonna keep to it. Not when there are so many great books around that I’ve been unable to find at my local shop. Not when Fanfare/Ponent Mon happens to be in town. And definitely not when the CBLDF is having a $5-$10 dollar sale on most of the stuff on their table, including a hardcover collection of Transit that I had tearfully relegated to my “someday, perhaps” list.

As an unofficial seventh point, I’d like to acknowledge how was great to hang with folks like Jog and Tucker, finally meet respected online personalities like Welsh, Sandy Bilus, Xavier Xerexes, Sean Witzke (and many, many others) and just say hi to all the various artists, publishers and fans I know and respect. SPX has become a real highlight of the year for me, and it’s in large part due to the people I bump into there.

SPX 2009

The Small Press Expo arrives in Bethesda, Maryland, this weekend. I’ll be there Saturday (assuming this current stomach ache clears up), covering the event for CBR, yakking it up on one of the panels and just generally enjoying myself. I’ll be wearing one of my traditional black video game shirts (Capcom no doubt) so be sure and say hi if you see me.

In the meantime, I thought I’d take the time to offer a quick list of suggestions regarding what to buy and what to see. I also heartily recommend checking out Comicsgirl’s SPX dining guide and her general survival guide to the show. Reding them will save you a lot of time and worry.

Ten comics that everyone will surely be buzzing about:
1. Map of My Heart by John Porcellino. The King-Cat author’s latest graphic novel makes its debut at the D&Q table. Porcellino also did the art for the show badges, which are pretty cool.
2. Ganges #3 by Kevin Huizenga. This is easily the most anticipated book in Fantagraphics’ Ignatz line and possible one of the most anticipated indie comics of the year.
3. Driven by Lemons by Josh Cotter. This one’s a bit of a maybe in that AdHouse may or may not have copies ready. If they do though, I expect them to go quickly.
4. Cold Heat 7/8 by Frank Santoro and Ben Jones. The latest chapter in Santoro and Jones’ trippy sci-fi adventure is always good news. The limited print run means it will be a bit pricey, but still worth it.
5. Monsters by Ken Dahl. The first few chapters of Dahl’s semi-autobiographical tale about his adventures in the land of STDs has made for a gripping read. I look forward to getting the completed version this weekend. He’ll be at the Secret Acres table.
6. Years of the Elephant by Willy Linthout. Linthout was supposed to be a guest at this year’s event but had to back out at the last minute for various reasons. Still, I imagine his heart-rendering story of how he came to terms with his son’s suicide will still manage to garner interest.
7. Pim and Francie by Al Columbia. Good lord, how long has it been since we’ve had a new book from Al Columbia?
8. The Buenaventura Press 3-Pack. Rather than list every single comic separately, I’ll merely note that BP will be selling the latest issues of Injury by Ted May, The Aviatrix by Eric Haven and I Want You by Lisa Hanawalt in one glorious bundle. They’ll also have the latest issue of Matt Furie’s Boys Club on hand. (Oops, that makes 11.)

Five tables I’ll likely root around through cause they always have something interesting on sale:
1. Partyka
2. Center for Cartoon Studies
3. Paping
4. I Know Joe Kimpel
5. Bodega Distribution

Six artists I’m going to try to say hi to and buy a mini comic from
1. Will Dinski
2. Chuck Forsman
3. Tom Neely
4. John Kovaleski
5. Kate Beaton
6. Liz Baillie

Five panels I’d want to attend (if I were staying the whole weekend)
1. 12:00 Saturday — Jerry Moriarty: Jack Survives. I’ve always been curious about the man behind those “Jack Survives” strips. Now’s my chance to learn more.
2. 5:00 Saturday Gahan Wilson in the Spotlight. Wilson’s the big star of the show, and from what I understand a good raconteur (he’s certainly dabbled in everything), so this should be a fun event.
3. 3:30 Saturday — Critics’ Roundtable. Ok, this one’s cheating a bit, since I’m going to be one of the critics on the panel. Still, I’m genuinely curious to hear what some of the other folks on the panel — like Jog, Tucker Stone and Sean Collins — will have to say.
4. 1:00 Sunday — Carol Tyler Q & A. Tyler’s memoir, “You’ll Never Know” has garnered great praise from those who’ve read it and I’d be interested in hearing her talk about its development.
5. 3:30 Sunday — The Future of the Comic Book.  Alvin Buenaventura, Kevin Huizenga, Matthew Thurber, Hellen Jo and Noah Van Sciver talk about what the future holds for the pamphlet format. I’m hoping it includes jet packs.

Sandman

Let’s try to run through some of the more notable links of the past several days. My apologies if this is old news to you or I missed something.

• Kicking things off, I should note that the gang at the Hooded Utilitarian are offering an in-depth analysis of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. In order: Noah Berlatsky, Ng Suat Tong,  Tom Crippen and Von Marlowe.

• Ken Parille looks at the work of his fellow blogmate Tim Hensley, specifically his Wally Gropius series: “I can’t think of another cartoonist who approaches space — and what we might call ‘spatial color’ — in such a rigorously strange way.”

• Abhay Khosla talks about comics by way of crime novels:

So: a year from now, if we’re unlucky and Vertigo Crime no longer exists, and some so-and-so is screeching that “None of youse fools on the internet people could have done better because we are geniuses who thought of EVERYTHING” … I would suggest that maybe one thing they could have done differently is launched their crime line with crime fiction…? Just a silly thought.

• Meanwhile, Savage Critics cohort David Uzumeri gives his thoughts on  a potpourri of manga and indie titles.

• Jeet Heer examines in depth how Robert Crumb handled the translation of the Book of Genesis in his new adaptation.

• Greg McElhatton reads the first volume of The Awakening and says: “In some ways Awakening actually reminds me of a computer game, but one where the player keeps running in circles and taking forever to get to the plot points that will advance the game into the next stage.”

• Katherine Dacey expresses reservations about Ooku: The Inner Chambers Vol. 1: “For all its dramatic and socio-political ambitions, volume one isn’t nearly as daring or weird or pointed as it might have been.” (Also: go see Dacey’s thoughts on establishing a manga canon.)

• Derik Haliday isn’t impressed with X-Men: Misfits: “It’s so typically Shoujo that there’s almost nothing standout about it.”

• Jen Vaughn revisits Paul Kirchner’s The Bus, dubbing it “tripsy fun.”

• Sean Collins reviews The Squirrel Machine: “Given what I’ve been reading lately I can’t help but compare Hans Rickheit to Fort Thunder.”

• Oliver Ho has a lengthy review of Seth’s George Sprott for PopMatters.

• Kristy Valenti digs deep in the longbox and comes up with a collection of horror stories overseen by Italian gore master Dario Argento. How’s that for an oddity?

Welcome to Send Us Your Shelf Porn, where the collections are shared and the eyes are dazzled. Our guest this week is Steve Flack of Brooklyn, NY. Steve recently moved into a new apartment, and just finished refurbishing it, comics collection and all. He’s eager to take us on a tour of the place, so get your guidebooks and click on the link …

My name is Steve Flack. I’m a big fan of the Robot 6 Blog, and I love the Shelf Porn installments. When you started them, I had started my move into my new place, and I really hoped they’d still be running when I finished my set up. Luckily, they are, and my apartment is all set up!

There’s a little history here. I’ve been collecting comics and toys for as long as I can remember, and have been focusing on comics since I was 8. I recently decided to move back into my grandmother’s place in Brooklyn. My great grandmother lived there until she passed away over ten years ago. Since then, my father used to keep his baseball collection in there, which was impressive shelf porn of it’s own.

When I decided to move in there, a lot of work had to be done to the apartment, including heating and electrical work, tearing down walls, and painting. I documented the entire story over at my blog.

Surprisingly, everything was done over the course of a few months, and now, my setup is all done.

This is my living room, on the far wall, you can see the first of my major comic book bookcases.

In this one are my omnibuses, and absolutes. Along the top is a complete set of Marvel Mighty Muggs, and atop all that is a print of an animated style “Goonies” by animator Steve Silver.

Across from the couch is my TV set up, which is flanked by some great pieces I got over the years.

First up is a Mr. Incredible poster by Mike Mignola, that I was lucky enough to have signed by Mike and the film’s director, Brad Bird.

To the right of the TV is a page from Local by Ryan Kelly, and a page from Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. In between the two is a great display case I picked up from Ikea, filled with some awesome toys and statues.

And all the way tp the right is an original Evan Dorkin page from his Bill & Ted comics.

And then, I have two signed prints from the first two MoCCA Artfests, and poster from a Neil Diamond concert rounding out my dining area.

Next up is a signed Matt Groening print from the Simpsons movie, that I picked up when I met him at a recent SDCC.

And then finishing up this room are two Muppets, one a replica of Kermit the Frog, and the other is a Muppet version of myself.

As you walk through into the next part of the apartment, you’ll see my original David Mazzuchelli Batman head sketch on the door, my favorite piece of art I’ve ever bought…

In the next room is my major library. I bought way too many bookcases, but that’ll be great for the future. For now, I just grabbed some older comics with fantastic covers, and propped them up with plate holders.

The far left bookcase is all graphic novels grouped alphabetically.

The next bookcases are all Essentials and Showcases. The Spidey comic on display is the very first comic book I ever got, a great book about Spidey from the very early 1980′s. I got it signed by Stan Lee at the very San Diego Comic Con I ever went to.

Graphic novels continue to the next bookcase, followed by selected display comics.

Next up are anthologies…

And then books on comics and toys.

The next book case is comic strips, and then random books that are too big for other bookcases.

The final bookcase is all art books..

And then the final two shelves are books that I still have to read.

Running along the top are all original comic art I’ve picked up over the years. From left to right, it’s a Detective Comics page by JH Williams, The Sentry by Jae Lee, Ultimate Spider-Man by Mark Bagley, Ex Machina by Tony Harris, Spider-Man’s Tangled Web by Darwyn Cooke, and New X-Men by Frank Quitely. Better shots of these pages and all of my original art collection are up at my Comic Art Fan’s Gallery.

Across from the bookshelves are two comic pages from my friend, Matthew Loux. Matt and I went to college together, and now he creates books over at Oni Press (F-Stop, Sidescrollers, and the Salt Water Taffy series), Matt and I have a deal, where he puts me in a cameo appearance in all of his books, and I then purchase the page off of him. Here are my cameos in F-Stop and Sidescrollers.

In the next room is my bedroom…

Across from the bed is my lone non-comics bookcase. It’s a mixture of prose books, and books on film and television. Also, running across the top is my collection of Muppet action figures.

Now, there’s another spare room to the left left of the bookcase…

And in there are all of my single issues!

To the left of the boxes is my misc. filing shelf, filled with books I need to read and file, and boxes of mini-comics. As well as some pieces of art, including original work by Charles Burns and Jim Mahfood.

And across from the comics is my DVD collection.

So, that’s my place. I hope this entry wasn’t too long (I even left some stuff out, that could all be seen on my blog).

Thanks for listening!

Fat Freddy's Cat Omnibus

Fat Freddy’s Cat began life as a footnote strip to the Freak Brothers and later appeared in many comics of his own. He is often to be found sleeping on the unfortunate Fat Freddy’s head. His constant battles with the never ending army of roaches out for world domination drive him to distraction, as does Fat Freddy’s never-ending failure to feed him or empty his kitty litter box. As a result of this, his main hobbies seem to be shredding Fat Freddy’s water bed and any other items he can sink his claws into, and finding places to leave surprise poop packages for Freddy to discover. This cat has variously gone travelling to Mexico, saved the world from alien invasion, and worked as a government agent in Washington trying to save the world from the “hee hee hee” drug. He has 3 nephews of unknown origin. He tends to regard the Freak Brothers with a fair bit of contempt, but despite the odd separation he always seems to hook back up with his inept roomies.

• Tom Spurgeon pulls back the curtain on the table of contents for this year’s Best American Comics collection, edited by Charles Burns. That’s a pretty impressive line-up.

• A college professor who teaches comics not to far from my stomping grounds, let me know that a book he’s co-editing, entitled The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing is a Way of Thinking will be published by The University Press of Mississippi in May. The book will feature essays on Ware’s work by folks like Jeet Heer, Marc Singer, Isaac Cates and other smart people.

• Tokyopop will release Remember, a new graphic novel by “Benjamin,” author of Orange, early next year. I’m sad to say that doesn’t mean much to me, but I imagine it must to some of you out there.

• Oh, there’s also going to be a Boondocks Saints comic next year, scheduled to coincide with the release of the sequel.

• Fanfare/Ponent Mon will release Belgian artist Willy Linthout’s Years of the Elephant later this month. The autobiographical book chronicles the author’s experiences following his son’s suicide. And this is as good a place as any to note that Linthout will be one of the featured guests at this year’s SPX show

• Every day we get a little closer to the release of a new Jim Woodring graphic novel.

Asterios Polyp

• The great and all-powerful Ng Suat Tong provides one of the most comprehensive and detailed critiques of Asterios Polyp I’ve seen online yet. Seriously, Tong’s one of the finest critics comics have ever had. The fact that he’s writing again, even if it’s just a one-time thing, is cause for joy.

• Frank Santoro reviews issues #1-4 of Richard Sala’s Ignatz series, Delphine: “The story surrounded me and carried me away to a very real world. It’s a cartooned, exaggerated world, but a real world nonetheless.”

• Johanna Draper Carlson reads a whole lotta vampire manga.

• Graeme McMillan offers 25 thoughts on Wednesday Comics. He also admits to liking X-Men Forever. That’s very brave of you Graeme.

• Similar to our Collect This Now feature is David Welsh’s License Request Day, where he picks manga that haven’t been translated yet, but should. This week he recommends something called Paros No Ken.

• It’s been up for a few days now, but I have to point an arrow towards Katherine Dac’s review of Children of the Sea, which is one of the best takes on the book yet.

• J. Caleb Mozzocco takes in the This Is A Comic Book exhibit in Columbus, Ohio.

• Derik Badman examines Alex Baladi’s Petit Trait, which is about “the voyage of a short line through a series of encounters with other lines of various size, shape, and density.” I’m sold.

• Marc Mason liked the Dan Dare Omnibus: “I felt like a kid again as I pored through the book, and that may be the best endorsement I can give it.”

• Karen Green reads Alice in Sunderland and declares “This book makes you work hard.”

• Noah Berlatsky can’t stop blogging about Wonder Woman. And he even throws in a Twilight reference, just for good measure.

• Finally, Rob Clough reviews a whole bunch o’ minicomics.

Sequence from 'EmiTown'

Welcome to What Are You Reading, where we talk about all the wonderful comics and other stuff we’re currently engaged with and hopefully point you toward some quality material. Our guest this week is Jamie S. Rich, author of the new graphic novel You Have Killed Me and, of course, our guest-blogger for the week.

A bad case of pinkeye kept me from doing to do much reading this week, but thankfully the rest of the Robot 6 team seems to have made up for my lapse. See what they’ve been reading by clicking on the link below …

Superman #690

Tim O’Shea: I bought Superman 690 looking forward to Steel versus Atlas  (At the end of the day, I think it’s clear I am Robot 6′s Basic Superhero Fanboy Rep — sue me). What I read was a little of that, some Zatara and the rest of it was marketing pieces for Superman: Secret Files 2009; Justice League of America and Superman Annual 14. I try to only write about books I enjoy, but this issue annoyed me so much I had to single it out. As Greg McElhatton’s review so effectively points out, this is not the first time DC has so bluntly and poorly teased other stories, but I’m hoping the feedback is heard by DC editorial and they don’t do it again.

I’ve been ignoring Gail Simone’s run on Wonder Woman and I am ready to admit that was an oversight on my part. Any issue that has Wonder Woman and Black Canary doing undercover work (as it happens it issue 34) allows Simone to exercise her top-notch comedy muscles.

From last week, I doubt either creator would have the time, but after seeing the five-page Mark Waid and Colleen Doran Uncle Ben/Young Peter story in Amazing Spider-Man 600, I would love to see these two collaborate again. This and the mid-1990s Valor is not enough of Waid and Doran for me. Steve Wacker is my favorite Marvel editor for the effort he puts into Spider-Man. To commemorate the 600th issue, he wrote a great essay about Spider-Man–acknowledging the early work of Steve Ditko — even going to the trouble of listing the writers for the first letter column in Amazing Spider-Man. Wacker’s attention to quirk details is appreciated by me.

Also, in terms of last week, I am so sad that as much as critics loved Captain Britain and MI13, the sales never matched that love. Last week’s issue 15 was a nice swansong for the book — I really hope this creative team meets with greater, well-deserved sales success in their next effort.

Finally, I may be the last person to get around to reading it, but my local library just added Lynda Barry’s What It Is to its collection. I love how my tax dollars are spent.

The Eternal City

Brigid Alverson: It’s all digital comics in one form or another this week. I spent most of yesterday, when I should have been doing other things, reading Punch and Pie, by Aerie and Chris Daily. It’s a relationship comic about two twentysomething women who aren’t really where they want to be in life — one works in a toy store, and when that closes she moves on to a chain bookstore. The other is going to school and working in a zoo, doing hair braiding for kids. At the start of the comic they are in what seems like the perfect relationship, and then it falls apart and they go their separate ways. The art style is loose, the characters seem very real, and the writing is dead-on. Really worth a look.

Then I’m reading The Eternal City by Sergio Carrera, on my iPod Touch. Again, not the most original concept — the main character escorts people who have just died to the other side — but very well executed. The art is very dramatic, black and white with no toning, and it reminds me a bit of Frederic Boilet — it has that same almost photographic look and a real sense of place. In this case, the setting is Buenos Aires, and I particularly like the sections at the end where the artist shows photos that he used for his backgrounds. The story is a series of short vignettes, each about a death—they are touching but not depressing—and I think that format works well for a handheld comic. Also, the comic is neatly divided and easy to read panel by panel. The only problem I had with it, and the editors warned me about this, is that there’s a bug in the app that makes it hard to turn the pages. A fix is in the works.

And I bought comiXology’s Comics app for the iPod/iPhone, which allows me to buy comics within the app. It costs 99 cents but you get a ton of free comics, which makes it a good deal. To try it out, I read the Ayn Rand issue of Action Philosophers, which I enjoyed immensely. I remember reading The Fountainhead when I was about 16 and thinking it was very deep and life-changing — yeah, I was 16 — so it was really interesting to see her life story. I’ll definitely be checking out more of these.

Tom Bondurant: Wait a minute, Tim — you are Robot 6′s Basic Superhero Fanboy Rep?!? What does that make me — Sidney Mellon?

Showcase: Bat Lash

This week I read Showcase Presents Bat Lash, a slim volume of black-and-white reprints which covers the seven issues of Bat’s solo series, a DC Special story, and a 3-part story which ran as a backup in Jonah Hex.  Nick Cardy was Bat’s original artist, and his work here delves a lot more into caricature.  It’s the visual equivalent of Eli Wallach in the Man With No Name movies — exaggerated expressions and anatomy — although Bat and his romantic entanglements tend not to get the same treatment.  The series’ main joke is that while Bat abhors violence, he’s pretty good at it.  From my limited exposure to the character, and the period when he was introduced, I thought this would be some sort of “hippie/surfer in the Old West” series, but that’s not really accurate.  Instead, Bat favors flowers (more often than not wearing one in his hatband) because they remind him of the good things the West still can’t destroy.  As written by various combinations of Sergio Aragones, Denny O’Neil, and Len Wein, Bat’s adventures are certainly more light-hearted than, say, Jonah Hex’s, but nevertheless they have a comparable capacity for tragedy.  There is no over-arching storyline tying these issues together, and they are probably best experienced as single issues.  Overall, though, this was an entertaining collection, and (regardless of various discounts) certainly an economical spotlight on Nick Cardy.

In other black-and-white-reprint news, my assault on ’70s Marvel continues with another look at Essential Spider-Woman Volume 1.  I’m over the hump of the Marvel Two-In-One arc which followed the character’s introduction (in Marvel Premiere), but already I feel like Spider-Woman’s backstory can compete with Hawkman’s or Wonder Girl’s in terms of convolution.  I mean, grown by the High Evolutionary, brainwashed by HYDRA, maybe she was human but maybe she wasn’t — and now we’re getting into an Arthurian connection too?  Sheesh!

As for this week’s comics, I wonder if R. Lee Ermey knows his likeness has been appropriated for Blackest Night:  Tales of the Corps #3. That wouldn’t be quite so bad if Kilowog’s mannered dialogue hadn’t reminded me of David Hyde Pierce.  By the end of the story, though, I was reminded of Sgt. Hulka from Stripes.  If only Kilowog had adopted a Bill Murray-like approach to training his recruits….

I too liked Wonder Woman #34 quite a bit, but when did Black Canary start talking like Marge Gundersen?  I read a good bit of Gail Simone’s Birds Of Prey and don’t remember Dinah using phrases like “pish tosh b’gosh” and “rumpus magoo.”  That’s a very minor complaint, though, considering that Aaron Lopresti dresses our heroines in some ultra-glam cage-fighting togs.  These are the kinds of clothes which would make Quentin Tarantino blush; which makes them perfect for this new arc.  After the ultra-grim “Rise of the Olympian” storyline, a good dose of fun is just what this title needed.

Finally, I have just started the new Fletcher Hanks collection, You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation!, and am happy to see it is just as insane as the first one.

Tim O’Shea: Tom, I’m the fanboy, you’re the Basic Superhero Scholar (a much higher level than me).

The Athiest

Michael May: I’ve just started Phil Hester’s The Atheist. I’ll probably go over it in in detail for Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs because it’s Phil Hester and that means that there’ll be plenty to talk about. I’m only a quarter of the way through it and already my mind is buzzing with questions and possible answers.

Also reading Jimmy Gownley’s first Amelia Rules! collection. I read a couple of the single issues as they came out and remember liking them more than I’m enjoying it this time around. I do really like the character of Amelia and the stories can be very moving when they’re touching on her broken family life and how she’s dealing with it. There’s not enough of that though in what I’ve read so far. Hopefully that’ll change as I get further in, but for now it’s mostly cute, nostalgic stories about school, bullies, quirky friends, and wacky teachers.

The Wind Raider

Matt Maxwell: WIND RAIDER v.1
Written by Richard Finney and Dean Loftis, art by Gabriel Hardman
The only reason I know about this book is that I’m a fan of Gabriel Hardman’s (you’ve seen his work in AGENTS OF ATLAS, right?) and was meeting him at the Ape Entertainment booth at SDCC.  I haven’t seen a single bit of advertising or coverage for it, but then I tend to breeze through sites like CBR and Newsarama and don’t have time to dig deeply. So maybe I just missed it.  At any rate, this is a solid post-apocalyptic adventure in a world/setting that’s struck a balance between unique and familiar (aka “too weird” and “already-seen-it”).  Not necessarily an easy thing to do.  Storywise, it’s got roots in adventure tales from many generations and (mostly) satisfies.  I say (mostly) because it’s not a complete story.  I could easily see this going for at least another trade or more, not sure what the team’s plans for it are, though.  Recommended for Michael May and folks who like the same kinds of things he does.

RED MOON (preview) “The Rising”
By David McAdoo, published by Cossack Comics.  Dude.  Cossacks.  That rules.  This is a preview book for an upcoming OGN that’s due to hit early next year, called RED MOON.  Two dogs and a sinister flock of crows (not to mention some badass bluejays) along with an unnamed menace.  Since it’s just a preview, it’s tough to get a sense of the whole story, but my guess is that this book could easily find an audience among younger readers and people looking for an animal-based fantasy/adventure.  The art is the standout here, and while sometimes the texturing and crosshatching gets in the way of the rawer storytelling elements, McAdoo has a definite and strong style that conjures up some of the force of the early Image artists, but is far more aggressive in his panel layouts.  Well worth a look.

X FORCE: DOOP/WOLVERINE
I found these for two bucks in a bargain bin.  Not the biggest fan of either character, but I do like Peter Milligan and Darwyn Cooke’s art (with J. Bone inking and Laura Martin on colors).  Is it the greatest story ever?  Not really.  Is it a lot of fun?  Sure thing it is.  Which reminds me that I really need to pick up some of those X-FORCE reprints.  When you have an artist like Darwyn Cooke, it can be tricky to find a story that stands up to the art.  But that’s not Milligan’s game here.  He’s more on the whimsical side, more mercurial, which is a fine contrast to the strong blacks and vivid colors at play on the page.  I shoulda picked this up awhile ago.

WEIRD WESTERN TALES
Various
Why didn’t I know about this Vertigo series from the early 2000s?  It’s probably best that I’ve done the lion’s share of writing for my own weird western anthology so I don’t unconsciously crib too much from these.  There’s a great short from Paul Pope (not the first name to come to mind when I think of Westerns) and lovely art from a host of others.  Only halfway through the series as yet, so I’ll probably drag this out to next week’s entry.  As with any anthology, uneven-ness is the enemy, but the good stuff is pretty darn good.  And hey, look!  Darwyn Cooke on the cover of issue #1.  He really should draw more westerns (and I think he’s doing something else for JONAH HEX now that I think about it.)

YOU SHALL DIE BY YOUR OWN EVIL CREATION
Fletcher Hanks
Nobody else’s comics read like these.  They’re savage and brutal but have moments of eerie and unexpected beauty.  All the same, they’re also hard to read in a big chunk.  And don’t read this stuff right before bed: strange dreams are a documented side-effect.

Jamie S. Rich: I am actually a couple of weeks behind on my comics, since I usually pick them up on Friday, so the big haul that came out the week of Comic Con has yet to be devoured. I also have been reading my Comic Con grabs, which include the two-volume Rose & Isabel by Ted Mathot. I wanted to pick up these books at the show ever since, funnily enough, I spotted Ted’s blog in the recommended feed by Google Reader put up for me. The first duo in a series of books, it follows a pair of sisters during the American Civil War who dress as men to sneak through the battlefields in search of their missing brothers. Mathot juggles various timelines, including childhood experiences and lessons about ancient female warriors that inform Rose and Isabel’s mission. Mathot is a Pixar artist, part of the same crew that includes Scott Morse and Ronnie Del Carmen, both of whom have pin-ups in separate volumes. His style is similar to theirs, but a little rougher, he likes a more jagged line. Sometimes the story is equally jagged, maybe a little too like storyboards in how it gets from one panel to the next, but overall, a solid adventure story and totally unique.

Battlefield: Tankies

Sticking with a fighting theme, the latest of Garth Ennis’ war comics, Battlefields: Tankies finished up this week with its third issues. Of Garth’s Dynamite material, I prefer the soft humanism and the female perspective of the first two in this go-around, The Nightwitches and Dear Billy, but I still liked Tankies a whole hell of a lot and it ended the triptych on a lighter note. I’ll admit Garth’s harsher stuff is no longer what I am looking for, so I love seeing him show this more serious side of his talent. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for this sort of thing. I’m definitely wanting that hardcover collecting all three series in one he promises at the end of the book. Carlos Ezquerra’s art this issue is also appropriately dirty with details. It’s a shame this stuff hasn’t been getting more notice.

In terms of older comics, I’ve been digging through the 1980s series ‘Mazing Man by Stephen DeStefano, Bob Rozakis, and Karl Kesel. It was originally going to be my “Collect This Now” feature before I went with something more crime-oriented. This much beloved but criminally underappreciated DC series is about a comics writer with the face of a dog, his various neighbors, and his roommate, ‘Mazing Man, who dresses up like a superhero, complete with cape, helmet, and bloomers, and goes about Queens committing small good deeds in the name of justice. A lot of it probably went over my head when I read it the first time around, back in my early teens, but I am finding it really charming after all these years. In addition to the sweet humanity, the creators are questioning the lines between imagination and delusion. Who are we to say this little guy was not a true hero? Plus, Stephen DeStefano is a grand wizard of cartooning. His early stuff is rough, but you can really see him grow over the 14 issues. In some kind of synergy, he illustrated the latest issue of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, which came out this week. His fill-in on #6 is simply, well, marvelous. His cartooning is so masterful, and it’s full of clever touches. A gesture, a panel shape, the background action–it’s the kind of comic you read once, and stare at a second time, or maybe vice versa.

My favorite part of ‘Mazing Man, however, may be looking at the old ads and reading editorials like Dick Giordano’s 1985 piece about how these personal computer things just might catch on!

Finally, in the wold of printed comics, Madame Xanadu has been a top-of-the-stack must-read from the word go, and this current “Exodus Noir” arc drawn by Michael Wm. Kaluta is no exception. #13 is the midway point, and there is a great mystery brewing. I couldn’t be more giddy that Matt Wagner has tied this stroy cycle into Sandman Mystery Theatre, one of the greatest comics series of all time, as far as I’m concerned, and a great teaching manual in terms of writing You Have Killed Me. And since I just squeezed in a shameless plug: my pal Joëlle Jones is going to be a featured artist in the next story arc, doing two issues, #19 and #20. One of my mentors teams with my closest collaborator? It’s like I’ve won a prize!

My new “when will you update? Please, please?” webcomic is “EmiTown” by Emi Lenox. It’s a freeform daily diary that at first may seem a little too scattered, but the more you read it, patterns emerge, a rhythm develops, and it’s highly addictive. It goes from the mundane struggles Emi has over a breakfast burrito addiction to more surreal and impressionistic tales of black hearts and a heroine named Ocean Girl. Emi can also draw like nobody’s business, her style is fabulous. I just wish I’d be important enough to show up in her comics. Every time I run into Emi, she leaves me out in favor of chuckleheads like Craig Thompson.