politics
Writer calls on conservatives to ‘fight back’ against pro-Occupy comics
Although slow to react to the nearly two-month-old announcement that V for Vendetta creators Alan Moore and David Lloyd are contributing to Occupy Comics, one conservative writer has finally had enough with the “leftist” comics industry, suggests those on the right should “fight back.”
Dusting off a list of grievances that includes the controversial Tea Party reference in Captain America #602, pro-Obama sympathies and an unnamed series “blaspheming God and Christianity,” Paul Hair writes on Andrew Breitbart’s Big Hollywood that it’s time for conservatives to counter with their own version of Occupy Comics.
“Leftists have made no secret about who they are, and I see no reason why we shouldn’t simply wipe the dust of their town from our feet and stop throwing pearls to them in worthless attempts to change them,” he writes, loading both barrels with biblical allusions. “Instead, I propose we fight back.”
Arguing that, “I no longer see a point in engaging leftists in argument or debate,” Hair suggests the right’s Occupy Comics initiative should “simply move forward and promote who we are” and real-world solutions to economic problems.
He puts out the call for other contributors to Breitbart’s online network to become involved, drawing responses in the comments from Mike Baron and James Hudnall, among others. “The OWS comic is an example of comics people boarding the train after it derailed,” Hudnall writes. “I’ve been quietly working on projects I plan to do which will explore different arguments about society and government than what many comics pros tend to do but we aren’t all left wing. I find there are a lot of conservative and libertarians in the community. They just aren’t as vocal as lefties.”
- February 1, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Jillian Tamaki mixes sex and politics for the New York Times
Jillian Tamaki (Skim, Indoor Voice) is between projects right now, with one project on the editor’s desk and another not quite under way. So when the New York Times asked her to illustrate a piece on political sex scandals, she was ready, willing, and more than able. Here’s the main illustration, and click through to her blog to see some other sketches. (Mildly NSFW—this is the Times, after all—but she includes one drawing that was apparently too hot for them.)
- January 31, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Alan Moore, Occupy movement’s unofficial godfather, meets protesters
With so much being reported about Alan Moore’s connections to the Occupy movement — through his endorsement of its ideals, his contribution to Occupy Comics, and protesters’ co-opting of the David Lloyd-designed Guy Fawkes masks — U.K.’s Channel 4 News coaxed the V for Vendetta writer from his home in Northampton to London to meet some of the demonstrators for the first time.
“It’s a bit surprising when some of the characters you thought you made up suddenly seem to escape into ordinary reality,” Moore told some disguised protesters. “I mean, what is it about the mask — is it just useful, or what?”
The report also delves into Frank Miller’s criticism of the Occupy movement, Moore’s displeasure with film adaptations of his works and, yes, the irony that each Guy Fawkes mask that protesters buy puts more money into the coffers of Time Warner, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates.
- January 12, 2012 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Quote of the day | Presumably, Romney isn’t polling well in Riverdale
Reggie and Me #26
“Mitt Romney is starting to get on my nerves. He reminds me of Reggie, the rich, handsome, athletic and effortlessly superficial character in the Archie comics. He does almost everything well, and he looks like a million bucks (leveraged for much more), but he rings hollow, like the class president who would bring glee to all of Riverdale High by slipping on a banana peel. I’d kill for that. [...] Jon Huntsman is on to something when he says Americans seek forthrightness in their politicians — leaders who take their convictions from their gut, not focus groups. Romney does not come across as that guy. Instead, he has the coldness of Reggie from the Archie comics — the guy who had everything except, notably, his name on the cover.”
– Washington Post opinion writer Richard Cohen, comparing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to a certain Reginald Mantle, but somehow overlooking that the latter starred in no fewer than five series, including the long-running Reggie and Me
- January 10, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Josh Neufeld will break your heart in 18 pages
Cartoon Movement has been knocking it out of the park lately with short comic about topical issues — it’s the home of the Occupy Sketchbooks and a number of other thought-provoking pieces of journalism done in the comics medium. Now Josh Neufeld has a new comic up there, Bahrain: Lines in Ink, Lines in the Sand, that tells the story of the recent unrest in Bahrain from the point of view of two cartoonists.
Neufeld starts out with his own visit to Bahrain, which struck him as a peaceful and progressive country. “I didn’t sense any underlying tensions,” he says, but the very next page shows how much he missed. What began as peaceful demonstrations against the government quickly turned ugly as long-buried resentments came to the surface. There had been rifts, chiefly between the Sunni and Shia, that Neufeld had not seen on his trip (which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State).
Neufeld resists the temptation to boil this down to a simple tale. The two cartoonists he met on his trip have very different perspectives on the unrest, and he allows both to tell their stories, even including their cartoons in his comic. The result is a sad tale of how a country that seemed stable and peaceful could fracture along political and religious lines — and of the consequences that has for its people.
- December 6, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Alan Moore and David Lloyd lend their talents to Occupy Comics
Alan Moore, who characterized the Occupy movement as “a completely justified howl of moral outrage,” has joined his V for Vendetta collaborator David Lloyd and more than 50 other creators for Occupy Comics, an anthology project inspired by the protests.
“It’s fair to say that Alan Moore and David Lloyd are unofficial godfathers of the current protest movement,” Occupy Comics organizer Matt Pizzolo told Wired.com. “It’s really amazing to see two creatives whose work was inspiring to street protesters join a creative project that is inspired by the street protesters. It’s a pretty virtuous cycle.”
Moore will contribute a long-form prose piece, possibly with illustrations, exploring the movement’s principles, “corporate control of the comics industry and the superhero paradigm itself.”
The project, being funded through Kickstarter, is described as “a time capsule of the passions and emotions driving the movement.” It will begin as single-issue comics, followed by a hardcover collection; a making-of documentary is also being produced by Patrick Meaney, director of Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods and Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts. With three days left in its fundraising campaign, Occupy Comics has raised $15,892, surpassing its $10,000 goal.
- December 6, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Alan Moore responds to Frank Miller’s Occupy remarks
Alan Moore
Creators | Watchmen writer Alan Moore responds to recent comments made by The Dark Knight Returns creator Frank Miller: “I think that the Occupy movement is, in one sense, the public saying that they should be the ones to decide who’s too big to fail. It’s a completely justified howl of moral outrage and it seems to be handled in a very intelligent, non-violent way, which is probably another reason why Frank Miller would be less than pleased with it. I’m sure if it had been a bunch of young, sociopathic vigilantes with Batman make-up on their faces, he’d be more in favour of it. We would definitely have to agree to differ on that one.” [Honest Publishing]
Conventions | Tom Spurgeon files a lengthy report from the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, held Saturday in New York City. [The Comics Reporter]
- December 5, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Dark Knight Returns parody takes aim at Frank Miller
From "The Dick Knight," by Richard Pace
Richard Pace sends up Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in his response to Frank Miller’s recent tirade against Occupy protestors, writing, “I’d prefer to remember Frank Miller as the sometimes brilliant, long-haired nerd glaring from his back-cover photo on The Dark Knight Returns trade rather than the fedora-wearing, incoherent lightweight hack he’s become.”
Read the full comic strip, titled “The Dick Knight,” on Pace’s blog.
- November 17, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Mark Millar defends Frank Miller against ‘cyber-mob mentality’
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Frank Miller, whose tirade against the Occupy movement was met with a largely negative, and frequently heated, response, has found an unlikely defender: left-leaning writer Mark Millar.
In a post on his Millarworld forum, the writer of Kick-Ass and The Ultimates says, “It’s strange to watch your favourite writer getting strips torn off him for a couple of days.”
“Politically, I disagree with his analysis, but that’s besides the point,” Millar continues. “I wasn’t shocked by his comments because they’re no different from a lot of commentators I’ve seen discussing the subject. What shocked me was the vitriol against him, the big bucket of shit poured over the head by even fellow comic-book creators for saying what was on his mind.”
As one commenter points out, it probably shouldn’t be shocking that Miller’s no-holds-barred screed, which characterizes Occupy protesters as “a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists” who “can do nothing but harm America,” was answered with a degree of vitriol. Or, in the commenter’s words, “if you throw the first bucket of shit [...] then you should be prepared for some splashback.” Perhaps if Miller’s commentary had been more reasoned and less inflammatory — “decorous,” as Miller himself would say — the reaction might’ve reflected that.
- November 15, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Chris Claremont donates archives to Columbia
Chris Claremont
Creators | Longtime Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont is donating his archives to Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The collection includes materials for all of his major writing projects over the past 40 years, notebooks with story ideas, drafts of short stories, plays, novels and comic books, and materials from his early training in the theater and his career as an actor. “We hope this is the first of more comics papers to come to the University,” said Karen Green, Columbia University’s ancient/medieval studies librarian and graphic novel librarian. “We want it to be a magnet for these kinds of archives in New York City, where the comics medium was born.” [Publishers Weekly]
Awards | USA Network and DC Comics’ Burn Notice webcomic has won a Media Vanguard Award from Advertising Age. [Advertising Age]
Creators | Michael Cavna talks to two comics creators with very different takes on Occupy Wall Street, sequential journalist Susie Cagle, who was arrested as part of the Occupy Oakland protests, and conservative editorial cartoonist Nate Beeler, who walks past the Occupy D.C. site every day and regards it as “quaint,” smelly, and out of step with the rest of the country.” [Comic Riffs]
- November 15, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Frank Miller blasts Occupy protesters as ‘pond scum’ and ‘rapists’
No stranger to controversy with such works as 300 and, most recently, Holy Terror, Frank Miller has waded into the political fray with a tirade against the “Occupy” movement that blasts the protesters as “a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists” that “can do nothing but harm America.”
In a blog post that blew up over the weekend, garnering the attention of everyone from the comics community to Entertainment Weekly to the New York Daily News, the creator who nearly 25 years ago wrote the influential Batman: Year One — “You have eaten well. You’ve eaten Gotham’s wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over.” — unleashed on the “pond scum” engaged in nationwide protests aimed primarily at perceived economic and social inequality.
- November 14, 2011 @ 08:20 AM by Kevin Melrose
Who wrote the Barack Obama comic?
As you may remember from a few months ago, BOOM! Studios jumped on the presidential-campaign bandwagon with its Decision 2012 comics, each of which features a different presidential candidate. The President Obama comic came out this week, and as Johanna Draper Carlson pointed out, no writer is credited — which is odd, in this day and age.
Odd enough that I e-mailed BOOM! Studios myself to see what the story was. Marketing Coordinator Emily McGuinness was quick to reply:
We hired a young, incredibly talented writer to do these, and that writer elected not to take credit. Why? Well, they saw it as a great opportunity to refine their craft but didn’t want to be associated as the ‘political comic book writer’ moving forward. They’ve got some cool projects coming up, and wanted the focus of their next stage of career development to be on that. It made sense to us and we were happy to be respectful of their decision (no pun intended).
That makes for an interesting parlor game in about five years: Which prominent comics writer was behind the Obama comic? I’d look for someone with a love of text boxes and footnotes; the comic consists mainly of juxtaposed pictures and text, and it reads more like an illustrated prose bio than a comic. It’s non-sequential, if that’s a word.
The writing isn’t bad, but if I were going to write a compelling comic (as opposed to a hagiography), I’d include the juicy details about Obama’s 2004 election to the U.S. Senate, in which his opponent self-destructed in a sex scandal and the Illinois Republican Party drafted Alan Keyes as a replacement. Heck, I could do an entire miniseries on that election alone, and it’s a shame the writer covered it in a single panel. Maybe they were too busy with that next project to give it much thought.
- November 11, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Ziggy creator passes away; The Chill wins Anthony Award
Ziggy
Passings | Tom Wilson Sr., creator of the long-running comic strip Ziggy, passed away Sept. 16. According to a press release from Universal Uclick, Wilson, 80, had suffered from a long illness and died in his sleep. For more than 35 years, Wilson served as a creative director at American Greetings. Wilson first published Ziggy in the 1969 cartoon collection When You’re Not Around. The Ziggy comic panel, syndicated by Universal Uclick (formerly Universal Press Syndicate), launched in 15 newspapers in June 1971. It now appears in more than 500 daily and Sunday newspapers and has been featured in best-selling books, calendars and greeting cards. Wilson’s son, Tom Wilson Jr., took over the strip in 1987. [Universal Uclick]
Awards | The Chill by Jason Star and Mick Bertilorenzi won an Anthony Award this weekend at Bouchercon, the annual mystery convention. The Vertigo Crime selection won in the Best Graphic Novel category, while Birds of Prey writer Duane Swierczynski took the Best Original Paperback category with his novel Expiration Date. [Examiner]
- September 19, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by JK Parkin
More newspapers pull Doonesbury comics
The Poynter Institute’s Jim Romenesko (always the go-to source for journalism news) reports that Newsday and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have joined the Chicago Tribune in refusing to run this week’s Doonesbury strips, which include excerpts from Joe McGinniss’ book The Rogue, an unauthorized and extremely salacious biography of former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Shawn McIntosh, editor of the Journal-Constitution, has this response to readers who commented:
Mr. Trudeau has based this series of comic strips on an as-yet unpublished book by author Joe McGinnis about Sarah Palin. Since the book is not yet published, Ms. Palin has not had an opportunity to comment publicly on the content included in the book and picked up in the cartoons. Nor has the book yet been reviewed for accuracy. In essence, the cartoons would be reporting news, not commenting on news that is already public.
That raises an interesting question: Would the papers run the cartoons two weeks from now, after the book has been published? According to The Washington Post, McGinniss sent cartoonist Garry Trudeau an advance copy and later approached him about “an exclusive first-serial arrangement.” Honestly, this sounds as much like blatant product placement as an attempt to break news on the comics page.
- September 15, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
BOOM! Studios lets readers ‘vote’ with their dollars
Iowa may have their straw poll, but BOOM! Studios is going nationwide with an opportunity to let comics readers make their own choices—by buying comics from BOOM! in their Decision 2012 promotion. It’s a neat little stunt—they have 10 bio-comics about different candidates available for pre-order, and whoever gets the most orders wins the straw poll! The fact that voters will be enriching the coffers of BOOM! Studios is, of course, a small price to pay for democracy.
Being the intrepid reporter that I am, I found the press release raised more questions than it answered, so I fired off some questions to BOOM! marketing director Chip Mosher. Here’s what I found out:
Robot 6: Where did these comics come from? Are they Boom originals or were they published elsewhere? Who are the creators?
Chip: BOOM!’s a pretty collaborative environment. With this, the blame is on me. I’m a big political junkie and have been since I was a kid. I don’t know, I guess it’s a sickness. But anyway, I was reading an article one night and saw all the candidates lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and the idea just popped into my head. I brought the idea to the team, they looked at me like I was joking, then I said, “no, seriously!” And we were off to the races! So yes, these are totally new and original comics! Right now all that we are showing off are the awesome covers Jeffrey Spokes, but we’ll show more stuff down the road.
Robot 6: Did you have a Tim Pawlenty comic that you had to quickly kill?
- August 22, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson