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Saturday, December 06, 2003
in real life, sometimes the good guys do win: a few days ago, i was lamenting the cancellation of the english language release of bilal's new graphic novel, december 32nd, which sold over 400,000 copies in france earlier this year. i'm happy to report that reliable sources have confirmed that humanoids will be re-soliciting the book for a spring 2004 release.
in the meantime, if you're unfamiliar with bilal's work and are fans of decadent sci-fi, then I strongly recommend the dormant beast (of which december 32nd is a sequel to); the nikopol trilogy (bilal's masterpiece that i plugged earlier); and memories of outer space (a collection of his short stories):
  
and, for those of you who enjoy political thrillers, here are two of bilal's best collaborations with writer, pierre christin:
 
bon appetit!
posted by peter! 10:53 PM EST permalink
kelly sue says that you should read CAPER, a new 12 part historical mob series by judd winick and farel dalrymple from dc comics. since this is being serialized, there is no guarantee that there will be a graphic novel collection -- that only happens if the book actually sells. dc has more information and a preview right here. here's the (clean) cover for the first issue that hit the stands last month:
(see, i don't hate the direct market. i'm so misunderstood.)
posted by peter! 3:37 PM EST permalink
interview & news: ugo touched base with tim truman regarding a new project that he's working on with john ostrander called odin the wanderer. apparently, they're just starting to look for a home for it and, i must say, the art it looks pretty amazing. you can read the interview here, which is accompanied by an extensive picture gallery.
posted by peter! 2:55 PM EST permalink
ingrid has written from brussels to say that european comics are good for you...
"Now that you are not focused on sex anymore, you can discover plenty of interesting topics."
"Like?"
"You can have conversations with men, for example."
"O yeah, sex via telephone. I knew this already."
posted by peter! 1:46 AM EST permalink
Friday, December 05, 2003
new brainpowered is up
"Nothing happened. The world didn't end when we moved into the 21st Century, all the millennium tension went away, 2001 went from science fiction to historical artifact, and the majority of people looked around and saw that things were pretty much the same on this side of the line as they were on the other side. And that was that. "
(more)
and speaking of warren, he sent out this message earlier concerning SCARS, his new trade paperback collection coming out this february, which, if i may say so, is one of my favorite of his recent works.
"The collected version of my six-issue crime serial SCARS is available in the current PREVIEWS for ordering, having been scheduled for publication in February 2004. If you want a copy, go into your comics retailer this month and tell them, because, believe me, they're not going to be ordering any copies otherwise. Not kidding. The overwhelming majority of comics retailers did not carry SCARS as a serial, so they're extremely unlikely to order even one copy of the collection. You've got to let them know you want a copy.
"If you feel like being flash, you can give them the order code, which is DEC032186. 160 pages, $17.99, says the publisher."
posted by peter! 3:18 AM EST permalink
retailers: there's some sort of cover printing error with the incentive copies of james kochalka's latest peanutbutter and jeremy book. alternative comics is offering free replacements, so check with your distributor for terms or simply contact jeff mason.
posted by peter! 3:12 AM EST permalink
thank you, warren.
posted by peter! 3:03 AM EST permalink
matt fraction. co-founder. mk12.
and it's "mr. fraction" when he's wearing the suit.
posted by peter! 1:57 AM EST permalink
Thursday, December 04, 2003
torture: adi popped in again, this time to tease me with this trailer for the woman trap, a new french film coming this spring from enki bilal based upon the second book in his masterpiece, the nikopol trilogy, which just happens to be one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. bilal's new book, december 32nd, just sold over 400,000 copies in france, but won't be published here since no one ordered it.
i want to make comics bleed with a rusted fork sometimes...
posted by peter! 11:40 AM EST permalink
what is that warren ellis up to now... more fun at diepunyhumans today is what:
"Thursday, I want to do another futurephone-based stunt.
"My phone records audio as an .amr file. You can play those files with the current version of Quicktime, which you can get from the left-hand menu, where it says "futurephone movies/audio." I'm sure other phones record audio too.
"If you're equipped with an audio-recording phone or mobile-enabled PDA, here's what you're going to do. Tomorrow, you're going to record a file telling me who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. (I fully understand and indeed embrace the possibility of abuse and horror in that last bit, yes.)
"And you're going to email it to me at mapatag@aol.com. Note that's a different email from the one I usually use for DPH stunts.
"This begins 12.01am GMT Thursday. It ends when I go to bed sometime Friday morning GMT.
"Speak Puny Humans."
-- W
posted by peter! 11:32 AM EST permalink
preview: you gotta love jeff mason -- he's always got the pretty pictures, including this first look at the hi-horse omnibus, a 96-page anthology featuring eighteen up-and-coming comix artists including gabrielle bell, dan zettwoch and andrice arp, coming this february from alternative comics. here's the cover and some pages:
february's also a big month for alternative, with the release of the rosetta comics anthology volume 2, alison cole's never ending summer, sam henderson's magic whistle #9, and damon hurd and pedro camello's a sort of homecoming #3. that last link has a shit load of preview pages as well.
posted by peter! 11:08 AM EST permalink
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
ohhh... graphic novels! three new shiny books for you this week...
   
posted by peter! 10:12 AM EST permalink
???: i'm not exactly sure what this is, but lord, it made me laugh. i think's it one of those teenage mangas that sold five bajillion copies in asia that is now being imported to the states courtesy of our friends at viz. i give you... the ultimate muscleman.
correction: seven million copies...!
posted by peter! 10:05 AM EST permalink
congrats: cartoonist tomer hanuka, who is currently serializing his work in bipolar, an anthology from alternative comics, won the gold metal award from the society of illustrators for the following CD cover he did for rap artist aesop rock.
posted by peter! 10:02 AM EST permalink
events, events and more events:
-- joe sacco is promoting his new book, the fixer, on thursday, december 4th, at modern tales on 888 valencia street right here in san francisco at 7:30pm. he'll also be at cody's on 2454 telegraph avenue in berkeley at 7:30 pm on friday, december 5th.
-- drawn & quarterly is having a big shindig in san francisco at the previously mentioned modern tales on saturday, december 13th, at 7:30 pm, featuring adrian tomine, joe matt and peggy burns.
-- on december 20th, derek kirk kim has an art exhibit going up at the cartoon art museum at 655 mission street in san francisco as part of their small press spotlight series that rotates every 12 to 15 weeks.
the bay area just has all the fun these days.
posted by peter! 9:48 AM EST permalink
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
link: good god! adi sent me this link to takehiko inoue's website, which features among other things a free 400-page color graphic novel called buzzer beater, described by adi as being "about humans vs. aliens in a future basketball match". inoue should be familiar to anyone reading the wildly entertaining vagabond series that we've plugged a few times on the website here, here, here and here.
   
posted by peter! 11:18 PM EST permalink
link: up-and-coming french storyteller, hervé largeaud, has posted some new little monster shorts right here for our viewing entertainment. and translated to english as well!
posted by peter! 11:03 PM EST permalink
link: the december issue of sequential tart is now online, featuring interviews with colleen coover, foo swee chin, mark smylie, ted naifeh, james dracoules, and our pal, steve niles (as interviewed by our own kelly sue). plus, a horde of articles and reviews and whatnot. they've also got interviews in their archives with matt and myself if you missed them the first time around (shamless plug).
posted by peter! 10:57 AM EST permalink
creator update: dean haspiel dropped us a line with his updated bio and photo. if you're a creator out there that has a book reviewed by us, feel free to get this type of info to us. a lot of people actually do ask for it.
"Dean Haspiel is the author of super-psychedelic romances and semi-auto-bio comix who occasionally mangles franchise characters for Marvel & DC Comics. Dino was nominated for a 2002 Eisner award for "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition," and a 2003 Ignatz award for "Outstanding Artist."
"In the mid-80s, Dean worked as an assistant to Howard Chaykin on American Flagg!, Bill Sienkiewicz on New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin, and Walter Simonson on Thor. In 1987, Dean inaugurated his own comix career when he co-created and drew The Verdict. Dino's work has graced the pages of various premiere anthologies, including DC Comics' Bizarro Comics, Alternative Comics' 9-11: Emergency Relief, and Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. For Marvel Comics, Dino drew Muties #3, a short story for Captain America: Red, White & Blue, a Juggernaut tale (written by Nick Bertozzi) for X-Men Unlimited #40, Spider-Man's Tangled Web #20, and a 4-issue Thing mini-series called Night Falls On Yancy Street (with Evan Dorkin). Dino recently drew Batman Adventures #9, more American Splendor, and is currently drawing Justice League Adventures #30 for DC Comics.
"Dino's finest comix appear scattershot in the The Billy Dogma Experience, post-disaster adventure chronicles about the last romantic anti-hero and the 48-page collection Opposable Thumbs, episodic tales of a native New Yorker living in the big bad city. Both series serve as the backdrop for informed, existential expression."
(And he's a good looking guy to boot.)
posted by peter! 10:45 AM EST permalink
interview: Grant Morrison surfaces at The Pulse in an interview to discuss his new exclusive contract with DC Comics. He did provide this choice quote:
"Come the end of 2004, everything will be different but I don't think future generations of comics readers and historians will be very kind to the low-achieving nostalgianauts who've been steering this ship for the last few years."
(Sorry about not providing a direct link to the interview. I just can't bring myself to point to anything that has an embedded message board where the primordial fanboy ooze is proudly slithering around. A good samaritan, am I.)
posted by peter! 10:39 AM EST permalink
link: it's telling that the comic industry's best source for news is a rumour column, but Rich Johnston has this unsourced bit in his weekly column that parallels what a lot of people are telling me offline:
"Reports from around the USA come in, indicating that the likes of Walden Books and Borders are limiting the amount of space American graphic novels are getting, in favour of more manga trades from the likes of Viz, Dark Horse and TokyoPop. In some cases, the superheroes, the fantasies and the licensed titles have vanished completely in favour of the East Asian Invasion.
"Why? They sell, obviously."
posted by peter! 10:31 AM EST permalink
"graphic novels are good for you."
 
matt and kelly sue at the o2 bar
posted by peter! 1:10 AM EST permalink
event: if you're in los angeles on december 6th, you might want to catch the opening of artist/illustrator souther salazar's new art show at g2. this guy's turning out some pretty amazing stuff. details here.
Glide Skid Collide: Dec 6th to Jan 20th.
posted by peter! 1:04 AM EST permalink
Monday, December 01, 2003
AK's got the good lookin' out, from a french site that produced a five-minute animated pilot based on Matumoto's BLACK AND WHITE.
Babelfished:
Tekkon Kinkurito is at the base a project of full-length film adapting the manga of Taiyou Matsumoto (Bitter Concrete).
The team of Morimoto, composed of only 12 people, produced within the Trilogy studio 5 minutes a fabulous pilot, entirely in 3d Malheureusement they did not find enough funds, and the studio closed. But graçe with the support of Jean Pierre Dionet, the project seems started again.
•
The d/l seems fucked currently, and was slow as molasses last night, but the screencaps are gorgeous.
posted by Matt 12:45 PM EST permalink
happy birthday, pardner.
posted by peter! 11:04 AM EST permalink
I don't know what's more entertaining about this:
-- That there's a Taiyo Matsumoto book called GOGO MONSTER;
-- That there are weird animated Taiyo Matsumoto pencil images;
-- Or that those weird animated Taiyo Matsumoto pencil images have been animated in what appears to be a television commercial. Television. Commercial. For a comic.
posted by Matt 2:23 AM EST permalink
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Holiday gift idea: Original art from The Beguiling by Paul Pope, Jason Lutes, Jay Stephens, Dave Cooper, and a gaggle more.
posted by Matt 8:44 PM EST permalink
preview: here's the cover and three random pages from the second issue of jed alexander's comix anthology, yellow baby, coming this january from alternative comics. if you like, then bug your local retailer about it since there's a good chance you won't see it on the racks otherwise.
Yellow Baby #2, by Jed Alexander; For Mature Readers; 32 pages, two-color, 8"x8"; $3.95; ISBN 1-891867-65-2; DCD: NOV03 1976)
posted by peter! 6:58 PM EST permalink
artblog: indy comics news, notes and spare change. because someone has to give a shit.
posted by peter! 6:34 PM EST permalink
archives:
11/30/2003 - 12/06/2003
12/07/2003 - 12/13/2003
12/14/2003 - 12/20/2003
12/21/2003 - 12/27/2003
12/28/2003 - 01/03/2004
01/04/2004 - 01/10/2004
01/11/2004 - 01/17/2004
01/18/2004 - 01/24/2004
01/25/2004 - 01/31/2004
02/01/2004 - 02/07/2004
02/08/2004 - 02/14/2004
02/15/2004 - 02/21/2004
02/22/2004 - 02/28/2004
02/29/2004 - 03/06/2004
03/07/2004 - 03/13/2004
03/14/2004 - 03/20/2004
03/21/2004 - 03/27/2004
03/28/2004 - 04/03/2004
04/04/2004 - 04/10/2004
04/11/2004 - 04/17/2004
04/18/2004 - 04/24/2004
04/25/2004 - 05/01/2004
05/02/2004 - 05/08/2004
05/09/2004 - 05/15/2004
05/16/2004 - 05/22/2004
05/23/2004 - 05/29/2004
05/30/2004 - 06/05/2004
06/06/2004 - 06/12/2004
06/13/2004 - 06/19/2004
06/20/2004 - 06/26/2004
06/27/2004 - 07/03/2004
07/04/2004 - 07/10/2004
07/11/2004 - 07/17/2004
07/18/2004 - 07/24/2004
07/25/2004 - 07/31/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/07/2004
08/08/2004 - 08/14/2004
08/15/2004 - 08/21/2004
08/22/2004 - 08/28/2004
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