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Saturday, February 14, 2004
tcj shakeup: over at journalista, dirk deppey has confirmed that fantagraphics publisher gary groth has released milo george as the managing editor of the comics journal over "professional and interpersonal differences". george is greatly credited with reviving the long running art comix magazine, so his departure is a bit of a surprise, but not as surprising as his appointed successor: dirk deppey himself. as a result of his newfound duties, deppey will be putting journalista on temporary hiatus (which is a real shame since it was one of my favorite comics related blogs). good luck to george in his efforts to land on his feet elsewhere, as well as to deppey, who has some big shoes to fill. i look forward with eager eye to both upcoming issues of tcj and the return of journalista.
posted by peter! 10:33 PM EST permalink
Friday, February 13, 2004
meanwhile, in the washington post: jessa crispen throws some mainstream ink at a number of recent graphic novel releases, including joe sacco's the fixer, alan moore's the league of extraordinary gentlemen book two, joe kubert's sgt. rock graphic novel, dame darcy's meatcake compilation (which i didn't realize was out for some reason), and gilbert hernandez's palomar; two of which we've recently featured on the site, courtesy of mr. fraction:
 
posted by peter! 1:41 AM EST permalink
what a weird little piece: an article entitled the death of comics was recently run on the indiana university student news site that seems to be lamenting the downward spiral of the superhero comics industry. "(Comics) are in danger... It's likely that at some point, DC and Marvel will just become owners of characters." my favorite line is the closing: "People might not pick up a lot of Batman or Spider-Man books anymore, but just like real-life heroes, comic heroes are never forgotten." brought a tear to my eye, it did.
posted by peter! 1:34 AM EST permalink
new digs: the museum of comic and cartoon art (mocca) in new york city has moved to a swank new place at 594 broadway in soho. to celebrate and raise funds for the museum, they're having a housewarming fundraiser on friday, february 27th from 8 to 11pm. more details at the mocca website.
posted by peter! 1:23 AM EST permalink
fraction amok: over on mattfraction.com, matt has been blogging his experiences in japan. "On the hunt for j-panties, we went into a sex shop that was so small i kept banging my head on the dildos that hung from the ceiling. We found a Winnie the Pooh vibrator and a cock-ring of some sort billing itself as KING OF FUCK. Bought neither, but we'll probably be back in the neighborhood later tonight. You never know when a Winnie the Pooh vibrator may be just what your customs-clearing experience is lacking."
posted by peter! 1:19 AM EST permalink
Thursday, February 12, 2004
new review: cerebus: high society by dave sim
"Its comedy is stronger -- more subtle, more thought-out in places, and just plain more fall-down slapstick funny in others -- but it also has a seriousness that the first volume entirely lacks. It may seem like more adventures of a squat grey barbarian aardvark on its surface, but at its core, it's a love poem to the confused mess that is electoral politics. And who doesn't love an electoral mess these days?"
(more by dan curtis johnson)
[you can catch dan's most recent comics work in the pages of metal hurlant #7. if you have a local retailer that stocks back issues, you might want to see if you can turn up "chase", an excellent series he wrote for dc comics in the late nineties. welcome to the funhouse, dan!]
posted by peter! 2:32 AM EST permalink
yes, marvel found a way onto our site after all: it took me seventeen years to scan this, but we apparently made a cameo in the recent issue of captain america during a scene where steve rogers is exiting an art show with his new fashion designer girl friend (poor guy):
the issue in question is #22 and it's by bob morales, chris bachalo and tim townsend, and edited by jennifer lee and axel alonso. thanks guys -- we certainly got a laugh out of it. and, just for that, we'll run a "hot" marvel news bit -- apparently x-men director bryan singer will be co-writing the ultimate x-men comic book -- more at newsarama. end marvel lovefest.
posted by peter! 1:42 AM EST permalink
bloody hobbits: "a distant soil" creator colleen doran will be at the "lord of the rings" oscar night theme party at the hollywood athletic club on feb 28th and 29th, alongside reknown tolkien artist tim kirk. doran, who has contributed illustrations to george beahm's essential tolkien sourcebook, will be signing autographs and selling original artwork to raise funds for local charities. more info here.
posted by peter! 1:27 AM EST permalink
speaking of manga: dc comics has thrown their hat into the manga ring with the announcement of a new imprint called CMX. i have no idea what it means outside of the fact that they plan on releasing a new line of presumably imported manga books later this year. the news was apparently broken by time magazine's andrew arnold, but i first read about it right here at icv2.
posted by peter! 1:19 AM EST permalink
alright, already: let's see what we can dig up in the news department. first off, here's some sneak peaks at the covers for two of viz's upcoming new releases. the first is their freshman effort in the sports manga market (which makes me really jealous since i've been dying to do sports comics for years) entitled "the prince of tennis" by takeshi konomi, a tremendously successful series that boasts over 26 million copies sold overseas as well as inspiring a 100+ episode anime series. the second book is a new supernatural thriller called "bleach" by tite kubo that promises plenty of zombies, evil spirits, and more fifteen years girls then are generally good for you:
 
posted by peter! 1:11 AM EST permalink
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
slacker: yeah, yeah, i blew off yesterday. there's just not that much going on right now in comics. here's an interview wrap-up of the past week or so: mark ricketts and david chelsea have been spotted recently at newsarama; phil elliot and nellie kurtzman at the pulse; kazu kibuishi and dean motter at cbr; jane irwin and jane smith fisher at silver bullet comics; and ninth art has a piece on a bunch of indy cartoonists from new york city. i'll be back tonight with some more news plus a review from a surprise guest contributor.
posted by peter! 11:22 AM EST permalink
Monday, February 09, 2004
passing: legendary dc comics writer and editor julius schwartz passed away yesterday at the age of 88 in new york city. schwartz is greatly credited with being one of the guiding forces behind the silver age of dc comics that revitalized the publisher in the late fifties and sixties. his passing has been covered on most of the online comics sites, including comic book resources where i first read of the news, courtesy of kelly sue.
posted by peter! 10:38 PM EST permalink
new review: raymond chandler's marlowe: a trilogy of crime
"We all know the Private Eye, the tough, wise-cracking Knight Errant of the cut streets, beating his own lonely path to justice, even if he has to sidestep or bend the law. He's a genre archetype that's been around since the 1930's, an enduring narrative device that's been recycled and revamped countless times. But how many of us have actually read the stories by Raymond Chandler, the stories that perfected the character in the form of Philip Marlowe? Chandler's stories and novels defined the Private Eye genre: the tarnished but morally pure detective with the heart of gold and the smart mouth, the femme fatale with gun in hand, the patsy thugs, the rich and powerful clients, the labyrinthine plots..."
(more by Adi Tantimedh)
posted by peter! 10:34 PM EST permalink
Sunday, February 08, 2004
well, i finally bought some new comics: two of my personal favorites have seen long awaited new installments released, including the 11th issue of black hole by charles burns and fantagraphics, and the 9th issue of optic nerve by adrian tomine and d&q. your local comics retailer may not carry them, but they can order them for you. here's the covers to look for, hyperlinked to the creators' pages on their publisher sites that contain more details:
 
(now, if we can just get some new graphic novel reviews out the door...)
posted by peter! 2:55 PM EST permalink
for you meat lovers out there: farel dalrymple and the meathaus gang are debuting an art show at meltdown comics at 7522 sunset blvd in los angeles on feb 14th from 7-9pm, just in time for valentine's day. how romantic:
posted by peter! 2:45 PM EST permalink
ape watch: alexis fajardo writes in to tell us about kid beowulf, an all ages play on the classic beowulf story featuring childhood versions of the literary characters set to debut at the alternative press expo (ape) on feb 21st. the 170 page b&w graphic novel is being published by ambition studios.
posted by peter! 2:38 PM EST permalink
nowhere to run: writer mark millar has confirmed the postponement of "run", a mini-series set to debut from image comics drawn by ashley wood, on the millarworld message boards: "Run has been cancelled because there's no art. This isn't really Ashley's fault because drawing a comic for no money upfront (the Image deal) is a big commitment and it's understandable if he has to do paying work instead. Nobody's been able to get hold of him for quite a while on this subject, but we're hoping to resolve the matter soon. As this is the first in a series of shorts, everything else has been held up until we figure out what to do about this."
i like this idea about getting paid for creator-owned comics.
posted by peter! 2:23 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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