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Saturday, February 28, 2004
bloodthirsty in barrow: the anchorage press in alaska ran this story about steve niles and ben templesmith's sequel to 30 days of night entitled return to barrow: "Niles, 38, got the idea for a vampires-in-Barrow horror story when he came across an article about the town's marathon darkness. In his original 30 Days of Night series, he tells the story of a fictional Alaska Native sheriff in Barrow who sacrifices himself while fending off vampires alongside his deputy sheriff wife. Niles and illustrator Ben Templesmith followed with another mini-series, this time telling how the wife left Alaska and wrote a book in hopes of exposing the vampire underworld." the article also points out the fact that the original book should have been called 60 days of night. heh.
posted by peter! 5:43 PM EST permalink
once upon a time in mexico: in an interesting piece from the chicago tribune on mexico city's attempt to promote reading, i found this bit about our favorite subject comics: "While the literacy rate in Mexico City is well over 90 percent, officials say the steep price of books here frequently put them beyond citizens' reach. Far more popular are palm-sized comic books, called cafecitas, which rely mostly on pictures to tell dramatic tales starring cowboy heroes and scantily clad women. Even government officials, including Lopez Obrador and President Vicente Fox, at times resort to using comic books to promote a new program or get their messages across."
posted by peter! 5:33 PM EST permalink
more spiegelman: the daily californian has more details about art spiegelman's new autobiographical 9-11 graphic novel entitled In the Shadow Of No Towers: "When the first building of the World Trade Center was destroyed, Spiegelman said he went to his daughter's high school, which was within blocks of the towers, to try to find her. After they were reunited, they watched the second tower fall together. The shock of watching the frame of the building glow as thousands died right before his eyes, controlled him for several months. As the rest of the country appeared to heal, he remained overwhelmed. Spiegelman described himself as 'someone who's usually unhinged, who got more unhinged in 2001, when someone tried to drop a building on him.'"
posted by peter! 5:26 PM EST permalink
for the love of martins: the oregonian ran this piece about new reading outreach programs being offered by tigard and tualatin public libraries, that included this relevant note: "Michael Martens of Dark Horse Comics will explain why 'Graphic Novels Aren't Just for Kids' in a program for all ages at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, in the Tigard library's Puett Room. Martens will discuss the origins and development of graphic novels, how artists and writers are selected, and the latest news about authors, series and artists. The program is part of the library's Adult Reading Program, which continues through April 20. People may sign up and complete literary bingo cards by reading books to be eligible for weekly prize drawings. The theme is 'The Joy of Reading.'"
posted by peter! 5:15 PM EST permalink
dream a little dream: the astonish factory has posted a preview of a new fantasy series by scott christian salva: "A sneak peek of the first five pages of The Dreamland Chronicles plus the four alternate covers (one each from Sava, Mike Kunkel, Mike Wieringo, and Dean Yeagle) is available [right here]. The Dreamland Chronicles is a 24-issue epic about a boy named Alexander who has incredible adventures in Dreamland every night with Nastajia the elf princess, Paddington the rock boy, and Kiwi the fairy. On his twelfth birthday his dreams stop. Eight years later, Alexander starts dreaming again and finds himself in a world filled with giants, dragons, mermaids, and pirates."
posted by peter! 5:08 PM EST permalink
Friday, February 27, 2004
congrats, guys: top shelf is celebrating a very unique occassion with a web-based promotion: "Top Shelf Celebrates its 100th Publication with the release of Jeffrey Brown's comic book, BE A MAN. To celebrate this milestone event, all web orders through March 15th will get a 15% discount and also get a free copy of BE A MAN (Please Note that the website checkout process won't show this, but we'll be sure to give you the discount and free book when we process the order). Also, the 100th web order -- whomever that person ends up being -- will get their order absolutely free!"
for a brief history of top shelf click here.
posted by peter! 11:09 AM EST permalink
living in sin: variety is reporting that "Robert Rodriguez has committed to direct 'Sin City,' an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic noir crime novel series. Dimension Films co-chairman Bob Weinstein has given Rodriguez the go-ahead to begin shooting next month in Austin, Texas." more for subscribers right here.
posted by peter! 11:07 AM EST permalink
i bet these sell more then the x-men: the cleveland plain dealer is reporting that the national basketball association (nba) is commissioning comics to feature their sports stars: "Rookie LeBron James is one of 40 NBA stars who will be featured in a limited-edition collectible comic book series available for sale at Wal-Mart stores and the NBA Store in New York beginning this week. The fantasy/adventure comic books, produced by Ultimate Sports Entertainment, Inc., in conjunction with the NBA, will also be available for sale at comic book stores, hobby shops and other retail outlets shortly after the debut at Wal-Mart and the NBA Store."
posted by peter! 11:02 AM EST permalink
web vs. print: lore sjöberg of wired posted his APE observations at wired.com, which revolve around the emergence and impact of web comics. it's a strange piece full of contradictions, but has a few worthy bits: "After putting her strip online, [Paige Braddock] was able to find enough of an audience that United Media approached her about syndicating her content into their Comics.com online service. Her main foray into print has been through compiling the strips that she has published online into comic-book form. Braddock has high praise for the Web, saying it keeps her honest because of the immediate and personal feedback, but over the years she has come to think of herself not as a Web comics publisher who collects her strips into comic books, but as a comic-book artist who debuts her work online."
My favorite line is: "Printed comics have another advantage over Web comics: a proven economic model." Heh.
posted by peter! 10:58 AM EST permalink
Thursday, February 26, 2004
susannah breslin at artbomb:
posted by peter! 3:53 AM EST permalink
meanwhile, the show must go on: viz broadcasted this announcement yesterday: "RUROUNI KENSHIN, Volume 3, has secured the number one spot on BookScan's list of best selling graphic novels for two weeks running. Since its release on January 24, 2004, the edition has sold over 8,500 copies, outselling every other comic and graphic novel in North America. Nielsen BookScan, the international sales data monitoring and analysis service for the English language book industry, also listed VIZ’s graphic novel, RUROUNI KENSHIN, on its Overall Adult Fiction Top 100 list. The list, which is a true reflection of mainstream American book purchases, includes such literary winners as Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. As a result, RUROUNI KENSHIN is not only the best-selling comic, but also one of the best-selling fiction titles in the country."
posted by peter! 3:50 AM EST permalink
well, thank god we sorted this out: for those of you following the gaiman v. mcfarlane lawsuit concerning the rights to characters that gaiman created for mcfarlane at image comics, gaiman has posted to his blog that the federal appeals court has upheld his previous victory: "You know, if I were Todd McFarlane, I would simply have apologised a long time ago. Instead, Todd threw a lot of money at lawyers, and lost the legal case in every way he could lose it, and then threw a lot more money at lawyers to appeal and just lost it again, for good. You can read the Seventh Circuit Appeal Court's decision in Gaiman vs. McFarlane at http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/op3.fwx?submit1=showop&caseno=03-1331.PDF. It's a well-written and faintly amused judgement, which even includes the Lone Ranger's secret identity, for those who want to know (although it puzzlingly omits to mention that the Lone Ranger was the Green Hornet's uncle)..." more at gaiman's blog.
posted by peter! 3:44 AM EST permalink
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
exercise in style: cartoonist matt madden has launched a new website at exercisesinstyle.com: "'Exercises in Style' was inspired by a work of the same name by the French writer Raymond Queneau. In that book, Queneau spun 99 variations out of a mundane, two-part text about two chance encounters with a mildly irritating character during the course of a day. The goal of this project is to apply the same principle to comics by creating as many variations as possible on a simple one-page non-story: different points of view, different genres, different formal games, and so on."
very cool.
posted by peter! 2:06 AM EST permalink
well, i guess the chronicle is worth something after all: the san francisco chronicle ran this expose on "optic nerve" creator adrian tomine yesterday: "At a mere 29, publishing since he was 16, Sacramento native Tomine (pronounced 'TO-meen-uh') is one of the most celebrated draftsmen in the insular world of 'serious' comics. He's routinely mentioned alongside his friends Dan Clowes ('Ghost World') and Chris Ware ('Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth') as exemplars of the field. He has original works by both colleagues hanging on the walls of his tidy living room."
(thanks, kel, for the link.)
posted by peter! 1:58 AM EST permalink
buzz about town: the portland tribune ran this piece yesterday about a local comics publisher called buzz bee cafe that's been making an impression around town: " You can't get a cup of coffee or a slice of pie at Buzz Bee Cafe. Instead, it produces hearty servings of bizarre comedy in the form of comic books and graphic novels and distributes them to bookstores around town. But we're not talking about those stories of superheroes you read as a kid. Buzz Bee's books are filled with slightly more colorful characters, including con men, a corrupt Santa who's made nice with Adolf Hitler and a coffee-loving incarnation of the Virgin Mary."
posted by peter! 1:52 AM EST permalink
old school: someone posted the first book of don lawrence and saul dunn's gorgeous "storm" series, which has no doubt been lost to time.
[thanks, nenad, for the link, as well as these two links to an international humor contest and a site on polish pop culture called esensja that i found intriguing for some strange reason.]
posted by peter! 1:40 AM EST permalink
die puny humans: warren sent out this note about his blog today: "Yes, diepunyhumans.com is down and has been down for some 18 hours. I know. No need to tell me anymore. Waiting to hear from site host."
posted by peter! 1:26 AM EST permalink
spiegelman's not kidding: the mercury news in california ran this piece on sunday about art spiegelman's new book: "In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, which happened just blocks from his home, Spiegelman has been creating a new graphic novel about his reaction to the terrorist assault. Remarkably for so prominent a cartoonist, he has been unable to find a publisher for the work in the United States, so it has been published mostly in Europe."
it's not like he's the only cartoonist to win the pulitzer prize, y'know? oh, wait...
posted by peter! 1:22 AM EST permalink
broke no more: dark horse entertainment has optioned the rights to brooke burgess's successful web comic broken saints in various media, including a potential live-action film. a comic book series or graphic novel is very likely due from dark horse towards the end of the year. more at brokensaints.com.
posted by peter! 1:15 AM EST permalink
alternative comics june 04: three new books from alternative comics this june including a new collection of thomas herpich tales called "gongwanadon", the second issue of matt madden's excellent "a fine mess" series, and the second "hickee" anthology featuring graham annable and a gaggle of indy cartoonists. click on the covers below for more details:
  
posted by peter! 1:06 AM EST permalink
reunited and it feels so good: kelly sue is back with matt. matt's back with the blog. i got my car back. love is in the air, baby.
posted by peter! 12:56 AM EST permalink
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
chatting with chet: alan david doane has 5 questions for chester brown today over at the addblog, where they discuss louis riel and beyond: "probably my next work I'm not going to serialize beforehand, I'm just going to release it as a graphic novel and that'll be the first that the public sees of it."
btw, add also spoke to paul hornschemeier yesterday, creator of "mother, come home", the last really good graphic novel i've read.
posted by peter! 9:44 AM EST permalink
smut! not sure why this has been sitting in my email for days -- probably because they didn't put the word "smut" in the subject line: "Independent comics publisher Saucy Goose Press today announced the launch of www.saucygoosepress.com, a brand-new, content-rich site dedicated to the promotion of the erotic comics anthology 'Smut Peddler.' Created by David Stanley, the newly launched site includes: a PRESS section, containing press releases, links to articles and reviews and other updates; a link to the Saucy Goose Press ONLINE CAFÉ PRESS STORE, LIVEJOURNAL COMMUNITY, and FORUM; selected PREVIEW PAGES from 'Smut Peddler' Volume 1; BIOGRAPHIES of 'Smut Peddler' contributors and INFORMATION about the publisher and more."
posted by peter! 2:50 AM EST permalink
Monday, February 23, 2004
splendid: robert pulcini and shari springer berman won the best adapted screenplay honors this past weekend from the writers guild of america for "american splendor", the film based upon the life of indy comix creator harvey pekar. the first three links sent to me about the story where from the st. petersburg times, the chicago tribune, and the l.a. times (the ladder requires registration). [i'm still recovering from the weekend, so expect more stories tonight/tomorrow, unless matt beats me to the punch, of course.]
posted by peter! 11:28 AM EST permalink
From the NY Times (reg. required) Will Eisner Draws a Rebuttal
What do you do 25 years after creating a new artistic genre? If you are Will Eisner, you do the same thing again in your late 80's.
"A Contract With God," set in the tenements of his Bronx youth and published in 1978, established Mr. Eisner as the father of the graphic novel. Now he has taken the adult comic-book format a step further, with a graphic history that applies his dark, 1930's-style illustrations to real events of a century ago.
This latest work, called "The Plot," tells the story behind the creation of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," the infamous Russian forgery that purported to reveal a Jewish plan to rule the world. Mr. Eisner, the son of Jews who fled Europe, has reached into the past to say something about the present: a time, he says, when anti-Semitism is again on the rise...
(Thanks, Deke)
posted by Matt 9:47 AM EST permalink
Sunday, February 22, 2004
go webcomics: the lompoc record in california ran this piece today about the growth of webcomics: "A variety of genres are available for webcomic readers: fantasy, action, videogaming, manga, and horror are just a few categories to choose from, not to mention the numerous sub-categories included within each general category. With all the available titles to choose from, readers can be as picky as they want."
posted by peter! 2:54 PM EST permalink
viz Q2 04 viz has announced the release of four new manga titles set to debut during the second quarter of this year, including "saikano", a series they've given their prestigious "editor's choice" label to, as well as a new action book called "cheeky angel" and two new shojo series entitled "imadoki" and "red river". for more information, please check out their press release right here.
posted by peter! 2:47 PM EST permalink
fantagraphics june 04: there are two major releases from fantagraphics this june including "you can't get there from here", the fifth graphic novel from norwegian cartoonist jason to be released in the states that puts a poignant spin on the frankenstein mythos; and the fourth volume in the comics journal library series entitled "drawing the line", which includes interviews with four of comics most provocative commentators, including ralph steadman, jules feiffer, edward sorel, and david levine. here's the covers to look for:
 
in the comic book department, they've also got issue #7 of johnny ryan's "angry youth comix", issue #12 of richard sala's "evil eye", issue #8 of gilbert hernandez's "luba", and "trucker fags in denial", a one-shot by jim goad and jim blanchard.
in the eros department, watch out for a number of erotic graphic novels, including "housewives at play: original recipe" by rebecca, "small favors" book two by colleen coover and paul tobin, "the best of the original bondage fairies" by kondom, and "the best of sexcapades" by jiro chiba; as well as some new erotic funny books, including "enthralled in gehena: descent" book one by sonath and mortis, "rear entry" #6, "the spanish conquest" #3 by lanegra, and "sex warrior isane" #7 by okawari. here's the cover to small favors, the first volume of which we featured right here some time back:
posted by peter! 2:22 PM EST permalink
permalinks: finally got off my lazy ass yesterday and added the permalinks to our blogger template. still haven't done anything about the site feed, though. baby steps.
posted by peter! 2:04 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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