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Saturday, April 03, 2004
yeah, call me a softy: this originally grabbed my eye since it's from kansas city -- which is oh-so deep to my heart -- but you can't knock this: "A local boy with diabetes is dealing with his disease and helping others learn about it as well, KMBC's Natalie Moultrie reported. Kamaal Washington, 10, found out five months ago he has diabetes. 'He went through a gamut of emotions -- worry and fear, 'Why me?', and then how to deal with it on a long-term basis,' Kamaal's mother, Dana, said. One way Kamaal is dealing with his diabetes is through drawing comic characters inspired by his father's Omega Man Comics. He and his 8-year-old brother created their own comic book, Omega Boy Vs. Dr. Diabetes. 'Dr. Diabetes thinks he's a freak just because he has diabetes. But he's just like any normal kid. So Omega Boy comes from the future to tell him he's not a freak and is just like any normal kid,' Kamaal said... The Omega Boy comic books can be found at Osco Drugs or online at Omega7.com."
posted by peter! 6:23 PM EST permalink
spring cleaning: drawn & quarterly is having a massive spring cleaning sale on their website: "In an effort to consolidate our back stock, virtually all comics and posters are 20-50% off while our graphic novels, softcover, hardcovers and limited editions, are priced at 20%-60% off. Now is the time to complete your entire D+Q library with unprecedented prices on all of our cartoonists: Chester Brown, Baru, David Collier, R. Crumb, Julie Doucet, Dylan Horrocks, Jason Lutes, Joe Matt, Max, Pentti Otsamo, Archer Prewitt, Michel Rabagliati, Seth, James Sturm, Adrian Tomine, Maurice Vellecoop and Chris Ware!" here's some of my favorites that appear to be available:
   
posted by peter! 6:06 PM EST permalink
graphic novels invade kentucky libraries: jeff mason popped in this week to tell us about selectionotes, a quarterly publication that helps kentucky libraries with their selection process, and their decision to include graphic novel reviews for the first time, starting with craig thompson's blankets from top shelf, osamu tezuka's buddha from vertical, graham annable's further grickle and james kochalka's peanutbutter & jeremy’s best book ever from alternative comics: "The buzz surrounding graphic novels and comics in libraries has been building for a while, but the boom has recently blown wide open. Comics and graphic novels, for decades considered a format inferior to traditional literature, have finally come into their own as a method of storytelling akin to film, picture books, or recorded books. This achievement is not a small one, but many people, from librarians to patrons, have trouble getting over old ideas: comics are only for kids, aren't they? Which ones are the ones to buy, both in terms of popularity and quality?" more on the selectionotes website.
edit: didn't catch this at first, but it looks like they name checked us: "Once you've gotten more used to the world of graphic novels, there are many industry resources that will also be invaluable to a discerning librarian. For adults, the online review site Artbomb, led by one of the most famous current comic writers, Warren Ellis, gives witty and succinct reviews, with archives organized by subject." thanks, guys!
posted by peter! 5:54 PM EST permalink
we the people: neil cohn, author of last year's early writings on visual language, has a new graphic novel out with thom hartmann entitled we the people: a call to take back america: "This 216 page non-fiction comic book shows how Americans have become second-class citizens – overshadowed by the first-class 'personhood' of corporations. In often-devious fashion, transnational corporations have usurped control from We the People – a development that the Founding Fathers never intended – leaving us with our rights and freedoms hanging in the balance. Clear and accessible, this work describes the dangers posed to American democracy and offers concrete steps on how to take back our country." more info and a preview on neil's website.
posted by peter! 5:46 PM EST permalink
comics212: christopher butcher's got a sneak peak over at comics212 of a bunch of upcoming books and covers that should prove interesting, including the new seth book we blogged about yesterday (cover below), a new seth hardcover edition of clyde fans (also from d&q), and an image from daniel krall's upcoming graphic novel follow me closely from oni press.
posted by peter! 5:34 PM EST permalink
Friday, April 02, 2004
the summer from hell: lots more updates to post, but they'll have to wait for the weekend. here's one more from kelly sue concerning this year's comic book summer films from eonline: "What, you thought comic flicks were dead? You thought it was over after Hulk, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Daredevil let us down? Think again, true believers. Summertime's approaching, and a whole universe of heroes--some familiar, some downright weird--are hitting theaters. And the studios are already cooking next year's batch. With the odd indie hero Hellboy kicking off a parade that includes Spider-Man 2 and Catwoman, Ink Tank hits the sets and talks to the stars..."
hellboy, opening tonight.
posted by peter! 1:11 AM EST permalink
abiogenesis update: two notes from gary spencer millidge and abiogenesis press. the first is that last year's alan moore charity tribute book, portrait of an extraordinary gentlemen, raised over $36,000 for alzheimer's charities. gary writes: "Editors smoky man, Omar Martini and myself are very proud to have raised such a significant sum, as well as being very proud of the final product and to have worked with Alan and some of the biggest names in the comics business." great book, great cause. secondly, he also announced that the next issue of strangehaven (#16) -- one of my personal favorites -- is currently being solicited in the new previews catalog and will be hitting stores this june. here's the cover:
warren's thoughts on the first two trades:
 
posted by peter! 1:02 AM EST permalink
like father, like son: the canadian globe and mail caught up with seth regarding his new D&Q project: "I-Pods, Gap jeans, McHappy meals -- John Gallant didn't have any of those as a boy growing up on Prince Edward Island. In fact, as he makes abundantly clear in his new memoir, Gallant didn't have much of anything. Bannock, Beans and Black Tea, the title of Gallant's first book published by Drawn & Quarterly, is the story of a dirt-poor childhood. One thing that sets Gallant's memoir apart is the fact that his son provided illustrations for the book. While Gallant still calls his boy Gregory, the rest of the world knows him as Seth, the author of such graphic novels as It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken, and an illustrator for such magazines as The New Yorker."
posted by peter! 12:57 AM EST permalink
mickey witch: here's an interesting piece from walt disney about their attempt to import european comic books repackaged as graphic novels in order to target the american girl demographic: "When it comes to exporting popular American kidculture to other parts of the planet, the Walt Disney Co. is the out-and out, hands-down, no-doubt-about-it world champ. Now Disney is turning the tables and importing a fad. You heard right. Batten down the hatches and lock up your young ones. It's a book! It's a TV show! And it just might be a multimedia, money-minting onslaught coming straight from Italy. It's W.I.T.C.H... The company will introduce the first couple of volumes in a series of paperback books, selling for $4.99 apiece, next month... In France and Germany, kids buy more than 100,000 copies each month. In Italy, more than 200,000 copies are sold monthly. Though the stories are mostly published as comic books in other countries, the Disney brain trust believes that American girls will prefer chapter-book storytelling..."
posted by peter! 12:49 AM EST permalink
got manga? on tuesday, adv manga announced a major new publishing initiative, courtesy of animenewsnetwork: "ADV Manga today announced that it has acquired 37 new manga titles. With titles aimed at every age in many genres, this acquisition reflects ADV Manga’s commitment to a diverse publishing line with something for everyone... Founded in 2003, with nationwide mass-market distribution, ADV Manga is poised to dominate the explosively growing U.S. market for imported graphic novels and related published materials. More information is available at adv-manga.com."
posted by peter! 12:41 AM EST permalink
jesus christ: the action figure (thanks matt)
posted by peter! 12:37 AM EST permalink
catch-up time: lots of stuff building up in the inbox. let's start with this piece by jamie rich over at oni press that's been making the rounds: "No, you're wrong, I do understand. I understand that there are a lot of people in this industry--fans, retailers, creators, publishers--who see the full potential for the industry, for the art, and who want more. It's like the old Smiths song--these comics say nothing to me about my life. And when you consider the return of He-Man, the X-Men putting back on their colorful costumes, or Claremont and Byrne doing JLA to be a progressive move, I'd counter that it’s you who don’t get it. This is why the real world writes comics off as trash, because that’s all we expect from ourselves."
posted by peter! 12:32 AM EST permalink
much less than zero: pin-up by dean haspiel that'll be in the less than zero trade we previewed yesterday:
posted by peter! 12:26 AM EST permalink
Thursday, April 01, 2004
less than heroes: well, there's really only two writers that can get me to read superhero comics these days: alan moore and david yurkovitch. top shelf is bringing back the early tales of the latter this june in a new graphic novel called less than heroes that collects the first four issues of yurkovitch's self-published threshold series: "Incorporating a mix of mainstream storytelling and absurdism, Yurkovich redefined the notion of super-heroics and was soon regarded by some industry reviewers as the 'king of quirky comics.' Never one to follow trends, Yurkovich avoids explicit sex and violence that have become prevalent in today’s stories of masked crime fighters; he opts instead for character-driven individuals who find themselves in unique, humorous, and often surreal circumstances, and who just happen to wear latex." here's a preview:
  
this is another one of those books you'll have to tell your local retailer about it in advance if you want to see it on the shelves: "LESS THAN HEROES is a 152-page trade paperback, retails for $14.95 and ships June 2004. It is a Spotlighted Item and is Certified Cool, currently listed in the April Previews on page number 336, item code APR04 2942. ISBN: 1-891830-51-1."
posted by peter! 11:17 AM EST permalink
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
i fuck like a girl: i'm against the gun, so only two quick links today that have absolutely nothing to do with comics:
mighty girl
trunk monkey
(thanks kel and mason)
posted by peter! 11:10 AM EST permalink
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
had enough of comic book films? well, here's one for you as reported by the asheboro courier tribune out of north carolina: "The premise of [C for Chaos] is that a series of murders have caught the attention of a talented young comic book artist who, of course, works in a comic book store honing his skills. He and his friends spend their time in the movie trying to catch the killer. McRoberts readily admits the story line is secondary. It might be categorized as the Scooby gang meets film noire. What the film will do is give the producers a showcase for the art of comic book creation, said McRoberts. He and Blalock both express a deep love and respect for an art that is frequently discounted by 'serious adults.' McRoberts likened comic books to jazz and the banjo as true American art forms. He said comic book art has been embraced by the world and deserves to be exalted in its country of origin."
posted by peter! 10:46 AM EST permalink
danny hellman says: that you don't want to miss COMIX: A BLUE VIEW in montreal this weekend: "COMIX: A BLUE VIEW, Saturday, April 3rd, 2004, starting at 2pm (program runs approximately 150 minutes), admission: $5.00, Location: the Hyatt Regency Montreal hotel, 1255 Jeanne-Mance, Room: Picardie - 5e étage / 5th floor, Part of Montreal's week-long 6th Blue Metropolis literary festival." guest list includes: hellman, billy mavreas, marc ngui, bernie mireault, sherwin tjia and a multimedia slideshow performance by r. sikoryak, michael kupperman, hellman, and lauren r. weinstein. more info right here.
posted by peter! 10:40 AM EST permalink
speaking of diamond: the maryland daily record reported last week that diamond comics owner steve geppi was injured and hospitalized: "Comic book king Steve Geppi, publisher of Baltimore magazine and part owner of the Baltimore Orioles, yesterday underwent surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital for a head injury he suffered when he bent down to kiss his daughter good morning." he's apparently recovering at home now according to this piece from the pulse: "After sustaining an injury to his head at home, Steve required surgery for a subdural hematoma - a blood clot situated between the skull and brain. The procedure took place in mid-March. Steve is currently recovering at home, his prognosis is excellent, and he expects to be back to work in the very near future." (thanks, matt)
posted by peter! 10:31 AM EST permalink
tokyopop signs with diamond: from the press release: "Diamond Comic Distributors and TOKYOPOP Inc. have announced a distribution agreement that makes Diamond the exclusive distributor of the publisher's English-language graphic novels to the comic book specialty market and hobby stores in North America. As part of this new agreement, the two companies have committed to working together to achieve timely release of TOKYOPOP's titles in these markets... Among its many hit manga series are Fruits Basket, Love Hina, Chobits, Rave Master, Initial D, GTO, Battle Royale and Cowboy Bebop."
   
posted by peter! 10:23 AM EST permalink
Monday, March 29, 2004
lazy cat: the sarasota herald tribune caught up with garfield illustrator gary barker to discuss comics and cartooning: "Change the subject to arts in the school and Barker grows serious. He cringes every time he hears about arts being cut to save money, or how children may only get art instruction once a week. 'My biggest pet peeve is how the arts are treated in the schools,' Barker said. 'Art is forever.' To help further interest in comic book and comic strip art, Barker plans to give workshops and spend time in the local schools encouraging students to develop their talents. Teaching has long been an important and heartfelt part of Barker's career as an artist."
posted by peter! 11:42 AM EST permalink
hellboy, hellboy, hellboy: email was flooded with hellboy film stories this morning. here's one from the arizona republic that looks at hellboy as well as the growing comic book movie trend: "'I don't think Hollywood was paying attention as to the limited amount of A-plus titles, so they've already sort of burned through most of them,' says Todd McFarlane of Phoenix, who created the cult comic Spawn and is developing another film about the character. 'I don't think the average person is well-versed in Thor. . . . Once you go down to, like, B and C (level), then to me you might as well go all the way down to Z and just try to find the stuff that will actually make good movies.'"
posted by peter! 11:38 AM EST permalink
addblog on hiatus: alan david doane has put addblog on hiatus for the time being. hopefully, it's only temporary -- i've been really enjoying the five question interviews.
posted by peter! 11:33 AM EST permalink
Sunday, March 28, 2004
i'm glad someone's looking out for me: in another defeat for censorship advocates and a victory for the comic book legal defense fund, the u.s. circuit court of appeals has struck down the virginia internet porn law that was meant to protect minors from porn, but would also restrict adults: "A Virginia law limiting the online display of sexually explicit material to minors violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled in a split decision. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that the law, while seeking to restrict juveniles' access to indecent material on the Internet, imposes an unconstitutional burden on protected adult speech..." more from the associated press, courtesy of bizreport. (thanks, jeff)
posted by peter! 1:31 PM EST permalink
hellboy watch: ron perlman on the new hellboy film, which opens next weekend, courtesy of comingsoon.net: "Perlman says that del Toro is the one who introduced him to the comic books. 'Guillermo had dinner with me moments after he had dinner with Mike Mignola for the first time and said, 'I just acquired the rights to this comic book that I love called Hellboy, and I'd like to introduce you to him because in a perfect world, you'd be the guy playing him.' I said, 'Well how big a movie does it need to be?' He said, 'Ninety million dollars.' I went, 'Good luck to you. I'd rather not meet Hellboy. I'd rather not know any more about Hellboy because I'm probably never going to play him. And you don't wanna fall in love with a girl only to see some other guy walk down the aisle with her. So, he, having impeccable respect for my opinion, immediately brought me to Meltdown, which is a comic book store on Sunset Blvd. and said, 'Well you're going to look at Hellboy whether you want to or not.' He grabbed me by the back of the hair and said, 'Look! Look! There he is!' And I met Hellboy and I went, 'Hmm, interesting.' And then forgot it. It took six years before Guillermo goes, 'Well, my friend, I have some interesting news for you.'"
posted by peter! 1:24 PM EST permalink
hi-horse party: "A gala affair is being held in honor of the release of the first volume of the new Hi-Horse Omnibus comics anthology (Alternative Comics; $11.95; ISBN: 1-891867-67-9) on Wednesday April 7, from 7pm to 11pm at the Coral Room in New York City. This unique space boasts wall-size aquariums and live mermaids performing underwater throughout the evening. Cocktails will be in abundance, as will be signed copies of the gorgeous new book, silkscreened posters and plenty of attractive, interesting people dressed to the teeth and sauced to the gills." click on the pic below for the full invite:
posted by peter! 1:18 PM EST permalink
speaking of antony johnston: antony popped in to update his artbomb bio:
"Antony Johnston was born and raised in central England, before moving to London to write comics. His graphic novels include the award-winning FRIGHTENING CURVES, SPOOKED and JULIUS; he has adapted several prose works by Alan Moore into comics form, including THE COURTYARD and THE HYPOTHETICAL LIZARD; and he writes the ongoing horror series NIGHTJAR. Antony now lives in the north of England with his girlfriend, an iMac and a very black wardrobe."
(I've heard nothing but good things about both spooked and julius, the former i believe has recently hit the stores, with the latter due any day now.)
posted by peter! 12:54 PM EST permalink
zombie weekend continues: this june, avatar press presents the graphic novel collection of joe lansdale and tim truman's dead folks, a western about a bounty hunter trapped in a desert filled of -- you guessed it -- zombies! here's the wraparound cover:
also be on the look out for nightjar: hollow bones by antony johnston and max fiumara that follows on the heels of the recent alan moore inspired mini-series; as well as the third part of strange killings: necromancer by warren ellis and mike wolfer. here's the night jar cover:
posted by peter! 12:42 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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