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Saturday, April 17, 2004
ouch: the lebanon daily star has this profile on french-syrian cartoonist riad sattouf and his recent french graphic novel ma circoncision: "Accordingly, if you write and illustrate BDs, France is the place to be. Comics are considered an art form, and cartoonists are worshipped. It's hard to know if Riad Sattouf would have written and illustrated comic books had he grown up somewhere else, but it's clear that this baby-faced 26 year-old has a lot to say, and comics are the perfect medium for him... Nothing besides his name and a few vague allusions to the Arab world could prepare the reader for Sattouf's next book, which can be termed a tragi-comic autobiographical bombshell. Ma Circoncision (My Circumcision) came out this year in a collection for teenagers but could very well be for adults. Funny and terrible, it is the grueling tale of an 8-year-old boy who lives in a Syrian village and is faced with his impending circumcision."
posted by peter! 10:56 PM EST permalink
fire kills manga artist: the bbc is reporting on the tragic death of japanese artist mitsuteru yokoyama, best known to western audiences as the creator of gigantor: "The Japanese creator of the Ironman 28 manga cartoon has died in a fire at his home in Tokyo. Mitsuteru Yokoyama, 69, who also created Little Witch Sally, was found unconscious in his bed with severe burns and later died in hospital. Police said the fire was suspected to have been started by a lit cigarette by his bedside. Ironman 28 was one of the first Japanese cartoons to be exported to the US, where it was known as Gigantor. Yokoyama was inspired to draw by the late Osamu Tezuka, Japan's best-known manga cartoonist and creator of the Astro Boy series." (thanks kel)
posted by peter! 10:53 PM EST permalink
Friday, April 16, 2004
i'm crying in my beer, man: judging by the amount of people who sent me this link, i'm guessing this interview at the comics journal struck a chord: "In a memo expressing his frustration to Dark Horse, Smith wrote, '[Tokyopop and other manga publishers have] made their choice -- quantity over quality. Personally, I'm not interested in going that direction. If it turns out to be the future of manga, then maybe it's time for me to move on in my life. I can't see getting up every morning to compete in a 'who can publish the most crap cheapest and fastest' race. No thanks. I'd rather put that effort into a carefully chosen, high-quality guaranteed evergreen like [Ghost in the Shell 2:] Man-Machine Interface we can sell for 20 years, and leave [it] to those other companies to be the bottom-feeders, operating on razor-thin margins and having multi-way hatchet fights over the shrinking shares of an inherently limited pie.'"
two points:
1.) i guess you know a market is maturing when people start raising the quantity vs. quality card
2.) if ghost in the shell 2: man-machine interface is the benchmark for quality, then he's right -- the entire market is screwed.
posted by peter! 11:19 AM EST permalink
here we go again: looks like infamous comics retailer ross rojek made the news again, story courtesy of icv2.com: "Ross Rojek, head of the Comics & Comix chain and CEO of Another Universe.com, has run afoul of more than just disgruntled comic book collectors and fans of the TV series, My So-Called Life. According to the Associated Press, the 36-year-old ex-comic retailer and would-be pop culture entrepreneur has been arrested by the FBI on fraud charges. The charges stem from Rojek's operation of Face Information Technology, known as Face IT. Rojek purportedly told investors his company was developing a face recognition software system that would match facial images to a database, but according to an FBI spokesperson, 'it doesn't seem to be anything he was seriously working on.'"
posted by peter! 11:14 AM EST permalink
which nyt editorialist are you? find out right here.
posted by peter! 11:06 AM EST permalink
disaster dooms comic store: according to the lansing state journal, capital city comics & books in michigan have closed their doors: "After 25 years in business, it was a basement flood in 2000 that caused the downfall of Capital City Comics & Books. The store couldn't recover from the $161,000 loss of hundreds of one-of-a-kind comics and collectibles, which were soaked in several inches of musty water from a water main break. Capital City closed March 29."
posted by peter! 11:02 AM EST permalink
Thursday, April 15, 2004
chain reaction: in response to the cancellation of wildcats 3.0 and stormwatch: team achilles, two so-called "mature readers" super-hero books from wildstorm comics, sleeper writer ed brubaker had this to say at newsarama: "On the fates of Wildcats and Stormwatch, I'm as shaken up as everyone else is. Joe Casey is a really good friend of mine, and I think Wildcats is the best thing he's written. The fact that this industry couldn't support a book like that or Stormwatch, says a lot about what's wrong with the Direct Market right now. This backwards way of putting out material, which has devolved into a system where a majority of stores don't carry anything for the shelves that isn't in the top 20 or 30 and every other book must be special-ordered by the customer is simply killing the diversity in this field. No matter how much buzz a book generates, if a fan can't find it on the shelf when he looks for it, it may as well not exist." lots more in the above link.
posted by peter! 11:29 PM EST permalink
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
new review: foodboy by carol swain
"Carol Swain's best comics pick at the thin scab of civilization that separates everyday life from the wound of nothingness from which we carve out space and assign meaning. Set in Wales, a tried and true setting for literary metaphors concerning Outpost Man, FOODBOY dissects a friendship between two young men who live in increasingly different worlds. Swain eases into her story by showing the almost clichéd interplay between the pair as they hang out with hippies, trade small talk and legend-build, like remembering a time one of them cleverly mocked a preacher during a fire and brimstone speech. When that character, Ross, begins to exhibit odd, feral behavior, FOODBOY quickly lets go of its early traces of picaresque storytelling for a sideways plunge into loss of humanity-style horror."
(more from tom spurgeon)
posted by peter! 1:25 AM EST permalink
get a girlfriend: in a strange piece from the new york press, someone reads a bit too much into the new hellboy film: "Drawn from Mike Mignola's graphic novels, Hellboy at first seems like just another B-list comic book picture, this one about a nice-guy devil that growls softly and swings a big fist. But even a cursory examination of the film's images betrays a stark religious sensibility. Look past the wham-bam mayhem and you'll see a celebration of religious and political conversion—and easily the most Roman Catholic Hollywood film not directed by someone named Scorsese... Hellboy is a deliberately light film, but its messages are dead serious: good and evil are struggling for control of every mortal soul; the end of days are nigh; agnosticism and neutrality are as bad as conscious evil; it's time to pick a side."
posted by peter! 1:20 AM EST permalink
welcome to our world: over at cbr, long-time columnist augie de blieck throws up his hands in frustration over the comic book direct market and how a highly visible comic like powers can't sell with an 'image' logo on it, but will sell shitloads with a 'marvel' one:
"It's gotten to the point now where I'm strongly considering taking a month to write Pipelines that don't include a single Marvel/DC review. However, I don't like to discriminate solely on the basis of company, and I know I'd probably lose half my audience for that. See? I'm part of the problem, too. We're in a stagnant direct market of our own making. Risk-taking is not rewarded. Good works aren't rewarded. The system is flawed at every conceivable level. Nobody is to blame; everybody is to blame. It's enough to make you sick...
"Look, POWERS is continuing at Marvel with the same creators, in the same format, at the same price point, starting with the same storyline, sticking to the same schedule, and probably even the same title logo. The single difference in this equation to the reader is that there's a different 'I' logo in the upper left corner of the cover. That's it. And I bet sales go up for it. This industry disgusts me...
"The direct market is broken at every level."
posted by peter! 12:41 AM EST permalink
the stone mother: on his blog, scott mccloud provided a link to secret identity comix, a new website that features the work of sara rosenbaum, including this very impressive piece called the stone mother.
(thanks, sb)
posted by peter! 12:32 AM EST permalink
my sister's keeper: in this newsday interview with jodi picoult, the issues-oriented writer reveals that she's working on, of all things, a graphic novel: "She's working on a different kind of novel, to debut in 2006, about a comic book artist. His works, being drawn by a young man named Dustin Weaver, are part of the book. 'It's a picture book for adults,' she says. Graphic novels, she says, are part of the future. 'But I don't think they'll ever take over narrative fiction, because then I wouldn't have a job.'" newsday's also got this piece on michael chabon and the escapist, a topic which we've blogged about a few times already.
posted by peter! 12:27 AM EST permalink
this thing called love: the bbc has an interesting piece about romance publisher mills & boon and their recent success of translating their love stories to manga comics: "Mills and Boon romances are strong sellers the world over. But in Japan, the publisher has appropriated the manga comic format in order to attract a generation for whom a novel just won't do. Mills and Boon is synonymous with fluffy love stories populated by dashing heroes and swooning heroines. Japanese manga comics, on the other hand, conjure up very different images - of violence, simpering schoolgirls and explicit sexual content. But Mills and Boon runs a thriving business in Japan, publishing its books in manga format, the novel-length comic books read by children and adults alike. And where this cultural cross-over is concerned, stereotypes are best left behind."
posted by peter! 12:21 AM EST permalink
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
the radical: the new yorker recently profiled boondocks creator aaron mcgruder: "Huey Freeman, the hero of The Boondocks and McGruder's supposed alter ego, has not cracked a smile in five years of syndication. From the day he and his little brother, Riley, moved out of Chicago's South Side to live comfortably with their granddad in the suburbs—the boondocks—Huey, a practicing member of the 'church of self-righteousness,' has been treating readers of the funnies page to an unhealthy dose of indignation, paranoia, and hatred. He is perhaps ten years old, in that ageless cartoon way, with an Afro, a high forehead, perpetually knitted brows, and an unnatural familiarity with the precepts of socialist black nationalism. He has roughly equal contempt for Dick Cheney, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Santa Claus." (short on time, more stuff tonight/tomorrow.)
posted by peter! 11:36 AM EST permalink
Monday, April 12, 2004
jesus beats the devil: yes, bad joke, but it had to be said as the passion climbed back to number one at the box office over the weekend, knocking off hellboy in the process. per the boxofficeguru: "Continuing to defy the laws of box office gravity, the heavenly drama unseated Hellboy from the top spot drawing back millions of fans over the Holy weekend... Last weekend's top film Hellboy fell 52% to an estimated $11.1M in its second frame. Sony's comic book film has taken in $41.1M in ten days and looks to reach $65-70M." hopefully, the hellboy haul will be good enough not to derail the sequel, but it's going to have a hard time beating last year's league of extraordinary gentlemen take.
posted by peter! 3:38 AM EST permalink
jack chick loves mel gibson: from reuters: "Jack T. Chick has been practically giving away his pocket-sized Christian comic books for 40 years, but some fans are willing to redeem certain titles for as much as $500... Many Chick collectors hate his guts but love his unintentional camp humor. 'A lot of people are ashamed of their fascination for Jack Chick,' said Kurt Kuersteiner, founder of the Chick Tract Club (chickcomics.com). 'Even Catholics and gays collect it. It's a guilty pleasure.' " make... the... pain... stop... please...
posted by peter! 3:35 AM EST permalink
raijin embers: following up on the story of the collapse of gutsoon entertainment from a few weeks back, the honolulu star-bulletin ran this extended postmortem: "Perhaps the early prospect of paying $20 a month to keep track of 10 to 12 different series was too much for even big-spending manga fans to bear. Perhaps readers had trouble embracing some of the more unique stories seen on this side of the Pacific in a while, like the problems an elected president of Japan might face (First President of Japan) or a comedian being thrust into a battle against a terrorist organization with 9/11 overtones (Revenge of Mouflon)..."
posted by peter! 3:31 AM EST permalink
retailers in the news: the washington post (registration required) gave some ink to two comic book retailers, including this profile on a store in alexandria: "Truth is, the one-room store has two names -- Card & Comic Collectorama and Exotic Planterium -- but they don't begin to describe Webb's 30-year-old business at 2008 Mount Vernon Ave., in an up-and-coming block that he shares with purveyors of fine wines and Thai food." as well as this blurb on forbidden planet in nyc: "Pick up a Buffy action figure or explore the lives of the vulnerable characters in Adrian Tomine's Summer Blonde at this shop specializing in graphic novels, comic books, fantasy and science fiction. Those new to the genre will find the staff approachable and eager to share their passion, but if you just pick up a book, you will be absorbed into the world of superheroes and egos."
posted by peter! 3:20 AM EST permalink
speaking of vertigo: the san francisco chronicle took a look at two recent hardcover graphic novel releases from the dc comics publishing imprint: "With a pair of recent hardcover releases, DC Comics' Vertigo line presents two unusual approaches to biography and memoir. Lovecraft (DC/Vertigo; 144 pages; $24.95) by Hans Rodionoff, Enrique Breccia and Keith Giffen explores the secret history of one of science fiction and fantasy's most influential authors, while It's a Bird ... (DC/Vertigo; 128 pages; $24.95) by Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen tells a more intensely personal tale about the need for heroes in an uncertain world..." (there's also a review of cory doctorow's new sci-fi novel eastern standard tribe, a book i strongly recommend.)
posted by peter! 3:15 AM EST permalink
new review (finally): skreemer by milligan, ewins and dillon
"Before there was a Vertigo Comics, sometime after Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and before Neil Gaiman's Sandman, a little known English writer by the name of Peter Milligan made his DC Comics debut with a futuristic gangster romp called SKREEMER. Joined by fellow Brit-comics alumni Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon, Milligan synthesized the sophistication and character of British gangster films as Get Carter and The Long Good Friday with the raw visceral energy and violence of Scarface to produce one of the more unusual and provocative books in the publisher's modern history..."
(more)
posted by peter! 3:13 AM EST permalink
Sunday, April 11, 2004
small world after all: we comment a lot on foreign comics making headway in the U.S. market in these here parts, so here's a piece about a relatively new company that's been exporting U.S. books to india, courtesy of the calcutta telegraph: "For those who till now could only lust after the latest comic books brought in by 'foreign' friends or cousins -- be it the superheroes or funnies like MAD -- can take a look around and see the local scene looking far brighter and better now. In the recent past, new titles from across popular labels such as DC and Marvel have been available at the neighbourhood newspaper and magazine shop every month, and often as soon as they are published abroad. All thanks to a small company quietly working away in its offices in Bangalore. Gotham Comics, a US-based company, has done a little more than revolutionise the Indian comics market, offering affordable comic books without compromising on production quality..."
posted by peter! 11:30 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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