Notable Links for 02/18

There's a lot to talk about today in the news, so why do I get the sinking feeling that most everybody is just going to be talking about that new X-Men revamp that finally got leaked? Sigh.

I was thinking about possibly doing a reveiw write-up of something or other today, but this ended up taking more time tonight than I had planned. So, maybe tomorrow...

* "Late in the day on 15 February 2004, journalist Saïda Azzouz, of the daily Le Matin, and cartoonist Ali Dilem, of the daily Liberté, were taken in for questioning at the Algiers police station. No official reason was given for their detention. Police were searching for copies of a new book by Mohamed Benchicou entitled, "Bouteflika : an Algerian imposture". Azzouz and Dilem were released a few hours later." Courtesy of Reporters Without Borders, read more here.

* In an action similar to Monday's holding action against Michigan's recent censorship statute, Arkansas judges have enacted a similar stopgap pending a similar court challenge to that state's similar Act 858, designed to prohibit the expsure of sexually-explicit material to children. Read all about it here, and if you want to read the original article about the statute, go here. The last two links are courtesy the good folks at Newsarama.

* "The artist and cartoonist Norman Thelwell has died at the age of 80. The artist, famous for his drawings of a little girl on a fat pony, died in a nursing home on Saturday after a period of prolonged illness, his agent Ann Mansbridge said. He had also been suffering from Alzheimer's disease." Read about it here, courtesy of icWales.

* Letterer Bill Oakley has died. Although details are still being confirmed, The Pulse has posted an appreciation by Chris Eliopolous.


* Cartoonist Robert Jack Ellenberger has passed. I can't seem to find any links to any of his work, however... if anyone knows what this man did, please pass along word. Read about his passing here, courtesy of the Boulder News.

* "Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:MVL), a leading global character-based entertainment licensing company, today announced that the Chairman and CEO of the Company's Marvel Studios division, Avi Arad, will participate in an audio webcast in conjunction with the 2004 Smith Barney Citigroup New York Leisure Conference..." Read more here, courtesy of Business Wire.

* Bitpass, a proponent of the oft-heralded micropayments technology, has instituted a new community based music retailing software called Mperia. Although this seems to be primarily music oriented for the time being, its not hard at all to imagine how this exact same model could be utilized for comics on the internet. Read more here, courtesy of the Silicon Valley Biz Ink.

* In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the last vestige of Marvel's Epic imprint, the Epic Anthology, has been ignominiously canceled after only one issue. No word on whether or not the participating creators will be paid for their unpublished work. Read more here, courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

* The long-standing cultural impasse between Korea and Japan seems to be shifting ever so slightly. Go here to read about how sumo wrestling is bridging this particular cultural gap, and how the divisions between manga and manhwa could also be changing. Link courtesy of Stars & Stripes.

* Speaking of bridging cultural gaps, Spider-Man is apperantly very popular in India as well. Read more here, courtesy of AgencyFaqs.

* "[Michael] Williams, a Republican running for the 5th Congressional District seat [in Alabama], [has proposed] a 'NASA tax' of 1% on all science fiction books, comic books, space sciences books and any other space-related literature." Read more here, courtesy of Space.About.com.

* Scots cartoonist Stanley McMurtry, AKA "Mac", has recieved the prestigious honor of the MBE - he is now a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Read more here, courtesy of News.Scotsman.Com.

* Someone in DC's public relations department is doing a good job - here's another review of Vertigo's upcoming "Lovecraft" hardcover, this time courtesy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Finally, here's a profile of Ruben DeLuna, Texas A&M student and cartoonist behind The Battalion's long-running "Fish" strip. Courtesy of The Battalion.