Notable Links for 02/19

I was wrong. Yesterday I predicted that everyone would be talking about the stupid X-Men revamp... and, while its true that some were, the big was Kevin Smith signing on to a Green Hornet movie. Eh - who cares about the Green Hornet? That's what I want to know.

* Ray Charles Senate, a cartoonist who worked under the name "Ping", has died. Although he experienced a successful second career in broadcasting, "Ping" was published in Colliers, The New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post during the waning days of the 'Golden Age' of magazine publishing (the late 40's and early 50's). Read more here, courtesy of WIBW.

* Here's a pretty accurate essay on the torpid and uncontroversial state of editorial cartooning. What's unusual is the fact that its being reprinted by al Jazeerah.

* Speaking of editorial cartooning, are you going to be in the Lexington area on April 22-24? If so, you might be able to swing by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention, which is even rumored to have a public event or two this year. Read more here (scroll down a bit), courtesy of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

* This is probably old hat to some (most?), but if you need a refresher on where the donkey/elephant political imagery comes from, and its connection to the history of editorial cartooning, Lisa Fleming of the Naples Daily News has an informative and fairly in-depth essay on the subject here.

* Someone is obviously unclear on the concept. Courtesy of the NWI Times.

* Here's your movie link of the day, a lengthy (very lengthy) interview with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, courtesy of the movie site CountingDown.com. I debated whether or not I should post it, but I know there are a lot of folks who dig the Hellboy action (never quite saw the charm myself, but there's no denying Mignola's talented).

* Mark Rahner of the Seattle Times has a review of Fantagraphics' recent Will Elder coffeetable book - 'Will Elder - The Mad Playboy of Art'.

* Douglas Wolk has a go at Chester Brown's 'Louis Riel', courtesy of CityPages.com.

* "'Superheroes, science fiction and Jerry Lewis -- I'm the emperor of the nerds, the god of geeks,' Stanford associate professor of art and art history Scott Bukatman writes candidly in an essay on mutant superheroes, one of eight in his brightly illustrated new book, Matters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the 20th Century (Duke University Press, 2003)." Read more here, courtesy of the Stanford Report.

* Opus the Penguin has apperantly weighed in on the subject of gay weddings. Didn't Burke Breathed say he was going to stay away from overt politicizing a la Bloom County? I guess the harsh criticism and tepid response to 'Opus' has sent him running for familiar ground... Link courtesy of the Windy City Media Group.

* Sean T. Collins weighs in on a number of interesting things here. The topics include Stuart Moore's latest chicken-scratchings, as well as a particularly harsh albeit well-deserved thrashing of this inept defense of super-heroes. Could that sentence have possibly been more awkward?

* Steven Grant delivers a particularly cogent appreciation for Julie Shwartz here, in addition to opining on the particularly sorry state of modern comic book covers. Yeah, most modern covers suck, they really do. Link courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

* Also courtesy of Comic Book Resources, here's an interesting look at how Boneyard Press is trying to use ancillary DVD's to drum-interest in their latest horro anthology. At least they're trying, right?

* "Cartoonist Duane Barnhart spent the week of Feb. 9-13 in the Phillips School District as an artist-in- residence. The week began with special assembly programs at Phillips Elementary and Catawba schools which were attended by all students." Read more here, courtesy of The Bee of Phillips, WI.

* "Morrie Turner, best known for his comic strip Wee Pals, will be one of the featured speakers at the Gold Country Book and Authors Forum on March 6." For a short appreciation of Turner, go here. Link courtesy of the Amador Ledger-Dispatch.

* Wondering what AK was thinking about the X-Men relaunch? Of course you were. Still the best comics columnist around, for my money. Here's a little note to AK: people are going to stalk you all across the internet for the rest of your natural born days until you get a new regular gig. Man, just talk to Chris, I'm sure he'd love to have you back on board. Do it for the children. Why doesn't anyone think of the children?

* Finally, here's a bit of non-news. I came this close to actually buying a bleedin' Indigo Girls CD today. Why? Simple reason: beautiful cover art by none other than Jaime Hernandez. Go see it. You'll be glad you did.