Notable Links for 02/27

* The monthly debate over Diamond's direct-sales figures continues apace. Check out Paul O'Brien's analysis of ICV2's figures here. Links courtesy of The Pulse and ICV2.

* "For nearly 40 years, between 1959 and 1998, the political cartoons of Stanley Franklin, who has died aged 73, appeared, first in the Daily Mirror, and then in the Sun. With the huge readership these tabloids attracted, his work had more influence than that of many cartoonists who more frequently collected awards." For an appreciation of Stanley Franklin, go here. Link courtesy of The Guardian.

* More details on the Gaiman/McFarlane decision: this time we've got a copy of the actual decision right here. Comic Book Resources takes a closer look at the issues still surrounding the rigths to Miracleman here.

* "[Japan's] Cultural Affairs Agency will hold a digital art festival in Tokyo Feb. 27-March 7 showcasing comics, animation, graphics, computer games and Web page designs from around the world." The Grand Prize winner of the festival's comics catagory is "Kajimunugatai - Kaze-ga Kataru Okinawa-sen (Wind Tales - The Battle of Okinawa Told by Winds)." Read more here, courtesy of The Japan Times.

* "Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) ... today announced that its Vice Chairman Peter Cuneo will be presenting at the Raymond James & Associates Institutional Investors Conference in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 at 3:25 p.m. EST. Marvel will also release 2003 financial results and host a webcast earlier the same day." Read more here, courtesy of Business Wire.

* USA Today has apperantly gotten itself in hot water with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting In America over a controversial cartoon published as an advertisment in the newspaper's Feb 13th edition . Read more here.

* Late cartoonist and childrens-book illustrator Tom Feelings is remembered here, courtesy of Africana.com.

* Silver Bullet Comics has an interesting interview with up-and-coming talent LeSean Thomas. Although not very long, it does offer an interesting and succinct look at Dreamwave's brief and shaky history.

* Silver Bullet Comics also has a timely talk with Igor Kordey here. He's got a lot to say about evrything that's wrong with the corporate comics mentality today - both on the part of the fans and the publishers. Reading Kordey's words I became convinced of the fact that his working on the X-Men books to begin with was really quite odd.

* "The atmosphere is unmistakable. The scratchy scrivening of a dozen people hunched over drawing boards. The acrid fumes of Staedtler nibs rubbed raw, of wet ink, sweat and concentration. A comic jam is in progress." Guy Leshinski takes a look at Toronto's monthly Comic Jams, and the retrospective art show/public jam they have spawned here. Link courtesy of The Eye.

* I can't believe I forgot to mention Steven Grant's Permanent Damage yesterday - oh well, its mostly a repeat anyway (albeit a very nice repeat that I hadn't read before - oddly focusing on some of the same issues regarding the superhero genre that this here blogosphere has been debating for the last little while). He also talks about "The Passion of Christ" for a bit, if you're interested in these things.

* The Metro Pulse profiles cartoonist and musician Travix Gray on the eve of the release of "Mito XIII", a comics collection that also features accompanying music. Read all about it here.

* Art Spiegelman gets around: here's an article from the University of California, Berkeley's Daily Californian on the subject of a recent performance of his famous "Comix 101" lecture. In addition, he discusses his upcoming 9/11 graphic novel "In The Shadow of No Towers". OK, when is someone going to get the idea to record and release a version of "Comix 101" on DVD? That's a damn good question.

* Lehigh University's student paper The Brown and White features an article on a recent guest lecture by Oren Baruch Stier on the subject of Holocaust iconography in Art Spiegelman's "Maus".

* Silver Bullet Comics has a talk with the man behind Checker Book's recent Windsor McCay collections.

* Former Marvel president Jerry Calabrese is back in the news, after brokering a deal between NBC, Telemundo and Main Event Promotions to bring professional boxing back to network television. Read more here, courtesy of TV Barn.

* Movie Poop Shoot presents Scott Tipton's Comics 101: this week, in something of a departure, Prof. Tipton takes a more humorous look at DC's perennial third-stringer the Atom. His assessment of the Golden Age Atom is side-splittingly dead-on hilarious.

* "Toymaker Bandai is about to introduce a talking toy robot based on its internationally well known cartoon cat Doraemon, a robotic feline from the future." Yeah, its a toy, but it also looks pretty cool. Check it out here, courtesy of Japan Today.

* How is this not cool? Again, link courtesy of ICV2.

* Not even a super-hero can defeat the horror that is a slow news day. Courtesy of the Miami Herald.

* Somehow I'm thinking that this is not the best possible publicty for "Spider-Man 2". Link courtesy of Tampa Bay Online.

* And finally, Dave G has produced an indespensible tool for those of us who follow the comings and goings of this here blogosphere with nigh-religious fealty: a page that tells you when all your favorite weblogs have most recently updated. One stop shopping right here, folks - now you don't need me anymore! Wheee!

I don't have a clue how it works but it apperantly has something to do with "pinging".

Ping. Ping. Ping.