Notable Links for 03/19

* Paul O'Brien has a good analysis of ICV2's Marvel numbers for March here, courtesy of the Pulse.

* "The editors of the University of Hawaii-Manoa student newspaper were ordered to suspend publication of a cartoon called 'The Opinionator,' which had offended some black, gay and Jewish people on campus." Read more here, courtesy of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

* "Today Baltimore businessman Steve Geppi announced his purchase of Hake’s Americana & Collectibles, the nation’s premier pop culture collectible mail, Internet and phone bid auction house. Terms of the private company transaction were not disclosed." Read more here, courtesy of the Pulse.

* Here's another profile of Algerian-American political cartoonist Khalil bendib, courtesy of the Daily Star.

* And you thought the life of a cartoonist was dull? Check out this article on Israeli expatriate and political cartonist Ranan Lurie - who also happened to be a super spy of some sort. Link courtesy of Debka.

* "North Korea is frequently in the Japanese headlines because of the dispute over its nuclear-weapons program. But many Japanese are getting their information about the isolated North and its leader, Kim Jong Il from a novel source - a pair of comic books. Combined the two comics: Introduction to Kim Jong Il: The Truth about the North Korean General and The Shogun's Nightmare - have sold more than 700,000 copies." Read more here, courtesy of Chosun Iibo.


* Joan Cullman nee Paley, Tony-award winning theater producer and one-time assistant to Stan Lee, has died. Read more here, courtesy of the New York Times (although they list Lee as Spider-Man's sole creator, so angry letters aimed at their ombudsmen would be nice).

* Alan David Doane has an interesting story about Mr. Clifford Meth here, relating the story of why there won't be any Barry Windsor-Smith contribution in the new Cockrum Benefit Book from Aardwulf.

* Details regarding the third Free Comics Day have been released here, courtesy of Newsarama.

* Dave Cockrum continues on his road to recovery, and dictates a recent Lois Lane-oriented dream of his here (courtesy of SIlver Bullet Comics).

* Wanna contribute to the largest illustrated Bible project in the history of the universe, and plan on being in New York City on April 28? Read more here, courtesy of the Comics Journal board.

* "Kamaal Washington, a Kansas City, Kan., fourth-grader, was with his family visiting St. Louis, Mo., last October when he was taken ill. After being rushed to a children's hospital, Kamaal was treated and eventually diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Those ordeals led the Bethel Elementary School student to write a comic book about the disease with his 8-year-old brother, Malcolm.
Their 16-page comic book, "Omega Boy versus Doctor Diabetes," will make its debut at Planet Comicon, a comic book convention March 27-28 at the Overland Park International Trade Center." Read more here, courtesy of the Kansas City Kansan.

* "Many companies have cinched their belts and stopped doling out taxi coupons to late-night workers who miss the last train. But employees are finding they're not left out in the cold: A type of all-night coffee shop has come to their rescue. Waiting for that first early morning train and looking to take a load off their feet, these night owls can now spend the night at manga kissa-coffee shops where customers read comic books and surf the Internet." Read more here, courtesy of Asahi.com.

* "Hicksville" cartoonist Dylan Horrocks has posted a new essay to his website, entitled "THE PERFECT PLANET: Comics, Games and World-Building." Read it here, courtesy of Hicksville.co.nz (and thanks to Horrocks and the Comics Journal board for pointing it out!).

* "Unsung pioneer of one of the great movements of 20th-century painting, or one-hit wonder who quickly ran out of ideas? More than 40 years after he shocked the US art world with early examples of what would become known as Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein remains a difficult talent to assess." The Christian Science Monitor takes a look at the career of the famous plagiarist here.

* The Daily Tar Heel takes a look at the evolution of more adult-oriented animation and comics here.

* I have steadfastly avoided linking to any of the recent news coverage about the Beano first edition that recently sold for a record price in the UK - but here's an article that takes this revelation to mean that, gasp, comics are cool, or something. Link courtesy of Megastar.

* Kaleon Rahan, writing for the Malayasian Star, reviews the recent Wildstorm crossover event, "Coup D'etat," here.

* *Did you read comic books when you were a kid? But you're not a kid anymore? Maybe it's time you investigated the graphic novel, a form that is enjoying increasing popularity." So begins a brief roundup of the popular form in the Town Online's "Library Notes". (Do I know which town? No, becuase of course they don't say so on the page.)