Notable Links for 04/08

Man, for some reason the hits have really jumped these last couple days. Mind you, I'm hardly complaining. The more the merrier. Maybe someday someone important will read this and offer me a job writing "Mary Worth" or something.

(Not that you're all not very important.)

* "An artist who survived the Rwandan genocide is marking the mass killing's 10th anniversary this month with a comic book that details his experiences. Montreal-based Rupert Bazambanza's Sourire malgré tout, or Smile Through the Tears, tells the story of the Rwanga family -- his friends who were killed in Rwanda a decade ago. Creating the book, which he began two years ago, has been a way for the artist to honour their memory." Read more here, courtesy of the CBC.

* "Zippy The Pinhead is back!

"Three weeks after the San Francisco-native comic character was banished from the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, The Examiner, San Francisco's hometown paper, has reintroduced Zippy into the five-day-a-week free tabloid.

"'As part of our continued product enhancement growth at The Examiner, I am proud to announce the return of the popular comic strip, Zippy,' President and Publisher P. Scott McKibben said. 'We believe the San Francisco and Bay Area readers of The Examiner have a connection with the strip and will enjoy seeing Zippy every day.'" Read more here, courtesy of the San Francisco Examiner.

* "A California judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit that could have cost Walt Disney Co. hundreds of millions of dollars from Winnie the Pooh product sales, saying Disney's foes lied and stole evidence. Stephen Slesinger Inc., the family firm suing Disney, 'is dishonest and shows no remorse,' Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles McCoy wrote in his decision. He ruled that Slesinger's actions threatened the integrity of the legal system and the 13-year-old case should be dismissed as punishment." Read more here, courtesy of Reuters.

* "The Independent Women's Forum (IWF) condemns the latest 'Doonesbury' comic strip, depicting a dialogue between President George W. Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, which has President Bush calling Ms. Rice 'brown sugar.' 'As a black woman, I'm particularly offended and believe this is old- fashioned plantation racism,' says Michelle D. Bernard, Senior Fellow of the Independent Women's Forum. 'Gary Trudeau shows us that a tragic race and gender-based antebellum view of black women continues to haunt American culture.' The Independent Women's Forum calls on Mr. Trudeau, creator of 'Doonesbury,' to apologize and pull this cartoon from any future publications. IWF urges all newspapers that carried this strip, to apologize and pull it down from their websites." Read more here, courtesy of Yahoo! Finance.

* "A controversial cartoon in a college newspaper is causing some trouble. The student paper at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh printed a cartoon in an April Fool's Day edition. It showed a goat bragging to a mouse about how he had hit a black person on a bicycle. The cartoon in The Tartan angered readers and provoked an official review of the paper. School officials say the cartoonist has been fired and that two editors resigned." Read more here, courtesy of KPVI.

* "Being funny without being offensive is tough to do, which is why college newspapers that publish April Fools' Day editions often end up paying for it.

"Three student publications that put out spoofs this year — those at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and the University of Nebraska at Omaha — know all too well.

"Carnegie Mellon's paper, the Tartan, voluntarily shut down for the rest of the semester after publishing a racially charged cartoon in its 12-page spoof edition. The cartoonist lost his job, and the editor in chief — who blamed fatigue for clouding his judgment — is taking a leave of absence until the fall.

"University of Scranton officials closed the Aquinas for parodying Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ,' college administrators and Georgetown University, a fellow Jesuit institution.

"The Gateway, the Nebraska paper, apologized for its four-page edition titled the Ghettoway. One story, with the headline "Gateway cameras stolen during weekend," was written by Ono Udidn. Another fake byline: Mindjo Bidness. The news editor, who is black, told the Gateway for a story Tuesday that she thought the content was representative of pop culture in general." Read more here, courtesy of the Washington Times.

* "A significant collection of 1930s comics has surfaced in upstate New York, where they were found in the insulation of an old house. The 21 books included such rare issues as Detective Comics #2, of which less than ten are know to exist; Tip Top #1; New Comics #1; Star Ranger #1, the first western comic; and The Comics Magazine #1. New Comics #1 is the oldest book, published in December of 1935; despite its age, it was in the best condition of the lot. New Comics was later retitled New Adventure, and eventually Adventure Comics, the long-lived DC Comics title." Read more here, courtesy of ICV2.

* Rich Johnston talks to Image bigwig and "Savage Dragon" impressario Erik Larsen here (link courtesy of Dynamic Forces).

* The Pulse interviews "Invisibles" and "The Filth" artist Chris Weston here.

* The Sydney Morning Herald profiles DJ/cartoonist Kid Koala here.

* Courtesy of loyal reader Mason Adams, we have an interview he conducted with current indie comics "Golden Boy" Nick Bertozzi ("Rubber Necker") here (link courtesy of Mr. Adams' zine, There's Nothing To Do Here).

* Ira Glass and Chris Ware are going to be doing some sort of live collaboration at UCLA this Saturday - I don't really understand what all it entails but it sounds fun. Read more here, courtesy of the San Bernardino County Sun.

* "Editorial cartoonist Matt Davies was thrilled to win a Pulitzer Prize yesterday for himself and for his paper -- The Journal News of White Plains, N.Y. 'If this newspaper were anywhere else, it would have huge respect,' he told E&P today. 'It puts out really good, top-notch stuff. But we're in the shadow of The New York Times. One thing the Times doesn't have is an editorial cartoonist. My publisher [Gary Sherlock] said to me, 'That's one of our biggest trump cards.' And it was, because Davies' Pulitzer was the first ever for the Journal News, owned by Gannett Co. Inc." Read more here, courtesy of Editor & Publisher.

* "The year was 1983 and teenagers Matt Davies and his sister Talitha were uprooted from their London suburban life with the transfer of their banker father to a U.S. job. They ended up in Westport going to Staples High School. 'It was a bit of a shock,' recalled Davies, now 37, who Monday was named the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner in editorial cartooning for his work at The Journal News of White Plains, N.Y." Read more here, courtesy of Westport Now.

* Variety's "Bags and Boards" talks to Milestone Media honcho and all-around animaiton gadfly Dwayne McDuffie here. (But the real quesiton is - will we ever see more Damage Control???) Link courtesy of Thought Balloons.



Good God, but I sure loved that series.

* Courtesy of Artbomb, we have Mondaq's round-up of the Gaiman v. McFarlane legal battle here (registration is required... I know, I know...)

* Thanks to Mr. Neil Gaiman we have Peter Sanderson's lovely euglogy for Julie Schwartz here (link courtesy of IGN Filmforce).

* So, apparently Darwyn Cooke and Mark Millar got into a fight. They were really going at it down in the schoolyard and it's a good thing Miss Molloy was there or they would have got hurt something fierce. Sean T. Collins think that Cooke is in the wrong, and I would tend to agree with him myself. Christopher Butcher thinks Cooke is right, but he muddies the water in my book by insisting that respect is a desirable thing. Doesn't the fact that these characters are still around in 40 and some cases 60 years after their creation mean that folks like Millar have some respect for the creators? Dave over at Intermittent has some interesting things to say on the subject here (he's right, they're not mutually exclusive viewpoints!) (Link courtesy of Millarworld, where al lthe good fights seem to get started these days [I got the link from Dave who got it from Graeme, incidentally.])

* Over at Newsarama, Patrick Neighly takes a look at Slave Labor's "Street Angel" as well as Stephen Buell’s "Video" here.

* "In Germany they call him Tim, in Dutch he is called Kuifje, the Greeks call him Tentén and in China he’s known as Dingdong. Who am I talking about? Tintin! For 75 years the reporter with the distinctive quiff hairstyle and the small white terrier has been trotting around the globe, but now he is visiting the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, South East London. Marking his 75th birthday, the exhibition The Adventures of Tintin at Sea, running until September 5, is a collection of original drawings by Belgian Cartoonist Georges Remi – more commonly known as Hergé, the francophone pronunciation of his reversed initials – and some of the artefacts and models that inspired him." Read more here, courtesy of the 24 Hour Museum.

* "No one could call the yen Mickey Mouse money, but in one struggling Tokyo neighbourhood it is about to come up against a rival currency inspired by another popular cartoon character with a high-pitched voice. From tomorrow, shoppers in Takadanobaba will be able to buy their groceries with notes bearing the unmistakable features of Astro Boy, the most popular Japanese animation hero of all time." Read more here, courtesy of the Guardian.

* Silver Bullet Comics' weekly "Panel" discussion takes a look at just why comics aren't advertised on TV here.

* Also at SBC - Zack S. calls manga readers sheep. Man, I bet he likes getting pelted with potatoes when he appears in public.

* "It's hard to know just what to call Dennis Webb's Alexandria shop. The plants, some as unusual as a bonsai schefflera, don't quite define it, though they're the first thing a customer sees. The dozens of boxes of old comic books don't tell the whole story, either. And the used books and videos on scattered shelves, from romance novels to 'Dr. Who,' take up a lot of space, but they're not the reason most people visit this well-established hole in the wall. 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 the Del Ray section of Alexandria, in an up-and-coming block that he shares with purveyors of fine wines and Thai food." Read more here, courtesy of the Washington Post.

* Pop Matters has updated their Comixs Reviews with new looks at DC's "The Monolith," Image's "Rex Mundi," as well as Dark Planet's "Rogues!" and "2 To The Chest." (Links courtesy of Kevin at Thought Balloons.)

* Steven Grant reviews a shitpile of new books and answers reader mail this week. Nothing too earth-shattering, but stil lworth reading. Link courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

* "SINGAPORE fans are getting their comics at a fraction of the American price - thanks to an American publishing house. Gotham Entertainment Group, a publishing house with offices in India and the United States, obtained the rights to publish DC Comics and Marvel regionally seven years ago. It started printing comics for the Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei markets in August last year. In Singapore, the $10 'specials' are a slightly smaller size. Some contain a collection of short stories featuring a comic-book character but most carry the same content as American trade paperbacks." Read more here, courtesy of the Straits Times.

* John Jakala over at Grotesque Anatomy reviews that recent big hit video game, "Avengers/JLA." (PS - Thanks for giving away the ending, jackass. [I keed, I keed.])

* "Brian Mead is a lithographer at VonHoffman Graphics in Eldridge, who moonlights as a coloring book artist, creating fill-in-the-space designs that encourage both creativity and learning. 'I look at coloring books to be the original interactive books. It's a throwback to before kids could sit in front of the TV,' observed Mead, a father of two young girls. '(Coloring) can buy a parent several hours of peace and quiet, without having to worry about setting them in front of the electronic babysitter.'" Read more here, courtesy of the Eldrige North Scott Press.


* "A Dundurn Street South man who buys and sells comic books and other collectibles has admitted involvement in a sophisticated fraud that siphoned more than $130,000 from the Royal Bank. The case appeared headed for trial yesterday but ended in a plea bargain for Douglas Kisko, 37, who was facing charges of uttering a forged document and fraud over $5,000. Ontario Court Justice Don Cooper reluctantly agreed to sentence Kisko to just one day in jail and ordered him to repay the bank. Cooper ordered restitution, which is a legal judgment in favour of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) that will follow Kisko for life or until the debt is paid." Read more here, courtesy of the Toronto Star.


* David Fiore finally gets to the good stuff: Ladies and Gentlemen, The Brotherhood of Dada.

* Meanwhile, the other Dave, over at Intermittent, gets it. It may look like he's poking a hole in my argument, but really, I think he's proving my point perfectly. What if every book about Columbia had to be filtered through magical realism - it'd get old real quick, wouldn't it? Wouldn't most people get pretty tired of that? Then you'd have a small, infinitely loyal but slowly dwindling coterie of Columbia-fanboys who refused to read any stories about Columbia but ones that involved magical-realism, and instead of even a diversity of magical-realist titles we'd have all these Macondo spinoffs and we'd have Rob Liefeld drawing the Buendia's with tiny feet and huge thighs... well, you get my idea. Good job, Dave.

* "John McPherson, whose cartoon 'Close to Home' is featured in newspapers around the world, will be inducted into Bucknell University's Association for the Arts Academy of Artistic Achievement. The ceremony will take place during the academy's annual Association for the Arts dinner in Lewisburg on April 17." Read more here, courtesy of WGAL.

* "One of the first things they teach you in higher level English composition school courses is how to find an audience. Who will care about your writing, and why? How will you establish credibility with this audience, and how will you appeal to them? What's the 'so what?' of your work? While the guidelines in that situation were clearly geared toward expository writing, the same concept goes for comics. Perhaps, since comics is a commercial medium as well as an artist medium, especially in comics." Read more here, courtesy of Silver Bullet Comics.

* I wasn't going to post to Legomancer's Previews rundown - really, aren't these things kinda boring? But it's worth reading just to learn about the Brotherhood of the Mite. Inspired.

* Mike Sterling at Progressive Ruin finds the weirdest things...





Travels With Larry Part III

Codeflesh TPB

I think I finally got Joe Casey figured out.

There’s always been something a bit . . . off about his work, and I know I haven’t been the only one to feel this way. He’s consistently scored high-profile gigs but has also consistently alienated his core constituency of superhero fanboys. In all honesty, I didn’t really spend too much time thinking about these things until I read his recent Comics Journal interview with Tom Spurgeon.

Now, I must confess I was a bit surprised when I saw that the Journal was going to interview Casey – mostly because, as I said, I had never really devoted any thought to the matter before. But once I sat down and read the interview, I could definitely see why someone as bright as Spurgeon would be interested in talking to someone like Casey. I had never really grokked his work before, and as I read and absorbed the interview a whole bunch of pieces fell into place in the back of my mind. The notion percolated that perhaps I needed to give Casey another try.

Then, thanks to AiT/Planet Lar, I got a copy of the “Codeflesh” trade, reprinting the eight original Codeflesh stories Casey did with Charlie Adlard. The stories were originally published in a little heralded Image flip-book called “Double Image.” I imagine no one “got” it, which is why the last three issues of the series were renamed “Double Take” and published by Funkotron instead of Image. But, thanks to the perspicacity of Larry Young, the stories are now in print for good under one cover. In a lot of ways, I think this might be the most interesting bit of Casey's work I've ever read. Reading “Codeflesh” makes me think that perhaps Casey really is one of the genre’s rare geniuses, like Grant Morrison with less flash.

Actually, if a comparison must be made, I think that Casey might just be the Jane Austen of superhero comics. People who have read little or none of their actual output often deride both Austen and Casey. Sometimes people who do read them still misunderstand them. But when it comes to craft and style, neither of them can be beat. And certainly when it comes to plumbing the dark thematic depths which underlie their respective genres – the Regency romance and the modern superhero tale - neither of them can really be matched for their biting satirical insight.

Under Casey’s watch, “Wildcats” was about a superhero team that falls apart and decides that the real power behind the world is money, and that the real engines of change are multinational corporations, not glorified Circus acrobats and strongmen. “Cable” was about a man out of time, a soldier in a time of waning peace who wanted desperately to have a chance at normalcy. And “Codeflesh” is basically about a man who likes to get the shit beat out of him on a regular basis for no other reason than he likes it.

The book’s protagonist – I’m not going to say hero – is a man named Cameron Daltrey. He’s a man with anger management issues. He’s a bail bondsman who specializes in the super-villain community – the type of felons who almost always run out on a bond. This means he has to bring them back in, usually in a very violent manner. He doesn’t have superpowers or magic weapons, he’s basically just a mean S.O.B. in a fright mask. The judge told him he couldn’t be a bounty hunter anymore so he took to wearing the mask, because he couldn’t face the prospect of life without the constant adrenaline rush of getting the crap beat out of him by third-rate super-crooks.

It’s an ugly book, a brutal book. There are no deeper issues of truth or justice at play here, just rivers of subtle masochism and not-so-subtle sadism. It’s the kind of book I honestly can’t imagine very many conventional superhero readers enjoying, because it says some unpleasant things about the concept of the superhero vigilante. It’s all well and good to claim you fight crime out of a deep sense of moral responsibility, but at the end of the day, how many of your favorite superheroes just kinda get off on beating the tar out of lame-o super-villains?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the ethical nature of superheroes. Some think that dismissing the concept of vigilante behavior because of deeply moralistic qualms is to miss the point of the stories, that they’re metaphors for universal ethical and metaphysical questions. Well, that’s not the kind of superhero book that I think Joe Casey has any interest in writing. Furthermore I believe that “Codeflesh” is perhaps the most nakedly vicious attack on this train of thought that I have yet encountered. Casey has to be one of the most naturalistic writers in comics, because I just don’t think that it’s possible to apply overarching metaphors to his work without it ringing false.

To put it bluntly, Codeflesh is a fucking maniac, and reading this book makes you feel dirty. Furthermore, this feeling of repulsion tends to corrupt your perceptions of more conventional superheroics.

It’s not a perfect book. The worst part about it is that damn mask. It’s such a brilliant visual – a barcode where the face should be – but there’s no real thematic explanation for it in the story. Rorschach’s mask has a great little story of its own, there’s a reason that he wears it and those reasons can be traced back to his character and his milieu. But Codeflesh’s mask is just something he picked because it was there. I almost wish they could go back and change the face, in order to give that visual to someone like Grant Morrison, someone with more of an instinctive feel for visual metaphor than Casey.

The book suffers in places because of the transition to black and white. Drawing in black and white is a challenge that not every artist can meet. Most mainstream artists, especially, are conditioned to use color to balance their pages – giving their colorists the leeway to tweak the ebb and flow of their storytelling with contrasting and complimentary color schemes. In black and white, the artist doesn’t have this crutch, and it shows in “Codeflesh” whenever you have trouble picking the foreground from the background and are confused by the action in certain scenes. Busy lines look great when they’re colored in and you can easily discern the narrative, but sometimes more is less when you work in greytone.

Charlie Adlard’s art has improved by leaps and bounds since his days on Topps’ “X-Files” adaptation (that’s the last place I remember seeing his work). His art is a lot looser and his lines are much more evocative – undoubtedly a byproduct of not having to follow tight licensing restrictions regarding the characters’ faces.

So, while “Codeflesh” is not a perfect book, it’s a damn good book. I think that there are a couple stylistic choices that ring false – the last story in particular hinges on an Eisneresque gimmick you will either love or loathe. But an overriding spirit of formal experimentation and thematic iconoclasm carries the book successfully. If it’s not there already, “Codeflesh” deserves a place on your bookshelf.



(I have no shame.)

Notable Links 04/07

So, in answer to yesterday's Blogosphere Trivia Challenge, the groovy "Batman" comic in question was actually "Brave & The Bold" #102, featuring the Teen Titans as guest stars. This answer comes courtesy of Mr. Steven Wintle, proprietor of Flat Earth. Mr. Wintle was so inspired by fellow blogger Dave Lartigue's dilemma, he was inspired to write about the comic in question here. I love this because all the panels Steven reproduces show Batman walking around in broad daylight. Now, it's no secret that I am not a big Batman fan, but I guarantee that having Batman walk around city streets in the middle of the day is a perfect way to crush the suspension of belief flatter than a pancake, regardless of who's reading the book. For God's sake, it looks like he's window shopping! Where's Scott Shaw! when you need him? This one has all the makings of an Oddball classic...

In any event, it's a truncated Blog today. I gotta get up real early and take The Wife to a doctor's appointment in New Hampshire. Regular blogging and "Travels With Larry" will resume tomorrow. Do not fret, you're not going to miss anything good. Meanwhile, here's a couple interesting links...

* "TOKYOPOP Inc. and Disney Publishing Worldwide are bringing a number of popular Disney films and television series to life for readers with a new line of Cine-Manga(tm) books. The first new Disney Cine-Manga title, Lilo & Stitch, is set to debut in stores this April, with versions of That's So Raven, Princess Diaries 2, The Incredibles and The Lizzie McGuire Movie set to roll out in 2004. In total, there will be more than 24 Disney Cine-Manga projects slated for release over the next three years." Read more here, courtesy of Newsarama.

* "This June Dreamwave Productions will issue its first two DW Pockets editions collecting the Transformers Energon and Duel Masters comic book series in manga-size (5"x 7.25") full color trade paperbacks, with a suggested retail price of $10.95. The DW Pockets editions mirror the popular manga format right down to the vertical wraparound one color strip on the spine and dynamic manga-like cover illustrations. While some manga trades sell for as little as $7.95, the Dreamwave Pockets are printed in full color, making them a relative bargain at $10.95. The page counts for the DW Pockets -- 112 pages, while shorter than the typical manga release, are still substantial." Read the press release here, courtesy of ICV2.

Man, pretty soon every book in America is going to be sold in Manga format... up next, "The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot" in Manga format.

* "Eagle One Media, a multi-media company is proud to announce it will be distributing Intec Interactive's full line of Marvel and CrossGen Digital Comic Books to retailers and will also offer the complete line to consumers via Eagle One’s website (www.eagleonemedia.com). Each Digital Comic Book (DCB), which is playable on DVD, PC, and videogame consoles, contains a five to eight issue comic story-arc and at half the cost of the printed version, the value speaks for itself. A DCB blends the visual art and storytelling ability of published comic books with professional voice-overs, original music, stunning effects and high-end sound design. Plenty of extra material is packed in as well, like previews, character biographies, original sketches, a documentary about how comics are made, and bonus chapters (including classic first appearances of the main characters). All this provides over 100 minutes of viewable material on each DCB and with a quality on par with a major motion picture release." The Pulse has the press release here. Haven't they done these before, back when interactive CD-ROMs were huge? Didn't they flop?

* Barb Lien-Cooper writes about the whys and wherefors of Internet cartooning here (link courtesy of Sequential Tart).

* Thanks to Broken Frontier, we have more updates on "Broken Shakespeare"s Crossgen hijinks. Over at the Broken Frontier board, she's spilled the supposed beans about Crossgen's new financier - and I'll give you a hint, they're not exactly the Carnegie Foundation.

* Courtesy of Thought Balloons, MSNBC takes a look at "The Complete Peanuts."

* Stuart Moore takes you on a strange, strange journey through some strange, strange comics & sci-fi collectibles here (link courtesy of Newsarama).

* Courtesy of Fanboy Rampage, we have Mark Millar's campaign to save Crossgen's "American Power" series (link courtesy of Millarworld).

* "Who would have thought that Pittsburgh would ever become a hot bed of independent comic book activity? Though the 'burgh isn't as renowned for comic book publishing as New York or Seattle, it has managed to hold its own among independents thanks to veteran independent comics creators like Don Simpson, Wayno and several other artists and writers. With the publication of 'Street Angel' by the Pittsburgh-based artist and writing team of Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg, the region can finally boast an independent comic series that is as evocative and sexy as the Hernandez Brothers' 'Love & Rockets' series of the 1980s and '90s." Um, I think that's maybe laying it on a bit thick... I mean, it was a fun book, but "Love & Rockets"? Read the review here, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

* David Fiore continues the "Doom Patrol" blogging here, with a look at "Doom Patrol" #25 and a ramp-up to the "Brotherhood of Dada."

* If you liked my review of Ait/Planet Lar's "Demo" series yesterday, check out what Grotesque Anatomy has to say about it here.

* "LONG BEACH AUTHOR Glen David Gold doesn't see comic books as superheroes in Spandex knocking off villains with an assortment of 'POW,' 'ZAP,' 'WHAM' punches. 'When I was a kid, I read a lot of comic books and the story lines meant quite a lot to me,' says the Belmont Heights-based best-selling author, 40, whose favorite comic books include 'Daredevil,' 'The Hulk,' 'Howard the Duck,' 'X-Men' and 'The Fantastic Four.'
'The continuity, the soap opera nature of it, and the fantasy, took me out of my world. They also taught me how to tell stories,' he says. 'Comics have a sentimental meaning above and beyond what you can really defend in an academic sense.' Recently, Gold got to showcase his love for the format. He wrote 'The Lady or the Tiger' story line in the second issue of 'The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist' (Dark Horse Comics, $8.95), available in comic book shops Wednesday." Read more here, courtesy of the U Press-Telegram.

* Courtesy of Sean at the Journal board, we have some rather wacky recontextualizations of "Penny Arcade." I laughed, I cried, I hurled. (Who got that one? I just showed at least part of my age there...)

Notable Links for 04/06

OK, first order of business: I've been contacted with a desperate cry for help from a fellow blogger. Since we all try to help each other out, I figured I would pass this along.

Mr. Dave Lartigue, owner and operator of the Legomancer site, is in quite a pickle regarding an old-skool "Batman" comic:

" FOR COMICS FANS: There's a 60s or 70s era Batman story
out there featuring a caped-and-cowled Dark Knight
strolling down the street in broad daylight, checking
out the pretty girls. The narration reveals that
'Batman digs this day.' Does anyone know what issue
this was in? Something tells me it's from an issue of
'Brave and the Bold' (it just radiates Bob Haney) but
I can't confirm if this is the case or which issue it
might be. I must know, for the sake of national
security! Any comics bloggers who read this, please
aid me in my quest! I've done some searching on
Google, but the internet is strangely silent on days
and the digging by Batman thereof."

Anyone who knows anything about this strange, strange Batman book should please drop Dave a note at legomancer at legomancer dot net. Hell, if you figure out what it is, CC me too, because I'll be damned if that isn't a pretty surreal description of a Batman story.

In other news, I just read "Superman/Batman" #1-6 this weekend, and boy, am I glad I didn't pay money for this. I haven't read a mainstream DCU title regularly for a long time, and I have to say I'm not impressed with what they've done to the place. Plus, Jeph Loeb really can't write, and I think I've figured out why. He comes from Hollywood, right? Writing those bad action movies and teen comedies? Well, in the movies, things like plot holes and character inconsistencies aren't that big of a deal. Sure, most astute moviegoers can't stand them, but in terms of the average moviegoer, you just need to keep them interested and propel the story along. If they story is good and the characters are halfway compelling, audiences will forgive anything.

The problem is, comics are a static medium. Little inconsistencies turn into huge gaping plotholes when you have the entire story in front of you, and you can flip back and forth at your liesure. I remember a few years ago I bought the "Long Halloween" trade - or was it an X-Mas gift? I can't really remember. I read it in about an hour, disliked it, and then I loaned it out and never bothered to get it back. You can see how impressed I was. Now, if it were a story on the big screen, chances are the little nagging problems would be overlooked entirely if the character work was solid and the plot held together. But in a book, you can totally tell that he just cribbed the first "Godfather" movie along with the best parts of "Year One." He's got the screenwriter's mentality - everything is delineated in terms of rhythm, but it's an artificially imposed rhythm. Instead of letting the story dictate it's own shape, he fits everything into a very simple mold. And the kids just eat it up - because he knows that what they really want is the "money shots," the big action poses and climactic fights - and that everything in between the "money shots" is superfluous. I haven't read "Hush," but I imagine I'm going to someday, and from what I've read of the story already I think I can predict exactly what the problems will be. The overall plot will be a loose, almost rickety framework around which to hang a bunch of cool "revelations" and fight scenes, strung together so that every chapter has just enough cool stuff to make you totally forget the stupid stuff.

Sadly, this is mainstream comics these days...

* The Crossgen Implosion continues in realtime. Bill Rosemann's departure apparently tripped the first domino, because now Marketing and Sales V.P. Chris Oarr has left the building as well. And "American Power" was cancelled as well, because apparently "new investors thought the book [to be] in poor taste." The Pulse has the story here.

On the one hand, I'm glad that "American Power" will nevr see the light of day. On the other hand... who knows? I said earlier it was a "Hail Mary" pass, and sure enough, most times "Hail Mary" passes don't work... but again, who knows? It might have surprised us. I think, based on what I know of the project and Chuck Dixon's reactionary politics, it was not likely to be anything more than offensive and juvenile in it's portrayal of complicated geopolitical situations - but its a free country, and if Crossgen wanted to publish the book, I kind of regret the fact that they didn't get to publish it. Because, if for no other reason, all the right-wingers are going to be screaming "PC Censorship!" every time the book is brought up from here to eternity. I think that people should publish whatever they want as part of the free and unrestrained commerce of ideas that makes this way of life so damn good. Part and parcel of that is the concept that stupid and irresponsible ideas should not be censored, but taken into the heart of public discourse. If I think you're wrong and you think you're right, that's room for discussion right there. Now that "American Power" isn't going to see the light of day, the discussion doesn't have anywhere to go - it falls back to the default name-calling - "bleeding-heart PC censors" vs. "Neanderthal reactionary troglodytes." Take your pick.

But, then again, most discussions never grow out of the name calling faze, so this is undoubtedly very optimistic. Extreme poses usually only cause extreme polarization.

Anyway, despite all that, good riddance to bad rubbish.

* Meanwhile, Fanboy Rampage has some very interesting scuttlebutt from the Comic Book Resources forums. If this is true (and remember, it is just a rumor), Crossgen has two months to live.

* "For nearly 40 years, Joan Crosby Tibbetts has waged a one-woman campaign against the makers of Skippy peanut butter, claiming the name was stolen from her father's popular Depression-era comic strip. On Monday, Tibbetts' legal battle ended when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her suit against Skippy's manufacturer, a division of the multinational conglomerate Unilever. But Tibbetts, 71, said she'll continue her battle in the court of public opinion." Read more here, courtesy of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

* This week's Lying in the Gutters (courtesy of Comic Book Resources) had some interesting bits. In addition to poking the steaming corpse of "American Power," he also makes the suggestion that "Powers" and Kabuki" might be Marvel-bound - which would be simply disastrous for Image. But, there are two sides to every story. On the one hand, it really is a bad thing that the Number One writer in the industry (and if you don't believe me, how many of his books are in this month's top twenty?) can't get what most consider his best title out of - what - the top fifty? Top seventy five? Even with a relaunch? But on the other hand, that's the downside to working with Image. From what I understand, promotion is your responsibility in Image - you spend what you want to in order to promote your book. After Image Central gets their nut for printing and distribution, they have no further responsibility to you or your product.

So, if Bendis is unhappy with Image, Powers' baseline sales can't be the only issue. The fact is, it doesn't matter who you are, if you aren't working for the Big Two on a major superhero property, you might as well be pissing in the wind. Maybe "Powers" has reached the absolute topmost limit of its possible sales - as long as it has the Image "I" on the cover and not the big, red "Marvel" logo. I know, it may seem counterintuitive, but it's the sad truth of the way this industry works: people will buy anything with the Marvel logo on it. If you put out two identical books, one with the Image or DC logo on it, and another with Marvel on it, the Marvel one will outsell the first to an insanely irrational degree. The two things that have ever consistently counteracted this effect were the Superstar Artist Phenomenon and the 80's Nostalgia Phenomenon. Right now, we don't have any superstar artists anymore - they're all gone (McFarlane, Madurera [sic?]) or diminished (Liefeld, Larsen [no offense, but people take him for granted]). Now, somehow Mark Millar made "Wanted" a hit - but it still sells significantly less than any of his Marvel books ever have. I think perhaps the best proof of this problem comes from Erik Larsen's own words, over at Comicon's board's under the topic "PAD would be the worst choice possible for a second Hulk book:"

"People like to SAY that they want something new--but when push comes to shove--they'll take Ultimate Spider-Man over Powers five to one. It's pretty discouraging to work on a book that tries to give readers something new and exciting month after month only to find that most fans are much more interested in knowing if you're ever going to do something at Marvel."

This from the man who publishes "Powers." This industry has some serious priority problems, people.

But here's another quote from Rich Johnston, on the subject of Crossgen. This could be their epitaph, if anyone plants a tombstone:

"There is something to remember about CrossGen amidst all the allegations, recriminations, back biting and attacks, justified or otherwise. They tried. They tried to start a new kind of comics company, publishing a new kind of comic, and make a difference. Hell, they still might be able to. But they had odds stacked against them. The market turned towards old favourites rather than new ideas. And Marvel and DC management and staff took a personal dislike to the company, its ability to poach talent exclusively, and do away with editors. And they did everything they could to stop them." (Emphasis mine)

* "Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon is establishing a commission to review the contents of an April Fools' Day edition of the student newspaper that sparked protests on campus. Cohon announced yesterday that the commission -- expected to be composed of one alumnus, three students and three members of the faculty and staff -- will make recommendations about possible disciplinary actions as a result of The Tartan's special edition." Read more here, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

* "Every 10 years, something major happens in Matt Davies' life. In 1983, his family moved from London, England, to the United States. In 1993, Davies became a full-time staff editorial cartoonist for The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y. In 2003, he was chosen as president-elect of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC). But Davies, 37, won't have to wait another decade for more big milestones. Last month, he was named the first recipient of the $10,000 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning. And Davies is reportedly a Pulitzer Prize finalist." To read more about Davies, who actually did win the Pulitzer this year, go here, courtesy of Editor & Publisher. E&P has more on this years' Pulitzer winners here.

* Courtesy of ICV2: magazine sales are in the dumper for 2003.

* "'I wouldn't be offended if someone called me an otaku,' says Koichi Nakayasu, '. . . because I am.' 'Otaku' and proud -- and he's not alone. The number of hardcore manga and anime fan otaku probably number in the hundreds of thousands. If you include occasional consumers of otaku culture, maybe millions. Otaku culture has even spread abroad -- becoming one of Japan's most successful pop-culture exports." Read more here, courtesy of The Japan Times.

* Courtesy of ICV2, Australian retailer J. Carmody points out that Marvel might just be getting more than they bargained for in terms of their recent exclusivity deal with Source Interlink. Interesting stuff.



* "AS a nation that has spent centuries beating off the English, propped up the British Empire, and contributed to key developments in science and literature, Scotland has produced its share of colourful characters. Asked which figure best represents us, though, we chose a boy whose greatest claim to fame is sitting on a bucket.
Oor Wullie was given that dubious privilege yesterday when he was named as Scotland's most iconic figure by a poll of 1000 Scots. The comic character from Dundee, who has appeared in the Sunday Post since 1936, outshone our best sports stars, actors and historical figures." Read more here, courtesy of The Herald.

* Brandon Thomas navigates his way through the thorn-bush of race in comic here, courtesy of Silver Bullet Comics.

* Want to read an interesting peak into the process of turning an indie comic into a major motion picture? I thought so. Newsarama talks with "Two Over Ten" creator Myatt Murphy here.

* There's a new edition of Previews Review up here.

* "Archaia Studios Press is pleased to announce that "Artesia" ... is a 2003 Graphic Novel Book of the Year Award finalist for ForeWord Magazine’s annual prize. Gold, Silver and Bronze level award winners will be announced at this year’s BookExpo America in June. This is the first year Graphic Novels has been a category recognized by ForeWord’s annual award." Read the press release here, courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

* Just in case you missed it, Ringwood Ragefuck is having a contest to see who is the biggest "Loser" out there - and the winner gets a pile of "Loser" comic books (ie, the complete run of DC/Vertigo's "Losers" to date).

* Somehow I missed this: Mercury Studios has posted about comic page rhythm in comic books, and it's fascinating, informative stuff. Very much in line, I find, with some of my own thoughts on the matter. I would, incidentally, add another name to his list of masters of Rhythmical Storytelling: Walt Simonson. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is no one working in comics now who could not benefit from a close reading of his work.

* Courtesy of the Journal board, we have confirmation that people actually did show up in front of the Chronicle offices on April 1st (to protest the lack of Zippy). Scroll down a bit for pictures.

* I can't seem to recall if this article has been up before. The Miami Herald examines the life and legacy of Charles Schulz here.

* "When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, there was nothing I loved to read more than the latest issue of The Uncanny X-Men or Captain Canuck. Back then, comic books were different – and I don't mean just the price. The ones I collected had a pulpy feel to them, and the prevailing attitude toward comics reflected the cheap paper on which they were printed: they were viewed as disposable, appropriate for children only. To be caught flipping through a comic 30 years ago was to be caught doing something juvenile and disreputable. Not today. Comic books are now slick mini-magazines made with glossy paper and sold in specialty shops that cater exclusively to connoisseurs of the medium. The people who produce them, meanwhile, are considered serious artists and writers whose work is, if not on par with 'real' literature, then close to it." This is a bad thing? Read more here, courtesy of the CBC.

* On a lighter note, here's the story of Bizarro Mr. Mxyzptlk, courtesy of The Pulse. One question: shouldn't the Bizarro Mr. Mxyzptlk be Mr. Kltpzyxm?

* And courtesty of Mr. Neil Gaiman, we have this. Don't you think it needs to be updated to reflect the advent of blogging?



Travels With Larry Part II

"Demo" #1-5

Writing short stories is hard work. Take my word for it. I would much rather sit there any day of the week and bang away on a long piece of fiction any than hammer out a concise, well-crafted little gem of a short story. This is just one man's opinion, but based on my experience, any old fool can write a novel, but it takes a real mensch to write a short story.

You only get one pass, so everything has to be perfect. The style and the pacing have to work together brilliantly - you have to succeed in making your point without being too obvious and then leave. There are many novels in this world that are in actuality short stories that didn't know when to stop. But there aren't many writers who can count brevity among their gifts.

There are a lot of bad short stories. It's easy to fall in a rut, to consciously or unconsciously approach writing a short story like solving a math problem. You have such and such a setting, such and such a conflict, such and such a resolution, and bam, you're done. How many times have you read the fiction in "The New Yorker" and been totally underwhelmed, underimpressed - basically convinced that whomever wrote that story took a class that told them How to Write Short Fiction and took every word the pencil-neck professor said to heart? Because a short story is short, it by necessity has to be really fucking interesting. While it's not recommended, you're allowed to start your book slowly. If you're short story starts slowly, chances are it ends slowly to, because, hey, guess what, there's not much room.

There are a few people I would single out as being masters of the short form. Based on my limited experience, I'd say that Stephen King, for all the guff he gets from some, is maybe the most brilliant short story writer alive today. You can learn more about the craft of writing from reading his short stories and novellas than just about anything else I can mention. Harlan Ellison writes pretty well, but I got pretty sick of him because of his exhausting hard-on for the Great High Concept. I know everyone likes David Foster Wallace, but most of his short stories just seem like school exercises to me. F. Scott Fitzgerald is quite possibly the greatest short story writer who ever lived, and if you don't believe me, than you can go screw.

So, this is basically a roundabout way of me getting to the topic at hand in the most bass-awkwards way possible. I enjoyed the first five issues of "Demo." I found them to be interesting and well done. They were not perfect, however, and I think both Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan have a long way to go before they will have begun to tap the deep recesses of their talent, of which "Demo" appears to be a mere tip of the proverbial iceberg.

As I said, writing short stories is tough business. I think it took a lot of guts for Wood to conceptualize "Demo" the way he did: 12 issues, 12 unconnected stories. A new character with a new superpower every issue. But they're not really superpowers, and that's the hook - they're merely strange abilities that serve to fuck up the lives of whomever possesses them. With great power comes... a big-ass headache, apparently.

I think the stories get better as the series advances. The first three stories seemed to rely on the same kind of stock short story pacing you see everywhere:
Establishing scene - boom.
Expository dialogue - boom.
Complication - boom.
Resolution - boom.
It's hard not to write like this. Writing has to have conflict of some kind, and conflict demands resolution - so, it’s hard to keep from letting the demands of the form break you down into cliche. Sometimes it happens - other times, more rarely than most would care to admit, inspiration strikes.

I think that the third issue is really when things started clicking for me. Although it resorts to that hoariest of cliches - the trick ending - I was honestly surprised when it snuck up on me. It's almost cheating, the way he did it: you're wondering for the entire issue just what the superpower is that we're dealing with. Of course, if he doesn't mention it right away it's going to be a Big Revelation. But the fact that he pulled it off in such a way that I didn't see it coming is to be commended. It's the first rule of magic, kids: distraction. I was so busy paying attention to the dialogue that when the action arrived I was shocked to see it.

I think that the fifth issue is probably the strongest, simply because it feels loosest. For whatever reason, it seems more honest, less attached to the contrivances of short-story structure. The climax was perfectly reached, subtle and effecting, and not merely another MacGuffin about the super-powers. Here we see Wood finally getting his head around the challenge. He's still got seven issues to go - amazing.

Admittedly, Wood does fall into some of the modern comic writer‘s worst traps. This allergy to captions just has to stop, because we've gotten to the point where "sparse" narration is shorthand for "deep" - but that's just lazy shorthand. "Sparse" is just a tool, and it doesn't cover up a lack of ideas. This is especially cloying in the second issue. I realize that the wide-open panels are meant to symbolize unease and escalate the dramatic tension, but there reaches a point where minimalism breaks down into sloth. I am not quite sure if they cross that line here or not.

Cloonan's art suffers a bit from the wide-open direction Wood gives her. I can't help feeling, as talented as she is, she could benefit from some strict nine-panel grids, from forcing her to tell the story through tight sequence instead of loose collage.


If I had picked up the first issue of the series, I would have wanted to pick up the next one. As it is, having read the first five in one sitting, I am very anxious to read the next. The nature of this experiment is such that you really can see the gears grinding away in their heads, trying to figure out how to build that better mousetrap - how to write a convincing short story.

I realize that a great part of the book's appeal has to do with the format - twelve single-issue graphic novels - but it would be stupid not to acknowledge the realities of the situation. This will be reprinted in a trade paperback, bonus material or no, and it will be a very important book when all is said and done. Whether or not the remaining seven issues improve on the promise of these first five is immaterial at this point - they could suck and it would still be worth reading just to see why they sucked. Anyone who wants to study the intricacies of the short story format could do a lot worse than to read "Demo."

Notable Links for 04/05

Sometimes I am really embarrassed by my own shortcomings. Although I try - I really do - to be meticulous with this blog, sometimes these things get out of hand. I think it has something to do with the rather massive size of some of these posts, there's so much information it's almost inevitable that something gets overlooked.

Well, that's no excuse.

Last Friday I posted an extended quote from this post by Adam over at Completely Futile on the subject of superheroes. He basically said something very smart and very germane to this ongoing discussion, only a lot more succinctly than I had so far managed to. However, I somehow forgot to link back to his blog. This is just bad form on my part, and I have no better excuse than to point out it was really late at night. I'll try not to let it happen again - and if it does, please call me on it!

Anyway, while we're on the subject, Adam has seen fit to extrapolate on his original comments here - and I have to say that for someone who doesn't think highly of his knowledge in this field he certainly seems to have a pretty firm grasp on the facts. Agree or disagree, it's necessary reading.

So, before you ask - No, I haven't seen "Hellboy." I want to, but right now it's just not in the cards. One of the absolute worst aspects of having moved to the Northeast is the fact that going to the movies is so damn expensive out here. I mean, seriously, the price of a matinee showing in Worcester is the price of an evening showing in Oklahoma or rural California. I have no choice but to balk at this - it's in my blood to be a cheap bastard. So, as much as I would like to see "Hellboy," I just can't justify paying the scalpers' prices in these parts. But, in any event, I wasn't that excited about it. For some reason "Hellboy" was just never my favorite book. I don't even have but a few random issues. Mignola's work never appealed to me like it obviously did for so many others. I actually like that issue of "X-Force" he did better than just about anything else I've seen of his.

I'm going to get it for that one, aren't I?

But I’m hardly surprised it was able to beat “Walking Tall.” The Rock may be slightly charismatic but – come on – this is “Walking Tall” here. Even if the Rock isn’t actually playing Buford T. Pusser in this film, it’s still basically crap. I could have told you that before you spent $60 million to make it.

* Late breaking news: Crossgen's Bill Rosemann has resigned from his position as Senior V.P. of Operataions for the beleaguered company. The Pulse has the scoop here. Newsarama has the story here.

* "POLICE have frozen a $75,000 superannuation death payout for murder victim Lyndsay van Blanken as part of their investigation. The Daily Telegraph can exclusively reveal that one of the two men in her life was named as the beneficiary of the 'death payment' stipulated in Ms van Blanken's super plan. But after the 18-year-old Walt Disney cartoonist disappeared in November, police seized her superannuation records and froze her bank account.
Her body was found in January stuffed inside a cricket bag under a block of flats in Queens Park." Read more here, courtesy of The Australian.

* "The editor in chief and managing editor of a student newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University are considering resigning after the newspaper ran a comic strip that contained a racial slur. Alex Meseguer, editor in chief of The Tartan, will temporarily suspend the newspaper's operations in light of the publication's April Fool's Day edition, which not only contained the controversial comic strip, but also included depiction of female genitalia and poems about rape and mutilation." Read more here, courtesy of NEPA News. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review examines the story here.

* Courtesy of Neil Gaiman, we have the disturbing matter of The Academy of Art University in San Francisco taking a rather disturbing stand on the matter of violence in school - ie, expelling a student for writing a violent story and banning a violent David Foster Wallace story from the syllabus. Gaiman originally brought the matter to the attention of the collective blogosphere here, courtesy of a letter from Mr. Lemony Snicket himself, Daniel Handler. The issue has been reported by the San Francisco Chronicle here. In any event, if you live in the Bay Area I'd encourage you to make your support known in this issue - the First Amendment needs all the friends it can get.

But seriously, the only violence David Foster Wallace has ever inspired in me is the desire to fling the book across the room - but that's just me.

* "The nephew of Walt Disney has revealed he is to step up his campaign to oust the beleaguered chief executive of the multi-billion dollar company that gave the world some of its most enduring cartoon characters. Roy Disney, 73, quit the board of Disney last year after a clash with Michael Eisner, the company's chief executive. The two, who have each made $1 billion (£541 million) from the company, have been locked in a power struggle ever since, with Disney successfully forcing Eisner to stand down as the company's chairman at a shareholders' meeting last month. But Eisner, who has been blamed for the collapse in Disney's fortunes, remains as chief executive. Speaking in a BBC3 documentary to be screened tomorrow Roy Disney, who claims in the documentary he was fired, said: 'I told them at the time they might be sorry they did that, and I intend to make them sorry they did that.'" Read more here, courtesy of Mickey News.

The programme also quotes him as saying: "The company is rapacious and soulless and always looking for a quick buck, which is leading to a loss of public trust."


* Potentially the biggest news to come out of the gate in the past few days was the formation of ICAA - the International Comic Art Association. It's a trade organization - yes, folks, an honest-to-Gosh trade organization in an industry that desperately needs an (effective) organization just like this. James Sime has the skinny here, courtesy of Comic Book Resources.

* OK, as you know I usually try to avoid linking to subscription-only content, but Publisher's Weekly makes it hard to resist: they've got an article on the recent "Shonene Jump" in school brouhaha here, with quotes from the magazine's publisher (Viz) as well.

* "Editors Gary Spencer Millidge, Smoky Man, and Omar Martini are proud to announce that the charity tribute book, Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman, has raised a figure approaching $37,000.00 (US) for Alzheimer's charities. 'Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman' is a massive 352-page trade paperback featuring mostly all-new contributions in celebration of British comics-writing legend, Alan Moore's 50th birthday." The Pulse has the press release here.

* "Representing the '21st century Copyright Consideration Group,' Mangaka Fujiko Fujio and Satonaka Machiko visited Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi on March 30th with a petition to have manga lending rates imposed on manga-renting libraries. The group is seeking a reform to the Japanese copyright act that would set royalty fees for the lending of manga and other printed material in the same was that royalty fees are applied to the lending of Music CDs and other media. The Prime Minister stated that he enjoyed reading Tetsuwan Atom and Shonen Kenya and pointed out that he felt Intellectual copyright to be a very serious matter." Read more here, courtesy of Anime News Network.

* "A library in Toyama Prefecture now holds the entire collection of the Doraemon comic series, most of which was donated by a professor studying the famous robot cat "manga" hero, library officials said Monday. The Takaoka City Library in Takaoka opened the collection, which contains 1,344 versions, to the media on Monday. The library, which has been closed since January, will reopen at a new location on Tuesday." Read more here, courtesy of Japan Today.



* Matt Maxwell over at Broken Frontier has a few bones to pick with the constant, tiresome retreads that pass for "relaunches" in this industry. Of particular interest to longtime readers of this blog:

"Original work takes chances that franchises could never take and they can succeed far beyond franchises (not to mention grab readers who won’t feel it necessary to bone up on thirty years of back history to enjoy the work.) The toybox is a lot of fun to play with, no doubt. But the fact of the matter is that there’s only a couple hundred toys to play with, and some of ‘em are looking pretty shopworn by now. Sure, some new toys would be nice. But a new game altogether? Now that would be welcome."

Now doesn't that make sense? Makes me wish Mark Greuenwald was alive to add his two cents.

* Courtesy of Ninth Art, Alex Dueben takes a look at modern superhero comics and tries to parse just why he's uninterested in the genre here.

* The San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at upstart Japanese-import publisher Vertical Inc - publisher of Osamu Tezuka's "Buddha" - here.

* "A watercolour representation of a dghajsa tal-latini by the late Maltese cartoonist Alfred Gerada has been described as 'a creative masterpiece' by Chris Agius Sultana, a fine art sculpture and architectural restorer. Mr Agius Sultana bought the painting recently without knowing who the artist actually was. The dghajsa tal-latini was a traditional boat equipped with lateen sails used regularly for the carrying of foodstuffs and livestock between Malta and Gozo before the advent of mechanical propulsion. The painting is signed 'Gerada' and dated 1936. Mr Agius Sultana was not aware that Mr Gerada had been such a prolific painter, apart from a refined illustrator." Read more here, courtesy of the Times of Malta.



* Joey Manley takes a look at the state of modern webcomics from a business point of view here.

* I didn't know that Top Shelf Comics' website was posting brand-new content by cartoonists such as Josue Menjivar, Nate Beaty, Martin Cendreda, Andrew Brandou. Farel Dalrymple, Rob Goodin, Gregory Benton and Scott Malin, did you? Catch up on the fun here.

* Courtesy of Artbomb, we have news that the disparate worlds of comics and hip-hop are finally coming together. All Hip-Hop has the story behind Mike & Mark Davis' "Blokhedz" here.

* Johanna Draper Carlson has updated her Comics Worth Reading site with a pile of new reviews, including looks at books such as "Angel of the Woods" by Seán Michael Wilson and Jorge Heufemann, Bosch Fawstin's "Table for One" and John Ira Thomas and Jeremy Smith's "Zoo Force," New Tokyopop releases such as "Ai Yori Aoshi" and "I.N.V.U.," and an in-depth review of Oni Press' "Last Exit Before Toll."

* " The Cartoon Museum has a new home. The museum had its grand opening Thursday in Ticonderoga in Essex County, a few miles north of its former home in the town of Hague in neighboring Warren County. Stan Burdick, the museum's owner, said the museum houses hundreds of signed originals and prints of comics, cartoons, and fantasy art. The museum features everything from comic books to editorial cartoons. The museum also has an original work by C.M. Coolidge, the artist from northern New York who created the painting known as 'Dogs Playing Poker.'" Read more here, courtesy of The Champlain Channel.

* "As comics and cartoon imagery enter mainstream culture, they provide a vehicle for critique in a postmodern world. They continue a narrative tradition (for example, Disney characters and fairy tales) at a time when computer-generated systems of non-linear thinking are emerging and epitomize the accessibility and disposability of our times. Cartoons and comics have emerged as a universal language, providing immediately recognizable cultural icons that appeal to the instant gratification lying at the center of consumer culture. They have become a vehicle for cultural transmission and hybridization in an increasingly homogenized world." This is the thesis behind Western Washington University's upcoming Western Gallery exhibit, "Comic Release: Negotiating Identity for a New Generation", which will show from April 5th to May 28th. For more information on the show, please go here (scroll down a bit). Link courtesy of Kevin at Thought Balloons.

* "The Michigan State University Comic Art Collection was beginning to gain prominence in the early 1970s, when it ran into its own version of the 'Green Goblin.' In one fell swoop, the goblin slipped the first issue of 'The Amazing Spider-Man' into a coat, dashed out of the basement of the Main Library and sold it to a local used bookstore. University librarians never again saw that copy, which now is valued at about $25,000 in near-mint condition. Randy Scott, MSU's comic art bibliographer who joined the Main
Library a few years after the incident, said the library now has a facsimile of the comic, but the original has been elusive." Read more about the library here, courtesy of the Lansing State Journal.

* "So. Is God a decadent aesthete with no neck who subsists upon the immoral syllabub of our pain? That's what 'Red Jack' is selling in Doom Patrol #23-24. There's a long-standing tradition in superhero comics of introducing 'omnipotent' figures and then demolishing their divine pretensions with Quaker theological jujitsu--no person or entity can truthfully claim to be God, because 'God is love' (John 4:8), and love doesn't make any claims. 'The House that Jack Built' is the Galactus story all over again, only better, because it is stripped of the misplaced awe that mars Jack Kirby's vision of the planet-eating solipsist. If God actually existed as an individuated personality, he/she/it would be indistinguishable from Marilyn Manson." David Fiore over at Motime Like The Present continues his borderline-obsessive (but never less than compelling) reconstruction of Grant Morrison's deconstructionist run on "Doom Patrol" here.

* Mike Sterling over at Progressive Ruin is just having too much fun for my comfort.

* Graeme McMillan is not afraid of loving Kirby's "Super Powers" books - and he want to tell you why here, courtesy of Broken Frontier.

* Also at Broken Frontier - Shawn Hoke takes a look at Ron Rege's "Skibber Bee Bye" here.

* Hey, what's up with this? Broken Frontier is posting all kinds of cool stuff - including the continuing saga of Steve Higgins' recent lecture feature starring Jeffrey Brown, Paul Hornschemeier, and Matt Kindt. Read about how he advertised the event here.

* "In the spring of 1973, the Topps Chewing Gum Company manufactured a line of trading cards that were advertising parodies known as Wacky Packages. To learn more about "Weakies -- The Breakfast of Chumps" and 'Cap'n Crud Cereal,' log on to www.wackypackages.org. This collector's paradise is run by Greg Grant, and he has images from all 16 Wacky Pack series available for viewing on the website." Some of the artists featured in the Wacky Packages history include Art Spiegelman, Jay Lynch, Kim Deitch, and Norman Saunders. Read more here, courtesy of News 24 Houston.

* The Jerusalem Post takes a look at Peter Kuper's adaption of Kafka's "Metamorphosis" as well as Will Eisner's recent "Fagin The Jew" here.

* "When the curtain goes up at city-based cartoonist Shi Da Phadnis' exhibition in the city on April 8, be prepared for a laugh riot. More so because Phadnis is organising an exhibition after 20 long years! The popular 78-year-old is a record-breaker of sorts. Sample this. He has been untiringly sketching the cover of the Diwali special Mohini for 52 straight years now, his first cover having appeared way back in 1952 (see picture)! If that is not enough, his cover for the state government's class one math text book is in its 25th year now. Every year, an estimated 35 lakh copies of the book are printed." Read more here, courtesy of The Times of India.

* Strangely enough, the Cleveland Plain Dealer has an article about the new "Doom Patrol" relaunch. Odd... wait, who's the writer? Michael Sangiacomo? Why is that name familiar... Read the article here.

* "The St. John the Baptist Library in LaPlace has a selection of graphic novel available for check out by patrons. Graphic novels look like a comic book, but is a stand-alone story that is published as a book. The story is told through the use of frame-by-frame drawings with inked dialoque. The books are shelved with the Young Adult paperback novels on a special shelf marked 'Graphic Novels.' Titles currently available are: 'Mystic,' by Ron Marz; 'Negation: Bohica,' by Tony Bedard; 'Ruse,' by Mark Waid; 'Meridian,' by Barbara Kesel; and 'The Path,' by Ron Marz." Sterling examples of the medium, those. Read more here, courtesy of the New Orleans Times Picayune.

* OK, this is for the peanut-gallery: a real-life physics professor explains just why Gwen Stacy had to die. read about it here, courtesy of Voice of America.

* Johnny Bacardi sure didn't like "Avengers/JLA" - no Sir he did not.



Travels With Larry Part I

So apparently AiT/Planet Lar publisher Larry Young decided it was time to see if maybe he could drum up some support for his products in the Greater Blogosphere. A number of us seem to have responded to a recent query of his - an open call, really - for any blogger or columnist to try out any Ait/Planet Lar books they might want to see. I saw the call and quite honestly I sat on it for a couple days, unsure whether or not I should respond. I mean, in all honesty, I knew about the company but I didn't really have any experience with their product. I had bought the collection of Warren Ellis' 'Come In Alone" columns but that was about it - and I hardly think that could be considered a representative book in any event. Did I have any interest in reviewing any of these books?

But finally, the clarion call of the new was too much for me to resist. I wrote Mr. Young a polite e-mail telling him that I was for the most part unfamiliar with the books he produced but that I was very interested in sampling some if I possibly could. He wrote back fairly quickly to tell me that there was a package on the way. During our brief conversation, it was revealed that he used to work at the comic store where I do most of my shopping these days - That's Entertainment in Worcestor, MA. It's a small world.

Well, I have to say I was quite surprised when the package arrived. For one, it arrived very quickly - within 48 hours. It's important to note that I'm about as far from San Francisco as one can be while still remaining within the contiguous United States. For another, he sent me a lot of books. I was expecting a couple, perhaps a few. I was also not planning on seeing them anytime soon. The fact that not only did the books arrive promptly but there were many books told me in very frank terms that Mr. Young was very eager to make friends.

Which makes a lot of sense, when you think about it.

It's no secret that Marvel doesn't send out any of their books to critics. With the exception of maybe a few major media outlets, it just doesn't happen, and you've got a better chance of getting a collected "Big Numbers" than getting on Marvel's comp list. While many grouse and complain, it only makes sense. If 2 out of every 3 comics sold in this country are Marvel (or some ridiculous number like that) why should they have to put any more effort than the bare minimum towards selling their wares in a captive market?

Folks like Larry Young face a different equation. Because of the market realities - which could kindly be termed "harsh" - independent comic publishers have to do everything they can to get their products in front of as many people as possible. What did he lose by sending me a bunch of product? Well, chances are that if I had never bought an AiT/Planet Lar book in the past, I might never buy one in the future. So, he's not stealing from himself. For the price of shipping and a handful of comp books he might end up selling who knows how many books in the long run, both to me and anyone who's paying attention to this blog (or anything else I might be writing for).

I think, based upon what I already know and what I've seen of the books I've been sent, that Larry Young is one of the best kind of publishers in the business. He publishes what he wants to read - pure and simple. Despite his somewhat gruff public image, he seems genuine in his desire to publish Good Comics. He doesn't seem like the type - and his company's output bears the weight of this theory - to publish obvious crap for the sake of selling more books, or to publish faddish titles to chase different fleeting audiences. I think it would be fairly easy, looking at a healthy cross-section of AiT/Planet Lar books, to get a handle on Larry Young as a publisher and as a comics fan, by the same token that you could probably get a good feel for Gary Groth and Kim Thompson's tastes by a quick scan of the Fantagraphics roster. There's a uniformity to the line that is appealing, a sense that all the books, even if they come from dozens of different creators, come from the same place and are reflective of the same attitudes.

There is something very egalitarian about the line, almost DIY.

Everyone is saying that more books should be produced as original graphic novels - that the "floppy" is a dying format - that superheroes are a dying genre - and that manga is the future. But no one even slightly close to the mainstream seems to be doing anything about it. You have Marvel saying that it's just not cost effective to produce their titles in graphic novel format. You have DC, which has to front-load their OGN's as expensive hardcovers in order to break even. And then you have tiny little AiT/Planet Lar, which seems to have no problems at all with producing OGNs at a reasonable price. That's impressive. I doubt they're making the kind of money they Marvel and DC are, but just the fact that they're doing it at all is really impressive to me. There's something so very satisfying about getting a nice thick hunk of book in your hand for a nice price, and on this level I think AiT/Planet Lar delivers one of the best bargains in the business.

Now, are the books themselves any good? That's an interesting question. While the line as a whole seems to be built on solid foundations and to reflect a comfortably unified aesthetic, the actual content of the books themselves is still the most important element. In the coming days I'll be exploring the line - travelling with Larry through the best and the worst of what his company has to offer. I think it should be pretty interesting.

Notbale Links for 04/02

Hope everyone enjoyed the "April Fools" day content yesterday. Unlike many of my fellow bloggers, I didn't post a practical joke as such, but I hope everyone got a kick out of seeing an in-depth report on "Secret Wars II", of all things! Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag at Bloggity-Blog-Blog Blog does a pretty good job of highlighting all the jokes across the blogosphere here - but come on, doesn't twenty typed pages on "Secret Wars II" count as a joke?

I even seem to have inspired some inter-Blogosphere lovin' of my own. Mark Hale, owner & proprietor of Chaos Monkey's Abysmal Pit, was so inspired by my weirdo nostalgia that he was inspired to alter one of those covers I posted yesterday. It's funny, it really is. Maybe I would have showed some more of what actually went on inside those wacky books if I had had the opportunity - there are some real winners - but most of my comics are actually in storage in California. I wrote that whole thing from memory - pretty pathetic, no?

On a more disturbing note, it seems as if my reading comprehension skills are also abysmal. The last few days there has been some discussion over the future of indie distributor Cold Cut in the wake of Tokyopop's exclusivity deal with Diamond. Well, there was some misunderstanding whether or not this was actually bad for Cold Cut, and whether or not this would affect the back-end distribution in which Cold Cut specializes. Well, for me, Brett Warnock at Top Shelf, and everyone else across the myriad message boards and blogs, the answer seems to be fairly simple. Someone wrote in and told me to examine the actual original story posted at ICV2 - so I did. We were wrong, it is a bad thing for Cold Cut, and uniquivicably so - considering that Tokyopop hadn't even informed Cold Cut of the deal before the news broke online. Cold Cut doesn't sell any Tokyopop anymore - period. Seems as if we all need to go back to school, folks, because its pretty plain. That's the last time I listen to the peanut gallery!

* "Hobby shop owner Douglas Karsten, 44, of 525 W. Deerpath in Lake Forest, was arrested March 25 after he sold adult magazines to a child under age 18, said Michael Vukson, commander of investigations of the Lake Forest Police Department.

"Vukson said a parent called to complain March 11 that her 12-year-old son had bought Playboy magazine at Doug's Hobby Connection, located at 950 N. Western Ave. in Lake Forest, that day. On March 24 police asked the same boy to purchase another adult magazine from the store. After the youngster came out with an issue of Penthouse magazine, police issued a warrant for Karsten's arrest before arresting him the next day.

"Police seized more than 30 different adult magazine titles from the store and charged Karsten with two counts of distribution of harmful material. After he was arrested, Karsten posted a $2,000 bond pending an April 12 court date in Waukegan.

"If convicted, the misdemeanor carries a maximum fine of $2,500 and up to one year in jail, said Vukson.

"State law makes it illegal to sell pornographic magazines to anyone under the age of 18.

"Karsten said he opened the hobby and gaming shop 15 months ago to sell comic books, sports cards and other games to both adults and children. He began selling adult magazines after mostly college-age customers would request to see a catalogue that contained listings for collectible comic books and the magazines." Read more here, courtesy of the Pioneer Press.

* "The annual Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Columbus East (I-70 and Hamilton Road). Guests will include David Sim and Gerhard, creators of Cerebus." Read more here, courtesy of This Week Ohio. If you want more information on SPACE, go here.

* "Southwest Missouri State University is once again being accused of stifling free speech on campus. The controversy involves a cartoon meant to poke fun at a common Thanksgiving tradition. The faculty advisor and student editor of The Standard, the campus newspaper at Southwest Missouri State, are being investigated by the school and threatened with punishment for publishing an editorial cartoon that an American Indian group found 'offensive' and a 'form of harassment.' The cartoon, printed on November 21, 2003, and labeled 'The 2nd Thanksgiving,' depicts two Indians meeting a pilgrim woman with a gift of canned corn. The pilgrim responds: 'Gladys, the Indians are here and it looks like they brought corn ... again.'" The article can be found here, courtesy of Agape Press. Read the offending strip here.

* "Marvel Enterprises, Inc., (NYSE: MVL) a global character-based entertainment licensing company, has recently signed agreements that effectively consolidate its licenses into single marquee partners for the underwear, candy and costume categories. These new arrangements represent Marvel's strategic approach to category management whereby Marvel seeks to enhance the caliber of its partners while expanding the marketing and promotional support for its product lines, resulting in higher returns to all parties. The license partners include Hanes apparel for underwear, R.M. Palmer for confection and Disguise in the costume category. Marvel is currently evaluating several other categories in which to pursue similar broad partnerships." Read the press release here, courtesy of Business Wire.



* Sequential Tart has updated their site, with a report on this year's Alternative Press Expo, an interview with "WJHC" creator Jane Fisher, a more nuanced travelogue of APE, a new column by Ms. Deanna Lytle examining gender issues in the communications field, an examination of the recent "spandex vs. leather" debate by Mr. Kirk Boxleitner, and an article by Ms. Kim DeVries on the trials and tribulations of teaching Warren Ellis' "Transmetropolitan" at MIT.

* "Studying the 'magazine-cover curse' is a favorite pastime of many a market analyst. The idea is that by the time a phenomenon or a person reaches magazine-cover status, it's often all downhill from there. Such may be the case with Japan's war against currency traders. Only, the yen isn't experiencing the curse of the magazine cover, but of the comic-book cover. Loads of salarymen riding Tokyo's subway system are reading an unlikely 'manga' comic series on Japan's yen sales. Part of the popular 'Golgo 13' action-hero serial, it spins a sinister tale of U.S. officials pressuring the Bank of Japan to buy dollars. The reason: To avoid a meltdown in the world's biggest economy." Read more here, courtesy of Bloomburg.com.


* Newsarama talks with Ian Edgington about his Crossgen experiences here.

* While you're there, Newsarama also talks with animator-turned-cartoonist Michael Gagne about his upcoming "Parables: An Anthology" here.

* Daniel Epstein over at UnderGround Online chats with Image publisher and "Savage Dragon" creator Erik Larsen here.

* The Comics Journal has updated their main page with the skinny on the forthcoming Winter 2004 Special Edition - I'm drooling already, I tell you. If you, like me, can't wait, then you can take solace in this preview of the comic strip portion, a strip by none other than Mr. Gilbert Hernandez.

* They've also got a new edition of Dogsbody up over there - and this week Daniel Holloway sticks it to Sonny Liew's "Malinky Robot: Stinky Fish Blues," Farel Dalrymple's "Pop Gun War," Ben T. Steckler's "Get Bent" #10 and Tom Manning's "Runoff" #2-#5.

* There was a new edition of The Beat at The Pulse this week... but not a lot of interest therein, save for news of a new Colleen Doran documentary, and a few scant details about Compgate II.

* So, Tony Millionaire's "Maakies" was pulled by 23 papers for the use of the word "boner." Or, at least it would have been if it weren't - APRIL FIRST. Link courtesy of the Journal board.

* OK, I don't think I'm alone in just not getting what Alan David Doane is saying today. It's good to see him back, but it's not good that I can't really understand what's going on here. Looks like some kind of find/replace exercise but I'll be damned if I can figure out of what... thought it might be one of Dave Sim's "Tangent" pieces but I skimmed through the whole essay and didn't see this passage. I'll be damned if I know what's up.

* Bill Sherman at Pop Culture Gadabout doesn't know what to make of these new-fangled "X-Men" all the kids are talking about these days...

* Austrailia's Age profiles turntablist extraordinaire and part-time cartoonist Kid Koala here.

* Flat Earth gets zapped by Mr. Mxyzptlk!!!Oh no! Now we have to get Billy to say his name backwards or the Family Circus will never leave...

* Over at Newsarama, Ryan McLelland takes a look at something quite possibly more horrifying than even "Secret Wars II"... that's right - Rob Liefeld's "Captain America." At least he only paid a quarter for it...

* "Jeffrey Brown, Paul Hornschemeier, and Matt Kindt will be giving a 'Special Lecture on the Graphic Narrative' (that's what the flyer says: three people, one lecture) at the Dr. John D. Stull Performing Arts Center at Olney Central College, Olney, IL on Friday, Apr. 2 (tomorrow) at 1 PM." I mentioned this before but if you're in town it can't hurt to mention it again - link courtesy Adam Stephanides at the Journal board.


* I did not know that Jordan Crane was doing a weekly serialized strip for Reddingk - but now, thanks to the Journal board, I do.

* Erick Hogan interviews Xeric-award winner Neil Kleid ("Ninety Candles") in this week's Open Your Mouth at Comic book Resources.

* Courtesy of Poopsheet: News, we have word of the forthcoming Providence Zine Fest. The fest will be from 11-5 on Saturday, April 24th. Sounds fun... if you want more info, go here.

* "Books are great but require a lot of dedication, magazines are easy reads but can lack the substance of books, and newspaper subscriptions are hard to keep up with during a busy quarter. Lost all hope? Try comics. They can have the emotional depth of a book, the visual appeal and readability of a magazine, and like episodes of 'The Simpsons,' never get boring. The world of comics goes beyond spandex-clad superheroes and daily newspaper strips. It encompasses everything you could ever find in a movie - from humor to emotional turmoil to plots that leave you sitting on the edge of the seat." Read more here, courtesy of the California Aggie.

* "Robert Sarnoff, noted local artist and [Rockaway, NY] Wave editorial cartoonist will soon be honored by the United States Postal Service by having his painting of a Rockaway jetty used as a cancellation cachet that will be postmarked at the Rockaway Beach Post Office." Read more here, courtesy of the Rockaway Wave.


* "For nearly half a century, Irene Ford Henschel thought it was no laughing matter to help her husband, Robert, haul his childhood comic books around the country to follow his career as an aircraft engineer. 'He was definitely a pack rat. I was a farm girl and didn't want to save too much because you had to keep it clean,' she said. 'We packed up the crystal, the china -- our wedding gifts -- and the comic books. Every time,' she said. They moved from Michigan to California (twice), to Atlanta (also twice) and finally to Wichita 23 years ago. But she'll have the last laugh Saturday when 121 of her late husband's more than 300 vintage comics from the 1930s and 1940s go on the auction block. He died in 1999 at age 75, three months short of their 50th wedding anniversary. Read more here, courtesy of Kansas.com.

* Strong Bad has answered his 100th e-mail (link courtesy of Homestarrunner.com).

* Eve Tushnet again replies to my reply to her... you know, every time we go around about this, I start to get really frustrated and hope this is my last word on the subject... but when people are as polite, thoughtful and courteous and Ms. Tushnet its hard to get too upset about it.

She might be on to something when she points out that a more recent convert to the world of spandex fiction might be much more accustomed to lend the books some slack than a lifelong devotee such as myself. Again, I find myself agreeing with her for the most part. If you look into things with that kind of hindsight, being able to cherry pick the good and the great from the decades of mediocre and crap product that many of us have been exposed to - well, I suppose it'd be hard not to see a genre of limitless expectations. But the sad fact is I've just read too many comic books. I have been reading comic books since I was just a wee lad - growing up on Barks before I ever got to the spandex books, but taking to the spandex like a duck to the water. When I think of super-hero comics I don't think of "Watchmen" or "Animal Man," I think of "Secret Wars II." The fact is, that's what the fans want. That's what the companies want to produce - crap. Crap is uncontroversial, crap keeps the status quo, crap creates the illusion of change when it's really just trademarks moving around on a chessboard.

Perhaps, if we lived in some sort of perfect world, these would not be insurmountable obstacles. Eve is right to point out Sturgeon's Law - the bit about the 95% or whatever being crap. Well, the difference when you're applying Sturgeon's Law to superhero books is that the market has dwindled to such that crap is all the market wants. If you ask the average moviegoer whether or not they'd rather see a good movie or a crap movie, most will tell you they want to see a good movie. Same with novels, music, theater, dance... any art you can mention. Crap is produced, and crap sells, but there's at least the ghost of a definition of good and bad. In superhero comics, its not like that. The fanbase is so small and warped that their standard of what is really good has nothing to do with what any sane person might actually think is good or bad. It has to do with strange standards of reality of which you seem to be blissfully ignorant. This is the reality of the mainstream comics industry. They want to spend the rest of their lives replicating either Claremont & Byrne's "Uncanny X-Men" or Moore's "Swamp Thing" - and mostly it's the former.

Which is why I was not surprised by the post-Morrison X-Books. "New X-Men" was fun, but it was a lark. If they could have possibly reinvigorated the franchise without resorting to Morrison, they would have done so in a heartbeat - because taking the chance to publish something that might be good is taking the chance to publish something that might be controversial or unpalatable to the baby birds of fandom. As I've said all along, if it were possible to separate the truly good works from the bad - to slice out a corner of the medium to actually explore the "genre of ethics" - I would leap at the chance. But it's just not possible. Good books are the exception, not the rule, and furthermore, they are an unwelcome exception - unwelcome to the fanboys who consume the majority of the books and pay the bills and unwelcome to the corporations who would be just as happy never publishing anything more challenging than "Spidey Super Stories."

Sometimes good stuff is produced. Sometimes - very rarely - but sometimes you actually get a whiff of the same kind of revelatory freedom Siegel and Shuster must have felt. But, I stand by what I've said: the genre is limiting. Genres are interesting in inverse proportion to the generic constraints placed on them. If you look at all the constraints behind mainstream superhero books, it's enough to make you despair that anything decent and worthwhile will ever come out of the genre. The fact that good things do occasionally... well, that's just a minor miracle.

So, yes, you could say my experience has biased me. I've seen too much that cannot be unseen. The industry is a steaming cesspool of stagnant ideations and retarded memes. The people who buy the vast majority of books want nothing more than what they've been buying since they were twelve. The genre wears the chains it has forged these past forty years, and it has no one but itself to blame that it can no longer move.

On this topic, I came across this post by Adam at Completely Futile which I seem to have missed the other day when it was originally posted. There's a lot of good stuff here, but the real money quote is this:

"This isn't to say that superhero comics don't offer anything that superhero movies don't. They do: they offer elaborate multi-hero universes, endless soap-operatic plotlines, and continuity stretching back decades, which movies can't match. But these features have no intrinsic link to superheroes: it's historical contingency which explains why superhero comics came to display these features, rather than, say, funny-animal comics. I'd go so far as to say that it is these features, rather than superheroes per se, which are the real attraction of superhero comics for their current readers. To back up this assertion, or even to make it plausible, would take another and longer post. But as a small piece of supporting evidence, I'll point to the persistent failure of comics like Batman Adventures, which are intended to be general reader-friendly, and so steer clear of these features, in the direct sales market."

Not only is he right, but he says it much more succinctly than I have so far been able to. Perhaps the great Platonic ideal of the superhero has great potential, but the superhero as he exists now does not. And I don't believe anyone who doesn't have an obsessive interest in the latter will care about the former.