Over at Make Comics Forever!!, actor/cartooner Cameron Chesney talks about one of the most unusualy aspects of Scott McCloud’s MAKING COMICS: the section on facial expressions:

One aspect of the book, which I was amazed by, but also took odds with a little bit, was the section about Facial Expressions. I have for several years in New York City spent a great deal of time training to be an actor at various schools, with various teachers. A large part of this training centers around one’s ability to analyze a script and come up with an objective or action that drives the character forward through the play or story. One strong lesson that I have come away with, that I feel is certainly imperative to good acting, is to not predict an emotional state for the character before entering into a scene. “Here the character is sad�, “here the character is angry�. The reality of the situation carries many complexities which make it necessary to remain open only to the objective of the character. The danger being that if one puts too much thought into the emotional state of the character beforehand, one falls into the risk of simply “indicating� emotions, instead of expressing something more truthful that follows the character’s need to pursue a strong objective and the course of actions that follow.

More in link.

There’s a huge Tezuka exhibit going on in Australia, and we couldn’t be more jealous. Luckily it means lot of press coverage of Tezuka like this one. :
Tezuka, who died in 1989, devised many of manga’s most distinctive forms and images, including the big eyes and long narratives, in the 1950s. Familiar yet strange, European yet Asian, kitsch yet elegant, his work affords the viewer an insight into the perplexing formal mutations and weird narrative contortions that typify post-war Japanese culture, says Philip Brophy, Melbourne-based film-maker, artist and author, and curator of both shows.

“His manga combines seemingly cute characters with powerful post-nuclear sentiments. Already the most frequent comment from the exhibition is: ‘My god, I didn’t realise that a comic could do that’, while Japan has known that a comic could do that for years and years.”
Once you get past the Gosh! Wow! Comics can do things! There’s a lot of solid information on tezuka’s career, including a reference to the opening pages of TREASURE ISLAND, probably the single most important sequence in the history of comics, and I’m not joking.
[Link via Dirk]

Clive Owen is in the dark about SIN CITY 2!:

“I honestly don’t know what’s happening there because everybody’s talked about it. It’s been announced a few times that it’s happening but I have no idea what’s happening there. I mean I don’t know when they’re going to do it or who’s doing it. I have no idea.”

When asked what he knew of Sin City 2’s story, A Dame to Kill For:

“Oh, I know that but it’s just that’s been talked about and it’s floating out there as an idea but no one has ever talked to me about it. He (Robert Rodriguez) told me that that’s what he’s doing but I have no idea when or what’s happening with it.”

Ah, Clive, Clive, you poor, pretty fool. Don’t you know that your character in A DAME TO KILL FOR doesn’t even look like you??? If you read The Beat like all sensible people, you would know these things.

And Chris Ware is the culprit!:

The next cartoon issue of The New Yorker, dated Nov. 27 and on newsstands next week, will feature four different covers by Chris Ware. The magazine is calling it a narrative cover, with each image depicting a Thanksgiving scene, two set in 1942 and two today. The stories become intertwined in a fifth installment, a comic strip that will appear on the magazine’s Web site (newyorker.com).

What’s next a hologram variant by Sempé?
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Scott McCloud delivers his entire slide show for the only time in NYC tonight at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU:

Comics Legend Scott McCloud at NYU

Date and Time:
November 20, 2006
7:00pm - 9:00pm

Location:
19 West 4th Street, Room 101
The Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and Publisher’s Weekly/Reed Business Information are proud to present: A lecture by legendary comics theorist, Scott McCloud on Monday, November 20th from 7:00pm - 9:00pm in Room 101 of 19 West 4th Street. Scott McCloud is a writer and artist best known for his books “Understanding Comics” and “Reinventing Comics.” Join us as he introduces his new book “Making Comics.” Seating is limited. Advance tickets are available from the reception desk at ITP, 721 Broadway, 4th floor, beginning Monday, November 13th.

The National, a comics show here in NYC, was like it always was: a very very old school show that includes low ceilings and lots of long boxes. Val Kilmer felt poorly and went home early so we didn’t get to get a picture with him. We ran into Richard Howell and chatted with him about Claypool Comics impending move to a webcomic model. DEADBEATS, which Howell writes and draws will be the only title actually making the move, but he expects to put out collections of the comic from time to time. He’s looking forwrad to the change, but also admitted that he isn’t quite in sync with today’s instant-access business model. “I remember when you got to look forward to things,” he said. “The Fantastic Four came out once a month!”

We snapped a couple of pics, too.

Legendary cartoonist Shary Flenniken, whose “Trots and Bonnie” was a highlight of NATIONAL LAMPOON. She’s still busy writing a novel and pursuing other projects.

Two people we never get to spend enough time with: Cully Hamner and Steve Leialoha. Steve hadn’t been to New York in 20 years!

Later on, we caught the end of the “Saturday Morning Cartoons” opening at MoCCA.

We also ran into Craig Yoe at the National, and he showed us a mockup of his upcoming book, Clean Cartoonists’s Dirty Drawings, and it was an eye-opener and no mistake. What was Ernie Bushmiller’s obsession with dogs sniffing each other’s butts? And man, did Carl Barks draw sexy girls. Anyway, Yoe is still looking for contributions, and we’ll steal his request from the TCJ board:

I am in the last stretch to finish my book “Clean Cartoonist’s Dirty Drawings” for Last Gasp Publishing. Last Gasp has just approved additional pages so I’m calling for more art by the artists I already have represented and especially welcome other artists whose work I may not have uncovered. The concept is to showcase sexy art by cartoonists who’s primary work was mainstream/wholesome.

The book will have rare slightly risque to decidedly raunchy art by Jack Kirby, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, Charles Schulz, Dr. Suess, Mort Walker, Steve Ditko, Milton Caniff, Dan DeCarlo, Dave Berg, Hal Foster, Stan and Jan Bernstain, Rube Goldberg, Otto Soglow, Alex Raymond, Virgil Partch, Carl Barks, Ernie Bushmiller, etc. Some of the artists I would particuarly like help on are Matt Baker, Freddy Moore (and other animators), Dr. Suess, Al Williamson, Carl Barks, Kurt Schaffenberger and also more contemporary comic strip and comic book artists as I’m not so well versed on the recent schtuff. I need “men’s gag cartoons”, sketches, specialty artwork, etc. Black and white and color are welcome.

I need 300 dpi scans and will give a copies of the book and prominent credit in the same for your help. Please write first to tell me what you have, I’m open to any and all ideas. Thanks very much!

If you can help Yoe with this sterling project, contact him via his website.

Elayne has an excellent write up of last week’s panel on women in comics at the Jewish Museum:

Other topics touched on in the too-brief discussion portion were bizarre breasts, how male artistic preferences tend to be more confrontational, whether the panelists have a specific audience gender in mind when they work, and where the mainstream comics are for girls. That last question was posed by audience member Barbara Slate, who used to write Barbie for Marvel when Trina drew it (and fellow audience member Hildy Mesnick edited it). I didn’t get a chance to mention Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, one of my favorite aimed-at-girls Marvel comics, but I was pretty content to soak up the atmosphere. The discussion ended with Leela Corman pleading with the museum world for this to be among the last “Women Comic Artists” panels - if curators actually took a little effort to gender-integrate their exhibitions, there wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, be a need for continued marginalization of women in this day and age.

The Beat wasn’t able to attend this, and from reading Elayne’s report we see we missed ANOTHER chance to meet Lily Renee, the legendary Fiction House artist. DARN IT ALL.

We actually caught up with panelist Trina Robbins over the weekend at the National, and she told us she current issue of the Comics Journal has an interview with Renee and a lengthy excerpt of one of her comics. Trina told us some of Renee’s life story as revealed in the interview, and it’s a corker. Be on the lookout!

We told you about that MIT Convergence Culture Consortium thing that took place over the weekend, and if you really want to delve in they have transcripts and what not, including that panel that DC’s Paul Levitz took part in. You can read a transcript here and here. It’s a little rough since it seems to have been typed as the talk was taking place, but it’s interesting reading. Levitz is one of the smarter people we’ve ever met — no lie — and his comments cover everything from James Fenimore Cooper to Wicked to the Batman TV Show to Tom Bombadil.

Paul: you do see it, and more as the geek logic permeates the culture. You see it in the alternate history stories. Our cultural ethos is leaking out. It says, you know this story so what happens if a piece of the story flips. If it feels right and is a living homage that departs and legitimately speculates then it is fine. But difficult to tell where the line is. Difficult to tell people; try to explain in business logic with studios. Ultimately not yet found a great objective language for it. You can forgive no Tom Bombadil but can’t put into a theory of what you can do or not.

Masi Oka has become a hero to geeks around the world. Once a mild-mannered effects guy at ILM now he’s starring in TV smash HEROES as Hiro, a nerd who gets superpowers. In an LA Times profile, Oka visits Kinokuniya Books and points out his favorite mange:

Playing a comic-book-obsessed character has left Heroes’ Masi Oka with less time for one of his hobbies: comic books.

“I don’t get to come here often,” Oka says, browsing aisles of manga, the Japanese comic-book form, in Kinokuniya, a store in Little Tokyo.

Oka, who plays geeky Japanese office worker Hiro Nakamura on Heroes (NBC, tonight, 9 ET/PT), gave a reporter a quick primer, pointing out romance and adventure stories in Japanese and English, with different comics aimed at children, teenage girls and boys, and adults. He prefers the Japanese-language imports and especially likes the work of Naoki Urasawa, whose comics include Monster.

“Hiro’s a fanboy. I’m a geek. I love my manga. But Hiro is more extreme,” says Oka, 31, whose character’s popularity is underscored by hundreds of fan comments on Hiro’s blog at nbc.com.

Added nerd tidbit: George Takei will show up as Hiro’s dad.

§ Aline Kominsky Crumb talks about her husband vi his self-portraits in the LA Times:

As a child, my husband, Robert, already felt like an alienated old man (top left). He longed for the past, never having actually known what he was nostalgic for. It was as if he were born in the wrong time. He never felt part of the contemporary culture. You can see the roots of his alienation already beginning.

§ Cartoonist Paul Rigby, who died last week, was evidently a HUGE deal native Australia, and retrospectives are still coming in:

ONLY two weeks before he died, Paul Rigby had been a star attraction at the 22nd Australian Cartoonists Association Stanley awards and conference in Ballarat, Victoria.

He had talked for just under two hours about cartooning and his life. He could have talked another two, but conference timetables don’t allow speakers to go on forever — even if they are cartooning superstars.

The ACA that night gave Rigby the “Uncle Dick” — more properly known as the Jim Russell award — for his contribution to cartooning. Russell drew the Potts for more than 60 years, and Uncle Dick was one of the characters in the comic. It’s the highest honour the oldest cartooning association in the world can bestow.

§A humor strip popular in Alaska is makings its way to the wider, warmer world:

Chad Carpenter, while clearly one of the most talented comic strip artists around, is admittedly not a great salesman. Although he’s been drawing his hilarious “Tundra” strip since 1991, up until this year, it appeared in fewer than a half-dozen newspapers, all in his native Alaska. Content and earning a comfortable living by selling Tundra books, calendars, T-shirts and other items, Carpenter never really had the desire to go out and sell his comic strip to the masses.

§ Cartooner Dylan Horrocks has been selected as one of a number of New Zealand creators to tour France explaining Kiwi cultures:

Meanwhile, novelist Chad Taylor (Shirker, Electric, Departure Lounge) was one of 12 Kiwi writers chosen to represent New Zealand at Les Belles Etrangeres. Les Belles Etrangères is a French literary festival, created in 1987 by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, and organised by the Centre National du Livre (CNL, the French equivalent of NZ Book Council). The aim of the programme is to present foreign literature to French people. Along with cartoonist Dylan Horrocks and writers such as Elizabeth Knox, Alan Duff, Sia Figiel, Albert Wendt, Dame Fiona Kidman and James George, Taylor is currently travelling around France meeting locals and reading at schools, libraries and more.

¶Meanwhile, up in Canada, a Pakistan-born cartoonist who now works for the NY Times is among those having problems with the Canadian no-fly list:

cartoonist Shahid Mahmood of Toronto is among those Canadians who are now frightened to fly to the United States due to questions surrounding no-fly lists, and he encourages others to challenge the government’s plan to implement its own list by next year. Since he was denied a ticket for a flight from Vancouver to Victoria in 2004 because his name was flagged by Air Canada, Mahmood, an architect and freelance editorial cartoonist, has spent almost three years hounding government departments and the airline for answers.

§ The Onion explains the whole Bob Kane/Bill Finger mystery for those who came in late:

There’s little dispute, however, that Finger and his friend Kane worked together on conceptualizing Batman. It’s mostly a question of who contributed what. But whatever the case, Kane happily signed a deal claiming the character as his creation, then put Finger to work as his writer for a percentage of his page rate. In the years to come, Finger would provide most of the Batman scripts, fleshing out the mythos with artists like Jerry Robinson, creator of the Joker. Finger, who also co-created the original Green Lantern and contributed to the creation of or created whole-cloth such Batman staples as The Riddler, Catwoman, the Batcave, and Gotham City, died a despondent, forgotten man in 1974. Robinson, who went on to considerable success as an editorial and comic-strip cartoonist, founded the Bill Finger Award in 2005 to honor comic-book writers who never received popular recognition in a day when bylines were considered an indulgence, and business sense met with greater rewards than creativity.

OneRing.Net has a letter from director Peter Jackson where he explains that due to his not being able to work on THE HOBBIT until his lawsuit with New Line over the profits of FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, New Line has told him they don’t want him to make THE HOBBIT…or a mysterious 2nd prequel to LotR.

Several years ago, Mark Ordesky told us that New Line have rights to make not just The Hobbit but a second “LOTR prequel”, covering the events leading up to those depicted in LOTR. Since then, we’ve always assumed that we would be asked to make The Hobbit and possibly this second film, back to back, as we did the original movies. We assumed that our lawsuit with the studio would come to a natural conclusion and we would then be free to discuss our ideas with the studio, get excited and jump on board. We’ve assumed that we would possibly get started on development and design next year, whilst filming The Lovely Bones. We even had a meeting planned with MGM executives to talk through our schedule.

However last week, Mark Ordesky called Ken and told him that New Line would no longer be requiring our services on the Hobbit and the LOTR ‘prequel’. This was a courtesy call to let us know that the studio was now actively looking to hire another filmmaker for both projects.

Second prequel? Ah, Finrod!

“Do you expect me to talk, Goldfinger?”

“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to waddle over to that ice floe and guard your eggs fiercely.”:

A cadre of singing and dancing penguins beat out the monkey-suited international superspy James Bond at the B.O. this weekend, as Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow’s CG-animated “Happy Feet” skipped to No. 1 with $42.3 million thanks to a particularly strong Saturday run.

Bond’s No. 2 finish in Sony/MGM’s “Casino Royale” with $40.6 million — the second-best opening ever for a 007 pic — helped spur a particularly strong pre-Thanksgiving sesh as the holiday season took flight.

Screw those celebutantes. Angelina Jolie is the MODERN heroine. Off in some remote part of the Third World, she zips off in a speed boat, holding a baby, wearing a Lara Croft wife beater AND she has Brad Pitt for a sidekick. Where are they going? Bust up a spy ring? Prove that Maddox is THE ONE? Bring medicine to a remote village surrounded by Cold War bandits?

The sky is the limit.

We’ll actually be joining Brangelina, Maddox, Zohara and Shiloh on their latest exploit in a remote region of the globe, and may or may not have internet access for the next week or so. It depends on what the limeys call WiFi, and we’re not holding our breath.

If we can get on, fine. Posting will be light, but it’s the holiday, anyway. We have prepared some canned content for you, but it’s mostly pretty pictures and other things to keep you amused until we return. In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving. Where we’re going, they don’t celebrate with a giant turkey, and for that we are truly thankful.

Violence broke out around the nation as crowds scrambled for the new Sony PlayStation 3 which has been released in limited quantities; a Massachusetts man was shot while waiting in line to buy one:

At 3:15 a.m., two armed robbers shot Michael Penkala, 21, of Webster, Mass., outside a Wal-Mart store in Putnam, Conn., as he waited in line to be one of the first to own the machine, the state police said. The robbers approached Mr. Penkala — along with 15 to 20 other shoppers — and demanded money. Mr. Penkala resisted, and one of the assailants unloaded a shotgun blast into his chest and shoulder, the authorities said

[snip]The robbers in Putnam were apparently taking advantage of a captive group likely to be carrying cash, as lines formed across Connecticut — and the country — outside stores in anticipation of the widely hyped release of the PlayStation. Sony, the market leader in video consoles, is selling the new model for $499 or $599, depending on the size of the hard drive.

The Associated Press reported several other robberies and attempted robberies around the country including in Sullivan, Ind., Allentown, Pa., and Englewood, Ohio.

In McLean, Va., the police fired pepper pellets to subdue a rowdy crowd of about 200 people outside a Circuit City store at Tysons Corner Center mall. One person complained of shortness of breath after the pellets were fired and was taken to the hospital, the authorities said.

Meanwhile, the Nintendo Wii launch has been a time of peace, love and understanding.

In sharp contrast to the PS3 launch yesterday, the Wii launch is going very smoothly so far. Lines started forming today all over the country and reports are coming in of 20-80 people deep. Everyone seems to be in good spirits and no one’s gotten mugged yet that I know of. The Wii seems to be pulling more people in a short amount of time as opposed to the PS3’s short lines and protracted camp outs. About 80-90% of the line waiters interviewed said they would be keeping their Wii’s or were buying them for presents rather than selling them on eBay for a profit.

So which strategy will win? The “Supplies are limited” scam, or the “actually in high demand” plan?

The public reception runs from 8 to 11 — tickets are $15 — but for the toon heads out there, this should be an awesome show.

“Saturday Morning: Art and Artifacts from a Golden Age of Television.� The exhibition, which opens on November 18th, 2006 will celebrate nearly sixty years of television animation with a focus on the “Golden Age� of Saturday morning cartoons, which lasted from 1966 to 1990. The opening reception is scheduled for the evening of November 18th. The private reception is from 7 to 8pm and the doors are open to the public from 8 to 11pm. Admission is $15.

Over 100 pieces of animation artwork and memorabilia have been culled from the collections of private supporters and MoCCA members, in addition to the representative pieces that the museum has on hand in its own permanent collection.

With a month left, over 75 television programs are already represented in the exhibition and artwork is still on its way to MoCCA for framing in preparation for the mounting of the show, which is MoCCA’s first major exhibition of animation art.

The list of shows currently represented in the exhibition includes: Looney Tunes, NBC TeleComics, Casper, The Woody Woodpecker Show, Tom & Jerry, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Mr. Magoo, The Alvin Show, Jonny Quest, The Pink Panther, Underdog, Space Ghost, The Herculoids, Speed Racer, The Archies, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Harlem Globetrotters, SeaLab 2020, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Schoolhouse Rock, Star Trek, Super Friends, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Captain Caveman, Godzilla Power HourBattle of the Planets, New Fantastic Four, New Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show, The Smurfs, Amazing Spider-Man & The Incredible Hulk, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, GI Joe, Inspector Gadget, Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies, Dennis the Menace, Hulk Hogan’s Rock and Wrestling, The Wuzzles, Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, The Ewoks, The Care Bears, My Little Pony, The Real Ghost Busters, The Original Ghost Busters, Rainbow Brite, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, ALF Tales, Garfield and Friends, New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Beetlejuice, The Simpsons, Bobby’s World, Darkwing Duck, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Where’s Waldo, Doug, The Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, ProStars, Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, Pinky and the Brain, Sonic The Hedgehog, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, The Tick, The Powerpuff Girls, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Samurai Jack, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and The Batman. As well as pieces from Frosted Flakes and Frankenberry television commercials among others.

Matt. Murray, the exhibition’s lead curator and MoCCA Chief Operating Officer, expresses excitement over the show because “it contains examples of almost every kind of animation art - from character roughs, to model packs, storyboards to drawings, as well as scripts and series bibles. It’s a great chance for the public to see how much work goes into the making of an animated cartoon, and hopefully will give them some perspective on the art form when they watch a cartoon on TV or see a pretty cel for sale in a gallery.�

Also on display will be comic art and collectibles including posters, limited edition artwork, and toys that helped contribute to the cultural phenomenon that was Saturday morning, including a 3’x 3’ Smurf village on loan from Schleich.

“Saturday Morning: Art and Artifacts from a Golden Age of Television� will remain on view at the museum through March 16th, 2007. The museum is still seeking monetary donations and sponsors to help support the show’s four month stay at the museum.

THE TRIPPER is a horror film whose villain is an axe-wielding former president. It was directed by David Arquette and co-written by Arquette and former comical type Joe Harris (DARKNESS FALLS) which is why we’re mentioning it here. The film also stars comics writer Thomas Jane as well as Jaime King, Paul Reubens, Jason Mewes, Lucas Haas, Balthazar Getty, etc etc so it’s got “CULT MOVIE” written all over it. The film is having a special sneak this Sunday night and Tuesday as part of Horror Fest at these theatres:

Los Angeles - The Bridge Cinema Delux - 10:15PM
Panama City - Regency 11 - 10:15PM
Atlanta - The Plaza Theatre - 9:15PM
San Jose - Century Capitol 16 - 10:00PM
Birmingham - Brook Hiland - 10:15PM
New York - The E-Walk 13 - 10:15PM
San Francisco - Century Plaza 10 - 10:15PM
Las Vegas - Regal Village Square 18 - 10:15PM

Also, we screwed up badly by not alerting you to the one week York York run of LINDA LINDA LINDA, a movie released by Viz (yes that one), It’s about three girls trying to become a band, and got a a rave review in the New York Times, of all places

If a movie about guitar-strumming Japanese high school girls isn’t high on your list of weekend destinations, you could be missing one of this year’s most unexpected pleasures. “Linda Linda Linda,” an understated and disarmingly human tale of an all-girl band in the runup to the annual rock festival at the members’ school, takes its title from a 1980s pop song so catchy your brain may never want to let it go.

It’s New York run is over, but if you get a chance, check it out. Cute Japanese girls in short skirts. What are you waiting for?

Chris Butcher has a long important post spinning off from Queenie Chan’s comments on making her Tokyopop OEL/OGM THE DREAMING. First quote is from Chan:

“From this perspective, it’s almost inevitable that “The Dreaming” is structured in a Three-Act Structure. Does that mean that the three-act structure suits the 3-book format? Heck, no. This is because the 3-book format requires each book to be of equal length, which is NOT what you’re supposed to do with the three-act structure. The first act, mostly of set-ups and introduction, ought to be shorter than the other two acts, acting as a “hook” to draw the reader in. Over-extend the first act and your readers will start wondering when the plot is going to start. And yet, that’s EXACTLY what you have to do for the 3-book format. In other words, anybody who uses the three-act structure in the 3-book format is bound to hit against a similar wall. To be true, nobody complained about that aspect of “The Dreaming” vol1 to my knowledge (except me), but I thought vol 1 was too long, and it’s a flaw that I couldn’t fix as long as I used the three-act structure.â€?

And here’s Butcher’s reaction:

And that’s where her essay stopped me dead in my tracks. I’ve re-read her essay a number of times and I can only assume that she’s serious, and that she firmly believes that adhering to a three-act structure actually means that each physical book needs to be an ‘act’ of the story. I can only call this a spectacular failure of imagination on the part of her or her editor. Having an overarching narrative in three acts is fine, but why not, say, have the first act “endâ€? half way through the first book, introductions and premise out of the way, and then start your second act with plenty of action? Why not have your second book recap a brief introduction and then just get progressively crazier, with the climax of your story coming on the last page? Why not have your third volume offer the climax resolution (the end of act two) and then offer the dénouement (act three)? Where’s the rule that says the acts have to rigidly adhere to your publisher’s formatting decisions? Because in any sort of creative writing class I’ve taken, I have to admit to never encountering that rule. The fact that Queenie-chan, and seemingly other OEL creators have accepted this as gospel truth of pacing is a little upsetting. There are hundreds of multi-book series’ on the racks, manga or otherwise, and none of them that I’ve encountered follow this model.

Butcher hasn’t read THE DREAMING, so he talks about the story structure of FOOL’S GOLD. Elsewhere, the structure of MAIL ORDER NINJA has also been discussed of late — this story was split into two volumes, which is not the way it was intended to be read. Butcher has been aken to task by a few other manga-ka for being harsh in his criticisms, but lets face it, Johanna and Chris are important critics because they don’t pull punches based on who they want to hang out with or work with or any other reason.

If nothing else happens from here on out, Tokyopops great original manga experiment has already been a significant undertaking that has introduced an entire generation of cartoonists who will be very important for the next decade, and, hell, let’s be honest, it’s paid them to learn on the job. But in reading all of this handsight, it seems to us that the Satisfying Chunk has become tainted.

Based on the books that sell the best, manga readers aren’t really that big on story structure. However, almost all the good manga we read is broken up into chapters or even short stories, because of the original serialization. Books from YOTSUBA&! to NEGIMA to RANMA 1/2 are broken up into segments, all with rising and falling action. We haven’t read THE DREAMING or MAIL ORDER NINJA either, so we can’t comment on how well the stories play out…or don’t. And as tempting as it is, you can’t compare everything to LORD OF THE RINGS.

Perhaps the bottom line is that just making a chunk bigger doesn’t make it satisfying. With all the graphic “novels”, or big picto-rockets coming out, you’d think people would have sat down and read Robert McKee at least. We don’t hold with all of McKee’s dictums, and certainly his ubiquity in Hollywood has led to rampant homogenization and predictability. (Speaking of which did anyone catch this week’s SOUTH PARK with Stan and the peewee hockey team? Genius!)

But if you’re going to write a 500+ page comic book, study story. It certainly can’t hurt. And it might just help you overcome vague editorial advice and logic-defying marketing decisions.

It’s time for THE NATIONAL, the Big Apple Con’s biggest show of the year. You can see all the media type guests in the above graphic, but there are also many cool comics folks:

Joining a list that already includes Neal Adams, John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr. are ground breaking artist Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra: The Assassin), Daredevil artist Alex Maleev and indie hero Michael Avon Oeming (Powers).

Additional Comic writers and artists appearing over the three days of the show include: horror comic legend Bernie Wrightson, Golden Age creators Irwin Hasen and Joe Giella, Shi creator Billy Tucci, creators Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Mark Texeira (Ghost Rider), Stuart Sayger (Shiver in the Dark), Jae Lee (Ultimate Fantastic Four), Andy MacDonald and Ivan Brandon (NYC Mech), Khary Randolph (Teen Titans GO!), Jim Calafiore (Exiles), Tommy Castillo (Detective Comics), Mike Lilly (Nightwing), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-man), painter Mark Sparacio (Shi cover artist), Michael Golden (Vigilante), Mike Bair (Identity Crisis), Travis Cherest (WildC.A.T.S.), Jerry Ordway (52), Paolo Rivera (Marvel cover artist), Rodney Ramos (Green Lantern), Tim Vigil (creator of Faust) and Kubert School instructor Ian Dorian. Ken Kelly, the painter of Kiss album covers for “Love Gun� and “Destroyer� will also be in Artist Alley all weekend.

Big Apple Conventions NATIONAL show this weekend November 17th to 19th at the Penn Plaza Pavilion, 401 7th Avenue at 33rd Street across from Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. For more information go to www.bigapplecon.com or call 201-841-1414.

Now, we don’t really go for media guests, but we confess to having a soft spot for Val Kilmer, so we may have to pony up for a picture with Madmartigan, even though that was long ago.

The show starts today at 1 pm.

If you like think tank talks about the future, you would probably like the MIT CMS/C3 Futures of Entertainment Conference taking place this weekend. Registration is closed, alas:

As advertisers look for new ways to engage audiences, content creators search for new audiences, and audiences quest for new ways to connect with culture, the nature of what counts as ‘entertainment’ is rapidly changing. We are seeing the blurring of aesthetic and technological distinctions between media platforms, of ‘advertising’ and ‘content’ and of ‘creator’ and ‘consumer’. Futures of Entertainment brings together key industry leaders who are shaping these new directions in our culture. The conference will consider developments such as user-generated content, transmedia storytelling, the rise of mobile media and the emergence of social networking.

Futures of Entertainment is free and open to the public. Registering ensures a place at the conference if attendance exceeds capacity, so please only register if you will be attending. If the number of registrants exceeds capacity, registration will be closed.

Now why are we mentioning this here? Because of one of the panelists:

Transmedia Properties

Panelists: Paul Levitz, Michael Lebowitz, Alex Chisholm

The cultural logic of convergence lends itself to a flow of narratives, characters, and worlds across media platforms. Moving beyond older models based on liscensed ancillary products, transmedia extensions are now seen as expanding the opportunities for storytelling, enabling new kinds of entertainment experiences, building up secondary characters or backstory. Transmedia extension may also create alternative openings for different market segments and enable more extensive contact with brands. The great potential of transmediation is to deepen audience engagement, but this requires greater awareness of the specific benefits of working within different platforms. How are media companies organizing the development of transmedia properties? How are storytellers taking advantage of the “expanded canvas” such an approach offers? How do transmedia strategies impact the new integration between brands and entertainment properties? What new expectations do transmedia properties place on consumers?

Now that should be interesting.

Vertigo has joined the “first one is free club” by posting the first issues of most of their signature titles for free on these here internets. Everything from SANDMAN #1 and SWAMP THING #1 to EXTERMINATORS and TESTAMENT. The latter has the added bonus of notes by writer Douglas Rushkoff, which he describes a bit in his blog:

The notes were a real labor of love for me - and took about as much time as writing the comic itself. They’re quite valuable for understanding why the Bible scenes are depicted the way they are, and site all the chapters and verses from which various scenes and insights were culled. I’ve even gone so far as to include the Talmud and Midrash sources I used to come up with some of my interpretations of these scenes. (The notes to the first ten issues will appear in the back of the second collection.)

More in both links.

Jeff Smith has reached Lucca in his comics world tour:

On the far left is Igort Tuveri , the independent cartoonist/publisher of Coconino Press . He publishes many wonderful art comics including his own BAOBAB. He is very passionate about the format being in service to the art of the comic. I agree. At the far right is my friend Dark Horse editor Diana Schutz. The two of them engage in an earnest exchange of questions about knowing when to concede to certain market realities. When should an artist give in to a format that the marketplace dictates? Suddenly, I realized this panel was not about the size and shape of a comic at all. If I understand what the conversation was really about, I think the European publishers are not only looking over their shoulders at Manga, but at the new Graphic Novel format. The size of many GNs, like BONE and BLANKETS and many others, including new works by European artists like David B. are closer to standard book dimensions than the traditionally larger European albums. This is an interesting new twist.

If you haven’t been reading the Boneville blog, you’ve been missing some interesting observations from Smith on the various formatting and marketing practices of graphic novels across Europe.

Meanwhile, the McCloud family tour was also in Europe, i.e. Oxford, and had dinner with Phillip Pullman, among others.

And what a dinner it was. Ted invited over a couple of friends of his who wanted to meet Scott, and their wives. Hence we had dinner with the rather well known publisher David Fickling (every one we saw in England seemed to know him) and his wife Caro, and the very talented author Philip Pullman and wife Jude. I can not begin to tell you how great they all were. Witty, and charming, and very kind. I think I talked more than I should have, as they were really there to see Scott, but they were very gracious about it. The food was great, and conversations were many and varied. I think my favorite moment was when all of them started talking about what was happening on a radio soap that has been on forever and that everyone listens to. It was all very gossipy, and when I asked what they were talking about, their answers’ and their enthusiasm for the show was really fun to watch.

We frequently post news of fundraising efforts for The HERO INITIATIVE (formerly ACTOR), but a quick review might be in order. ACTOR stood for A Commitment To Our Roots and was founded to help cartoonists in need — drawing the funny books is a job without benefits and pensions, and when you’re sick or old enough to be considered out of it, there may be no work, and nothing to fall back on. The story of HERO helping Bill Messner-Loebs is pretty well known, but in a nice interview at Tales of Wonder, director Jim McLauchlin talks about some other cases. Most disbursements from HERO are kept private, for obvious reasons, but it’s important to hear of real life cases and know that this money is going for a damned good cause:

Armando Gil is a comics vet who wound up wiped out when an animation company he worked for went under, and he went unpaid. He didn’t even have the money to renew his driver’s license, and his car got impounded. He was working at a box factory, and couldn’t get to work, and the downward spiral was really starting. We were able to get him some dough to get his car back, and he’s been working steadily, albeit in a field that’s not his first choice—not many kids grow up wanting to be box-makers. But we were able to steer some work his way, and he’s wisely used that dough to reset himself in the art field. He bought a scanner, and finally got an Internet connection, which, face facts, is a business essential. We were able to help him land a new animation job that should get him a few thousand dollars in first quarter of 2007 as well.

and

We’ve even kept people alive. There was a moment at the San Diego ComiCon in 2004 that was surreal. An artist that we benefited came up to me to thank me for the help we had given him. He was shaking my hand, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He had been living on about $90 a week, and was eating one meal a day before he found us. He didn’t know what to do, or where to turn, and he was ready to take his own life. He had literally written the suicide note when he stumbled across us. We were able to get him back on his feet, and he’s alive today, doing much better. This man wants to remain anonymous, but there are many, many more as well, both public and private.

This is a good thing. Support The Hero Initiative.

The footnote interviews color whiz Matt Hollingsworth, who just moved to Croatia:

Q: Coloring techniques have changed quite a bit over the years, with them infernal computers and tools like Photoshop becoming more and more essential. With your colors being known for their textured quality, do you now wonder how you lived without the new fangled tools?

A: Naw. Manually painting is a lot of fun, and I miss it sometimes. I think that those of us who started before digital was around actually have an edge on other folks, at least those of us who survived and made the transition. Knowing how to really paint with real paint can only be a good thing, and I think has helped me tremendously even in my digital work.

Non judgmental Utah writer charmed by polite Dave Sim:

“I don’t have fans,” Sim said on his Web site shortly before coming to Salt Lake City, “I have readers.” Sim refers not only to the readers who love him but those who loathe him. Many who have read Sim’s work would like to shake his hand, while others would like to break his arm off at the shoulder and strike him across the head with it. His views on feminism, which surfaced in the middle of the saga, made him a marked man by those who disagreed with his opinions. He knew what he was introducing into the comic world was anything but comical. Yet, Sim is not the scoundrel critics make him out to be. During a discussion over dinner before his book-festival appearance, Sim came across as a gentleman and a gentle man who cares about people and society. Certainly no ogre, he is a bright and humorous individual but, yes, he does hold his opinions close and tight. Through it all, he is a man who appears to be at peace with his God and his fellow beings. Image Art Dave Sim And Gerhard, Aardvark Vanaheim Inc. Cerebus, moments before his death “It’s not women I have a quarrel with,” he explained at dinner, “it’s feminists.” He pointed to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a person who accomplished great things without having the system weighted in her direction.

James Cameron on Stan Winston in the Guardian:

Stan and his team did an amazing job on a pinched budget, and created one of film’s iconic fantasy characters. What I didn’t expect, and what I came to admire more than the artistry and technical wizardry, was Stan’s most amazing gift: the ability to lead a team. Running a team of young artists is like herding cats. Stan is somehow able to inspire people to do the best work of their lives, while still maintaining a firm grip on command. Stan is a gifted artist and sculptor himself, but artistic ego can often make a team leader ineffective by blunting the creativity of those under him. While nobody could accuse Stan of lacking an ego, he manages to lead by example without eclipsing his guys.

Star Wars virgin can’t help himself:

My knowledge of Star Wars was limited. I was familiar with the popular sayings that have become a part of today’s language: ‘’May the Force be with you.'’ ‘’Luke, I am your father.'’ And without even knowing it, I had already developed a hatred toward Jar Jar Binks.

A supercool comics event, one of so many recently, is taking place tonight at the Newark Museum. Now, you may be afraid of going to Newark, but we were there a few weekends ago, and honest, it was a very easy walk from the train station to the museum. And the show itself is jaw dropping and must see. MUST SEE. Anyway, don’t be afraid to go to this event, because it sounds very worthwhile and it has a ginchy postcard:

EAST COAST ALTERNATIVE CARTOONISTS MEET THE MASTERS

Featuring
Michael Kupperman (Tales Designed to Thrizzle)
Jason Little (Shutterbug Follies)
James Sturm (The Golem’s Mighty Swing)
Lauren R. Weinstein (Girl Stories)

Moderated by R. Sikoryak (Carousel, Nickelodeon Magazine, Drawn & Quarterly)

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