Comments on: Bryan Talbot reveals he is Veronique Tanaka

by: Grant G.

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:13:39 +0000

I have to agree with Patrick - it’s a real shame this was revealed so quickly. I could have been fun to see “Tanaka” have her own parallel career and life. On the other hand, since I like Talbot’s work, I’m more likely to pick up a copy of Metronome now.

by: Tom Spurgeon

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:37:49 +0000

I have no idea what to make of an attack that castigates me for not appreciating an elaborate stunt on the basis that it gets people to buy a new book AND for posting 20-30 opportunities to get to know new artists and their books every week, but it’s pretty funny and I appreciate your looking at the site.

by: Layne

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:13:47 +0000

Jeez, Spurgeon; considering half of your output seems to be Uncle Tommy’s Lambiek-Link Birthday Round-Up, I’d be a little less quick to toss around the ‘Who gives a fig?’s if I were you.

It’s an amusing and interesting story, and even if it didn’t work out the way Talbot would have liked, it’s hepped people to a book they may not have been aware of or otherwise given a shot.

I’d go into greater detail, but apparently some Spanish smut illustrator and a dude who made forgettable ’90s superhero comics have birthdays today, so I really have to get these cakes in the oven.

by: Jimmy Robinson

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:42:18 +0000

I agree with the positives of this story. I think it’s neat and fun. For those who say, “who cares”, there are clearly some who do.

by: Joe Willams

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:05:38 +0000

I thought the book looked intriguing but with so many new books that fall into that category I forgot about it and never pursued the initial interest. Now, I’ll definitely check it out. I took Heidi’s comment as the joke she says it was. It was an interesting story and like almost every other one of these comment section scrums I’m left wondering where the argument came from- did anyone pretend it WAS a big deal except for the nit wit (Horace) posting that it was not a big deal (which implies someone said it was a big deal but I didn’t get taht at all from Heidi’s post). Talbot probably would have kept it a secret but knew he could move more copies by coming clean- too bad he couldn’t have kept it going or possibly better yet chose to reveal the truth on April Fool’s Day which really would have confused everyone. Talbot rocks and he doesn’t get enough acclaim- let’s hope this boosts his standing even more. Now Tom can go back to posting more birthdays of cartoonists Frank Santoro has never heard of- just a joke! Really though Tom, I can’t see why you don’t seem to think it’s sort of neat or at least interesting- no one is acting as if Talbot admitted to being D.B. Cooper or something.

by: Nat Gertler

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:17:29 +0000

Now is the time for me to admit that I’m just a pen name for Neil Gaiman, which he (I) exercise when trying to avoid flooding the comics market with work.

There. Let’s see what that does for my… er, his… no, wait, I mean my sales.

by: NBM Blog » Blog Archive » Tanaka outed

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:36:21 +0000

[…] Well it’s out on blogs, especially Heidi McDonald’s The Beat. […]

by: Tom Spurgeon

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:11:40 +0000

I’m not interested in the Talbot/Talbotina story; I’m in interested in issues of what constitutes a story and what constitutes acceptable practice. I mean, duh. Plus this took like three minutes for three posts. I spent more time in the last two hour daydreaming about Christina Hendricks in a pink sweater.

Maybe someday I’ll be one of those bloggers that incessantly whines in post after post about how I have no time to do a job as freakishly easy as blog about comics, but until then I’ll feel free to not only blog when I can but spend a minute or two at the end of the day commenting on stuff that interests me, even if they come wrapped in a story that doesn’t.

That last sentence is a joke that can be interpreted many ways, so it doesn’t mean what you’re about to suggest it means.

by: The Beat

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:49:30 +0000

Tom: I didn’t “assert” any kind of “failure.” I did make a joke which could be interpreted many ways. I don’t think we’re in JT Leroy territory here — Bryan was hardly malicious in his experiment, and obviously there was an expectation that sometime the curtain would be lifted — but it was definitely more than a pen name.

And as usual when you think there is “no story,” you spend a lot of time commenting on it.

by: Tom Spurgeon

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:32:51 +0000

I guess that’s much more elaborate than what most people do, but still falls under “who gives a crap?” territory for me. Heidi’s assertion that there’s somehow some wholesale journalistic failure to double-check backgrounds seems absurd — why should anyone on earth double-check backgrounds for basic arts coverage? I’m interviewing Kevin Cannon right now; he could be Zander Cannon in a felt hat and elf boots for all I know. Or care.

by: David D.

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:20:03 +0000

Multiple names, sure. But wholly invented nationalities and fake CVs in art? There is a difference, at least to me, in simply taking on a pen name to publish under, and giving a whole interview like the one “Veronique” gave to de:code about her background, and the idea that this is her first comic album after a life spent doing conceptual art (which, I would assume, was supposed to make us think that Veronique was coming to cartooning with a new perspective, based on that backgrond?) seems, to me, to push a little bit further than just taking on a new name to publish under.

by: Tom Spurgeon

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:59:36 +0000

I didn’t cover this book but I have a hard time working up any enthusiasm for the stunt. Cartoonists have been working under multiple names for as long as there have been comics. Writers do it all the time, too. Who cares?

by: Mark Coale

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:47:22 +0000

Who interviewed Veronique for Publishers Weekly?

Jess Lemon?

by: James Sime

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:30:30 +0000

(standing ovation)! Love METRONOME and have always loved Bryan Talbot. Hard to believe in an industry this tight knit that it hadn’t come out sooner.

by: David D.

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:24:03 +0000

I think another key difference with the Bachman comparison is that Bachman books didn’t have Stephen King blurbs on them, nor was King acting as a supporter and agent for Bachman, to help get his work press.

by: Patrick McEvoy

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:04:28 +0000

Stephen King pulled this off for many years, writing as Richard Bachman. I wish Talbot had the patience to create a whole second career like the one Bachman had - it was a great “reveal” when a reporter finally called King on it. Like Tanaka, Bachman sold OK but never really well, but unlike Tanaka, he wasn’t a critical hit, either.

by: Al

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:59:47 +0000

I was not aware of Tanaka’s work nor of Talbot’s. But now am aware that they are the same person. Does that mean that Tanaka would be listed as a dependent on Talbot’s tax return? Or would her (potential) income allow her to deduct her art supplies and necessitate her own return. hmm

by: michael

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:36:57 +0000

I can’t say that I recall anything about this book and it’s creator, but who was fooled by this?

I can already tell, by looking at that pic, that the very ‘penis-y’ nose on that character is NOT something that female creators tend to put in their work. At least, female comic book creators…

by: Sandy

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:36:22 +0000

I think this is neat:

From Metronome’s website:

“Véronique Tanaka is playing mind games with us. Pure comics.” Bryan Talbot.

by: rev'D

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:33:34 +0000

The reveal of Talbot-as-Veronique-Tanaka will certainly boost sales of a largely-unknown but intelligent, important work, so yeah, I’d say this is important. More Talbot is always Good News.

by: Horace

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:26:02 +0000

Does anyone care?

by: David D.

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:18:26 +0000

Seems like now if the perfect time to announce that I am representing an original graphic novel by the late Howard Hughes…