New York Mag’s Vulture bloginterviews Jeff Smith today and they bring up where he sees himself on the spectrum of comics:

[Q:]This fall, a mini-debate popped up on comics Websites about the Best American Comics anthology. Heidi MacDonald, who writes the Beat, asked why more of the comics in that book didn’t tell great stories, and she specifically cited you as the kind of writer who is conspicuously absent from anthologies like this. And the debate about Bone in particular is continuing even this week. Do you think that there really is still a great split in the comics world between art comics and pop comics?

[A:] Yeah, I do. I’m not sure I’m too concerned about it. When you work in comics, you’re kind of used to lines in the sand. From the time you’re a kid, you’re kind of raised in this either/or type of a mind-set with comics: If you like Marvel comics, you can’t like DC comics. If you like superhero comics, you can’t like indie comics. There’s kind of like — I believe — a false dichotomy which puts a Chris Ware at one end and Bone at the other. But I don’t think one is more valid than the other. What are you going to do? It’s high art versus low art. You’ve got Chris Ware, who is Beethoven, and you have me. I’m the Beatles. One’s not better than the other. They’re just making different music.

If this doesn’t settle it, this isn’t the internet.

Oops…

Well, between the company we do most of our work for going up on the auction block and our beloved Cafe La Fortuna shutting down, we’ve been reeling from shock after shock in the last few days. Now we find out that Stage6, DIVx’s video site is shutting down:

I’m Tom (aka Spinner), a Stage6 user and an employee of DivX, Inc., the company behind the service. I’m writing this message today to inform you that we plan to shut down Stage6 on February 28, 2008. Upload functionality has already been turned off, and you’ll be able to view and download videos until Thursday.

I know this news will come as a shock and disappointment to many Stage6 users, and I’d like to take a few moments to explain the reasons behind our decision.

Yes, it seems hosting videos is an expensive business for which there is no real profit model. Hello, YouTube!

Now why does this interest us? Well, you see DIVx produced and Stage6 hosted all the videos we did at the last two San Diegos, including great moments with Evelyn DuBocq, Tom Spurgeon, Gerard Butler, Scott McCloud, Rosario Dawson and the Turds. We’re attempting to download and archive the videos, although we don’t have much time — Thursday! YIKES! Hopefully we will find a new place to host them. I mean, it’s not like you don’t have enough San Diego videos floating around out there. We just like watching our state of coherence deteriorate over the five-day period, and the commensurate increase in the big dark circles under our eyes.

CNN international presents a video report the the holocaust comic book we’ve mentioned here previously. Produced by the Anne Frank Center and drawn by Eric Heuvel in full-on clear line style, the comic is intended to give German schoolchildren a primer in the horrors of the Holocaust. However, according to the video, some experts feel using the comic book medium will trivialize the event. This is an old school argument, and it could be argued that the Tintin-inspired imagery isn’t the gut-punch that some would prefer, the idea that comics are inherently frivolous is one that we suspect will be protested loudly.

Newsarama has started a new columns by noted sales figure collector John Jackson Miller. there is much to absorb in his maiden outing, but here’s a snippet: then and now.

January 2008 sales are up over those of January 1998, a month from deep in the comics recession when the “dead quarter” very definitely lived up to its name.

Jan. 2008 final orders versus Jan. 1998 preorders (est.)
Top 300 units: +3% (7.18 million copies vs. 7 million copies)
Top 300 dollars: +34% ($22.33 million vs. $16.6 million)
Average cost of comics in the Top 300: +23% ($3.22 vs. $2.61)
Average cost of comics in the Top 300, weighted by orders: +31% ($3.11 vs. $2.38)

Most, but not all, of the difference in dollars represented by the Top 300 comes from the increase in cover prices. But the overall market is certainly larger today — Diamond did not release indexed trade paperback data for the month, but the category was certainly far smaller than it is now.

#1. Grady Hendrix talks about Gerber changed comics :

But Gerber himself was trapped in a vulturelike publishing industry. A dispute with Marvel over payment terms for the artist on the Howard the Duck newspaper strip led to Gerber leaving the book, only to realize too late that his creations were all work-for-hire, property of Marvel Inc. He engaged in a protracted legal battle that was eventually settled, but the comics industry broke his spirit. When novelist Jonathan Lethem was hired by Marvel last year to revive Omega the Unknown, a series created by Gerber and collaborator Mary Skrenes, Gerber blasted the younger writer for validating the theft of his creation. Even after meeting with Lethem, he said, “I still believe that writers and artists who claim to respect the work of creators past should demonstrate that respect by leaving the work alone.”

#2. Stuart Moore remembers Gerber:

But for a brief moment, Steve’s desire to do one more Howard series coincided with Bill Jemas’s own particular form of madness. Faced with the problem of the duck’s design — a legal settlement with Disney had left us with a very specific, not terribly attractive look that had to be adhered to — Bill embraced the idea of transforming Howard into a variety of other animals. (I don’t remember now whether this was originally Bill’s or Steve’s idea.) It was Bill who suggested the first issue’s cover, depicting a pissed-off mouse under a large Howard The Duck logo, and Bill who came up with the tagline: DON’T ASK. And Steve didn’t just go along with it; he ran with it, gleefully.

#3. Last week’s remembrance by Steven Grant:

Howard’s also of the most important characters in the history of comics because Steve became the first major figure in modern comics to sue a comics company over who really owned the character. It was eventually settled without trial, leaving Marvel in control of Howard and Steve scrounging to pay off massive legal fees, and by that point Howard’s value had been gutted by its notorious movie version, which, in Hollywoodizing the Duck, missed his appeal completely. Which isn’t surprising, since Marvel, despite several attempts to revive the property, missed it as well. Howard easily survived artist changes, but if there was ever a character who functioned almost purely as an expression of his creator, it was Howard the Duck.

One for the road: Mark Evanier talks about a Burbank gathering to remember Gerber:

Not much I can say about it other than a great time was had in spite of the reason for the gathering, and I think it brought a little sense of closure to some of us. One hopes some of the anecdotes that were told will find their way to the Comments sections of this blog, hint hint.

Technorati Tags: Steve Gerber

Variety reports a frequently reported on comics-related biopic has acquired a director. John Landis will make Ghoulishly Yours, a biography of EC/Mad publisher William M. Gaines:

Pic’s centered on an anti-establishment group of artists and writers, led by a reluctant Gaines and cohort Al Feldstein, as they produce their comicbooks. At the peak of his success, Gaines became a First Amendment figurehead due to his unapologetic testimony before a Senate subcommittee investigating juvenile delinquency.

Technorati Tags: puppy, WM Gaines

The “tweener” generation of comics readers and creators — of which I’m one — were lucky enough to come of age in an era of comics struggling to break out of a chrysalis. Nurtured on the canny, mythic cosmic melodrama of classic Lee-Kirby-Ditko Marvel, the next generation yearned to break out to the next level, to go from the child’s colorful fairy tale to the adolescent’s poetic angst. If early Marvel was the timeless struggle to be human despite the powers and guise of a monster, the next wave was struggling to be human despite the oppressive nature of human corruption. In a country made cynical by a failed war in a rotting jungle and a president who thought nothing of personally authorizing thugs to win an election it was time to question heroes.

In comics, a generation of writers emerged for whom the greatest threats weren’t space aliens or giant lizards — it was the evil at the core of a corporation, the greed of exploitation.

As a teenager in the 70s, my own comics reading grew up in the space of several short months. I was immediately hooked by the colorful dash and humor of Spider-Man, the clean adventure of the Fantastic Four. It was all fun and exciting. My trips to the spinner rack at a local department store were a search for new adventures, a world I knew nothing of, but was quickly learning about due to footnotes and letters pages.

I had only been reading Marvel comics for a few months when I found something called Howard the Duck. It was already up to issue 9, but back in those days every issue was a jumping on point. I was a little confused because Howard was dealing with the effects of an ill-advised presidential campaign and his relationship with a beautiful woman named Beverly was already in the middle stage of mingled attraction and bickering that actual human relationships were made of. After his disastrous campaign, Howard was forced to flee to Canada and fight a giant beaver. It was full of wacky humor, clever dialog and startling, original characters. I wasn’t very experienced in the ways of comics, but about five seconds in, I knew this was something I could relate to and make my own special comic.
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In all candor, we’re not sure how all this fits into continuity or storylines or whatever, but is seems that while in the midst of a Grant Morrison-scripted dream/hoax/imaginary story, Batman imagined a memorial for Stephanie Brown, aka the Spoiler, in his Bat cave (Above, click for larger image.)

You will recall that getting Brown remembered as just another in a long line of hero-worshipping, idealistic, pantless teens who were slain because of their unhealthy interest in being a sidekick to the goddam Batman has long been the goal of the Girl-Wonder.org website. In fact, the crusade for a Stephanie memorial has become the rallying point for an entire generation of fangirls.

Even though it may have been imaginary, the memorial was received with joy by Girl-Wonder founder Mary Borsellino :

Batman #673 means so, so much more than any of these. Because, in two panels, we were told everything that mattered: that inside Batman’s heart, Stephanie was Robin, the same as Dick and Jason and Tim — her gender made no difference at all to that. That her loss is felt as keenly as those other losses Batman has been shaped by.

In those two panels, in that one gesture of Batman contemplating the Robins he’s lost in front of the symbol of those losses, that line of suits in cases, the glass ceiling keeping girls out of the red and green and gold costume at Batman’s side finally cracked and fell.

Seems like a good first step to us, but don’t give up the fight just yet, ladies. We say don’t rest until you get a female superhero book that’s actually suitable for young women to read. Now that would be a real accomplishment.

Book Forum runs an excerpt from David Hajdu’s upcoming The Ten Cent Plague, a history of the persecution of comics books in the ’50s as the source of all juvenile delinquency.

The progressing crusade against comics on multiple levels provided Harry Wildenberg the opportunity to light many a cigar in satisfaction by 1949. In the final weeks of the preceding year, the National Parent-Teachers Association had issued a directive for a “national housecleaning” of comic books and had distributed a tutorial to help its local chapters spur municipal and state legislation to regulate the sale of comics, and thousands of PTAs around the country began following the plan. Around the same time, the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers distributed a set of guidelines for enacting comic-book controls. “The criminal and sexual theme of these tales have [sic] been the direct contributing cause of many incidents of juvenile delinquency and to the imbedding of immoral and unhealthy ideas in the minds of our youngsters,” wrote the general counsel for the institute. “It is inconceivable that a workable plan cannot be evolved. The police power can and must be exercised so as to eliminate the vice of objectionable comic books.” Shortly thereafter, the United States Conference of Mayors published a ten-page handbook, Municipal Control of Objectionable Comic Books, and the municipal-government trade journal, American City, reported, “Comic Book Control Can Be a Success.”

This looks to be an essential volume for the shelf on comics history. Oddly, we were checking out the Amazon page for the book and saw this plug from one Sean Wilentz, Professor of History, Princeton University:

“Every once in a while, moral panic, innuendo, and fear bubble up from the depths of our culture to create waves of destructive indignation and accusation. David Hajdu’s fascinating new book tracks one of the stranger and most significant of these episodes, now forgotten, with exactness, clarity, and serious wit, which is the best kind.

“Now forgotten”? Ah, Prof. Wilentz, you must have never met a 40-year-old comic book fan. Fear of a New Wertham is a clear and present danger for those of us who grew up schooled on the Seduction of the Innocent Menace lurking around the corner. Hopefully reading this book will help us say “Never again!” and mean it.

Link via Bookslut

Okay I can’t resist posting another one of my old comics cycle sheets; this one two sided and from 1984.

This is interesting for several reasons. For one, by now I was now writing about comics, so I was a “pro” of sorts. For another, as opposed to the Marvel hegemony of the chart from 5 years prior, now we have things from Thriller to Cerebus to American Flagg to Amethyst to Journey. “indie” books like Cerebus sold in numbers that Marvel or DC wouldn’t be surprised at nowadays; I think you would be hard pressed to say that there wasn’t a promisingly diverse range of material beginning to emerge and it had emerged in a mere five years. This stuff had been itching to get out.

1984 was also an interesting year because about halfway through it my family had to flee the house we were living in in Owl’s Head, ME. It’s a long story that involves dead chickens, a scrofulous St. Bernard, an old pet cemetery, old pickling jars, a business selling plastic hinges, and a family of grifters who went by the name of Thompson. An interesting tale, but for another time, perhaps.

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The clean up effort continues here at Stately Beat Manor, and we’re uncovering all kinds of forgotten wonders — a complete run of Fiz(z) magazine; a near complete run of Escape (both digest and magazine sized); a run of Drawn & Quarterly magazine, which we didn’t even remember EXISTED.

We’ve also discovered some real puzzlers. An old notebook (nearly 30 years old) disclosed a startling find — a series of charts from the years 1978-1985 notating the very young Beat’s comings buying habits. We’ve attached one of them above (click for a larger version) and what’s really startling is that we have absolutely no idea what the fuck it means.

Clearly it meant SOMETHING, as we kept identically carefully notated charts for the entire period. The effort put into this was considerable for the time — nowadays we use Excel, but in the olden days we would take a ruler and create our own charts! and we loved it — we LOVED it.

Anyway while it’s clear that the amount of Marvel we read would make us a prime candidate for the Marvel Essentials line (and in our defense, as soon as Raw showed up in the comics shop championed by the Comics Journal, we were buying it so it doesn’t show up on this chart) what it means isn’t. The “A” column is definitely for “Annual” but what do the numbers mean? At first we thought it referred to the week of release (in the olden days of the direct sales market, comics each week would have a different color strip at the top) — but then what does 5 and 6 mean? And what does “51, 62, 62 etc.” mean in the Iron Man column???? Why does the January issue of Tomb of Dracula have an arrow to February???

Seriously, we have absolutely no memory of this or why we did it. And since we had no friends at the time, there is no one else who could possibly know either.

It is a mystery for the ages. having sexweb voyeurxxx porndog cumcartoons adultbig girlsteen pantiesfat sex Map

During the continuing renovations here at Stately Beat Manor, we have unearthed a cache of surplus Little Lulu reprint volumes from Dark Horse. Since it is our strongly held belief that aspiring cartoonists and storytellers can learn more from the tight, inventive, character-driven plots of John Stanley and the minimal yet infinitely expressive stylings of Irving Tripp than the work of almost any other cartoonists, we are continuing a tradition of spreading the Gospel of Lulu. Thus we are offering five (5) of these books as a GIVEAWAY.

To enter the giveaway, simply email your name and address to beatgiveaway@gmail.com. Please put “LULU GIVEAWAY” in the subject. We will pick five winners at random at the end of the week — that’s Friday January 25, 2008 and each will receive a volume. Void where prohibited.

The volumes will be chosen at random by us, but because the quality is nearly uniform throughout the volumes — indeed almost too much so, like a box of chocolate truffles — you can be assured that prizes will all be of comparable value. If you have always wondered what the cult of Lulu was about — Matt Groening swears by it — here is a risk free way to find out.

In addition, we are also giving away the following extra issues of various comics-related magazines. First come, first served, one to a customer. Once again email beatgiveaway@gmail.com. Please put the name of the issue you desire in the subject. Very simple.

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Steve Rude is trying to identify this fellow from a photo taken at the 1983 Comic-con. Other present include Milton Griepp, John Davis, Rich Bruning, and Steven Grant.

Andertoons presents a Flickr set of a deck of Drink-Up Cartoon Playing Cards by a mysterious cartoonist known as Washaw.

Another set here which is, to our tastes anyway, a bit funnier.

ALSO: Harvey character playing cards.

Tom Spurgeon goes over George Khoury’s history of the direct sales market, and disagrees on just what happened in the 90s.

While the other points are disagreements, this one is more of a strong objection. While there’s indeed plenty of blame to go around for the degree and nature of the industry’s slow period in the late ’90s and into the 2000s, to even suggest that somehow “everyone” was to blame is such even-handed for the sake of being even-handed nonsense it makes me suspect that Marvel and Ron Perelman were punked on more than DC and Image simply because they’re not around anymore to get upset about being singled out.

I have one question for Tom myself, in that he seems to use the term Marvel as synonymous with Ron Perelman-era Marvel. I don’t think think the Michael Z. Hobson era Marvel would have had much interest in owning Heroes World, Panini, Fleer , SkyBox Welsh, and Malibu; Perelman used the same junk bond mentality on Revlon, with equally disatrous results. While nearly everyone in comics was as dumb as a sack of rocks in the 90s, Perelman — still the 28th richest man in America — was a ringleader of bad business.

Hill and Wang, the same outfit that brought you The 9/11 Report and Ronald Reagan is back with a graphic bio of J. Edgar Hoover. What’s exciting about this book is the author: Rick Geary . We’re unabashed Geary-heads here at SBM — his precise cheerful linework belies an unsettling core, and his Victorian Murder series should be the template for any “historical comics” line: painstakingly researched but with a sensibility and understanding that deepens the material.

Anyway, we’re excited about a new Geary book, and Hill & Wang was kind enough to share a preview with us. Hoover was, of course, the FBI director who made domestic spying on threats like MLK his bedtime reading. In his day he was one of the most feared men in Washington.

The Golden Age of Underoos via Jezebel. Note comments in which women go on and on about how they used to wear Wonder Woman Underoos. Do they even still make this kind of stuff for little girls any more?

Marv Wolfman writes to tell us that HOMELAND, his graphical history of Israel, illustrated by Mario Ruiz and William J Rubin has been winning a slew of honors of late, including National Jewish Book Award, the latest in a string of honors for the book:

Homeland has previously won the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for non-fiction, the USAbooknews.com adult award for history/politics and last week received a Notable Book for teenagers by the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the Association of Jewish Libraries. That means the comic-based book, actually inspired by my old History of the DC Universe book, has won non-comics acclaim for kids, teens and adults. As I say I don’t yet know the category for the National Jewish Book award but in that world this is the big one.

Marv with friend in 2007

While he’s still going strong with the recent Raven mini-series for DC and racking up the awards, Marv also recently celebrated his 40th anniversary as a professional writer. We thought it would be nice to check in and get some insights on his time in the comics business — few people have seen its inner working from such a wide perspective.
What are you working on in 2008?
I’m working on a number of different projects. I’m writing several video games but unfortunately I can’t say what they are right now. Hopefully soon. But they’re a lot of fun. More than one realizes because it forces you to rethink everything. Nothing is by rote because the stories aren’t and can’t be linear in the same way we’ve all written all our lives. Forcing you to think, forcing you to challenge yourself, forcing you out of any possible rut, is exciting and I think actually makes the work itself better. Plus, on top of that, the stories are fun to do.

I’m also scheduled to do a couple of graphic novels, but I’m not sure when they are supposed to begin. In comics, I should be working on the new Vigilante book for DC as well as a few smaller projects which haven’t been announced yet. But the five-part Raven mini-series I did last year will start coming out either in February or March. I’m also scheduled to write a novel, but again I don’t know exactly when that’s supposed to begin.

If everything happens the way they should I’ll be busy, but I’ve learned long ago that rarely happens. Life of a freelancer.

What’s the BIGGEST difference about being a freelancer now and 40 years ago?
Well, for me, I was usually on staff which means I knew exactly what my next assignments were. These days as you can tell from the above, I know what I’m supposed to do, and I’ve actually been paid for some of that, but until I’m told to start I don’t know when. But I’m absolutely thrilled that after all these years I’m still working. And even more, still loving it. Taking a few years off of comics writing actually made me love doing it more than ever. Sometimes you need to get away and recharge the batteries. Last year, 2007, was probably the busiest I’ve ever been. And that includes the year I was writing Titans, Crisis and a dozen other titles… while working on staff and doing my first animation scripts.
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Via Golden Age Comic Book Stories.

the amazing ASIFA-Hollywood Animation website lists ten great things you should study in depth:

01 Carlo Vinci

02 Grim Natwick

03 Clair Weeks

04 Advice For CG Animators

05 Originality vs Ripoffs

06 Milton Caniff

07 Modern Animation

08 Writing Cartoons

09 Cultural Literacy

10 Milt Gross

Above: Art by Carlo Vinci.

No really. I saw SKIDOO, the long suppressed all-star Otto Preminger bacchanal, thanks to Mark Evanier and circumstance, and you must see it to believe the LSD prison Riot of 1968, with Frank Gorshin, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, Michael Constantine, Slim Pickens, Jackie Gleason and Richard Kiel. And Carol Channing in a pirate outfit boarding the yacht of a gangster named “God”, played by Groucho Marx. And then there’s the final shot of Groucho smoking a joint.

And the hippies.

The late Sixties were an odd time in pop culture, as the oldsters attempted to understand and cash in on what the youngsters were doing with their drugs and sex and loud music. (The youngsters have always been into drugs, sex and loud music, of course, but they never really had the leisure time and media exposure to exploit it properly until the 60s.) The “Way to Eden” episode of the original Star Trek was another attempt to deal with ” hippies.” All such attempts were doomed to be very embarassing period pieces.

SKIDOO, directed by a very obviously high Otto Preminger, is a product of that culture clash; but so is THE PRISONER. If you like Rudy Gernreich (inventor of the topless” bathing suit” and hippies and Carol Channing, SKIDOO is a MUST.

Mark Evanier has made getting SKIDOO out on DVD a minor crusade at his blog — the movie is rarely shown since the Preminger Estate thinks that releasing it would be bad for his reputation. Apparently being one of the most notoriously demanding and unpleasant people to work with in Hollywood doesn’t count.

After all this, you might think we would be joining Evanier’s crusade to get SKIDOO out on DVD.

But we’re not.

You see, there need to be some mysteries. Some final doorways; some limits. SKIDOO is shown once every year or so on Turner Classic Movies. That makes it rare, special and vibrant. To be able to watch it whenever you wanted would just make it dumb. And yes of course you can download a bootleg copy right now…but…you get my drift.

Link above; The SKIDOO trailer.

It’s here! The Beat’s annual survey of comics professionals, journalists and respected hangers on covering the biggest events of 2007 and where they think things are going in 2008. As always, thanks to all who took the time from their busy schedules to participate. The response was overwhelming, and we’re breaking the survey answer s into two parts once again. Get a hot foamy beverage — or perhaps a cold frosty one — sit back and enjoy. PS: If you look closely there are some news hints and teases within.

Lea Hernandez: Rumble Girls: Runaway Lightning Ohmry, Ironclad Petal (stiiiiill), a book about the fire that destroyed my house (it’ll be the funniest book about a house fire ever!), monetizing my comics since they have a huh-yuge readership and a low earning level, and a short-story serial strip with my long-time muse Nan 1^1. And something Big. And getting my daughter tested into high school. Guess which one is the most stressful. No, go on. Guess.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2007? It’s not a dream, not an imaginary story, and not a fad: Women and girl comics fans and pros talking about comics critically, socially, and artistically. Making comics. Still.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2008? Tori Amos’ Comic Book Tattoo, set to debut at SDCCI 2008. Tori Amos’ songs as interpreted by many kickass comics creators. Cast of many tens, edited by Rantz Hosley. I’m in it.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2008? Making more money. Wait, that’s not guilty, that’s just pleasure. A tray of baklava? Dangit, I just don’t have any pleasures I feel guilty about. I’m still embarassed by those naked pix of Daniel Radcliffe. Wait! I have it: cosplay. Don’t send help.

Ben Templesmith: More FELL from Image comics ( Yes, honest! #9 is complete and will be out early next year just for starters! ) WORMWOOD: CALAMARI RISING and if I can manage it, WORMWOOD: BINGO NIGHT IN VALHALLA from IDW Publishing, as well as DEADSPACE from Image and quite possibly something a bit different from me called THE CENTURY, some book covers, album covers perhaps from the looks of things…plus a bunch of stuff I already forget. I blame the drinking.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2007? I thought it was going to be my part time job as a Princess Leia Slave Girl model at SDCC, but apparently not. I’d have to go with it being the year comics solidify their success at being half decent successful movies that actually embrace the art and artists and start taking advantage of some of that on screen…which seems obvious for some projects considering comics are a visual medium as much as a literary one. Hopefully a continuing trend on the projects where it would make sense to do so. Apart from that, I have no idea, as I’ve been blissfully ignorant of most goings on thanks to travel and work schedule which meant I had no life whatsoever.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2008? The pessimist in me expects it to be how well the biz fairs in the coming recession. US economy looks to be in for some rough times ahead. The other story might be just how lax US immigration has become, I mean, apparently they’re letting me in early next year for an extended period. The fools, the fools! They know not what they do!

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2008? Being able to crash at my own house at next years SDCC. Being in the next room from some of the people I work with, rather than 16 hours in the future on another continent ( hmm, that might not be such a good thing come to think about it! ) and generally knuckling down and getting a lot of projects under my belt. 2008 is the year of 400+ pages for me.

Rikki Simons, ShutterBox Book Five with Tavisha, which we’re now three months behind on. Which means we’re on schedule.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2007? Probably something to do with Neil Gaiman, or Alan Moore, or that Sin City guy, or some movie adaptation, or manga becoming more popular with kids, or a tawdry comic cover, or a legitimate magazine talking up comics’ legitimacy, or some poor shop owner being arrested.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2008? I don’t know. What’s been the biggest story for the past ten years? See above.

Maybe Tokyopop promotional events will stop feeling like a cross between an orca show at Sea World and a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Now that would be a big story. To me at least.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2008? Finishing ShutterBox Book Six and then walking off the Golden Gate Bridge. Ha-ha! Oh, me. I’ll settle for Guild Wars 2 or Eve-Online implementing playable human avatars.
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We refrain from too much current events here, but the continuing story of the death of Benazir Bhutto has a tiny little comic book connection that adds to the poignancy of it all. If you saw the news this weekend, you’ll recall that Bhutto’s 19-year-old son Bilalwal Zardari has been named the symbolic head of her political party. This reminiscence in the UK Times by her friend Mahnaz Malik reveals Bilawal is one of us:

Bilawal is 19 years old, only a decade my junior, yet I cannot help but think of him as a child. I have always known him as one of Benazir’s three children, for whom she and I drove around London buying Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books.

Malik goes on to say:

I remember him as a shy, bespectacled teenager, often looking after his sisters. He was a film buff and I would struggle to choose a film that he had not seen when we all went to the cinema. Bibi was keen on reading and bought books by the boxful. But she was broadminded enough to realise that teenage tastes can vary. I remember one summer, we spent the entire afternoon at a comic book shop near Russell Square as Bilawal, with his sisters, completed their collection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel comic books. Bibi patiently accompanied them.

That store sounds a lot like Gosh! In all the tragedy and tumult of these sad times, the idea of someone whose will find a place in history beside Anwar Sadat, Indira Gandhi and Archduke Francis Ferdinand going to the comics shop to buy comics for her kid is perhaps a fitting one for this day and age.

UPDATE: Bilawal’s comic-book reading ways are now being held against him, along with several other drawbacks:

The call came as supporters of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party expressed dismay at the naming of her 19-year-old, comic book-collecting son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and his allegedly corrupt father, Asif Ali Zardari, as her successors.

We attended a nice holiday party last night thrown by artist Kelli Bickman and jill-of-all-trades Paulette Powell. It was just a bunch of folks getting together, but it was nice to see old friends like Kyle Baker, Martha Thomases and Jim Salicrup and have a chance to talk a bit. We also chatted with Anne Murphy, the widow of Archie Goodwin, whom we hadn’t seen in forever.

In case you don’t know, Archie Goodwin was a writer and an editor who died at the much too young age of 60 in 1998. Archie ran Creepy, Eerie, Marvel Comics (he preceded Jim Shooter as Editor in Chief), founded Epic, and edited many great stories at DC. He also wrote Star Wars and Manhunter. But that’s just the tip of his resume. He’s pretty much considered probably the best comic book editor ever, and one of the very best writers as well. Archie was always kind and patient with the very young and annoying Beat, and for that we are always grateful. In later years, when we had grown up a bit, at local functions, Anne was usually by his side. She was a former editor at Redbook, and as smart, feisty and creative a lady as you would ever want to meet and we remember having many interesting conversations over the years with her.

It was truly a pleasure to see her again, and hear her talk about Archie, and also many episodes of comics history from the 70s through the 90s from a very different perspective. Sadly we can’t repeat most of them here, but there was one about a 70s comic book artist–let’s call him Timmy– who showed up at the house of a rival artist with a couple of goons, only to be met at the door by the rival’s wife and child. Timmy then called his rival and said “I know what your wife and kid look like!” News of this incident spread and Timmy didn’t get much work for a long time.

These days, the internet has lessened the distance between people who work on the comics and people who read the comics to the point where there barely is any. Talking to Anne was a sharp reminder that there have always been larger than life personalities and creative dramas in comics. They didn’t have message boards to duke it out on, so they did things in a more colorful way. Those were the days.

Tim Hensley, Jonathan Bennett, Todd Hignite, Alvin Buenaventura and Ken Parille have united for a new blog called simply Blog Flume. Thus far they are blogging up a storm! Topics covered: Bennett on the bird paintings of Charley Harper, Parille on the cartoons of Abner Dean, and an utterly fantastic slideshow by Hensley on the work of early 20th century Manga master Suiho Tagawa