§ Cameron Stewart’s new Illustration Blog>.

§ Everyone else linked to Cracked’s The 6 Creepiest Comic Book Characters of All Time. Who are we to say “Neigh!”

§ If you read one fashion writer’s take on the Met’s Superhero show it should be this one, by Pulitzer Prize winner Robin Givhan:

Still, there is nothing ponderous about this exhibition. How could it be stuffy and dull when a glowing green mural of the Hulk glares across the room at a three-dimensional Spider-Man climbing up a vertigo-inducing cityscape? Bolton has chosen examples from the fashion industry that are among the most dramatic interpretations of superhero style. There are ensembles from Balenciaga, in which designer Nicolas Ghesquiere’s models look like human Transformers, with metal leggings, dresses held together by brass-colored rings, and shoes seemingly constructed out of industrial chains and rivets. Dolce & Gabbana’s silver bustiers and molded skirts sparkle next to the Iron Man suit — each of them addressing a tug of war between invincibility and vulnerability.

[Link via Mark Coale.]

§ Alex Ross, fashion model?

§ Weirdness of the day: the very bizarre ups and downs of Yaoi House.

§ Mark Evanier discovers the New Yorker tributing/ripping off Jack Kirby in their cartoon contest.

§ Strange Adventures in New Brunswick, Canada had a flood on FCBD but they are trying again.

§ Matt Fraction is closing down his forum.

§ Million Dollar Idea is a new online novel by Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs, authors of The Trouble with Girls, among other things.

§ Michael Climek suggests fans band together to support each others favorite books to save them from doom.

§ Joe Quesada answers questions from Washington Post readers.

§Journalist Van Jensen reveals his secret past:

My mom’s a painter, and so I grew up with art supplies thrust in my hands. When I was 4 or 5, in a famous family story, I drew a political cartoon about John Sununu (Google him). Once I started into comics, I decided I was going to be a great comic book artist. I spent most of my free time replicating Jim Lee and his contemporaries. Then, for more than a decade, I quit drawing and started writing. Until now.

§ Steve Bunche’s very odd collection of original art. Above: Kyle Baker. Warning: some is NSFW!

§ Joe Quesada in the Washington Post, with interesting choices for his favorite Marvel movies.

Are you excited about the two major summer movies Marvel has coming out?

I’m absolutely thrilled. To me, this is the natural progression that Marvel as a company should be taking. For many years, when I wasn’t even working here, I often wondered why Marvel wasn’t their own movie studio. And now here we are. We’re going to be producing our own stuff and it’s going to be as close to the source material as possible. It’s going to be absolutely fantastic.

What’s your favorite Marvel movie so far?

It’s one of two. It’s either “Spider-Man 2″ and . . . I think the first “Blade” movie was dynamite.

§ We, too, had forgotten that Todd Klein designed most of the early Fantagraphics logos, including the iconic Lock & Rockets. [Link via Flog.}

§ Stan Sakai goes to Auschwitz.

§ Brad Bird explains productvity:

In my experience, the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget—but never shows up in a budget—is morale. [what’s true for a movie is true for a startup!] If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale.

via Kottke

§ Paul Gravett talks about English college level comics classes and interviews Dan Berry , lecturer on North Wales School of Art & Design’s three-year graphic novel degree.

How has the process of academic accreditation been? Has it been a challenge to get comics accepted and validated as something deserving of study?

The Illustration for Graphic Novels degree falls as a pathway under our BA (Hons) Design degree, and shares a great deal of overlap with our Illustration, Illustration for Children’s publishing and Graphic Design Courses, and it has been a relatively straightforward process to add it as a pathway through our Design degree. That isn’t to say it hasn’t been a great deal of work, but all staff are all pulling in the same direction, and we have received an incredible amount of support from everyone we have approached and spoken to, yourself included. I’m sure that the idea of a ‘comics degree’ will be criticised at some point, but we received the same kind of criticism when we started the one of first Animation Degrees back in the late 1990s, which has since gone from strength to strength.

§ WHICH comics pro did Lea Hernandez photograph peeing next to a kid reading a comic book? You must click the link to find out!

§ Is it possible to think that Dave Sim is not the lowest, subhuman form of life in our society and still think he is a misogynist?

¶ Boom is looking for interns:

Summer Interships Available at BOOM! Unpaid, for college credit (must have letter from school). Email resume, cover letter, references, and availability to: interns@boom-studios.com. Photoshop and html skills a plus. Diverse candidates encouraged.

¶ Jeff Trexler points to a an European ad for HP Laserjets using some Lollicon imagery that could generate some heat…but hasn’t yet.

¶ Jeff Mason updates his surgery for Crohn’s disease.:

¶ Don’t miss link: Rob Clough delivers a detailed analysis of the MOME generation of cartoonists. [Via Flog]

¶ Chris Butcher wonders “What’s the hottest manga that no one knows about?” prior to this month’s Anime North convention in Toronto

We do a massive set-up for this show, 18 tables in an island, something like 180 feet of frontage the way we set it all up. We try and bring every manga you can think of, because a lot of fans save up for months to come to AN and pick up the manga they love, that they’ve only read about on the internet (or in scaaaaaaaaaaaans) and they want to own it and love it and squee all over it. And we want to have it for them.

Every year we get blindsided by one major title, and it always pisses me RIGHT OFF.

¶ Johnny Bacardi wonders…WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE WINTERMEN? a highly regarded but troubled mini-series:

Writer Brett Lewis, who has no Web presence that I can ascertain save his MySpace page, has been steadfastly quiet on the topic. Artist John Paul Leon, when interviewed sometime in early 2007, discussed it a bit and sounded like he was still working on it. So what’s the dilly-o, the scoop, the four one one, the straight dope? Is this thing just sitting on a shelf somewhere while many other less deserving titles clog up comics shop shelves from sea to shining sea? Have Lewis and Leon simply up and ceased to work on it, leaving it in an Andrea Dore-like deserted state? I mean bozhe moi, even the final issue of The Atheist eventually came out!

§ Tom SPurgeon interviews Charles Brownstein about the Gordon Lee win and other matters.

Shortly after the calendar passed they contacted Paul Cadle and said they’d be willing to drop the case if Gordon wrote a letter of apology. Gordon was willing to do that from the start, and frankly, we’ve been saying all along that this case should have been solved with an apology and not a prosecution, so we didn’t object. Gordon submitted his apology letter and we waited for Patterson to drop the case. Weeks went by without response and it was making everyone a bit edgy. So, last week the Begners sent a letter to Patterson requesting that she honor her end of this agreement, and dismiss the case before we had to go to court to seek relief. On Friday she had a conversation with Alan Begner and finally did authorize the charges to be dismissed.

§ FishbowlLA on this weekend’s LA Times Book Fest graphic novel panel.

§ Video of Dave Eggers, Chip Kidd and Milton Glaser talking book design.

§ Peter Sanderson takes on NYCC with one of his exhaustive con reports.

Back in the 1980s I used to take pride in the fact that I wasn’t officially sent to the San Diego Con by an employer, since this meant I was free to go to any panels I wanted to, or even to leave the Con at will and head out to the beach or to the zoo. Trips and hotel stays in San Diego also seemed less expensive then, and there was no need to reserve a hotel room months in advance; now I don’t go unless one of my publishers helps pick up the tab.

Being committed to appearing on panels has its downside. If I had not been moderating two panels back to back on Friday evening at this year’s New York Con, I could have attended a reading by Neil Gaiman, a panel appearance by animation legend Ralph Bakshi. or all of the X-Files movie presentation by the show’s creator Chris Carter–all of which were being held at the same time. On the other hand, I really enjoyed listening to the stories that the comics veterans told on my panels, and wouldn’t want to have missed them. I also discovered that organizing and leading a good panel discussion, like arranging a noteworthy party, is like a work of art. Like a theatrical performance, it’s an ephemeral experience, witnessed only by those present, that leaves not a trace behind unless someone wrote a report about it. But a good panel discussion, among a group of people who may only interact this way on this one specific occasion, can be memorable. I take more pride in my active role in bringing such an experience about than I would in my freedom to passively watch other people’s panels.

Note to Quick Stop Entertainment: you gotta get rid of those Gremlins! It only takes a run through Text Wrangler!

§ Via the comments: The last word in indie vs superhero.

§ Entertainment Weekly has a list of graphic novels that tie in to summer’s big comic book movies. Interesting note: in many cases there ISN’T a direct tie-in. Marvel in particular has a sprawling landscape of reprints that doesn’t necessarily easily lend itself to a table at the front of Barnes & Noble promoting summer movies. No wonder it’s easier to go with the bed sheets.

§ Gary Tyrell talks with Joey Manley and John Boeck of the newly VC empowered ComicSpace/Webcomics Nation:

Fleen: What percentage of the combined companies will be retained by the original owners, and what percentage sold to the investors? And, what was the monetary goal in the investment round?

Manley: Josh and I are individually and collectively the largest investors. E-Line and other investors are minority stakeholders.

John: We are closely held; we didn’t throw things open to a flood of investors. The majority of [ComicSpace investors] have participated here at NYCC.

Manley: The goal was to ‘break even’, which we met. Since closing [on 26 December 2007], both the top- and bottom-line numbers have exceeded projections.

§ Elayne Riggs’ photo journal of NYCC.

§ Anne Ishii takes names:

Speaking of X-Men a la 21st century film franchise…This guy. Cyclops, but with eye-shield worn over his regular wire-frame glasses. Classic. Anyway, this guy had the best of the dorkiest introductory deliveries: I’m about to ask you guys something you’ve probably never been asked before in your life. It’s a favor… Could you pin my jacket to my pants? They’re falling down. Candace obliged our young man. Later, I pinned the note from his mom with their address and emergency contact along with an inhaler, to his forehead.

§ Batman Ice Cream’s dark secret!

§ Innocent little child in Bugaboo kidnapped by Stormtroopers.

§ Go read Michael Chabon’s unused screenplay for Spider-Man 2 courtesy of McSweeneys. This is the version where Peter Parker investigates J. Jonah Jameson’s immigrant heritage before they both go to Alaska for a soul-baring confrontation that reveals what it really means to be a man and a father. Joke free aside: wait, that was THE HULK.

§ ICv2 talks to the folks behind Haven Distributors, the new owners of Cold Cut:

LS: It’s been my quest to get into the comic book business for years. I started self-publishing to get my writing noticed, but along the way I always seemed to find myself in more managerial roles.

So while my passion remained on the creative side, I took a strong interest in the business side of the industry. I wanted to help my fellow indie creators as much as I wanted to get my own work out there.

Along comes the news that the leading distributor of independent comics is up for sale. A little research revealed that it may well end up disappearing. From the moment I heard about this, I thought that if it was at all within my power, I could not let that happen.

§ The annual Brit comics get together ComicExpo is coming up in Bristol and a bunch of stuff if going on.

§ Geoff Johns grilled at IGN

IGN Comics: You know, when I open up Previews each month, it seems like half the book is taken up by books written by either you, Brubaker or Bendis. How do you manage to write so many books each month? Geoff Johns: Well I do four or five a month, on average. A lot of guys do four a month. Bendis does five or six. Brubaker does four or five. I don’t know, I do one a week, and there’s four or five weeks in a month, so it just kind of works out. I just enjoy writing, and enjoy writing comic books. IGN Comics: How long is the typical turnaround on one of your scripts?

Johns: It all depends, as far as first drafts go. Legion of Three Worlds took two weeks. An issue of Booster Gold probably takes me about three days for the first draft. It all depends what book it is and which issue it is. Ironically, Green Lantern takes a little longer with the “Secret Origins” arc because it’s much more deliberate and much more refined. There’s so much I want to have in that “Secret Origin” arc and that I’ve designed in that arc that it takes a long time to refine it. Every book is different. There are a handful of issues I’ve written in a day. And those are issues that I’ve had in my head for years. Like my Captain Cold rogue issue I did all those years ago for Flash, that was in my head for I don’t know how long, but when I started writing it, it was one of those fifteen, sixteen hour days where I just started writing and did not stop until I was done. Because the story was sitting in my head, and I had to get it out.

§ Friend up Rick Veitch and David Lloyd’s Kickback

at MySpace!

§ New York loses a comics shop:

It is with great sadness that I report that the enigmatically-named Sleep of Reason Comics Shop at 47 West 8th Street has somewhat unexpectedly closed its doors. While my comic collecting days are largely behind me (I still spring for the odd title every now and again), I was glad to know I had a comic shop nearby should I need a fix.

I know I recently said that W.8th Street has nowhere to go but up, but the departure of Sleep of Reason now seems like one more worrying step towards the Meat Packing District-ification of my back yard. Save Us, Dr. Strange!!!

Via Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York

§ The Daily News quizzes Jeffrey Brown about his ‘Little Things’

DN: Can you explain what your latest book, “Little Things,” is about? Jeffrey Brown: As the title would suggest, it’s about the everyday moments that we tend to overlook and how those are actually such meaningful parts of our lives. “Little Things” tries to champion the everyday normal life as something worthwhile and meaningful. Structurally, it’s a bunch of short stories that go back and forth in time, it’s more about atmosphere and mood than chronological narrative.

§ Actor James Urbaniak talks a bit more about viral marketing and The Spirit:

But, seriously: why would a studio promoting a film (let alone a visually arresting comic book adaptation) want to release intrinsically awkward reference shots that register no energy or sense of behind-the-scenes excitement? Shine a public light on them and all wardrobe photos look tacky. (”Scarlett looks as though she’s gearing up for a sketch on MAD TV” said a Beat commenter.) Are we to believe that the producers, the leading lady (stars have contractual approval of all publicity images that feature their likenesses) and the marketing company all thought it would be a good idea to “leak” and then “prohibit” these anti-pinups to generate buzz in the nerdosphere? Or did Special Ops Media simply plan to “leak” them and then, only after realizing the online reaction was less than overwhelmed, proceed to “prohibit” them? Or was Special Ops merely given the job of plugging an actual leak because they’re the movie’s online marketing people? Who can tell anymore? Mr. Wizard, get me the hell out of here.

§ You must be sick of this, but Marvel_B0y is back and this appears to be written by someone else entirely.

Anyway, it seems that this thing could get me in real trouble and that’s not why I started it. Maybe I was a little too honest on how I felt or maybe I went a little too far on my critiques. But if I did, it was only because I care. I wasn’t looking to hurt anybody or take food off of anyone’s tables I wasn’t looking for my 15 minutes. (I plan on getting that the right way through my writing, and trust me, its going to last longer than just 15 minutes.) I was just trying to point out what I thought was wrong as far as some of the things that we’re doing. It’s how you get things fixed and make sure they get better. You talk about a problem and figure out a way to fix it. People do that all of the time. Why my blog became such a big deal I have no idea. And I know there’s gonna be a lot of you out there saying that it was the “spoilers” but I hate to tell you that my blogs are about much more than just spoilers. They were about a guy who loves comics and works in the industry giving some insights on how we can make comic books better. How we can take characters that are broken and fix them so that the fans love them again. I don’t get why that’s wrong. If I worked at bank and saw something that didn’t make sense, would I get in trouble for saying that I know a better way of doing it? No, I’d probably get a promotion and a raise and an actual office. But instead I got attacked and now possibly fired. What sense does that make? Let’s fire the guy that is trying to make our company better. That’ll learn’em!

§ Joe Infurnari and his webcomic The Process are having a contast

As promised, I’m holding a drawing for a drawing! First off, what do entrants have a good chance of winning? Why this drawing, of course! As chosen by visitors to this blog, the prize most wanted was this piece of original art. It’s the unused art for page 23! This is a fully rendered, finished drawing and not a sketch. It’s the real deal, people. The media used are marker, ink, watercolor and colored pencil on watercolor paper. It measures 12″x16″, is signed by me and is ready for framing. This is a rare opportunity to own a piece of original art from this webcomic. I’ll not be parting with any until sometime after this project gets published (whenever that will be) so don’t let this drawing pass you by!

Today’s news bits have more sociology than comics news at the core; so sue us.

§ SF writer John Scalzi has some sensible comments that apply to any field on convention etiquette:

This does lead to another question: Is there a time at a convention when you shouldn’t say hello to an author? Well, sure. Authors are often rushing from one panel or event to another (con organizers work us like dogs to keep you amused), so if you see an author with a holy crap I’m late and I have no idea where my next panel is look on his or her face, try to catch them some other time. Likewise, if you see an author trying to cram a sandwich down his throat like he’s forgotten about the concept of chewing, it probably means he’s only got a few minutes to fuel himself before he’s off to something else. Give him a break, let him scarf, catch him later.

One other thing: Note the difference between public and private spaces, and public and private conversations. If you see an author at a con party holding court with a crowd of folks around, feel free to join in. If you see her talking very intently to one other person, over in the corner, you’re probably not wanted. Likewise: author in the hotel bar, being loud and opinionated? Say hi. Author in the restaurant, having a quiet meal with spouse or friends? Catch them later. This is all common sense and common courtesy, and I’m sure you know all of this already. But feel free to pass this along to your more clueless friends.

[Link via Neil Gaiman]

§ The Wall Street Journal is alarmed at the newish Batman

In short, Mr. Miller’s Batman, currently gracing the panels of a series of comics called “All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder,” isn’t someone who would make good company at a ballgame or the local watering hole. In one issue, a crook stopped by Batman from assaulting a woman asks: “Why can’t I feel my hand?” To which Batman replies: “It’s called a compound fracture, rapist. It’ll never heal. Not right it won’t. Not nearly right. You’ll remember me every time the air goes wet and cold.” While this all may prove shocking to people who have come to know the character as a reliable do-gooder, it’s also refreshing, adding a much-needed belt of reality to a genre founded on escapism.

§ Maybe Batman is so cranky because his life is endangered? According to Dan Didio in the Boston Rerald, Batman will live:

The mortality rate for comic book heroes is rising across the industry. For example, Marvel Comics killed off iconic flag bearer Captain America last year.

But Dan Didio, executive editor of DC Comics, says Batman isn’t headed for a dirt nap.

“We can’t kill him during a big movie year,” Didio said, referring to the big-budget film “The Dark Knight,” due this summer with Christian Bale reprising his role as one of the best-known comic book heroes.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Batman won’t be beaten, battered, bruised and perhaps even replaced for a time.

Didio was mum about everything but Batman’s survival.

§ The Annual Rube Goldberg prize for complicated inventions was one by a Purdue team that developed a contraption that could make burgers in 156 steps.

§ Has this guy been hired to write comics yet?

§ Moms are taking over from maids in the cafes of Japan:

“We came about because there wasn’t really anywhere that had a library of over 10,000 different manga and also allowed people with a bit of a maniac streak about them to pursue their hearts’ desire,” Mother Cafe’s boss tells Asahi Geino. “We staff our cafe with women who look older than they actually are, but they’re also capable of understanding worries people have and have experience in dealing with people of all ages. Our aim is to become a kind of therapeutic cafe where customers feel at ease enough to be able to open their hearts to staff.”

§ Tim Leong on LARPing via Tom:

LEONG: Trust me, if I was really trying to sell more copies, I’d do a feature on something much more sexy than guys who dress up as lions, tigers and bears, oh my. I don’t think LARPing is a coverline people are really aching for — and wasn’t even a coverline for us. We covered it not because we needed to pad an issue — if anything we had to cut content — it’s because LARPing is a subculture within our comics subculture. And yes, I guess you could call it, as you say, “related heroic fantasy,” but it’s just one issue.

As scions of a LARPing family, we could have told you that LARPing will sell very few issues.

§ Frank Santoro looks at Matt Wagner at Comics Comics:

I’ve been reading the original issues of Matt Wagner’s Mage. I honestly couldn’t tell you what it’s about. Magic, I think. I’m too busy looking at the art. Wagner’s layouts are quintessentially 80’s. And they are also crystal clear. There is something refreshing in the wide, thin super-cinemascope panels and the airbrushed colors made by hand. It’s all aged rather nicely. (It’s too bad that the recent reprints I’ve seen do not reproduce the original comic’s colors)

§ Comic Book Resources has a brand new look a new reviews section, expanded previews, a new comics list and many other features that make it a very useful site, which it already was, but now it looks even better. Congrats, Jonah!

§ Voting in The Inkwell Awards is now open. Support your favorite inkslinger!

§ Lady ‘tooners party at sex museum.

§ R Stevens is greeting the populace at Whitechapel. Much talk of bacon commences.

§ Cartoonist PROfiles was a great magazine that seems to die in 2005 when its creator, Jud Hurd, did But someone wants to bring its spirit back.

While reading an autobiographical piece written by Marcus Hamilton, who was hired at age 50 by retiring Dennis the Menace creator Hank Ketcham, the bulb appeared. Just as Hamilton began drawing Dennis dailies at age 50, Read thought it might be possible for him to pick up where Hurd left off. His idea? Revive the cartoonist profile magazine, bringing back shop talk interviews and short biographies that were the staple of Cartoonist PROfiles’ 36-year history. Since then, Read has stepped into Toontown much like the detective in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? As publisher of Stay Tooned magazine, he now interacts on a regular basis with famous toons like Dennis the Menace, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.

We have not knowingly included any jokes in here — browse with confidence!

§ OMIGAWD! We’re up for a 2008 Golden Champagne Glass Award! What shall we wear??

§ HOTWIRE’S Glenn Head wrote to inform us that he would be appearing on Monday’s edition of SPEAKEASY on WFMU. We didn’t get a chance to post the alert, but you CAN listen to the archive here.

§ Pam Noles’s photos of Drew Friedman at book signing. Seen here with Carl Ballantine. [Via Flog.]

§ Bookslut is seeking a new Comic Book columnist.

§ Mai Mai is back!

§ Steve Higgins talks “Bringing Comics into the Classroom”:

When I first taught this course several years ago at another college (Olney Central College, a community college on the east side of Illinois), it was a bit more rare then to see comics as part of an academic curriculum. The National Association of Comics Arts Educators was just forming, bringing together the handful of educators around the country who dealt with comics in their classrooms in some way, and their website (http://www.teachingcomics.org/) proved an invaluable resource to me in convincing my dean at the time to allow me to teach the course.

Today, however, comics have a firm foothold in academia, with schools around the country from Yale down to our area’s own SIU-Edwardsville offering courses solely in comics. Many individual courses from various disciplines are also including a graphic novel into their curriculum; Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis in particular is popular in courses on women’s lit and was already being taught at my school when I was hired.

(more…)

§ CBR interviews Kazu Kibuishi who still has much to say about the process of making AMULET:

Was it hard writing children characters? It was more difficult than I imagined it would be. Rather than pulling from my own recent life experiences, I had to try thinking about people who were just starting life and have yet to make major decisions that will affect their future. Basically, it was really difficult to put myself in the shoes of the ten year old me, since I had changed so much.

§ A full Comic Foundry party reports, complete with pictures. Conclusion: Jen (above) looks great but we need a stylist!

§ Tom Brevoort battles ennui:

I’ve been getting very sloppy with updating this blog these last few weeks. This is only my eleventh post this month. Part of the reason for that is obvious:I’m right in the middle of another massive crossover, so the amount of free time I have is minimal. But I think that part of it is also that it’s getting progressively harder to find new subjects to ramble on about every day. I’ve been pounding these keys for coming up on two years now, and that means that I’ve already covered a lot of diverse subjects. There’s only so many times anybody wants to hear me grumble about the same old things again and again.

Tom, Tom, when you are tired of blogging, you are tired of life.

§ He may just be Rafer Roberts of Plastic Farm to us, but to the local paper its Jefferson man pens full-length graphic novel.

§ Nerd mom strives to raise nerd kids:

The Girlchild was introduced to DC Comics characters early in life, when Mommy went a touch overboard in her Justice League Unlimited obsession. Girlchild was presented with a Supergirl Barbie and a Wonder Woman doll for her second birthday, and she bonded with the Barbie satisfactorily. She is enamored of all things Supergirl: clothing, stationery, ad yes, even floor mats. Living near a Six Flags, Supergirl items are even more readily available than they might normally be.

(more…)

§ Mark Evanier followed up on his post about why audience questions aren’t always that great:

One other thing I oughta mention: I’ve done a couple of public interviews where the interviewee stipulated certain topics that could not be discussed. That happens. Years ago at a comic convention, I did a one-on-one with Harvey Kurtzman, who among his other achievements was the founding editor of Mad. An unannounced condition of Harvey’s appearance was the agreement that he would not be asked on stage why he’d left Mad or about any of the business-type aspects of his relationship there.

§ There should be more Manga 101 things like this concise profile of Arina Tanemura .

Arina Tanemura is a shoujo manga superstar, with hit series such as Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne and Full Moon wo Sagashite under her belt. Her current ongoing series is Gentleman’s Alliance†, which is being released in English by VIZ.

Tanemura’s debut work was a 1997 series called I-O-N, about a girl named Ion Tsubaragi who develops psychic powers. After that she charged ahead with a collection of shorts called Firecracker is Melancholy, and dove into her first big hit: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, a magical girl series about a high school girl who transforms to fight demons. Jeanne was followed up by the shorter Time Stranger Kyoko, which is a slightly sci-fi magical girl series set in the 30th century.

§ It’s been a long time since we checked in on John K’s blog. Here he analyses the humor of Don Martin:

My pal Eddie has a term he uses when he likes something funny. He calls it “Ignorant Humor”. I think that’s a funny term too, but hope he never uses it in front of a layman or cartoon executive, because it might give the impression that cartoons are stupid and easy to do.

§ David Hajdu author of THE TEN CENT PLAGUE is interviewed at Vulture:

Speaking of pictures, our only beef with the book is that there are only four pages of them! Why
so few? That was my decision. My editor wanted more. To me, I didn’t want people to pick up the book and mistake it for a coffee-table-ish thing about fun comics of the fifties. I wanted the seriousness of the issues involved to come across. I wanted the book to look kind of text-y and grayish; for a long time I also wanted a somber black-and-white photograph on the cover. That one I lost! And I’m really glad I lost it because the Charles Burns cover is great.

§ Oni’s June solicits. Issue 2 of Tek Jansen! Did you think you would live to see it?

§Whitney Matheson teams with Tim Sale for mischief at the ‘Tope [Via Matt Maxwell]

§ Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaardhas no regrets

“I would do it the same way (again) because I think that this cartoon crisis in a way is a catalyst which is intensifying the adaptation of Islam,” he said in an interview on Wednesday, speaking in English.

“Without a cartoon that provoked the Muslims, it would have been something else; a novel a play, a movie, this situation would have occurred sooner or later anyway.”

§ Two early silent anime cartoons have been found in Japan. They are the work of artists including Junichi Kouchi and Seitaro Kitayama and date from 1917. No word on whether they contained the popular “bloomer shots” of the era.

§ When the hell did this happen?

§ Does giving things away for free work? Neil Gaiman reports on AMERICAN GODS download stats. The novel has been made available for download for the month of March.

It’s worth drawing people’s attention to the fact that the free online reading copy of American Gods is now in its last six days online (it ends 31 March 08). I learned this from an email from Harper Collins, which also told me the latest batch of statistics.

For American Gods:

68,000 unique visitors to the book pages of American Gods

3,000,000 book pages viewed in aggregate



And that the weekly book sales of American Gods have apparently gone up by 300%, rather than tumbling into the abyss. (Which is — the rise, not the tumble — what I thought would happen. Or at least, what I devoutly hoped would happen.)

300% eh? This free sampling thing may have legs.

§ Jennifer de Guzman’s “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now column” returns at Blog@Newsarama.

§ Detective Johanna Draper Carlson of Toontown yard has many unanswered questions about this year’s Free Comic Book Day. We’re not quite so sure why she’s so darned suspicious of the event, which has become a huge PR event for retailers savvy enough to jump on board, but it is reasonable to ask some of the questions. Our 2¢: Making the comics offered be All-ages is not such a big deal. We’ve got the adult nerd demographic covered pretty well, let’s try to open things up.

§ Canadian retailer strives to recommend comics for kids

Comic books are known for their fantastical characters, dynamic artwork and controversy, but are they useful mediums to get fickle teenagers and kids to turn the page?



George Zotti, manager of the Silver Snail, a Toronto comic book retailer, seems to think so, but adds it can be difficult to pick up a title and immediately follow the story.



“The only problem with buying the standard comic book is that the stories continue from one issue to the next — they’re serialized,” he says, adding that some story arcs span months, which can make it difficult for new readers to follow.



His solution is to get parents to buy trade paperbacks — including anime and from the ever-adapting publishers Marvel and DC — which include entire story arcs in one book.

§ ‘Wimpy’ author entrances tots with visit

§ Actor James Sturgess tells more of his involevement with the SPIDER-MAN musical

Director Julie Taymor was so pleased with Sturgess’s work in Across The Universe that she asked him to become involved in preliminary development on her projected Broadway musical version of Spider-Man.

“It’s there and Julie’s definitely going to make it,'’ Sturgess says. “Whether I’ll be in it or not, I don’t know.'’

What he does know is that his input during a two-week workshop in New York helped shape the show that will eventually hit the stage. Taymor phoned him to ask if he and Evan Rachel Wood would come to New York and “help out'’ with her new musical.

“I love Julie. She’s kind of a mentor for me. Evan is one of my best friends, so it was a chance for us all to get together and we just saw it as a fun thing to do for two weeks in New York City - writing songs with Bono and The Edge about Spider-Man.'’

Confession: We’re mighty anxious to see this musical.

§ Georges Jeanty, artist on the Buffy comics, is rarely given the spotlight so so it’s nice to see an interview with him at horroryearbook.com

HORROR YEARBOOK: What were your feelings on Buffy sleeping with another female slayer, Satsu? Was it hard or easy for you to draw?

GEORGES JEANTY: This was the thing that I thought was going to be the climax. I mean how do you come back from that? And we’re only in the 12th issue! I knew how important this was going to become so I was thinking about this issue months before I was to draw it. When I did start to draw it I thought that first page of Buffy and Satsu in bed was something we were going to have to handle very delicately so there would be a lot of back and forth about what should be seen—or so I thought. I read the script from Drew, who is an absolute joy to work with, and sat down and drew out the page. I expected lots of changes when Joss, Drew and Scott saw it, but they thought it was perfect. Rarely do I hit something on the first try. I was on a high the whole day after that!