“While my work may not be as politically based as, say, that comic where a goateed archer become the mayor of some city, or that miniseries where Captain America’s right to wear a mask and hit people in the head with a metal shield was challenged, there are still politics at play underneath it all. For example, my comic book, Prison Funnies, is a scathing indictment of the flawed penal system, or a bold statement on how prisons are perfect and keep bad people away from good people. I am about nuance and people pleasing, no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall under.”

 

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Recently posted to our homepage:

• Rich Kreiner reviews Matt Phelan’s young-adult graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn.

 

• Over at The Hooded Utilitarian, Vom Marlowe reviews Dungeons and Dragons #0.

And in the news…

 

Above the Fold

 

Life in interesting times

• “Amongst those who say they have read one book [of] any type in the past year, 11% have read a graphic novel during that time […]”

 


Cover to the first volume of Usamaru Furuya’s Ningen Shikaku [“No Longer Human”], a series we’ll hopefully soon be seeing on North American shelves.
• So I’ve been sitting on a number of things concerning the Fantagraphics manga line, which I can’t talk about due to the slo-o-ow process of chasing down licenses. What happens when you open your mouth prematurely, in such circumstances? Take the example of Vertical…

 

• Are you a publisher, creator or otherwise doing public relations for comics? Reporter Nathalie Atkinson discusses PR/press relations over at On the Fourth Floor, and there’s a great deal of valuable advice on offer.

  (Link via Christopher Butcher.)

 

• In a surprise turn of events, Brian Hibbs bitches at length about how publishers fuck retailers over.

 

Today’s Format Wars^TM report

• August was another good month for e-book sales, which jumped 172%.

 

• Lori Henderson looks at manga publishers’ emerging digital strategies.

 

 

 

Profiles

 

• Sarah Mirk on Lynda Barry

  Yeah, I know: It’s the second Barry interview this week to get the spotlight slot. What can I say? She’s Lynda Barry..

 

Also

• Tammy Oler on Neil Gaiman
• Brett Johnson on Sergio Aragonés
• J. Caleb Mozzocco on Jen Wang
• Chris Arrant on Adam Warren
• Paul Birch on Gary Crutchley
• Eastern Edge on Takehiko Inoue and Eiichiro Oda
• Blue Mountains Gazette on Tohby Riddle

 

Reviews

 

• Greg McElhatton on Sisters’ Luck
  
  Page detail ©2010 Shari Chankhamma.

  “This is a book that slowly bleeds away its early good will the further into the book you read, unfortunately.”

 

Also

• Alexander Hoffman on The Color of Trilogy
• Jason Thompson on Jesus
• Tom Spurgeon on Shonen Jump Vol. 8 #10
• Christopher Allen on Deadpool Max #1
• Andrew Wheeler on Omega the Unknown

 

Commentary

 

• David Brothers: Frederic Wertham was right

  You have to admit, the case is starting to look pretty strong…

 

Comics and Art

 

• Smith Magazine: Harvey Pekar and Rick Parker’s “Garbage Collection Dispute”
  
  ©2010 Harvey Pekar.

  One from the late American Splendor creator.

 

Also

• Mykal Banta: Reed Crandall and Joe Orlando’s The Twilight Zone
• Mykal Banta: Jack Bradbury’s Spunky, Junior Cowboy #4
• Ger Apeldoorn: Ray Bailey’s Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
• Ger Apeldoorn: Ray Bailey’s “The Trap!”
• Diversions of the Groovy Kind: Jack Kirby’s “The Psychic-Blood-Hound”
• Pappy: Sheldon Moldoff’s “The Dead Lover Returns!”
• The Horrors of It All: “Lords of the Upper Air”
• Ethan Persoff: Mining propaganda comics
• Larry Cruz: Kate Beaton draws a Spider-Man comic
• Doc Popular: The most amazing Halloween costume ever
     (Link via Kevin Church.)
• Xkcd: Paradise City
• Sam Henderson: I’m better than you
• Mike Baehr: APE poster, reimagined by Jim Blanchard

 

Multimedia

 

• Comics-related podcasts
  • The Beat presents two recordings from last week’s ICv2 industry conference: the presentation of Milton Griepp’s annual report on the state of the comics industry (16.2MB), and the digital-comics panel featuring a variety of industry professionals as panelists (13.3MB).
  • This week, Inkstuds welcomes guest Dave Cooper (55MB).
  • The Daily Cross Hatch offers up a chat with Far Arden creator Kevin Cannon at the Minneapolis Indie Expo from back in August (19.6MB).
  • The Digital Strips crew discusses a variety of webcomics (28.4MB).

  All podcasts are in downloadable MP3 audiofile format.

 

Comics Culture

 

• Brad Rice and Ed Sizemore (one, two): New York Anime Festival 2010

  This year, the NYAF was mashed in with the New York Comic Con. So how was the resulting show if you were a J-culture fan? There’s a hint in the title of Rice’s report…

 

Also

• Teri Thompson: Bill Gallo to receive New York Press Club President’s Award
     (Link via Alan Gardner.)
• Press Release: Mort Walker wins Sparky Award

 

• Your Not-Comics Link of the Day:

  Johan Norberg explains why Mario Vargas Llosa deserved the Nobel Prize for literature.

 

Events Calendar

 

Today:

 

• Oct. 15-16 (Oregon City, OR): Scott McCloud kicks off a 24-hour comics challenge at Clackamas Community College on Molalla Avenue. Details here.
• Oct. 15 (Manchester, England): Miguelanxo Prado makes an appearance at the Instituto Cervantes on Deansgate, beginning at 6PM. Admission is free, but seating is limited and tickets are required. Details here.
• Oct. 15 (Los Angeles, CA): Join Coop, Mark Kalesniko, Kenny Keil and Rick Ross for a panel discussion on design and comics at Meltdown Comics on Sunset Boulevard, from 7-9PM. Admission is $25. Details here.

 

This Week:

 

• Oct. 16-17 (San Francisco, CA): It’s APE — the Alternative Press Expo — at the Concourse Exhibition Center on Eighth Street. Details here.
• Oct. 16-17 (Pittsburgh, PA): The Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo will be held at the Guardian Storage facility on Liberty Avenue. Details here.
• Oct. 16-17 (Birmingham, England): The British International Comics Show will be held at the Think Tank at Millennium Point. Details here.
• Oct. 16-17 (Somewhere in Malta): The Malta Comic Con… that’s all I got. Details here.
• Oct. 16 (San Francisco, CA): The opening reception for a new show by Peter Thompson, Marc Bell and Jason McLean will be held at Giant Robot on Shrader Street, from 6:30-10PM. Details here.
• Oct. 16 (San Francisco, CA): It’s Storytime! and Graphic Details at the Cartoon Art Museum on Mission Street, from 8-11PM. Details here.
• Oct. 16 (San Francisco, CA): The Isotope Minicomics Award ceremony and APE after-party takes place at Isotope on Fell Street, from 8PM-2PM. Details here.

 

Want to see your comics-related event listed here? Email a link to dirk@tcj.com and let me know. Please include an online link to which I can send people for more information. No sales-only events, please — it’s nice that you’ve marked things down at your store or website, but I won’t be listing it here. (Note: Under no circumstances will I link to a Facebook page. Seriously, what idiot “advertises” their event solely on a website that requires registration to see the advertisement?)