Garry Trudeau wrote a piece that ran in Stars & Stripes, commenting on the current military and their reaction to his comic strip, Doonesbury.

Noting that S&S began running the strip during the Vietnam war impressed him, he said, “the strip was unambiguously anti-war in outlook, it was a counterintuitive move on the part of the editors, and there were several campaigns to dump it. Fortunately, there was always a noisy cadre of readers who stood ready to support it, and the strip somehow survived.”

What prompted him to write was the tenor of the letters he’d been receiving from soldiers and related personnel who took issue with his depictions of soldiers here and aboard.

“Since I was first invited to visit with troops in Kuwait in 1991 (following an in-theater exhibit of my work that toured regional bases), I have talked with hundreds of military personnel. During my visit, I received Certificates of Achievement from both the 4th Battalion 67th Armor (‘For significant contributions to the morale of the United States Forces’) and the Ready First Brigade (For providing aid and comfort to the United States Forces’). More recently, I have toured military hospitals from Landstuhl to Walter Reed to Brooke, and VA hospitals and Vet Centers from Kansas City to Palo Alto, interviewing scores of wounded warriors about their experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and military sexual trauma (MST).

“I also maintain and edit a milblog called The Sandbox at doonesbury.com to which scores of active-duty military personnel contribute on a regular basis. A collection of their work was recently published, again to benefit Fisher House. In recognition of the strip, I’ve been honored to receive the Commander’s Award for Public Service by the Department of the Army, the Commander’s Award from Disabled American Veterans, the President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts from Vietnam Veterans of America, the Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and a special citation from the Vet Centers


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Adult-only website Slipshine.net and Studio Zoe announced that Studio Foglio’s Xxxenophile will now be available at their website starting with the first volume and offering new stories each month.

Xxxenophile is a six volume masterpiece written and illustrated by award-winning creator Phil Foglio, originally released between 1988 and 2000, and has been acclaimed for it’s skillful storytelling as well as beautiful artwork. Xxxenophile has also been nominated for an Eisner award.

The seven year old aduilt website offers a variety of comics material with Xxxenophile the latest addition. Foglio’s own Studio Foglio has also announced they will soon be selling digital editions of the six volumes.
 

Marvel sent along the variant cxovers to two of the mutan ttitles tying in with the Bring On The Bad Guys company-wide event. The covers are to Uncanny X-Men #505 by series artist Greg Land, and Young X-Men #9, by Adi Granov.

Issue details are:
 
UNCANNY X-MEN #505
Written by ED BRUBAKER & MATT FRACTION
Pencils & Cover by TERRY DODSON
Villain Variant by GREG LAND
Rated T+ …$2.99
On-Sale—12/17/08

YOUNG X-MEN #9
Written by MARC GUGGENHEIM
Penciled by RAFA SANDOVAL
Cover by CHRIS BACHALO
Villain Variant by ADI GRANOV
Rated T+ …$2.99
On-Sale—12/17/08
 

The Wall Street Journal notes that comic strip characters are increasingly being hired in India as spokesmen for products such as Dilbert shilling for cell phone manufacturer Nokia.

“Using such characters as ad faces or endorsers is infinitely cheaper than using real-life celebrities, experts say, and also helps connect with consumers on a note of humor in an increasingly grim economic milieu,” the WSJ’s Live Mint blog noted.

Snoopy, the perennial Peanuts Pitchdog, continues to push insurance products overseas as well as for MetLife here in America while Mowgli, from the Jungle Book, can be seen in holiday-themed ads for Coca-Cola.

R.K. Laxman’s Common Man can be found pushing consumer loans for Asset Reconstruction Co. and Air Deccan.

“The premise for using popular comic-strip characters, experts say, is essentially the same as that for a brand picking a celebrity endorser,” the site notes. “There is an instant recognition, a familiar character connects better with consumers, and the values of that celebrity could have a positive rub-off on the brand.”

“Most comic-strip characters or cartoon characters are very well established,” says K.V. Sridhar, national creative director of Leo Burnett India Pvt. Ltd. “When you see them on screen, you know what’s going to happen. So in that sense, they telegraphically communicate what they are and what they stand for.”

Comic strip characters play better to consumers in India given their superior readership while the WSJ says comic book heroes resonate better for consumers in the United Kingdom and Japan. They’re also cheaper to obtain than living spokesmen. “In some cases, the amount could be a hundredth of what it costs to hire a C-grade celebrity,” Leo Burnett India’s Sridhar said.

“India is a very fragmented media market,” Patil of Amar Chitra Katha told WSJ.

“The creative objective was to visually depict people’s working environments and unique habits to show that Nokia works in the same way as they do,” Devinder Kishore, director (marketing) for Nokia India said. “Dilbert’s character has helped consumers connect with the devices in an engaging and ‘fun’ manner…it is unique and cool, and also a great clutter-breaking tool.”

Max Allan Collins will be writing a third Quarry novel for Hard Case Crime.  On the heels of the recent The First Quarry, Collins will be authoring Quarry in the Middle which the celebrated publisher will release in time for Christmas 2009.

Meantime, Tom Sizemore is portraying the character in director Jeffrey Goodman’s adaptation of Last Quarry, The Last Lullaby which Collins cowrtoe the screenplay. His costar, Sasha Alexander, has already been named Best Actress at the San Diego Film Festival with the film taking the Audience Award.

The film’s website provides the following synopsis:

Price, a former hitman, is struggling to cope with retirement.  He left the assassination business to live the "easy life."  However, retirement arrived with its own agenda.  It was not the instant peace and calm that Price expected.  Rather, it was emptiness, boredom, and, worst of all, restlessness.  The Last Lullaby plummets Price back into his old life and forces him into a corner from which he may never escape.  Price’s old ways no longer work for him when his heart opens, and he finds life beyond his profession.  The tension finally comes to a head as Price must decide to close himself off again or open himself up to a world beyond his control.