Jon Sable is NSFW
In today’s brand-new episode of Jon Sable: Freelance, by Mike Grell, Maggie the Cat lives up to her reputation. With diamonds — and other things — size matters.
The Mix : What are people talking about today?
Cartoonists Plan Protest of Racial Grouping in Newspapers
The St. Petersburg Times reports that on Feb. 10, a group of notable black cartoonists will be running variations of the same joke in each of their comic strips in order to shed light on a perceived "lumping together" of cartoonists by ethnicity. With many newspapers looking to shake up their format by making changes to the comics section, many of the creators involved in the protest argue that their strips are only included at the expense of other strips created by people of color. This is due to an unwritten rule in the newspaper industry prohibiting more than a certain number of "ethnic" strips in a single issue, the creators claim.
According to The Times:
"…each of them will draw the same strip featuring their own characters – a joke about how readers and some newspaper editors see their work as interchangeable, simply because of the ethnicity of the characters they draw."
Creators named as participants in the protest include Darrin Bell (Candorville), Charlos Gary (Cafe con Leche and Working It Out), Cory Thomas (Watch Your Head), Stephen Bentley (Herb and Jamaal), Jerry Craft (Mama’s Boyz), Stephen Watkins (Housebroken), editorial cartoonist Tim Jackson and Keith Knight (K-Chronicles).
Rick Remender on End League, Fear Agent, Atom and More…
Over at Comic Book Resources, Rick Remender chats it up about his critically praised, post-apocalyptic superhero saga The End League, as well as his other post-apocalyptic saga, the creator-owned Fear Agent series.
"I guess I’m a bit bleak in my worldview. That and I always tend to make sure Earth is in a state of shit,” quipped Remender. “I like post-apocalyptic stories, what are you gonna do? I like hopelessness. It brings out the grit inside a character. Might as well get right to it and see how someone reacts when faced with a stacked deck and insurmountable obstacles. In my shitty opinion, that’s the good stuff. Unlike most books of this nature, these characters are all dealing with the prospect of real extinction that’s always waiting around every corner.”
The eternal optimist, eh? No fear, though. Remender goes on to discuss his work on other projects big and small – literally – including his run on DC’s Atom, as well as an upcoming Ultraman-meets-Truman Show project (his description, not ours) titled Gigantic.
Robot Farmers Conquer Tokyo (Sorta)!
As reported on Robots.net (and linked via BoingBoing), researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have developed a mechanical exoskeleton that will provide greater strength to those who wear it. The suit is intended to help aging farmers with their daily routines, and is expected to cost 200,000 yen for the mass-produced model.
From Robots.net:
"The robotic suit relies on ultrasonic motors along with various sensors and wireless networking gear."
"Wireless networking gear," eh? One can only imagine the potential ramifications of a hacker gaining control over one of these exoskeletons. the results could be… alarming.
Deadpool: A Cult Classic?
Over at Blog@Newsarama, The Fifth Color deconstructs the nature of a "Cult Classic" by examining the convoluted, often contradictory history of Marvel’s favorite "Merc with a Mouth," Deadpool.
"It’s not that they guy is simply funny; let’s face it, if pop culture quips and fourth wall humor was what it took to make a cult favorite, She-Hulk would be in a lot better position than she is right now. It’s not the violence either: note how Deadpool didn’t get an invite to Cyclops’s all new, all stabbing X-Force. I think both of those have caught our eye, but it’s what writers have given the character that makes him worth a second look and his own book."
It’s a thought-provoking analysis of a character who rarely gives his actions much thought… or so I thought. (Wait, now I’M confused… Anyways, just go and read it for yourself.)
Brian K. Vaughan Discusses Acme Novelty Library Cameo
Over at The Beat, Heidi MacDonald points us to a recent entry in Brian K. Vaughan’s blog in which the writer explains his cameo (playing himself) in Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library 18. Vaughan explains that the appearance wasn’t the result of any friendly arrangement, but rather a contest that he had entered and won. The Lost scribe goes on to explain that he hopes his appearance won’t bring down the overall quality of the project.
"Thankfully, it’s a small moment, but an unbelievably huge honor for this fanboy. I won’t tell you how and when I show up–not that you should be purchasing this modern classic to play Where’s Waldo? with my slaphead–but I will say that, even though I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the author, the line of dialogue he gave me perfectly captures the way I haplessly fumble to articulate my feelings about true art, which is exactly how I feel whenever I try to describe my love for Acme Novelty Library."
Spider-Man’s Marriage Annulment: The Headlines
Over the last few weeks, more than 80 percent of the stories in my long list of news feeds have somehow involved the mystical annulment of Spider-Man’s marriage. The Merry Marvel Marketing Machine is hitting on all cylinders, it seems, as the coverage from mainstream media has been overwhelming.
Over at The Beat, Heidi MacDonald assesses the hits and misses in mainstream media’s coverage of the event – at least as far headlines go – as well as some thoughts about how the rationale for the split has been presented by Joe Quesada and Co.
"… bringing the comics Spidey back in line with other media Spidey’s was the main factor. To be honest, there’s a lot to be said for this ‘core concept.’ It wasn’t until we were researching an earlier post that we remembered that Superman and Lois are STILL married."
The Michael Davis Network
It’s no secret I hate most reality television. I think shows like The Real World and The Real Housewives Of Orange County are real stupid. No, that’s not right, I like reality TV I just don’t like the “I’m better than you” attitude that some of these shows reflect. Take The Real Housewives Of Orange County for instance. This show is about these elitist bunch of middle age women who think that money and status are all there is in life. One woman on the show has a son who has serious problems so her solution is to kick him out of the house. OK, that’s tough love, I get that.
However…
The mom is then upset that her son (who she kicked out) moved into the home of her husbands ex-wife. She is very hurt that her son would do that to her.
What?
This “mother” throws her son out of the house and then she is hurt because her son moves into her husband ex-wife’s house. Forget the fact the kid had nowhere to go, she could not get over the fact that he would hurt her that way.
What kind of parent is this?
Does having money make you a heartless self-centered bitch?
Happy Birthday to The Six Million Dollar Man!
Today in 1974, Lee Majors starred as Steve Austin, the world’s first bionic man, when the Six Million Dollar Man debuted as a regular series on ABC. Based on Martin Caidin’s novel Cyborg, the show created an explosion of superhero trends in TV, spawning the likes of Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk and The Bionic Woman, which was just revived in 2007. And yes, there was even a comic from Charlton back in the day.
What with shows like Heroes as well, it looks like the 70’s superhero revival has found its way into the new millenium– just as long as we don’t look back on this era and regret the hairdos as much.
We here at ComicMix paln to celebrate by doing everything in slow-motion while making na-na-na-na-na noises.
Comic Strips Tell the Stories of Sex Workers
A recent post on BoingBoing regarding comics based on the lives of sex workers has led to an interesting interview with Peter S. Conrad, a writer and artist whose latest project involves turning sex workers’ stories into comic strips. The interview, along with the four-page strip titled "Going Back" can be found at The Reverse Cowgirl.
RC: How did you create the artwork for the stories?
PSC: As much as possible, I don’t want to be in the way of the story. I print out the words typed by the person who told the story and use a pencil to make marks where I think page divisions will go. Sometimes I have to make a lot of cuts, or sometimes I replace a bunch of words with a picture that gets the idea across, so I know I am having an effect on the story, but I use as much as I can verbatim. My goal is to be invisible, because it’s not really my story to tell.
Keep in mind, the art and story are both of the NSFW variety, as they contain adult material.
