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“Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes” wins Costa Book Awards biography of 2012

  • News
  • January 3, 2013

18967-8169137Mary and Bryan Talbot’s Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes has won the Costa Book Awards biography of the year. They won the £5,000 biography prize for a book that interweaves the true and tragic story of James Joyce’s daughter Lucia with Mary’s own troubled relationship with her father, the eminent Joycean scholar James S. Atherton.

The Talbots have known of the win for several weeks. “It has been really hard keeping quiet about it,” said Mary. “We were astonished. Just being shortlisted was amazing and hearing we’d won the category was stunning. We’re delighted of course, both personally – it’s the first story I’ve had published – but also for the medium, I can’t believe a graphic novel has won.”

It is not the first graphic work to win a major literary prize – Art Spiegelman’s Maus won a Pulitzer in 1992 and Chris Ware won the Guardian first book prize in 2001 for Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth – but the Costa award is still a significant moment for the graphic medium.

“It is a good thing for graphic novels as a whole,” said Bryan Talbot whose prodigious output includes The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and Alice in Sunderland as well as strips for Judge Dredd and Batman. “Graphic novels are becoming increasingly accepted as a legitimate art form.”

The last graphic novel spike came about 25 years ago with the popularity of books such as The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen and Maus. The problem then, said Talbot, was that there were not enough books to feed this. “By the time you’d read a dozen or so of the best titles, there wasn’t enough left to keep this nascent interest going. Since then, there has been an increasing number of graphic novels published and now we have this whole canon of quality work.

“We are living in the golden age of graphic novels. There are more and better comics being drawn today than ever in the history of the medium and there’s such a range of styles of artwork, of genre and of subject matter.”

Judges called Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes “a beautifully crafted” work “which crosses the boundaries between literature and the graphic genre with extraordinary effect”.

via Costa awards 2012: graphic biography wins category prize | Books | The Guardian.

Congratulations to Mary and Bryan!

Dennis O’Neil, Time Bandit

  • Uncategorized
  • January 3, 2013

O'Neil Art 130103Okay, let’s agree that 2012 wasn’t a bad year. It wasn’t a good year, either. (Does that mean it wasn’t tired?) It just…wasn’t. It had no reality other than the one we slathered onto it, and either do minutes, seconds, hours – the whole temporal shebang. (All hands brace for Blather.)

Once upon a time…no, let’s just say once the ancestors who still live deep within us observed certain natural events and recurrences and used them to structure their lives and somewhere in the ancestral murk they gave the intervals between these events names and when a lot of intervals had passed and the universe committed us, we homo sapiens acted as though the names were real and – heck, we probably believe that they are. We place labels on the unknowable and believe the labels are the reality.

Anyone seen a unicorn lately?

There were obvious benefits to believing these illusions – this time stuff. For some of us, probably for most of us, these phantom seconds and hours and so forth help prevent our lives from being a tumble through chaos. If they weren’t useful, evolution would have dispensed with them before now. (Can you define now?)

Of course, not everything is part of an interval and maybe we should be glad. How boring would our lives be if they were ticked off by a metronome? If our happenings were utterly predictable? A little surprise occasionally brightens our…I was going to type “days,” but given the context, it might be better to use the word “existence” instead.

I’ve had some good happenings this past yea…ooops!…this past interval. Enjoyable books, movies, television. Enjoyable companions. A few laughs. New snow in the front yard and dazzling foliage in the fall…ooops again! Not “fall,” not another damn time word. (Maybe “state of existence after a warm interval”?) I’ve taken some interesting courses and finished writing a book and taught a comics writing class and traveled a bit and there is nothing much wrong with any of that. I should be grateful for all of it and I probably am.

But the interval had its negatives, too. My world is emptier without Jerry Robinson and Joe Kubert. Although it was kind of exciting too watch Hurricane Sandy shake the trees outside the window, the storm wasn’t really very friendly. And I could have done without the kinney stoones. It has been a dismal exercise in masochism to learn of the behavior of our politicians and to witness a presidential campaign that might have shamed Thomas Jefferson. Lies have been told and the telling of lies has gone unpunished and we wonder if it is now acceptable to lie. And if it is, what happens next?

That’s what we always want to know, isn’t it? What’s next? And this mystery, this next, is what none of our constructs can help us with. Not que sera sera, not “what will be will be” but rather, “what is, is.”

Have you defined now yet?

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases

SGT. JANUS INTERVIEWED AT "THE ROYAL OCCULTIST"

  • News
  • January 2, 2013
januscvrgif1-6273162
Cover Art: Jeff Herndon

Jim Beard’s Sgt. Janus: Spirit Breaker was interviewed at “The Royal Occultist” website. You can read the full interview with the New Pulp character here.

About Sgt. Janus: Spirit Breaker–
HERE BE GHOSTS

Situated in the rural back country of Edwardian England is an old, mysterious house whose unique owner earns his living as a Spirit-Breaker, a hunter of ghosts. A former military veteran, Sgt.Roman Janus has devoted his life to aid those haunted, both emotionally and physically by obsessive wraiths whose spirits are still anchored to our world.

Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to present Sgt.Janus – Spirit Breaker by Jim Beard. Part detective, part occultist, Janus is himself a man of mystery whose own past is shrouded and the motivations behind his calling kept hidden. Within this volume you will find eight tales as narrated by his clients, each with his or her own perspective on this uncanny hero and his amazing career. Filled with suspense, terror and agonizing pathos, each a solid mesmerizing journey into the unknown world beyond. Featuring a cover by artist Jeff Herndon and eight stunning illustrations by Eric Johns, Sgt.Janus – Spirit Breaker is the first in a new series by one of today’s leading stars in New Pulp Fiction.

Airship 27 Productions – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation!

Mike Gold: Must We, TV?

  • Uncategorized
  • January 2, 2013

Gold Art 130102I was a little slow when it came to adopting television as a part of my lifestyle. I only cared about cartoons as a small child, and no wonder: teevee was mostly local and cheaply produced and all those public domain Fleischer and Warner Bros. cartoons were a delight. They still are. I didn’t get sucked into the mainstream until pre-adolescence.

When that happened, TV Guide was my bible. A digest-sized magazine that contained detailed descriptions of every local and network show to be aired in the following week, I, like my peers, pretty much planned our lives around the boob tube. The annual Fall Preview issue was a genuine event.

When it comes to broadcast entertainment today, TV Guide has become less than irrelevant – it’s useless. Cable has brought us so many channels if the magazine stuck to its original concept it would take a half hour to read the next 30 minutes of descriptions. The printed grid tells us nothing we can’t get from our cable grid. And the vaunted Fall Preview issue presumes the “new fall season” is unique. It is not. With the exponential growth of choice, “new seasons” come with each new season.

more important. I take the recommendations of my friends quite seriously – daughter Adriane is a constant source of advice, and I take heed at the recommendations of Martha Thomases and the other ComicMix crew (Martha makes one such nod this Friday; I’d link to it but it’s not Friday yet).

But if my jaded, tube-weary brainpan is capable of generating any excitement similar to that of the old new fall season, it happens right now, in January. Some of my favorites return this month: Justified, Community, Young Justice, Bill Maher. There are a number of promising-sounding shows such as Ripper Street, and before long we’ll have Louie, Hell On Wheels and Doctor Who back.

None of these (save Bill Maher) are what we used to think of as full-length series. We get maybe a dozen episodes of each annually. Even though each episode is played many times, teevee-watching isn’t quite the passive experience it once was.

All of this cable stuff already is being eclipsed by streaming media: Netflix and others have competitive original content, Apple has a box for sending stuff from a great many services (including, of course, its own) to the teevees in your house, and Intel is going to be rolling out an interesting new media box on a market-by-market basis starting soon. The larger cable companies have apps that allow you to pick up their service at home on your smartphones and tablets, and content suppliers such as HBO and the various networks allow you to steam their material to these same devices.

We’re probably just a heartbeat away from fulfilling the prediction made back in 1967 in the brilliant social satire, The President’s Analyst. Pretty soon we’ll just have a chip installed in our heads, and the fees will be debited to our bank accounts.

We don’t need drugs, alcohol or virtual reality. We have television.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil

 

  • News
  • January 1, 2013

Available Now: THE CESTUS CONCERN by MAT NASTOS

WHO IS MALCOLM WEIR?

Waking up in an operating room, much to the surprise of the attending surgeons, Malcolm Weir frantically fights his way out of a secret government installation, located in downtown Los Angeles. Battling through a mass of armed guards and meta-gene operatives, the cyborg warrior realizes he has no memory of how he got there.

The past 11 months are gone.

With a hole in his mind, Weir must retrace his steps for the past year, fighting his way through the nearly endless horde of super powered mercenaries and assassins the government sends after him.

Travel along with Weir, facing some of the most intense action ever put to paper, along with a body count of ridiculous proportions, as he tracks down the secrets trapped in his head.

In the end, Weir must stand alone against a former friend and a squad of the deadliest killers ever created, all to learn the terrifying truth behind Project: Hardwired.

Fans of films like “Bourne Identity” or “Smoking Aces,” or the comics of Deadpool and Wolverine, will love the over-the-top science fiction action of “The Cestus Concern” by Mat Nastos.

cestus-cover_final-design-6418037




Read what the critics are saying:

“With The Cestus Concern, Mat Nastos crafts his most daring and imaginative work to date. Thrilling and action-packed, Cestus moves at a breakneck pace. Nastos continues to show why he is the next great voice in sci-fi.” –Rob Liefeld, Creator of Deadpool, Cable, Youngblood and X-force, and founder of Image Comics

“The Cestus Concern kicks off in a bold fashion the refuses to relent. Weaving between The Six Million Dollar Man and Universal Soldier, Mat Nastos sculpts a story of high-tech science fiction that rivals masters of the genre and adds yet another successful story to his already impressive body of work.” –James Ninness, writer of Dust: Withered Earth and Macabre Rising

“Nastos delivers visceral sci-fi action from the very first page, and never lets up.” –Tyler James, writer of Red Ten and co-creator of ComixTribe.com.

“Equal parts Terminator, Frankenstein and Universal Soldier, Nastos reinvents the classic motifs, creating something truly exciting.” –Adam Lance Garcia, author of Green Lama: Unbound.

Find out more about “The Cestus Concern,” including an exclusive excerpt from the novel, at: http://www.niftyentertainment.com/2012/11/12/the-cestus-concern-the-weir-codex-book-1-by-mat-nastos/

KNIGHT WATCHMAN TAKES THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

  • Uncategorized
  • January 1, 2013
Knight watchman: Graveyard Shift (c) 2012 & TM by Big Bang Comics. Published by Pulp 2.0 Press.

New Pulp Publisher, Pulp 2.0 Press has announced and shared the cover to the upcoming 2013 release of the Knight Watchman: Graveyard Shift collecting the 4-issue 1998 mini-series originally published by Big Bang Comics. Pulp 2.0 Press’ resident Mad Pulp Bastard and publisher, Bill Cunningham calls Graveyard Shift “A love letter to the 90’s and a major reinvention of The Knight Watchman.

About Graveyard Shift:
In the wake of a tragedy, a masked hero forced out of retirement to save the city from itself. When a dead body turns up and all the evidence points to the Knight Watchman, Midway City’s former good guy becomes its most wanted criminal unless he can survive long enough to clear his name.

Knight Watchman: Graveyard Shift is by Chris Ecker, Gary Carlson, and Ben Torres and retails for $8.99 plus shipping and handling.

Coming soon from Pulp 2.0 Press.

Michael Davis: The Wrong Stuff

  • News
  • January 1, 2013

davis-art-130101-8562324A few days ago I received an email from my friend John Jennings. John is a fantastic artist and teacher and I’ve known him for a lot of years.

I was not happy with what John had to say and let him know it. What John wrote me was a pretty detailed accounting of why some in the black comic arts community were not happy with the following line from the gallery show I’m curating for the Geppi Entertainment Museum called Milestones: African Americans in Comics. Pop Culture and Beyond.

“Up until now there has been no serious attempt to showcase African-Americans in the world of comic books, and the impact of their creative excellence, which has been a mainstay of the industry for as long as comics have been an American art form.”

Man, I went (as we say in the hood) Negro when I read that that line in the press release offended some people.

My response to John was in affect, how dare these mofo’s (white people, ask someone what that means, oh wait it’s New Years Day and you are all hung over so I’ll just tell you, motherfuckers. It means “motherfuckers”) be offended??

The reason why they were offended is because that line from the press release gives the impression that Milestones is the first exhibit of its kind. I must say, I’ve written some great kiss my ass letters in the past, but the one I wrote about those people who were “offended” was so good I thought about using it for a ComicMix article.

Before I could do that, John wrote a response that pretty much put be on blast (white people, ask someone what that means…oh I forgot New Years Day, hung over, OK “blast” in this instance means you call someone on their shit. Damn! I keep forgetting, New Year, hung over…’calling someone on their shit means you dismantle their argument), John called me on my shit.

John was right.

Milestones is the latest in a line of exhibits that feature black comic book art and artists.

I’m going to give John a forum to break down what has gone before in the Black Comic Space in a guest column here (something he’s just learning right now) as no one is better equipped than John to do so.

Those who know me are well aware that when I’m wrong, I say it.

I was wrong.

I also intend to acknowledge what has come before in any future press releases, interviews, etc. I think letting the millions of people that read me on ComicMix is a good start but I can do more and I will.

I’m excited about the show, I’m excited that Tatiana El-Khouri is co-curator, John is lending his considerable expertise and talent to the exhibition and Obama beat the living shit out of Romney.

That I was right about, was I not?

On a somber note, Peter David had a stroke the other day and all I can think of is how much I love that guy. Peter is not just a friend, he’s not just a great writer, he’s a really great guy.

Get well Peter and do it fast. We all love you dude.

Happy New Year, everyone.

WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold

 

Emily S. Whitten: My Twelve Vows of New Year’s

  • News
  • January 1, 2013

Whitten Art 120101As of today, it is officially 2013; and there’s nothing we can do about that, so we may as well enjoy it!

There’s nothing like a song to ring in the new year, and nothing like some resolutions (that may or may not be kept) to start that year off right. So join me, won’t you, in singing the geekiest song of New Year’s Resolutions that ever you will see, i.e. My Twelve Vows of New Year’s. I think you all know the tune. It’s similar to that silly old thing about the partridge and the pear and the damsels in distress or whatever.

Ready? Here we go!

My Twelve Vows of New Year’s

On the first day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
To book my flight for SDCC! Fn1

On the second day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
sell on Etsy, Fn2
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the third day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
Watch Arrow, Fn3
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the fourth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
sort my Deadpool, Fn4
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the fifth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
Beat Fallout 3, Fn5
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the sixth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
get my subscriptions, Fn6
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the seventh day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
write a new webcomic, Fn7
get my subscriptions,
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the eighth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
launch our Kickstarter, Fn8
write a new webcomic,
get my subscriptions,
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the ninth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
make my next costume, Fn9
launch our Kickstarter,
write a new webcomic,
get my subscriptions,
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the tenth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
don’t buy more variants, Fn10
make my next costume,
launch our Kickstarter,
write a new webcomic,
get my subscriptions,
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the eleventh day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
post a serious column, Fn11
don’t buy more variants,
make my next costume,
launch our Kickstarter,
write a new webcomic,
get my subscriptions,
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!

On the twelfth day of this year,
my New Year’s vow will be:
read my new comics, Fn12
post a serious column,
don’t buy more variants,
make my next costume,
launch our Kickstarter,
write a new webcomic,
get my subscriptions,
Beat Fallout 3,
sort my Deadpool,
Watch Arrow,
sell on Etsy,
And to book my flight for SDCC!!!

Thanks for singing along! Wishing everyone the very happiest and geekiest of new years; and until next time: Servo Lectio!

Fn 1:  Seriously, I am finally going to go this year, I swear. I’m so excited!

Fn 2:  I want to open a store in which I sell tiny, adorkable, possibly wearable geekery made of clay.

Fn 3:  I always seem to be one episode behind. How does this keep happening?? I blame Deathstroke.

Fn 4:  How did everything get all out of order and stuff?? I swear I used to have the whole collection arranged by date!

Fn 5:  Seriously, I have owned this game for how long now and never played it? It came out in 2008! What is wrong with me??

Fn 6:  My poor local comics shop owner recently mailed me a stack of my subscription comics because it takes me so long to get around to visiting the store. It’s not that I don’t want them right away. But I don’t have a car and the store’s a 20 minute walk from the Metro!! That’s like it being in the middle of the ocean or something.

Fn 7:  Probably while on the Metro. That’s where I write most of my webcomic scripts.

Fn 8:  For the new comic Ben Fisher and I are writing! It’s going to be amazing! And full of hamsters. Sooooo many hamsters.

Fn 9:  I have an idea for DragonCon that is going take forever. But it will be magical.

Fn 10: I can’t help myself – the Deadpool Does Memes variant covers are Just. So. Great. <a href=”

Styyyyyle!!

Fn 11: But really. This was fun too, right? Just you wait; next time I’ll do iambic pentameter.

Fn 12: The pile, it is large. So very, very large.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis

WEDNESDAY MORNING: Mike Gold

THE RED PANDA AND THE LOST SHEEP!

  • Uncategorized
  • December 31, 2012

decoderringtheaterredpanda-6640351

Decoder Ring Theater rings out 2012 with a new episode of The Red Panda Adventures called The Lost Sheep. You can listen to it here.

About The Lost Sheep:
The tempest of war has carried many of the Red Panda’s allies far from the field of his private war for justice. But even after so many years of seeing the best, boldest and brightest torn away, some wounds are impossible to bear. How far will the Flying Squirrel go to save… The Lost Sheep?

About Decoder Ring Theater:
Welcome to Decoder Ring Theatre – home of all-new audio adventures in the tradition of the classic programs of Radio’s Golden Age. Here you will find full-length, full-cast tales of mystery and adventure to fire your imagination, with new releases on the 1st and 15th of every month, year-round – including our latest episodes, posted below.

Decoder Ring Theatre’s shows are available for free download in mp3 format, either directly from our site, via the Podcast Feed or subscribe in iTunes. Or if you prefer, use the handy player beside each episode.. Please explore and enjoy the pulse-pounding thrills of The Red Panda Adventures, the noir stylings of Black Jack Justice and the grab-bag of suspense, science fiction and comedy found in our Showcase. Each episode is a stand-alone story and you can begin wherever you’d like!

The Point Radio: 2012 The Year Of TV Comedy Gold

  • News
  • December 31, 2012

pt123112-4028970
We begin our look back on the Pop Culture that was in 2012 as Media Mogul Ric Meyers (ricmeyers.com) runs down the vast array of great TV comedy from the year. From CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL to HAPPY ENDINGS to SUBURGATORY, it’s been a damn good twelve months. Plus what show was downloaded illegally the most in 2012 (we are talking millions here) and how iPads are killing the toy business.

Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio  – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other  mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

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