Tagged: comics

The Art of Bryan Talbot Review

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  • December 27, 2007

There are plenty of comics writers and artists (and combinations thereof) who have never been fashionable, but who do good, interesting work, and even dive in and out of “mainstream” comics as they go. I’m thinking about people like P. Craig Russell, Eddie Campbell, and – most to the point right now – Bryan Talbot. They mostly keep control of their own work, so they never end up as fan favorites for their run on Ultra Punching Dude, but, as consolation, they do get to do their stories their way.

The Art of Bryan Talbot is a 96-page album-sized softcover, with text by Talbot and a short introduction by Neil Gaiman, which traces Talbot’s varied career. After the requisite page of juvenilia, the book moves into Talbot’s first published comics, the “Chester P. Hackenbush” stories in his Brainstorm comic of the mid-‘70s. It all looks very late-underground; interesting but clearly at the far, tired end of a movement.

After that, Talbot’s career goes all over the place, with stints on “Judge Dredd” and “Nemesis the Warlock” for 2000 AD, a pile of art about the singer Adam Ant, some random minor comics projects, and posters/pin-ups on musical and SFnal themes. Talbot refers to himself as a “jobbing illustrator” at one point, and that describes his work in this section. It’s all technically well done, and the pieces are generally excellent for what they are, but they’re extremely various. (Also around this part of the book is a longish section of life drawings Talbot did for a class in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Pencil life drawings are great for an artist’s development, but can be slightly less compelling in the middle of a book of ink and color comics art. They really don’t seem to mesh with the other pieces of art surrounding them.) (more…)

Zeus, In Passing, by John Ostrander

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  • December 27, 2007
Having celebrated Christmas, we all now stagger towards the New Year. There’s no inherent meaning or importance to the fates of December 31 and January 1; nothing save what we invest in it. Part of the meaning is to look forward, to imagine what will be. The other is to look back and to remember what has happened in the past year especially if someone you know has died.
 
I experienced that late this year. On Saturday, November 17th, I received word from Phillip Grant that his father, Paul, has suffered a major heart attack and was not expected to live. Paul Grant died the following Tuesday.
 
I’d gotten to know Paul in my early Internet days online at the old Compuserve Information Services site, in their Comics and Animation Forum. I knew him at the time by his handle, Zeus, and his were the first online reviews that I read – Notes from Olympus, if I recall correctly. Paul, as Zeus, covered a wide range of comics and, while economical in length, each review was well written and well thought out. Paul could write. He was also an early and vocal supporter of GrimJack, for which I was and am extremely grateful.
 

(more…)

Merry Of The Merriest

Get out from under the tree and come share a little pop culture joy as ComicMix Radio lays out this week’s huge list of new comics and DVDs available to both the naughty and the nice. Plus:

• Straw Men is headed into the comics in 2008

• Freddy, Jason and Ash are sell outs!

• Nickelodeon splits in two

• Can you guess what our favorite holiday movie is? It was in the theaters nineteen years ago today!

Come on, it’s Christmas – do we really have to ask you to Press The Button?

Simone & Ajax – Christmas 2003

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  • December 23, 2007

We continue our ongoing campaign for those of you who only look at RSS feeds to actually read some comics.

Read more Simone and Ajax Christmas adventures:

1996

1997

1998

1999

2002

2004

2006

And we have more to come before the big day!

Oh, and don’t forget the ongoing Adventures of Simone and Ajax all here on ComicMix. (more…)

Because it’s Christmas, by Michael Davis

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  • December 21, 2007

24382_thumb-1397986Last week I told a bittersweet Christmas story and this week I was going to give my Christmas list of stuff that I thought would make good gifts.

Then…

I remembered the young lady I met in an airport a while back. I never got her name but she told me she wants to be a comic book artist and has no friends. She is a bit overweight and is being picked on at school because of that. She has a less than supportive family. Trust me, when I say “less than supportive” I’m being KIND.

I wrote about her in my column and related a story from my childhood that I hoped she would read.

I know what it’s like to that kid. I may not have been overweight but there were years when I felt I had no real friends. It’s the roughest around the holidays at least I had the support of my family…well most of my family.

So once again, my friend, this is for you. It’s a bit rough but trust me, it turns out OK.

My stepfather was an alcoholic and because of that I did not take my first drink until five years ago. I was under the impression that he was my real father and I did not want to go down the same road as him.

Get this: the way I found out that he was not my real father is an aunt of mine got mad at him and told me.

(more…)

A Little Song, A Little Dance, A Little Romance Down Your….

Simon & Kirby not withstanding, romance in the comics isn’t easy to come by – and today ComicMix Radio is happy to introduce you to a creator who is trying to change that by bring the romantic comedy genre to a four panel daily web comic. Meet the creator of You’ll Have That – as well as the lady who inspires him! Plus:

• Poof Harry Dresden gets set to appear in comics

• Come talk TV at MySpace

• The new Transformers series premieres in just days

The kind of fun that money can’t buy awaits you once you Press The Button!

Driving The Big Boat, by Dennis O’Neil

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  • December 18, 2007

Maybe we ought to retire the word “hero” and designate the characters whose needs and actions drive the story, more technically and accurately, as “the protagonist.”

(You’ve guessed that we’re continuing our incredibly prolonged discussion of the evolution of superheroes?  Good.)

As mentioned in an earlier installment of this blather, the word “hero” is derived from the Greek and means, roughly, “to protect and serve.”  (Lest anyone think I’m a scholarly dude who actually knows Greek…I wish!) The problem nowadays is defining exactly how the protection and service is to be accomplished.  In other words, what kind of person do you admire, and why do they do what they do?  Who do you favor mor e– Mother Theresa or the late Colonel David Hackworth, our most decorated combat veteran?

I never met the good nun, but I did spend an hour or so with Colonel Hackworth once and liked him very much.  I don’t think I would have enjoyed Theresa’s company a whole lot.  But maybe she was the more heroic of the two, if we count heroism as doing deeds that take courage and accomplish long-term good.  Going out every day to deal with disease and poverty…it must have taken guts and it can’t have been easy.  Easier than facing enemy guns?  I have no idea what measurement we can use to quantify such things.  Maybe there is none.

Col. Hackworth did what he did repeatedly and must have often known what he was getting into and, presumably, chose to do it anyway.  But I’m wary of heaping too many accolades on folk who, in a military situation, do one brave thing because…

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The Variant Question, by Mike Gold

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  • December 17, 2007

Despite my firm belief that I know everything about everything, I humbly admit there is something about this variant cover thing I don’t understand. Therefore, I’m tossing these questions out to you, the public, for comment. I’m not really trolling for comments; I honestly don’t understand this stuff.

I got into this because I just finished filling out my part of the retailer’s order form for Diamond distributing. My wife will do so tomorrow, my daughter already did. None of us are particularly interested in variant covers. In fact, I can’t recall any of us ever ordering one, let alone juice up our orders so we can procure one of those “for every ten you get one” deals.

Some publishers release as many as five different covers on damn near each title they publish. Some only restrict themselves to two, and then only occasionally. I understand how the device works as a sales incentive for comics shop owners, but, really, do you – as a reader – enjoy this? Do you usually buy alternate covers? All of them? Some of them? Only particular artists? Do you ever pay a premium for one?

More important, if you can’t get one at your store, do you buy it at a premium on the collector’s market? If there’s an alternate cover out there you want, do you track it down online or at conventions or sic your friendly neighborhood retailer on the quest?

Collecting mania aside, there’s really nothing new about alternate covers – the magazine business has been at it since the invention of the staple. In our little donut shoppe, it goes back at least as far as 1956 – Mad #28 had three variant covers. About 15 years ago, our hobby (as opposed to art form) was consumed by gimmick covers: prisms, holograms, lenticular pasties, all kinds of stuff. More recently, we’ve even combined the two with the variant gimmick of the “pencil” cover. Yep, you’re paying more for an unfinished product. (more…)

Superman #2 – A Christmas Story, by Michael Davis

  • News
  • December 14, 2007

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

I love it, love it LOVE IT! It’s by far my favorite time of the year. When I was a kid my mother would always make sure we had a great Christmas no matter what. My mother had two jobs and was going to school year round. I learned years later that she always took a third job around Christmas. So I have a LOT of Christmas stories some good some not so good but most involving comics.

 

Here’s one.

When I was 10 I traded my cousin Greg all the money I had in the world (three dollars) for seven golden age comics he had found in an attic. Among those books were Superman #2, an All-Flash, a Captain Marvel and some others I don’t recall. I remember Superman #2 vividly because this was the age I started to trade comics and the number on the issues were very important to me and this was a Superman comic! I loved those comics, they were my most prized possession. I don’t think anything since has been able to match my pride of ownership for those books.

That year my mom sent my sister and me to Alabama for summer vacation. Yeah, send the little black kids from New York To Alabama for a vacation. That’s great. That’s like sending your dog to Michael Vick’s house for some exercise.

Well by some miracle we survived that summer and I survived the HORRIBLE wait to see my comics again. I am not kidding. I LOVED those books and because they contained Superman #2 I was BMITH (Big man in the hood).

Before I go on I should mention that the way we got to Alabama was by car. Yep, two days and two nights in the back seat with my SISTER! So when we finally got back to the states, (to us Alabama was like ‘Nam) I made a bee-line for my room and my beloved stack of Golden Age joy! The moment I entered my room I knew there was a problem. I could see my floor! For any 10 year to be able to see their room’s floor is a terrible omen of dire things to come. Where were my toys? Where were my baseball cards? (more…)

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