Rolling comic book thread 2018

Badger was super dumb

Two more Junji Ito books from Viz
- Frankenstein (with Oshikiri story cycle included) - 18 Oct 2018
- Smashed (a collection) – 16 Apr 2019

I'm not that interested, but just in case some of you are, after the Go Nagai Devilman Classic Collections, Seven Seas are releasing Cutey Honey Classic Collection and a series of Captain Harlock Classic Collection by Leiji Matsumoto.

I had one Cutey Honey book and there was this guy with a bleeding anus and he kept getting judo chopped in the ass.

Some of these are out already

I kinda think Badger was a secret influence on the character Deadpool. I loved the The Bowl Shaped World arc in Nexus when it's Badger, Nexus and Judah on the road.

Badger is great in Nexus, p worthless in his own title

This afternoon I had a bad dream with the most obscure comics reference: I dreamt I was somehow inside the house of comics critic Ng Suat Tong and eating his son's chocolate bars when they were away from home and then worrying about how I would get myself out this situation. I don't know if he actually has a son.

Have ilxors ever made a comics compilation?

No.

It'd be great if one got made - would love to see what kind of things people came up with. Sort of along the lines of the ILX pre-covers compilations where willing participants are given a theme (ILX itself, idk?) and a deadline to produce a 6-panel strip. No real artistic aptitude necessary. Mention itt if interested at all and I could set it up.

Incidentally, I recently finished reading Kristen Radtke's 'Imagine Wanting Only This', which was pretty stunning. Isolated musings on death and space and dying towns etc. Would really recommend.

Compilation sounds fun!

Reading the first volume of Misty reprints. Have been curious about these for a long time. It's not blowing my mind so far but I do like how irredeemably eevil the bullies in the first story are.

Been really digging the Exiles series this year. Not incredibly original, but just plain fun. Also the artwork is good stuff.
https://i.imgur.com/pUP1lM3.jpg

Anyone know what the careers of aging manga artists are like?

A while ago I looked up Masami Fukushima's recent work and I don't know if he's updated his style or some assistant is having a large influence on his art but I don't like the new look.

Recently looked at the newest Captain Harlock and Devilman books that Matsumoto and Nagai only write; the new artists do a sort of update on the old style that just doesn't work that well.

It would be easy to imagine Matsumoto and Nagai not wanting to draw lots of pages anymore but sometimes I think the manga industry is more unwelcoming of old fashioned styles than the American mainstream of the 90s.

Oh dear at Bastien Vives - Petit Paul. This is the first time I've been too afraid to order a comic since Maruo's Mr Arashi's Amazing Freakshow.

I know packages with are rarely inspected these days and the seller would probably take an item out of stock if they had a problem with it but still, quite extreme content makes me worry about getting into trouble.

Breccia's Mort Cinder came out a few months ago from Fantagraphics, anybody got it?

I had a blind spot to him, but a quick Google suggests all his previous work has been the same?

I don't think the Breccia has been published yet? I've waited a very long time for Mort Cinder to be translated, so will def be buying when it does appear.

Aldo- Same in what way? Breccia's work is quite varied.

Aldo appears to be responding to your concern about ordering M. Vives' work through the Royal Mail.

Yes. From a glimpse at Les Melons de la Colere it seems to be just as 'interesting' in terms of mail worries.

Fantagraphics site has the Breccia coming out at the end of October btw

Ward - thanks.

Aldo - Vives does a big variety. He does mainstream action like Last Man, he did Polina which got a Juliette Binoche film based on it, a comic about swimming, some science fiction, humor and probably a lot else.

He's about as varied as anyone going right now.

Re: Breccia, might go for a foreign edition of his Lovecraft work. His work has been getting reprints recently in French and german so maybe he's gathering interest again.

Had not heard that East of West had gotten optioned. It's almost an American Anime type comic, so I think it would work well as that style of animation.

5. East Of West

What is it? Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s Image Comics series follows Death—of the Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse—and his attempt at stopping the world from ending. The book is a sci-fi/Western set in an alternate reality-version of the United States, and both Hickman and Dragotta are on board as producers.
How far along is it? Amazon picked up the project in April, but that’s all we’ve heard. That means it’s probably still very early.
Will it win or die? The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman is also on board as an executive producer, and he knows a thing or two about making comic books into hit TV shows, so that’s a good sign. Plus, the original comic is great, so East Of West could have a good shot if development starts to pick up speed. [Sam Barsanti]

https://tv.avclub.com/game-of-game-of-thrones-thrones-43-big-upcoming-fantas-1828746565

I was eyeing Urotsukidoji in the shops recently, seemed a bit too expensive but a few days later I couldn't resist. Surprised it wasn't the whole thing but only the first of 4 volumes.

Artwork by Toshio Maeda is so much better than I remembered. Pleasantly surprised by this because I didn't see myself wanting to delve into this. Have some good memories of the first animated film (guy cutting off his own penis then attaching a demon penis and some other intense things) and was curious if reading these books would explain what the hell was going on in the later films which was tedious and incomprehensible for me at the time but also intriguing (because how the hell does the story progress into space opera?) but I'm finding out the manga is a very very different story. I hope it goes into the space stuff. Don't make me watch all that anime. Interestingly, Maeda remade the manga a few years later to incorporate elements of the anime.

Maeda might be one of those manga artists whose international success did a lot more for him than his success in japan. Regularly doing American and European conventions and makes good money off his fans, semi-retired. He claims he got his English speaking skills just from watching films and television.
There's quite a few video and audio interviews around, including one from Bourdain's tv show.

There's a blog called Tentacle Lounge that gives in-depth coverage of his work. Some of the art is admirably moody. I don't like some of the coloring techniques he uses these days but he seems to have recovered from his hand injury very well.

From a short dip into Urotsukidoji, the contrast between the general nasty aura and the jokiness is very odd.

Fakku released these recent 4 volumes but somehow a new publisher Denpa (founded by ex-Vertical staff) acquired it and Fakku's Shintaro Kago book (meaning they taken maybe the only two really interesting things Fakku had). I would be very interested to see more Maeda stuff.

Here's a bit about Denpa that may interest.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2018/08/31/a-qa-with-the-founder-of-denpa-fandoms-newest-manga-publisher/#4948f4a1794c

Were people talking about the upcoming Thimble Theater collection on this thread? Whatevs, here's one of the strips - Segar paying tribute to Herriman!

https://scontent.fman1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/41394292_2142035325809701_7239858106933444608_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=96c4fb4f8e458231d0fade11860ac287&oe=5C239951

My most recent purchase has been the first of two new volumes collecting the work that British comics genius Ken Reid did for the publisher Odhams in the 1960s. I couldn't resist book one because it contains my personal favourite Reid strip, Jasper the Grasper, naturally enough about a miser. It's easy enough to say Reid was the British Basil Wolverton, but the level of manic, grotesque detail in his work also feels adjacent to some of the underground artists (who were publishing their first comics at the same time that Reid was enjoying a small measure of freedom at Odhams, along with a similarly energised Leo Baxendale). This strip made a DEEP impression on me when I read it as little boy in a comics annual in the 1970s:

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bx_MLiftV_c/WEt8kB89IhI/AAAAAAAA6PM/iBHxd34IG9YhpbEqqewvIZXQhbmoGzxNgCLcB/s1600/Jasper%2BThe%2BGrasper%2B%25289%2529.jpg

I got that giant Drawn and Quarterly 25 Yr Anniversary book out of the library in the hopes that I would find out about some cool folks of theirs I was unfamiliar with. Unfortunately turns out I'm not interested in most of their stable :( Huizenga looked kinda interesting, maybe I will read Curses.

Huizenga's Ganges was the best ongoing series of the last decade.

That Segar / Herriman strip was in this book, my childhood exposure to Thimble Theatre:

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/08/a3/a3/08a3a378081a86fb0d4d0d34b5b2304c--bud-printing.jpg

one of only two times I've ever borrowed a comic from someone and not given it back, and I still feel guilty 34 years later

Carlos Ezquerra passes.

https://i2.wp.com/www.starkafterdarkonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-06-15-2.png

lol "judge Minty"

Pretty sure that page is by McMahon rather than Ezquerra, fwiw

yep that's mcmahon.

first 2000ad i bought
https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/893977.jpg

finally finished reading Al Ewing's Loki: Agent of Asgard run. outstanding. what an excellent, worthy follow-up to Gillen's run. unbelievable how great a character Loki has become over the past decade.

I’m enjoying his go at The Hulk just now also.

Really digging the Nocenti/Aja miniseries The Seeds. I'm not sure about the actual story, per se, but it's incredibly weird and evocative, and invites multiple visits.

Yeah, I'm enjoying. Ales Kot's Days Of Hate has a similar vibe.

This could be a cursed question, but can anyone recommend any “how to draw comics” books? Not the McCloud, but old school “this is how you do a head and perspective” type books.

I bought a WACOM during a late-night Amazon sadbinge and thought it might be fun to try making a comic journal for a course I’m doing. Nothing for public consumption, just fun farting around at home.

My advice, avoid anything like How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way and just get yourself anatomy books (I like the Anatomy For The Artist by Sarah Simblet), drawing perspective books and take a good look at the storytelling techniques of comic artists you like.

http://dw-wp.com/book-guides/drawing-words-writing-pictures-volume-1/

Chip Zdarsky should make a compendium of all his 'How to draw' bits
https://i.imgur.com/aoolwhA.jpg

Basic facial proportions and positioning (all rough estimates, natch, which vary from face to face) that will blow u mind:
-U face is roughly 3.5 noses high. The .5 at the top is roughly congruent with u hairline (if you have one, which I do not)
-U horizontal eye area is roughly as wide as u nose is long
-The corners of u mouth roughly align with the outsides of u irises
-U ears roughly start at the top of u eye and extend to the bottom of u nose

Etc, etc. First lesson is free, we can work something out for subsequent lessons.

http://arnoldzwicky.s3.amazonaws.com/WallyWood.jpg

https://i.redd.it/vrlebpuk21hx.jpg

Thanks! That’s super helpful. It came in the post today and I crowned it by drawing a picture of a bee at the level of a Photoshop-unfriendly 4-year-old