Rolling comic book thread 2018

sorry, it’s called No Better Words!

Ah, thanks, I'll look out for it.

xps I can totally understand that reaction to MONSTERS, it's pretty overwhelming.
GIRL TOWN just showed up in my local library, so I'll check it out.

Gonna look for nowak stuff at CAB this Sunday, thx for tips

No Better Words is on Silver Sprocket, who are exhibiting - I bought it at VanCAF, but they didn't seem to be carrying it at Short Run last weekend.

(though I think it was just one bloke from Portland who'd driven up, not anyone coming from HQ in SF)

Just borrowed Sabrina by Nick Drnaso from the library. Can't tell if it's good or bad timing for a non-genre graphic novel to be called this in the same year that Netflix have a new Sabrina series out (not that you would confuse the two, visually). Anyway, looks interesting - a kind of blank, templatety art style that seems almost sinister:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/02/sabrina-nick-drnaso-review-graphic-novel

it's very sinister!

my Short Run #haul btw:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrMlf3BVYAAO2OI.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrMlgNoVsAAvyx_.jpg

ah well

WHY ART? by Eleanor Davis was a sweet, short read. Tiny profundity.

Saw her read it at a thing in manhattan
She is tremendous

I can see the photos, sic, and I am very envious

yeah what is fuck off squad, lol

as far as I can tell, it's a collection of the second and third volumes of Fuck Off Squad, but without any of the back-up features by other people

(a comic about teen skaters hanging out and band members trying to band and how sex with various people can impact on other people)

(I'd never bought any of the issues of FOS before bcz they were $15 each, so I'm not sure how much is left out; the collection is $15.)

jon are you at CAB tomorrow?

Yes
My signing slots are 11 to 12 and... I think 1 to 3? Maybe 2 to 4. I’m definitely going to the Julie panel at noon.

I have sighted No Better Words at the silver sprocket table. If I sell a copy of true swamp the proceeds will funnel to my acquisition of it.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stan-lee-marvel-comics-legend-721450

Obligatory "Excelsior!"

Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' Real-Life Superhero

go fuck yourselves

That took 17 minutes longer than I expected.

RIP, Stan. Long may our legitimate criticism of you devolve into sputtering rage.

hey, I'm legitimately criticising the subeditors of THR

'Nuff said!

xp to farrell, me too!

turns out the Fuck Off Squad has all three issues in it, the TOC just says PART ONE and PART TWO in black and white, and PART THREE in white-on-very-soft-pink.

Got my copy of Mort Cinder, very nice but sometimes modern scanning technology shows a level of detail that wasn't originally intended, I prefer the slightly flatter black and white look. I was right in guessing there is a big Breccia reprint project across a few languages, at the back of the book it notes that there will be a series of his major works from Fantagraphics.

daaaaaave nooooooo

Oh, did you know Dave McKean and Jack Gantos (2 white dudes) have a comic out next year about an illiterate brown Muslim boy who goes into a library with a suicide bomb only to start having second thoughts because people seem so into the world of books and if only he could read

— Zainab Akhtar (@comicsandcola) November 19, 2018

https://www.abramsandchronicle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/9781419728563.jpg

“People stop thinking when they cease to read.” When a young boy enters a library wearing an explosive vest hidden underneath his lovely new red jacket, he only has one plan on his mind. But as he observes those around him becoming completely captivated by all of the wonderful books they are reading—books he has no ability to read—the boy can’t help but question his reasoning for being there. With Dave McKean’s unique mixed-media illustrations, bestselling author Jack Gantos brings to life the story of a young suicide bomber, his unquestionable duty to his beliefs, and the unexpected power of books to change lives.

he's also not a god, a wizard or a superhero, but that doesn't stop him

ffs

Liiiiiiiike...there's probably a way that that basic plot could be handled in a thoughtful, respectful, and delicate way, but that particular path is so incredibly narrow and precarious that, yeah, if you're a white non-Muslim dude it's probably best to maybe do a story that isn't that story.

As a general thing, I would say, 'Hey, white non-Muslim people: don't ever write another story about a Muslim suicide bomber. Like ever, in any context.'

an illiterate muslim suicide bomber, pls

TBH, my first thought was 'can't wait to see how Kyle reacts after he reads Cartman's press release'.

i blame the writer. mckean can't be expected to sort these things out, he just wants to blow, man

an illiterate muslim suicide bomber, pls

yeah this makes um no sense

how does he read the Koran

with great difficulty, one assumes

Wow, this is practically Frank Millerian in its conceptual awfulness!

i'm curious if this is in fact Millerian or a misguided liberal fool

No mention of our heroic librarygoers clubbing the illiterate Muslim to death with copies of the New Testament so I'd assume the latter by default.

It's apparently adapted from a short story he did for amnesty international. Goodreads reviews are a mix of 1s from people who probably haven't read it and 4s from people who all got sent free copies. My mind is still boggling a bit about the writer even thinking this was a good idea. (McKean has done a bunch of charity work over the years so I guess the amnesty connection is why he is involved)

http://www.comicsbeat.com/abrams-comicarts-announces-spring-2019-titles-with-fies-selznick-griffith-and-mckean/

Scroll down

Obit of an accomplished artist with a comics connection — he did some illustration work for Atlas and had an association w/Stan Lee: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/obituaries/pablo-ferro-dead.html

This interview goes into more depth on the comics angle: http://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/pablo-ferro-a-career-retrospective-part-1/

Well, guys, we did it: https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/11/24/abrams-cancels-dave-mckean-suicide-bomber-comic/

Don't know if I'll listen to this particular episode but this is one of my favorite podcasts
http://www.scottedelman.com/2018/11/21/savor-a-steak-dinner-with-comics-legend-paul-levitz-in-episode-82-of-eating-the-fantastic/

One of Paul Levitz's just tossed in lines that caught my ear was the one "I got the first 30 years of Marvel Comics along with the DC ones sitting in a storage unit in New Jersey."

There's Berserk omnibuses coming out next year (3 volumes per omnibus) but since they are on larger paper, it's not going to be much cheaper!

Considered giving up on it but a recent volume had a huge dog dragging a coffin and they only come out once a year so it's not a huge commitment at this point.

Just a real shame there isn't a cheap way for people to get into it and Miura probably wont stop doing detours that are never as interesting as the main story.

Superhero stories with guest stars are extremely offputting. Back when I was huge into superheroes I couldn't imagine why people objected to a cool character having a guest spot but now I just want to immerse myself in a world unto itself.

Did anyone read Walter Simonson's Ragnarok series for IDW? Some said it was good.

I remember there being particular cynicism about titles that launched with a crossover and young me was thinking "why wouldn't you want Spiderman in your first issue?" but now it screams "we have no confidence in this new title finding an audience".