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12 February 2006
[comics] Wondercon ’06: Grant Morrison Spotlight — GM update from Newsarama. ‘…about issue #4 [of All-Star Superman], Morrison said readers will see a transvestite Jimmy Olsen on page one.’
8 February 2006
[comics] Mutants in Mega City One Video — a video of Carl and Suggs from Madness performing as the Fink Brothers from Judge Dredd. Contains bits of the video for the song plus a confused appearance by them on a Saturday morning kids TV program called Saturday Starship circa 1985.
2 February 2006
[comics] The Dark Knight Returns — interview with Paul Pope (from Wired). On Batman: Year 100: ‘[Batman’s] mask symbolizes the last hope against a corrupt government encroaching on individual privacy. “He’s someone with the body of David Beckham, the brain of Nikola Tesla, and the wealth of Howard Hughes, who is pretending to be Nosferatu,” Pope says.’
1 February 2006
[comics] Are you a Red Dupe? — An important announcement from Haunt of Fear #26… [via Pete’s Linklog]


29 January 2006
[comics] The Story Behind the Microsoft Font Comic Sans — It’s all Frank Miller and John Constanza’s fault: ‘I started with the font drawing software Macromedia Fontographer, trying to make the capitals in a similar form as the lettering used in DC, Marvel and all other company’s comic books. The Dark Knight Returns a Batman book was one of the books I referenced often.’
28 January 2006
[comics] A Comics Panel with Chris Ware, Seth and Ivan Brunetti. [via Waxy]
26 January 2006
[comics] BeaucoupKevin: Always Remember – Grant Morrison just had sex with your wife
25 January 2006
[comics] Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly — interview with the creators of Local from the Onion AV Club … ‘It’s possibly rather implausible that any human being would travel and live in 12 cities in 12 years, but I knew people that did stuff like that. They’re just very aimless, and just were always moving somewhere. So hopefully it’s not too implausible.’ [via Sore Eyes]
16 January 2006
[comics] The Day the Powers Died — When did Brian Michael Bendis jump the shark? … ‘What was the point where it all went south for Bendis? The answer was actually much easier than I’d guessed. The fucking monkey issue of Powers.’ [via Neilalien]
13 January 2006
[funny] Jimmy Corrigan Condensed — Chris Ware parodies JC. [via BeaucoupKevin]
12 January 2006
[comics] 911 in Comic Books — webpage looking at how comic books portrayed 911. Includes the black covered issue of Spider-Man which has Doctor Doom shedding a tear… [via Metafilter]

DOOM! BY HIS EMOTIONS BETRAYED! TERROR IN A TEARDROP!

11 January 2006
[comics] I Heart Pixels — the sketchblog of R Stevens of Diesel Sweeties Fame. [via The Daily Chump]
[comics] Fell #1 — Warren Ellis’ new comic available online with art from Ben Templesmith. ‘Detective Richard Fell is transferred over the bridge from the big city to Snowtown, a feral district whose police roster numbers three-and-a-half people (one detective has no legs). Dumped in this collapsing urban trashzone, Richard Fell is starting all over again. In a place where nothing seems to make any sense, Fell clings to the one thing he knows to be true: Everybody’s hiding something. Even him.’
10 January 2006
[comics] Michael Avon Oeming takes on Warren Ellis — interview between the two comic creators … ‘I come to the pub to work, not to talk. A fan once tracked down the pub I work in, and came in asking questions. When I arrived, everyone was very tense. He didn’t realise there were three large blokes behind him ready to stamp on him if he moved funny. He turned out to be a very nice guy. But they’re kind of protective of me here.’
7 January 2006
[comics] Drawing Fire — Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson describes why political cartoonists should never give out their email addresses. ‘…every time I draw a cartoon critical of George Bush my inbox gets inundated with a tidal surge of hate mail. I’m not alone, of course. Steve Bell gets it too. In fact the first piece of digital bile I received asked me why I drew Mr Bush as a monkey, when he was the president of the United States of America and I was just a schmuck. I politely replied that I never had, and that my correspondent had got the wrong lefty cartoonist. I got a reply saying I was an asshole anyway.’
3 January 2006
[comics] Warren Ellis Audio Interview — check out the Alan Moore section ‘No Warren. Don’t tell me about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Film. I might cry.’
31 December 2005
[comics] Scans_Daily: Best Batman Joke. Ever.
28 December 2005
[comics] They Dealt with Dan. Now Dana and Yasmin target Dennis — the Guardian looks at Children’s Xmas Comic Annuals … ‘Al Notton is not convinced that comics of any kind have a future. “I was speaking to my seven-year-old nephew about comics recently, and he said, ‘Uncle Alan, what’s a comic?'”‘ [via Bugpowder]
21 December 2005
[comics] Make Your Own Speech Bubble! — in the style of Diesel Sweeties … [via jzw]

speech bubble image

13 December 2005
[comics] Dr. Fredric Wertham’s Weblog — the infamous anti-comics crusader has a posthumous blog (he died in 1981) … ‘Flooding the market with love-confession comics is so successful in diverting attention from crime comic books that it has been entirely overlooked that many of them are crime comic books, with a seasoning of love added. Unless the love comics are sprinkled with some crime they do not sell. Apparently love does not pay.’
9 December 2005
[comics] Comic Book Habit — from Toothpaste for Dinner‘I found this comic book in your room… before this becomes a habit, I want you to think very carefully about this, and ask yourself if you want to get addicted…’ [via scans_daily]
6 December 2005
[comics] Interview with Brendan McCarthy‘I was sitting in a taxi with Grant [Morrison] – we’d got pissed at a comic convention and he was saying he couldn’t think of a headquarters for the Doom Patrol. So I said – what about the Beatles in a Hard Day’s Night? They used to live in that house where they were all connected together. I don’t know if you remember the sequence, but the Fab 4 lived in 4 terraced houses that were basically hollow inside so it was one giant house. So I said – why don’t you make it so that they live on a street and the street moves around and hides among other streets? It fit into the surreal Doom Patrol style? We started talking about streets and I said – you know what’s bugged me all my life? It’s that that the singer Danny Le Rue – he’s basically called Danny the Street – isn’t that just a fucking weird name? Why don’t you call it Danny the Street and make it a transvestite cross-dressing street?’
5 December 2005
[politics] CIA Sabotage Manual — used in Central America in the 1980’s – reminiscent of Jack Chick. [via jzw]

image of cia instruction manual

4 December 2005
[comics] Intellectual Marijuana: Comics and their Critics — an essay on the perception of comics by “intellectuals” in America during the last Century. Marya Mannes: ‘Every hour spent in reading comics is an hour in which all inner growth has stopped.’ [thanks John]
2 December 2005
[comics] The Dawn of Dilbert — online version of the original Dilbert submission package which Scott Adams sent to various cartoon syndicates – includes 50 Strips … ‘Synopsis: Dilbert is an engineer. He is about thirty, and works at an undisclosed high-tech company in Northern California. He lives with his dog, Dogbert, who bears a striking resemblance to Dilbert (including glasses and the ability to speak). Dilbert is very intelligent and kind-hearted, which makes him particularly ill-suited for life on this planet. Dogbert is also intelligent, but with a cynical edge. In contrast to his master, Dogbert has such a simple, yet keen understanding of human nature that his perceptions seem ridiculous to Dilbert.’
1 December 2005
[comics] Where’s Barry? — Barry Allen isn’t Dead. He’s just Resting… ‘Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, has been called “DC’s first official saint.” He died saving the entire universe, after all, and to avoid cheapening that sacrifice he is likely to be one of the few comic book characters whose death will actually stick. However, his virtual sainthood has led to Barry being sighted as often as Elvis…’
29 November 2005
[comics] I’ll Thank You Not To Call My Collection Of Sequential-Art Erotica ‘Dirty Comics’ — a classic Onion: ‘…your familiarity with comics is so limited, you couldn’t identify Aquaman’s wife without recourse to the Justice League FAQ! To think I believed you capable of appreciating the works of the finest erotic artists working in the medium today!’
25 November 2005
[comics] Amazing Heroes #176 Cover — in an interview Grant Morrison points out the Greatest Ever Line in Comics: ‘It was really a traumatic period, crammed with adolescent horrors. But all the stuff in St Swithins Day has come out of that time. The whole strip is lifted from my teenage diaries. I actually found the greatest ever line in comics in one of those diaries. It’s the first time that a character has ever just sat down and said, “Why am I such a wanker?” That came from the 1979 diary, some tortured moment on the M6.’ (from Feb 1990)
19 November 2005
[movies] Glanced at: Superman Returns Teaser Trailer
17 November 2005
[comics] Grant Morrison’s Six Rules for Writing “All-Star Superman”‘PLAY CLARK AS A ROLE WITH A GOAL – We’re playing Clark as a big, clever country guy who’s used to wide-open horizons and who can’t seem to move in a confined space without knocking something over. The real wizardry is in Frank Quitely’s art, which captures a lot of physical nuances and subtle body language that previous Superman artists have often overlooked in their portrayal of Clark. He’s not just Superman with glasses on. He’s a performer. He allows Superman to experience humility, among other things.’ [Related: Official Preview from DC]
16 November 2005
[comics] The Killing Joke Script — the first 40 pages from Alan Moore’s script … ‘As far as the characters themselves go, I’ll describe them in detail when they make their appearances, but my only general note would be that like the landscape and the various props, they have a sort of timeless and mythic quality to them which doesn’t fix them firmly in any one age-range or time-period. The Joker looks either old or badly depraved, but then he’s always looked that way. The Batman is big and grim and older than we are, because as I remember the Batman he’s always been bigger and older than I am and I’ll fight any man that says different.’
12 November 2005
[comics] Glanced at: Scott Pilgrim on MySpace.
10 November 2005
[comics] Alan Moore on Terrorism, America and Britain: ‘…You have to remember that over here there were teenagers being taken out of cellar bars in separate carrier bags all through the ’70s and ’80s because of the war in Northern Ireland. In that case, the IRA were largely being supported by donations from America. That was why I was a bit worried when George Bush said he was going to attack people who supported terrorism, I thought, oh my god, Chicago is going to be declared a rogue state and they’ll hunt down Teddy Kennedy.’
8 November 2005
[comics] The T.M. Maple Memorial Leaf Pit — a website on the King of 80’s Comic Letter Hacks. ‘…a legendary Canadian letter hack who wrote thousands of letters to comic book letter columns through the years. Burke first started writing letters in 1977 as “The Mad Maple”, but Tom DeFalco, in order to get around a new stipulation of the time at Marvel (thanks to Jim Shooter) that pseudonymous letter writers couldn’t get published, shortened it to “T.M. Maple” to sound like a real name. His letters kept getting printed, and Burke liked the new name, so he kept it for the rest of his letter-writing career.’ [via Progressive Ruin]
7 November 2005
[comics] Mike Sterling’s Ten Favorite Scary Swamp Thing Moments‘Matt Cable, who has a problem with the drink, finds himself almost certainly mortally injured in a car wreck. Upside down, bleeding to death, he finds himself face to face with…a giant yellow fly. At this point, we don’t know who the fly is or where it came from…but c’mon, we know it’s Arcane…’
6 November 2005
[comics] Tamara Drewe — an archive of Posy Simmonds latest comic strip (published weekly in the Saturday Guardian) following on from Gemma Bovery.
5 November 2005
[comics] The Dilbert Blog — Scott Adams has a Blog … ‘Now this bird flu business has me worried. I already circle the parking lot twelve times to find a space that isn’t under a tree and directly in the crapping zone. If birds start getting the flu, they’ll be firing from both ends. There aren’t enough squeegees in the world.’
31 October 2005
[comics] Dourdevil: Grit! — Alan Moore and Mike Collins spoof Frank Miller’s Daredevil Run …

image of dourdevil and erektra

19 October 2005
[comics] Wally Wood’s 22 Panels that Always Work‘Or some interesting ways to get some variety into those boring panels where some dumb writer has a bunch of lame characters sitting around and talking for page after page!’
18 October 2005
[comics] Dave’s Long Box on Daredevil: Born Again: ‘That, my friends, is 100% pure comic book gold. You are dead inside if you don’t feel at least a little stirring of sentiment looking at that triumphant image, remembering when you first read that. It speaks to the part of us that still believes in heroes, that has faith in the power of the human spirit. And in the next issue? Daredevil kicks the living shit out of Nuke. He mops the floor with the guy!’
16 October 2005
[comics] Infinite Crisis Begins Today (Spoilers) — Metafilter discuss DC’s new multiverse reorganising mini-series… ‘Please wake me from my comic free slumber when Infinite Spider Jerusalem Crisis is greenlighted. You know, the one where Spider Jerusalem appears in every DC comic and shoots every DC superhero with his anal prolapse gun.’
15 October 2005
[comics] Scans Daily [RSS] — Livejournal Page posting a random assortment of old and new scans from Comic Books.
10 October 2005
[comics] Official Preview of All-Star Superman #1


Morrison: ‘I just read – yesterday in fact – the story ‘Superman’s New Power’ which appeared in Superman #125 from November 1958. And guess what Superman’s new power was in the ‘conservative’ ’50s. That’s right – it’s a teeny-tiny little Superman who shoots out from the palm of the big Superman’s hand and does everything better than Superman himself, leaving the full-size Superman feeling redundant and worthless. Holy analysis, Batman! It’s mindbending, brilliant and eerie work. This is what it would be like if Charlie Kaufmann wrote and directed the Superman movie and it’s far from goofy or childish, it’s genuinely affecting and slightly disturbing to read Superman saying stuff like ‘Everyone’s impressed except ME! Don’t they understand how I feel — playing second fiddle to a miniature duplicate of myself…a sort of SUPER-IMP?’ And people think I’M weird? I %$%$^ wish I was weird like this! I wish pop comics today had the balls to be as poetic and poignant and truly ‘all-ages’ again, and a little less self-conscious. I feel a little ashamed for not even daring to think of a magnificent tiny Superman who makes the real Superman feel inadequate every time he springs from his hand.’

9 October 2005
[comics] Doctor Doom’s Top 10 Euphemisms for Sex — from Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin’10. “Unleashing the Doombots”‘
7 October 2005
[comics] Challenging Graphic Novels for an 11 year-old? — Ask Mefi discuss Graphic Novels for Children.
6 October 2005
[comics] Battle Action — fan site for the classic war comic from the 70’s/80’s … ‘Gott in Himmel! Die you Britisher Pigs!!!’
4 October 2005
[politics] Steve Bell: ‘Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner B.A.T.Bloke!’
[comics] General Zod – 2008 Presidential Candidate‘In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.’ [via Linkbunnies]
3 October 2005
[comics] Page 227 from A History of Violence — a scan from John Wagner’s and Vince Locke’s comic from 1997. ‘… there does seem to be an elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about, in regards to the source material.’
29 September 2005
[comics] Tintin ventures into India’s rural markets — BBC News looks at the success of Tintin in India … ‘For the curious, Captain Haddock’s “blistering barnacles” translates unexpectedly as “bhadakte hue baingan” (literally, “angry aubergines”). “Thundering typhoons” comes out as “toofani lehren”.’