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”.’
26 September 2005
[comics] Daniel Clowes Interview — the interview is posted at Suicide Girls so NSFW … On David Boring: ‘I was kind of making fun of the fact that I was taking so long in between episodes. I had these absurd cliffhangers in between each episode. Like the first chapter ends with a bullet heading towards the reader. Then the next issue came out like eleven months later or something. It’s the world’s slowest bullet.’
25 September 2005
[comics] Dave’s Long Box: ‘I’m the Goddamn Batman.’
20 September 2005
[comics] BeaucoupKevin: I’m the Goddamn Batman.
[comics] Welcome back, BD — the Guardian profiles Doonesbury and has rare interview with Garry Trudeau … ‘Would he go on drawing it to his dying day, or might there be a final strip, a final frame, The End? “As to when it all ends,” [Trudeau] said, “there are so many unforeseeable factors; health, energy, interest – it’s impossible to know.” But when the last Doonesbury cartoon appears, it will be the one of the great social and political records of the 20th and 21st centuries.’
19 September 2005
[comics] BY WIKIPEDIA BETRAYED! John Byrne vs. Wikipedia — Byrne deletes most of the content from his entry in Wikipedia. Hi-jinks ensue … ‘Byrne discovered [his Wikipedia Entry] the other week and immediately set about to “correct” things. Here’s the problem. Byrne didn’t just want to go through to clarify points or streamline the entry – he wanted to dismantle the entire page. He deleted everything except for the opening biographical paragraph and the bibliography. He deleted every bit of information regarding his career stages, his interactions with fans, pros, etc., claiming that the entire entry was fraught with inaccuracies and lies. Thing is, they weren’t.’ [via Metafilter]
[comics] On eBay: Watchmen Original Art – Page 24, Issue 6 … bidding is currently at £1,850. [thanks Stuart]
18 September 2005
[comics] Warren Ellis Is Going To Have Me Killed. Slowly. — scans and commentary on a small press comic from Ellis done in 1984 … ‘For the uniformed, I am Warren Ellis, a rather noisy 16-year-old fan…’ [via Progressive Ruin]
16 September 2005
[comics] Liberal Imagination — The Guardian on Liberality for All … ‘I ask [the writer of Liberality for All] whether he’s concerned about being interviewed by a liberal website like Guardian Unlimited? “You’re liberal? That’s not what I’d heard,” he says. “A friend of mine said you were like Fox News on the web. Maybe it was Sky News.” I suddenly imagine the sound of my editor-in-chief choking on her lunch.’ [via Venusberg]
13 September 2005
[comics] Excerpts from Alan Moore’s script for Big Numbers #3 … ‘PAGE 5, PANEL 1. Okay, now there are twelve panels on this page, with this first tier being a continuous background shot. I should point out before we get too far in that this page requires some technical information and possibly some visual reference that will have to wait until I can contact the guy I know who works in a Computer Shop.’
11 September 2005
[film] Interview with Dave McKean — Guardian Online interviews the comic creator and director of MirrorMask … ‘Q: Can you instantly tell if you’re watching computer generated images in a movie? A: Yes, although the integration is sometimes so clever it is hard to be sure. I think some images that are unashamed to look fabricated can be fascinating in their own right, especially as many make use of what computers can do very well, creating complexity, adding complex systems to manmade simple basic building blocks.’ [Related: MirrorMask Trailer]
8 September 2005
[comics] We3 — a collection of Morrison and Quitely’s latest comic is now available at Amazon.co.uk.
» We3 Preview … ‘They’re the ultimate cyborg assassins; armed with missiles, poison gas, state-of-the-art computer technology and unbreakable exo-skeletons. The government has spent millions to fuse the firepower of a battalion with the nervous systems of a dog named Bandit, a cat named Tinker, and a rabbit named Pirate. As part of a program to replace human soldiers with expendable animals, the U.S. government has transformed three ordinary pets into the ultimate killing machines. But now, those three animals have seized the chance to make a last, desperate run for ‘Home’. A run that will turn into a breathless hunt to the death against the might of the entire military/industrial complex.’
[comics] Uniquely Original — another Grant Morrison interview … On All-Star Superman: ‘I’m trying to think of it as the re-emergence of the original, pre-Crisis Superman but with 20 years of history we haven’t seen.’
6 September 2005
[comics] A Chat About Craft With Grant Morrison — yet another interview with GM … ‘If I’m feeling miserable, burned out and hermit-like, for instance, the bad feeling can turn up, as it did in JLA: WORLD WAR III, as something like the monstrous ‘Primordial Annihilator’, Mageddon. At which point I give myself a slap, send the Justice League in to solve the problem, and before you know it, they’ve won and I’m able to leave the house again with a smile on my face!’
5 September 2005
[comics] Grant Morrison on All-Star Superman … ‘To me, he’s a big folk hero. He’s been around forever. He’s like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed and here I’m allowed to tell new stories of these amazing folk heroes. You’ve got to make Superman about a few things. It’s got to be about big emotions and big human feelings like death and loss and bereavement and grief and joy. Then you weave those weird sci-fi stories around those themes. I think those are the best Superman stories — the ones about human feelings but on a huge, cosmic, ridiculous, superhero canvas.’ [via plasticbag.org]
4 September 2005
[comics] All-Star Superman Scans — looks amazing and scores bonus-points for Grant Morrison guest-starring as Lex Luthor. [via Sore Eyes]
1 September 2005
[politics] Steve Bell: Are you Smoking What We’re Smoking?
[comics] Cerebus Art — Dave Sim and Gerhard’s official site for selling original Cerebus Art. [via Meowwcat’s Cerebus Links]
29 August 2005
26 August 2005
[comics] Governments should be Afraid of their People — Metafiler discuss V For Vendetta.
25 August 2005
[comics] Neil Gaiman’s 24 Hour Comic: Being An Account of the Life and Death of the Emperor Heliogabolus.
[comics] The Lost Neil Gaiman Interview — an interview with Neil Gaiman by Pete Ashton from 1989. ‘…it’s an interesting snapshot of Gaiman quite early in his career.’ [Related: Direct Link to MP3]
24 August 2005
[comics] Hellblazer: Original Sins — free PDF of the first issue of Hellblazer by Jamie Delano and John Ridgway. [via Metafilter
23 August 2005
[comics] Mind Games Poster — a grid of pages from Cerebus #20 which form a hidden picture. [via Meowwcat’s Cerebus Links]
20 August 2005
[comics] Gallery told to Drop ‘Gay’ Batman … ‘DC Comics has ordered a New York gallery to remove pictures which show Batman and Robin kissing and embracing.’ [Related: Robin — What Have I done to You?]
19 August 2005
16 August 2005
[comics] Sushi Comic Books — gallery of comic book covers [via Metafilter]
12 August 2005
[comics] Amateur Manga Translators Tell Their Stories — The Comics Journal looks at Manga Scanlations … ‘What is interesting is that there are many, many people working in these scanlation groups, and it takes up an incredible amount of work to put out a single chapter. And they all do it for free. That is an incredible amount of passion.’
11 August 2005
[comics] Interview with Dan Clowes — mainly covering his new film Art School Confidential … ‘I had a revelatory moment as a child when I was drawing Superman. He had that insignia on his chest, and I was studying it for hours (I think I was 4 or 5). I saw the negative shapes that define the S, but I didn’t get that it was a letter. I would draw those shapes over and over. Then one day I realized, “It’s an S!” It all fit together. “S for Superman, of course!”‘
10 August 2005
[comics] V for Vendetta Annotations — includes an interesting list of pop culture influences which Alan Moore and David Lloyd drew on whilst creating V for Vendetta …
‘Orwell. Huxley. Thomas Disch. Judge Dredd. Harlan Ellison’s “Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman.”, “Catman” and “Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World” by the same author. Vincent Price’s Dr. Phibes and Theatre of Blood. David Bowie. The Shadow. Nightraven. Batman. Farenheit 451. The writings of the New Worlds school of science fiction. Max Ernst’s painting “Europe After the Rains.” Thomas Pynchon. The atmosphere of British Second World War films. The Prisoner. Robin Hood. Dick Turpin…’
9 August 2005
[comics] On “Liberality” for all — Tom covers an neo-conservative comic called Liberality For All in which Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy (!!) and Oliver North fight ultra-leftism, the United Nations and of course Osama bin Laden … ‘…I’d like to introduce you all to the future of literature for kids – Liberality, an American Neo-Con comic book in the vein of The Authority’
1 August 2005
[comics] A Comic Book Hero — profile of Dan Clowes from the Guardian … ‘I would never trust anyone else to work with my artwork. I can’t relinquish absolute control. I have an OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] thing about having drawn every single line in every one of my comics. The great appeal is to be able to say, I did this whole book all by myself. It’s a little module that I created.’
29 July 2005
28 July 2005
[movies] V for Vendetta Trailer — it doesn’t look as bad as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen… Alan Moore on the V for Vendetta Shooting Script: ‘They don’t know what British people have for breakfast, they couldn’t be bothered. ‘Eggy in a basket’ apparently. Now the US have ‘eggs in a basket,’ which is fried bread with a fried egg in a hole in the middle. I guess they thought we must eat that as well, and thought ‘eggy in a basket’ was a quaint and Olde Worlde version.’ [via Pete’s Linklog]
27 July 2005
[bell] Steve Bell: Uneasy Rider [Related: Archive of Steve Bell’s Cartoons]
14 July 2005
[comics] Tony and George G8 Comic – Page 1 – Page 2 — from Sean Phillips and Mark Millar … [via Do You Feel Loved]
[comics] The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick — comic strip by Robert Crumb from Weirdo #17 … ‘It is an interesting graphic interpretation of a series of events which happened to Dick in March of 1974. He spent the remaining years of his life trying to figure out what happened in those fateful months. You will find all 8 pages of this story here.’
13 July 2005
[comics] Ask Mefi: What’s a good place to start for indie comics? … ‘I’d recommend ordering the free Fantagraphics catalogue.’
[comics] Acme Novelty Archive … ‘This site is an unofficial database of the works of Mr. F.C. Ware, proprieter of the Acme Novelty Library.’
11 July 2005
[comics] Desolation Jones #1: Author’s Commentary — Warren Ellis on the first issue of Desolation Jones
27 June 2005
[comics] Fleep — great online comic – worth checking out … ‘[Fleep’s] about a boy who wakes up in a telephone booth which has been mysteriously sealed in an envelope of concrete. Using only the contents of his pockets (two pens, a paperback novel, three coins and 20 ft of unwaxed dental floss) our hero must fashion and execute an escape plan before he runs out of oxygen.’
25 June 2005
[comics] Edison Hate Future — archive of odd little webcomics published by Warren Ellis on his blog … ‘edison look detached and amused, like he cope fine with constant horror and heartbreak of world…’ [via Robot Wisdom]
24 June 2005
[comics] Warren Ellis Interview — comics-related interview from Londonist … ‘I jumped into the net feet-first in the 90s, and the handheld is very much my outboard brain now. I’m answering these questions on it, in the pub.’
23 June 2005
[comics] Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein — web page with comparisons between Lictenstein’s work and the original comic images. Dave Gibbons on Roy Lichtenstein: ‘…Lichtenstein’s copies of the work of Irv Novick and Russ Heath are flat, uncomprehending tracings of quite sophisticated images … the original artists have translated reality into clear, effective compositions using economical and spirited linework.’
[comics] War Of The Worlds Webcomic — nice looking adaptation by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli.
21 June 2005
[comics] Flog Blog — Fantagraphics gets it’s own blog. Gary Groth, Kim Thompson and Eric Reynolds are posting and they’ve got photos from the set of Art School Confidential including snaps of John Malkovich, Dan Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. Groth: ‘This is exciting. My first blog. I’m not a fan of convention diaries, which seem like some lazy fanboy genre written by useless old hacks like Peter David to fill space, serve up one’s ego and act like reg’lar folk all at the same time – but it doesn’t have to be!’