§ Chris Butcher finally gets around to the most perfect example of three-act structure in three panelsever accomplished, Evan Dorkin’s classic “The Moron Bomb.”
§ Chris Mautner interviews Eddie Campbell in advance of next week’s COMPLETE ALEC:
A: I don’t feel that I’m telling my ‘life story’ as though I have done something interesting that everybody ought to hear about. I’m using that material because it fits the things I want to say, the view of the world that I want to communicate. But yes it does hold the same attraction. I find it difficult now to invent fictional narrators to serve the same purpose. They sound too hollow and false to my inner ear. I tried it in The Fate of the Artist with the prose segments, supposedly narrated by a detective. I tried to write straightforward honest prose and found that I could only do it if there was a sense of it being a spoof from the start. In other words, the reader knows the thing is a hoax from page one.
§ Sean T. Collins continues to be the Kevin Sites of Con Wars, with in-depth reporting on the Battle at Kurtz Gulch and the WUMB Offensive.
§ Collins is BACK with a transcription of the near-sighted, white male critic’s roundtable at SPX, including Bill K., Douglas Wolk, Collins, and non-nearsighted participants like Gary Groth.
§ Johanna unleashes the cranky on PR about iPhone releases:
How nice for you. I don’t have an iPhone, so I don’t really care. I know lots of people do, though, and that’s why there are now something like 100,000 apps out there for that platform. If you couldn’t compete in the direct market, what makes you think you’re going to stand out in the larger field? Just for the novelty? Are you giving your comic away for free, then? If so, what’s your business model?
We’re not sure why bland, meaningless press releases about one channel are any more ridiculous then bland, meaningless press releases about another, but agree on the bland and meaninglessness.
§ Cartoonist acquires new cat.
§ The Wall Street Journal investigates Hollywood’s latest obsession: movies about toys:
Toys now are receiving the same A-list treatment that any bankable movie star here has come to expect. That includes top billing and contracts with special perks. They even have their own talent agents.
According to the piece, JJ Abrams is considering a Micronauts film. Hopefully, it will be just as good as GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS!
§ Academic librarian Karen Green writes about the media perception of GNs in universities.
§ This incredibly extensive story about the local cartooning scene in Sacramento, CA, kind of backs up the “indie comics are indie music” meme that’s been developing more and more, complete with zany photos of the scenesters. We’d expect to see more and more of this kind of local ownership. [Link via Kevin Melrose]
“The Battle at Kurtz Gulch” made me laugh out loud at my desk.
Received the hardcover of Alec The Years have Pants this week. Another beautiful design job by Top Shelf. It’s sitting next to my signed hardcover of the Complete Bone and looks spectacular! Hope we get hardcovers of the Bachus Omnibuses.
Best,
Tim