Canadian cartoonist Rosemary Mosco has put many of her minicomics online. They deal with birds and sometimes prehistoric animals. I quite like Mid-Cambrian Morning.Wednesday, 6 June 2007
Go Read: Rosemary Mosco
Canadian cartoonist Rosemary Mosco has put many of her minicomics online. They deal with birds and sometimes prehistoric animals. I quite like Mid-Cambrian Morning.
FCBM3 Day 33
The third annual YACB Free Comic Book Month continues into extra time with day thirty-three! Today's selected entry is from J. Marcos Alvarado. The five comics that Marcos says he likes are:
1. Invincible
2. Blue Beetle
3. X-Factor
4. Astonishing X-Men
5. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
For this super-hero fan I have Jay Faerber's Noble Causes: First Impressions #1 with art by Billy Dallas Patton and Patrick Gleason.
Marcos's comic should be in the mail within the next week. Enjoy!
Current FCBM Statistics:
48 entries
100 free comics sent so far
?? days remaining
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
New Library Comics: Week of May 28, 2007
Here's a list of the comics we added to our library collection last week:
Abouet, Marguerite, 1971- Aya /Montréal : Drawn & Quarterly ; New York ; Distributed in the USA and abroad by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
Arf museum /[New York?] : Arf Books in association with Fantagraphics Books, c2006.
Bagge, Peter. Hate annual. /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books,. no. 6
Beasts! : a pictorial schedule of traditional hidden creatures /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics ; London : Turnaround [distributor], c2006.
Campbell, Eddie, 1955- Deadface : doing the islands with Bacchus /Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Comics, c1991. nos. 1-3
Cartoon Network block party. /New York, NY : DC Comics, c2004- no. 8
Corona, Marco. Reflections /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics : Coconino Press, c2006- no. 2
Cozmic comics. /London : H. Bunch. no. 5
Crum, Kel. Cornelia cartoons /Fairborn, Ohio : Dangerous Bird Productions, [200-?]- no. 5
David, Peter (Peter Allen) Fallen angel /San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing, 2005- no. 5
Defenders of Dynatron City. /New York, N.Y. : Marvel Comics, 1992- nos. 1-6
Doom Patrol (New York, N.Y. : 1987) The Doom Patrol. /New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, 1987-1995. no. 23
Fanzine enfermo. /[Spain?] : Nuevo orden, [200-?]- nos. 3, 7
Feldstein, Albert B. Tales from the crypt, volume 1, issues 1-6 /Timonium, Md. : Gemstone Publishing, c2006.
FLBLB. /Poitiers, France : FLBLB, [199-?]- no. 14
Flinch : the Vertigo horror anthology. /New York : Vertigo, c1999- nos. 1-4
Gay comix (Princeton, Wis.) Gay comix. /Princeton, WI : Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1980- no. 2
Green Lantern special. /New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, 1988- no. 1
Gross, Allan. Doctor Cyborg /Orange, Calif. : Image Comics, 2004- vol. 1
H., Yves, 1967- Manhattan Beach, 1957 /Celje, Slovenia : SAF Comics, c2003.
The hacker files. /New York, NY : DC Comics, 1992-1993. nos. 1-12
Head, Glenn. Guttersnipe comics /[Seattle, Wa.] : Fantagraphics Books, 1994- no. 1
Hetero sapiens. /[Spain] : Epicentro, [200-?]- no. 6
Hoax (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Hoax. /Grand Rapids, Mich. : Mental Note Press, 2005- nos. 1-4
House of Twelve comics. /Jersey City, NJ : House of Twelve, 2001- nos. 1-2
Huddleston, Courtney. Decoy /Houston, Tex. : Penny-Farthing Press, 1999. nos. 1-4
Leamy, Catherine. Geraniums and bacon /[S.l.] : Bella Razor Press, 2002- nos. 1-3
Lewis, Mark. Bugboy /Fullerton, CA : Image Comics, 1998. no. 1
Marrs, Lee. Faultlines /New York : Vertigo, 1997. nos. 1-6
Mirsky, Robb. End of the line /[S.l.] : Scabie Nation Comix, [200-?]- no. 2
Moore, Alan, 1953- Halo Jones /[Tom's River, N.J.] : Quality Comics, [1987-1988] nos. 1-12
O'Neill, Dan, 1942- Dan O'Neill's comics and stories. /[San Francisco, Calif.] : Co. & Sons, 1971-1975. vol. 1 nos. 1-3
Parducci, Morgan. Heathen /Andalusia, Ala. : S. Parducci, [2001]- nos. 1-2
Parisi, David. Blanket rub /[Madison, Wisc.?] : Collect Drool Comics, [200-?]- no. 1
Root, Tim. Crappy comics /[Portland, Or. : T. Root, 200-?]- no. 3
Russell, P. Craig. The clowns : from the opera "I pagliacci" of Leoncavallo /Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Comics, c1998.
Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- InuYasha /San Francisco, CA : Viz, LLC, c2003- vol. 28
Trần, Đức. Helter skelter /Lauderhill, Fla. : R.O.G. Heavy Industries, 1996- nos. 1-6
Wood, Brian. Demo /San Francisco, Calif. : AIT/Planet Lar, 2003-2004. nos. 1-12
Yeh, Phil. Frank the unicorn /Long Beach, CA : Fragments West, 1986- no. 1
Zograf, Aleksandar. Regards from Serbia /Atlanta, GA : Top Shelf, c2007.
Abouet, Marguerite, 1971- Aya /Montréal : Drawn & Quarterly ; New York ; Distributed in the USA and abroad by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
Arf museum /[New York?] : Arf Books in association with Fantagraphics Books, c2006.
Bagge, Peter. Hate annual. /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books,. no. 6
Beasts! : a pictorial schedule of traditional hidden creatures /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics ; London : Turnaround [distributor], c2006.
Campbell, Eddie, 1955- Deadface : doing the islands with Bacchus /Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Comics, c1991. nos. 1-3
Cartoon Network block party. /New York, NY : DC Comics, c2004- no. 8
Corona, Marco. Reflections /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics : Coconino Press, c2006- no. 2
Cozmic comics. /London : H. Bunch. no. 5
Crum, Kel. Cornelia cartoons /Fairborn, Ohio : Dangerous Bird Productions, [200-?]- no. 5
David, Peter (Peter Allen) Fallen angel /San Diego, Calif. : IDW Publishing, 2005- no. 5
Defenders of Dynatron City. /New York, N.Y. : Marvel Comics, 1992- nos. 1-6
Doom Patrol (New York, N.Y. : 1987) The Doom Patrol. /New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, 1987-1995. no. 23
Fanzine enfermo. /[Spain?] : Nuevo orden, [200-?]- nos. 3, 7
Feldstein, Albert B. Tales from the crypt, volume 1, issues 1-6 /Timonium, Md. : Gemstone Publishing, c2006.
FLBLB. /Poitiers, France : FLBLB, [199-?]- no. 14
Flinch : the Vertigo horror anthology. /New York : Vertigo, c1999- nos. 1-4
Gay comix (Princeton, Wis.) Gay comix. /Princeton, WI : Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1980- no. 2
Green Lantern special. /New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, 1988- no. 1
Gross, Allan. Doctor Cyborg /Orange, Calif. : Image Comics, 2004- vol. 1
H., Yves, 1967- Manhattan Beach, 1957 /Celje, Slovenia : SAF Comics, c2003.
The hacker files. /New York, NY : DC Comics, 1992-1993. nos. 1-12
Head, Glenn. Guttersnipe comics /[Seattle, Wa.] : Fantagraphics Books, 1994- no. 1
Hetero sapiens. /[Spain] : Epicentro, [200-?]- no. 6
Hoax (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Hoax. /Grand Rapids, Mich. : Mental Note Press, 2005- nos. 1-4
House of Twelve comics. /Jersey City, NJ : House of Twelve, 2001- nos. 1-2
Huddleston, Courtney. Decoy /Houston, Tex. : Penny-Farthing Press, 1999. nos. 1-4
Leamy, Catherine. Geraniums and bacon /[S.l.] : Bella Razor Press, 2002- nos. 1-3
Lewis, Mark. Bugboy /Fullerton, CA : Image Comics, 1998. no. 1
Marrs, Lee. Faultlines /New York : Vertigo, 1997. nos. 1-6
Mirsky, Robb. End of the line /[S.l.] : Scabie Nation Comix, [200-?]- no. 2
Moore, Alan, 1953- Halo Jones /[Tom's River, N.J.] : Quality Comics, [1987-1988] nos. 1-12
O'Neill, Dan, 1942- Dan O'Neill's comics and stories. /[San Francisco, Calif.] : Co. & Sons, 1971-1975. vol. 1 nos. 1-3
Parducci, Morgan. Heathen /Andalusia, Ala. : S. Parducci, [2001]- nos. 1-2
Parisi, David. Blanket rub /[Madison, Wisc.?] : Collect Drool Comics, [200-?]- no. 1
Root, Tim. Crappy comics /[Portland, Or. : T. Root, 200-?]- no. 3
Russell, P. Craig. The clowns : from the opera "I pagliacci" of Leoncavallo /Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Comics, c1998.
Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- InuYasha /San Francisco, CA : Viz, LLC, c2003- vol. 28
Trần, Đức. Helter skelter /Lauderhill, Fla. : R.O.G. Heavy Industries, 1996- nos. 1-6
Wood, Brian. Demo /San Francisco, Calif. : AIT/Planet Lar, 2003-2004. nos. 1-12
Yeh, Phil. Frank the unicorn /Long Beach, CA : Fragments West, 1986- no. 1
Zograf, Aleksandar. Regards from Serbia /Atlanta, GA : Top Shelf, c2007.
Monday, 4 June 2007
FCBM3 Day 32
The third annual YACB Free Comic Book Month continues into extra time with day thirty-two! Today's selected entry is from Steve Myers. The five comics that Steve says he likes are:
1. Runaways
2. Fables
3. Marvel Adventures Avengers
4. Y, the Last Man
5. Manhunter
For Steve I have Rocket Raccoon #1, anthropomorphic outer space action in the mighty Marvel manner by Bill Mantlo, Mike Mignola & Al Gordon.
Steve's comics should be in the mail within the next week. Enjoy!
Current FCBM Statistics:
48 entries
99 free comics sent so far
?? days remaining
FCBM3 Update
May may be over, but like last year FCBM will continue a bit longer!
Starting later today I'll continue giving away free comics to people who have already entered. However, I will not be accepting any more new entries.
Also, the bonus comics are all gone, so the selected entrants from here on out will only be receiving the comics based on their entries and not a bonus Fables or Sandman or Star Wars comic (sorry).
Stay tuned later today for the announcement of the Day 32 selectee!
Starting later today I'll continue giving away free comics to people who have already entered. However, I will not be accepting any more new entries.
Also, the bonus comics are all gone, so the selected entrants from here on out will only be receiving the comics based on their entries and not a bonus Fables or Sandman or Star Wars comic (sorry).
Stay tuned later today for the announcement of the Day 32 selectee!
Sunday, 3 June 2007
Monkey Covers
Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.Take Planet of the Apes, combine it with Alien Nation, and you get Ape Nation #1! (Cover by Dave Dorman.)
(Standard disclaimer about apes not really being monkeys applies.)
Click on the image for a larger version.
Friday, 1 June 2007
Which American Comics?
In yesterday's ¡Journalista!, Dirk hilights an 1.5-year-old post on Manganews, a translation of an essay by Yoshikazu Hayashida: "What makes Globalization of Japanese Comics Successful?" Go read it; I'll wait here...
Back? Okay!
The essay starts out well, with Hayashida making the accurate argument that the format of American serial comics (24- to 32-page monthlies, full-color, good quality paper) has driven the artform into a niche; whereas the Japanese standard format (large anthologies printed on the worst paper possible) has allowed manga to prosper and acquire a critical mass of content that is being exploited throughout the world.
There are historical reasons for this. At one time American comics were lengthier, had multiple stories per issue, etc. But as price pressures hit, American publishers struggled to keep the price at 10¢, lowering the page count (and ramping up the ad space) to keep the price of comics at a perceived sweet spot that could be afforded by children. In doing so they priced themselves right out of the newsstand and into comics specialty shops.
However, later in the essay, Hayashida goes off into flat-out wrong territory.
I'm sure that this will come as news to comics creators like Dave Sim, Wendy & Richard Pini, Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Chip Ware, Alison Bechdel, Sergio Aragones, Kevin Huizenga, Colleen Doran, Frank Miller, Brian O'Malley, etc.!
The statement that "publishers insist that the creators can hold no copyrights" is demonstrably wrong, even for the big two.
Hayashida makes the common mistake that American Comics = Super-heroes. They're not. Outside of comic specialty shops, they're not even in the majority.
Oddly, it was the exact same historical market conditions that led to the slimming and ghetoization of American comics which also led to the small-press and self-publishing movement. This movement has led not only to greater creative control and ownership, but also to great creativity and experimentation. I would argue that the past 30 years has seen at least as much experimentation and creativity in North American comics as in Japanese Manga (though admittedly my knowledge of the underground and art-manga movements in Japan is spotty at best).
While we're at it, let us put to rest the argument that there is no creativity or quality in corporate-owned super-hero comics. Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Morrison's Doom Patrol, Gaiman's Sandman; all American corporate-owned comics, and all quite successful on both a creative and commercial level. Sure they are the exception rather than the norm, but they do exist and we'll continue to see the occasional gem surface.
The Japanese, North American, and European comic markets all took different paths of development over the past forty years. With the advent of globalization we're now seeing that divergent paths starting to cross again; a situation that I think will be beneficial to the art of comics as a whole. But to claim that one market is inherently more creative than another is sheer folly.
Back? Okay!
The essay starts out well, with Hayashida making the accurate argument that the format of American serial comics (24- to 32-page monthlies, full-color, good quality paper) has driven the artform into a niche; whereas the Japanese standard format (large anthologies printed on the worst paper possible) has allowed manga to prosper and acquire a critical mass of content that is being exploited throughout the world.
There are historical reasons for this. At one time American comics were lengthier, had multiple stories per issue, etc. But as price pressures hit, American publishers struggled to keep the price at 10¢, lowering the page count (and ramping up the ad space) to keep the price of comics at a perceived sweet spot that could be afforded by children. In doing so they priced themselves right out of the newsstand and into comics specialty shops.
However, later in the essay, Hayashida goes off into flat-out wrong territory.
There is another reason why American comics stick to super heroes, aside from the page limit. It is because it is convenient for publishers to keep copyrights to themselves. Comics dealing with super heroes aren’t drawn by one author only. Numerous comic artists and writers draw the characters. The end result of this is that publishers insist that the creators can hold no copyrights. This an obstacle to the development of American comics and prevents improvements in quality.
I'm sure that this will come as news to comics creators like Dave Sim, Wendy & Richard Pini, Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Chip Ware, Alison Bechdel, Sergio Aragones, Kevin Huizenga, Colleen Doran, Frank Miller, Brian O'Malley, etc.!
The statement that "publishers insist that the creators can hold no copyrights" is demonstrably wrong, even for the big two.
Hayashida makes the common mistake that American Comics = Super-heroes. They're not. Outside of comic specialty shops, they're not even in the majority.
Oddly, it was the exact same historical market conditions that led to the slimming and ghetoization of American comics which also led to the small-press and self-publishing movement. This movement has led not only to greater creative control and ownership, but also to great creativity and experimentation. I would argue that the past 30 years has seen at least as much experimentation and creativity in North American comics as in Japanese Manga (though admittedly my knowledge of the underground and art-manga movements in Japan is spotty at best).
While we're at it, let us put to rest the argument that there is no creativity or quality in corporate-owned super-hero comics. Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Morrison's Doom Patrol, Gaiman's Sandman; all American corporate-owned comics, and all quite successful on both a creative and commercial level. Sure they are the exception rather than the norm, but they do exist and we'll continue to see the occasional gem surface.
The Japanese, North American, and European comic markets all took different paths of development over the past forty years. With the advent of globalization we're now seeing that divergent paths starting to cross again; a situation that I think will be beneficial to the art of comics as a whole. But to claim that one market is inherently more creative than another is sheer folly.
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