Thought Balloons

Spiegelman's looming Towers: Newsweek's international edition talks with Art Spiegelman about In the Shadow of No Towers, which is set for a Sept. 7 release.

Local boy does good: The Knoxville News-Sentinel profiles Crossville, Tenn., native Michael Turner, focusing on the popularity of his "detailed and subtly sexual work." Here's Wizard magazine's Gareb Shamus:

"Michael Turner represents the next wave of very talented creators in comics. He's been able to spark a lot of people's imaginations and create a style of art that is really appealing. He is able to draw very sexy characters, both male and female."

More manga mania: The Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press discovers that local teens are crazy about manga and anime:

"When Jim Jones opened his Comic Quest comic-book store in Evansville in 1990, he had only a few Japanese manga titles. 'By 1994 you would have been lucky to come into the store and find one shelf with 20 books.'

"Today, however, walk into Comic Quest and you'll see an entire section, front and center, with more than 1,800 different manga books, 'and that's not counting the magazines or how-to-draw books,' said Jones."

Moving into the mainstream? The Houston Chronicle uses the release of Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2 as an opportunity to trace the rise of the graphic novel:

"The near-simultaneous arrival of these two important books invites a look at the emerging art form. For years graphic novels have been seeping out of the comic-book ghetto and into the mainstream, and now the current seems to be picking up speed."

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Daily News -- via the Memphis Commercial Appeal (registration required) -- chats with Satrapi, Glen David Gold, Jonathan Lethem and Sean Howe about the "acceptability of comics."

Review revue: Newsweek's international edition and The San Francisco Chronicle review Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return:

"Satrapi's comic-book style, featuring blunt black-and-white graphics that evoke Persian-style miniatures, makes the story accessible and underscores the narrative's most surprising quality: its humor. In one of the most delightful sequences, Marji is running to catch a bus when she is stopped by government-sanctioned Guardians of the Revolution (armed enforcers of Islamic codes and morality), who scold her for running because it causes her posterior to make 'obscene' movements. 'Well then don't look at my ass!' Marji replies."

Minicomics, big plans: The Kansas City Star profiles local cartoonist Scott Ziolko, who just completed the fourth and final chapter of his minicomic series, Test-Tube:

"Comic books aren't all about superheroes and spandex and good guys and bad guys. It's just another way to tell stories. I'm hoping to be a part of that."

Classical studies: The Boston Globe looks at how Gareth Hinds' comic-book adaptation of Beowulf is being used as a teaching aid at some high schools and universities:

''Gareth is a literate guy. He's read his history and his literature. He knows the culture of Anglo-Saxon England. [Hinds's book] afforded me an opportunity to re-invite their interest in a story that they may have been disillusioned by."

Somewhere, a Dungeon Master weeps: The National Post reports that nine types of illegal weapons were seized and six people arrested Saturday when police raided a booth at the Canadian National Expo. Plainclothes Toronto police officers purchased several banned weapons from a vendor at the comic convention after "someone raised safety concerns about the merchandise":

''They're targeting younger people - teenager males - they're the ones that are going to buy this stuff, take it to school and get suspended. That's what we're worried about.''

The Toronto Star provides a few more details, specifying that, "police cleared 12 tables worth of swords, double-edged knives and nunchakus, and carted away two truckloads of still-packaged weapons."

What was I thinking? I blogged this item innocently enough on Thursday, without pausing to consider the ramifications. Who would've thought a passing, parenthetical reference to "hot shemales" would send such disturbing Internet searches my way, and in such large numbers? One sex portal has sandwiched poor, naive Thought Balloons between "Dickman's Shemales" and "Shemales-4" in its directory for "best sites for shemales."

I feel so ... violated.

Garfield sues Chinese publishers: Reuters reports that Jim Davis' Paws, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against three Chinese companies it accuses of publishing Garfield books without permission. According to China Daily, the copyright-infringement lawsuit asks that the companies stop publishing and selling the books, recall and destroy all unsold copies, and make a public apology. In addition, Paws requests more than $93,000 in compensation for legal fees.

However, an attorney for one of the defendants, Xiwang Publishing House, claims Paws has no standing because the Garfield copyright is actually held by United Features Syndicate. Paws has furnished a copyright-transfer agreement, but the lawyer asserts it's invalid because it doesn't include a signature from Paws.

Manga maniacs: Animation World Magazine discovers that the kids -- particularly the girls -- love the manga:

"What has got the public — and publishers — so enthralled with manga? Unlike many North American comicbooks currently sold in comicbook stores, manga storylines venture beyond superheroes and action/adventure. With a wide variety of themes — romance, science fiction, mystery, even non-fiction — manga has successfully migrated from comic shop shelves to bookstore shelves, and are enticing a whole new reading audience — girls."

Spiegelman's Shadow: UK's Guardian spotlights Art Spiegelman, whose In the Shadow of No Towers is released next week:

"Spiegelman's drawings are evocative, but they are seldom elaborate. They lack the frenzied inventiveness of some of his contemporaries in the underground comics movement, such as Crumb, inventor of Mr Natural, Honeybunch Kaminski ('Jailbait of the Month') and scores of other energetic creations. He describes his 'signature way of drawing' as 'really a result of my deficiencies'. It is partly modesty, but Spiegelman suffers from ambylopia, or lazy eye, 'which means that I don't have binocular vision, and have difficulty seeing in three dimensions. This might have been part of what made me a cartoonist rather than a baseball player. I was rotten at sports, but I found that if I could draw good caricatures of the teachers I wouldn't be doomed to be the butt of everybody's scorn.' The condition might help to explain the thickset nature of many Spiegelman figures, and their broad-stroked execution."

Review revue: Writing for The Washington Times, Joseph Szadkowski reviews The Flash: Blitz, Tales From the Bully Pulpit, Spaghetti Western, Aria: The Enchanted Collection and Witches #1-2.

"Superman" clashes with police: The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the Man of Steel finally has met his match: the St. Paul Police Department. John Fillah, who for the past five years has dressed as Superman and charged visitors to the Minnesota State Fair $5 to have their photos taken with him, ran afoul of the law when his sidewalk sign violated his peddler's permit. When police approached Fillah on Friday, he was anything but mild-mannered:

"He became extremely argumentative with the officers and began to use vulgar language. He was warned to stop and settle down."

However, police spokesman Paul Schnell notes, Fillah "never invoked any Superman powers with officers." So, the Last Son of Krypton was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct.

Going nuclear: The Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune previews a lecture by University of New Mexico professor Ferenc Szasz called "The 60-Year Saga of Atomic Comics," which looks at how comic books have depicted "the peril and the promise of the atom" over the past six decades:

"The atomic bomb invented by Donald Duck in a 1947 Disney comic book causes no apparent damage - except that 'invisible rays' spreading outward cause passers-by to lose their hair.

"Donald's nuclear adventure also includes a couple of academic experts - Prof. Mollicule, who says the addition of 'two cat hairs' might make the bomb more powerful, and Prof. Sleezy, who turns out to be a foreign spy eager to steal the secret of the bomb."

Comics, in the raw: The Chicago Sun-Times still loves "Raw, Boiled and Cooked: Comics on the Verge," which runs through Oct. 3 at the Chicago Cultural Center:

"The basic premise of the show, inspired by Art Spiegelman's 1980s underground comic book Raw, is that comics are an art form that until the 1960s was confined to a limiting repertoire of subjects and styles. Liberated by the iconoclastic mood of the era, artists began to use the medium to tell other stories, and what had been a frivolous entertainment for children became an adult art form."

Going digital: Animation World Magazine examines how comics publishers -- particularly manga publishers -- are experimenting with cell phones, Internet streaming and video on demand as ways to market and distribute their titles:

"In general, manga and anime property owners are ahead of the leading U.S. comicbook publishers — Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse — in experimenting with these technologies. The main reason for this is that the core manga/anime customer tends to be an early adopter of advanced technologies such as broadband, digital television and smartphones, all of which make transmission of graphics-driven and animated content possible. For example, virtually 100% of U.S. anime/manga distributor Central Park Media's customers already had DVD players two years ago, according to John O'Donnell, CPM's managing director, while only about two-thirds of the populace at large owns such a device today. Traditional comicbook publishers tend to target a more mainstream, younger audience, which is less likely to have the technological capability to receive comics through nontraditional channels."

Road work hurts retailer: The Detroits News reports on construction delays on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, and talks with Green Brain Comics owner Dan Merritt, who says his business is down more than 25 percent since April, forcing him to take out a loan to pay bills:

“I’m at my wits’ end in terms of believing anything ... I can only trust in their inability to get the job done.”

Life, unscripted: At Silver Bullet Comic Books, Tim O'Shea chats with Neil Kleid about his Xeric Award-winning Ninety Candles:

"I’ve gone on record saying that Ninety Candles began as a journal comic, me wanting to draw one thing a day, keep myself drawing. When I realized 'Um, I’m a cartoonist. Who cares that I spent half the day drawing demons and the other catching up on Six Feet Under?' I had to alter my plan. I still wanted to draw something every day, but decided that I would attack a larger narrative. Around that time I was heavy into improvisational acting- you know, acting without a script. I trained at Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre in NYC and was running a troupe of my own called Straight Jacket Required. So, as I sketched with no goal or story to tell, I realized that what might be cool would be too apply improvisation to comics. A viable, printed comic book created with no script, no net. Each panel would depend on the panel before. And as I started to form the experiment in my mind, I realized that I could explore other devices such as timing, space and gutters between panels and so forth."

One hell of a play: The Boston Globe reviews Say You Love Satan, the latest play by comics writer/playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Marvel Knights 4, Nightcrawler):

"Aguirre-Sacasa's creativity is the star here, with the Zeitgeist cast delivering performances that occasionally fall short of the sharpness the text requires. The playwright proudly weaves his creative influences into the script and infuses each scene with twisted humor, no matter what the source material. Whether the dialogue is based on The Amityville Horror or The Brothers Karamazov, Aguirre-Sacasa provides a unique perspective."

Fitting tributes: The New Haven (Conn.) Advocate takes note of DC Comics' series of tributes to Julius Schwartz, and recommends his 1987 autobiography, Man of Two Worlds

Morrison's magical mysteries: The September issue of Arthur magazine, which hits newsstands Aug. 31, features a profile of Grant Morrison, "the 21st century's Philip K. Dick":

Magic works, says Morrison, and he would know--he's been exploring it for 25 years. He talks with Jay Babcock about what he's experienced, and What It (Maybe) All Means.

The cover illustration is by Seaguy artist Cameron Stewart.

The dating game: At Newsarama, Comic Buyer's Guide's Maggie Thompson lobbies for a May 7 date for Free Comic Book Day 2005, while DC Comics' Bob Wayne makes the case for June 18 -- the opening of Batman Begins.

Manipulation examination: Just when you thought we were done with the controversy surrounding the treatment of Sue Dibny in Identity Crisis, Sequart's Julian Darius weighs in for the defense:

"Is Sue Dibny’s rape manipulative? Well, yes. But no more than an image of Aquaman crying.

"Put another way, 'manipulative' has two definitions. The first is simply to manipulate in the sense that we manipulate a pencil when we write with it. There’s no negative connotation here. A good work of art is manipulative in this sense. The pieta is manipulative. Showing that a character is a good person may be characterization, but it’s also manipulation -- getting you to identify with that character. Apocalypse Now showing a boar sliced to ribbons instead of Kurtz is manipulative, but it is also one of the most powerful sequences on film.

"The way most people use 'manipulative,' however, is in the sense of 'crassly manipulative.' The same characterization of a woman as a busy but good person, preparing food and petting her dog, becomes crassly manipulative when the wide-eyed serial killer enters, stabs the dog to death in a scene with copious spurting blood, and then brutalizes her. Whether we’re shown the brutalization or it occurs off-panel or off-screen is by itself irrelevant: saying that the sweet wife in Seven has been beheaded can be even more manipulative than showing her death. The question is whether the 'manipulation' is artistically crass.

"And whether something is artistically crass -- or 'cheap' or 'easy' -- is entirely contextual. Few would be so crass as to condemn a drama about a woman who was raped coming to terms with that abuse and learning to relate again to men. Although, it is worth pointing out, such a drama would more than likely be staged in the vein of Lifetime’s original movies, which notoriously play with the line of crass manipulation in order to advance emotionally a particularly fact-starved version of feminism. But using rape casually, particularly to escalate the emotional stakes of a story, would be artistically crass."

Fuzzy memories: Newsarama talks to Nightcrawler writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who reveals that, like many comics readers, he'll be ignoring Chuck Austen's recent origin for the character:

“I read ‘The Draco’ — but it just doesn’t fit in with the kind of stories were going to be telling in Nightcrawler - at least not at first. Also, it’s really important for all of us working on the book that people who haven’t read ‘The Draco’ don’t feel like they’re missing some essential part of Kurt’s history when they pick up our book — which they won’t be. Although we’re not ignoring continuity, it’s going to be dealt with on ‘as needed’ basis. And whatever you’re going to need to know to enjoy the story will be there in the pages of our book.”

"Hot" comics: Also in Eye Weekly, sex columnist Sasha heads to Toronto's The Beguiling to find comic-book porn:

"Gilbert Hernandez, who did the brilliant Heartbreak Soup series in the comic Love and Rockets (co-created with his brother Xaime Hernandez), made an independent collection called Birdland for Eros that is really sexy, and features very powerful women. I would also recommend The Adventures of a Lesbian College School Girl by Petra Waldron and Jennifer Finch, Casa Howhard (hot shemales) by Roberto Baldazzini and Small Favors by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin about Annie, 'a bisexual, masturbation-crazy nymphomaniac.'"

More than meets the eye: In Toronto's Eye Weekly, Guy Leshinski previews this weekend's Canadian National Comic Book Expo with a look at Pat and Roger Lee and Dreamwave Productions:

"This September marks the 20th anniversary of the Transformers, which began airing in the US in 1984. With their crotchety transforming noises -- a favourite DJ sample -- the Transformers were a phenomenon, pioneers of what today is the commonplace collusion of cartoons and toys. Like sci-fi Rubik's cubes, each character/figurine was a fierce robot that folded into some random object: a fighter jet, say, or, improbably, a portable stereo (complete with transforming cassette). From '84 to '88, the Transformers turned their young, TV audience into devout consumers, clamouring to be the first kid on their block to own the red and blue semi-trailer Optimus Prime or, if the block was especially solvent, the two-foot-tall Fortress Maximus.

"The ground is still fertile, a generation later, and the Lees have tilled it with skill, sowing far more than simple nostalgia. They've updated the rusting source material, taking great care to make their artwork painterly and modern. Their Transformers comics apply some of the most sophisticated digital design tools on the market, and the work achieves a breathtaking theatricality."

"This Land" does belong to you and me: Wired News reports that Ludlow Music has dropped its demand that JibJab.com stop using Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" in a satirical Flash-animation cartoon. Jason Schultz, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represented the website, says Ludlow doesn't own the rights to the song, which apparently has lapsed into the public domain:

While researching the case, the EFF discovered that Woody Guthrie published a songbook in 1945 that included "This Land Is Your Land." The EFF found a copy of the songbook at the Library of Congress. At that time, copyright holders owned their work for 28 years, and could renew the copyright once during the first term, for another 28 years.

When Guthrie published the songbook, that "started the clock ticking on the 28 years," Schultz said. Guthrie never renewed it, meaning the terms of the copyright expired in 1973.

Ludlow, meanwhile, registered the song in 1956 as an original copyright, not the renewal. The company was apparently unaware that because Guthrie had already published the song, the terms of copyright began in 1945, not 1956, Schultz said.

Ludlow's attorney disputes the idea that the copyright has expired, and contends the music company settled with JibJab "to avoid the expense and difficulties of litigation."

Under the terms of the settlement, JibJab agreed to donate 20 percent of proceeds to the Woody Guthrie Foundation, and link to the original lyrics.

Return of the teen detectives: Newsarama also checks in on the new Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series from NBM Publishing's Papercutz division:

“Creating original graphic novels for the tween market featuring popular established characters. When the opportunity presented itself for Papercutz to obtain the graphic novel rights to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, we jumped on it! We've got a few other properties in development and hope to announce those in the months ahead.”

The Hardy Boys will be released first as a monthly comic, beginning in November, while Nancy Drew will debut in February as an original graphic novel. The Hardy Boys collected edition also will be released that month.

Go West: Newsarama chats briefly with Brian Azzarello about his upcoming Western series from Vertigo, Loveless, which re-teams him with Hellblazer artist Marcello Fruisin:

“This is Marcello’s dream project. He’s bringing so much more to this than he was to Hellblazer. There are certain parameters you have to work within when you’re working with a company-owned character -- we don’t have those here, so we’re both really, really excited to get this thing off the ground.”

Ten years in Paradise: Silver Bullet Comic Books talks with Terry Moore about a decade of Strangers in Paradise:

"I went through a lot of ideas over a five year period until I decided to stop ramming my head against the wall of syndication. So I looked over what I had made in that time, pulled out the original ideas and characters, put them all in front of me and made them into a cast. Because they came from different ideas, they didn't have a lot in common and the natural friction between them made it easy to come up with story ideas. They were tumbling around in my head and I wasn't sure where to begin. I could picture their day to day life and interaction, but I wasn't sure where to jump in. I was thinking about them all the time, imagining moments and scenes, taking notes, when I decided to begin with the scene of Francine, my clean-cut girl next door type, stripping in the park. I built the first up around that moment, the entire first mini-series actually."

Tracking otaku: Japan's Asahi Shimbun reports on a new study of otaku that found the obsessive fans of manga, anime, video games and young female singers spend 260 billion yen each year on their hobbies. The report, released Tuesday by the Nomura Research Institute, places the number of otaku in those four areas at 2.8 million people:

"Although the term otaku has negative connotations such as 'reclusive' in Japanese, their lavish spending habits mean they are 'no longer a target of niche marketing only,' says the report.

"The research institute defines otaku as 'people who spend much of their time and money on a focused area of interest.' Based on the definition, NRI estimated the number and spending habits of people with a hard-core interest in the four areas, all typical otaku pursuits."

Getting theatrical: The Lansing, Mich., City Pulse chats with local artist Scott McKowen, an illustrator of theater posters, magazines and newspapers, and designer of Canada’s 2001 silver dollar -- but best known to comics fans as the cover artist for Neil Gaiman's 1602 miniseries.

Taking shots at video games: The Seattle Times spotlights Penny Arcade creators Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, and previews this weekend's Penny Arcade Expo:

"About 1,400 people have registered, a testament to Penny Arcade's rabid fan following. Even some companies the comic has shredded will be there, a testament to Penny Arcade's influence. The site gets about 175,000 viewers a day.

"'Penny Arcade is very well-respected in the gaming industry,' said Larry Hyrb, director of programming for Microsoft's Xbox Live service. 'They poke a lot of fun at us, which is OK because we poke a lot of fun at us as well.'"

Taiwan comics exhibit: Taiwan's Central News Agency notes that a five-day comics exhibition kicked off today at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung City. Organized by the Chinese Comic Publishing Guild, the exhibit gives fans an opportunity to view the latest and most popular titles, and to meet Taiwanese and Japanese creators.

For McCubbin, sexy sells: The San Francisco Chronicle profiles Laurenn McCubbin, illustrator of Rent Girls and co-writer/illustrator of the Xeric Award-winning XXXLiveNudeGirls:

"A naked girl can't help but be sexy -- there is something inherently sexy about a girl wearing lingerie, in certain poses ... but I don't draw them to get men off. I've had a male friend say, 'Damn you, Laurenn, you've ruined girl-on-girl action for me!' I don't know. I do want people to think about what they're looking at. "

"... "You know, I don't just draw sexy girls. I am a little obsessed with underpasses, old neon signs. Drawing women is a moneymaker. ... I mean, I don't use models that aren't real girls. My models are rounder or skinnier or somehow unconventional, although to me, of course, they are pretty."

The newspaper also spotlights Rent Girl writer Michelle Tea.

Marvel, from the top: Last week, ICv2.com interviewed DC's Paul Levitz. Now it's Dan Buckley's turn for a two-part sitdown, in which he discusses the state of the market, and Marvel's editorial strategies and policies on overprints and retailer exclusives, and more:

On creator exclusives: "There's an equal amount of investment going on with both parties, writers probably a little less [than artists], except for some guys that are very important to our business like Brian Bendis, and JMS, and Mark Millar. That's more to protect what we've got going on. For pencillers, especially if you're talking about the Young Guns and things along that line, we're going to spend some time and effort investing in their careers and their names, and there's a limited amount of good output that you can get out of these folks. You want to make sure they're comfortable with what they're doing; you want to make sure that everything looks great and you want to make sure that we get a little bit of return on it too.

"So it has more to do with stabilizing our plans and our lines. It makes it a little bit easier to plan out a year to two years in advance for projects, and allows us to have a little bit of a market lever. Because we can elevate names, we can match up creators with projects and help manage things. It's been a fairly good strategy. It's been one of the biggest dynamic changes in the comic book publishing business over the last ten years. How publishers have been managing that has been one of the biggest changes in the last two or three years. When I was here the first time, I don't think Marvel did a very good job of that. The creators and the publishers seem to have a pretty good relationship, and see the value of it for both sides. Will we have creators stay exclusive for the next ten years? I doubt it; people will come and people will go, but hopefully both parties will be the better for it at the end of it."

On pursuing the manga market: "We're still struggling with the young girl readership, and we're developing it and we're working on it and it might be that we don't know how to do it internally. We see the digests as a first step in going after the younger readers or providing product that can be available for younger readers. That's one of the first strategies, because the format's comfortable and we can get racking. I don't think there's a lot of investment being done by bookstores and other folks for the racking of those products. That was our first step. For the next step, it's going to take a little bit more work and we're still formulating it."

Distribution woes: India's Calcutta Telegraph reports on a two-month comics drought triggered when Gotham Comics changed distributors:

“We have changed distributors, which has resulted in delay and unavailability in certain areas. But by the month-end, things should be normal again.”

The shipping news: Ninth Art also looks at the books shipping this week, highlighting The Losers, Ultimate Elektra, Singularity 7 and Flight Vol. 1.

Comics roundtable: At Ninth Art, Alex De Campi chats with Laurenn McCubbin, Tristan Crane and Lea Hernandez about Comic-Con International and the state of the comics industry:

McCubbin: "It was the same shit, over and over! I mean, I barely know anything about comics, and even I can see it. Everyone is talking about the X-Men getting their old costumes back, like that is an important plot point, somehow. I have gotten to the point where if I even see the words 'Green Lantern', I just tune out. My eyes glaze over. There is so nothing for me there.

"Sometimes, comics are so embarrassing. Rampant misogyny and homophobia aside - far, far aside, please - the short-sightedness of the industry is just stunning. Comics is ten years behind all other media, and it's starting to show. Everything about comics is so behind the times; the stories, the politics, even the way most of y'all dress. Get some new clothes, people!"

Hernandez: "The tits and ass factor's still there at San Diego, and popped up in some surprising places this year - like the cheerleaders at the AD Visions booth. Cheerleaders in a setting other than a school are about fetish. Considering that ADV's grown into a company that puts out a broad range of anime and TV show collections, and a lot of that product is for kids and women, the addition of adult women dressed as cheerleaders was bizarre and disappointing."

Faster than a ... The Detroit News reports that, rather appropriately, Greg Biffle's Flash Ford won Sunday’s GFS Marketplace 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Six cars were painted with DC's Justice League characters Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter:

"What a neat deal — Flash on the car, fastest man alive, and he paid off."

Comics relief: The New York Post spotlights the work of Michael Bitz, founder of the Comic Book Project after-school literacy program.