Archive for September, 2005
PANEL: Myth
I finally got a chance to update the main site and put PANEL: Myth up there, including preview pages from each of the six stories. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the 5th volume of our small press anthology and features a very cool double tear-off cover with alternate reinterpretations of Andy Bennett’s main cover illustration. If you likes what you sees, please spread the word.
Keron Grant: Son of Vulcan
Columbus’ own Keron Grant gets the spotlight over at The Pulse in an article about his new 6-issue limited series at DC, Son of Vulcan. This time he’s pencilling and inking.
“‘Throughout my career in comics, I was always told my stuff is too stylized for mainstream comics,’ Grant said. ‘When you work on established characters, you have to deal with a lot of status quo – which is always a bit binding. So when Tom offered me this project, I jumped at the chance.’”
I also like how he gets in a little dig at the New Mutants books he started doing for Marvel a couple years ago…
“Grant said SoV was different from some of his other recent penciling gigs. ‘It’s new,’ he said. ‘It’s not a bunch of girls standing around talking. It has reasonable deadlines. I’ve got a great editor. I’ve got freedom to explore and push my work. I don’t have to draw splash pages of people hugging.’”
Reading at Risk
The horror stories are true: Reading really is getting more rare in this country.
Around 46.7 percent of Americans reported reading literature in 2002, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, down from 54 percent in 1992 and 56.9 percent in 1982.
Chris Bohjalian reported this depressing statistic at his Thurber House talk last night.
“You people are like medeival monks, carrying on a dying art form,” he told the Thurber House crowd.
The study defined literary readers as those who read a novel, short story, play or poem within the last year. Those who were forced to read for school weren’t counted. The study didn’t attempt to distinguish between serious literature and escapist fiction.
Women are more avid readers than men — 55.1 percent of women reported exposure to literature in 2002, compared with 37.6 percent of men.
The West was the most well-read region, followed by the Northeast, Midwest and South. Around 46.7 percent of Midwesterners reported literature-reading in 2002.
Breaking the Midwest down further, some 45.5 percent of residents in the East North Central region, which includes Ohio, reported some exposure to literature over the previous year.
Only 7.1 percent of adults (or 15 million people) indicated that they did any kind of creative writing during 2002. That was a slight increase over 7.4 percent in 1992 and 7 percent in 1982.
Interestingly, creative writing does not vary among income levels or racial backgrounds — poor blacks are just as likely to pick up a pen as rich whites. Creative writing is more common among people under 25, however.
The survey, “Reading At Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America,” came out in June 2004. It’s available at http://www.arts.gov/pub/index.php
250!
Chris Bohjalian received 250 rejection slips before he sold his first short story.
In college, he submitted a short story to a famous female writer for review. Her three word review: “Be a banker.”
But Bohjalian stuck with it, and last night he was the Thurber House’s featured speaker. Bohjalian is the author of nine novels, including “Midwives,” a best-seller and Oprah’s Book Club selection. His novel “Past the Bleachers” was turned into a TV movie, which he said was better than the book.
“That’s why I keep it out of print,” he said. “When the TV movie is better than the book, you keep it out of print.”
Bohjalian worked in advertising during his long, slow climb to fame, and his marketing background was in full effect last night. He hosted a dinner for book groups before the reading. After the reading, he made a point of signing the first book right in front of everyone.
He directed everyone to his Web site, http://www.chrisbohjalian.com/, which I’ve only seen one other author do. But he went one step further: He invited everyone to the section on his Web site where you can submit a question. He insists he answers them. He also will appear at book club meetings via conference call.
The section he read from his new book, “Before You Know Kindness,” wasn’t bad. But his professionalism was excellent.
SPX announcements aplenty
The SPX homepage announced this week that Ohio’s favorite son, Harvey Pekar, will be the guest of honor at this year’s Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland on September 23-24. Some of you know Harvey from his excellent comix series, American Splendor; others may know him from the film of the same name. Regardless, it’s nice to see Harv getting his due; he’s practically a living legend.
Also over on Tom Spurgeon’s Comics Reporter, you can find a list of this year’s IGNATZ Award nominees.
Creator personalities vs. creator works
Since I’m doing the 4 AM work thing again, waiting on some hideously long database update to finish, I’m catching up on some blog reading. And over on Cognitive Dissonance, Johanna has a brief post on Warren Ellis, namely his whole “Grumpy Old Bastard” public persona. One of her readers comments:
“Ellis has always been like this and he has his devoted fanbase. Myself, I got to the point where the persona got in the way of the story for me, so it’s mostly an uphill battle to get me to buy anything he’s written, particularly if its superheroes (how many last superhero projects has he had? how many times has he done a cynical JLA homage?)”
Which bring up my question to you guys: does a creator’s public persona (whether real or perceived) ever make or break the deal for you when it comes to buying their work? Aside from Ellis, John Byrne seems to be another creator who falls into this category. He has a strong core fanbase, as well as a huge group of detractors, and it seems that each camp has arrived at their destination based more on his opinionated public comments rather than his talent.
I think I do have a tendency to stay away from certain creators who come across as too pretentious or holier-than-thou, regardless of the quality of their work. But not too often, and frankly, I can’t think of any good examples off the top of my head. Maybe Grant Morrison, especially when he starts into all that Magik crap (though oddly enough, I have no problem with Alan Moore’s crazy-ass occult beliefs…) But for the most part it’s easy enough for me to separate the ego from the work. For instance, I still dig the hell out of Planetary, even though I too am sick of Warren’s “edgy bastard” online presence.
How about you guys?
No love for Comic Sans
The great thing about the Internets is that anyone with an agenda and a few bucks to register a domain name and host it can start their own little grassroots movement. Hence: BanComicSans.com – Putting the Sans in Comic Sans
“In 1995 Microsoft released the font Comic Sans originally designed for comic book style talk bubbles containing informational help text. Since that time the typeface has been used in countless contexts from restaurant signage to college exams to medical information. These widespread abuses of printed type threaten to erode the very foundations upon which centuries of typographic history are built.”
Be sure to check out their Statistics page for some dire predictions on the future usage of Comic Sans.
Sex and the Cowtown
Candace Bushnell, author of “Sex and the City”, will speak in Columbus 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the King Arts Complex, 867 Mt. Vernon Ave. The event is hosted by the Thurber House. Tickets are $18, or $10 with a valid student ID. Check out http://www.thurberhouse.org/events/special.html for more info.
Monday Morning “Guess the Artist”
Welcome to a new (hopefully) weekly feature here on the mighty Ferret blog: Guess the Artist. Having enjoyed BeaucoupKevin’s Genius Covers Sunday installments, as well as (postmodernbarney)’s Subtext? What Subtext? features, I’ve decided to try my hand at some fun scans in an effort to give back to the comics blogosphere.
So each Monday, we’ll look at a piece of artwork from the early career of some of today’s big name comic book artists. Thrill to their humble beginnings, gasp at their amateur mistakes, and wonder at their generic style. So without further ado, check out today’s page and use the comments section to…Guess the Artist!
(click image to huge-ify)
Graphic Novel Writing Seminar
826NYC (the location of the Superhero Supply Company) is hosting a writing seminar on graphic novels next week (in NYC and for $50). Moderated by Chip Kidd, panelists include Art Spiegelman, Kim Deitch, Jessica Abel, and PJ Mark.
Also of interest might be their upcoming seminars on nonfiction, playwriting, starting a magazine, and humor writing (with guys from The Onion).
Your political moment of the day
Courtesy of my main squeeze, a video clip of “Dick” Cheney getting a taste of his own medicine on live TV. Put a smile on my face, it did.
News and Notes
The Fantagraphics blog discusses an underground comics event and exhibition at the Cincinnati Library.
The New York Times is going to be running an original Chris Ware serialized graphic novel in their weekly magazine according to the Beat.
The Onion and Katrina
Leave it to The Onion to tell it like it is…
“Bush: ‘It Has Been Brought To My Attention That There Was Recently A Bad Storm’”
“God Outdoes Terrorists Yet Again”
“White Foragers Report Threat Of Black Looters”
“Nation’s Politicians Applaud Great Job They’re Doing”
“Louisiana National Guard Offers Help By Phone From Iraq”
“Area Man Drives Food There His Goddamned Self”
Mike Mignola’s other property
The Comics Continuum has a first look at a design for the animated series based on Mike Mignola’s The Amazing Screw-on Head.
“Paul Giamitti, who starred in American Splendor, is proving the voice for Screw-On Head, a secret agent working for the U.S. government and a robot that screws his head onto a wide variety of bodies.In the pilot, Screw-On Head faces off against his arch nemesis and former manservant, Emperor Zombie, voiced by David Hyde Pierce. Molly Shannon plays Screw’s love interest, Patience the Vampire. Rounding out the cast are Patton Oswalt as Mr. Groin, Screw’s faithful manservant, and Mindy Sterling, who plays the dual roles of zombie henchwomen Aggie and Geraldine.”
(larger image at the link above)