diary of a guttersnipe 03/10/2014: tardiness is a young man's game

by Shawn Starr

Mini-Reviews

The Shaolin Cowboy #1-4 (Dark Horse)

by Geoff Darrow, Dave Stewart

One of the major problems i had with the previous issues of 'Shaolin Cowboy' was Darrow’s proclivity to put words everywhere, with needless amounts of dialogue on top of needless amounts of dialogue. In the newest volume, Darrow pushes away all of the needless exposition in the first issue fairly quickly, and then goes on a three and a half issue wordless fight sequence between the Shaolin Cowboy and a roaming naked mob of zombies which cross his path. Where are these zombies from? Fuck if i know. That therein lies the beauty of this latest volume, because it does not matter at all. They’re there and for nearly sixty pages (and more than a dozen double page spreads), Darrow gleefully illustrates the undead mobs disembowelment at the hands (or a pole which connects two chainsaws) of his titular character.

*stray observations

.This series seems almost like a throwdown with James Stokoe on the most dicks in an obsessively illustrated comic.

. All of Darrow’s male zombies seem to be uncircumcised. Found that worth pointing out.

Sex Criminals #4 (Image)

by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky

I still don’t really understand the mass praise for this book. The writing and artwork are fine even funny at times, but it being hailed as a top ten work just does not compute. Maybe it's a continuation of the praising of basic competence which has prevailed the past few years best of lists. Where Mark Waid’s 'Daredevil' or BKV/Staples' 'Saga' are put up on the shoulders of the masses and raised to a pantheon that only those who write B+ works aspire to inhabit.

Anyways, I guess jokes about butt stuff are much funnier than i ever thought.

-----------

a (mildly tweaked) reprint

“When you roll up on us, you better make sure we is dead – cause Mayor or not, we gonna roll back up on your punk ass!!!” 

Gangsta Rap Posse #1-2 (Traditional)

by Benjamin Marra

On a cursory glance, 'Gangsta Rap Posse' reads like the scrawling of a twelve year old who watched too many NWA interviews and music videos, but ultimately it is so much more than that. Operating both as an artistic reaction to the inherent silliness of the more manufactured aspects of Gangsta Rap (because as many cops as Ice Cube claims to kill, it’s 2014 and he works for TBS now) and a love letter to the the genre; Marra walks the fine line between farce and sincerity. 'Gangsta Rap Posse' revolves around a prominent Los Angeles 'Gangsta Rap' group as they make their way across the city towards their newest album release party, and as one would assume, depravity runs rampant over the ensuing twenty-two pages.

This book isn't a mad dash across town though, Marra allows the Posse to explore the city. To let the work breathe if you will. Taking breaks to shoot up a Neo-Nazi party, and prove who the real "Master Race" is, foil an assassination plot set forth by the mayor over the Posse releasing a sex tape "G.R.P. (Gang Bangs Mrs. Mayor)", and settling the issue of copyright infringement over a balcony window. 'Gangsta Rap Posse' exists for these digressions, the plot is irrelevant really, except as a pretense for these moments.

It's in these cutaways that Marra is able to weave in historical Rap events; creating a depth one wouldn't expect from a book with the title 'Gangsta Rap Posse'. Harold Smithsonian (George Clinton) and Snoozy Koblins (Bootsy Collins) of the Funk Congress International (Parliament-Funkadelic) attempting to assassinate the Gangsta Rap Posse over sampling, is a controversy which has plagued Hip-Hop since its formation (entire albums have been created with sampled beats). When the Posse holds Harold Smithsonian out a window and forces him to sign over the rights to his music, Marra is referencing Suge Knight's ("supposed") acquisition of Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" royalties, an event which lead directly to the formation of Death Row Records and the birth of Gangsta Rap.

As Tucker Stone pointed out, Marra's greatest artistic strength is his ability to make his characters act. Subtle gestures like the cocking of the Mayor's neck after being corrected for going on a racist tangent, the childlike shame on the Mayor's face when talking about his wife's sex tape, tell so much more about the character than any exposition dump ever could. In addition to facial gestures, Marra plays with the stiffness of his lines to give an additional dimension of character to his figures. While the Posse and members of Funk Congress International are depicted with a loose swagger, the Police are posed almost as mannequins, a subtle and effective way of differentiating the two groups and their personalities.

This book would have failed if it was merely an exercise in irony, a send off to 70's Blaxploitation films with Gangsta Rap archetypes swapped in for "Dolemite". An interesting elevator pitch, but not much more than that. Instead 'Gangsta Rap Posse' takes this simple idea and builds on it. Adding tidbits of Hip-Hop history and controversy, giving the work a depth that allows it to rise above simple parody. 'Gangsta Rap Posse' delivers on it's title, but through Marra's art and reverence for the genre, does much more.

------------------------

link dump

Off the bat, a podcast reunion of sorts for the Matinee Idles which was a movie podcast which featured The Chemical Box's very own Joey Aulisio and Alec Berry.

Speaking of Alec Berry, he's been rather prolific of late with his take on 'Ms. Marvel' #1, 'Celebrated Summer', 'Number' #1, and 'Moon Knight' #1. He also started some kind of essay publishing site called ByLine and a new podcast that he wisely abandoned after a week or so. Alec and Joey did a Best Of episode in there somewhere too.

Tucker Stone interviews Julia Gfrorer. Gfrorer is an supremely under-appreciated artist in the art-comics scene. With the release of 'Black Is The Color', this issue seems to be starting to change. Following the success of her $5 postcards (I got one of them. It was a rabbit), she is offering some affordable commissions right now.

Newly translated Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot titled 'La Poubelle de la Place Vendome'.

   

I keep finding scans of 'COPRA' online and it keeps bumming me out.

A Dash Shaw lecture which took place at the California College of the Arts. I saw Shaw give a very similar lecture at TCAF, it was very insightful. Also, Shaw announced a new mini-comic coming out from Fanta later this year called 'Cosplayer' which i’m excited about.

Michael DeForge’s 'Kid Mafia' was collected recently by Secret Headquarters, or at least the first three issues. That's one of my favorite DeForge comics, and largely only avaliable from him at conventions, so a collection should be a good way to get the work out there.

I read this Vladimir Nabokov interview with the Paris Review shortly before the release of the Alan Moore series of essays in the form of answers “interview” which recently came out. It’s weird, but Nabokov shit talks for almost the entirety of that interview in a way that i feel Moore wishes he could.

I watched every Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee last month. The Chris Rock one was probably the stand out, but they’re all pretty great. As an aside, one of my ex-managers met Chris Rock when he was shooting a scene at his work and i guess every time Rock ran into him, he kept asking him about his kids and if he was gonna go see "Madagascar 2" when it came out. This isn’t that funny of a story until my manager told me his wife had just filed for divorce a week previous (I would tell that story to everyone i ever met if it was me).

Ryan Holmberg on Post-War Manga. Ryan Holmberg on Manga is always a must read. I’ll miss those 40+ page essays in 10 Cent Manga.

The Inkstuds 500th episode. Featuring my two favorite Inkstuds recurring guests.

Leading into the final days of Angouleme, Katsuhiro Otomo was the hands on favorite to win the Grand Prix, but in an odd twist 'Calvin and Hobbes' creator and noted recluse Bill Watterson won the prize. Since Otomo is still up for the prize next year (as long as he is alive), here's his out of print and therefore extremely expensive early work 'Domu', which has recently appeared scanned in completion online. I have heard rumors that 'Domu' is better than 'Akira', but i’m not sure how much of that is bluster about having read the work and how much of it is truth.

A review of Jack Kirby’s adaptation of '2001: A Space Odyssey'. I have read most of that series in issues since it will never be reprinted (and not never like 'Miracleman', i mean like never ever). Since it is a very good comic, and as the review points out, an interesting work to look at to see what Kirby took and didn't take from the Kubrick film.

diary of a guttersnipe 12/09/2013: "hicksville or bust!"

by Shawn Starr

yea this is way late but i am lazy and sad so give me a break....

my CAB report

(** If i use two asterisks its not stealing Tom Spurgeon's format.)

** Drove to New York on Friday morning after not sleeping the previous night because I am a fucking moron. That drive is much better than the one to TCAF though, surprisingly enough.

** I went down with my Mother/Sister who were doing a joint vacation the same weekend in New York, this was possibly designed so i didn't have to pay for a bus/train ticket.

** I watched a marathon of "Boy Meets World" in the hotel room before Joey picked me up, it was the episode where Corey and Topanga get married. I like that the actor who plays Corey decided to play him as an old jewish man from the start. I also don’t understand why all their friends refuse to left them live with them, and actively get them kicked out of their residencies, just to teach them a lesson about hardships.

** Site Editor Joey Aulisio picked me up at a hotel after being in traffic for six years due to my poor understanding of time and how traffic works. He didn't know what i looked like since there are no photos of me online, so our first interaction was me leaving the hotel bar after he’d told me he was in the lobby and him walking by me and stopping to compliment my Youth In Decline shirt. I found it charming.

** We went out and got Chinese food while i was dozing off in his car. Once we got back to his house we got a series of texts from Alec Berry asking for directions. You see Alec had driven from West Virginia to Long Island without a GPS and no minutes on his phone and had (on the last leg of the trip) gotten lost. After a few tense minutes (a.k.a. us calling him a fucking idiot because who the fuck does that) he arrived and ate some soup that Joey had gotten for him.

** Me and Alec talked about how we both don’t write anything anymore, and how we should write more. Also that Sean T Collins / Frank Santoro post because that was the hot topic in comics at the moment.

** Joey limited the number of water bottles Alec could drink after Alec had mildly destroyed the recyclability of the one he had given him. Here is a picture of the bottle:

** Here is a picture of Joey trying to fix it:

(Alec gave him 25 cents for the destroyed bottle)

** I slept on the floor.

** I’m told i snore very loudly, but i didn't really feel bad since Alec took the couch. That piece of shit.

** We got to the show without much hassle. We only hit traffic when getting off the exit to the venue and  i think we spent more time trying to find parking then we did driving.

** I still don’t understand this bars' sign.

** The show’s in the same venue as last year, a church gymnasium which still elicits terrible catholic school memories. I pretty much be-lined it for the DeForge table to buy everything he had with him because that's how i start every con. 'Ant Colony' had sold out before we even got in the car to head out, which is kind of insane.

** The next thing i grabbed was 'Life Zone', Hanselman had a solid line for most of his signings. He seemed very charming for the 30 seconds i talked to him.

** I really like Frank Santoro’s set up, at TCAF and the Boston Comicon I talked with Chuck Forsman about how someone would clean up at the TCAF’s if they showed up with long boxes of silver/bronze/early-Image comics. Based on the purchases i saw while being there, that seemed true (I bought seven volumes of 'The Drifting Classroom' for $20 from him which is a god damn steal). 'Comics Workbook' #1 seemed to be going over very well, i had some mild issues with it once i read it but for $2 its worth a look through (Also, seeing criticism in print outside of TCJ once a year is nice).

** Joey doesn't understand my need to get my books signed, i don’t really either but David Mazzucchelli was in the building and…

**Artists really need to bring a bank to cons, i don’t think I've been to one yet where i don’t have at least five interactions where breaking a bill larger than a ten isn't an issue that takes several minutes to figure out.

** While less oppressively than last year, that venue still gets uncomfortably hot as the day goes on and the crowd gets larger.

** Me and Alec went outside to get some air and talked to Chuck Forsman for a bit. This guy was doing some art-show /music thing. I made a post-fort thunder joke about him, but no one laughed.

** When we went back in we couldn't find Joey, but after a few minutes we found him sitting behind Michel Fiffe’s table. He’d somehow swindled someone into giving him a place to sit down. He stayed there and shit talked with Fiffe for the remainder of the show while i gave both floors a few more passes and left knowing i’d missed something important that i’d always regret not buying (turned out it was John Pham’s book).

** I enjoyed the show, although this year's lineup seemed to be lacking a bit of the international feel that last years had (And a lot compared to TCAF).

** I have yet to catch any of the programming at BCGF/CAB in the two years I've attended, i think having it as a one day show and putting the programming in a separate building inhibits me from wanting to go to it. Also the early time of the 'City of Glass' panel, and the almost guarantee that it’d be filled by the time i got there kind of killed that one for me.

TCAF does a similar thing, on an even greater scale (i think last year had 3-5 offsite locations) but it being a two day show and in a much bigger venue (trying to walk the floor at CAB after 2pm is not very easy or pleasant so you kind of need to of bought everything you want before that and then just drift around after that) makes it feel less of a burden. Also the 3-5 locations are spread out enough that, if you were to go to panels at 2-3 of them you’d get a very feel for that area of the city (also could probably find someplace nice to eat on the way).

** We left and got burritos in long island around 3pm. Joey chastised me for getting a soda and drowning my burrito in hot sauce. That man's a stickler for health.

** Me and Alec read each other's comic purchases while Joey took a nap or something. I shoved my copy of 'Life Zone' into Alec's hands off the bat, he hadn’t read any of Hanselmann’s work before but seemed to really enjoy it. I’ read his copies of 'Beach Girls' which was a fun comic and one of the Andrew White books he got (Deconstruction?) looked interesting.

** I think that's it...we watched "This Is 40" which is probably the worst Apatow film, i slept on the floor again and was told i still snored.

** Oh, on the way home i stopped with my mother/sister at a wine tasting and it was the most awful things I've ever done. If you want to see the demographic that watched "The Newsroom", go to a wine tasting.

Mini-Reviews

Ant Colony (Drawn & Quarterly)
by Michael DeForge

Do newspapers still print Sunday strips? Not cartoon strips that run on Sunday, but those strips that require Fantagraphics to print up giant 'Kramer's Ergot' 7 sized reproductions that have a base cost of $75 because any smaller reproduction would destroy your ability to read/fetishize them. Anyways, if they do then good for them, but 'Ant Colony' is (without even bothering to look it up) the best Sunday strip of the past decade.

That's a completely uninformed opinion, but i feel like it will stand the test of time.

In an era when even historical underground newspapers are folding, DeForge took one of the key legacies of cartooning and print which is the Sunday Strip, and re-purposed it for a medium that could still support it, Tumblr.

The plot of 'Ant Colony' revolves around a black-ant colony attacking a neighboring colony of red ants driven mad(der) by a substance secreted by spiders during copulation. DeForge creates a highly structured and complex world for the black-ant colony to live in, and while the story is centered on a couple of male worker ants as their relationship falls apart due to the red ant attacks, it does not shy away from introducing additional characters including a cowardly cop, a vision seeing child, or a female ant that has been repressed by society which keeps the male and female populations separated for fear of usurping the queen, and that doesn’t even mention the entire world outside of the colony DeForge is weaving.

DeForge’s story is large, it is ambitious both narratively and thematically, and at no point does it falter.

Last Letter (self-published)
by Hellen Jo

Catharsis.

That's the only word i can think of after reading Last Letter. The books design and narrative revolve around destruction and point towards the freeing nature that the act brings about. 'Last Letter' arrives inside a sealed envelope, the return address penciled in by hand reads HELLLLLEN.org / On the Internet, a place where a physical letter can never be returned. One must consume it's contents or discard them, but never send it back - the object has achieved physicality from a realm that exists outside of the physical and it utilizes this new found existence to bring the reader into the narrative and creative process.

To read 'Last Letter', one must tear open the envelope which it is housed in (Not the envelope that it is mailed in, it is physically housed inside a smaller envelope). What could initially be seen as a cute production idea takes on additional meaning though once one actually opens the envelope; inside a small sixteen page silent mini comic. The first image contained within depicts a female sitting on a curb covering her face with one hand as a letter dangles in the other. This first illustration turns the nonchalant red envelope into the cover of the work and creates a real time prologue to the comic. This prologue is not illustrated by the artist, but instead acted out by the reader as they open the envelope. As harshly or carefully as the reader chooses to open the envelope, the act carries an energy over to the first panel which the artist could never anticipate, but that the work relies upon to provide a greater context. One could rip it open like an excited child receiving what they think is a birthday card containing money; or they could open it slowly and methodically, taking great care not to damage the envelope or the letter it contains in anticipation of what they hope will be good news one would want to preserve. Both of these actions, and the multitude of the variations in between them, all lead to the same answer though. A girl slumped over.

The content of the letter is never revealed, the comics title hints that it is a last letter, but from who and concerning what is not divulged or even hinted at. What is depicted though is the nameless female character working through her grief. In sixteen pages, her character cycles through each of the five stages of grief, and on each page that emotion is conveyed clearly and with feeling. Even the journey of the letter is a story in of itself, shifting from being covered in tears, being thrown on the ground in frustration and ultimately shredded and set ablaze. It’s journey mirrors the actions of its recipient, as they both move on to another place being consumed by flames. That Jo can realistically convey a wide range of emotions over the course of so few pages, without the aid of dialogue, but simply through her relying on her strength as a cartoonist and ability to manipulate body language is impressive.

you can purchase 'Last Letter' here.

Uber, Volume One (Avatar)
by Kieron Gillen, Caanan White, Keith Williams

The back matter in these issues where Gillen struggles with the idea of writing a comic which is based at it’s core on real people and real events (and in particular Nazism) is by far the most interesting part of these comics. The book itself is fine. It’s Avatar so the art is so-so and the writing is good enough, but it’s that struggle with one's own ethics that takes place between the back matter of each issue, along with the years that this book has been gestating within him which lifts the work to another level.

Read the comic, but digest the backmatter.

Moon Comic
by Blaise Larmee

A comic told through photographs. It begins with a single white light, which depending on the speed you are scrolling through, is quickly joined by a group of three yellow lights which mirror the white lights movements. These lights move around -disconnected in between panels which the vertical instead of horizontal reading structure only further highlights - coming together and repulsing each other until the four lights combine and then explode into dozens. The final image reveals these are all just lights from an airport.

Ascribing narrative is weird. Ascribing narrative importance is even weirder. Especially when they’re lights from an airport. This comic reminded me i’m fucking dumb.

There is also Shower Comic and Cat Comic.

-----------------------------------

links

Jog on Frank Woodring's 'Fran'

an art style that started with 'First Year Healthy' takes on new heights in 'Flu Comic'. A comic that was spawned by a 24 hour flu that DeForge once suffered.

Chris Mautner interviews Frank Santoro, as did Publishers Weekly.

----------------

Alec Berry is writing again. Alec wrote me a few times telling me i needed to write something to kick his ass back into gear, but i just couldn't. When Alec isn't writing (as he wasn't this past year), i’m not at my best. Which means i could barely kick my own ass into writing something feigning intelligence. Hence the past year’s scatter-shot output. Anyways, he has three essays out in less than a week's time and based on our privileged correspondences, he seems determined to keep up the pace.

Here are links:

Alec on 'Internet Comics'

Alec on Sam Alden’s 'Backyard'

Alec on not writing

----------------

I liked this Rob Liefeld piece, the first paragraph in particular.

"Jeet Heer, I like to call him the “Derek ‘Jeet’er of comic books" .................*sigh*. Heer was also involved in a much better and less groan worthy pun laden interview with Tom Spurgeon. The takeaway quote was:  “As a friend says, doing superheroes for adults is like doing porn for kids”

A piece about the soon to be ramp up to re-re-re-extended corporate copyrights.

Tom Spurgeon on 'Frontier' #2 and his piece on this year's CAB.

diary of a guttersnipe 11/11/2013: chital

by Shawn Starr

Recently damned by the faintest of praise by The Hooded Utilitarian, a re-posting of an old discussion between me and this website's editor Joey Aulisio on Michael DeForge's 'Spotting Deer'. Lets turn a post from an obscure blog into a post on a slightly less obscure blog (and also save me from needing to write anything new for another week). I'll be back next week with my write-up of my experience at the recent CAB fest in Brooklyn.

-------------------

Spotting Deer: A Conversation between Shawn Starr and Joey Aulisio

Shawn Starr: Michael DeForge straddles the line between the alt-comics premiere horror creator and the next Clowes. His primary book, 'Lose', is probably the clearest example of this. 'Lose' #2 tells the story of a child befriending an animal and finding happiness. While that sounds like a made for Disney Channel movie (I’m fairly certain that’s the plot to "Air Bud" only without basketball and an evil clown), DeForge depicts the child not in the Disney-fied “I just moved to a new town that banned Basketball because the preacher didn't like all the gyrations” pre-teen angst way, but instead as an insular and bullied child. But, not to be reduced to a pure Clowes-ian mix of depression and cynicism, DeForge injects a horror element. The child’s new best friend is a severed horse's head piloted by an “alien” spider who infects the child’s tormentors with a horrendous rash and whose offspring eventually overrun the city.

In a review, Stephen Bissette said he would have loved to publish 'Incinerator' in 'Taboo', which is a perfect way to describe DeForge’s output. A horror artist / anthology that became so much more (from a re-imagining of EC to the publisher of 'From Hell'). Even his short in 'Thickness' #2 ('College Girls By Night') takes the genre tropes and overt social commentary of old EC horror stories and adds layers of depth that those stories could never achieve. It’s a simple werewolf story that’s inverted into a commentary on transgender sexuality and gender identity.

Dudes got chops.

'Spotting Deer', like 'Lose' and 'Thickness', takes on a familiar format and twists it. Riffing on old nature documentaries (the kind you watched when your Biology teacher is out sick), DeForge creates a near perfect homage. All the story beats are there, the uncomfortable section on mating rituals (DeForge’s depiction of the “Sexual Aqueduct” perfectly captures that feeling of awkwardness experienced in a sixth grade classroom) and the oddly nationalistic / hyperbolic statement on the animal's importance in popular culture and the ecosystem. The book is even designed to emulate an old CRT monitor, and its use of the four panel grid is reminiscent of a slide show presentation. Even the close up of the “Snout” resembles one of those cheap plastic anatomy figures you’d find in a high school science class.

So, Joey, what makes this your favorite work by DeForge?

Joey Aulisio: It’s not just my favorite work by DeForge but probably one of my favorite comics period. I told a story on a chemical box episode about how I read this comic and nothing else, every single day for about a month. Something about this book just hooked me like few other books in recent years have. That said, I have found it difficult to explain why it resonated with me so much. What I can figure is that at the time I read it, I was going through a phase where I was just sick of comics and “comics culture” and really contemplated disengaging with it permanently. I don’t know what your interpretation of the story is, but I saw it as Deforge going through that same line of thought.

I think DeForge started out trying to make a book savaging the “fanboys” and then by the end realizing he was just like them, which was the real horror of it all. That moment of realization rendered by DeForge is truly chilling, nobody draws disappointment and disgust quite like him. A turn of the cheek says a thousand words.

Shawn Starr: I hadn't considered that reading. It certainly makes the last page hit a lot harder. Obsessing over 'Spotting Deer' (or comics) for years and writing a book, just to be asked “Why?” during a reading. Then to add insult to injury, watching your life’s work end up on a bargain table and ultimately the dump being picked over by wildlife.

I think the “savaging” is too intimate to be from a fanboy. My reading of it is more as an affirmation of DeForge's place as a cartoonist. He may have started as an outside figure (the writer), but once he (the writer) appears it moves away from the first half’s exploration of “herd” (nerd) culture and becomes explicitly about cartooning.

The panel when the writer takes a picture of the spotted deer reminds me of those old sci-fi shows when people switch bodies or imprint their conscience on someone else. From that panel on, I think DeForge realized he was one of the spotted deer. A part of the “study group”. It’s even more explicit on the next page when all the “deers” social anxieties are superimposed over the writer’s image.

Then there is the “Deer in Society” section, moving away from home to the city (but not before being ostracized by your family / community), the “ink spot” neighborhoods, the livejournal communities and the “pay farms” where their “psychic meat” adapts the characteristics of other products; It seems to all be there, the artist communities, the livejournal groups (now twitter), DeForge’s work as a storyboard artist (along with countless other cartoonists).

Joey Aulisio: Maybe you are right in that a “savaging of fanboys” is too easy a way to reconcile this work, and it’s actually just about being a cartoonist/working in comics or maybe just working in a creative field to paint with a broader brush. It still seems like what DeForge is talking about is very specific to comics though (and how could it not be considering it was presented in comic form).

Comics have a certain stigma to them that other mediums do not have, you get the impression that if you worked for 20 years in comics and weren’t successful, most people would say “well why did you waste your time on these silly things” (you would probably get that reaction even if you were a success in comics, let’s be honest) whereas replace comics with film, literature, music, etc. the response would be “well at least you gave it a shot, you tried to live your dream”. Failure in other mediums is still viewed as more a triumphant than a success in comics which is still viewed as tragic or sad.

Now take Deforge, clearly a master of his craft just a few years into the game. He’s someone that sits heads and shoulders above his peers, and I guarantee he has been given more attention for working on "Adventure Time" (or his 5 page 'Adventure Time' story) than anything he has done in comics. That has to get to you after awhile. When the writer at the end stands on that podium and gets asked basically “why do you keep doing this?”, it really hits that point home and must be hard for you to reconcile after a certain point.

I am sure working in comics can be fun, but from all accounts it seems to be rather exhausting most of the time with little reward. “Depression. Anxiety Attacks, Migraines. and Sleep Disorders”, comics will destroy you if you let them. Now you sit in front of a desk drawing away at things that mean so much to you, and you put out something you feel proud of just to have someone in an audience ask “this is alright, but when are you going to move onto a real thing like a novel or a film?”, and then knowing your work is probably going to end up lining a litter box one day. It’s a sobering thought.

Shawn Starr: Yeah, it difficult to watch Ware and Hernandez remain in relative obscurity, while Mark Millar and Stan Lee are household names. No matter how much talent they bring to the craft, they’re always just making funny books. That is, until those funny books become movies.

Since I like to end things on a down note, I guess we’ll end things here

(this piece originally was posted here)

diary of a guttersnipe 10/14/2013: okay look, i'm seventeen years old...

by Shawn Starr

Mini-Reviews

The CBLDF presents Liberty Annual 2013 (Image)
by Fabio Moon, Richard Corben, Corinna Bechko, Gabriel Hardman, Jeremy Atkins, Alex Cox, Andy Owens, Mike Moreci, Steve Seeley, Joe Eisma, Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver, Franco, Art Baltazar, Paul Tobin, Juan Ferreyra, Leah Sottile, Emi Lenox, Tim Seeley, Andy Kuhn, Ron Chan, Dave Stewart, Michelle Madsen, Zac Atkinson

I really wish one day this anthology wouldn’t just be the repository of one or two decent artists (in this case Corben and one of those Ba/Moon brothers), and a series of stories written where the twist is always (fucking always) the power of the written word. That or some irrelevant political sounding tidbit that the author read about once on Huffington Post and Aaron Sorkin had not quite gotten around to yet.

Forever Evil #2 (DC)
by Geoff Johns, David Finch, Richard Friend, Sonia Oback

Geoff Johns has a weird writing tick in his event books. Within the first two issues, he will devote an entire page of the comic to the ritualistic murder of a small woodland critter. I assume he chooses which one will be nixed by putting his copy of "Bambi" into his DVD player, hitting fast forward with his eyes closed, and then arbitrarily pausing the film and then subjecting whatever poor soul is caught on screen to whatever act of violence he saw on "CSI: NY" last week.

Zero #1 (Image)
by Ales Kot, Michael Walsh, Adam Gorham, Jordie Bellaire

(a review by way of notes)

*     On Twitter, Kot called this comic his Kendrick Lamar 'Control' verse. This was most likely a joke, but there is an aspect of ‘up your game everyone’ that can be found in the pages of 'Zero'.

*    I read a review where the “critic” talked about the randomness of the sex scene in this issue, in that it didn't need to be in there. I disagree, the sex scene takes the standard first encounter between two characters and adds a depth to their characterization and relationship that couldn't be achieved except with such an intimate moment.

*  I like that 'Zero' is equal opportunity in it’s nudity. Also, at no point in Walsh’s depiction of sex did it feel grimy or disgusting, unlike just about every other comic artist's depictions. His use of simple panel structure and avoiding pinup shots were key to this (His use of negative space throughout the issue was also very nice).

*    In their initial meeting we see Zizek, a fat disheveled older bureaucrat trying to convince Cooke that sending Zero back into the field was a good idea. Zizek begins to insult Cooke for her lack of experience before being reminded by Cooke who the boss is. This scene sets Cooke up as the hard ass boss to Zizek’s experienced but fading company man.

The next time we see these two characters they are having sex. We see Cooke telling Zizek to go faster, but he says can’t, he’s getting a cramp. Cooke begins to berate him, to threaten him, but then, following a panel of her biting her upper lip, and mid eye roll she pleads for him not to stop. His hand grasps hers and they go on. The following page they lay naked and Zizek talks about how time has passed him by.

Zizek’s cramp and Cooke’s plea shed’s additional layers on their previous interaction. As their hands interlock you can see how Zizek is trudging along even though he is past his prime because Cooke needs him. He may be old and washed up but he gets the job done, and how he needs Cooke to give him meaning, to push him past the cramp which would end in him fading away to nothing. The sex scene allows for these subtle pieces of characterization because of the implicit intimacy of the moment. This scene is vital.

*    Cape comics have a tendency in their most melodramatic and unfeeling way, to spend a few pages going over the destruction that their epic battles have wrought. I’m told there's a touching  moment in the Zack Snyder Superman film where (following an aerial battle that destroys much of the city) Superman is confronted with a family about to be killed by Zod. These moments tend to be unfeeling and purely cynical attempts at humanity, in the face of an million dead we are supposed to latch onto these three unnamed individuals. 'Zero', in contrast, uses these moments to discuss the politics of state sponsored terrorism and it’s effects on civilians.

In 'Zero' civilians are a presence throughout the book, whilst the area the two “super-powered” beings are fighting in was supposedly evacuated (which would allow the damage caused by the two hero’s to proceed without needing to worry about collateral damage), they can be seen huddled in their homes as they are being smashed through during the climactic fight scene. These asides take on a more implicit political aspect, due to the fight taking place in Palestine which is one of the most densely populated area’s on the planet, and one which is routinely subject to violence by an occupying force. The two “super-powered” individuals are explicitly creations of the two major organizations attempting to run Palestine (Hamas and the state of Israel). This gives the collateral damage many comics use as filler a real world counterpart with implications one has to think over.

*    I like that Ales Kot continues to come back to the idea of Drones in his work, they have become a staple of his comics. Ever present

*    'Zero' will have a new artist each issue, but will retain the colorist Jordie Bellaire across the series. I have seen this technique become more and more prevalent as colorists become stronger in staking out the visual continuity between issues and art styles. Dean White was the first major example of this (to my knowledge) on 'Uncanny X-Force', coloring many inferior artists within an inch of their lives so that their issues would not stand too far out when placed next to Opena in the subsequent collection (If one looks at the Billy Tan issue White colored in contrast to the one he did not, they are night and day). This technique was also implemented on Daredevil when Rivera and Martin were trading off arcs, and continued as other artists were subbed in; along with the current 'Hawkeye' run. The continuation of this technique continues to show how important coloring is to the overall tone and feel of a series.

---------------

links

MOCCA announced their “Guests of Honor”. That’s probably the most agreeably bookstore orientated guest list i have come across in a while. It also has the intelligence to vary between the more literary authors like Alison Bechdel to the more sci-fi /comic shop orientated Fiona Staples which should bring in a large audience (The ticket price being significantly reduced is also a major plus).

Michel Fiffe originals. Both for sale and to gawk at. Looking at my bank account i’m squarely in the gawking category (UPDATE: these all sold out so you can’t see them anymore. Losers).

Andrew White is also selling originals, if i’m reading this right for $15 he will draw you an original page based on a word or phrase you send him, and then give you another five pages of previously drawn material that he thinks relates to that phrase. An original mini-comic of sorts.

Q: What happened to the dog that swallowed a firefly?
A: It barked with de-light!

----------------

Oily Comics subscriptions have opened back up offering a 3-month subscription for $20. In other Oily related news, Oily contributor Melissa Mendes has a "Friday Night Lights" fanzine out, and two interviews on 'The End of the Fucking World' went up over the past few weeks. One by TJC contributor Chris Mautner at Penn Live and another by CBR writer Alex Deuben. I really need to finish transcribing my interview with him, but here's a teaser.....

an interview teaser

(context: the post office lost joey's oily comics)

Joey: Was their any difference between the first printing and the second printing [of 'Habit'].

Charles: Nah. It's just the papers a little thinner, i ran out of the good stock and i had some of this other stock...

Joey: Goddamn post office...

------------------

Frank Santoro did a process post on his new book 'Pompeii'. 'Pompeii' is a book where the production is as much an aspect of the story as the artwork and plot. The texture of the paper, the art's reproduction size (100%), the discoloration of the page, they all contribute to the book's overall aesthetic, which i appreciate (and, as a trend, seems to be on the upswing). Jim Rugg and Dash Shaw are both credited for book design, which makes sense when one looks at both of their most recent works and the place production has in them ('New School' as a replica of an high school yearbook, and 'Supermag' as a high-gloss magazine).

John Porcellino posted pictures of some original art of his that he found laying around his house.

Woody Allen on Ingmar Bergman.

Ed Piskor interviewed by Tom Scioli about 'Hip Hop Family Tree'. Also a short documentary type thing about Piskor by the Times.

Kevin Huizenga on 'Palookaville' #21 and Seth’s Stamp comic. I’m only a few pages into the new 'Palookaville', but i do want to comment on how much i like the reproduction of Seth’s stamp comics. Instead of scans of each individual page, they are reproduced via photographs of the journals themselves, this gives them a heartfelt quality that i don’t think they would convey as well if they’d simply been scanned (The Seth story on this episode of CBABIH is also worth listening to, Pacific Rim, man. Pacific fucking Rim!)

--------------

a real conversation

 Shawn Starr: What was that Von Trier with Bjork movie that you recommended?

Joey Aulisio: I didn't recommend it, all i said was it would ruin your day.

-----------------

New Jonny Negron comic. I hear good things about it. But then again i hear good things about everything he does. The shipping does seem a little high though, i live a state over and it costs $5 to ship, and for just $2 more ($7) you can ship it to Germany.

Gary Panter talk at CCAD. Also, The Rozz-Tox Manifesto.

Joe Sacco interview. It’s weird that i did not know there was a new Sacco book until  last month.

A Kanye West interview which people were talking about and i watched.

David Mazzucchelli interviewed by Dan Nadel.

Watched "Masters of Sex". Very good first episode, although the title leaves a bad taste in my mouth after learning the main characters' last name is Masters. Low hanging fruit people.

diary of a guttersnipe 09/16/2013: back in a civic

by Shawn Starr

I’ve decided to be proactive in treating this random cough i have had for the past few months, and i’ve begun taking cold pills and switching from whiskey + cokes to screwdrivers. Should be cleared up in a few days.


Mini-Reviews

Thor: God of Thunder #12 (Marvel)
by Jason Aaron, Nic Klein

It’s difficult not to see the departure of Esad Ribic from 'Thor: God of Thunder' at the conclusion of the Grodd The Godslayer “mega-arc” (11-issues) as anything but a death nail for that title. Esad brought a heaviness to the title, his artwork carries with it a sense of weight and density that few other artists in comics can achieve - making the fight scenes (featuring overly muscular men wielding hammers punching and smashing their way across the cosmos) feel real in a sense, the hammer blows have a weight behind them and the damage they caused is felt. The other aspect of Ribic’s heaviness is his artwork's clear association with 'Heavy Metal' (both the magazine and musical genre); his artwork begs to depict these genres tropes, it needs to depict outer space and celestial bodies and Conan stand-in’s beating each other up while giving speeches on the state of the cosmos.

With Ribic’s departure, Aaron brings Thor back to earth after a little over a year (publication time) in space, promptly reinserting the god of thunder back into the Marvel Universe and leaving behind much of Ribic’s trademark imagery. This is first achieved by a series of pastiches (showing Thor with the citizenry of the 616, a pub owner noticing the once absent thunder returning and pulls out a barrel or two of mead for the returning hero, Thor meets with an inmate about to be put to death - the inmate in these last moments now realizes that if only he had met Thor earlier he could have avoided his life of crime, etc.) which are all built around the idea of humanizing and bringing him up to speed with the 616 universe. Now this is a god whom we have just watched smash his way through the universe riding on a viking ship with three time displaced versions of himself while on a quest to kill a rogue “god” (see the godslayer had turned himself into a god in his battle against the gods, ironies a bitch, huh?). The deflation is needed in the absence of Ribic, but it’s one that stops the book in it’s tracks, gone are the epic speeches and in their stead is melodrama and YouTube jokes.

Nic Klien’s artwork at times has flourishes of a cosmic scale, there are a few instances, in particular two splash pages both off world where his charcoal texturing adds a depth to the landscapes that looks promising, but his artwork for the majority of the issue is rooted in an amalgamation of house styles that he doesn’t seem completely grown out of yet, and which Aaron seems to only wish to reinforce in his search to bring Thor back “home”.

-----------------

links

Mother News, a free newspaper out of Providence, has recently achieved their past editions. The paper itself is quite good, but the main draw here is that this archive contains monthly strips from CF, Mickey Z, Charles Forsman and Michael DeForge (along with others). With so many free alternative newspapers shutting down lately (the long standing Boston Phoenix shut down publication last year after a nearly fifty year run), it’s nice to see one still running, along with publishing strips from some of the best new creators in comics. I’m doubtful this will be possible by the end of the decade.

Speaking of Esad Ribic, he will be taking over art duties on Hickman's 'Avengers' starting in December which actually sounds pretty cool.

-------------

A Newsarama interview with Ben Marra. What Newsarama is doing interviewing Ben Marra and why they are doing a “countdown to SPX” is beyond me, but i guess it will get more eyes on Marra’s work, so it’s ultimately a good thing. This interview reminded me of a semi-recent interview with Howard Chaykin on CBR about a new-ish release of his (something about Westerns and TV) where towards the end of the interview, when the inevitable “what else are you working on?” question is asked, the answer is something twenty times more interesting than anything else being talked about in the interview. The crazy thing is the interviewer doesn’t just stop the whole process and latch onto that cool project he just mentioned, they kind of bury the lead instead (In the case of the Chaykin interview it was the mention of a 'Black Kiss Christmas Special' along with 'Black Kiss 3'). Here's the one from the Marra interview:

Newsarama: What's next for you? More blades, more lazers, what?

Marra: I'm currently hard at work on a few projects. I'm working with Josh Bayer and his brother Sam on a new line of superhero comics called All Time Comics. Be on the lookout for those soon. Recently, I wrote a comic that Michael DeForge is drawing and Dash Shaw will be coloring. It's a sequel to Michael and my story that appeared in an issue of 'Smoke Signal', a cyber/bio-punk tale called Faunamancer. Desert Island Comics is going to put that out.

It would be difficult to imagine a stronger lineup for a collaboration in comics right now, alt or mainstream. (An Aside: the interviewer's jokey and slightly pandering tone throughout the interview was really annoying to me.)

-------

CF does “Batman”; signed Paul Pope.

Autopic reports from Secret Acres, and the Autopic organizers.

Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy talking 'The Best of Milligan & McCarthy' over at Robot 6.

Frank Santoro on Tell Me Something I Don’t Know.

----------

“Whether Grace left Dogville, or on the contrary Dogville had left her - and the world in general - is a question of a more artful nature that few would benefit from by asking, and even fewer by providing an answer. And nor indeed will it be answered here."

I finished "Dogville" this week, or was it last, i’m so infrequent with these columns my understanding of time is really beginning to get fucked up. Anyways an interval of time ago, I completed a viewing of Lars Von Trier's film "Dogville", a story of a town who takes in a stranger running away from the mob and how they deal with having complete power over one individual. Their dealings leaves something to be desired over the film's near three hour run time but the ending is something i don’t think i’m going to forget. The narrator, who is so intent on explaining the feelings of each individual and their thoughts, chooses to ignore giving a grand point to the film's violent and possibly deserved ending. It leaves it up to the viewers to decide if the characters who sanctioned each of these acts was right, and if they deserved the consequences put upon them. It’s a film whose ending i will change my opinion on as time progresses, but right now i read too many Josh Simmons comics and i smiled at that shit.

“It was as if the light, previously so merciful and faint, finally refused to cover up for the town any longer. Suddenly you could no longer imagine a berry that would appear one day on a Gusberry bush, but only see the thorn that was there right now. The light now penetrated every unevenness and floor in the buildings and... in the people. "

------------

Lack of context seems to be a big deal in comics this month.

iFanboy is dead. Fuck iFanboy.

I really liked this Jonny Negron piece.

Michael DeForge released what i am assuming to be the entirety of the fourth issue of 'Kid Mafia' online. I’m holding off on reading it until the print version comes out, but since most of the 'Kid Mafia' issues are only available from him at a con this might be your only chance to read it.

Youth In Decline had a big week in pre-orders news, they opened with a new issue of 'Frontier' which highlights the artists Hellen Jo, and then followed it up with their first T-Shirt which consists of the company logo (designed by Michael DeForge).