Yes, Gary Groth talks Manga! What's next, Jim Shooter talking Fort Thunder?! Deb Aoki conducts the interview for about.com, further fleshing out the story of our forthcoming initiative to bring Moto Hagio and Shimura Takako to American readers. Choice quote: "Due to my almost complete ignorance of the manga publishing industry and the editorial strictures that guide it, and my pitiful lack of guile in these matters, I was insufficiently aware of how timid and craven our editorial choices should've been."
Things to see: 3/10/10
Just a few of these today: • This week's "I, Anonymous" from Steven Weissman • Commemorating the birthday of jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke with some Jim Flora art • A bit of Kirby-ism from Derek Van Gieson
Daily OCD: 3/10/10
A healthy helping of Online Commentary & Diversions: • List: At The Manga Curmudgeon, David Welsh writes "So you’re among the legion of people who are grateful to Fantagraphics for their recently announced manga initiative, to be curated by Matt Thorn. Who isn’t? I know I am. And you may want to express that gratitude by buying something that Fantagraphics has published. If your comics interests rest primarily in titles from Japan, you may not have sampled other works published by Fantagraphics, so here are some books for your consideration." • Review: "Amazingly, I was sucked in by the whole…
The Comics Symposium of Chicago starts tomorrow
With panelists including Paul Hornschemeier, Anders Nilsen, Jeffrey Brown, John Porcellino and other familiar names, this event at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago exploring "the stubborn work ethic of Chicago’s comic scene" seems like a no-brainer. It's all free and open to the public; full schedule and more info here.
Fallout: Peter Bagge’s Apocalypse Nerd comes to TV (hopefully)
Fallout: Teaser Trailer from tupaq felber on Vimeo. This is the teaser trailer for the pilot of Fallout, English producer/director Tupaq Felber's adaptation of Peter Bagge's Apocalypse Nerd which Felber's currently pitching to the BBC. It's officially described as "A new 6 episode comedy-drama, exploring the edges of genre and style with the unique voice that distinguishes the best of television today. Fallout is the story of Douglas and Gordon, two friends battling their quarter-life crisis, who come home from a weekend in the woods to find the world has come to an end. … Weird, funny, heartwarming and then…
Tim Lane covers the Seattle Weekly
Tim Lane graces the cover of the Seattle Weekly this week. Matt Silvie, who does double duty at Fantagraphics and the Weekly, offers a No-Prize to the first person who can name the classic Marvel Comics cover that inspired this.
Gary Groth’s biography of Norman Pettingill
On The Comics Journal website, Gary Groth writes: "In June, Fantagraphics Books will publish a collection of Norman Pettingill’s work. Comic fans may remember that Robert Crumb published some of Pettingill’s cartoon drawings in Weirdo in the mid-’80s. The idea of publishing an entire book collecting Pettingill’s work was first broached to me by Johnny Ryan, a Pettingill fan (and the cartoonist behind Angry Youth Comics and Prison Pit), a few years ago. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is the repository for most of Pettingill’s work, and agreed to help us put together a book. Johnny…
Things to see: 3/9/10
Your daily allowance of Fanta-related cartoon art: • The Awesomenomicon posts 17 of Popeye's "Greatest Hits," saying "Of course we're all familiar with Popeye the Sailor Man and his penchant for fisticuffs, but unless you've read his origins in Segar's Thimble Theatre strip, you have no idea how truly dynamic and visceral his unique brand of cartoon violence could be. … Thankfully Fantagraphics has spent the last several years publishing those handsome oversized collections of Segar's Thimble Theatre, from which I have assembled this small repository of Popeye punching things. • More "Buongiorno" from Marco Corona • More "Abstraction House"…
Daily OCD: 3/9/10
Another day's worth of Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…[Portable Grindhouse] is a nice book to have on the shelf, particularly for folks who love movies and are interested in how design has changed over the years. If you still spend time wandering around video stores looking for the weird and wonderful, check this book out." – Syung Myung Me, Kittysneezes • Review: "I love this book. I'm probably biased because I was a newave cartoonist and I was lucky enough to have two pages included (78 & 79) in this little slice of comix history. … The overall…
TCJ.com presents the Moto Hagio interview
In light of our publishing announcement yesterday, the editors of The Comics Journal website have wisely chosen today to present the first in a four-part online serialization of Matt Thorn's feature interview with manga-ka Moto Hagio from TCJ #269.
