Congrats to ADDTF for one solid year of reading comics naked.

Also, welcome back ADD and In Sequence.

Did I miss anyone?

 
Martin Sheridan 1914-2003



During World War II, for which he was a correspondent in the Pacific Theatre, Sheridan penned what may be the first volume of reference devoted entirely to the medium, called Comics And Their Creators. Published in 1944, and reprinted in the 70s under the title Classic Comics and Their Creators: Lifestories of American Cartoonists, this book contained profiles of such luminaries of the comic medium as Al Capp, Milton Caniff, Frank King, E.C. Segar and many others.

More information on his life can be found here.
posted by Steven at 9:02 AM

 
Captain Underpants

Yesterday's year end review garnered this blog the most single day hits it has ever achieved. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Wondering what the cover to Wonder Woman #246 looks like? The Right Reverend Wishlish sent me this
link. I haven't checked it out myself, for fear of destroying the mystique. Will you take the dare?

And in response to my review, Big Sunny D says the nicest thing. Truly I am the weird uncle of the comics blogosphere.

Johnny Pornoseed

Mark Millar sure knows how to tap into our collective experiences. In this 8-page preview of his new comic Chosen, Millar explores the common boyhood experience of finding pornography in the woods.

"I will never forget the smell of rained on porn mags that have been dried up. For me, it's the smell of porn."

Me? 7th grade, beside the church just down the street from my elementary school. We used to hang out in the woods around that area during lunch and throw acorns at one another. That damp, ragged porno mag sat under a log for over a week until someone finally stole it away. I know who, but I've never told, and I never will.

CB2 : Comics Blogosphere United

Fanboy Rampage has a link to a hilarious appearance by an old friend on the Brian Wood message board.

Via Pop Culture Gadabout via Comics Worth Reading comes news that newspaper strip Funky Winkerbean has started a storyline about the demise of the local comic shop.

If for some strange reason you're reading this and you haven't read Fanboy Rampage, Pop Culture Gadabout or Comics Worth Reading before, don't just skip them to go straight to the other links. Do yourself a huge favour and check out their excellent sites.

You Mess With The Rose, You Get The Thorns

My high-school buddy KREW still manages to post the occasional comics-related link every once in awhile. On his news filter he points us in the direction of the wiki entry for former X-Men Longshot, his favourite character.

In addition, and only slightly related to comics, over on Kevin's new site, Moderific, he takes a look at screensavers by Kid Koala, famed turntablist and graphic novelist. If you have a technological bent, check out the rest of Moderific for even more obsessively nerdy computer fetishes, updated daily.

Paper or Plastic?

Haven't bought Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd's excellent book, Jack Cole and Plastic Man : Forms Stretched To Their Limits yet? While doing some research on an entirely different topic at the New Yorker site, I discovered that their online version of Spiegelman's original essay is still up. If you enjoy it, I highly recommend the collected edition, which includes samples of Jack Cole's work.

Beguiling Treasures

While we're on the topic of old, but potentially overlooked, news, you may want to take a peek at the art store for the Beguiling. You remember, the world's greatest comic shop? Artists selling their original work through the site include Ho Che Anderson, Marc Bell, Dave Cooper (Julie Doucet!), Phoebe Gloeckner, Jason (Hey, Wait... was a masterpiece. Buy it today), Jason Lutes, Jay Stephens and many, many more. I would go on, but it's -9 F/ -23 C here, the heat isn't working and my fingers won't bend. This is an excellent opportunity to explore people's work before you decide to buy, as even those pieces that have been sold are still shown on the site for your viewing pleasure.

I was especially interested because I just finished Louis Riel and the Chester Brown section has roughs and alternate panels for that graphic novel.

Free Canadian Comics Revisited

While we're on the topic, though I've mentioned it numerous times already, you can read an entire issue of Louis Riel at the National Archives of Canada Beyond The Funnies site, along with many other full-length English Canadian and Quebecois comics. Knock yourself out.

Yeah, This Blog Still Covers Animation. Get Over It.

Ralph Bakshi on Drawing What You Want To Draw. OK, so it isn't new by a longshot, but I had to point it out not only for Bakshi's interesting views on animation production, but also for the following postscript to his rant.

"When I first got to Hollywood to do the production of Fritz the Cat in 1970, I was greeted by a full page ad in Variety from about 50 well known Hollywood animators who told me I was destroying the Disney image and should go home. I didn't know who these guys were because I was from New York, so I threw the ad away. Anyone who could come up with that ad and send it to me via Animation World Network will recieve a full Fritz the Cat set up from the bathtub sequence, background and cel, as a present from me. I want to know who those guys were now."

Mr. Bakshi, I may not have enjoyed all your output over the years, but damned if I wouldn't want to work for a vindictive hardass like you someday.

Luann Creeps Me Out



No, Clay. We're all of us embarrassed.
posted by Steven at 12:36 AM

 
The Sad, Strange Tale Of Ralph Phillips

As my regular readers know, I went on hiatus for a few months to concentrate on my schoolwork. What only a few of you know is that I was still blogging during that time. When I was wrapping up Flat Earth for the remainder of the semester, I was approached by a few potential comic bloggers that were looking to pick up my slack. They were going to skew their blog, named Termite Terrace (now defunct), towards a greater mixture of animation and comics then I had managed to achieve. Since I was still in the habit of reading articles on comics and animation during my spare time, I provided them with the majority of minor links, most of which appeared in the column to the left, an idea which came from Cartoon Research and one I'd like to utilize myself someday. In addition, whenever the mood struck me, I would write up a longer piece for their regular blog. All works, regardless of who wrote them, were to be placed under the nom de plume Ralph Phillips, named after one of the more obscure characters created by Chuck Jones for Looney Tunes.

I found the lack of a regular deadline, and the anonymity, to be quite freeing. However, over time I realized I was the only one with any sustatined interest in the project and was contributing most of the material. I started to miss Flat Earth, and decided that if I was going to write a blog, it may as well be back home where I belong.

All this is a preamble to two things. One, I'm still going to school, so Flat Earth will experience long, unnanounced dry spells. I'm in my last semester and I don't want to blow it. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Second, I will be reposting various things I wrote for Termite Terrace that were lost when the blog was shut down. I realize that some of you may have already read this material, so I'll designate the posts with headers declaring them reprints so you don't waste time reading something you already read. For those who never read Termite Terrace, enjoy.

Missed Opportunity
Originally posted on Termite Terrace

Click on just about any of the links in the comics section of my sidebar and odds are good you'll come across someone's thoughts on the demise of Epic. I don't know how qualified I am to talk about this. I no longer buy Marvel or DC comics, and so I had no intention of picking up any Epic titles. However, I do have the bad habit of becoming obsessed with comic news I have no obvious reason to care about. Despite the hokum and warnings of doom, I saw something good in Epic.

One of the many naive beliefs I once held was that Marvel, as the number one direct market comic book publisher in North America, should be doing more to expand the scope of its product for the good of the medium. Upon reflection, this is like placing the burden of revitalizing the book trade on Harlequin Romance. Outside of its own immediate preservation, Marvel has no reason to give a damn about the medium or the industry. Considering that only a small handful of original Marvel characters from the past 20 years have made a dent in the public consciousness, and that the vast majority of their most popular properties were created 40 years ago by three people, I think it would be safe to say that Marvel could cease publication tomorrow and make out like bandits.

Luckily, Marvel under Jemas did seem to have an almost irrational plan of diversification. The first step was to revamp many of their titles to accomodate the tastes of a wider spectrum of audience. However, these revamps weren't so much friendly to non-comic book readers as they were to those who had left the flock, former Marvel Zombies who had graduated to Vertigo, Alternative or "real" books. While there is nothing wrong with enticing customers away from the competition, there is only so much money a company can make off of a limited audience. If Customer X can only afford to buy 10 comics a month, and Marvel releases 4 more must-have titles catering to that customer, then Customer X must either drop some titles, ignore some of the new ones and/or take a bit more money from Mom's purse. After a certain point, Marvel is just competing with itself.

In a way, this is why I view the current crop of Vertigo titles more of a success then its intial slate of critically acclaimed comics. I've heard former Vertigo readers complain that the current crop of DC's mature titles are too different from one another, and so they are less interested in picking up a wide range of its titles, as if a person has to pledge itself wholeheartedly to one company brand. While the old school fan who yearns for the days of Vertigo's company wide focus on Dark Fantasy may be disinterested in individual series like, say, Grip or El Diablo, there's a better chance that someone from outside the ever-shrinking market will try one or two of these disparate comics on for size. Wider audience means less cannibalism.

And that's where Epic seemed to be getting it wrong. At least one of the problems associated with the program (though certainly not the reason it folded) was that they were swamped with submissions. You may remember that in the beginning Epic set a strict limit of PG-13 material. There was a minor uproar from potential applicants who had been busy substituting characters in their dusty Vertigo submissions with second-rate Marvel sorcerors, and who wanted to show boobies, have Doctor Druid say "fuck" alot and present other mature themes. Marvel blinked, and changed their stance on the rating limit.

I won't deny that the pay structure for Epic was atrocious, or that anyone submitting to Epic would most likely get screwed over in the end. Hey, this is Marvel we're talking about. But if they were going to introduce an imprint specifically designed to allow low-selling titles the time to create an audience, why not take a real chance and try diversifying their audience base? By limiting their requirements to non-superhero fare rated PG-13, Epic could have been Marvel's big chance to make long lasting Westerns, Romance, War, Sc-Fi, Horror, Martial Arts, Teen, Humour, and even Funny Animal comics for all ages. With overhead that low, why not? This way, if it succeeded even slightly, you wouldn't just be transferring money from one of your titles to another.

Taking care of the initial spate of rejections would have been easy. Anything that smacked of spandex or mature themes would obviously have been sent by someone who hadn't read the instructions and would therefore be trashed. Easily 9/10ths of the submissions they were sent would either have never been mailed in the first place or would end up in the garbage. And when the current obsession with superhero movies dies down, Marvel would have rejuvenated media properties that could fill just about any genre to shop around.

But what would I know. I wouldn't have picked up any Epic titles anyway.
posted by Steven at 12:02 AM

 
You’re Going To Make It After All! - Best of 2003

I've noticed that in the majority of best-of lists, both in the “comics blogosphere” and elsewhere, people tend to just go with whatever they read, and not what was actually published, in that particular year. Considering that a comic may be serialized in one year and collected in the next, this may not be a bad idea. In keeping with this concept, I have decided to go ahead with my own choice for comic of the year.

Darkness, Darkness--Everywhere, as showcased in Wonder Woman #246, by Jack C Harris and Jose Delbo.

I would show a picture of the cover, but my version of this comic came without. This enabled me to buy said edition for the sum of 25 cents. Canadian. Score. I am of the firm belief that when reviewing a piece of entertainment, the reviewer should always make sure to stay true to the actual copy that they possess. Some unscrupulous souls will read, say, a comic on the internet and give scathing reviews on Amazon of the trade paperback, which they have never actually read.



This installment of Wonder Woman is a prime example of a splash page enticing the reader further into the pages within. In fact, though I have not seen the cover to this comic, I can say with some assurance that if the cover had obscured the image of Diana Prince washing the ass sweat out of her star-spangled undies, I probably would not have felt compelled to pick it up.

So, why is Wonder Woman shown washing her uniform? In the lettercol of this issue, it's revealed that the title had up until recently been devoted to the adventures of Wonder Woman during World War Two. This was no doubt an attempt to cash in on her adventures on televison. When that series switched from the past to the present day, I imagine the comics followed suit. And that is why Wonder Woman is cracking wise about fabric softener and rent control. She's an Amazonian Mary Tyler Moore.

After she's done cleaning the stank out of her costume, Diana wanders down the hallway of her apartment complex with her uniform drapped over one arm in plain sight and her lasso glowing like all get out. "I'm glad I brought my lasso along! It's power to make anyone obey me would come in handy if they discovered Diana Prince washing Wonder Woman's uniform!" This begs the question, why wouldn't she just wash her civilian clothes at the same time and bury her underoos at the bottom of the basket like the rest of us? And furthermore, doesn't she wash her other clothes? Do you have to separate your whites from the colours from the mythologicals?

The building falls into darkness. A cry for help. Diana opens the elevator doors and considers climbing up, pausing only to consider the increase in rent that could occur should she damage anything. With both hands on the elevator's cable, she makes her way up to the distressed citizens, changing into her heroic identity as she goes. After needlessly destroying the floor of the elevator, she helps her neighbours out of their situation and races down the hallway. There, she changes again, saying "I'll have to use this old fashioned way of changing clothes--I haven't had time to attune my costume to the vibrations of the lasso." Yet somehow she was able to change instantaneously without using her hands on the previous page. And not only that, this means that while changing in the hallway she was actually getting completely naked before putting on her costume. In fact, two pages later, she changes back, this time caught pulling her armour-plated bustier into position. Six pages. Three costume changes. I've got your "new hotness" right here.

It turns out that a sorceress, who has been living directly below Wonder Woman all this time, has stolen her magic tiara and is using it to transport their entire building into the netherworld, where it will fill with demons and be returned, allowing said demons to terrorize the Earth. It takes Wonder Woman several tries over six pages to explain this simple concept. Realizing that normal means won't stop this villain, Wonder Woman strikes her bracelets together, creating magic sparks that ignite rolled up newspapers, creating a weapon that can be used to drive out every single demon before it’s too late. While confronting the sorceress, Wonder Woman hears demonic voices but is unable to track their source. The sorceress disrobes, and reveals the truth.



There was this guy in Home Ec class that was really, pretty fucked-up. One day he told us how the story of how he got so messed. He was making his way over the border with his girlfriend, who had a large stash of acid hidden away in a particular orifice, when the cops pulled them over. To hide their criminal activity, the girlfriend sat on my classmate’s face. The acid seeped into him, and he must pay for his criminal behaviour by being forever drug addled.

But at least his girlfriend didn't smuggle demons in her crotch.

Oh, sure, I can enjoy comics as literature. And I can even get behind a “serious” superhero comic if the mood strikes me. But there’s something almost magical about comics which produces the wackiest concepts that you’ll rarely, if ever, see in any other medium. Legions of hacks rushing off increasingly absurd ideas to keep their audience’s interest without pause for fear of missing their deadline. Recklessly creating so much material that even in the most innocent of titles you’ll still find stories that make so little sense, with characters sprung straight from the writer’s id, that it defies any rational thought. What they lack in literary, aesthetic, or artistic ambition, these comics more then make up for by providing frisson between our expectations of what a comic should be with the reality of comics that are so cobbled together that they shouldn’t make any sense, and more often then not, don’t.

For this reason, and because Diana Prince’s elderly neighbour Mrs. Kravitz is positioned as the sorceress’ left breast, I declare Wonder Woman #246 to be the best of 2003.

Fun Best Comic Of 2003 Fact - In the back of the comic, The Answer Man tackles the question of where the original sidekicks of the Superfriends disappeared to. It is revealed that Wendy attended Amazon College on Paradise Island. Whether she graduated, or what her status is post-Crisis, no one knows.

posted by Steven at 12:01 AM

 
Manga Knife Fight

The following excerpts are from someone who claims to work at Tokyopop, via Shane’s Board. Click the link and scroll down for more.

"First thing that must be done for DC, and Marvel to do in order to become a significant enterprise in today's market is to ditch their addiction to third party advertising dollars. This way...they are forced to pay greater attention to their own product...which will finally become their primary source of profit.
Second thing the big two need to address is the monthly format...time to lose that has-been concept.
Third thing they need to do is dismantle direct sales, and Diamond distribution.

Ironically Marvel/DC are too loyal concerning their talent! For all the shit they get when it comes to respect of talent...their current practice of business is fundamentally built on their diversity of talent ( and in such, conflicts with share holder's confidence for bottom line stability). If they want to create a sound industry...they'll have to cut ties with much of the family of craftsmen.

"We can only wish we were TokyoPop" said a Marvel marketing exec.

The artform is something akin to a street war. TokyoPop described to me a few instances where their manga artist's were not speaking to one another at social functions...or some kind of artistic "duel" of some sort....and TokyoPop LOVED it. In fact they encouraged their creators to use competition as a means to meet deadline. This kinda creates a sense of tabloid journalism only equaled to rock stars...
posted by Steven at 12:30 AM

 
Party Like It's 2005

I missed out on the first Toronto Comics Art Festival because of other obligations, but there's no way I'm missing the next one. I heard it referred to as The Freaking Woodsock of Comics, and the next one looks like it might top the last. The crew at the Beguiling (the world's greatest comic shop) are hard at work preparing for the second fest, and they need your help. From the Beguiling mailing list.

TCAF 2005 PLANNING HAS BEGUN

Planning for the 2005 Toronto Comic Arts Festival has begun. Although it’s still very, very early in the planning stages, we’ve tentatively decided on dates of Saturday 28 and Sunday May 29. Very tentatively. We are going to two days for the next event. Although it’s still very early in the planning stages, we are looking for people to help out, particularly people who have specific skills. We’re looking for people with experience in writer grant applications for arts agencies, and we’re looking for folks who’ve worked in not for profit administration. If this describes you (or perhaps someone you know with a soft spot for comics), please contact Peter at mail@beguiling.com.

Further, we’re talking seriously about dramatically increasing our international content for 2005. We need people who are able to correspond (written and spoken) in Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Italian, and German. We would like to invite cartoonists from around the world to participate, but this will require talking to foreign consulates and arts organizations, and we’re going to require your help to do so. Again, contact Peter at mail@beguiling.com.

If you’re just catching up with this whole thing, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is an independent comic convention that’s anything but conventional. Featuring numerous artists, panels, events and parties, the Festival is a celebration of the medium of comics (rather than solely the business of it…!). You can check out last year’s TCAF web-site at www.torontocomics.com/tcaf for more information.
posted by Steven at 1:07 AM

 
For Discerning Readers Only



One little known fact about Archie comics is that they strive to not only teach the youth about morality, but also try to convey basic facts that can become the cornerstones of modern living. I can safely say that at least 76% of all my personal knowledge has come from the pages of Archie comics, including, but not limited to, why we cook meat, the history of the Statue of Liberty, and why God created ugly people. It's almost like those stupid "Everything I Know I Learned From..." books, except cool, because it's Archie.

The decision as to which Archie story I would review upon my return was a difficult one to make. In light of recent controversies taking place in the comics community concerning the misuse of cartoony art for serious purposes, and the misplaced spite placed upon comics visionary Michael San Giacomo by ignorant fanboys, I have decided to prove once and for all that serious comics should only be told using serious art.

In The Clean-Up Hitter, Archie and the gang meet with their hero, special guest-star Dave Winfield. I've never heard of him before, but judging by the content of this fascinating one page story, I would guess that Mr. Winfield is a famous dental hygenist. Archie slyly gets Mr. Winfield to spill some of his most closely guarded secrets about dental care by badgering him with unrelated questions about baseball, resulting in a lesson we all can appreciate.



While I was previously aware that it's advisable to brush after every meal, until now I had read this story I had never considered the possibility of owning two toothbrushes, as Mr. Winfield says, "...one for the morning, and one for the evening, which allows them to dry between uses."



The real treat for the student of comic art is in the way the artist chooses to render Mr. Winfield's head in a realistic manner, while detailing Archie and his friends in their typical cartoon forms. As a result, Winfield's head seems to almost... hover across the page, floating in and out of your field of vision, whispering sage advice about flossing and what kind of dietary considerations one should follow to retain healthy teeth and gums. While some might argue that this illusion is due to a disconnect between the Archie house style and Winfield's big, beautiful, realistic head, the truth is that you're merely riveted to his character and his advice to the detriment of his surroundings due to it being drawn in a style that approximates your own face. Take that, Scott McCloud.

I may find myself laughing along with Archie and its inferior, childlike scrawls, but when the art shifts gears to that higher level I immediately grow silent and intent as my mind absorbs every syllable that escapes Winfield's perfectly rendered grin. It may just be my opinion, but I'm sure you objectively agree.



How could we ever forget, Dave Winfield?

Fun Archie Fact #4 - Dental hygiene isn't just a passing concern of Archie Comic Publications. It is a part of their absolute commitment to wholesome entertainment, and is placed as equally important as such controversial matters as drug and alcohol abuse, nudity and seat belts. This devotion to good dental hygiene is so important to the Archie mythos that Liz Barr decided to do a piece of fanfiction devoted to the cause, called "Down in the Mouth".
posted by Steven at 5:19 AM