I was fortunate enough to be a guest on the CBC’s weekend morning program Fresh Air with Jeff Goodes this morning, extolling the virtues of comics and Free Comic Book Day in particular. I just wanted to drop a quick note thanking Jeff, Mariel, and Sandy for the chance to plug our event today (scroll down) and comics in general. I think the interview went really well and Jeff was nice enough to plug The Beguiling website, as well as the site you’re reading now!

So, welcome new readers from the CBC. If you wanna check the archives, click “Japan” in the categories section for some pretty amazing pics from my recent comics-oriented trip to Japan, click “comics retailing” for the ins and outs of selling comics for a living, or just keep scrolling back through the archives and enjoy.

Alright, I’m off to set up for Free Comic Book Day. See you soon!

- Christopher

It’s 6 years to the day since I started blogging at Comics212. I’m a considerably better writer at this point, I think. I actually started writing a column for 212.net in December if 1997, so I guess that was my official serialized writing debut (10 years!), but it wasn’t until April 23 2002 that the blogger software roared to life. :)

I’d originally planned to do like a whole big… thing… today, sort of a tour through some of my favourite things, but it didn’t work out. Up until I started writing this I was a bit disappointed about that, but I’ve just realized that the reason I haven’t had time to put this stuff together is because I’ve been so busy actually doing all of the stuff I used to talk about. The events, the promotion of worthwhile comics and graphic novels, developing new formats and new outlets and all of that. I’m super, super proud of everything I’ve accomplished over the last few years, and while I may still completely fuck it up every once in a while, things are going better than ever. Thanks to everyone for reading and linking and what-not over the years, and for all the kind words I continue to receive.

Here’s to six more…

- Christopher

What you’re seeing above is the de-lovely Prada ‘epicentre’ in Tokyo, decked out in the new face of the line, illustrated by James Jean. I’d previously mentioned the Fables and Umbrella Academy cover artist’s work with Prada a few weeks ago, after realizing that no one was covering this story and I felt it was a big one… Anyway according to Wallpaper* Magazine, the James Jean illustration is now covering the Japanese flagship store in honour of the release of the second installment of the Trembled Blossoms animation. Pretty damned impressive! Wallpaper* also had another nice photo of the Prada spring/summer 2008 show that featured Jean’s art that I thought I’d include.

I hope that James get all that’s coming to him out of this…

- Christopher
Photos apparently Copyright 2008 Wallpaer* Magazine.

+ Flight contributor and graphic novelist Neil Babra recently completed an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet for the “No Fear Shakespeare” line of graphic novels published by an arm of B&N. The “No Fear” line basically “translates” Shakespearian English into more direct or contemporary English, to make the stories more approachable for young readers. I have a complex array of feelings on the idea of changing the language of Shakespeare without a full modernization, particularly because I don’t think the plot of Shakespeare is as important as the actual language… But that said, I think there’s still value to this approach, both as a study guide and additional learning tool for readers who need a way “into” the works. Luckily Neil has lots of ideas on adaptation, translation, and Shakespeare’s language as well, and he addresses them all on the just completed information page on the No Fear: Shakespeare graphic novel adaptation of Hamlet. It’s really wonderful reading.

Also, I have included a more literal adaptation of my own to My reading of the classic; Neil draws Horatio hot all the way through the book.

+ Has anyone noticed that the new colours on the remastered hardcover edition of Batman: The Killing Joke are kind of boring? Check out this side-by-side comparison of the original colours and the new edition over at PopCultureShock. I think my problem with it is that while artist Brian Boland brings a high degree of craft to the new colouring, he’s drained all of the emotion and… art… out of the work. Little touches like the cast-shadows on the cuffs of the Joker’s sleeves, for example, added more personality and depth to the art than all of the soft airbrush modelling in the world could hope to accomplish. At work my opinion is in the minority, with the majority of customers loving the hell out of the new look. Enh.

+ I’m really glad that Johanna Draper-Carlson put the leg-work in to try and peel away some of the secrecy surrounding comics’ only national holiday (or outreach event…), Free Comic Book Day. I’ve never understood the lack of transparency or accountability that surrounds this event, and I find it incredibly frustrating every single time it rolls around. This time out? The organisation mandated that all books had to be all-ages appropriate, thus reflecting a vision of the industry that doesn’t actually exist. They disallowed the participation of a publisher and then apparently lied about the reasoning (see the comments section). Getting answers is like pulling teeth. They stopped answering. And then somewhat mysteriously retailer Joe Field, the founder of FCBD (before turning it over whole-hog to Diamond), a man who has made very specific mention in the past of his arm’s-length from FCBD, ends up responding to questions that were sent to Diamond.

I’m not one to critisize without putting the work in myself; I do lots of comics outreach. But I think you can do it without the secrecy and misdirection, and a damn site better than what’s gone on. And if Mr. Field wants to ask me for suggestions that generally aren’t followed up on, again, here’s one: Name the people and organizations on the FCBD comittee. Who’s making the decisions, specifically? I’d feel better about the organization and more inclined to support it if decisions weren’t being made behind closed doors, and without any more general consultation of the direct market.

+ My friend Mr. Bryan Lee O’Malley was interviewed on NPR’s “Fair Game” last week about Scott Pilgrim. It’s a fun little interview and it’s the last segment, so fast-forward until there’s about 10 minutes left in the program.

+ The New York Times’ “Papercuts” blog offers up The 7 Deadly Sins of Book Reviewing. In keeping with the form, the 7 sins are particular words that are overused by reviewers and critics to the point of uselessness… Are the standards in comics criticism high enough that something like over-use of word “poignant” is something we have to worry about? I mean, how often are we likely to see the word “lyrical” in the latest plot-recap of last week’s Avengers? Or am I just being a bitch? Or both?

+ At Gay Pop Culture Website AfterElton.com, prominent gay comics fan/writer Lyle Masaki has been covering comics and geek culture turning on the broader gay audience to all that’s gay in comics (though mostly the superhero and Buffy set). “Six Gay Geeks Who’ve Improved Popular Culture” is a recent piece from Lyle that tags comics mainstays like Phil Jimmenez and Andy Mangels for their comics-centric contributions to geek culture. It’s a solid read.

+ I found myself needing to write a short history of comics in North America recently, and found the website The History of Romance Comics to be a really useful compendium of knowledge on some of the most popular and bestselling comics North America has ever seen. Who knew that they also feature a great collection of romance comics reprints as well? Check out their fantastic collection of pre-code romance comics and history articles.

+ Thank you John Jakala for pointing out that Paul Levitz isn’t so hot at the math. Unfortunately, the platform for Mr. Levitz’ creative accounting is the blog & Newsarama, and the comments section there is such a fucking pit that any legitimate criticism of the facts presented in the column is likely to get drowned out by mouth-breathers still angry that every DC comic doesn’t come with bound-in $50 bills. Le Sigh.

+ Finally, though it isn’t specifically about comics I wanted to talk a little bit about bookstore culture… Here in Toronto the bookstore landscape is a-changing. Our neighbors at Ballenford Books on Architecture will be closing their doors in the next few months. They’re currently working to liquidate inventory which means some nice sales on some beautiful books… I really like this store and bookstores in general. It’s always sad when one decides to close their doors.

Meanwhile, one of my favourite indy bookshops is closing as well, but with a happier ending. “This Ain’t The Rosedale Library” will be closing their 22 year old spot in Toronto’s Gay Village, and moving to a smaller (and likely much cheaper) space in Kensington Market. They’re also having a pretty amazing sale right now, with 50% off of the already low prices on remaindered books. I’m going to try to get over there first thing tomorrow…

And that’s it for this post. Thanks for reading!

- Christopher

I moderate all of my comments.

Primarily because sometimes the spam filter breaks down and I had to delete 50 pieces of Spam from the moderation queue on Friday. Partly because I don’t really value everyone’s opinions equally. Seriously. It’s nice to pay lip service to the idea that everyone’s dissenting opinions are valid and… whatever, but they aren’t. Why am I spending my time and bandwidth giving people I literally think _nothing of_ a platform for their rantings? Why should I expect that I can go to someone else’s blog and say _literally anything_ and deserve to be heard? More importantly, why does anyone want to be a part of a forum where their opinions are given equal weight and access to those of racists, misogynists, misandrists, homophobes, or just the chronically, painfully stupid? Is it masochism?

My blog is not “The Government,” neither is anyone else’s (to my knowledge), no one is censoring you. Start a blog with your ridiculous dissenting opinions. They’re free, and you can spout off all of the hateful stupid bullshit you want. America!
- Chris
A public service announcement, for those that they now need to unsubscribe or otherwise stop reading because my politics disagree with theirs.

For the third year in a row I’ll be at the New York Comic Con, April 18-20. Actually, I’ll be in New York from the 17th to the 21st, which should be fun and a little less _intense_. I do so ♥ New York.

I think I’m going to be participating in a few panels while I’m at the show, but so far as I can tell the programming isn’t live yet so maybe I’ll just shut my gob… Anyone who wants me for a panel or anything, let me know through the usual channels, chances are I’m up for it.

Oh, and I got pillaged ($$) for a hotel room, and if I weren’t splitting it it would suck. If you’re looking to book, book soon, a lot of places near the convention were selling out as I was booking today.

- Chris

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/report-gary-gyg.html

- Chris

In September 2007, my husband and I traveled to Japan for two weeks as the fulfillment of a dream of mine to visit the country. On my trip I took nearly three thousand photos, and since my first day in Japan I’ve been photo-blogging my trip. Obviously comics212.net’s interests run towards comics, manga, and popular culture, and so the subjects of my photographs generally break down along those lines. But I found it impossible to be in Japan and not be captivated by it, from seemingly mundane experiences like visiting a convenience store to the truly surreal experience of visiting a Japanese theme park, and everything in between.

Below is a list of my entries about this trip, with rough descriptions of what each entry entails. Thanks very much for reading, and I hope you have as much fun viewing these photos as I did taking them.

- Chris

INDEX:

Day 1 (Convenience Stores and Shopping Malls)
Day 2 (Here I Am, Rock Me Like A hurricane)
Ikebukuro Tokyu Hands
Ikebukuro Sunshine 60 and Toys R Us
Namjatown. (Ikebukuro)
Animate, Tekkonkinkreet, and Ikebukuro
Sidetracked: Let’s Talk About Comic Shops
Akihabara Electric Town
Asakusa, Odabia, and Village Vanguard
Harajuku, Gothic Lolita, Yoyogi Park
Harajuku, Peanuts, Tintin, Moomin, and High Fashion
The Studio Ghibli Museum & Mitaka
20 Photos of Himeji
Kyoto Train Station
The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum & Takarazuka
How To Draw Manga with Osamu Tezuka (Tezuka Museum)
I Just Counted… (an aside)
Kyoto International Manga Museum
Shinjuku Kinokuniya Books
Nakano Broadway Mall
Shibuya, Tsutaya, Ginza, Ramen Museum, Macadonaru, The End

See All Posts From This Trip:
http://comics212.net/category/japan/

–

Image: Statue of Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix, outside of the Tezuka Museum. Photo by Christopher Butcher.

Happy Valentine’s Day to those that care to celebrate it. For those who aren’t with someone (and wouldn’t mind it…) you never know: Cupid could be right around the corner!

Love,

- Christopher

Hey there readers, sorry about the drop-off in posting. As you can see from the ANNOUNCEMENTS things have gotten kind of insane in the real world for me, mostly with big comics events here in town. It’s only going to get MORE! INTENSE! over the next few weeks two; I just locked down what might be one of the neatest comics events of the year. More to come, obviously.

Well, all of that and I’d had a hard time really thinking of anything to post except Japan trip photos, I’m in a bit of a post-new-year-funk re: comics right now, as I feverishly try and read everything on everyone else’s “BEST OF 2007″ lists before submitting my own for public discussion. Sympathetically, I saw both Dorian and Spurge saying the same thing in the last 24 hours, so I don’t feel TOO bad. But still, I really wanted to get back in the swing of things. Luckily, COMICSPRO released a position paper today that is totally, totally worth commenting on (I’m already writing my response in my head) so I should be back in the saddle later today or early tomorrow.

Thanks,

- Christopher