Category: General

I’ve got 750 unread messages in my feed reader, you’re getting all of the cool stuff I come across. Enjoy!

– Chris

The nice thing about the daily DORK comics–well other than how fortunate I am to be sharing this great work with all of you, seriously, thanks Evan–is that it serves as a visual reminder of how fucking lazy I’ve been about updating the blog. Aaaaaarrrrrggggh.

Ah well. In case you missed me and want to get a concentrated dose of me this afternoon, I’ll be on the radio.

Robin McConnell of the INKSTUDS podcast e-mailed me with an idea about doing a show based on retailing comics, and how small pressers and artists can work with retailers. It seemed like a neat idea and so I agreed! And it’s TONIGHT! Tune in to hear myself and Mr. Dustin Harbin of Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find / HeroesCon in North Carolina talk shop about retailing. I’m sure it’ll be more fun than it sounds. You can listen to us live starting at 5PM EST at http://www.citr.ca/, and the show will be archived later tonight at http://inkstuds.com/.

I have so much to write about too, but finding the time and inclination is a little tough right now. Here’s some of the stuff that’s been rattling around in my head, if you want discussion starters. Hopefully I’ll get to all of them shortly:

1. The graphic novel Stitches was nominated for a National Book Award. This is controversial because it was nominated in a children’s category, when it really should have been controversial because Stitches is a very bad graphic novel.

2. Kodansha Comics may be the single worst launch of a new company I’ve ever seen, right down to re-releasing the original censored version of Ghost In The Shell Dark Horse published 14 years ago, for 2 bucks more than Dark Horse charged AND on a crappier paper stock.

3. A friend of mine is going to Brussels next week and I’m incredibly jealous. I didn’t even know I wanted to go to Brussels until he told me about it. Look at this building, you can go in this building:

It is “The Atomium” and it is awesome. Picture stolen from http://equator.eftours.com/2009/06/focus-atomium.html. The Atomium website is here: http://www.atomium.be/Main.aspx?lang=en.

I have such a bug to travel right now. Air Canada’s got a seat sale right now, I can get to Japan for under a grand. :-/

– Chris

©2009 Evan Dorkin. From Dork #4 & Dork Volume 1: Who’s Laughing Now?. 39.

©2009 Evan Dorkin. From Dork #4 & Dork Volume 1: Who’s Laughing Now?. 37.

Today the Federal Trade Commission revised their “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials” (click here to download), urging bloggers who review products, from a book to a video game system, to disclose if they received the product for free when giving an endorsement. According to the Washington Post, breaking these new guidelines could generate up to $11,000 in fines. – Galleycat

Well, that certainly puts the tussle that went down earlier this year in a new light.  About $11,000 of new light.

Earlier this year Heidi MacDonald went on a bit of a tangent, ripping on comics bloggers who included whether or not a book was provided gratis by a publisher in their reviews. Like adding the phrase “This review was based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.” to the end of the review. The comments section of that post heated up too, with respected newspapermen-and-women like Tom Spurgeon and Brigid Alverson coming down on opposite sides of the debate (Spurge openly-mocked the concept of noting when a book was provided by a publisher, Brigid wanted to cover all of her ethical bases). Well Guess What? Looks like the F T C came down like a sack of hammers in favour of fessing-up to your filthy filthy swag.

So, for example, if I were to review Taiyo Matsumoto’s GO GO MONSTER which I got in the mail today, or Inio Asano’s WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD which I got in the mail today, I’d have to…

Wait, wait, let me get a picture:

OMG… so beautifulllll….

Anyway, if I were to write a review about either of these fine books, I’d have to mention that these fine books were provided courtesy of the publisher, Viz LLC, or risk massive fines from the FTC! Well, if I positively reviewed… or ‘endorsed’ the books. I guess I could rip on them and not have to disclose that I got them for free.

Actually, I’m Canadian aren’t I? Fuck the FTC! They got nothing to do with me. I guess now this whole post is just me bragging that I got books early, from the pubs. Jesus, what a horrible lack of class, or tact, on my part. How utterly unprofessional. I don’t know why you even come here.

Meanwhile, as I imagined she might, Johanna Draper Carlson has all kinds of smart things to say on this very subject. Go read what she has to say.

– Christopher

Hello readership! A book that we put out in conjunction with this year’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Key Moments from the History of Comics, is in the SEP09 Previews Catalogue, for items shipping in November. Today is the very last day that retailers can adjust their initial orders on books from the back of the catalog. If you might want a copy, this is the only time it’ll show up through Diamond, so I humbly suggest you speak with your local comic book shopkeeper today. Thanks! – Chris

Key Moments from the History of Comics
By Francois Ayroles
48 pages, CDN$10.00
Published by The Beguiling Books

Available in Previews from Drawn & Quarterly Books
September 2009 Catalogue (for items shipping in November)
Item code SEP09 0805, Page 255.

Published in conjunction with the 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival, The Beguiling has published it’s first book ever: Key Moments from the History of Comics! This witty chapbook collection of French cartoonist Francois Ayroles’ humour cartoons is a fantastic and funny read for alternative and literary comics fans. The book imagines–to humourous effect–the most poigniant and important moments in the lives of great cartoonists and comics institutions from around the world.

It’s funny stuff–the gag book collection is something that has largely disappeared from the shelves and racks of comic book stores, and this brings back the idea with a vengence. Admittedly it’s a little pricey for a 48 page book, but it’s… unlikely to be collected otherwise, given the nature of the material. I bought a copy and quite enjoyed it, particularly having met M. Ayroles and found him to be just as warm and funny in person.

The cartooning is lovely, chunky and filled with deep blacks but with a grace that’s appealing. And it’s sad and funny. My absolute favourite is the Chris Ware one, but I’ve left that out so you have something to discover for yourself.

Best,

– Christopher

But as it is, the movie is unsure of which audience it’s aiming for – an adult audience who wants references to Power Girl’s breast size and gets the weird quasi-Jon Stewart gag at the start of the movie (bleeped out, because… Well, I’m not entirely sure why, really?), or a kid audience for whom the idea of Hawkman, Captains Marvel and Atom, Katana, Power Girl, Black Lightning and Major Force going up against Superman and Batman is genuinely new and exciting. – Graeme McMillan, io9.com

C’mon Graeme. Read what you wrote a couple of times and come to the obvious conclusion. If it’s childish retread pablum that has boob jokes and swearing making it inappropriate for actual children, then it must be for…

I can appreciate as a reviewer not wanting to come out and say that only emotionally stunted man-children could enjoy something—it’s a difficult trick to pull off, deliberately insulting your core readership like that. But if you’re gonna lead the horse to water like that buddy, you may as well go ahead and let it take a drink.

– Christopher