Friday, May 17, 2024

It Conquered The World – This Week’s Links

May 17, 2024 Philippines , Pinoy 0 Comments

You could, if you were so inclined, at this point in the century, initiate a party game, not necessarily a fun one per se, where guests were challenged with naming which distributors are currently servicing which comics publishers’ book shipping needs, with bonus points for differentiating between direct and book markets, again, if you were so inclined. I’m not that way inclined, incidentally, as I’ll be in a darkened room when this feature goes live, starting off 72 hours of watching bands who exclusively make 9 minute songs about wizards and goblins, but your mileage may vary - so, in case that game should come to pass in your lifetime, you should probably study up on this week’s links, below.

This week’s news.

• Starting this week with a check in on how South Korean megacorp Kakao’s expansion into western markets is going, and it was announced that the media conglomerate’s webtoon and digital manga platform, Piccoma, will be ceasing operations in France, three years after it was launched to establish a foothold in the region, as Kakao’s new co-chief executives look to restructure the business and focus in on its more profitable markets, which apparently do not include those on the European continent - Kakao made wider moves into Europe over the last few years to compete with fellow media giant Naver, but saw sluggish growth due to perceived failures to achieve deals with Western counterparts, amidst allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud against executives of the company at the time, and last year closed the Korean offices of webtoon platform Tapas Entertainment as part of a previous restructuring drive.

• Comics awards news: last weekend saw the 20th annual Doug Wright Awards take place, as part of 2024’s Toronto Comics Art Festival, with E. M. Carroll’s A Guest in the House named as Best Book, Tyler Landry’s Old Caves named as Best Small- or Micro-Press Book, Vincy Lim named as this year’s Emerging Talent, and Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier’s Otis & Peanut named as this year’s Best Kids’ Book, while Deni Loubert and Maurice Vellekoop were 2024’s inductees into the Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame - this year’s prize ceremony, hosted by Dustin Harbin, can be watched in full here.

• Elsewhere, the British Book Awards named cartoonist Jamie Smart as this 2024’s Illustrator of the Year, also awarding Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey: Multiverse Mix-Up! the prize for Best Children’s Illustrated Book of the year; Kodansha announced the winners of 2024’s Manga Awards, naming Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe’s Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End as Best Shōnen Manga, Rumi Ichinohe’s I See Your Face, Turned Away as Best Shōjo Manga, and Tsurumaikada’s Medalist as Best General Manga; and the nominees were announced for 2024’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, with The Comics Journal #309 in the running for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism, so vote early and vote often.

• Comics industry news: Tokyopop this week announced that January 2025 would see its worldwide distribution of books shifting from Diamond and IPG to Penguin Random House; The Beat shared that Deanna Destito has been promoted to Managing Editor of the site, and Rebecca Oliver Kaplan is stepping up to Deputy Managing Editor, joined by Humberto Saabedra as the site’s new Manga Editor; and Drawn & Quarterly announced that Francine Yulo has been promoted to the position of Marketing and Sales Manager for the publisher.

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, and news was shared this week of the passing of John Ronan, former news editor for The Comics Journal, one of the founding organisers of the University of Florida’s Conference on Comics series, and the Sequential Artists Workshop's original history instructor, who died earlier this month at the age of 62.

• News was also shared of the passing of Marvel and Valiant artist Don Perlin, co-creator of Moon Knight and Bloodshot, who died earlier this week at the age of 94.

• Finally this week, news was shared on social media of the death of writer, editor, publisher and musician, Michael Dowers, founder of Starhead Comix, who passed away earlier this month.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Brian Nicholson reviews the hampering form of Igort’s How War Begins, translated by Jamie Richards - “How War Begins seeks to contest propaganda narratives by focusing on civilians, but the book becomes confusing because there is not a counternarrative offered. It is just as difficult to keep track of [Aleksandr] Dugin’s surname as it is to keep track of all the civilians Igort briefly mentions, unless you are already familiar with right-wing Russian philosophers enough to know who he is.”

• Hagai Palevsky reviews the prohibitive pacing of Edgar P. Jacobs’ The U Ray, translated by Jerome Saincantin - “It cannot be said that Jacobs is an incompetent cartoonist; The U Ray was created before he officially banded with Hergé, before his style was subsumed by the dictates of ligne claire, and his artwork here has more dimensionality and weight. The swiftly-changing vistas demonstrate much thought being put into each crag and forest tree, his wildernesses coming alive marvelously.”

 

AIPT

• Marvel Maximus reviews the solemn conclusion of Roberto Recchioni, Gigi Cavenago, Werther Dell'Edera, et al’s Batman/Dylan Dog #3.

• David Brooke reviews the visual delights of Jonathan Hickman, Sanford Greene, et al’s Doom #1.

• Collier Jennings reviews the vibrant expansion of Rob David, Ted Biaselli, Tim Sheridan, Daniel HDR, Keith Champagne, et al’s Masters of the Universe: Revolution #1.

• Chris Coplan reviews the refreshed return of Christopher Cantwell, Alex Lins, et al’s Briar #5.

• David Canham reviews the joyful exploration of Richard Blake’s Hexagon Bridge.

 

The Beat

• Zack Quaintance reviews the big swings of The Lab Press’ Essentials.

• Kerry Vineberg reviews the rich compassion of Kit Anderson’s Safer Places.

• Cy Beltran reviews the perfect juggling of Jonathan Hickman, Sanford Greene, et al’s Doom #1.

• Michael VanCalbergh reviews the brilliant insights of James Spooner’s The High Desert.

 

Broken Frontier

• Lydia Turner reviews the moving messaging of Núria Tamarit’s Daughters of Snow and Cinders, translated by Jenna Allen.

• Ellie Egleton reviews the heartfelt reflections of Phillipa Rice’s An Alien Who is Also a Mum, and the narrative prowess of Evan Dahm’s The Last Delivery.

• Andy Oliver reviews the solid selection of Koguchi Press’ Koguchi Magazine #2: Neo-Future, and the essential history of Jay Jackson’s Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #138, Blood Hunt: X-Men #1, X-Men: Forever #3, Wolverine #49, and Giant-Size X-Men #1.

 

The Journal of the Archives and Records Association

Thomas Poole reviews the enjoyable weaving of Margaret Galavan’s In Visible Archives: Queer and Feminist Visual Culture in the 1980s.

 

Multiversity Comics

• Robbie Pleasant reviews the fun showcase of Marvel Comics’ Blood Hunters #1.

• Alexander Jones reviews the disappointing focus of Jonathan Hickman, Sanford Greene, et al’s Doom #1.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Have capsule reviews of:

- The delightful kitsch of John Lees, Adam Cahoon, et al’s The Nasty: The Complete Series.

- The overwrought intricacy of Jazmine Joyner and Anthony Pugh’s Devour.

- The entertaining hook of Ryan K Lindsay, Sami Kivelä, et al’s Deer Editor. 

 

Solrad

Kevin Brown reviews the narrative strengths of Luke Healy’s Self-Esteem and the End of the World.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

• Helen Chazan interviews Bhanu Pratap about Cutting Season, lessons learned from Spawn, page compositions, and the performative aspects of individual identity - “The body interests me. When you look at a Bacon, or you look at Picasso, and so many others, like the surrealists, there is an interest in understanding the form. But with writers, it can be like, what form is also text? The body can become text. For me, it sits squarely in the middle of literature, comics or cartooning, like pop use of the word "cartoon" and "fine arts." It doesn't belong to any of these. It just sits somewhat squarely in the middle.”

• Zach Rabiroff interviews Evan Salazar about Rodeo, the influences on the series, the Tucson punk scene and the educational benefits of Fugazi, and learning as you go - “American comics aren't always interested in story or moving along. Whereas with manga, you're ripping through pages real fast, it's all about the story. The art becomes invisible no matter how beautiful the art is. Those are comics that you want to get lost in. You want to be turning those pages, you want to feel that feeling in your heart, of “Oh, what's going to happen when I turn this page?””

 

AIPT

Chris Coplan talks to Mike Carroll and John Higgins about Dreadnoughts and the series’ place in the Judge Dredd timeline, and to Merwan Chabane about Aster of Pan: The Source and the ways in which this book builds on its predecessor.

 

The Beat

Justin Guerrero speaks with Snailords (aka Aidyn Arroyal) about Freaking Romance, WEBTOON origins, emotions on completing the series, and surprise at the comic’s success.

 

The Bookseller

Fiona Noble talks to Jamie Smart about Bunny vs Monkey, bringing your characters from the page into the real world, and the growth of the children’s graphic novel market.

 

Broken Frontier

Ellie Egleton interviews Jimmy Palmiotti about 21 Down, being a lifer in comics, the challenges of writing compared to inking, and original art collecting.

 

Nautilus

Jake Currie chats with Angie Wang about creative processes and illustrated essays, and the temptations and realities of generative AI models.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

• Amanda Ramirez interviews Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaffer about The Worst Ronin, hand-to-hand combat in graphic novels, and writing for the Japanese-American gaze.

• Ash Holland speaks with Maria Sweeney about Brittle Joints, inspiration from underground zines in Philly, and person-centred support in disabled communities.

 

Smash Pages

JK Parkin talks to Will Tempest about Harsh Prospect, comic book origins, character and creature design, and the challenges of crowdfunding campaigns.

This week’s features and longreads.

• Here at TCJ, Joe Sacco’s series of visual columns ‘The War On Gaza’ continues, with previous instalments also available to read here.

• Previewing a new set of stamps that celebrates Canadian graphic novelists, Canada Post profile the creators featured in the series, comprising Chester Brown, Michel Rabagliati, Seth, Jillian Tamaki, and Mariko Tamaki.

• For The Guardian, Steve Holland writes in remembrance of artist and historian Trina Robbins, who passed away last month at the age of 85.

• Over at The Conversation, Rebecca Palmer reports from the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft’s new exhibition, ‘Bloomin’ Brilliant: The Life and Work of Raymond Briggs’, writing on the history of the artwork and personal objects on display.

• For The Beat, Adam Wescott writes on the work of Webtoon creator Lee Yone, and the way in which stories like Surviving Romance and The Makeup Remover eschew the traditional rules of romance stories.

• The Women Write About Comics team reconvenes to share more reading recommendations, with thoughts on Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe’s Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Bianca Xunise’s Punk Rock Karaoke, Ken Koyama’s Little Miss P, and Taiyo Matsumoto’s, Tokyo These Days.

• From the world of open-access academia, for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Nick Robinette writes on the importance of free speech to comics makers and readers, through the lens of the work of Neil Gaiman.

• For Flinders University, Robert Phiddian and Ronald Stewart write on the comic stereotyping that can be found in satirical cartooning, in the context of Australian cartoons featuring political figures from the Asia-Pacific region.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat, over at The Daily Cartoonist, as protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza continue on college campuses, as the US government weighs arms sales to Israel, and headlines continue to be saturated by coverage of the trial/s of Donald Trump.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• NHK return with a fresh official release of Naoki Urasawa’s Manben, as this edition focused on the work of Soryo Fuyumi, discussing the making of historical manga Cesare, the realities of life as a creative shut-in, moving away from shojo manga to darker stories, and the importance of assistants to the manga-making process.

• 2000 AD’s Thrill-Cast returned, as this week MOLCH-R was joined by Michael Carroll to speak about Dreadnoughts and Proteus Vex, science fiction favourites and galaxy creation, storytelling as a game of chess, and battling with characters over the tale you want to tell.

• David Harper welcomed Sanford Greene to the latest episode of Off Panel, as they discussed Doom, collaborating with Jonathan Hickman on the book, the impact of Bitter Root, working on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and some NBA chat.

• Calvin Reid, Heidi MacDonald, and Kate Fitzsimons convened for this week’s episode of Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, as they spoke about moves in the manga market to bring AI into translation, recent Free Comic Book Day happenings, and this year’s edition of the Schomburg Center’s Black Comic Book Festival.

No more links this week, more next week, probably with an added element of tinnitus from yours truly.

The post It Conquered The World – This Week’s Links appeared first on The Comics Journal.


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