Friday, May 31, 2024

Serenade of Water – This Week’s Links

May 31, 2024 Philippines , Pinoy 0 Comments

It’s a travelling week for your mild-mannered linkblogger, and so this week’s links, below, are being written, as it tradition during these sojourns, from the bar of a hotel, in which I am currently ensconced, listening out for any hot comics news scoops that might pass my way, the likelihood of which happening on a random Thursday night in the midlands of the UK is probably scant, but you work with what you’re given, right?

This week’s news.

• Japan’s attempts to combat the piracy of manga and anime continued apace this week, as the Japanese government shared initial plans to strengthen ties with foreign investigative agencies to target websites disseminating copyrighted materials overseas - this announcement comes in the wake of last month’s decision by a Tokyo court to award record damages of 1.7 billion yen ($11.01 million) to publishers Kadokawa, Shueisha, and Shogakukan in a lawsuit filed against the former operator of piracy site Mangamura.

• The Canadian Jewish News reports on the decision by the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival to formally ban cartoonist Miriam Libicki from all future events due to Libicki’s former service in the Israel Defense Forces, as detailed in graphic memoir Jobnik! - the festival released an accountability statement on Instagram earlier this week, subsequently deleted, with no further public response to replace it at the time of writing, in which their Board of Directors “apologizes for the harm we have caused by our negligence to address this and our inability to take action sooner,” while Libicki told the CJN that “I am, and I have consistently, publicly, been pro-peace. I am in favour of a Palestinian state via negotiations. Because of the vulnerable populations I work with, I prefer not to discuss my specific political views in public.”

• Cartoonist knighthood news: Chris Ware was this week made a chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in a ceremony at Paris’ Pompidou Centre, joined at the event by Art Spiegelman, who also received the honour in 2005.

• Koyama Provides released an update on their funding work, which is currently on hiatus due to founder Annie Koyama’s ongoing health issues, sharing the news that their grant initiative will resume this autumn.

• News out of last weekend’s Nancy Fest, as current Nancy artist Olivia Jaimes announced a temporary break from creative duties on the strip, the duration of which was unspecified, with a rotating series of guest artists, including Caroline Cash and Shaenon K. Garrity, taking over in Jaimes’ absence.

• In memoriam, remembering those the world of comics has lost, as news was shared of the passing of artist Tom Luth, perhaps best known for colouring Groo the Wanderer, who has died from an apparent heart attack at the age of 70.

This week’s reviews.

TCJ

• Tegan O’Neil reviews the welcome return of Rick Altergott’s Blessed Be - “We live in the shadow of the reality of an unending recession of the arts. Not in popularity nor utility nor even necessity, but in fact all the same. It doesn’t have to be that way forever, and given a long enough time frame it almost certainly won’t. But for the here and now cartooning is a difficult skill with which to pay the bills.”

• Brian Nicholson reviews the strong tapestry of Peep, edited by Sammy Harkham and Steve Weissman - “Artists make the most of the space afforded them, and while one might grow weary at how many grids there are, with some artists seemingly vying for the title of most panels per page, the short-form format ensures that no one outstays their welcome, nor is there much that can be dismissed as being slight or filler.”

 

AIPT

• Kevin Clark reviews the entertaining mix of Jordan Thomas and Shaky Kane’s The Man From Maybe.

• Andrew Isidoro reviews the gripping narrative of Mark Russell, Michael Allred, et al’s Batman: Dark Age #3.

• David Brooke reviews the exciting ambition of Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, et al’s Ultimates #1.

• Collier Jennings reviews the compelling action of Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Farid Karami, et al’s Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1.

• Chris Coplan reviews the unique decisions of Michael Avon Oeming’s William of Newbury #1.

• Lia Williamson reviews the fascinating start of Aubrey Sitterson, Megan Hutchison, et al’s Archie Comics: Judgment Day #1.

 

Associated Press

Donna  Edwards reviews the storytelling feats of Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book 2.

 

The Beat

• D. Morris reviews the smart transposition of Ru Xu’s Status Royale.

• Ricardo Serrano Denis reviews the singular dread of Jay Stephens’ Dwellings.

• Sean reviews the exquisite tragedy of James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds, et al’s Universal Monsters – Dracula.

• Zack Quaintance reviews the perfect humour of Rick Remender, Brian Posehn, Brett Parson, et al’s Grommets #1.

 

Broken Frontier

• Ellie Egleton reviews the captivating visuals of Richard Burke’s Hexagon Bridge.

• Lindsay Pereira reviews the heavy questions of Sig Burwash’s Vera Bushwack.

 

Canadian Military History

Matthew Barrett reviews the fascinating vignettes of Four Colour Combat: Canadian Forces in War Comics, edited by Cord A. Scott 

 

The Guardian

James Smart reviews the observant fascination of Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book 2.

 

House to Astonish

Paul O’Brien has capsule reviews of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #140 and Fall of the House of X #5.

 

Multiversity Comics

• Brian Salvatore reviews the classy timelessness of Tim Sheridan, Cian Tormey, et al’s Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6.

• Gregory Ellner reviews the fun conclusion of Brian Buccellato, Christian Duce, Tom Derenick, et al’s Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #7.

• Alexander Jones reviews the emotional weight of Marvel Comics’ X-Men: The Wedding Special #1.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Have capsule reviews of:

- The inspirational visualisation of Joonas Sildre’s Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt’s Journey to His Musical Language, translated by Adam Cullen.

- The potent empathy of Carl Sciacchitano’s The Heart That Fed: A Father, a Son, and the Long Shadow of War.

- The searing honesty of Fernando Balius and Mario Pellejer’s Traces of Madness: A Graphic Memoir, translated by Richard Beevor and Malién Sganga.

- The winning whimsy of Özge Samanci’s Evil Eyes Sea.

 

Solrad

Daniel Elkin has capsule reviews of Julian Voloj and Andreas Gefe’s Not a New York Love Story, Gregory Panaccione’s My Friend Toby, and Debbie Fong’s Next Stop.

This week’s interviews.

TCJ

John Kelly interviews Rick Altergott about Blessed Be, comics collecting through the ages, working on Cracked and at Spumco, and the Rhode Island art scene - “Yeah, one of the things I did is I kind of get a little bit of self sabotage because I would always say like, should I throw this scene in? Yeah, I'll throw it in…why not? And I did a lot of sight gags and weird little things, whatever I could think of. I tried to make it like that because I was thinking that this is probably gonna be the only graphic novel I ever do. I'll just throw everything I've got into it.”

 

AIPT

• Chris Hassan speaks with Ashley Allen, Preeti Chhibber, Steve Foxe, and Stephanie Phillips about X-Men: Blood Hunt and the elevator pitches for their one-shot stories.

• Chris Coplan talks to Charles Spano about The Cryos, the winning combination of punk culture and comics, and the album design influences on the book.

 

Art Basel

Ingrid Luquet-Gad interviews the Musée national d’art moderne’s Anne Lemonnier and Emmanuèle Payen about the Centre Pompidou’s ‘La BD à tous les étages’ season.

 

The Beat

• Avery Kaplan speaks with Christina De Witte and Mallika Kauppinen about Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice, the origins of the project, and incorporating photography into the book.

• Ricky Miller talks to Shanti Rai about Sennen, comics making beginnings, and the realities of connecting with creative communities while living with a chronic illness.

• Diego Higuera chats with Trevor Mueller about Los Ojos of the Dead, creative inspirations, and the book’s journey from backup story to standalone longform narrative.

• Dean Simons interviews Owen Johnson about the Best of 2000 AD series, the decision to limit the selection to six volumes, and the publicity opportunities such retrospectives afford.

 

Forbes

• Josh Weiss speaks with Derick Jones about Nosebleed, the joys of horror, high school inspirations, and what to expect from the next issue.

• Rob Salkowitz chats with Chip Zdarsky, David Brothers, and Marcus To about Time Waits, comics marketing in the post-COVID era, and vendettas across the ages.

 

Multiversity Comics

Elias Rosner interviews Mary Pope Osborne about Magic Tree House: Sunset of the Sabertooth, the process of adapting the books to graphic novels, and reading level considerations.

 

Polygon

Petrana Radulovic talks to Pablo Berger about adapting Robot Dreams for the screen, setting up bespoke animation studios on the fly, and films as lasagna.

 

Publisher’s Weekly

Shaenon K. Garrity speaks with John B. Allen about Strange, Dark, and Mysterious: The Graphic Stories, storytelling origins, and audience expectations.

This week’s features and long reads.

• Here at TCJ, Andrew Farago writes in remembrance of artist Don Perlin, co-creator of Moon Knight and Bloodshot, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 94 - “While most of Perlin’s contemporaries were winding down their careers and looking to retirement, he found himself busier than ever at Valiant as the artist of a best-selling hit series, and traveling around the world to sign books for fans young enough to be his grandchildren.”

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

• For The Asahi Shimbun, Takuji Hiraga and Kenro Kuroda report on Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs’ initiative to preserve and catalogue original manga artwork, and the importance of such conservation efforts.

• The BBC’s Sandro Gvindadze reports on Russia’s use of comic books to spread propaganda about its invasion of Ukraine, as the Kremlin seeks to sway a youth demographic to support its continued military occupation of the country.

• Over at Solrad, Marjorie Gaber writes on Asuka Konishi’s Haru’s Curse, and how untangling the josei manga’s complications leads to a deeper understanding of Mike Nichols’ The Graduate.

• For the Cartoonist Cooperative, Isaac Roller writes in remembrance of cartoonist Adam J. Elkhadem, who died a year ago at the age of 26, and the artistic legacy Elkhadem left behind, more on which, as well as the work of the Adam J. Elkhadem Foundation, can be read in this piece from the Buzz.

• Adam Wescott presents the second part of a duo of features on WEBTOON creator Lee Yone, this time out looking back to earlier work under the moniker of Gaje on Lezhin Comics, and covering the fall from grace of that digital platform.

• Contributors to Women Write About Comics pick their favourite food-focused manga, for readers looking to supplement their current intake of such stories between episodes of Delicious in Dungeon.

• From the world of open-access academia, for The Journal of American Culture, Joel Gray examines the history of comics featuring the Donald Duck family, and how these titles reflect the wider societal changes seen during their publication.

• Christian A. Bachmann and Nora Ramtke’s A Mixed Picture. Media Transfer and Media Competition in Illustrated Periodicals, 1840s-1960s has a number of papers on caricature, cartoons, and comics, including Little Orphan Annie, Pionere, and linus.

• For the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, João Pedro Oliveira presents an analysis of Shamik Dasgupta and Abhishek Singh’s adaptation of the Rāmāyaṇa, Ramayan 3392 AD, and the extent to which the story’s Indian elements have been erased to cater for an international audience.

• From the inaugural issue of Applied Linguistics: Innovative Approaches and Emerging Trends, Herlandri Eka Jayaputri investigates the manner in which women are presented as sexual objects across varying genres of manga stories, and the importance of examining the ideologies that inform these depictions.

• For Source: Notes in the History of Art, Arne R. Flaten writes on the academic legacy of comics scholar and historian David Kunzle, who passed away at the beginning of this year at the age of 87.

• Paul O’Brien’s census of the villains of Daredevil continues, for House to Astonish, as this week Crime-Wave surfs off into the sunset.

• Mike Peterson rounds up the week’s editorial beat over at The Daily Cartoonist, as this year’s election and trial focus continues apace.

This week’s audio/visual delights.

• 2000 AD’s Thrill-Cast returns, as this week Steve Morris speaks with Liam Johnson about Armitage and MOLCH-R talks to Laura Bailey and Rob Richardson about DeMarco for some Brit-Cit and Mega City flavours other than that of Judge Joseph Dredd.

• Calvin Reid, Heidi MacDonald, and Kate Fitzsimons reconvened for a new episode of Publisher’s Weekly’s More to Come, this edition discussing the announcement of 2024’s Eisner nominations, plus interviews from recent comics show floors with Keith Knight, Emma Hayley, Josh O'Neill, and Tom Kaczynski.

• Brian Hibbs welcomed Eddie Ahn to the latest meeting of Comix Experience’s Graphic Novel Club, as they discussed Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice, the graphic novel editing and publishing process, and familial responses to the work.

• John Siuntres was joined by Tom Taylor for a trip in the Word Balloon, as they spoke about Nightwing and Titans, characters that bridge reading generations, childhood cartoon watching, and thoughts on AI.

• Closing out the week with the trailer for the documentary Frank Miller: American Genius, which is getting a one-night-only theatrical release next month, according to The Hollywood Reporter, if such a thing is your bag.

No more links this week, because I have to find out how pliable this hotel’s policy is on complementary packets of biscuits.

The post Serenade of Water – This Week’s Links appeared first on The Comics Journal.


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