The Sunday Spotlight – Put Down The Egg Nog And The Mulled Wine, Pick Up The News
by Richard Bruton
Another Sunday, another look at some comics things and news. It’s that time again… here comes The Sunday Spotlight…
Seeing this can cause a porn addiction… nope, shut up…
Raina Telgemeier’s Drama is a beautiful book about theater-loving Callie, exploring friendships, crushes, and relationships in a wonderful fashion. It was a favourite of the primary school kids (six and up) at the graphic novel library I set up way back in the day.
Or, if you happen to be Lanah Burkhardt, an activist wanting to censor and ban books, it’s the start of a porn addiction. Because, yes, it has two boys on stage kissing. And, at the age of 11, Burkhardt bought and read Drama after a Scholastic book fair and after that, according to her testimony before a Texas school board in November it meant she “looked for other books that gave [her] pleasure.”
If this weren’t such a common problem (book banning and censorship, not porn addiction) it would be funny. But in the USA, the right-wing are coming after books, particularly comics with LGBTQ+ and those with minority representation in ever more worrying numbers.
Of course, Burkhardt’s claim is ridiculous. Even more, it’s pure misinformation and has a hidden agenda – because she’s the Public Relations Coordinator at Brave Books, who just happen to be a right-wing publishing company that’s just launched a competing book fair – SkyTree Book Fairs. They’re also an organisation that’s responsible for the harassment of way too many libraries and their staff.
Sadly, the school board did restrict access to Drama to the 9th Grade (age 14-15) and above – a direct result of the prejudice and misinformation going on across America.
So, if you are looking for the perfect Christmas present for a child… might I suggest Drama is perfect. Like I said, I had kids aged six and up adoring it. This is the way we fight the book banners and the censors – we show the world that they’re not going to win.
Colleen Doran’s Substack – featuring ‘Very Bad Publishers’…
Artist and self-publisher Colleen Doran is another artist out there with a fascinating Substack to sign up for (right here). There’s a fascinating set of essays on there right now to sign up and read – Very Bad Publishers, all about Colleen’s early years in comics with, as you’d expect, a very bad publisher…
“I wrote these essays more than 15 years ago on my old public blog, and they were some of the most popular posts I ever wrote. When I tried to write follow ups later, the memories gave me anxiety attacks. But I feel distant and centered enough to bring it all back now. Not to relive it, but to alert readers who may have missed it the first time around. While this was archived on my Patreon many years ago, it has not been publicly available in over a decade. There is solid talk about publishing contracts, clauses and practices that are STANDARD TO THIS DAY and that will burn you big time if you don’t know what you are doing. Read and heed. Also, some of it is screaming funny.”
Todd Klein’s lettering blog…
When one of the greatest letterers in all of comics has a blog where he talks, in knowledgable depth, about all things letters, you know it’s going to be worth a read.
Just in the last few weeks, he’s covered Dave Gibbons‘ lettering, done two posts on British letterers, and a couple of posts on 50’s letterers. And that’s without going too deep into it. Obviously, it’s an essential read for everyone.
Christmas… a little Jamie Smart news…
First of all, this Jamie Smart gag is always perfect for the season…
But also, this one…
Jamie’s also got plenty going on through Christmas and the New Year, with the launch of another brilliant Bunny Vs Monkey book – we’re up to book nine now, Bunny Bonanza… out on 4 January 2024 – perfect for all that cash and gift tokens the kids get!
And in support of that and because he’s just a great bloke… a couple of events…
Neill Cameron’s Fantastic Comics…
Okay, not a description of Neill Cameron’s comics (although they are a bit fantastic indeed) but a couple of free comics workshops that Neill’s doing at the British Library on Saturday 9 December.
See here for more details – FANTASTIC COMICS workshops, book here for the sessions at 10:30am and 1pm – and here’s the blurb…
Dragons! Dinosaurs! Norse gods fighting jellyfish! In space!
“From fantastical creatures to far-off futures, comics artist Neill Cameron (Mega Robo Bros, Donut Squad) will show you how to harness the power of your imagination to create brilliant new ideas and characters. Then learn how to turn those ideas into a comic! Pencils and paper provided, BYO imagination!”
And finally – Dark Knight Returns – is it front or back Batman?
Finally, comics has its own ‘what colour’s the dress’ moment.
The cover to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 from 1986 is something of an iconic piece… Bats leaping into the night, lightning bolt behind him. The original art to it by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley recently sold for £2.4 million.
But … are you seeing the back or the front of Bats here?
Like a lot of you, I always figured it was a shot from the front. But there’s a lot of team back out there as well and @KaptainKraken finally brought the debate out into the open…
