The Sunday Spotlight: The ‘So, I’m Being Paid In Experience?’ Edition
by Richard Bruton
The Sunday Spotlight – imagine comics goodness dropping like gifts from the Gods above – if you believe in them that is. If not, dropping like bits of comics news from the Internet.
21 INDUCTEES FOR THE EISNER AWARDS HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCED + SIX PICKED BY VOTERS…
Yes, the Eisners, comicdom’s most prestigious (perhaps) awards, have announced the 21 names for this year’s Hall of Fame, plus a long list of 18 more that will be whittled down to six by Eisner voters.
The 21 selected by the Eisners and San Diego Comic-Con included 12 deceased comics pioneers and 9 living comic people. The deceased choices are Peter Arno, Gus Arriola, Wilhelm Busch, Richard “Grass” Green, Rea Irvin, Jack Kamen, Joe Maneely, Shigeru Mizuki, Bob Oksner, Bob Powell, Ira Schnapp, and Phil Seuling. The living choices are Steve Bissette, Lucy Shelton Caswell, Philippe Druillet, Phoebe Gloeckner, Joe Sacco, Bill Schanes, Steve Schanes, Frank Stack, and Angelo Torres.
In addition, they recently announced the 18 extra names who will be voted on by Eisner voters to pick a final six to be added to the Hall of Fame. The 18 nominees are Alfredo Alcala, Kyle Baker, Bob Bolling, Eddie Campbell, Roz Chast, Dan Clowes, Mark Evanier, Mike Friedrich, Don Heck, Junji Ito, Ben Katchor, Todd Klein, Peter Kuper, Lee Marrs, John Romita Jr., Posy Simmonds, Leonard Starr, and Rick Veitch.
Voting for the Hall of Fame is being held online and will include comic creators, publishers, editors, historians, educators, librarians, and retailers.
More details here.
EVEN MORE POWER FANTASY WITH THE POWER CUT FANZINE…
Fan of Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard‘s epic Image Comics series The Power Fantasy? We know we are at Comicon (see the coverage here), but the folks behind The Power Cut have taken it to another level, publishing a digital fanzine of essays, art, and more. It is very, very good and well worth a look.
‘The Power Cut is a fanzine about The Power Fantasy. The Power Cut is a collection of meta essays, illustrations, and jokes. The Power Cut contains mature content and spoilers for The Power Fantasy #1-5. The Power Cut is available free at the links below. The Power Cut is so excited to meet you!’
Download the fanzine for free at Google Drive and Dropbox. More info here.
THE JAMIE SMART WORLD TAKEOVER CONTINUES APACE… BUNNY VS MONKEY: THE WHOPPING WORLD OF PUZZLES OUT 10 APRIL…
It’s not enough that Jamie Smart‘s a million-selling graphic novelist, now he’s expanding the Bunny Vs Monkey empire into activity books. The man’s gone power mad! Or maybe not – he’s actually a lovely guy who makes ridiculously funny comics – and ridiculously successful ones to boot. This is the latest book to get your kids excited about the world of comics. And when all those naysayers come at you telling you kids don’t read comics anymore, you can point them at Jamie’s work and tell them their talking out of their bottoms.
Bunny vs Monkey: The Whopping World of Puzzles is out on 10 April. It will be silly.
‘The first Bunny vs Monkey activity book – The silliest activity book ever!
When Bunny, Monkey and the gang discover a secret theme park lost deep in their woods, with rides just waiting to be enjoyed, so begins a new competition, where you are at the heart of the adventure. Wordsearches, puzzles, mazes and, of course, laughs! This is the interactive book of the year!’
Pre-order from The Phoenix Comic site. Or get it everywhere silly comics are sold.
THE MARCH COMIX EXPERIENCE BOOK CLUB PICKS ARE OUT…
Again, not only is Comix Experience a great San Francisco shop, doing all the things any great comic shop should do, it also runs it’s book clubs, always offering an adult kids picks that should be on your reading lists.
This months, the adult pick is Raised By Ghosts by Briana Loewinsohn.
‘Set in the author’s own teenage years, Raised By Ghosts begins in 1991 with semi-autobiographical Briana in middle school. Classes are a bummer, but lunches are worse; either spent alone, or being teased. Traditionally a good student, Briana is not doing well in her academics, but keeps it a secret. Her parents (divorced) are a mess, and largely absent. She spends a lot of time by herself. By high school, she makes friends, and those connections are her only source of happiness as they help each other navigate adolescence. But life at home with each parent remains fraught. When her relationships at school begin to falter, she has no one to turn to, forcing Briana to grapple with her sense of self-worth, her longing for belonging, and her desire for authenticity in her relationships.’
Loewinsohn will be at Comix Experience on Thursday, March 20th for a 5pm public signing followed by an interview. The links to the interview will be up shortly thereafter.
As for the Kids Club pick, it’s Bring Me the Head of Susan Lomond by Connor B.
‘Susan Lomond must be defeated. Monroe Poole, teenage evil genius, has suffered her greatest humiliation. Susan Lomond, wretchedly popular football star, surpassed Monroe in their high school’s proficiency ranking system, contrary to all laws of reason or rationality. Revenge occupies Monroe’s every waking moment, yet she is somehow thwarted at every turn. The explosion detonates too late, the black hole opens up a few feet to the left, the lightning bolt instead strikes the flagpole. The homecoming dance is Monroe’s last chance to secure Susan’s demise. Will she finally succeed, or will she find that under the light of the disco ball, her obsession has turned from vengeful to something altogether different?’
Comix Experience will be chatting with Connor B later in March. Again, links to the video chat will be up shortly after.
ELIZABETH SANDIFER’S LAST WAR IN ALBION ON THE GAIMAN ISSUE…
Before anything else – obviously a trigger/content warning over Gaiman here.
I’ve pointed you in the direction of Elizabeth Sandifer‘s Eruditorum Press before. It’s very, very good, in-depth critical thinking that you may or may not agree with, but always fascinating and entertaining. Well, part of what Sandifer does is called The Last War In Albion, which is her incredibly detailed and comprehensive history of Mssers Alan Moore and Grant Morrison pitched as mystical warfare between the players:
‘In the late twentieth century, beneath the surface of Britain’s green and pleasant land, raged a war that spanned the heights of mystical transcendence and the most obscure gutters of popular culture.’
Well, as it covers all things Moore, it had to cover Gaiman at some point, as the latter does rather owe a comics career to the former. As you’d expect, Sandifer doesn’t skip a thing, giving us 70,000+ words in The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman) that takes a deep dive into the whole thing.
It is very, very well written. It deals with the issue of the author versus the work. It takes a microscope to the comics work of Gaiman. And it never shies away from the horrible and horrifying, both in the author’s childhood and the more recent series of allegations against the author of grooming, manipulation, coercion, power imbalance exploitation, sexual violence and abuse, and rape.
Here’s just a little of what to expect…
‘It is not clear when, exactly, Gaiman began taking advantage of this position, but it was plainly an early and frequent activity. In September of 1994 Dave Sim, in the course of the infamous Cerebus #186, makes passing mention of Neil Gaiman’s convention affair being the “best-known secret” of the 1993 WonderCon. In a 2011 interview, meanwhile, Grant Morrison, explained their personal policy of not sleeping with fans, and went out of their way to bring up Sandman, noting that “I love the little girl-ness and the whole idea that they were really bright and they read Batman and Robin or they read Death from the Endless. It meant something to them and you don’t want to ruin that and make them think that the guys that do this stuff are sleaze bags and mess up their lives”—a choice of examples that speaks volumes about Gaiman’s behind the scenes reputation even before the full scope of horrors emerged into the public view. There is reason to think that the behavior grew over time from the merely sleazy into the sorts of horror stories that would eventually come to define him, but it is clear that this development followed the overall course of his career.’
BILLY IRELAND CARTOON LIBRARY & MUSEUM ANNOUNCES AL WILLIAMSON: SPECIAL CELEBRATION, 29 MARCH…
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, Ohio has a very special night planned in celebration of the great Al Williamson. Saturday, March 29 is a free event and reception for their current exhibit, The Lone Crusader: Larry Ivie and Fandom in the Golden Age of Comics!
‘Attendees are invited to explore the galleries and learn more about the legacy of Larry Ivie from cartoonists Mark Schultz and Sandy Plunkett , as well as a very special presentation and show-and-tell about the late great EC Comics artist Al Williamson from his widow and son, Cori and Victor Williamson. Free, no registration required’.
HAPPY 25TH TO LINKMACHINEGO!…
Yep, 25 years of blogging, 25 years of covering all sorts of comics news, branching out into plenty more along the way. But always worth a check-in. Happy 25th LinkMachineGo!
ART SPIEGELMAN: DISASTER IS MY MUSE – OUT NOW…
Directed by Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin, Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse is out now for limited screenings at festivals and theatres, followed by a TV airing as part of the PBS series American Masters.
‘Disaster is My Muse! is a portrait of an artist fully engaged with his past and his present who, with his chosen medium of comics, helps us to understand our turbulent world, and is testimony to the power of art to make sense of our personal and collective histories.’
‘Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse! explores the life and career of cartoonist Art Spiegelman and the creation and ground-breaking impact of his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, the story of his parents’ survival of the Holocaust and his own struggle to come to terms with this legacy.’
More info, list of screenings.
DOCTOR WHO SERIES 2 TRAILER… NEW SERIES BEGINS 12 APRIL…
Okay, the jury may still be out over the new era of Russell T Davies-helmed Doctor Who, but I rewatched it recently and enjoyed it. Sure, there’s problems with it, but the anticipation of another series is always a thrill…
