Monday, March 24, 2008

Did Comic Books Cause 60s Radicalism?

That was the fear of some people in the 1950s, that comic books were corrupting the youth. There was an actual Senate investigation into Juvenile Delinquency in 1954 which resulted in something called the “Comics Code” which is still around till this day. It’s a kind of self censorship board funded by the major companies.

Salon has an interesting article today about how comics and the comics code may have inspired the rebellion of the 60s. I do think censorship isn’t the answer to anything. Violent comics books and video games are more of a catharsis than an inducement. And sexual innuendo is something you learned on the playground, even in my time. Comics were pretty tame when these investigations happened. They were mainly used to shut down one of the most successful publishers, EC Comics, who went on to do Mad Magazine. Because they were paying more than the other publishers, and generally treated artists better, the others saw them as a threat and did everything they could to cut them off at the knees.

Comics have the ability to reach a universal audience, as the article about teaching with comics indicates. I’m glad to see comics are still going strong, in their own way, in the 21st century. I think their future is bright. 

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Teaching with Comics

A teacher in Miami is using graphic novels to turn kids onto reading.

‘’I have to limit them to one at a time, but there are students who come in two to three times a day to return one and get another,’’ Kaiser said.

Before anybody explodes about kids reading comic books when they’re supposed to be doing quadratic equations or studying Shakespeare, know that comic books have changed, and so has reading.

Under the spiffier label of ‘’graphic novels,’’ these bound books feature every stripe of hero and story. ‘’The themes and genres can range from science to biography, and from memoirs to yes, superheroes,’’ said John Shableski of Diamond Book Distributors, which

specializes in comics. ``Every subject is available in the format.’’

Let’s hope more schools do this because there are many excellent graphic novels nowadays, and they’re more likely to get some kids into reading than a book. Whatever gets them reading is a good thing. 

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Superhero Color Schemes

In case you were wondering what colors their costumes are, now you know.

Boy, the art on the DC characters is so much better in these samples. 

Thursday, March 13, 2008

RIP Dave Stevens

Huge shocker for me,. I just found out about this. Dave Stevens is dead from lukemia. Age 52.

He’s best known as the artist who created the Rocketeer, which was a Disney Movie back in the 90s. He was an incredibly great comics artist who I knew back in the 80s. Haven’t seen in a long time. He seemed like a nice guy. He was a friend of many of my friends.

Sorry to hear another one has gone this year. 

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Serifs Up

I just completed a website for an old friend, comics letterer Tom Orzechowski. He’s lettered many of the most famous comics around, most notably the X-Men, for many years.

His website is Serifsup.com. Check it out. 

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Comiqs

A new site that lets you create your own comics. I have seen these kinds of sites before, but this is one of the best examples. 

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Leisure Town

If you haven’t seen it, Leisure Town is a dark, twisted and funny comic from the early part of this decade is something to behold. It was done by an artist in San Francisco using a lot of plastic animal toys and photoshop. The amount of work that goes into each story is impressive. But I wouldn’t want to live in that guy’s head. 

Monday, February 11, 2008

RIP: Steve Gerber

I am very sorry to inform you that my friend Steve Gerber, creator of Howard the Duck and a host of other comics, has passed away from complications of pneumonia. Steve was a great writer and a funny guy. He was also a good friend and he will be sorely missed.

Mark Evanier did a great write up on him here. He knew Steve longer than I have, but I’ve known him since 1984. He was a semi-regular attendee of our monthly writer meetings in Las Vegas. It was a writer thing that started with Steve and I having lunch together after he moved to Vegas. Len Strazewski would join us twice a year when he came to town. And then Bill Willingham and Steven Grant joined us when they moved to town. Followed by Gilbert Hernandez. We all got along and had a good time and we were always glad when Steve could join us.

But he had been battling a lung disease in the last few years. Pulmonary fibrosis. It started after he quit smoking. In the last few years he had to carry an oxygen tank everywhere and he got short of breath very easily. He was scheduled to get a lung transplant in December after being on a waiting list for a while. But he didn’t make it that far.

I was looking forward to seeing him the next time I visited Vegas. I saw him at a farewell dinner we had when I was leaving last September. He was upbeat about getting his operation, even though it has a 50% survival rate. We were all hoping he would be around for years to come. This makes me really sad.

UPDATE: This is an excellent overview of Steve’s Career. He would have been embarrassed by the praise heaped on him. He was a very humble person. But I agree with the author that he was a one of a kind voice in the business. Under-appreciated, but widely admired by his peers. 

Superheroes and their Alter Egos

(click to enlarge)

Some very nice stylized drawings of famous comics characters. 

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Oh, Brother

No marriage in comic books last. They can’t imagine how to make them work.

‘Spider-Man’
Spider-Man fans are up in arms over a new plot twist which erases the superhero’s 20-year marriage to wife Mary Jane.

Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said Peter Parker needed to return to his previous incarnation as a single geek in a bid to free him up for new adventures.

However, he admitted that fans had been outraged at the move, saying: “When we first did it, the reaction was, ‘How could you do this? This is a terrible thing to do.

“But with the first issue of ‘Brand New Day’ [this week’s edition in which Spider-Man becomes single], our letters very quickly changed to people saying, ‘This is fantastic. This is the Spider-Man we remembered. We didn’t know what we’d been missing’.”

The storyline sees the couple strike a bargain with the evil Mephisto in a desperate attempt to reverse an injury suffered by Parker’s Aunt May.

They agree that all memories of their romance will be wiped in exchange for May’s good health.

As far as breakups go, that has to be one of the weakest excuses I’ve seen.