Any comic book fans in here?

[RDK]

I idolize Stan Lee, and I'd put his mid-60s Marvel work up there with the greatest of 20th century literature, but Good God, has anyone caught "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" on Sci-fi Channel? Even for a reality show (and i dig some of 'em) it's horrible! I hate to admit it, but Stan hasn't done anything good in over 30 years.

[LAL]

Man, these guys sound so much like organissimo members.

Comics Forum

[Van Basten II]

Recently picked up a french that talked about their alleged 100 best comic strips (bande dessinnée in french) although i prefer the expression graphic novel, which sounds more adult oriented.

Anyway, among the three top titles mentionned were Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware

, Maus by Art Spiegelman

and Les Bijoux de la Castafiore by Hergé.

Gotta say, the reading of the mag made me think of starting shopping for more of that stuff. I already own and enjoyed Maus, read about all the Tintin when i was a kid, so i'd like to know if anybody else has other suggestions, what they like, place where you pick up great stuff, etc.

[ejp626]

There's a comic show coming up that is so big, it will take 2 museums to host it!

What: Comic books from the 1940s onward

Where: MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When: Opens Nov. 20. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Ends: March 12

Price: $8

Contact: (213) 626-6222, www.moca.org

Well, this is pretty late now, but I think the Jewish Museum in New York ended up hosting this, or a show almost identical to it in 2007. Interestingly, the Jewish Museum has hosted several shows on cartoonists, including Maurice Sendak, William Steig,

and one of my favorite obscure cartoonists Ben Katchor (all the way back in 2002). I don't know if they had a show on Maus, but it certainly would have been a natural fit.

Also, I didn't see it mentioned in the thread but Le Centre Pompidou in Paris had a Herge retrospective last year. I dropped in and looked around a bit.

I don't get all hung up in the low art/high art debate (or at least I try not to in the visual arts at any rate) but I find that there is a major problem hanging cartoons in art museums. Basically, they are quite small and demand to be read close up, which causes no end of problems in crowd control. You have everyone pressed up against the wall, making almost no progress, trying to take in everything compressed into the page. It just doesn't work well at all. The alternative is to blow up reproductions of the comics (they did this in the Katchor show) but then the intimacy of the page and the relationship between shades and colors is all thrown off.

[trane_fanatic]

Did anybody attend Free Comic Book Day last weekend? The local shops around here gave away a ton of free stuff.

[aparxa]

Excellent comics from the past few years.

Garulfo (saga of a frog who fall with a princess) :

Blacksad : A superb drawing, excellent plots colors, atmosphere ....

And some humoristic french comics :

But my favorites remain the Asterix series (except the last four ones)

[BruceH]

I also have the Little Lulu hardcover set. John Stanley was the equal of Barks in story construction, and perhaps even funnier.

Little Lulu rules. I was fortunate enough to discover it at the age of ten, and if anything, became an even bigger fan as an adult.

[7/4]

[7/4]

[7/4]

[7/4]

[Alexander]

I'm a BIG Crumb fan. I have several soft-cover collections (which I have to keep in the basement, since my wife doesn't want our daughter stumbling upon them). I was recently looking at an article on race and the current mania for racist antiques (Lawn Jockies, post cards, old Aunt Jamima packaging before her make-over, etc) and Crumb was mentioned in connection with his sixties work (in such strips as "Angelfood McSpade" and "Ooga-Booga"). The author was of the opinion that on some level Crumb was a racist, despite his supporters frequent claim that it was "just" satire. To me, it seems that what Crumb was doing during the '60s was being as transgressive as he possibily could be, breaking tabboos for the sake of doing so. Not only does he delve into racisim, but he also casually depicts murder ("Forky O'Donnell"), rape ("Get Away from Me") and incest ("Joe Blow"). Any thoughts from other Crumb fans or detractors?

Edited May 10, 2008 by Alexander

[Alexander]

Has anybody read the first two issues of "Kick-Ass" by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.? I think it's VERY well done. Some of JR, Jr's best work to date.

[Alexander]

Anyway, among the three top titles mentionned were Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware

Ware is one of the best comic artists working today. I pick up each (rather pricey) installment of the "Acme Novelity Library" (in which the Jimmy Corrigan story originally ran). He's currently working on two unrelated stories: "Rusty Brown" which tells the story of a lonely little boy growing up in Omaha during the 1970s (Ware has also done several stories about the adult Rusty, who is a creepy toy collector. As the story grinds on, Rusty becomes increasingly isolated and perverse, until he gets to the point where he's spying on the 11-year-old daughter of his best friend as she goes to the bathroom). The other series is "Building Stories" which initially ran in (I think) "The New York Times Magazine." At first, this was a silent strip that dealt with the interelated stories of three people who live in the same apartment building. In the most recent issue of the "ANL", one of the three characters (a lonely young woman with a prosthetic leg) has taken center stage and become a more conventional strip (with dialogue). Ware's strips seem designed to make you feel miserable, and in that he does very well!

[jazzbo]

THERE IS GOING TO BE A "SPIRIT" MOVIE BY FRANK MILLER!

Anyone else excited>?

[Bright Moments]

THERE IS GOING TO BE A "SPIRIT" MOVIE BY FRANK MILLER!

Anyone else excited>?

you KNOW i am!!!!!!

[jazzbo]

Yes, I know you are!

With. . Scarlett Johanson and Eva Mendes!

[RDK]

Have you guys read anything that Miller's done in the last ten years or so? I'd be more afraid than excited.

[jazzbo]

Well, yes and no. This is definitely going to be "Sin City" part two visually according to the trailer. And I confess I loved the visual style and cinematogrophy of "Sin City."

I've only read "Sin City," about one third of the published material, of any Miller stuff of late, and I have a sort of love/hate thing with it. I'm just going to hope that he's going to respect the material and not mutate it heavily.

I think it's so fitting because Eisner really was the first person I ever noticed bringing a sort of cinematic style to comics. And when Miller hit the scene he strongly portrayed just that sort of an influence from Eisner, or at least that was how his work struck me. And now here is Miller bringing Eisner to the screen. For those reasons alone this is fascinating to me and I'll see it now matter how turkey-esque it may turn out to be.

Edited May 11, 2008 by jazzbo

[Shawn]

Yes, I know you are!

With. . Scarlett Johanson and Eva Mendes!

I don't know if I can HANDLE that! *faint*

[BruceH]

I'm a BIG Crumb fan. I have several soft-cover collections (which I have to keep in the basement, since my wife doesn't want our daughter stumbling upon them). I was recently looking at an article on race and the current mania for racist antiques (Lawn Jockies, post cards, old Aunt Jamima packaging before her make-over, etc) and Crumb was mentioned in connection with his sixties work (in such strips as "Angelfood McSpade" and "Ooga-Booga"). The author was of the opinion that on some level Crumb was a racist, despite his supporters frequent claim that it was "just" satire. To me, it seems that what Crumb was doing during the '60s was being as transgressive as he possibily could be, breaking tabboos for the sake of doing so. Not only does he delve into racisim, but he also casually depicts murder ("Forky O'Donnell"), rape ("Get Away from Me") and incest ("Joe Blow"). Any thoughts from other Crumb fans or detractors?

Ya gotta love Crumb.

Did you see the Terry Zwigoff documentary ("Crumb")? After reading several lengthy interviews with Robert Crumb over the years (usually in the pages of The Comics Journal) I found the film fascinating.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

If you're in it for the pictures, my favorite recent comic slash illustrator has to be James Jean. The guy is a god of hands!

go out and grab his most recent compilation above.

http://www.jamesjean.com/

[Alexander]

I'm a BIG Crumb fan. I have several soft-cover collections (which I have to keep in the basement, since my wife doesn't want our daughter stumbling upon them). I was recently looking at an article on race and the current mania for racist antiques (Lawn Jockies, post cards, old Aunt Jamima packaging before her make-over, etc) and Crumb was mentioned in connection with his sixties work (in such strips as "Angelfood McSpade" and "Ooga-Booga"). The author was of the opinion that on some level Crumb was a racist, despite his supporters frequent claim that it was "just" satire. To me, it seems that what Crumb was doing during the '60s was being as transgressive as he possibily could be, breaking tabboos for the sake of doing so. Not only does he delve into racisim, but he also casually depicts murder ("Forky O'Donnell"), rape ("Get Away from Me") and incest ("Joe Blow"). Any thoughts from other Crumb fans or detractors?

Ya gotta love Crumb.

Did you see the Terry Zwigoff documentary ("Crumb")? After reading several lengthy interviews with Robert Crumb over the years (usually in the pages of The Comics Journal) I found the film fascinating.

I saw "Crumb" in the theater when it was first released. His family is so disfunctional and so disturbing that it's certainly not a film one "enjoys", but I too found it fascinating. When my wife saw it (and she is NOT a Crumb fan) she said, "My God. He's the most normal one out of his whole family!"

[BruceH]

Precisely.

Certainly artistic talent runs in his family. Both his brothers were artistically gifted, as well as being more mentally unbalanced than Robert. Arguably, his brother Charles had MORE talent than him, at least Robert thought so.

[7/4]

I saw "Crumb" in the theater when it was first released. His family is so disfunctional and so disturbing that it's certainly not a film one "enjoys", but I too found it fascinating. When my wife saw it (and she is NOT a Crumb fan) she said, "My God. He's the most normal one out of his whole family!"

That was pretty much my reaction.

I'm an old Crumb fan...33 years, I guess.