dietsch ::

wow

I've just about abandoned this place, haven't I?

Sigh.

Shazam!

Every time I see one of these lazy Bam! Pow! Biff! headlines, I want to ask every journalist I meet "What's black and white and read all over?" and then laugh maniacally as if I'm the first person to think of that joke.

Nightwing turns 20

Leave it to Metafilter to remind me how old I am. It was 20 years ago that the original Robin, Dick Grayson, gave up that identity to become Nightwing.

Bilal and French comics

The cover to 32 decembre, Bilal's latest, just-published, comic album. Comic albums in France are generally larger than American comics. A French album measures 24cm by 32cm, or roughly 9 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches. An American comic measures 6 1/2 inches by 10 1/2.

Production values are usually better on these albums as well, meaning they're on better quality paper stock and use better printing techniques. So before you eve see the art or read the story, you realize you have a higher-quality product in your hands. Of course, it's entirely possible to print shit on pretty paper--I don't mean to say that French comics are by nature better than American. I'm only pointing out the differences.

I don't really know anything about this new work, 32 decembre. But the Bilal/Christin collaborations I mentioned earlier certainly aren't the sort of thing you'd find in most American comics. Black Order Brigade, for example, concerns two factions, on opposite sides of the Spanish Civil War, who take up arms again in the 1970s. French comics, like their Japanese counterparts, generally cover a much wider range of genres than do American comics, which focus on superhero, fantasy, and science-fiction.

Which means, unfortunately, that French comics haven't found much of a market here yet. Only a fraction are ever translated into English, and even the French-language originals don't make it into many American shops. I'm still investigating where I can buy the French books--can I order from a U.S. supplier, or do I have to order from Canadian or French merchants?

In space, it's never Miller time

Are you a Boinger?. The good news? My Comics Page is hosting the great "Bloom County" strips in order, six daily strips one day and a Sunday strip the next (that's a week in two days, kids). The bad news? You have to pay $10.00 to see them. [MetaFilter]

I promised to tell y'all

I promised to tell y'all about Friday. Here's Friday:

My vegetarian, fiddle-playing, hat-knitting, uber-styling, Unix-dorking, zine-writing, subway-busking, bicycle-riding friend Elizabeth met me for lunch in the East Village, at a vegetarian restaurant of her choosing. Kate's Joint really is a joint. I mean, if you imagine what a restaurant would look like that calls itself a "joint," that's this place. The people passing by, with their piercings, spiked or mohawked hair, tattoos, and eclectic choices in clothing were fun to watch. The food was yummy.

We talked for a couple hours, and then she went off to knit another hat, while I made my uptown to meet Amy at the Hayden Planetarium. Amy, visiting from Minneapolis, is a much bigger space geek than I am--she majored in space science in college. She explained, patiently, the things I didn't understand as we toured. What a great place.

The show we saw in the Planetarium was lovely--I literally gasped when the star field filled the dome--but a little light on hard science for my tastes. Well, it's aimed at a general audience and considering it was written by Carl Sagan's collaborators on Cosmos, the science that was there was impeccable. But it's got me hungering for more, and fortunately, the Hayden offers lectures and courses. Introduction to Space Science looks especially nice.

After the Hayden, Amy and I wandered down to Midtown and the Times Square area, which of course was swimming in tourists. We called Josh, my roommate, and had him pick a dinner place. He met us at a charming, well-run Italian restaurant in the East Village. Yummy, yummy food.

After, we dragged Amy out to Ace for a drink-up. Quite a few people turned out, including Famous Comic Book Writer Guy, who seemed nice and funny, but a little geeky. I guess we're all a little geeky, but he was a little geekier. But that's okay. It's weird recognizing someone based on publicity stills...

Right. Drinkup. Not much to say. We drank and we drank. Then, we drank more. Following that, in an amazing and unexpected change of plans, we drank and drank and drank. Then I went home and slept.

That was Friday.

Kill Yer Fuckin' Boyfriend

Oh, by the way, don't piss me off. If you go looking at that description of Kill Your Boyfriend I've linked to, don't piss me off. Grant Morrison wrote it in early Spring 1994. Note the following release dates: Natural Born Killers (August 26, 1994)
Pulp Fiction (October 14, 1994) Call it Tarantino-esque, and I will sterilize you.

Finder

Comic-book writer Warren Ellis has been pushing a book called Finder on his forum for quite some time now. Finder is a soft sci-fi series by Carla Speed McNeil. It's not an easy book to describe, but if you go out to her Web site, you can learn a bit more about it. The comic gets a lot of acclaim and when Carla popped up on Warren's forum, saying she had copies for sale straight from her site and that the first collection was very nearly sold out, I ponied up and bought a copy, straight from her. So, it arrived in the mail today. I opened the mailer and pulled out a copy of the first trade paperback ("Sin Eater") and several folded sheets of paper. "Hm, what's these?" I wondered. "Too much paper here to be a receipt." When I opened them, I saw three pages of pencil sketches by Carla. She apparently works in breakdowns before drawing each issue. What that means is she makes rough sketches of the panels that will appear on each page. This technique helps artists work out storytelling problems and create a sense of the flow of each issue. Think of it as storyboarding a movie before filming. She also apparently drafts her captions and dialogue balloons on those pages. Even though the Web site clearly states "All orders will include original production sketches while supplies last" I didn't notice it. Here's links to the finished version of the pages she sent me: page 14
page 15 I have earlier versions of page 14 (minus the captions) and an early version of the top half of page 15, including rough captions and dialogue. Remarkable.

Soopaman and family

So last weekend, I was in Evansville visiting my family, which is almost always the stuff of high drama, gnashing of teeth, and quickened pulses. This time, though, everyone seemed really mellow, including me, which was good. My nephew Jake, who will be four in a month, ran around my sister's living room with one hand tucked behind his back and the other extended over his head. He kept exclaiming, "Up, up, and away!" Later, as I was reading the comics anthology Bizarro Comics, Jake cuddled up next to me and said, "Soopaman? Where Soopaman?" My aunt called while I was visiting. She told me that she had seen my Web site and really liked it. "It's the first Web site I've ever seen!" she informed me. Huh! That's an interesting honor, and I find it strangely flattering.

Tale of One Bad Rat

I just finished reading a magnificant comic book--one that I think everybody I know should read. Please don't stop reading just because you've seen the words "comic book." I'm not talking about muscle-bound morons slugging each other or zapping people with ray guns. Read the next two paragraphs. If you're still not interested, that's fine, but at least give me a shot here. Bryan Talbot's The Tale of One Bad Rat concerns a teenaged girl, Helen Potter, the so-called bad rat of the story.* Helen runs away from home to escape abusive parents: a father who molests her and a mother who hates and screams at her. Helen goes to London, where she begs for coins in subway stations and sleeps rough in a cardboard box under a bridge. As do many incest survivors, Helen comes to despise herself. Rather than blame her abuser for her pain, she internalizes it and suffers deep guilt and surpressed anger. But being homeless and alone in London places Helen at great risk and, one night, a strolling MP encounters Helen in a park and tries to rape her. A group of seeming street toughs comes to her rescue and she gets to know one, Ben, rather well. He earns her trust as a friend, but when he attempts an innocent kiss, she freaks out and leaves. Her abuse at her father's hands has made her distrustful of physical contact. I won't say much else about the plot, except that Helen undergoes tremendous personal growth through the course of this story. Talbot tells Helen's story in a way that is realistic and harrowing but still, ultimately, optimistic. Talbot, in writing this story, conducted extensive research into sexual abuse and interviewed various survivors. His story shows there's a pathway out of guilt and self-loathing. The Tale of One Bad Rat made me cry, which is something few comics do anymore. I was so caught up in Helen's story that I actually felt empathy for her. She was such a realistic character--her motivations and reactions seemed so true-to-life--that I identified with her and her emotions. As I've mentioned, Talbot spoke with survivors of similar experiences and their words, their emotions, and their responses inform virtually every decision Helen makes and every word she speaks. Talbot mentions in the afterword that he chose to model his characters and settings on real-life people and places. Expect to see people and places that look very much like the world you inhabit. Again, this isn't a superhero comic. This is London, not Superman's Metropolis. The streets don't gleam and not everyone is buff and beautiful. Even those who are buff and beautiful aren't necessarily the good guys. He includes photographs of his character models in the afterword and these pictures demonstrate what a wonderful job he did in creating realistic characters. And I think it was a wise choice, because that grounding gives the comic a basis in the reality we know. Even if we've never seen a London Underground station or been to the Lake District, the details in these scenes make them seem wholly realistic. This choice benefits the book by bringing the reader into the world and life that Helen inhabits. I almost felt I was viewing her world through her eyes, in a way. The Tale of One Bad Rat is a haunting, surprising book. I expect Helen Potter and her story to remain in my head for some time to come.

Footnote

The title derives from young Helen's hero, children's-book writer/artist Beatrix Potter. Beatrix wrote a book called The Tale of Two Bad Mice and she also used the fortune she made from her books to purchase up chunk after chunk of England's Lake District. Upon her death, she willed her now-extensive holdings to the National Trust, placing them into the public's hands. The Lake District plays a pivotal role in this story.

When I am king

Came across a Web comic today. When I Am King is one of the funniest comics I've seen--anywhere, not just on the Web. It also uses the Web medium very cleverly, so if you want to see excellent Web design and innovative use of scrolling and frames, head on over. No Flash, Java, or other geegaws in sight. It's not for the prudish, though, so be warned. Not that I really know very many prudish people anymore, but I'm sure there's one or three lurking about.