ART PART FOUR
The December 6-dated issue of the Forward features part four of Art Spiegelman's series of one-page comic strips, "In the Shadow of No Towers." In the latest strip, according to the paper's website, "Art Spiegelman and his wife search for their daughter at her school in Lower Manhattan on September 11. It's a moment of panic, and for unexpected feelings of affection for his 'familiar, vulnerable streets.'" An excerpted panel spotlights an appearance by the Katzenjammer Kids.
INFO: The Forward
posted by Egon on Friday, December 06, 2002

WARE DECRYPTS GLASSIFIED INFO
Chris Ware has designed a digital "secret decoder ring" for Ira Glass' "This American Life" radio program, Fantagraphics' FBI Informant newsletter reports. The "Amateur Secret Radio Deocoder Outfit" is available as a downloadable piece of software or as an online device, making use of light animation and rotating interactively to translate coded text messages. The radio program's website promises to post "a new decodable joke, story, or weblink to secret soundfiles" every weekday; additionally, coded messages transmitted via radio broadcast can be decoded, compiled and sent in to qualify listeners for entry in a random drawing.
INFO: This American Life
posted by Egon on Thursday, December 05, 2002

CARTOONISTS' RIGHTS NOW
The Cartoonists Rights Network has launched a central online presence at www.cartoonnet.org. The Network is the "world's only free speech and human rights organization dedicated exclusively to the well being of cartoonists," with "[a]ffiliate organizations in Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Cyprus, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda [and] Ghana." The organization "conducts workshops that assist editorial cartoonists understand their rights under local and international free speech laws, and we network thousands of cartoonists so they may understand that they are not alone in their daily struggles to tell the truth from the independent journalist's point of view." The CRN's most recent media alert, reporting Cameroonian editorial cartoonist Paul "Popoli" Nyemb Ntoogue's politically motivated beating at the hands of police, has been posted to various websites, including the Comics Journal's message board. The CNR's Romanian Affiliate website contains information on a number of other cases, including that of Egyptian cartoonist Essam Hanafy, who served prison time over a cartoon critical of government policy; Iranian cartoonist Nik Ahang-Kowsar's own brief imprisonment and pending trial; and benefits for the family of murdered Sierra Leone editorial cartoonist Muniru Turay.
INFO: Cartoonists Rights Network
INFO: The Comics Journal
INFO: CRN: Romania
posted by Egon on Thursday, December 05, 2002

BRYAN TALBOT'S CAVE DRAWINGS
The February 2003 issue of Spin magazine will include a "Real Life Rock Tales" comic strip drawn by Bryan Talbot, the artist's website reports. The full-color one-page strip "features a weird childhood story by Nick Cave of Bad Seeds fame."
INFO: Bryan Talbot: news and events
posted by Egon on Thursday, December 05, 2002

WORDS OF MY DISTRICT
Today's New York Times "Arts" section covers "The Words of My City," sponsored by the Poetry Society of America and held at Cooper Union on Tuesday, December 3. Ben Katchor's presentation is among those mentioned in the Times piece: "Amid the verse there were moments of visual imagery, highlighted by the work of the cartoonist Ben Katchor. On a screen he presented three comic strips of life in the city, additionally enlivening them with his own wry commentary." Times writer Mel Gussow proceeds to describe the strips Katchor read at the event.
INFO: The New York Times
posted by Egon on Thursday, December 05, 2002

STEVE DITKO'S COVERS WEBBED
Blake Bell's extensive Steve Ditko web site, "Ditko Looked Up," now features "The Steve Ditko Cover Gallery." Produced with the assistance of online comics archivist Nick Simon, the site intends to eventually offer a comprehensive online gallery of Ditko's cover art. "It's our aim that this gallery will ultimately present every Ditko cover - from five decades of work for Charlton, Marvel and DC, plus of course his independent material of the eighties, nineties and beyond," writes Bell. Bell continues to solicit original Ditko artwork for inclusion in his forthcoming book, "Steve Ditko: The Mysterious Traveller," to be published by Fantagraphics Books.
INFO: Ditko Looked Up
posted by Egon on Wednesday, December 04, 2002

EXPO POSTPONES INEVITABLE
SPX: The Expo forestalls by one year its planned move to Baltimore, remaining in Bethesda for 2003 and expanding to a three day schedule, reports Comicon.com's "Pulse" website. Final dates for the 2003 event are September 5 - 7, 2003. "Exhibitor registration begins Dec. 6, and half-tables are being sold at a special low price of $100. To prevent an immediate sell-out, as has happened in previous years, full tables cost $250," informs the piece. Expo Executive Director Greg McElhaton enthusiastically anticipates the show's 2004 association with the Baltimore Comic-Con, promising "a North American version of the massive French Angouleme comics festival."
INFO: Comicon.com: The Pulse
posted by Egon on Wednesday, December 04, 2002

FRITZ IN THE CITY
The New York Daily News' "Big Town" column pays regular tribute to the city's fictional residents, spotlighting in its December 1 edition Village varmint Fritz the Cat. The piece pins Fritz as representative downtown swing kitty before sketching out the cat's animated lives and relating cartoonist Robert Crumb's growing disaffection with -- and final, fatal dismissal of -- the character. Previous editions of "Big Town" have covered cartooned city dwellers including Betty Boop, Spider-Man, Kamandi, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Julius Knipl and Luke Cage.
INFO: NY Daily News
LINK: Big Town Archives
posted by Egon on Tuesday, December 03, 2002

SPLENDOR CINEMA AT SUNDANCE
The film adaptation of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor will debut in competition at the annual Sundance Film Festival, indieWIRE reports. The film, which stars Paul Giamatti as Pekar, Hope Davis as Joyce Brabner and James Urbaniak as Robert Crumb, was originally conceived as a made-for-television movie before being shopped around for cinematic distribution. IndieWIRE now reports that the film is "set to air on HBO."
INFO: indieWIRE
INFO: Yahoo! Movies
posted by Egon on Tuesday, December 03, 2002

GREY LADY OBITS DUPUIS
The December 2 New York Times ran a lengthy obituary of Belgian comics publisher Charles Dupuis, who died on November 14 in Brussels at the age of 84. Dupuis founded comics magazine "Spirou," which featured the eponymous bellhop character, Lucky Luke and, most famously, Peyo's Smurfs. "The company he founded sells more than 10 million comics a year, a third of the French-language comics market."
INFO: The New York Times
posted by Egon on Tuesday, December 03, 2002

COUNTDOWN: STATION DELTA
Comics scholar, writer and web auteur Thierry Smolderen has announced the impending launch of "Station Delta," a major addition to his massive Coconino World complex of websites. Smolderen calls Station Delta "a webzine of gargatuesque proportion," featuring "[m]ore than 200 screen-pages of original comic strips, + 200 pages of sketchbooks, previews etc." Some of the site's contents will be available in English translation, but most of the material is "so image oriented" that its appeal is expected to transcend any language barriers. "And of course," adds Smolderen, "it is free." Station Delta is due to launch on Wednesday, December 4.
LINK: Station Delta
LINK: Coconino World
posted by Egon on Sunday, December 01, 2002

KATCHING UP
Ben Katchor proves to be a popular subject for print media, as interviews with the cartoonist and representative artwork find recent space in numerous outlets. The December 2-dated issue of The New Yorker features in its sketchbook section a two-page spread by Katchor: a wide-scale, full-color, elaborately composed cartoon panel titled "Thanksgiving in Apt. 3-A." In other sightings, the November 11 McGill Daily cover-featured Katchor in a conversation about modern urban landscapes, fading cultures and comics. Comics, according to Katchor, owe their intrinsic popularity to the medium's "use of the full range of meaning – from the abstraction of language to the concrete details of the visual world." Katchor's "Hotel and Farm" commands the "Artist's Project" section of the Fall 2002 issue of the College Art Association's "Art Journal." "Art Journal" is available to CAA members or via subscription. Finally, Katchor's latest full-color one page strip for Metropolis Magazine, "Hand Drying in America," can be viewed at the magazine's website.
INFO: The McGill Daily
INFO: Art Journal
INFO: Metropolis Magazine
posted by Egon on Sunday, December 01, 2002

CAA: HOMER, RAYMOND AND BEN
The 91st Annual Conference of the College Art Association, to be held February 19 - 22, 2003 in New York City, includes presentations on comics in its scheduled slate of programming. The "Comic Genius" panel, scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, February 20, features: "Homer Simpson as Outsider Artist" by Reva Wolf of the State University of New York at New Paltz; "Pettibon's Post-Punk Pop" by Cary Levine of MOMA; "Will Comics Ever Grow Up?" by Yasco Horsman of Yale University; and "Katchor on Katchor" by Ben Katchor. The event will be held at the Hilton New York in midtown Manhattan. Advance registration for the conference is available until January 17, 2003 and costs $190 for CAA members and $265 for non-members. The CAA "includes among its members those who by vocation or avocation are concerned about and/or committed to the practice of art, teaching, and research of and about the visual arts and humanities."
INFO: College Art Association
posted by Egon on Sunday, December 01, 2002

SETH MACHINE
The Toronto Star chats with Seth in its December 1 edition, as spotted by The Comics Journal's "iJournalista!" website. The "Palookaville" cartoonist and amateur antiquarian talks about his serialized "Clyde Fans" graphic novel, due for 2004 completion and collection: "Seth began weaving the story while living in the city. He often walked past the mysterious Clyde Fans storefront on King St. E., gazing in the window of the worn-out, closed-down store. On one wall, there was a photo of two men, whom Seth imagined to be Simon and Abe, the brothers who owned the company." The piece also covers Seth's production schedule and illustration work, including his contribution to Aimee Mann's latest album. A full-color photograph of the artist in his well-appointed Guelph home accompanies the article.
INFO: The Toronto Star
posted by Egon on Sunday, December 01, 2002

COMIC CUTS FETCH FILTHY LUCRE
The Telegraph's "Money" section takes a look at the growing interest in -- and market for -- original political cartoons. Artwork once consigned to the rubbish bin has begun to command high prices in galleries and auction houses, according to Tim Benson of the Political Cartoon Society: "The market is still a small one, but it's changing. People are just starting to appreciate cartoons and prices are on the way up." The Society will hold a charity auction on December 5 featuring artwork by Steve Bell, Ralph Steadman and Posy Simmonds, among others. Proceeds from the donated art will support an exhibition of work by Daily Express cartoonist Sidney Conrad Strube.
INFO: The Telegraph
LINK: The Political Cartoon Society
posted by Egon on Sunday, December 01, 2002

THE COMPLETE PEANUTS
On Friday, November 22 Washington Post Comics Editor Suzanne Tobin conducted an online chat with Jean Schulz, widow of "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz. A transcript posted to the paper's website post-chat reveals Schulz's plans for a complete "Peanuts" collection: "What we are trying to do is put together a complete reprint of the 50 years of Peanuts comic strips. Some of them are lost, and we're trying to find out if we can find some images of those. This would be a very big undertaking and I see it in a book form, but it could be a DVD at some point."
INFO: The Washington Post
posted by Egon on Sunday, December 01, 2002