POSY COZY IN BOOK NOOK
The Guardian's website archives "Literary Life," an ongoing strip by Posy Simmonds running weekly in the paper's "Books" section since November 30, 2002. The strip satirically pokes a variety of literary targets, from celebrity authors to bookstore clientele.
INFO: Guardian Unlimited
posted by Egon on Friday, January 10, 2003

THUNDEROUS DISPLAY
As promised, exhibiting artist Noah Lyon has posted images from "Paper Rodeo: Artists and Friends of Fort Thunder" to his Retard Riot website. The site features 20 images from the gallery show's opening at Space 1026 in Philadelphia, PA. The exhibit runs through January 31.
INFO: Retard Riot
posted by Egon on Friday, January 10, 2003

CARTOON NEWS NETWORK
CNN's website ran a lengthy review of Kim Deitch's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" on January 9, examining the book's fictionalized representation of the animation industry and speaking with Deitch about his own life in cartoons and comics. Deitch related to CNN's reporter feedback he received upon sending an early comic to Dick Tracy cartoonist Chester Gould: "Deitch wrote Gould a sheepish, apologetic letter to accompany his work, and to his surprise got a response. 'Dear Kim,' Gould wrote back. 'Apparently you want to be a cartoonist. Stay with it.'"
INFO: CNN
posted by Egon on Friday, January 10, 2003

REHABILITATING DR. WERTHAM
Professor James E. Reibman of Lafayette College announces upcoming material covering the life and work of Dr. Frederic Wertham in a message posted to the Comics Scholars' Discussion List. In addition to Reibman's in-progress biography of Wertham, the professor is in discussion with copyright holders to publish a new edition of "Dark Legend," Wertham's case study of a matricide. "This volume attracted the attention of Arthur Miller and Thomas Mann, among others," notes Reibman. Reibman has prepared his own edition of "Seduction of the Innocent" which should see print "shortly," and expects to re-issue Wertham's "The World of Fanzines." "Chris Couch and I are editing a Fredric Wertham Reader, which should be out in about a year," he adds. "Wertham was a progressive intellectual and psychiatrist. This is supported by his own writings, personal papers, social psychiatry, press coverage, activism, and friendships."
LINK: Comics Scholars' Discussion List
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 09, 2003

ONLINE [&] IN ENGLISH
The most recent, September 2002-dated edition of Image [&] Narrative includes among its English-language features an essay by Trina Robbins titled "Gender Differences in Comics." Also available in English are a review of "The Language of Comics: Word and Image" and a lengthy and generously illustrated essay examining Martin Vaughn-James' "La Cage." Image [&] Narrative is a Belgium-based "academic e-journal on visual narratology in the broadest sense of the term." An upcoming edition will focus specifically on comics, drawing from "proceedings of the Comics Sections of the International Word & Image Conference."
INFO: Image [&] Narrative
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 09, 2003

RED HERRINGK
Jordan Crane has re-christened his personal publishing concern "Reddingk," and has revamped and relaunched his website amidst the ashes of the former "Red Ink."
INFO: Reddingk
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 09, 2003

THE MALTESE SACCO
The Malta Independent Daily surveys native son Joe Sacco's career in today's edition. The Daily reports that Sacco's next project will be titled "Gaza" and mentions "a brief spell" the artist spent "drawing Maltese romance cartoons."
INFO: The Malta Independent Daily
posted by Egon on Wednesday, January 08, 2003

UTNE HONORS KING CAT, TCJ
Utne Magazine's January/February edition names the winners of this year's Utne Independent Press Awards (formerly the Utne Reader Alternative Press Awards), recognizing John Porcellino's "King Cat Comics" for "General Excellence, Zines" and selecting the Comics Journal as one of two winners in the "Arts/Literature Coverage" category. Awards will be presented on January 18 at the Independent Press Association's annual conference in San Francisco.
INFO: Utne Magazine
posted by Egon on Wednesday, January 08, 2003

STRIPBURGER – WAR EDITION
The Stripburger comics magazine solicits material for "Stripburger - War Edition" in a press release posted to the Comics Journal's message board and other online venues. Stripburger is "still the only Slovene comic magazine covering news in comics, theories on comics and works of Slovene and foreign comic authors," with over 30 issues to date. "Stripburger – war edition aims to expose the phenomenon of war and all its consequences through the medium of comic. We want authors to disclose, expose, illustrate and problematise the absurdity of war, reasons of war, war-time violence, war profiteering, war crimes, war against terrorism/state violence, NATO, imperialism, occupation, warmonging, genocide, draft and everything else connected to war in any kind of way. Don't be afraid to unveil the overlooked aspects of war!"

The Peace Institute Ljubljana joins the Striburger editorial board in selecting artwork for publication in the anthology; seven selected artists will receive a 100 Euro prize. Pieces must be received for consideration by April 15. Submission information follows:

"Authors should add their full address, e-mail, web-page (if they happen to have one) and a short autobiography (no more than 100 words)... Send A4 (21 x 29.7 cm) format black and white photocopies (do not send original artwork!) or .tif files on a CD (600 pixels/inch for black and white line-art comics or 300 pixels/inch for grayscale comics). No MAC CDs please. You can also e-mail your comics to burger@kud-fp.si, where you can also write to us should you have any questions... Strip Core c/o Forum Ljubljana, Metelkova 6/I, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia tel.: +386 1 2319662, fax: +386 1 4338074"
INFO: The Comics Journal
LINK: Stripburger
posted by Egon on Tuesday, January 07, 2003

9A: AN 2 BIANNUAL
Issue 8 of "9ème art" ushers in a new, twice-yearly publishing schedule for the formerly annual journal, reports French comics website labd.com. The issue, which cover features Emmanuel Guibert, also marks the magazine's new status as a jointly published effort of Centre National de la Bande Deesine et de l'Image and editor Thierry Groensteen's publishing house, "Éditions de l'An 2." The re-minted journal's next issue will appear in October, "and the review, consequently semi-annual, will appear then in April and October of each year," according to a dedicated section of Éditions de l'An 2's recently launched website.
INFO: labd.com
LINK: Les Éditions de l'An 2
posted by Egon on Tuesday, January 07, 2003

MOCCA'S LATEST RECIPE
MoCCA Panel Organizer Kent Worcester reveals the programming schedule for the 2nd Annual MoCCA Art Festival. Panels for the June 22 show are scheduled to include "Rebel Visions: Underground Comix, "Newspapers and Cartooning," "Teaching Comics and Cartoons" and an animation screening. The day will also see the presentation of the MoCCA Art Festival Award to Art Spiegelman, who joined the museum's Board of Advisors in October 2002. "Confirmed participants include Nina Paley, Tom Spurgeon, Ray Lesser, Phoebe Gloeckner, Kim Deitch, Diane Noomin, Peter Weishar, R.O. Blechman, George Griffin, and Debbie Solomon," says Worcester.
LINK: Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
posted by Egon on Monday, January 06, 2003

LOWWATER PRICES
Tom Devlin has updated and expanded Highwater Books' online store with a dedicated section offering numerous difficult to find mini-comics by Jessica Abel, Greg Cook, Ben Jones, Megan Kelso and others.
INFO: Highwater Books
posted by Egon on Monday, January 06, 2003

SHE BOP
"She Draws Comics: Great Women Cartoonists" shows at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum from January 25 through June 8, 2003. The exhibit, curated by Trina Robbins and boasting "the largest collection of comic art by women cartoonists ever shown," spans "ninety years of comic art by over 60 women" and includes work by Dale Messick, Julie Doucet, Debbie Drechsler, Pheobe Gloeckner, Roberta Gregory, and Lynn Johnston. An opening reception will be held at the museum on Saturday, February 1, 2003.
INFO: Cartoon Art Museum
posted by Egon on Monday, January 06, 2003

SPACE RODEO IN PHILLY
Philadelphia's Space 1026 gallery hosts "Paper Rodeo: Artists and Friends of Fort Thunder," a group show running through the end of January. Exhibiting artist Noah Lyon promises that photos from the exhibit will eventually be posted to his Retard Riot website; Space 1026's website currently displays images from the Fort Thunder group's February 2001 show at the gallery.
INFO: Space 1026
INFO: Space 1026: Fort Thunder
LINK: Retard Riot
posted by Egon on Sunday, January 05, 2003

GRAPHIC REALISM IN SANTA MONICA
Paul Karasik curates "Graphic Novel Realism," an exhibit running at Santa Monica College's Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery from March 15 through April 11. The show spotlights work by Debbie Drechsler, Jaime Hernandez, Karasik, Jason Lutes, Seth and James Sturm. In conjunction with the exhibit, Karasik will deliver two lectures "addressing issues about the crafting of modern graphic novels and the history of book-length comic books" on March 14 and 17.
INFO: Santa Monica College
posted by Egon on Sunday, January 05, 2003

FORWARD: "NO TOWERS" PART FIVE
The January 3 edition of the Forward carries part five of Art Spiegelman's monthly "In the Shadow of No Towers" comic strip. New York-area readers experiencing difficulty tracking down the paper can find copies for sale at Jim Hanley's Universe.
LINK: The Forward
posted by Egon on Sunday, January 05, 2003