WASEDA MANGA COLLECTION
The following message, by Jonathan M. Hall, was forwarded by Mark Hall to the Comics Scholars' Discussion List: "The evening edition of the 18 July 2003 Asahi Shinbun reports the establishment at Waseda University of a manga collection for academic and archival purposes. The collection includes key comics from the 1960-70s as well as other periods. Titles include GARO and COMIC BAKU. There are plans to widen the collection in future years to include anime. The collection is still small with only 1000 titles, but the institutional support of the University might make this place a significant source in future years."
INFO: Comics Scholars' Discussion List
LINK: Asahi Shinbun
posted by Egon on Friday, July 25, 2003

ART FACES FORWARD
The current, July 25-dated issue of the Forward includes the latest installment in Art Spiegelman's full-color comic strip series, "In the Shadow of No Towers."
LINK: Forward
posted by Egon on Friday, July 25, 2003

NYRB ON CONCEPT ALBUMS
David Hajdu casts a wary eye at the burgeoning graphic novel movement for the New York Review of Books, likening much of the resultant work to overblown rock-and-roll "concept albums." "Eisner and Spiegelman, like Bob Dylan and the Beatles during the Sixties, had experimented with grown-up themes and complex modes of expression in efforts to take their art form out of the realm of junk, whereupon a legion of less-gifted imitators reduced the notion to baroque parody. With few exceptions, the creators of the graphic novels published in recent years have been ignoring Eisner and Spiegelman's innovation, which was not one of scale, but of kind." He then goes on to discuss the merits of Joe Sacco's two book-length collections of comics reportage and Dan Clowes "Ghost World." Hadju "is working on a book about the early history of comic books."
INFO: New York Review of Books
posted by Egon on Friday, July 25, 2003

BD IN KAWASAKI
The Daily Yomiuri surveys the French BD scene in light of "Art de la Bande Dessinee Francaise," currently on show at the Kawasaki City Museum and featuring work by Max Cabanes, Nicolas De Crecy, Dupuy and Berberian, Lorenzo Mattotti and Jacques de Loustal and Lewis Trondheim, among others. "This exhibition is the first of its kind in Japan, where few BD translations are available." Berbarian and Emmanuel Guibert will visit the museum for events in August. The exhibit will show in Kawasaki through August 31 and will susbequently travel to museums in Shiga and Kochi.
INFO: Daily Yomiuri
posted by Egon on Thursday, July 24, 2003

BINDER BOOK PENDING
Bill Schelly announces "Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of Otto Binder," a biographical volume upcoming from the author's Hamster Press, in a press release carried by Comicon.com's "Pulse" website. Binder is best remembered as the prolific principle writer of Fawcett's "Captain Marvel" comics. "In the course of writing some 3,000 scripts between 1940 and 1970, he worked for nearly every publishing house... The 264-page hardback book from Hamster Press will be solicited in September 2003 for shipping in early November."
INFO: Comicon.com
LINK: BillSchelly.com
posted by Egon on Thursday, July 24, 2003

THE VOICE OF THE SUPREMES
Richard Gehr writes an appreciation of Alan Moore's run on "Supreme" for the Village Voice. The comics have recently been collected into two volumes by the Checker Book Publishing Group.
INFO: The Village Voice
posted by Egon on Thursday, July 24, 2003

BIRTHDAY BEANO
Beano cartoonist Barrie Appleby reflects upon the comic book's 65th birthday for the BBC. "I think the Beano still sells after all these years because it epitomises British humour - it's very surreal with a lot of slapstick, which goes right back to Charlie Chaplin," Appleby writes.
INFO: BBC
posted by Egon on Thursday, July 24, 2003

GET THEE TO A NUNNERY
The Somerville Journal's "Library notes" section spotlights "Fire on the Nunnery Grounds," a 2000 historical graphic novel created by the Somerville Comics Collaborative. The collective is a group of twelve teenagers organized by Jef Czekaj and funded by various local grants. The book "tells the story of what happened on a hot August night in 1834, when a mob of approximately 100 people stormed the grounds of the Ursuline Convent on Mt. Benedict, which stood on land that is now in Somerville" and can be purchased from the Central Library for $5. "Proceeds benefit the Somerville Community Youth Program."
INFO: Somerville Journal
INFO: Jef Czekaj
posted by Egon on Thursday, July 24, 2003

KUPER'S KAFKA LOOMS
Publisher Crown Books has established a dedicated website to preview Peter Kuper's upcoming adaptation of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." The website features several pages of artwork from the book, due in August. MoCCA will host a book release party on August 12.
INFO: The Metamorphosis
posted by Egon on Tuesday, July 22, 2003

WE LOVE OUR QUEEN
Organizers of Bristol's upcoming iteration of Ladyfest announce "Comic Book Queens," an exhibit running August 9 - 17 at the Spike Island ArtSpace. The show is billed as "the largest exhibition of women's comix in the UK ever." Confirmed participants include Alison Bechdel, Allison Cole, Jennifer Daydreamer, Julie Doucet, Fly, Ellen Forney and Lorna Miller among others, with more artists expected to submit artwork in time for the event.
INFO: Ladyfest Bristol
posted by Egon on Tuesday, July 22, 2003

OUR FRANK
The Seattle Times reads "The Frank Book" and looks to Jim Woodring for answers. The cartoonist explains the continuing influence of childhood hallucinations on his work. "I've sacrificed a lot of things in my life in order to keep that sense of things being unfamiliar," he tells the paper. Woodring addresses the stylistic aspect of his full-color work: "That amount of work carries a message of its own... Just the fact that so much work went into the rendering tells readers to take it more seriously somehow. Just gives it a weight and a portentousness that it wouldn't have if it were more simply done." As for Frank, Woodring offers, "He's innocent without being noble. I guess if I had to put it into a single phrase, the moral of the Frank stories is that the hammer never really falls."
INFO: The Seattle Times
posted by Egon on Sunday, July 20, 2003