TÖPFFER AND THACKERAY
Coconino World carries a new essay by Thierry Smolderen positing the influence of Rodolphe Töpffer's picture stories upon William Makepeace Thackeray (via Goethe) and showing Thackeray's subsequent efforts to draw picture stories following Töpffer's model. "During the winter of 1830, in Weimar, young Thackeray was a welcome guest in Goethe's house where he drew caricatures for the children and joined in the festive intellectual atmosphere that was a trademark of the household," writes Smolderen to the Platinum Age Comics mailing list. "This same winter, Concilor Soret brought two sketchbooks from Geneva, by a schoolmaster named Rodolph Töpffer." Smolderen's essay, "Thackeray & Töpffer, The Weimar Connection," includes "samples of 5 different sequential stories by Thackeray."
INFO: Coconino World
INFO: Yahoo Groups: Platinum Age Comics
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

ZOGRAF, MORE IN THE WHITNEY
Aleksandar Zograf's website reveals that the catalog for the Whitney's recent "American Effect" exhibit includes "an 8-page story ('How I met America') by Zograf." The Whitney has recently released a list of selected artists for the museum's 2004 Biennial, which will include work by Laylah Ali and "a new installation by Raymond Pettibon." The Biennial opens at the Whitney on March 11, 2004.
INFO: Aleksandar Zograf
INFO: Whitney Museum of American Art
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

BLEGVAD RECORD IMMINENT
The website for Andy Partridge's Ape House record label announces a November 10 release date for "Orpheus, the Lowdown," the collaborative record produced by Peter Blegvad and Partridge. The record, currently available for pre-order, was originally begun eleven years ago and has been described as "a collection of vocal, words, sound and music pictures, a bit part play for the fable minded, a film for your mind's eye." The CD booklet is designed by Blegvad: "Peter has made 12 beautiful paper and stationery constructions, photos of which appear in the A5 format book pack."
INFO: Ape House
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

GUSTON DRAWS COMPARISONS
This week's New Yorker includes a piece on Philip Guston in light of an exhibit recently opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art critic Peter Schjeldahl draws comparison between Guston's post-expressionist work and artwork by Robert Crumb. "The resemblance points to shared influences. Both Guston and Crumb took inspiration from such classic comic strips as George Herriman's 'Krazy Kat.')" Ubuweb currently features Guston's "Poor Richard," a sequential series of 72 drawings offering "a visual narrative of [Richard] Nixon's life... They depict Nixon and his cohorts in China, plotting strategy in Key Biscayne, and shamelessly pandering to African Americans, hippies, and elderly tourists."
INFO: The New Yorker
INFO: Ubuweb
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

JASON TAKES THE STAGE
Jason's website notes a stage adaptation of "Hey, Wait..." performed by the Theater Gallery of Minneapolis. "The play was on a small stage and only with three players, but the ensamble is planning a full scale version with more players and on a bigger stage. This version is hopefully to be performed in 2005." The cartoonist's website includes a production photograph.
INFO: Mjau Mjau
LINK: The Theater Gallery
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

TARDI BOOK TK
Simon & Schuster will distribute "The Bloody Streets Of Paris," drawn by Jacques Tardi and adapted from work by Léo Malet. The graphic album, due in December, will be published by iBooks and is one of several Tardi books featuring Malet's "Nestor Burma" character.
INFO: Simon & Schuster
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

EISNER DODGES BULLETS
Comic book web magazine "Silver Bullet Comics" carries an interview with Will Eisner on his history, his legacy and the state of the art form. "I have kind of a hunger to conquer the medium - to achieve the impossible dream kind of like a Don Quixote of the comics," says Eisner.
INFO: Silver Bullet Comic Books
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

GUARDIAN GETS GRAPHIC
The Guardian reviews a group of recent graphic novels, weighing the relative merits of "Notes from a Defeatist," "Johnny Jihad," "Quimby the Mouse" and "The Complete Maus."
INFO: The Guardian
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003

LOUIS RIEL PRESS MARCH
Canadian press surrounding the impending release of Chester Brown's "Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography" continues with a lengthy piece in the October 25 Montreal Gazette. The weekly Montreal Mirror also includes a brief write-up in the current issue's arts section: "Brown brings Riel's figure to life in ink in a heavily researched (complete with handwritten footnotes), quick-paced graphic novel. He uses the form adeptly to balance his take on Riel's character with the history of the time, conveying Riel's isolation through image-only frames while using text to reveal elements of plot and politics."
INFO: Montreal Gazette
INFO: Montreal Mirror
posted by Egon on Tuesday, October 28, 2003