ZEP TAKES GRAND PRIX
The Grand Prix of the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême, France has been given to Zep, creator of the popular children's character Titeuf, BDSélection reports. According to the Lambiek Comiclopeida, the Swiss-born Zep, whose real name is Philippe Chappuis, began his career as a contributor to Spirou before creating the popular Titeuf. Titeuf spawned the popular children's anthology Tchô, which was the subject of an exhibit at this year's festival. As is traditional, Zep will serve as next year's festival president.
INFO: BD Sélection
INFO: Lambiek Comiclopeidia: Zep
posted by Egon on Saturday, January 24, 2004

ANGOULÊME PRIZES NAMED
BDNews.net is among news sources reporting winners for this year's Angoulême festival prizes. The award, formerly known as the "Alph-Art," has been renamed the "Prix d'Angoulême." Other awards named today include the "Prix René Goscinny" and the prize for best children's comic. This year's "Grand Prix" winner will be announced on Saturday, January 24. Results for main festival prizes follow:

Prix du Meilleur Album (Best Album)
- "Le Combat Ordinaire" by Manu Larcenet

Prix du Scénario (Best Story)
- "Sandman" Vol. 4 by Neil Gaiman and various

Prix du Dessin (Best Artwork)
- "Blacksad" Vol. 2 by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido

Prix du Premier Album (Best First Album)
- "Betty Blues" by Renaud Dillies

Prix de la Série (Best Series)
- "20th Century Boys" by Naoki Urasawa

Prix du Patrimoine de la Bande Dessinée (Best Historical Reprint)
- "L'Anthologie A.B. Frost" by Arthur Burdett Frost
[Correction: the date of the Grand Prix announcement was changed for accuracy. 1/24/04]
INFO: BDNews.net
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 22, 2004

MORE D & Q TK
Drawn and Quarterly's latest newsletter reveals planned upcoming releases beyond those already listed in the publisher's Spring 2004 catalog. Books planned for Fall 2004 include Gary Panter's "Satiro-Plastic" sketchbook, a new edition of Harvey Kurtzman's "Jungle Book," "Crumb: The Definitive Record Cover Collection," a Yoshihiro Tatsumi collection "designed and edited by Adrian Tomine," Steve Mumford's "Baghdad Journal: An Artist in Occupied Iraq," Michel Rabagliati's "Paul Moves Out," an untitled Jerry Moriarty retrospective and an untitled graphic novel by David Collier. The newsletter additionally reports that Archer Prewitt's "Sof' Boy" #3 will appear in late spring.
LINK: Drawn and Quarterly
posted by Egon on Thursday, January 22, 2004

THE DEATH OF ILLUSTRATION
The Columbia Journalism Review runs a lengthy feature by Jesse Sunenblick on the decline of print illustration, particularly on opinion and editorial pages. The piece describes editors' unwillingness to run artwork with potentially disagreeable points of view or with graphic content that requires interpretation: "As often as I can," New York Times op-ed art director Steven Guarnaccia tells the Review, "I bring up artist-driven ideas. And unfortunately, they come in a trickle these days, partly because we've gotten a reputation for being timid for what we put on the page. Or I will push for a drawing that expresses a stronger idea than just the idea that's already in the piece. And the editors will love it, roll their eyes and say, 'We can never print that.'" Milton Glaser is quoted in the piece: "In a culture that values commerce above all other things, the imaginative potential of illustration has become irrelevant . . . . Illustration is now too idiosyncratic."
INFO: Columbia Journalism Review
posted by Egon on Wednesday, January 21, 2004

JUDGE MANKOFF
In an online slideshow with audio commentary, New Yorker Cartoon Editor Robert Mankoff discusses the magazine's recent cartoon contest. Mankoff explains the process and offers commentary on finalists and on the winning entry by Danial Adkison. This year's contest was a cut-and-paste exercise, with the winning entry re-drawn by Charles Barsotti in the current issue.
INFO: The New Yorker
posted by Egon on Wednesday, January 21, 2004

KATCHOR KLATCH
The Morning News briefly interviews Ben Katchor, who differentiates cartooning from his recent musical theater work: "Unlike a strip, the narrative moves straight from beginning to end without the possibility of literally looking back." On his own work process: "The abstract word and concrete image are at two ends of the continuum of meaning. I write first with words because they're easier to juggle and I can work with them lying on a couch. As I begin to draw, the text is edited in light of what's better shown than described."
INFO: The Morning News
posted by Egon on Wednesday, January 21, 2004

SPX ANTHOLOGY TACKLES WAR
Organizers of SPX: The Small Press Expo solicit short comics on the theme of war for the 2004 SPX anthology. Submissions of four to twelve pages in length "must be received no later than June 15th, 2004." Further details are available on the SPX website. SPX 2004 will take place October 1 -3 in Bethesda, MD.
INFO: SPX: The Expo
posted by Egon on Tuesday, January 20, 2004

SCHULZ'S "LI'L FOLKS" COLLECTED
The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center announces the February 21 publication of "Charles M. Schulz: Li'l Beginnings," a book collecting for the first time all of Schulz's "Li'l Folks" cartoons, along with other pre-Peanuts material. The book will reproduce "all 135 of the panels that Schulz created for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, his hometown paper, between June 22, 1947, and January 22, 1950... The 300-page book also includes the two Just Keep Laughing cartoon panels that Schulz produced for the Catholic comic book Topix; the two Sparky's Li'l Folks panels that ran in the Minneapolis Tribune (and anticipated his series in the St. Paul Pioneer Press); and examples of single-panel cartoons that were published in The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s." The material will be supplemented with "a foreword by Jean Schulz and annotations, editorial commentary and an introduction by Derrick Bang."
INFO: Charles M. Schulz Museum
posted by Egon on Monday, January 19, 2004

CAHIERS DE LA BD RETURNS
BD Sélection reports the return of "Les Cahiers de la Bande Dessinée," the French comics magazine founded in 1972 by Jacques Glénat. The magazine's new incarnation is being overseen by Henri Filippini, who collaborated on the original version of the magazine.
INFO: BD Sélection
posted by Egon on Monday, January 19, 2004

WOLFGANG HAS WORDS
The Ninth Art runs an interview with Kurt Wolfgang, author of "Where Hats Go" and editor of the "Low Jinx" series of anthology mini-comics. Wolfgang discusses the difference between his humor comics and his personal, pantomime comics. He also notes responses to "Low Jinx" #3, the all-parody issue: "Some of it makes me wince, and some people were a little upset. I'm not gonna name names. I will say that in the cases I heard where people were upset, I really don't understand because I think that almost all of them you can see the respect behind the parody. I would be honored if someone did a parody of my stuff, if someone did it well and intelligently and took the time to take apart certain things. But some people were upset and I find that unfortunate because I think the whole thing's a lot of fun." Wolfgang is currently working on "Pinokio," a wordless adaptation of Carlo Collodi's children's book.
INFO: Ninth Art
posted by Egon on Monday, January 19, 2004

POPEYE AT 75
January 17, 2004 marked the 75th anniversary of the Popeye character, created by Elzie C. Segar and introduced in his "Thimble Theater" comic strip, as reported by numerous news sources. The Tennessean spoke to Hy Eisman, who currently draws the "Popeye" comic strip for King Features. "Popeye today uses cell phones and computers, and the gags are more up to date, but I try to keep the drawings in the old classic style," Eisman told the paper. Jerry Beck discussed the status of the Fleischer Studios-produced Popeye animated cartoons: "The Popeye cartoons are not yet out today because the theatrical films are owned by Warner Bros., but the characters are owned by King Features. Warner Bros. now is talking to King Features, and they are very close to making a deal this year... They are in the middle of restoring them, and it will be mind-blowing when they come out. It looks like they were made yesterday. You won't be able to tell the difference in the quality of the picture image of these and the Powerpuff Girls." The Empire State Building was illuminated with green lights to mark the occasion. Popeye-related material currently running on Steven Wintle's "Flat Earth" website includes the 1929 strip that introduced the character and a photograph of Frank "Rocky" Fiegel, who inspired Popeye's visual appearance.
INFO: Tennessean
INFO: Flat Earth
posted by Egon on Monday, January 19, 2004