HARRY MAYEROVITCH DEAD AT 94
Architect and artist Harry Mayerovitch died on April 16, the day of his 94th birthday, according to a Montreal Gazette obituary carried by Drawn & Quarterly's website. Born in 1910, the Montreal native studied architecture at McGill University. In addition to his career as an architect, Mayerovitch contributed editorial cartoons to the Westmount Examiner and designed posters for the National Film Board. Selections of Mayerovitch's cartoons and posters have seen print in issues of the "Drawn & Quarterly" anthology series. "Way to Go," a career-spanning collection emphasizing recent cartoons about death and dying, is forthcoming from the publisher. Mayerovitch was recently cover-featured in the March 25-31 issue of the Montreal Mirror.
INFO: Drawn and Quarterly
INFO: Montreal Mirror
posted by Egon on Monday, April 19, 2004

TCJ CHANGES FORMAT, FREQUENCY
The Comics Journal will switch to a deluxe format and a nine-times yearly frequency, according to solicitation copy and information posted to the magazine's message board. The Comics Journal #262, due in August, will be the first issue in the new format, with 192 total pages, 64 color pages, and coated enamel stock at a cost of $9.95. " The Comics Journal is re-vamping its format with more color, more pages, better paper, higher quality printing, and a fresh, new design," solicitation copy reads. "Content is also being rejuvenated with expanded news and commentary sections, the inclusion of a comics section, and wider and more contemporaneous coverage of current comics publishing." Journal Managing Editor Dirk Deppey announced the nine-times yearly publishing schedule. "The schedule will be every six weeks," said Deppey.
INFO: The Comics Journal
posted by Egon on Monday, April 19, 2004

ZAPATA TAKES ON CHAVEZ
Venezuelan artist and cartoonist Pedro Leon Zapata criticizes what he describes as President Hugo Chavez's increasingly repressive "cultural revolution" in a story carried by the Monterey Herald. "'They are against cultural manifestations, like the Nazis with their book burnings,' said Zapata, whose political cartoons have appeared for close to four decades in El Nacional, a staunchly anti-Chavez newspaper."
INFO: Moneterey Herald
posted by Egon on Monday, April 19, 2004

CORRIDOR HITS CALCUTTA
The Mumbai Newsline is among news sources covering the publication of Sarnath Banerjee's "Corridor," billed as "India's first graphic novel." The 112-page book is published by Penguin Books India.
INFO: Mumbai Newsline
INFO: Penguin Books India
posted by Egon on Monday, April 19, 2004

EISNER CRACKS CODE
Italy's "Comicscode" online magazine runs an English-language interview with Will Eisner, primarily on the subect of "Fagin the Jew." Eisner says: "The current book, Fagin the Jew, is an attempt to find a new direction, what we call 'a polemic', which is using this medium to make an intellectual point. That was the purpose, I think. I think I'm still involved in trying to be at the head of the parade, you know, I'm an exploratory man. I still feel like that. There's so much yet to do that I really can't pay attention to the fact that I'm older than I was."
INFO: Comicscode
posted by Egon on Monday, April 19, 2004