Showing posts with label Scott McCloud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott McCloud. Show all posts

Sunday, July 31, 2022

I Reads You Juniors: July 2022 - Update #59

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon.

NEWS:

EN MEMORIAM - From Deadline:  American illustrator and cartoonist, Paul Coker, Jr., has died at the age of 93, Saturday, July 23, 2022.  Cocker drew for "MAD Magazine" for over 40 years.  He may be best known for his work for the production company, Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, executing character and production designs for over 20 of the company television specials.  This includes "Frosty the Snowman" (1969), "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (1970), and "Twas the Night Before Christmas" (1974), to name a few.

DYNAMITE - From BleedingCool: Legendary rock musician, Alice Cooper, is returning to comic books in a new title from "Killadelphia" creator, Rodney Barnes, and artist Edu Menna. The comic book will be published by Dynamite Entertainment.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comic's Blade the vampire hunter will appear in the one-shot comic book, "Blade: Vampire Nation #1," which is due Nov. 16th.  His daughter, "Bloodline," will appear in "Crypt of Shadows #1," which is due Oct. 19th.

SDCC/COMICS - From BleedingCool:  San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was the source for hot gossip about LionForge/Oni Press.

IMAGE - From Deadline:  Comic book writer and creator, Rodney Barnes ("Killadelphia," the upcoming "Blacula" graphic novel), has extended his overall deal with HBO to continue to develop, create and write television series.

REVIEW - From Here:  I Reads You reviews "Thor: Love and Thunder."

SDCC:

From IGN:  This article has "everything announced at the Marvel Studios San Diego Comic-Con 2022 Panel."

From BleedingCoolTodd McFarlane will write and Greg Capullo will draw the third Batman/Spawn crossover comic book, which is due in December 2022.

From CBR:  DC Comics' "Dark Crisis" event miniseries is now known as "Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths" so that it can be a sequel to the legendary "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (1985-86).

From ComicBook:  DC Comics Chief Creative Officer and Publisher, Jim Lee, says that there are no plans to return to director Zach Snyder's earlier plans for "Justice League" films, also known as the "Snyderverse."

From ComicBook:  Rumors say that actor Henry Cavill will appear at Comic-Con to talk about Superman, a character that he has played in three films, beginning with "The Man of Steel."

From ComicBook:  Art that Jim Lee drew for Comic-Con supposedly shows what Michael Keaton's new Batman suit will look like for the movie, "The Flash."

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RUMORS - From TheDirect:  Disney has applied for trademarks for the following:  "Avengers: Secret Wars" and "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty."

EN MEMEMORIAM - From BleedingCool:  The Scottish comic book writer, Alan Grant, has died at the age of 73, Wednesday, July 20, 2022.  He was best known for his work in the British comics magazine, "2000 AD," especially for co-writing "Judge Dredd" with fellow writer, John Wagner.  In the U.S., Grant was best known for his work on various "Batman" titles, especially "Detective Comics," "Batman," and "Shadow of the Bat."

INTERVIEW - From PW:  This article is an interview of cartoonist Noah Van Sciver and a feature about his two new comic books, "As a Cartoonist" (Fantagraphics) and "Joseph Smith and the Mormons."

DYNAMITE - From TheBeatDynamite Entertainment has entered a publishing partnership with Immortal Studios, which produces comic books set in a Wuxia martial arts fantasy shared universe.

DC CINEMA - From RollingStone:  A WarnerMedia report reveals that fake social media accounts, bots, and other inauthentic users bolstered the fan-led campaign that demanded that Warner Bros. allow director Zack Snyder be allowed to finish his version of the film "Justice League," (2016). This led to the four-hour "Justice League: Snyder Cut."

MANGA TO LIVE-ACTION - From IGN:  Netflix has provided a first look at Takumi Kitamura, the actor who will play the lead, Yusuke Urameshi, in its live-action adaptation of the classic manga, "Yu Yu Hakusho."

DC COMICS - From DCBlog:  In an interview, writer Ram V talks about his upcoming run on DC Comics' "Detective Comics" and more.

IMAGE - From ComicBook:  Actress Iman Vellani, the star of Marvel Studios' "Ms. Marvel," says that she would like to be involved in a film adaptation of the Image Comics' title, "Bitch Planet," from writer Kelly Sue DeConnick.

COMICS - From BleedingCoolWhatnot Publishing will be the home of the Wesley Snipes' graphic novel project, "The Exiled," which is near the end of a successful crowdfunding campaign.

BLACK COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Hip-hop icon, Snoop Dogg, will star as "the Cryptkeeper" in the graphic novel, "Tales from the Crip." It will be released this fall by Zombie Love Studios, the comic book publishing imprint of television and comic book writer, Rodney Barnes.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:  Here is a checklist for Marvel Comics's A.E.X.:Judgement Day comic book crossover event, which begins in July and ends in November.

COMIC-CON - From Deadline:  The site has a schedule of Film and TV industry panels for San Diego Comic-Con 2022 from Thurs., July 21st to Sun., July 24th.  The convention runs from Wed., July 20th to Sun., July 24th.

EN MEMORIAM - From TheDailyCartoonist:  Author, cartoonist, and comics historian, R.C. Harvey, has died at the age of 85, Thursday, July 7, 2022.  His book about comics including, the two-volume, "Cartoons of the Roaring Twenties" and "Meanwhile... A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon," to name a few.

DC ANIMATION - From DCVideos:  Here is the official trailer for "Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons," which is due on Blu-ray Oct. 18th.

EN MEMORIAM - From Variety:  Manga artist and game creator, Takahashi Kazuki, was found dead at the age of 60, Wednesday, July 6, 2022.  He is best known for creating the manga, "Yu-Gi-Oh," in 1996, which spawned a media franchise, which includes spin-off manga, trading cards, and anime, to name a few.

MARVEL - From THRRichard Newby talks about the recent Marvel Comics controversies regarding Miles Morales and about who writes his comics.

DC TV - From DCBlog:   Executive producer and showrunner, Todd Helbing, talks about Season 2 of "Superman & Lois."

RUMOR - From ScreenGeekHugh Jackson has posted a photo on Twitter that has fans up-in-arms over the rumor of him playing the character, "Wolverine," in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

DC ANIMATION - From DCComics:  There is a teaser trailer for Season 3 of HBO Max's "Harley Quinn."

LGBTQ+ - From BleedingCool:  In Virginia, two Republican politicians have filed an obscenity lawsuit against the authors, Maia Kobabe and Phoebe Kobabe, and the publisher, Lion Forge/Oni Press, of the graphic novel "Gender Queer."

COMICS - From FinancialTimes:  An article about Scott McCloud's "how-to" book, "Understanding Comics," and why it is a Silicon Valley bible.

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JUNE 2022 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Ahoy Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Behemoth Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Hero Collector DC Comics Graphic Novels for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Keenspot Entertainment for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Kodansha Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Lev Gleason for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel "Banner of War" for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel "X-Men" for June 2022 
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Opus Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Seven Seas Entertainment for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Vertical Comics for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for June 2022
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for June 2022

JULY 2022 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Ahoy Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Artists Elite Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Behemoth Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  CEX Publishing for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for July 2022
From GamesRadar:  DC Comics covers and solicitations for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Fairsquare Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Heavy Metal Magazine for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Kodansha Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel "Star Wars" comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Merc Publishing for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Red 5 Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Silver Sprocket for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Vertical Comics for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for July 2022
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for July 2022

AUGUST 2022 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Antarctic Press for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Asylum Press for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Behemoth Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  BOOM Studios for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  CEX Publishing for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Comic House for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Kodansha Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics "A.X.E.: Judgement Day solicitations for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Red 5 Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Seven Seas Entertainment for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  TOKYOPOP for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for August 2022
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for August 2022

SEPTEMBER 2022 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Aftershock Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Ahoy Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Artists Elite Presents for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  AWA for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Blood Moon Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  CEX Publishing for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics solicitations for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  It's Alive for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Kodansha Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Lev Gleason for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Red 5 Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Seven Seas Entertainment for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  TOKYOPOP for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for September 2022
From BleedingCool:  Z2 for September 2022

OCTOBER 2022 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for October 2022
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for October 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for October 2022
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics "Star Wars" for October 2022
 
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Friday, March 17, 2017

Review: A CONTRACT WITH GOD - Centennial Edition

A CONTRACT WITH GOD And Other Tenement Stories
W.W. NORTON & COMPANY – @wwnorton

[This review was originally posted by Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Will Eisner
ISBN: 978-0-393-60918-9; hardcover (March 7, 2017)
224pp, B&W, $25.95 U.S., $34.95 CAN

Introduction by Scott McCloud; December 2004 Preface by Will Eisner

A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories is an original graphic novel written and drawn by legendary comic book creator, Will Eisner (1917 to 2005).  It was first published in 1978 and is composed of four comic book short stories that revolve around several poor Jewish characters who live in a tenement apartment building in New York City, apparently sometime between World War I and World War II.

A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (often referred to only as A Contract with God) was not the first graphic novel published in North America, but it was a seminal graphic novel because of its influence on other comic book creators to produce work that was more ambitious than standard superhero fare and children's comics, both in terms of content and format.

2017 marks the centennial of Will Eisner's birth.  In celebration of what would have been Eisner's 100th birthday, W.W. Norton & Company is publishing what is essentially a “Will Eisner Centennial Edition” of A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories.  This new edition is a hardcover book and contains the four stories from A Contract with God reproduced in high-resolution from Eisner's original art boards.  This book also includes “Introduction to the Centennial Edition” by Scott McCloud (a comic book creator and friend of Eisner); the essay “A Brief History of A Contract with God;” and Will Eisner's “Preface,” written in 2004 for a 2005 edition of the book published by Norton.

The narrative of A Contract with God is a short story cycle of four stories.  The stories are mostly set in a tenement at 55 Dropsie Avenue, the Bronx, New York.  Tenements were apartment buildings built to accommodate the flood of immigrants that flowed into New York after World War I.

The title story, “A Contract with God,” opens the book.  It focuses on Frimme Hersh, a devout Hebrew man who grieves the loss of his adopted daughter, Rachele.  Hersh believes Rachele's death is a violation of his “contract with God,” violated by the Almighty himself.  Hersh rebels against his previous life, but years later decides he needs another contract with God.

Eisner's creation of the entirety of A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories was driven by his grief over the loss of his own daughter, Alice, but especially the story, “A Contract with God.”  I think the central message of this story is about man's foolish belief that he can actually not only initiate a contract with God or eternity, but also dictate terms and conditions.  I cannot tell if Eisner wishes to convey acceptance or resignation to fate and God, but the sense of futility is obvious here, while also being wearily hopeful.  Life goes on...

The second story, “The Street Singer,” is set in the 1930s and focuses on Marta Maria (not her birth name), an opera singer who long ago abandoned her career, and a street singer named Eddie.  Their chance meeting gives birth to hopes of a career revival for one and a debut for the other, but a simple error on both their parts endangers their bold plans.

Other than the 10 pages that depict Marta and Eddie's meeting and their sexual and professional consummation, I am not crazy about this story, although I like it.  However, those ten pages contain some of Eisner's best page and individual panel design of his late career as a graphic novelist, especially that two-panel page in which Eddie walks into Marta apartment and then, enters her boudoir.

The third story is “The Super,” which is about Mr. Scruggs, the mean superintendent of the tenement at 55 Dropsie Avenue and his fateful encounter with Rosie, a poppet who might be one of the youngest femme fatales ever in comic books.  I am not a big fan of this story either, but it has some of Eisner's best cartooning of the human figure an exemplified in Mr. Scruggs.

In his post World War II work on his foundational comic book, The Spirit, Eisner frequently showed off his dexterity in cartooning the human figure in motion.  He matches that with the “The Super.”  This story opens with two masterful full-page illustrations, one suggesting Scruggs walking and the other a magnificent pose showing off Mr. Scrugg's physicality and his ability to intimidate using the threat of his physical prowess.

The final of the four stories is “Cookalein.”  The term refers to a kind of resort farm in the Catskill Mountains; 150 miles north of New York City.  City residents went to such places for summer vacations, and in this story, a wife and her two sons travel to a “cookalein” one summer.  However, marital stress lines between the wife and her husband, who will follow his family to the “cookalein” sometime later, grow wider, while the older of their two sons, Willie, has a life altering experience one hot summer night.

I have lost track of how many times I have re-read and perused all four of these stories in whole and in part, especially “Cookalein,” which is one of my all-time favorite Eisner works.  I had long hoped that Eisner would expand on this story, making it a larger, self-contained work or perhaps as a long-running serial featuring all the main characters from the story.

Over my many years of reading articles about A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, I have come to understand that some comic historians and aficionados consider this work to be the pinnacle of Eisner's career.  I don't.  I consider Eisner's post-WWII work on The Spirit, his comic book published as a newspaper insert during the 1940s and early 1950s, to be his best work.  I do think that A Contract with God is the height of Eisner's comics that are his personal expressions, both as a storyteller and as an artist working in the comics medium.  This graphic novel may also be the best blending of Eisner's expression of pre-World War II Jewish American culture in New York City with his own history as a boy and then as a young man before WWII.

I can say that I love A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories even with my mixed feelings about some of the stories.  In the times that I have read or looked over A Contract with God since Will Eisner's passing, I find myself missing him something fierce... although I never met him.  Anyone who reads graphic novels has not really read graphic novels until he has read A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

#IReadsYou Review: Bryan Lee O'Malley's SECONDS

SECONDS
RANDOM HOUSE/Ballantine Books – @randomhouse

CARTOONIST: Bryan Lee O’Malley
ART ASST: Jason Fischer
COLORS: Nathan Fairbairn
LETTERS: Dustin Harbin
COVER: Bryan Lee O’Malley
ISBN: 978-0-345-52723-3; paperback (July 15, 2014)
336pp, Color, $25.00 U.S.

Born in Canada, Bryan Lee O’Malley is a cartoonist and comic book artist and letterer.  He is best known as the creator of the bestselling graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim, which began in 2004 with Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life.  The series was adapted into the 2010 film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (directed by Edgar Wright).

O’Malley’s first original graphic novel since Scott Pilgrim ended is entitled Seconds.  A full-color, hardback (6.2” x 8.2”), Seconds was just released by Ballantine Books (a division of Random House).  Seconds is the story of a talented young chef who misuses the magic that allows her to correct a blunder.

Seconds focuses on Katie Clay.  She is 29-years-old, and her 20s have been very good to her.  Once upon a time, she opened a restaurant with some friends; named “Seconds,” the place was successful.  Four years later, though, Katie is ready to move on and open a new restaurant, and she wants to name it “Katie’s.”  She has even found what she thinks is the ideal location, an old building that seems to have a magical charm about it (at least to her).

All at once, however, progress on the new location bogs down.  Seconds still calls to her – it doesn’t help that she lives in a room above the restaurant.  Her ex-boyfriend, Max, starts showing up again.  Katie is having a fling with Andrew, the 25-year-old chef she chose to replace her at Seconds, but that relationship seems to be souring.  Then, Hazel, a gorgeous young waitress at Seconds, is hurt in an accident caused, in some measure, because of Katie’s actions.  Katie’s life seems not to be so very good anymore.

If only she could have a second chance…

A mysterious girl named Lis suddenly appears in Katie’s room in the middle of the night.  Lis has simple instructions that will magically allow Katie a second chance to change a bad thing that happened into something much better.  And it works!  The problem is that Katie is only supposed to use that magic once.  Katie’s drive to fix everything will take her down the road to hell.

I am a huge fan of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, and I have enjoyed the work of cartoonist and comic book creator/theorist, Scott McCloud.  I received a review copy of Seconds from Ballantine Books, and it came with a one-page press release for the book that included one-line quotes from both Del Toro and McCloud.  I don’t know if they actually read Seconds in its entirety or just parts of it, but neither of quotes conveyed what a truly unique comic book Seconds is.  With that said, let’s see if I can do some conveying.

Ever since I first came across the phrase “great read” in a book review I have used it in many of my reviews to let the reader know what fun I had reading a particular book.  Seconds is a great read.  I found myself going back over many pages, which is why I am a little late with this review.  Seconds is the kind of graphic novel that keeps me reading comic books, knowing that this medium can and does deliver unique and rewarding works like this.  Seconds is exemplary of that kind of supremely entertaining and imaginative work that only comic books can do.

Seconds is an uncanny mixture of magical realism and the fairy tale.  It is as if Bryan Lee O’Mally makes Katie’s story both a realistic drama and a Grimm-like cautionary, timeless in that it can be retold for any period.  Thematically, Seconds is about regret, the cycle of creation and dissolution in relationships, the ambivalence of change, and the yearning for supernatural (especially if it can solve our problems), among others.

The story suggests that trying to exert total control of the perceived chaos in our lives only brings actual terrible chaos instead of order.  Katie’s frantic desire to fix every problem, blunder, setback, etc. seems to make her more frantic.  The chaos that ensues drives this narrative, making it simmer like a potboiler.  It’s fun for us, but not for her.  Still, Seconds is more than just a thrill ride through Katie’s mounting problems.  It is also a funny, beautiful, and haunting examination of the human desire to make things work out just the way we want them to be.

Fans of Bryan Lee O’Malley and readers look for exceptional comic books will want to ask for Seconds.  This is a truly exceptional comic book.  And it’s a great read!

A

www.ballantinebooks.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.