Where the wild things are - Animal Academy Volume 2

I finished reading Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho Volume 2

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin. TOKYOPOP has created quite a nice backlist of manga for preteen and juvenile readers, and right now, I'd say that Animal Academy is at the top of the list.

Thank you, Dave Matthews

In an interview with CNN, Dave Matthews has something to say about racism and American politics. Here is the main highlight:

CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.

Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.

Maybe I'm paranoid about it, but I don't think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama -- if it was Clinton -- would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don't think so.

CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.

Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn't have the podium. The message that's delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we're going to put on because that's what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That's just where the culture's gotten.

There's no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.

CNN: Because they're too low-key? Because they're not bombastic?

Matthews: Because they're thoughtful, and they're patient, and they're tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They're trying to impart information. I don't think that's the goal [now] because it's not a good business plan.

Everyone's outraged all the time. Why are you outraged? There's war -- there's always been war, as long as most of us have been alive. There have always been people being abused, there's always been horrible things in the world. Why are we outraged? We should just be quiet and figure it out, and work it out together. ... There's no solution in Washington as long as people are shouting like that. [END]


The Dave Matthews Band is probably touring in support of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

I Reads You Review: SPY VS SPY! MISSIONS OF MADNESS

Creators: John Ficarra (editor); Antonio Prohias (cartoonist)
Publishing Information: Watson-Guptill Publications, paperback, 192 pages, $11.99 (US); $13.99 (CAN)
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-0-8230-5050-5 (ISBN)

Anyone who has read MAD Magazine is familiar with Spy vs. Spy. It is the wordless comic strip featuring two spies, Black and White, who have been constantly fighting and conspiring against each other for decades. Spy vs. Spy’s hooks are that the two spies are always creating ever inventive ways of foiling, hurting, and trying to do away with one another and that they look identical except that one wears white and the other black. One of the most famous features in Mad, Spy vs. Spy has appeared in almost every issue of the magazine.

Antonio Prohias began producing Spy vs. Spy for MAD in 1961, and he drew the strip for 26 years until he retired. [The strip is currently drawn by Peter Kuper.] There were “pocket-sized” paperback collections of Spy vs. Spy episodes going back to 1965; however the early collections are now out of print. In August 2009, Watson-Guptill brought three of those books back into print, two for the first time in more than 40 years.

The third of the three books, Spy vs Spy! Missions of Madness, was originally published as The Fourth MAD Declassified Papers on Spy vs Spy (Warner Books, 1974). The episodes included in Missions of Madness are longer, more like comedy sketches than gag strips. The book’s opening sketch, “The Model Detective” concerns a rather complicated plot by Black Spy to make White Spy believe in vampires, which will lead to White making a rather explosive discovery.

As funny as this and other of the longer sketches in this collection are, Prohias’ skill as a consummate draftsman and inventive graphic designer take center stage. Prohias’ drawing of the model house in the “The Model Detective,” is certainly impressive, but to have the compositional skill to fit it into the panel with larger elements will stir the reader. The panels with the submarine in “Depth’s Charge” flaunt Prohias’ ability to manipulate composition and graphic design and will also further boggle the mind.

The truth of the matter is that Spy vs Spy! Missions of Madness and the other two books (Danger! Intrigue! Stupidity! and Masters of Mayhem) aren’t just MAD collections; they’re also fine art books about Antonio Prohias.

A is the great for Spy vs Spy Missions of Madness

Geoff Johns dining on the corpses of Alan Moore castaways?

Rich Johnston offers highlights of Alan Moore's interview with the website, Mania. Of particular interest is Moore's assertion that DC Comics' current hit event miniseries, Blackest Night, is based on some old stories he did in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual 2 and are reprinted in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

Family Guy didn't win... 2009 Emmy Winners

It would have been so cool if FOX animated series, "Family Guy" had won "Outstanding Comedy Series," which "30 Rock" won, again.

61st Annual Emmy Awards (2009)
Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men
Outstanding Comedy Series: 30 Rock
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close - Damages
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Toni Collette - United States of Tara
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Michael Emerson - Lost
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Jon Cryer - Two and a Half Men
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Cherry Jones - 24
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies
Outstanding Reality Competition Program: The Amazing Race
Outstanding Reality Program: Intervention
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program: Jeff Probst - Survivor
Outstanding Miniseries: Little Dorrit
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie: Brendan Gleeson - Into the Storm
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie: Jessica Lange - Grey Gardens
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie: Ken Howard - Grey Gardens
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie: Shohreh Aghdashloo - House of Saddam
Outstanding Made for Television Movie: Grey Gardens
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special: The Kennedy Center Honors
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series: Rod Holcomb, "And in the End" - ER
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: "Meditations in an Emergency" - Mad Men
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Jeff Blitz, "Stress Relief" - The Office
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: "Reunion" - 30 Rock
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special: Dearbhla Walsh - Little Dorrit (Part 1)
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special: Little Dorrit
Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: Bruce Gowers, "Show 833" (The Final Three) - American Idol
Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special: Bucky Gunts - Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special: Chris Rock - Kill The Messenger
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Michael J. Fox - Rescue Me
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Justin Timberlake - Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Ellen Burstyn - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey - Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Special Class Program: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

I Reads You Juniors: Summer of the Dead

Associated Press (AP) writer Jake Coyle offers an interesting article about all the famous people, public figures, and notable persons who died this summer ("Ceaseless deaths of the famous mark summer '09). Although Coyle begins the list in late May (which must be the new beginning of summer) with the death of Dom DeLuise, he does manage to round up a shockingly large list of notable demises:

David Carradine, Walter Cronkite, Farrah Fawcett, John Hughes, Michael Jackson, Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy, and Patrick Swayze are the ones that personally touched me.

Coyle inserts the usual complaint about the excessive coverage of Micheal Jackson's death (June), although I think the coverage of Michael's passing and related matters was far less irritating than the coverage of President Ronald Reagan's death back in 2004.

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Kirby Estate Goes Siegel on Marvel/Disney

Rich Johnston is reporting that the estate of Jack Kirby has sent notices to Marvel Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company terminating coyrights to the characters he created or co-created for Marvel Comics, which includes film franchises the Hulk and the X-Men.