Vietnam month continues with a great mid-month snack. Tod Holton was a school student from the 60s who fought the Vietnamese through use of a magic beret. Presented here is every Tod Holton story ever produced. A patriotic kitsch classic, now presented in full.
BBtv: NYC Comic Con geek-gasm
Posted by Xeni Jardin, April 25, 2008 8:00 AM | permalink
Tavie sez,
I just found out that my favorite comic series of all time, Elfquest, has announced an initiative to celebrate their 30th anniversary, wherein, by the end of the year, EVERY issue ever will be available online for free.It’s hard to describe it, but it’s an amazing body of work. It was one of the first independently published comics in the world and one of the most successful. The core story is about a group of elves from outer space who ride wolves - it sounds crazy when I say it, you just have to read it.This is a 30 year old universe (older than me!) so there are spinoffs and side-stories and rarities that even I, as a hard-core fan, have never gotten to read. And soon I will be able to enjoy every single shred of it. For free. Just ‘cuz.
The internet is beyond words in its capacity to make me happy.
Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat writes:
Here’s a terrific interview with one of my favorite cartoonists in the world, Phoebe Gloeckner, about why she’s an artist. Watch it for the interview material, but keep your eyes peeled for a lot of seemingly digital art from Gloeckner that as far as I can tell has not been seen before, much of it appearing to come from her project about the mass unsolved murder of women in Juarez, Mexico. (Via Tom Spurgeon.)
Matt Springer interviewed Johnny Hiro creator Fred Chao for HeavyInk.
It’s rare that a new series will grab you by the back of the head and smack your face into a soft, comfy cushion of fun goodness. Yet that’s exactly what Johnny Hiro does. It’s hard to describe in the usual Hollywood pitch-style loglines — “Scott Pilgrim meets Bruce Lee and dates an adorable girl in a fantastically weird New York City” is about as close as you’ll get, but even that doesn’t convey the pure energy and enthusiasm evident in every panel of Johnny Hiro.An illustrator and graphic designer by trade, writer/artist Fred Chao has published three issues of Johnny Hiro through AdHouse Books. He took some time to talk about his influences and inspirations, as well as the background on how Johnny Hiro came to be.
Fantagraphics published Gary Groth’s 1987 interview with illustrator Dave Stevens, who died last week of luekemia.
You have your priorities. Well, to what do you attribute your preoccupation with cheesecake?All I know is that I draw what I like. I like those images. I think I’m also taking delight in that I’m able to draw the female figure because when I was a kid I could never draw one for the life of me. Although mine are kind of interchangeable — the same basic baby face, big eyes, and similar bodies. It’s just an image that I find real appealing and positive. I don’t see anything negative about it or unhealthy. The proportions are sometimes stretched, but there’s nothing really gross in those proportions. It’s bouncy and it’s cute and I find that women enjoy it, too. I’ve never had a gal come to me or write to me and say, “This is exploitive. This is ugly. I don’t like it.”
Is that right?
Yeah, I’ve never had any complaints.
Not even from Cat Yronwode?
Uhhh….
Or are you discounting her as a woman?
[Laughter.] In the beginning I had a little bit of a problem with her over Betty because Cat thought that I was swiping a Frazetta character who was a blonde. What she hooked into was that striped blouse Betty wore. That I definitely got from Frazetta, but Cat didn’t realize that it was Betty Page that I was drawing, who was a real person. Cat kind of let me have it in print about stealing from another artist — I don’t remember the context. As far as the pin-up art itself, I’ve never had anybody give me a hard time. The only time I did get one negative response was to that page of Betty in The Rocketeer when she was in the doorway. [Again, Rocketeer #2 from Pacific.] I got to admit that it was a little far. I should have had her at least in a negligee.
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“Army@Love: The Hot Zone Club” is the first collection of Rick Veitch and Gary Erskine’s demented satirical war/romance comic book, concerning the pornographic adventures of the middle-managers drafted to serve in America’s endless war in “Afbaghistan,” where corporate sponsorship logos adorn the fuselages of jets, and combatants gossip with their loved-ones via cell-phone while taking heavy casualties defending the contractor-erected shopping malls in the middle of the wasteland.The world of Army@Love starts from a simple and savage premise: the corporatization of war-fighting will lead, inevitably, to the ultimate stop-loss program, through which middle-managers from giant corporate marketing organizations will be inducted (at employers’ expense) to fight the war through novel ways. It is these marketers who conceive of the war as permanent peak experience, a high that can only be achieved through constant life-endangerment, massive, mid-combat orgies, and relentless slaughter.
This is a funny comic book, but it’s a deeply offensive — and extremely thought-provoking — kind of funny, the kind of funny we need a lot more of if we’re to keep from laughing ourselves into the grave. Link
