PopSyndicate.com

Today's adventure: An amusing tale of love and obsession

“Rebel Unicorn. I swear I’m going to make this book happen

.” - Paul Maybury, www.deliciousbrains.com

Sometimes, I feel a little guilty when I read a graphic novel. Craig Thompson spent four years working on Blankets. I read it in a few hours. Jeff Smith worked on Bone for approximately thirteen years. I read the complete collection in a week. Charles Burns’ Blackhole took eleven years, which I read in two days. Jessica Abel spent four years on La Perdida. I read it in five days.

Dave Sim. Cerebus. Oh dear god. 27 years.

I don’t even have the courage to start Cerebus. But someday, I’ll buy all the books, lock myself in the office, and emerge a month later. For a while, people had been taking bets as to whether or not Dave Sim would commit suicide immediately after its completion. I googled him, and discovered several websites questioning his sanity.

The fact is the artist will always give more than what the reader can possibly reciprocate. The comic book artist’s motivation is beyond logic. They work two jobs, one to pay the bills, and then in the evening stay up all night to pencil and ink a single page. The artist will work hours on a panel that’ll I’ll read in a few seconds.

I understand it’s this way with all art—with the novelist, the musician, the filmmaker. However, with comics, there’s something incurably under appreciated. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Ask someone at a bookstore if they know who Joe Kubert is. (Side note: Fax from Sarajevo should be required reading for high school students.)

Financially, it doesn’t make much sense to self-publish a comic book, purchase booth space at Comic-Con International, buy an airline ticket, reserve a hotel room, and then pay

$6 each day for convention center nachos

. And yet, hundreds of people do it every year without any delusions about how many issues they can sell. I’ve seen many creators just give their comics away.

Maybe I feel guilty because the comic book has the intimacy of a novel, and the voyeurism of film. With many comics, there’s another element—a personal vision for a story that cannot translate adequately to any other medium. Reading a comic book is a unique experience, and a worthwhile one. But once again, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.

” And honestly, it’s love that moves this pen” - Murs

QUESTION: Is there anyone working in comics who you think is literally insane? Who? Is that cool or kinda scary?

ANSWER: “Oh shit… all of them! HA HA! And it’s mostly just scary…” - Mike Hawthorne, artist for Hysteria, Umbra, Three Days in Europe

Blog excerpt from December 3, 2004—
“I know it’s en vogue to be critical of any pop culture consumption, especially when it comes from a TV. However, I would consider us more patrons or aficionados of American pop culture. Melissa and I love stories—in whatever media. We watch TV, movies, read books, magazines, comics, listen to radio shows. One medium has not sucked the life from the other. We enjoy them all. Savor them.”

WIKIPEDIA OF THE WEEK: CRAIG THOMPSON—>
He has quickly risen to the top ranks of American cartoonists in both popularity and critical esteem. In mock-jealousy, Eddie Campbell once expressed a temptation to break Thompson’s fingers (The Comics Journal, issue 266).

AN OPEN LETTER TO CHYNNA—>
You, the outspoken Pepsi drinker. Me, the sad Coca-Cola addict drinking himself into an inevitable kidney transplant. I know how it must feel when you go to a restaurant to order a Pepsi, and they say, “Would Coke be okay?” I’ve had that same experience on the other end, “Would Pepsi be okay?” (No dammit! I want a Coca-Cola! You commie! Commie? Hmmm… but the can is red…) I realize it’s difficult to argue over personal taste, but isn’t that why the Internet was invented?

Yes, Pepsi was featured in Quadrophenia. But I don’t trust anything anymore that markets itself for the “next generation”. That’s what happened when I got suckered into buying a Volkswagen. I saw that Cabrio commercial with Nick Drake singing “Pink Moon” and damn, I wanted that life. I bought a Jetta, and that stupid overpriced Nazi-car has been a thorn in my side ever since. So, screw generation-targeted advertising! I’m going with a classic. After all, it says so on the can. Classic. In all fairness, Coke is trying to be young and cool too. And don’t get me started on Coca-Cola Blak.

Really, we’re all screwed. Everything is too damn hip, and all I’m left with is freakin’ Tab. The nerdiest of all the sodas.

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK—>
Danica Novgorodoff’s A Late Freeze. I have a new tradition. Every year, I make sure to order whichever mini-comic is the Isotope Award recipient—Skyscrapers of the Midwest, The Last Sane Cowboy, and now A Late Freeze. It’s one damn fine tradition.

Umbra (1 of 3), published by Image Comics, by Steve Murphy and Mike Hawthorne, 48 pages. A bizarre forensics mystery set in Iceland with a protagonist named “Askja Thorasdottir”. Issue two is also available, and equally good.

THE SCOTT MCCLOUD CHESS CHALLENGE—>
It’s official. We’ve got a game going, but don’t expect too much.

Hopkins - McCloud
1. e4   e6
2. d4

Heard about McCloud’s 50 state tour? CLICK HERE. Wow. Talk about a labor of love, all to promote the release of his book MAKING COMICS from HarperCollins. If you haven’t picked up his previous books Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics, now’s the time. These books have reshaped the way we talk about this medium.

This concludes my second week of “Beneath the Underdog” for Pop Syndicate. Feedback appreciated. Discussion encouraged.
Come back next Thursday when I give out Jackie Estrada’s phone number.