paul pope – Comicsgirl https://www.comicsgirl.com Tue, 01 Oct 2013 22:32:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://www.comicsgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cropped-EdenMiller2017-1-32x32.jpg paul pope – Comicsgirl https://www.comicsgirl.com 32 32 59683043 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for Oct. 1 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/10/01/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-oct-1/ Tue, 01 Oct 2013 22:32:32 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3957 DC Conspiracy
Comics Making Studio with Members of the DC Conspiracy at the Artisphere, Sept. 21

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Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

]]> 3957 SPX thoughts & The D.C. Area Comics Scene for Sept. 17 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/09/17/spx-thoughts-the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-sept-17/ Tue, 17 Sep 2013 22:36:52 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3940 I hand Ulli Lust her Ignatz Award. Photo by Instagram user billhanna
I hand Ulli Lust her Ignatz Award. Photo by Instagram user billhanna

I really only have a couple of things for this week (I won’t collect every single link about Small Press Expo, after all) but I thought I’d take this space to talk a little bit about Small Press Expo 2013.

It was, as always, exhausting and amazing. I really didn’t get to spend as much time walking the floor as I would’ve liked nor did I get to see so many people I wanted to see. But I’m kind of resigned to the fact that this is how the show goes for me now. I was already pretty wiped out on Saturday (but astonishingly, actually managed to eat three meals, mostly because Greg Bennett made sure of that. I am incredibly grateful for that).

The entire process of the Ignatz was pretty intense this year. I don’t think a lot of people submitted until after table registrations happened. But then the books just kept coming. And coming. And coming. I know none of us expected to get so many books. I know I didn’t.

But I think the strength of the nominees really showed the depth of the titles we got. There were many a few usual suspects but I know the jurors were extremely thoughtful in their choices. So many of the categories were tough choices for me.

And yes, I was clearly delighted when all the Outstanding Graphic Novel nominees were women. That just happened organically and all of those books absolutely deserved to be there.

And speaking of that, I was so thrilled Liza Donnelly agreed to host this year. She’s spoken at the United Nations! When she said she was thinking about having all the presenters be women, I basically said “I would love that.” While we both worked to pick a good list of presenters, she definitely gets all the credit.

The whole ceremony and experience meant a lot to me. In my earliest days of reading and writing about comics, I never thought I’d get to do something like this. I’ve had a rough couple of years and so it felt satisfyingly wonderful to be able to be a part of something so amazing.

(I was so happy Ulli Lust won! Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life is amazing and I loved it so much. And I am so jealous of my friend who got to hang out with her quite a bit. When he said “You two are on the same page about so many things,” that really didn’t help.)

Onto your regularly scheduled and short D.C. Area Scene.

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Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

]]> 3940 The D.C. Area Comics Scene for Sept. 3 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2013/09/03/the-d-c-area-comics-scene-for-sept-3/ Tue, 03 Sep 2013 21:38:47 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=3935 News/reviews/interviews:

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Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

]]> 3935 SPX 2010: Minicomics Reviews Part 2 https://www.comicsgirl.com/2010/09/17/spx-2010-minicomics-reviews-part-2/ https://www.comicsgirl.com/2010/09/17/spx-2010-minicomics-reviews-part-2/#comments Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:46:20 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=1964 You read Part 1 yesterday, so here’s Part 2, as promised.

Astronaut Elementary – Lessons 5-6-7: Dave Roman
Astronaut Elementary is going to be released by First Second (but retitled as Astronaut Academy) which is definitely “YAY!” but since it’s also not going to be out until Summer 2011, it’s also a little bit of a “BOO!” because I want it now. Yes, I know I can read it online, but it’s not the same, OK? I like books.

This is adorably hilarious and all-ages in the best way (as in, everyone from children to adults will enjoy it equally) and Roman lets himself have all kinds of freedom in his storytelling. He has pandas as faculty members, a school secretary named Mrs. Cupcake and the school sport is called Fireball, which is played with huge spiky scythes that look like weapons out of fighting video games.

Probably the centerpiece story here is about the cyborg, Cybert, and his tireless mission to eliminate Hakata Soy. However, he is thwarted by a mirror-visored, bee-obsessed guidance chancellor

Roman’s art has a very animated style and the whole effect is loose and playful. I mean, seriously, I want the book and I want it now. Am I really supposed to wait a year?

Remake (2010 SPX): Lamar Abrams
I’m not sure what the actual title of this is, so I’m just kind of going by what’s on the back. Max Guy is kind of a cross between Astroboy, Mega Man and every immature guy you’ve met. The other characters, including the no-nonsense Sybil, come across as much smarter and more together than our alleged hero. I have not read Remake (I’ve meant to, OK?) but even though I didn’t know what was going on, I enjoyed this. Lamar has a fabulous sense of design and framing of scenes and while this mostly revolves around a couple of jokes about poop, it also feels pretty innocent.

Geraniums and Bacon 1 & 2: Cathy Leamy
I really enjoyed Leamy’s Green Blooded, but that was more informative pamphlet than comic. These autobiographical comics deal with crises of faith, weird dreams and other every-day occurrences. Leamy’s obviously having a lot of fun (I love her “Writer’s Embellishment” bits) and her art is airy and constantly lovely. There’s a wonderful sense that she didn’t deliberate too long over these drawings but they don’t feel rushed. It’s almost as if she was just drawing a lot of this for her own amusement and that feels really free and great. I am glad she shared, however.

Sticky Rice: A Travelogue Through Bangkok, Thailand: Jeremy Nguyen
Styled like a Moleskine notebook, this short travel journal evokes Craig Thompson’s Carnet De Voyage (which Nguyen does namecheck). It’s fairly short and sometimes lacking in details, but I did like Nguyen’s ability to capture the world around him in his sketches. The portions of the journal he styles as comics (with dialogue in word balloons) come across as more interesting than his text descriptions. It’s maybe a little slight, but in some ways, I’m kind of happy Nguyen was probably enjoying his trip instead of focusing on his travel journal.

Missing Pieces: A Terka Story: Andrea Tsurumi
Tsurumi e-mailed me before SPX and told me to check out her work. I looked at her website, liked what I saw, and definitely knew this was something I wanted to pick up. Tsurumi’s drawings are ambitiously detailed and her aesthetic evokes Tim Burton’s morbidity and sometimes European comic artists like Moebius (and that’s not faint praise). The story is about a girl named Terka who lives in a land of monsters and it may feel incomplete in some ways — it’s obviously the beginning of a longer story — but Tsurumi seems to have all the pieces in place. I am going to look forward to where this story goes and what she does next.

Comics from Mars #2: Paul Pope
A collection of short stories, Pope’s work has a crazy sort of freedom. His style is always gorgeous and complex, and there’s a delightful sense that he’s making all of this up as he goes along. He seems to wear his influences — Jack Kirby, Heavy Metal magazine — on his sleeve, but he does it fearlessly. (And this further proves to me that you can basically buy everything from AdHouse Books sight unseen and not be disappointed.)

]]> https://www.comicsgirl.com/2010/09/17/spx-2010-minicomics-reviews-part-2/feed/ 2 1964 Saturday Night Movie Triple Feature: Documentary Edition https://www.comicsgirl.com/2010/07/10/saturday-night-movie-triple-feature-documentary-edition/ Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:02:55 +0000 http://www.comicsgirl.com/?p=1699 That’s right — a triple feature. Because as I’ve been telling virtually everyone who will listen, with varying levels of annoyance, I am very much lacking money right now. While all my bills are paid, I have enough food to eat and enough gas in my car to get me to and from work until I get paid again, I have no money for extras. Like entertainment or other things that may involve leaving the house. But since Netflix is paid for another month (hey, it’s only $15) and offers unlimited streaming, it seems like an excellent time to lie around on my bed and watch movies.

I’m currently on a documentary kick and Netflix does have a few streaming that focus on comics or comic book culture. I figured this would be good for a laugh. Or at least a way to waste a few hours.

Comic Book Confidential
Even though this documentary was made in 1988, it still feels very relevant now. The primary focus is on alternative comics — works and creators outside the superhero genre, although those are definitely acknowledged — and I think that’s a side of comics that rarely gets enough attention historically. Yes, we all know about the rise of DC and Marvel, the stories of superheroes, all of that, but these underground creators contributed more than I think most people realize to the look and feel of comics today.

I was delighted to see how many of them are still working today — creators like Lynda Barry and Charles Burns are featured here, along with Jaime Hernandez and Art Spielgman. I also think the sight of an awesomely long-haired Frank Miller at the end being all self-important is quite incredible.

But really, if you want to know the history of comics and side of that history that doesn’t get nearly enough attention, this is a good place to start. I have no idea why more people haven’t told me to watch this documentary before. Nor do I have any idea why I haven’t watched it until now.

Starz Inside: Comic Books Unbound
This is from 2008, and already seems a bit dated (in contrast to Comic Book Confidential, which doesn’t), especially since it was made before the economy tanked and Spider-Man got rebooted and the manga market took a downturn. And it definitely shies away from any criticism of the movies covered here, even when it’s probably deserved.

But it’s actually a pretty decent overview of the history of comic book movies. While there’s plenty of typical studio talking heads, it does feature interesting creators like Paul Pope and Mike Mignola as well as director Richard Donner. The overall tone here is completely flattering, even when they touch on some of the goofy live-action projects Marvel did in the ’80s and ’90s (but no mention of the TV movies for Nick Fury or Generation X, even though the Spider-Man and The Hulk series got passing mentions. I think some things are better off forgotten). But case in point: There was no acknowledgment that Marvel is still making bad movies (Daredevil? Elektra? I somewhat like Elektra, but I’m not going to tell you it’s good).

Still, I like that they do pay some attention to non-superhero comic book movies like The Road to Perdition and A History of Violence as well as American Splendor. And although the “looking into the future” predictions aren’t quite accurate now, I still think it’s clear that comic book movies are big business. I was surprised by this. I wasn’t expecting too much from it, but underneath the breathless tone of “these movies are awesome!” there is something of substance here.

Confessions of a Superhero
This 2007 documentary isn’t so much about comic books, except in the most abstract of ways. Rather, it’s about four people who dress up as superheros (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Hulk) and let tourists take photos of them for tips.

Christopher Dennis loves Superman a little too much — he has an overcrowded apartment full of merchandise and memorabilia and rarely takes the costume off. Maxwell Allen has inflated claims of his past as a supposed mob enforcer (as well as his resemblance to George Clooney) and seems to take being Batman a little too personally.

On the other hand, Jennifer Wenger, who dresses as Wonder Woman, and Joe McQueen, who dresses as The Hulk, both seem to understand this is just a way to make money in between acting jobs.

Wenger comes across the best of all four — she’s the most down-to-earth and genuinely sweet. McQueen also seems to understand his limitations and has overcome hardship (he was homeless for a while).

The other two? They both have obvious problems. Dennis claims to be the son of Sandy Dennis, but her family says he’s not. His obsession with Superman comes across as a compulsion (and his apartment is nearly something out of Hoarders). Allen is charming enough, until his outlandish stories begin to pile up (he claims to be great at various martial arts, but one scene in a martial arts studio would say otherwise. Perhaps not surprisingly, both seem to think dressing up as superheroes will provide them with their big breaks.

It’s a little painful in parts and it’s more about these four lives than any deeper message. But there’s still something sad and fascinating about how people are delighted and happy to pay money to get their photos taken with someone — anyone — dressed as their favorite heroes. There’s some power there.

Maybe this time next year, I’ll have the Comic-Con documentary that Joss Whedon, Harry Knowles and Morgan Spurlock are making this year. I suppose we’ll see how that turns out.

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