New York Times Book Review on Comics

In "Comics," By JOHN HODGMAN, New York Times Book Review June 1, 2008, Hodgeman looks at Kirby and Evanier's new biography of him, Shanower's Age of Bronze and Y the Last Man.

In today's Times, Garfield Minus Garfield is again featured, this time in "Is the Main Character Missing? Maybe Not," By CATE DOTY, New York Times June 2, 2008.

Also in Business, M. Night Shyamalan said "He wanted to market “Unbreakable” as a comic-book movie — the tale of an unlikely superhero — but Disney executives insisted on portraying it as a spooky thriller, like “The Sixth Sense.”" For more of the story, see "Shyamalan’s Hollywood Horror Story, With Twist," By ALLISON HOPE WEINER.

Finally, tomorrow's paper features the return of the animated clay character Mr. Bill. See "Mr. Bill Returns (in One Piece) to Pitch a Debit Card," By WENDY A. LEE, New York Times June 3, 2008.

The Times, The New York Times

The Times continues to have more on comic art than many other newspapers, oddly enough.

On their website, they've got Meatpacking District: Animator Gary Leib's short history of Manhattan's Meatpacking District.

Whilst illustrator David Chelsea is missing from Sunday Style's Modern Love column today, my favorite illustrator Guy Billout has illustrated an editorial.

In Business, we find Disney and Pixar: The Power of the Prenup By BROOKS BARNES, June 1, 2008. Two years in, the merger of Disney and Pixar is notable for how well the two companies have made it work.

And in the Magazine, Jason's Low Moon appears to be wrapping up as "Checkmate" is heard.

And in Travel, Fantagraphics gets a photo in "Surfacing | Georgetown, Seattle - From Brewers to Baristas in Seattle," By MATTHEW PREUSCH, New York Times June 1, 2008.

NY Times (and New Yorker) on Iranian cartoonist

I must confess that I was completely unfamiliar with Mohassess's work, but there's an exhibit of it in New York city. See Life in Iran, Etched With Suspicion and Humor By KAREN ROSENBERG, New York Times May 30, 2008. In Ardeshir Mohassess’s drawings, the coded beauty of traditional Persian art comes face to face with the ugliness of successive autocratic regimes.

and "Satire, Iranian," by Ben McGrath, New Yorker June 2, 2008

3 comics articles in Monday's New York Times

One is probably bad news:

"Warner Tries a New Tactic to Revive Its DVD Sales," By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times May 26, 2008

LOS ANGELES — Retail’s love affair with the DVD is on the rocks and Warner Brothers Entertainment would like to patch things up.

Faced with a decline in DVD sales, Warner Brothers, part of Time Warner, is planning an unusual effort around its upcoming adaptation of the popular graphic novel “Watchmen.” Directed by Zack Snyder and set for a March 2009 release, the big-budget movie tells the story of a group of retired superheroes who are tied to a conspiracy that could change history.

The twist is that Mr. Snyder, known for turning the Spartan comic book series “300” into a global hit movie, is also directing a separate-but-related picture that Warner plans to distribute exclusively on DVD.

The second film, tentatively called “Tales of the Black Freighter,” follows a side “Watchmen” storyline about a shipwreck and will arrive in stores five days after the main movie rolls out in theaters. The DVD will also include a documentary-style film called “Under the Hood” that will delve into the characters’ backstories.

The second, also in the business section, is on a webcomic that I hadn't heard of, and won't be reading:

This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix
By NOAM COHEN
Published: May 26, 2008
XKCD.com is serving up an online comic strip with jokes for a very specific audience: techies.

and the third is on Jamie Hewlett's post-comic book career in animation and is interesting:

Opera Meets Animation to Tell a Chinese Tale
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
Published: May 26, 2008
“Monkey: Journey to the West” is a newfangled sort of opera that is making its American debut at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A.



The Post covered this as well, although in less detail - "It's the Year of the 'Monkey' at Spoleto USA: Reinvigorated Festival Casts a Spotlight on Circus-Opera Hybrid," By Anne Midgette, Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, May 26, 2008; C01.

Sunday NY Times on comic art

Actually both of these are animation -

"Resistance Is Futile" By SETH SCHIESEL, New York Times May 25, 2008, is on Nintendo videogames and begins "It's O.K. to liken Shigeru Miyamoto to Walt Disney."

and those of us raised Christian and of a certain age will relate to this obituary: Dick Sutcliffe, 90, Dies; Began "Davey and Goliath", By BRUCE WEBER, New York Times May 25, 2008. They used to show these shorts at Sunday School once in a while around 1973 or so... I don't remember how as that was before VCRs, but I don't recall a film projector being hauled in either.

OT: New York Times cartoon journalism wrap-up

Campbell Robertson ended up doing three pieces that the Times chopped up and put on their website as slideshows:

"Primary Pen & Ink: Asheville, N.C.," April 30 2008

"Primary Pen & Ink: Whiteville, N.C.," May 2 2008

"Primary Pen & Ink: Raleigh, N.C.," May 5 2008

These weren't too big and were nice pieces of cartoon journalism - it's too bad the Times couldn't squeeze them into print. Oddly enough, at this point I think the Times has the most mainstream coverage of comic art. Including their animation reviews, it's almost daily.

And thanks to PW Comics Week, here's an interview with him:

"Campbell Robertson, Sometimes Cartoonist; The New York Times does non-fiction, political, comics," by Clint Hendler, Columbia Journalism Review Fri 9 May 2008. And serendipity strikes! Robertson went to school in DC! "I did some cartooning in college. I did some stuff for the college paper, the Georgetown Hoya, but very little. I was an English major, and my thesis—and maybe this reflects badly on Georgetown—was a fiction comic book. But I hear they’re still accredited."

It's ComicsDC territory after all...

Here's the earlier article referenced in the CJR: "Yes, But Where's the Nut Graf? The New York Times does comics -- for a day, at least," By Robin Sloan, November 19 2003 and the first NYT piece on a paparazzo from November 2003.

Philadelphia's Mike's World

Ok, we're into Mission Creep here, just as Our Man Thompson foretold, yet asked for, but I couldn't pass this one up.

"An Artist’s Concocted World, Starring Himself, Is Too True to Be Real," By KEN JOHNSON, New York Times May 13, 2008.

“Mike’s World: Michael Smith & Joshua White (and other collaborators)” is a terrifically entertaining and philosophically compelling survey, at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, of Mr. Smith’s 30-year career.

And why bring it up, beyond the bond of Mike-ness? "In [Mike Smith's] inventive engagement with diverse forms, including drawing, comic books, sculpture, photography, musical theater and puppet shows as well as installations and video, he has followed a determinedly unpredictable, exploratory course." So there you have it - somewhere in this exhibit, are faux fine art comic books, presumably one of a kind - on display in Philadelphia, through August 3rd.

3 other cartoonists in Sunday's NYTimes

David Chelsea illustrated the Modern Love column as he's been doing for several years.

Emily Flake illustrated an editorial.

A book review shows how comics are seeping into children's books - "Cracking the Comics Code," By LARRY DOYLE, New York Times Book Review May 11, 2008 on SIMON’S DREAM: The Fog Mound, Book 3, By Susan Schade, Illustrated by Jon Buller. 198 pp., Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

And best of all is "Remembering Nana on Mother’s Day," by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki.

Lynda Barry in NY Times

Lynda Barry's got a new book out, What It Is. I've just called Big Planet to have set aside for me as Rick Banning just told me it was out. I met her last year at the PEN event and she was absolutely fascinating to talk to about her working style and subject matter. Here's a NY Times story on her: "How to Think Like a Surreal Cartoonist," By CAROL KINO, New York Times May 11, 2008.

OT: New York Times cartoon journalism on website

Cartoon journalism is one of those minor interests of mine, and somewhere I've got a bibliography of it floating around. For a new example, see the New York Times' "Primary Pen & Ink: Asheville, N.C." - Campbell Robertson, a reporter for The Times, and an occasional cartoonist, is talking to voters around North Carolina in the week leading up to the state’s primary on Tuesday. His reports will be presented in graphic form.

OT: Metropolitan Museum of Art commissions Sorel

Edward Sorel's done an ad for them, "Home is Where the Art Is." The New York Times had a black and white print of it on the 14th and online there's a teeny-tiny version.

Christopher Bing

The New York Times has published one of my favorite non-cartoonists today - editorial illustrator Christopher Bing. He illustrated letters for 'Parsing Bush's address on Iraq' on the editorial page, but unfortunately the illustration isn't online. Bing used to do regular illustrations for the Post's Sunday Opinion section, but is rarely seen there now, sigh.

Comics have conquered the world

The NY Times regularly runs articles on cartoons or comic art these days. Today's Times has an editorial praising Jack Kirby. Unfortunately, it may mean, like opera, that comics are essentially dead.

See "Editorial Observer - Jack Kirby, a Comic Book Genius, Is Finally Remembered" by BRENT STAPLES, New York Times August 26, 2007.