Wednesday, January 04, 2023

Thompson, Richard, Mike Rhode and Chris Sparks. Compleating Cul de Sac, 2nd Expanded Edition. Arlington, VA: ComicsDC & Asheville, NC: Team Cul de Sac, 2022.

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Cinematographer Reflects on "One of the Most Beautiful Endings"

Carolyn Giardina

DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw describes how she and Ryan Coogler approached capturing the emotions and themes of the Disney/Marvel blockbuster.

January 2, 2023

This story first appeared in a December stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/black-panther-wakanda-forever-cinematographer-film-ending-1235286447/

Comics dominated France's Top 50 bestselling books of 2022 list

World Without End is France's highest selling book and the manga explosion is well-represented in the Top 50

Dean Simons

01/03/2023

https://www.comicsbeat.com/comics-top-france-top-50-bestselling-books-2022/

The Beat 2023 Creator Survey Part 4: The biggest story of 2022 was…

Spoiler: AI art

Heidi MacDonald

01/03/2023

https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-beat-2023-creator-survey-part-4-the-biggest-story-of-2022-was/

WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE COMICS BUSINESS IN 2023?

by Rob Salkowitz on January 3, 2023

https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/52960/whats-ahead-comics-business-2023

'MARVEL AGE OMNIBUS' GOES BACK TO THE 1980S

With Three Years' Worth of Classic Promo Magazines

by Brigid Alverson on December 29, 2022

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/52955/marvel-age-omnibus-goes-back-1980s

Tuesday, January 03, 2023

Big Planet Comics Bethesda store changes owners, continues on course set in 1986 [updated w/ quotes]

Joel and the logo he designed

by Mike Rhode

[updated at 9:47 with 2 quotes from Joel]

First, here's the minimalist press release they sent out tonight...

For immediate release:

January 3, 2023

The end of an era.... A passing of the torch....

Big Planet Comics founder Joel Pollack has retired after more than 36 years at the helm of the Bethesda landmark.

The shop will continue on in the more-than-capable hands of Nick Liappis, manager of the Big Planet U St shop for the past decade, and member of the Big Planet family going all the way back to the old days of the Vienna store.

After operating curbside only since 2020, the shop will now be open for in-store shopping,

Tuesday-Friday 11-7
Saturday 11-6
Closed Sunday and Monday.

7939 Norfolk Ave, Suite 200
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-654-6856

Now, my comments...

Joel opened the store in July of 1986, just as some great adult comics such as The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen were hitting. There were competing stores around, including Geppi's, Barbarian and Another Universe, but he's outlasted all of them via wise stewardship. The initial store has remained in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle for all the intervening years. It opened on the 2nd floor of a building on Cordell Ave, moved to a ground floor space on Fairmont Ave, and then back to another building on Cordell but on the ground floor. COVID-19 hit the business hard and it moved to the second floor of the building above the California Tortilla (which also was founded in Bethesda). The store survived by being pickup only in the current space, a situation that is now changing as Nick builds out the space for customers. I've seen it and it has the usual great BP selection. When I sent this blog post to him, Joel provided detailed information on the store's moves, stating "We started in 1986 on the second-floor of 4865 Cordell Ave. In 1991, we moved to 4908 Fairmont Ave. When the wrecking ball came for the Fairmont store in 2012, we high-tailed it to 4849 Cordell where we spent eight glorious years until Covid struck. We were forced to seek radically lower rent which we did by moving to a second-floor location at 7939 Norfolk. So I started on a second-floor and finished on a second floor. Funny, the same family owns both of those buildings."

Matt Wagner and Greg Bennett at SPX

Co-owner Greg Bennett, who began working at the store when it opened, and he was 16, has also sold his stake. He tells me he's considering moving to Europe to work in the field there. Greg had previously owned and operated a branch in Georgetown which metamorphosed into the U St store, now owned by Mars Imports founder (a great 1980s project to import European comic books) Jared Smith. Smith also owns the 3rd store in the chain in Vienna. The 4th store was bought into the chain by another employee, Peter Casazza and co-owned with Jared, until it was recently sold earlier this year to 3rd Eye Comics. As you can see, the chain has grown by bringing employees into ownership positions - something that has always impressed me. Dan Nadel escaped though to become an art historian of comics. Joel and Greg were big supporters of the Small Press Expo (SPX) since its very earliest days as well. The local comics scene owes Big Planet an immeasurable debt and wouldn't have been the same without them.

The Fairmont Ave store awaiting demolition

Joel has been part of my life ever since that July he opened, when I was brought up there by a girlfriend who had heard about it. We've become friends and hit the road to tour exhibits together. For many, many years I would take my Wednesday lunch time at his store, while my coworkers ate in the local restaurants. I've met some great cartoonists there too. For years, Joel & Greg saved me the ephemeral advertising that comic book companies put out, and lots of it is in the Library of Congress and Michigan State University among other collections; some went in the mail to MSU today in fact. They also regularly set me up with Halloween comics and Free Comic Book day floppies that I could hand out for Halloween, as well as donate sets to those comics collections.

As the years went by and my work situation changed, I couldn't head up every week, and I was becoming disenchanted with big two companies anyway. The guys would set aside material they thought I'd be interested in for me, and I usually was. Whenever I'd go in, I'd find more to buy as well -- including last Thursday. I've still got my pull box of the original #45 though and I'll be visiting monthly to give Nick my money.

As for Joel? "My love of the comics medium was a driving force in Big Planet's creation, but it was the wonderful people I got to meet through my business that sustained me all of these years."

Leigh Tyberg and Morgan Epstein in 2015 at the 2nd Cordell location

Joel and I plan to sit down soon for an oral history, and I've mentioned wanting to do one with Greg as well. There will be "more to come" to steal a line from some other real comics journalists...

Richard Thompson and Joel, who introduced me to him and changed my life.

A new graphic logo for the 21st century

The pickup table during the start of the Covid downturn

The Georgetown location run by Greg.

The current U St NW store and Belgian comics museum curator Willem Degraeve.

Greg, Nick Bertozzi, Joel, and Jason Little on Fairmont.

Nick Bertozzi brought Picasso with him to Fairmont Ave., but this is a picture of me.

Baltimore Comic Con's Randy Tischler talks to Gene Yang on Fairmont Ave.

Jared and Peter set up at Baltimore Comic Con.

The FCBD rack at the Vienna store was typical of the whole chain.

A post SPX party night at the Fairmont Ave location.

Greg at the counter of the 2nd Cordell Ave store.

Jared likes to publish comics too. Cartoonist is Chris Artiga-Oliver

Halloween comics to hand out in 2016.

The Vienna store.


David Lasky dedicace from his signing in 2014.

Here's 184 photographs tagged with "Big Planet" on my Flickr account. I'm sure there's many others waiting to be labelled.

Big Planet Bethesda re-opens tomorrow for in-person shopping

Starting Wednesday, the Bethesda hours will be Tuesday-Friday, 11-7; Saturday 11-6, and closed on Sunday and Monday.

BIG PLANET COMICS  7939 Norfolk Ave. Suite 200  Bethesda, MD 20814

Maryland comic store closes part of chain

Brainstorm Comics and Gaming closing its Walkersville location

Clara Niel, The Frederick News-Post, Md.

Fri, December 30, 2022

https://news.yahoo.com/brainstorm-comics-gaming-closing-walkersville-075100672.html

Elon Musk Selects New Twitter CEO by Daniel Boris

Comics Research Bibliography citations update, 12/31/22 – 1/2/23

John Michael Helmer

["It is with profound sadness that I have to report the passing of writer Lou Mougin."]

Lucky Comics Universe December 31 2022

https://www.facebook.com/groups/188106998374318/posts/1575914076260263/

Lou Mougin, Comic Book Writer and Historian, Passes Away at Age 68

By Brian Cronin

CBR January 1 2023

https://www.cbr.com/lou-mougin-comic-book-writer-historian-obituary/

["Airship 27 writer Lou Mougin 27 Nov 1954- Dec 31 2022 passed away yesterday at the age of 68"]

Airship 27 Productions January 1 2023

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Z5LAS1dToXmDpbBJXkZ9FjtfXJtTxyQTtxnfk67Tthm1wnawEcjL2bKVqZWmygLl&id=100028847754224

All Glory to T.C.U.'s Meme Mascot

Officially, the Texas Christian University mascot is the Horned Frog. But the team's real hero is the Hypnotoad, a "Futurama" gag of mesmerizing power.

By Billy Witz

A version of this article appears in print on Dec. 31, 2022, Section B, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: T.C.U.'s Secret Weapon: A Powerful Cartoon Toad.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/sports/ncaafootball/hypnotoad-tcu-michigan.html

The Alt-Right Manipulated My Comic. Then A.I. Claimed It. ["Sarah's Scribbles." Webcomic]

By Sarah Andersen

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 1, 2023, Section SR, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: The Dark Possibilities Of A.I. and Art.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/opinion/sarah-andersen-how-algorithim-took-my-work.html

The Past Does Not Exist: An Interview with Peter Milligan

Marc-Oliver Frisch | January 2, 2023

https://www.tcj.com/the-past-does-not-exist-an-interview-with-peter-milligan/

Norm Feuti's Gil Ends Providence Journal Run

D. D. Degg

January 1 2023

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/01/01/norm-feutis-gil-ends-providence-journal-run/

Funky Winkerbean ends today, after five decades

Paris Wolfe, cleveland.com

Dec. 31, 2022,

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2022/12/funky-winkerbean-ends-today-after-five-decades.html

Welcome to the new Daily Cartoonist

Alan Gardner

January 1 2023

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/01/01/welcome-to-the-new-daily-cartoonist-2/

Alan Gardner is back!

Alan Gardner

January 1 2023

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/01/01/alan-gardner-is-back/

Comic Store In Your Future 2022: A Year In Review

January 1, 2023

by Rod Lamberti

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/comic-store-in-your-future-2022-a-year-in-review/

Man Allegedly Murdered Wife For Not Supporting Opening a Comic Store

December 31, 2022

by Rich Johnston

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/man-allegedly-murdered-wife-over-not-supporting-opening-comic-store/

Warner Bros. Discovery Cuts 250+ Looney Tunes Shorts from HBO Max

January 1, 2023

by Ray Flook

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/warner-bros-discovery-cuts-250-looney-tunes-shorts-from-hbo-max/

Bad Idea Is Selling Jobs in Comics For $1000 Each

January 1, 2023

by Rich Johnston

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/bad-idea-is-selling-jobs-in-comics-for-1000-each/

CSotD: Everything Old is Old Again! [1922 New Year's editorial cartoons]

Mike Peterson

December 31 2022

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/12/31/csotd-everything-old-is-old-again-2/

A Parting Letter from Your AAEC Prez

Kevin Necessary : December 31st, 2022

https://editorialcartoonists.com/a-parting-letter-from-your-aaec-prez/

Jonathan Hickman To Accept New Comics Writer Pitches For 3W3M

December 31, 2022

by Rich Johnston

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/jonathan-hickman-to-accept-new-comics-writer-pitches-for-3w3m/

Spawn World Record Over 70+ Image/DC Crossover Covers In One Month

December 30, 2022

by Rich Johnston

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/spawn-world-record-over-70-image-dc-crossover-covers-in-one-month/

Fitz's Opinion: After 40 years in journalism, a cartoonist's chapter draws to a close

David Fitzsimmons

Jan 1, 2023

https://tucson.com/opinion/local/fitzs-opinion-after-40-years-in-journalism-a-cartoonists-chapter-draws-to-a-close/article_ab71fa42-8185-11ed-beba-33d803befacc.html

The Best Comics of 2022

Tucker Stone & Joe McCulloch eds.

The Editors | December 31, 2022 | 1 comment

https://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2022/

I've grown apart from old friends. But the holidays help us reconnect.

These moments give me a glimpse into the lives of the people I used to know so intimately

Perspective by Dabin Han

December 27, 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/12/27/ive-grown-apart-old-friends-holidays-help-us-reconnect/

Being cool is overrated. I'm ready to release my inner cringe.

I want to give myself the room to explore all the qualities that make me unique

Perspective by Bianca Xunise

January 1, 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/01/01/being-cool-is-overrated-im-ready-release-my-inner-cringe/

From Cover to Cover's Favorite Comics of 2022

Scott and Mike take a look at their favorite comics from 2022.

Scott Cederlund, Mike Baxter

Jan 2, 2023

https://www.fromcovertocover.com/comics-of-2022/

From Cover to Cover's 2022 Favorite Archival Editions and Collections

Mike and Scott take a look at some of their favorite collected editions from 2022.

Mike Baxter, Scott Cederlund

Jan 2, 2023

https://www.fromcovertocover.com/from-cover-to-covers-2022-favorite-archival-editions-and-the-like/

Jan 2 2023

IDEAS DON'T BLEED episode sixteen | Tini Howard, part two

Matthew Rosenberg, Ethan S. Parker, and Griffin Sheridan

https://ashcanpress.substack.com/p/shell-die-before-shell-tell-you-anything

Off Panel #381: Judgment Calls with Kieron Gillen

David Harper

Dec 26, 2022

https://sktchd.libsyn.com/off-panel-381-judgment-calls-with-kieron-gillen

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/sktchd/Kieron_Gillen_2022.mp3

Ten Very Specific Things I Loved from the Wider World of Comics in 2022

By David Harper

December 30, 2022

https://sktchd.com/column/ten-very-specific-things-i-loved-from-the-wider-world-of-comics-in-2022/

The Beat's 2023 Creator Survey: Part 3 – with previews galore

With previews from Fanbase Press, Neil Kleid, Jeffrey Brown, Jed McGowan and more

Heidi MacDonald

01/02/2023

https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-beats-2023-creator-survey-part-3-with-previews-galore/

Clutter Is Good for You [collecting]

By Rob Walker

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 1, 2023, Section SR, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Clutter Is Good for You

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/opinion/sunday/clutter-decluttering-marie-kondo.html

Serenity Amid Disaster in "The Flying Sailor"

In an animated short inspired by historical events, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby imagine what happens to a middle-aged man who goes from minding his own business to being blasted through the heavens.

Film by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Text by Khiara Ortiz

November 18, 2022

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/screening-room/serenity-amid-disaster-in-the-flying-sailor