Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection's August additions

Let's see what items of interest Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection added to its catalog in August 2009.

August starts off with more titles I've never heard of that presumably didn't last long:

Singapore Sam Adventures. -- Toronto, Ont. : Arteffect
Entertainment Corporation, 1997- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. --
Adventure story genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1. -- Call no.:
PN6734.S52

Sinthia. -- Farmington Hills, MI : Lightning Entertainment,
1997- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Began with no. 1 (Oct.
1997). -- Superheroine and horror genres. -- LIBRARY HAS:
no. 1A. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.L47S5

and continues with a graveyard of companies - Eclipse, Armada, Malibu, Acclaim, Topps... all gone:

Sky Wolf : An Air Fighters Mini-Series. -- Forestville, CA :
Eclipse Comics, 1988. -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Indicia
title: Skywolf. -- To be complete in 3 nos. -- War genre.
-- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- Call no.: PN6728.5.E25S53 1988
COMPLETE HOLDINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Sliders Ultimatum. -- New York : Armada, 1996. -- ill. ; 26
cm. -- "Based upon the hit TV series." -- Complete in 2
nos, also called Sliders v. 1 no. 3-4. -- Science fiction
genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-2. -- Call no.:
PN6728.6.A24S55 1996
COMPLETE HOLDINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Sliders Darkest Hour. -- New York : Acclaim Comics, 1996. --
col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Also numbered
v. 1, no. 5-7. -- Science fiction genre. -- LIBRARY HAS:
no. 3. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.A24S56 1996
-----------------------------------------------------
The Solution. -- Westlake Village, CA : Malibu Comics
Entertainment, 1993- . -- col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published
no. 1 (Sept. 1993) - no. 17 (Feb. 1995). -- (Ultraverse) --
An issue #0 (zero) is dated Jan. 1994. -- Superhero genre.
-- LIBRARY HAS: no. 0-17. -- Call no.: PN6728.6.M25S6
COMPLETE HOLDINGS
-----------------------------------------------------
Space : Above and Beyond. -- New York : Topps Comics, 1996. --
col. ill. ; 26 cm. -- Complete in 3 nos. -- Science fiction
genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 1-3. -- Call no.:
PN6728.6.T63S63 1996
COMPLETE HOLDINGS

Star Rangers? Published in Washington, DC? Anyone know anything about this?

Star Rangers. -- Washington, D.C. : Adventure Publications,
1987-1988. -- ill. ; 26 cm. -- Published no. 1 (Oct. 1987)
- no. 4 (Feb. 1988). -- Science fiction genre. -- LIBRARY
HAS: no. 1-4. -- Call no.: PN6728.55.A3S75
COMPLETE HOLDINGS

Some Luann strips that are a direct result of my asking about cancer comics:

"My Body's Fixed, but Now My Heart's Broken"* (Luann, Jan. 8,
1999) / by Greg Evans. -- Summary: Delta talks with Miss
Phelps about Miguel, who has become distant since news of
the cancer being in remission. -- Call no.: PN6726 f.B55
"cancer"

It seems like they should have more of these, doesn't it?

Playboy's Party Jokes. -- ill. ; 18 cm. -- Jokes and cartoons
about sex. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 7 (1975). -- Call no.:
PN6231.S54P53

I pick these books up when I see them and they have an interesting illustrator:

Search for Dinosaurs / David Bischoff ; illustrated by Doug
Henderson and Alex Nino. -- Toronto : Bantam, 1984. -- 120
p. : ill. ; 18 cm. -- (Time Machine ; 2) -- (A Byron Preiss
Book) -- Plot-your-own story. -- Call no.: PS3552 .I759T56
1984

This has got to be pretty obscure:

Mox Nix : Anecdotes About the Life of GI's in Europe / by Jack
Niles ; with stories by Jim Dye. -- Kassel, Germany : The
Transmitter, 1952. -- 80 p. : ill. ; 11 x 16 cm. -- Cover
title: Mox Nix : Cartoons about your Tour in Europe. --
Call no.: NC1429.N5M6 1952

Here's another DC-related book. The author's teaching at Georgetown:

God of Comics : Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World
War II Manga / Natsu Onoda Power. -- Jackson, Miss. :
University Press of Mississippi, 2009. -- 202 p. : ill. ;
23 cm. -- (Great Comics Artists Series) -- Includes
bibliographical references (p. 175-194) and index. --
Contents: Introduction and some definitions ; Tezuka in
history/History in Tezuka ; Movie in a book ; Stars and
jokes ; Communities and competitions ; Sapphire and other
heroines ; Tormenting affairs with animation ; Low h
umor/high drama, the two faces of adult comics ; God of
comics, master of quotations. -- Call no.: PN6790.J33
T47Z52 2009

Eeeewww on August 7th. Still it's good to have this type of material where it can be studied:

Here Comes Whiteman / art work & story by John Patler. --
Dallas, Tex. : ANP-Dallas, 1965? -- 8 p. : ill. ; 29 cm. --
A white supremacist comic book. -- The author was
associated with the American Nazi Party, founded by George
Lincoln Rockwell. Patler assassinated Rockwell in August of
1967. -- Antisemitism and racism, about Jews and African
Americans. -- Superhero genre. -- Call no.: DS145.A56 1965

1 issue of UK's Valiant? 1! Come on, UK donors, stand up and donate!

Valiant Picture Library. -- London : Fleetway Publications,
1963-1969. -- ill. ; 18 cm. -- Published no. 1 (June 1963)
- no. 144 (May 1969), cf. Gifford, D. The Complete
Catalogue of British Comics Including Price Guide. --
Adventure story genres. -- LIBRARY HAS: no. 3 (1963). --
Call no.: PN6738.V3P5

They've got more of the excellent minicomics of Tom Gauld than they have of Valiant!

Three Very Small Comics. volume II / Tom Gauld. -- London :
Cabanon Press, 2005. -- 3 v. : ill. ; 11 cm. -- Issued in
folder (13 cm.) -- Contents: Invasion ; Our hero battles
twenty-six alphabeticised terrors ; The robots broke out of
the factory and fled as far as their batteries would allow.
-- Alternative genre. -- Call no.: PN6737.G35T4702 2005
-----------------------------------------------------
Three Very Small Comics. volume III / Tom Gauld. -- London :
Cabanon Press, 2007. -- 3 v. : ill. ; 11 cm. -- Issued in
folder (13 cm.) -- Contents: The art of war ; Gardening ;
The Gauld collection. -- Alternative genre. -- Call no.:
PN6737.G35T4703 2007

A rose is a rose is a rose...

The Graphic Novel : Walking the Borderline Between Being a
Type of Comic Books or an Independent Genre / Verfasserin,
Janina Belz. -- 2009. -- 22 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. -- Paper
for the Englisches Seminar, Philosophische Fakultät,
Universität zu Köln, Wintersemester 08/09. -- Includes
bibliographical references. -- "What makes a graphic novel
a graphic novel? Is it a genre in its own right? In this
paper, I try to find answers to these questions by
examining different definitions of the term graphic novel
and applying them to the example of Alison Bechdel's Fun
home to find out whether it should be categorized as a
comic book or graphic novel." -- Call no.: PN6710.B44 2009

Lots of religious stuff cataloged this month. Here's a typical entry:

Kingdoms : a Biblical Epic. -- Grand Rapids, Mich. :
Zondervan, 2007- . -- ill. ; 18 cm. -- Contents: v. 1: The
coming storm ; v. 2. Scions of Josiah ; v. 3 The prophet's
oracle. -- Credits, v. 1: Story by Ben Avery, art by Mat
Broome. -- Religious genre. -- LIBRARY HAS: v. 1-3. --
Call no.: PN6728.K575 2007
Avery, Ben, 1974-

I missed this one at SPX:

Just So You Know. #1 : Autobiographical Comics / by Joey
Alison Sayers. -- Berkeley, CA : J. Sayers, 2009. -- 36 p.
: ill. ; 22 cm. -- Summary (from OCLC): Comics about a
woman as she transitions from male to female, including
stories about "passing" in society, taking female hormones,
getting a new i.d., and maintaining her relationship with
her girlfriend. -- Contents: Freaking out the parents ;
Hormoning ; Springtime ; ID-entification ; Flab ; The big
question ; Oh, ma'am ; Am I a bitch now? #1 ; Selling
comics at: SPX, the Small Press Expo ; Am I a bitch now? #2
; Double threat ; Am I a bitch now? #3 ; Am I a bitch now?
#4 ; Hey, ladies ; Just so you know. -- Call no.:
PN6727.S246J8 2009

Coming soon - September!

2009 in The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Ohio State's cartoon library 2009 report is online at IJOCA's blog.

Maira Kalman at Mount Vernon

For her last And the Pursuit of Happiness blog post, Maira Kalman visited Mount Vernon, and then the White house - "By George," December 31, 2009.

Disney's Mulan still running

I missed this interview earlier, but the play is still going on.

Actress sees self in Mulan's story, By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, November 20, 2009.

The play's details are Disney's Mulan, Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. 301-280-1660. http://www.imaginationstage.org. Wednesday-Jan. 10. $10-$21.

Big Planet January hardcover sale

Comics on the Rack (Quick Picks for Comics Due 01-06-10) by John Judy

The former Quick Reviews with a new name for a new year. Happy 2010!

COMICS ON THE RACK

(Quick Picks for Comics Due 01-06-10)

by John Judy

 

BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #2 of 3 by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott.  Diana must battle the Black Lanterns, a hot-tempered fish-woman and Death itself!  Did I mention the hot-tempered fish-woman?

 

BPRD: KING OF FEAR #1 of 5 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis.  The BPRD is gonna put the frog menace to rest once and for all!  And that's just for starters!  How can any red-blooded American resist?

 

THE BOYS #38 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.  The secret origin of The Female, in the inimitable BOYS fashion.  Recommended.  Not for kids.

 

DOOM PATROL#6 by Keith Giffen and Matthew Clark.  This month features everyone who's ever been wrapped completely in radiation-proof bandages to keep from killing their team-mates.  Plus, the Metal Men.

 

JSA ALL-STARS #2 by Matthew Sturges and Freddie Williams II.  Big fights and loud arguments!  And that's before the bad guys show up!

 

LIFE & TIMES OF SCROOGE McDUCK , VOL. 1 HC written and drawn by Don Rosa.  What it sounds like, kids: The biography of the fowl plutocrat who makes Monty Burns look like a dude wearing a paper hat at the deep fryer.  Great for all ages.  Recommended.

 

MARVEL BOY: THE URANIAN #1 of 3 by Jeff Parker, Marko Djurdjevic and Felix Ruiz.  A little background on your favorite Agent of Atlas: bubble-helmeted saucer jockey, Bob Grayson, the boy who fell to Earth.

 

NATION X: X-FACTOR #1 by Peter David and Valentine DeLandro.  Yeah, so like Cyclops is asking X-Factor to move into Utopia with him?  And it's like, y'know, maybe it's too soon?  Cuz, there are still, like, issues?  And Cyke's a bit of a control freak and X-Factor likes their space.  On the other hand, he would totally pay for utilities!

 

ORC STAIN #1 written and drawn by James Stokoe.  I really just wanted to type the title.  From Image Comics.

 

PREVIEWS by Marvel and Diamond Comics.  "It's 2010.  Do you know what your comics are?"

 

SIEGE #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel.  This is the big one:  Norman Osborn versus the World.  Or is it the other way around?

 

STUMPTOWN #2 by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth.  Chronic gambler and private investigator Dex must be getting closer to her target because the bullets keep getting closer to her.  Good stuff, set in Portland, Oregon, one of America's great cities.  Recommended.

 

SUICIDE SQUAD: BLACKEST NIGHT #67 by John Ostrander, Gail Simone and J. Calafiore.  A one issue revival of a classic DC title as the Squad goes after the Secret Six, the Black Lanterns and anyone else that happens along.  It's a ruckus!

 

SUPERMAN WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #11 by Greg Rucka, James Robinson and Pete Woods.  Supes and Adam Strange uncover some shenanigans in their murder investigation on New Krypton.  Super-shenanigans!

 

UNCLOTHED MAN IN THE 35^TH CENTURY AD HC written and drawn by Dash Shaw.  A series of short stories from the creator of the acclaimed BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON, plus some production material from his series airing on IFC.com.  Gotta look.

 

UNWRITTEN, VOL. 1: TOMMY TAYLOR AND THE BOGUS IDENTITY SC by Mike Carey and Peter Gross.  Collecting the first five issues of the breakout hit series that blurs the line where fictional characters end and real people begin.  Clever, scary stuff for mature readers.  Recommended.

 

WALKING DEAD, VOL. 11: FEAR THE HUNTERS SC by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard.  Collecting one of the creepiest story arcs yet, in which the flesh-eating threat is no longer coming from the zombies.  Rough stuff, even for this bunch.  Recommended.  Not for kids.

 

WEIRD WESTERN TALES #71 by Dan DiDio and Renato Arlem.  Come on, admit it, you've always wanted to see DC's old Western heroes rise from the dead as evil Black Lanterns!  Y'see where the "Weird" part comes in here?  Eh?  Eh?  Yippee-ki-yay, Black Lanterns!

 

www.johnjudy.net

 

Spider-Man fan film continues

I'm still working on a book-length listing of films adapted from comics - Randy Scott's got it for indexing at the moment. I just got an email that part four of a Spider-man fan film has been put online - PETER'S WEB "BURIED ALIVE" is now available for viewing at bagandboardproductions.com

NPR's Weldon's year in review

2009: The Comics That Clung, By Glen Weldon, National Public Radio's Monkey See blog December 30, 2009.

Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection's year in review

2009 in the Comic Art Collection at Michigan State University Libraries is featured in the International Journal of Comic Art's blog this morning. Ohio State's Billy Ireland Library and Museum will be appearing tomorrow.

The fund-raising Interplanetary Journal of Comic Art is still available. Proceeds support IJOCA. And it's funny.

Comicsgirl interviews with Jo Chen, Laura Martin and Tonya Kay

I just realized I hadn't been reading Comicsgirl this fall (sorry!), so I ran back through her blog until summer. Here's 3 other good interviews she's done:

Five questions with Tonya Kay, Monday, 19 October 2009 - with 'superhero' reality show star.

Five questions with Laura Martin, Thursday, 8 October 2009 - with one of the best colorists in the business.

Five questions with Jo Chen, Thursday, 1 October 2009 - with our local comics cover painter.

Comicsgirl interviewed DC Ass't editor who's also ... a woman!

I missed this earlier, but it's still good - Comicsgirl interviewed a DC Ass't editor in "Five Questions with Janelle Siegel," Tuesday, 24 November 2009.

Nate Beeler wraps it all up

I can't agree more with Nate's cartoon today. And the 21st century had such promise. Instead we're getting 1984, 25 years late.

Jan 1: Big Planet Comics annual sale

20% off everything. Friday, Jan 1, Noon-5 pm at all 4 stores.

Bill Mauldin and Sunday Funnies US stamps coming in 2010

On my Cartoonphilately blog, you can see more details about Bill Mauldin and Sunday Funnies US stamps coming in 2010

The Real World: D.C. features a cartoonist of sorts

The Real World: D.C., a reality show thing filmed on Dupont Circle this summer, features Andrew, a would-be cartoonist of sorts. The Express and the LA Times mention his chosen career in passing. I'm sorry I didn't find out sooner so we could have had a ComicsDC event over the summer with him. On the other hand, he didn't contact us either.

Seth 'Family Guy' MacFarlane interview in Express

Seth 'Family Guy' McFarlane has an interview in today's free Express paper, reprinted from the LA Times.

The Express cropped the last question which totally changed the tenor of the end of the interview. The last Q&A was:

How did it make you feel?

Like I had no spine.

Toles through the decade feature on Post website

A Tom Toles through the decade feature is on the Post website. "Washington Post political cartoonist Tom Toles talks about highs and lows of "the Aughts" and the inspiration behind some of his most memorable cartoons from the past 10 years."

Little Nemo animation entered into Library of Congress Registry

Winsor McCay's Little Nemo animation entered into Library of Congress Registry, reports the Associated Press on the Washington Post website.

The Library's press release says:

Little Nemo (1911)

This classic work, a mix of live action and animation, was adapted from Winsor McCay’s famed 1905 comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Its fluidity, graphics and story-telling was light years beyond other films made during that time. A seminal figure in both animation and comic art, McCay profoundly influenced many generations of future animators, including Walt Disney.

This is not the 1990s Japanese animation of course. Speaking of McCay, I had an original of one of his political drawings in my hands this weekend. Hoo-hah!

Another cartoon I'm not familiar with was added as well:

Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)

"Quasi at the Quackadero" has earned the term "unique." Once described as a "mixture of 1930s Van Beuren cartoons and 1960s R. Crumb comics with a dash of Sam Flax," and a descendent of the "Depression-era funny animal cartoon," Sally Cruikshank’s wildly imaginative tale of odd creatures visiting a psychedelic amusement park careens creatively from strange to truly wacky scenes. It became a favorite of the Midnight Movie circuit in the 1970s. Cruikshank later created animation sequences for "Sesame Street," the 1986 film "Ruthless People" and the "Cartoon Land" sequence in the 1983 film "Twilight Zone: The Movie."

Caricaturist David Levine dies, Post runs AP obit

David Levine, one of the best American caricaturists of the 20th century, has died of complications from prostate cancer. The Post ran an Associated Press obituary (which does note that his work is in the Library of Congress - go here and enter "David Levine" in your search and you'll get 78 hits including this McDonald's illustration). Read the NY Times for more information.

Michael Cavna had a good piece on Comic Riffs though. The Times is running an appreciation, or rather an appraisal tomorrow too.

Maira Kalman reviewed in Post

Kalman's done these clever blog posts for the NY Times which are sort of comics. The past year's have focused on American holidays, but the 2008's have been collected in The Principles of Uncertainty. The Post reviewed it today.