July 26: Comic book presidential debate at Fantom Comics

This press release rolled in today from Fantom Comics, which is located in both Tenleytown and Union Station. My daughter Claire voted in this on Free Comic Book Day. I didn't realize they had a blog, but will add the link to their store site on the side.

Local Comic Book Store hosts Super-Hero Presidential Debate

Washington, DC – It's not Gotham, where Batman hangs his hat, or New York, the city Iron Man calls home. Nonetheless, this Saturday, July 26, DC is where the two men will meet to debate which of them should be the next president of the United States.

Nearly 3 months ago Fantom Comics asked its customers: If super-heroes were running in the 2008 presidential election, who would earn your vote? The primaries offered people the option of 8 Marvel Comics heroes (Ms. Marvel, Nick Fury, Daredevil, Green Goblin, Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Professor X) and 8 DC Comics heroes (Commissioner James Gordon, Steel, Lois Lane, Dr. Will Magnus, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Batman, Amanda Waller). Voters were asked to chose one favorite from each publisher to run for President.

Bruce “Batman” Wayne and Tony “Iron Man” Stark came up on top. Said Fantom Comics employee Jimmy Meritt, “Interesting election. Two fascists going up against each other for president.” This view isn’t held by all comic book fans, however. Fantom Comics owner and former think tank employee Matthew Klokel feels the candidates come from two very different places. “Iron Man generally wants to get things done within the system, while Batman typically wants to work outside it.” Even Meritt, a professional comedian who will be playing Tony Stark at this Saturday’s debate, gives the comic book characters a break. “When I said fascists, I was being a bit facetious. These are good guys, after all.”

Over the past 3 months debates have raged between fans over who would make the better Chief Executive of the USA. Op-eds were written on the Fantom Comics blog and fiery debates ensued at the Fantom Comics stores. Said customer Brandon Baker-Rice, “Who’d have thought Batman/Iron Man would be more decisive than Obama/McCain? Maybe it’s because we’ve known the comic book characters so much longer than we’ve known the politicians.”

At 12 O’clock noon this coming Saturday, July 26th Fantom Comics Tenleytown will host a town-hall style debate between the two super-heroes whose playboy lifestyles make them seem outwardly similar, but whose approach to policy differs so greatly. Fantom Comics manager Jordan Kessler urges attendees to bring along questions for the heroes. “Got a pet policy issue? Ask Batman how he’d handle it.”

Klokel points out that "between Batman and Iron Man, you’ve got a combined experience of well over 100 years. These characters have touched on a lot of subjects over the years, so the guys playing them have a pretty good idea how they’ll react to security, privacy, and a host of other issues.” There are other areas in which the debate might break new ground, though. Says Klokel with a shoulder shrug, “How does Iron Man feel about welfare reform, or Batman about free trade? I guess we’ll just have to find out on Saturday.”

Further information on the Fantom Comics super-hero debate can be found on the Fantom Comics 2008 Super-Hero Presidential Election blog.

Media Contact: Matthew Klokel, Owner, Fantom Comics, 949-278-3466, matt@fantomcomics.com

Comic Riffs interviews Marvel EiC Joe Quesada

The Comic Riffs blog third interview (after Trudeau and McGruder) is a comic book one - "The Interview: Marvel Comics' Joe Quesada," by David Betancourt. The blog has otherwise been doing a lot of reading of the day's comics and commenting on them.

Kal on WAMU

Kal writes in to say:

"Friends and colleagues
I will be the featured guest on WAMU's Kojo Nnambi show at 1PM today. You can tune into 88.5 FM this afternoon or listen in live (or later) on their website www.wamu.org
Best
Kal
Kevin Kallaugher"

Tom Inge interview on Poe in Comics exhibit

You can hear Tom Inge interviewed by Nancy King on the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities website on June 13 2008 in "The Incredible Mr. Poe." There's a downloadable mp3 file and also the script for the story. Tom's exhibit on Poe in comics is up in Richmond for the rest of the summer.

OT: British radio interview with Garry Trudeau

I'm sticking this one up because it's only available for 4 more days. Click on the link to listen to it. Lynn (For Better or For Worse) Johnston, Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell, Garry (Doonesbury) Trudeau, the Cartoonists with Attitude (including Jen Sorensen) and Bill (Zippy) Griffith were interviewed for:

Phill Jupitus' Comic Love, BBC Radio 4 Saturday 19 July 2008 10:30-11:00 (Radio 4 FM).

Phill Jupitus offers some personal insights into the world of the satirical newspaper comic strip.

Contributors include the Daily Telegraph duo who lampoon the City in Alex and the American right's nemesis Garry Trudeau of Doonesbury fame. They discuss the impact and political significance of their work.

Jupitus wrote about it at "Blood, sweat and ink: Phill Jupitus has loved comic strips all his life. Would their creators live up to his expectations?" Phill Jupitus, The Guardian, Tuesday July 22, 2008.
*

Obama and McCain comic books press release

Hmmm, somehow I got on the mailing list for this press release - perhaps because the two candidates are DC personalities no matter how much a politician may attempt to deny that when running. Or maybe because I went to see Andy Helfer in Charlottesville when he spoke about his Malcolm X biography... it's probably not the number of readers here!

So without further ado, or editing, here's the PR:


IDW PUBLISHING PRESENTS GRAPHIC NOVEL BIOGRAPHIES OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SENATOR BARACK OBAMA AND SENATOR JOHN McCAIN

GoComics Will Bring Comic Books To Mobile Users Worldwide

(San Diego, CA; July 22, 2008) -- Seldom has there been a presidential election year as momentous as this one. The larger-than-life personal stories and come-from-behind political victories of the presumptive candidates, Senator Barack Obama (Dem; IL) and Senator John McCain (Rep; AZ), have electrified the political discourse in this country and around the world. Now IDW Publishing (www.idwpublishing.com) is pleased to present an extraordinary venture in this political year: a pair of biographies, PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL: BARACK OBAMA (Author: Jeff Mariotte/Artist: Tom Morgan) and PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL: JOHN MCCAIN (Author: Andy Helfer/Artist: Stephen Thompson) presented in one of the true American art forms, the comic book. These graphic novel biographies are painstakingly researched with beautifully drawn depictions highlighting key incidents in the lives of the two men. Sure to be a hot collector’s item, the books can be pre-ordered starting today at www.presidentialcomics.com in advance of the October 8 publication date. In addition to the separate tomes, the two issues will also be available in a special trade paperback flip-book edition.

“We’re tremendously proud of these books,” says IDW president Ted Adams. “Comics and graphic novels speak to millions of people encompassing all demographic, social, cultural and economic stripes. It’s a great way to get beyond the headlines on these two candidates.”

In addition to the print versions, mobile phone users can purchase the books for downloading through uclick’s GoComics mobile comic book reader at www.gocomics.com/presidents. The books will be available on phones through top U.S. carriers and on the mobile Internet at http://m.gocomics.com. A leading digital entertainment provider offering a broad mix of popular products for the Web and mobile phones, uclick’s content lineup includes other IDW properties, among many other leading brands.

“The Presidential Material books are the latest example of why IDW is considered one of the most innovative comic book publishing companies,” said Jeff Webber, Uclick Vice President of Product Development. “The simultaneous release of these books in print and on mobile phones has never been done in the U.S. before. We’ve seen a lot of new ground broken so far in this presidential contest, so it’s fitting that these books should be released in a way that’s unprecedented.”

The powerful cover art illustrations for both books were created by fan favorite J. Scott Campbell. His first book was the popular Gen13, which he followed with Danger Girl, a runaway bestseller that spawned a video game as well as a series of toys. More recently he has been working on a Spider-Man series that will debut in 2009.

Senator Barack Obama’s meteoric rise to the top of the Democratic Party is the stuff of political legend. His epic battle with Senator Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic Party’s nominee has ensured, regardless of outcome, a historic election in November. Obama author Jeff Mariotte is an award-winning, bestselling writer of more than 30 novels, including original supernatural thrillers River Runs Red and Missing White Girl, horror epic The Slab, and Stoker Award nominated teen horror series Witch Season, as well as books set in the universes of CSI: Miami, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Supernatural, Spider-Man, Superman, and Star Trek. He is a veteran comics author, including his original Western series, Desperadoes.

Senator John McCain comes from a family steeped in public service—both his father and grandfather were Admirals in the U.S. Navy—and he has followed in that tradition. His Navy tenure included an extended period as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and he has been a longtime member of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Andy Helfer, author of the John McCain bio, has been one of comics’ most innovative forces since 1980. During his tenure in charge of Paradox Press, an experimental imprint of DC Comics, he published the original graphic novels Road to Perdition and A History of Violence, both of which became major feature films. He is also the author of well-received and critically lauded graphic novel biographies of Ronald Reagan and Malcolm X.

BARACK OBAMA: PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL: 28 pages of story and art, plus annotations. $3.99 cover price. JOHN MCCAIN: PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL: 28 pages of story and art, plus annotations. $3.99 cover price. FLIP-BOOK encompassing both titles: $7.99 cover price.

About IDW: IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, Calif. As a leader in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry including: television's #1 prime time series CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Paramount's Star Trek; Fox's Angel; Hasbro's The Transformers, and the BBC's Doctor Who. IDW's original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. In April 2008, IDW released Michael Recycle, the first title from its new children's book imprint, Worthwhile Books. More information about the company can be found at http://www.idwpublishing.com.

Press Contact: Maggie Begley Communications
Office: 310-301-1785
Mobile: 310-749-3055
mbegley@aol.com

McGruder, McCain, Obama, Kirkman and True

A roundup from today's papers -

"The Interview: 'Boondocks' Creator Aaron McGruder," By Michael Cavna, Comic Riffs blog July 22, 2008;

I'm not sure what this is about - "Meeting Every Superhero's Needs In Brooklyn," By Jennifer 8. Lee, New York Times City Room blog July 22 2008.

McCain and Obama will appear in IDW comic books - "The Candidates, Comically Drawn," By George Gene Gustines, New York Times July 22, 2008.

Robert Kirkman becomes one of the partners in Image Comics - "Writer of the Undead Is Reborn as a Partner at Image Comics," By GEORGE GENE GUSTINES, New York Times July 22, 2008. I think he'll be at the Baltimore Comic Con again this year.

Finally, the comics editor of True has died - "Roger Hall; Memoirist of World War II Espionage," By Adam Bernstein, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, July 22, 2008; B06.

Wash Post letters on Blitt's caricature

Uncovered by the New Yorker, Washington Post Monday, July 21, 2008; A14 features letters on Philip Kennicott's July 15th article, "It's Funny How Humor Is So Ticklish."

Heroes to return to tv

Oddly enough, I've never watched this... perhaps because I'm doing projects like this...
"‘Heroes’ Is Ready for Its Rebound," By BILL CARTER, New York Times July 21, 2008

Niles, Panter and the Big Planet

Microsoft and Zune have published a comic book, The Lost Ones, to advertise the Zune, an ipod like device. They got Steve Niles to write the comic and Gary Panter to draw part of it, and sent them to a few comic stores on the east coast - Midtown Comics in NYC, a store in Philly, Atomic Comics in Baltimore and Big Planet Comics in Bethesda.

Richard Thompson and I rode up together. Richard also had a portfolio of his artwork to show Joel. I peeked too and it was very cool - lots of lovely, and some unlovely, caricatures although none of Obama.

We also got to see Art Harrison performing on his homemade Theremin in the little veterans park up the block.


Both creators were quite pleasant to talk to and seemed happy enough to be doing a signing. The crowd was okay, but not as overwhelming as I thought it would be. Panter's a major art-crowd cartoonist who was in the Masters of American Comics exhibit and has appeared in the New Yorker. Niles' 30 Days of Night comic book about vampires in Alaska was made into a hit movie (that's probably too violent for me). And the comic book, a real square bound book, was free!


Greg Bennett, Gary Panter, Steve Niles and Joel Pollack.

Big Planet still has copies of some of the other books they've done signed and available for sale - Batman and 30 Days from Niles, and some of the big new Picturebox artbook sets from Panter (who did a sketch in everything he signed). I got him to sign the two big Jimbo books from Fantagraphics, Purgatory and Inferno. Panter said he and his wife designed the whole books, including the endpapers. They're lovely objects in themselves. He showed me how Purgatory features a wordless version of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales introduction as a page border on the first page. Niles is originally from Reston, VA and his sister and her family came by for the event. His niece isn't allowed to watch the movie either so I'm in good company.

Richard and I hung around the whole time, and saw some other familiar faces - Randy who posts on this blog, Chris Shields of cIndy, Larry Rodman formerly of the Comics Journal and now fledgling art teacher, local book collector Rick Banning, Christian Panas who helped put SPX together for a while and now does Big Planet's website...

Here's some photos of the event, as I'm tired and babbling.


Gary Panter signing a book for famed local cartoonist Richard Thompson with Big Planet comic book store owner Joel Pollack and writer Steve Niles in background.


Steve Niles and Gary Panter signing The Lost Ones at Big Planet Comics. And the Zune. And a neat tablecloth decorated with the book's logo. Microsoft should publish more comic books, I'm thinking.


Panter showing the difficulty of being a left-handed artist in America.


Gary Panter signing a book for Our Man Thompson with Big Planet comic book store owner Joel Pollack and writer Steve Niles in background.


Panter starting a Jimbo sketch in Thompson's book.

Tracking Jason Rodriguez

Jason's got three posts up at the DCist about his drive to San Diego's ComicCon.

July 14: The Plan

July 15-18: DC to Tennessee

July 19-21: Tennessee to New Mexico

This is still an insane idea, although it looks like he's having fun, of a sort.

OT: Dennis the Menace exhibit in North Carolina

This one's off-topic, but at Heroes Con I had lunch with Marcus Hamilton who does the daily Dennis the Menace. He's a real nice guy, and he's got an exhibit up now - the details are from the Charlotte Observer July 20 2008 and the exhibit “Illustrating: A Career and Drawing Dennis,” is up from July 28-Aug. 28 at the Cabarrus Arts Council Galleries in the Historic Cabarrus Courthouse in downtown Concord.

July 21: Jeff Smith interviewed on PBS Newshour tonight and website later

This one comes in from Arlingtonian Herschel Kanter - you can watch the Newshour on WETA, WMPT or WHUT tonight or send questions in for Jeff Smith to answer later online, ala the Washington Post's chats. Here's the details:


Jeff Smith and the Bone Comics

Jeff Smith, the artist who draws the wildly popular "Bone" comics says he grew up hiding his drawings in math books.

Now, after launching his first issue in 1991, Smith's drawings have sold over four million copies and have been published in multiple languages. They are on display at the Wexner Center For the Arts at Ohio State University.

"Bone" is an epic fantasy featuring three cousins - Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone - who get lost in a strange world.

He takes your questions on the world of comics and the inspiration behind his series.

Answers will be posted Wednesday, July 30.

Catching up with cIndy podcast interviews

I ran into Chris at Big Planet this weekend, and realized I hadn't been checking his cIndyCenter podcasts as often as I should this spring. I had missed Christopher Mills, J.H. Williams III, Joe Staton, Sonny Liew, Alan Kupperberg and Herb Trimpe. Check them out!

Joss Whedon Talks 'Dr. Horrible,' 'Dollhouse' and More

The transcript for this is online now - it's the shortest chat I've seen and only is about the two new projects -- Mike

Joss Whedon, Creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel" and "Firefly"
Monday, July 21, 2008; 12:00 PM

Television writer, producer and director Joss Whedon will be online
Monday, July 21 at Noon ET to take your questions about "Dr.
Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," his new show "Dollhouse" and more.

Whedon is the creator of the TV shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer,"
"Angel" and "Firefly." "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," is a musical
superhero spoof starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. It
was freely available streaming online through July 20, and will be
available for download and on DVD.

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-23-08

QUICK REVIEWS FOR COMICS DUE 07-23-08
By John Judy

AMBUSH BUG: YEAR NONE #1 of 6 by Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming and Al Milgrom. Remember how we all laughed back in the 1980s? We had these funny Presidents who never knew what they were talking about and one of them liked jelly beans an awful lot, maybe too much and… Well, if you’d like to relive those days at roughly ten times the price then this book is for you!

AMERICAN FLAGG DEFINITIVE COLLECTION VOL. 1 HC written and illustrated by Howard Chaykin. Collecting the legendary first 14 issues of the series that put Howard Chaykin on the map. Twenty-five years in the making this one’s finally coming out from Image. Recommended.

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #15 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage and Harvey Tolibao. Skrull-kickings galore! What more could anyone ask?

BLACK PANTHER #38 by Reginald Hudlin and Francis Portela. T’Challa vs. Killmonger, the final round. Look whose name is on the comic, kids. Good stuff.

BLACK SUMMER #7 of 7 by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. It’s crazy John Horus vs. Everyone in the mushroom cloudy finale! To take the edge off Ellis dumping THUNDERBOLTS. Not for kids.

BRAVE AND BOLD #15 by Mark Waid and Scott Kolins. Okay, would ya believe Nightwing and Hawkman? I think Frank Miller should make money every time a superhero jumps through a hail of ninja arrows in a comic book. Just puttin’ it out there…

BROKEN TRINITY #1 of 3 by Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic. At first I thought this was some sort of a confession from DC but then I looked and saw it was from Top Cow and involved Witchblade, The Darkness and an Angelus that had nothing to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Okay.

DAN DARE #7 of 7 by Garth Ennis, Gary Erskine, and Gary Leach. The double-sized final issue as Dan and the Mekon throw down hard. Stiff upper lips all around! Think of England! Recommended!

DAREDEVIL #109 by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. Matt starts using his head to figure out why the feds want the wrong man executed. This has to involve Cheney…

FLASH COMPANION SC by Keith Dallas. If you’re a fan of any of the four men to wear the lightning then you’ll want this collection of interviews, articles and never before seen artwork from Two Morrows Publishing. Recommended.

GRAVEL #3 by Warren Ellis, Mike Wolfer and Oscar Jimenez. Quick! An issue of GRAVEL has escaped from Avatar Press! Somebody catch it!

IMAGE MONSTER PILE-UP #1 by Many People. A sampler pack of Image monster characters, including the Astounding Wolf-Man, Firebreather, Perhapanauts, and Proof. Four new stories for the curious and the obsessive. Dirt-cheap!

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #17 by Duane Swierczynski, Russ Heath and Travel Foreman. The first issue by the new creative team, but is it the last for Danny Rand? All-new adventures of the toughest guy ever to wear yellow slippers.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #23 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes. Wonder Woman fights Amazo. See if I’m lying.

LIBERTY COMICS: A CBLDF BENEFIT BOOK by Various Creators including Brubaker, Ennis, Cooke, Evanier, Phillips and Millar. Featuring all-new stories from the worlds of CRIMINAL and THE BOYS with lots of other goodies from today’s top creators. Not for kids but essential reading. If you love comics and hate censorship this is your book! Highly Recommended x Infinity.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN-AGE CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 2 HC by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #5-8. If you don’t have $46,000 on you for the original books give this a read. Classic stuff.

NEW AVENGERS #43 by Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan. Further explorations of the Skrull-kickings motif.

SCRAMBLED INK HC by A Bunch of Dreamworks Animators. A collection of stories illustrated by the folks who brought you “Shrek” among other things. There’s a preview over on the Dark Horse website and it looks beautiful. Gotta look!

SCUD THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN: THE WHOLE SHEBANG SC by Rob Schrab, Dan Harmon, Mondy Carter, and Jack Grey. Collecting SCUD #1-24, the whole magilla right here in one book. “If ya have to ask….”

SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY ARCHIVES, VOL. 3 HC by Joe Samachson and Arthur Cazeneuve. The final volume collecting LEADING COMICS #9-14 from the closing years of WWII. In original form these comics would cost you around $6,000. This book is cheaper.

SHE-HULK #31 by Peter David and Vincenzo Cucca. Guest-starring X-Factor and lots of Skrulls, who I daresay shall experience the kickings.

SKRULLS ONE-SHOT by John Rhett Thomas and Alan Smithee. Who are these Skrull people anyway and why do they merit the kickings?

SPIRIT #19 by Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier and Paul Smith. More adventures of Eisner’s classic gumshoe, almost certainly better than the upcoming movie.

SUPERMAN #678 by James Robinson and Renato Guedes. Superman dukes it out with Atlas. Place yer bets!

TRINITY #8 by Kurt Busiek and Everybody. New drinking game: Every time the word “trinity” appears in this comic you have to drink. If tarot cards appear you have to drink. If the pictures on the tarot cards change to Superman, Batman and/or Wonder Woman you have to put down the comic and go for a walk (not a drive!). If you’re DC editorial and you’re running this title every week for a year while simultaneously trying to re-launch Madam Xanadu you have to stop drinking forever.

TWO-FACE: YEAR ONE #1 of 2 by Mark Sable and Jeses Saiz. The origin of the coolest, scariest Bat-villain EVER!

UNCANNY X-MEN #500 by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Greg Land and Terry Dodson. Okay, how about this: Every time Greg Land draws a character smiling really broadly you have to drink. If you can see both rows of teeth you have to drink twice. Don’t play this game if you’re pregnant or want to get more than five pages into the comic.

WAR HEROES #1 of 6 by Mark Millar and Tony Harris. Let us consider this book Millar’s apology for the movie “Wanted.” As long-time collaborator Bryan Hitch says: “Millar, you fool. We should have done this as ULTIMATES 3!” (Anyone who has read ULTIMATES 3 would have to agree.) With art by the wonderful Tony Harris of STARMAN and EX MACHINA fame. Recommended.

X-FILES SPECIAL #0 by Frank Spotnitz and Brian Denham. I’m told this used to be on that box with the little people in it.

X-MEN LEGACY #214 by Mike Carey and Scot Eaton. Wrapping up the battle between Professor X and the X-villain with the name so stupid I can’t bring myself to type it. Rhymes with “Sister Minister” which is actually a much better name for an X-villain.

(Enjoy Comic-Con, everybody! If you see Jerry Robinson in Artists Alley be sure to thank him for co-creating the Joker!)

www.johnjudy.net

Panter and Niles at Big Planet Comics

Here's a link to a set of the photos - I'll clean this post up tomorrow.

New comic book title set in DC might be unspeakable,

For information on the anti-stereotype graphic novel "Mr. Spic Goes to Washington" by Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans, see "Professor takes Latino stigmas to D.C. in new graphic novel," By Mary Carey, Amherst Bulletin July 18, 2008.

Al Hirschfeld artwork on new stamp

Today's Washington Post reports that Al Hirschfeld's artwork will be featured on a stamp again - "First- Class Act: The Postal Service Puts Black Film History In a Starring Role," Sunday, July 20, 2008; Page M06. The article says:

The last stamp is the work of the famed Al Hirschfeld for "Hallelujah," a 1929 film made by MGM with an all-black cast and directed by King Vidor. Nina Mae McKinney, another talented beauty who was known as "the Black Garbo," was a co-star. The film itself has been debated for years for including both the reality of rural life and stereotypes. The poster shows a stylized flapper raising her yellow-gloved arms.

The Spirit of Eisner, and Miller, and Neil Young's Vertigo

Frank Miller is interviewed for his adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit comic into a movie at "Artist-Director Seeks the Spirit of ‘The Spirit’," By ANDY WEBSTER, New York Times July 20, 2008. The Times also put audio files up on challenging scenes and movies from comics.

An article on Neil Young reveals that the rock musician's work is being adapted into both an opera and a comic book from DC's Vertigo imprint. In "Morphing Neil Young for the Stage and Page," By TOM SELLAR, New York Times July 20, 2008, Sellar wrote:

...Vertigo, the art-house arm of DC Comics, is turning Mr. Young’s material into a graphic novel. Karen Berger, the imprint’s executive editor, said the idea came from Mr. Young... Ms. Berger assigned the project to the artist Cliff Chiang, and the writer Joshua Dysart. “Josh established this wonderful, modern Southern Gothic approach to the tone of his writing,” Ms. Berger said. “He looked at a lot of Neil’s lyrics and tried to find ways to utilize them where it worked.” And, she added, Mr. Dysart was sympathetic to the work’s underlying vision of social redemption.

Like the Undermain stage collaborators, Vertigo’s team is digging deep into mythologies that Mr. Young has created about the fictitious town. So “Greendale” the graphic novel will feature concepts and characters beyond those introduced in the original recording. The 160-page volume will likely be released in fall 2009.