In honor of Arlington's Richard Thompson who passed away two years ago fro Parkinson's disease, Bill Watterson has donated a signed sketch in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes book vol. 1
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Friday, June 08, 2018
Bill Watterson art auction for Team Cul de Sac - information on bidding
June 29: Lucy Bellwood in DC
100 DEMON DIALOGUES, Lucy Bellwood
https://www.eastcitybookshop.com/event/100-demon-dialogues-lucy-bellwood-0
Event date:
Friday, June 29, 2018 - 6:30pm
Event address:
Store Hours
Mon - Sat 10a - 8p
Sun 11a - 6p
645 Pennsylvania Ave SE
Washington, DC 20003
tel 202.290.1636
Join East City Bookshop and Lucy Bellwood, author of 100 Demon Dialogues, for a book talk and signing.
Let us know you're coming on Facebook or at rsvp@eastcitybookshop.com
100 Demon Dialogues, a collection of comics, traces Bellwood's changing relationship with her Inner Critic over the course of 100 consecutive days. After connecting with thousands of readers online, she's taking the book on the road to hear your stories of living with imposter syndrome. If you've ever felt like you're a fake or a failure, this collection is guaranteed to make you feel less alone.
Lucy Bellwood is a professional Adventure Cartoonist based in Portland, OR. As an outspoken advocate for transparency in creative careers, Lucy has presented on subjects like following an independent path, the finances of freelancing, and working with imposter syndrome at events and institutions around the globe. Her latest collection takes a hilarious, humanizing look at what it's really like to persevere when our Inner Critics are trying to take the wheel. She is a member of Helioscope, the largest collective of freelance comics professionals in North America, where she spearheads the studio's Mentorship Program.
June 20: Fantom Comics signing
Fantom Comics presents Moon Racer / Zack Bly / L.K. Swanson
https://www.facebook.com/events/197516180881681/
· Hosted by Moon Racer and Fantom Comics
Wednesday, June 20 at 7:30 PM - 10 PM |
Fantom Comics
2010 P St NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, District of Columbia 20036
It's like a Tiny Desk Concert but at Fantom Comics!
Moon Racer (Durham, NC)
https://orindalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/is-it-really-a-secret
Moon Racer is a hazy, lo-fi spell of distorted beats, warm synths, and melodically melancholic vocals. Stopping in at Fantom Comics to play songs from her new tape out on Orindal Records
Zack Bly (DC)
https://blycomics.com/nat-comics/
DC cartoonist providing comic and zine accompaniment.
Zack also illustrated Moon Racer's bedroom in the video for "Song of the Mogwai," which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThAhZHE4vcw
LK Swanson (DC)
Opening with a The Moth-style story about friendship and art.
Starts at 7:30! Free!
It's like a Tiny Desk Concert but at Fantom Comics!
Moon Racer (Durham, NC)
https://orindalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/is-it-really-a-secret
Moon Racer is a hazy, lo-fi spell of distorted beats, warm synths, and melodically melancholic vocals. Stopping in at Fantom Comics to play songs from her new tape out on Orindal Records
Zack Bly (DC)
https://blycomics.com/nat-comics/
DC cartoonist providing comic and zine accompaniment.
Zack also illustrated Moon Racer's bedroom in the video for "Song of the Mogwai," which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThAhZHE4vcw
LK Swanson (DC)
Opening with a The Moth-style story about friendship and art.
Starts at 7:30! Free!
June 13: Darron DJ Jackson signing in Silver Spring
The Magic Order Cover Artist Darron DJ Jackson Signing
https://www.facebook.com/events/218235662313572/
Public
· Hosted by Alliance Comics Silver Spring
Wednesday, June 13 at 3 PM - 8 PM |
Alliance Comics Silver Spring
8317 Fenton St, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Details
So much to say about this! Mark Millar's THE MAGIC ORDER #1 is going to be the coolest book of the summer and Alliance is proud to have our very own exclusive variant cover by the incomparable Darron DJ Jackson!
DJ has not only drawn the cover for this limited edition variant. He is going to be autographing your copy at the store on release day: Wednesday June 13th. Join us from 3pm to 8pm and get yours before they are gone!!!
DJ has not only drawn the cover for this limited edition variant. He is going to be autographing your copy at the store on release day: Wednesday June 13th. Join us from 3pm to 8pm and get yours before they are gone!!!
Thursday, June 07, 2018
An Interview on Dead Reckoning with editor Gary Thompson
by Mike Rhode
When was the Naval Institute Press established, and why? Was Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October its first foray into fiction?
The U.S. Naval Institute was founded in 1873 by a group of Naval Officers to serve as a forum outside of the chain of command in which they could discuss matters of professional interest in the Navy. At these meetings the initial members of the Institute would exchange ideas, discuss how to advance the knowledge of sea power, and consider ways to preserve our naval and maritime heritage. Eventually, the proceedings of those meetings were published and distributed throughout the fleet. These publications are what became our Proceedings magazine, which is still being published today.
Yes, The Hunt for Red October was the first book of fiction to be put out by the Naval Institute Press, the book publishing arm of the Naval Institute. Though we aren’t formally affiliated with the Navy or military, we do serve as the university press for the U.S. Naval Academy. For most of the history of the Naval Institute Press, which started back in 1898, you can easily see that relationship since the Press published mostly manuals on how to be a good sailor for the Academy. Since then the Press has branched out considerably. We still publish academic histories and professional development books, but eventually took on books of general interest, moved onto fiction, and now we are pressing on to graphic novels.
When was the decision made to move into graphic novels / non-fiction?
We made the decision back in 2015 to move into graphic novels. I was in a meeting with the Press Director and he was asking me what I wanted to do next and how I wanted to move forward in my career. I put forward the idea of graphic novels thinking it would be dismissed immediately, but to the Director’s credit he instantly liked the idea. Then it became a matter of finding a book, then a question of why we would only do one book, then a presentation on why graphic novels are a growing market and a sound investment, and finally it was decided to make the leap into creating a whole imprint.
How did the clever name come up for the imprint?
Actually, it was one of the first things that came to mind! It just had a cool ring to it. Of course, I put together a list of other candidates—I asked around, read through dictionaries of nautical terminology, researched mythologies and lore, even came up with a few that just sounded cool. Ultimately, I think everyone just liked Dead Reckoning. The more you thought about it the more applicable it felt.
How many people work on the graphic novel line?For now, I am the only person that is working exclusively for Dead Reckoning, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t several of us. For now, as this imprint gets off the ground, I am sharing the people and resources of the Naval Institute Press staff, so we have directors, marketing and publicity staff, production editors, and freelancers all working to make Dead Reckoning a successful imprint and to make our books as good as they can be. There’s about a dozen of us that have our hands in this pot, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.
What's your role in acquiring and shaping the books for publication?
I have a weird title: Graphic Novel Lead. I wish there were something more common I could give you, but that’s what I’ve got. Still, I think it shows that I do a little bit of everything here, though I gladly hand off duties beyond my ken to those who have a better grasp of them. My main function—or maybe it’s just the function I enjoy the most—is in acquisitions. I find as may projects as I can that I think would work, pitch the ones I think are worthwhile to our directors, then do what I can to make the deal, and finally work with the teams as an editor to help make their scripts and art the best version of their vision that they can be. And while acquisitions and editorial are almost exclusively my realm, I’ve probably played some part in every decision big or small.
Out of your first four titles, two are memoirs of current wars, one is a 'funny animal' retelling of World War I, and one is a reprint of a classic comic book. What was the thinking behind launching the imprint with a fairly wide range of genres?
I don’t think of Trench Dogs as a funny animal book*, but that aside, the idea is to show a broad range of interests and approaches. So far, when we’ve been showing these off, we’ve had good reactions from people who all like the books, but one stands out as their favorite. I like to think that shows a positive response to this “something for everybody” approach. Machete Squad is a more literary memoir, The ‘Stan is more graphic journalism, Trench Dogs is a work of indie art, and The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy is classic comics. With that, we provide several different entry points for a wide variety of readers.
As a comics fan, I grew up reading lots of superheroes and monthly floppies, then I read tons of manga, then I really fell in love with indie comics. For me, that seemed like a natural progression and a way to always have something to read in this medium. Maybe I was naïve, but it took me a long time to realize that for most people these three readerships are completely unique and separate from each other. I think that’s a dumb idea. Comics, as a whole, is growing, the readership is expanding, and the way to cultivate life-long readers is to create content that reflects a wider variety of interests.
As we continue to grow, the titles we publish will get broader, partially because of my eclectic tastes, and partially to create as many ports of entry as possible.
For the books with multiple creators, do you put together a team to work on it (as children's books and mainstream comic books do), or do you accept a pre-existing proposal with the team already assembled?I greatly, greatly prefer pre-existing teams. I have and will put more teams together in the future, but I’d rather that be the minority.
How many books do you plan to do a year? Is 2019's slate already full and in production?
We’ll have to see. We are starting for four titles in the Fall 2018 season, but will certainly be growing from there. For 2019 I’m aiming for around 10 titles and hoping to expand to an even dozen in 2020. I believe there’s still room to grow beyond that, but I’d hope to have another editor to help out by then!
Who do you see the audience being? Do you see sales through comic book stores, bookstores, or student book fairs? Are you anticipating strong library sales?
I see the audience as young, smart, and curious. I’m interested in making many of the topics we are looking to publish more accessible, but not childish or hand-holdy. Even though we won’t exclusively publish non-fiction, I see everything we print as being educational in some way, but that doesn’t mean is has to be didactic, just more realistic.
You should be able to find our books in comic shops (this first round will be solicited in the July Previews), book shops, and maybe even a specialty store or two. The library market is huge for graphic novels in general and we feel that our books would be a great fit for them. I’ll be at the American Library Association’s Annual Meeting later this month to meet with more librarians and talk about our upcoming slate.
Is the size of the proof books going to be the standard size of the line? (I'm thinking of the Don Winslow book in particular as it is about half the size of the original comic books).No, the ARCs aren’t representative of the final sizes of the books. Most will be in the standard comic trim of 6-5/8 x 10-1/4”. Don Winslow will be 8-1/2 x 11” like most of Craig Yoe’s other books.
It’s funny you mention the size of the books (all of our ARCs being 6 x 9”) because I think that’s been a great example of how we have had to learn on the fly when transitioning our book publishing knowledge to graphic novel publishing knowledge. For the most part, when you are doing an ARC or review galley for a regular book, you can print them in a different trim or with various differences for whatever reason and it doesn’t really matter. People know that’s not a perfect representation of the final product. For the comic market, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case. As we have been sending out our ARCs we have fielded the question of their size more than I ever thought we would. Over time, we realized that most people in this part of the publishing world expect their early copies to be almost exactly the final product. So I imagine we will do something different for our Spring 2019 books.
Beyond that, I would say the final sizes of these initial four books are very representative of what we are looking for. Creators can certainly suggest trim sizes they think work better for their stories, but we are looking for books that are roughly between 128 and 250 pages. Classic collections like Don Winslow will tend to be longer than original works.
At its heart, Maus is a war memoir. Are you open to publishing books that would tell the story of the people that suffer from a war?
I would argue that all of our books are about people who suffer in war, but yes, I would love to see projects that are like Maus or similar. With books like Machete Squad and The ‘Stan, we put ourselves in a great position to tell the true stories of ground-level participants in our current ongoing wars. But the effects of war don’t stop with the men and women who fight them. We are just as interested in publishing stories of their aftermath and fallout.
Though our primary focus is military history, we are also interested in nautical and maritime stories, espionage stories, space exploration, and more. There’s a lot that come from a general area of interest. For example, it’s a goal of mine to eventually get a Macross or The Legend of the Galactic Heroes-style space drama. Not only because I’m a fan of those kinds of stories, but because I’d like for us to contribute to the long history of military science fiction that lead to them.
Are you looking into acquiring non-American material and publishing translations?
You will see books that we have licensed and translated starting in 2019!
There are several markets in the world that have long-standing traditions of publishing the kinds of books we are looking for, so it would be silly of me to ignore them. I’m happy to say that we have already made a number of agreements with foreign publishers and I’m always looking for more.
I've read three of the books you've sent so far, but want to ask about one specific story. Trench Dogs seems be largely a linear, but non-narrative depiction of the horrors of World War I as seen by each nation participating, all of which are depicted as different animals, until it reaches America and suddenly veers into race relations. Given that the animals are all depicted as one color anyway, and Americans are all cats, it's hard to tell what is happening and why, especially since it's outside of the main storyline. Can you give us some idea of what author Ian Densford wanted to do with this narrative twist?This is a great point and I would love to address it.
So, spoilers, obviously, for the book that isn’t out yet, but it isn’t terribly narrative, so take that with a grain of salt. When Ian Densford and I were discussing the story he wanted to tell, he described it as something of a “floating camera” that would move its way from character to character and from front to front. In his efforts to show the absolute horrors of World War I, it was necessary to show several characters not only dying, buy dying in the abysmally terrific ways that were true and common for the conflict. So you usually only follow a character for a little while before they either die or pass on the “camera” in some other way. But the goal was to encompass the totality of the horrors of the war in one grand swoop. But, as I mentioned before, the effects of war don’t stop with the men and women who are immediately participating in them. They sow chaos and unrest in other ways. This was a topic of conversation when discussing how to end the book, and that brings us to the Harlem Hellfighters and the “Red Summer” race riots.
In Trench Dogs all of the different countries are represented by different animals, the Americans being cats. When we are introduced to the Harlem Hellfighters, an infantry unit made up mostly of African Americans, they are painted in the same way and with the same coloration as all other Americans. You see them at first being sneered at and being tasked with menial and offensive labor before they take on an attachment with the French army and are treated as equals, rather than inferiors. There, the Hellfighters preform some extraordinary feats and are both honored and decorated by the French. But when they get back to America, they are scorned yet again and attacked in the ensuing race riots, leading one member to run for his life at the very end, something he managed to avoid doing while at war.
But, as you say, there is a confusion there—a tension between the book and the reader, who likely doesn’t understand what is happening and why. Why are these men being treated so poorly? Why are people sneering and giving them dirty looks? Why are they being attacked? Then the KKK shows up, and it all fits into place.
Ian, rightly, stood his ground when we discussed this segment. I suggested we make them black cats or calico, just something to help out the reader. But for Ian the question and the confusion were more important. Why are these men being treated this way? They are no different than the men around them. They are serving their country and putting their lives on the line like everyone else.
Ultimately, racists find a way to hate, no matter what the difference is nor how consequential. Ian did not want to give people even that modicum of an opportunity to say these men are different. So that confusion you and other readers will have when reading that segment is Ian sitting on your shoulder and whispering in your ear, “Why is this happening? Why is this happening?” And you can’t answer it. There is no reason. Until the KKK show up. Then you know that regardless of reason, someone found a way.
Hopefully, as readers close the book and are left thinking about how much these men sacrificed and how they were subsequently treated, they will take a moment to think that we are in the centennial of the first World War, and will soon be in the centennial of the riots. Perhaps they will ask themselves, “Why is this happening?”
*It's not a conventional funny animal comic (you can see a list here), but that's the traditional term used, as anthropomorphic animal doesn't really roll off people's tongues.
In keeping with our self-appointed mandate to cover local comics news, two other interviews with Thompson can be found at:
Griepp, Milton. 2017.
ICv2 Interview: Gary Thompson On New Imprint; Dead Reckoning Will Specialize in Military and Naval GNs.ICv2 (October 20): https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/38720/icv2-interview-gary-thompson-new-imprint
Sahadachny, Greg. 2018.
Debatable – Gary Thompson On Comics Imprint “Dead Reckoning”.
Debatable podcast (135; March 31): https://actionagogo.com/2018/03/31/debatable-gary-thompson-on-comics-imprint-dead-reckoning/ and http://traffic.libsyn.com/debatablepod/DEBATABLE_135_-_Dead_Reckoning_with_Gary_Thompson.mp3
June 9: Isola creators at Third Eye Comics
at THIRD EYE ANNAPOLIS
Click here for the event info on FACEBOOK
Hello Third Eye Faithful!
When we first took a glance at ISOLA - we knew right away that this book was going to be truly special, and Third Eye Faithful, after sitting down with issue #1 - we can tell you we were absolutely right.
This lush, gorgeously illustrated sci-fi fantasy epic takes us back to our youth when we spent way too much time playing FINAL FANTASY VII, and eagerly sought out every Miyazaki film we could find.
Seriously though, imagine the world-building and epic storytelling of SEVEN TO ETERNITY and mix that with a STUDIO GHIBLI aesthetic, and that sums up ISOLA very well.
And, because we're so pumped on the book, we've put together a very special signing to bring ISOLA creators BRENDEN FLETCHER (BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE, MOTOR CRUSH, GOTHAM ACADEMY) and KARL KERSCHL (GOTHAM ACADEMY) to Third Eye!
PR: Ready for Steadman? Opening Reception and Gallery Talk 6/16
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Wednesday, June 06, 2018
Fluggenock's Latest'n'Greatest: "Where's Melania?"
From Mike Fluggenock, DC's anarchist cartoonist.
"Where's Melania?"
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2526
So... Flint, Michigan still doesn't have clean water, at least half of
Puerto Rico still doesn't have electricity months after the hurricane,
the Israeli army is shooting first responders at the protests in Gaza,
we're still funding Saudi atrocities in Yemen, and what are the US
media yelling about...?
I can't even, man.
Tuesday, June 05, 2018
June 6: Comics Auction in Falls Church
Collectors Series: Comic Books & Comic Art - June 6, 2018 June 6, 2018 @ 6:00PM Quinn's Auction Galleries and Waverly Rare Books are proud to offer a Collectors Series Auction of Comic Books & Comic Art. Amassed from several long-standing collections, this sale ranges from the Golden Age of Comics to Modern and present-day issues. A significant number have been graded by the CGC, an independent comic evaulation service trusted by collectors worldwide. Highlights of the sale include: original storyboard art by Sal and John Buscema, The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (Marvel, 1964), and Thor #165 (Marvel, 1969).
Absentee
June 3: Jim Butcher at Tysons Corner Barnes & Noble
Brief Cases
Jim Butcher
Author Event (Fiction)Saturday June 09, 2018 4:00 PM
https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780061935544-0?sourceId=L000027454&st=EML&2sid=180605_TD_STR_AUTHOR_EVENT_JB_2&sid=STR&hConversionEventId=AQEAAZQF2gAmdjQwMDAwMDE2My1kMDc3LTllNWMtYzEyNi03NWY0YmJjNzg2YzjaACQ3OTlkYTE3NS0yZWZhLTQ4MWItMDAwMC0wMjFlZjNhMGJjY2LaACQ2ZTVhZTUyOS03Y2U0LTRmNGEtOTRmMS1mMWEwMDgxMTMxZGPEhYsmy-JMTFl03yxATaVi6Q6SkKZwUj-CqscQigXa_Q
Join us in welcoming bestselling author Jim Butcher for the release of Brief Cases, short stories from his series the Dresden Files. Beginning at 3pm we will distribute wristbands for the signing portion of the event with proof of purchase. This event will be a Q&A followed by a signing. The author will personalize books. Photos with the author will be decided on the day of the event.
Tysons Corner Mall
Tysons Corner Center7851 L. Tysons Corner Center
McLean, VA 22102
703-506-2937
Monday, June 04, 2018
Comic Riffs on Mad's Nick Meglin
As 'the heart' of MAD magazine, Nick Meglin influenced much of American comedy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/06/04/as-the-heart-of-mad-magazine-nick-meglin-influenced-much-of-american-comedy/
Signed Bill Watterson book to be auctioned for Team Cul de Sac
From Chris Sparks:
Bill Watterson contributes a signed with a doodle in a hardcover of the Complete Calvin and Hobbes to Team Cul de Sac for our Heroescon Drink and Draw auction. A sketch from Bill is beyond very rare. We appreciate his continued support in helping us to raise money for the Michael J Fox Foundation for research in honor of our friend Richard Thompson. (Remember, you can donate at any time). Please visit our booth at Heroescon and come out to our drink and draw at the Westin ballroom on Friday night,the 15th of June. We will probably do remote bidding for those unable to attend in person
#heroescon #tea
Bill Watterson contributes a signed with a doodle in a hardcover of the Complete Calvin and Hobbes to Team Cul de Sac for our Heroescon Drink and Draw auction. A sketch from Bill is beyond very rare. We appreciate his continued support in helping us to raise money for the Michael J Fox Foundation for research in honor of our friend Richard Thompson. (Remember, you can donate at any time). Please visit our booth at Heroescon and come out to our drink and draw at the Westin ballroom on Friday night,the 15th of June. We will probably do remote bidding for those unable to attend in person
#heroescon #tea
34367930_1923734714367530_6313383083651366912_o.jpg
(64K)
mculdesac Sunday, June 03, 2018
David Apatoff remembers Mad's Nick Meglin
NICK MEGLIN (1935-2018)
by David Apatoff
Illustration Art blog June 2, 2018
http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/2018/06/nick-meglin-1935-2018.htmlArnold Blumberg, Geppi's Entertainment Museum's first curator, remembers the museum
by Mike Rhode
Geppi's Entertainment Museum (GEM) in Baltimore closed for good earlier today. It was one of my favorite museums with an overwhelming amount of fantastic material on comics and cartoons and I'm sorry to see it go. The only positive thing is that Steve Geppi is donating a lot of the Museum (3,300 items I'm told) to the Library of Congress in the coming weeks.I've reached out to a few people to get their thoughts on the Museum. Dr. Arnold Blumberg was the first curator of the museum, and was very generous with his time over the years. As he has been this weekend, when he answered a few questions about the museum and his role in it.
I was proud to be Curator and part of the team that developed a one-of-a-kind display of 230 years of pop culture history, shedding light on the many ways we defined ourselves through the decades as a nation and as people. I think it's wonderful that so many media artifacts will now be available for public view. The collection will surely provide opportunities for future historians to examine the ways entertainment shaped and reflected the American experience
When were you curator?
I was Curator beginning in the summer of 2005, hand-picked by John Snyder, and worked on building the museum with the rest of the team for that next year until our opening on Sept. 2006. John was President of Geppi's Entertainment Museum when we started, and had already been running Diamond International Galleries before that and also Gemstone Publishing, which is where I was working as Editor when he tapped me to move over to the museum. I left in October 2010.
What did the work entail?
I was charged with being the intellectual custodian of the history behind all those amazing artifacts, coordinating educational and other programming in conjunction with other staff members, conducting tours and doing community and media outreach - lots of morning TV interviews! - writing most of the material on the walls and in various publications associated with the museum, and helping to care for and manage the collection alongside Registrar Andrew Hershberger. There were lots of other things in an average day, but that's the basic overview.
What was your favorite item or exhibit?
My favorite room was the museum within a museum - the comic book room, showcasing the history of that medium from periodicals and artwork stretching back centuries to the formal comics timeline of the 1930s to the present. One of my personal favorites was the Oscar Goldman action figure from the Six Million Dollar Man Kenner toy line in the 1970s room, mainly because it was one of the few things from that line that I never got myself.
Did you expect an outcome like this? It's a pretty munificent gift.
It's been years since I've been involved in the museum or in contact with anyone associated with it, so I have no particular insight into the reasons behind the museum's closure and the donation of the collection, but it's nice to know that all those items that give people so much joy and allow them to travel back into their own pasts will now be made available to view for free and at a facility that will respect their historical importance and preserve them for future generations.
After leaving the Museum, you put together your own publishing house?Yup, since 2012 we've put out a number of titles from ATB Publishing, and we just put out our first book on comics and superheroes, Storytelling Engines, this past May!
We'll be checking in with Arnold in the coming weeks to find out more about how he went from being a museum curator, to a college professor, to a book author and publisher...
National Lampoon Presents
by RM Rhodes
In early 2018, Netflix released A Futile and Stupid Gesture, a movie about Doug Kenney and the founding of National Lampoon. I mostly watched it because I knew that Matty Simmons, publisher of National Lampoon magazine, was the first publisher of Heavy Metal magazine. Matty Simmons had a fairly sizable role in the movie, but Heavy Metal was never mentioned.
In early 2018, Netflix released A Futile and Stupid Gesture, a movie about Doug Kenney and the founding of National Lampoon. I mostly watched it because I knew that Matty Simmons, publisher of National Lampoon magazine, was the first publisher of Heavy Metal magazine. Matty Simmons had a fairly sizable role in the movie, but Heavy Metal was never mentioned.
However, I come to the realization that the majority of the
comedy I absorbed during my formative years came out of National Lampoon or National
Lampoon-related properties. The movies – Animal House and Caddyshack
– really set the tone for my sense of humor. And everything else came from Saturday Night Live; many of the Not
Ready for Primetime Players had done work with National Lampoon spinoffs and most the writers came directly from National Lampoon’s talent pool.
Intrigued by this, I searched around for copies of some of the
standalone works that National Lampoon
had published over the years. One of the items that caught my eye was a
hardcover book published in 1977 called French
Comics (the Kind that Men Like). I found a used paperback copy in no time
flat and was amazed by what showed up.
The lurid “implied rape is funny” cover looks like something
straight out of Sex to Sexty, but the contents do not even remotely live up to the marketing. In fact, they skew
in a completely different direction.
Looking through the copyright credits in the back of the
book, it looks very much like members of the National Lampoon editorial team walked up to a newsstand in Paris
and bought the current issue of every alternative comics anthology they could
find: Pilote, Fluid Glacial, L’Echo des
Savanes, and several others. The only magazine they didn’t seem to pull
from was Metal Hurlant. (Of which,
more later.) At the time, the anthology was still the dominant publishing
format in Francophone comics (and it really hasn’t ever gone away).
The copy that I have is light on production values. The yellowing
paper is one-step-above-newsprint and there is neither a table of contents or
page numbers. The stories are just shoved together in no discernable order and
the contrast in art styles is more than occasionally jarring.
Given the timing (the first issue of Heavy Metal had a cover date of April 1977), National Lampoon’s French comics anthology feels very much like an
unacknowledged proof-of-concept version of what became Heavy Metal. After all, National Lampoon was the company that
published Heavy Metal until they were
split apart in 1992. Using National
Lampoon staffers on a pilot project doesn’t seem like much of a stretch – National Lampoon did a lot of media
spinoffs of every stripe, so this edition falls into the category of “other
stuff they did.”
But if you read the editorial from the first issue of Heavy
Metal, it’s not mentioned at all. The first editorial read as follows:
At 4AM on the nineteenth of December, 1974, under the mad
marksman’s eye of the archer in the sky, on the feast of Bishop Nicasius, who
prophesied the arrival of the barbarians who beheaded him, observed by whoknows
how many orbiting whatnots, a linkless foursome previously identified as
Druillet, Dionnet, Moebius, and Farkas were transformed into the Associated
Humanoids. Shortly thereafter, a magazine entitled Metal Hurlant materialized on newsstands. Metal Hurlant means “screaming metal” – whatever that means. It
was, and still is, issued by the Associated Humanoids. The magazine appears to
be the work of an alien intelligence, and it indeed it is.
It is French.
French is a difficult language to understand because of the
large number of English words in it. Thus, when the French say “science fiction,”
they are not, as you might think, referring to HG Wells or “Star Trek” or even
Jules Verne. “Science fiction” is a term which can sufficiently define Big
Macs, South America, Methodism, or a weird neighbor. Vogue Magazine, anything Belgian, and pop-top cans are certainly
science fiction. The Humanoid “Moebius,” writing in Metal Hurlant, describes how, while listening to a Johnny Cash
album, he realized that science fiction is a cathedral. Are beginning, dear
reader, to sufficiently misunderstand?
And lo, it came to pass that Metal Hurlant found its way even unto the New York offices of the National Lampoon, where the editors sit
around hoping to see something they can’t see through. After a series of
transatlantic phone calls resulting in the permanent hospitalization of the FBI
operative assigned to tapping our line, it was agreed that America should be
exposed to the contents of Metal Hurlant
for its own good. A series of high-level conferences concluded that Heavy Metal was the least comprehensible
title for the magazine, and it was thus adopted. Certain American artists
famous for their obscurity were relieved of their manuscripts, and now, as you
can see, Heavy Metal #1 has been
published.
And the rest is science fiction.
One wonders if the sub-par production values on the National Lampoon book prompted its
erasure from the official narrative or if the official narrative just didn’t
have room for the complication of this weird side project. Either way, as a
mostly unknown precursor artifact to what would eventually become Heavy Metal, it’s fascinating. It also
happens to be a cross-section of what some off-beat American humor writers in
New York City thought that American audiences would find interesting in
contemporary French alternative anthologies. Imagine if some French curators
walked through SPX and bought any number of random stories for translation and
reprint – the effect would be similarly eclectic.
I would not recommend the book to anyone but completists of Heavy Metal, National Lampoon, and/or people who like French comics translated
into English. If you really want to flip though it, let me know and I’ll let
you take a look at it. But – trust me on this – it’s more interesting in the
context of a collection of Heavy Metal.
__________________________________________________________
Why is this here? It's a long story. Mike Rhode first introduced himself to me when I first started vending at SPX. Over the years, we've talk to each other at Comic conventions around the DC area and never quite get around to sitting down for lunch.
When I moved to Arlington two years ago, I didn't realize that Mike lived within a mile of my building. Nor did I realize that he lived next door to my girlfriend's friend from college. We also discovered, by accident that we work two buildings away from each other, because we work in adjacent organizations. The world is a very small place, sometimes.
It really feels that way when I run into Mike at the local farmer's market. Naturally, that's when I pitch him article ideas. I'm reading the entire run of Heavy Metal in public (in blog format) because I happen to own the entire run of Heavy Metal. This means that I'm engaged in an ongoing study of the magazine. In addition, I have a diverse and idiosyncratic reading list that tends towards the weird corners of comics history. Sometimes one circumstance or another results in long articles that I don't really have anyplace to put. Mike has been gracious enough to let me publish them here.
In summary: this is an article about comics from someone in the DC area.
__________________________________________________________
Why is this here? It's a long story. Mike Rhode first introduced himself to me when I first started vending at SPX. Over the years, we've talk to each other at Comic conventions around the DC area and never quite get around to sitting down for lunch.
When I moved to Arlington two years ago, I didn't realize that Mike lived within a mile of my building. Nor did I realize that he lived next door to my girlfriend's friend from college. We also discovered, by accident that we work two buildings away from each other, because we work in adjacent organizations. The world is a very small place, sometimes.
It really feels that way when I run into Mike at the local farmer's market. Naturally, that's when I pitch him article ideas. I'm reading the entire run of Heavy Metal in public (in blog format) because I happen to own the entire run of Heavy Metal. This means that I'm engaged in an ongoing study of the magazine. In addition, I have a diverse and idiosyncratic reading list that tends towards the weird corners of comics history. Sometimes one circumstance or another results in long articles that I don't really have anyplace to put. Mike has been gracious enough to let me publish them here.
In summary: this is an article about comics from someone in the DC area.
Saturday, June 02, 2018
Long-time comics pro doesn't like Judge Parker writing
Ted White who's edited Heavy Metal and written comic books doesn't like the newish Judge Parker's writer:
'Judge Parker' has become incomprehensible [in print as Sally forth from 'Judge Parker']
Friday, June 01, 2018
City Paper reviews movie based on Gaiman short story
How to Talk to Girls at Parties Is a Stellar Space-Punk Love Story [in print as Punk-Drunk Love]
John Cameron Mitchell's new film might have the polished look and feel of a poseur film, but make no mistake, it's punk as fuck.
June 1, 2018. p. 20
online at https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/film-tv/blog/21007429/how-to-talk-to-girls-at-parties-reviewedThe Post reviews movie based on Gaiman short story
Punks, aliens and loud guitars: This sci-fi love story sounds weird, but it works [in print as Sometimes, chicks are from another planet].
Washington Post June 1 2018, p. Weekend 24
Quick Review: Abridged Classics by John Atkinson
Canadian cartoonist John Atkinson's new book, Abridged Classics: Brief Summaries of Books You Were Supposed To Read But Probably Didn't (New York: Harper, 2018, $20) appeals to people that love books and comics. It requires a certain level of familiarity with the 'canon' of western literature though, because as the press release notes, "Whether providing a thumbnail sketch of the notoriously long read In Search of Lost Time ("Smell of cake reminds guy of stuff. Four thousand pages of stuff."), translating The Odyssey into an elevator pitch ("War veteran takes forever to get home, then kills everyone."), or boiling down a beloved classic like Peter Pan to its weird basics ("Some kids and a crocodile pester an amputee."), Abridged Classics finds the comedy in taking the shortest route through the literary canon." If Proust or Homer don't already ring a bell for you, the cartoon that goes along with the punchline probably won't help you out.
The press release goes on to note: This humorous collection abbreviates over a hundred works of literature from some of the world's most-revered authors, including William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Emily Brontë, Leo Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, James Joyce, Plato, Ernest Hemingway, Dan Brown, Ayn Rand, and Herman Melville. This book will probably appeal to people that read the New Yorker for the cartoons, or enjoy Tom Gauld's reading-themed cartoons. Personally, I enjoyed it and recommended it to my wife.
Not From Brazil's Vanessa Bettencourt on the move
Not From Brazil's Vanessa Bettencourt is literally on the move as she and her husband leave Alexandria for the midwest as she mentions in her latest webcomic.
We wish them well.
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