Month: January 2010

Your Brad Link of the Day – Two Gentlemen of Lebowski.

I don’t know how new or old this one is but this is the first I’ve seen it. This webpage answers the question, “What if… William Shakespeare wrote The Big Lebowski?” Emphasis on answers.

In case you don’t know (and I really hope you do), here’s info on The Big Lebowski. And… I guess if you need general info on William Shakespeare, I don’t know if Wikipedia can help you.

Anyway, this is a perfectly internety thing to do, combining two seemingly disparate things in pop culture and presenting it as real. Except… he really wrote the whole thing. The whole story is there. In five acts even!

I’m all for committing to a joke but… wow.

My favorite part is the disclaimers and author hype at the bottom of the page.

Aside from the parts blatantly stolen from the immortal Bard,
this humble play is the creation of Adam Bertocci,
award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter.

Check out his professional portfolio here,
especially if you’re a Hollywood big-shot
or know someone who is.

I don’t know if I’d want to hire him. I’d be worried he wouldn’t have enough free time to take on the work.

(Of course, I’m the one who spent years slowly putting in chronological order every comic book appearance of characters most people have never even heard of, so don’t think I’m unaware of my own hypocrisy here.)

Clicking over to his website gets me “concurrent hits exceeded” so I guess the laughs on me. This is apparently garnering him significant traffic. (Or he doesn’t get much for his hosting package.)

I also appreciate the ability to download the whole thing as a PDF, so I can print out copies and go perform it in the park with some friends.

Needless to say I’m very impressed, and a bit frightened. But I’m curious. Any Shakespearean scholars out there want to weigh in on how convincing this guy pulled off Shakespeare?

[Your Brad Link of the Day is inspired by a link provided to me by my friend Brad Beacom via Google Chat. It may or may not actually occur on a daily basis. You may or may not have already seen said link. (But in those instances, some classics are worth revisiting.) You may or may not find some enjoyment in said link. Essentially, I take no responsibility for anything.]

Comics Alliance wants you to Dig Comics

The always entertaining Comics Alliance posted a new interview by Caleb Goellner with Dig Comics host/writer Miguel Cima.

The modern comic book industry faces a lot of challenges as it marches into this brave new year, but there’s one common thread that ties them all together: more people need to be reading comics.

Frustrated with a seemingly shrinking audience despite a wealth of diverse and accessible content, Miguel Cima has set out to do something to correct what he considers an affront on sequential art enjoyment.

“An affront on sequential art enjoyment” – great line.

Also, more good news – Dig Comics has been awarded an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival.

Your Brad Link of the Day – Female Toads Inflate to Avoid Sex

BBC News has some sobering news. I hope you’re sitting down.

Male toads wrestle each other to get to their chosen female. Wait, don’t pass out. That’s not the big news.

Usually the female is jostled around during the wrestling match. New research suggests (this is the big news part) that females will inflate their size to effect the outcome of the wrestling match, so that she will be too big for a male toad to grab hold of her.

Yes, that’s right. Female toads will blatantly face palm guy toads they don’t like by blowing up like a balloon, probably right on top of them I bet. The article theorizes that the females are trying to get the strongest and largest male toad to be their mate.

You see? It’s all about muscles. What about the male toad’s personality? I bet the smaller male toad is much more charming and intelligent and funny  than the beefier male toad, if she’d just give him a chance. But no, all she cares about is checking out his toad legs. So shallow.

[Your Brad Link of the Day is provided to me by my friend Brad Beacom via Google Chat. It may or may not actually occur on a daily basis. You may or may not have already seen said link. (But in those instances, some classics are worth revisiting.) You may or may not find some enjoyment in said link. Essentially, I take no responsibility for anything.]

This Saturday – Magic Meathands team up with Jump Start

The Magic Meathands (with me!) and Jump Start reunite for another family friendly show, 8 PM at The Spot Café, 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City! Tickets: $7!

This is always a fun show with lots of opportunities for the audience to get involved and play with us. Or if you’re shy, just sit back and enjoy laughing at the silliness.

Also: There’s no Thursday Night Comedy Café show this week. We’ll be back at our weekly gig in The Spot Café starting next week, January 14, 8 PM. Tickets: only $5!

Following instructions


Following instructions

Originally uploaded by Corey Blake

Eating at Carl’s Jr. requires following very detailed instructions or you will never get your food.

It says, “Please place at edge of table”.

It doesn’t say, “Please place near edge of table”.

EDGE.

People who don’t follow these simple instructions will be punished harshly with starvation.

-Memo from Carl’s Jr.

New Graphic Novels, Comic Books for You – 12/30/09

Never read a graphic novel before? Haven’t read a comic book in years?

Here’s some brand new stuff that came out the week of December 30 that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn’t grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.

Note: For the week of December 30, the primary distributor for comic books took the week off. However, there are a few smaller distributors, so I’ll take a look at a trio of releases from Alterna Comics.

Disclaimer: For the most part, I have not read these yet, so I can’t vouch for their quality. But, from what I’ve heard and seen, odds are good they just might appeal to you.

Adam Wreck and the Kalosian Space Pirates – $9.99
By Michael S. Bracco
88 pages; published by Alterna Comics; available at Amazon.com

Adam Wreck is trapped in the deep cosmos of space…with his parents!!!
For two years Adam has traveled through the universe with his genius parents – on a ship they invented called EARTH 1. This may sound like every kid’s wildest dream, but what fun is being the first kid in space if there’s nothing cool to see like comets, planets, or giant cyborg space aliens? Well, life for Adam is about to take an exciting turn when his family’s ship is attacked and his parents are taken captive! Shipwrecked on a strange planet filled with even stranger alien creatures, Adam must find a way to save his parents from the diabolical and dastardly, Kalosian Space Pirates!
Cool coloring, too. The whole thing is black and white with orange. There’s a 6-page preview at the publisher link above.

Sherlock Holmes: The Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner – $11.99
By Bret M. Herholz
128 pages; published by Alterna Comics; available at Amazon.com

A young woman named Alice Faulkner is in possession of documents that could cause a devastating royal scandal. Unfortunately, she has fallen into the hands of a pair of unscrupulous people who wish to use her possessions for their own ill benefit. So it is up to England’s most famous consulting detective along with the help of his trusted friend, Doctor Watson, to rescue this unfortunate young woman and avert the impending scandal. But unbeknownst to Holmes and Watson, someone else has also taken an interest in this case. Someone who could be Sherlock Holmes’ most deadly adversary yet.

Great Edward Gorey style art but with his own flare and sensibility. Previews at the publisher link above.

The Unlikely Trio: The Last Barn on the Left – $3.95
By Scott West & Callie West
32 pages; published by Alterna Comics; available at Amazon.com

A story of three unlikely friends, Lil’Bit the mouse, Mrs. Butters the cat, and Abby the Collie dog that join together to brave the last barn on the left in their small town. The only problem is that a scary monster is said to lurk in the shadows of the barn!  Printed in black and white (so kids can be the colorist!) and featuring fun activities in the back of the book, The Unlikely Trio will be sure to entertain even after you’re done reading!

This looks very cute. And I love that they published it in black and white so kids can color it themselves.

Besides that, there was a very cool movement among independent comic creators that turned into Indy Comic Book Week. The week of December 30, a collection of creators self-released their comics direct to comic shops. A whole slew of comics were released that are worth checking out. Check out the recommendation list by the excellent blog Robot 6: Carnivale DeRobotique, Ex Occultus: The Badge of Langavat, God of Rock: A Seventy-Two-Hour Comic, Green Monk, Invisible Sam, The Unremarkable Man, Life (With Friends) #1, One Night Stand, Senryu, and So Buttons. It was great to see this mini-movement come together. I hope it becomes an annual event, regardless of a distributor blackout.

And, as they mention, there’s also the newest issue of the online MySpace Dark Horse Presents.

Uh oh. My marriage might be official again.

Over two years ago (!), Marvel Comics had a goofy story in Amazing Spider-Man where a devil-like demon called Mephisto basically erased Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane Watson. They had been married for 20 years and just like that it was gone. Comic geeks across the world were outraged.

Not to be left out of the indignation, in an act of fever-induced inspiration I announced the erasing of my own marriage in protest. Both Spider-Man and I have been web-swinging bachelors ever since. (Yes, I can make webs. What of it?)

Well it looks like the gig might soon be up. Marvel Comics released a publicity image for a Spider-Man story to take place some time this year, and it looks like the marriage might live again. If so, I guess I’ll have to get “re-married”. Bummer. And I was having so much fun with my communicable diseases.

See, this is what’s great about superhero comics. If something stupid happens, just wait a year or so and it’ll be undone. Character arcs are for chumps.

(Click here to look at the enbiggified version at Comic Book Resources)

(Wait a minute, is that a baby in the background? Oh yeah that’s right. In the ’90s, Peter and Mary Jane had a baby who mysteriously vanished in some weird plane hijacking incident. Both parents got over it real quick because Marvel figured superhero fans might get bummed out reading about mourning parents for a few years.)

New Graphic Novels, Comic Books for You – 12/23

Never read a graphic novel before? Haven’t read a comic book in years?

Here’s some brand new stuff that came out the week of December 23 that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn’t grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.

Disclaimer: For the most part, I have not read these yet, so I can’t vouch for their quality. But, from what I’ve heard and seen, odds are good they just might appeal to you.

Action Philosophers!: More Than Complete – $24.99
By Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey
320 pages; published by Evil Twin Comics; available at Amazon.com

Imagine Plato as a wrestling superstar of ancient Greece, Nietzsche as the original ubermensch, and Bohidharma as the grand master of kung fu. These are not just great thinkers they also make great comics. Action Philosophers details the lives and thoughts of history’s A-list brain trust in hip and humorous comic book fashion. All nine issues of the award-winning, best-selling comic book series have been collected into a single volume, making this a comprehensive cartoon history of ideas from pre-Socratics to Jacques Derrida, including four new stories. You’ll never have more fun getting the real scoop on the big ideas that have made the world the mess we live in today! Tom Morris (Author of Philosophy for Dummies, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, and If Harry Potter Ran General Electric).

I’ve got an issue of this that looks at Ayn Rand and it’s excellent. Fun and informative. This same team is working on a comic about the history of comics, which astoundingly has never been done before to my knowledge, called Comic Book Comics. Here’s an 8-page preview of Action Philosophers looking at Carl Jung.

The Great Anti-War Cartoons – $24.99
By various; edited by Craig Yoe
184 pages; published by Fantagraphics Books; available at Amazon.com

For centuries, cartoonists have used their pens to fight a war against war, translating images of violent conflict into symbols of protest. Noted comics historian Craig Yoe brings the greatest of these artists together in one place, presenting the ultimate collection of anti-war cartoons ever assembled. Together, these cartoons provide a powerful testament to the old adage, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” and remind us that so often in the 20th century, it was the editorial cartoonist who could say the things his fellow newspapermen and women only dreamed of, enlightening and rallying a nation against unjust aggression.

Readers of The Great Anti-War Cartoons will find stunning artwork in a variety of media and forms (pen-and-ink, wash, watercolor, woodcut — single images and sequential comic strips) from the hands of Francisco Goya to Art Young, from Robert Minor to Ron Cobb, and from Honoré Daumier to Robert Crumb, as well as page after page of provocative images from such titans as James Montgomery Flagg, C.D. Batchelor, Edmund Sullivan, Boardman Robinson, William Gropper, Maurice Becker, George Grosz, Gerald Scarfe, Bill Mauldin, Art Spiegelman and many more. The book also includes an Introduction by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus and a Foreword by Library of Congress curator Sara W. Duke.

This book is neither ideological nor parochial: The cartoons range across the political spectrum from staunch conservative flag-wavers to radicals and hippies, and span two centuries and the entire globe (Australia, Russia, Poland, France…). But their message remains timeless and universal.

What better way to celebrate the season of peace than this collection of anti-war editorial comics? Well, OK, maybe there are better ways, like donating to charities or volunteering with anti-war movements, but this is a good way, too. Here’s a 10-page preview in PDF. There are comics dating back to the 1800s. Pretty fascinating. I particularly like the one from 1915 by Luther Bradley and the one from 1920 by Jay “Ding” Darling.

The Original Johnson, Volume 1 – $19.99
By Trevor Von Eeden
128 pages; published by IDW Publishing; available at Amazon.com

At last – The Original Johnson, Trevor Von Eeden’s personal and heartfelt graphic novel biography of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world, international celebrity, and the most controversial American of his time. This is the artistic achievement of Trevor’s career (Batman, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Green Arrow), more than four years in the making and worth every moment.

Originally published online at ComicMix.com, this has been in the works for over 12 years. It is a passionate and unrestrained depiction of Johnson’s life and the racial tension of America at the time. You can read the first 100 or so pages at ComicMix. (Oh and by the way: IDW, update your online store.)

Marvels – $24.99
By Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross
248 pages; published by Marvel Comics; available at Amazon.com

“MARVELS is a giant leap forward in the evolution of illustrated literature.” — Stan Lee

Welcome to New York. Here, burning figures roam the streets, men in brightly colored costumes scale the glass and concrete walls, and creatures from space threaten to devour our world. This is the Marvel Universe, where the ordinary and fantastic interact daily. This is the world of Marvels.

Originally released in 1994 to much acclaim and enthusiasm, this new printing provides a great introduction to the world of superheroes and the superhero world of the Marvel Universe in particular. Looking back at it now, the painted art feels like it’s a little much (do superheroes really need to be that realistic and life like?) but with superhero movies now a pretty normal occurrence, maybe it was never that big of a leap. Either way, the story is told from the point of view of a normal guy in Marvel’s New York struggling through life as flashy dressed people with extraordinary abilities start running around the city and inevitably break things. There’s a small preview at the Amazon link above.

Footnotes in Gaza – $29.95
By Joe Sacco
432 pages; published by Metropolitan Books; available at Amazon.com

From the great cartoonist-reporter, a sweeping, original investigation of a forgotten crime in the most vexed of places.

Rafah, a town at the bottommost tip of the Gaza Strip, is a squalid place. Raw concrete buildings front trash-strewn alleys. The narrow streets are crowded with young children and unemployed men. On the border with Egypt, swaths of Rafah have been bulldozed to rubble. Rafah is today and has always been a notorious flashpoint in this bitterest of conflicts.

Buried deep in the archives is one bloody incident, in 1956, that left 111 Palestinians dead, shot by Israeli soldiers. Seemingly a footnote to a long history of killing, that day in Rafah—cold-blooded massacre or dreadful mistake—reveals the competing truths that have come to define an intractable war. In a quest to get to the heart of what happened, Joe Sacco immerses himself in daily life of Rafah and the neighboring town of Khan Younis, uncovering Gaza past and present. Spanning fifty years, moving fluidly between one war and the next, alive with the voices of fugitives and schoolchildren, widows and sheikhs, Footnotes in Gaza captures the essence of a tragedy.

As in Palestine and Safe Area Goražde, Sacco’s unique visual journalism has rendered a contested landscape in brilliant, meticulous detail. Footnotes in Gaza, his most ambitious work to date, transforms a critical conflict of our age into an intimate and immediate experience.

I’m a big admirer of Joe Sacco and his work, and here it looks like he’s going one step further in developing comics journalism, where he targets one specific story to investigate. Here’s a great preview (PDF) that pulled me right in. I need to get this.

Luke on the Loose – $4.99
By Harry Bliss
32 pages; published by Toon Books; available at Amazon.com

Luke looks on at the pigeons in Central Park, while Dad is lost in “boring Daddy talk,” and before you know it—LUKE IS ON THE LOOSE! He’s free as a bird, on a hilarious solo flight through New York City.

Harry Bliss, the renowned illustrator of many bestselling children’s books, finally goes on a solo flight on his own with a soaring story that will delight any young reader who has ever felt cooped up.

This looks very cute. Recommended for kids age 4-8, but I won’t tell anyone if you’re older and get this because it looks very charming and fun. Here is a preview of the kid running through the city with his new pigeon friends causing mayhem.

Alec: The Years Have Pants (A Life-Sized Omnibus) – $35.00
By Eddie Campbell
640 pages; published by Top Shelf Productions; available at Amazon.com

For the first time ever, the groundbreaking autobiographical comics of master cartoonist Eddie Campbell (FROM HELL) are collected in a single volume!

Brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the ALEC stories present a version of Eddie’s own life, filtered through the alter ego of “Alec MacGarry.” Over many years, we witness Alec’s (and Eddie’s) progression “from beer to wine” — wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a responsible breadwinner, feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more! Eddie’s outlandish fantasies and metafictional tricks convert life into art, while staying fully grounded in his own absurdity. At every point, the author’s uncanny eye for irony and wry self-awareness make even the smallest occasion into an opportunity for wit and wisdom. Quite simply, ALEC is a masterpiece of visual autobiography.

ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS (A LIFE-SIZE OMNIBUS) collects the previous Alec books THE KING CANUTE CROWD, GRAFFITI KITCHEN, HOW TO BE AN ARTIST, LITTLE ITALY, THE DEAD MUSE, THE DANCE OF LIFEY DEATH, AFTER THE SNOOTER, as well as a generous helping of rare and never-before-seen material, including an all-new 35-page book, THE YEARS HAVE PANTS.

I don’t know, that blurb kind of says it all. Here’s a 16-page preview.