In the second part of my apparently cursed essay on Steve Gerber from the new issue of Comics Comics, there is a small error that needs correcting.
Gerber and Jack Kirby’s parody of John Byrne, Booster Cogburn, appeared in Destroyer Duck, not Stewart the Rat.
I regret the error, obviously. Please mark this correction on the page when you purchase your issue, and let us never speak of this again.
There were no mishaps at the printer. Tomorrow is CC-Day.
And tonight is New Mutants night.
Assuming there aren’t any disasters at the printer, the new issue of Comics Comics will finally debut this weekend at the MoCCA festival in New York, and it’s probably the best one yet.
This time around:
*Sammy Harkham interviews Guy Davis (and they collaborate on a beautiful new cover)
*The legendary Kim Deitch explains the Meaning of Life
*Dan has some bones to pick with the Masters of American Comics show
*David Heatley and Lauren R. Weinstein in conversation (they also collaborated on a brand-new oversize drawing)
*The long-awaited (by me) conclusion to my article on Steve Gerber
*The beloved Joe McCulloch on Mutt and Jeff
*An illustrated list from Renée French
*An amazing back cover by Marc Bell
*Plus a terrific new redesign from Mike Reddy, the debut of our new letters page, hilarious Matthew Thurber cartoons throughout the issue, somewhat more careful proof-reading, reviews of The Avengelist, Casanova, “Curse of the Molemen”, GØDLAND, The Immortal Iron Fist, Reading Comics, Ronin, Self-Loathing Comics, Swamp Preacher, and more!
So stop by the PictureBox table (A14-16) this weekend to pick it up (there’s plenty of other new stuff and some great signings, too), and if you won’t be able to make it, keep your eyes open. It should be out in stores in early July.
Does YOUR favorite store carry Comics Comics?
Douglas Wolk profiles Dan and PictureBox in PWCW, and Dan doesn’t forget to plump for CC:
PictureBox is still publishing Comics Comics, which Nadel calls “our retarded attempt at a magazine about comics”—the third issue, due imminently, includes an interview with Guy Davis by Sammy Harkham.
Now that’s marketing genius in action. They come for the “retarded”, and they stay for the … well, I guess we have to work on the second part.
There’s a lot more in there about Dan’s other PictureBox stuff, but whatever.
The new designer for Comics Comics, Mike Reddy, has started a very bookmarkable new blog where he’s posting mostly illustrations of various movies he’s recently seen.
Here’s one he did for Planet Terror (from Grindhouse):
And here’s one for The Grudge 2:
Mike also did one of the illustrations for the Peter Bagge essay on Spider-Man for Comics Comics 2, and he’s posted a couple of the alternate illos that didn’t end up getting used. I like them.
This endorsement of the great Patrick Smith‘s Vector Park. Patrick has recently been making some terrific paintings, as Sammy Harkham pointed out a while back.
Here’s one of them:
This is all in the interest of having an extremely roundabout and strained excuse for reminding everyone that Sammy is collaborating with Guy Davis on a really amazing cover for the next issue of Comics Comics. Get psyched.
If you enjoyed Peter Bagge‘s essay on Spider-Man in the second issue of Comics Comics (which was partially inspired by the time he spent creating Megalomaniacal Spider-Man), you might also like this page from his aborted shelved* Incorrigible Hulk, which is currently making the internet rounds.
(via Again With the Comics)
*improved word choice stolen from Dirk
Because the print run of the second issue of Comics Comics has sold out, we are now making it available for free downloading over at the sidebar.
So if you missed out on getting your own copy (and unfortunately, this one really does work best in its oversize paper form), you can now finally enjoy:
Peter Bagge on Spider-Man!
An interview with PShaw! (He has posted a nice color variation of this issue’s cover on his own site, by the way.)
Part one of a far-too-long essay on Steve Gerber‘s cult ’70s Marvel comics (Howard the Duck, Omega the Unknown, etc.)! (By the way, don’t forget to read the article’s accidentally excised footnotes.)
Kevin Nowlan on color separations!
Dan on Dave Sim‘s Collected Letters 2004!
Mark Newgarden on Michael Kupperman!
A beautiful “perpetual calendar” by the legendary Justin Green!
Comics and cartoons by PShaw, Matthew Thurber, and Lauren R. Weinstein!
And more!
P.S. When you’re done, drop us a line. There’s still time to make the letters page for issue three.
As you may remember, I love letters pages. So, in that great comic book tradition, we plan to institute a “letters to the editor” section in future issues of Comics Comics.
Were you angered by Paper Rad’s attack on art comics in the first issue? Impressed by Dan’s thoughts on the Wally Wood/Ogden Whitney connection? Do you feel compelled to defend Spider-Man from Peter Bagge in issue two? Do you have a bone to pick with one of our reviews, or an interview you’d like to praise? Whatever your thoughts, positive or otherwise, about anything related to Comics Comics, we’d love to hear them.
Thanks! If you submit a letter, please include your name, location, and phone number, and be aware that we may publish it (meaning the letter, not the phone number), either in the magazine or potentially on this site. Letters may be edited for space or clarity.
E-mail:
thodlerATgmailDOTcom
Mailing address:
Comics Comics Letters
PictureBox
121 Third Street
Ground Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11231
I spent a few hours at the Comic-Con last weekend. It’s a pretty easy target, but I guess I was struck by the huge divide between my culture and theirs. With the parades of costumes heroes and oddballs, down-at-the-heels superhero artists, and just plain oddities, like Neal Adams, I wondered what all of this had to do with the medium of comics rather than the business and nostalgia of comics. The answer, of course, is that, historically, they’re one in the same. Comics, even in these pseudo-sophisticated days, are as trashy as ever. I can’t decide if I cynically like that or detest it. But as I sat at the Abrams booth signing my book, I kinda thought, “wow, I have nothing in common with these people.” Which makes me wonder, of course, who our (tiny) audience really is for Comics Comics and other PictureBox publication. Who knows. It’s a funny thing, selling these kind of books in that sort of venue, but it’s one among many, and when you’re marginal to start with, you have to try for as many little corners as possible. Eventually it adds up. But man, what a place. What a thing.
