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Click on this glowing word and make the images on your computer screen magically rearrange themselves into a Newsarama interview with Dan. It regards his amazing new book, Art in Time, and in it, he says things like this:

[Bill] Everett, to me, is the great heir to Alex Raymond on Flash Gordon, or someone like Virgil Finlay. His work has a wonderful sense of passion to it. He was a true auteur – he wrote, drew, lettered, did everything.

And this:

[“Crystal Night”] was introduced to me by my friend Matthew Thurber, who’s an artist. I kind of fell in love with it as a feminist take on Philip K. Dick, and I love the drawing as well. There’s a kind of unsung drawing style that artists like Justin Green and Sharon Rudahl and Frank Stack have that’s kind of figure-based and open.

Hmm, sounds interesting…

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I think that I can seriously say there are many different types of fiction out there, one of them is the heroic, and Art Spiegelman has no sympathy for the heroic, so I have no sympathy for Art Spiegelman.

—Frank Miller, defending caped crusaders last weekend at MoCCA.

I don’t know about this heroic business; I like superhero comics mostly for the art.

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Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. We keep getting nominated, again and … well, okay, there’s just one “again” really, I guess. We’re not exactly entering Susan Lucci territory here quite yet.

Anyway, the 2010 Eisner Award nominations have been announced, and Comics Comics (along with four other publications) has been nominated in the category of “Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism”:

* Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
* ComicsAlliance, edited by Laura Hudson
* Comics Comics, edited by Timothy Hodler and Dan Nadel (PictureBox)
* The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
* The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon

Congratulations to all the nominees, and a big thanks to all of our contributors, readers, and commenters.

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We are constantly in training here at the Comics Comics mansion, keeping the Danger Room busy while always trying to hone our critical acumen, broaden our coverage, and sharpen our skills. We vow never to stop improving, growing, and providing better philosophical funny-page fodder. As the song says, “Time will not allow you to stop still. No.”

As you probably noticed, yesterday a brilliant writer made her debut as a new occasional contributor to the Comics Comics juggernaut. For those who don’t know, Nicole Rudick is a freelance writer and critic. She formerly worked at Bookforum, and was responsible for commissioning much of the great comics content there in recent years, including hiring a bunch of us from here, including myself, Dan, Jog, and Jeet. She’s also interviewed cartoonists such as Gipi, Adrian Tomine, and Dan Clowes, among others. (The Clowes interview will appear in an upcoming issue of The Believer.) She is sure to be a great addition to the site.

Stay tuned.

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The nonexistence of such a work is abominable. Death cannot be an obstacle. Hogarth’s illustrated edition of Benjamin’s Illuminations is the book for which we wait.

—China Miéville, in response to an enlightening (if typically prolix), 1984 but new-to-me essay by Burne Hogarth, on Tarzan and the modern age. I endorse Miéville’s suggestion.

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Click.

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I’m only about halfway through Todd Hignite’s upcoming The Art of Jaime Hernandez, but while it’s possible if unlikely that the whole thing falls apart near the end, and while I have a few mostly minor qualms (some fair, some not) about its approach, even at this point it is clear that this is a rich and beautiful book, and an essential volume for the advanced Hernandezologist. I’m not going to review the book right now, but just point out a few thoughts it inspired.
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For some inexplicable reason, Adult Swim/Burger King did NOT host the critical Neon Knome election yesterday, as they had announced (and as we mentioned earlier here), but instead waited until late this afternoon to suddenly, and without warning, slip the contest under all interested radars.

Do not let this injustice stand. I don’t know how long this contest will last, so go to the site now to cast your vote for integrity, solid values, and Neon Knome.

[image found via]

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You’ve probably seen the links around the comics webonet, asking people to go to Adult Swim’s website and vote for Michael Kupperman’s Snake N’ Bacon to air on the channel.

You should do that. But don’t forget to return on Monday to vote again, this time for Alfe.

There may be a tough decision in the future if these two champions go up against each other, but I’ll leave that Sophie’s choice up to you. For now.

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Well, it’s finally here. Comics Comics day. Dan and I have been spending lots of time lately with tech wizard Ray Sohn, who has been explaining about all the FTPs and ethernets and whatnot that we need to corral to make things work. As you can see, we’ve got a whole new look—and a new attitude to boot!

Two years (or months, maybe, but who’s counting?) in the making, ace designer Mike “Ever” Reddy’s visual “upgrade” of our site isn’t just cosmetic. It’s comprehensive, conceptual, and not entirely consensual. Over the next few days and weeks and months, you will start to notice a few changes around here. I’m not going to get into them now. Suffice it to say there will be an almost-steady stream of new features, new art, and new faces.

Stay tuned for all the thrills, chills, and spills that a haphazardly curated comics criticism website can provide. We hope you enjoy the new Comics Comics more than we enjoyed making it—a low bar—and thank you for your continued patronage!