mainstream comics:
Kick Ass #5
Incognito #’s 1 and 2
alternative comics:
Dirtbags, Mallchicks & Motorbikes
Wizzywig #2
art comics:
Rat’s Cocoon / Lung Damage split zine
Gay Nerd #2
manga:
some giant collection called “Fellows”
that my friend brought back from Japan.
european comics:
Necron #1
I’m gonna “review” some or all of these soon.
50 cent bin Ditko. Sounds like a terrorist rapper. I picked up these 70s Ditko horror comics at my secret spot here in Pittsburgh. I spent like, 3.50 total for 7 books. (Then I spent 3.50 for one new comic: Incognito #2-which is actually really good, somehow very timely) All “late” Ditko where he’s just crankin’ it out, where’s he’s just using that template of his, of generic action scenes, familiar poses. Eyeball the panel I’ve enlarged at the very bottom and think about how many Ditko comics you’ve seen that exact framing, that exact pose. Two crooks beatin’ their feet down an alley in a Ditko comic will more than likely have a variation of this pose. Yet, it scares the shit out of me somehow. So generic but so symbolic and perfect for the pulpy pitch of the story. This period of Ditko just continues to fascinate me. And unlike 70s Kirby comics which have been scooped up by collectors and are now more pricey than they useta be, 70s Ditko comics are still around in the bins if you sniff for them. Anyways, tune in next sunday night when my hunt for cheaply printed mildewy newsprint continues on ComicsComics.
Bodies and bodies… I also love Bodyworld. But, not-comics-wise, I feel compelled to share this video of Charlie White III, one of the featured artists in Overspray, doing some serious painting on a live body in the late 1960s. Let this be a lesson to ya! Charlie was one serious bad-ass back in the day.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. If you’re not following the webcomic Bodyworld, then you’re missing out on the most formally inventive comic being made today. I suggest reading the whole thing from start to finish, which you can do now that the thing has ended. Enjoyable for me cuz I watched it turn and mutate over the past year so the finale really hit home. Loved it. You will too. And if you don’t, you’re just a moron who doesn’t know a thing about comics.
I was cleaning out my files and found this drawing by Jon Vermilyea at the bottom of an old inter-office memo.
I have quote a good list for the next Art Out of Time, and most of the artists somewhat nailed down. But I’m looking for detailed biographical information of two who remain elusive: Matt Fox and H.G. Peter. Fox has been covered nicely in terms of his basic stats and a nice anecdote from Bhob Stewart, but I don’t know anything beyond that, though I imagine his family is perhaps in the New York area.
H.G. Peter was the founding artist of Wonder Woman, but the work I’m most interested in was for Heroic Comics (thanks, Dylan!). And beyond a capsule bio in Ron Goulart’s indispensable (and out of print) Encyclopedia of American Comics and some basic stats, I have nothing on him.
So, if anyone out there in comics land has more detailed info on Matt Fox or H.G. Peter, please drop me a line: dan (at) pictureboxinc (dot) com. You’ll be rewarded!
Mat Brinkman: Eating Shit, 2009.
I blogged elsewhere about my trip to L.A. to curate the Melissa Brown / Mat Brinkman show. Check it out at ForYourArt.
Opening Thursday, Feb.5, 6-9 pm: Ben Jones: The New Dark Age.
Yep, a massive solo show by Mr. Jones. I’ve seen it along the way and it’s a fantastic thing. Below are some images of work in progress, etc.
BEN JONES
FEB 5TH – FEB 28TH 2009
OPENING THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY 5 6-9PM
76 GRAND STREET
NYC, NY
Two more, by request:
CUT THE UNFUNNY COMICS, NOT ‘SPIDERMAN’
I can’t believe that you’re cutting “Spiderman” — the only comic strip in the Globe, except for “Doonesbury” half the time, worth reading. Do think again in making way for what sounds like one more jejune set of unfunny panels pitched at the nonexistent (or at least nonreading) X-generation.
And what ever happened to “Mac Divot” — the most helpful set of golf tips I ever read?
JOHN UPDIKE
Beverly Farms
And:
The encounter, when all was said and done, had been no stranger than those in ‘Krazy Kat,’ which had given me my first idea of the American desert.
I remember really enjoying reading the Spider-Man comic strip in the early ’90s, but mostly in a kind of stupefied amazement at the lengths it took to stretch out a single plot point from Monday to Saturday (presumably so Sunday-only readers wouldn’t get lost). I wonder what Updike saw in it, assuming his letter wasn’t a put-on. I was just a stupid kid at the time, so maybe I was missing something…
[Thanks, Jeet.]
