Carlsen stays Carlsen

comics and cartooning, journal

On Seriejournalen’s message board, Carlsen editor Carsten Søndergaard notes that the negotiations at Aschehoug/Egmont after their acquisition of Bonnier Forlagene have resulted in the publishing house Carlsen, previously owned by Bonnier, remains its own publisher, while Egmont Serieforlaget continues to function as is. Effectively that means the new media group has two distinct comics publishing houses. Probably the best solution all round.

We hope to have more on all this shortly.

Hype: Denmark Represents at MoCCA

comics and cartooning, hype & linkage

mocca_dk.jpg
This coming weekend, June 23-24, will once again see the MoCCA ArtFest in the Puck Building in SoHo, New York. Always an event well worth attending, there will be extra reason to do so this year for people interested in Scandinavian comics. The Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish consulates have collaborated on a joint manifestation at the festival. The Danish part is organized by New York-based Danish cartoonist Henrik Rehr, who has invited a group of distinguished Danish cartoonists and publishers, all of whom will be at hand to draw, and talk about their work. Look for similar manifestations from the other participating countries – the Scandinavian contigent can be found at booths S13-17.

Raphael’s Portrait of Lorenzo de’Medici: A Case of Visual vs. Documentary Evidence

articles and essays, pictorial arts

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The portrait of Lorenzo de’Medici, Duke of Urbino (1492-1519), coming up for sale at Christie’s on the 5th of July is an interesting case study in the perpetual problem in art history of reconciling visual and textual evidence. I have just visited Christie’s in London and examined the painting. It is obviously a severely damaged, extensively restored painting, but it is still quite beautiful. To me it looks like it was substantially painted by Raphael himself, but things are unfortunately not so easy.

Shrug Value

journal, pictorial arts

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Not wanting to feel left out, I’m adding my 2 cents on Damien Hirst’s new skull. It is a platinum cast of a human skull, with real teeth, studded with 8.601 diamonds, the forehead set with a 50-karat stone. At a reported production cost of £8-10 million and a sales price around £50 million, the press release called it the “most expensive work of contemporary art ever created” (whatever that means), and that’s kind of the point.

Hype: Undertegnede i norske Morgenbladet

comics and cartooning, hype & linkage, journal

epileptisk_t.jpgTil særlig vore norske læsere, vil jeg anbefale at checke denne uges udgave af Morgenbladet, hvori undertegnede har en anmeldelse af David Bs Epileptisk. Men først og fremmest vil jeg anbefale jer at læse Epileptisk – et af den moderne tegneseries mesterværker.

Udgiveren, No Comprendo Press, har i øvrigt også udsendt David Bs lille mesterlige allegori, Familiebomben, på norsk. Nåja, der er også et stort interview med David B. i Rackham-udgivelsen Forandringstegn, og en udvidet udgave af det i The Comics Journal #275.
 
 

Daniel Robert Epstein RIP

comics and cartooning, film, tv, video, journal, music

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It’s incredibly sad to hear of the death of pop culture journalist Daniel Robert Epstein’s sudden death at the way-too-young age of 31 a couple of days ago. Epstein was a hugely prolific journalist specializing in interviews with an astonishingly broad range of artists and pop culture personalities. His interviews were engaging and to the point. Deepest condolences to his friends and family. He will be missed.

Loose yourself in Epstein’s extensive interview archive at Suicide Girls; read the obituary of the same site here, and that of Newsarama’s Matt Brady’s here.

Re: Berlingskes tegneseriekonkurrence

comics and cartooning, debate

Ovre på Seriejournalen kommenterer Hans Müller, tegneren bag en af de vindende striber i Berlingskes tegneseriekonkurrence, Bladtegner.dk, min kritik:

“Wivel, hvad mener du med “det meget begrænsede eksempelmateriale der er tilgængeligt”…? Du henviser til de 4 eksempler der i sin tid blev lagt på Berlingske.dk, antager jeg. Har du overhovedet ulejliget dig med at læse de 4 striber i de måneder de kørte i avisen? For at holde mig til mit egen stribe, fremhæver du den i mine øjne ringeste af dem alle (den med flyveren) og bruger den som grundlag for at sable hele molevitten som WM til Familiejournalen. Faktisk forholder det sig sådan, at netop den med flyveren ikke kom gennem min egen “censur” da jeg leverede 31 striber til at køre marts måned igennem i avisen. Men du har vel ikke læst resten af dem…? Jeg synes faktisk selv, at rigtigt mange af mine striber holdt et godt niveau, enkelte fungerede ikke rigtigt, men sådan er det jo…det er ikke så ofte man møder serieskabere der er lige skarpe hver eneste dag. …læg til dette det faktum at ingen af serierne fik mere tid end omkring 30 dage til at udvikle sig.”

Happy 70th Birthday, Jørgen Leth!

film, tv, video, journal, letters, sports


Well, I absolutely adore legendary poet, filmmaker and sports commentator Jørgen Leth, so today is a great occasion to celebrate the man and his works. Mr. Leth himself will talk to his audience in Cinemateket in Copenhagen later today, go meet him! At the same time, the first part of a brand new dvd compilation of Leth’s entire film production will be launched – oh joy! …Happy Birthday, mr. Leth!

If you read Danish, do click here to read Berlingske Tidende‘s Ebbe Iversen’s accurate and thorough piece on Leth’s career.

Illustration by myself.