All right, I’m headed out to Oslo in the morning. I’ll be attending the inaugural edition of Oslo Comics Expo, which looks like it’s going to be fun. I’ll be on the panel ‘Tegneserieakademiet,’ on our common understanding and contextualization of comics, on Saturday afternoon. Don’t know whether I’ll be able to update the blog, but will try — I have a billion things crawling in the pipeline, itching to get on. So, in any case, enuff to do next week.
But now, Oslo.
Oven på mit seneste indlæg om dansk fankultur, har det rumsteret lidt ovre i kaffeklubben. Jeg har nogle korte kommentarer:
1. Selvom diskussionen derovre har involveret folk, der er professionelle serietegnere, gør det dem ikke mindre fan-agtige når de diskuterer tegneseriedefinitioner, eller så meget andet. Hvilket er fint nok; det var ikke det min kritik gik på. Hvilket fører mig til:
2. Jeg har intet imod definitionslegen, men synes bare den skråsikre indstilling til/afvisning af tegneserieforskning som enten ikke-eksisterende, inkompetent eller ren og skær løgn og latin var et eklatant eksempel på fanrefleks og generel uvidenhed om hvad der foregår udenfor det snævert definerede tegneseriemikrokosmos visse fans bevæger sig i. Det fortjente skarp påtale.
Det følgende er ikke en formfuldendt artikel, men en let redigeret tekst hentet ud af en debat i Rackhams nu lukkede forum fra december 2002. Den omhandler det kronisk genkommende og ganske umulige problem at definere hvad en tegneserie er. Der tages forbehold for uklarhed, uvished og umulighed… og groteske mængder tankestreger.
Ahem, I was a little fast in my last post about the local Spider-Man 3 poster and didn’t think to actually doublecheck whether any spiders are capable of leaping great distances. Immediately caught in the act of being generally sloppy, I received this email from fellow Danish comics, and Spider-Man enthusiast, Thomas Stærmose:
“There are actually over 5,000 species in the largest family of spiders, jumping spiders, that are capable of… well, take a guess.
So, those ignoble ClearChannel billboards at the bus stops all around town here are now advertising Spider-Man 3. The conceit is that blue/red Spider-Man mirrors black Spider-Man in the glass facade of a Manhattan high rise, and vice-versa. Yes, it’s clever, I know. And well enough put together I guess, but what exactly is supporting our guy as he hangs there in midair, taking a gander? His webline’s nowhere near taut, so it can’t be that… has he suddenly acquired the disproportionate weight of a spider and blown in on the wind?*
Jeg har ikke til hensigt at blande mig i diskussionen om DRs helt igennem defekte tegneseriekonkurrence, og er selv pænt ligeglad med hvad der er en tegneserie og hvad der ikke er – det lader til DR har fundet de vindere de vil have og fred med det.
Nej, det jeg blot ville notere mig er de forstokkede fordomme og den galopperende uvidenhed en håndfuld af mine fellows-in-fandom lægger for dagen ovre i kaffeklubben. Hermed et helt igennem karakteristisk citat, anonymiseret fordi jeg er så flink:
“…vi vil i dette forum sandsynligvis ikke ha’ større vanskeligheder ved at match [sic] forskningsfeltets akkumulerede ekspertice [sic], hvis bare en håndfuld af os deltager og er nogen lunde [sic] fri for tømmermænd.”
Just wanted to share a couple of immensely readable comics-related pieces I’ve stumbled upon yesterday and today, both through Dirk over at ¡Journalista!
Oh, yeah, it ain’t over muthafuckas! Pepo and the Con C de Arte crew are back with more commentary on the state of French nigh-mainstream comics.
So, some of you will probably have noticed that a new head has entered the Bunker, dropping us at a very special Copenhagen crossing, and for the non-Danes out there I want to take the opportunity to present him. Cav is one of the new voices in Danish comics and animation; after several years in the underground – with the story Necropolis, written by Simon Petersen being the crowning achievement – he debuted last year with Blodbryllup, an adaptaton of GarcÃa Lorca’s Bodas de sangre, and was also featured in our anthology BLÆK last year, done in collaboration with Henrik Rehr, and he has recently submitted his final project at animation line at the Copenhagen Film School. Check out more of his work at his (other) blog, as well as on the site dedicated to one of the films he directed last year, Lucky Strike.
A great talent poised to take it to the next level. Watch him!
Also, check out Rackham‘s reviews of Necropolis and Blodbryllup. Image from Blodbryllup.
After a rather washed-out trip to Spain, where Emma got her bag stolen to boot (ahem, we’re trying not to think too much about that now), we’re back in sunny England! Somehow, it seems to me that there’s something wrong with that picture. But there it is.
Anyway, it was a great trip, all things considered, and the impressions amassed will be percolating and appearing in this space over the next few days or so. In the meantime, here’s some graff and street art from around Madrid.