Angoulême 2009: The Flix!
Check in here, for the spectacle that is the Bunker’s photo reportage from the Angoulême festival. Above: Chris Ware signing at the Angoulême booth.
Angoulême 2009: Blutch Takes Grand Prix
So, I’ve finally made it home after a three-leg train journey from sunny southern France to an England blanketed in powdered snow and plagued by traffic delays. We were long gone when the prize winners and the Grand Prix were announced, but thanks to a friend on the spot, we learned that Blutch took the…
Angoulême 2009: A bas le président!
Last night’s party at City Hall ended abruptly, with the presidential portrait torn down and stomped upon by an exuberantly out of control underground publisher. The crowds cheered, the bar shut, lights went on, and we exited with a bottle of Hennessy. Saturday night always delivers.
Angoulême 2009: Picture of the Day
… Masters of comics: Chris Ware & Daniel Clowes…
Angoulême 2009: Menu & “Misfits”
As our patient reader surely expects, the Bunker crew knows how to pick its spot — L’Association’s Lapin release party seemed kind of dull until L’Asso-boss Jean-Christophe Menu exploded in the basement, performing several covers of Misfits punk classics! The Bunker is proud to present its very own (and, alas, unfortunately very short) YouTube clip…
Angoulême 2009: Change We Can Believe In
After spending two nights in downtown Angoulême, it seems kind of safe to conclude that nightlife culture has changed. Usually THE place to meet is legendary bar Le Chat Noir, but since smoking was banned inside, what seems to be the majority of the patrons have moved outside, leaving the place half-empty, or well, actually…
Angoulême 2009: Peep Show
The sun came out today. Angoulême looks great, and this year’s festival is a great pre-spring distraction in this time of recession. The crowds are moderate today, making perambulation pleasant and breezy with sufficient bustle to make you buzz with excitement about comics and their culture. It’s not like everything’s great in French-language comics or…
Hype: Thorhauge i weekendavisen
Lars Bukdahl har fået fingrene i T. Thorhauges seneste tegneserie Jørgen Leth. Som afslutning på en karakteristisk pikaresk om Leths genfundne popularitet, giver han den følgende ord med på vejen: “Sidste værk i bunken af Lethiana er T. Thorhauges lillebitte, virtuost tegnede og karikerede hæfte Jørgen Leth, hvor tegneseriefiguren Leth, mens han fremsiger blanke visdomsord…
ANGOULÊME!
The Bunker crew has hit Angoulême! Stay tuned for lots of updates, generous paparazzi-flix and delightful gossip! The world’s greatest comics festival is ON! Above: Metabaron Wivel conversing Lewis “genius” Trondheim (Photo: Yours truly, taken 2007)
John Updike RIP
We at the Bunker want to pay our respects. Read the New York Times obit, and if you’re part of our cartoon-interested audience, be sure to check out Jeet Heer’s articles on Updike’s appreciation for comics and cartooning here and here. While we’re at it, read his appreciation here. 1978 Cartoon portrait of Updike by…
Angoulême 2009: Enter the Cartoon Cathouse
La Maison close is Florent Ruppert and Jerome Mulot’s latest concept comic, and it’s about the most impressive cartoonist’s jam I have ever seen, at least in terms of inventiveness and resonant coherence. Also, it’s pretty hilarious at times. It’s made especially for the Angoulême festival and can be read on the festival site. It…
Picks of the Week
“During the same critical period, Vice President Cheney was urging Secretary of State Colin Powell to consider seriously the possibility that Iraq might be connected to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Powell found the case worse than ridiculous and scornfully concluded that Cheney had what Powell termed a “fever.” (In private, Powell used to…
Morgenbladet: Den norske tegneseriestribes middelmådighed
Til vore norske læsere vil jeg benytte muligheden for at reklamere for min seneste artikel til denne uges udgave af Morgenbladet — en anmeldelse af seks norske stribeserier: Pondus, Nemi, M, Rex Rudi, Eon og Zofies Verden. Underrubrikken lyder: “Den norske tegneseriestribe har gode vilkår, men ingen kunstneriske enere.” Artiklen kan læses af abonnenter her,…
Picks of the Week
The picks of the week from around the web. Stephen Fry on language. This podcast is a real virtuoso performance from a sterling raconteur and wordweaver. Check it out. Edward Gorey: The Recently Deflowered Girl. A little-known but brilliant Gorey book, in which he really fires on all his creative cylinders. Don’t miss it (thanks…
A Life Is in the Details
When I heard that archivist Philippe Goddin was writing a biography about Georges Remi, aka. Hergé, my first thought was: What can he possibly add to the story that has not already been covered in the previous biographies? Hergé is probably the most extensively covered comics artist, both in terms of scholarly and popular publications.…