OK, so it totally passed me by when Fantagraphics published it last year, but I’ve now read Scrublands by South African cartoonist Joe Daly in French, no less. Nice edition by L’Association and all, but kinda stupid not to read it in the original language. Anyway, it’s kind of a sleeper hit with me. Though by no means a major work of comics, it has distinctive, and these days rather rare qualities that I appreciate more and more, the more I think about them.
If you’re in Paris and in search of something to do tomorrow (Thursday) night, my buddy, the sculptor Paul Toupet, is part of a show based on Alice in Wonderland that opens that evening.
I just visited him last week and saw his sculptures for the exhibition — Alice and the White Rabbit (he’s doing the croquet scene) — and they were damn cool. So I know they’re worth going for. Plus I’m sure some of the other artists have also contributed interesting work.
So do go, it’s at the gallery L’Art de rien (MySpace) at 48 rue D’orsel (Métro Abbesses) from 6 PM onwards. The show runs till 9 November.
Flyer for the show.
Portuguese comics critic Domingos Isbelinho, who some years ago made the web, and especially the Comics Journal message board, unsafe for comics nostalgics and genre enthusiasts has now reemerged after what seems to have been a rather long silence. His new blog, The Crib Sheet, has hit the ground running, and trust Domingos to bring us lots of interesting content, including comics that most of us are guaranteed to have never seen before and — hopefully — the trademark trenchant and stimulating POV.
Keep an eye on it!
Image: Detail of Chago Armada’s painting Lo amorfo y descorazonador del diálogo vacÃo. More from Armada, who also did a fascinating-looking cartoony comic strip, at the link.
This just in: Henrik Rehr gør opmærksom på, at Det Danske Generalkonsulat i New York igen i år sponsorerer en stand på MoCCAs Artfest, som normalt afholdes sidste weekend i juni og bestemt er et besøg værd (undertegnede var der i 2004).
Sidste par år har et skiftende hold danske tegnere bemandet denne stand og du inviteres nu til at deltage, hvad enten du er tegner, tegneserieforlægger eller tegneserieinteresseret i anden egenskab. Kontakt kulturattachen på generalkonsulatet Maiken Derno: maider [at] um [punktum] dk eller Rehr selv: hrehr [at] nyc [punktum] rr [punktum] com.
Jakob Rask Nielsens Carlo Garn, der vandt Berlingskes tegneseriekonkurrence sidste år uden af den grund at få lov at køre i avisen, er nu overgået til billedbogsformat.
Det var fra starten Rask Nielsens grafiske håndelag, der gjorde at Carlo Garn til en vis grad var et forfriskende bekendtskab og det ser, hvis man skal dømme efter de eksempler han har lagt op på sin hjemmeside, ud til at han har udviklet sig ganske gevaldigt i den retning.
Det ser, med andre ord, lovende ud. En bog jeg helt sikkert har mod på at checke for og som du måske også bør kigge på?
The picks of the week from around the web.
Disorder and its Opposite, a recent addition to the comics blogosphere helmed by Ed Howard, starts out strong discussing the canon of American comic strips. Howard is both insightful and prolific as his other blog, Only the Cinema, shows. Lots of interesting writing on many a good film here. Recommended.
Töpfferiana is a new blog on the comics of early modernity, reproducing interesting work from great cartoonists deserving of more attention. So far, proprietor Antoine Sausverd has posted work from Töpffer (obviously), Wilhelm Busch, Caran d’Ache, Alain Saint-Ogan and J. Blass. here’s hoping for much more in the future!
Image from Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), discussed by Howard on his blog.
Warren Craghead has a new comic up on his site for free download. it’s awesome as usual, so go get it.
I meant to write some words on the passing of the great Belgian cartoonist last week earlier, but then figured that since I was going to Paris over the weekend, I’d pick up a couple of his classic comics to reacquaint myself with some of those stories that meant so much to me as a kid and which I’ve only ever read in Danish translation. To my not inconsiderable indignation I discovered, however, that the French-language market, despite overflowing with product these years, apparently still can’t support extensive reeditions of its classics. It appears that only very little of Macherot’s work is in print, and none of it was available at the otherwise reliable stores I frequent in the City of Lights.
On the other hand such utter mediocrities as Jean Graton’s Michel Vaillant, Tibet’s Ric Hochet and Eddy Paape’s Luc Orient are available in archival editions. It’s depressing. Macherot is a
a master on the level of his distinguished colleagues Peyo, creator of Johan et Pirlouit and the Smurfs, and Morris, the co-creator and artist of Lucky Luke. His best work is not only immaculately crafted, but intelligent, personal, fun and not a little unsettling.
Louisiana, Denmark’s primary museum for modern and contemporary art, are presenting a large exhibition of manga this fall. The concept covers the history of the Japanese comics tradition, from the graphic narratives printed almost 200 years ago to the present comics industry. It opens on Thursday and runs till February 8, 2009. More information (in Danish) here and here.