Yesterday, it was 13 years ago that Jack Kirby died. Always stirring to be reminded of an oeuvre as unique as his. I just read his swan song, The Eternals, in its entirety and though it is widely considered to be a flawed effort, it is simply astonishing work. The first half a dozen issues…
Balladen der ikke vil dø fortsætter, ansporet af hhv. T. Thorhauges spritnye kritik af Strip! og tegneserietegner Henrik Rehrs reaktion på den. Jeg vil ikke gå i detaljer om Strip!-kritikken, men Rehr bringer som forsvar mod den en gammel bussemand på banen: “Pudsigt som han [Thorhauge] også har slemt travlt med et prøve at tryne…
I efteråret stod der et mægtigt slag i den danske tegneserieverden. Slaget var både af principiel og ganske konkret karakter: Ivar Gjørup, der i over 20 år har tegnet striben Egoland, var nonchalant blevet tilbudt en alvorlig forringelse af sin placering i den avis der har været stribens hjem i næsten ligeså lang tid, Politiken.…
Mens vi her i bunkeren er i færd med at disse det tidsskrift han er chefredaktør for, bringes på Rackham Henrys store interview med Paw Mathiasen, den danske tegneserieundergrunds Godfather. Ja, Paw, du er selvfølgelig også andet end undergrund, men vi betragter det sgu som et adelsmærke! Og til jer som troede rackham.dk var død,…
Opportunistic Denmark-based imam Ahmed Abu Laban’s passing earlier today, almost exactly a year after the flames he helped fan triggered the insanity that became the so-called Muhammed crisis, seems strangely serendipitous. It reminds us what a difference being at the wrong place at the wrong time can make. Though his track record of consorting with…
As a manifestation of comics as an art form, this year’s festival was the best in a long time. It was the happy result of the synergy of a market in which a number of quality comics unprecedented in the past 25 years have become available, the reform of the awards to match this fact,…
Har netop fået en email fra Jan Frederiksen, der var medlem af Rackhams hedengangne forum: “Nu skriver i jo selv at i vil have kommentarer pr mail på Metabunkeren, så here goes. Først tillykke med det nye initiativ : det har længe været lidt vanskeligt (ahem) at finde det man søgte på rackham, så skiftet…
It was the best and worst of festivals at Angoulême this year. On the one hand, it was logistically chaotic because the exhibitor’s space had been moved to the suburb of Montauzier, a half-hour walk away from the city centre, with no restaurants, no cash machine, no trashcans, and no soul. Most of the debit…
I have just learned that photographer Didier Lefêvre has passed away. What a shock. He was just at Angoulême, where the comic he made in collaboration with Emmanuel Guibert and Frédéric LeMercier, Le Photographe, was singled out as one of the essential works of the year. He had apparently been suffering from heart trouble for…
Nå, jeg kan se at vores nye format har vakt opmærksomhed ovre i kaffeklubben (tak for de pæne ord. Vi knuselsker skam også jer). Hovedanken er, at vi skulle have afskaffet debatten fordi vi har lukket forumet, men det er faktisk ikke tilfældet. Vi er bare trætte af at køre et forum og har derfor…
It is about time. The Grand Prix winner of the Angoulême festival is the Argentine master José Muñoz (born 1942 in Buenos Aires). As the artist of a series of classic books written by his compatriot Carlos Sampayo : notably the noir character-driven series Alack Sinner, the masterful short story cycle set around “Joe’s Bar”,…
Today, a group of comics industry luminaries got together on panel at Angoulême’s comics centre, CNBDI, to discuss Thierry Groensteen’s new book, La Bande dessinée – Un Objet culturel non-identifié which I reviewed here yesterday. Groensteen himself was there, of course, and was joined by L’Association co-founder Jean-Christophe Menu (who just published the final, massive…
Just attended the on-stage interview with Charles Burns, conducted by two nincompoops. Why is it that, when French interviewers talk to American cartoonists, they always – always – have to spend precious time talking about superheroes, even when it’s completely irrelevant to the artist’s work? And why is it that they always – always –…
In time for the festival, Thierry Groensteen, Director of the national comics centre (CNBDI) here in Angoulême, and one of France’s preeminent comics historians, -theorists, has put out a collection of essays charting the cultural reception of the comics medium in France over the last half century or so. Half history book, half timely, critical…
So, we’re at the press centre which is the mirror-lined, gilded stucco-banquet hall of the Town Hall, and Lewis Trondheim just dropped by with a camera crew, talking nonsense and doing a little dance for us. No shit. We exchanged a few words – he in Finnish, me in Chinese. Nice chap. More later. Photo:…