A selection of some of the funniest, most interesting and strangest quotes from the past week:

“I was told during my job interview that my seven years of teaching arts & crafts at a summer camp would actually be very useful in my editorial position, and that has proved to be absolutely true. Dealing with artists and the creative process, where there’s a combination of the carrot and the stick to push talent in a positive direction, feels very much like being a teacher (my editorial failing is that I still hate using the stick).”

– Tokyopop editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, on working with artists

“I have basic expectations about what’s appropriate for a character with the ‘S’ on her chest. I don’t think that’s a limitation — it points the way toward the proper area in which to search for fresh material. She’s not a dark avenger or Goth punk. She’s a strange visitor from another planet who should embody all that’s best in humanity and in America. That’s right, America. The land of immigrants who make good.”

– writer Tony Bedard, on his take on Supergirl

“What are you doing DC?! Where is the absurdly long torso?! The supershort skirt? The rib cage? The globe-like breasts? The impossibly long legs? Are you trying to betray the fanboy community?

“SHORTS?! I mean, how are readers supposed to anxiously wait for random shots of Supergirl’s ’super bits’ when they will be covered by shorts?! And Tony Bedard, the new writer wants her to ‘eat something’ and cover up a bit more?! That’s it, DC, no more writers who have daughters! They get crazy ideas about how to write female characters.”

– blogger Thom Wade, on Supergirl’s new direction

“Granted, I have no idea if these books are any good (the online reviews for all three series are overwhelmingly positive, but raves like ‘Negima is my favorite. I am the biggest fan. I love it so much. It is funny and has action and romance at the sane time. It the cooliest of the coolio cows’ make me question the reviewer’s objectivity), but I’m tempted to buy them all just for the sheer novelty of having such thick manga books on my bookcase.”

– blogger John Jakala, who is himself “the cooliest of the coolio cows,” on the Del Rey three-volumes-in-one omnibuses

There is one thing that truly worries me from all the recent net outrages, including the Nymphet ordeal: the rise of websites and bloggers from both sides of an issue whose sole raison detre appear to be inciting acrimony between different sectors of fandom and the belittlement of opposing dissidents, and the willingness of many to lend credence to them. That general attitude is troubling, as it portends a shift in strategy by such grass-roots causes from advocacy, to the smear-and-ridicule tactics more befitting of political or religious extremists. Rather than taking a step up, the call has increasingly become for everyone else to take a step down. That is not empowerment. These spontaneous umbrella causes do not truly concern themselves with promoting the interests of individual people whom they count amongst their members and place on their banners, but the advancement of singular ideology and the desire for everyone to march in lock-step with it.

– Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing, in his post mortem of this week’s Nymphet controversy

This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 11:32 am and is filed under Comic Books, Creators, DC Comics, Fandom, Graphic Novels, Industry, Internet, Manga, Quote Unquote. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.