This week’s quotes could have been an amazing collection of tributes and shots at For Better or For Worse. It’s always mystified and annoyed me how much people have gotten into bashing Lynn Johnston’s strip, increasingly so in recent years. I just didn’t see the point. I liked the strip, and I was curious to see where she was taking these characters in the last days. But my god, the last few strips made me want to start mocking the work myself. For instance, ever faithful Iris is discussing Grandpa Jim’s health with new bride Elizabeth. But for whatever reason, Iris likens elderly Jim to a baby–prompting Elizabeth’s non sequitor of “I’d like to have a baby someday.” I was really hoping Iris would cold-cock Elizabeth and scream: “We’re talking about your grandfather, you self-absorbed moron!” Sadly it was not to be…for better or for worse.
But, no, I could not bring myself to gather such a collection of quotes. Instead, over the past few weeks, I’ve been bewildered by the active campaigns in some circles to deride Kramers Ergot 7. When the pricing on this anthology was first announced, I remembered thinking: “Don’t see myself buying the book.” But the way that some folks that I respect have seemingly gone out of your way to dismiss/deride/prejudge Kramer’s Ergot 7, I’m actively rooting for this book to succeed. And the backlash has made me more likely to buy the book. Fortunately for all the negative prejudgments just as many folks seem to be expecting great things of the book. Me? I’ll wait until I can read actual reviews of the book before making any final decisions.
“11 of those contributors are must-reads for me…33 pages for $125 bucks is a non-starter at my house; sorry, team artcomix. I know I’ve disappointed you terribly.”
- Alan David Doane in just one of his many reverse marketing posts about the book.
“Alan, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one gives a special shit about what you buy or don’t buy. Get over yourself, and move on.”
-Tom Spurgeon, in the same comments section, with a unique (for him) case of public potty mouth.
“Stupid Publisher Tricks: Too Many Awesome Anthology Contributors”
- Sean T. Collins playing on the regular name of Johanna Draper Carlson’s blog series which recently focused on KE 7
“And the editor wanted to do an on-site press check, so he had to fly to Singapore.”
- Johanna Draper Carlson offering her “final word” on KE 7. I doubt this will be her final word on the book, but trust me when I write I’d love to be proven wrong.
“Still. I’m not the only one who thinks Kramer’s Ergot is special-special. [Art] Spiegelman has stated that it is, in an experimental sense, a successor to Raw, and a collection particular suited to the new century, when art comics become increasingly detached from anything like a narrative, and approach the old Abstract Expressionist Art-for-Its-Own-Sake. I concur with Spiegelman even if I don’t happen to enjoy reading Ergot all that much, page per page. Readers my age, rooted in the comics of the 1940s-50s, our devotion revived by the Undergrounds, are likely to feel that way and not change our tastes much. We can still appreciate.”
- Paul Buhle appreciating Kramers Ergot in his own way (link via Tom Devlin)
“It’s a one-off. Even if the book is a huge success and sells out quickly, the amount of work involved, the logistics of the project are way beyond a workload we can handle. So there wont be another issue of Kramers like this probably ever. ”
- Sammy Harkham revealing that he may not have to defend the price tag on Kramers Ergot 8.
“Needless to say, we have to distinguish between too-long-and-brilliant (“Paradise Lost,” “War and Peace”) and too-long-and-stupid (“The Dark Knight,” “In-a-Gadda-da-Vida”).”
- David Kelly panning the latest (and highly praised) Batman flick
“My point then was not that [Anne] Cleveland was a lost seminal genius of cartooning, but quite the opposite — she was a talented and somewhat successful female cartoonist whose name had been completely lost to the sands of time in the great lost era between Rose O’Neill and Julie Doucet, and how women of her level of achievement were almost always lost to the sands of time, leaving those who come behind to have to reinvent the wheel over and over again.”
- Heidi MacDonald reminding us again how much more she knows more about comics than the average person. I normally enjoy MacDonald for her wit, but am constantly appreciative of her far more impressive industry knowledge.
” So here’s a question: Why did we spend the last three decades absorbed in the lives of the most boring people in Canada?”
Hank Stuever detailing the strip, For Better or For Worse, with enough going on “for everyone to hate” .
“This is genuinely a big ‘Final’ event for me. I really took the title seriously. I wanted it to sum up not only everything I’ve done over the years in superhero comics, but also call back to the other crossovers – we have a murder investigation like Identity Crisis, the red skies and the Monitors from Crisis on Infinite Earths, the time distortions of Zero Hour, and lots of parallel Earths. I had to accommodate all these things, but at the same time, like I said, I’m trying to push them to become something we’ve never seen before but which will probably seem very obvious once it becomes clear. Once we get into Superman Beyond and the last three issues of Final Crisis, it’s an all-out onslaught on the very basics of the superhero genre and indeed the idea of ‘story’ itself.”
- Grant Morrison clarifying the finality of “final” in his Final Crisis work. This better include a cameo by Danny the Street if this is as final as it sounds…
“I have sympathy for some of Wowio’s employees, especially the editorial director, Kristin Ellison, because two years ago, I was in her shoes: stuck between a crowd of hungry, wronged freelancers and a failing, red-ink-soaked company. The next time I actually speak to her instead of just e-mailing her, my message is going to be simple: Get out now. In fact, that’s probably good advice for anyone involved with Platinum Studios properties in any capacity.”
-T Campbell adding his voice to the chorus of concerns about the state of Wowio.
“That during the times of the most savage pain, she held the comics in her hands because they comforted her. He told me that he read to her at night from them. From Archie Digests! A bald old man, acting out all of the roles and finishing every punch-line. I can only imagine how much joy that gave her amid her anguish.”
-Jud Meyers redefining a love of comics for me with the story of an elderly couple of customers. (link via Draper Carlson)
“The main problem with comic books is distribution. That’s where the creativity needs to be applied. It will be interesting to see how the new publisher-owned comic shops (D&Q, Fantagraphics, Picturebox) pan out. Stores like these, as well as forward-thinking traditional comic shops, can become friendly markets for comic books. That’s still a pretty thin market, though. It’d be great if there was a website that specialized in marketing these kinda books. Indie comics, minicomics, etc.”
- Ted May hoping for improved comic book distribution
“Superman, the character, inspires hope, as opposed to Batman, who inspires fear.”
Jeph Loeb responding to speculation of a potential darker Superman vibe on the next film.
