Quotes that caught my eye this week.
“She loves comics and loves sharing that passion.””
- John Givetz conveying the passion of Carla Hoffman, who along with her husband Lance, is recovering after suffering serious burns in the Tea Fire. To echo the sentiments of many, here’s hoping we’re all as passionate and dedicated in supporting the Hoffmans, through prayer or fiscal or whatever means we can spare.
“…if the last few years of DC’s publishing moves have taught us anything, it’s that they rarely do anything that makes sense anymore.”
- Stephen Gerding questioning the wisdom of cancelling the Blue Beetle comic with one corporate arm (DC) while raising the character’s profile by using him in the launch of the Batman: The Brave and The Bold show with another corporate arm (Cartoon Network)
“So many people have invested in me getting back on my feet; it’d be a betrayal of them if I didn’t keep going.”
- Bill Messner-Loebs explaining how much he respects the level of support he received from the industry and fans several years ago.
“I’ve called people and asked them that when they come to visit him, don’t bring show-and-tell in there. Don’t show him his own work right now. He knows he’s a cartoonist. He’s just worried he can’t do it any more.”
- Lorraine Chamberlain revealing one main focus of concern (out of understandably many) that S. Clay WIlson has on the road to recovery (this week he got out of the ICU) from his recent severe brain injury
“It’s like making a video game out of Moby Dick.”
- Meredith Woerner lamenting the existence of a Watchmen video game.
“Myself for being there and forcing my child to endure some stuff Dante cut out of his book for being too ‘uncomfy’.”
- Evan Dorkin’s listing of himself in a litany of people he didn’t like as part of a larger rant regarding his family’s experience at last weekend’s National Expo in New York
“If they aren’t bothering you (other than by the fact of their very existence, offending your delicate sensibilities), stop fucking ragging on them.”
- Valerie D’Orazio taking great offense at Dorkin’s romp through absurdist/comedic/cathartic hyperbole and seemingly championing a hopefully endangered consumer demograhic–grown adults that do not know how to conduct themselves in public
“I have to admit, I’m shocked. Shocked. The market has always been so supportive of books with female leads, and She-Hulk has never had a title canceled out from under her before, so I could never have seen this coming.”
- Peter David humorously acknowledging the cancellation of She-Hulk
“But you never GAVE ME (BIFF!!) any colour guides! (WALLOP!)”
- Eddie Campbell recalling how Dave Gibbons explained the root cause of a fight the two witnessed in 2004 between two comic book artists.
“It suggests that Ignatz does not hate Krazy because he is a cat, but because he is a black cat.”
- Alexander Stern considering the racial dynamics of Krazy Kat, while aiming to “acknowledge and celebrate the African-American heritage of” George Herriman
“It’s always been a great source of pride to me that Stars and Stripes first subscribed to ‘Doonesbury’ during the height of the Vietnam War.”
- Garry Trudeau in last Sunday’s edition of Stars and Stripes aiming to emphasize the military and veteran affairs concerns he focuses a spotlight upon in Doonesbury.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:01 am
Wow, I’d go and post a reply to Valerie D’Orazio’s response to Evan Dorkin’s con report but I’m afarid she’ll twist my words and intentions and ttack me with claims of elitism too…
And for the record, he wasn’t ranting about random innocent people who were minding their own business.
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:54 am
God bless Valerie D’Orazio.
It seems that there are more and more creators out there spitting in the hand that payed for them to get to where they are now.
If you wouldn’t tell your wife that she looks fat in those jeans, don’t tell it to the overweight, balding fan man who just payed to get into see you just to say he’s bought all your work- and therefore probably payed for quite a few of your dinners- and how much he appreciates you.
I’ll say it again: More and more this comic fandom becomes less and less a place to be.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Yeah, “Name (required),” I’m sure those overweight, balding fan men are HUGE Evan Dorkin supporters. They must have, what… oh, probably THREE Marvel comics he wrote. Gotta keep their Deadpool collections complete, after all.
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Big Apple con is generally a pretty horrible, depressing show. As Dorkin says, it’s incredibly poorly organized, bootleg merchandise is insanely rampant, and there are some incredibly creepy people there. I remember last time I went there, I was shopping for half-price trades next to a middle aged man who was loudly complaining to one of the dealers that Traci Lords was “a stuck-up bitch” or something along those lines for refusing to sign his copies of her underage sex tapes at a con appearance she did.
Yes, this man was publicly complaining that he couldn’t get his child pornography autographed. This is the kind of Big Apple Con goer Dorkin is talking about.
I still try to stop in occasionally to buy back issues for cheap, but I generally try to get in and out and interact with as few people as possible. I missed this most recent one because my family was visiting the city for the weekend, and judging by Dorkin’s writeup, I really have no regrets about skipping it.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
“If they aren’t bothering you (other than by the fact of their very existence, offending your delicate sensibilities), stop fucking ragging on them.”
Interesting comment from Val seeing as how she is constantly taking shots at DC. Pot, kettle, black.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
>“…if the last few years of DC’s publishing moves have taught us anything, it’s that they rarely > > do anything that makes sense anymore.”
You can also add having your most popular character in the biggest film of the year (and one of the very biggest EVER) but then making said character’s comic inaccessible to new readers, while confusing and alienating to many long-time readers. Along with screwing up a bunch of other books featuring or related to that character. That’s not how DC did things back in 1989, the previous time that Bat-mania swept the country.
That’s in addition to canceling some great books, killing off some great characters while reviving others that should’ve stayed dead, more and more lackluster mega-crossover events, letting some excellent writers get away, cramming more characters no one asked for into an already crowded universe (Wildstorm and Archie characters), and reviving all the worst aspects of the Silver Age into the modern DCU.
That’s all in addition to DC’s constant scheduling problems, of course.
At least the DiDio regime is saving me lots of money right now. I should probably be thankful.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Exactly, “Mark W. Hale”. Thanks for agreeing.
God bless you.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Hey preston, just put on a latex glove and shake her hand. The hives from the allergic reaction will put her off drawing for a week.
Too far?
November 24th, 2008 at 1:36 am
On the one hand, Carbonaro’s thug operation has had it coming for years. On the other, Dorkin is a whiny shit-stirrer who loves being on his cross. Five minutes on google could have told him this was something he could have avoided.
Yea on him trashing the way the con is run. Boo on him for attacking the people who just wanted to buy stuff and shake a creator’s hand.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Thanks to the above links, I now know of the term “Cat Piss Man” and can proudly state that it does not apply. I shall not refrain from using in future endeavors.