“If it paints the rebels as heroes, says the book’s creator, that is because his extensive research brought him to that conclusion”: A Saturday feature in the Irish Times profiles graphic novel Blood Upon the Rose: Easter 1916, The Rebellion that Set Ireland Free, about the 1916 Rising. Surely it won’t be the least bit controversial.
Christopher Borrelli of The Chicago Tribune is wrong, wrong I say!: In this well-written and rather interesting profile of the talented author Audrey Niffenegger, whose popularity recently experienced a sharp spike thanks to the film adaptation of her novel The Time Traveler’s Wife and the release of her new book Her Fearful Symmetry,her 2005 picture book The Three Incestuous Sisters is referred to as a graphic novel. It is not a graphic novel by any definition of that nebulous term. It’s a picture book. And a pretty good one at that. But it’s not a graphic novel.
“My father’s name is probably one of the most well-known names around the world, but as the brand or trademark has spread, for many, the man has become lost”: Sunday’s Morning Call has a nice feature story about their former cartoonist William R. ”Bud” Tamblyn and Walt Disney, prompted by the new Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco including a Tamblyn cartoon marking Disney’s death in their collection. That quote is from Disney’s daughter Diane Disney Miller, who established the foundation responsible for the museum and “telling the story of Walt Disney’s life, in his own words, and in the words of others who knew him well and worked with him.”
High on the list of things I never thought I’d say? “Aw, Lex Luthor is so cute!”: The Grand Island Independent has a feature story about a 150-superhero strong Kiwanis Kids Day Parade. Check out the photo of lil’ Lex, hanging out with a tiny little Clark Kent and a tiny little Superman. The story itself is well worth a scan to see who the kids consider superheroes, and to hear the identities some of their own made-up superheroes. I’m going to have to dock reporter Robert Pore and the Independent editorial staff for spelling Jimmy Olsen’s last name with two O’s though.
“German designer Adrian Riemann has spent the last few months illustrating 16 redesigns of famous ‘Masters of the Universe’ characters including both He-man and Skeletor. All superheroes and villians featured are immaculately dressed complete with American Apparel, H&M and Dior”: The results are even more awesome than they sound. Go check it out. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as you’ve never seen them before—skinny!
