The Twilight phenomenon is nothing new. It’s just the apotheosis of a sort of pop-cultural nosferatu makeover that has been chugging along since Anne Rice sent moody young romantics swooning with Interview With a Vampire way back in 1976. Purists may scoff at the melodrama and angst that have been infused into the sinister vampire archetype by authors like Stephenie Meyer or Laurell Hamilton, but nowadays, the real paroxysms of angst are coming from tormented horror fans who can’t stop moaning about the sparkling Nu-Vampire paradigm. Still, whining sourpuss fans should take heart. If you hunt hard enough, there are still plenty of counterpoints to the new moon that is rising, and even stories that integrate elements of the romanticized Nu-Nosferatu in a way even anti-Twilight curmudgeons can appreciate. Consider the following suggestions a sort of prescription for the current vampire epidemic going around, a treatment regime of literary inoculations and cinematic antidotes that can help you survive. (more…)

Those of you who have been fans of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, this might be some great news for you!

According to Shock ‘Til You Drop, the prolific author said a a book signing that he had “one more Dark Tower book to write.”

The Liljas-Library site also issued the following note, allegedly from Stephen King’s message board — that said, I’m taking this one with a grain of salt, as I have not been able to find a direct link yet:

“Stephen has given me permission to pass along that he has an idea for a new Dark Tower book, the working title of which will be The Wind Through The Keyhole. He has not yet started this book and anticipates that it will be a minimum of eight months before he is able to begin writing it.”

Considering the Dark Tower series has been lovingly rendered by Marvel, with creators such as Peter David, Robin Furth, Richard Isanove, and Jae Lee, this could be some welcome news for comics fans. It may not focus specifically on the Gunslinger himself — according to Zach Dionne at GQ, this will likely focus on supporting characters, especially dealing with events from Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla — but this may definitely tie up some loose ends. Thoughts?

Hans Rickheit’s “The Squirrel Machine,” published by Fantagraphics Books, is a beautiful 179 page hard cover graphic novel. It is an appropriate book to start out this new column since it sets the tone for the type of offbeat work that attracts me and I hope will interest you. The story involves two brothers who desire to build wondrous things but are destined to create monstrous gadgets made from animals.

Rickheit’s world of self-published works, notably the series, “Chrome Fetus Comics,” and the graphic novel, “Chloe,” follow the internal logic of dreams and do well by it. In “The Squirrel Machine,” a magical reality confronting a mundane reality leads to a lot of very real bumps and bruises. Edmund, for instance, may rely on a pair of goggles to filter out the world but does not fully realize how odd he looks to all the other schoolchildren, especially the bullies. It’s the turn of the last century, and while amazing technological advancements lie ahead, Edmund and his brother, William, are doomed to be grotesquely out of step.

The things that seem the most curious and promising may ultimately be the things best left alone. That is a line of reasoning Edmund and William refuse to follow. They are dreamers but do not know they are guided by nightmares. The Squirrel Machine, whatever it is, has its own needs and is certainly not going to tell these boys what’s good for them. Much is left to mystery in this book. We can let Rickheit’s exquisite drawings, with their ornate detail and patterning, speak for themselves. Down to separate panels, the art provides little gems of its own storytelling as in a notable scene of two lovers covered in snails.

“The Squirrel Machine” defies easy categorization, but I’d venture to say, “steampunk surrealism.” This is for mature readers as well as discriminating ones. And it’s also for those who love a good coming-of-age story. Edmund woos the local beauty by the most unconventional of means. William falls madly in love with the Pig Lady. Each will take a turn that will twist the fate of the other. The mundane won’t accept them and yet the magical is no more reliable. Very romantic and strange at the same time, like any good coming-of-age tale. Primarily, this is adult, dark and disturbing work provided to you in healthy doses.

You can purchase “The Squirrel Machine” from Fantagraphics Books and make sure to check out the marvelous Squirrel Machine site. You can find Comics Grinder here every Wednesday. And for further observations, you can always go to the Comics Grinder site.

Sherlock Holmes is a character whose fame far outstrips the source material that birthed him. People seem to absorb Holmes lore via a sort of pop-cultural osmosis. You don’t have to read a word of Conan Doyle or even watch the movie adaptations to have Holmes indelibly etched on at least a tiny space in your brain. Like Tarzan, or even Superman and Batman, Sherlock Holmes is probably in your head whether you’ve made a conscious effort to put him there or not.

Holmes’ already prodigious profile is definitely on the ascendant these days. He’s featured in a comic series by Dynamite, TV hit House is, if not a straight adaptation, a definite riff on Holmes, and Holmes will even go head to head with zombies in the upcoming VICTORIAN UNDEAD. Most prominently in the zeitgeist, is second string Tarantino Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Sherlock Holmes film adaptation, a buddy action movie that threatens to bend the character out of all recognizable shape. With all of this Buzz floating around one of literature’s most enduring creations, it’s a good time to go back and look at the original legacy of a man who has a legitimate claim on the title “world’s first superhero”.

(more…)

The internet loves you, and it brings you fun things. Today:

Twilight-haters will no doubt have even more to complain about, but I don’t care: Stephenie Meyer’s The Host to be made into a movie.

From Wired: Get to know the Surrogates comic before the movie hits.

Fun little comic page by Matthew Sheret and Julia Scheele.

Jason Aaron has some thoughts on Scalped. You know, the best comic that comes out each month. (He didn’t say that. I did.)

Another story from Wired. I don’t know why I’m linking it, really. Those illustrations are sort of cool, I guess. Who’s the artist? Oh, some guy named Ryan Kelly…

One of the only reviews of Jennifer’s Body that I’ve seen that doesn’t spend half its time complaining about Diablo Cody (see comments on Stephenie Meyer).

I’ll repost this under events, but I found it interesting: from Johanna Draper Carlson, a lecture by Noah Berlatsky, whose blog examines classic Wonder Woman comics.

Batman: Cacophony

Writer: Kevin Smith

Artist: Walt Flanagan

Inker: Sandra Hope

Published by DC Comics

Hardcover, 142 pages, $19.99

As he throws out one self-deprecating line after another, Kevin Smith can make what he does look easy but it would be a mistake to dismiss what he’s done with Batman: Cacophony. In his introduction, he readily admits he can do better but  what he really means is that he’s inspired to take the work further. And, after reading this new hardcover collection, you should come away looking forward to more.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Smith’s take on Batman. Some of my comics friends had been put off by Smith’s Batman not saying what Batman would say. And then there’s the whole thing with the Joker taking a walk on the wild side. Well, it’s not exactly too big of a leap to see the character as gay. The one scene where he’s all too eager to act on his desires with the man who could likely kill him is beyond the pale but certainly within Joker territory. The few times Batman seems to slouch into something less than what we’d expect are minimal. Basically, along with artist Walter Flanagan, this is Kevin Smith’s Batman and it works best to go with it.

The quirky moments, I came to see, did not take me out of the story, especially if I’ve already accepted the world that I’m in. And, for the purists who may not even want to give this a chance, the quirk works and it does not overwhelm what is a solid story.

We start at the gates to Arkham Asylum. Due to the recent economic crash, frenzied cost cutting measures by the board lead to the firing of the front gate security guards. The money saved, however, promptly goes to the board’s year-end bonuses. Of course, who would ever want to break into Arkham Asylum? This night, it’s two separate killers both looking for the Joker.

As the story unfolds, we see one of the killers is Kevin Smith’s villain, Onomatopeia, from his Green Arrow run. And the other killer is a vigilante, Deadshot. Each will play supportive roles as will another minor baddie, Maxie Zeus, who has built an empire by converting the Joker’s venom into a designer drug. The Joker, in the scheme of things, has been reduced to the role of bait in a plot to lure Batman but he’s definitely the star of the show as well as a great vehicle for Smith’s humor to boot.

This book also includes the first draft script to Issue Three so you can get a sense for yourself of the number of revisions that went into the final work. Needless to say, Kevin Smith is a huge talent and he still won’t win over everyone. Having just read the first issue of Smith’s latest Batman run, The Widening Gyre, I would highly recommend getting this collection and it will likely win you over if you’re receptive and add to your appreciation of the current run.

Anthony E. Zuiker has made an impressive career as the creator of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2007, nearly 84 million people watched CSI, making it the most watched show in the world. Zuiker’s talent at telling a good crime story has led him to launch his next major project, Level 26, the world’s first digi-novel. Written with Duane Swierczynski (Severance Package), Level 26 is about a seriously demented serial killer and the tortured FBI investigator who is forced to hunt him down. Level 26 releases on September 8.

The interactive quality of this digi-novel is handled by EQAL, with roots going back to its creation of the internet sensation, lonelygirl15. And, while Level 26 is not directly related to comics, there’s a lot going on with its interactive components that someday may become common to the comics medium. Also, there is already a line of CSI comics put out by IDW and who knows what may lie ahead.

Zuiker has an energetic and commanding presence. He stays on point with ease. When asked if he thought his “digi-novel” was the future of reading, he gracefully said no claims on the future have been made. The one sure claim is that he is excited about what he’s doing. It was a pleasure to chat with him at Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Blog@Newsarama:Tell us what it was like for you growing up as your writing talents emerged.

Anthony E. Zuiker: As an only child in Las Vegas, I would often, just for fun, write letters for people as a favor.  Just formal letters.  I was sort of 16 of 16 in letter writing meaning that whenever someone asked me to write something, like get their girlfriend back or a letter to a judge to get out of jail, I would bat a thousand. I was in the hall of fame of letter writing. Then all through high school and in college I would charge people to write their term papers for $300.00 overnight and they were guaranteed at least a B plus. I made a lot of money doing that. When I was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame at UNLV, I said that before they awarded me that maybe I should confess that I put about hundred people through college. My father always said that I had some talent as a writer and I guess I believed him. I’ve always had a way of putting what I’ve envisioned on the page. When I wrote my first movie, The Runner, it went right to video but it was an interesting piece of work with an authentic voice and it landed me an agent and a manager. My first TV script was CSI. It got green lit and, obviously, it took off. We went on to do CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.  I guess my visual way of thinking really worked simpatico with the philosophy of writing scripts in Hollywood.

BLOG@: Do you believe it had something to do with being at the right place at the right time?

ZUIKER: For CSI?  I think so. I think every great show is a sign of the times. It began in the aftermath of the OJ trial. People were just becoming fascinated with forensics. I was able to come in with a show set in Las Vegas, set in the graveyard shift. The idea of people actually going into a crime scene, scrutinizing evidence and the story being put together in flashback, that style of storytelling, felt like a modern day mystery. It felt like a mystery genre of our generation. People liked that. They were learning and watching at the same time which was highly efffective. And with a great cast, CSI had that mystery magic, this different way to tell a cop show which is what I call, “from the crime scene tape down.” And it worked.

BLOG@: It seems like CSI could go on forever. Do you see interest in the franchise shifting?

ZUIKER: Well, what goes up must come down.  You know, we are doing our best right now with all three shows to stay in the top 15, to keep challenging our audience.  We’ve killed people in many different ways. We continue to look for different ways to excite us and excite an audience. We feel because its is a procedural drama, and everybody loves a good mystery,  it has some good long legs to it, we believe.

BLOG@: Let’s say, somebody is totally in the dark on Level 26. How would you describe it?

ZUIKER: We are coining it as “the world’s first digi-novel.”  What a digi-novel is, is it takes all the elements of publishing, movies and internet and combines experience. Level 26 is a horror prime drama. Every twenty pages that you read, you log onto the Web site, Level26.com, enter a code at the end of that chapter, and it unlocks a piece of motion picture footage which bridges you from one chapter to another, so its a continuation of the story, visually, its about three minutes long.  There’s twenty of those experiences per book.  So you figure twenty pages times twenty bridges is about a four hundred page book. That is what the book is, also.  Sometimes its a horror scene, sometimes is a love scene, sometimes its a music video, sometimes when you call the killer, the killer calls your phone back.  So its very interactive.  We feel like in this attention economy, with how fast things are moving with technology, to ask someone to read twenty pages and then see a visual continuance, is a good rhythmic experience, rather than read four hundred pages and do nothing else.  If you read the book cover to cover, no problem.  But the best experience is to read, log in and watch, read, log in and watch.  And then become part of a social community, built by the lonelygirl15 creators, Miles and Greg,  to have this social site that is basically like a Facebook page Level 26, with all the bells and whistles of an interactive Web site.

BLOG@: Do you see this as just another form of entertainment or, in the future, as the way people read?

ZUIKER: Well you know, I think the audience and the reader will determine that.   We are not taking the position that we are going to replace publishing in its current state. My philosophy is that, in this generation, you need to go to your audience and recognize your audience’s behaviors. People now, when they watch television, they’re also on their computer, they’re tweeting, they’re chatting, they’re checking email, they’re TiVoing,  they’re doing multiple things at one time. So to ask someone to sit down and read a 400 page book in this generation, I think, is a tough ask, especially for  younger people. If you can provide them with these visceral/visual speed bumps it might get more young people to read. I think that’s a victory. And, if you’re an existing reader, who already loves to read, quite possibly you’ll try a different way to consume which is to read and watch the bridges. So, we feel that we’re trying to bridge the gap between an older generation and a younger generation in the spirit of where technology is going.

BLOG@: Basically, it can appeal to any age group.

ZUIKER: Here’s the litmus test.  Read the first twenty pages of Level 26, then you watch the first film, something you’ll probably find edgy and cool. If you’re not engaged by it, I may lose you as a customer. But, if you are, I think you’ll probably finish reading it that night. It’s pretty exciting.

BLOG@: The buzz concept in the entertainment industry is transmedia, the book sells the movie, the movie sells the game and so on. It seems like you’re sort of there with Level 26 or could you tell us where you might fit in?

ZUIKER: Sure, transmedia versus what we are doing is a little different. Transmedia is having one brand and launching it in various avenues. We’d certainly like to do that but our core concern is transmedia inside the narrative meaning you go from book to motion picture to Web site and it’s all inclusive in one experience so it’s nice and tight. It’s not about just creating a character and seeing if we can launch it on the Web, on the radio, on a phone and so on. That may eventually happen to Level 26 but, for now, we’re keeping it at the core of our philosophy which is: read, watch and log in and have a compelling story and let people consume that way. We’re not going to jump off any cliffs but keep to the core philosophy of what the digi-novel represents which is reading, watching and logging in.

BLOG@: How would describe in a nugget the story, Level 26?

ZUIKER: Level 26 is about Steve Dark, an ex-Quantico who works in Special Services which involves the worst and most horrific crimes that I can’t possibly tell you here. He’s been chasing an elusive killer named, Sqweegel for  twenty years who has killed over 30 people and has killed Steve Dark’s family. Steve Dark is retired.  He has met the love of his life, she’s pregnant and suddenly they get a message that Sqweegel has returned and he’s been inside Steve’s home. Steve is sucked back into pursuing Sqweegel. And that’s where it all begins.

BLOG@: I know you’re a busy man. Thank you for your time.

ZUIKER: I really appreciate it. Awesome.

I’m sure Hawkman and Hawkgirl would beg to differ!

Courtesy of Player vs. Player, August 10, 2009.

A friend forwarded me this article on Slate on the new vampire phenomenon, and pointed out a piece of it that I haven’t thought much about: the new sexy vampires don’t actually drink blood. Or if they do, they don’t kill.

Yet, like many people who acquire mega-celebrity, the vampire has developed an eating disorder. Read the books. Watch the movies. You’ll see vampires who manage nightclubs, build computer databases, work as private investigators, go to prep school, lobby Congress, chat with humans, live near humans, have sex with humans, and pine over humans, but the one thing you won’t see them do is suck the blood of humans.

Grady Hendrix snarks on a lot of the most popular vampires of recent pop culture, starting with Anne Rice and moving on to the one that many of my peers grew up crushing on: Angel, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Faced with the impact of his diet on humans, Angel accepts a yucky, cruelty-free substitute, then endlessly lectures other vampires about their moral failings because they don’t do the same. He’s not a vampire—he’s a vegan.

I’ve more than once made the comparison of Angel to Edward Cullen in Twilight, but I hadn’t thought about the spiral this way: as one spinning from less and less consumption of human blood. (There are, of course, occasional recurrences of the bloodthirsty, evil vampires like those of 30 Days of Night, but I digress.)

But Hendrix doesn’t seem to actually be that up on the details of Buffy. Witness:

At least Angel, Anita Blake’s vampires, Sookie Stackhouse, and most of the rest of them have a lot of sex.

Well, I haven’t gotten around to Anita Blake or into True Blood yet, but I know my Buffy, and Angel didn’t have a lot of sex–because if and when he did, he lost his soul and turned evil. People love to compare Buffy to Twilight, but the fact is that Angel and Edward Cullen indeed have a lot in common. They can’t get it on with their human lady-loves, because something BAAAD could happen. They don’t drink blood, because they have consciences.

The whole story of both Angel and Edward Cullen, in other words, is that of the monster tamed by the woman he loves. The just-bad-enough boy who’s really a sweetheart on the inside. Sure, Buffy kicks Angel to the curb (after running him through with a sword) but soon enough she’s taken up with a new vampire–this one with a chip in his brain so he can’t, er, drink human blood.

I don’t agree with Hendrix’s faux concern for the way kids might be receiving mixed messages from their media, because I tend to read media for clues about the way we’re already heading, not look at it as something that shapes us. Pop culture as a symptom. So what does it signify to me that out of millions of books, I see more women (yes, grown women) on the subway reading Twilight books than anything else? After all, we’re adults. We’re not adolescent girls having our perception of men shaped by some sensitive emo-boy vampire. We already know that relationships are messy and fraught with danger.

True Blood is next on my Netflix list, so until then, I really can’t comment on the symbolism there, but this piece has set me thinking in yet another way about what it might be that we get from these defanged monsters. If you take away the blood drinking and sleeping in coffins (which neither Angel nor Edward do), what do you have but a boyfriend who never grows old?

Neil Gaiman is continuing to sweep just about every possible award he can get nominated for, as he earned himself not one, but two nominations for this year’s World Fantasy Awards!

The mastermind behind Coraline and the Sandman was nominated for best novel with the Newberry-winner, the Graveyard Book, as well as best novella for Odd and the Frost Giants.

You can check out the rest of the nominees here.

Regular readers here know I love Joelle Jones’ art. You’ll also probably know I love Joss Whedon. So Joelle Jones character sketches for Dr. Horrible comics? WIN.

You can get Phonogram vs. The Fans, the limited-edition Phonogram fanzine that I wrote about here, on Etsy for the low, low price of $5. You want this.

Gail Simone, good and pissed about the EA Games “booth babes” debacle.

Racialicious has a review from the first Asian American Comic Con.

Johanna Draper Carlson talks Girlamatic, which I’d somehow missed out on, so read what she has to say.

One of my favorite bloggers, Renegade Evolution, talks about girls and gaming: “Hey baby, why all the aggro?”

Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have a cool Op-Ed in the New York Times about “why we need vampires.” Lately I’ve been doing a good bit of thinking about why vampire stories seem to appeal to a teen girl demographic in particular, so this fit right in.

And via BUST, Johnny Depp is set to play a vampire in yet another Tim Burton-helmed picture, Dark Shadows.

Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight, is set to test the theory that fans are really just out for the hot boys at Comic-Con–she’s going to star in her own Female Force comic. (Can I mention yet again that the name “female force” creeps me out? Referring to women as “females” sounds so animalistic to me…)

Finally, on that note, an interview with Francesca Lia Block on her new vampire young adult novel, Pretty Dead. Since one of the things I’m interested in is why the vampire romance always seems to be older male vampire and young mortal girl (Angel/Buffy, Edward/Bella, etc.) I’m especially intrigued with Block’s book since it reverses that dynamic.

If you’ll excuse me, I think I’m off to watch Angel…

Phil Yeh holds a unique place in the comics community not only as a comics creator (he’s been called, “the godfather of the American graphic novel”) but as a prominent activist for promoting literacy through comics. He’s been around for quite awhile, going back to the very first San Diego Comic-Con in 1970. Phil is a passionate, colorful, and outspoken voice in comics and, as I head out to SDCC, he’s someone who can definitely help take stock of things.

Blog@Newsarama: Phil, I’d like to start by focusing on the San Diego Comic-Con and branch out from there. You have been very active in comics over the years and you go back to the first San Diego Comic-Con. Can you tell us about your earliest experiences with what started out as a modest comics convention?

Phil Yeh: I was a 15 year old kid growing up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles near Watts.  I knew a couple of kids in my area who read and maybe even “collected” comics with a passion but most of us just read comics very infrequently.  Sports was the big thing for most of my friends.  But I managed to see this tiny ad in a DC comic book about a convention at the US Grant Hotel in 1970 and asked my dad to drive me down.  My sister Kathy went with me too as I recall.  The funny thing is I actually was published in DC Comics that same year.  I sent this idea in for a promo cartoon that Henry Boltinoff did and my name got in print and I had this check from National Periodical Publications for $5.  My first and last check from DC Comics who I am sure must appreciate my role later in helping Jerry and Joe get some money for Superman.

Anyway, I went to the convention at the U.S. Grant hotel and met two of the greats in that room with maybe 300 people.  Ray Bradbury had always been one of my favorite writers, I never read many comics as a kid or now, but I love to read books.  Classics especially but some living authors too and Bradbury was a big deal to me and even now.  I told Ray that I wanted to be a writer but I had problems in school with spelling and grammar and didn’t know if I could become a writer.  He told me that there were editors to correct those things and that I really should just do what I loved.

I then walked up to this giant of a man in our comic book industry and who, to me at 15, was a GIANT and told him that I wanted to become a comic book artist.  Jack Kirby in reality was not that tall of a man but, to this 15 year kid from the ghetto, he was HUGE.  Jack smiled and told me to just do it.  “If you want to draw then you should draw and if you want to tell stories, just tell stories. ”

Both Ray and Jack made this seem so very easy and that fall I would start my own publishing company and never look back.
(more…)

Quirk Books, the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has released the trailer for their next book:

Sense and Sensibility… and Sea Monsters. While this is going to be in book form, this trailer makes me wish that the whole thing was filmed.

The new book is due out September 15th.

[Tip of the hat to Agent M for the link]

I’m particularly happy that it’s Friday this week–I’ve got an exciting weekend planned. To kick things off right, though, here are some stories from around the web.

Splash Page is speculating about Twitter rumors that Nathan Fillion and Rainn Wilson had a meeting with DC Comics.

Daryl Cagle‘s been posting videos from the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Convention. This one’s an interview with Mikhaela Reid and Jen Sorenson, two female editorial cartoonists.

More dirt on the terrible idea know as The Crow remake, which maybe isn’t so much a remake? Um, what?

To celebrate the release of The Nobody, Jeff Lemire has some lovely art and linkage over at Standard Attrition.

Since Neil Gaiman is off to accept his Newbery Medal for The Graveyard Book today, check out video of him reading from the book on his tour.

Finally, if you have a spare $20,000 or so, you can get a second-tier Twilight star at your party. No Robert Pattinson or Kristen Stewart, sadly.

Amber Benson, best known for her portrayal of Tara in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, will be signing copies of her new book “Death’s Daughter,” over at Challenger Comics + Conversation.

In addition to her signing this book, a limited edition “Death’s Daughter” art print will be available for purchase. Furthermore, 20 lucky readers who buy the book from Challengers before the event will be selected to meet with Benson after the signing!

The book, according to Amazon, follows Calliope Reaper-Jones, a mostly ordinary girl except for the fact her father is Death himself. When good old Pops gets kidnapped, its up to Calliope to take over the family business and thwart the hostile takeover of the Devil’s Protege.

The event will take place June 22 at 4:30 pm, and you can find out more about Challengers by clicking here.

Tom Spurgeon has reported that allegedly Wizard has made some more significant personnel cuts.

According to Spurgeon, Vice-President of Production and Circulation Darren Sanchez was fired yesterday, after being given the position in 2007. Meanwhile, in-house staff photographer Dylan Brucie allegedly left the company last week, as well. Spurgeon stated that Brucie did a lot of work for ToyFare.

This is only the latest in some shaky reports from the flagship comic news publication of the ’90s, as over the past year they have cut or pushed back major conventions in Los Angeles and Texas, laid off big names like President and COO Fred Pierce and Senior Vice President – Operations Joe Yanarella, and made moves to close down their Congers, N.Y. location to move their significantly diminished staff into their New York bureau.

OK, it’s only tangentially related to comics, but it’s too good not to write about. Quirk Books (publishers of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, among others) has a new book of rock show posters coming out this month. Gig Posters Volume 1 (oh please, let there be more) is a gorgeous pile of musical impressions committed to paper, a walk through the visuals inspired by the best bands of our time.

Put together by Clay Hayes of GigPosters.com, the oversized book contains 101 full 11 x 14 posters by a who’s who of rock poster artists, including Tara McPherson, Casey Burns, Diana Sudyka, Drew Millward, Dirk Fowler, Eleanor Grosch, Jason Goad, and many more. The pages are perforated, so you can pull out your favorites and hang them on the wall, or save the whole book for long nights of rock’n'roll reminiscences.

Some of my favorites are the Jermaine Rogers rendering of Morrissey sharing a cocktail with Oscar Wilde, a stark jailhouse window for Hank Williams III by Little Jacket designs, Methane Studios’ overlaid gun for Pretty Girls Make Graves, and the above lipstick print by the Decoder Ring Design Concern.

Gig posters, like comic books, are shunned by the “highbrow” art scene, but we know what they’re all missing out on. Some of these posters are impressionistic, while others incorporate visions of the musicians. The styles range from photo prints to psychedelic bursts of color to detailed drawings, but they all capture something of the flavor of the band or artist they evoke. I’m tempted to get another copy so I won’t be sad tearing pages out of this delicious book.

Farel Dalrymple’s art is art you can love. It takes you to a good place where artist rankings and hipster factors don’t matter. This is just plain good stuff. I had a chance to chat with Farel at the Stumptown Comics Festival and this interview resulted. The man sure gets around and despite any modesty on his part, he is a drawing machine. Check out his LiveJournal. It says it all.

Farel Dalrymple is well known for his on-going comics series, Pop Gun War, published by Dark Horse Comics. He is the founder of the influential Meathaus collective and the winner of a Xeric Grant and Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. This year he is nominated for a couple of Eisner Awards for his collaboration with writer Johnathan Lethem on the Marvel Comics 10-issue series, Omega the Unknown. Currently, he is at work on The Wrenchies. This 250-page, full-color comic is a postapocalyptic fantasy that takes place 3,500 years in the future, featuring a group of street children called “The Bolts.” It is due out in 2010 by First Second. (more…)

I should be doing something else right now, but instead, I am bringing you links. Because I love you. Look grateful.

1. Rock Out With Your Spock Out: an almost-geek girl’s guide to the new Star Trek for non-Trekkies. Which would include me, but this might change my mind. Highlight: comparing Spock to Amelie, noting the hipster cred of his baby bangs (and noting the appeal to geek boys of said baby bangs).

2. More Star Trek, from my editor at my other regular writing gig. Natalia IS a Star Trek fan, and it shows. She too is a Spock fan. Highlight: “With his mod haircut and cool, inquiring gaze, the new Spock might even edge out Legolas as the pointy-eared sexgod of cinema.”

3. For a girl who isn’t a Star Trek fan, I’m sure bringing you a lot of Star Trek links, aren’t I?

4. I swear, this is the last one. Looking Back at Star Trek, with response by Leonard Nimoy.

5. Is Wolverine the most homoerotic superhero movie ever? I don’t know, because I still haven’t seen it–I’m working on it!–but this kind of makes me want to see it more. Don’t hate me. I do wonder, though, why anytime a movie has lots of man-pretty in it, it’s assumed to be targeted to gay men rather than to straight women.

6. On a more serious note, this is an excellent piece on “Mary Stu and Marty Sue”–examining “Mary Sue” characters in all their permutations, in comics and novels. Highlights: the section on Wonder Woman and this final line: “The appeal of Mary Sue, in other words, is that she is a love you can wear like drag.” (h/t When Fangirls Attack)

7. Still serious, an excellent reading of Storm as the “Black Fantasy” character. (h/t Comics Worth Reading)

8. Sin City 2 will include new Sin City stories, according to Splash Page.

Oh yeah, baby, it’s everywhere. And well, out little corner of the internet wouldn’t be complete without it. So, if you’re the one person that hasn’t had this linked to you via twitter, facebook, email, IM, and on your regular RSS feeds yet today, here you go, in all it’s YouTube-y glory, the first trailer for the movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s awesome children’s book: Where the Wild Things Are. Bathe in its awesomeness. NOW!