C2E2 2010: Swag!

As with any convention, there was a mind-boggling amount of products which could be purchased.  Here's the haul that I ended up bringing home:

The top row includes a promotional poster for Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt's supernatural Western series The 6th Gun, coming out soon from Oni Press, a sweet print by artist Chris Burnham, and a print from Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey's series Comic Book Comics.  Just underneath those are a bunch of free giveaway comics from DC and Archaia.  In the bottom left is Ryan Kelly's Funrama Presents: The Mutant Punks, Jeremy Bastian's Cursed Pirate Girl #3, a CD from the band Kirby Krackle (with a cover by Jim Mahfood!), and Tiny Kitten Teeth and Tigerbuttah by Becky Driestadt.  Below the "Comics Will Win the War!" print, you can see two issues of Raina Telgemeier's minicomic Outreach, a local alt-weekly newspaper called Lumpen that features an interesting comics section, Tugboat Press's Papercutter #12 (purchased from Nate Powell), a  fanzine/doujinshi by Dave Roman called Ron Weasley and the Bloody Brilliant Day, Jon "Pictures for Sad Children" Campbell's minicomic Oh No, sampler minicomics from the webcomics Nedroid and DAR, the new fourth volume of Templar, Arizona by Spike, Matt Kindt's new release Super Spy: The Lost Dossiers, Lucy Knisley's new book Make Yourself Happy, and Erika Moen's minicomic Girlfuck.  If all goes well, most of these will soon be reviewed here.

And here's a bunch of promotional material and giveaway shit that I received:

Of these, the items to point out include the poster for Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, the upcoming anthology miniseries that features a bunch of other creators contributing stories to David Petersen's epic series.  That looks like it will be amazing.  There's also the poster for Archaia's Fraggle Rock series, which will be illustrated by Katie Cook and Jeffrey Brown, among others.

Of the other items, I'll also highlight the flyer for the webcomic Brat-halla, which appears to be an amusing take on Norse mythology that casts several of the gods as kids in the others' care.  I haven't read enough to render any conclusive judgment, but the art is fairly appealing, and it seems pretty cute.  Check it out, if you like.

And I also wanted to point out an animated short film called The Lift, which featured some mighty impressive animation that was all done by one person.  The plot sounds like a riff on the sort of "old woman curses somebody for wronging her" story of which the movie Drag Me to Hell is probably the most recent prominent example.  Neat stuff, and possibly a talent to watch.

I only managed to pick up a small sample of what was available; there was plenty more to see and buy at the con, and if I had the money to spend, I certainly would have found ways to spend it.  Ah well, there's always next year.

C2E2 2010: Now this is a comics convention

This past weekend, the first annual Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo took place, and it was a hell of a time, exactly the sort of good time a mainstream comics convention should be, if you ask me.  The obvious comparison is the Wizard-branded Chicago Comic-Con (a.k.a Wizard World Chicago), but as was made clear last summer, that show's increasing irrelevance barely makes it worthy of consideration.  The non-comics-oriented, celebrity-focused swap meet atmosphere of that con was absent here, replaced by a well-laid-out show floor that was brightly lit by walls of windows looking out over downtown Chicago.  The time of year is a good choice as well, coming after the bitter cold of the Midwest winter but prior to the suffocating heat and humidity of the summer, hitting the sweet spot for seasonal weather.  Professional attendance was good, with almost all the major publishers putting together booths to show off their wares and talent.  Marvel and DC had their usual city-block-size emporiums, dominated by multi-story banners and featuring monitors blaring advertisements for their current movies, TV shows, video games, cartoons, etc.  DC's area seemed more creator-focused, with tables that were constantly manned by some of their top writers and artists, fans queued up to get a few precious moments with their heroes.  Marvel's area seemed more carnival-like, centered around a stage that regularly featured somebody barking into a microphone and excited crowds gathered around, an obnoxious scene that drove away any attempts at investigation into whether they also had much in the way of a creator presence.  Amusingly, they also had some stations demonstrating digital comics, manned by two booth babes as a way to convince someone, anyone to take a look.

Of the publishers that were not backed by major entertainment companies, most everyone else on the mainstream end of things had a presence, with Oni Press, Image, Dark Horse, Avatar, Boom! Studios, Archaia, and Top Shelf hawking their wares and creators happily greeting fans.  Archaia's booth had an especially nice setup, with the booth flanked by two sets of comfortable chairs arranged around coffee tables, atop which sat volumes of the publisher's comics, an encouragement to stop, rest, and peruse their work.

Above: Archaia's booth/reading lounge

One nice feature of the exhibitor/publisher section of the floor was a section that seemed dedicated to webcomics.  Several short rows of booths saw one webcomics talent after another, from the likes of PVP's Scott Kurtz and Girls With Slingshots' Danielle Corsetto; to a large Topatoco booth full of talent like John Campbell, David Malki, and Jeph Jacques; a rival booth from Zuda featuring Kevin Colden, Daniel Govar, and Bob Timony; and enough other people to keep those whose comics reading mostly happens online busy for most of the weekend.  Oddly, there was a sort of rival section in a different part of the floor that billed itself "Indie Island", giving itself a sort of tropical theme via a large faux palm tree.  Finder's Carla Speed McNeil and Templar, Arizona's Spike were located here, along with some others, and Spike complained that it was a slow weekend, which might have been due to the booth being overshadowed by the adjacent DC area and located in an odd, non-intuitive part of the floor.  If they return next year, they should try to be situated closer to that webcomics section, where they would be a much better fit.


Above: Some kids cosplaying Avatar: The Last Airbender

The artist alley section of the floor was another area in which to spend copious amounts of time, featuring a pretty amazing lineup of talent from the center of the mainstream to, well, the less-mainstream.  It's always enjoyable to wander down those aisles, looking at prints and original art and chatting up the professionals who create your favorite comics, and there was no dearth of talent here, whether you were looking for the guys who draw Batman and Spider-Man, creators of the non-superhero mainstream-ish fare of Vertigo, Wildstorm, Dark Horse, and the like, or even a few artists from a bit farther outside the center of the Direct Market.  Whatever the case, you're probably unlikely to find as many comics people to meet without making the trek to San Diego, and this is definitely the best group Chicago has had in years.

Above: Peter Gross draws Death

Perhaps best of all, at least regarding the setup of the convention floor, the celebrity/movie/wrestling/non-comics factor was minimized.  Sure, there were places where one could meet washed up actors, get their picture taken sitting in the Batmobile, or bid on props from the Iron Man movies, but those seems pushed off to the side or shuffled to the back of the convention hall, with comics being front and center in everyone's view, as they should be.  The dealer section is sort of a different story, with sword and apparel merchants mixed in with booths crammed full of stacks of longboxes, but anyone who ventures into that section of a con knows what to expect.

Above: The Vertigo panel, featuring (l to r) Scott Snyder, Michael Easton, Peter Straub, Bill Willingham, Matt Kindt, Peter Gross, Guiseppe Camuncoli, and Karen Berger.  Not pictured: Cliff Chiang.

While the main show floor was almost too much to comprehend with everything there was to see, other content was available in the various rooms and theaters surrounding it, with dozens of panels, screenings, and even a few concerts and "performances" taking place.  One could conceivable spend a fulfilling weekend just sitting in these rooms, listening to announcements and discussions, asking questions, and receiving giveaway swag, without even venturing into the main convention.  In short, it was a pretty amazing weekend, with a wealth of activity, sights to see, things to buy, people to meet, and comics to enthuse about.  Barring a more specific show that limits its focus to something like small press comics or manga, this looks to be the best comics convention that Chicago is going to have, and hopefully, it will get even better in future years.  A weekend like this can be tiring, but such "hardship" is worthwhile when it brings an enthusiasm toward comics with it.  Here's hoping for a great sequel in 2011.

Above: Dr. Girlfriend and some minions menace the costume contest


You can see more pictures on my Facebook page (even if you don't have a Facebook account) here.  More to come, including panel reports, swag, and reviews of purchases.  Stay tuned!

"Won't you please come to Chicago..."

UPDATED!  I'll continue to add stuff below as I become aware of it.

As many are aware, the big comics event for this upcoming weekend (as opposed to every other weekend from the end of March through sometime in June) is C2E2, the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo.  I'm excited to be attending, so if anybody reading this is going to be there and wants to meet up (or try to bump into me by chance), feel free to let me know; my email address is over there in the sidebar.  As for the event itself, and those surrounding it, here are some of the highlights, most of which I'm hoping to attend or check out:

Panels:

Vertigo Editorial Presentation - Friday 3:15-4:15.  A whole bunch of Vertigo editors and creators. Might be interesting.

Avatar Press - Friday 5:15-6:15. In case you always wanted to meet Brian Pulido.  Maybe worth going to hear some announcements?

Pantheon - Friday 5:30-6:30.  Chip Kidd, Chris Ware, and Dash Shaw talk about their upcoming Pantheon releases, I guess.  Hopefully some other stuff too.  I'll definitely try to make this one.

Chicago Gays in Comics - Friday 6:45-7:45.  I'm not familiar with the creators/commentators on this panel, but it might be an interesting discussion.

Mike Mignola Spotlight - Friday 6:45-7:45.  Hey, Mignola's cool, right?

Webcomics Town Hall - Friday 7:15-8:15.  Lots of good talent on this panel, including Erika Moen, Lucy Knisley, Danielle Corsetto, David Malki, and somebody or other related to Zuda.  Good times, I bet.

Old Media, New Media, Comics Media - Friday, 7:45-8:45.  Heidi MacDonald leads this one, with panelists Noah Berlatsky, Johanna Draper Carlson, Brigid Alverson, Ron Richards, and Lucas Siegel.  I'll go just to see if Noah can piss everyone else off.

Boom! Studios and Boom! Kids - Saturday, 11:00-12:00.  I've been enjoying a lot of Boom!'s recent output, so this might be an interesting one for announcements and such.

The AV Club Presents The Middle East and the City Streets: Superheroes in the Modern World - Saturday, 11:15-12:15.  I don't know about this one, but I do like most of the AV Club writers.  Their comics coverage is one of the few places where they don't do an especially good job though, so hearing them discuss whatever this is might just be awkward.

Del Rey Books - Saturday, 11:15-12:15.  Twitter has been afire with speculation about Del Rey's flagging interest in manga lately, so this might be an interesting thing for pestering their representative with questions along those lines.

Oni Press Panelmonium - Saturday, 1:30-2:30.  Try to get a glimpse of the final volume of Scott Pilgrim, or the movie!  And maybe other stuff too.

Jeff Smith Spotlight - Saturday, 1:45-2:45.  If Mike Mignola is worth watching, so is Mr. Bone.

Archaia All Access - Saturday, 1:45-2:45.  Archaia has been putting out some really interesting books, so this might be an interesting one for meeting creators and/or hearing announcements.

The Graphic Art of Chicago's Transit and Utility Posters of the 1920's - Saturday, 4:00-5:00.  Not really a comics-related thing, but it could be a good highbrow respite from everything else going on.

Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art, and Culture - Saturday, 5:15-6:15.  This could be a cool discussion; I might be able to actually learn something!

Comics with Comixology - Sunday, 11:15-12:15.  I'm probably not going to be able to make it on Sunday, but I would go to this if I was.  There's supposed to be some big announcement, and they did give away an Ipod Touch at their Wizard panel last year, so there's your impetus to attend...

Meet the Locals - Sunday, 12:15-1:15.  I would love to go to this one too, just so I can be excited about living near some creators that I like (assuming any of them will attend).

SMILE...LIVE! - Sunday, 2:00-2:30.  I'm also sorry to miss this, which is a sort of stage adaptation of (portions of?) Raina Telgemeier's Smile.  I bet it will be fun.

The full list of panels can be seen here, in case I missed anything.

Related Events:


Green Lantern C2E2 pre-party - Challengers Comics, 8:00 pm Thursday
Mark Waid Smells Evil Party - Challengers Comics, 8:00 pm Friday.  I don't know if I'll make either of these, but I do like the guys at Challengers, so we'll see what happens.

Top Shelf Swedish Invasion Party - The Double Door, 8:00 pm Saturday.  Several artists in attendance, along with the Top Shelf crew, plus music, burlesque, and hopefully good times.

Creators and their comics:

Ryan Kelly is debuting a new self-published series called Funrama Presents: The Mutant Punks, and it looks really cool.

I'll be looking out for some of Top Shelf's new books, including Super Spy volume 2: The Lost Dossiers and James Kochalka's Superfuckers collection.


Oni has a new Jamie S. Rich/Joelle Jones book called Spell Checkers.


Jeff Smith will have the second collection of Rasl, for those who aren't buying the single issues.


Other artists I'll be looking to meet, and maybe score a Groo sketch from: Eric Canete, Hilary Barta, Cliff Chiang, Guy Davis, Colleen Doran, Ryan Dunlavey, Tom Fowler, Jim Mahfood, Ben Templesmith, and probably some others.  UPDATED to add: David Lloyd, Kevin Colden, Brian Hurtt.

If there's anything I didn't mention (maybe some of the "educational" panels, which could be interesting), or something you're planning to attend or watch out for, feel free to let me know.  It should be an exciting weekend!

Hero Tomorrow: Why not today?

Elsewhere: I reviewed the Jonathan Hickman-written SHIELD #1 for Comics Bulletin.  Pretty interesting. Also, I tried (and failed) to understand the psychotic Lars Von Trier movie Antichrist at The Factual Opinion. Cinematic!

Here's something I never knew existed: Tim Callahan posted a Frank Miller-illustrated New Gods story from Walt Simonson's run on Orion.  I'm rarely all that interested in follow-ups to that milieu by people other than Jack Kirby, but this is pretty cool, combining Kirby's bombast with the clipped, hard-boiled Miller style.  Maybe I should give Simonson's stuff a try sometime...

Webcomics links: John Kerschbaum has a new comic on Act-I-Vate called Cartoon Boy.  Sure to be funny.

Gabrielle Bell has been posting her autobiographical Lucky strips online for a while, but I wanted to point out the story that she is currently serializing which started out with her talking about attempting to adapt Valerie Solanas' SCUM Manifesto to comics but has led to a story from her mom about how her friendship with Solanas led to a bizarre pot-selling incident in Japan.  It's pretty crazy and fascinating; check it out.

Hero Tomorrow
2007, directed by Ted Sikora

Apparently, the superhero has penetrated the modern psyche to the point that even indie movies about supposedly lovable losers can be all about the costumed freaks who wander around beating people up.  This particular example is an especially acerbic take on the genre, the Watchmen (in terms of cynicism towards the genre, if not innovative structure, compelling characters, or impressive visuals) of low-budget superhero movies.  It seems pointedly self-aware, with its main character being a wannabe comics artist named David with a girlfriend who works in a comics shop.  In a non-shocking twist, he starts dressing up as his own character, Apama (a terribly-designed mystery man supposedly derived from Native American mythology, although his creator states that he doesn't really care about specific tribes or anything), and fighting the lamest of crimes (pumpkin-smashing, candy-stealing teens, those dastards!), when he's not just wandering around the woods striking poses or hiding in bushes and peeping at women in their underwear.  And he's not any more inspiring out of his costume either, sleepwalking his way through a landscaping job for a friend and crashing in that same friend's basement, then mooching their food and spending all his money on comics.  He's a total loser, and not one of the lovable variety; it's hard to see what his girlfriend sees in him, although a late-film twist might reveal something along those lines.  It seems like pretty misanthropic stuff, although it's hard to tell if this is the filmmakers' intent, since everything is filmed with a light enough touch that it might all be intended as comedy and goofy fun-times.

To make matters worse, that intent toward comedy doesn't often pay off; while the situations seem as though they should be amusing in their pathetic-ness, there aren't many laughs to be had.  It's mostly a wallow in ugliness, from the horrific gray-brown, mohawked costume, to David's ridiculous dreadlocks, to his fairly poor, unfinished artwork.  Luckily, there are flashes of brilliance here and there, as in a dinnertime conversation between David and his girlfriend's mom, who asks reasonable questions about the origins of his poorly-defined character and gets screamed at by her daughter for caring.  And the highlight is probably a lengthy dream sequence in which David imagines attending some sort of play in which a squid leaves the ocean, begins living life in the city, and promptly gets beat up by Apama for no reason.  It's weird and surreal, with some impressively expressive puppeteering on the squid and rhyming narration intoned by a Christopher Lee lookalike in a wig.  Definitely the highlight of the film.

A certain degree of latitude must be given to low-budget productions like this; on some level, it's impressive just that they got made and are at all watchable.  In that respect, this film certainly succeeds, and even manages to shine here and there, but compared to the kind of storytelling available in many other mediums, especially the comics from which it seems to take inspiration, it comes up short.  Interestingly, while several scenes take place in a comics shop, the only actual comics mentioned (apart from David trying to pitch Apama to a publisher as "the next Wolverine") are Frankenstein Mobster and Astro City, and an on-screen appearance by Hip Flask.  Not exactly the cream of the superhero crop there, or even titles or characters which most people will recognize.  If the filmmakers were aware of much beyond the most basic of superhero tropes, they don't really make that apparent in the film itself.  They might have come up with a somewhat interesting take on the dysfunction necessary to dress up in a costume and thwart evil, but they didn't really succeed at crafting an especially good film around the idea.  Maybe next time.
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If you're still interested in the film (and considering that it has received acclaim at various film festivals, you probably shouldn't take my word for it), the official site can be found here.

Northlanders: Even Vertigo can do pretty colors

Northlanders, volume 3: Blood in the Snow
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Dean Ormston, Vasilis Lolos, Danijel Zezelj, and Davide Gianfelice

There probably isn't much to say about this third volume of Brian Wood's Viking series that hadn't been said about the previous books, but it's another good collection of stories, this time sticking with small, one- or two-part stories rather than longer epics.  But the focus is still on the humanity of these oft-mythologized cultures, looking at their daily lives and concerns of survival as much as blood and violence.  Danijel Zezelj illustrates one tale that focuses on women, who often get overlooked in all the macho sacking and looting, although they do get to participate in some bloodletting for once.  Davide Gianfelice's return to Sven, the main character from the series' first arc, is a nice follow-up to that story, full of nicely splattered blood and forbidding landscapes.  And the Vasilis Lolos-drawn "The Viking Art of Single Combat" is still one of the best stories in the series history (see this earlier post for a more descriptive review).  But the standout here might be the two-part recounting of the sack of Lindisfarne, which gets sumptuously brought to life by Dean Ormston, who did his own colors, bringing lush, painterly hues to the scenes of an abused boy longing for Vikings to come and take him away from the harsh acceptance of suffering that the Christian religion encourages.  Ormston overpowers the senses with huge splash pages depicting the kid's memories of his dead mother:

Or his imagination's image of the mightiness and power of the Norse gods:

And the violence and slaughter of the inevitable attack don't suffer in comparison either:

It's pretty beautiful, and quite emotionally powerful; the sort of thing this series can do really well.  I'm still happy to see Brian Wood stretching beyond his comfort level, and succeeding beyond all expectations with his well-researched, emotionally-realistic stories.  I hope it continues for a long time to come.

Joe and Azat: I think "Jonah Zot" would be a good pen name

Joe and Azat
By Jesse Lonergan

This fictionalized account of cartoonist Jesse Lonergan's time with the Peace Corps in Turkmenistan is kind of different from your usual travelogue or journalistic book; it's more personal, more character-focused.  That's an interesting choice, but it works well for Lonergan.  The focus on interpersonal relationships allows him to bypass the informational dumps that characterize so many of these sorts of books, outside of a few pages of explanation of how Turkmenistan's dictator spent tons of money doing things like shooting his self-penned holy book into space or building a river through the middle of the capital city while the rest of the country languished in poverty. Instead, it's all about the people Lonergan's stand-in, Joe, encounters during his time in-country, especially his title-sharing best friend, Azat.  Azat is a wonderfully-defined character, always optimistic and full of energy, planning to get rich and achieve international fame, certain he'll marry the girl he longs for even if their different social status makes it unlikely, urging Joe to marry a Turkmen woman and stay in the country, and continually coming up with schemes to make money that don't actually have much planning behind them.  It's easy to see why Joe takes to him, and why Lonergan leaves "himself" mostly undefined, in thrall to the stronger personality who is in his element, gregarious and full of life.

How much of this is true does come into question, but even if Lonergan completely fabricated everything, it rings true, due to all the cultural details, like the etiquette regarding romantic relationships, the reason Joe stopped carrying a camera to weddings, the unfamiliarity with the basics of capitalism that came from decades of Communism, and the boundless optimism that can come from living without much in the way of resources.  The art is somewhat simplistic and cartoony, but it communicates emotion well, especially highlighting Azat's endless enthusiasm, Joe's bemusement, and the drunken anger of Azat's brother Merdan.  Most of the storytelling is pretty rudimentary, but effective techniques pop up here and there, like the people in a pile of photographs all speaking to Joe and demanding copies of the pictures, and a sequence at a wedding in which panels occasionally highlight Merdan drinking and looking angry, as if Lonergan is regularly cutting away from the action to shots of a fuse burning closer and closer to a stick of dynamite, with the expected explosion all but imminent.

It's a short, quick read, but one that works well for what it sets out to do, which is tell a personal story that highlights a way of life with which most Americans are unfamiliar.  The good part is that it doesn't seem like something that could only happen on the other side of the world, but rather a good, human slice of life that anyone can relate to, and if we learn a little something about other countries and cultures along the way, that's all the better.

Black Jack: More observations, less structure

Check this out: Connor Willumsen is posting his graphic-novel-in-progress, Everett, on his site as a webcomic.  I got a glimpse of this at MoCCA last year, and those first ten pages or so still blow me away.  I can't wait to see what he's got coming up.


Black Jack, volume 5
By Osamu Tezuka

This volume of Tezuka's "awesome surgeon" comic sees more along the same lines as the previous installments, and there are certainly some good stories, including return appearances by the proto-Kevorkian Dr. Kiriko (first planning to kill his own father, then later himself), the blind acupuncturist Biwamaru (he and BJ both go to one of those hermit-craftsmen to get their sharp implements forged), and the Black Queen, a female surgeon who can't quite manage to maintain our hero's aloof nature and devotion to medical excellence, perhaps due to all those pesky mood swings that women are prone to (women's lib apparently wasn't in full effect in 70s Japan).  There's an example of how dark Tezuka could be with a story of a "wolf girl" living in Communist Russia, and an especially weird story in which Black Jack operates on a ghost.  That's all well and good, but by this point, it's hard to find something unique to talk about with each new volume.  The stories are as good as ever, but it's a consistent level of goodness, so any commentary from the previous volumes would just be repeated.  So rather than reiterate previous praise for Tezuka's storytelling skills, I'll just point out a couple techniques that he uses that impress me.

For one, there's the anatomical cutaway.  Since there are often strange medical conditions that need to be explained to the reader, Tezuka will spend a page or two having Black Jack (or a disembodied narrator, which could be interpreted as Tezuka himself) describe whatever is going on with the patient, accompanied by an illustration:

But this being Tezuka, his cutaway illustrations are never dry diagrams, but rather cartoony bits of expressiveness, with the abstracted "model" often reacting in pain or disbelief to whatever is wrong with him:

As with everything he did, it's another chance for Tezuka to express himself and do something unique and unexpected in his stories.

I also like the simple, effective design of the main character.  The black cloak that he wears makes for a wonderful visual, often blowing around him dramatically as he makes a bold statement, observes some tragedy, confronts an opponent, or strikes some other dramatic pose:

It also makes for an excellent bit of iconography on which to end stories; the sight of Black Jack walking off into the sunset, having completed whatever monumental task was set before him this time, is often little more than a somewhat abstract black shape:

But with the readers having grown familiar with the sight, it's something recognizable and effective, a good bit of punctuation on which to end.

Finally, there's the occasional expressive flourish that Tezuka was so good at throwing into his stories, often to illustrate some emotional state or other.  He was always stretching himself to come up with new ways of depicting mental states, and one in particular is probably my favorite image in this volume, and one that caught the attention of the designer, since it ends up on both the back cover and the spine of this edition.  It's in a story about an actress/singer who was paralyzed in a car accident, and while Black Jack manages to operate on her spine and heal her, she still doesn't seem to be able to move:

It turns out that she was suicidal, feeling trapped in a demanding life of celebrity and exhausted by the constant demands heaped upon her by her fans and bosses.  That bit of information is what makes the image so striking; she's not just physically paralyzed, but emotionally as well, held down into a life that she doesn't want and unable to escape.  That distortion of her body and the "bonds" holding her down emphasize that, but the solid black of her image and her face make the oppression clear, and the shapes in the background suggest that it feels like something that is affecting her at a basic, cellular level.  It's a portrait of tragedy, and Tezuka sums it up incredibly effectively in this single image.

And that's what makes this series work so well: Tezuka's inventiveness and willingness to try anything.  The episodic structure gives him free reign to go in any direction he wishes, and if there's anything Tezuka wasn't afraid of, it was the blank page.  His stories might seem somewhat simplistic, but on closer look, there's plenty to get out of them, and each person will probably come away with something different.  Luckily, he produced so much content, we'll never run out of material to interpret.
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Bonus: funny Pinoko faces!

These always crack me up.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: That's one way to describe it

Elsewhere: I reviewed Punisher #15 for Comics Bulletin, and Capitalism: A Love Story (Michael Moore's latest movie) for The Factual Opinion.  Hey, it appears I haven't completely given up on writing.

One other link: Dustin Harbin's Kickstarter project looks pretty nice; I might have to contribute to that one...


The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Collection
By Mike Krahulik, Jerry Holkins, et. al.

Webcomics are often a fan-focused endeavor, relying on dedicated readers to purchase enough ancillary material (including print versions of what they can usually read online for free) to keep the object of their affection afloat.  There have been varying levels of success in this business models over the past decade or so, but probably none more notable than Penny Arcade, the videogame-focused webcomic that has risen to such prominence that it has spawned a mini-industry unto itself.  So, to celebrate more than a decade of success (and occasional failure), the creators have put together another bit of merchandise for the fans to purchase, this art book/retrospective/celebration, which could be viewed as an excuse to bilk more capital from their readers, but does certainly provide plenty of what those readers are eager for: lots of personality from the strip's creators, a comprehensive history of the twists and turns of the comic's existence, and a healthy selection of some of the best art that has appeared on the site.  Overall, not a bad package, and one that will probably be eaten up with gusto by those devoted followers.

While the information included here probably isn't brand new or an unprecedented level of access, it's still a good resource for anybody who wants to know more about the history and behind-the-scenes operations of PA.  The book includes an in-depth history of the authors, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, written by Chris Baker, who also penned a Wired article about the pair in 2007.  There's a transcript of one of their writing sessions, a look at the various characters that populate the strip, descriptions of brushes with the law, interesting articles about the Child's Play charity and Penny Arcade Expo, a selection of reader-submitted questions, and plenty of other content, sure to please those who would want to own such a keepsake.

But what of the comic itself?  The book does include a selection of the creators' favorite strips (interestingly, Holkins chooses a selection that illustrates various aspects of the strip's creation, while Krahulik just goes with the ones he thinks are funny), and it reproduces several extended storylines or continuing characters, which is another interesting choice, since those are something of a rarity in the archives, with most installments being a standalone joke referencing some videogame-related topic.  It is a good opportunity to see the pair's experiments with longer storytelling, since they have a unique sensibility for timing, and whenever Krahulik has a chance to stretch artistically, the results are fascinating to behold.  They do get held down a bit by their sillier impulses however; a series of samurai-themed strips called "The Wandering Age" are often beautiful and tantalizingly ambiguous (this is an especially nice example; I love the final panel), but are hard to take seriously when they star a character who carries around a cardboard tube (it's a long story, but the book explains it if one is curious).

However you approach the storytelling, Krahulik's art is certainly worth paying attention to, with its cartoony expressiveness and sumptuous color, and one of the best sections here is a chapter in which he details the evolution of his art style, pointing out key moments in which he made a leap forward or began using new techniques.  It's fascinating for art-process junkies, and a good little lesson in the steps an artist should take to effectively communicate their ideas.  But most of all, it's a wonderful portrait of an artist striving to continually improve his work, never sitting still or becoming complacent with his output, always keeping his eyes on the next milestone, the next step up the ladder of skill.

That's probably what makes Penny Arcade such an interesting and entertaining source of internet content.  After over a decade of existence, Holkins and Krahulik refuse to rest on their laurels.  They're still looking at what else they can come up with, what products they can release, what new areas they can expand into, how they can improve their art.  They provide a guaranteed good time, and while much of their content is freely available, fans will definitely want to experience this well-designed look at their past, present, and future.