Comics History
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Falling into Place (Part III): Conversations with a Dead Man
Wayfinding with Malcolm Mc Neill and William S. Burroughs—Part the Third, wherein the narrative takes a turn and concentrates on: John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood’s explorations in Honduras and Guatemala (1839-40) and the Yucatan region (1843) Similarities between Frederick Catherwood’s life and Malcolm Mc Neill’s own Thought control in the 21st century Mayan and European…
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Falling into Place (Part II): Ah Pook is Here Play by Play
Part II of “Falling into Place,” an exploration of Ah Pook is Here, the word-image collaboration between artist Malcolm Mc Neill and author William S. Burroughs has now been published over at the Believer Logger. Ah Pook is Here, whose brilliance has only recently been introduced to the public imagination thanks to Fantagraphics Books, is long-form graphic narrative…
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Falling into Place (Part I): Ah Pook is Still Here
Over at the Believer Logger, the first part of an extended exploration of the the never-published-in-full creative co-construction between Malcolm Mc Neill and William S. Burroughs, known as Ah Pook is Here, has just been published (October 28, 2014). There were two smaller works that also profiled the Mc Neill- Burroughs collaboration prior to Mc Neill’s memoir,…
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Krazy Kat goes a-wooing; Bugologist; and Ignatz Mouse at the Circus
This just in: I was looking for pictures of burgers and fries on Wikimedia Commons for a work-related project (seriously!) and today’s “Media of the day” was a 1916 Krazy Kat animation that has been made available in the Public Domain. Further investigation led to the discovery of an additional Krazy Kat animation also uploaded…
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Bill Blackbeard, Comics Historian: 1926-2011
I will only say this: I scoured the The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1977) as a young lad, and Blackbeard’s commentary in this volume and his essay in The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye (Volume One: Sundays, 1930-1932) were among the first extended historical treatments of comics I ever read. May Blackbeard’s…
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Other Heroes and Other Notes
What did we do before the Internet? I can’t remember. I’ve been reading the book Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004) by Ellen Lupton. I was drawn to the book initially because I noticed it in a bookstore and it featured both McSweeney’s and Drawn & Quarterly…
Alex Simmons, Characters and Archetypes, Cuties, Damian Duffy, Drawn & Quarterly, Dwayne McDuffie, E. Simms Campbell, Editors & Students, Ellen Lupton, Esquire, Eye Trauma Comix, Graphic Design: The New Basics, Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book, Jeet Heer, John Jennings, McSweeney’s, Nancy Goldstein, Other Heroes, Other Heroes: African-American Comic Book Creators, R.C. Harvey, Racism as a Stylistic Choice and Other Notes, Thinking with Type: a Critical Guide for Designers, Turtel Onli, William Foster, Writers -
The End of the Art Book?
I’m being dramatic, I know. But will more consumers be downloading an art app in the future and viewing works on their iPads, instead of purchasing unwieldy coffee table tomes (the one featured above is a brick, coming in at 688 pages!)? Surely Google’s Art Project will change the digital landscape, with users being able…