Cartoons/Comics

Graphic Novelist Alex Robinson at Big Brain Comics Tonight

Filed under: Cartoons/Comics

Alex Robinson had an auspicious debut in 1996 when his graphic novel, Box Office Poison won several honors, including an Eisner Award. Poison told the story of a group of singles doing regular things in the city, with a whimsical tone and natural dialogue.

Whether or not it would actually be a box office kiss of death remains debatable, but if it were ever made into a movie, it probably would resemble an “indie” quirk flick like Reality Bites or Singles. In 2006 Robinson followed up Poison with Tricked, which was similar in that it featured a revolving card shuffle of wacky (but not too wacky) characters, yet different in that it told a more dramatic tale with darker undertones. He more recently released Too Cool To Be Forgotten, a time-traveling tale reminiscent of Peggy Sue Got Married (but set in 1985). Tonight, the Bronx-native stops by Minneapolis for a low-key signing at Big Brain Comics (1027 Washington Ave. S). The event starts at 5:00 p.m. Be sure to bring signable copies, just not all 21 serialized issues of Box Office Poison.

Posted by Jessica Armbruster at January 18, 2008 2:19 PM | Comments (0)

 

Katz in the Cradle (of the Richfield Borders)

Filed under: Cartoons/Comics

Jonathan Katz, the comedian behind the Dr. Katz series on Comedy Central, has a not-too-publicized reading
tomorrow at the Richfield Borders. If you're a fan of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning show, this is a great event to check out.

The details: Borders' Richfield location is at 800 W 78th St. The event is tomorrow, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. Call (612) 869-6245 for more info.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at November 15, 2007 2:38 PM | Comments (0)

 

Ward Sutton hangs up his pen (for now)

Filed under: Cartoons/Comics

Ward Sutton's political cartoon, "Sutton Impact," will cease with the publication of next week's edition. In a note to newspapers currently running his work, Sutton stated that retiring the strip (which began as the bi-weekly "Schlock 'n' Roll" in 1995) was not a decision made lightly. Local residents may recall the Minneapolis native's comic, "Ward's Cleaver," featured from 1990 to 1997, in the late Twin Cities Reader. Following a move to New York City in 1995, Sutton's career expanded to illustrating posters for the likes of Beck, Pearl Jam, and Blues Traveler. He has also produced artwork for Broadway shows, and animated sequences for Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy and Nickelodeon. Sutton denies this is the end of his political cartooning career, but after nine years, it will be a much-needed break from weekly deadlines.

Posted by Corey Anderson at April 12, 2007 9:25 AM | Comments (2)

 

Marshall Rogers R.I.P.

Filed under: Cartoons/Comics

DC has announced that one of the great superhero comic book artists, Marshall Rogers, has died at age 57. Rogers drew Detective Comics #472 in 1976, the first comic this fan ever bought. That run came to be called "the definitive Batman," and laid the template for the Batman movies, the "dark deco" animated series, and Frank Miller's revisions. Here's the email from DC Comics: 'Marshall was one of the radical young stylists bringing new looks to DC in the '70s, especially with his memorable collaboration with Steve Englehart on Batman," says DC Comics President & Publisher Paul Levitz. "His debonair smile and charm were every bit as endearing as his art was energetic, and his colleagues at DC are all shocked to have a great artist pass so young."

'Born January 22, 1950, Rogers studied architecture at Kent State University before pursuing a career in comics. His earliest work appeared in Marvel Comics' black and white magazines; in 1976, his art first appeared in a backup story in DETECTIVE COMICS, the title with which he is most identified.

'Rogers quickly moved up to pencilling the lead stories in DETECTIVE, working with his frequent collaborators, writer Steve Englehart and inker Terry Austin, on a run of issues that featured the acclaimed "Joker Fish" story. He simultaneously drew a memorable run on MISTER MIRACLE.

'Rogers returned to Batman frequently after his initial run on DETECTIVE, contributing stories to BATMAN FAMILY and other titles, including a new look at the Dark Knight's beginnings in SECRET ORIGINS. In the 1980s, Rogers began working for Eclipse Comics, with projects including Coyote, Scorpio, the graphic novel Detectives, Inc., and his own creation, Cap'n Quick and A Foozle.

'By the mid-1980s, Rogers was working for Marvel Comics, where he illustrated Dr. Strange, G.I. Joe, Howard the Duck and more, as well as a long run on Silver Surfer. He became the artist on the Batman daily comic strip at the end of the decade.

'More recently, Rogers illustrated the miniseries GREEN LANTERN: EVIL'S MIGHT, then returned to the Dark Knight for a 5-part story in BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT. He reteamed with Englehart and Austin for the 2005 miniseries BATMAN: DARK DETECTIVE, a follow up on their classic work of the 1970s.'

More here, here, here, here, and here.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at March 27, 2007 3:25 PM | Comments (1)

 

Lyndale Love

Filed under: Cartoons/Comics

Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's Local is a comic book series about a city-hopping young woman named Megan. Minneapolis gets some ink with issue #2, "Polaroid Boyfriend," thanks to St. Paul resident Kelly. The story of Megan's disturbing and/or romantic relationship with a stranger takes place on a three-block stretch of Lyndale Avenue South, and it's got the landmarks (Hum's Liquors, the Wedge Co-op) to prove it. Locale aside, the book is like a visual scavenger hunt for Twin Cities readers who will no doubt spot details like a Spyhouse to-go cup or a Chino Latino billboard.

Leave it to scrutinizing local eyes to also pick up on the inaccuracies. For one, the main character works at Oarfolkjokeopus--which was renamed Treehouse Records years ago. A disclaimer says that the story takes place in 1995, an excuse which is betrayed by all sorts of musical anachronisms: Low's The Great Destroyer on the store's shelves, a Heiruspecs CD lying on the floor of Megan's studio apartment, a flyer for a Soviettes show at the Triple Rock on her fridge. Kelly blames the mistakes on trying to get the book done in a hurry. But irked residents may find solace in a snarky Twin Cities primer in the back, which includes factoids like, "[In 1866] the first Minneapolitan discovered St. Paul, immediately grew bored and returned home."

Posted by Lindsey Thomas at February 20, 2006 2:18 PM | Comments (0)

 

Ted Rall hatin' on Chris Ware

Filed under: Cartoons/Comics

Ted Rall is one of the most controversial and talented editorial cartoonists in the business. He depicts President Bush as a wild-eyed, dictatorial generalissimo and Iraqi war vets as Abu Ghraib-inspired sexual deviants. Rall is extremely forthright in his political opinions, expressing them as a Pulitzer Prize-nominated cartoonist, an op-ed columnist, and a globe-trotting radio commentator through various periods in his life. The current administration and its actions have given Rall more than enough fodder, so why in Monday's cartoon did he feel the need to take a shovel to the head of fellow cartoonist Chris Ware?

Chris Ware is a graphic novelist based out of Chicago. The most famous work from his Acme Novelty Library is "Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth," lauded by many as one of the best graphic novels ever produced. Peter Schjeldahl, in the October 17 edition of the New Yorker, declared "Corrigan" the "the first formal masterpiece of a medium that he has proved to be unexpectedly complex and fertile." The story, published in 2000, follows a middle-aged under-achieving Corrigan as he ventures to find the father he never knew, and once again finding disappointment. Those story panels are spare Joost Swarte-inspired images of Corrigan and his environs, which are contrasted by a parallel story of Corrigan's grandfather being raised by his widowed father featuring large-panel, magnificently-detailed renderings of the exhibition halls of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Ware has since gained a wider audience with a 6-month serial that inaugurated the New York Times Magazine's new Funny Pages section.

While highly adept at editorializing on current global events (war, politics, terrorism, etc.), why has Rall taken time out of his schedule to kick Chris Ware in the junk and take his lunch money? Rall's December 5 cartoon mimics Ware's style and appears to mock what he calls Ware's "mundane" observations, "repetitive" panels, and use of flowcharts to "intellectualize the vapid." A scribble on the side of the panel states "apologies to Chris Ware," a phrase commonly used when one artist co-opts another's style for purposes of getting a point across, not when one is calling another a craptastic hack. It would appear Rall has had a simmering hatred for Ware's work that has now boiled over as Ware's exposure broadens.

Posted by Corey Anderson at December 8, 2005 2:20 PM | Comments (4)