I’m back from vacation, catching up on Things Change, and trying to get some writing done. Until then (Monday, I promise), a few shorts:
a) WHAT VANISHING POINT? SOME REALLY BRIEF THOUGHTS ON COMICS AND PERSPECTIVE — Austin Kleon on perspective in comics. Worth a read.
b) Remedial Comics > flow — A number of close readings of page layouts with a cool Flash interface to look at various parts of the page in isolation (figure silhouettes, text only, etc). (link thanks to Neil Cohn)
c) Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi (Hyperion, 2007) — Based on the back matter, I’m assuming this is a young adult book, and, while well done, I found it rather slim on content and not to my taste. There are about a dozen pages in the book where Houdini is underwater performing his escape that have great layouts/breakdowns. Excellent use of the double page spread and the sense of him dropping into the darkness of the water. Nowhere near the greatness of Lutes’ Berlin.
d) Embrioderies by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon) — Found this at the library, so I checked it out for a quick read on the train home. If this were a photocopied minicomics I’d be fairly impressed. As a hardcover volume from a major publisher, it’s disappointing. More crude than Persepolis visually, the whole book is heavily reliant on the text (lots of people telling stories to each other), leaving most of the images irrelevant.
e) Saw a great show of paintings and little miniatures by Ethan Hayes-Chute while I was on vacation in Maine. Check out his website for some samples. His landscape paintings are minimal, brightly colored, and really fun. It turns out he’s even done some comics. I got one of his artist books that features page after page of drawings of piles of rocks, aptly titled “Piles of Rocks”.
f) I’m going to be at MOCCA this year (Friday night/Saturday). Any else going to be there who reads this?
g) The previous post on Yukiko’s Spinach has gotten a lot of attention, mostly for the comments that ensued. Check it out if you haven’t already.
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Hey, I think I’m going to MoCCA (probably Saturday)… maybe I’ll see you there…
I’m torn. I have to be on the east coast anyway for a couple of days, and I was thinking of timing it so as to go to MoCCA, but looking at the participants there’s nothing much there that excites me, except for a couple of friends who I would have more time to hang out with if I saw them under different circumstances anyway. I was pretty disappointed with SPX last fall, where, if I’m to be totally honest with myself, I found only one great book–”Ninja.” What do you think, Derik? There’s a lot of names I don’t know, and if you think any of them are my cup of tea, please tell me.
Jog: I’d keep an eye out for you, but I have no idea what you look like.
Andrei: I didn’t take a close look at the participants. MOCCA is really the only comic convention type event I go to, so it’s as much about just walking around and exploring as seeing anyone in particularly. I’m planning on attending the panel with Kevin Huizenga, and there are a few people I’m interested in seeing again or meeting (Matt Madden, Frank Santoro). I expect there will be at least a few interesting books to be found be it something new from Picturebox or mini-comics from someone I’ve never heard of.
Plus it’s a good excuse to for my wife and I to go to the city and find some good places to dine.
p.s. If you do go, shoot me an email and I’ll give you my cell number so we can meet up.
Thanks, Derik. I’d definitely like to get together. In any case, if I do make it over there soon, I’m taking a day’s detour through Philly, because I jsut have to see the Ike no Taiga show at the museum. If you haven’t seen it already, by the way, I cannot recommend it any more highly. Taiga is probably my favorite Japanese artist–this side of Hokusai, at least.
I haven’t seen that show, but it’s on my list. I’ll have to move it up in importance with that recommendation.
If you do get to the PMA you must spend time in the room of Cy Twombly’s Ilium paintings.