one from the road: FINDER

Reading the (nicely designed) FINDER hc over vacation. She’s got mad chops, but everyone’s right, this isn’t good to start with. It’s like early Terry Moore drawing from a script by late Dave Sim.

Corporate shill linkblogging!

• Apparently M.O.D.O.K. has a blog, on the Marvel web site. It’s great to see them (at least partially) getting into the spirit of semi-ironic hipster comic blogging; Marvel’s always tried to project the image of a bunch of fans who spend all day gleefully playing with their favorite characters, but too often their self-importance gets in the way of the fun. Seriously, guys, your characters are goofy and over-the-top and awesome. Why leave it to bloggers to point it out? Run with it. Bring back NextWave. IN ANY CASE! Owly creator (and Top Shelf hero) Andy Runton did one of his legendary “Owly As…” sketches with a M.O.D.O.K. theme, and apparently M.O.D.O.K. was pleased. Wormy as an A.I.M. agent is the icing on the cake.
• On a related note, Top Shelf genius Jeff Lemire has been doing some sweet paintings of Marvel & DC characters. You should buy one!
• Atlanta critic (and now blogger) Van Jensen loves Top Shelf! He’s given us several nods in his 2007 year-in-review declarations. Best artist: Jeff Lemire. Best publisher: Top Shelf. Best graphic novel: Super Spy. He said it, not me!
• Almost forgot! Craig Thompson is nominated for a Grammy! John Anderson at Comics Alliance has reactions, links, and some sweet videos of the sketch-concert Craig did with Menomena.

Zombies Calling… to the London of death?

Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks is awesome. Go out and buy it everybody.

Okay, it wasn’t perfect. The pacing of individual scenes was great, but the overall structure of the book was odd — I would have preferred a slightly longer book, I think, and more thematic unity. Plus the ending was a bit unsatisfying (though I do love the bridge between the main story and the epilogue). On the other hand, Hicks’ cartooning is amazing — page layouts, narrative flow, character design, lettering, and all. It’s really well-executed on the micro level, and the concept and characters are lots of fun. More than anything, I’m left feeling really excited about discovering Hicks as a creator and looking forward to seeing her next work. Ideally with the input of a good story editor.

Kudos to SLG for snapping this up, and for a nicely-designed package that manages to out-Minx the Minx line — I’d be proud to hand this book to anybody 10-30, female or not. Unfortunately, I was turned off from picking up Good As Lily once I actually saw it in the store and saw twenty pages of Minx ads in the back. As a creator-centric indie publisher, SLG contents itself with a single page, mostly letting this book be Hicks’. Turns out she’s excellent company.

It is a truth universally acknowledged

…that a comics industry in possession of a dearth of female readers,* must be in want of a Jane Austen adaptation.

Latest update from artist Tintin Pantoja here. Rad!

*Not that there really is such a dearth.

Three songs that are the same song

Elvis Presley – “Burning Love” (1972)

Van Morrison – “Full Force Gale” (1979)

CCR – “Bad Moon Rising” (1969)

They’re in the same key and everything.

David Bowie on Spongebob Squarepants as a Blue Meanie

And now, David Bowie, on Spongebob Squarepants, as a Blue Meanie.

Bowie’s John Gielgud impression and his multicolored eyes are pretty great, but also check out the brilliant animation during Squidward’s “art” song:

It’s from the Atlantis Squarepantis TV movie, now available on DVD.