Comic-Con 2014: San Diego, July 26

Hello, and welcome to today’s tiny sliver of what Comic-Con is like. In each of my day’s reports, I’m giving you but one person’s glimpse into this vast enterprise, the attendance of which tends to be around 50,000 people. If you were here, your focus might be different than mine. Or if you did attend this year’s Comic-Con,

Comic-Con 2014: San Diego, July 25

And… my third report from Comic-Con!  (A little later than I’d planned because I didn’t get back from the Eisners until around 11 that night… and I’ve gotta sleep, too, ya know!) Strange Currencies While doing my morning “signing” at the Fantagraphics display, I had an interesting conversation with a woman passing by the booth (her

Comic-Con 2014: San Diego, July 24

Welcome to day 2 of my unashamedly idiosyncratic coverage of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Let’s start with a little cosplay, shall we? Cosplay! One could spend all day photographing people in their costumes. I didn’t. These (above) are just a few I happened to catch. Instead, I went to panels, such as: Charles Schulz

Comic-Con 2014: San Diego, July 23

The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;– – William Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much With Us” (1802) SHARKNADO GO SHARK YOURSELF! – promotional material for Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) Greetings! I’m here at Comic-Con in San Diego, delivering a glimpse of the goings-on for

The Genius of Cul de Sac

Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac is one of two comic-strip masterpieces of this century.1 Fortunately for the busy comics-reader, you can now read the entire work in The Complete Cul de Sac (2 volumes, just out from Andrews McMeel). Unfortunately for the medium (of comics! of Art!), the complete run of the Thompson’s daily strip is

Box, with Barnaby Volume Two: 1944-1945

Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby Volume Two (1944-1945) is here!

Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby Volume Two: 1944-1945 will be shipping soon! I know this because my copies arrived in today’s mail. (I co-edited this book with Eric Reynolds) It looks great! (You can get Barnaby Volume Two from Fantagraphics or at your local comics retailer. Ask for it by name!) As we did in Barnaby Volume

Children’s Literature and Comics/Graphic Novels at MLA 2014

With thanks to Craig Svonkin for assembling the children’s literature panels list and Charles Hatfield for assembling the comics panels list, here’s a list of panel sessions on either children’s literature or comics/graphic novels at the Modern Language Association Conference in Chicago, 9-12 January 2014.  Is there anything missing here?  Drop me a line, and I’ll

Fantagraphics' logo

Fantagraphics and Kickstarter Capitalism

This past week, Fantagraphics launched a $150,000 Kickstarter campaign to fund its Spring 2014 season. The sudden death, in June, of co-founder Kim Thompson had an economic impact on the independent publisher: 13 books he was to translate or edit had to be postponed or delayed, creating a drain on the company’s cash flow. The

Comic-Con: books

Comic-Con, San Diego, Sunday, July 21

Welcome to the final day of my admittedly idiosyncratic coverage of the 2013 Comic-Con in San Diego. As on previous days, I’ve given each event or topic a heading so that you can find whatever interests you and then skip the rest. Getting Into Character You could spend all of your time here photographing people

Comic-Con, San Diego, Saturday, July 20

To begin today’s post, here is a photo of Eric Reynolds and I fending off the crowds at this morning’s signing. One at a time, folks! One at a time! There are plenty of books for everyone. Seriously.  There really are plenty.  I’ll be signing at the booth again on Sunday, from 2-4. Small-Press Comics