Mark Evanier on WHAT IF JOE MANEELY HAD LIVED. Maneely was Stan Lee’s favorite artist and might have had a interesting influence on the early years of Marvel had he not been killed in a freak subway accident:
First off, if Maneely had lived, Atlas/Marvel would have been a very different company. Actually, between him and Kirby and Ditko (Stan’s other favorite artist), there would have been little room for anyone else to draw for the firm. It’s apparently true that rising sales on Kirby-drawn comics — the ones Steven mentions but especially the western, Rawhide Kid — encouraged Goodman to keep publishing comics at a time when he was considering the abandonment of that marketplace. As I wrote in a recent Jack Kirby Collector, “Would it [Rawhide Kid] have gained readers if Stan had put Maneely on the book? Who knows? Sometimes, it’s not a matter of having a good artist but of having the right good artist and the right chemistry.”
§ Nadia Oxford at Mania.Com wonders if Manga Burnout is waiting in the wings
Will manga ever fall away from mainstream American culture? Elder members of the human race are fond of rattling off every fad that’s come and gone throughout their lives; hula hoops, Slinkies, Cabbage Patch dolls. It’s tempting to heap the likes of Pokemon on that pile, but can manga and anime be similarly filed away as faded memories?
Thankfully, her answer is “No.”
§ Jason Rodriguez begins video podcasting about POSTCARDS.
Re; § Nadia Oxford at Mania.Com wonders if Manga Burnout is waiting in the wings
I think the main reason manga is here to stay is that there’s so much of it still waiting to be imported. It’s much cheaper and less risky for publishers to get reprint rights for proven successes than to commission new, untested material. And those connected to an anime series will sell themselves. It’s good business sense.
re: Jason’s obsession, some people collect the strangest things.