§ Brian Cronin is at it again, teaming up with PRISM Comics for a Month of Good LGBT Comics, kicking off with TALES OF THE CLOSET.
§ Nate Powell (left) tells Steve Duin about all his new projects:
He’s working, simultaneously, on three new graphic novels; the first, Any Empire, explores what Powell calls “the culture of distrust,” and is partially inspired by his experiences in moving from Arkansas, where he grew up, to Bloomington, Ind., where he’s now living. It envisions a world in which the United States is no longer a super power, and tanks — like those rumbling through the rubble in the final scenes of “Children of Men” — are inching through what’s left of our neighborhoods.
§ Maggie Thompson has been cleaning her basement. We’ve all been there — the horror, the horror! But she also finds cool stuff like old Steve Canyon scrapbooks.
But the “again” part isn’t as repetitious as some Moving Things About events have been. I discovered (as I unstacked boxes from the tops of other boxes) that some of the Things haven’t been moved for years. And a few of the file drawers have quietly contained nice surprises, lurking there in wait for the Christmas-morning feeling of the “Wow! I didn’t know I had that!” treat.
One item that awaited rediscovery was a Steve Canyon scrapbook. Don and I didn’t make it; my guess is that we bought it from a second-hand dealer somewhere — maybe even in a Salvation Army Store find. After all this time, I have no idea. While the strips have long since been reprinted, their previous owner included some tangential material — and I haven’t seen this particular clipping elsewhere.
§ Tim O’Shea talks with Stuart Moore and Joe Harris about NIGHTMARE FACTORY Vol. 2, and they have nice things to say about us. Thanks!
§ Everyone seems to think Taro Aso, the manga-loving PM of Japan, is a warm and cuddly dude, but he’s actually quite unpopular with many folks:
I’ve seen praise for this moron in American media because he started the International Manga Award, but this is the same guy who once stated about Japan, “one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, and one race, the like of which there is no other on this earth.”
He has also has stated, in regard to Japanese investment in the Middle East that, “Japan is doing what Americans can’t do. Japanese are trusted. It would probably be no good to have blue eyes and blond hair. Luckily, we Japanese have yellow faces.”
§ Useful lifehack: how to clean your white Mac keyboards. We favor a rubber skin over the keys ourselves, but when that gets gunky (as it does after hours and hours of keyboard pounding) we like a little Windex on a paper towel.
