Comics Still Wonderful In Spite Of It All

This year's Small Press Expo was so wonderful that we can't stop reading about it! It's the first time in a while that it wasn't too cold or too hot but just right at an indie comics show we've attended and that made it special. PLUS, SVA and MICA and CCS and MCAD and SCAD have been turning out lots and lots of excellent new cartoonists and the established people are putting out great stuff and there is real excitement everywhere. There are tons of 'em, including this video made by Steven Greenstreet...we selected a few because they were interesting or especially charming.

Just a very quick moment to jot down a few thoughts on SPX. (My "official" report will be in PWCW tomorrow.) In short, it remains the summer camp of comics, with a bunch of people who are there for love just hanging out, talking, drawing, drinking, smiling and laughing.

So Darwyn Cooke got caught on video saying that superhero comics should "...stop catering to the perverted needs of forty-five-year-old men." He called out rape, children being forced to eat rats, explicit sex, foul language, and a lack of new characters. And now some people are getting upset. Oh come on, like you've never thought any of that. Unfortunately the whole thing got derailed by his swipe at turning Batwoman into a lesbian, which came off as rather homophobic to some. Personally, I have to admit, I read it more as the character continuity issue of a man who likes his Bronze and Silver Age comics, which is somewhat humorous, given that he's complaining about comics being ruled by the whims of forty-somethings, but he is large, he contains multitudes. (To which I say, Darwyn, it wasn't "overnight". She may have been around since 1956, but she hadn't made any significant appearances since Crisis on Infinite Earths which basically changed everything. SEE? I can be as big of a geek as you are.) So let's break this down from the point of view of someone who is not forty five or male -- me.

It looks like the first ever Read Comics In Public Day was a big hit. Co-founder Brian Heater has a roundup of pictures and links and such. We've heard glowing reports of meet-ups around the globe. Proof that COMICS ARE A FORCE FOR THE GOOD OF ALL HUMANKIND!

As we write, Read Comics in Public Day, celebrating the ninth art on The King's birthday, is well underway. A Flickr pool has been set up and people around the world are participating, with meet-ups going on in Australia, London, New York, Boston, Alaska, San Diego, and beyond. The brainchild of Brian Heater and Sarah Morean, the goal of the holiday is to publicly proclaim comics solidarity and post the results to the internet. And don't forget the one for Ladies!

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