Cartoonists

Based on what we know of publishing data, August 8th, 1961 was the day FANTASTIC FOUR #1 arrived on newsstands. Tom Brevoort sent out a birthday tweet. Although there's talk of boycotts and justified anger over Marvel's shoddy treatment of some of its greatest talent over the years, we should still mark this day. Pairing the protean storytelling of Ditko and Kirby with the breezy populism of Stan Lee created some of the greatest adventure comics that have ever been, and we suspect they'll be read for another 50 years.

The must-read from yesterday is Michael Dean's look at the actual court documents ALSO, Spanish cartoonist Pepo Perez has his own comments on creator ownership, here in the Google translation. That's makes for some awkwardness, but also some great stuff.

Spinning out of a Facebook discussion, cartoonist and educator Steve Bissette is making a case for a boycott of Marvel over how shabbily they have treated Jack Kirby and his heirs:

A sad day for those who hoped, perhaps against hope, that Jack "The King' Kirby's heirs would get some of the money their father's creations have made over the years. Characters including Captain America (created in the '40s with Joe Simon), The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor-- you know, if they called next year's potential biggest-movie-of-all-time THE AVENEGRS "JACK KIRBY'S AVENGERS" they would not be far from the mark. Deadline has analysis, seeing it as a big setback for lawyer Marc Toberoff, who has won many unlikely IP cases against giant studios in the past:

I can totally relate to Lauren Weinstein's latest comic, The Sit Down Test. But not because I've recently spawned - I just failed the sit down test miserably and there's photographic evidence of it! Check that evil dressing room mirror, ladies. And be sure to check out more of Weinstein's work over at Vineyworld.

Cartoonist Darryl Ayo reminds us not to get too jaded, and a comics image gallery that would make anyone sit up and take notice.

In a change of policy, the New York Times' venerable Week in Review section will go from running a round-up of editorial cartoons on the topics of the week to specially commissioned work. Among those tapped, Brian McFadden, creator of Big Fat Whale. McFadden is 27 and lives in Massachusetts, giving the section a younger perspective, to say the least.

Sitting behind a desk drawing (or blogging) all day is the surefire way to an unhealthy lifestyle, as we know all too well, but FLASH artist Francis Manapul is fighting back as profiled in the Globe and Mail:

A few years ago we pointed you at a 1950 Life Magazine spread that included various NCS cartoonists happily scribbling on swimwear covered models. Well, in the spirit of that shoot, but also to show how times have changed in 61 years, the Sequential Arts Workshop has updated these images with Ball Point Boxers which finds cartoonists Sara Varon, Leela Corman, Joan Reilly, Emily Flake, Hilary Allison and Jungyeon Roh recreating the stunt, this time with male boxers from Gleason's Gym.

Gerry Giovinco's blog is always worth reading, but here's a telling piece setting the two titans' accounts of the origins of Marvel side by side and coming to a conclusion:

The notorious 1990 Comics Journal interview with Jack Kirby is now online in its entirety, and you can see what made it notorious. The 71-year-old Kirby was not shy about asserting his place in the creation of comics' best known characters and at the expense of his collaborators.

For several years, those who feel that the San Diego Comic-Con has lost the comics part of the equation (even though it isn't true at all ) have been wondering if an alternative event -- a "Slamdance*" to CCI:SD's Sundance -- would spring up. And artist/animators Scott Morse and Ted Mathot (who both have Pixar as a day job) are making this "Slamcomic" come true with TR!CKSTER, an alternative venue for comics events that will be open to the public and located right across the tracks from the SD Convention Center.