Culture

by Zachary Clemente In October, comics veteran Patrick Broderick announced that he was returning to DC for an unnamed project after 20 years. A few days ago,...

Yeah yeah, Walt Disney was a genius and a trailblazer and a visionary...but he was also a racist and a horrible sexist. The letter informing a woman applying for a job at the studio informing her that "Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school." has been floating around for years, but recently a newspaper story by Disney biographer Bob Thomas laying out his ideas of women's capabilities has been unearthed and it's even worse.

This gets a HYPE ALERT rating since I'm in it, but Marisa Stotter's documentary She Makes Comics will finally be available on December 9th—either...

As a kid, Dover Books was just about my favorite publisher, bringing out fine reprints of sheet music, fairy tales, art and all sorts...

Over the holiday I spotted something pretty eye-popping on Tumblr—this comics sales chart from Amazing Heroes #49, published in 1984 and posted by Sam Humphries. Your jaw will drop in amazement to see a world where American Flagg!, a daring SF comic by Howard Chaykin outsold Captain America, and Groo outsold Batman, Detective and Green Lantern.

Best to all for a happy peaceful holiday. I'm thankful this year for a healthy family, good friends, cute cats, and a great job...

At this time of year if there is one thing as certain as dressing and leftovers it's parody verions of Norman Rockwell's famed "Freedom...

I'm hitting the road for Thanksgiving frolic, so we're shifting into exciting HOLIDAY mode at the Beat! Oh there will be some news stories, and some GIft Guide suggestions, but also a lot of art and comics recommendations that I've been stockpiling for no good reason. Also, Beat contribours will be along with their own gift guide suggestions.

I've long been awaiting Jeff Trexler's analysis of the Marvel/Kirby Settlement, and he starts a two-part piece with Should the Kirby Family Have Settled? In case it hasn't been explicitly stated enough, it was Trexler's exploration of the potentially ground breaking work for hire aspects of the case that Kirby family attorney Marc Toberoff seems to have used to get the Supreme Court to even look at the case. To allow it to go to decision would have established an important precedent—but it was extremely risky for the Kirby heirs:

Todd Klein is the dean of comics lettering in the US, with more awards than he can carry, and a portfolio of logos and classic lettering that would be hard to touch. And he's put it all together for a seven part series on the history of comics lettering:

A graphic novel has become Exhibit A in the latest Obamacare controversy. Clear, simple, understandable, useful - those are just a few of the words...

The Angoulême Festival International de la Bande Dessineé for 2015 has released the schedule of art exhibits, spotlights and other goodies. They attached this...