Culture

STRIP SEARCH, the reality show about a house full of cartoonists competing for $15K and a year of "being embedded" at Penny Arcade, debuted earlier this week. You can watch the first episode above and the second episode is now up as well. The show is produced by the Penny Arcade crew, with Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins as judges. (They ran a half million dollar Kickstarter to fund the show last year) 12 cartoonists -- six male, six female, are flown to a house in Seattle to compete for the prize, in the classic format. The 12, chosen from a thousand entrants, are mostly webcomickers, but more on that in a bit.

If you've been following me on the internet for any length of time, you know I have always been obsessed with finding the perfect refreshing drink, whether it's long gone Pepsi Blue, Code Red, Ca Phe Sua instant coffee, Starbuck's much missed Tazo Berry Chai, Dunkin Donuts' Mango Fruit Blast and so on. Well, here is a new one, the Bai5 line of antioxidant waters. I was describing my favorite flavor, Congo Pear, the other day and said "It's got real pear juice and coffee fruit and white tea extract! It's a water-based drink!" to which someone replied "So it's pear-flavored coffee tea water?"

Following yesterday's much quoted post on wanting to be hired, artist Jerry Ordway responded to the outpouring of support with more on the perils of exclusives and the freelancers life:

Anyone who has ever worked with Fernando Ruiz or benefitted from his teaching skills knows what a seriously impressive contributor he is to the...

In keeping with the court's schedule, yesterday Marc Toberoff filed his response to DC's summary judgment motion in the Superman/Superboy lawsuits. Toberoff has filed...

Via Sean Howe's invaluable Marvel tumblr, this photo of future Marvel editor in chief Jim Shooter at age 14. At that age he sent a spec script to DC editor Mort Weisinger and was hired to write the Legion of Superheroes at that age. While the world of superhero comics was not quite as harsh as it is now...it was still probably no place for a boy, as Howe writes in MARVEL: THE UNTOLD STORY:

It's not particularly grim oop North if you head to the right parts, and you can't go wrong with Kendal. It's a lovely part...

It's a Monday early in the month, you just paid the rent and you're now wondering how you are going to live on celery for the next 27 days—that must be why so many posts on how to make a living at this here thing are coming out today. We've already seen Jerry Ordway plead to be taken seriously as a creator. But it's not just the old paper and ink crowd that's fretting this day. The webcomickers are at it too.

Wanna read some trippy excerpts from a 1979 comic based on the writing of drug guru Timothy Leary. The art is by Pete von Sholly and Tim Kummero, while the script was by Von Sholly and George Dicaprio, father of you-know-who. The older Dicaprio was quite active in the underground comics scene before spending more time managing his son's career.

The gravy train usually has a very short ride.

Miriam Katin is hitting the road with LETTING IT GO , her memoir about coming to terms with her son's move to Germany and her memories of the Holocaust.

Wow did we miss the boat on this. Two days in and we finally link to it. Shameful. On the other hand, it's a sign of comics ongoing academic respectability that a three day comics symposium featuring Nick Bertozzi, Josh Neufeld, Erin Polgreen and more could be taking place and there would be so much other comics stuff going on that it would only be the most serious of six or seven other top notch events. Anyway read all about it here, and there's still time to get in on the fun with tonight's keynote and tomorrows panels: