Culture

Is there a new Lichtenstein roaming the forests? Scott Edelman has brought to our attention thr work of Sharon Moody who paints trompe l'oeil paintings of comics by Jack Kirby, Sal Buscema and others -- but Edelman is bothered by the fact that the source artists are not credited anywhere:

This is no comics content, but many folks have some of their fondest Christmas Eve and Christmas Day memories of staring at a film loop of a burning Yule Log on TV while seasonal tunes gently play in the background. Yes, the video Yule Log has burned its way into the hearts of America. Happily, you can watch and listen to the Yule Log any time just by going to this link, which is new for 2011. Its also available in SD, HD and 3D via free Video On Demand (VOD), and also on many cable systems—check your systems free on demand listings to find it. 

The past decade may have been the graphic novel decade but some comics observers dreamed of the crowning moment of comics PR as Oprah Winfrey holding up a copy of Gilbert Hernandez's LUBA as a selection of her book club—a Winfrey book club pick rountinely meant mllions of copies sold, so you can see why it would have been the crowning moment of mainstream acceptance for comics. Sadly, that moment never came, as Oprah canceled her syndicated show to focus on her own network. But while comics might not get that instantaneous boost, at least Oprah.com has picked a few GNs s part of an article entitled

11 Books You Never Thought You'd Read (but Will Fall in Love with Instantly):

South African cartoonist Zapiro is famous for his sharply observant cartooning and also for standing up to constant and onerous political pressures because of his observations. Most famously he was sued by the Prime Minister of South Africa for defamation—but as this profile at PEN.org shows, he's always been at the center of controversy reserved for those who tell the truth.

How Sony, Ikea and DC Comics approach marketing to women. Hint: only one of these companies actually tried.

Grace Bello has taken the bold step of going to cartoonists and asking them for sex advice -- and posting the results on Nerve. The results may shock you. Not really, but we had to say that, just because "cartoonists" and "sex" were long considered a bad match --unless you were one of those swinging '60s Don Draper cartoonists in the NCS, of course. Anyway, back to the present day. Rick Altergott on the pecking order:

In a piece called The Ten Best and Worst Movie Posters of the Year Vulture lays out some analysis of the year's movie posters—why yes, that BRIDESMAIDS poster was pretty cool. They also single out two comics movie campaigns for some brickbats, including Worst: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, describing it thusly:

Interview call outs galore, plus the Bay Area scene. More.

As part of a tribute to the late, great* Jerry Robinson, Mike Lynch has scanned in some of his old National Cartoonist Society programs -- comic strips in the Madmen era! BTW, he's pretty hard to even recognize Robinson in these photos, but that's him on the left with the glasses.

He says they suck. PSYCH -- he did not. As part of a Canadian panel on getting kids reading, Smith joined educator Larry Swartz and author Mahtab Narsimhan to discuss comics and literacy.

The Secret Headquarters comics shop in LA has been posting some gift suggestions from staffers, and Malachi's are excellent, but so are Part Two and Part 1. Some great ideas there. Go down to Secret Headquarters in you're near or your favorite comics shop or indie bookstore if you're not and support a small business! I did a lot of my holiday shopping as a craft show this weekend and not only got a) unique items you won't see at old Navy at a similar price and b) supported artists and craftspeople. Your giftees will appreciate it!

Only a few innocent weeks ago, we were kidding around about these Superman socks with calf capes, suggesting they were a suitable gift for a male geek, even though they only come in girls sizes. And then Robert Griffin III, this year's Heisman Award winner, picked up his award while wearing these very socks. (The Heisman Triophy is presented each year to the #1 college football player and it is quite an honor.) Maybe the self-professed comics nut Griffin is a Beat reader? At the very least he has shattered the nerd/jock divide to atoms: