§ Nice art! Planet of the Apes Concept art. Spot the one that is still topical.
Concept art for Planet of the Apes (1968), from 1963-1966.
My favorite bit in the film: when the apes appear on their horses during the human hunt, and the camera does this fast zoom. pic.twitter.com/mBft1iAqWS
— Tales from Weirdland (@WeirdlandTales) January 7, 2018
§ Sad news. Robert Crumb’s son Jesse, 49, has died after a New Year’s Eve car crash in which he sustained severe head injuries.
At about 5:18 that evening, Crumb’s 1998 Toyota Tacoma crossed over the center line of Hwy. 101 and collided with a 2003 Ford F350 headed in the other direction, as Kym Kemp reported last week. He was flown to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, where he died three days later, according to a brief obituary posted online.
Born to Robert Crumb and Dana Morgan in 1968, Jesse Crumb was an artist in his own right, producing a series of portraits of Beat Generation artists in the mid-1990s.
The younger Crumb also appeared in the film Crumb with his father.
§ Tis the season!
Spent my evening doing my final jury scoring for @CAKEchicago — LOADS of talented creators just in the applications! Can't wait to see who ultimately gets in!
— Sean Kleefeld (@skleefeld) January 9, 2018
§ It’s been a while since we dug into the hot stove league of the long awaited San Diego Convention Center Expansion. You may recall that a ballot measure was voted down in 2016, but a new initiative is being floated: an expansion that is across Harbor Drivem, connected by a sky bridge. This is sort of “contiguous.”
The initiative has a unique workaround for a huge problem. The bayside property desired for the expansion of the center is controlled by people who don’t want to give it up. The goal of initiative backers is to convince developers of the Fifth Avenue Landing hotel project to make a deal. But the measure allows for another option: build the addition across Harbor Drive — and the trolley tracks — with a skyway link.
You may remember the Chargers’ ill-fated initiative in 2016 called for a convention center expansion — a separate “annex” — several blocks away combined with a football stadium. Tourism officials at the time insisted that wouldn’t work; conventions wouldn’t come and only a “contiguous” expansion would do.
“Contiguous” now apparently allows for a separate structure, connected in some way. Granted, this type of expansion probably would put the addition a lot closer than the Chargers’ annex, which would not have been physically linked to the convention center. Exactly where this would be built is unclear.
Yes, unclear. This piece from the local paper is full of local details and discussions but the nut graph is no one wants to give up the waterfront for a convention center. Problem.
§ Speaking of Comic-Con, they are already leaking exclusives: a bloodied Chris Hardwick Funko Pop.
https://twitter.com/myk_940926/status/948845415155212288/photo/1
§ Apparently One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is very rich, having sold more than 400 million copies of his work, and he has a totally sick crib.
§ BOOKMARK! Jason Thibault has updated his Definitive List of Comic Publisher Submission Guidelines for 2018
So you want to break into comics but are unsure how and where to submit? Well, you’ve landed on the right page. This latest update of all of the comic publisher submission guidelines includes ten new additions, some subtractions, and fixed broken links.
We’re living through uncertain and turbulent times in 2018. Disney has been spending the last decade buying up all of your childhood, the mainstream comic biz is experiencing a bit of a downturn, and Mark Millar has sold the bulk of his comix empire to Netflix.
The good news is society needs your creations, art, and passion now, more than ever before. It’s is the time to be daring and original. Time to step up and inspire the next generation.
§ Indie Comics journalist Daniel Elkin has started running on his site and the first is by Mark O. Stack on the Recursive Narrative of Charles Burns’ BLACK HOLE. Good topic!
It’s common practice for children growing up in the Pacific Northwest to receive a degree of wilderness survival training by the time they’ve left elementary school. The region is thick with trees, making it easy for those who are unprepared to become lost in the woods. If one doesn’t know their way out, they’re likely to find themselves passing by the same landmarks over and over as they get no closer to their destination. The teenage protagonists of Charles Burns’ Black Hole spend much of their time lost and in the woods, although it is the lovelorn Chris who holds the distinction of being literally lost in the woods as she finds herself without the guide she previously relied on. When her lover Rob disappears, she wanders uncertain of her path or destination. Burns wanders, too, as he often doubles back to revisit key moments in the narrative from new perspectives that serve to illuminate character and develop arcs.
§ The End of the ****ing World show on Netflix is getting good review, but I have seen few interviews with the creator of the comic it’s based on, Chuck Forsman. But here’s one fromhis local paper, TownVibe Berkshire
“I was very happy with the book I had made,” Forsman says. “I could see myself losing gears trying to get something made, a TV or a movie, getting involved being a writer. I don’t know if I would make the same decision now, but then I just wasn’t into it and thought if this happens, I trust Jonathan.”
Forsman visited the production in England twice—once during filming and once during post-production—where he met everyone involved, including all the actors. Writer Charlie Covell followed the original story much more closely than he expected, fleshing out the character relationships and motivations, and expanding some secondary-character roles. Her script also provided some delightful surprises for Forsman, like the addition of two detective characters.
§ Caleb Orecchio ponders a Doctor Strange comic by Dash Shaw. As you do.
