§ Alex Behr has an excellent interview with Chris Ware at Salon where he talks about his daughter’s drawing ability, the bully that apologized to him etc. Just read the whole thing, dammit.

§ At Cartoon Brew, Amid Amidi notes that Stu Snyder, the Cartoon Network exec who tried to turn it into a live action network, has left not entirely willingly. Many people, thought this Live Action era of CN was a disaster, one only rescued by the Adventure Time juggernaut, so it will be interetsing to see where it goes now.

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§ Tom Spurgeon chats withMK Brown whose new book of cartoons from Fantagraphics, Stranger than Life, (above) is a delight:

I’ve given up being practical long ago. No, the best work is when I respond to what I want to do, more than anything. Even now, when there’s no real market for them, I get ideas for single panels and I kind of try not to, in a way. [Spurgeon laughs] If they persist, I do a little sketch, and I’ve got them for later. What I will do with them I don’t know. Maybe another collection. Or I’ll include them in a new national humor magazine and website that seems to be cooking.

§ Yet ANOTHER profile of Jack Elrod the 89-year old cartoonist on Mark Trail. This time he delves seep into his storytelling secrets.

One reader wrote Elrod to ask how Mark Trail made a living, other than writing for a magazine, as he seemed to be prone to wandering all over the outdoors all the time. While Mark is constantly in trouble during his never-ending adventures, Andy the dog frequently comes to his rescue. When Andy got into trouble, Elrod says that’s when he got the most mail from readers.

One reader admonished the artist after he drew a story that featured river rafters who weren’t wearing life jackets. Elrod was sure to include life jackets for his characters in future stories.

§ The first Wizard World Sacramento Comic Con was this weekend and it drew huge, colorful crowds, we’re told.

The three-day event drew crowds from far and wide with a star-studded lineup that included actors Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”), William Shatner (“Star Trek”) and Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”), as well as producer and writer Stan Lee (“Spider-Man,” “Iron Man”) and a slew of other recognizable names and faces from the film and television universe. Fans formed lines outside the Sacramento Convention Center starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, some returning with half-full gift bags from Friday’s festivities and some itching to enter the convention for the first time.

§ I’ve had this link in my tabs for a while: KHURSTEN SANTOS

talks about josei manga—that is manga written for adult women, which has a strong heritage in Japan but hasn’t caught on here that much, perhaps, SAntos suggests, because teen readers enjoy the escapism of manga and don’t want to graduate to the ambivalent, sometimes tough world of adult issues and theme. There’s also the historical perspective:

It’s interesting how quick we are to dismiss the interest of housewives while people still continue to sing and dedicate issues of journals and books to Osamu Tezuka. I find this particularly frustrating when manga has so much to offer but sadly, that’s just how the world turns and sadly things like this stay outside of the radar.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I exhibited at the Wizard World Sacramento show and I have to say it was *very* well attended. All four quadrants were represented on both sides of the table. The multiple days of local news coverage helped a lot, too. I talked to a number of people who were experiencing their *first ever* convention experience.

    The aisles were wide, but still the crowd was so heavy it gave me flashbacks of trying to get around at San Diego Comic Con. A few times movement in the aisles came to a complete stand still. It was one of those times when you realize why the Fire Marshals get concerned.

    I was a good show for me, personally. I was on two panels and my table did well. Wizard World Sacramento plans to return in 2015 in the month of June… which might provide some challenges because Sacramento is known for triple digit heat numbers in the Summer months. However, it could also be a good escape from the heat, too.

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