§ G. Willow Wilson interviews fellow Verti-scribe, Hell-of-Famer Peter Milligan who is resurgent with two graphic novels and an ongoing on tap, Quotable:

GWW: This is from an internet commentator who actually calls himself ‘TheChangingMan’: What is your take on Rimbaud Syndrome–that feeling that all the deeply personal and artistically ground-breaking work one ever creates is a by-product of youth, and that once it is used up there’s no going back?

PM: I certainly think that this is a common feeling. And I think that a lot of our present culture is built around that notion. I myself remember being miserable at 19, being aware that Rimbaud pretty much chucked the whole thing in around that age. In truth I think that youth produces a certain kind of take on life, a certain fire that you probably never quite regain, but as the first flush of youth passes experience brings other qualities (though not necessarily). This is of course a gross generalization. Sometimes that youthful fire doesn’t produce anything deeply personal or anything groundbreaking – it just burns down a lot of houses and is incredibly conservative, desperate to be part of the herd. As the Germans say: Jugend Hat Keine Tugend. Youth has no virtue. Which is probably a bit harsh, but that’s the Germans for you.


Aw, heck, one more:

GWW: Another internet commentator wants to know: if you were paid to write a comic about anything at all–without regard to how it would sell or how your readers would react–what would you write about?

PM: Well, quite often I have written a comic about what I’ve wanted to write about, regardless of how it would sell. At the moment I am interested in working on a story about Epilepsy. There are a few elements not in place yet but it is a hard sell, even to myself.


§ Matt Tauber interviews Ohio State U’s mistress of the archives, Lucy Shelton Caswell: Part 1, Part 2.

§ The Villager profiles the Harvey Comics show currently up at MoCCA:
If you grew up between the Eisenhower and Reagan administrations, you probably agree. Generations of young readers enjoyed the printed exploits of the precocious pint-sized protagonists of the Harvey universe. This was the currency of childhood: acquired with nickels and dimes of allowance money, carried in knapsacks and back pockets and traded on playgrounds and school buses. But because the work was targeted at kids as young as six, the company’s output has often been creatively discounted.

“People who love the Harvey line are almost in the closet about it,” said animation historian and author Jerry Beck. “But these are great children’s stories. It wasn’t just kiddie crap that we threw away. The artwork is particularly handsome and the stories are very clever. It’s really classic American pop art.”

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§ Graphic New York vists Al Jaffee’s Amazing Fold-In Life.

§ Okay, we said only a few more NYCC links, but here’s one that features The Beat as a supporting character: Jimmy’s Juke Joint, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

§ Also, PvP’s Scott Kurtz had a swell time on his very first trip to NYC:

The New York Comicon reminds me of the San Diego con circa 2001. Things had just started getting big, but not so big that you wanted to kill yourself on day two. It’s mostly still about comics (albeit they had a big video game presence) which is awesome. The first half-day of the con is reserved for professionals and other exhibitors, which is something I miss at the SDCC. It’s a nice calm before the storm and an opportunity for those stuck behind the booth all weekend to get out and browse.

My readership on the east coast is strikingly different from my readers anywhere else. They are direct and genuine. Mike K commented that they look you right in the eye when they talk to you and that was something I noticed as well. It was a treat to meet PvP readers for the first time ever. Everyone was friendly, supportive and excited to be at the show. One friendly reader even forgot to pay in his excitement. I said nothing because I didn’t want to be rude or embarrass. He came back later after realizing and made sure he paid. That’s classy.

§ Our email informant informs us that WATCHMEN IMAX tickets are already on sale.

§ Finally, Heather Massey takes one more crack at running up that hill.

1 COMMENT

  1. I can’t wait for Milligan’s follow-up about his experiences as a small child in revolutionary Iran.

  2. For those in NYC, the 10 AM showings at Lincoln Center are only $10! I’m going on Sunday morning, to avoid the fanboys, but if this is like Dark Knight, it will probably be packed… Still, for $10, I can put up with plotzing fans squealing like little girls…

  3. I wonder why publishers would strive to create material targeting girls, when they could try to publish material that would appeal to boys and girls both? The comics industry hasn’t published anything that has approached the readership demographics of the “Harry Potter” books, but there’s nothing obvious that prevents them from trying. Are established or promising fantasy authors uninterested in working in the comics format, or do comics writers have trouble generating ideas for broadly appealing fantasy stories?

    SRS

  4. “The comics industry hasn’t published anything that has approached the readership demographics of the “Harry Potter” books, but there’s nothing obvious that prevents them from trying. ”

    I really like Fables. My girlfriend really likes Fables. It’s a start.