Newly announced LEGION writer Jim Shooter tells Wizard what’s going on:
Okay, as a former writer, EIC and current comic book legend, what do you think of the current state of the industry?
The art in comics is generally better than ever, the writing is often clever and glib, but in spite of that, far too many comics are utterly unreadable. Even hardcore fans find many comics daunting to follow! The craft of comics storytelling is all but lost. A who’s who of industry big shots have privately agreed with me when we’ve discussed exactly this subject, but it’s a tough problem to fix, given the often huge egos of the creators, general creative anarchy and lack of trained editorial people. I’m happy to say that where I work now, DC, appears to be taking the lead in bringing back the craft. My editor, Mike Marts, is really good. He knows what he’s doing and makes you make it right. A lot of good stuff is happening at DC. I’m back where I started 42 years ago…and very happy to be there.
WaPo express interviews Percy Carey, aka MF Grimm whose graphic novel just came out:
» EXPRESS: Are there incidents that you just couldn’t include?
» CAREY: It’s a lot of things that I didn’t include. That’s another reason why the medium of the graphic novel was cool. Say, for instance, if it was a film, then there’s a lot of detail that you would have to put in between. But a graphic novel was to my satisfaction, or my taste, because I was able to dictate it the way I chose. In my music I talk a lot about my life, but at times there’s no way to edit certain things when you’re discussing via MCing, or poetry, or things of that nature. The graphic novel is a great medium when you just want to get a story across but not tell everything about yourself.
AVIVA-Berlin interviews ANGRY LITTLE GIRLS creator Lela Lee — Lee’s strip has just been reprinted in Germany:
AVIVA-Berlin: Did you expect your “Angry Little Girls” to become so successful, even international? Why can women from all over the world identify with your characters and their stories?
Lela Lee: Honestly, I had no idea it would become such a success with women all over the world. I think women all over the world are thought of as second class citizens, not as capable as men. So maybe that´s why “Angry Little Girls” resonates with women. We are universally connected by frustration of what women are expected to be.
