Thought Balloons

Hey, look over there!

2006-03-21T16:52:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't resurrected Thought Balloons after nearly a year. That would be too much like work. I have, however, launched a new blog called Comics, Covered, which as the name might suggest, is devoted to comic-book cover art and design.

In the past week or so since the launch, I've touched upon everything from puppet pattern as cadaver on the cover of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service to Soviet propaganda imagery on 52 #8. There's also been bits on Mouse Guard #1, Godland #12, Marvel's Civil War trade dress and American Virgin #1, among others.

So, this is a ploy to get traffic to the new blog because I've been unable to score a coveted spot on the Comic Weblog Updates page. Yeah, I'm shameless.

(Insert appropriately maudlin headline here)

2005-04-11T07:41:00.000-04:00

Well, this is it. After some 1 1/2 years, 2,550 posts and 264,865 words (according to Blogger, at least; I think it's more), I'm pulling the plug on Thought Balloons. No more almost-daily linkblogging for me, thank you.

I'm not "leaving" in a huff -- I'm not really "leaving" at all, if you'll read on -- or getting a handsome promotion or anything exciting like that. I just don't find Thought Balloons particularly fun any more. In fact, following comics industry "news" day in and day out has diminished my enjoyment of the comics medium. My head's so full of nonsense about Countdown backlash, publisher misdeeds and monthly sales performances that when it comes time to actually read one of the comics or graphic novels stacked around my office, the interest just isn't there.

So, instead of moping about the state of the industry, or complaining that comics aren't fun any more, I'm turning my attention to what does interest me: horror, fantasy and, to a lesser extent, science fiction.

If you'll pop over to Dark, But Shining, you'll discover a new blog devoted to those very things as they pertain to comics, prose, TV and film. Rick Geerling and I will be joined by a couple of other contributors to provide reviews, essays, interviews and more on everything from the genius of Ray Bradbury to the world of B.P.R.D. to the folklorish elements of horror (and the horror elements of folklore). It's definitely a work in progress, but I hope it'll be an interesting one.

One of the reasons I began blogging back in October 2003 was my desire to escape the insanity of comics message boards. But now I find myself missing some of the interaction and ongoing dialogue (though intelligent dialogue seems in short supply in most forums). Thought Balloons provided me with an outlet, but it never seemed conducive to much actual discussion. I'm hoping a group blog dedicated to reviews, essays and the like will offer a happy middle ground between the solitude of Thought Balloons and the din of message boards.

Thanks to everyone who visited Thought Balloons. I hope you'll give Dark, But Shining a try.

Farrago

2005-04-07T08:04:00.000-04:00

In a Colorado Springs Gazette article, writer Marv Wolfman talks about his new ibooks novelization of 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, told from the perspective of The Flash: "I wanted to do a story about what it's like to actually be the character. These books are told at a distance, especially something like Crisis, which had 400-something characters. But this, this is a very personal story. It's about Barry."

According to England's Yorkshire Post Today, vicar-turned-fantasy author Graham Taylor (Shadowmancer, Wormwood) will appear in Shadowmancer: The Comic as narrator and main villain Obadiah Demurral: "The middle-aged former priest has been given a dark new look by artists who design the graphically violent manga comics which in Japan are better read than many newspapers." The series will be published by UK's Markosia Enterprises.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that New Line Cinema has acquired the feature-film rights to Naoki Urasawa's Monster manga series, which has sold more than 25 million copies in Japan. Publisher Shogakukan Inc. will serve as an executive producer. Monster is a psychological thriller about a doctor who saves the life of a little boy, only to find out a few years later that he helped a brilliant killer.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review previews Art Spiegelman's local appearance this weekend.

Farrago

2005-04-06T08:08:00.000-04:00

Some items of note from this, the comics Internet:

At Suicide Girls, Charles Vess discusses The Book of Balads, his current project -- a Fables graphic novel set in the world of the Arabian Nights -- and what attracts him to the fantasy genre.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian (scroll down) speaks briefly with cartoonist Seth about Charles Schulz, and mainstream publishing's current appetite for the graphic novel: "I'm not sure why it's happened. Everyone's working along, building up, but somehow in the past few years, there's an awareness of what we're doing. Ten years ago, using comic books to tell a story was a stupider idea. Now it's a mundane fact. You don't have to sell it to anyone anymore, that you're not just an idiot for working on this."

At IGN.com, Fred Hembeck reveals that while Superman (née Superboy) is, indeed, a dick, the same can't be said of the Boy of Steel's best friend, Pete Ross.

Reuters reports that Pope John Paul II is being reborn in a Colombian comic book as a superhero who wears an anti-Devil cape and special chastity pants. The first issue of Incredible Popeman features the pontiff meeting with superheroes such as Batman and Superman to learn how to use special powers to battle Satan. No word yet from DC on the appearance of their trademarks in the comic.

Darwyn Cooke, on going 'Solo'

2005-04-05T10:28:00.000-04:00

Darwyn Cooke talks to The Pulse about his turn at DC's Solo artist-spotlight series:

"I’ve always preferred the type of protagonist that is something of a loner. Slam and King are near and dear to me because of the Catwoman series and New Frontier. They are probably closest to me in terms of personality, for one reason or another. The Question has always fascinated me, as has [Steve] Ditko’s intractable philosophies. He was the perfect character for a story idea that revolved around cutting through the media clutter surrounding the 'War on Terror.'

"Bradley is bent -- but not broken -- romantic with a fierce streak. He's kind of Philip Marlowe with a switch that converts him to Mike Hammer. King Faraday is smart, amoral, and self-interested, but aware of a need for societal checks and balances. [He's] wryly cynical after a lifetime of trying to believe in Good and Evil. The Question is perfectly insane. [He's] the very definition of focus. He lives in Ditko's world where the high contrast turns even the murkiest greys into startling black and white."

Viz Media emerges from merger

2005-04-05T09:06:00.000-04:00

The merger of manga publisher Viz and anime licensor ShoPro Entertainment -- it's more like a realignment, really, since they share a parent company -- is complete, with Viz announcing the formation of Viz Media.

ShoPro Entertainment is an affiliate of ShoPro Japan, which is a subsidiary of Shogakukan Inc., one of Japan's largest publishing companies. Viz is a subsidiary of Shogakukan Inc. and Shueisha Inc.

"We are excited to continue expanding our business by developing entertainment content across all available mediums for people of all ages on a worldwide basis," Hidemi Fukuhara, president and CEO of Viz Media, said in a press release. "Having the support and leveraging the combined assets of three of Japan's largest and most respected content creators provides Viz Media with a significant competitive advantage and will create unlimited new opportunities for our company."

Farrago

2005-04-05T08:27:00.000-04:00

Some items of note from this, the comics Internet:

Canada's Exclaim! speaks with Dead@17 creator Josh Howard, who's a little tired of the Buffy comparisons: "I get the Buffy thing a lot, and frankly, it's very frustrating. I've never seen, read, or know anything about it. The themes of destiny and the mentor relationship are prevalent in hundreds of other stories, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix -- stories going all the way back through time."

Not even the mighty New York Times can resist a "Pow!" headline. Today, it appears over an article about the fashion industry's fascination with Sin City: "I really love graphic novels," designer Isaac Mizrahi said. "There is no pause between the action. The framework of boxes dictates that something has to happen in that box, unlike a different type of writing, like a novel, where the action takes place over a long course of time. I'm not addicted to story. I like things to happen in beats."

IGN.com chats with Josh Fialkov, publisher of Western Tales of Terror and writer of Elk's Run: "Well, we're actually full up in the 'non-pro' submissions category. We'd have to make it to issue 30 something, at this point to use them all. If you've got an indie book out and would like to be in the book, you can contact us on our message board, or via our website. We're really making a point to be sort of a hub where we hook artists and writers up and let them go out and make good on their talent, so we're constantly looking for new people to help hook up with others."

In the blogosphere, Franklin Harris announces that Franklin's Findings is going on an indefinite hiatus because of changes at work. Meanwhile, Sean Collins resurrects ADDTF.

Feminine heroics: from Wonder Woman to Elektra

2005-04-04T08:15:00.000-04:00

In The Fray, "an online magazine devoted to issues of identity and community," considers the history of female superheroes, many of whom started out with "feminine" (passive) powers or as muted copies of their male counterparts. Then came the Reagan Era:

Moral ambiguity ruled the day in the 1980s — or so it would seem. Marvel Girl had grown in power, sacrificed herself on behalf of the X-Men, and was reborn as the Phoenix. A sympathetic hero, she was driven insane by her newfound power and destroyed an entire universe. The beloved Jean Grey had gone bad and had to be punished, but at her trial she once again sacrificed herself to save her friends. Whether hero or villain, she was dead.

Catwoman, with a longer history than Jean Grey, gained prominence as well. Always acknowledged as a villain, but with a clear hold on Batman’s affections, Catwoman played a role in the landmark Dark Knight Returns, a story of Batman ten years after his retirement, and in Batman: Year One, the first year of Bruce Wayne’s crime fighting career.

... Into the midst of these longstanding characters came a new woman with a nebulous history: Elektra Natchios was an intriguing romantic interest for fan favorite Daredevil. She appeared out of nowhere and prompted a mild revisionist retelling of Daredevil’s history — a college love of Matt Murdock, she witnessed her father’s killing and lashed out at Matt: “I used to love the world. ... You’re a part of that world. And you love it. You let it hurt you and you love it all the more. I’m not that strong, ” she said in Elektra Saga. Her innocence lost, Elektra channels her rage into a job as an assassin. Even after dying (more than once), Elektra remained a popular character who would ultimately make the jump to film — not simply as a foil for the male hero, but as the center of a storyteller’s universe.

Giffen responds to 'Countdown' kerfuffle

2005-04-04T07:45:00.000-04:00

Amid the Internet furor over DC's Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Keith Giffen talks sense to Comic Book Resources:

"It was like, 'Oh, well, that's not the way I would have done it,' and really, when you think about it, 90% of comics criticism is just that. Would I have killed Blue Beetle? No, I wouldn't have, but I'm not the guy writing it. It's not like they went out and took the guy out back and shot him. Any one of us could get a call a month from now saying, 'Bring him back' and you type 'Blue Beetle walks in the door' and everyone goes, 'Oh, he got better!' It's comic books! Did anyone really believe, except for those who don't read comic books and fell for it, that Superman was really dead?

"... Would this be the way I'd handle things? No, but if you check the book my name is no where near it. It's not as if I'm storming around saying 'How dare DC mess with second rate characters!' Let's set the record straight: Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and those characters, the only reason why we used them is they were the only characters we were allowed to use. Captain Marvel was only on loan to us for the first six issues, we knew he was going bye bye. [Editor] Andy Helfer had to fight every single day to keep Batman in. So, it wasn't like we said, 'Let's bring in Booster Gold,' it was much more like going to DC and asking who we could have. And don't forget we were handed a certain Justice League membership and Blue Beetle was front and center. It's not so much that I adopted Blue Beetle, but that all these characters came to be very convenient mouthpieces for the types of stories we wanted to tell. Their personalities were the kind that Mark DeMatteis and I both enjoyed exploring. It's an unfortunate circumstance, but it's also business. Is the book selling? Yes! Did they make the right decision? I'm going to have to go with yes."

Do people still say 'e-zines'?

2005-04-03T14:25:00.000-04:00

I've been a curious mix of lazy and busy, so I think I'll only make one entry today. Regular blogging, for what it's worth, should resume tomorrow.

The April edition of Animefringe features a Q&A with Scott Pilgrim cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley, who discusses his anime and manga influences, work process, and the autobiographical aspects of his comics:

"I guess my comics are kind of like dreams. When I look back at them, I see all these little fractured bits of my memories and stuff popping up as characters, situations and stuff. Every little bit of the story is just a different reflection of some part of me. It's really kind of bizarre and hard to explain. But yeah, a lot of the little details that get mentioned, things that happen, snippets of dialogue are things that happened to me or friends."

The online magazine also spotlights the 15th anniversary of the CLAMP collective.

Meanwhile, the new edition of Sequential Tart features an interview with Brian Wood about The Tourist, an overview of manga publisher Viz, and more.

Playing hooky

2005-04-01T09:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, this not blogging thing is actually pretty fun. I've been enjoying the warm and sunny, if fleeting, weather, and doing a whole lot of nothing. Let's pretend I'm in college, and this is spring break.

Blogging will resume this weekend.

Ho-hum, Day 2

2005-03-29T07:50:00.000-05:00

It's not you, it's me. Really.

I need to work on some other things, so I doubt I'll be blogging today.

I will, however, link to the new Isotope Virtual Lounge, and recommend you pop by to read columns by the likes of Ed Brubaker, Jock, Maureen McTigue, Tony Moore, Larry Young and others, and to interact with all kinds of comics types.

Ho-hum

2005-03-28T09:31:00.000-05:00

There doesn't seem to be much going on today, which is just as well, because I'm not really in a blogging mood. I'll update this afternoon if either the news or my mood improves.

A return to the universe-shattering basics

2005-03-28T09:19:00.000-05:00

Also at Ninth Art, Paul O'Brien considers why Marvel and DC have come crawling back to the Big Event Comic:

... Marvel and DC have always had a firm motto of, 'Never waste time coming up with a new idea when you can recycle an old one'. Both companies have a little cupboard of concepts and strategies that never really work, but that keep getting wheeled out every few years on the grounds that they've had a rest, and it might work this time. It's been a while since we've had major crossovers. If you work from the assumption that they were never a bad idea in the first place, merely overexposed and badly done, then you might take the view that we've had a rest from them, the audience has detoxified, and the time is ripe to give this excellent device another shot.

Something wicked this way comes

2005-03-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

At Ninth Art, Greg McElhatton sifts through April Previews to highlight some of the best comics shipping in June. Among the highlights: Skyscrapers of the Midwest #2, Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 3, Antique Bakery Vol. 1, Gravity #1, and Northwest Passage #1.

Meme Madness! (or, Never Again!)

2005-03-27T18:57:00.000-05:00

I rarely succumb to the call of the meme, but I've been lulled by a day spent listening to the dulcet tones of Avery Books as he ponders the life of Jesus. Plus, that rat-bastard Ed sent one in my direction.

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

If this means which book I'd be responsible for memorizing, then The Wind in the Willows.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

The characters from Donna Tartt's The Secret History. All of them.

The last book you bought is:

Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect That Shaped the American Frontier, by Jeffrey A. Lockwood

The last book you read:

Probably The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud

What are you currently reading?

I'm jumping around a lot for research, but otherwise it's The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson, and Lincoln's Spymaster: Thomas Haines and the Liverpool Network, by David Hepburn Milton

Five books you would take to a deserted island.

The Thousand and One Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hogoblins, Brownies, Bogies and Other Supernatural Creatures, by Katharine Briggs
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
The Annotated Brothers Grimm, edited by Maria Tatar

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

Rick Geerling, Chris Butcher and Scott Robins, because misery loves company.

The second meme is one I'd started to do earlier, but abandoned for some reason. So, here's the "Book Meme to End All Book Memes":

- Bold those you have read
- Italicize those you started, but didn't finish
- Add three books after the last one

001. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
002. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
003. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
004. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
005. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
006. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
007. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
008. 1984, George Orwell
009. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
010. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
011. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
012. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
013. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
014. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
015. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
016. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
017. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
018. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
019. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
020. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
021. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
022. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, JK Rowling
023. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
024. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
025. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
026. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
027. Middlemarch, George Eliot
028. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
029. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
030. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
031. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
032. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
033. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
034. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
035. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
036. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
037. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
038. Persuasion, Jane Austen
039. Dune, Frank Herbert
040. Emma, Jane Austen
041. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
042. Watership Down, Richard Adams
043. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
044. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
045. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
046. Animal Farm, George Orwell
047. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
048. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
049. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
050. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
051. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
052. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
053. The Stand, Stephen King
054. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
055. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
056. The BFG, Roald Dahl
057. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
058. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
059. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
060. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
061. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
062. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
063. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
064. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
065. Mort, Terry Pratchett
066. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
067. The Magus, John Fowles
068. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
069. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
070. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
071. Perfume, Patrick Susskind
072. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
073. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
074. Matilda, Roald Dahl
075. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
076. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
077. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
078. Ulysses, James Joyce
079. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
080. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
081. The Twits, Roald Dahl
082. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
083. Holes, Louis Sachar
084. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
085. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
086. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
087. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
088. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
089. Magician, Raymond E Feist
090. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
091. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
092. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
093. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
094. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
095. Katherine, Anya Seton
096. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
097. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
098. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
099. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 1/2, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Gross-mith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews
201. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
202. The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
203. The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan
204. The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan
205. Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan
206. Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan
207. Winter's Heart, Robert Jordan
208. A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan
209. Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan
210. A Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan
211. As Nature Made Him, John Colapinto
212. Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
213. The Married Man, Edmund White
214. Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin
215. The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault
216. Cry to Heaven, Anne Rice
217. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, John Boswell
218. Equus, Peter Shaffer
219. The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten
220. Letters To A Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
221. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn
222. The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice
223. Anthem, Ayn Rand
224. The Bridge To Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
225. Tartuffe, Moliere
226. The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
227. The Crucible, Arthur Miller
228. The Trial, Franz Kafka
229. Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
230. Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles
231. Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther
232. A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen
233. Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen
234. Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
235. A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
236. ALIVE!, Piers Paul Read
237. Grapefruit, Yoko Ono
238. Trickster Makes This World, Lewis Hyde
240. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
241. Chronicles of Thomas Convenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson
242. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
242. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
243. Summerland, Michael Chabon
244. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
245. Candide, Voltaire
246. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, Roald Dahl
247. Ringworld, Larry Niven
248. The King Must Die, Mary Renault
249. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
250. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle
251. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
252. The House Of The Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne
253. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
254. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
255. The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson
256. Chocolate Fever, Robert Kimmel Smith
257. Xanth: The Quest for Magic, Piers Anthony
258. The Lost Princess of Oz, L. Frank Baum
259. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon
260. Lost In A Good Book, Jasper Fforde
261. Well Of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde
261. Life Of Pi, Yann Martel
263. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
264. A Yellow Rraft In Blue Water, Michael Dorris
265. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
267. Where The Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
268. Griffin & Sabine, Nick Bantock
269. Witch of Black Bird Pond, Joyce Friedland
270. Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien
271. Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt Bleh.
272. The Cay, Theodore Taylor
273. From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
274. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Jester
275. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
276. The Kitchen God's Wife, Amy Tan
277. The Bone Setter's Daughter, Amy Tan
278. Relic, Duglas Preston & Lincolon Child
279. Wicked, Gregory Maguire
280. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
281. Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry
282. The Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum
283. Haunted, Judith St. George
284. Singularity, William Sleator
285. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
286. Different Seasons, Stephen King
287. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
288. About a Boy, Nick Hornby
289. The Bookman's Wake, John Dunning
290. The Church of Dead Girls, Stephen Dobyns
291. Illusions, Richard Bach
292. Magic's Pawn, Mercedes Lackey
293. Magic's Promise, Mercedes Lackey
294. Magic's Price, Mercedes Lackey
295. The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav
296. Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Jack L. Chalker
297. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
298. The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Brenda Love
299. Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace.
300. The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison.
301. The Cider House Rules, John Irving.
302. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
303. Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland
304. The Lion's Game, Nelson Demille
305. The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars, Stephen Brust
306. Cyteen, C. J. Cherryh
307. Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco
308. Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
309. Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk
310. Camber of Culdi, Kathryn Kurtz
311. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
312. War and Rememberance, Herman Wouk
313. The Art of War, Sun Tzu
314. The Giver, Lois Lowry
315. The Telling, Ursula Le Guin
316. Xenogenesis (or Lilith's Brood), Octavia Butler (Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago)
317. A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold
318. The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
319. The Aeneid, Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil)
320. Hanta Yo, Ruth Beebe Hill
321. The Princess Bride, S. Morganstern (or William Goldman)
322. Beowulf, Anonymous
323. The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell
324. Deerskin, Robin McKinley
325. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey
326. Passage, Connie Willis
327. Otherland, Tad Williams
328. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay
329. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
330. Beloved, Toni Morrison
331. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore
332. The mysterious disappearance of Leon, I mean Noel, Ellen Raskin
333. Summer Sisters, Judy Blume
334. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo
335. The Island on Bird Street, Uri Orlev
336. Midnight in the Dollhouse, Marjorie Filley Stover
337. The Miracle Worker, William Gibson
338. The Genesis Code, John Case
339. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevensen
340. Paradise Lost, John Milton
341. Phantom, Susan Kay
342. The Mummy or Ramses the Damned, Anne Rice
343. Anno Dracula, Kim Newman
344: The Dresden Files: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher
345: Tokyo Suckerpunch, Issac Adamson
346: The Winter of Magic's Return, Pamela Service
347: The Oddkins, Dean R. Koontz
348. My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok
349. The Last Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
350. At Swim, Two Boys, Jaime O'Neill
351. Othello, by William Shakespeare
352. The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas
353. The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats
354. Sati, Christopher Pike
355. The Divine Comedy, Dante
356. The Apology, Plato
357. The Small Rain, Madeline L'Engle
358. The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Richard E Cytowick
359. 5 Novels, Daniel Pinkwater
360. The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Juliet Marillier
361. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
362. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
363. Our Town, Thorton Wilder
364. Green Grass Running Water, Thomas King
335. The Interpreter, Suzanne Glass
336. The Moor's Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie
337. The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson
338. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster
339. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
340. The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
341. Pages for You, Sylvia Brownrigg
342. The Changeover, Margaret Mahy
343. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
344. Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
345. Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo
346. Shosha, Isaac Bashevis Singer
347. Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck
348. The Diving-bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
349. The Lunatic at Large by J. Storer Clouston
350. Time for bed by David Baddiel
351. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
352. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre
353. The Bloody Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley
354. Sewer, Gas, and Eletric by Matt Ruff
355. Jhereg by Steven Brust
356. So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
357. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
358. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte
359. Road-side Dog, Czeslaw Milosz
360. The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
361. Neuromancer, William Gibson
362. The Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
363. A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr
364. The Mask of Apollo, Mary Renault
365. The Gunslinger, Stephen King
366. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
367. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
368. A Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman
369. Ivanhoe, Walter Scott
370. The God Boy, Ian Cross
371. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R. King
372. Finn Family Moomintroll, Tove Jansson
373. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
374. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick
375. Assassin's Apprentice, Robin Hobb
376. number9dream, David Mitchell
377. A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
378. Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris
379. Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler
380. Einstein's Dreams, Alan Lightman
381. Dance On My Grave, Aidan Chambers
382. Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Leguin
383. Hyperion, Dan Simmons
384. Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
385. Checkmate, Dorothy Dunnett
386. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis
387. A Clash of Kings, George RR Martin
388. The Egyptian, Mika Waltari
389. Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry
390. Contact, Carl Sagan
391. Mythago Wood, Robert Holdstock
392. Feersum Endjinn, Iain M. Banks
393. The Golden, Lucius Shepard
394. Decamerone, Boccaccio
395. Birdy, William Wharton
396. The Red Tent, Anita Diaman
397. The Foundation, Isaac Asimov
398. Il Principe, Machiavelli
399. Post Office, Charles Bukowski
400. Macht und Rebel, Abu Rasul
401. Grass, Sheri S. Tepper
402. The Long Walk, Richard Bachman
403. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
404. The Joy Of Work, Scott Adams
405. Romeo, Elise Title
406. The Ninth Gate, Arturo Perez-Reverte
407. Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice
408. Dead Famous, Ben Elton
409. Scarlett, Alexandra Ripley
410. Dead Souls, Nikolai Gogol
411. Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks
412. The Colossus of Maroussi, Henry Miller
413. Branded, Alissa Quart
414. The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
415. Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac
416. White teeth, Zadie Smith
417. Under the bell jar, Sylvia Plath
418. The little prince of Belleville, Calixthe Beyala
419. Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
420. A King Lear of the Steppes, Ivan Turgenev
421. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
422. Memoirs of a Revolutionist, Peter Kropotkin
423. Hija de la Fortuna, Isabel Allende
424. Retrato en Sepia, Isabel Allende
425. Villette, Charlotte Brontë
426. Steppenwolf, Herman Hesse
427. Ubik, Philip K. Dick
428. Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler
429. Solaris, Stanislaw Lem
430. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
431. Nausea, Jean Paul Sartre
432. The Island of the Day Before, Umberto Eco
433. The Elementary Particles, Michel Houellebecq
434. The Angel Of The West Window, Gustav Meyrink
435. A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
436. Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs
437. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
438. In the Eyes of Mr. Fury, Philip Ridley
439. Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks
440. Into the Forest, Jean Hegland
441. Middlesex -Jeffrey Eugenides
442. The Giving Tree -Shel Silverstein
443. Go Ask Alice -Anonymous
444. Waiting For Godot, Samuel Becket
445. Blankets, Craig Thompson
446. The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing, Melissa Banks
447. Voice of the Fire, Alan Moore
448. The Geography of Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler
449. Coraline, Neil Gaiman
450. Hip Hop America, Nelson George
451. A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
452. Basquiat, Phoebe Hoban
----
453. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
454. The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud
455. The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson

There. I should have immunity from memes for a while.

They're not bad; they're just drawn that way

2005-03-26T18:49:00.000-05:00

New York Newsday gives a fair amount of ink to Sin City, talking to Frank Miller about the $40 million film -- "Nobody's ever come this close to being this faithful," he says -- highlighting some of the better comics-inspired movies, and even charting the history of comics, from The Yellow Kid to the manga boom, in three paragraphs.

The newspaper even offers its own "essential Frank Miller" list: Sin City (all seven volumes), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil/Elektra: Love & War, Ronin, Hard Boiled and 300.

Spotlight on Marvel's 'Next' wave

2005-03-26T09:18:00.000-05:00

UGO.com devotes a special section to the Marvel Next initiative, talking with editor in chief Joe Quesada and the writers of eight of the books about "the next wave of new Marvel characters and ideas that are going to set the comic book world on its ear."

Quesada, on why readers should give the titles a try: "... Look, has your ol' pal Joey Q ever steered you wrong? We're on one of the greatest creative rolls at Marvel since the early sixties. We've got new projects and characters coming out of the halls of "The House" that you just don't want to miss. Ten years from now, folks will be looking back and kicking themselves because they can't afford to buy these issues from back issue bins, so don't miss out!"

Brian K. Vaughan, on Runaways: "Our original series was a critical success and it has a lot of rabid fans, but individual issues never quite lit up the sales charts -- though it did sell about as well as Y: The Last Man, which is considered a 'hit,' so I guess everything's relative. But the reason we're making a triumphant return is definitely the success of the digests. Obviously, Marvel isn't running a vanity press, and they never would have let me bring back these characters if the digest collections hadn't done so astoundingly well for them. Runaways has an incredibly loyal fanbase of young people -- especially young women, many of whom discovered these collections in bookstores."

Allan Heinberg, on Young Avengers: "Avengers fans are hardcore and that continuity is so complicated. It just came off a long period of Kurt Busiek writing the book and doing an incredible job cleaning up continuity, which was important to everyone involved and reading the book. I want to respect that, but I also want people who have never picked up an Avengers book before to follow the book."

Marc Sumerak, on Machine Teen: "I don't think comics have necessarily neglected teen drama over the years -- there are plenty of great books, even in mainstream comics, that have very skillfully approached important teen issues and relationships. But even so, those themes have always tended to be the B-story running alongside the superhero stuff. Seeing how prevalent teen drama is in today's mainstream media, it's about time that those B-stories started coming to the forefront in comics as well. Drama is drama, whether you're wearing wear a cape or a pair of khakis. As Marvel has proven over the years, a character's personal life can be far more interesting than their superhero one."

Mike Carey, on Spellbinders: "Only once in my career to date have I been told 'there's a promotional budget for this project,' and it wasn't on a comic book.

"... Ironically, promotion tends to flow in the direction where it's least needed - towards high profile projects with top flight creators where word of mouth alone would seem to guarantee success. Sometimes -- just occasionally -- you get the big push behind a small project, making a difference. It doesn't seem to be anything you can influence yourself, though: it's a mysterious and little understood phenomenon, like spontaneous combustion."

(Carey also mentions that he's working on another book with Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel, his collaborators on My Faith in Frankie.)

Adam Warren, on Livewires: "... The problem is, even if Livewires or any other Marvel Next book were to possibly appeal to some minor element of the vast manga readership, it would presumably do so as a trade paperback compilation of a miniseries or story arc, appearing on the bookshelves somewhere near the scads of manga. I just can't see the typical manga reader suddenly bailing over to the comics store to pick up individual issues of any comic ... or 'pamphlets,' as some publishers have begun to refer to individual issues.

"... But even if a Marvel Next (or any other) book were to have success as a TPB compilation, it's all too likely that the title would've been already been choked off by low direct-market sales for its individual issues. So, a book first has to survive with decent issue sales in the direct market before it can have any hope to thrive elsewhere ... which is what I hope Livewires will do. Hey, it ain't like this is a particularly abstruse or hyperspecialized title, chock full o', say, effeminate pretty boy-on-pretty boy action ... not that there's anything wrong with that, shoujo and YAOI fans. It's a high-speed story about high-tech mecha indulging in high-test mayhem and adventure, leavened with heaping helpings o' humor, characterization and spectacle. Not like all that's necessarily out of line with the general preferences of the direct market, though, as I mentioned before, maybe the lack of capes and masks may prove fatal. Oh frickin' well."

Fiona Avery, on Arana: The Heart of the Spider
Fred Van Lente, on Amazing Fantasy
Craig Kyle, on X-23

How White River Junction became Toon Town

2005-03-25T10:26:00.000-05:00

The Vermont Guardian looks at how James Sturm's Center for Cartoon Studies ended up in a former department store in downtown White River Junction:

The center is currently in the midst of a $600,000 capital fundraising campaign. Approximately half of that amount has been raised, sometimes with some very surprising donations. For example, [Center managing director Michelle] Ollie was in White River Junction one night in January when a fire leveled a building in the downtown area. When firefighters blocked off some of the streets, Ollie offered a ride home to a stranded couple. A few days later, they sent a check to the center’s fundraising campaign. There have been lots of in-kind donations such as accounting, permitting, legal and architectural services as well as books from publishers that will fill the center’s library. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons televison show, donated an autographed cell from the show that was auctioned on eBay. Peter Laird, one of the co-creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, donated $150,000.

The Comics Reporter, unplugged (Day 5)

2005-03-25T09:16:00.000-05:00

Today, Tom Spurgeon has an interesting interview with writer Matt Fraction:

Spurgeon: Can you describe the extent of your professional interest in comics? I mean, do you want to do a lot of them? Is there someone's career in comics that would serve as a rough model for what you'd like to do?

Fraction: There are definitely stories that I want to tell that only work on the page; as long as I can't get them out of my system, I suppose I'll try writing them. I wouldn't mind doing a lot of comics but, at the same time, I tend to not play well with others so... so I don't know. There's definitely a degree of creative autonomy my day job affords me that I look for in comics to keep from going nuts.

And I'd be Frank Miller, circa 1985. Blank check, no oversight, full control, final cut, and a gajillion readers.

Q&A: Kim Deitch

2005-03-25T08:50:00.000-05:00

The Montreal Mirror talks with cartoonist Kim Deitch about his father's influence, Waldo, and the "graphic novel":

Isn't that a starchy term? I just found out that that was a gift from Will Eisner. He was a great man, but I think he was defensively stuffy about the whole thing. Comics are like a junk literature medium. In a way I think we should just relax and let it be a junk literature medium. Most of the great literature classics turn out to be the best of the junk. If you look at the work of Charles Dickens, they didn't come out in finely bound volumes, they were first published in parts, with splash panel and a jazzy logo and a few pictures inside. They looked a lot like comics. They were for the masses. My old man says most of everything is lousy, and I agree with him. We always look through the lousy to get to the good stuff. But you know what? They used to call me a hippie when I was younger, and I thought, "Well, if a black man is a nigger, then I'm a hippie." They'll call you whatever they want to call you. The name isn't that important.

Japanese tourism gets a boost from anime

2005-03-25T08:37:00.000-05:00

Asahi Shimbun reports that an increasing number of die-hard anime fans are flocking to Japan for behind-the-scenes tours of animation studios and shopping sprees at speciality shops.

Local governments are responding by spotlighting anime in their tourism promotions, while more and more package tours, such as "Pop Japan Travels," are offering visitors trips to anime "hot spots."

According to an official at Studio Pierrot, an anime production company in Mitaka, Tokyo, anime otaku in the United States and Europe are well-versed in titles that are not even broadcast in their countries. They get their information from anime magazines, the Internet and pirated DVDs, the official said.

Another factor has been the talent of Hayao Miyazaki, the nation's most acclaimed animated film director. Miyazaki has gained international recognition with such feature films as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Miller's tales: 10 books every comics fan should read

2005-03-25T08:02:00.000-05:00

IGN.com's new comics section, which has been cranking out a lot of content, offers up "The Essential Frank Miller" -- "ten books every comic-book fan needs to read before they go blind":

300, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot, The Comics Journal: Frank Miller, Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Vol. 1, Martha Washington: Give Me Liberty, Ronin, Sin City Vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye, and his Wolverine miniseries with Chris Claremont.

Comics' dollar sales up 15% in February

2005-03-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

ICv2 has the breakdown of North American direct-market figures for February, noting that dollar sales of comics and graphic novels were up 15 percent over those in February 2004 -- the best month since the retailer website began tracking year-over-year numbers last March.

Single issues increased 10 percent, while graphic novels jumped 49 percent over the same period in 2004. Six titles were over the 100,000 mark last month, compared to just three in February 2004.

Marvel's New Avengers #3 held the top spot, with an estimated 148,973 copies. DC's top seller was Superman/Batman #17, which came in at No. 3 with an estimated 116,637 copies. Top Cow's Hunter-Killer #1 was the first non-Big Two book to crack the charts, coming in at No. 37 with an estimated 40,084 copies.

Top 300 comics for February
Top 100 graphic novels for February

Profile: Paul Hornschemeier

2005-03-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Rolling Stone briefly spotlights "existential cartoonist" Paul Hornschemeier (Mother, Come Home, and the upcoming The Three Paradoxes):

The Three Paradoxes, Hornschemeier's new graphic novel, to be published in June by Fantagraphics, employs multiple narratives and continues his "fascination with the subjective world," he says. "I'm interested in the deterioration of memory and the nature of first-person accounts." Is there a unifying element to the variety of artwork and color schemes in his work? "My style has a kind of Midwestern openness," he says.