The Collective interview Rutu Modan [video interview] and excerpt Exit Wounds: “People build shields around them, and part of that shield is black humour. It’s like you are unreachable. The people in my book are so concerned with their own problems that they don’t pay attention to people around them.” + The Literary Review of Canada on homegrown comics and heroes: “Time after time, Canadian publishers conjured up superheroes that supposedly embodied the national spirit. Aside from Johnny Canuck, there is Nelvana of the Northern Lights (a white goddess in a mini-dress who protected the Arctic from “Kablunets, Nazi allies armed with Thormite Rays”), Captain [sic] Jack (an all-round athlete who battled Nazi saboteurs), Northern Light (a science fiction hero whose enemies were space aliens), Captain Canuck (who also fought space monsters as well as complex international banking conspiracies) and the similarly monikered Captain Canada (originally known as Captain Newfoundland, he defended the royal family from giant Japanese robots). All these characters have their goofy charm, but let’s face reality: none of them is a superhero of the first rank. They are not fit to hold the cape of Superman or Batman. They don’t even have what it takes to be a sidekick to Wonder Woman or Captain America. Creating a Canadian superhero is rather like growing bananas in Nunavut. With enough ingenuity and willpower you can do it, but is it worth doing?” [via Bookninja]
An interview with former Low bassist, La Mano 21 publisher and Sammy the Mouse creator Zak Sally: “I’ve been so obsessive and anal retentive about some stuff in the past that i think it’s really hobbled the work. I’m trying to leave some room for spontaneity in this one, and so far it’s working. There’s definitely stuff i’m making up on the spot, which is kind of scary, because i wonder if that’s going to bite me in the ass 200 pages from now, but, again, we’ll see.” + Tom Spurgeon reviews Nate Denver’s Wait, You’re Not a Centaur, published by La Mano: “What Wait, You’re Not a Centaur offers up isn’t so much novelty — although it would make a fine gift book, and you might bookmark its catalog page for potential future purchases, particularly if you buy a lot of presents for young, literate people — but more of a consistently high level in its execution. I find Denver’s work to be appealing; micro-micro stories like the following communicate a smart kid’s cosmology and then follow the results to either acerbic interruptions of that world view or all the way to their sad, adult viewpoint conclusions.” More on Nate Denver on his website. + Spurgeon also interviews Paul Karasik, author of I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets: The Comics of Fletcher Hanks. + Largehearted Boy has Benn Ray of Baltimore’s Atomic Books pick out some summer reading graphic novels; a great mix. + Mainichi Daily News looks at Comic Yell, girl manga for men: “‘We created Comic Yell because we figured that there was a need for a guy’s girl’s manga. We figured if we made it easier for guy’s to buy girl’s manga, they would be delighted to do so,’ Hobunsha’s Sachiko Mita tells Cyzo. ‘Reaction to our inaugural issue has ranged from ‘it needs a bit more zing’ from the hardcore otaku geek faction to the ‘thank god there’s no pandering to geek tastes’ from regular readers.’ [tks A. Stevens for the link]
The final part of The Daily Cross Hatch’s interview with K. Thor Jensen. Red Eye, Black Eye is reviewed in Comics Worth Reading. + The Hatch review Johnny Ryan’s XXX Scumbag Party + Part Two of Darran Anderson’s 2000AD retrospective in Dogmatika. + Darran Anderson also reviews Thunderbolt Jaxon for Bookmunch: “It pains me to say it but someone seems to have pissed on the fireworks.” + Finally, this month’s Bookslut is stuffed with comics goodness, including Comics Swankified and Jeff VanderMeer’s column, Comicbook Slut [always worth a read]. This month, semi-autobiographical comics: “Most of what I’ve read recently has had some kind of autobiographical element, or, at least, something that seems like it should have been based on personal experience. And, to some extent, it hasn’t been pleasant. I adore all kinds of comics and graphic novels. I love the fantastical stuff, sure, but I also love the realistic stuff. I love anything from westerns to slice-of-life to surrealism to superheroes to experimental work. I love it all when it’s done well. But just because you were born and you experienced childhood and young adulthood does not mean you have a story to tell. If you can’t master the fine art of dreaming well, of allowing the imagination to take at least 50 percent of the burden of creation… well, don’t expect a uniformly good reaction…”
