April 2012
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“One of the most interesting clarifications of Robin’s thesis was the centrality...”
– Samir Chopra on our Faculty Study Group’s discussion with Corey Robin on his book The Reactionary Mind, quoted over at the wolfeinstitute’s blog.
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“I think the most important thing I learned from Stephen King I learned as a...”
– from Neil Gaiman’s interview with Stephen King.
One of my journalism professors from St. Bonaventure once gave me this page-a-day advice, and ever since then, it’s something I’ve stuck to. It is by far the best piece of writing advice I’ve ever heard, and it is something I...
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Pretty certain this is my favorite track. Seems...
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“The whole of speech is epitomized in this expendability of words, in this froth...”
– Roland Barthes, from Writing Degree Zero, which is just this heady meditation on writing and it is exactly my kind of thing. This book is full of gems, and I feel a little summer obsession reading coming on with him.
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Scholar vs. Fan #2.
[Once again: an excerpt from my thesis. The rest of the excerpts can be found here (scroll down). Thanks for reading, please let me know your thoughts.]
So, while readers could be loosely defined as fans, they are not; most are experts who have been accruing knowledge of comics writers, artists, and characters for years and are magnificently capable of reciting this knowledge at a moment’s notice....
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“‘a scholar is someone who does not necessarily enjoy the stuff he or she...”
– Abhay, responding to my earlier post. No, you’re right on, man; thanks for pointing it out. This definition is really brought on by the cavalcade of influences that made me consider the deference. Saying it is “textbook” is a lazy, hyperbolic statement, and you’re right to...
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Things that need doing between now and June 4.
June 4 being the official date I leave the city. Rachel inspired this post.
Final revisions on my thesis. (I’m on my fourth draft since my first turn-in)
Organize bedding, food, and other incidentals for the Student Competition for the Lake Placid Film Forum
A course description for a Graphic Novel introductory class
At least 32 pages of comic script
Do all of my coursework for the...
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“All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn’t...”
– Joss Whedon, in today’s Reddit AMA, via clockworklisten, and Kieron Gillen.
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Scholar vs. Fan.
[This is the third excerpt of my thesis. You can read it from the beginning here (scroll down).].
A recent example of this debate comes from a transcription of a conference panel held at the University of Texas, moderated by Greg Smith and featuring panelists Thomas Andrae, Scott Bukatman, and Thomas LaMarre. This transcript, entitled “Surveying the World of Contemporary Comics Scholarship: A...
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Introduction #2.
[I completely forgot I was excerpting my thesis].
Most of the critical study being done under the banner of Comics Studies has focused on Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns or on the aforementioned Maus and other non-fiction work of writer-artists like Bechdel, Marjane Satrapi, Clowes, and Ware. Recently, in the work of Chute, Lopes, Wolk, and Hatfield we gain serious perspective on where Comics...
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Let’s try this thing. My tennis coach, when...
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Tumblr is a comic book.
I think this, subconsciously at first, is what attracted me to the website from a design standpoint. (Thanks to Peter for that. He’s amazing). The Dashboard is like an Infinite Comic; a cavalcade of images, text, dialogue, and sound, framed within a speech balloon attached to a speaker, scrolling down—constantly refreshing—each speaker becomes a part of the comic. Each speech balloon,...
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WatchMy friend Chris Irving just premiered his new show, Drawn Word TV! He interviews Peter Kuper in this preview. The idea of a late-night comics talk show is probably one of the neatest ideas I’ve ever heard. Here’s some more info.
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WatchThis is Dave Eggers on education and the birth of his 826 Valencia writing center at Ted. This guy, and I know some of you will roll your eyes at me for saying this, but he’s a pretty big inspiration. And I don’t want to say anything at this point, but this summer you’ll find out exactly why this video is pretty important to me going forward.
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Welcome from Mark Waid. →
Starting today, Mr. Waid is going to be disclosing everything he’s learned so far about digital comics, and I’m sure we’re in for a candid journal that will be a wealth of knowledge.
Along with that, Chris Sims’ article on LUTHER makes some pretty great points on the capabilities of digital comics.
What strikes me about this particular sequence is how it lets Waid and...
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Regarding the alien race in Avengers.
I think I’m missing something. Why does the alien race in the Avengers movie have to be the Skrulls, Kree, or Chitauri? Why is it an item of interest among the Internet punditry to make a big deal out of it? Don’t you guys want something fresh and original? And forgive me if I’m wrong, but Joss Whedon is pretty great at creating Big Bads. No?
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“Eighty people waited in a darkened meeting room at the Hyatt, wearing...”
– from “Winky” by George Saunders in the story collection Pastoralia.
His brand of satire is something special, it talks to you straight, in the eye, while also laughing at you. Apologies if I’m not being clear, but I don’t mean that he is mean-spirited, but there is a... 