Comics
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Happy Birthday, Rose O’Neill!
Rose O’Neill, one of the most important and influential cartoonists of all time, was born today in 1874. Her creations “The Kewpies” were a worldwide sensation. At a time when women weren’t even able to vote, Rose O’Neill was one of the top illustrators in the world, and a prominent suffragette. O’Neill’s charming and feminine works are largely ignored by comics pundits today. Here are two previous articles I’ve written for this site about Rose O’Niell. This one tells the tale of Rose’s career and her marriage to one of the men who helped create the first moving pictures. And here is the tale of her creation of The Kewpies.…
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Guest Blog: David Lloyd at the Funchal, Madeira Book Fair by Roberto Macedo Alves
Roberto Macedo Alves is on a one-man mission to bring comics to the Portugeuse island of Madeira, which is one of the loveliest places I have ever been. Incredible scenery, very friendly people, and many enthusiastic comics readers! An absolute delight. Roberto began bringing comics creators to the Funchal Book Fair a few years ago, and this year’s guest was David Lloyd, artist of V for Vendetta. Roberto’s shop is Setima Dimensao, and his blog is here, where you can see more pictures of the event. David Lloyd’s website is here. I’m sorry, but had no luck finding a direct link to artist Marco Avoletta. If anyone has that info,…
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Ovanon on Earth
DarkGlobe, a regular poster at the long gone A Distant Soil Message Board posted this incredible link. In the year 2000, an enormous crystal cave was discovered in Mexico, with huge pillars 20 feet high, extraordinary walls of shimmering rock, and the largest formations found on Earth. It looks exactly how I envisioned the crystal caves on Ovanon. I didn’t realize crystals could get that big on this planet. Apparently, the subterranean formations grew in a high temperature, water laden environment, so steamy one poor explorer was baked alive. Ew. It does sort of tie in with my idea that Ovanon was originally a hot planet, but I don’t know…
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Guest Blog: Julie Ditrich on Unlocking and Accessing the Darkness Within: 7 Keys for Comics Creators
[WARNING: Some comics, film and book plot spoilers ahead!] “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” Stephen King A few weeks ago at Australia’s Supanova (Brisbane) pop culture convention, I had the privilege of meeting US comics creator Jhonen Vasquez whose satirical work Johnny the Homicidal Maniac I greatly admire. Despite the fact that I’m not usually drawn to creative properties with the words “homicidal” or “maniac” in the title or indeed ones that hint at or overtly promise great acts of depravity, my business partner and artist Jozef Szekeres persuaded me to read it and I’m very grateful to him…
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Happy Birthday, Kewpies!!! April 25.
While almost everyone has heard of the Kewpie Doll, almost no one I know in comics has any familiarity with its creator Rose O'Neill, who was once one of the most famous women in the world.
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FAQ: The Word on Fanfic
Dear Colleen, I know you have a lot to worry about with your work and how you want it to be used, and I always want to respect the creators and their opinions about their work. So, I was just wondering what you would think if I wrote A Distant Soil fanfic. I would not sell it or anything, I just want to write stories for myself. Is it all right if I show it to people or post it on my blog? I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. I respect your hard work and your opinion, and would not do anything you do not want…