Articles by elayne-riggs
Sat Nov 24, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
That BoingBoing Bounce
Featured comics from politics to science
It's common knowledge that once a comics-related site appears on BoingBoing, its hits rise exponentially. So congratulations to both Ward Sutton, whose recent New York Times slideshow analyzing political posters and campaign logos (see example at right) got a mention this morning, and the very amusing Comic Book Periodic Table, saluted last week. BoingBoing notes that the latter site, a projeect from two chemistry profs at the University of Kentucky, "provides a cross-reference to mentions of various elements in a wide variety of funnybooks." Naturally there are a lot of Metal Men pages involved, but also Spidey comics, Richie Rich refs, even Tintin! And if anybody out there knows of a comic book page that mentions cerium or cesium, do contact them!
Fri Nov 23, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Advice from the pros
How-to tips from Dave to Davis
Congratulations to Dave Roman on approaching his 10th year editing at Nickelodeon Magazine! To celebrate, as many others in the comics blogosphere have noted, Dave has put together a comprehensive review of "advice for building a career as a freelance artist and/or paid cartoonist" based on a number of SVA panels and portfolio reviews he's done through the years. Lots of nice practical points in there, check it out!
And earlier this month, our friend Alan Davis gave an art class to a group of French children at the Lille Comic Art Festival, captured on video by the good folks at Comic Box. Here's part one:
And part two:
Also confirmed at Lille, the first issue of Alan's long-anticipated ClanDestine revival will debut in February of 2008.
Fri Nov 23, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Your Black Friday geek viewing
Comics by the Num3ers
A heads-up, folks, that tonight at 10 PM Eastern, the TV series NUM3ERs will present its "Graphic episode," much of which takes place at a fictional comics convention featuring lots of work by very real creators, like Colleen Doran, Dan Brereton and Tony Fleecs, among many others. Wil Wheaton, who guest stars on this episode as fictional comics superstar Miles Sklar, has a Flickr stream of photos from the set, and promises a post on the experience at TV Squad sometime this afternoon.
Am I the only one who looks at the show's title and mentally pronounces it "num-three-ers"? Just checking.
Wed Nov 21, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
The days of miracles and wonder, by Elayne Riggs
It's All Good #40
I've taken a break from my promised sequel about comic book artists whose current work I like because (1) I still haven't made it through the most recent DC comp box, (2) it's not like there's a huge clamor for it. and mostly (3) I've been in a sort of weird transition mode and needed to write about that because it's never far from my mind, but is thrown into special relief during the upcoming holiday season.
In truth, I feel like this entire year has been a transitional one for me. Losing my best friend then my father in rapid succession threw me for such a loop it seems doubtful I'll ever fully regain my equilibrium. Then there was The Job Thing. I'd been looking for a new position for awhile but the timing never worked out. Every time my job search gained momentum, my boss would return from Europe and I had to put everything on hold. Meanwhile, lots of little downturns became bigger ones and, to make a long story which I'll be happy to tell you in a bar sometime short, on November 9 my employer of ten years and I officially came to a parting of the ways.
I have enough severance pay for awhile and am still interviewing for a new position back in Manhattan, so this isn't a lamentation on my lack of current employment. It's more a realization of how lucky I've been again this year. Even with deaths in the family and among my circle of friends, I have so very many blessings in my life. And with my half-century mark looming ever closer (a week from Sunday, in fact) I thought it would be a nice and perhaps inspirational idea to count those blessings.
Continue reading The days of miracles and wonder, by Elayne Riggs ›
Mon Nov 19, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
ComicMix Goes National, Part 2
More Photos from NYC
Where were we this morning? Ah yes, it was actually noontime on Saturday, where we headed upstairs to the Hotel Penn's Sky-something ballroom for the Mark Evanier-moderated panel "Marvel in the 60s and 70s."
Just look at those luminaries. Gary Friedrich; Dick Ayers (in his old Army outfit that still fits!); Herb Trimpe; Joe Sinnott. Truly amazing gentlemen, with the usual stories you'd expect. But the best anecdote may have been one in the making, as Mark received an email from Stan Lee during the panel, emailed him back that he was currently moderating a panel and did Stan have something to say...
...which of course, about a half hour later, he did. It went something along the lines of "Tell those gentlemen they need to get out of that hick town and come to Los Angeles, where they can join me for a real Marvel panel!" Mark should have the exact text up on his blog shortly, I'm sure.
"But," you say, "you promised us purple pants!" Well, here's a Wizard to warm you up:
The bearded gent on the right, come in all the way from Israel, is Mike Netzer. Or is he the one on the left? I'll never tell. Purple pants aplenty below!
Mon Nov 19, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
ComicMix Goes National, Part 1
Photos from NYC
It's always nice when a convention takes place in your own backyard, a mere express bus or train journey away, and despite the weather turning chillier this is a great time of year to be out and about in NYC. Michael Carbonaro has been running his bimonthly Big Apple comics and media expos for at least a dozen years now, and every November he gathers industry luminaries and showbiz greats together in his signature extravaganza, the National. Naturally, ComicMix was there this year, and although I could only make it on Saturday I snapped plenty of photos and talked to lots of friends!
ComicMix Media Queen Martha Thomases knows how to keep her hands busy at the booth; the pink cashmere layer in her latest knitting endeavor felt absolutely gorgeous!
Here was the view of the left side of our row, with Bob McLeod in the foreground, then my husband Robin Riggs (I shuttled the few feet between the CM table and our location for much of the day), then Scott Roberts, and in the background Rodney Ramos. More on those two below. In fact, more of everything below!
Sun Nov 18, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Time Crashes On
The new Two Doctors
I've been told to try to keep news bits to only one Dr. Who reference a day, but as we all know Time Crash premiered at this year's Children In Need special, and naturally it's now all over the YouTubes. Here's the grab we're passing along. Intro by Terry "Tight Pants" Wogan and John "Captain Jack" Barrowman from Who spinoff Torchwood:
Le sigh. Peter Davison was my favorite Doctor before David Tennant came along. Now for your happy dance:
Whorythmics iPod spoof via Laura Gjovaag.
Sun Nov 18, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Unconventional reading
Pass the epsom salts
Some of us not being nearly as young as we used to be, yesterday's National convention in NYC pretty much wiped us for the weekend. Other ComicMix folks will be in attendance today, but we're resting our aching back and legs and never-you-mind, and catching up on the past week of columns:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #40: Coming Soon To A TV Near You
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer #40: Power!
- Me - It's All Good #39: Residual Effects
- John Ostrander - Tales From The O-zone #40: The Golden Compass and the Golden Rule
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #40: If I Ruled The World
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #31: Reasons To Be Cheerful
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #31: Gene Autry's Empire - 'Phantom' or Otherwise
- Ric Meyers - DVD XTra #25: Live Free or Hairspray Hard
And, although it goes without saying, don't forget to click on our free online comics as well!
Wed Nov 14, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Residual Effects, by Elayne Riggs
It's All Good #39
I was going to continue my review of art I like, but since last week the new DC comp box arrived and I want to catch up before I write any more about that. Plus, I had a fairly major lifestyle change, more about which later. Meantime, the Writers Guild of America strike is into its second week and, while a resolution still seems fairly far away, I think it’s done a lot of good already in terms of consciousness raising. As with other recent revelations a lot of Americans have had, many people are starting to question why such a modern and powerful country seems so backwards when it comes to its citizens fairly sharing its bounty, whether that means providing health care for all or living up to its humane ideals in its treatment of captives or celebrating and supporting the collective strength of productive workers.
I think the WGA strike has resulted in a lot of folks who’ve never heard anything but anti-union talk since before Ronald Reagan fired the PATCO workers rethinking that knee-jerk (but craftily cultivated) attitude. They’ve learned that about half of WGA members are unemployed or underemployed in a given year, and they don’t buy the studios’ insistence that the strike is “millionaires versus billionaires.” They’ve learned that professional writing, like a lot of other entertainment-related professions that seem all-fun from the outside looking in, in fact represents a lot of hard work and long hours. They’re learning to deeply mistrust the line they’ve been fed for so long, a version of the famous Peter Stone dialogue from 1776 that “most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor.” Nowadays it’s become imperative to protect the reality of being able to survive. And they understand that residual payments are the way most WGA members survive between the relatively few successful gigs they’re able to score.
Tue Nov 13, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Women of Color at MoCCA
Panel plays to packed house
As mentioned previously on ComicMix, last night's "MoCCA Monday" panel was held in conjunction with Friends of Lulu and the Ormes Society, and featured three enterprising women of color working in the comics field. Moderator (and Ormes Society founder) Cheryl Lynn Eaton interviewed Rashida Lewis, Jennifer Gonzalez and Alitha Martinez about their various projects, experiences in comics as both fans and creators, and hopes and expectations for the future.
The event was so well-attended that MoCCA volunteers were putting out extra rows of chairs to accommodate the crowd. This seemed to speak to comics fans' need to see and support images represented in their favorite hobby, both on the page and behind the drawing board, that aren't always the white male default. Even so, the very talented women seemed to want to keep an arm's distance from the mainstream comics scene. Lewis has a nice portfolio of work for Marvel Comics but felt constrained by corporate dictates, and is following her muse by painting and working on her upcoming manga title Yume and Ever. Gonzalez takes her inspiration from Mad Magazine, underground and even horror comics to continue in the alternative world with Too Negative and her other dark humor works. And Lewis has expanded her Sand Storm series into a downloadable game soon to be available for mobile devices, and is intrigued by the world of animation in general.
Sun Nov 11, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Striking the right notes
ComicMix sings the praises of writers
As the WGA strike begins its second week, ComicMix staffers and columnists applaud our fellow writers, remind readers to keep turning to United Hollywood and Deadline Hollywood Daily for the latest news, and promise to keep entertaining you as best we can! Here's what we've had for you this past week:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #39: The evolution of outrage
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer #39: Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny
- Me - It's All Good #38: A Few of My Favorite Things
- John Ostrander - Off in the O-Zone #39: Mix Picks Chicks Flix
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #39: With Great Power...
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #30: TV Eye
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #30: Li'l Abner Lost in Hollywood
- Ric Meyers - DVD XTra #24: Close Encounters of the Third Help!
May the WGA get everything it wants and well deserves!
Thu Nov 8, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Crusading for irony
Another Chick-lit to chew on
A little bird told us there's a new unintentionally-comedic Jack Chick comic book tract out, number 18 in the evangelical publisher's Crusader series (mock them all!).
This one's called The Enchanter, and purports to warn of the dangers of Mormonism, claiming that "After people read this illustrated book, they will not be vulnerable to the Mormon recruiters!" It features panels like this one:
Now see, to me the problem here is that this preacher could be from just about any religion, particularly the brand espoused by Chick. I mean, if you're going to call your series Crusaders Comics, that pretty much conjures up images of fanatics attempting to establish religions using swords. But I guess irony isn't one of those lessons easily learned from Bible study.
Wed Nov 7, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
A Few of My Favorite Things, by Elayne Riggs
It's All Good #38
Back in the days of Usenet, I used to hear a lot of variations of “Why are there so many negative reviews and so few positive ones?” As one of those reviewers who not only discussed the art half of comic books but who also wrote a lot of positive reviews in my 4½ years of doing Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts, I would see this manifest more as “Why are the threads responding to the few negative reviews so long, as opposed to those on the far more numerous positive reviews?”
The answer was pretty self-evident to most of us reviewers. In general it’s much easier for people to perpetuate clever putdowns, or to pile on a negative thread, than it is to engage in the vocabulary of positive discussion. One of the things we would identify as a next-to-useless post would be someone merely typing “Me too” or “Ditto.” It added nothing of substance to the online dialogue, it just took up bandwidth. But it had the opposite effect of the real-life etiquette advice that “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” It became “If you can’t add something of substance to a discussion rather than just agreeing with the original poster, you’re better off not contributing at all.” I suspect that what some of them actually meant was “Bored now. You’re being too nice; throw us some raw meat.
And of course, that was a shame. I’ve never found it that hard to say good things about comic books. I love comic books. I buy and read quite a wide variety of graphic literature, and as I’m generally not in the assumed demographic for much of it I’ve learned to adjust my tastes accordingly -- that is to say, there’s still some subject matter that doesn’t appeal to me, but I’ll generally try to give most of my chosen reading a fair chance, and I think I tend to be easily pleased. Nitpicking details, while worth noting in a review, has never weighed as important to me as how the work made me feel, whether it held together as a whole and moved me during the time it took me to read it.
Continue reading A Few of My Favorite Things, by Elayne Riggs ›
Sun Nov 4, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
An extra hour to read
Clocking ComicMix columnists
Move those clocks back and use the exta time to settle in with ComicMix columns, why don'tcha! Here's what we've brought you this past week:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #38: Of course A is A
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer #38: Fear Factor
- Me - It's All Good #37: Children of all ages
- John Ostrander - Off in the O-Zone #38: Getting Good and Scared
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #38: Dumb Ass
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #29: Take a Good Look at My Good Looks
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #29: R. Crumb's Music Madness - part two
- Ric Meyers - DVD XTra #23: Spider-Rat
Now that's an hour well spent!
Wed Oct 31, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Trolling for Halloween
Out from the bridge and into the comics
Before "trolls" became synonymous with "online idiots," and somewhat after they were best known as fairy-tale creatures that dwelt under bridges, they were so-ugly-they're-cute collectible dolls made by the Russ company. While they're not as ubiquitous today as they were a couple decades back, they do still pop up around this time of year in various venues, and this year the writers and artists at Girlamatic decided their work was going to suffer a Russ troll invasion.
Getting in on the troll action are Layla Lawlor, Lisa Jonte, Michelle Mauk, Ariel Childers (sub-only), and my hands-down favorite, Tara Tallan, who takes the opportunity to cleverly combine all three meanings of "troll" mentioned in the above paragraph in an 8-page Galaxion storyline featuring the little dears.
Great reading, and enough to make me want to don my troll earrings to greet this evening's trick-or-treaters.
