Sentences: The life of MF Grimm

Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm

I saw Percy Carey on a Vertigo panel a few years ago, and was really impressed with his presence and humor. This is not a humorous bio-- drugs, bullets, being paralyzed, jail, friends dying-- but it is a true one. Authentic. A life from NY to LA that I would never lead.

If you are a fan of the roots of hip hop, emcees, DJs, graffiti artists-- and true street stories a la The Wire TV show, I think you would love this graphic novel.

Ronald Wimberly's art is the perfect complement to the plot-- style, shading and black and white streets.

GN of the month: Filthy Rich

Filthy Rich by Brian Azzarello (already a hard crime favorite for the 100 bullets series), art by Victor Santos

All the standard crime noir elements are there: down on his luck ex jock "junk" junkin, dissatisfied being a NJ car salesman (and lousy at it)-- takes a job bodyguarding the owners very sexy, wild, and rich daughter Victoria.

The interior art is all black and white; a change when you are used to full color glossy comics. But if any format can work in black/white, it's crime.

This is one of the first two graphic novels from the Vertigo Crime imprint.

20-10 comic peoples!

The latest graphic novel I've read--

Ball Peen Hammer by Adam Rapp

On the table to be read:

Death Note 3

Incognito by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips

and I got from Santa...

Vertigo Crime: Filthy Rich by Brian Azzerello

1000 Comics you must read by Tony Isabella

I've had fun pouring over the 90's and 2000's comics in this book; will devote a post to what I've read and what I 'must read'. The book goes back to the 40's, and I probably have 50 years of must read comics that I haven't touched or even heard of.

...and of course I have a big stack of floppy comics I'm working through,

Echo, Sword, JLA, JSA, JSA All-Stars, Buffy, House of Mystery, DMZ, Tiny Titans, Chew, Beasts of Burden, and more.

NYT, what is it about you? (that's from Annie)

I sent this to my library system's reference librarians today-- when the paper of record begins to finally begins to give graphic novels our place in the world of best sellers.

"The New York Times has introduced weekly graphic novel (or as the Gray Lady calls them, “graphic books”) bestseller lists via its Arts Beat blog today, a huge step on the long path to legitimacy for the comics medium."

Librarians are discussing whether these weekly GN lists will drive patron requests, only time will tell.

3 lists—Graphic Books (hardcover), Graphic Books (softcover) and Manga

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/introducing-the-new-york-times-graphic-books-best-seller-lists/?pagemode=print

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14461.html

the one with me on the steps

[me at Warner Bros, on the steps where they filmed that Rachel prom one. I'm trying to look sad and play keyboards like Ross did]Friends reunion would be Ross-less

Just finished the memoir If I am missing or dead
Janine Latus writes honestly about her relationships with men, and her sister, who find did two seemingly well-adjusted, successful women end up in strings of physically or emotionally abusive relationships with men

Britain embraces the graphic novel
the success of Briggs' ETHEL & ERNEST, not to mention Chris Ware's surprise win of the Guardian First Book Award, has had publishers snapping up would-be graphic novel stars

Top 25 Librarian bloggers (- or libloggers- no love for the librarian/comic bloggers)

Sorry, the house selling and buying sucks the life and time out of me. Hang in and in October I should be back!

Goodbye to you

My pull list has been getting shorter, as I've dropped titles. There are always new adds (Buffy, The Dark Tower), but I have to get to those long waiting trades (Testament, Preacher) and the fiction I like to read also.

I just read the last issues of two titles I'm dropping: Crossing Midnight 4 and Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis 49, the end of the Busiak arc. You have that odd distance in reading a title you know there is no future with: you want to not get invested.

Crossing Midnight is an interesting title, but I knew from the start that the art didn't appeal to me, for no concrete reason. Sister Toshi has become a geisha-esque assistant, and being broken down by taking away her name and making her subservient. Brother is on a vigil at the hospital after Mom has been cut to shreds, and teams up with Nidoru, with spiky nails and control of needles and pins. I might read the rest in trade form.
"a broken soul is the easiest meat to digest"

American Virgin is another recent Vertigo title I dropped. Still love DMZ, Jack of Fables and Y.

Linkos!
Rex Libris-- the librarian movie!

#81 reason to love comics: redhead Guy Gardner

Librarians love a list: ALA Top 10 Graphic Novels for youth

Gail Simone's Avengers would include: THE SPECKLED AVENGERS
I'm speckled, can I be one?

All I really want is...Girls 24
The conclusion to the wildly popular and utterly disturbing series has been eagerly awaited for months.

It's all geek to me
NYT article that covers -300, conservatives, sci-fi culture, irony and campiness

Graphic novels- thanks librarians and women!

The young and the graphic novel
Discusses all ages graphic novels like Bone, or YA like American Born Chinese, and how awesome and dedicated librarians (OK, my note) have started to create real demand for these titles.

Librarians have been saying for 10 years now that comics are always off the shelves," he said. "That's real reader demand. There's more of that than publishers think."

"Bookstores and libraries seem to be moving these books," said Deb Wayshak, editor of the new graphic-novel version of Beowulf by Gareth Hinds, the first graphic novel published by Candlewick Press. "

Graphic Novel Sales Hit $330 Million in 2006
The market has quadrupled since 2001, according to Griepp, driven by the continuing manga explosion and also the strength of the backlist in American genre comics, as well as new material with wide appeal such as Fun Home and the comics adaptation of The 9/11 Commission Report.

One of the drivers for the category's growth continues to be the increase in female readers...
Killen confirmed that nonfiction and memoirs sold well in 2006, with the usual suspects like Persepolis mentioned. "These books have a huge resonance for females. In the same way there was an explosion in manga six or seven years ago, fueled by Sailor Moon and shojo titles, we're seeing this category spread into the mainstream."

Random--
New Venom stills Topher and Tobey!

Rorschach test shot I discussed earlier my reluctance to see a Watchmen movie.

R2D2 Mailboxes

Is anyone else depressed that Veronica Mars ratings are lower than The search for the new Pussycat Doll? A whipsmart heroine replaced by, let's face it, strippers? Don't cha wish?

Library has provided many DVDs, and have to say some of these films were disappointing.
The Black Dahlia- Ellroy's words and De Palma directing, but just off in casting and execution. Scoop- #2 Scarlet movie that struck out; actually stopped watching. Best of these three was Sherrybaby- Maggie was dead-on as the just out of jail mom who uses her sex and tries to do right, yet it was hard to watch.

Graphic Novels: the golden age is right now

HAPPY NEW YEAR FANBOYS AND FANGIRLS!

One of my first acts of 2007 was to finally move to the new blogger. After a careful backup and some finger-crossing, it was painless. Everytime I logged in to "old blogger" I kept thinking of the old prospector in the Brady Bunch, and felt like saying stuff like "back in aught-05 we didn't have things like tags!".

I wanted to do a Best of list, but the holiday business put me behind the 8ball. You might want to read Tom's year end list. Thing #8-- cool of him to point that series ender by Slott out.

And all should read Loren's 2007 diversity wishes, where he "asked several of my favorite bloggers and podcasters, who I really admire for their perspectives on diversity in comic books, if they wouldn’t mind sharing some wishes for 2007" Even even picked me!

Publishers Weekly Comics Week Best of 2006
Of the best list, I've read Fun Home, American Born Chinese, Marvel Zombies, Nextwave and Sloth. Also a few of the Honorable Mentions, but I am sad to see Pride of Baghdad overlooked. It's hard for me to place the trades within a year, often I've read them in floppy form (like Villains United) and they are released later. There are also lists of Manga and Manhwa, which are less my bag, except ordering for the library collection.

Dan Nadel: this year once again demonstrates the virtues of small, brilliant publishers like Drawn & Quarterly and Fantagraphics. Nurturing unique artists, growing with them, and releasing quality work remains the best (and oddly unique to these two companies!) business model

Douglas Wolk: No getting around it: this was the best year for English-language comics ever. There's so much good stuff, new and old, coming out, because there's an audience for it like there's never been before, which means that there's an economic scaffolding to support it

Jason Persse: With the average cost of a single comic book at around three dollars, it has become cheaper for collectors and casual readers alike to await the trade paperback of even the most common super-hero stories

And a few December referrals - the winding road on the interweb to this blog-
fancy redheaded men
barbara eden cheesecake
chainmail hotpants
hot redhead bookworm
charlie brown socks knocked off
soap opera hairstyle redhead
i am one of sean pauls bigest fan
"gerry conway" feminism
funny facts about ginger haired people
the legion of the ukraine spider