Posted by Pete

Craig Naples transcribes the Late Show review of Jimmy Corrigan on the Comix@ list:

How not to review an award winning book Lesson 1:

Take a Cast:
Tom Paulin. Jaded hack poet. Ever read anything by him? Thought not.
Dominic Lawson no relation to Nigella. Never mind
Craig Brown (the satirist, not the footie manager)
Miranda umm errr Sawyer?, y'know.

Ensure none of the cast have read the book which has just netted 50 grand or thereabouts....

DL:.. the XMen and Ghost World were adapted from comic books and the mainstream acceptability of a form associated with children has now spread to the novel.
[Cut away to silent footage of someone presenting an award. Chris Ware walks up to the mic and is clearly doing a very funny morose deadpan acceptance speech. Which we can't hear]
Last night the Guardian First Book Award was presented to a novel in the form of a comic strip, Chris Ware's "Jimmy Corrigan The Smartest Kid On Earth". [Shot of first few pages] About a middle aged man in Chicago whose comic book hero comes to life [shot of pages where Superman actor seduces Jimmy's mum]. Although Art Spigelman's Maus, a comic book about Auschwitz won the Pulitzer Prize in America nine years ago [shot of pretty rare looking archive hardback of Maus sitting on a table, then three whole panels of Maus]. This is the first time that the British literary awards have allowed such a broad definition of fiction. Starting a debate about whether the worlds of the Booker and The Beano can merge. [Three more fast shots of "Jimmy...", then back to the studio.] Craig Brown, can a comic book be a novel?

CB: Certainly, I thought Posy Simmonds' "Gemma Bovery" was a complete masterpiece. It certainly should have won the Turner or the Booker or both. They certainly can. The only thing that slightly worries me about this book is that, and about Maus, is that people like giving prizes to gloomy... ahh.. comic novels.. ahh.. comic book book novels.. and actually I think the form works better with Tintin or Posy Simmonds, where it's light and funny and breezy.

DL: Tom Paulin, does it count for you as a novel?

TP: the colours are dreadful, it's like looking at a bottle of Domestos or Harpic or Ajax. Awful bleak colours, revolting to look at, it's on it's way to the Oxfam shop.

DL: I understand why the judges went for this, Miranda, because the if you look at the kind of invention and structure there is in cinema and television and music. And the novel is still a very conventional form, and you understand why they've done this, but did this one work?

MS: Well, I mean I haven't read it, but well the thing it reminded me of was un eh Dave Eggers book, y'know, the det, the attention to detail, the kind of like little dedications, and, and, the kind of nerd boy attitude towards it, and I think that y'know obviously it's not a novel, but it can definitely tell a story in the same way that "From Hell" told a really great story and it was eventually turned into a film.

DL: What there are we judging, Craig, do you judge it on the pictures or the words. I mean, could the words be rubbish and the pictures carry it or...

CB: Well, I suspectwiththisbook its the other wayround. The picturesdon't particularlyappealtome, they're they're they. Especially the actual people, I don't like those, while Posy's people were so beautiful and there was movement, not much movement in these..

TP: So ugly..

CB: I like what Miranda was saying, I like the obsessive quality.

MS: I like the pictures, I'd like to stick up for them.

TP: Disgusting look to it. Really orrible.

MS: I disagree.

[and cut.]

Broadcast live on the week's most respected big arts roundup on BBC Newsnight at about 23:28 on the 8th December.

6:21 PM |

Thursday, December 06, 2001

Posted by Pete

Jimmy Corrigan wins Guardian First Book Award

And I'm a very happy bunny. Always had a soft spot for Random House as a multinational publishing conglomulate.

2:35 PM |

Monday, December 03, 2001

Posted by Pete

Accoridng to the site tracker, traffic to this site doubled last Wednesday but there's nothing strange in the referals. The same goes for my personal bit. Anyone got any ideas why?

3:23 PM |

Posted by Pete

[Off Topic] Those of us of a certain age will like this. The 2000AD site has been re-vamped somewhat and seems to take into account the fact that most of the current readership are the same people as 10-20 years ago, so there's a shedload of nostalgia stuff in there including The 1977 TV commercial for the first issue. Nice.

3:03 PM |

Posted by Pete

It's time for a REALLY long comic strip on the page! Take it away, Toby Tripp! (Don't panic - only 21k)

Buy Toby's books. They good.

1:40 PM |

Posted by Pete

As far as I'm concerned, Tom Hart is a very important creator of comic books, which is why he's mentioned on this weblog so much. From a recent press release about the new Hutch Owen book...

New York political and satirical cartoonist Tom Hart announced the launch of his new weekly on-line comics project Public Relations set in a post-September 11th New York City. Featured on hutchowen.com, Public Relations will unfold with a new full-color page every Sunday.

Tom Hart is a recipient of the comics industry Xeric Grant Award, has been nominated for the Harvey, the Eisner and the Ignatz awards, and is an instructor at New York City’s School of Visual Arts. His previous works include the political and philosophical The Collected Hutch Owen, The Sands, Banks/Eubanks, Triple Dare, and Monica's Story published by Top Shelf Productions and Alternative Comics. Hart is also a contributor to the 9-11: Emergency Relief autobiographical anthology comic book project to benefit the American Red Cross based on the September 11 tragedy to be released January 2002 by Alternative Comics.

"The stories I had been developing before the attacks were still relevant, but they suffered from a loss of momentum," said Tom Hart, "The first few pages of Public Relations emerged after the September 11 tragedy." Public Relations marks a number of firsts for acclaimed creator Hart, including his first full-color project, and his first serialization since 1996’s The Sands. What marks Public Relations as unique however, is that it will be completely improvisational.

"I am taking my cue from inspired works such as Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan and Lynda Barry’s The Freddy Stories by developing the story slowly and confidently one page at a time," said Hart, "I have established some possible parameters and have already imagined some trajectories, but on the whole I want the story to unfold organically from its own momentum."

The first pages of Public Relations finds Hutch Owen antagonist and corporate executive Dennis Worner chipping golf balls into Ground Zero from a nearby building top. "Setting the opening action at the destruction site will force the story to evolve while reflecting the cultural changes that America is facing," said Hart. Hart envisions that his story will include a struggling public relations firm and a number of the New York City’s homeless, but leaves the evolution of his story open-ended . "I am running on faith," said Hart.

Many of Tom Hart’s comics feature the confrontational pariah, Hutch Owen, squaring off within and against the forces of multi-nationalism and corporate hegemony. His stories often examine issues with an uncommon objectivity, humor, and emotional depth. Tom Hart was born in upstate New York and lived in Seattle, Texas, Morocco, Florida and Boston before settling in New York City.

1:32 PM |