Tag Archives | Comic Books

Alan Moore and Psychogeography

By on May 19, 2013 in News 0
Picture: Karen Karnak (CC)

Picture: Karen Karnak (CC)

Alan Moore interviews are always worth reading. Here he discusses psychogeography as it applies to various of his works.

via Reasons I Do Not Dance:

What exactly, in your not unlimited understanding, is Psychogeography?

In its simplest form I understand psychogeography to be a straightforward acknowledgement that we, as human beings, embed aspects of our psyche…memories, associations, myth and folklore…in the landscape that surrounds us. On a deeper level, given that we do not have direct awareness of an objective reality but, rather, only have awareness of our own perceptions, it would seem to me that psychogeography is possibly the only kind of geography that we can actually inhabit.

What books and writers ignited your interest in psychogeography?

The author that first introduced me to the subject was the person I regard as being its contemporary master, namely Iain Sinclair, with his early work Lud Heat.

… Read the rest

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Jammin’ Jodorowsky

By on February 7, 2013 in News 14

Alejandro Jodorowsky is one of my favorite artists of all time. One reason why I love this guy’s work so much is that he does it all: writer, director, actor, mime, magician, comic book author, tarot card expert. He’s completely brilliant and hilarious, and both of those traits are present in his films – which I highly recommend despite the fact that Jodo certainly isn’t for everybody.

Readers of this blog are no doubt familiar with Jodorowsky’s Western cum vision quest El Topo, but, for me, the director reaches his cinematic summit – so far – at the top of The Holy Mountain. Without question one of the most bizarre and visually stunning films anyone will ever see, critics who dismiss the plot as a mish-mash of New Age flotsam can be forgiven for not recognizing the gold Jodorowsky hid in the excrement.

Check out one of The Holy Mountain’s most famous scenes (NSFW):

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France Has Forgotten the Battle of Algiers, Africa Never Will: “Ordinary Victories” by Manu Larcenet

By on February 3, 2013 in News 2

via chycho

One of the most amazing aspects of the African resource wars is that within their own countries, most western powers have been able to stifle opposition for their participation. An incredible achievement considering the state of their economies and the number of wars that they have been involved in in the last two decades (2011–present, 2003–2010, 1990–2002).

Let’s take France as an example since it appears to have the backing of its citizens in taking the lead role in the recent wars which are set to determine the future of Africa.

“French companies must go on the offensive and fight the growing influence of rival China for a stake in Africa’s increasingly competitive markets, France’s Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Saturday…

“‘It’s evident that China is more and more present in Africa…(French) companies that have the means must go on the offensive.

… Read the rest

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King City Artist/Writer Brandon Graham Talks About Graffiti, Cities, Moebius and More

By on March 28, 2012 in News 0

king-city-coverKing City by Brandon Graham is a comic book about a guy named Joe and his cat Earthling in a far future metropolis run by spy gangs and evil sorcerers. It’s full of weird drugs, black magic, luchador masks and oddball humor. Via Technoccult:

I know you haven’t done graffiti in a long time, but did being involved in the graffiti scene in Seattle as a kid affect the way you perceive the urban environment? Do you think you’d draw cities the same way if you hadn’t been a part of that?

Yeah, I think it definitely affected how I think about cities, certainly the way you interact with your environment when you’re running around drawing on it. It’s nice to be able to fuck with the world around you – changing signs or just writing a response to an ad directly on the ad or having to draw something to fit on the surface you’re drawing on.

… Read the rest

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Moebius Has Silver Surfed Elsewhere …

By on March 13, 2012 in News 6

moebius_The many worlds he created live on. Artinfo writes:

Jean Giraud, best known by his pen name Moebius, died on Saturday after a long illness. He was 73. The French illustrator created comics set in the American West and was especially admired for his wildly inventive science fiction and fantasy worlds. Giraud published his first comics in several children’s magazines during the mid-1950s. In 1963, he created the character Mike “Blueberry” Donovan, a hard-boiled American lieutenant, who appeared in the comic “Fort Navajo,” which was co-created by Giraud and Jean-Michel Charlier.

In December 1974, Giraud co-founded the French comics magazine Métal Hurlant, whose American version, Heavy Metal, was launched in 1977. Moebius debuted the character Arzach in the pages of Métal Hurlant, creating a story without words, in which the hero rides a pterodactyl-like creature through alien landscapes that evoke dreams and the subconscious. While Blueberry and Arzach remain his most famous creations, Moebius worked on a number of different publications and projects, collaborating with Stan Lee in 1988 and 1989 on issues of The Silver Surfer and contributing storyboards and design elements to science fiction films including “Alien,” “Willow,” and “Tron.” …

Read More: Artinfo… Read the rest

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New Crowdfunded Graphic Novel Depicts the 1967 Herbert Schirmer Abduction

By on February 3, 2012 in News 0

December 3rd 1967: An Alien Encounter

I got an early Christmas present last year: a package from Los Angeles cartoonist Mike Jasorka. Inside was the fruit of his efforts and my $20 Kickstarter pledge: December 3rd 1967: An Alien Encounter, a graphic novelisation of the strange case of Herbert Schirmer, a Nebraska state patrolman who claims to have been taken aboard an alien spacecraft.

I commend it to all wrong-thinking disinfonauts everywhere, for several reasons, but mostly aesthetic. The black and white panels occasionally splashed with dramatic colour ensures that the 50+ page book is a visually compelling artefact.

It also arrives with a CD, a word for word adaptation from the found audio of Schirmer at a 1970’s UFO conference in Florida, making it simultaneously an aural event (surely a first for a graphic novel, but fanboys will no doubt correct me). Finally, there’s the story: of Schirmer’s childhood upbringing that leads him to become a police officer, what happened that very night on duty and why even after countless ridicule, he stuck next to the unbelievable truth. Herbert’s heart-felt story speaks of his childhood upbringing that leads him to become a police officer, what happened that very night on duty and why even after countless ridicule, he stuck next to the unbelievable truth …

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Alan Moore Reacts to Frank Miller’s OccupyWallStreet Rant

By on December 3, 2011 in News 53

V For VendettaA response to Frank’s Miller OWS rant found on Bleeding Cool, originally on Honest Publishing. Says Alan:

“Well, Frank Miller is someone whose work I’ve barely looked at for the past twenty years. I thought the Sin City stuff was unreconstructed misogyny, 300 appeared to be wildly ahistoric, homophobic and just completely misguided. I think that there has probably been a rather unpleasant sensibility apparent in Frank Miller’s work for quite a long time. Since I don’t have anything to do with the comics industry, I don’t have anything to do with the people in it. I heard about the latest outpourings regarding the Occupy movement. It’s about what I’d expect from him. It’s always seemed to me that the majority of the comics field, if you had to place them politically, you’d have to say centre-right. That would be as far towards the liberal end of the spectrum as they would go.

… Read the rest

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Frank Miller (Comic Book Legend) Slams the Occupy Movement

By on November 19, 2011 in News 139

Goddamn BatmanWell, he is responsible for the “Goddamn Batman” after all … Says Frank:

Everybody’s been too damn polite about this nonsense:

The “Occupy” movement, whether displaying itself on Wall Street or in the streets of Oakland (which has, with unspeakable cowardice, embraced it) is anything but an exercise of our blessed First Amendment. “Occupy” is nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.

“Occupy” is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” – HAH! Some “movement”, except if the word “bowel” is attached – is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves.

This is no popular uprising. This is garbage.

… Read the rest

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