Yeah, I don't get it either.
Matt K.
Yesterday, Rudy said that she thought Mariah Carey would probably smell like clay.
Yeah, I don't get it either.
Matt K.
Okay, so this is really really bizarre. I don't even know how to explain this or how to begin, so I'll just jump right in. I've gotten a lot of wonderful things in the mail...gifts, books, letters, art, comics, zines, and even CDs, usually from friends or relatives but sometimes strangers. Always, though, they have been accompanied by an e-mail or a letter as well as a name and an address. But yesterday I received a thin, unmarked envelope containing nothing but a single zine. At least I think it's a zine. Maybe a comic? I don't know. I don't even know how to describe it except to just show you. So I scanned it. Each and every single page. Below, in order, are all 10 pages of this unsettling little tale about none other than Karl Rove. But I must warn you, it is quite explicit, very graphic, completely blasphemous, and awesomely misspelled. Nudity, profanity, sacrilege, unholiness, and filth abound on every page. If you are brave, scroll down and read on...
Wow, it has been a little while, hasn't it? I have been extremely busy with school, my practicum, and my jobs. Additionally, my current health situation was taking a very slight turn for the worst and I had a rough two weeks. I had another appointment with my doctor yesterday, though, and he informed me that these ups and downs are not all that uncommon when clearing up such a chronic condition and I shouldn't be too concerned. I just need to take it day by day, be cautious, live healthily, and see how things go. I have a followup appointment in April, and I am hoping that by then this will be cleared up and I will be back to normal. Many of you reading my site have been overwhelming in your kindness, support, encouragement, friendship, and generosity, and there are no words to express how much that has all meant to me and Rudy and how crucial it has been in terms of helping me through these struggles. Not a day goes by that I don't think of how fortunate I have been and continue to be, and give thanks for it.
There is not too much news to share art-wise or comic-wise yet, although I have begun working very hard on "Spudd 64," issue #4, and will have more images and a pretty big announcement about that very issue in a week or so.
One last piece of nice news. As some of you may be aware, I am an ardent admirer of Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro-Boy, Kimba the White Lion, and Black Jack the Two-Fisted Surgeon among others. In fact, I like him so much I'll put a picture of him right here...
Vertical has been publishing an 8 volume hardcover reprint of Tezuka's phenomenal series Buddha, a retelling of the Buddha's life with healthy doses of humor, wisdom, action, and most importantly, humanity. I have been enjoying each and every volume, and these books have actually been changing my life in small but important ways. Seven of the eight volumes have seen print, and the final volume should be available sometime this month. A few days ago, I read that upon the conclusion of Buddha, Vertical would be translating and publishing (for the very first time in English) Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito in one massive 800 page hardcover. How exciting! You can read more about the publication and the story as well as see an image of the cover right here. Please check it out, the book looks monstrously intriguing and Vertical really needs solid sales to keep making this kind of hard-to-get material available in English.
And now, a special literature moment for my friends Johnny Ampersand and Charley D. Some may criticize this for pretention, but it has been going through my mind a lot lately. It seems to have more and more import the older I get. Anyway, read and think and I will be back tomorrow.
Today's literature moment
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
--William Wordsworth, 1806
Matt K.
This evening, I finished reading Tove Jansson's Moominpappa's Memoirs for the second time in my life. I doubt I would ever undertake something so serious as a memoir of my own life, but if I did, I would borrow these words of Jansson's for the moment I met Rudy...
"Since then, my follies have been supervised by her gentle and understanding eyes, and thereby transformed into sense and wisdom while, however, losing none of the enchantment and love of freedom that have led me to write them down."
Because that is how lucky I truly am to have a friend and wife like her.
Matt K.
Today, both Rudy and I have to work evening shifts so we got to spend the morning and part of the afternoon together. We had breakfast, which was Raisin Bran Crunch, and we had lunch, which was cold pizza (for her) and peanut butter and jelly (for me--naturally). A little bit before she had to leave for her shift, the door buzzer rang and a package arrived. It was a Valentine's Day gift for me, from Rudy, that had arrived far earlier than expected! Rather than wait on ceremony, Rudy (who has grown almost as impatient as me in our long years together) decided to give it to me right away, right out of the delivery box. And look! Look! Here is what arrived!
This is so fantastic! I had been able to sign a few of these out of the library where I work, but there were no available copies of Comet in Moominland and that is the one I am the most excited to re-read. I remember it as being very thrilling, very fantastical, and very good. Now I have a copy of my very own! And to top it all off, Rudy even let me put a skull sticker on her forehead AND take a picture of it! See?
She is so wonderful. What a lucky fool I am.
Matt K.
A couple of quick but notable things. Tom Spurgeon runs a pretty nifty web site and does some great interviews. He's the guy that did the interview with Keith Jones, artist/creator of the Bacter-Area art book from Drawn and Quarterly that I posted a link to in one of the January updates.
Tom did a really interesting interview with Dan Nadel, the editor of the Ganzfeld book (or is it a periodical since it is numbered? who knows...either way it is a great publication) and the brains behind the publishing venture PictureBox Inc, which will be publishing some absolutely amazing and essential books in the coming year.
First, go and read the interview here. It is from November, but still fascinating and timely. Next check out some information and art from Trenton Doyle Hancock, whose upcoming monograph entitled Me a Mound will be published by PictureBox in May. I am ridiculously excited about this book, an enthusiasm that was fanned to even greater intensity by Nadel's assertion that this will "be the book that destroys all other art monographs." Aaron Fitzwater and Angela K. should remember Hancock from the "SPLAT BOOM POW: The Influence of Comics on Contemporary Art" exhibit that we went to see at the Belmont Building in March of 2004. In June, PictureBox will be publishing Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries, 1900 to 1969. To say that I am anxiously awaiting the publication of this book would be such a ludicrous understatement I would roar with laughter at your faux-pas. As if THAT wasn't enough, PictureBox is also working on a book about/by the Black Dice called Gore for April of this year and further art books from Brian Chippendale (in late '06) and Marc Bell (sometime in '07). It is a good time to be alive.
Matt K.
I meant to keep up with this regularly, but then I got so sick and so depressed and so busy. So here is a second try...
Today's literature moment
In that moment I caught sight of a whole flotilla of small boats putting out to sea. Light as butterflies, they went gliding away over their own reflections. All were manned by a silent crew: little grey-white beings huddled close together and staring out towards the horizon.
"Hattifatteners," Hodgkins said. "Electrical sailing."
"Hattifatteners," I whispered excitedly. "Travelling and travelling and never getting there..."
"Thunderstorms charge them," Hodgkins said. "Sting like nettles."
"And they live a wicked life," the Joxter informed.
"A wicked life?" I repeated with interest. "How?"
"I don't quite know," said the Joxter. "Trampling down people's gardens and drinking beer, and so on, I suppose."
--from "Moominpappa's Memoirs" by Tove Jansson
Matt K.
We found a semi-decent bookstore here in Dayton. It is called Books & Company. Nothing great, mind you, but a decent selection of literature, art, and even some harder to find graphic novels. Best of all, though, was finding this on the shelf!
So I got to re-read it recently. Oh, my friends, it was every single bit as wonderful and delightful as I remembered from my childhood. Truly truly enchanting. See the cover? That is the Hobgoblin, wearing his magical hat (which turns eggshells into clouds and river water into raspberry juice and ant lions into miserable little hedgehogs), and he is sitting next to the panther upon whose back he rode to the moon to search the craters for the one and only King's Ruby, not knowing that it was stolen from the Groke and hidden in Thingumy and Bob's suitcase all along. Now I have to begin the arduous process of tracking the next one down.
Matt K.
I just saw some very very sad news on the Comics Journal Message Board, reported by Zack Soto from a post on Barbelith by "Promethea" artist J.H. Williams III. Seth Fisher, the talented artist behind DC's Green Lantern: Willworld, The Flash: Time Flies, and "Vertigo Pop: Tokyo," as well as the recent "Fantastic Four & Iron Man: Big in Japan" from Marvel has just passed away. Seth had an amazingly unique visual style and was able to inject a decidedly non-mainstream aesthetic into some very mainstream comics. Here are a few examples of his work, starting with his cover for Green Lantern" Willworld.
And some art from "Fantastic Four & Iron Man: Big in Japan."
I really enjoyed Fisher's art enormously, and it was always a blast to see him take on some of the more fixed characters in the Marvel or DC universe and spin them into these wildly visually inventive tales. His art seemed to really polarize mainstream comic readers, who tended to love him or absolutely despise him. I am saddened at his passing, and he will be missed.
You can see more of his art at his own web site here. There is also a better and more thorough piece on Fisher and his work on Newsarama.
Matt K.
Throughout my recent illness, many things kept me going. First, of course, was the constant support, friendship, and love of my amazing partner and wife Rudy. A close second was the kindness of both friends and strangers, and when I felt myself slipping more deeply into depression I would think back on all of the wonderful and incredible things I have experienced in my life. I have truly been very fortunate.
Well, something happened last week to once again remind me that people really are pretty fantastic and the world can actually be a great place. Several months ago while poking around on the Marvel Masterworks message board, I came across the endeavors of a gentleman by the name of David P. Banks. Tremendously knowledgeable and full of enthusiasm for all manner of comics, David had been working for years on creating hardcover collections of all sorts of comics. Some of them were ultra-rare Golden and Silver Age stories of monsters, horror, war stories, Westerns, and superheroes that realistically had almost no chance of being collected in any form, hardcover or trade paperback, by Marvel, DC, or any other publisher. In these cases, working directly with the source material, David would create high resolution scans of the original comics, print the pages out, and, using the services of Capitol Bindery, collect the material into wonderful and unique hardcovers. Additionally, David could take full runs of actual comic books, carefully remove the staples, trim the pages, and rebind the comics into similar hardcovers. The work was phenomenal and gave longtime fans an opportunity to build a highly personalized hardcover library of all of their favorite comics. As if that wasn't enough, David did all of this out of a genuine love for comics. When creating a new hardcover from scanned material or binding a previously existing run of actual comics, David would charge only what the project cost and not one cent more, engaging in the projects because he truly believes in comics and loves sharing them with others. The man and his work are both amazing.
When I first found out about his work, he had just completed a high res reproduction of Jack Kirby's "The Eternals," one of my favorite comics and a series that I never had the opportunity to read in its entirety. I was fortunate enough to be able to attain a copy of the hardcover from David and the book has had a place of pride on my bookshelf ever since. Here are a few images of the actual book...
And, from David's own web site (because I am too silly and neurotic about my own books to smush them on a scanner), a photograph of one of the senses-shattering splash pages from this version of "The Eternals." Check this madness out...
Well, David must have been peeking in on this very web site because he sent me a delightfully unexpected e-mail last week letting me know that he was very sorry I had been feeling ill and asking for my address so he could send me something to cheer me up. The e-mail and the sentiments expressed were wonderful enough, and I certainly would have been happy with that alone. But oh my goodness...when the package from David arrived I was quite literally floored. His kindness and generosity were truly astounding, and did so much to raise my spirits. Contained within the humble US priority mail box was more Jack "King" Kirby goodness then this humble reader has a right to. First up, a hardcover collection of some of the greatest Kirby monster tales EVER from "Tales of Suspense." Here is the cover...
And please feast your eyes, my friends, on a page from only one of the many many monstrous wonders contained within this volume. I give you "The Creature from Krangro!"
God, I LOVE that stuff! Next was something even more unexpected. While I am happily familiar with Kirby's cosmic comics, superhero sagas, and monster masterpieces, his war comics are something I have read very little of. I've always wanted to rectify that situation, but unfortunately the only war comics either of the big 2 publishers seem interested in reprinting are the old Joe Kubert "Sgt. Rock" Archives from DC. Not that I am complaining at all, since that is some phenomenal stuff and Joe Kubert is STILL a powerful artist today. But the Kirby stuff was almost impossible to come by unless you were either wealthy enough to buy the issues or lucky enough to have them from your youth. Almost presciently, David changed that for me by including a hardcover collection of Kirby's "The Losers." Again, some images for you...
And again a photograph from David's own web site of the explosive contents of the book. Kirby speaks more loudly than words here...
Hours and hours and hours of absolutely perfect reading material. And an added benefit of all of this comic kindness is that I will be able to share these stories with other friends too. I know for a fact that Leighton Connor would seriously dig these tales, and I plan on sharing them with him first. As soon as I finish reading them, that is. Finally, David also included copies of the trade paperback collections of "Thieves & Kings" by Mark Oakley and "Colonia" by Jeff Nicholson, both comics that I have been interested in for quite some time but forced by a limited budget to continue delaying my purchase of.
So many people have helped me through this difficult time in my life in so many ways, from emails to letters to telephone calls to kind words of support to gifts of reading material and art. It confounds me almost to speechlessness, truly, and not a morning goes by that I don't wake up and wonder how in the world I got so lucky. So thank you, to all of you. Thank you David, for the emails and the support and the kindness and the comics. And all of you out there should at the very least take a peek at his site to see the fabulous reprint and binding work he does. And who knows? If you happen to have all 25 issues of Walt Simonson's "Orion" that you would love to see in a custom hardcover, let David know. He is truly a wellspring of knowledge and he would be more than happy to help you out.
Matt K.