Comic Books Are Burning in Hell Episode 9

In this week's examination of the comic book medium, Tucker Stone, Joe McCulloch, Matt Seneca and Chris Mautner open the door to controversy! Firstly, Tucker examines the difficulty inherent in medal refusal, and then Joe blows the doors off by opening the conversation to Chuck Forsman's End of the Fucking World, a comic that the entire crew has strong, positive feelings about. However, strong and positive does give way to conflicted feelings on the part of Matt, and you'll want to pay close attention to what he has to say. Publishing strategies! Then they talk about what should reach conclusion, industrially. Then Tucker disagrees with Matt. Then they move onto stuff they're really into that they wish was more easily available in the United States. Tucker doesn't participate in this part due to the fact that his response was delivered in a decidedly boring fashion which is why it was cut, and also because the cartoonist he talked about--that Boulet guy--is super easy to come by. Everybody else does though, and they have a whole crop of surprises to show off. Drink it up!

Download Comic Books Are Burning In Hell Episode 9

Joe KNOWS MORES ABOUT JACK CHICK THAN JACK CHICK DOES

Tucker DOESN'T HAVE THAT MANY TIRES TO KICK

Matt AND SEAN WITZKE TALK ABOUT DAMION SCOTT

Chris HAS THE SCOOP ON MARJANE SATRAPI

Comments

[Matt Seneca]

I'm 100 percent playing devil's advocate in my lil rant up there if it isn't clear. I heart the publishing programs of all the houses we're talking about, and my "publishers don't do what they used to" lamentations can easily be expanded out to "man, it sucks books don't sell like they used to." All the books we mention I'm stoked for, all the artists we mention I'm happy for. And all the publishers we mention I want to sleep with. Seeya at SPX, guys! My hotel room door will be unlocked!

[chuck forsman]

Matt, I think I owe you sack-time for all the nice things you said about me. What is your room number?

[Ann]

thanks

[Matt Seneca]

666

[Mike Walker]

RE: White Boy

http://www.thrillmer.com/archives/2005/02/dream_on_white.php

These are pretty incredible.

[nrh]

Well, I can only imagine the 'inner sanctum' goings on at the big indie comics publishers, but one has to assume that things like D&Q hiring guys like TOM DEVLIN and Fantagraphics giving Eric Reynolds much freer reigns has to be accounted for; who could have imagined D&Q publishing a Marc Bell collection? Two Marc Bell collections? Is this all an Adam Baumgold gallery conspiracy?

[Mercurialblonde]

who was the lady that the main talking guy who isn't tucker stone mentioned at the end? Chantal something or other?

[Jog]

Chantal Montellier:

http://www.montellier.org/

She did the 1996 serial that ran in very short bursts in a lot of the early issues of Heavy Metal; like Sergio Macedo, her style was striking enough to get some play back before the "Heavy Metal" style became more set in stone, but probably too odd to justify further translations. Like I say in the show, I can't even find a single interview with her in English, even though she's done a ton of work, including a 2011 book (L’Inscription) that was in competition at Angoulême this year...

[Rob Clough]

A few comments...

1. Chuck was in the second CCS class (2008), along with Sean Ford and Alex Kim (to whom you also allude). That class has actually been pretty active, with Joe Lambert, Jeff Lok (Gag Hag), Denis St. John (Monsters and Girls--very funny body horror erotica), Morgan Pielli (Indestructible Universe Quarterly) and JP Coovert (1% Press) all cranking out books on the regular. Of course, there's also the inimitable Dane Martin, whose The Gagger may be one of THE books to watch from the Oily Boutique.

2. Max de Radigues is the artist behind Moose. Prior to that, he published 10 minicomics in the same format called L'Age Dur in both English and French, and followed that up with his serialized Moose. He self-publishes that in both English and French, and Chuck distributes his English comics in the US. I know that L'Age Dur was collected in French in a snazzy-looking hardcover. Great teenaged slice-of-life stuff.

3. Other minicomics gatekeepers include Kevin "Whitey" Bramer's long-running Optical Sloth site and Justin Giampioli of Midnight Fiction.

4. Tom Devlin coming to D&Q and Eric Reynolds being elevated to co-publisher status to me have been two very important developments in the last decade. Devlin has brought his Highwater sensibility to D&Q (publishing Marc Bell and John Porcellino) while Reynolds has had his ear to the ground for years thanks to being the Mome editor.

5. Other examples of shitty big-publisher comics include Cancer Vixen, The Impostor's Daughter and (I'd argue) Mom's Cancer. Disease-based books in general are an easy hook.

[RM Rhodes]

Was that Chris discussing the Marc-Antoine Matheiu books? Those books are awesome and it's always great to find someone who likes reading metafiction in comics.

[Jog]

That was indeed Chris. He wrote a bit more on the artist here:

http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/02/29/weekend-reviews-the-museum-vaults/

[Chris Mautner]

I also wrote about Matheiu here: http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/02/collect-this-now-the-julius-acquefacques-series/

Obviously I'm a pretty big fan.

[RM Rhodes]

I ran across references to the series in Ann Miller's book Reading Bande Dessinee, which has a whole section on metafiction. The die cut panel at the end of the first book blew my mind. Finding an American who actually likes this kind of stuff really makes me happy. I knew I wasn't the only one.