Slow news weekend for funnybook fans!
In his daily link roundup, Tim O’Neil gives gossipmongers Markisan Naso and Rich Johnston the business. I read their columns religiously, but a little criticism never hurt anybody.
Kevin Melrose links to a New York Times report from some sort of Bizarro World where purveyors of prose fiction are attempting to siphon respectability-through-osmosis from comic books! And this Bizarro World is America, where manga publisher Vertical Inc. is looking to capitalize on the success of Japanese comics by importing Japanese novels. Well, now I’ve seen everything.
Chris Butcher & Scott Robins point out something I’d missed: Fantagraphics is releasing Tell Me Something, the new graphic novel from Norwegian master of melancholy (and slapstick, believe it or not) Jason, this week. Hey, alright.
Franklin Harris links to the news that Brian Bendis will be taking the reigns of The Avengers, believe it or not. Bendis has an almost supernatural knack for taking the geekiest, wonkiest, fanboy-est ideas around and actually producing something adult and compelling with them–the Sinister Six, Venom, the umpteenth Daredevil/Bullseye faceoff, Secret Wars, etc.–and he’s really gonna have his work cut out for him with this, the goofiest remaining mainline-Marvel “flagship” book.
Speaking of Bendis, how’s this for a false dichotomy:
Oh, and for those of you who would argue that we don