* Grant Morrison has cancelled his appearance at this weekend’s New York Comic Con due to family issues. I hope all is well. Selfishly, I’m bummed that I won’t be able to get him in my Bowie sketchbook (he can draw) and that I won’t be able to discover first-hand whether his first post-Final Crisis con appearance would be more like a victory lap or a walk of shame.
* Speaking of NYCC, Tom Spurgeon lists 10 things he’d do if he were there.
* Chris Butcher argues that by raising their minimum order thresholds for Direct Market comic distribution, Diamond is essentially forcing a paradigm shift away from Direct Market distribution toward exclusively digital or print-on-demand distribution, and that since Diamond and the Direct Market are essentially synonymous, this is an odd move to make. I don’t know enough about how all this stuff works to offer an informed comic, but I will say that I can’t imagine a distribution system that cuts out Crickets and Or Else by necessity is a healthy one in the long term.
* The Onion AV Club speaks with The State’s Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, and David Wain. It is so, so wonderful to hear them refer to The State as a going concern, then see actual evidence for this.
* Stephen King says Twilight author Stephenie Meyer is a lousy writer. This is not a terribly controversial assertion–The Missus loves Twilight to pieces, and even she says author Stephenie Meyer is a lousy writer–but it’s interesting to hear King articulate it, since I think he’s usually a go along to get along type when it comes to his fellow authors. Case in point: “Jo Rowling is a terrific writer,” from the same article. (Via STYD.)
* Ta-Nehisi Coates reports his initial reaction to the opening Battlestar Galactica miniseries, prompting a lengthy comment thread in which various readers recount their equivalent experiences and offer advice as to how best to proceed from there (here’s mine).
* Naomi Watts says They are indeed still remaking The Birds. (Via Jason Adams.)
* Jim Woodring sketchbook fun!
* I’ll admit having said “Yeah, why don’t they do that?” about several of the entries on this list of 10 Helpful Suggestions for Terminating John Connor. I also wonder if they ever explained why the T-800 has an Austrian accent. (I bet there’s a novel somewhere that does.)
* A blog dedicated solely to pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Kate Winslet may well be the greatest possible blog. Proof:
(Via Sean B. Congratulations, Sean!)
He CAN draw! He sketched a man with an airplane on his head for me. Oh and there was a skeleton riding in the cockpit of the airplane. And there was a “VROOOOOM” sound effect. And the guy was saying “Jesus!”
True story.
Thank you, sir. It’s been a rough week or so, but very exciting. Thank god the Tumblr blog is so damn user-friendly – just perfect for the wee-hours of the morning when you’ve got a sleeping baby craddled in one arm.
And, yes, Marilyn Loves Kate is right up there with The Becktionary for my fav celeb-centric sites (that pic of Kate is hotter than Georgia asphalt).