Thanks for bringing my attention to them @toothaction ! It’s the kind of publisher I would have been all about 15 years ago. Unfortunately now i barely ever give myself time to sit in a couch, listen to music and read weird comics. I’ll take a couple to see though. In France and Belgium, they are much more crazy little publishers pushing the medium to its limits since the 90s. L Association was probably the biggest success story of them all but Les Requin Marteaux, Fremok and many others I know have forgotten the names of, all having their particular interests, including some specializing in bringing Japanese underground stuffs (Le Lézard Noir was one of the publisher I remember doing exclusively that). Ah! Thanks for bringing me back there. I feel the nostalgia of this time and wonder how I could carve myself some time to get back to exploring the fringe of my favorite medium. Those books ask a little bit more attention that the ones I read now.
Damned you @toothaction ! I ordered 5 books from 2dcloud and now I’m wondering how I’m living without that Brinkman monster book. I was speaking with the guy of Hollow Press about Brinkman before Hollow Press. He was contemplating selling his first edition of Multiforce back then. It is so great to be able to follow someone manifesting his dream. He put so many great books out there ! I think it’s time for me to put a little less energy (time and money) in toys and a little more in books and music. I’ll try it for a run a see where that takes me!
HYPERBOLE CORNER The rulingest book what ever ruled has just been Kickstarter'd FundRazr'd: Get. On. The. Stick. Cankor, Matthew 'Matt' Allison
My reinvent pick ups Have been Tom king’s run on Mr. Miracle Monsters by BWS Daniel Warren Johnson’s Beta Ray Bill Swamp Thing Green Hell
A new Dungeon translation has dropped and not wanting to appear ungrateful, the size is bigger now. NBM have published 17 english translated collections and only now do they publish in the original French size. They have also started recollecting what they've already done in the larger size. I can't help but see that as a slap in the face to all the people like me who've already bought the smaller versions. Its not a massive difference in size (170mm x 230mm compared to the larger 215mm x 280mm) but its enough that i'm now contemplating buying them all over again in the larger size, dammit. I love the comic so much i'm not sure if i can resist ... Anyway, if you have any interest in Dungeon, NOW is the time to start buying them!
Dungeon are so fun! It was my brother collecting them way back when, been a while since I ve not read one. The most fun and lively project that this band of friends (French comics 'new wave', most creator or close collaborators of the publisher L'Association) have done. I ll look for a French digital edition.
Something struck me as funny today ... a guy on Facebook was saying he was digging through some of his favourite books, but all the comics in his photo were slabbed. How can you 'dig through' comics when they're locked away inside plastic cases? His choice of wording just doesn't sound right. People say it doesn't matter their comic is slabbed because they have a reprint of the same issue they can read. In that case, why bother with the expensive slabbed version at all? Bragging rights? An 'investment'? The whole enterprise stinks and takes all the joy out of comics and their intended purpose. I know this is an old topic but I'm seeing more and more slabs nowadays (they're even slabbing single trading cards) and it makes me sad ...
I bought and enjoyed this English translation recently. Jacques Tardi's adaptation of mystery writer Leo Malet's 'Nestor Burma', originally published in 1982. This is the first in a series of five, the only other translation i have is out of print long ago: 'The Bloody Streets of Paris'. Tardi is a master and i've been buying up any translation i can get my hands on. Fortunately, Fantagraphics have been releasing some great stuff the last few years.
Unpaid shill time again... Your Purchase Amount / Number of $50 Fantabucks Discount Codes You’ll Get: $50 – $99.99 1 = total value $50 $100 – $149.99 2 = total value $100 $150 – $199.99 3 = total value $150 $200 – $249.99 4 = total value $200 etc Deets.
Since nobody asked, here are some crops from the first wave of fun to land from the Fanta sale: And here's a few squares from my having just braved the rain and our janky bus system to get to my local: Mission:Trendy accomplished!
I bought this recently published hardback the other day. It still has that hot off the press ink smell, the colours are quite vibrant and the blacks are tad too heavy in places, but that's better than a tad too light ... Its a really nice book for the price. He's my fave 2000ad artist of all time. The blurb: An often unsung titan of the industry, Carlos Ezquerra's influence has been as broad as his artwork was inimitable. His co-creation of Judge Dredd and powerful work on Strontium Dog alone helped establish 2000 AD as a powerhouse and him as a comics master. When he passed away unexpectedly in 2018, comics was robbed of one of its most vibrant, dynamic and powerful talents, yet his legacy is almost unparalleled in the industry. Publishing as part of 2000 AD's 45th anniversary celebrations, this 240-page hardcover collection spans half a century of his comic work and is ideal for both long-time fans and those looking to discover his work for themselves. Beginning with samples from his early art on romance titles as Valentine and Mirabelle, this book also collects never-before-reprinted short war comics from the groundbreaking 1970s war comic, Battle. It also showcases his sumptuous colour work on Strontium Dog, and culminates with selection of his 2000 AD work and his greatest creation, Judge Dredd.
Carlos’ art was such a major part of my childhood. Only got the chance to meet him once but he was such a nice chap. there might have been more technically gifted Dredd artists but his had the most character.
Yeah, Brian Bolland is up there, but he focused on cover art for 2000ad most of the time. Its great you got to meet Carlos, i think I've only ever met one comics artist in person and that was Gilbert Shelton.
Yeah me and some mates use comic cons as an excuse for a weekend sesh so I’ve managed to meet loads of my fav comic folk over the years. Especially 2000ad (and got sketches off loads of them too!).
@toothaction You’re the best! Thanks for sharing. Speaking of comics, I recently picked up Maestros and Americana by Steve Skroce. Great entertainment. Also realizing how much I am missing French comics. I’ll look into getting them here in CA.
Consider kicking some scratch to my friend in D.C.. His little shop is always tossing up interesting old French comics mags. If you had some titles/authors of new stuff that you're hoping to find, consider reaching out to him about them, as one of his main goals for his wee hub is to be a distribution spot here in the US for foreign language comical business.
My first original comic art page, from an issue of Eltingville Club by Evan Dorkin. View this post on Instagram View this post on Instagram
