Previously on Panel Patter
- A Study in Legends #6 (Phantom Hourglass by Akira Himekawa) (Mark D.)
- All-Ages or Small-Ages #36 (The Power of the Dark Crystal by Simon Spurrier, Kelly Matthews and Nichole Matthews) (Mark D.)
- San Diego Comic-Con: Ten Comics Types to See (Rob M.)
- Shifting One Degree with Jason's On The Camino (Scott C.)
- All-Ages or Small-Ages #37 (Weirdy by AP Quach) (Mark D.)
Capsule Review
I can't tell if R. Sikoryak is a great cartoonist or a great remixer. Terms and Conditions really isn't a book that you read as much as it's a book that you experience. Taking the text of Apple's terms and conditions, Sikoryak puts it in the word bubbles, thought balloons and caption boxes of his redrawn iconic comic pages and comic strips. On one hand, it's an enchanting juxtaposition of legal jargon and these silly, self-important and self-dramatic pages. But on the other hand, Sikoryak's redrawn comics serve as an examination of the effect of the art of artists from Todd McFarlane to John Romita Sr. to R. Crumb and even to Lynn Johnson. Each page is instantly identifiable and Sikoryak's imitation is spot on. Moving beyond the kitsch aspect of this combination of words and pictures, the narrative meaninglessness of the words makes you focus in a way that makes you question what is the art doing and why did Sikoryak pick these pages? It's a wonderful book that makes you really look at the drawing and engage with all of these different styles and artists.
Cover of the Next Week
Takeshi Miyazawa is always a cartoonist that's worth checking out so his new comic with Greg Pak, Mech Cadet Yu #1 from Boom Studios, is easily something that needs to be tracked down. Going back to the days of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, a wonderful manga-inspired romance comic, to his recent work on Ms. Marvel, Miyazawa has a great line that's full of life and energy.
Interviews
Being here now feels surreal… I never imagined I’d get to be a happy person. It took a long time. Right before I graduated from college I had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized. It was the worst time in my life. But something about that experience really turned me around from relying on other people making me happy and validating me, to truly knowing I was on my own. Something about that ended up being really freeing, and I sort of haven’t looked back.
*** Can you picture pop culture without Chicago's Geof Darrow? (The Chicago Tribune)-- Darrow's artbook Lead Poisoning: The Pencil Art of Geof Darrow is out now and it a beast of a book to look at. All of that detail in his comics? It's all there in the pencil stage of Darrow's artwork.
Q: Where do you start?
A: With my focus, which is not necessarily the actual focus, the actual hero or whatever. My approach, I got it from watching the films of Anthony Mann. "Winchester '73," "The Naked Spur." All these Westerns. He was the first filmmaker who I noticed would have a foreground, a background, a middle ground. He had an incredible sense of depth and I wanted that in my drawings. In a lot of comics you might have a couple of characters and a background, and I like to cover things up. I have done "Daredevil" covers for Marvel and you can barely find Daredevil there's so much foreground. Creating depth is also something I learned from Jean Giraud, who was known as the cartoonist Moebius.
This and That
*** Comics Lowdown: TSA vs United Airlines – are comic books banned from flights? (Smash Pages)-- I hate to say it but coming out of Comicon last weekend, this is one of the most fascinating stories that started circulating Sunday night. Stephanie Chan at Smash Pages has a roundup of the story.If you are at #SDCC #SDCC2017 and are flying out on @united - please take note of this and share!!! pic.twitter.com/s1sV269DuQ— Adi Chappo (@adichappo) July 23, 2017
The restriction on checking comic books applies to all airlines operating out of San Diego this weekend and is set by the TSA. ^MD
Good afternoon. Pls note there are no TSA restrictions on checking comic books or any other types of books. tsa.gov/blog/2017/06/2…
Technology news website Ars Technica reached out the the TSA and United Airlines for comment. TSA Spokeswoman Lorie Dankers replied that although there is no restriction, carrying multiple items that are the same could result in further screening. She then said that a TSA blog post from 2016 gives traveling tips for the comic convention attendee, specifically what to bring and what to pack. She suspects the travel ban idea came from this text:
*** Bundled, Tossed, Untied & Stacked: Publishing News Special Comic-Con And Pre-Con Announcements 2017 (The Comics Reporter)-- Speaking of Comicon, Tom Spurgeon has a roundup of some of the more interesting publishing announcements that came out of last week's show. My top three favorite announcements out of Comicon were:
- Ed Piskor's X-Men series tying together the first couple of hundred issues as one grand story.
- The final volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
- The final volume of Jason Lutes' Berlin.
Current Mood
