Wednesday, December 2, 2009

In Search of Superman's Inner Jew

From this month's online Time newsmagazine:
The debate has raged for decades: is he Jewish, Methodist, Kryptonian Raoist? But finally, it's been settled: Superman is definitely... a non-Aryan Protestant. The complex origins of many a comic book character are deconstructed at the engaging and erudite exhibit, "From Superman to the Rabbi's Cat" — through Jan. 27 at the Museum of Jewish Art and History in Paris — which explores the impact of the Jewish experience on the evolution of the comic strip and graphic novel.

Link of Note: Manga

Book on Underground Manga Given Authorized TranslationThe ComiPress manga information site is posting online an authorized English translation of Manga Zombie, a 1997 book by "subculture researcher" Takeo Udagawa on 31 artists that created underground manga after World War II, but before widespread commercialization changed the field in the Eighties. Translator John Gallagher will post chapters from the 186-page book on a semi-regular basis. The profiled fringe artists include Norihiro Nakajima ( Astro Kyûdan/Astro Baseball Team), Yoshiteru Takano ( Akanbô Teikoku/Baby Empire), and Tarô Bonten (Konketsuji/Mixed-Blood Child Rika)."So far the preface and an introduction of sorts are translated and up, but more is supposed to be added in the future. Check it out here: http://comipress.com/special/manga-zombie/manga-zombie-preface-japanese-edition

Seems it mostly focuses on works from the 1960s and 1970s.

Chester Brown & "Louis Riel"

Some of our classfellows have noticed that the CBC is having an engagement with Chester Brown on its website at present, and they send along some of the video & audio links.