The Ephemerist

He’s almost an ex-colleague now, but back in 2001 Frank Daenen and I worked together for a first time. Frank was a very young and very brilliant designer who came up with a logo for a service we were developing. This would involve an scalable infrastructure for end-to-end media asset handling, hence Media Asset Management Architecture.

Frank’s logo, involving a sultry Italian mama, was quite a hit when we were invited later that year to present our service on Ascential Software’s booth at NAB.

Ah, those were the days.

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R. Kikuo Johnson provides the illustration for a New Yorker review of Korean horror film The Host. Click here for more of Johnson’s work.

(thanks, Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat)

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On April 25, Astérix creator Albert Uderzo celebrates his 80th birthday. To celebrate this, the official Astérix site announced a competition open to fans aged 8 or older. To participate, you need to send Uderzo your best wishes in a letter or a drawing. Ten lucky winners are invited to meet Uderzo, visit the Uderzo studios and sit at the great banquet in honor of the master. But… You have to be French to participate…

For all (frustrated) others, a nice slideshow was prepared showcasing the highlights of Uderzo’s life and carreer (from which the image above was lifted). Check it here, and click the banner below for the latest info…

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Shaenon Garrity announces on the Modern Tales Blog that Modern Tales (and its affiliates, Girl-a-Matic, Serializer and Graphic Smash) is starting a free service, offering high quality digital versions of comic books related to the comics they run. After EyeMelt.com, this is the second rather high-profile outfit that chooses the grassroots, free cbr format over, or at least alongside the proprietary pdf format.
I like the “all-in-awe” description of the first time you read a comic in cbr format on Garrity’s blog :

CBR format is, far and away, the very best way I’ve discovered to read “longform” comics in digital form. [...] It’s just a completely different experience from browsing comics on the web. Every line is crisp and clear; every page loads immediately; you can take your hand off the mouse, put one finger on the “page down” key, and lean back, read, and relax.

Even though I’ve been using cbr’s for quite a while now, and I’m quite aware that they are just rar and zip files with a different suffix, I can’t help but agree with this description. Much of this experience is thanks to the supreme rendering engine used by David Ayton’s cdisplay, the predominant tool for reading digital comics in de PC sphere.

Modern Tales’ offering is quite impressive. It includes books by Reinder Dijkhuis (”Headsmen”, a Rogues Of Clwyd Rhan one-shot) and Roger Langridge (Fred The Clown vol. 2, issue 1 - complete !), along with the first issue to Wahoo Morris (Free Comic Book Day Edition) by Craig Taillefer.

As they say themselves : “you really have no excuse not to give it a whirl”…

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A single frame from the upcoming Watchmen film was leaked through a trailer for 300, the adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic.

The picture shows Rorschach, eerily looming against a darkened sky. Of course, a frame doesn’t say anything about the movie, but i do like the atmosphere it calls up. Something to look forward to, I guess…

(Source : Wikipedia)

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Brian Biggs, illustrator and cartoonist extra-ordinaire, just finished work on a new book, called “Beastly Rhymes“. It was written by Judy Sierra, and will be published in 2008.

From the look of it, I’d say it will be a gem. The illustrations on Brian’s website show him in optima forma, with very clear colors and a nice mix of cute ‘n’ scary. I’m particularly curious about the binding, as Brian is showcasing a wrap around band, and no less than two different end papers.

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This has absolutely nothing to do with comics, but I can’t help shouting out about this. I am a huge Dr Seuss fan, and I especially like the zaniness and absurdity of his poems. What better way of celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Cat in The Hat than by issuing a series fake Bob Dylan rendition of the best Seuss songs.

And the best part is : you can download the complete album for free, so head here : Dylan Hears A Who!

(Via Drawn!)

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Richard Corben has created the poster for the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie

(via Posterwire)

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Earlier this week Yvan Delporte died, one of the last Grand Old Men of the Belgian comic scene. The comic weekly Spirou has set up a memorial site, witch some very fine contributions by a variety of artists.

(Image by Sergio Halma)

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Once more I would like to draw your attention to the The New Yorker : main : start Magazine. The current issue sports a cover by Benoit Van Innis, one of those rare cartoonists who can draw humorous pictures without a pun. You smile, you smirk, but you just don’t know why.

And he’s Flemish, to boot !

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