Archive for September, 2008

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Eau de what ?!

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Airports are alien territory to me.  When we went on holiday last july, I stood there like a caveman, marvelling at all the stuff happening around me, and simply stunned by some of the more stupid, smaller things.  Such as eau de toilette marketed at kids.

Now, I can understand Eau de Barbie, or Spider-Man cologne, or even Cars perfume (I do quite like the typical gasoline smell of a garage), but what about a Shreck-themed cologne, or a perfume based on Pirates of the Caribbean ?  That’s just marketing gone completely awry, even with a neat collectable bottle-top.  Or perhaps some marketeer mistakingly drank one of the concept samples, and it messed with his brain…

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RIP Raymond Macherot

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

Raymond Macherot is dead.  He was the creator of the inimitable Chaminou et le Khrompire, one of my favourite comics of all time.   Read my piece about it on the Forbidden Planet blog, and enjoy this little hommage by Flore Balthazar.

(art © Flore Balthazar)

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Another comics ad !

Friday, September 26th, 2008

This time it’s for Zebra Matches, and it showcases what you can do with them, besides lightning a fire.  I like them, even though they’re a bit on the boring side of racy (illustrator: Fernando Castro).

(from Ads of the World, naturally)

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The glorious return of Terry Colon (on my radar) !

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

Some ten years ago I was a great fan of Terry Colon’s work for Suck.com - I remember obsessively right-click-saved his cute-but-mean little drawings.  His Filler comics especially still are the epitome of what the Web was all about when it was still edgy and new.

In my mind I must have equalled Suck with Terry, and after Suck’s demise I lost track of his work, and never even bothered to Google his site.  But now he’s back on my radar, thanks for the great-as-ever infographic he created for the october issue of Reason Magazine, about how to legally immigrate to the US.

(artwork © 2008, Reason Magazine - Thanks to Mark Frauenfelder for the tip)

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The Owly-caster rocks !

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Here’s an piece of ephemera if ever there was one.  Andy Runton, creator of the fantastic Owly (one of the favorites of the younger denizens of Sparehed Towers), just finished painting his own Owly Guitar, and what a piece of art it is !

This unique item will be auctioned of at SPX to raise money for the CBLDF.  Bidding starts at $ 200,-…

(Owly © Andy Runton)

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Tintin Notebooks

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

These notebooks are quite exquisite, and the picture has an air of eruditeness about it that I’m quite jealous of…

(from jjtelecaster’s Flickr Photostream, Cigars Of The Pharaoh emblem © Moulinsart, I guess)

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The Vertigo Encyclopedia

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Apparently, Dorling Kindersley have just compiled a Vertigo Encyclopedia in its series of DC-themed reference books.  Compared to the Batmobile Owner’s Manual, at least this theme has some depth and relevance to it, but judging from this interview with executive editor Karen Berger, I’m not really sure if this rises beyond the typical topical DK fodder, and get to the level of the quite excellent Eyewitness books.  I haven’t seen the book myself, but a blurb riddled with plattitudes like “up close and personal”, “cutting-edge work” or “extraordinary journey” don’t really fill me with hope.

That said, I think it’s quite interesting to hear Berger sum up the Vertigo mission in a short few minutes, even if those few minutes are edited disastrously : there’s far too many cuts in the voice for it to sound like natural speech flow, and at points you can even see the cuts in the visuals.

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We need more fairy tales

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

These dire days call for fairy tales, of the sweet and scary kind.  Cory Godbey (below) and Justin Gerard (above) of Portland Studios come to the rescue, with elaborate illustrative work that speaks of imagination, enchantment and terror.  I’d love to read the stories these pictures were made for !

Also, read the interview that LCS magazine did with Godbey earlier today.  And be sure to check out Portland’s animation work as well - it is quite exquisite.

Oh, and another thing, why is it that all good artists seem to like cats ?

(artwork © Portland Studios)

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When heroes despair

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

I don’t care too much for the work of Anthony Lister, because it never seems to rise beyond the derivative.  It’s quite obvious that he has a very topical message of contemporary malaise, but the works themselves are too inconsequential to bring it across.  I do like the cover of his new book, Tales Of White Trash Prophecy, though.  Come to think of it, that is one title I wish I had thought of first.

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Weekend Wonders : Smith Brothers

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

And a final, wonderful ad from All-Star Western Comics : Smith Brothers Cough Drops.  It’s like they’re dancing off the page.

I’d like to throw a big “Thank you” to all the people who preserve these gems for posterity.

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