Nighthawks

“We’d asked the writers to e-mail us their wish lists, and Nighthawks topped almost every one. It was something about the loneliness, the coffee, the silence—everyone wanted to lay claim to that one desolate corner of the universe… How could this one object embody loneliness, I wondered, when people crowded shoulder to shoulder around it, shared it, traded it, paraded it around? If Hopper’s little coffee counter was lonely, it was in the way a prostitute was lonely. Or an actor.”

-from Rebecca Makkai’s 2010 short story “Peter Torrelli, Falling Apart”

Zig-a-Zigallery – Spice Girls Art Show at the FALL

Spice Girls diorama at the Fall Gallery Vancouver July 7 2012.

Before the Dukes of September show last night (read my review here) with the fogies at the Orpheum we stopped in at the Fall Tattoo and Art Gallery to see what the kids are up to these days.

Turns out they’re into their own form of nostalgia – remembering/celebrating the ’90s by way of the Spice Girls.

Vancouver nurse/gallery curator Christina Chant put on the show, a follow-up to Bill You Murray Me, another celebrity-inspired gallery from earlier this year. The idea is to come up with some Spice Girls-inspired art; everyone, no matter what their degree of talent, is invited to submit.

As with the previous show, Zig-a-Zigallery offered an embarrassment of creative riches. These pics, as bad as they are, don’t do justice to the variety and imagination on display, but they give some indication of the art. Not pictured: a two-page comic strip; Spice Girls envisioned as Futurama-ish disembodied heads; and the drag version of the singers, who were to make an appearance later on in the evening.

Spice Girls via Picasso at the Fall Gallery Vancouver July 7 2012.

I reviewed this: The Moon Moth

Got sent a package of graphic novels for review last week. Vancouver’s own Raincoast Books distributes a number of publishers, so once in awhile I’ll get lucky with a shipment of nice new books.

Among the latest batch was this curiosity – a thin, wonderfully coloured (by Hilary Sycamore) and drawn (by Humayoun Ibrahim) graphic adaptation of a short story by Golden Age science fiction author Jack Vance. I was unfamiliar with Vance’s work but after reading this little beauty I’ll be seeking out more, for sure.

I thought this adaptation, along with a reprinted (from the New York Times Magazine) profile of Jack Vance by Carlo Rotella, was an ideal intro to the work of this almost-forgotten (though not by Michael Chabon, to name one well-known fan) author. Highly recommended; you can read more of my thoughts on this book in my The Moon Moth graphic novel review on The Snipe News.

Have you read any Jack Vance? Which novels or short stories would you recommend?

Movie poster – If You Don’t Stop It You’ll Go Blind

I find with this blog more and more I revisit my teenhood, or thereabouts… I remember as a kid (11 or 12) flipping through the daily newspaper (the Winnipeg Free Press) and looking at the movie ads. One in particular caught my eye; I distinctly remember looking at a small black & white ad with this image for the 1974 movie If You Don’t Stop It… You’ll Go Blind!!! I always wanted to see beyond the Snidely Whiplash-type mustache twirler…

I still haven’t seen this movie to this day, but maybe it’s time to seek it out. According to Flixster.com, If You Don’t Stop It… You’ll Go Blind!!! is “An hilarious sketch-style comedy in the style of Carry On, featuring profane old ladies, impotent men, gay cowboys, sex contests, extremely unfaithful husbands and wives and just about anything else to do with sex imaginable. The film’s highlight is the gorgeous Swedish model Uschi Digard,who somehow manages to get unclothed in every single sketch she stars in.”

Swedish actress/model Uschi Digard. Russ Meyer was a fan…

I reviewed this- The Manara Library Volume Two

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to receive, in a box from Dark Horse Comics, a copy of Volume Two of their Manara Library editions. The publisher is collecting most if not all of the Italian comics artist’s works in nine books; the second (above) came out earlier this year, and the first in the fall of 2011. Volume Three, featuring Milo Manara‘s collaborations with filmmaker Federico Fellini, will be published in August.

Manara is best known for drawing naked girls, to put it bluntly. (He’s also crossed over into the North American mainstream with a Sandman story that appeared in an anthology and an X-Men comic (featuring the women of the X-Men) for Marvel.) But, while Volume Two‘s first story “El Gaucho” certainly features some typically gorgeous Manara females in lewd dishabille, it’s also a ripping good historical tale (written by cartoonist Hugo Pratt) about the early 1800s British invasion of Argentina. And the second half of the book isn’t dirty at all; it’s a series of eight brief stories that attempts to look at both sides of cases against historical figures such as Helen of Troy, Attila the Hun and Robert Oppenheimer. Though a little on the didactic side, these “Trial by Jury” stories are surprisingly readable and informative. And, of course, impeccably drawn by the master, even though they’re from early in his career.

My full review is on The Snipe News: http://www.thesnipenews.com/books-comics/manara-library-volume-two-review/

Tales from the Wedding Present

When The Wedding Present came through here over a week ago, I was lucky enough to snag a copy of Tales from the Wedding Present. (When I interviewed singer David Gedge at the beginning of the band’s tour in Austin, I asked if he could set one aside for me. And he only charged me $5, half-price. Rock Journalism does have its perks.)

It’s a comic book featuring stories by former bassist Terry de Castro about life on the road with the band. The black-and-white art is by Lee Thacker, who’s got a nice, clear line that complements the direct, Harvey Pekar-esque slices-of-life. Thacker also did the art for Snapshots, a 2011 anthology of stories based on Wedding Present song titles. The book features a number of (British) writers while Thacker tries out an impressive array of styles, paying homage to Chris Ware and Charles Burns, among others.

The collection is surprisingly strong; you don’t need to be a Wedding Present fan to enjoy the Twilight Zone-ish “I’m Not Always So Stupid” (text with photos) and the romantic doubledealing of “This Isn’t What it Looks Like”. Recommended (you can order it here).

Wally Wood’s EC Stories Artists Edition

I really love this book, although I think boomers who grew up on EC Comics might appreciate it a little more… plus they might be able to afford it, not to mention have the shelf space! It’s huge, 15″ x 22″, and packs a punch to your wallet (I paid $160, including shipping and handling, to have it sent from Winnipeg to Vancouver when I couldn’t find a copy locally). The first run is sold out, but publisher IDW says they’re going to do a second print run later this spring.

Anyway, you can read my full review here.

La Rotunda del Mar (The Rotunda of the Sea) by Alejandro Colunga

Rotunda of the Sea by Alejandro Colunga. Puerto Vallarta March 26 2012. Shawn Conner photo

On our trip into the town of Puerto Vallarta a week-and-a-half ago, we came across this fabulous and fantastic display of street, or rather in this instance boardwalk, art.

“La Rotunda del Mar” (“The Rotunda of the Sea”) is a 1997 piece by Guadalajaran painter/sculptor Alejandro Colunga. PVPulse.com describes it thus: “The Rotunda of the Sea consists of a number of high-backed bronze chairs that mix fantastic human features and nautical imagery – one chair is topped with an octopus, others are humans with an old diving helmet and what looks to be a periscope. Facing all of the chairs is a bench with two giant human ears.”

It’s a fascinating set of sculptures that look like something out of a nautical themed version of Neil Gaiman‘s Sandman comics or Mike Mignola‘s B.P.R.D. books (specifically, his character Abe Sapien). I particularly loved the attention to detail, like the many and varied types of feet. There are so many different facets and angles to take photos from that I couldn’t stop taking pictures. These are a few of my faves.

 

Illustration – Robert McGinnis, ‘You Only Live Twice’

I was originally going to do a post of great James Bond paperback covers when I came across several extraordinary illustrations by American artist Robert McGinnis. Here’s one for You Only Live Twice:

You Only Live Twice – James Bond illustration by Robert McGinnis. The Group of Seven does nothing for me, but this I like.

Book cover – Doc Savage, The Spook Legion

The release of John Carter, the new epic blockbuster based on the Mars novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, has got me fondly remembering some of the other pulp fiction of my youth.

For instance, I used to love the Doc Savage books, not least of all for the James Bama covers – like this one, for The Spook Legion.

I think I might’ve even read this one (there were dozens) – darned if I can remember a thing about it.