Around the Tubes
Hope folks are enjoying St. Patrick’s Day!
Around the Tubes
Cleveland.com – Real-life superhero hangs up his cape and cowl – Shocked this hasn’t happened more often.
Around the Tubes Reviews
Bleeding Cool – Wolverine #1
Tag Archives: cleveland
Cleveland Public Library Presents a Card Honoring Harvey Pekar
This past Monday, the Cleveland Public Library released their new Harvey Pekar library cards. The native Clevelander Pekar was has been honored not just by this limited edition membership card, but also a bronze statue erected in his honor right outside the library.
Cleveland Public Library director Felton Thomas explained his choice in choosing Pekar for this honor:
He brought Cleveland to life through his work and was a loyal patron of CPL. It’s our pleasure to offer this card to our patrons in his honor.
The card’s design is based on artwork from Joe Remnant’s illustrations for Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland.
If you are a Cleveland resident and want to get your hands on your own historic Harvey Pekar Library card, the normal replacement fee of $1.00 has been waived, so all you really have to do is head over to your local CPL and ask for a new Pekar card.
Around the Tubes
It’s new comic book day, what’s everyone getting?
Around the Blogs:
Comics Alliance – Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport To Open Permanent Superman Exhibit – Can’t wait to see this the next time I head to Cleveland.
Indystar – Ball State thinking big with free online comic book class -I’m absolutely taking this.
Around the Tubes Reviews:
Marianne de Pierres – Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, Guilty Pleasures Vol 1 – 12
Pre-order your copy of Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland
Official Press Release
Pre-order your copy of Harvey Pekar’s CLEVELAND!
Harvey Pekar was one of a kind — as Alan Moore says, “a pillar of the comics medium.” His work in autobiographical comics has affected millions deeply, and his influence can be seen everywhere today.
This winter, we’re honored to team up with new publisher Zip Comics to release one of his final projects: Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland, a heartfelt memoir as well as a bittersweet celebration of the city he loved.
This February release is now available for pre-order through your local comic shop, bookseller, or directly from us. Check out Joseph Remnant’s amazing art in the 8-page preview on our web site, and pre-order your copy today!
Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland
by Harvey Pekar and Joseph Remnant
• Introduction by Alan Moore
• Edited by Jeff Newelt
• Co-published by Top Shelf & Zip Comics
• 128-page deluxe hardcover graphic novel, 9.3” x 7.3”
• Older teens (16+) and adults
• ISBN: 978-1-60309-091-9, Diamond code: DEC11-1207
• $21.99 US
A lifelong resident of Cleveland, Ohio, Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) pioneered autobiographical comics, mining the mundane for magic since 1976 in his critically acclaimed series American Splendor.
Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland is sadly one of his last, but happily one of his most definitive graphic novels. It presents key moments and characters from the city’s history, intertwined with Harvey’s own ups and downs, as relayed to us by Our Man and meticulously researched and rendered by artist Joseph Remnant. At once a history of Cleveland and a portrait of Harvey, it’s a tribute to the ordinary greatness of both.
“One of the very greatest works by that unique and irreplaceable American voice, the truly splendorous Harvey Pekar… graced by the impeccable and poignant artistry of Joseph Remnant.” — From the introduction by Alan Moore
“America’s poet-comic-laureate of curmudgeonhood is sorely missed, but thankfully, this posthumous book, like Hamlet’s father, is here to remind us of the great man, the great Pekar.” — Jonathan Ames, author and creator of HBO’s Bored to Death
Around the Tubes
It’s been pretty quiet in the last 24 hours as far as news. There were a bunch of conventions this weekend so, I’m adding a generic convention section whenever there’s news. Here’s the news and reviews from the last 24 hours.
Around the Blogs:
Comic Book Resources – ZIP Comics and Top Shelf Productions Partner to Publish Harvey Pekar’s “Cleveland” – Having been born in Cleveland, you better believe this is on my read list.
Bleeding Cool – Nick Spencer And Emma Rios To Launch New Cloak And Dagger Series – It’ll be interesting to see where this series goes after their recent depictions. Nick Spencer is a solid writer, so here’s hoping.
ICv2 – ‘Social Network’ Actor is Ra’s Al Ghul – This is reportedly a flashback scene. It’ll be interesting to see how it fits into the main narrative.
Con Coverage:
Comics Girl – VA Comicon
Bleeding Cool – Kapow In Pictures – Cool As A Cucumber
Bleeding Cool – Kapow – The Marvel Panel
Bleeding Cool – A Look At Kapow Day One, From My Vantage Point
Bleeding Cool – Kerpow – The CLiNT Panel
Bleeding Cool – Rob Granito Makes It To Kapow
Comic Book Resources – WC11: Archaia Comics Presents 2011 and Beyond
Comic Book Resources: Spinoff Online – WC11: Star Saoirse Ronan On Hanna’s Grim Grimm’s Fairy Tale
Comic Book Resources – WC11: DC Icons
Comic Book Resources – Vado Recounts 25 Years of SLG
Around the Tubes Reviews:
With Great Power – Sabretooth: Back to Nature
Comics Alliance – April 8: ‘Fresh Ink! Online’ Pick of the Week [Video]
Around the Tubes
I got my comics for the week, did you? Reviews will be Sunday as usual, but they might be at a decent time (earlier in the day) than the 6ish time period like last week. If you haven’t picked yours up yet, check out Takio, it looks pretty entertaining.
Other than that, the Emerald City Comicon is this weekend, which means expect to see other blogs’ coverage over the next day here (not like we’re there).
Around the Blogs:
Comicsbeat – Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: January 2011 -We don’t have the patience to go over the month to month sales, luckily others do!
ICv2 – First Look at Wizkids’ ‘Captain America Boosters’ – We love our Heroclix and ICv2 just happened to snap some photos of the upcoming Captain America line at Toy Fair.
Comics Alliance – 10 of “Wizard” Magazine’s Most Dubious Moments – Wizard is dead, but the bizarre reporting lives on.
Arts Beat – Even Superman had a Mom, and Diane Lane Will Play Her – Hmm, we love Diane Lane, but Superman’s mom should not be this hot.
Comic Book Resources Spinoff – Avengers To Shoot in Cleveland – A great excuse to visit where I was born and grab some good food.
Around the Tweets:
Harvey Pekar Has Passed Away
Harvey Pekar opened his life to all of us through comic books. He was one of two comic book legends to come from the “mistake by the lake,” the other being Superman. His autobiographical comic book series American Splendor chronicled his life, warts and all. Pekar passed away earlier this morning.
Pekar, 70, was found dead shortly before 1 a.m. today by his wife, Joyce Brabner, in their Cleveland Heights home, said Powell Caesar, spokesman for Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
A Cleveland institution, Pekar began his comics career after being inspired by R. Crumb in 1972 and began to publish annually in 1976. Crumb described Pekar as “the soul of Cleveland.”
He won the American Book Award in 1987 for American Splendor and was a regular guest on the David Letterman show. Pekar also won a Peabody Award and saw his life on the big screen in a film adaptation of American Splendor which won the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic films at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
Cleveland.com has further coverage of the life and times of Harvey Pekar, a true original.
Pekar in a Letterman appearance from July 31, 1987.
Cleveland Genghis Con
In Cleveland Thanksgiving weekend? A new comic book convention sees it’s first outing Saturday, November 28 at the Beachland Ballroom from noon until 6pm.
The Beachland, home of some of the coolest live music in the city, will host “Genghis Con,” a collection of about 50 independent writers and artists from the tri-state area.
The guest list is evolving but so far includes DERF, Gary Dumm, John Gritty, Sean McArdle, Greg Budgett and Andy MacDonald.
Scott Rudge, owner of Astound Comics in Westlake, is the promoter of the event. His goal is a show where people wouldn’t be distracted by comic dealers’ rooms and “aging TV celebrities” hawking autographs for big bucks. To me that’s part of the fun of such events.
Admission will be $5, and creators will not be charged to set up tables.
“We’re not doing this to make money,” Rudge said. “Our goal is to break even. We want the creators to use the money they save to offer inexpensive copies of their work.”
This new convention is being creative in it’s promotion:
“We’re asking each artist to create a four-pager (mini comic), which can be reduced and put on a single page,” he said. “The artists will sign their work and give out the pages at their tables. We will give a cover for the work, so that people can collect all the pages and create a little souvenir anthology book.”
Artists interested in submitting samples for consideration have until Sunday, Nov. 15. For details, go to thegenghiscon.com or call Rudge at 440-835-8055.
