Sigmund Freud in the Uncanny Realm of the Unconscious!

via Mind Hacks
This is the most beautifully mad comic I've read in quite some time. Sigmund Freud, in the motif of 1950s sci fi with a hefty dose of Kirby at his most bizarre, struggles with the death urge in the zone of repression. Excuse me... "ALONE IN THE ZONE OF REPRESSION, SIGMUND FREUD FIGHTS AN ENEMY HE CANNOT SEE!" It's such a strange concept executed so adeptly that it truly needs to be seen to be believed.

I was essentially unfamiliar with the work of Hans Rickheit until being introduced to this comic. Chrome Fetus Comics contains more of his work and it's as haunting as it is poetic. Truly down-the-rabbit-hole beautiful.

Comiccon Gadget

http://www.mapyourshow.com/shows/mys_v4_01/mys_v4_01.cfm?SHOW_ID=NYCC09

Floor plan and exhibitor search for the New York Comiccon. Hopefully, armed with this, I'll be able to avoid the dreadful fate of so many hapless young fanboys who found themselves trapped for hours in a maze of golden age comic book sellers and overenthusiastic jedi.

Awesomest

I don't know who Jason Forrest is or what this has to do with war photography, but I'm posting this because 1) it's animated, 2) it contains both vikings and giant robots, and 3) Nicole said it reminded her of me.

Someday I may get back to more than just link posting. Don't hold your breath.

I assume she said that because it's so badass.

Stay on target

Doonesbury, 1/13/09

Cerebus: A Diablog

Dave Sim's Cerebus is one of those epic works, like War and Peace or anything by Neal Stephenson, that I really want to have read. I just don't want to read it. I have an appreciation for its role in the history of comics and I'd like to see first hand the spiraling descent into madness that I understand Dave Sim to be. But clocking in at 6,000 pages, the work is daunting when I know I'm not actually going to enjoy much of it.

But I'm motivated to give it a try now as Laura Hudson and Leigh Walton start their weekly issue-by-issue analysis at Cerebus: A Dialog. Even handed and aware, it's a thoroughly interesting read, but lacks any introduction explaining why Cerebus was such a compelling work. Start with the wikipedia entry, pick up the hefty first volume, and read along.

Love

This is me messing around with some photos and Comic Life and seeing what happens. It might be leading towards a new project. It might get taken down in the morning when I decide I hate it. My time will tell.

Comic Life really would be a joy of a program if it didn't make such damn ugly word balloons.

Faces of creators

“I consider Graphic NYC, the upcoming book project that www.NycGraphicNovelists.com is based off of, to be a kind of ‘New Comics Journalism’, combining New Journalism with comics history, and Seth’s lush photography. I’ve been ready to bring a little something new to comics journalism for a while, and this is it.”

For some months now, photographer Seth Kushner and comics journalist Christopher Irving have been crafting portraiture of New York based comics creators. The book looks to be stunning not only for the sweep of its coverage, but for the sheer beauty of the images.

I'll need to track down a copy of the book, but in the mean time, enjoy some of Kushner's photography within.

History! Hot damn!

Continuing tonight's theme of celebrating comics geeks dedicating themselves lovingly to a single niche: Kate Beaton, who at 6:34 pm asked her livejournal audience for suggestions for historical figures to write about and by 11:01 pm had finished 3 comics. Hot damn! I'd never even heard of Isambard Kingdom Brunel or Ada Lovelace. Now I want to go bury my face in history books.

Thanks, Andi.

UPDATE: They's more. I'm linking because I love the Catherine the Great strip, but after this you're on your own.

Comics, Medicine

I'm not the sort to squee, but I can certainly appreciate some high class geekery and damn does Polite Dissent bring it.

I came across the site whilst wikipedia-ing House and delighted in reading reviews of the actual medicine. Then, as I continued clicking, I was thrilled to realize the site was primarily devoted to a critique of the depiction of medicine in comics. This goes way beyond the 10th grader in physics asking, "Where does the hulk's extra mass come from?" It's easy to dismiss this all as overreading fantasy fiction, but when Bendis has a scientist explain the human genome as "It's what makes us... us" then all suspension of disbelief flies out the window.

Of course, special attention is paid to the golden age hero, The Black Terror, super-pharmacist. I'd also recommend the Best and Worst Comic Book Science of 2008 Awards.

xkcd, I salute you

This is a truly noble endeavor. Get this comic into the hands of everyone who understands the value of the metric system enough to want to use it, but isn't a scientist and hasn't worked in a laboratory and thus has never actually gotten beyond thinking "a yard is like a meter."