Thursday Runaround - To Spain Rodriguez And Josh Medors

[Rich Johnston]

SPAIN RODRIGUEZ PASSES, AGED 72

Spain Rodriguez passed yesterday, after a bout of cancer, aged 72. The local Buffalo press reports in full;

Mr. Rodriguez?s work is the subject of an ongoing retrospective exhibit in the

Burchfield Penney Art Center, which runs through Jan. 20. The exhibit captures his formative years on the streets of Buffalo, his work for underground publications such as the East Village Other in the late 1960s, his eventual creation of the cult hero known as ?Trashman? and finally his influence on an entire generation of comics artists, including his friends and fellow underground comics creators R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman.

JOSH MEDORS PASSES, AGED 36

Comic Book Resources reports on another. much younger death in the industry.

After a long battle with spinal cancer, artist Josh Medors passed away today at 4:00 PM central time. He was 36 years old.

Best known for his work on "Frank Frazetta's Swamp Demon" and his creator-owned "Willow Creek," Medors also provided pencils for "G.I. Joe: America's Elite" published by Devil's Due Publishing, "30 Days of Night" from IDW and more. Medors was also a talented cover artist, providing covers for "Vengeance of the Moon Knight," "The Living Corpse: Exhumed" and more.

THE DECLINE OF THE DANDY

Fiona McCade talks in the Scotsman on the print cancellation of The Dandy, Britain's longest standing comic book, on its 75th Anniversary.

Next Tuesday, we say farewell to the Dandy ? on its 75th anniversary, no less. At least, the print edition is disappearing.

Technically, we?ll still be able read it online, but nothing on a screen can ever replace the sheer delight of the arrival of the Saturday morning comic. A comic in the hand is worth ten on the internet, and with the demise of the hard copy Dandy, I can?t help feeling that an era has passed.

It?s certainly getting more and more difficult to find children?s comics in the shops, and I reckon that?s bad news for future generations because I can honestly say that my first experience of reading for pleasure was in the pages of Twinkle, Pixie, et al.

FINN ISH

Hastings puts out an Adventure Time variant for issue 10... isn't it pretty pretty?

HOW TO WRITE COMICS TODAY

USA Today teaches you how to write a comic book.

An absolutely essential volume, and a quick read, is Alan Moore's Writing For Comics. I've poked fun at how Moore's scripts are the size of a phone book, but this volume is short, clear and a great resource for thinking visually, putting yourself in the mindset of your characters, getting to the theme at the heart of a story, and using mythology as a way to open up storytelling possibilities. Chris Roberson says, "I love Alan Moore's essay on writing comics so much so that I've bought multiple copies in the past just to hand out to people."

WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER SUPERHERO

The Beat lays out the print success of the seventh volume of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid and the digital success of My Little Pony #1.

Without going into all the is it a comic or a book arguments, let?s just agree that Jeff Kinney?s Wimpy Kid series is incredibly successful. The newest volume, #7 in the series, came out on the 13th and in its first week sold 362,217 copies, according to Publishers Weekly?s BookScan lists. It?s been the #1 book on Amazon for a few weeks and shows no sign of slowing down following a 6.5 million copy first printing.

SUIT UP

Comics Alliance may have an eBay listing for what Superman's new costume in Man Of Steel will look like...

If the spoilery nature of the Man of Steel toy commercials that leaked back in October didn't scratch your itch for early looks at Mattel's Superman movie merchandise, then a new eBay auction promising a "Movie Superman 3.75" Prototype" may prove enticing. The toy depicts Supes wearing some out-of-the-ordinary, possibly Kryptonian-flavored armor, although it may just be imagined for the action figure line (like Batman's scores of strange The Dark Knight Rises toy outfits, for example) and not part of the movie

[Joe Kalicki]

How could you ignore whether or not Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a comic book and just talk about how successful it is? Why not just praise how well the new Stephen King books sells, if format isn't relevant?

For that matter, look how much money Avengers made. Wouldn't that conversely mean that we do need another super-hero?

[Xofer]

How could you ignore whether or not Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a comic book and just talk about how successful it is? Why not just praise how well the new Stephen King books sells, if format isn't relevant?

For that matter, look how much money Avengers made. Wouldn't that conversely mean that we do need another super-hero?

Just reading between the lines here, but I think The Beat's taking the position that it's a comic and discussing it accordingly, while acknowledging there are cranks who will inevitably complain "there are no sequential drawings inside, so it's not a comic".

EDIT: I've got fond memories of Trashman. I'll have a drink to Spain tonight. I'd have something even stronger but, you know, mandatory drug-testing and all that.

[Joe Kalicki]

Just reading between the lines here, but I think The Beat's taking the position that it's a comic and discussing it accordingly, while acknowledging there are cranks who will inevitably complain "there are no sequential drawings inside, so it's not a comic".

I know what they're saying. The point is the can't just make a claim and use it to make a point. It's meaningless if anybody can call something whatever they want. Might as well say the Harry Potter series are the best-selling comics of all time.

[Xofer]

I know what they're saying. The point is the can't just make a claim and use it to make a point. It's meaningless if anybody can call something whatever they want. Might as well say the Harry Potter series are the best-selling comics of all time.

Well, now I'm confused. What point do you think they're trying to make?

[Joe Kalicki]

Well, now I'm confused. What point do you think they're trying to make?

"Without going into all the is it a comic or a book arguments, let?s just agree that Jeff Kinney?s Wimpy Kid series is incredibly successful."

Okay, so it's successful. But if it's not a comic, so what?

I know they're claiming it is, but if it's not true why not just claim anything you want?

[Xofer]

"Without going into all the is it a comic or a book arguments, let?s just agree that Jeff Kinney?s Wimpy Kid series is incredibly successful."

Okay, so it's successful. But if it's not a comic, so what?

I know they're claiming it is, but if it's not true why not just claim anything you want?

Ah. I think I'll excuse myself from the thread and get started on that drink.

[Mecha]

Spain and Josh both deserved better than a mention in a collected column of random news.

I honestly don't know much about Spain - but I'm sure he deserves more recognition.

But about Josh, there's not even a mention of the organization that Josh founded, Help for Heroes in Comics. He started HFH to provide assistance for professionals in the comic book industry who are fighting cancer.

And currently, a community benefit and auction is also being organized to help the Medors family with the medical bills that have added up throughout Josh's treatments and hospital stays. The information can be found on the HFH Page (linked above).