(with photos)

Do you have any anecdotes about working in a comic store?
On a Wednesday, a regular customer came and bought a ton of comics as per usual. Then the next day he came in he was completely scab-covered and bruised on his face. We were like, "Dude, what happened to you? Are you okay?" Turns out he started falling down on a escalator while holding his comics and rather than protecting his face he protected his comics. But they still got a little bent, so the next day he came back and re-bought them.

or

What are the best and worst parts about working in a comic store?
The best part about it is the comics. They're my world, and so obviously I love just being in such a fabulously stocked comic store, let alone making my living by being there. Most of what I do in the store is all about our inventory: filing, stocking, reordering, etc., so as a result I've become familiar with just about everything in the store.

The worst part about it is having to overhear and occasionally being asked to weigh in on the who-would-win-in-a-fights. Also, the constant barrage of comic book movie talk is unbearable. I do not care what you think is going to happen in a sequel that doesn't come out for another five years and which is bound to disappoint.

etc

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/ ... ntPage=all

Amazing Fantasy San Jose? huh...never heard of it.

Great read and never heard of Amazing Fantasy either.

Since we are on the topic of comics....

ACTION COMICS #1 FOR SALE

I was hoping to get that Bat Manga book for Christmas, but sadly nothing!

This is good read. I love Chip Kidd. I loved reading his covers book but hated the actual design of it. The hardcover is very awkward.

You can borrow mine.

Why isn't the actual manga-ka credited on the cover of the book? Chip Kidd just compiled the stuff.

Jiro Kuwata wrote and drew almost every page. He doesn't even appear on the inside dust jacket!!

WTF!?

Guess I should fess up too, and admit I worked at the local shop for 10 years.

Good times though. Loved it!

That Bat-Manga book is dope... i've flipped through it numerous times at the local comic-store but have never gone all the way to pick it up.

I worked in a Comic shop from age 14 to 17. Reasonable pay, reading comics on shift and getting discounted comics etc. Was the best 3 years of my life I reckon.

i applied for a job once doing window displays for a comic shop, and got denied before i pulled my portfolio out. ouch!

glad I saw this article...I know a bunch of the people in it...gonna read it all later.

already funny as hell reading the excerpts.

just saw True Romance again last night in a long time. Clarence character working in a comic book store made the main character. imo

I worked at Eides in Pittsburgh ...it was half comics, half indie record store. I worked in the record half. I usually spent a chunk of my pay on Bandai figures from Horizon models...they sold a lot of Liveman stuff too.

One of the BEST movies!

Hero's for Sale

i hope none of this applies to any of you.
but i've learned that almost all minnesota comic shop employees are arrogant assholes.
they are like the jocks of the nerd world.
must be a question on the job application or something....

I think Chip Kidd is over rated. I also saw him on TED talks...he is a very flamboyant, um, kidd.

I was lucky enough to stumble into Midtown Comics. It was like a block from where I stayed last time I was in NY. Strange that I ended up buying lots of Japanese manga in English as I cannot find titles of them in Hong Kong (I can't read Chinese).

Love those photos from Wired. Great interviews.

quote:
I was, honestly, getting a little tired of seeing Chip Kidd tried and sentenced by the internet over the past few days, without anyone bothering to contact him or anyone involved with the book about it. So yesterday afternoon I dropped him an e-mail about the situation surrounding Jiro Kuwata’s lack of cover credit on Bat-Manga: The Secret History Of Batman In Japan. Apparently his response to me last night got lost in the ether (not even in my spam-filter, just disappeared…). Anyway, responding to a question from Chris Mautner (Patriot News, Blog@Newsarama) he sent out the following response. Also cc’d on the e-mail were Bat-Manga co-creators Geoff Spear, Saul Ferris, Bat-Manga translator Anne Ishi, and Leigh Walton from Top Shelf Comix. Here’s Chip Kidd’s comments on the kerfuffle:

Hi Chris [Mautner],
Coincidentally, I had gotten the same question yesterday, from another Chris (the Beguiling), and had answered it last night. But a check on my e-mail records today indicates it did not go through and subsequently disappeared. So here goes again, let me know you (all) got this.
First of all, I'd like to say to all the relevant reviewers/bloggers/whomever: I am heartened that you all have such concern for Mr. Kuwata's welfare. So here's a question: where were YOU for the last thirty years, while he was languishing in obscurity both here and in his own country? I won't bother waiting for an answer.

As for my answer, it is multifold and complex, and if it comes off as self-serving, I apologize for that. Here goes.

First, Bat-Manga is not just about the work of Mr. Kuwata, although that of course makes up the bulk of the book. Rather, it is about chronicling the phenomenona ”however short-lived” of Batman in Japan in 1966. To that end, the book itself as an act of pop-culture reconnaissance is entirely the product of Saul Ferris, Geoff Spear, and myself. Mr. Kuwata is prominently mentioned on the front flap (as is translator Anne Ishii) and on the back cover, so it's not like we're trying to deny him any credit. I would not have made the considerable effort to track him down, interview, and photograph him if that were the case. It is worth noting that before we took it upon ourselves to do this, NO ONE had any interested in collecting this material for reprinting, least of Shonen King (and they still don't Bat-manga has amazingly failed to find a Japanese publisher).

But I would put forth the analogy: when Ken Burns made his documentary on the Civil War, the subsequent book had his name, and his writer Geoffrey Ward, on the front. It did not have the names General Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, or Abraham Lincoln, or any contemporary historians that Burns interviewed. That may sound like a stretch, but it's the same situation. We took it upon ourselves to put this project together because of our love for this material. We spent far more of our own money amassing everything then we'll ever see out of sales of the book; and without going into details, any money we did get as an advance went right back to Mr. Kuwata, who was thrilled to get it. As he is thrilled with the book I've heard nothing but compliments and thanks from him.

So that's what I have to say. In this culture of blogger-snark I'm sure this is just the equivalent of painting an even larger target on my forehead, but I can't just say nothing.

Grrrr,

CK

PS: The most interesting observation on the book, so far anyway, is from Aint It Cool News the reviewer there said that it is an American re-interpretation of a Japanese re-interpretation of American pop culture.

Now that I buy.

speaking of bat-manga, has anyone read the Death Mask prestige format series? i'm curious as to whether it is worth picking up or not....

and also, since this forum is about comics and whatnot, i've been catching up on a years worth of reading the last couple months, and, being that i am still a continuity junkie, i read damn near everything written by Geoff Johns and Jim Starlin out of DC. Those guys know every inch of the DCU. The latest Booster Gold series is great. and Starlin's cosmic stuff is always a plus. Death of the New Gods & Rann/Thanagar: Holy War are truly epic! just thought i'd post this, i'm always trying to pull some attention away from DC's top 3....

Hmm. I like the Bat-manga stuff, but it is in no way analogous to a civil war documentary. The other pages in the book that are not devoted to Kuwata's work are just breaks between more of Kuwata's work. Kidd seems to think that by right of finding obscure comic that he owns obscure comic! Silly. I would just apologize and reprint the book with the fellows name on the cover. Oh well, I am nice guy, maybe that's the difference.

You're too nice Monkey. I agree with Chipp though as I saw him speak regarding this book at SDCC. Got a chance to meet him as well and was very cool to me and the Mishka dudes. Oh, tell Paul from UltraPop I still need a copy if he has one.

I'll put in a good word for you!

I've been watching Chipp videos on youtube. He seems a little intense and ego-tripping, but I gotta respect him for being so into Batman/Japan 1965-66. I would love to see closeups of his collection and his digs in NYC. He had some slides from his collection. Crazy stuff like Batman ray guns and holsters with pistols.

Don't worry man, I got you covered.

I personally think the analogy works perfectly. I don't think that Kidd in anyway is suggesting or thinks that he "owns" the rights or material but he's basically complied and documented a book filled of obscure bat-manga and actually credited the original author inside. It's not like "dark knight" where he was asked simply asked to design a cover.

Same thing with Ken Burns. Burns showcased and documented the events of the civil war. I don't think he was trying to say or 'imply' that he was there for the events and the photos were his.

This is common for tons of books.