This could go under comic notes as well, but it looks like Persepolis the animated movie just hit Cannes. I’m pretty excited to check this film out, having read both graphic novels Persepolis 1 and Persepolis 2.

Here’s a really great interview with creator Marjane Satrapi, discussing both the film and working in several countries. She’s Iranian by birth, but the film was produced in France (as is in French), although she has published more books in America.

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Another title I picked up at APE (Alternative Press Expo): Hot Mexican Love Comics. Here’s the website. It’s an anthology of really short works (one or two pages) from twenty four artists centered around the basic theme of… hot Mexican love? Sure. As expected, they’re rather hit and miss. For every vignette I liked, another I thought sucked poblano. But hey, since these habanero blasts are so brief, what do I care?

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A few weeks ago I went to the Alternative Press Expo which is a comic convention focused on underground and alternative comics. The simple description is “no superheroes.” I thought I’d profile some of the titles I picked up there.

First up is Hunter and Painter by Tom Gauld, an artist I’d never heard of before. It’s simple yet effective, drawn in a style reminiscent of Edward Gorey and Dan Piraro (Bizarro).

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Heroes are cool and geeks like superheroes, but I thought it would be fun to create a list of movies that are definitely not about superheroes yet still based on comic books (or - graphic novels) and comic strips.

Admittedly, I haven’t seen all these films, but where appropriate I’ve included relevant notes. Maybe this is a new genre for me to explore.

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Note: For this review to make more sense, please read my post on Optic Nerve #10, which was the second part of a three-issue Ben Tanaka story. This post is a review of Optic Nerve #11, the story’s conclusion.

I’m happy to read a longer-form comic story from Adrian Tomine, one of my favorite contemporary comic book artists. Three issues of Optic Nerve (#11 is the last) have been devoted to Ben Tanaka, a pathetic, selfish twenty-something loser with some stereotypical Asian-American racial hang-ups. The character may appeal to those curious about life as a minority in America and the downside of interracial, romantic relationships.

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Spent the day at Wondercon, a large, annual comic book convention in San Francisco. I haven’t done much comic book reading or collecting lately, but I had a short list of comics I’d been looking for, according to my semi-obscure genere fixations - more specifically, comic books made from cheesy sci-fi movies of my childhood.

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Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Boy On Earth by Chris Ware is the closest to a recent comic masterpiece I’ve read. There’s so much perfect about it.

With many otherwise outstanding graphic novels, there’s something that slips a bit from perfection, such as mesmerizing art but a slightly lacking story (Blankets, Gemma Bovery) or the opposite is true (Persepolis).

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I was looking for information on reality television for work, and came across this crazy show: Who Wants To be A Superhero? We don’t have cable so I never saw it.

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Persepolis 2, a autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, documents Marjane’s growth through adolescence and into young adulthood. By book’s end, she has experienced more in the first quarter of her life than most go through in the entirety of theirs.

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I’ve read a few Dan Clowes comics (even met him in person) such as Ghost World, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, and selected issues of Eightball. The first made a neat film, the second is the only comic where I had an out-of-body experience while reading, and the last “Ice Haven” series played with form in a masterful way that comes with years of comic-making experience.

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