August Links

As in "the month of", not necessarily "inspiring awe or admiration."

• Arswendo Atmowiloto notes the passing of Indonesian comics creator Raden Ahmad Kosasih, who created Sri Asih, the first superhero in the first Indonesian comic book. Kosasih was called the Father of Indonesian Comic; the Indonesian equivalent of the Eisners are the Kosasih Awards. Sadly, I have been unable to find an English translations of his work.
• John Adcock collects and posts a set of mostly early 20th century comics showing a variety of ways cartoonists visually depicted the idea of getting into one's head. Much of this is undoubtedly due to the increasing awareness, if not outright popularity, of the then-burgeoning field of psychology.
• Ken Quattro returns with lots of information about the mysterious and elusive radio show based on Will Eisner's The Spirit. Oh, and apparently there was a TV program as well!
• The Women News Network has this report on, in Canada, the Healthy Aboriginal Network is using comic books to teach girls how "to deal with peer pressure, sex and sexual health, gang violence, suicide prevention, drugs and alcohol use, pregnancy health and life for young mothers, stay-in-school importance, as well as respecting elders and yourself." (Helpful hint: "Aboriginal" and "First Nation" are what in the U.S. are called "Native Americans.")
  
• I don't recall where I got this link, but I was recently pointed to the Media History Digital Library's collection of fan magazines from the early 1900s. While it's mostly movie related material, of interest to comic fans might be several issues of Captain Billy's Whiz Bang (Fawcett's humor title which led to Whiz Comics where Captain Marvel debuted) and Screenland (the first publication of Paul Sampliner, who soon went on to head Independent News, the distribution arm of National/DC).
• Matt Kuhns expresses some ambivalence towards Kickstarter, but also notes that some of the folks "arguing that we need to uphold a standard of toughness because it’s part of the tradition of How This is Done or something is just insultingly asinine."
• Tom Mason points us to this article, noting the recent demise of the 25 year old ABC Books & Inner Sanctum. It's a sadly typical tale, but the one nuance I find interesting is that they reference the fact that the owner is now working at a Home Depot. I think that's something that's often overlooked in closing comic shops -- what do the owners go on to do?
  
• Rob Steibel points us to this interview by Bill Moyers with Chris Hedges, who recently published Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt with Joe Sacco. Much of the interview focuses on Hedges' views in a broader sense, but it touches on why he wanted to write the book and there's some powerful images shown. The last 5-10 minutes includes a look at Sacco in his studio.
  

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