Category: Comic books

by MMB March 27, 2020

Comic books Discussion of author’s portfolio

Albert Uderzo has died – but “Asterix” lives on

Sad news – Albert Uderzo has died. He passed away on 24 March 2020 at the age of 92 at hisContinue Reading

by MMB March 21, 2018

The perks and perils of reanimating oldies but goodies – Bloom County, by Berke Breathed

After a 25-year absence, comic book artist Berkeley (“Berke”) Breathed restarted his famous and much-loved comic strip, Bloom County on Facebook,Continue Reading

The header for this and other posts contain images from both original and fan fiction/sequels by other authors. In this case, Tintin and Snowy (left) come from Rodier’s version, the Little Prince (adapted, centre) comes from the original by De Saint-Exupéry, and the Young Prince (right) comes from A.G. Roemmers’ version. All three images have been used under the terms of “fair use”: “In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and ‘transformative’ purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work.” (Rich Stim, Stanford University Libraries). The main image, of Paris, France, is by M.F. O’Brien, used with permission.

by MMB January 30, 2017

Backstories Comic books Current events Discussion of author’s portfolio Discussion of current events Published books

The Unfinished “Tintin” – The tricky business of fan fiction versus copyright, Part 3 of 4

On the subject of fan fiction versus copyright rules, I am discussing examples of three cases of what seems toContinue Reading

by MMB January 13, 2017

Comic books Video

Printed books are not only for old fogeys like me

Comic artist and illustrator Lucas Levitan’s particular talent is to superimpose his bulbous-nosed cartoon figures onto actual photos he has found, mostlyContinue Reading

by MMB April 23, 2014

Comic books Current events Discussion of author’s portfolio Discussion of lyrics Review of classical fiction

Happy birthday William Shakespeare – 450 years on

It’s the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, who is traditionally believed to have been born today, 23Continue Reading

How do you know when you have written something worthwhile? What is your process? January 14, 2021
Dear Goran, In Issue #87 I wrote about my favourite line from the New Testament — “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained standing there in front of the tomb.” To me, this line seems to sum up, among other things, the process of songwriting. William Blake said ‘Jesus is the imagination’ and these words […] The post How do you know when you have written s […]
Molly Cairns

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) January 14, 2021
“Of course, the great thing about television is that it lets you see events live as they happen, like old movies from thirty years ago.” — Rock Hunter "I wanted to make a picture where I got a laugh faster than anyone else – I guess that's where it started,” said director Frank Tashlin, explaining the opening sequence to Will Success Spoil Rock Hud […]
Top 10 Title Sequences of 2020 (2020) December 27, 2020
The Best Title Sequences of 2020 It’s been a year like no other. A year when so many of us turned to screens to connect or, indeed, to disconnect; when we ached for a dollop of entertainment, a moment of escape or a dose of comfort, for something familiar or something completely new. This year, for Art of the Title’s seventh annual list of the year’s top 10 […]