Category: Comic books

by M. Bijman 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 M. Bijman 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 M. Bijman 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 M. Bijman 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

I abhor the Nestlé Pure Life commercial – here’s why October 19, 2018
I just hate this commercial. Every time I see it I get absolutely furious. It is patently, obviously, in-your-face WRONG on just about every level. This is the latest Nestlé bottled water commercial, showing on Canadian TV. It shows a well-dressed, well-fed little white girl, complete with safety goggles, drinking bottled water and asking “what can […] […]

Slice (2018) October 28, 2018
“So you're telling me that my pizza place is built on a gateway to hell?” — Jack Describing Austin Vesely’s werewolf-pizza Chance-the-Rapper comedy-horror film Slice is a mouthful. But with a premise like that, it’s no surprise that it bears a fully loaded, stuffed crust, dripping hot delight of a title sequence.Created by artist and animator John Chris […]
The Walking Dead (Season 9) (2018) October 18, 2018
“We're not just fighting to survive anymore. We're making a new beginning.” — Rick Grimes A ruined, decomposing world picked clean by those who remain, harshly rendered frame by frame. Out of that decay comes something new, driving he carrion-eaters away, holding them at bay... for now. For its ninth and latest season, AMC's much beloved horro […]