Scott McCloud's Blog, page 40

Some Favorite Lyrics

I couldn't even tell you the lyrics to a lot of my favorite songs. I usually fall in love with the music itself, even if the lyrics are a muddled blur.

But there are a few songs I love for the lyrics. Below are fragments from some of my favorites. I'd be curious to know how many of you recognize them (without Googling of course) and I'd love to hear some of yours.

1

Hair blowing in the hot wind

Time hanging from a clothes pin

There's no sorrow that the sun's not gonna heal

2
Bowel shaking...

I'd Add a Zero

Jen Wang put some originals up at Etsy for ridiculously cheap prices. Looking for that one-of-a-kind gift? Better act fast. Fellow Pants Pressers Erika Moen and Dylan Meconis also have Etsy stores up with some great original pieces at insanely low prices (Dylan is even using it to support her favorite charity this year).

The direct selling of originals (especially during the holidays) is a trend I could see growing, but I really hope that talented artists like Wang, Moen, and Meconis can...

"The Lost Cat," a Lost Comic

Here's one from the vaults. A one-page comic I did in 2004 for the short-lived Prophecy Magazine. Since very few people saw it at the time, I figured I'd share it here.

(Bigger jpg here.)

The Space Angel Question

Just to answer another frequently asked question: Yes, I am aware of Scott McCloud Space Angel, the primitive kids' cartoon that ran for two years in the early '60s, ending when I was only 4 years old. I distinctly remember thinking, "Hey! He has the same name as me!" (sort of — my legal name is spelled a bit differently) and "Wow this animation is terrible" but it's been a long time, so who knows?

And yes, the great Alex Toth worked on the show, so the drawings aren't bad, though the creepy m...

Getting in the Spirit

Here's my kind of Christmas comic, courtesy of the great Matt Feazell.

Also in the spirit of the season, if you'd like to put some comics under the tree this year, Spurge has released his annual guide to comics-related gift shopping.

Two Videos

1. Seth Kushner's 30 minute Act-I-Vate video courtesy of Newsarama.

2. Moebius drawing on a Cintiq at Angouleme 2009.

I like how the Act-i-Vate Collective has used technology on all fronts to get their message out from the beginning and Kushner's cool docupromo thingey really kicks it up a notch.

It's fascinating though, after seeing the barrage of ideas, words, and techniques flying out of NYC in every direction, to watch the aging Moebius silently, confidently, picking up his pen, putting it t...

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving to all our U.S. readers.

It may be in a purely secular way, but I do feel a continuous sense of gratitude these days—to fate if nothing else. But for those of you who still give thanks to "the man upstairs," here's the poem my family always recited before Thanksgiving dinner each year.

I always liked it (though our version had fewer "and"s).

Back of the loaf is the snowy flour;
And back of the flour, the mill;
And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower,
And the sun, and...

Climbing up the Picture Plane

My old pal Larry Marder just sent me images from the upcoming Beanworld Book 3—the first all-new Beanworld stories in fifteen years—and I was struck by how beautiful they were; even moreso than in the original series, which remains one of my favorite comics of all time.

Larry uses spot blacks, bold geometry, rhythm, negative space, repetition, and variation like no other cartoonist I know.

Beanworld accomplishes something very rare. To use my own goofy terminology, Larry manages to use pure...

Research Request

Just got this request from a graduate student and figured I'd pass it along:

Dear Mr. McCloud:

My name is Megan Milliken and I am a University of Chicago graduate student conducting research on comic book readership. I'm interested in demographic trends of comic book readers as well as the medium's effect on readers' consumption of other cultural goods and participation in civic activities. I'm motivated to do this research first and foremost because I am an avid comic book fan who has derived...

The Episode with the Dog

*

Oh my God, the episode with the dog…