Indie Roundup: David Bowie Tee for Haiti, Fantagraphics Manga, Scarlett ‘Too Pornographic’
Threads: A design from Sean T. Collins's sweet David Bowie comics sketchbook by "TV on the Radio" singer Tunde Adebimpe is now on sale as a t-shirt, with the proceeds to benefit disaster relief in Haiti. (via ADD)
Too Hot: Barnes and Noble has reportedly refused to carry Molly Crabapple's lovely erotic graphic novel "Scarlett Takes Manhattan," calling it "too pornographic." iPhone preview here. (via Robo t6)
Manga: Guess who's throwing their hat into the manga ring? Eminent indie publisher Fantagraphics, that's who. The line, which has been four years in the making, launches in September with a short story collection by shoujo creator Moto Hagio, who helped spearhead the shoujo movement in the 1970s. They're following it up in December with "Wandering Son" by Shimura Takako, a manga that explores the transgender issues of a boy who wants to be a girl and a girl who wants to be a boy. If you don't like the controversial nature of LGBT topics, you are "strongly encouraged to lump it."
Cons: The Savannah College of Art and Design is launching SCAD-Con, a university-sponsored comics convention that hopes to bring together art students and professionals.
Beyond Axe Cop: Controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks -- the subject of numerous death threats and murder attempts for his cartoons of the prophet Muhammed -- is prepared to cut you. (via CR)
Interviews/Music: James Kochalka talks about his work on Marvel's "Hulk Squad." Then he sings "Bacharach Galactica."
More Cons: Have you checked out the programming for MoCCA yet? There's a lot of good stuff, but this panel jumps out as particularly must-attend:
2:00 The Art of the Superhero: When Singular Vision Meets Popular Mythology
Featuring: Frank Miller, Jaime Hernandez, Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, and Dean Haspiel.
Moderated by: Jeff Newelt (SMITH, Heeb, & Royal Flush Magazines).
Cool: Picturebox is publishing a collection of the paintings of Xylor Jane, a grid-oriented, numerology-based set of works that look halfway between pointillist and pixelized -- see a gallery of her work here.