poetry

Of all the strange habits that my friends have, combing through back issues of Starlog on the Internet Archive is probably at the top of the list in a walk. Occasionally, though, sifting through promo pieces for V and Alien Nation turns up something gold, which is exactly what happened this week. While reading the November, 1988 issue of Starlog, Andrew Weiss came upon a contest that offered readers a trip to London to visit the set of Tim Burton's Batman '89. All you had to do was write in and explain why you wanted to meet Batman.

Being the bastard art form that it is, comics are constantly compared to the forms that came before it: wood carving, tapestry, etc. More and more, one can find comparisons to poetry. Just ask Palookaville cartoonist Seth, who compares Charles Schulz' Peanuts to haiku...

It's relatively rare that we get so pure a dosage of Grant Morrison as that seen in a new video released this week by artist Steven Cook, known to comics fans for his illustrations and logo designs in 2000AD, American Virgin, and The Losers, as well as sleeve artwork for bands including Asian Dub Foundation and William Orbit...

Conventions: After years of non-committal shrugging about the complaints by organizers that San Diego Comic Con has outgrown the current infrastructure of the city, San Diego has suddenly turned into that mop from the Swiffer commercial over the idea of losing the mega-convention when in 2012, and most especially its 125K+ crowds...

While poetry doesn't often crossover to comics -- save the occasional Neil Gaiman epigraph -- there are a few exceptions. Like the anthology that editors Andrea Reid and Maya Jewell Zellerare currently compiling titled "Between Saviors and Villains: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry Inspired by American Superheroes," and you can submit between 3-6 poems to them for consideration... Rea