Holy crap, this really is a list of 1,000 things to like about comics! Part of Tom Spurgeon’s web site of comics news, reviews, interviews and commentary.

“¡Journalista! is TCJ.com’s news and commentary weblog, updated every weekday. Its author, Dirk Deppey, served as Managing Editor of The Comics Journal for just over two years. He lives somewhere in Southern Arizona, and hopes to someday figure out how to fix the timestamp on this page.”

“Two plumbers working on a sink with an alligator coming out of the faucet? Yes. Two drunks brainstorming about starting the Drinking Network? No. A guy with his hand chopped off pointing the way to the Islamic court? Ahhhhhh . . . maybe. It’s Wednesday afternoon and David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker, is picking cartoons. A few minutes ago, Bob Mankoff, the magazine’s cartoon editor, entered Remnick’s office carrying three wire baskets and 81 cartoons.”

This one is completely self-explanatory, and ridiculously funny. (Thanks fimoculous.com!)

“Revealing more about himself than he ever has, Garry Trudeau gives us tantalizing clues about what’s behind his venerable comic strip’s recent burst of genius, and pain.”

“Comic Art is the only beautifully produced, full-color art magazine focusing on the comic medium. The material covered is wide-ranging: newspaper strip, magazine panel, and comic book art, both historical and contemporary, and we consistently feature the most well-respected writers from both within and outside the field. Comic Art emphasizes outstanding print quality and lush production values: illustrations are shot directly–and in color–from both original art and obscure, rarely reproduced printed material.”

“Back in 1988, Kurt Busiek was putting together what he called Ad Astra, an anthology of original science fiction stories in comic book format set in a shared universe in which humanity was beginning its spread beyond the planet Earth. It would later see life as Open Space. Because he wanted this project to really work as SF, Kurt wanted to bring in SF authors to do true SF. Most of those authors had never worked in comics, and Kurt wrote ‘On Writing for Comics’ as a tutorial to help ease the transition from the pure prose of written SF to the largely visual world of comics. Some caveats: The memo largely covers script format, but contains some advice on how to think in comic book terms. Much of its text is specifically oriented towards Ad Astra. There are, obviously, none of the promised enclosures. Nonetheless, the memo offers significant content for would-be comics writers.”

“Kristi asked yesterday about good graphic novels for book groups. In response, here’s a list of comics that I think nearly any adult would find entertaining and interesting. Note the absence of superheroes.”

From peterme: “Today I attended Kevin Cheng and Jane Jao’s ‘Communicating Concepts Through Comics’ presentation. Download the slides in order to follow along with my notes… ‘Comics are great for solicitating feedback on concepts. To present many ideas and get responses.’”

“My reason for shifting to Drawn and Quarterly/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux revolved around Norton’s unwrapping, stickering, and then reshrinkwrapping the bookstore copies of The ACME Novelty Library #16 without my approval. Quite admittedly, this was done to correct a very boneheaded error of my own (I’d stupidly made the bar code too small to be scanned)…”

“Each and every day a comic strip abuses the use of the silent second-to-last panel.”

“The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) offers a course of study designed for a small group of dedicated students with a passion and appreciation for graphic novels, storytelling, writing, comics, and design. Experienced and internationally recognized cartoonists, writers, and designers will teach classes.” (Thanks Veer!)

“Flowchart art uses a multilinear diagram that convey stories or experiences. Examples such as EGBG’s ‘Telemarketing Counterscript’ were discussed earlier on WRT in relation to interactive fiction mapping practices. Some other examples of flowchart art include works by Scott McCloud, Chris Ware, and Craig Robinson.” (Thanks Waxy!)

“Kazu Kibuishi is the comics creator who makes Copper (and other comics). In this three-page tutorial, Kibushi gives us a detailed look at the process of creating a comic from pencilling to inking to coloring, with great photos and descriptive material.”

“Brian Walker has been organizing museum and gallery exhibitions devoted to comics for the last 30 years and he recently wrote an acclaimed two-volume history of newspaper strips, The Comics Since 1945 (Abrams, 2002) and The Comics Before 1945 (Abrams, 2004). He was the co-director of The Museum of Cartoon Art from 1974-1992, and will be again working with the museum in its forthcoming reincarnation as The National Cartoon Museum to be housed in the Empire State Building. Son of Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker, he often remarks that he was born with ink in his veins.”