Since I don't have any world shaking things to expound upon today like the overuse of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener or my latest Marvel book, I'll pass on this open letter that Joe Kubert has sent out. The end source of the petition seems more specific than most email petitions (which are largely useless because they're not acceptable as political petitions) and maybe the Polish museum will heed these things more than we do. Here's Joe, laying it out for you...

from the desk of
JOE KUBERT



August 30, 2006


Dear colleague:

I don't usually get involved in international controversies. But I am
outraged by the refusal of the Polish government to return artwork
belonging to a fellow-cartoonist and Auschwitz survivor, Mrs. Dina
Babbitt. And I am writing to ask you to join me in protesting this
injustice.

Deported to Auschwitz as a teenager, Mrs. Babbitt's life was spared by
the infamous war criminal, Dr. Josef Mengele, after he saw a mural of
Snow White that she had painted on the wall of the children's barracks
to soothe the children in their final hours. He then compelled her to
paint portraits of Gypsies upon whom he was performing his barbaric
"experiments."

After the war, Mrs. Babbitt relocated to California, where she worked as
an animator for Warner Brothers and Jay Ward Productions. Among other
things, she illustrated such characters as Wile E. Coyote, Cap'n Crunch,
and Tweety Bird for many years.

Some years ago, unbeknownst to Mrs. Babbitt, eight of the paintings she
did at Auschwitz resurfaced and were acquired by the Auschwitz-Birkenau
State Museum, a Polish government institution on the site of the former
death camp. Mrs. Babbitt visited the museum and verified that they are
hers (they are even signed "Dina 1944"), but the Poles refused to give
them back, claiming they are legally the property of the museum.

Four years ago, when I wrote the book "Yossel," about a teenage
cartoonist whose life was spared by the Nazis because they were amused
by his drawings, I did not know that there had been a real-life case
that bore similarities to my book. I was stunned to learn of Mrs.
Babbitt, and even more stunned by the Polish government's position.

Together with officials of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust
Studies, an organization with which I have been active, I have prepared
a petition to the Polish authorities. It is intended to be signed
specifically by cartoonists, animators, and comic book artists. Adam,
Andy, and I are very much hoping that you will join us.

To have your name added to the petition, please send an email to the
Wyman Institute's director, Dr. Rafael Medoff, at: rafaelmedoff
@aol.com.

With thanks in advance for your support,



Sincerely,

Joe Kubert,
President
Joe Kubert School of Cartoon
& Graphic Art, Inc.
37 Myrtle Avenue
Dover, NJ 07801

Ye mighty, and behold. A preview at PopCulture Shock. To all those who told me when I was a little boy that I'd never be able to live my dream of having the X-Men fight a rose bush, I say FIE!

But we're an 8-planet solar system now.



Hey, Spidey, that's way out of line. In some solar systems, Pluto would have Jupiter-like status! Also you may have seen the Marvel solicits go up the other day, and among them is the RETURN OF NAMORA in AGENTS OF ATLAS #4. For some reason they keep making faded jpegs that don't show off the nice solid blacks Tomm Coker uses, so I just adjusted levels and made a new image that you can spread around. I'd like to somehow make an event out of her return, she's been gone for quite a while and she will be rounding out the team nicely as heavy hitter. Here's your oceanic image for the day...

General Mills and I differ wildly on what amount of freeze-dried fruit a "burst" is, I'll say that. Sure, we're still out of the dark ages when Raisin Bran could get by with putting four raisins in a whole box, but not by much.

...I have to admit, with only legos to express himself, David Oakes makes a compelling argument for 3D Man's inclusion on the Agents of Atlas team.

There's a hefty (yet blurry) preview of AGENTS OF ATLAS #2 making the rounds, so look it over, decide to order it, and call your local retailer. Please. My favorite is this one at Comics Continuum, because it gives us an AOA book written by Justin and Jimmy, with art by Linser. As of when I posted anyway, maybe it will be corrected later.

You may even want to go snag some avatar icons from agentsofatlas.com, which will be continually adding promotional stuff and info. This is the best Tomm Coker cover ever.

mystifying link

Silver Bullet Comicbooks has a pretty neat setup for previewing books. Click the link and you can see a few pages from tomorrow's MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #4. I can't believe I can't find any art from it on my computer. Anyway, you're going to want this one, because it's totally Airwolf, as you'll see from the first page.

...with me talking to Caleb Mozzocco at the new site BamKapow. I don't think for a minute anyone's going to read what he asks me though, once they look to the side and see the link to half-naked girls wearin' Supergirl outfits.

Thanks to Steve Lieber for rounding up the latest batch of Atlas love- it really gets me psyched as I write the last couple of issues. Here's some:

Ain't It Cool News|Comix Experience | Wally Whateley | Newsarama | Lex Luthor | Barbelith | Jack Ketch | Signalbleed | Broken Frontier | Scoop | Big Monkey Comics | Well Red Press | The X-Axis | Actifforum | Dadiceguy | Leave Your Spandex

Also I told Jon in Iowa City I'd address the non-presence of 3D-Man in Agents of Atlas as a sort of FAQ when readers ask that question. So when you see people wondering aloud online, feel free to repost this if you want.

As for 3D... the What If #9 story was such a neat premise that has been touched upon a few times that it offers a good path for us to connect to Marvel's past. That's something we really wanted to do, since Marvel doesn't make use of its pre-'60's history much beyond The Invaders. But 3D Man is a completely retconned character who didn't exist before the 70's, and it's confusing to suggest that he was one like Marvel Boy, Venus, Namora and others that Everett, Maneely, Kirby and the Timely/Atlas creators worked on. He was more or less shoehorned in the What If story to be a counterpart for Captain America, and since we're following what was established since (that this team was never called The Avengers), there's no need for that.
I think some people should be happy because this frees up the character to be used on its own somewhere else. Though my suggestion to anyone would be- and I'll do this myself if it ends up being me- change what his abilities are all about. Because being "3x whatever" is hard to quantify in a useful way. Listeners to This American Life may have already heard of this particular dilemma on their Superpowers episode. The segment has Jonathan Morris of the Ape Law/ Gone and Forgotten website. Listening to him may put it in perspective a bit.
But a talking gorilla with machine guns? Makes perfect sense.

I had a good talk with Tom Spurgeon at THE COMICS REPORTER for the Sunday Magazine. As a veteran interviewer going back to the best years of The Comics Journal, Tom was able to make me give straight answers instead of the usual snakeoil I sell everybody. Read how I compare comics people to the Amish!

Spread 'em around, please. Thanks to intern Eric for laboring in the Photoshop mines!











And heck, before someone else does it without trying to match the font...

This is pretty incredible. In just the first day out, Agents of Atlas reviews have started coming in, and the rest of the creative team and I are overwhelmed. Thanks all of you who have helped get the word out on this book. Here are some of the reviews so far:


UPDATE: More reviews!

Silver Bullet Comicbooks

Big Monkey Comics

Stumblebum Studios

Dave Van Domelen

Velocity Comics

Comics Nexus

Paperback Reader

Dewey's Comics

Wizard

Comics Should Be Good


Comic Bloc has collected postings into an Atlas Forum.

And if you want to read an earlier adventure with the Agents, there's a serial story running at the Temple of Atlas weblog. Go to the index at right and start from the beginning!

AGENTS OF ATLAS #1! Don't wait for the trade, go get it NOW! People who follow my Adventures work be aware that it's rated T1 for 13 and up. That's because Gorilla Man has a potty mouth and Venus keeps misplacing her clothes. Now, let's go clear off those shelves so retailers can reorder more!