World War Wolk! Jeff brings you the photos!

(The nerd conundrum for the new millennium: who's stronger, Annalee or Graeme?)

Sorry these took so long to post; Douglas's signing is at the start of my workweek and was followed immediately by my garage sale (which turned out great, by the way), and after the last nine weeks or so of six day workweeks when I finally got time off, I totally slacked.

Of course, I've got no right to bitch after meeting Douglas Wolk--not only had the guy only been home 22 hours in the last month (the way he put it was, "22 hours total," which leads me to infer they were non-contiguous hours), but he still had something like 11,000 words to write before(?) he left for Burning Man (which he may be doing today, I can't remember) for his six or so regular columns.

Yeah, he's kind of a dynamo, Douglas, and yet still manages to be an incredibly sweet guy, very low-key, filled with great stories, be they about how he got his new column at The Nation, or one of the bands on his record label. (Yes, Douglas Wolk is that kind of terrifying ultra-achiever: the hyphenate.) Not that I'm an expert on either man, but he really reminds me of Scott McCloud when I first met McCloud at San Diego back in 1990--very, very smart, very kind, self-assured but not content to just rest on accrued laurels. (I hope that doesn't sound like a diss against current day Scott McCloud, by the way, because it's not: it's just that when I met McCloud in 1990 and complimented him on the great work he was doing on Zot!, he thanked me and told me he was leaving the book to do a mammoth how-to on comics, a fact at which I could only stand there and gape. "Well, you've earned my trust as a creator, so if that's what you want to do I'll be there..." I not-very-encouragingly said.)

Anyway, here's just a few photos of the signing, and if you get a chance to turn up for one of Douglas's signings in the future, you should do so because he's great.

(the man himself, Douglas Wolk)

(I don't remember what Douglas was saying here, but it obviously entrancing)

(Douglas Wolk, Peter Wong, Ian Brill, Annalee Newitz, Graeme McMillan... it's like the entire Internet showed up for this photo!)

(Hibbs achieves enlightenment, courtesy of Douglas Wolk)

Guest Review: UNAUTHORIZED AND PROUD OF IT

Not that I'm going to do this very often, (but I thought once was ok) here's a guest P/review of a new film, reviewed by Peter Wong, author of the "Lost in Pictopia" column that runs in ONOMATOPOEIA. A longer version will appear in the next issue of CEO. -B

UNAUTHORIZED AND PROUD OF IT: TODD LOREN'S ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS--(D: Ilko Davidov)--Boy wunderkind Todd Loren created Revolutionary Comics as a medium for melding his love of both rock and roll and comic books. Yet what would have been in theory a dream marriage of disreputable cultures turned into a nightmare...and Loren and the Revolutionary Comics staff thrived on it. Davidov's documentary does a solid job of portraying how this nightmare was self-inflicted on the rock and roll side. With the exception of Mojo Nixon's and Alice Cooper's bits, passable talking head footage discusses how much research and respect the Revolutionary Comics crew brought to creating their unauthorized rock biographies. Well, maybe the New Kids On The Block can be excepted from that categorization.

Yet it mattered little when the music business suits perceived that Loren's comics denied them their rightful tithing. By contrast, the weaker comics industry portions of "Unauthorized" never fully convey why Loren became a comics industry pariah. Loren's financial and emotional manipulation of his talent probably formed part of his bad reputation. But what were the other causes: egotism, homophobia, or something else? The film's Revolutionary Comics samples will not enhance Loren's work. Despite the frequent video animation and manipulation, one can't help noticing how visually unimpressive the samples are. Comics journalist Joe Sacco will not need to worry about competition.

On the other hand, Revolutionary Comics did launch the comics careers of such folks as Terry Dodson and Stuart Immonen. The comics line was also supported by Alice Cooper, Mojo Nixon, and Ice T. By the film's end, a viewer may feel Loren was a man who expanded the First Amendment importance of comic books...or an irritating swine...or a dear friend whose still unsolved murder possibly hints at police homophobia...or a successful schlockmeister. What one will not feel is indifferent. (Film screens 5/13 at 7 PM at The Women's Building in San Francisco as part of the S.F. Documentary Film Festival)