Comics A.M. | Maine governor jokes about shooting cartoonist

CBR

By Brigid Alverson

Published Jun 26, 2015

Maine Gov. Paul LePage joked that he'd like to "shoot" Bangor Daily News cartoonist George Danby. However, Danby isn't laughing.

FILE - In this file photo made Sunday, May 6, 2012, Gov. Paul LePage speaks at the Maine GOP convention. In his effort to cut state spending, Gov. LePage proposed revamping the state’s Medicaid program. Supporters of the cuts say spending is unsustainable and that Maine provides Medicaid coverage to 35 percent more of the population that the national average. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Political cartoons | While speaking to a youth leadership group, Maine Gov. Paul LePage was asked by Nick Danby, the son of Bangor Daily News cartoonist George Danby, what he thought of his father's work. LePage's response: "I'd like to shoot him." The audience laughed, but the joke triggered a storm of criticism in the media, coming as it does in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings. The elder Danby certainly didn't find it funny, saying that while he is critical of the governor, it's well within the boundaries of satire. And, he added, "My other thought was, what if this was reversed? If I had made a comment. I'd be in big trouble today." [The Huffington Post]

Digital comics | Hoopla, the digital comics service for libraries, has added DC comics to its offerings; the service launches with a list of graphic novels and single-issue comics that includes The Dark Knight Returns and V for Vendetta, and more are on the way. [Engadget]

Digital comics | David Lloyd talks about Aces Weekly, the digital comics service he co-founded in 2012. [Tripwire]

Creators | Rhymes With Orange celebrated its 20th anniversary last week, and creator Hilary Price blogged about the highs and lows of her two-decade run. [Rhymes With Orange]

Creators | At 10 years old, Sasha Harmon Matthews has already completed a comic and gotten a lot of buzz on the Internet. Matthews made the comic, Sitting Bull: A Life Story, for a school assignment, and her father sent it to Boing Boing, which published it in full. Because of the interest that generated, they took the comic to a local independent bookstore, which is now carrying the comic and will also carry Matthews' next work, Pompeii: Lost and Found. [DNAInfo]

Graphic novels | Matthew Meylikhov rounds up 10 "OEL Manga" worth a look, although it's worth noting that most of the books he mentions were never marketed as such. It is true, though, that the creators, including Paul Pope, Brandon Graham, Becky Cloonan and Faith Erin Hicks, were inspired by manga, and that shows in the art. [Paste Magazine]

Digital comics | The digital service Trajectory has signed a deal with Image Comics to provide worldwide digital distribution for its work, launching with 324 graphic novels and then expanding to include single-issue comics. The deal will make the comics available to libraries (via services such as Overdrive and Hoopla) and e-book retailers in North America, South America, Europe and China. [Publishers Weekly]

Retailing | The local public radio station covers the 20th-anniversary celebration of Alternate Reality Comics in Las Vegas, Nevada. [KNPR]

Retailing | Niko Vercelletto explains why he thinks Midtown Comics is the best comic shop in New York City. [City Guide]

Exhibits | The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum has announced two new exhibits, which will open July 25 and run through January 24: "Seeing the Great War," a collection of World War I cartoons, and "What Fools These Mortals Be," an exhibit of work from Puck magazine. [Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum]