Tuesday, October 25, 2005

I was just mourning the loss of Fanboy Rampage, so I give you these fine links, which have nothing to do with comics message boards, but Graeme was braver and stronger than I could ever be, bar a hefty injection of Super Soldier Serum:

IRS fuckhead versus asshole comic shop owner!

An Internal Revenue Service agent accused of stealing comic books from a Las Vegas store was previously suspected of swiping other books from the store without paying, the store's owner testified in court Monday.

"I'd been watching him for months, actually," said Steven Riddle, owner of Velvet Underground Comics, 4241 W. Charleston Blvd.
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"I knew he had been hiding comic books (and) taking them out of the store," Riddle said.

Riddle made the allegations Monday during a contentious preliminary hearing for IRS agent Bert Lott in Las Vegas Justice Court. Authorities arrested Lott on a burglary count after they said he took 14 comic books from Riddle's store near Arville Street without paying in July.

Tempers flared during the proceedings in the courtroom of Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis.

Just minutes into the hearing, defense attorney Bill Terry asked Lippis to remove a Review-Journal photographer from her courtroom and to confiscate the film in the photographer's camera. Terry argued that permission to allow photos in the courtroom had not been formally granted.

Lippis denied both requests.

Later, Terry repeatedly raised his voice in questioning Riddle, asking whether the store owner keeps records necessary for tax purposes.

Riddle, visibly shaken, said Terry "is trying to upset me."

Then, Riddle got on the judge's nerves because he continued to talk through attorneys' objections. He also did not directly answer a number of questions from Terry. An exasperated Lippis finally delayed the hearing a week

Thanks to Kristin, who is a very nice girl that I like a lot.

Belle and Sebastian get a comic!

The British band Belle and Sebastian's leader, Stuart Murdoch, is a longtime comics fan, and plenty of cartoonists return his affection. Early next year, as the band releases its next album, Image will publish Put the Book Back On the Shelf: A Belle and Sebastian Anthology, a collection of short comics stories, in color and black�and white, adapted from the band's older lyrics.

It'll be drawn by several dozen cartoonists, including Andi Watson, Leela Corman, Laurenn McCubbin (who designed the cover) and eight of the artists from the Flight anthologies. "There's a pretty wide range of material,"says Image editor Eric Stephenson. "Some of the artists have done straight interpretations, others have more surrealistic takes on the songs, and a few use the lyrics as a counterpoint to what's going on in the panels." Stephenson's talking to songwriter Stephen Duffy about a similar future volume.

Thanks to the PW Comics email newsletter for this bit of joy! If you like bits of joy, you can sign up for it for free by visiting this page.

Questionable eBay auctions for movie posters!

V is for Vendetta
27 x 40 SIGNED POSTER by
Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea, Tim Pigott Smith, Alan Moore, Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, & Joel Silver

Thanks to Rich Johnston.