2009 January
NYCC | Art Spiegelman keynotes ICv2′s Graphic Novel Conference
With the New York Comic Con coming up Feb. 6-8, we’ll be collecting and posting information on the various things you can do and see while at the show. If you’re a publisher, creator, retailer or otherwise exhibiting at the show, feel free to drop me an email with your booth schedule, any comics you might be debuting, giveaways or any other fun stuff you have planned for the show.
General information: Ticket info | Panels | Autographs | 2009 ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference | Blog
• ICv2 has announced details on the Graphic Novel Conference they host the Thursday before the convention, which will include a keynote address from Art Spiegelman and panels on topics like comics on the web, social networks and literary adaptations. Note that this conference isn’t open to the general public, but “is open only to those who hold a Professional or Exhibitor Pass,” the site says.
- January 22, 2009 @ 05:30 AM by JK Parkin
Boy, this viral marketing thing is quite exciting, isn’t it?
- January 22, 2009 @ 01:32 AM by Larry Young
BOOM! launches non-evil Mark Waid website
Mark Waid
BOOM! Studios sent out a press release today to announce the launch of MarkWaid.com — apparently the good version of the site I linked to yesterday, MarkWaidisevil.com. The new site hosts a blog by Mark, which right now just has a welcome message up that promises “fresh material every day, so set a bookmark or your RSS feed. There’ll be weekly vlogs, podcasts, rants, writing edumacation, special guests, and other surprises.”
Also of note for Waid fans — he’s been blogging every Wednesday over at Kung Fu Monkey. In today’s entry, he shares a pitch he did for an Aquaman series with the late Mike Wieringo back in 2003.
- January 21, 2009 @ 01:50 PM by JK Parkin
Send us your shelf porn!
Welcome to the second edition of what we hope will be a weekly (or at least ongoing) feature, Send Us Your Shelf Porn.
The idea is simple: We want to see what your what your comic collection looks like. Send us photos of your shelves and long boxes to me at cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet and we’ll post it here every Wednesday at Robot 6 for everyone to ooo and aaah over.
This week’s shelf porn comes courtesy of Marvel.com editor Ryan Penagos, who sent us photos of his shelves, focused mainly, as he says, “on hardcovers and TPBs.”
Click on the link below to see more of Penagos’ photos.
- January 21, 2009 @ 10:26 AM by Chris Mautner
DC announces “Origins and Omens” creative teams
Justice Society #24
When DC Comics’ February solicitations came out, they announced that each issue would include an “Origins and Omens” back-up feature that would lay the groundwork for the Green Lantern: Blackest Night mini-series and other 2009 events.
Yesterday DC sent out the list of creative teams working on the back-ups, which for the most part are by the current writer … I think the only exceptions are Birds of Prey (Kevin Van Hook), Justice League (Len Wein) and Justice Society (by incoming writer Matthew Sturges) :
- January 21, 2009 @ 10:18 AM by JK Parkin
Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related items
Diamond Comic Distributors
• At ICv2.com, retailer Steve Bennett joins the chorus of those calling Diamond’s new order threshold “the death of independent comics.” There is, however, a glimmer of hope in his article: “I could get mad about it but the truth is you can’t fight the cold equations; given current economic conditions I can’t blame anyone for maximizing profits. The answer, as it so often is, the internet. It’s still fairly inexpensive putting your comics online and while the audience for non-superhero comics is limited in comic shops your potential readership online is unlimited. But if you’re more interested in having someone else do it for you I’m guessing there’ll always be someone more than willing.”
• Tom Spurgeon has more from AdHouse Publisher Chris Pitzer regarding yesterday’s announcement that he’s canceling plans for Superior Showcase #4.
• Warner Bros. Entertainment is eliminating 800 jobs, which amounts to 10 percent of its global workforce. The breakdown of the numbers seems to vary from source to source, but it looks as if 300 people will be laid off, 200 open positions will remained unfilled, and 300 jobs will be outsourced. The studio’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., is taking the brunt of the cutbacks. Nikki Finke has more details.
• PW Comics Week reports that while early ticket sales for New York Comic-Con lag behind last year’s, organizers expect numbers to pick up in the final weeks before the Feb. 6-8 show. The article features generally upbeat quotes from representatives of companies who will exhibit at the convention.
• The sports-memorabilia market is taking a hit from the economy, too. Glen Soustek, owner of Westlake Cards, Comics and Coins in Roselle, Ill., says it’s “as bad as a whole generation of people can remember.”
- January 21, 2009 @ 08:26 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Final Crisis #1
Crime | Authorities have arrested the last of three suspects in the April shooting of retailer David Pirkola, owner of Apparitions Comics and Books in Kentwood, Mich. [The Grand Rapids Press]
Creators | Jeffrey Klaehn wraps up his two-part interview with writer Grant Morrison, who talks about DC’s Final Crisis, and the nature of superhero comics: “Superhero comics, like all pop trash art, tend to function as reliable barometers of cultural change. … In recent years, we’ve seen the superhero as celebrity and as super-soldier, tool of the Military Industrial Complex. The coming wave is more escapist, more psychedelic in tone. The Hero home from the War. The superhero always mirrors the emotional needs of his audience, and comic book creators adapt—sometimes quite unconsciously—to provide the kind of protector and role model each age demands.” [PW Comics Week]
Superhero comics | Tucker Stone lays out the reasons why Marvel’s Secret Invasion worked from a commercial standpoint. [comiXology]
Creators | Often-controversial Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder stirred a little more controversy at a speaking engagement on Monday when he said that, to him, President Obama isn’t black because he isn’t descended from a slave. “The person who is one of us in the White House is Michelle Obama and her momma,” he said. [Palladium-Item]
Creators | Get Your War On creator David Rees holds court on the Bush administration, and the end of the webcomic. [National Post]
Creators | Richard Starkings remembers legendary editor Archie Goodwin, “the nicest man in comics.” [Don't Think of the Elephantmen]
Creators | TV critic Mark Dawidziak profiles comics writer Brian K. Vaughan, focusing on his work on the television drama Lost. [The Cleveland Plain Dealer]
Best of the year | Bloggers Sandy Bilus, Matthew J. Brady and Sean Collins list their favorite comics of 2008.
- January 21, 2009 @ 06:37 AM by Kevin Melrose
The five most criminally ignored books of 2008: No. 3, I Live Here
I Live Here
“Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born? I hasten to inform him it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.”
As with Most Outrageous, it’s not too hard to figure out why I Live Here, actress Mia Kirshner’s anthology of tales concerning with refugees across the globe, didn’t win more acclaim. It’s a hell of a depressing book. It’s a constant, ugly reminder of just how lucky we fat, beknighted North Americans are; how well-off and satisfying our lives are and how we may complain or think we’re suffering, but really, we don’t even have the slightest fucking clue what real suffering is like or what it entails.
- January 21, 2009 @ 06:30 AM by Chris Mautner
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Abe Sapien – The Drowning
Abe Sapien: The Drowning
Abe Sapien: The Drowning
Written by Mike Mignola; Illustrated by Jason Shawn Alexander
Dark Horse; $17.95
One of the things I love most about Hellboy comics is their consistent ability to creep me out. I don’t know that I’ve ever been genuinely frightened by a comic, but there’ve been a handful of times when one has given me the chills and most of those were written by Mike Mignola. Abe Sapien: The Drowning joins them.
It’s the story of Abe’s first solo adventure, so it’s already got a lot going for it. Abe is one of the most interesting characters in Hellboy’s cast. His mysterious background, Civil War connection, aquatic powers, and genial nature all make him an attractive curiosity and a story focused entirely on him has been a long time coming.
In The Drowning, Hellboy is on a leave of absence from the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, so when the journal of a famous English occultist turns up claiming to reveal the location of an ancient, powerful dagger, the BPRD sends Abe and a team of back-up agents to retrieve it. It’s supposedly a routine mission, but Abe isn’t confident in his ability to handle it. He reluctantly accepts the assignment, assured by his colleagues and superiors that he’s ready.
- January 21, 2009 @ 06:25 AM by Michael May
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 028
As always, head over to the archives page to catch the whole story from the beginning. Be sure to check back Friday for the next installment. I’m kinda curious as to how this is all gonna go, myself.
- January 21, 2009 @ 06:16 AM by Matt Maxwell
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: NBM’s plans for early 2009
Miss Don't Touch Me
Before we begin today’s run-down, a quick word on the dates listed below. I’m going by the catalog I received in the mail here, and not by the dates listed on the company’s Web site. In other words, even though NBM says the next Trondheim book is coming out this month, I’m saying March, because that’s what it says in their catalog. I apologize in advance if this screws anyone up.
Now with that out of the way, let’s move on …
- January 21, 2009 @ 06:00 AM by Chris Mautner
AdHouse Books cancels plans for Superior Showcase #4
Superior Showcase #3
Diamond Comic Distributors’ new order threshold has claimed its first known casualty: the next installment of AdHouse Books’ Superior Showcase series.
“I was working on bringing a new issue out this summer that would have been filled with new talents that I’ve met over the last year,” Adhouse Publisher Chris Pitzer revealed this afternoon on the company’s blog. “People whose voice may or may not have been heard before. But, I’m going to kill that issue now. Why? Well, at $2.95 there’s no way I’d get orders to put it anywhere near the new threshold. Numbers for #3 were not that great, and I can’t imagine #4 would improve.”
The revised policy, made public on Friday, increases the order minimums for publishers from $1,500 to $2,500. That means the average $3 comic would have to sell more than 2,100 copies, a difficult feat for many small publishers, even in better economic times. (The number of copies varies depending on the discount offered to Diamond.)
In the blog post, Pitzer stated that he could release the issue online, or pursue other publishing and distribution routes. However, ” just figure that my OGN schedule is full enough for the year that I’m going to go ahead and not worry with SS #4.”
He also echoed sentiments expressed by SLG Publishing’s Jennifer de Guzman and others, saying, “Comics are dead, long live OGNs.”
- January 20, 2009 @ 12:11 PM by Kevin Melrose
New threshold ‘probably means the end of independent serialized comics’
Diamond Comic Distributors
Reaction continues to what likely will be the big story for some time to come for small publishers and creators – news that Diamond Comic Distributors is increasing its order minimums from $1,500 to $2,500:
• In a post ominously titled “Beginning of the End for the Direct Market,” retailer Christopher Butcher says the increase in the order minimum “is going to hurt the DM worse than Marvel’s Heroes World Debacle did.” He also points out that the first volume of Scott Pilgrim wouldn’t have met the new marker, based on its original orders.
• Jennifer de Guzman, editor-in-chief of SLG Publishing, asserts the rising threshold “puts all smaller publishers in a difficult position, and probably means the end of independent serialized comics.”
• Heidi MacDonald has a response from Oni Press Publisher Joe Nozemack, who stresses that the direct market isn’t his company’s only sales outlet. He also suggest that, in light of the higher minimums, Diamond reconsider its 3-percent reorder fee for non-Premier publishers.
• Rich Johnston looks back at the previous minimum-order increase, and considers what the new one means in the current marketplace: “Most well-selling indie books will remain. But entry to market will be severely restricted. You’re going to see less of the kind of books that come from nowhere to suddenly take prominence, like Mouse Guard.”
- January 20, 2009 @ 09:21 AM by Kevin Melrose
Inauguration Day comics
Hope
Blogger Sean Kleefeld collects comic strips with an Inauguration Day theme … which I’m posting just as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
Related: Dan Clowes and other Bay Area authors on Barack Obama
- January 20, 2009 @ 09:03 AM by JK Parkin
Just how evil is Mark Waid?
Yesterday Rich Johnston showed off a new shirt making its way through the Diamond warehouse, declaring “Mark Waid is Evil.” Now banner ads are popping up on the Bendis Board:
Waid banner on Bendis Board
The banner links off to this site, a placeholder, most likely, for Waid’s as-yet-unannounced project for BOOM! Studios. No doubt we’ll find out more at the New York Comic Con.
- January 20, 2009 @ 08:54 AM by JK Parkin