2009 February
Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related news
Viz Media
• Anime News Network and ICv2.com confirm an earlier report that Viz Media has laid off “multiple people.”
CEO Hidemi Fukuhara wouldn’t provide details, but released the following, rather vague, statement: “Viz Media is in the process of refining its focus and is restructuring to adjust to changing industry and financial market realities. Viz feels confident that with these changes, the company will be more streamlined to face the current economic climate.”
• Rich Johnston reports that DC Comics is expected to make another round of layoffs in mid-March, part of massive cutbacks by parent company Warner Bros. Two or three mid-level editors and a few advertising staff members could be lost.
The first round of cuts at DC was announced in January, when Senior Editor Bob Schreck, Subscriptions Manager Christine Sawicki and several staff members at MAD magazine. Those layoffs coincided with the move of MAD to a quarterly schedule, and the elimination of MAD Kids and MAD Classics.
• Anime News Network reports that Kodansha Limited, Japan’s largest publisher, posted a $81.2-million loss last year — its largest ever — because of a decline in advertising revenues and manga and magazine sales. Kodansha publishes Weekly Shonen Magazine, Monthly Shonen Magazine, Morning, xxxHOLIC, Tsubasa, Fairy Tail and Love Hina, among other magazines and manga.
• Robot 6 contributor Chris Mautner discusses the elimination of his newspaper’s books page and the end of his weekly comic-book column.
- February 24, 2009 @ 06:29 AM by Kevin Melrose
Munroe’s Rapture rolls into the Motor City
Sword of My Mouth #1
I really liked Jim Munroe and Salgood Sam’s “post-Rapture” graphic novel Therefore Repent!, which came out at the end of 2007. Imagine its the end of the world, the Book of Revelation was right and all the good folks were zapped up to Heaven … that’s where the story of a couple called Raven and Mummy begins.
Munroe’s been working on the sequel, Sword of My Mouth, with artist Shannon Gerard. While Repent! saw angels with machine guns bringing the hammer down in Chicago, this one features Famine of Four Horsemen fame riding into a Detroit where crackhouses are being replaced with farms.
The mini-series from IDW starts in May, and to help people get caught up on the story, Munroe is offering the complete Therefore Repent! online for free. Check out his blog for info on where you can download it. (It’s also for sale in his store if you want to actually touch it).
- February 24, 2009 @ 06:04 AM by JK Parkin
Watchmen‘s legacy: ’20 years of very grim and often pretentious stories’
Alan Moore
Wired magazine has a lengthy Q&A with Alan Moore that’s just paragraph after paragraph of entertaining reading. It’s like the “Best of Alan Moore,” with the writer holding court on the impact of Watchmen, superheroes, his relationship with DC Comics, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and what comics does better than other mediums.
It’s filled with quotes that likely will leave critics of Moore, and/or fans of superhero comics, seething, and the writer’s devotees nodding in agreement. A little sampling:
On superhero comics: “I have to say that I haven’t seen a comic, much less a superhero comic, for a very, very long time now—years, probably almost a decade since I’ve really looked at one closely. But it seems to be that things that were meant satirically or critically in Watchmen now seem to be simply accepted as kind of what they appear to be on the surface. So yeah, I’m pretty jaundiced about the entire ‘caped crusader’ concept at the moment.”
On the impact of Watchmen: “At the time I thought that a book like Watchmen would perhaps unlock a lot of potential creativity, that perhaps other writers and artists in the industry would see it and would think, ‘This is great, this shows what comics can do. We can now take our own ideas and thanks to the success of Watchmen we’ll have a better chance of editors giving us a shot at them.’ I was hoping naively for a great rash of individual comic books that were exploring different storytelling ideas and trying to break new ground.
- February 24, 2009 @ 05:24 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim: Jeet Heer, Part I
Walt & Skeezix, Vol. 2
Jeet Heer is a critic and scholar who makes me realize I’m incredibly ignorant of the comics medium on so many levels. Therefore when I had the opportunity to interview him recently, to say I was intimidated (even though it was via the comfort of email) is an understatement. We covered a great deal of ground in our email exchange, but it is so diverse while at the same time succinct, I have opted to split the interview into two parts. The second part (found here) focuses on Heer’s collaboration with Kent Worcester. My thanks to Heer for his time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: What is the labor breakdown between you, Chris Ware and Chris Oliveros in terms of editing the collections of Frank King’s Gasoline Alley? Who handles what on the projects?
Jeet Heer: I see the Walt and Skeezix books as truly collaborative efforts. With each volume, Chris Ware and I make a trip out to see Frank King’s family, collect material and decide what the theme is going to be. I try to shape my writing around the visual material: thus in volume 3, we had a lot of photos of Gasoline Alley toys and merchandizing, thanks in large part to Chris’s efforts as a collector. See those photos inspired me to write about King’s ability to spin off merchandizing based on is characters. Chris Oliveros, of course, handles the production end of things, which is a big part of the book’s appeal (and a big reason why Drawn and Quarterly books are so treasured). I’m less involved in the production decision, but I often eavesdrop as an interested observer and it’s fascinating to listen to the two Chrises talk about paper stock, the size of books, the color scheme of the covers and other details. For both Ware and Oliveros, book making is truly an art. This is important to bear in mind because until recently, book production wasn’t a big part of comics: most comic strip collection and comic books were shoddily put together. To be sure, there were exceptions like the Barnaby books of the 1940s, or Walt Kelly’s warm and inviting Pogo paperbacks of the 1950s. But the real revolution in comics came in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to four people: Francoise Mouly, Chip Kidd, Chris Ware, and Chris Oliveros. The four really taught us that to do justice to comics as a visual form, the book design had to be specifically tailored to show the art in the best light.
- February 23, 2009 @ 01:12 PM by Tim O'Shea
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 042
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok.
Ah, so that’s what those filthy bloodsuckers have been up to. I was kinda wondering about ‘em.
Oh, hell. Wonder-Con is at the end of *this* week? I coulda sworn it was next week. I got stuff to do. Lotsa stuff.
Hit the archives to read the story from the beginning while I scramble around like a headless chicken to get ready for the show.
- February 23, 2009 @ 11:38 AM by Matt Maxwell
Kupperberg: Stop thinking, start writing
Comic veteran Paul Kupperberg has a new column at ComicsCareer.com, and in his first one, he tells would-be writers to stop thinking so much:
Paul Kupperberg
Doesn’t sound possible. Writing — I’ll use writing as my example because that is, after all, what I do — is a thought process, putting words on paper in a certain order to achieve a specific narrative or emotional effect. Inform your reader of the locale or the time period, describe a character or setting, evoke fear or sadness, make them horny, whatever. You need to think about that before you jump in and start writing. This stuff doesn’t just happen by itself.
Well, it does and it doesn’t. Sure, you sit down and say, okay, in this scene, I want to achieve this thing that either moves the plot forward or reveals something about your characters, or both. In my recently completed mystery novel, a 1950s period story, I have one scene intended to convey new clues to the police detective. He’s talking to a waitress and short order cook in a diner while they drop the requisite information and plot points under his questioning. The scene took on a life of its own and became a set piece more about the character’s love of pie — he eats 3 or 4 pieces during the interview — and his integrity: He won’t take the pie as a freebie and insists on paying because he intends to come back often for the pie and wants to be a welcome visitor instead of a crooked cop on the take.
Much more at the link. Also, if you are interested in working in comics, check out ComicsCareer.com’s ten questions series … the most recent of which, incidentally, is with Kupperberg.
- February 23, 2009 @ 10:34 AM by JK Parkin
Collect This Now! The Julius Acquefacques series
L'Origine
Welcome to Collect This Now, a weekly (or, if I’m hungover, semi-weekly) column where we look at good comics that for whatever reason have never been translated, archived or just collected into trade paperback.
It’s a pretty good time to be an English-only Eurocomics fan. A number of great contemporary artists and cartoonists that have been reshaping the comic book landscape on the other side of the ocean are slowly but steadily having their work translated and released here. In the past few years we’ve seen great works by such folk as Lewis Trondheim, Dupuy and Berberian, Joann Sfar, David B. and many others available here thanks to the hard work of a number of small publishers.
There’s one author (well, probably more than one, but I have to limit myself for now), however, whose absence seems rather gaping to my mind and that’s Marc-Antoine Mathieu. More specifically, it’s the series that’ he’s best known for: Julius Corentin Acquefacques, prisonnier des reves.
- February 23, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Where were you when Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #2 came out?
Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #2
Blogger, retailer and calendar-watcher Mike Sterling dutifully observes the third annual “Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk Day,” which marks the third anniversary of the release of Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #2.
You remember that miniseries, don’t you? It’s the one by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof and Leinil Francis Yu, launched by Marvel with some fanfare in December 2005. The second issue followed in February 2006. However, the third issue — originally solicited for April 2006, resolicited several times and then, finally, canceled — never materialized.
The future of the planned six-issue miniseries became a recurring topic at Marvel convention panels until, at least year’s Comic-Con International, Lindelof handed Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada the script to Issue 6 in a staged production. That was a year after Lindelof said he’d turned in the script to the fifth issue.
Hey, Lost takes up a lot of time.
As Sterling notes, the third issue now is scheduled for release on March 4, on the heels of “all-new printings” of the first two issues — reminders that Marvel, y’know, actually published those issues many moons ago. They’re like time capsules, really.
If everything goes well, Ultimate Wolverine will haved reached his ripped-off legs — thanks, Ultimate Hulk! — around the time Marvel hits the destruct/reset button on the Ultimate Universe.
- February 23, 2009 @ 09:38 AM by Kevin Melrose
WonderCon | Hero Initiative, Up and a Strange(ways) offer
WonderCon kicks off this Friday at the Moscone Center South in San Francisco. The show welcomes special guests Jim Lee, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Brian Azzarello, Jill Thompson, Alex Robinson and many more Feb. 27-March 1.
From now until the show kicks off, I’ll be posting round-ups of what various publishers, creators, retailers, etc. have planned for the show. If you’d like your booth schedule, special event or other information included, drop me an email.
General information: Programming | Registration | Special guests | Autographs
• WonderCon’s posted some additional autograph opportunities on their site related to the Wonder Woman DVD and a new FOX show called Sit Down, Shut Up. Henry Winkler, Will Arnett and Virginia Madsen, among others, will be on hand to meet fans and sign autographs.
- February 23, 2009 @ 08:59 AM by JK Parkin
‘S’ marks the spot
An assortment of Superman emblems
Flickr member “fengschwing” compiles an assortment of Superman “S” emblems as they’ve appeared on action figures. “I’ve tried to add as many different versions of the shield as possible,” he writes, “to represent not only the different versions of the character throughout the years and continuities but also high-light some folk who wore it who were not Superman himself.”
(via Super Punch)
- February 23, 2009 @ 08:45 AM by Kevin Melrose
An update on S. Clay Wilson
Writer Bob Levin posted the following announcement about famed cartoonist S. Clay Wilson on the Comics Journal message board over the weekend:
The Art of S. Clay Wilson
Wilson has been admitted to Laguna Honda, a facility that provides long term care, and seems to have transitioned well. He requires 24 hour attention due to cognitive problems compromising his attention span and problem solving abilities but is able to leave the premises if accompanied. He has, friends report “all of his drawing skills and visual imagination still intact” and is turning out works “full of all the usual mayhem, violence and humor.”
There will be a party Friday night at 111 Minna Street, San Francisco, in connection with WonderCon with a raffle to benefit Wilson. Lorraine Chamberlain plans to be at the convention accepting donations in person. Or checks can be written to the S. Clay Wilson Special Needs Trust and sent to PO Box 14854 San Francsico 94114. Any gifts, large or small, will be appreciated.
The Checkered Demon creator was seriously injured last November when he either fell or was mugged while returning home from a bar near his San Francisco home.
- February 23, 2009 @ 08:45 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Scott Pilgrim TCAF ad
Publishing | In a Watchmen-focused interview, DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz talks about the effect of the movie trailer on sales of the collection: “I’d done some polling of the publishing people I know and they said, ‘The trailer’s maybe a five per cent lift, maybe a ten per cent lift.’ When I ran the numbers on Watchmen it was well over a thousand per cent lift over where it had been before.” [ICv2.com]
Conventions | Bryan Lee O’Malley reveals the Scott Pilgrim ad/poster for May’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival. [O'Malley's blog]
Creators | In a brief Q&A, Matt Groening chats about the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons, and “the one true God” — the Mighty Thor. [New York Post]
Creators | Cartoonist Dan Thompson talks briefly about his Steven Canyon-inspired comic strip Rip Haywire. [The Times News]
Creators | Don Wood discusses his graphic novel Into the Volcano. [Good Comics for Kids]
Industry | The Payson (Ariz.) Roundup — crushing hopes since 1937: “Victoria Pierce wanted to job shadow someone who created manga — a Japanese-type of comic book. She ended up at the Payson Roundup.” [The Payson Roundup]
Internet | Webzine Sequential Tart is looking for writers. [Syntart]
- February 23, 2009 @ 07:57 AM by Kevin Melrose
Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related news
Amazon Kindle
• According to The Media Is Dying, Viz Media laid off “multiple people” on Friday. No details were available.
• Advertising Age’s Chicken Little-style report from New York Comic Con, which centered on the curious comments by DC’s John Cunningham about the apparent dangers e-devices pose to the comics industry, has gained a little steam: Radar (“The end of comic books?”) and The Christian Science Monitor (“Are comic books really at risk?” both have picked up on it.
“If 10% of the readers migrate to an e-device, that is gonna throw off the economics for 60% of the (comic) books that are published in this country,” Cunningham, DC’s vice president of marketing, said at a convention panel.
But John Jackson Miller calls shenanigans: “Fair enough, and possibly true. But it’s incorrect for the reader to infer that online migration is a flat loss to the publisher, since the publisher does play a role in determining both the economics and the timing of the online migration. Ten percent leaving to read bootleg is not the same as 10% being otherwise monetized by the publisher …”
• At ICv2.com, DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz considers a changing comics market in the face of a recession: “The core customer that we’ve had for many years who spends a thousand plus dollars a year, if he’s lost his or her job and it’s food or comics, I kinda hope they pick food, so they can last long enough to come back when they have a new job. We know some of them have gone through that and that we’ll take some hits from it. My hope is that the number of new customers that we’re attracting to the graphic novel side of the business where the typical customer to us seems like a three, four hundred dollar a year customer, a more sustainable kind of habit, will be growing at a fast enough pace to make up for the number of core people who have to put the hobby aside for a period of time or cut back radically in what they do.”
• In his weekly “MySpace Cup O’ Joe” column, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada discusses the thinking behind comics pricing: “Today, comic talents have many more places where they can earn a living, and sometimes a better one, than in comics. You take any artist who sits in his room for 10, 12, 14 hours a day to do one page and ask him, ‘Hey, do you think those 22 pages, that month of your life, do you think $2.99 to $3.99 is a fair price for your artwork?’ They’d probably have to really think about it for a bit, especially when they know they could probably get more in other industries.”
- February 23, 2009 @ 06:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Eisner award-winning retailer on TV
As some of you may know, I started off in comics clerking for Paul Howley’s THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT, almost 25 years ago, now. Paul and Mal Howley and their daughter, Cassy Wood, recently got to be extras in BURN NOTICE. You should be able to spot Cassy because she walks very close to Jeffrey Donovan several times. There will be a few scenes that take place in a nice public park in Miami and Mal and Paul can (possibly) be seen as picnickers sitting on a blanket. (They are such good actors that you’ll be convinced that they are really having a picnic). Mal is wearing a pink plaid skirt and a pink shirt and Paul is wearing blue jeans (what a surprise!) and an ugly yellow t-shirt that the wardrobe department made him wear. They turn up later in the episode in a marketplace scene and they’re wearing the same clothes. In the final scene, Jeffrey Donovan is walking towards his girlfriend and his car and, when that shot begins, Mal and Paul are directly behind him, walking away. Cassy can be seen in one “park scene” as she walks right by “Michael” while he’s using his cell phone. Cassy is wearing a lime-green shirt and a white skirt. In another park scene, Cassy is walking with a guy who has his arm around her. She’s wearing a red shirt and a white skirt. Later, in a beach scene, Cassy is sitting on a beach chair wearing a black dress with purple and white flowers on it. You’ll recognize her because she’s a petite woman with long dark hair. (Cute as can be, says the press release!) “Burn Notice” is seen on USA Network this coming Thursday (February 26th) at 10PM Eastern time. Please be advised that this TV show may not be suitable for young viewers.
Half my life ago, I clerked for Paul at his shop, That’s Entertainment, in Worcester, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be in comics now if it wasn’t for him. I’ve learned a lot from many folks, but he started me off and that’s a fact. Tune into BURN NOTICE and see a seminal figure of early comics retail having a fun time on a TV set.
- February 22, 2009 @ 07:32 PM by Larry Young
WonderCon | After-hours events
WonderCon kicks off next Friday at the Moscone Center South in San Francisco. The show welcomes special guests Jim Lee, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Brian Azzarello, Jill Thompson, Alex Robinson and many more Feb. 27-March 1.
All this week I’ll be posting round-ups of what various publishers, creators, retailers, etc. have planned for the show. If you’d like your booth schedule, special event or other information included, drop me an email.
General information: Programming | Registration | Special guests | Autographs
Today’s update includes three after-hour, offsite events:
Tiki Tour
• On Friday night, iFanboy, Isotope Comics‘ James Sime and The Boys artist Darick Robertson are hitting San Francisco’s tiki bars:
SAN FRANCISCO TIKI BAR TOUR w/ DARICK ROBERTSON
Friday Feb 27th. 9pm – Bartime.
First stop: Tonga Room. 950 Mason st @ California st.Since the ancient days of yore, the great tiki gods above made blessed the beautiful city of San Francisco with such an over-abundance of watering holes of the tiki variety that it makes others weep with fruity cocktail and indoor rainfall envy. And so for half a decade the Isotope honors the great Island Lords by paying tribute upon the bar stools of the city’s many tiki bars. Legend tells that those who can complete the tour are granted the wondrous gift of never-hangover … but no man or woman has ever managed to master the great tour of tiki!
We’ll be starting the evening out early stopping by the CBLDF Dave Johnson Drink & Draw Fund raiser @ 7pm, and then moving on to kick off the Isotope’s 2009 Tiki Bar Tour with The Boys and Transmetropolitan artist Darick Robertson. I love showing people around the city so this is always one of my favorite events all year long. Even with the mighty art of Robertson on your side, can your poor liver survive the wildest bar tour of 2009?
- February 22, 2009 @ 12:05 PM by JK Parkin