2009 March
Is the ship sinking? A short chat with Ted May
Injury #3
I’m not sure when I first came across Ted May‘s work — it was probably with It Lives — but I remember being delighted with his sly blend of rock and roll, monster mania, superheroics, and adolescent smartassery, all delivered with a wink and a nod. I was excited, then, when May recently began a new comic book series, Injury, published by Buenaventura Press. What other alt-cartoonist would dare to imagine a Slade pinball machine or unabashedly quote Nazareth lyrics?
Alas, it seems Injury and May have fallen victim to Diamond’s recent policy changes, as the third issue apparently won’t make the cut-0ff criteria, making distribution of the pamphlet a tricky issue at best.
I spoke with May over email last week about these issues and the future of the series. I’d like to take this moment to thank him profusely for taking the time to answer the list of poorly worded questions I threw at him.
- March 16, 2009 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Adrian Tomine talks style, pace and criticism
From Adrian Tomine's cover for the Nov. 8, 2004, issue of The New Yorker
CR Blog’s Simon Creasey has a nice little Q&A with Adrian Tomine, who discusses working as a full-time artist, the evolution of his drawing style, and permitting criticism on the Optic Nerve letters page:
SC: One of the biggest criticisms of your work on the letters page is from ardent fans bemoaning how long it takes you to produce the next installment of a story. Are you a slow worker or just lazy?
AT: Yeah, I’m just a lazy bum who almost never does any work. Just kidding! I think the people who complain about my pace were raised on the type of comics that are made on a production line, so they’re trained to expect that monthly fix. I honestly work as hard and as fast as I can without sacrificing quality, but there’s always some kind of interruption, such as interviews like this!
More at the link, including the “best advice” Tomine has received about film adaptations.
- March 16, 2009 @ 08:14 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Final Crisis
Publishing | Yen Press has confirmed the release dates for volumes 6-8 of Kiyohiko Azuma’s Yotsuba&!, the popular comedy series previously published by ADV Manga: Vol. 6, September; Vol. 7, December; Vol. 8, April 2010. Yen Press announced at New York Comic Con that it had acquired the license to the offbeat manga. [Yen Press, Anime News Network]
Creators | Laura Hudson talks to Grant Morrison about Final Crisis, “Batman R.I.P,” event comics, and the high expectations of fandom: “A lot of artists are naturally wary of fan pressure and the excessive criticism that come with a higher profile, so they put their all into a project, knowing that if they do less than the best they’re capable of, 50 jeering bastards on the Internet will turn up to personally insult them.” [Comic Foundry, reposted from the Spring 2009 issue]
Creators | Wind up Alan Moore and watch him go (Part 27): “Much as I love the medium, I despise the industry. I’ve always despised it to a certain degree but after this last few years and all this nonsense with the films, I believe it to be a completely poisonous place that isn’t really going anywhere. I did once feel I was part of a movement that wanted to change comics into something was valuable to culture, but I don’t really feel that kinship in the way I used to.” [The Guardian]
Publishing | Chris Ryall, editor-in-chief and publisher of IDW Publishing, discusses moving the company away from the horror niche, signing author Joe Hill, and his new series with Ben Templesmith Groom Lake. [The Cult]
Creators | Our own Chris Mautner posts the full interview he conducted with writer Ed Brubaker before the release of Incognito #1. [Panels and Pixels]
- March 16, 2009 @ 07:38 AM by Kevin Melrose
Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related news
Comic-Con International
• Recession? What recession? Four-day passes already have sold out for the July 23-26 Comic-Con International.
The convention’s hotel-reservation service opens at 9 a.m. PDT Thursday, kicking off the annual scramble for rooms.
• John Dolmayan, drummer for System of a Down, bought a rare copy of Action Comics #1 for $317,200 in an online auction. Only about 100 copies of the 1938 comic are known to exist.
• In the latest “My Cup o’ Joe” column, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada talks a little about free comics — in print and online — and fighting the urge to return to the Obama well to sell more copies: “We’ve resisted the temptation to keep pushing that lever — and believe me, it became a very tempting lever when we got the sales figures on that issue! — because there does come a point when it can quickly become less about story and more about marketing. We tend to shy away from the tail wagging the dog, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that in my tenure. We really don’t create the marketing and say, ‘Okay, now go create a story for this.’ It’s just something we don’t like to do. I’m sure Obama will appear over the next four years, but we’re more concerned about selling our books based on our characters, and doing interesting stories with them.”
• In his column at Comic Book Resources, Steven Grant considers what the “fantasy economy” of conventions is telling us about the current comics market: “For many indie publishers, comic-cons — not necessarily San Diego, where the competition for attention is much fiercer, but the new breed of large regional cons — are becoming the new prime marketplace, where a new crop of eager buyers, many of whom apparently now feel disenfranchised from the direct market, are eager for new comics in various formats, if they can see in advance what they’re buying.”
• For this article about a nationwide “graphic-novel sales boom,” the Port Huron, Michigan, Times-Herald turns to retailer Jason Sawyer … who doesn’t stock many graphic novels: “He said he doesn’t see the point in trying to compete with Barnes & Noble.”
- March 16, 2009 @ 06:07 AM by Kevin Melrose
6′s March Index
Watchmen
Number of voice actors used on the Watchmen motion comic: One
Percentage that Watchmen‘s grosses dropped between its opening Friday and March 13 : 73
Watchmen’s ranking in USA Today‘s Best-Selling Books Database (Based on sales through Sunday, March 8, 2009): Second
Year that T. Hodler tapped for a “Best of” list: 1968
Months remaining before the start of 2010, when Dick Hyacinth posted his first in a best of 00s series: 10
Ted Rall’s estimated cost to “conduct a scientifically sound reader survey to study readers’ attitudes towards cartooning”: $20,000+
- March 15, 2009 @ 08:35 PM by Tim O'Shea
What Are You Reading?
Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading, where we glance over at our bedtables, pick up a comic or two and wave them about in the air in front of your face.
Our special guest this week is Tucker Stone, better known as the force behind The Factual Opinion and one of the new contributors to the Savage Critics. He’s also got a column over at Comixology.
To find out what Tucker and everyone else is currently reading, click on the link below. Go man, go!
- March 15, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Superman/Batman confirmed as next DC animated movie
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
AICN confirms that Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics will follow this summer’s Green Lantern: First Flight with Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, based on the 2003-2004 comic-book storyline by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness.
Superman/Batman will be the sixth in the series of direct-to-DVD DC Universe Original Animated Movies that began in 2007 with Superman: Doomsday. Bruce Timm reportedly is executive producer.
The official synopsis appears to follow the source material — the initial arc of the Superman/Batman comic series — pretty closely, with President Lex Luthor claiming that a kryptonite asteroid heading toward Earth is part of a sinister plot by Superman. Luthor then offers a $1 billion bounty for the Man of Steel and his “partner in crime” Batman.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is expected to be released this fall.
- March 14, 2009 @ 12:58 PM by Kevin Melrose
Your Mileage May Vary
Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1
The new Batman event comic, Battle for the Cowl #1, came out this week, and of course that means a lot of people are talking about it.
Chad Nevett and Tim Callahan weren’t fans of the book:
I can’t believe you hated the writing more than I did! I think we hated it equally or thereabouts, but my low expectations made it seem not quite as bad, while your neutrality made it seem worse. Yeah, it’s bad, but it’s that workmanlike going from point A to point B sort of writing. I think that because it so utterly lacks in ambition, I can’t fault it too much for being so bad, because I don’t think Daniel was shooting for anything beyond this (aside from thinking it’s good). I don’t think he’s trying to be anything but obvious in dropping obvious hints and insultingly basic narration. While Todd McFarlane’s writing always had a hint of pretention, like he thought he was a great writer, Daniel’s work almost screams, “Hey, I know this isn’t up there with Morrison, but I’m not trying to be that good! I just want to write an action comic that ends with someone as Batman!” Not good, but it could be worse. I would have probably given it two stars…
Rokk Krinn gave the comic an average review:
- March 13, 2009 @ 07:43 PM by Melissa Krause
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Week of 3/9
A buryin’, some motivational speakin’ and a lotta drinkin’, all in this week’s Strangeways: The Thirsty.
Western horror like you like it, right after the jump.
- March 13, 2009 @ 06:14 PM by Matt Maxwell
Is Andy Diggle heading to Daredevil?
Daredevil #115
Is Thunderbolts and The Losers writer Andy Diggle getting ready to take the reins on Marvel’s Daredevil?
According to a blink-and-you-missed-it comment in this week’s installment of “My Cup o’ Joe,” posted this afternoon, the answer’s yes.
In response to a reader question about the best Marvel supervillain, Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada said, in part, “we have plans for a very unexpected villain in Daredevil’s world, but this is way down the road and is a part of Andy Diggle’s big DD plans when he takes over the helm of the book.”
The entire question and comment have since been removed.
Ed Brubaker has been writing Daredevil since April 2006, when he took over for longtime scribe Brian Michael Bendis.
(via iFanboy, which received a “no comment” from Marvel)
- March 13, 2009 @ 03:15 PM by Kevin Melrose
Exclusive: Marc Silvestri’s Invincible Iron Man #14 cover
Invincible Iron Man #14 cover, by Marc Silvestri
Thanks to our pals at Marvel Comics, we are pleased to present the exclusive debut of the Invincible Iron Man #14 variant cover by none other than Marc Silvestri!
Continuing the next chapter in Matt Fractions “World’s Most Wanted” storyline, this issue features Tony Stark on the run from his rogues gallery — and the big bad guy in the Marvel Universe, Norman Osborn! Invincible Iron Man #14 hits stores this June.
Be sure to catch this issue in its glorious variant cover by the Top Cow himself, Marc Silvestri.
Click on the image at the right to see it full size.
- March 13, 2009 @ 11:21 AM by Sam Humphries
Alison Bechdel talks about creating Fun Home
This has been making the rounds lately, it’s a video of Alison Bechdel walking viewers through the creative process to produce her acclaimed graphic novel, Fun Home. (via)
- March 13, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 050
Not a dream! Not an imaginary story! The fiftieth page! It’s here!
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok
And we’re not even two chapters in yet! Though we will be by this time next week. When chapter two finishes, there’ll be a brief break in the comics, but don’t worry, I’ll still be around to give you a peek behind the curtain and to maybe talk process for a bit. Oh, and music.
Hit the archives to see the story from the start.
- March 13, 2009 @ 09:55 AM by Matt Maxwell
Sharing is caring: Coke ads, Darwin and Star Wars
"The New Godfather" by Drew Friedman
Sharing Is Caring is where we take all the interesting art and Webcomics links we’ve accumulated in our inbox and unleash them in one messy pile. Watch where you step!
* Drew Friedman riffs on Janis Joplin and The Godfather.
* Any excuse I can have to link to a Kate Beaton comic is a good one.
* D&Q posts a massive one-page strip by John Stanley that could have easily fit within the pages of KE7.
- March 13, 2009 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related news
"The DC Explosion" ad from 1975
• DC Comics announced yesterday it will increase the cover prices of some of its comics from $2.99 to $3.99, but will add more pages and “co-features” to those titles.
In June, Teen Titans and Booster Gold will gain back-up stories starring Ravager and Blue Beetle, respectively. It already was revealed at New York Comic Con that the new Doom Patrol series will feature a Metal Men back-up series.
If this scenario — higher prices accompanied by the addition of back-up features — seems a little familiar, blogger Johanna Draper Carlson notes that’s because it sort of happened at DC before, in the mid- to late ’70s: As part of its “DC Explosion,” the publisher increased page counts from 17 to 25 and cover prices from 35 cents to 50 cents.
(Of course there was more to the ill-fated “Explosion”: DC also launched 57 new titles in just four years, most of which didn’t survive the mass cancellation that became known as the “DC Implosion.” Blame the Blizzard of ’78 and a publisher pinning its hopes on Superman: The Movie.)
- March 13, 2009 @ 08:47 AM by Kevin Melrose