2009 March
Jo Chen covers kick ass
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #8 cover by Jo Chen
Jo Chen delivers some of the most gorgeous and striking comic book covers in the business. Her work first caught my eye on Runaways, and she’s continued her stellar track record on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.
Chen’s flowing style, dynamic compositions and easy naturalism always comes through beautifully, even though she does most of her work digitally. (Broke my heart to learn that, only because it meant there were no original Jo Chens to own.) Best of all, she’s got a playful sensibility that keeps the covers from getting bogged down in overwrought gravitas, no matter the subject. For my money, she’s right up there with James Jean and J.G. Jones. (What’s with all the J names? OK, Paul Pope too.)
Luckily for me and the other Jo Chen fans out there, Dark Horse has assembled a glorious gallery of Chen’s Buffy work on its website. Trust me when I say it was a painful Sophie’s Choice to pick just one piece to post here — it is well worth your time to experience them all for yourself.
Scott Allie (Chen’s editor on Buffy and an expert on breathtaking covers) announced the gallery in his most recent column on Dread Central — don’t miss it for insight into Chen’s creative evolution at Dark Horse, and the connection between pomegranates and vampires.
- March 10, 2009 @ 10:37 AM by Sam Humphries
First-look review: Brandon and Klein’s Viking #1
VIKING issue one cover by Nic Klein.
Viking #1
Script: Ivan Brandon
Art and cover: Nic Klein
Publisher: Image Comics
Release date: April 1, 2009
“Do you see Finn? What your obsession brings?”
Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein’s Viking is about men possessed with ruthless ambition who wield their obsessions like giant swords across the world around them. And as the first issue makes clear, the price these swaggering badasses pay for their obsessions is unpleasant — and violent as hell.
The first issue of Viking explodes right out of the gate, and wastes no time in establishing its own obsessive ambition. Billed as “a crime book for the 9th Century,” this comic features the brothers Finn and Egil, “hungry men” who maraud across the Nordic landscape with reckless abandon, grabbing hard and fast at wealth wherever they can find it, and perhaps something more intangible. Also present is the savage King Bram, who has achieved everything, it seems, but the means by which to satisfy his own heart.
The first thing to mention is all the grim viking action. (These guys aren’t infamous for their slumber parties, after all.) The blood doth run freely in this book, over panels, into the gutters, and practically onto your own fingers. Fools and innocents alike meet grisly ends on swords, spears, or bare hands. The creators do not shy away from the lurid nature of the world they have chosen, but it is never gratuitous. There is a sort of bloodthirsty balance between the violence and the constant threat of violence that keeps the reading experience taut without being oppressive.
- March 10, 2009 @ 09:05 AM by Sam Humphries
Cold Heat is back and there’s going to be trouble
Cold Heat #5 & 6
Attentive readers may remember that I mentioned that the first several issues of Cold Heat, the comic book series by Ben Jones and Frank Santoro, were available for free online. Now, the duo have released chapters five and six of their ongoing saga in honest-to-god paper comic book form after a lengthy hiatus. Santoro explains:
This is a big climax issue. We decided that after the long wait we would put the story arc that unfolds over issues 5 and 6 together. I think it reads extremely well as a double issue. It’s a megablast of raw power and I’m proud of what Ben and I have crafted for you. We know it’s been two years almost to the day since the last issue came out. Please forgive us. The complete collection will be out sometime but until then we are releasing the series as it was originally intended to be released: as serialized installments. We like how the issues, the page counts CONTAIN the story and want to retain that for the remainder of the series. It’s a formal choice. We want to make comic books. Comic books are 24 pages usually. There’s an inherent “pace” that we’re playing with and in this double issue we really turn up the volume, quicken the pace and exploit the arc of the standard comic book. It’s a thrilling ride. I promise: these issues live up to the hype. We killed it.
Interested parties can get a copy of the comic through PictureBox. If you need further inducement, Derik Badman raves about the issue here.
- March 10, 2009 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Ware, Satrapi talk comics
A scene from Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi and Chris Ware recently gave a talk, moderated by Francoise Mouly, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts as part of the the three-day festival of New French Writing.WYNC has a podcast of the conversation up on their Web site. (via: Jeet Heer)
- March 10, 2009 @ 08:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Late to the party: Get the first issue of Brat Pack free
Brat Pack
Missed this: To drum up some interest in the upcoming rerelease, Rick Veitch is offering the first 32 pages of his superhero sidekick saga, Brat Pack, as a free download:
BRAT PACK’s been my best-seller over the years, with the fourth edition selling out in late 2007. There’s a new generation of fans who dig twisted superheroes, such as THE BOYS and KICK-ASS, who will feel right at home in old Slumberg. Folks looking for something really dark and menacing in the wake of the WATCHMEN hype might go for BRAT PACK too.
The new trade collection of Brat Pack will be 176 pages and cost $19.95. A bargain!
- March 10, 2009 @ 08:00 AM by Chris Mautner
What’s the statute of limitations for comic spoilers?
Okay, not really a spoiler
After being chastised for spoiling the Watchmen movie, based on a 1986 miniseries, author John Scalzi considers the statute of limitations on revealing key plot elements.
“Look, Watchmen is twenty three years old,” Scalzi writes on his blog. “Surely the statute of limitations on spoiling the book has run out by now. SPOILER ALERTS should not be in effect forever. Yes, they have their place: If I had run out of The Crying Game screaming ‘The chick’s a dude!‘ as people were waiting to see it for the first time, it would be a case of justifiable homicide. But now, in 2009? Sorry, man. You missed your window to be outraged.”
He goes on to suggest time limits for television shows, movies and books (one week, one year and five years, respectively).
However, Scalzi doesn’t mention mainstream monthly comics, whose frequency of release and episodic nature create no end of spoiler-fueled problems for publishers, creators, websites, bloggers and readers.
When fan can have the latest releases in his hands early Wednesday (if not before), and be posting the plot points on message boards, blogs or Twitter by lunchtime, how long should everyone online hide the details behind spoiler tags or under post breaks? Two days, to allow direct-market customers to make their weekly stop? A week, for the slowpokes? A month, out of respect for those who get their comics in monthly shipments?
Whatever the answer, it’s undoubtedly complicated by Marvel and DC Comics turning with more frequency to outlets like The New York Times, USA Today and the New York Daily News to “break” major story developments on the day of the title’s release.
I receive my comics on a monthly basis, and I’m not that interested in chasing cliffhangers from issue to issue. So as a reader, I don’t really care about spoilers. But as a blogger I have to be, or risk incurring the wrath of the last five people to get their hands on whatever comic (Identity Crisis #1, Captain America #25, Amazing Spider-Man #545 — you decide). My personal rule has been “spoiler alert” and post breaks until the Saturday after release; after that, all bets are off.
But that’s just me. What do you think the statue of limitations should be for comic-book spoilers?
- March 10, 2009 @ 07:36 AM by Kevin Melrose
The influences behind Laugh-Out-Loud Cats
"Laugh-Out-Loud Cats" #663, by Adam Koford
At Neatorama, Laugh-Out-Loud Cats creator Adam Koford reveals some of his comic strip’s influences, including Paper Moon, Sidney Smith’s Old Doc Yak, and Hank Ketcham.
- March 10, 2009 @ 06:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Marvel, LiveJournal put Scans Daily refugees on notice
LiveJournal
Just when it seemed the copyright-infringement melee had ended between LiveJournal and members of the Scans Daily community, a new player has stepped onto the field: the lawyers.
As Rich Johnston mentioned yesterday, some people who had posted scans of Marvel Comics titles to the now-suspended community have received emails from the LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team notifying them of complaints of copyright violation.
What’s more, the notice includes the complaint from Marvel Entertainment attorney Gregory Pan citing specific examples of infringement and charging that Scans Daily, “continually posts images of Marvel’s comic books on a daily basis and frequently posts significant portions of new comic books released that very week.”
Big Shiny Robot has copies of the undated emails, with information removed to hide the identity of the recipient.
That blog and others have made a point of highlighting the paragraph in the notice from LiveJournal informing the recipient that reproducing the correspondence on the website “may be grounds for immediate suspension of the account.”
That doesn’t strike me as unusual. It would appear to be boilerplate text, likely designed to prevent users from thumbing their noses at LiveJournal administrators by publicly posting reprimands and other behind-the-scenes communications.
However, what I do find interesting is the paragraph that lays out the supposed remedy available to Scans Daily members who might want to protest that certain posts fall under the fair use doctrine: “If you feel that this report is in error or that your use of the material falls under one of the categories permitted under copyright law, you are entitled to file a counter-notification, also under the provisions of US law; please contact us for information on how to do this. Filing a counter-notification indicates that you are willing to defend yourself in court against a charge of copyright infringement, and you may be bound by civil and possibly criminal penalties if you are found liable.”
In short: Tell it to the judge.
- March 10, 2009 @ 05:41 AM by Kevin Melrose
This last Watchmen movie link you’ll see from me
What if Quentin Tarantino had directed "Watchmen"? by Ashley Quigg
I’m almost certain my epitaph will read “I’ve been meaning to blog about this,” as I have a tendency to bookmark items only to forget about them for days. In any case (ahem), I’ve been meaning to link to Ashley Quigg‘s illustrations at Salon.com that imagine what the Watchmen adaptation might’ve looked like had it been directed by others. Dan Kois provides the words. It’s good.
And with that, I think I’m finished writing about the Watchmen movie; I’m about Watchmen-ed out, and I haven’t even seen the thing. I’ll still post about sales of the Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons collection — as Heidi MacDonald noted yesterday, it’s Amazon’s top-selling book at the moment, ahead of Steve Harvey’s Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man!
But, yeah, no more Watchmen-movie links for me.
- March 10, 2009 @ 04:33 AM by Kevin Melrose
‘I’m not even sure if there is a superhero genre’
Grant Morrison
In our discussions of mainstream comics we so frequently refer to the “superhero genre” that we may have neglected to consider whether it is a genre.
Luckily, Grant Morrison, as always, is a couple of steps ahead of us.
“The basic idea of the superhuman is a very malleable one — you can do ‘realistic’ superhero stories like say Watchmen, which takes a hard-nosed look at how these creatures might alter the social and political landscape of our own world, or you can — as I prefer to do — position them as archetypes that allow us to talk about the world using the language of symbolism and allegory,” he tells The Big Issue in Scotland. “There have been ‘realistic’ superhero stories, ‘surreal’ superhero stories, superhero westerns, superhero war stories, superhero detective stories, superhero horror stories, superhero romances etc.
“I’m not even sure if there is a superhero genre or if the idea of the superhero is a special chili pepper-like ingredient designed to energize other genres. The costumed superhero has survived since 1938, constantly shifting in tone from decade to decade to reflect the fears and the needs of the audience.”
(via io9.com)
- March 10, 2009 @ 03:42 AM by Kevin Melrose
Spider-Man: ‘The man who saved Toei’s heroes’
From Toei Company's "Spider-Man"
Spurred by Marvel.com’s streaming of episodes from Toei Company’s 1978 Spider-Man TV series, Matt Alt dusts off his translation of the show’s origins — courtesy of liner notes that accompanied a Soul of Chogokin toy, naturally:
Even though Toei added their own original elements — such as Spiderman’s powers originating from “Planet Spider” rather than a radioactive spider and the introduction of the “Iron Cross Army” as his sworn enemy — they respected the original’s portrayal of Spiderman as a less than perfect hero, as symbolized by the show’s ending theme. There were also no shortage of episodes with a pessimistic mood. But Toei ensured a balance by putting a spectacular climax in every episode: the appearance of the giant robot Leopaldon. The catharsis of Spiderman’s bug-eyed monster enemies getting blown into smithereens by Leopaldon’s explosive attacks was, at times, a much-needed stress valve for viewers subjected to thirty minutes of somber and stressful drama.
Nothing relieves stress like blowing up bug-eyed monsters. There’s more at the link, of course.
- March 10, 2009 @ 03:05 AM by Kevin Melrose
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 048
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok.
That whole “What’s one more sin?” thing works for awhile, I hear. But eventually the tally marker breaks and you gotta get another one.
Hit the archives (being tweaked at the moment) to get the whole story from the start. And welcome aboard Wonder-Con attendees who found out about the book at the show.
- March 9, 2009 @ 11:34 AM by Matt Maxwell
Talking Comics with Tim: Andrew Farago
Cartoon Art Museum
Back in late January, I completed this email interview with Andrew Farago, curator of San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum. Events on my end delayed it being run until this week. As detailed at the museum’s site: “The Cartoon Art Museum is committed to fostering and promoting a greater appreciation of cartoon art. This it achieves through collecting, cataloging, preserving and displaying the finest representations of original cartoon art as well as providing innovative educational programs designed to enrich the cultural life of our community.” While I am pleased to run this interview, before launching into it, I want to offer my condolences to Farago and the museum staff on the February 26 death of Rod Gilchrist, the museum’s executive director for the past 11 years. My thanks to Farago for his time.
Tim O’Shea: How long has the Museum had a Cartoonist-in-Residence program–and how did you land the latest person in residence, Mike Gray?
Andrew Farago: The Cartoonist-in-Residence program was started several years back as a joint effort between the Cartoon Art Museum, The Charles M. Schulz Museum and the Northern California chapter of the National Cartoonists Society. We wanted to take advantage of the fact that we’ve got such a wealth of cartoonists in our area and give the public a regular opportunity to interact with them (and vice versa).
The artists come to us in a variety of ways. Often, someone will contact me, or another staff or board member, about his upcoming book, or a new strip launching in a local publication, or a new piece of animation that they’ve created, and that person wants to work with us to promote it.
- March 9, 2009 @ 10:58 AM by Tim O'Shea
Collect This Now! Flex Mentallo
Flex Mentallo #1
This, perhaps, is an obvious selection for this column. Mayhap too obvious? One could, for instance, argue without a lot of brain-strain that if this feature has any sort of patron saint, it is without a doubt Flex Mentallo.
Part of that is because the chances of Flex Mentallo ever being collected in trade again are somewhere between slim and none, as my dad used to say. That in turn is largely because of an ugly lawsuit thrown at DC by the Charles Atlas folks. Even though DC got the suit dismissed, they’ve been reticent to get this series back in print. Rumors suggest everything from promising the Atlas people it would never see the light of day again to lackluster Doom Patrol sales squelching any plans.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. A bit of backstory is, no doubt, in order.
- March 9, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
John Carbonaro passes away
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1
John Carbonaro, the comics fan who became a publisher in 1981 when he bought the rights to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, passed away on Feb. 25. He was 58.
Created in 1965 by Wally Wood, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was published by Tower Comics until the company went out of business in 1969. Carbonaro purchased the dormant property more than a decade later, but soon became entangled in a lengthy legal battle to prove ownership, in a dispute with business acquaintance David Singer, and to demonstrate T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents hadn’t lapsed into the public domain. His friend Robert Sodaro recounts that history here.
Carbonaro published several T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics himself in the early ’80s under the JC Comics banner, but also licensed the characters to other companies, such as Archie Comics and Penthouse.
Sodaro, Mark Evanier and Tom Spurgeon have more.
- March 9, 2009 @ 09:46 AM by Kevin Melrose