2009 March
Is the ship sinking? A short chat with Dylan Williams
Reich #5
Besides being a cartoonist in his own right, Dylan Williams is also the brains behind Sparkplug Comic Books, which has published such noteworthy titles as Bookhunter by Jason Shiga, Reich by Elijah Brubaker and Asthma by John Hanckiewicz.
Wondering how a small press operation like Sparkplug would be affected by the turn in the economy, not to mention Diamond’s new policy changes, I sent a list of questions to Williams over email and he was kind enough to offer some thoughtful replies. Here’s what he had to say:
In general terms, how has Sparkplug Books been doing financially over the past year?
In general terms, Sparkplug keeps on growing. Last year was best one yet. It used to be that we’d get one order a week and now I can basically spend most of my time filling orders. It is kind of great and I keep on crossing my fingers. Money-wise, it is still a break-even affair but it is nice to not having to be “on the grind” as much as I was four or seven years ago.
- March 23, 2009 @ 10:29 AM by Chris Mautner
Guest contributor: Bobby Timony on New England Webcomics Weekend
Eastworks
Editor’s Note: Over the weekend webcomics creators and fans gathered for New England Webcomics Weekend. Bobby Timony, co-creator, writer and artist on the Zuda Comics strip The Night Owls, attended the event and agreed to share his thoughts on his weekend here at Robot 6.
by Bobby Timony
What started as a simple idea to get some webcomics people together for a weekend signing event soon took on the aura of a bona-fide cultural turning point. The word spread and the guest list grew and it started looking more like a webcomics Woodstock.
The new Webstock started with a pub crawl on Friday. The cold Northhampton, Mass. night saw webcomics creators and fans walking around under the orange streetlights from pub to pub drinking beers and toasting webcomics. It felt like Halloween, but instead of costumes, people were dressed up in clever, self-aware ironic T-shirts.
Ah, the T-shirts. It’s a lucky thing that webcomic fans are such fans of T-shirts, since much of the webcomics industry seems to revolve around the sale and design of them. There was even a panel on Saturday devoted exclusively to T-shirt design.
Webcomics Weekend was held at the Eastworks building, which used to be a cleaning supply factory that now housed a small mall and studio space occupied by a variety of artists. Remnants of the building’s history haunt the place like ghosts. The wide aisles are spanned by hardwood floors with long grooves worn into them from decades of being trod upon, and the cafe on the ground floor has two large arches made from metal conveyor belts.
- March 23, 2009 @ 09:23 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Dan Da Barbarian
Awards | A blogger argues that two of the comics nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story aren’t eligible for consideration because they were released, in part, in 2007. [LiveJournal]
Manga | Editors of Kodansha’s Morning magazine were so disappointed by the quality of entries they received for the third annual International Manga Competition that they’re changing the contest’s name to “Morning International Comic Competition” in hopes of reducing the number of submissions that display a narrow view of “manga.” [Deb Aoki]
Retailers | Over the weekend the direct-market trade organization ComicsPRO elected Joe Field, Brian Hibbs and Chris Powell to the open positions on its board of directors, which then chose officers: Field again as president; Powell as president pro-tempore; Amanda Emmert as corporate secretary/treasurer; and Carr D’Angelo as recording secretary. [Matt Price]
Manga | Tokyo Tribes creator Santa Inoue has announced he’s launching a new manga in June called Dan Da Barbarian. [Anime News Network]
- March 23, 2009 @ 08:31 AM by Kevin Melrose
Slash Print | Following the digital evolution
Chickenhare: The House of Klaus
Conventions | Rick Marshall, Gary Tyrrell and Bob Weiner file initial reports about the first New England Webcomics Weekend.
Retailers | Publishers assured attendees at this weekend’s meeting of ComicsPRO that, despite pushes toward digital content, print comics sold through the direct market are still important.
“You still represent the dominant sales force of graphic fiction,” Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley told members of the direct-market trade organization.
Webcomics | Chickenhare creator Chris Grine has decided that since Dark Horse isn’t interested in publishing a third graphic novel, he’ll take the series online beginning this fall.
Digital publishing | Marvel has announced it will launch The Spectacular Spider-Girl as a digital comic beginning April 15. The initial story will debut at the Marvel Digital Comics website, and then appear in print two weeks later in Amazing Spider-Man Family #5.
Blogosphere | British comics website Down the Tubes has launched a blog devoted to digital comics.
- March 23, 2009 @ 07:03 AM by Kevin Melrose
Hero Initiative reveals new comics projects, ‘director’s cut’ video
Matt Price continued to report news and announcements from the annual ComicsPRO meeting in Memphis over the weekend; you can read his updates both at the Nerdage blog and The ComicsPRO blog. During the meeting, the Hero Initiative announced two fund-raising projects that comics fans should enjoy: a Wolverine “100 Covers” project (similar to the Spider-Man and Hulk cover projects) and Hero Comics, an anthology that will include a new American Flagg! story by Howard Chaykin, as well as contributions from Gene Colan and Josh Medors. The anthology, which is being organized by IDW’s Scott Dunbier, is due in August.
Speaking of the Hero Initiative, the organization released a promotional video about their organization, which ran a little more than a minute. Now they’ve put out a longer version, which runs about five minutes:
- March 23, 2009 @ 06:07 AM by JK Parkin
Just Past the Horizon: Neutrality
This month I saw a few links and conversations that seem to miss a basic fact of human society when the subjects of gender, race and sexual orientation are brought up, so I’m going to state this sentance in all caps on the front page just to make sure everyone has it perfectly clear:
THERE IS NO NEUTRAL ZONE WHEN IT COMES TO IDENTITY.
Continue Reading »
- March 22, 2009 @ 12:34 PM by Lisa Fortuner
What are you reading?
The Color of Earth
Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Our special guest this week is Brigid Alverson, whom dedicated manga fans will know as the force behind the excellent Mangablog. If that’s not enough, she’s also a contributor to the Digital Strips podcast, and oversees the School Library Journal’s Good Comics for Kids blog, which is about … well, you figure it out.
Anyway, click on the link below to find out what Ms. Alverson and the rest of the Robot 6 gang is reading this week.
- March 22, 2009 @ 09:15 AM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Week of 3/16
This week in The Thirsty:
What, you want me to do a synopsis and spoil it all for you? Just read the free comics already! They’re right after the jump.
- March 22, 2009 @ 08:32 AM by Matt Maxwell
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announces new president, board member
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund sent out a press release yesterday announcing that Lone Star Comics GM Chris Powell has replaced Chris Staros as president of the organization. Staros, who has been on the board for seven years and was president for five years, is leaving the organization to “devote more time to the growth of Top Shelf Productions.”
In addition, Beanworld creator Larry Marder has joined the board, which also includes Joe Ferrara, vice president; Milton Griepp, treasurer; Louise Nemschoff, secretary; Peter David; Neil Gaiman; Steve Geppi; and Paul Levitz.
Update: Marder talks a little bit about his new role on his blog. “For the last year and a half, I haven’t had my Business Thinking Cap tilted towards anything other than Beanworld. I’m really looking forward to have an opportunity to be on a platform where I can state my theories and ideas and have opportunity to work with others in guiding the trajectory of CBLDF’s mission for the next few years,” he said.
The complete press release can be found after the jump.
- March 22, 2009 @ 08:28 AM by JK Parkin
Six by 6 | Six stories I’d like to see in Marvel’s ‘indie’ anthology
Wolverine: Dying Time
It’s been quite awhile since we first heard word that Marvel Comics had an anthology in the works featuring some of the best independent creators around, and a recent MyCup ‘O Joe column revealed several of the creators involved — Jim Rugg, Paul Pope, Dash Shaw, Stan Sakai, Paul Hornschemeier and Jason, just to name a few.
The lineup of talent is impressive, and many of the stories they’ll be working on are inspired — Jim Rugg’s Machine Man-turned-motorcycle is hot, while Dash Shaw’s Dr. Strange is such a nature pairing it seems like they should just launch it as an ongoing. But it also got me thinking — who else would I want to see featured in this book? I started my list with a couple of creators who I remembered already had story ideas ripe for the picking, then asked my fellow Robot 6ers to help me come up with a few more. I should probably mention that I avoided any creators who have already been announced for the book.
So without further ado …
1. Jeffrey Brown’s “Wolverine: Dying Time” story — A few years back Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy, The Incredible Change-Bots) shared his love for a certain Canadian mutant in a non-commissioned story that featured Wolverine taking on an army of zombies. Honestly, when I first heard about this anthology, this was the first thing that came to mind, as it seems to me that the one overriding reason why Marvel would want to do an anthology like this is to publish this story. Brown’s loose art style fits the subject matter perfectly, and heck — the story’s almost done already.
It’s practically the patron saint of this list.
- March 21, 2009 @ 01:44 PM by JK Parkin
Manhunter, The Question to return as back-up stories
Batman: Streets of Gotham #1
Add Manhunter and The Question to the list of DC Comics characters starring in their own back-up stories.
They join a “co-feature” lineup that includes the previously announced Metal Men, Blue Beetle and Ravager. Beginning in June, the publisher will increase the cover price on some of its titles to $3.99, but will add a second story to each of those books.
According to the Batman solicitations for June, The Question (Renee Montoya) will debut in her co-feature in Detective Comics, which now stars Batwoman. Detective scribe Greg Rucka will write The Question story, with Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle) providing the art.
Fresh from the cancellation of her own title in March, Manhunter will move into the back-up spot in the new Batman: Streets of Gotham. Kate Spencer’s adventures will be penned by Manhunter writer Marc Andreyko and drawn by Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8).
Expect more co-features to be revealed on Monday when DC’s full solicitations are released.
- March 21, 2009 @ 11:06 AM by Kevin Melrose
Galloway, Quinones reveal Wednesday Comics art
Green Lantern, by Joe Quinones
Now that DC Comics has officially announced its next weekly series, the 12-issue Wednesday Comics, we’re starting to get peeks at some of the title’s artwork — beyond Kyle Baker’s Hawkman, of course.
Joe Quinones unveils a little from his Green Lantern story with Kurt Busiek, while Sean Galloway shows off his Teen Titans character designs.
You can see more of Quinones’ early work on the project — including a sculpture of Hal Jordan’s head! — here and here.
Update: Ben Caldwell has posted rough color tests and sketches for his Wonder Woman story. (via Bad Librarianship)
- March 21, 2009 @ 09:28 AM by Kevin Melrose
Food or Comics | A roundup of money-related news
• Matt Price reports that “not all was rosy” in Memphis, Tenn., this week at the start of the annual meeting of ComicsPRO, the direct-market trade organization: “The overall economic slump had affected some locations. Furthermore, logistic problems with a large supplier have become more pronounced in recent weeks. And, something on many stores’ minds is the question of how digital content will impact the comic book industry.”
The theme of this year’s meeting, which continues today, is “Rising to the Challenge.”
“If the economy weakens … we have to remain strong,” organization President Joe Field said. “While there are things we can’t control, we have to work on the things we can control.”
• At ICv2.com, Phil Foglio discusses the economics of moving Girl Genius online.
• Bookstore chain Books-A-Million announced its fourth-quarter sales fell 2.5 percent over the same period, to $164 million.
• Tribune Media Services filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a bankruptcy judge to declare that the company, and not actor Warren Beatty, owns the television and movie rights to comic strip detective Dick Tracy.
Parent corporation Tribune Co., which filed for federal bankruptcy protection in December, has been feuding with Beatty for years. The actor acquired the rights to the character in 1985, and made the Dick Tracy movie in 1990.
According to Tribune Co., Beatty was required to produce another movie or TV project in order to retain the rights. In a lawsuit filed back in November, Beatty claims he began work on a TV special, satisfying the terms of the agreement.
• Dick McVengeance offers tips on how to save money on manga and anime purchases.
• Matt Alt takes a look at the financial state of Japan’s anime industry.
• The global recession seems to have had little effect on the Tokyo International Anime Fair, which drew more than 100,000 people.
- March 21, 2009 @ 09:09 AM by Kevin Melrose
‘There is an animal that lives by night, searches through trash cans and cleans out the garbage’
It’s been a few years since I was a regular watcher of South Park, but after reading the description on Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch blog I had to check it out. The latest episode parodies several comic book movies, including Watchmen and The Dark Knight, as well as comic conventions. Here’s a teaser; I should probably include some sort of politically incorrect/potentially offensive content warning:
You can watch the complete episode at South Park Studios.
- March 21, 2009 @ 08:35 AM by JK Parkin
Quesada confirms Diggle on renumbered Daredevil
Daredevil #500, by Marko Djurdjevic
In this week’s “My Cup o’ Joe,” Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada confirms what he let slip in the previous column: that writer Andy Diggle will take over Daredevil this summer, with the renumbered Issue 501.
Make that Marvel-exclusive writer Andy Diggle.
“I thought for whatever reason that we had already announced that one, but I guess we hadn’t,” Quesada says, explaining the quickly deleted slip.
“But man, I can’t get away from this without complimenting [outgoing writer] Ed Brubaker. Ed did just an amazing, amazing run, following up after Brian Bendis, which was no easy feat. I mean, Ed’s run has been legendary, but he just needed to cycle off. I think he’s had a workload that just felt like ‘one book too many,’ and he’s told all the Daredevil stories he feels he needs to for right now.”
So, why Diggle?
“Well, I think Andy really showed us something when he took over Thunderbolts,” Quesada says. “He has a certain feel, a certain ‘bite’ to his stories, and he just writes tremendous, tremendous villains. He writes mean characters! [laughs] And there’s something there that resonated with all of us in editorial, where we just thought he could write the piss out of Daredevil.”
Update: Diggle writes on Twitter that his contract with Marvel is for two years.
- March 20, 2009 @ 12:52 PM by Kevin Melrose