2009 April
Food or Comics | Money, comics and the economy
Comic-Con memberships
• I’m not sure when it happened, but when I wasn’t looking Saturday passes sold out for Comic-Con International. Four-day passes went the way of the dodo in mid-March; Friday passes are at 60 percent.
• Calvin Reid talks with Asylum Press Publisher Frank Forte about his efforts to sell Fearless Dawn #1 directly to retailers after failing to meet Diamond Comic Distributors’ order minimum: “Some stores love the 60% discount and are willing to deal direct. But to be effective in self-distribution you have to be tenacious. You are dealing with a lot of walls. Stores don’t want to deal with an extra invoice for 10 copies of a $2.95 comic.”
• The Bookseller reports that U.K. comics anthology The DFC, which mailed its final issue last week, could return in some form next year — thanks, in large part, to the growing sales of graphic novels.
• John Jackson Miller provides a brief overview of the “Dawn of the Diamond-Exclusive Era” of comics in the mid-1990s.
• Bookslut profiles Gabe Fowler of the year-old Desert Island in Brooklyn, N.Y., dwelling a bit on the economy: “I basically opened at the worst possible time, at the beginning of the so-called recession, so if I can survive now that’s probably a good sign.”
• Sean Kleefeld considers how to market comics in the 21st century.
• Alexander Hoffman offers tips on expanding your manga collection in lean economic times. (via Dirk Deppey)
- April 7, 2009 @ 05:49 AM by Kevin Melrose
Len Wein’s home burns down
Writer Harlan Ellison posted on his website that more than half of Justice League writer Len Wein’s home burned down today:
EXTREMELY BAD NEWS
Len Wein called this morning. More than half of his house burned down earlier today. Len and Chris Valada and Chris’s son, Michael, got out okay, but their beloved dog, Sheba, ran back inside and is gone. In addition to both bedrooms, the bathroom, and much of the office, what was burned first was the original art for the first Wolverine story, the cover of GIANT X-MEN #1 and other art pieces worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Susan and I will be over there as soon as I pick up my car today, and as soon as I’ve met the dental appointment we have scheduled. This is a major catastrophe for one of my oldest and closest friends. Like your Host, Len is a lifetime freelancer and, even though he remains a star of the comics world, even though he created Wolverine and Storm–among other characters–he goes from day to day earning a freelancer’s living, as do I…and these are frightening economic times for those of us out there, to paraphrase Arthur Miller, “on a few words and a shoeshine.”
Harlan
Our best wishes go out to Wein and his family. We’ll share any details on how folks can help if/when they become available.
- April 6, 2009 @ 04:00 PM by JK Parkin
‘Green Lantern: First Flight’ due July 21
Green Lantern: First Flight
Warner Bros. Animation today announced a change in the release date for the upcoming Green Lantern: First Flight DVD. It’ll now hit stores on July 21, the same week as Comic Con International. I believe the original release date was July 28, so Green Lantern fans will get it a whole week earlier than originally planned.
The animated movie features Christopher Meloni voicing Green Lantern, as well as the voice talents of Victor Garber, Tricia Helfer and Michael Madsen. The story is set at the beginning of Hal Jordan’s career as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, under the supervision of Sinestro — you know that isn’t going to end well.
- April 6, 2009 @ 03:06 PM by JK Parkin
Leaked Wolverine: Over 1 million served (and counting) [Update]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
More than 1 million people have downloaded X-Men Origins: Wolverine since an early copy of the 20th Century Fox film was leaked online last Tuesday.
That’s according to TorrentFreak, which follows all things BitTorrent-related.
More than three weeks from its theatrical release, the movie is the most popular torrent on The Pirate Bay, which bills itself as the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker.
In related news, News Corp. may be backing away from its firing of FoxNews.com columnist Roger Friedman, who drew criticism over the weekend for downloading and reviewing Wolverine. News Corp. is the parent company of 20th Century Fox and Fox News.
Although News Corp. stated clearly that it had “promptly terminated” Friedman, the gossip reporter denied to ABC News that he’d been fired. According to The Huffington Post, Friedman was to meet today with Fox News executives to decide his fate.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens on May 1.
Update: Fox News issued a statement Monday evening saying the company and Friedman had “mutually agreed to part ways immediately.” That’s “mutually agreed to part ways,” two days after the gossip reporter had been “promptly terminated.”
- April 6, 2009 @ 01:14 PM by Kevin Melrose
Collect This Now! Gifts in the Night
I have a very precise and personal reason for wanting to see this comic collected into trade paperback. I want to find out how it ends.
I’m not sure what or who made me decide to buy the first three issues of Gifts of the Night in one fell swoop that day back in 1999, but I do have a distinct memory of plunking down the cash for all of them at once, figuring no doubt that I would be back in a few weeks for the final issue.
Alas, for reasons that have since slipped out of my brain, I was unable to return to the store and by the time I did, said comic had come and gone. I’ve been thus far unable to find that elusive fourth issue, though, to be fair, it’s not like I’ve been trying very hard.
Still, even though my reading of the work is only 3/4th complete, I feel I can say with some confidence that Gifts of the Night is a comic worthy of bringing back into print.
- April 6, 2009 @ 01:01 PM by Chris Mautner
Talking Comics with Tim: Popgun Editors Smith & Kirkbride
Popgun Vol. 3
Popgun Volume 3 (Image)–the latest installment in an anthology series often referred to as a graphic mixtape–is set to be released this Wednesday, April 8. This edition features another great bevy of talent and was co-edited by Mark Andrew Smith and D.J. Kirkbride. Editorially, this particular volume is a transition of sorts, as Smith will be moving on and Kirkbride will be stepping to the forefront editing Popgun Volume 4. We talked about working on this latest installment, the editorial process in general and a variety of other topics.
Tim O’Shea: How did the Tara McPherson cover come about?
D.J. Kirkbride: Mark and (Popgun co-creator) Joe Keatinge rocked that. So glad they did. Beautiful cover.
O’Shea: How did the two of you divvy up editorial responsibilities on Volume 3?
Kirkbride: Mark has this tower with a giant $ on the front of it. Inside is a sea of gold coins. He swims in them as if they make up a body of water, only coming for air to check his email and make Popgun demands and order Chinese takeout. Wait — what? You know, it’s been a pretty natural flow, with the divvying. He’s been at this longer than me, so I come to him for advice while trying to keep everyone rocking and rolling in an organized fashion. The book got done, so, uh, I guess it worked out.
Mark Andrew Smith: I think we’ve got a really good support team of editors and assistants and production editors that help out with everything and make sure that things get done. D.J. is taking over with volume 4, so here I was making sure that his Jedi training was complete. He’s graduated into a Master Editor, and the future of POPGUN is in good hands.
- April 6, 2009 @ 12:01 PM by Tim O'Shea
Because comics don’t always have to make sense
Abstract Comics: The Anthology
The contributors to the forthcoming Abstract Comics: The Anthology (due later this year from Fantagraphics) have started a blog to promote the book and “keep track of further developments in the world of abstract comics, and to fill in the historical picture with new discoveries and further images and artists whom, for reasons of space, I may not have been able to mention in the introduction.”
- April 6, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 054
No bon mots, just the pichers. I’ll be on vacation all week and trying desperately not to do internet-related work and instead maybe do some…actual…writing.
Without further ado, Chapter 3 of THE THIRSTY – SUNDOWN SERVICES
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok.
Hit the archives to get the whole story from the beginning.
- April 6, 2009 @ 09:50 AM by Matt Maxwell
Food or Comics | Money, comics and the economy
Sgt. Frog, Vol. 17
• Heidi MacDonald reports that Rob Simpson, a senior editor in charge of Dark Horse’s prose line, has been laid off.
• John Jakala notices that Tokyopop has raised its standard cover price from $9.99 to $10.99: “I’m assuming the price increase won’t be accompanied by any additions to the manga volumes, like better paper stock or color inserts. It would be interesting if Tokyopop followed a page from DC’s recent playbook and offset the price increase with backup features. Like DC, Tokyopop could use the price increase as an opportunity to publish fan favorites that don’t sell well enough to justify individual publication. It’d be especially interesting if Tokyopop used such backups to complete the many OEL series stuck in publishing limbo.”
• Hundreds of specialty shops unite for a day to promote a once-popular hobby now kept afloat by a dwindling audience of die-hard collectors: vinyl records. April 18 is Record Store Day.
• This article points out the distinction between comic-book collectors and comic-book investors. The “news,” I suppose, is that there still are investors.
• Todd Allen looks at how web/digital comics make money.
• Amazon.com customers are boycotting digital books that cost more than $9.99.
- April 6, 2009 @ 09:09 AM by Kevin Melrose
Full of Pryde exhibit to benefit hemophilia research
Kitty Pryde by Joëlle Jones
Joëlle Jones (whose art is pictured above), Tom Neely, Brandon Graham, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Ana Galvañ, Chuck BB, Becky Cloonan, Jon Sperry and more are contributing artwork to Full of Pryde, an art exhibit that benefits the hemophilia research department at Oregon Health and Science University. Floating World Comics in Portland is hosting the exhibit starting May 7, which will feature images of the popular X-Man Kitty Pryde.
- April 6, 2009 @ 09:07 AM by JK Parkin
Unseen Burroughs comic now seen
Sample image from 'Ah Pook'
In 1970, author William Burroughs and artist Malcolm Mc Neill joined forces to work on a graphic novel entitled Ah Pook Is Here. The book never turned out as expected, though, as Richard Metzger explains:
Originally conceived as a graphic novel in the pictographic format of the surviving Mayan codices, the project –eight years in the making– consisted of over 100 illustrations by Malcolm McNeill, 30 in full color and about 50 pages of text. “Ah Pook is Here” would have been prohibitively expensive to publish at the time. As Burroughs wrote “over the years of our collaboration Malcolm McNeill produced more than a hundred pages of artwork. However, owing partly to the expense of full color reproduction, and because the book falls into neither the category of the conventional illustrated book, nor that of a comix publication, there have been difficulties with the arrangements for the complete work. The book is in fact unique…”
Now, however, the illustrations have been rediscovered and are touring art galleries around the globe. The show is currently at the Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles if you’re so inclined to see it. Apparently some of these images are more than 25 feet long, which makes you wonder how they were going to reporduce it in a book in the first place.
- April 6, 2009 @ 08:13 AM by Chris Mautner
It’s Star … Ms. Sapphire if you’re nasty
"Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps" #1-3, by Ed Benes
On Friday DC Comics unveiled Ed Benes’ triptych covers for Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps. And while some commenters focused on Hal Jordan or the work of the colorist, most were drawn to Star Sapphire and her wardrobe dysfunction near-wardrobe malfunction.
A reposting of the image at Major Spoilers ignited a lengthy and spirited comments thread devoted to the depictions of the male and female characters, hypersexualization, marketing (“sex sells”) … and Star Sapphire’s “crotch-star.”
“I have no idea how any editor would approve that sort of thing,” Salieri says. “Oh, wait, I do — the attraction of young virgin men to a comic book.”
- April 6, 2009 @ 07:04 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
From the "KLiC!" comic
Controversy | A U.K. charity is under fire for a comic strip depicting a crucifix-wearing boy bullying a Muslim girl. The comic appears in the latest issue of KLiC!, a magazine for children ages 8 to 13 in public care, published by The Who Cares? Trust.
Mike Judge of The Christian Institute says the comic is “a clumsy caricature, symptomatic of a culture which says it is OK to bully Christians in the name of diversity.” However, Natasha Finlayson of The Who Cares? Trust claims the crucifix was intended as “bling” and not a religious symbol. [Telegraph]
Legal | The Michigan Supreme Court has remanded the case of Michael George to appellate court for a full hearing to decide whether his murder conviction should be reinstated. The retailer and convention organizer was found guilty in March 2008 of the 1990 shooting of his first wife Barbara. However, the judge later overturned the jury conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct and possible new evidence.
A hearing is scheduled for today to determine whether George will be released from jail pending a new trial. [Detroit Free Press]
Creators | Jules Feiffer talks about his long career, and working for Will Eisner: “I showed him my samples which he thought had no promise at all. And only when I started talking about his work and it was clear that I knew everything he had done, from the first thing that he had ever printed, that he got interested in me. He had men in the inner office working on The Spirit. There was a penciller named John Spranger and a letterer named Sam Rosen. All of these were good guys. All of [them] were very professional. And none of them had any interest in Eisner at all. This was just a job. And they actually thought Will’s stuff was rather old-fashioned. They just considered him old hat. And I considered him a great artist. And so essentially he hired me as a groupie.” [Bookslut]
Creators | Steve Duin chats with Playboy cartoonist Doug Sneyd at Emerald City ComiCon. [The Oregonian]
Creators | Graeme McMillan talks to writer Geoff Johns about Flash: Rebirth. [io9.com]
Publishing | Josh Blaylock, founder and president of Devil’s Due Publishing, explains those bizarre comics solicitations featuring President Obama: “Everyone’s doing just these little cameos and stuff. I said, let’s just go do something nuts. I want people to look at this and say ‘What the hell is this?’ ” [Chicago Tribune]
- April 6, 2009 @ 06:09 AM by Kevin Melrose
Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?
On his MySpace blog, Matthew Clark, artist of the upcoming Doom Patrol comic written by Keith Giffen, shares a sketch of the villain Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man:
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man
Clark promises there’s more to come.
- April 6, 2009 @ 05:55 AM by JK Parkin
More streaming Spidey on Marvel.com
Marvel’s streaming Spider-Mania continues; in addition to the Japanese Spider-Man TV show from the 1970s, Marvel.com is now offering episodes of the 1960s animated Spider-Man TV show:
But hey, if you’d rather not watch Spider-Man, you can always try to be him; the upcoming Spider-Man Broadway musical is looking for a cast:
- April 6, 2009 @ 05:01 AM by JK Parkin