2009 April
Klein revisits DC and Marvel’s Amalgam line
Bruce Wayne, Agent of SHIELD
We’ve linked to letterer Todd Klein’s various logo studies before, but this week’s is kind of special — Klein examines DC and Marvel’s Amalgam event from the 1990s, specifically the logos for each of the Amalgam books. Part 1 is here, and part 2 is here.
If you missed the Amalgam event when it occurred, it followed the Marvel vs. DC mini-series that, as you can guess, pitted various Marvel heroes versus DC’s. Fans could even vote on some of the outcomes, like Superman against the Hulk and Wolverine taking on Lobo. Far more interesting, though, was the spin-off event … due to events in the mini-series that I can’t really remember now, the two separate universes were merged, as were their characters. So you had combinations like Captain America + Superman = Super Soldier, Ghost Rider + Flash = Speed Demon and Dr. Fate + Dr. Strange = Dr. Strangefate, among others. Marvel and DC respectively published half the books in 1996, then followed it up with another round of them in 1997.
Anyway, all these new comics needed logos, so Klein talks about how the designers (in many cases, himself) took elements of each of the parent logos to create logos for their unholy (but in many cases, really fun) offspring. “Each company tended to want their character logos to dominate. Funny how that worked,” Klein says. In any event, the recap is interesting reading for process junkies and nostalgic fans alike, as Klein details what went into each logo and some of the plot elements of the books. Definitely worth checking out.
- April 23, 2009 @ 10:04 AM by JK Parkin
The 25 greatest superhero romances (Or, That Spidey sure gets around)
Spider-Man loves Doc Ock? (by Lucy Knisley)
If we learn one thing from Jeffery Klaehn’s list of the 25 Greatest Superhero Romances, it’s that Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker are kind of trampy.
If we learn two things, it’s that that Scott-Jean-Logan-Emma lust love rectangle is a little icky.
Seriously, though, I enjoy lists, particularly ones like this that make me consider, or reconsider, how the relationships between certain fictional characters can take on an almost iconic status.
I won’t play “But he forgot –,” but I’ll note two things I find interesting: Klaehn’s relatively high placement of the Wonder Woman-Superman relationship — for some reason, I never give much thought to it — and Silver St. Cloud-Bruce Wayne — a coupling I was vaguely aware of but never realized had reached a “greatest” level.
My only criticism is that if I were doing this list — and I’m not — Scarlet Witch and Vision (No. 21, really?) would’ve been much higher, probably somewhere around Big Barda and Mister Miracle (No.7) .
(I stumbled upon the above illustration by Lucy Knisley by accident this morning. Sadly, Spider-Man/Doc Ock didn’t make the list. Maybe next year …)
- April 23, 2009 @ 09:17 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Flinch
Publishing | Diamond Comic Distributors has reversed its cancellation of Flinch, the anthology from Australia-based Gestalt Publishing. Wolfgang Bylsma, the publisher’s managing director, wrote to say his Diamond account representative had been unaware of the cancellation until contacted by Bylsma.
“It would appear that their new minimum-sales benchmark processes are undergoing some teething problems and they have some inhouse issues to attend to,” Bylsma said in an email to Robot 6.
Awards | Steve Breen, who just three days ago received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, has won the Overseas Press Club’s Thomas Nast Award. [The Daily Cartoonist]
Rin-Ne
Publishing | Viz Media has kicked off its free online serialization of Rin-Ne, the new manga from Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2 creator Rumiko Takahashi. New chapters will appear on The Rumic World website at the same time they’re released in Japan. The publisher also announced that beginning with July’s Vol. 38, it will release Inuyasha in its original form: unflipped, reading from right to left. [TheRumicWorld.com]
Sales charts | The latest wave of Naruto releases begins to falter on the USA Today bestseller list as Vol. 44 slips 17 places to No. 61, Vol. 43 drops 25 to No. 65, and Vol. 42 tumbles 33 to No. 83. Meanwhile, Watchmen continues its slow fall, sliding 29 spots to No. 77 in its 40th week on the chart. [USA Today]
- April 23, 2009 @ 07:24 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Anna Mercury
Anna Mercury, Volume 1: The Cutter
Anna Mercury: The Cutter
Written by Warren Ellis; Illustrated by Facundo Percio
Avatar; $19.99
I’m a late adapter about most things, but it seems especially true about Warren Ellis. I mean, I think he’s one of the smartest people in the room when talking about the future of comics, but I can count on one hand the number of stories I’ve actually read by him. Fell, Ocean, and Orbiter are the only ones that immediately come to mind. I know I should at least read NextWave; I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I could easily derail this article by trying to analyze why I haven’t read more of Ellis’ stuff when I really do love what I’ve read so far. I’ll skip that bit, but I think it has something to do with how smart he is and how I normally don’t equate “smart” with “exciting.”
I know I’m gonna get in trouble for that last statement, so let me explain. I don’t think that intelligent writing equals boring, but so much of what I read from Ellis – in his newsletter; on his messageboard – is him talking about ideas. Where things are going and how best to capitalize on that. It’s fascinating stuff, but I’m finding that as I consider picking up his fiction I have this expectation that it’s going to be more of that. I mean, he’s a science fiction writer. Science fiction is all about predicting the future and commenting about it through stories. And honestly? I’m not a fan of hard science fiction. Give me Flash Gordon and John Carter over 2001 and the Foundation Trilogy any day (you can see how up-to-date I am on the latest sci-fi).
- April 22, 2009 @ 04:38 PM by Michael May
FCBD | Two in Texas, two in California
Free Comic Book Day
If I’m to believe the little kid on the home page of the Free Comic Book Day website (and I have no reason to doubt him; he is dressed like Batman, after all) then Free Comic Book Day is just 10 days away. Comic shops all over the world will be giving away free comics on May 2; find out what you can get for free here .
Many retailers will host special events and signings on Free Comic Book Day, which I’ll collect and post right here at Robot 6. Today’s update contains details on events in the Lone Star State, specifically Austin and Lubbock, as well as Concord and Winnetka, Calif. (My state of origin and my state of current whereabouts).
If you’re a creator or retailer involved with or hosting a FCBD event, please drop me a note about your plans, as we’ll start posting them between now and May 2.
- April 22, 2009 @ 02:18 PM by JK Parkin
Everyone’s a Critic: A round-up of comic reviews and thinkpieces
A Comic Studies Reader
* Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester talk about their latest book, The Comic Studies Reader, among a myriad number of other things, on the Inkstuds podcast.
* Speaking of podcasts, The Comics Journal has posted a panel discussion between Dark Horse editors Philip Simon and Carl Horn, Funimation’s Adam Sheenan and Japanamerica author Roland Kelts on the state of the manga and anime industries that took place during Sakura-Con in Seattle.
* There’s a new site in town, Comic Book Critics, which collects reviews of various comics and then assigns them a score from 1-10 based on the consensus, a la Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
* Mark Seigel and the rest of the First Second staff review the new Scott Pilgim book, comic book style!
- April 22, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 061
Back from the Stumptown Comics fest. My report appears at this very link.
One of the things that I discussed with other creators up there was promoting hits on the pages here, maybe getting people to dig a little more closely into the content. So that got me to thinking. You’ll see the results of that thinking in not too long a time. Suffice it to say that there will be free copies of books to be had, but you will have to at least marginally earn them.
Now, without further interruption, more cowboys and vampires.
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok.
More content on Friday. Be sure to hit the archives if you want to catch up. I’ll be tweaking those later on today so they might be offline for a time. Don’t fret.
- April 22, 2009 @ 09:57 AM by Matt Maxwell
Food or Comics | Money, comics and the economy [Updated]
Flinch
• Wolfgang Bylsma, managing director of Australia-based Gestalt Publishing, emailed this morning to say that Diamond Comic Distributors canceled the anthology Flinch without notifying the publisher. He received the news from a retailer.
“I received an email from a retailer in Montreal asking why we were going ahead with the book launch when Diamond had canceled the distribution,” Bylsma writes. “Local (Australian) retailers then confirmed for me that Diamond had informed them the title was canceled.”
The 120-page Flinch features work by Shaun Tan (who illustrated the cover), Justin Randall, Terry Dowling, Ray Fawkes, Tom Taylor, Colin Wilson and others.
Update: Bylsma writes to say that retailers received an automated notification from the distributor, and that his Diamond representative apologized for the publisher not being directly informed of the cancellation.
“I hold no grudge against the rep who initially fought with us to get the book listed in the first place,” Bylsma says. “It is the system and policies in place that appear deeply flawed. Ultimately it is Diamond as a company that are diminishing their own capacity to remain relevant in a shifting landscape, and if we can enable more people to become aware of the drawbacks of their new policies then all the better. I can appreciate that their business model needs to remain profitable, but having essentially cornered the market and then closing out diversity is no way to bolster the industry, and it must surely be evident that a weakened industry would only serve to damage their own longevity and ongoing profitability.”
He notes that orders for the anthology would have Diamond’s previous minimum level “quite comfortably.” However, it “fell short of the new hurdle.”
Bylsma is in talks with Haven Distributors to make Flinch available to retailers. Consumers will be able to purchase the book through Amazon. com and the Gestalt website.
- April 22, 2009 @ 09:52 AM by Kevin Melrose
Buenaventura offers stimulus package
Refusing to sound the death knell for the alt-comic pamphlet, Buenaventura Press, publishers of last year’s mammoth, unexpected-controversy-inducing Kramer’s Ergot 7, have announced plans to release not one but six new comic books this year.
The inspired bit is that these comics will be packaged together in what the company is calling “The BP Comics Revival Economic Stimulus 3-Pak.” In other words, BP will release two sets of three comics shrink-wrapped together, a la the drugstore packages of olden days.
The first three-pack includes Ted May’s Injury #3, Aviatrix #1 by Eric Haven and I Want You #1 by Lisa Hanawalt. The books cost $4.95 apiece, but will be available as a package for $11.95 and will be offered in the June issue of Previews.
As you may remember, May had expressed concerns online that the latest issue of his ongoing series would not meet Diamond’s new minimum cut-off requirements and thus not be available in most comic stores. It’s nice to see the publisher has found an inventive way around that problem.
Click on the link to read the full press release: Continue Reading »
- April 22, 2009 @ 09:34 AM by Chris Mautner
Send Us Your Shelf Porn
Welcome to another edition of Send Us Your Shelf Porn. We have an extra-special treat for you today, as this week’s contributor is Alter Ego designer Christopher Day. Christopher has gone the extra mile, shelf-porn-wise, as he has created an entire blog, PN6700-PN6790, devoted to his cataloging and examining his collection . It’s a fascinating site and I heartily recommend taking the to stop and visit.
Rather than have Chris repeat what’s already on his blog, I asked him if he could give a quick tour of the collection and maybe go into a bit more depth about how how he organized his collection, shelving issues, organizational challenges, etc. He graciously sent me back the photos and text below.
Before we look at his shelves, however, I want to issue a reminder. Shelf porn begins and ends with you, the reader. If you want to keep this feature going, then we need contributions, be your shelves barren and propped by concrete blocks, or hand-carved out of mahogany and filled with every treasure imaginable. Send you pics to cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet. You’ll be glad you did.
Now, on with the show –
- April 22, 2009 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Platinum Studios
Publishing | Van Jensen wades through Plantinum Studios’ 2008 financial report and discovers … pretty much what you’d expect: The troubled company is in debt, to the tune of $20 million. Platinum reports it is behind in rent, facing a handful of lawsuits and, and as Gary Tyrrell notes, unable to pay second-quarter royalties to clients of Wowio, the e-book publisher it purchased last year. [via Heidi MacDonald]
Publishing | David Welsh talks briefly with Elizabeth Kawasaki, Viz Media’s senior editorial director, about the publisher’s plan to serialize Rumiko Takahashi’s new manga Rin-Ne online for free as it’s being released in Japan. [The Comics Reporter]
Publishing | Deb Aoki rounds up the mainstream-media reaction to Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s autobiographical A Drifting Life. [About.com]
Detective Comics #853
Creators | Neil Gaiman discusses his “love letter” to Batman, the two-part Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, and the dreaded c-word — continuity: “Continuity isn’t actually something that I ever worry about. You use it where you need to, and you don’t use it where you don’t need to. It’s a given that we exist in a world where we have to live in continuity every day; no one is immune to that, in life or romance novels. By the same token, it’s not something I find terribly important.” Warning: This link may contain spoilers for Detective Comics #853, which goes on sale today. [The Underwire]
Creators | Chris Claremont discusses his work on Marvel’s X-Men franchise, his collaborators, and whether it would be possible in today’s industry to stay on a title for 16 years: “I think if someone came along and their work on a title as writer or artist resulted in sales of half-billion copies an issue, I think the publishers would likely do whatever was necessary to sustain the writer and the book. The fact is, sales today are significantly less than that (half-billion copies per issue), so there is perhaps an incentive to keep rotating personnel just to juice the product. By the same token, there are a lot more perceived alternatives. If someone came along and scored that kind of sales impact in comics, the chances are they would try to move on to another medium as Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller have in film and books.” [Mania]
- April 22, 2009 @ 07:31 AM by Kevin Melrose
Oni debuts Salt Water Taffy webcomics
Salt Water Taffy
With the third volume of Matthew Loux’s excellent Salt Water Taffy due this summer, Oni Press announces they’ve launched not only a site to support the book, but that Loux will publish a series of online comics on the site starring the main characters Jack and Benny. Loux said the site gives him “a place for me to tell more of their adventures in a new format.”
Update: Matthew Loux is the second-ever guest star on The Rick and Phil Hour (bonus points for whoever can name the first guest star) tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. So head over there and hear (or, actually, read) what Loux has to say about the webcomic, the new book and whatever other fun insanity Rick and Phil have for him.
- April 21, 2009 @ 01:47 PM by JK Parkin
Are we ready for Steve Rogers to be Reborn?
"July"
Ed Brubaker and Bryan Hitch collaborating on a hush-hush Marvel miniseries called Reborn? With John Cassaday and Alex Ross providing additional covers? It’s probably nothing, right?
The listing for the five-issue miniseries, which leads Marvel’s solicitations for July, is light on details — “Solicit to be revealed soon” — but the obvious bet is it has something everything to do with the somber teaser (at right) the publisher has been running for a while.
The comics event we all knew was eventually going to happen appears to be occurring sooner rather than later: the return of Steve Rogers, who’s been out of play since his highly publicized death in April 2007 (if you don’t count flashbacks, Avengers/Invaders and a ghost).
Or it could be a feint propped up by the lack of information in the solicitation for Captain America #601.
As ZeroVGM says in the Comic Book Resources forums, “Why would Cap’s own book have some random one off issue with Bucky and Fury talking about an old Cap adventure, while Bru is bringing Steve back in a miniseries? Wouldn’t he do that in the actual Cap book, like he did when he killed him off?”
All I knew is there better be a prominent role for Bucky Barnes when everything’s said and done.
Betting lines are open …
- April 21, 2009 @ 12:18 PM by Kevin Melrose
Dash Shaw goes to college
A very unflattering picture of Dash Shaw
Every so often a co-worker, family member or acquaintance will look at me blankly when I talk about my hobby/obsession and say to me “Wait, you mean they make comics for adults now?”
It’s a stubborn reminder that, despite the seeming advances being made every week in mainstream media (hey, did you see that Tatsumi review in the New York Times?) most folks are unware of the strides that have been made over the past 30 years and have little regard for the medium beyond something that can eventually get made into a movie starring Christian Bale.
Still there are pockets of encouragement, most notably in the upper echelons of higher learning, where you may find librarians, teachers and college professors that are not-so-secret cheerleaders for the sequential art form.
Case in point: Last week I was back at my old alma mater Franklin and Marshall College for their ninth annual Emerging Writers Festival. I hadn’t heard of the yearly event up till now, but I had a particular interest in checking out this one as one of the invited artists was none other than Dash Shaw, author of last year’s acclaimed Bottomless Belly Button and just got an Eisner nomination for his excellent Webcomic BodyWorld.
- April 21, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Thin wallets, thick bookshelves: A publishing news round-up
BC: I Did It His Way
* Christian publisher Thomas Nelson will release a book Johnny Hart’s religious-themed (and often controversial) strips from his B.C. comic strip entitled I Did It His Way. The book comes out on May 5 and will cost $16.99.
* Fantagraphics continues to provide sneek peeks into their fall catalog. Among the revelations this time around are The Squirrel Machine by Hans Rickheit, a collection of stories by Dash Shaw, a collection of Basil Wolverton’s Culture Corner strips, a new, ultraviolent fantasy graphic novel from Johnny Ryan and — geezum crow! — a new collection of Pip and Francie strips by Al Columbia!
* Chris Duffy has let it be known that IDW will be releasing a complete collection of the cult favorite comic strip King Aroo.
* NBM reminds everyone that their next Forever Nuts volume will feature George McManus’ Bringing Up Father. I believe IDW will also be releasing a collection of Father strips this year as well.
* NBM is also apparently publishing a book by Jesse Lonergan about Turkmenistan, which is news to me.
* CBC News has a nice preview of the soon to be released Collected Doug Wright from Drawn and Quarterly.
- April 21, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner