2009 May
Thursday is the new Wednesday — at least for this week
So, how many readers in North America forgot that New Comics Day is Thursday this week — pesky holiday — and trekked to the comics shop during lunchtime? No?
While we’re talking about New Comics Day, and before we get to the new comics, I want to point to Marc Mason’s War on Wednesday. He argues that the direct market shouldn’t be tied to, and reliant on, one day for customers to descend like crows on specialty stores for new products.
Mason poses a scenario in which comics are released throughout the week — say, Marvel on Mondays, DC on Thursdays, etc. — which I imagine would create all kinds of logistical problems on the distribution end (and probably beyond).
Plus, y’know, we’d have to rename this feature … which brings us back to what Chris Mautner, JK Parkin and I think are worth checking out this week — whatever day you decide to visit the comics store.
As always, be sure to let us know your picks in the comments below.
- May 27, 2009 @ 01:01 PM by Kevin Melrose
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 075
You want to win a copy of MURDER MOON? Sure you do. Just keep reading.
Art by Gervasio and Jok. Typos by Matt Maxwell.
I’m thinking the preacher’s done been born again.
Okay, the contest this week. Back to Drytown. Collins’ first visit there finds him in a derelict hotel. And there’s something there besides the creepy inkeeper that bothers him. What’s bugging Collins? Protip: you can find the answer on this page. Send mail to me, that’s strangeways@highway-62.com and put “Murder Moon Contest” in the subjectline (hopefully the link does this for you already). Put the answer in the body of the message. Do this before midnight on Thursday. Then you’ll be entered in this week’s drawing. Winners announced on Friday.
If you want to catch up on the whole story, hit the archive page.
As noted ealier, we’ll be moving to a two-page-a-week schedule shortly. There’s a couple reasons for this, but they all come back to me, so I’ll take the heat for it. I will try to add some extra value on the day that we’ll be missing, but not entirely sure how. Didn’t get much of a response from the behind-the-scenes material, which leads me to believe that people just want the stories and don’t care about how they’re made. If I’m wrong in this, please let me know by way of the comments.
Oh, and finally, I’ve revamped Highway 62′s weblog. The old bookmarks should redirect to the new site, but go here and reset your feeds if necessary.
See you on Friday.
- May 27, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
Stop the presses! Archie will propose to … Veronica?
Archie #600
I guess sometimes things do move quickly in Riverdale.
Barely a week after Archie Comics teased that Archie Andrews will propose to one of his longtime sweethearts in a story that takes place after college, the publisher has revealed he’ll ask Veronica Lodge to marry him.
The title’s even been changed from “Archie Gets Married” to “Archie Marries Veronica,” so you know it’s true!
“Could it be true?” the press release asks, making me think I can’t handle the truth. “Has Archie finally decided to take the plunge and propose to comics’ favorite rich girl? It sure looks that way!”
Hmmm … Tell me more, press release. What about Betty Cooper, who probably should’ve washed her hands of Archie decades ago?
“What would lead Archie to have marriage on his mind?” the press release continues, as if reading my mind. “And why would he choose Veronica over Betty? How will Betty react?”
What would lead Archie to choose Veronica over Betty? (Money!) And why does Archie get to “choose” at all?
I guess I’ll have to wait until August to find out, when the first part of the six-part story debuts in Archie #600.
For more details, check out the Comic Book Resources interview with writer Michael Uslan.
Update: The word around Pop Tate’s is that the six-issue arc will imagine two separate scenarios in which young Archibald marries Veronica and Betty. Run Archie Run?
- May 27, 2009 @ 11:36 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: The Apocalipstix
The Apocalipstix
The Apocalipstix, Volume 1
Written by Ray Fawkes; Illustrated by Cameron Stewart
Oni; $11.95
I first encountered the world’s greatest post-apocalyptic band in the Rumble Royale anthology from Canada’s Royal Academy of Illustration and Design. There was a Sam Hiti story in it I wanted, but it also introduced me to The Apocalipstix (and Chip Zdarsky, but that’s another story). It’s well worth tracking down.
Much easier to get is Oni’s publication of the further adventures of The Apocalipstix. The band is sort of the Mad Max version of Josie and the Pussycats. The world has ended in nuclear fire, but that’s not stopping Mandy, Dot, and Meg from going on tour. The End-of-the-World Tour, they call it. The book is made up of three stories, each of which more or less stands on its own, but are all loosely tied together by the context of the girls’ tour.
- May 27, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Michael May
Straight for the art | Superboy + Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel and Superboy
I saw this on Michael May’s AdventureBlog and thought these two would make a great couple. I mean, if one wasn’t totally evil now and the other wasn’t recently returned from the dead and about to reunite with his other superhero girlfriend.
The piece is by Christina Sanders, who says that Mary Marvel would “do all the normal childhood things with Kon that he never got to do, like watch Disney movies and play board games and go to the zoo and amusement parks. Kon would pretend that they’re lame but secretly love it, and she would see right through him, and he would totally cry like a little girl at Lilo and Stitch.”
- May 27, 2009 @ 10:41 AM by JK Parkin
Would Katee Sackhoff make a good Typhoid Mary?
Katee Sackhoff
Here’s an interesting little tidbit: apparently Katee Sackhoff visited L.A. comics shop Golden Apple Comics a couple of weeks ago. The Golden Apple blog reports that “she proceeded to grab all the Typhoid Mary comics we had and has hopes to get a part for a Marvel movie.”
Sackhoff is best known as Starbuck from the Sci Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica reboot — but is she destined for a reboot of Marvel’s Daredevil? Rumors have been floating around that Fox is interested in another take on the property (as well as Fantastic Four) before the rights revert back to Marvel. A Daredevil movie that drew heavily from Ann Nocenti’s take on the character doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea to me (of course, I never thought the first Daredevil movie was as bad as most people seemed to think it was … Elektra, though, was probably worse).
MTV’s Splash Page runs down possible movies that could feature Typhoid Mary, noting that Daredevil is probably the most obvious, since that’s where the character debuted, but also mentions Deadpool and even Avengers as longshots.
So what do you think? Would Sackhoff make a good Typhoid Mary?
- May 27, 2009 @ 10:06 AM by JK Parkin
Rich Johnston’s new site: BleedingCool.com
First off, congrats and farewell to Rich Johnston, who is moving on from Comic Book Resources and Lying in the Gutters to a brand new opportunity.
But what is that new opportunity, exactly? Rich revealed a little bit about it via Twitter and on the WhiteChapel message board yesterday. “Next Monday. A new blogsite begins. BleedingCool.com. Imagine LITG four times a day, seven days a week. Bookmark the site… NOW!” he said on Twitter.
The site, BleedingCool.com, is currently showing a countdown clock:
BleedingCool.com
And on WhiteChapel, he revealed the new site is being funded by Avatar Press, “who have promised a hands-off editorial process, but whom I’ll give an Avatar Plug Of The Week to to keep them happy,” he wrote.
But Rich isn’t the only one contributing to the site; Warren Ellis posted on his blog that he’ll be writing something for it every week as well.
- May 27, 2009 @ 09:31 AM by JK Parkin
Doctor Octopus hearts the Jonas Brothers — this explains a lot
Who's a pretty princess?
Photographer Ian Pool’s online portfolio includes several comic-themed photos that range from the humorous (see above) to the somewhat touching (I’m really impressed with how patient the Hulk is with his dog). Go check’em out.
- May 27, 2009 @ 08:38 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Legal | Matt Kernes examines the Christopher Handley manga-obscenity case for Adult Video News, and highlights the problem with the yaoi titles that were part of the government’s prosecution.
“There is explicit sex in yaoi comics,” Handley’s attorney tells Kernes. “And the men are drawn in a very androgynous style, which has the effect of making them look really young. There’s a real taboo in Japan about showing pubic hair, so they’re all drawn without it, which also makes them look young. So what concerned the authorities were the depictions of children in explicit sexual situations that they believed to be obscene. But there are no actual children. It was all very crude images from a comic book.”
Meanwhile, manga scholar Matt Thorn has removed his correspondence with Handley’s attorney and mother that he’d posted yesterday: “It’s frustrating, obviously, but the last thing I want to do is anything that might result in a harsher sentence for Mr. Handley.” [AVN Business, via Simon Jones]
BookExpo America
Publishing | Although the recession means fewer publishers are participating in this weekend’s BookExpo America, comics will still have a sizable presence. [PW Comics Week]
Conventions | The programming schedule has been released for the 2009 Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival, set for June 6-7 at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City. [MoCCA]
Publishing | Lori Henderson summarizes, and praises, Viz Media’s recent moves into digital comics with the serialization of Rumiko Takahashi’s Rin-Ne, and the launch of the Ikki online anthology. [Manga Xanadu]
- May 27, 2009 @ 07:03 AM by Kevin Melrose
Are you ready for the summer?
Grumpy Old Fan
Although science says it’s not summer yet, I’ve got a nice, bucolic, seasonal buzz going. 2009 will be my twenty-fifth summer collecting comic books (not counting that lackadaisical elementary-school period when I just read the things); and while I don’t particularly like sharing stories from the Olden Days, this time it feels appropriate.
Longtime readers of this space may remember that, after a few years of the obligatory “I am in junior high now; I am mature” disavowal, DC’s Star Trek vol. 1 #9 reopened the door to comics. More importantly in that fall of 1984, Trek led to Tales of the Teen Titans #50, and from there to Crisis On Infinite Earths and its companion Who’s Who. By May 1985 I was not only finishing up tenth grade, I was obsessing over the six issues of Crisis which had since been published.
- May 26, 2009 @ 03:24 PM by Tom Bondurant
Madman Atomic Comics ends with #17
Madman
Image Comics sent word that Mike Allred will wrap up the current adventures of his signature creation with Madman Atomic Comics #17, due this August. Along with that last issue will come a new album from his band, The Gear, called Left of Center of the Universe. Both the comic and the album will feature “the return of characters from his highly praised hit Red Rocket 7,” the press release says.
This is the second album from the band; the first, Son of Red Rocket 7, was released by Dark Horse Comics in 1998. The new album will feature a special guest appearance by Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols.
And if you’re bummed about Atomic Comics ending, don’t worry — per the release, Madman will be back in some form in the future.
“Madman Atomic Comics marks the end of an era, but definitely not the end of MADMAN at Image,” Allred said. “Madman Atomic Comics was a really fun time for me, Laura, Madman and friends. Working at Image gave us an unprecedented freedom with the book, allowing us to experiment like never before! I hope fans have enjoyed the trip thus far and will be back with us on the next leg once we get to it!”
The final issue will also tie in Allred’s Red Rocket 7 series in continuity for the very first time.
- May 26, 2009 @ 02:18 PM by JK Parkin
Grant Morrison, and the ‘really simple high concept’ behind Batman and Robin
From J.G. Jones' variant cover for "Batman and Robin" #1
After a certain point, Grant Morrison’s marathon of interviews covering Final Crisis, “Batman R.I.P.” and, now, Batman and Robin bleeds together, like clips from a Hollywood press junket played endlessly on cable news.
So I sometimes have trouble figuring out what anecdotes are new, and which ones are Morrison chestnuts (not that it matters much, as they’re all entertaining). I’m fairly sure, though, that this interview with IGN.com covers new territory, as it’s the first since Batman: Battle for the Cowl wrapped up last week, and the identities of the new Batman and Robin were (officially) revealed.
Although the entire Q&A is worth reading, I found two quotes of particular interest:
On the accessibility of Batman and Robin: “… I kind of thought, while starting up Batman and Robin, that it was a really simple high concept. The guy who used to be Robin is now Batman, and Batman’s evil son is now Robin. You can explain that to any person on the street and they’re going to get it. It was that simple. Everyone can understand that Robin has now grown up to be Batman. Having just heard our advance orders for the first printing are the highest DC’s had in the last few years, it’s important for me to keep this material accessible — and everyone knows Dick Grayson”
On the recipe for a great Batman villain: “A gimmick. Creepiness. A distinctive look. Basically, you just have to pick something — like I did with the Club of Villains characters — you look at something that works in the Batman mythos, like the evil clown, obviously. You can play with different version of that, so we had the killer mime in the Club of Villains. Or you can have another take on it, like you can play up the grinning death mask aspect and do a ‘Mexican Day of the Dead’ villain. You kind of evolve those themes into new forms. Batman fights people who dress or behave like animals — Catwoman, Killer Croc, Penguin, Man-Bat — sometimes, so you can create your own lizard girls or serpent ladies or guys like my upcoming Flamingo. Then there are the ‘game’ or ‘puzzle’ villains like the Joker, and the Riddler, and there are the ‘Dick Tracy’-style ‘face’ villains like Two-Face, No-Face, etc. Like I said, there’s a set of ingredients that you can play around with to create a Batman villain.”
Batman and Robin #1 goes on sale June 3.
- May 26, 2009 @ 01:32 PM by Kevin Melrose
Slash Print | Following the digital evolution
Digger
Webcomics | Fleen’s Gary Tyrrell bridges the gap between print comics and webcomics by pointing fans of the former to something that has a similar tone or feel on the web. Or, in other words, “If you like X, try reading Y.” This Usagi Yojimbo fan is now subscribed to Digger as a result, and I plan to check out others on his list (and in the comments section) as well.
Webcomics | Smith Magazine wraps up its Next-Door Neighbor anthology of webcomics with a contribution by Tara Seibel.
Video games | Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro talks to Wired about a variety of subjects, including how the PlayStation 3 is the “Model T” for a new storytelling engine and how video games will one day have their Citizen Kane — as, in his opinion, comics have already had.
- May 26, 2009 @ 12:45 PM by JK Parkin
Everyone’s A Critic: A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces
The Photographer
* JR Minkel thinks that Alan Moore is a misogynist. And then he doesn’t.
* Writing for the New York Times, Chris Hedges is effusive about The Photographer:
The power of “The Photographer” is that it bridges this silence. There is no fighting in this book. No great warriors are exalted. The story is about those who live on the fringes of war and care for its human detritus. By the end of the book the image or picture of a weapon is distasteful. And if you can achieve this, you have gone a long way to imparting the truth about warfare.
* The Forbidden Planet Blog calls the latest comics adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray “an excellent read.”
- May 26, 2009 @ 12:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Rafael Grampá draws Batman and Robin
Batman and Robin
Mesmo Delivery creator Rafael Grampá shares a piece of artwork from an art exhibition celebrating Batman’s 70th anniversary. This is the first I’ve heard of such an exhibition, but I’m sure more information on it is coming soon.
“Batman was the first comic character I drew when I was 3 years old,” Grampá writes. “I always watched the 60’s TV series and I was totally crazy about it. This character was very important in my dream and decision to be a comic book artist when I was a kid.”
- May 26, 2009 @ 11:15 AM by JK Parkin