Robot 6
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
MoCCA
Conventions | Don’t miss Robot 6′s guide to nearly 50 comics making their debuts this weekend at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in New York City. [MoCCA]
Conventions | Florida Supercon opens this morning in Miami, featuring creators such as Chris Claremont, Dough Mahnke, Tony Moore, Dick Giordano, Greg Horn, Tony Bedard and Clayton Henry. [Miami Herald]
Sales charts | The top of The New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller appears to be stuck in a loop as The Dark Tower: Treachery, Watchmen and Negima! Vol. 22 once again hold to No. 1 spots in the hardcover, paperback and manga categories. There’s at least one item of interest, though: Marvel’s Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse, Book 1 — Animator, in the running for the week’s most cumbersome title, enters the hardcover chart at No. 4. [ArtsBeat]
Magic Pickle and the Garden of Evil
Publishing | The Graphic Novel Reporter breaks down its list of “The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2009″: Kids; Tweens; Teens; Adult Nonfiction; Adult Fiction. [Graphic Novel Reporter]
Publishing | On a similar note, Eva Volin presents the hot fall graphic novels for libraries as named at a panel at BookExpo America. [Good Comics for Kids]
Publishing | DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio discusses the new status quo for the Batman books, and why it’s taken three years to move Batwoman into a starring role: “One of the things we wanted to do was build her up slowly as a strong member of the DC Universe, and then as a strong supporting cast member in Batman’s world, and then if the interest was there, to be able to roll her out into her own series. With all the things that were taking place in the Batman universe, it just made sense to hold off her premiere.” [Comics Alliance]
Gaiman and Palmer
Creators | It’s a Neil Gaiman media explosion as we learn the comics writer-turned-literary superstar has a real gravestone in his garden, thinks he got big in comics but never “Frank Miller big,” and is dating singer Amanda Palmer. [Neil Gaiman]
Creators | Cartoonist Evan Dorkin comments on the closing of Nickelodeon Magazine. [Evan Dorkin]
Creators | Matthew Badham chats with artist John Higgins. [Forbidden Planet International]
Books | Brian Cronin of our sibling blog Comics Should Be Good talks about his new book Was Superman a Spy? [Star-Tribune]
Comics | Timothy Callahan annotates Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Batman and Robin #1 (GeniusboyFiremelon)
Comics | Brandon Soderberg analyzes a panel of Vasilis Lolos’ art from Northlanders #17. [Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader?]
Manga | Christopher Butcher takes a critical look at the cover design of Bandai titles. [Comics212]
- June 5, 2009 @ 07:52 AM by Kevin Melrose
5 Comments
J. Jonah
June 5, 2009 at 8:43 am
Is anyone excited about Frazer Irving being the third and final artist on “Batman and Robin”? I’m kind of torn. I thought his work on Klarion the Witchboy was pretty good but his work on Iron Man the Inevitable was incredibly FLAT. If someone else is doing the coloring then I think it’ll be okay but if he’s doing it then it may turn out way too muddy.
ejulp
June 5, 2009 at 9:16 am
@J. Jonah
I’m super excited…it was joke putting someone of his caliber on a title like Azrael…so yeah, FINALLY.
J. Jonah
June 5, 2009 at 9:34 am
@ejulp: But, looking at the action scenes in “Azrael” rendered by Frazer Irving, don’t you think they’re kind of stilted and flat? I’m not that turned on by them. And that panel of Ra’s al Ghul was ridiculous – he didn’t look menacing, he looked like a petulant child.
J. Jonah
June 5, 2009 at 10:07 am
If Frazer Irving uses all his artistic styles from “Inhumans: Silent War” then I think that his “Batman and Robin” work will be Spectacular. “Silent War” was visually really beautiful. But, I think that his “Azrael” and “Iron Man: The Inevitable” work was really uninspired and DRAB. In fact, the actions scenes in “Silent War” were pretty damn spectacular, unlike those in “Azrael”.
Ian A.
June 5, 2009 at 10:59 am
I’m eagerly anticipating Irving’s work on Batman and Robin, and I hope he’s handling the coloring on the arc. His style — with its blisteringly bright hues and deep shadows — should prove a strong match for Morrison’s psychedelic-noir approach.