2009 June
Faith Erin Hicks previews The Fielding Course
from The Fielding Course
While Chris just highlighted some of the projects to look forward to from First Second later this year, Faith Erin Hicks is offering up some preview art from something to look forward to next year — The Fielding Course, written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan.
“The story’s about two misfit kids who’re dragged off to a ominous summer camp, where there’s some really creepy goings on,” she writes on her blog. “And then crazy stuff happens.”
- June 4, 2009 @ 02:50 PM by JK Parkin
Thin wallets, thick bookshelves: First Second’s fall catalog
Refresh, Refresh
Are we six months into 2009 already? Indeed, we are, which means various publishers are sending out their fall and winter catalogs, chock full of impressive books, comics and graphic novels that will be making their way to our local stores in only a few months.
I’ve already covered a few book publishers and some big indie companies like Fantagraphics. Today, we’re taking a look at what the Macmillan imprint First Second has in store for the second half of the year. Join me, won’t you?
- June 4, 2009 @ 02:04 PM by Chris Mautner
Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz to write Fall Out Toyworks for Image
Fall Out Toyworks
MTV.com reports that Fall Out Boy bassist and songwriter Pete Wentz is working on a comic called Fall Out Toyworks for Image Comics.
Conceived by Wentz and designer Darren Romanelli, the book’s writer is Brett Lewis, with art from Sam Basri and Imaginary Friends Studios. Lewis is known for his Bulletproof Monk and The Winter Men work, and Basri has previously worked on Witchblade.
The plot of the five-issue miniseries is loosely based on the Fall Out Boy song “Tiffany Blews” and will focus on “a mysterious toymaker, a cyborg gal named Tiffany and a kid in a bear suit that looks lifted from the cover of Fall Out Boy’s Folie á Deux,” their latest album released last year. You can check out the cover here. The book comes out Sept. 2.
Fall Out Boy, of course, is named after Radioactive Man’s sidekick on The Simpsons. They will tour with Weezer and a reunited Blink-182 this summer.
- June 4, 2009 @ 01:10 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art: Richard Sala’s art blog
Cat Burglar Black
The gothic horror cartoonist known for such delightfully creepy books as Delphine and Evil Eye has a new art blog up now, which features, among other things, news on his upcoming book from First Second, Cat Burglar Black.
- June 4, 2009 @ 12:02 PM by Chris Mautner
When times get tough, the superheroes get real
Geist
The recession can be blamed for any number of things, ranging from home foreclosures to layoffs to business closings. Now add to that list the rise of real-life superheroes.
CNN reports that the dismal economic environment is leading more people to don masks in an effort to help their communities and fight crime.
Ben Goldman of Superheroes Anonymous estimates there are somewhere between 250 and 300 real-life superheroes worldwide, up from around 200 just last summer.
“A lot of them have gone through a sort of existential crisis and have had to discover who they are,” Goldman tells CNN.
Of course as we, and Shadow Hare, have learned, more supervillains are discovering who they are, too.
But Stan Lee, for one, sees the increase in real-life superheroes as a positive sign.
“I think it’s a good thing that people are eager enough to want to help their community,” he says. “They think to do it is to emulate the superheroes. Now if they had said they had super powers [that would be another thing].”
They don’t have super powers yet, but they do have BattleSuits. And, in the case of Rochester, Minnesota’s Geist, bolas.
- June 4, 2009 @ 11:09 AM by Kevin Melrose
‘Jaxon’s Last Ride’
Author and comics scholar Patrick Rosenkranz pays homage to the late, pioneering underground cartoonist Jack Jackson in this short documentary film.
- June 4, 2009 @ 10:24 AM by Chris Mautner
Is this another clue to Marvel’s Reborn?
From a character sketch by Kyle Baker
Cartoonist Kyle Baker posts a character sketch “for an upcoming Marvel gig” that’s sure to further fan speculation about Captain America #600 and the mysterious Reborn miniseries.
The Golden Age-style illustration depicts Isaiah Bradley, from 2003′s Truth: Red, White & Black, as Captain America. The miniseries, by Baker and writer Robert Morales, followed a regiment of black soldiers who were used as involuntary test subjects in the U.S. government’s super-soldier program.
Some have speculated that July’s Reborn, by Ed Brubaker and Bryan Hitch, won’t feature the return of Steve Rogers as the Sentinel of Liberty, but instead center on characters and concepts from Truth — something virtually guaranteed to deliver Civil War-level media coverage.
Could Baker’s sketch be another clue to Marvel’s big July event, or is it something completely unrelated?
Of course, there’s always a third option: that it’s a red (white and blue) herring.
- June 4, 2009 @ 09:18 AM by Kevin Melrose
San Diego Comic Con: Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters contest
As Kevin noted last week, the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con is completely sold out all four days — which means you’ll have to beg, borrow, steal or win a pass to get in.
We don’t recommend those first three, but here’s an opportunity to try and win a pass for next year’s con, thanks to the Ghostbusters. To promote the release of the original Ghostbuster flick on Blue-Ray, Sony has set up a promotional site where you can not only sign up to become a Ghostbuster, but you can also register for a trip for two to the San Diego Comic Con in 2010. The trip includes airfare, hotel, some money for food and a two-day pass to the con.
Update: Yes, I’m an idiot. That’s what happens when I’m off my meds.
- June 4, 2009 @ 08:34 AM by JK Parkin
Viacom shuts down Nickelodeon Magazine [Updated]
Nickelodeon Magazine
Viacom reportedly closed Nickelodeon Magazine this week, and will lay off about 30 staff members.
Published since 1993, the magazine regularly showcased comics and cartoonists in a section called “The Comic Book,” edited in recent years by former DC Comics associate editor Chris Duffy and cartoonist Dave Roman. The two provided a mainstream, all-ages platform for cartoonists ranging from James Kochalka and Jason Lutes to Johnny Ryan and Michael Kupperman.
The section also spawned a series of one-shots called Nickelodeon Comics, and in March Nickelodeon Magazine presented its first Comics Awards.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the magazine at one time boasted a circulation of more than 1 million. However, in recent years it had lost some of its audience to the Internet, and experienced an advertising slump.
Update: Mediaweek has confirmation of the closing from Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.
“As I am sure everyone knows, the magazine publishing industry as a whole is severely challenged, and because of that, we have decided to exit the magazine business and will cease publishing them by the end of this year,” Zarghami said in an internal statement.
- June 4, 2009 @ 08:31 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Diamond Comic Distributors
Legal | Camden National Bank in Portland, Maine, has sued Steve Geppi and a partner for $600,000 in bad debt allegedly owed from investment properties. The properties on the Maine coast, purchased in 2005, already are in federal receivership because of $14.7 million in unpaid principal on a mortgage.
This is only the latest financial problem for Geppi, owner of Diamond Comic Distributors. In December, Geppi, Diamond and Gemstone Publishing were sued on behalf of a print broker for $373,000, and in February Gemstone closed its offices in West Plains, Missouri, and laid off five employees. Meanwhile, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum in Baltimore struggles to pay its bills, and his Baltimore magazine tightens its belt. [Village Soup, via Baltimore City Paper]
Sales charts | It’s no surprise that Watchmen topped the Nielsen BookScan chart for May — its 11th consecutive month at No. 1 — followed by two volumes of Naruto. Star Trek: Countdown, a movie prequel, continues to perform well for IDW Publishing, climbing to No. 5. [ICv2.com]
- June 4, 2009 @ 06:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Art Brut visits DC Comics headquarters
Is there such a thing as corporate Shelf Porn? On steroids?
The band Art Brut has a song on their latest album, Art Brut vs. Satan, called “DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake.” So the magazine Under the Radar asked their lead singer to write an essay about his love for comics. When DC found out, they invited the band to take a tour of their offices, which you can see in the photo gallery below (or go here to view it at a larger size):
That’s David Hyde, VP of publicity for DC Comics, showing them around. It looks like they also visited Dan DiDio and got some free comics, too.
- June 4, 2009 @ 06:02 AM by JK Parkin
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Robot 13 and a Luchador
Strongman
Strongman
Written by Charles Soule; Illustrated by Allen Gladfelter
SLG; $9.95
I said in the weekend’s What Are You Reading that I wasn’t sure what to make of the lucha libre genre. “I can easily embrace the sillier aspects of it,” I said, “but it’s off-putting to me that people in the stories always seem to take the luchadors so seriously. We’re asked to believe that the ridiculous masks are badges of honor that command respect. Strongman plays around with that idea and I appreciate that about it.”
Having finished the book, I’m not sure that “plays around with” is the right verb. What Strongman seems to do is acknowledge the irony of the concept, but ends up defending it. As writer Charles Soule says in the press release for the book, “The real-life luchadors were incredible, larger-than-life figures. They were basically real-world superheroes – many of them never took their masks off in public. These people were big deals. And I thought a story that played with their legend a bit, while remaining respectful could be something special.” Okay, so Soule uses “played with” too. Maybe that is what he’s doing. I’m not the best person to judge.
As an outsider to the lucha libre world, I see movie titles like Mil Máscaras vs. the Aztec Mummy and Santo vs. the Vampire Women and I think, “Awesome!” I’m not however thinking about how much I respect El Santo and Mil Máscaras. I mean, no more than I respect Indiana Jones or Batman.
More plus Robot 13 below the cut.
- June 3, 2009 @ 03:03 PM by Michael May
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Welcome to Send Us Your Shelf Porn. Our special guest this week is Joseph Rybandt, an Associate Editor for Dynamite Entertainment.
Before we get to Joesph’s shelves though, I want to offer up my usual pitch and remind anyone and everyone that we’re always on the lookout for new shelf porn submissions. If you’d like to see your graphic novel collection featured at this site, drop me a line at cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet.
With that out of the way, lets see what Mssr. Rybandt has to say about his collection …
- June 3, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 078
Looks like de Medina has everyone pretty much where he wants them.
Art by Gervasio and Jok. Writing by Matt Maxwell
Man, I don’t think I want to be in Joachim’s shoes right now.
Okay, the contest this week. This week’s question takes back to Collins’ first night in Cedar Creek. Collins thinks he’s rescuing a hostage from Drytown, only the hostage expires before they make it into Cedar Creek. When pronouncing him dead, Cedar Creek’s doctor says they should’ve called the undertaker. What’s the undertaker’s name? Protip: you can find the answer on this page (last panel to be precise). Send mail to me, that’s strangeways@highway-62.com and put “Murder Moon Contest” in the subjectline (the link should do this for you). 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. And not to be a nervous nellie or anything, but without more entries, there’s no more contest. Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell the president!
If you want to catch up on the whole story, hit the archive page.
As noted ealier, THE THIRSTY is now on a two-day-a-week schedule. 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. Friday will have a special feature of some kind, so be sure to check back then. Again, this stuff doesn’t happen without you, so drop me a line or leave a comment.
Last weekend, I attended my first horror show, that being Monsterpalooza 2009 in Burbank. You can read about it at Highway 62: here, here, and more substantially, here.
Lately, 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.
- June 3, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
BOOM! Studios to exhibit at Disney’s D23 Expo
D23 Expo
Disney will host a convention of sorts in Anaheim this September called the D23 Expo– a “four-day event that brings the entire world of Disney under one roof,” according to a press release. That “entire world” will include BOOM! Studios, publishers of The Incredibles, The Muppet Show and several other licensed Disney/Pixar titles.
Per BOOM!’s Chip Mosher, the comics publisher will be on hand with “a line of show exclusives” they’ll be revealing in the near future.
D23 is the name of Disney’s fan community, which gives Disney fans access to the company through a website, a quarterly magazine and the D23 Expo. The event will also include previews of several upcoming Disney films, such as The Princess and the Frog, Rapunzel, Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, TRON, Toy Story 3, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. They also promise previews of ABC’s fall season, an exhibition of props from past Disney movies and the chance to meet stars from the Disney Channel.
So maybe you’ll have the chance to meet Mark Waid and Hannah Montana all in the same weekend. Stranger things have happened.
- June 3, 2009 @ 12:30 PM by JK Parkin