2009 June
Send us your shelf porn!
Welcome to this week’s edition of Send Us Your Shelf Porn. Today we’re joined by Douglas Nasluchacz of Riverside, California, who has amassed an impressive collection of comic-related memorabilia over the past 30 years. Rather than waste time on an intro, let’s jump right in …
- June 24, 2009 @ 02:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | ‘Mod Love’
'The Hippest Girl in the World'
World of Kane presents “The Hippest Girl in the World” from the 1967 comic “Mod Love.” There’s no info about the artist, but it’s drawn in a style I can only weakly describe as “pop psychadelic.” Can you taste the colors man?
- June 24, 2009 @ 01:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: Murder Moon – Page 02
No contest this week, no vampires this week. Just werewolves from the first chapter of STRANGEWAYS: MURDER MOON.
Art by Luis Guaragna. Written by Matt Maxwell
Commentary follows after the jump.
- June 24, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
MTV.com streaming The Maxx cartoons
MTV.com has started streaming The Maxx, the cartoon adaptation of the comics by Sam Kieth published by Image Comics back in the 1990s. The first six episodes are up now, featuring Julie, Mr. Gone, Sarah and the always creepy, eyeless Isz.
- June 24, 2009 @ 12:38 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | San Francisco superhero mural
Superhero mural
WHAT IM SEEING Dot Com has pictures up of a superhero/super villain mural being created in San Francisco’s Mission District. So far it features Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Dr. Doom, Joker, Lex Luthor and (I think) Solomon Grundy. According to DocPop, the mural’s located at Mission Street and 19th.
- June 24, 2009 @ 12:08 PM by JK Parkin
Marvel.com’s Wolverine tease
Wolverine: The End
Marvel.com has posted a teaser image from an upcoming Wolverine/Terminator crossover, or maybe another round of Wolverine: The End, or … well, they don’t really say what it is exactly, do they? It makes my face hurt, though.
- June 24, 2009 @ 11:08 AM by JK Parkin
It’s catchy, it’s a little angsty — it’s the Runaways theme song
Well, this is certainly … interesting. MTV’s Splash Page debuts the theme song and music video for Marvel’s Runaways — the theme song as written and performed by editor Nick Lowe.
I like Lowe’s vocals, and the tune reminiscent of a late-’80s TV show (think, I don’t know, Full House). But be warned: The video takes a dark turn toward the end.
You can download the free MP3 from Marvel’s website.
- June 24, 2009 @ 10:20 AM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’09 | G4 to broadcast Star Wars panel from Comic-Con
Can’t attend the big con in San Diego this year? Or even if you can, are you afraid you might miss the Lucasfilm panel? Set your TiVo, then; G4 will broadcast the Lucasfilm panel from Comic-Con International in San Diego at 2 p.m. ET on July 25 — “the first-ever, exclusive television broadcast of a presentation from the massive pop culture convention,” the press release says.
With the huge movie and TV presence at the con, I’m surprised this is the first time a panel has been broadcast. Maybe next year they can consider a webcast option for the entire con. Or Pay-Per-View; it is sort of like Wrestlemania for comics fans.
The entire press release can be found after the jump.
- June 24, 2009 @ 09:49 AM by JK Parkin
Joe Lambert on the making of a minicomic
Sundays 3 cover process
Joe Lambert shows off the production process for the Sundays 3 mini-comic –”three small, pocket-sized volumes banded together with a tight band, a loose theme about the times of day, and lots of love.” The process in this case includes the binding, which Lambert came up with on his own, as well as the “tight band” that includes a short comic strip of its own.
And below you can check out the final product via a video that shows off the three comics that make up Sundays 3, with a little Johnny Cash music for good measure.
- June 24, 2009 @ 09:10 AM by JK Parkin
Klein, Williams draw the sword — and a new print
Drawing the Sword
As I mentioned back in April, award-winning letterer Todd Klein has been working on a new print with Promethea artist J.H. Williams III. “Drawing the Sword, ” which features a young King Arthur the moment before his whole life changed, is available now on Klein’s website.
The text is from Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, and Klein details the creation of the print on his blog.
- June 24, 2009 @ 08:38 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Croquis Pop, Vol. 5
Publishing | More than a dozen Yen Press titles set for July release have been canceled by Diamond, apparent victims of the distributor’s minimum-order policy. According to Ken Hassler, publishing director of Yen Press, “the books are all still very much being published,” and are available for order through other outlets. [MangaBlog]
Publishing | Creditors of Quebecor World have approved a reorganization plan that will allow the Montreal-based printing giant to emerge from bankruptcy in mid-July. Quebecor, the largest printer of comic books in North America, filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2008. [Publishers Weekly]
Longbox
Publishing | Writer Kieron Gillen and blogger Andrew Wheeler delve into the possibilities for Longbox, the iTunes-style digital comics platform officially announced over the weekend. “Jamie [McKelvie] and I saw Longbox in an earlier demo at New York Comic Con in February and were impressed,” Gillen writes. “In fact, I was so impressed I made sure that a clause related to this kind of sales was written into the next comic contract I signed. Clearly, I have no idea if it’ll take off. I hope it does. I also think that Longbox does so many things right that it’s got the best chance I’ve seen for a digital-comics-format system to do so. This would be a good thing. In fact, possibly a necessary thing.”
This morning’s installment of our “Slash Print” feature has a little more on Longbox. [Kieron Gillen's Workblog, The Post-Game Show]
Creators | Writer Larry Hama will receive the Henry Y. Kiyama Award on July 11 at the first Asian American ComiCon in New York City. The award is named in honor of the pioneering cartoonist and creator of The Four Immigrants. [press release]
- June 24, 2009 @ 07:08 AM by Kevin Melrose
Slash Print | Following the digital evolution
Longbox
Digital Comics | Rantz Hoseley posted some additional information and answered questions on the Longbox digital comics in the comments section of the iFanboy article Kevin linked to yesterday.
Those updates include:
- Although only BOOM! and Top Cow have been announced so far, Hoseley said seven publishers have signed on for the launch, and the other five will be announced in the next few weeks leading up to the San Diego Comic Con.
- The software will include a “Manga Mode” that flips the left-to-right reading order. That’s pretty damn clever.
- The software will also allow for “age-restricted sub-accounts,” so your kids can read the Muppets but can’t get to your Black Kiss comics.
- Hoseley says that “while we certainly welcome DC and Marvel’s participation, the entire system was designed to have a business model that would be successful and profitable for all involved if they chose not to participate.”
There’s more at the link, so click over and read. This gets more interesting by the day …
- June 24, 2009 @ 06:01 AM by JK Parkin
Steve Dillon at Jim Hanley’s Universe tonight to benefit the Hero Initiative
Steve Dillon signing
Steve Dillon will be at Jim Hanley’s Universe in Manhattan tonight from 6-8 as part of a benefit for the Hero Initiative.
Beginning NOW when you come to our Manhattan location you can buy a raffle ticket to win ORIGINAL STEVE DILLON ART! Steve is generously donating original pages from some of his recent work to this great cause, and you can win one with the purchase of a raffle ticket for only $5.oo! The more tickets you buy, the better your chances are! There is no limit to the amount of raffle tickets you can buy; winners must be present during the drawing (held during the signing) to win prizes. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win some original art from one of the most significant artists working in comics today, all while helping The Hero Initiative!
Oh, but we are not done! For a suggested minimum donation of ONLY $15 you can get an original head-sketch by Steve! Again, all proceeds go to The Hero Initiative, the only charity for helping out creators in need.
Click on the first link up top to check out some of the original art, which features the Punisher, Wolverine, Deadpool and The Boys.
- June 24, 2009 @ 04:35 AM by JK Parkin
Brace yourself for a tsunami of DC and Marvel titles this week
I don’t envy retailers this week — well, any week, really — as DC Comics and Marvel combined unleash more than 80 titles on stores. And that’s not to mention variant covers, posters and other assorted merchandise.
What’s a comic shop, smaller publisher or reader-on-a-budget to do? Weep a little, maybe? I don’t know; I don’t have the answers.
What I, and fellow Robot 6 contributors Chris Mautner and JK Parkin, do have is a rundown of some of the noteworthy comics set to appear on those oh-so-crowded store shelves.
As always, be sure to leave your picks in the comments below.
- June 23, 2009 @ 02:50 PM by Kevin Melrose
Robot Reviews: You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation
You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation!
You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation
by Fletcher Hanks; edited and with an introduction by Paul Karasik
Fantagraphics Books, 232 pages, $24.99.
Perhaps it’s kismet, but Paul Karasik’s first collection of Fletcher Hanks stories, 2007′s I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, seems to have landed at exactly the perfect moment, taking advantage of a publishing trend where just about every classic comic strip and book (and then some) was being reprinted with lavish, loving treatment. Why not shine a spotlight on an odd, relative obscurity like Hanks? Who knows what imaginative power he might unleash on a modern audience?
It turns out quite a bit. Thanks to that book (and other works, like Dan Nadel’s Art Out of Time) Hanks quickly became something of a household name among comic book fans, to the point where his name has arguably eclipsed some of his previously lauded contemporaries. As Jog pointed out recently, you know a character has entered the public consciousness to at least some degree when Alan Moore is referencing it.
Now we have the companion volume, You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation, which, I believe, gathers all the remaining material that the alcoholic, abusive Hanks did during his brief tenure as a comic book creator in the late 1930s and early 40s.
This second book definitely has a “here’s the rest” feeling that confirms the nagging notion that Planets was more of a “greatest hits” collection than a promise of genius in every story on every page. It’s not something that most Hanks devotees will mind that much — there’s still plenty of weird and wonderful tales to delight and disturb — but those hoping for a sequence equivalent to the evil De Structo’s head being thrown into space and then absorbed by the body of the Headless Headhunter might feel a twinge of disappointment.
- June 23, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner