2009 July
Straight for the art | Andrew DeGraff draws (some of) the Marvel Universe
by Andrew DeGraff
Whoah … this is really nice. Artist Andrew DeGraff explains how he spent his summer vacation drawing Marvel characters. And this is the result.
He also mentions the possibility of doing another portrait with folks like Vision, Iceman and Cannonball. I definitely vote “Yes, please” on that.
(Thanks Jashar!)
- July 10, 2009 @ 12:23 PM by JK Parkin
ComicsLive | A guide to next week’s comic-related events
Welcome to ComicsLive, a guide to upcoming signings, conventions and other comic-related events.
If you’d like to submit an event for inclusion, please email them directly to me. Please include the venue, city and state, start time, event details and any related websites where we can send folks for more information. Virtual events, like online creator chats, are also welcome.
July 10
Brooklyn, N.Y. | Michael Kupperman will be signing at Desert Island from 7 to 9 p.m. Details can be found here.
Cleveland | The Screaming TikiCon begins today and runs through July 12. Guests include Todd Dezago, Thom Zahler, Mike Gustovich, Edward James Olmos and more.
North Hollywood | Mastermind, a play written by CBR contributor Michael Patrick Sullivan, kicks off at the Eclectic Company Theatre. More details here.
- July 10, 2009 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
Sign up for the Champions Online open beta
The folks at Atari and Cryptic Studios sent over some information on Champions Online, their upcoming massive multiplayer online role-playing game based on the pen-and-paper role-playing games.
You can head over to their website to sign up for the beta, which is now open; you’ll have to sign up for an account on the website first, though. Click on “beta preview” in the upper right-hand corner to sign up.
Here’s the description of the game:
Based on the award winning Champions setting from the HERO System of pen & paper role playing games Champions! taps into the rich universe of heroes and villains with unparalleled intrigue and adventure. One of the coolest elements the game offers is the unique character customization tool the player can create their own characters as one-of-a-kind superheroes, where gamers can choose from thousands of costumes, body types, power sets, and character appearances. Furthermore, while players transform into the ultimate hero, the Nemesis system lets Champions Online’s powerful customization tools craft an enemy of the extreme opposite, a villain of nightmares. The story of Champions Online is constantly changing, continually evolving. Villains are defeated. Heroes rise and fall. Cities transform. Your actions may decide the future!
I never played the old school pen-and-paper version, but I remember the comic from Eclipse that featured Foxbat, who apparently is in the online version as well.
- July 10, 2009 @ 10:34 AM by JK Parkin
Video: Paul Pope illustrates Complex Magazine photo shoot
Complex Magazine enlisted artist Paul Pope to illustrate their models as part of a photo spread. Here’s a video of Marc Ecko and Pope talking about how they approached it, along with some of Pope’s art:
FYI, while there’s no nudity, there are scantily clad models rolling around on the floor, so it might be NSFW in some instances …
(Thanks, Tim!)
- July 10, 2009 @ 09:50 AM by JK Parkin
Robot Reviews: The Nobody
The Nobody
The Nobody
by Jeff Lemire
Vertigo, $19.99.
Note: Spoilers lurk after the jump.
Let’s get the niceties out of the way first. Jeff Lemire has a unique, idiosyncratic art style that is instantly recognizable and stands out clear and strong against the “Vertigo style” that has dominated a lot of that line’s books in recent years. What’s more, I like how he chooses to set his stories in rural, northern Canadian towns, an area that, let’s face it, is rather underexposed in most comics these days.
All that having been said?
- July 10, 2009 @ 09:24 AM by Chris Mautner
Superman and Batman fought the law; the law won
Batman ... RIP (New York Post)
It seems the World’s Finest are no match for New York‘s Finest.
Putting the Daily Planet to shame, the New York Post reports in an “exclusive” that New York City police took down Batman and Superman yesterday in Times Square.
Make that Frank Frisoli and Maksim Katsnelson, who were dressed as two-thirds of DC Comics’ Trinity.
It seems Katsnelson (Superman) may have been panhandling. When approached by police, he allegedly hit a female officer in the face. One witness says that it took seven officers to take down the Last Son of Krytpon — er, I mean The Bronx.
The Caped Crusader, Frisoli, was handcuffed and then released because he hadn’t punched an officer in the face, I guess. The Maine resident said the Not-So-Dynamic Duo had dressed up for a laugh.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have the required license to perform in costume in public. Wait, a license? Has the Superhuman Registration Act finally spilled over from the Marvel Universe?
Damn you, Tony Stark! Damn you!
- July 10, 2009 @ 08:27 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
San Diego Convention Center
Conventions | San Diego and its convention center are fending off suitors for Comic-Con International, which generates some $16 million in direct spending for the city. Helen Kaiao Chang reports on some of the behind-the-scenes wrangling to keep the convention away from Los Angeles and Las Vegas, even as “the homegrown event … [busts] at the seams” of the San Diego venue.
“We’re working hard to keep them in San Diego,” says one convention center official. “The economic impact to San Diego is profound.” [San Diego News Network]
Publishing | After round after round of firings, Wizard has announced two promotions and a new hire. Longtime staff member Mike Cotton has been promoted from managing editor to editor while Andy Serwin has moved from assistant managing editor to features editor.
The magazine also has hired Casey Seijas as managing editor. Seijas previously worked at Wizard as a writer and editor before moving on to Vertigo, where he edited Hellblazer and assisted on numerous other titles. He left the DC Comics imprint in summer 2008 to co-edit MTV’s new Splash Page blog, but was let go a few months later in a round of Viacom layoffs. He stayed on as a free-lance writer. [Wizard]
- July 10, 2009 @ 07:27 AM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’09 | Thursday programming schedule released
Comic-Con
Comic-Con International has released the programming schedule for Thursday, July 23, as well as some special programming for preview night. You can check out the entire day’s worth of activities right here for yourself. Here are some of the highlights …
- During preview night on Wednesday, Warner Bross Television will show some of their pilots for upcoming TV series — Human Target, Vampire Diaries and the remake of V.
- July 9, 2009 @ 05:09 PM by JK Parkin
ComicsLive | Digital comics panel in Los Angeles tonight
Apologies for the last-minute notice on this one … Digital L.A. is hosting a panel at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. on digital comics and online comics communities, featuring:
- Sam Humphries, creator of MySpace Comic Books
- Jermaine Turner, Disney XD, Director- Original Series
- Rich George, IGN, Comics Editor
- Jason Badower, artist/writer on online comic Heroes, True Blood, Zero G
- Jonah Weiland, Comic Book Resources, executive producer
- Chip Mosher, BOOM! Studios, Marketing and Sales Director
They’ll be discussing:
- How to reach core fans to promote comic-related properties in movies (Wolverine, Iron Man, Dark Knight), television (HEROES), and video games
- Digital distribution of comic books
- How to use online communities and social networks to market comics
For more information, check out the Digital L.A. site. Meltdown is located at 7522 W Sunset Blvd, LA 90046.
- July 9, 2009 @ 04:33 PM by JK Parkin
With a rebel yell…
Grumpy Old Fan
By the time this post goes live, you may be quite sick of hearing about Justice League: Cry For Justice #1. Back on Sunday, I said I didn’t hate it; and I suspect mine was one of the more positive comments. Yes, the script has many questionable moments, including an apparent lack of irony where Hal Jordan and Ray Palmer are concerned. I complained more about the staging of the first scene, which I felt sacrificed common sense for capital-D Drama!. And yes, the idea behind this series was a bit tired fifteen years ago when it was called Extreme Justice.
And yet … it’s movement, you know? It’s light at the end of the tunnel — the hope that almost three years into Justice League of America Volume 2, the book will at last gain its own direction and its own identity, free from crossover intrusions and editorial dictates….
… well, as free as any corporate superhero title could be; especially one designed specifically to use characters who already appear in other books. To me, writing Justice League is sort of like competing on “Iron Chef” — you don’t have total control over all the ingredients; and more likely than not you’ll have to bring new life to old standbys like salmon or Hawkgirl. Accordingly, as Rich Johnston pointed out last week, this has produced a particular cycle of retooling and rebuilding, such that it takes just the right combination of characters and circumstances to keep the League stable.
* * *
- July 9, 2009 @ 03:24 PM by Tom Bondurant
Talking Comics with Tim: MoCCA’s Karl Erickson
The 2009 MoCCA Festival poster, illustrated by Molly Crabapple
While I did not attend Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) Art Festival 2009, held back on June 6-7, I was struck at the amount of constructive feedback that came out of people’s reports after the festival. It goes without saying that almost everyone thought the new venue (the 69th Regiment Armory) needed air conditioning and many folks were understandably dismayed with the logistical challenges and delays that occurred at the festival’s start. While reading a great deal of reactions from attendees and exhibitors, I was curious to get a lessons learned perspective from the organizers. Fortunately, Karl Erickson, MoCCA Director, was willing to take my email questions. In his answers, Erickson seemingly made it clear he was open to constructive feedback. While my questions aimed to cover a great deal of various concerns, I welcome folks to chime in with additional thoughts in the comments section. My thanks to Erickson for his time.
Tim O’Shea: The first question has to be–did you explore the possibility of air conditioning this year? Was it deemed just too cost prohibitive? If you’re staying at the Armory, do you intend to have air conditioning in 2010?
Karl Erickson: We did explore air conditioning for the Armory, but, yes, it was just too expensive. As far as staying at the Armory we are looking at dates earlier in the spring to help alleviate the heat.
O’Shea: Can you speak to what happened to cause the hour-long delay on Saturday and logistical challenges (like delayed book deliveries, only one trashcan on the show floor [by some reports], names missing from the guide book)–and are you establishing measures to try to minimize these situations next year?
Erickson: The delay was due to a few different factors, the major being a severe miscommunication with the trucking company that was to deliver not only many of our exhibitor’s books, but all of our supplies for the festival, not least being our cash registers and other check-in essentials. Of the problems that we did have, having one trashcan for the entire show floor was not one of them. We definitely had many trashcans.
We are certainly taking steps to contain and minimize the mistakes of this year, the most important of which is getting a much earlier jump in the planning and execution of the Festival. This includes a lengthy review of the 2009 Festival with practical solutions suggested. These include moving the Festival earlier in the spring (as this is not the first year we have had heat problems, AC or no), starting on every aspect of the Festival earlier, and creating a new MoCCA website that will deliver information much more effectively to exhibitors and attendees.
- July 9, 2009 @ 02:37 PM by Tim O'Shea
SDCC ‘09 Fat Bastard Challenge, Week Four
Superman #221 cover by Chris Harmon
It’s been a couple of weeks since we last checked in with our contestants in the SDCC ‘09 Fat Bastard Challenge. As you’ll recall, Comic Book Resource head honcho Jonah Weiland challenged Monster Attack Network/Highwaymen/Genius co-writer Marc Bernardin to a weight loss contest leading up to the San Diego Comic-Con. Both competitors are attempting to lose 20 lbs. before the big show.
The rules are:
- The person with the most weight loss by San Diego is treated to a $50 meal by the loser.
- They both have to donate $10 to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for every pound of weight less than 20 they haven’t lost by San Diego.
The final weigh-in is set to take place on the CBR Yacht at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Thursday, July 23.
I tossed a few questions at Marc and Jonah to see how they were doing, especially in light of the holiday weekend:
JK: It’s been two weeks since the last weigh in, and we had a little something called the Fourth of July in between then and now. Barbecue, potato salad, beer, ice cream … did you go all out on the 4th, or did you hold back?
Marc: I held back as much as I could, but there was beer to be imbibed, burgers (sans buns) to eat, and a 4th of July party that served something called Monkey Bread. Which, as I learned, basically consists of cinnamon sugar-covered munchkins crammed into a bundt cake mold and doused with a melted-butter-and-brown-sugar death goop. Ye gods, man. Evil dessert, that. So there was some weight, er, fluctuation around Independence Day, yes.
Jonah: No holding back — I’m a firm believer that vacation and time off should be spent enjoying yourself, especially so since it’s really the last break I get prior to Comic-Con. I dove in head first — burgers, hot dogs, chips, bean dip, a cocktail or 15. YOU NAME IT! That said, I did continue to exercise, even visiting with my trainer Michael Blanks the morning of July 4th.
- July 9, 2009 @ 02:07 PM by JK Parkin
What are the seminal comics of the Bronze Age?
X-Men #94
That’s the question penned by the aptly named Comics Bronze Age site. There are some good picks here, though they perhaps unsurprisingly stick by and large to the Big Two, with a bone thrown to Cerebus and Elfquest. I’m surprised, however, that Howard the Duck doesn’t get a mention. Poor Steve Gerber.
So what books would you add and why?
- July 9, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
SDCC ’09 | NBM, Disney and more
The 2009 San Diego Comic-Con kicks off in two weeks. If you are a publisher, creator, retailer or any other kind of exhibitor who would like to let folks know about any special plans you have for the show (panels, signing schedules, exclusives, debuts, etc.) drop me an email and I’ll run it here.
Registered Weapon
Webcomics | Gardner Linn, one of the creators behind Registered Weapon, sent word that the first print collection of “the webcomic about a crime-fighting robot who used to be a cash register” will premiere at San Diego, “guerrilla style.”
“Booths will soon be an outmoded concept in the every-man-for-himself comics industry of the future (just like paper and paying for things), so writers Gardner Linn and Chris Thorn will be hitting the show guerrilla-style, passing out copies to anybody who wants one (and even more people who don’t),” he writes. “And keep coming back to http://registered-weapon.com for more info as the con approaches, and new comics four times a week.”
BTW, I really dig this webcomic; go check it out if you’re looking for off-the-wall laughs.
Comics | NBM has released their booth signing schedule, which includes appearances by Lewis Trondheim, Neil Kleid, Rick Geary and more. Kleid’s new book, The Big Kahn, will debut at the show.
- July 9, 2009 @ 11:20 AM by JK Parkin
Won’t be foiled again
Oh no — apparently someone left the gate open, and foil covers and hologram covers have bred to produced something far more sinister: Foilogram covers.
Ultimate Spider-Man Foilogram variant
“This is Marvel doing the nineties right,” explained David Gabriel, Marvel Comics Senior Vice President of Sales & Circulation. “We’re taking two of the most popular cover treatments of all time–foil and holograms–to create an all new kind of cover, as a ‘thank-you’ to fans who’ve been demanding this kind of variant! Retailers and fans don’t need to worry. We’re only doing this on a limited basis. You won’t see one on Ms Marvel #46 or Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4. We’re using them to mark very special occasions…such as the launch of Ultimate Comics line.”"
No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No.
- July 9, 2009 @ 10:50 AM by JK Parkin