2009 July
The other half of the battle? Lasers
The Battle
Robb Irrgang of Nerduo dropped us an email about the upcoming G.I. Joe movie and why they created a new T-shirt called “The Battle”. He said they’re “a liiiiitle bit (okay, a lot) worried about the upcoming GI Joe movie and felt like shining a spotlight on the TV show instead. So, we crafted a T-shirt around the classic ‘Knowing is half the battle’ phrase.
“No matter how the movie turns out, we’ll always have knowing. And lasers.”
- July 30, 2009 @ 11:10 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Kinsley’s Paris Journal
Kinsley's French Journal
French Milk author Lucy Kinsley must really like France, because she’s currently traveling through the country once more, this time with her boyfriend John. Even better, she’s keeping a comics journal about her trip and posting it to her site for all to read and enjoy. (found via Matthew Brady)
- July 30, 2009 @ 10:38 AM by Chris Mautner
Stark Industries: Changing the world for a better future
Marvel has launched a Stark Industries website to help promote the upcoming sequel to the big screen blockbuster Iron Man. I remember reading about employees from Stark Industries being at the Marvel booth for recruitment purposes, and it looks like they’re doing something similar on the web. Head over there and fill out their online employment application, which includes questions like “Please briefly describe your most heroic act” and “What is your greatest hope for human kind?”
You can also check out the site’s one sole press release:
- July 30, 2009 @ 10:05 AM by JK Parkin
Reed trying to sell Publishers Weekly, other magazines [Updated]
Publishers Weekly
Business publisher Reed Business Information is putting several of its trade magazines, including Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and School Library Journal, up for sale.
Publishers Weekly, which covers the book industry, is parent to The Beat and PW Comics Week. The School Library Journal website plays host to the Good Comics for Kids blog.
Owner Reed Elsevier attempted to sell its entire magazine-publishing division, which includes Variety, in February 2008, but withdrew its plans when it couldn’t get its asking price.
The global publisher also owns Reed Exhibitions, which produces New York Comic Con, the New York Anime Expo, BookExpo America and the upcoming Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.
Update: Folio reports that Reed is putting additional magazines on the block, including Broadcasting & Cable and Tradeshow Week. It will keep Reed Construction Data, RSMeans, Variety, MarketCast, LA411 and BuyerZone.
- July 30, 2009 @ 09:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gaiman on Marvelman: ‘Obviously I’d like to finish the story I started’
Miracleman #23
Although he admits he’s uncertain what will happen with the property, Neil Gaiman says he’s “delighted” that Marvel has acquired the rights to Marvelman, and would like to complete the story he began nearly two decades ago.
Gaiman succeeded Alan Moore as writer on the series, then called Miracleman because of trademark concerns, with 1990′s Issue 17. He collaborated with artist Mark Buckingham through Issue 25, which was never published because of the collapse of Eclipse Comics. That issue would have reintroduced Kid Miracleman.
“Right now I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen,” Gaiman writes this morning on his website, “and Mark Buckingham and I haven’t signed anything, but I’m really hopeful that Marvel will bring Alan Moore’s stories back into print, and the work I did with Mark Buckingham (Miracleman 25 was finished, ready for printing, 16 years ago. It’s still in Mark Buckingham’s possession, although some of the lettering balloons have gone a bit yellow.) I’m not entirely sure what Marvel’s plans are for the character at this point — obviously I’d like to finish the story I started.”
Gaiman elaborates a little more in this brief interview with Matthew Surridge for the Montreal Gazette: “… To be honest, I’m just delighted that Marvel have acquired the rights legally, and are talking right now with us about reprinting the work, bringing the work back ethically. Which is a lot more than – you know, [Canadian comics creator] Todd McFarlane [who] … announced that he was going to be reprinting it without paying us. Things are definitely in a better place.”
For more on the complicated history of Mick Anglo’s Marvelman/Miracleman, be sure to check out Chris Mautner’s overiew.
- July 30, 2009 @ 08:50 AM by Kevin Melrose
New Fantastic Four logo is a throwback to a classic
Marvel.com posted the cover to Fantastic Four #570, which features not only a new creative team, but also a new logo that draws from an old classic. As you can see, the new logo is a revamp of the one used on the comic from issue 160 through 217, with the four main characters surrounding the logo:
Fantastic Four #570 and #195
Issue 570 is the first issue of Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham’s run on the title. It’s due in stores at the end of August.
- July 30, 2009 @ 08:07 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Naruto, Vol. 36
Retailing | Bookstore piece sales in the adult fiction/graphic novel category declined 8 percent in the first half of 2009, according to Nielsen BookScan. Graphic-novel sales in the direct market were up in the first quarter of the year, but down in the second. Retailer website ICv2 notes that strong sales of Watchmen and multiple volumes of Naruto prevented the declines from being worse. [ICv2.com]
SDCC ’09 | Publishers Weekly‘s Heidi MacDonald and Calvin Reid wrap up Comic-Con and round up some of the digital-comics announcements. [PW Comics Week]
SDCC ’09 | Eric Reynolds, associate publisher of Fantagraphics Books, follows up his earlier comments about the convention: “One thing I neglected to mention yesterday was that any talk of ‘downsizing’ has as much to do with the increased costs of attending the show from year to year as our actual sales at the show. Every year, booth prices are raised, and with a waiting list of exhibitors that probably stretches as long as the lines for any of this year’s Twilight panels, there’s little incentive for Comicon to keep booth prices down, and I understand that and don’t expect them to keep costs down for Fantagraphics’ or anyone’s sake if they don’t need to.” [FLOG!]
- July 30, 2009 @ 07:24 AM by Kevin Melrose
Jamie S. Rich | My Criminal Record
Hey, everyone! Before I get started, I thought I’d take the time out to give a brief wave and also thank the Robot 6 crew for inviting me to be Robot 7 for a week.
You Have Killed Me
My name is Jamie S. Rich, and I am a crime junkie. Movies are my major poison, particularly of the classic film noir variety. You know, moody black-and-white flicks from the 1940s and 1950s featuring tough guys in nice suits slapping bad guys in even nicer suits all because of something going on with a girl who may or may not be nice, but who cares, because she dresses better than both of the fellas combined. That said, I also like crime comics, and thanks to some gentle urging from my artist, Joëlle Jones, I decided to act on that love and write my own. My week amongst the CBR blogosphere is meant to promote just that–the newly released Oni Press hardcover comic book You Have Killed Me. Written by myself and illustrated by Joëlle, it’s got all those things I mentioned above–including the slap!–and more. It’s been about two years in the making, and we’re excited to be getting it out on the shelves.
I realize that, for many, the idea of me writing a hardboiled crime comic book seems like a departure. I’m known as the goopy romance guy who likes to write dark relationship stories full of references to excellent bands no one has ever heard of. It’s a fair reputation, though a limited one, and soon to be shaken all to pieces once You Have Killed Me drops its foot on the collective neck of the reading public. I think followers of my work will be a little surprised that I have more range than they might have expected, but also that what I have done with Joëlle is exactly where my other work has been leading all this time.
Folks would also do well to remember that I spent a decade editing comics, starting at Dark Horse in 1994 at the tender age of 22 and then moving to Oni Press in 1998. In my time, I naturally gravitated to certain crime-related books. I assisted on some comics starring the Shadow, as well as Paul Pope’s futuristic con The One-Trick Rip-Off. I was part of the team on the Whiteout books by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, one of the more straightforward crime/mystery series you’re likely to find in comics, as well as editing Scott Morse’s more off-center Volcanic Revolver and Spaghetti Western. I even worked with Ed Brubaker, long before Criminal, serializing stories he and Jason Lutes were doing together and separately in Dark Horse Presents.
What I’m saying is, I have a pedigree. This dog is ready to show!
- July 29, 2009 @ 02:50 PM by Jamie S. Rich
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Samurai 7
Samurai 7, Volume 1
Samurai 7
Original Story by Akira Kurosawa; Illustrated by Mizutaka Suhou; Translated and Adapted by Yoko Kubo
Del Rey; $10.99
Another manga review this week, but this one’s especially pleasant to write. I knew I had a pretty good chance of liking Anne Freaks because I bought it myself based on the concept. Samurai 7 was sent by the publisher though and that’s more risky. I fail to connect with the vast majority of manga (and of books in general, for that matter) that I’m sent from various sources, but that means that when something hits just right it’s a wonderful surprise. And that’s Samurai 7.
I should start with the admission that I’m not all that familiar with Japanese arts and that includes the films of Akira Kurosawa. I appreciate Japanese film; I just haven’t exposed myself to a lot of it yet. I haven’t even seen The Magnificent Seven, much less The Seven Samurai. I know the basic plot, but the closest I’ve gotten to seeing it played out onscreen is in The Three Amigos with its singing bush and plethora of piñatas. I’m so not capable of comparing Samuai 7 – a space opera adaptation of Seven Samurai – to its source material. I’ve got to judge it solely on whether or not it’s entertaining all by itself.
Even if you’re as unfamiliar with Kurosawa as I am, you know the plot. A poor village is plagued by repeated bandit attacks and hires a group of warriors to fight off the bad guys. In Samurai 7 the village is represented by a young girl named Kirara, her even younger sister, and a middle-aged farmer named Rikichi. They go to the big city to see if they can find some out of work samurai to help them. Since the end of the Solar System-wide war that nearly destroyed Earth, a lot of warriors are unemployed, but most of the samurai that Kirara and Rikichi encounter are just as bad as the bandits back home. That is until Kirara meets a runaway named Katsushiro who desperately wants to be a samurai and is willing to pretend he is in order to get to know Kirara better.
- July 29, 2009 @ 01:50 PM by Michael May
Strangeways: Murder Moon – page 14
Okay, now that we’ve seen to Webster, let’s get that wagon righted.
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Luis Guragna.
See, if this was a movie, they’d be playing the creepy music, ramping it up long and slow, so that you couldn’t remember exactly when you started hearing it.
Commentary after the jump.
- July 29, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
SDCC ’09 | Another round of pictures
Iron Men
Here are a few more pictures I took at the San Diego Comic-Con last week, many of which appeared on the CBR Live blog already, but I thought I’d group them all together over here. The picture above shows the four sets of Iron Man armor (Iron Men?) from the Marvel booth this year.
- July 29, 2009 @ 12:02 PM by JK Parkin
Everyone’s A Critic: A round-up of comic reviews and thinkpieces
Asterios Polyp
• Man, everyone and their Uncle Bob is reviewing David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp these days aren’t they? This week alone we’ve seen Brian Hibbs, Rob Clough, Douglas Wolk and the LA Times’ David Ulin.
Not wanting to be left out of the fun, I’ll probably have my own review of the book up this Friday.
• The Groovy Age of Horror’s Curt Purcell has been spending a lot of time talking about Blackest Night, and, given that he’s not a regular fan, he has some interesting things to say about the crossover event. Rather than link to all the separate posts, I’ll just say start here and work your way back.
Oh, and while you’re at it, read his new review of Gilbert Hernandez’s Speak of the Devil.
• Johnny Bacardi likes Blackest Night quite a bit too.
• Speaking of the Hernandez brothers, are you confused about where to dive into their expansive magnum opus, Love and Rockets? The Onion’s AV Club is here to help. Continue Reading »
- July 29, 2009 @ 11:15 AM by Chris Mautner
Guest blogger: Jamie S. Rich
I’m pleased to welcome writer and editor Jamie S. Rich to Robot 6. Jamie will be blogging about his latest book, sharing his Shelf Porn and generally having fun with us for the next week.
Jamie’s latest graphic novel, You Have Killed Me with artist Joëlle Jones, was published by Oni and is out in stores now. Artwork from the book is currently on display at Meltdown Comics in L.A.
He’s also written Have You Seen The Horizon Lately?, Love the Way You Love, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, Cut My Hair and The Everlasting. He also edited titles like Usagi Yojimbo and Red Rocket 7 while at Dark Horse, served as editor-in-chief at Oni and has done freelance editing for titles like Powers and The Atomics. He also edited the next edition of Liberty Comics, which benefits the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. In his spare time, he reviews movies for DVD Talk.
Watch for Jamie’s first post later today.
- July 29, 2009 @ 10:45 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Draw Serge!
Toru Fukuda does Gainsbourg
Not being a fan, I’m not sure why someone would want to start an art blog featuring portraits of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, but hey, someone did. (found via CR)
- July 29, 2009 @ 10:15 AM by Chris Mautner
Get a glimpse of Matt Kindt’s Revolver
Characters from "Revolver," by Matt Kindt
Vertigo editor Joan Hilty offers a peek at character designs for Revolver, the Matt Kindt graphic novel announced Friday at Comic-Con International.
“It’s a surreal thriller about an ordinary guy living in two wildly different realities, gradually realizing he alone has the power to avert the series of apocalypses that’s destroyed one world, yet finding himself freer and more alive there than he ever was in the other,” writes Hilty.
Kindt is best known for the Eisner-nominated Super Spy, and 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man.
The 192-page Revolver is set for release in August 2010.
- July 29, 2009 @ 09:45 AM by Kevin Melrose