Comic Book Resources

SDCC ’09 | Day Two

The second day of Comic-Con was dominated by just two stories: Marvel’s purchase of the rights to the legendary Marvelman, and the 2009 Eisner Awards.

The Marvelman announcement, made during the “Cup O’ Joe” panel, was met largely with a mix of surprise and excitement. After all the property, known in the United States as Miracleman, has been out of print for years, mired in a bog of questions about copyright ownership.

Still, some wondered why the news is considered such a big deal, and even what this Marvelman is. For those, Robot 6 contributor Chris Mautner has put together a handy primer.

Marvel’s plans for the property, or even what exactly the acquisition includes — Mick Anglo’s original tales? The later comics by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and company? All of it? — haven’t been revealed.

“This is only Day One,” Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada told Comic Book Resources. He did, however, mention reprints and new stories.

The other big story, of course, was last night’s presentation of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Robot 6′s JK Parkin live-blogged the ceremony. You can find the official list of winners here.

In other Friday highlights:

• Dynamite Entertainment will bring back Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Fighting American in a series involving Alex Ross.

• Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan will create Killjoys for Dark Horse. “If Umbrella Academy is me taking a look at, among many other things, Doom Patrol,” Way says, “Killjoys is me, with my co-writer Shaun Simon, taking a look at when the best stuff was going on in the ’90s, things like Invisibles and stuff like that.”

• Vertigo announced new graphic novels by Matt Kindt and Mat Johnson, and a Fables spin-off miniseries Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love.

• BOOM! Studios officially unveiled The Anchor, an ongoing series by Phil Hester and Brian Churilla. Robot 6′s JK Parkin tweeted yesterday from the panel that the publisher announced a monthly Muppet Show comic from Roger Langridge and an ongoing Incredibles by Mark Waid. Look for details in the panel report later today.

• Max Brooks, author of the bestselling World War Z, will write a G.I. JOE miniseries for IDW Publishing.

• Viz Media will add the slice-of-life Bakuman, by Death Note creators Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata, and the action-comedy Toriko to its Shonen Jump lineup.

• Ben McCool and Ben Templesmith rolled out a new Image Comics miniseries Choker, described as a a “hard-boiled noir fable set on an unconventional backdrop.”

• Titan Books will publish a 480-page omnibus of every superhero comic Jack Kirby and Joe Simon worked on together outside of Marvel and DC.

• Marvel teased Red She-Hulk and a World War Hulks crossover, and announced a Necrosha storyline that will run through X-Force, X-Men: Legacy and New Mutants.

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