2009 August
Robot reviews: Vertigo Crime
Filthy Rich
Filthy Rich
by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos
Vertigo, 200 pages, $19.99
Dark Entries
by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’edera
Vertigo, 216 pages, $19.99.
You’ve gotta give DC credit, they’re constantly trying new things. Sure, a lot of their publishing experiments embarrassingly fall on the floor, but the very fact that they have such a lengthy track record of failed imprints — Minx, Helix, Piranha, Paradox Press — says something about the company’s willingness to branch out. They’re restless in their attempt to find new audiences.
Thus we now have Vertigo Crime, a sub-imprint of the current Vertigo line, consisting of stand-alone graphic novels filled with guns, girls and as much noir as you can possibly stand. The first two entries in the line — Filthy Rich and Dark Entries — will be out in stores this month (Aug. 19 and 25 to be exact). How do they hold up? Read on to find out.
- August 7, 2009 @ 02:15 PM by Chris Mautner
‘Praying to be saved by a man who can fly will get you killed’
Comics writer Warren Ellis provides some information on an upcoming project he’s doing for Avatar Press, titled Supergod:
…in the world of SUPERGOD, superhumans are the ultimate expression of the Messiah complex, and scientists can build Messiahs who will fly down from the skies to save the world. No-one thought about how they’d save the world — or even if they’d want to. So begins the apocalyptic tomorrow of SUPERGOD — the story of how supermen killed us all and ended the world just because we wanted to be rescued by human-shaped things from beyond Science itself. Take every superhero comic ever published, shove them into a nuclear-powered blender, soak it in bad vodka and set the whole thing alight — and SUPERGOD will crawl out and eat your brain.
SUPERGOD: praying to be saved by a man who can fly will get you killed.
The art is by Garrie Gastonny, who did the art on Radical’s Caliber mini-series. The book will be out this fall.
- August 7, 2009 @ 01:45 PM by JK Parkin
Strangeways: Murder Moon – Page 18
Time for a breather after all that.
Art by Luis Guragna. Written by Matt Maxwell
Commentary after the jump.
- August 7, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
SDCC Aftermath | Talking with BOOM!’s Neil Loughrie
BOOM!'s booth, before the con started
I spoke with Neil Loughrie a few weeks back right before the San Diego Comic-Con. At the time, Loughrie was getting ready for his first San Diego show, where he would be responsible for all of BOOM! Studios’ booth logistics.
I spoke with him again after the show to see how everything went.
JK: Overall, how did things go at the BOOM! booth during SDCC?
Neil: Things went great! Even better than we expected. We met a lot of great fans and a lot of great creators. Roger Langridge from The Muppet Show Comic Book was at the booth for the entire week, and we had such a great time with him there, and I think the fans really responded well. All in all, it was BOOM!’s best San Diego yet.
- August 7, 2009 @ 11:37 AM by JK Parkin
ComicsLive | A guide to upcoming comic-related events
Sachs & Violens Perfume Oil
Welcome to ComicsLive, a guide to upcoming signings, conventions and other comic-related events. Information on submitting your event can be found at the bottom of this post.
This weekend
Chicago | Mark Millar, Dan Slott, Jason Aaron and more will be at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center for Wizard’s Chicago Comic-Con.
A couple of events are occurring in conjunction with the show that are worth noting. There’s a charity auction to benefit John Ostrander, who recently underwent surgery for glaucoma. Also, the Hero Initiative has teamed up with George Perez and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab to help con attendees find love. Not only can they improve their personal smell with a new fragrance based on Perez and Peter David’s Sachs & Violens comic, but they can also bid on the opportunity to attend a speed dating session hosted by Perez. And it all benefits charity. What could be better?
Robot 6′s Michael May attended last night’s preview night and will have additional reports all weekend.
Las Vegas | 2009 Star Trek Convention, featuring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Lloyd, Zachary Quintos and many more.
- August 7, 2009 @ 11:01 AM by JK Parkin
Batman: Arkham Asylum PC update, demo available
Batman: Arkham Asylum
PC gamers anticipating the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum later this month are going to have to be a little more patient — while the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game will be out on Aug. 25, the Windows version has been pushed back to Sept. 15 in North America and Sept. 18 in Europe.
That’s the bad news. The good news is the game is getting a bit of an upgrade for the PC, as Eidos Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NVIDIA Corporation announced this week that the game “will feature NVIDIA PhysX technology, which allows for the creation of incredibly realistic worlds full of interactive materials and objects.” (Provided your computer can handle it, of course).
“Supporting NVIDIA PhysX technology has allowed us to add that little bit extra to the PC version of the game,” said Sefton Hill , Game Director at Rocksteady Studios. “As Batman interacts with the world, the aging asylum creates a more immersive, believable world which really draws the player in.”
A demo version of the game is now available for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 via their respective networks, and for the PC.
- August 7, 2009 @ 10:01 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Marian Churchland’s Beast
Beast
Marian Churchland, whose work you might have seen recently in Richard Starkings’ Elephantman comic, has a new book coming out from Image Comics called Beast. If you’d like to check out a preview of it, you can find the first few pages over on Brandon Graham’s blog.
- August 7, 2009 @ 09:03 AM by JK Parkin
Each one of us is an archer, and a speedster, and an acrobat …
Cliff Chiang's "Breakfast Club" homage
Artist Cliff Chiang marks the passing of filmmaker John Hughes with a wonderful homage to The Breakfast Club movie poster featuring the original Teen Titans lineup.
You may recall that in 2007 artist Jason Pearson paid tribute to the movies of Hughes with his covers for The Loners, the Marvel miniseries by C.B. Cebulski and Karl Moline. Johanna Draper Carlson showcased the covers, and the original posters, here and here.
- August 7, 2009 @ 08:06 AM by Kevin Melrose
Chicago Comic-Con ‘09 | Preview night
Chicago Comic-Con
4:00 am – Up and at ‘em. Have to finish packing before Comic-Con Roommate #1, LucasFilm artist Jess Hickman, arrives at 5:00.
5:45 am – Jess and I pick up Roommate #2, Grant Gould (Star Wars: Clone Wars web comic; Wolves of Odin) and we hit the road.
2:00 pm – Arrive at hotel. We’re staying at the Embassy Suites right across from the convention center this year, which is really nice because I won’t have to pay $80 a day to park in the convention center lot. Free breakfast in the morning too. Nice!
3:00 pm – Drop Jess off at the convention center to get checked in. In addition to my press duties, I’m also her booth babe for the weekend. While she was grabbing our exhibitor badges I tried to get checked in at the press area, but the guy sitting at that booth told me he didn’t really work there and wasn’t sure when the official press check-in people would arrive.
Grant is still at the hotel, so I’ll go check on him and try again for my press pass later.
- August 7, 2009 @ 08:02 AM by Michael May
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Conventions | Despite a decreased presence by major publishers, fewer panels and rampant online speculation, Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus says he’s expecting “record attendance” for this weekend’s Chicago Comic-Con. “We’re absolutely committed to the show and its location,” Shamus says. “As far as I’m concerned, we’ll be there forever.” [Daily Herald]
Events | Chicago Comic-Con will include an auction to benefit veteran writer John Ostrander, who has been battling glaucoma for years. The Saturday event will include work donated by such creators as Neal Adams, Howard Chaykin, George Perez, Matt Groening, Jim Lee, Dave Sim and countless others. [Comix4Sight.com]
Legal | Vanguard Productions has emerged the winner in a lawsuit filed last year against by Warren Publishing founder Jim Warren over art from the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. [press release]
Publishing | Viz Media’s Gonzalo Ferreyra speaks briefly about the company’s accelerated release schedule for Naruto and One Piece. [ICv2.com]
- August 7, 2009 @ 07:40 AM by Kevin Melrose
Has the Spider-Man musical hit a wall?
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Rumors are circulating that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has run into a financial snag that could threaten the production schedule of the big-budget Broadway musical.
Variety reports that preparation work for the show stopped this week, apparently due to “cash-flow obstacles” that producers — Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures, among them — are moving to resolve.
A spokesperson told the trade paper that production remains on track for the show to begin previews on Feb. 25 and open sometime in March.
The musical, directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) and featuring music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge, so far stars Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson and Alan Cumming as Green Goblin.
Although the role of Peter Parker has yet to be cast, we already know that once he dons the Spider-Man costume, he won’t sing.
- August 7, 2009 @ 06:03 AM by Kevin Melrose
Azzarello and Noto team for Batman/Doc Savage
Batman/Doc Savage
If you’ve been enjoying Brian Azzarello’s work on Batman in Wednesday Comics, then this will probably make you happy … Azzarello is teaming with artist Phil Noto for a Batman/Doc Savage special. Per DC’s the Source blog, the special “sets the stage for an entire new world for the Doc, along with a slew of characters that will pop up later, including the Blackhawks and Rima, the Jungle Girl.” The special is due in November, with J.G. Jones providing the cover (above).
As we learned in June, Azzarello and Rags Morales are working on a new Doc Savage monthly series, set in an alternate DC Universe that will also include The Spirit. No word yet on when the monthly will debut.
- August 6, 2009 @ 03:20 PM by JK Parkin
The New Normal
Grumpy Old Fan
A few days ago I finally waded through the several stacks of disorganized monthly comic books which had been accumulating in my office since … well, since this time last year. Now they are in bags, their pertinent information is in my omnibus spreadsheet, and an angel has its wings. All that aside, it was an informative experience, reminding me mostly that I bought a lot of books I haven’t had time to revisit, like Final Crisis: Revelations, the El Diablo miniseries, and that Howard Chaykin special about ’50s Captain America. However, in the midst of my sentimental journey, it hit me: once some of these titles are gone, they’re not coming back.
Mostly this has to do with the revamped Batman and Superman lines. I can’t see DC reviving Birds Of Prey absent a creative team which could compare favorably to Gail Simone and Nicola Scott. I think it would also be hard for Tim Drake to resume his plain-old-Robin career, given the injections of moodiness he’s receiving in Red Robin. Conversely, I’d think Dick would be more than happy to ditch the Batsuit for his comfortable Nightwing duds and his old solo title. Still, what about the other Nightwing, not to mention Flamebird? Do they get their own book when Superman moves back to Earth, or do they stay in Action Comics? Would Batman And Robin continue without Dick and Damian? What about Streets Of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens? (Would the Birds of Prey feel at home in either title?)
My point is not necessarily to predict what will happen to these particular titles once things are “back to normal.” Instead, the realization that Birds Of Prey may be gone for good — or at least longer than we might think — has made me look at “normal” in a new way.
- August 6, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Someday we’ll find it, the Bifröst connection …
"Last Last Chance" and Bifrost
Designer Henry Sene Yee reveals that the inspiration for his cover to the novel Last Last Chance came from above — Asgard, specifically.
“I was really into Marvel Comics’ the Mighty Thor, the god of thunder, when I was growing up,” Yee writes. “And through that I was introduced to Norse mythology. … I also learned that Earth (Midgard) is connected to the Home of the Norse Gods (Asgard) by the Rainbow Bridge (Bifröst). And at the End of the World (Ragnarök ‘Doom of the Gods’), the Bow Bridge would be shattered.
“I thought a broken rainbow would make a great visual for this book. The end of the road, the end of a dream. Hope interrupted.”
(via The Book Cover Archive blog)
- August 6, 2009 @ 11:54 AM by Kevin Melrose
Marcus To named new artist of Red Robin
from Red Robin
DC Comics announced over on their Source blog that Marcus To will take over as artist of Red Robin beginning in November. To previously worked on Soulfire for Aspen, as well as some issues of Black Panther for Marvel. He also worked on some of the webcomics for NBC’s Heroes.
To’s first issue will be Red Robin #6. Former Red Robin artist Ramon Bachs is staying in the Bat family; he’s moving over to Azrael, with writer Fabian Nicieza. That ongoing series kicks off in October.
- August 6, 2009 @ 10:45 AM by JK Parkin