2009 August
Digital Comics coming to the PSP in December (updated)
Marvel Digital Comics
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced a new digital reader for their PlayStation Portable device today at gamescom in Cologne, Germany, which will allow PSP users to download comic books and other media to read on the device. The Digital Comics service will include titles from Marvel, Archie Comics and Image Comics.
Per a story posted on Marvel.com, “The digital reader for PSPTM will offer content from Marvel that includes Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four (and so many others!) whilst other content will include graphic novels, comics from a variety of local publishers and the latest underground sensations. More and more titles will arrive on PlayStation Store with monthly content updates, offering a huge choice of quality titles at your fingertips, allowing you to take your favorite comic characters with you on the move.”
The new reader and Digital Comics service will be available in December. Sony made a number of other announcements as well, which include a cheaper PlayStation 3 and a PlayStation Video store, so be sure to click on the first link to read all about them.
Update: After the jump you’ll find the official press release from Sony for the Digital Comics initiative. It will include titles from Marvel and IDW, as well as material that iVerse has licensed, which includes Archie Comics and some Image titles like Proof.
- August 18, 2009 @ 11:32 AM by JK Parkin
The Walking Dead: Survivalist fiction, or a sign of things to come?
The Walking Dead, Book Four
Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard may have gotten things right with The Walking Dead: When the zombie apocalypse comes, it will mean the end of civilization.
Hey, I’m just repeating what researchers in Canada have found. In short, unless the undead are dealt with “quickly and aggressively,” we’ll all be doomed — or else forced to rely on our own Rick Grimes to save our sorry butts.
BBC News reports that a study by researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University posed a simple, and amusingly fanboy-ish, question: If there were to be a battle between zombies and the living, who would win?
For the answer, scientists used “biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies” — and the classic slow-moving zombie model. But even with the lumbering variety, the answer is pretty grim.
“It’s imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly or else … we are all in a great deal of trouble,” the scientists conclude.
- August 18, 2009 @ 10:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Abadzis to write Torchwood strip
Laika creator Nick Abadzis is writing a Torchwood strip for the TV show’s official magazine. Abadzis teams with the strip’s regular artist, Jack Staff creator Paul Grist, for part three of “Broken.”
Per the release from the magazine:
Abadzis, creator of the acclaimed graphic novel Laika and a contributor to The Times and Guardian¹s comic sections, writes part three of Broken for the hit BBC show’s official tie-in publication. In Broken, the team are trapped in a mysterious hotel Gwen Cooper is plagued by the ghosts of Torchwood
past, while Captain Jack and Ianto must face Bilis Manger. Acclaimed artist Paul Grist, creator of Jack Staff and Kane, provides the art.Abadzis joins a long list of stellar talent to have contributed to the Torchwood comic, including Tommy Lee Edwards, Simon Furman, Ian Edginton, D’Israeli and, recently, Carole and John Barrowman.
The strip will appear in issue 17 of the magazine, which comes out in the U.K. on Aug. 20 and in the United States Sept. 15.
You can check out some additional artwork from the strip after the jump.
- August 18, 2009 @ 09:49 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Emma Rios’ Flickr stream
by Emma Rios
While I was writing up my submissions for our weekly Can’t Wait for Wednesday column yesterday, I did a Google search on Emma Rios, illustrator of BOOM!’s Hexed comic and Marvel’s upcoming Strange mini-series. I came across her Flickr stream, which not only includes some of her work on Strange, Hexed and Runaways, but also a lot of her earlier art and some commissions, like the above image. Go check it out.
- August 18, 2009 @ 09:19 AM by JK Parkin
Take an early look at Longbox Digital comics
Longbox Digital CEO Rantz Hoseley has posted a video, labeled as a “Pre-Beta Screencast,” that demonstrates some of the features of the much-discussed digital-comics platform.
Announced in June at HeroesCon, Longbox has been billed as “iTunes for comics.” It will feature 99-cent downloads of comics from such publishers as Archaia, BOOM! Studios and Top Cow Productions and creators like Richard Starkings, Ivan Brandon, Jonathan Hickman, Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen. Longbox is set to launch in October.
- August 18, 2009 @ 08:19 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Comiket 76
Conventions | Think Comic-Con International is crowded? Comiket 76, last weekend’s installment of Tokyo’s twice-yearly comics fair, drew a reported 560,000 attendees — 10,000 more than last summer’s event. Comiket is held for three days in August and December at Tokyo’s Big Sight convention center. [Sankuka Complex, Anime News Network]
Publishing | Sales of comics in the direct market increased in July for the second month in a row — up 3 percent from July 2008 — while the Top 100 graphic novels dropped 11 percent for the same period.
Marvel and DC’s summer events led the comics chart, with Captain America: Reborn #1 selling an estimated 193,142 copies, followed by Blackest Night #1 with 177,105. The 13th, and final, volume of 100 Bullets topped the graphic novels list with 8,700 copies. [ICv2.com]
- August 18, 2009 @ 07:47 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim: Jeff Parker & Steve Lieber
Underground #1
Getting to talk to Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber about their upcoming Underground project, I discovered one shocking revelation: Lieber is immensely funnier than Parker. I learned a great deal more than that in our email interview. Before starting the interview, here are the book’s vitals: “UNDERGROUND is a five-issue color series beginning in September from IMAGE COMICS. Written by Jeff Parker, drawn by Steve Lieber, and colored by Ron Chan, the story follows Park Ranger Wesley Fischer as she tries to save Stillwater Cave– and then has to save herself.” My thanks to Parker and Lieber for the interview.
Tim O’Shea: At what point did you pitch this to Image, had an issue already been drawn or was it still in proposal mode?
Jeff Parker: We showed the complete black and white art for the first issue to Eric Stephenson this year at Emerald City Comicon.
Steve Lieber: They said yes and we were off and running.
O’Shea: How much did the two of you enjoy the flexibility of revision, given that you work in the same studio?
Lieber: It’s a very natural collaboration. Everything’s done in the same room — script, line art, letters, and color. I love the sense of freedom that comes from being able to tweak things at any step.
Parker: And I love changing what Steve thought was right. On a whim!
Lieber: Obviously.
- August 17, 2009 @ 03:15 PM by Tim O'Shea
Lapham to tackle Modern Warfare 2 for Wildstorm
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 #1
Today’s DC solicits confirmed what Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling tweeted over the weekend — that Wildstorm has picked up another video game license, this time for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The most interesting part of the news, though, is that the book will be written by David Lapham, of Stray Bullets and Young Liars fame. Kevin West will provide the art, with Federico Dallocchio on covers.
- August 17, 2009 @ 02:31 PM by JK Parkin
Collect This Now! Wasteland
Wasteland #9
Ah DC comics, circa 1987. A wild, heady time. Pre-Vertigo. Pre-Sandman. Watchmen was just wrapping up. Grant Morrison would soon start working Animal Man. Kyle Baker and Andy Hefler were doing crazy things with The Shadow. And the company that Jack and Joe built was flinging whatever it could to the wall to see if it stuck. (anybody here remember Haywire? Or Sonic Disruptors?)
Wasteland was a one of the things they threw. It was ostensibly a horror comic, though it rarely showed much in the way of blood or gore, and generally avoided traditional horror tropes. There were no serial killers here, or zombies or vampires, and no twist endings of the sort patented by TV shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.
Which is not to say that it couldn’t be incredibly disturbing.
- August 17, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways: Murder Moon – Page 22
Hey! How did we get to the last page so soon?
Art by Luis Guragna. Written by Matt Maxwell
Commentary follows.
- August 17, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
Who is the Gray Mask?
Gray Mask covber from Collier's
That’s the question Geoff Boucher is asking over at Hero Complex, based on a 1915 cover to Collier’s magazine he bought for $10.
“I remember being a bit startled when I saw the image for the simple fact that it was a comic book-style hero more than two decades before Superman and Batman,” he writes. He notes the character came before The Shadow and Zorro, but not the Scarlet Pimpernel, who debuted on stage in England in 1903.
As to who the Gray Mask is and who wrote the story, writer Christopher Farnsworth responds in the comments section with some additional information. The story in Collier’s was written by Charles Wadsworth Camp, father of author Madeleine L’Engle. The full prose story can be found on Google books. And there was a silent film made out of the story as well.
- August 17, 2009 @ 11:31 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Minty fresh James Jean art
Coming soon from Giant Robot are three different packages of mints designed by artist James Jean. Check out the other two designs by following the link.
- August 17, 2009 @ 10:40 AM by JK Parkin
Charlie Brown, Smurfette and Popeye use Woolite, apparently
Woolite ad, by Euro RSCG Puerto Rico
Ads of the World showcases an interesting print campaign for Woolite by Euro RSCG Puerto Rico. “For Everyday Colors” uses images of the somewhat iconic outfits of Smurfette, Popeye and Charlie Brown to sell three of the brand’s laundry products.
The use of black-and-white art in the Popeye ad clever, as it’s promoting a detergent designed for dark clothes. However, the Smurfette piece falls short because without the Smurf village in the background, we’d be hard-pressed to identify the owner of the items on the line.
(via Super Punch)
- August 17, 2009 @ 09:45 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Kerry Callen’s Tigra
Tigra
Halo & Sprocket creator Kerry Callen shares a six-page Tigra comic he created for Marvel’s What the..? title many moons ago, in which the heroine resented the fact that she wasn’t being featured in any Marvel comics at the time. Be careful what you wish for, Tigra.
“In the early 90′s I had submitted a 6 page Tigra idea to What the..?. Marvel showed interest in it and then What the..? was canceled. End of that story,” he wrote on his blog. “This was during the time period when John Byrne was doing She-Hulk and Tigra wasn’t being used in any comic.”
- August 17, 2009 @ 08:43 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Gene Colan
Creators | Legendary artist Gene Colan, who was recently hospitalized with pneumonia and other health issues, is expected to be sent home today. Colan, 82, will receive daily visits by a nurse for the next month. [Clifford Meth]
Events | Deb Aoki and Robert Selna cover the Saturday opening of the New People J-Pop complex in San Francisco’s Japantown. The vision of Viz Media founder Seiji Horibuchi, the $15-million center is designed to serve as a hub for Japanese comics, animation, music, fashion and film. [New People]
Awards | Girl Genius creators Kaja and Phil Foglio deliver their Hugo Awards acceptance speech in comics form. Girl Genius, Vol. 8, was named Best Graphic Story at Worldcon. [Girl Genius Online]
- August 17, 2009 @ 07:43 AM by Kevin Melrose