2009 September
Place your bets now: Will Wonder Woman hit its 45th issue, or its 600th?
DC Nation
Just as Marvel has returned several of its long-running titles — Captain America, Thor and Incredible Hulk, among the more recent — to their original numbering, DC Comics is contemplating the same approach with at least one series.
In this week’s “DC Nation” column, DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio opens the door to the possibility that Wonder Woman, one of the company’s most consistently published titles, could mark its 600th issue in June 2010 (rather than No. 45 under the current system). Debuting in 1942, Wonder Woman was relaunched in 1987 and again in 2006, each time with a new No. 1 issue.
“In case you didn’t know, there is a group of Wonder Woman fans who feel that her ongoing series needs the numbering that would be reflective of her time and stature in the industry,” DiDio writes. “After all, both Superman and Batman are closing in on issue 700, and Wonder Woman, being an integral part of our trinity, should be right up there with them. … Not a bad argument. These fans felt so strongly about this, they even started a mail-in postcard campaign to plead their case.”
He offers the counter-argument that the current numbering — Issue 36 comes out later this month — “is more inviting to the casual fan who might want to come in and sample a series without feeling like the story is weighed down by over 65 years of history.”
- September 11, 2009 @ 09:09 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
D23 Expo
Business | During a surprise appearance Thursday at the D23 Expo, Walt Disney Company President and CEO Bob Iger assured reporters that, “There will be no Disney-fication of Marvel.”
“When you look at it as part of the Walt Disney Company and the application, the presence of Marvel is virtually in everything that we’re in,” Iger said at the presentation. “You can expect that, over time, that’s what you will see. We became impressed with the talent of Marvel as we got to know them better. Once the the deal closes their is expected integration, but we plan to keep Marvel as an entity and and to respect both the talent that is there, working as one and also respect what Marvel is and what the essence of Marvel is. There will be no Disney-fication of Marvel.” [ScreenCrave]
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Business | I overlooked this nugget when I was assembling our overview of the new DC Entertainment: Batman: Arkham Asylum, the new video game from Warner Bros. Interactive and Eidos Interactive, has sold a reported 2 million copies since its release on Aug. 25. [Los Angeles Times]
Conventions | Deb Aoki has commentary on Thursday’s confirmation that Reed Exhibitions will “co-locate” next year’s New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival. That means the two events will be held at the same time — Oct. 8-10, 2010 — and share exhibition space in the Javits Center while maintaining separate programming and guest lists. “With a tight economy to contend with,” Aoki writes, “Reed Exhibitions has likely figured out that combining New York Anime Festival with New York Comic-Con might make it more appealing for more publishers, game and anime companies to put some of their marketing budget toward exhibiting at next year’s shows.” [About.com]
- September 11, 2009 @ 07:58 AM by Kevin Melrose
Revisiting the 9-11 benefit books
by Kieron Dwyer and Mark Chiarello
On the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Eye on Comics’ Don MacPherson takes a look back at the benefit comic books that came out from comic publishers after those attacks. He spoke with Alternative Comics’ publisher Jeff Mason, who said 9-11: Emergency Relief is still available from Diamond, as well as Jamie S. Rich, who contributed to the Oni/Image Comics/DC Comics collaboration 9-11.
I still have those books, as well as the Marvel one, on my bookshelf; I think I might pull them out and read them again when I get back home.
- September 11, 2009 @ 06:32 AM by JK Parkin
Cameron Stewart to take on Batman and Robin [Updated]
The cover of "Batman and Robin" #7, by Cameron Stewart
DC Comics announced this morning that Cameron Stewart will follow Philip Tan as artist on Batman and Robin, kicking off a three-issue arc with December’s Issue 7.
This will be the fourth collaboration between Stewart and writer Grant Morrison, who previously worked together on Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian, Seaguy and Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye.
Update: Stewart writes on Twitter that, “I have not replaced Frazer Irving. Frazer is doing issues 10-12.” Frank Quitely originally was set to return for that arc.
- September 11, 2009 @ 06:27 AM by Kevin Melrose
Robot Reviews: Thrizzle and Red Monkey
Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Vol. 1
Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Vol. 1
by Michael Kupperman
Fantagraphics Books, 160 pages, $24.99
The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book
by Joe Daly
Fantagraphics Books, 112 pages, $22.99.
It’s tough to be a humorist these days. Time was when simply pointing out the money-grubbing crassness of our culture in a clever way was enough to ensure laughs. Not no more. These days we’re well aware the stuff we like is junk. We’re far too hip to be told that the emperor wears no clothes. Surrounded by an increasing array of banal and inane pop cultural detritus, what can the modern satirist do but mock the utter absurdity of it all?
That’s the path taken by two cartoonists in the Fantagraphics stable — Michael Kupperman and Joe Daly, though they travel down that path in very different ways.
- September 10, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
What a way to make a livin’: workplaces of the DCU
Grumpy Old Fan
[Although this post is a little late for Labor Day, by the time you read it I'll be hip-deep in continuing legal education. That's why I'm not writing about you-know-what, at least not this week.]
Sure you’ve always secretly wondered what it would be like to live in DC’s superhero universe … but what about getting paid? If your vibrational frequency suddenly shifts, and you find yourself in an America with a few extra major cities, here’s a handy guide to some possible career choices. It’s a sampling — a showcase, if you will — of some of the best and worst places in DC-America to work.
Continue Reading »
- September 10, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Not everybody is sad to see Paul Levitz go
Paul Levitz
If you were under the impression virtually everyone is sorry to see Paul Levitz step down as president and publisher of DC Comics, that’s only because Dirk Deppey was busy sharpening his stake.
“It should have happened long ago, of course, but better late than never,” Deppey writes this morning on Journalista! “While he’s managed to rack up a few genuine and admirable accomplishments during his time with DC Comics (not least being his early support for Phil Seuling and the Direct Market), one has to ask: How many initiatives has Levitz botched over the years? From the serial alienation of the company’s most profitable writer, Alan Moore, to the unholy debacle that was Minx — one of the many, many publishing lines created under his oversight that were badly conceived, badly executed, badly managed and badly promoted from start to finish — Levitz has in recent years presided over what can only be described as one of the most embarrassing periods in DC Comics’ corporate history.”
And Deppey’s only getting started. From there he spends another half-dozen paragraphs pointing out several decisions by, or under, Levitz that he believes damaged DC and the comics industry (including the publisher’s exclusive deal with Diamond Comic Distributors).
Even if you don’t share Deppey’s views, his post is still worth reading as an alternate perspective on Levitz’s tenure.
- September 10, 2009 @ 12:33 PM by Kevin Melrose
Don’t call it a comeback: Bluewater to collect classic Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics
Bluewater Productions, which has made headlines with its biographical comics series, is bringing Revolutionary Comics’ Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics line back into print in the form of a series of graphic novels. The first one will be out in December.
Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Revolutionary Comics published comic book biographies on everyone from Guns N’ Roses to MC Hammer. Several of these comics resulted in lawsuits against the company, including the ones about New Kids on the Block, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. In the NKOTB case, the judge ruled in Revolutionary’s favor, saying the book was protected by the First Amendment. Other artists supported the line, and Pink Floyd even included the Pink Floyd Experience comics in their official Shine On box CD set.
The NKOTB suit and a threatened suit by Guns N’ Roses brought the comics and the publisher, Todd Loren, a lot of publicity that translated into huge sales for the line. Per the press release from Bluewater, the comics regularly sold in the 50,000 range. I remember their first release, the GNR comic, having multiple printings as a result of all the attention it received.
Loren died in 1992, and in 2005 a documentary about his comics and his unsolved murder — Unauthorized and Proud of It: Todd Loren’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics — was released.
Bluewater’s graphic novels will include:
- September 10, 2009 @ 11:16 AM by JK Parkin
DC Entertainment: What we know so far
DC Comics
Now that some of the dust has settled on yesterday’s big Warner Bros. announcement — press releases have been issued, top executives have been interviewed — we can at least begin to get a picture of the new DC Entertainment.
Here’s what we can piece together so far:
• DC Entertainment is essentially a new company under the Warner Bros. Entertainment umbrella designed to more effectively and aggressively make use of — or “exploit,” if you will — the DC Comics characters in television, movies and other media. That’s long been viewed as a weak point in the DC-Warner Bros. relationship.
• This new company will be headed by Diane Nelson, who’s been president of Warner Premiere since the direct-to-DVD division of Warner Home Video was established in August 2006. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications, Nelson was director of national promotions for Walt Disney Records before joining Warner Bros. in 1996. She’s perhaps best known for supervising the management of the lucrative Harry Potter movie franchise since 1999.
In addition to her duties as president of DC Entertainment, Nelson will continue to oversee Warner Premiere and the studio’s interests in Harry Potter. She’ll report to Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Picture Group. (As president and publisher of DC Comics, Paul Levitz reported to Alan Horn, president and COO of Warner Bros. Entertainment.)
- September 10, 2009 @ 10:05 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art: Baker’s ‘Dexter’
Scene from Baker's 'Dexter'
Kyle Baker did an animated cartoon for Showtime based off of their popular live-action series Dexter, and he’s got the screenshots up on his blog to prove it. No word on when this goes live, but I’m stoked to see it. (found via Beaucoup Kevin.)
- September 10, 2009 @ 09:10 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
DC Comics
Business | It should come as no surprise that the creation by Warner Bros. of DC Entertainment, and the resignation of Paul Levitz as president and publisher, dominates the news again this morning.
I’ll devote a separate post to that coverage, but there are a few links worth highlighting here: ICv2.com has a succinct timeline of Levitz’s career to date plus earlier comments by the industry veteran about having “one of the best jobs on the planet.” Kurt Busiek, Marv Wolfman and Rich Johnston offer solid tributes to Levitz and his accomplishments as head of DC Comics. And at Comic Book Resources, Kiel Phegley gathers reactions from industry figures. [Warner Bros. press release]
Legal | DC Comics is among the parties objecting to Google Inc.’s settlement with publishers designed to resolve a 2005 lawsuit accusing the Internet giant of infringing on copyrights by digitizing out-of-print books without permission. DC, Microsoft and the governments of France and Germany are among those who say the agreement — $125 million and a registry to identify and compensate copyright holders — violates international copyright law. [Bloomberg]
- September 10, 2009 @ 08:10 AM by Kevin Melrose
This weekend, it’s the D23 Expo in Anaheim
D23 Expo
Disney’s D23 Expo kicks off today at the Anaheim Convention Center. The four-day event brings together all the various aspects of the Disney company — from theme parks to movies to TV to yes, even comics — under one roof, for panels, screenings, autograph signings and of course the opportunity to buy some Disney stuff. The complete schedule can be found here.
As I first mentioned back in June, BOOM! Studios, which publishes licensed comics based on several Disney properties, will be there and will have two booths at the show. Mark Waid, BOOM!’s editor-in-chief and writer of The Incredibles comic, will be at BOOM!’s display booth in the Disney Consumer Products area (#2209-41) Friday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Grace Randolph and Amy Mebberson, who also have worked on some of the titles, will be there throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. BOOM! will also have a booth in the Collector’s Forum area, #430, where they’ll be selling many of their Disney titles.
Other guests at the show include Tim Burton, Robert Zemeckis, Nicholas Cage, Courteney Cox, John Lasseter and many more. Panels will focus on upcoming films like The Princess and the Frog, Tron: Legacy, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, among others. And no, there’s no mention of anything Marvel-related, nor would I expect there to be considering the deal isn’t final. Maybe next year, though.
My wife’s a huge Disney fan — this is kind of like her Comic-Con — so we’ll be there Friday through Sunday. I plan to post pictures on the CBR Live blog throughout the day, God and iPhone willing, and will likely blog about it when I get a chance. So check back this weekend for updates.
- September 10, 2009 @ 06:57 AM by JK Parkin
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: What Looks Good for November
Harker
Time again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for interesting new adventure comics.
AAM Markosia
From the Pages of Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Harker – I’m always curious about new Dracula stuff and it’s encouraging that this project has the support of the Stoker family and Leslie S. Klinger (whose Annotated Dracula I love). Plus, the more I read the summary, the more curious I am to see writer Tony Lee’s plot play out.
Antarctic Press
Sherlock Ninja: The Curious Case of the Iron Monkey – It’s so high-concept that it can’t possibly be as awesome as it sounds. But I’m sure going to have to check it out and see for myself, aren’t I?
Flash Gordon, musketeers, dinosaurs, and much more Sherlock Holmes after the jump.
- September 9, 2009 @ 07:26 PM by Michael May
Another collective “Whoa” erupts as industry reacts to DC news
The new Warner Bros. mural (photo by Jonah Weiland)
Still reeling from last week’s big Marvel/Disney news, the comics industry was shocked — shocked, I tell you! — once again with today’s announcement from Warner Bros. Entertainment about the restructuring of DC Comics into something called DC Entertainment. These corporate shuffles can take months to work out from conception to whenever they are finally announced, so it would be a huge stretch to say this was some sort of reaction to the Disney-Marvel deal, but the coincidental timing is pretty amazing.
“I always wondered when Warner Brothers would figure out that they owned DC Comics,” blogger and retailer Chris Butcher posted today. “Turns out? September 9th, 2009.”
- September 9, 2009 @ 04:35 PM by JK Parkin
It’s a big week for big news, thick books and (possibly) a supermodel mystery
Today’s big news may have broken the Internet in half, but still New Comics Day marches on. Sure, it’s a day later than usual, but for that you should blame Labor Day, not Warner Bros.
It’s a good week for you wait-for-the-trade or missed-it-the-first-time types, as publishers wheel out collections ranging from Gotham Central and The Life and Times of Martha Washington to the Astro Boy Movie Adaptation and Guardians of the Galaxy.
In other spine-related offerings, Thursday also will see the release of volumes 1-6 of the cult-hit Yotsuba&! under the Yen Press banner, The Art of Tony Millionaire hardcover and a second volume of Love and Rockets: New Stories.
Looking for something smaller, but still entertaining? How about a Dead Space: Extraction one-shot, the debut of Nomad: A Girl Without A World or maybe — just maybe — the first issue of Models, Inc.?
To find out what other releases have Chris Mautner, JK Parkin and me talking, just keep reading. And, as always, let us know your picks in the comments below.
- September 9, 2009 @ 03:48 PM by Kevin Melrose