2009 October
Peter Bagge’s Bradleys are heading for FOX
Move over, American Dad
Could Buddy Bradley be the next Bart Simpson? That’s the tantalizing possibility presented by Fantagraphics’ Eric Reynolds today, as he revealed that writer/artist Peter Bagge has signed a deal with the FOX network to produce a pilot for a potential prime-time animated series based on the Bradleys, the less-than-functional family at the heart of Bagge’s series Neat Stuff and Hate. The show would reportedly focus on Buddy’s teen years at home.
This caps off a rather high-profile few months for Bagge (ahem, Professor Bagge) , a period that has seen the release of his political-strip collection Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me from Fantagraphics and his long-suppressed Incorrigible Hulk story in Marvel’s Strange Tales anthology. No word yet on whether he plans to have Mrs. Bradley pose for Playboy.
- October 9, 2009 @ 11:34 AM by Sean T. Collins
Isotope Comics teams with James Robinson to take over Bloomingdale’s
James Robinson at Bloomingdale's
James Sime and James Robinson — I’m sure there’s a “James Gang” joke to be made here — are taking over Bloomingdale’s in San Francisco next Wednesday.
The owner of Isotope Comics and the writer of Justice League, along with Details Magazine and Warner Bros., will host “an evening of cocktails, DJs, comics, and high fashion! The screen-used costume from Dark Knight as well as the movie costumes of Catwoman and Two-Face will be on display as well,” Sime said.
You can find all the details here.
- October 9, 2009 @ 10:57 AM by JK Parkin
George Perez pays homage to classic New Teen Titans cover
Blackest Night: Titans #3
Although I can’t say I’ve really been digging this particular tie-in to Blackest Night, I really like the variant cover to issue #3 of Blackest Night: Titans. It features George Perez’s homage to one of the greats, himself, as he re-imagines the cover to New Teen Titans #30. That book featured the introduction of Terra and started what could arguably be called the greatest Teen Titans story ever. At least, I’d probably argue that.
- October 9, 2009 @ 10:18 AM by JK Parkin
D’oh!: Marge Simpson poses for Playboy
Where's Nelson Muntz when you need him?
TMZ ruined a lot of people’s mornings today by revealing that The Simpsons‘ blue-haired matriarch Marge will appear on the cover of the November issue of Playboy. “Sexy cartoon lingerie” will feature in her non-nude pictorial, or whatever you’d call it, inside. That sound you heard is your childhood dying.
Link via Topless Robot, whose reaction–”I’m going to get a large glass of scotch now. I’m not sure whether I’m going to drink it or pour it in my eyes, but if a f*cking jet engine falls out of the sky on to me on the way, I won’t mind”–is typical of many Simpsons fans. (Go grab a copy of the awesome new Treehouse of Horror issue to cleanse the palate, gang.)
- October 9, 2009 @ 09:45 AM by Sean T. Collins
The many heads of Harvey Pekar
SMITH magazine's Harvey Heads
Harvey Pekar, the irascible, inimitable observational writer whose slice-of-life series American Splendor has been a cornerstone of alternative comics for decades now, turned 70 yesterday. (That’s right, he’s only seemed like a lovably grumpy old man until now.) To celebrate Pekar’s big Seven-Oh, SMITH Magazine–already the home of Harvey’s current comics outlet, The Pekar Project–has commissioned over 90 artists and counting to draw Pekar portraits for its Harvey Heads gallery. Contributors so far include Jeff Smith, Jim Mahfood, Jeffrey Brown, Alison Bechdel, Renee French, Molly Crabapple, Bryan Talbot, Bob Sikoryak, Peter Kuper, Josh Neufeld, Joshua W. Cotter, The Quitter‘s Dean Haspiel, longtime American Splendor artist Gary Dumm and many, many, many more. Click the link and soak up the splendor.
- October 9, 2009 @ 09:15 AM by Sean T. Collins
Bob Mankoff thinks big
Thinking Big With Robert Mankoff is a series of video interviews with the New Yorker Cartoon Editor in which he talks about the role and history of humor in society. In the one below he talks about how he became a cartoonist and what makes things funny. (found via Drawn)
- October 9, 2009 @ 08:16 AM by Chris Mautner
Video of the day: Cameron Stewart drawing Catwoman
Show of hands please! Who’s interested in seeing the award-winning Cameron Stewart draw a picture of Catwoman using Manga Studio? Ah, I thought so.
There’s another video of him drawing the Prince of Persia at this link. A you can see the final version of the Catwoman piece here.
- October 9, 2009 @ 07:15 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Sean Murphy’s Wolverine Alphabet (and more)
Sean Murphy's Wolverine ABCs
As we noted the other day, Vertigo has expanded the upcoming Grant Morrison/Sean Murphy series Joe the Barbarian from six issues to eight. Looking at Murphy’s deviantart account, it’s not hard to see why. Among the visual delights therein are letters A through H of a Wolverine Alphabet, featuring the Ol’ Canucklehead and friends kickin’ it Sesame Street style. (Unsurprisingly, the set has Marvel editors beating a path to the DC-exclusive artist’s door.)
The gallery also includes page after luscious page of Murphy’s work on Hellblazer, a few Joe the Barbarian preview pages, and random other goodies, from a recreation of the poster for Easy Rider starring Wolverine and Banshee in place of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda to the below image of all of Murphy’s childhood heroes one one team. No wonder Vertigo veterans Paul Pope, Cameron Stewart, and Jock have all been tweeting Murphy’s praises.
We're guessing Einstein's the team leader
- October 8, 2009 @ 03:12 PM by Sean T. Collins
Planetary #27 is worth its wait
Grumpy Old Fan
Obligatory Tardiness Joke: I was going to wait a year or so to discuss Planetary #27, but you know….
[crickets]
Ahem. My most recent trip through the Planetary series was a couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon. I read the first two Planetary paperbacks before dinner, and finished off issues #13-26 after “Mad Men.” After years of waiting interminably between issues, it became almost compulsory for me to read the next one immediately, regardless of how late it was getting. Taken as a single extended storyline, Planetary starts slowly, but before too long has gained considerable momentum.
- October 8, 2009 @ 02:05 PM by Tom Bondurant
“Make that Marvel mine!”: Brevoort and Quesada on controlling character crossovers
The (Old) New Avengers
Let’s say you’re the writer for Marvel’s new Pugnacious Paste-Pot Pete ongoing. You’d like to do the obvious thing and bring in Unus the Untouchable for a six-issue grudge match. But the X-office has just solidified plans for its “Unus-ted We Stand” crossover, in which Double-U plays a leading role. Who decides who gets to play with the Untouchable?
Two of Marvel’s top editors weighed in on this very question (albeit using far less absurd hypothetical examples) on Monday. First, in his weekly Cup o’ Joe column here at CBR, Editor in Chief Joe Quesada fielded a question from reader Andyb regarding the reported inability of Avengers writers Dan Slott and Kurt Busiek to use the X-Men characters Nightcrawler and the Beast in their respective runs. Though he averred that more often than not the answer to whether a character could cross from his or her usual franchise to another title is “yes,” Quesada explained that the decision typically rests with the writers and editors of that character’s usual “family,” who receive priority in terms of their customary characters’ handling:
For example, back when Brand New Day started, Steve Wacker and the Spider-Man creators, of which Dan was one, asked that there be a moratorium on classic Spidey villains in other Marvel books. The reason for this was because they were appearing in so many titles, that they were losing their impact and the Spider titles were suffering because of that. I agreed with this logic as the plan was to let some time pass and then allow the Spider group to revamp and reintroduce the villain heavy-hitters.
- October 8, 2009 @ 12:07 PM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | Immonen’s Flickr People
Check out this set of caricatures by Stuart Immonen based on pictures uploaded to Flickr’s “most recent photos” page. Apparently this is a daily exercise for him, so stop by often. (found via Dirk)
- October 8, 2009 @ 11:35 AM by Chris Mautner
Next week: Ivan Brunetti chats with T-Pain
Well here’s a celebrity meet-up I never in my most drug-induced haze ever thought of before: Chris Ware and Fall Out Boy bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz talking about comics, music and art against an LA backdrop. Apparently they have more in common than you think. For one thing, both agree that they’re embarrassed by most of their output. The first video is below, but you’ll want to go here to see several more, including some outtakes. (found via CR)
- October 8, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | The Groovy Age of Horror’s epic Flickr gallery
Curt Purcell's paperback gallery
Does your love of trash put Oscar the Grouch to shame? Then feast your eyes, glut your soul on the (extravagantly NSFW) Flickr account of Curt Purcell, the blogger behind equally unworksafe horror-blogosphere cornerstone The Groovy Age of Horror. Curt’s been sharing his extensive collection of pulp paperbacks and X-rated Italian horror comics for years now, and he’s recently scanned in hundreds of their covers, helpfully divided into Fumetti, Horror Paperbacks, and the aptly named Sleaze Paperbacks for your browsing pleasure. For fans of the seedy side of Eurocomics or the lurid illustration styles of yesteryear, it’s tough to top.
Also worth checking out: Curt’s series of posts on Blackest Night (with an extensive detour into the classic Levitz/Giffen Legion storyline The Great Darkness Saga). A lapsed comics reader, Curt has been drawn back in by this year’s big DC event’s horror overtones, and his outsider/insider perspective regarding the evolution of “event comics” is quite fresh and eye-opening.
- October 8, 2009 @ 10:36 AM by Sean T. Collins
Everyone’s a Critic: A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces
Nancy
• Let’s start off with Jeet Heer’s short piece on the cult of Nancy. It really is all about Nancy, isn’t it?
• Also at Comics Comics: Dash Shaw re-examines a panel he was on at TCAF on alternative and mainstream comics.
• The Hooded Utlilitarian blog, which never met a critical roundtable it didn’t like, is doing a series of posts on French comics. I like the name of the series.
• I would be remiss if I didn’t point to our new fellow Robot 6er Sean Collins’ review of Kazimir Strzepek’s ongoing fantasy series, The Mourning Star.
- October 8, 2009 @ 10:03 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Brain Camp cover
Brain Camp
Zombies Calling creator Faith Erin Hicks shows us the cover to her next project, Brain Camp. The book comes out from First Second next year.
- October 8, 2009 @ 09:26 AM by JK Parkin