2009 October
Who can stop … the Cult of the Creator?!
Spawn
At Comic Book Bin Herve St.-Louis rails against what he terms “The Cult of the Comic Book Creator.” What exactly is this cult, you ask? And do they wear hoods and carry ceremonial daggers?
If I’m reading him right, he’s basically using the phrase as a springboard to rage against the fallacy that self-publishing your work will lead to you producing great art, or at least better art than what passes at the Big Two conglomerates. His Exhibit A in this treatise is Image Comics:
The problem this writer has with the cult of the comic book creator, as romanticized by Image Comics, is that a whole generation of creator believes that the ultimate way to reach ultimate self expression is through self publishing. However, self publishing is a business venture and business is not artistry. It takes a different set of skills to be a comic book publisher and a comic book creator. But the cult of the comic book creator has led many talented creators to get burn by an industry ill-prepared to support them. An alternative offered to comic book creators who want to keep the ownership of their properties, is to work with an established publisher. However, here again, the cult of the comic book creator has twisted reality and makes it more difficult for creators to serve their public.
- October 6, 2009 @ 12:38 PM by Chris Mautner
New investors may rescue Spider-Man musical
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
The financially strapped Spider-Man musical may have found new backers to make up for a $10-million shortfall.
Roger Friedman — you’ll remember him for his review of a pirated copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine — reports that Jim Stern of Endgame Productions may step in to pick up the slack left after producer David Garfinkle ran into money problems a couple of months ago. New Jersey real-estate mogul-turned-movie producer Norton Herrick also could pitch in.
“Cash-flow obstacles” caused preparation work on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark shut down in early August before resuming about a month later. The Broadway production, directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) and featuring music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge, is expected to cost somewhere between $35 million and $45 million.
Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming have been cast as Mary Jane Watson and Green Goblin. The role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man hasn’t been announced.
Despite the delays, the musical is set to begin previews in late February and open sometime in March.
- October 6, 2009 @ 11:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
Bernie Mireault’s The Jam gets animated
The Jam
C02 Comics, the reborn web version of 1980s publisher Comico, has a new animation thing featuring Bernie Mireault’s The Jam, a character I haven’t seen in quite awhile. Each panel is static, but if you click on it, it does something. Head over there to check it out.
- October 6, 2009 @ 10:17 AM by JK Parkin
You call it Diamond’s ‘skip week,’ but they declare it Indy Comic Book Week
Indy Comic Book Week
A group of creators hopes to take advantage of Diamond’s “skip week” — the fifth week of December, when the distributor won’t be shipping books — by declaring it Indy Comic Book Week.
Describing it as “not only an event, but also a call to action,” organizers hope to utilize Dec. 30 to promote independent comics to retailers.
“What some would call a sad week without our favorite mainstream titles, we are calling an opportunity,” the website states. “This vacancy allows independent and small press comic book creators to claim this week as their own. We challenge writers and artists to self publish new material for this week, and offer it to their local stores. We ask for retailers to take this as an opportunity to showcase local independent talent on the new release shelves. We encourage fans to break from their buying habits and try something new.”
The site provides details on how creators and retailers can participate — five stores have signed on so far — and offers resource and links for printing and promoting comics. There’s also a production blog.
- October 6, 2009 @ 09:38 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gigantor to guard Wakamatsu Park in Kobe, Japan
Gigantor statue in Kobe, Japan
The Mainichi Daily News reports on the construction of a statue of Tetsujin 28-go, or Gigantor, as he’s known in the states, in Kobe, Japan. The statue was dedicated this past Sunday.
- October 6, 2009 @ 09:10 AM by JK Parkin
SPX 2009: The Haul
What Sean got at this year's SPX
I love the Small Press Expo. My five-plus-hour drive down to its Bethesda location from Long Island guarantees me an annual 36-hour immersion in the lifeblood of alternative comics, and there’s nothing about it I like better than getting back to the hotel room or my library at home and spreading out all the new comics I dredged up from the depths. Here’s a look at what I picked up this year.
- October 6, 2009 @ 08:16 AM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Akira, Vol. 1
Publishing | Kodansha confirms what virtually everyone has known for quite a while now: that the publisher — Japan’s largest — is setting up shop in the United States, establishing an office in New York City. Kodansha USA Publishing will launch Kodansha Comics with Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira and Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell, two titles that had been licensed in North America by Dark Horse. The company will focus on translating its sizable backlist, but views original publishing as one of its “eventual ambitions.” David Welsh provides a little commentary. [Publishers Weekly]
Publishing | BOOM! Studios has signed a deal with Haven Distributors to distribute second printings of all of the publisher’s monthly titles to direct-market retailers. [BOOM! Studios]
- October 6, 2009 @ 07:16 AM by Kevin Melrose
Vertigo extends ‘Joe the Barbarian’ to eight issues
Joe the Barbarian
Vertigo announced on their blog yesterday that they’ve more than doubled the length of the upcoming Joe the Barbarian mini-series by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy. What was originally going to be a three issue series will now run eight issues. You can also check out some additional preview pages by clicking on the link above.
Morrison has described the comic as “Home Alone meets Lord of the Rings,” with the titular character entering a dream state in which his toys come to life. It begins in January.
- October 6, 2009 @ 04:27 AM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim: Dustin Harbin–the Sequel Interview
Dustin Harbin
A few months back when I interviewed Dustin Harbin regarding this year’s HeroesCon, I made a mental note to follow-up with Harbin in another interview, where we could just discuss his creative projects/process. This interview was conducted via email several weeks back. Late last week, Harbin let me know that while he’s remaining as Creative Director at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find and Heroes Convention, he will be reducing his hours at the store and has “gone full-time with cartooning”. My thanks to Harbin for another interview, I’m happy to say this one was even more fun than the last.
Tim O’Shea: How much are you paying Tom Spurgeon to pimp your work? Seriously, Spurgeon praises many talented storytellers, but he seems to be your number one fan. Did you buy him a lot of meals when he came to HeroesCon in 2008 or what?
Dustin Harbin: I remember having to argue with Tom just to be able to bring him a water: I tried hard to buy him a drink at the hotel bar, but he was leery of my seductive ways. I think Tom is like a lot of us–he’s a passionate advocate for people he thinks deserve wider recognition. I’m not basing this just on the very VERY kind attention he’s showed my comics so far, but he’s the reason I discovered Richard Thompson’s work, who you’ll agree Tom is an even more vociferous a supporter of. I don’t know what attracted Tom’s good feelings, but I’m incredibly grateful for them.
- October 5, 2009 @ 03:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 091
Welcome, new readers who’re stopping by after visiting me at the Long Beach Comic-Con last weekend. Hope you enjoy the show!
As for the rest of you reprobates, here’s the newest page:
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok.
So maybe Joachim isn’t out of the fight yet. But whose side will he end up on?
- October 5, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
Musical Monday: Lady Gaga, Coheed and Cambria, Death Cab
Lady Gaga comic
No, you haven’t accidentally stumbled onto MTV or Rolling Stone’s website; the worlds of music and comics collided a few times over the last few days in some fun and even odd ways ….
First up, the odd … designer clothing retailer Marc Jacobs is selling a $2 comic starring musician Lady Gaga. The comic was created by artist Brian Einersen and “name-drops St. John, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent so we know it’s worth the read,” Fashionista reports. (Via Splash Page).
Second, Marvel.com chats with Nick Harmer, bass player for Death Cab for Cutie, about music, touring and, of course, comics. Harmer reveals that he opens his toys and is a big Wolverine fan.
“I will follow Wolverine anywhere,” he says. “Though, I have to admit, I am still a little upset about the whole ‘bone claws’ addition to his story. When I discovered Wolverine and the X-Men, he was just a mutant who could heal fast and that’s how he was able to survive having his skeleton coated with adamantium and claws put IN. He wasn’t born with bone claws. That’s ridiculous. I know I should just accept this as part of his story now, but I was just such an expert on him when I was a kid it’s hard to give that up.”
And finally, Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria will appear on G4′s Attack of the Show later today to talk about his BOOM! series Kill Audio. The first issue comes out this week.
- October 5, 2009 @ 11:40 AM by JK Parkin
Last chance to get your votes in
The Secret Science Alliance
David Welsh reminds us that October is the last month to nominate a title for the Young Adult Library Services Association’s 2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list.
The list of nominations — which you can read here — so far includes titles like Alan’s War, Stitches and Secret Invasion. You can nominate the book of your choice here. Books must have been published this year, or have a copyright date between September and December of 2009.
My personal pick? The Secret Science Alliance by Eleanor Davis.
- October 5, 2009 @ 11:11 AM by Chris Mautner
The best reason for Facebook’s existence? Yes.
Now that's a lineup of talent
If you don’t have a Facebook account (and I don’t necessarily blame you if you don’t) you’ve been missing the wonderful photos that Carol Hernandez — wife of Gilbert Hernandez — has been posting of the Los Bros. on the Love and Rockets Fan Page. It’s full of great blow-your-mind yesteryear pics like the one above, (from left) Sergio Aragones, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Gilbert Hernandez and Robert Crumb at the Anglouleme festival in France, circa 1990. Also included: pics of Michelle Shocked, Russ Myer and Dennis the Menace creator Hank Ketcham.
- October 5, 2009 @ 10:40 AM by Chris Mautner
Happy 40th Birthday, Monty Python!
"And there was much rejoicing": Terry Gilliam art from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
It was forty years ago today that the world got slightly sillier: Today marks the 40th anniversary of the airing of the first episode of the seminal sketch-comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus on October 5th, 1969. Greatly beloved by nerds everywhere (God only knows how I’d have gotten through middle school without my two-cassette copy of The Final Rip-Off), the troupe—comprising John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin—has a deeper comic-book connection than simply the shared interests of many of its fans. For starters, there’s their send-up of Superman in the sketch “Bicycle Repair Man,” which takes a Twilight Zone twist on the Superman concept and plays it for laughs:
- October 5, 2009 @ 09:53 AM by Sean T. Collins
Gareb Shamus & Co. launch GeekChicDaily
GeekChicDaily
Tom Spurgeon points out the newly, and quietly, launched GeekChicDaily, a pop-culture website/e-newsletter co-founded by Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus and spearheaded by Wizard Editor-in-Chief Scott Gramling.
GCD covers very Wizard-like territory — comics, movies/TV, games, nerd clothing — but aside from a single mention in Shamus’ biography, I can’t find any references to the lurching magazine/convention empire.
Spurgeon wonders, in part, whether GCD is the “new” Wizard, in the way the five Shamus-owned “Comic Cons” — Big Apple, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Chicago and Toronto — are the new Wizard Worlds. (The major difference being, of course, that Wizard continues to be published, and the Wizard Universe website still limps along.)
GCD is slicker looking than Wizard Universe, even if it does resemble a half-dozen other sites that cover the same ground, and so far its content is certainly more mature than Wizard‘s. I’ve yet to see a single “boobs” reference.
- October 5, 2009 @ 09:20 AM by Kevin Melrose