2009 October
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 095
Back from APE, will be collecting thoughts shortly.
Written by Matt Maxwell. Art by Gervasio and Jok.
Huh. Wonder what that’s all about, then?
Back on Wednesday, APE posting may be up before then, but other work may supersede it.
- October 19, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
Begun, the Con War has: More on the Big Apple/NYCC match-up
All smiles: Joe Quesada and Gareb Shamus at the Big Apple Comic Con
Next year’s same-weekend, same-city showdown between Reed Exhibitions’ New York Comic Con and Wizard Entertainment/Gareb Shamus’s Big Apple Comic Con looms large in fandom’s collective mind. But what about the here and now?
By several important measures, this weekend’s inaugural Shamus-owned Big Apple Comic Con was a major success. For starters, it received an avalanche of enthusiastic coverage from the mainstream press, from both local and national outlets. (Lack of this kind of promotion has been a problem for Wizard shows in the past.) Meanwhile, guest of honor Jim Lee was thrilled with the show, while his fellow headliner Joe Quesada signed on with Shamus’s new GeekChicDaily newsletter (as seen in the photo above). And a look around relevant message boards, Twitter accounts, and comment threads provides any number of happy anecdotes regarding apparently terrific bargains from the show’s retailers (Acme Novelty Library #19 and The Collected Doug Wright for four bucks apiece!) or delightful interactions with its nerd-heaven line-up of comics pros (Lee, Joe Quesada, Joe Mad, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams), geek icons (William Shatner, Adam West, Billy Dee Williams, Linda Hamilton, Carol Cleveland) and crush objects (Kelly Hu, Adrianne Curry, Bottomless Suicide Girl, Linda Hamilton, Carol Cleveland).
- October 19, 2009 @ 12:05 PM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | Mobile Organism Designed Only for Kicking
M.O.D.O.K. by Jim Rugg
Artist Jim Rugg shares this fun commission he recently did of the classic Marvel Comics villain M.O.D.O.K. taking on several masked luchadores. I’m not sure how effective that chair shot is going to be …
- October 19, 2009 @ 10:03 AM by JK Parkin
The ‘Tuskas of the world did their work with little to no clout, power or say-so’
Spurred by the death last week of longtime Iron Man artist George Tuska, Mark Evanier considers how the comics industry was different for creators of his generation:
Spotlight Comics #1
One of the many ways it was different — and I’m going to leave Kirby aside here because he was always in his own special category — is that the George Tuskas of the world did their work with little to no clout, power or say-so in what they created or what happened to it.
If work was available at Timely Comics and nowhere else, they worked for Timely Comics. If the available work was on romance comics, they drew romance comics. If the editor wanted them to pencil, they pencilled. If the editor wanted them to ink, they inked. If the editor wanted them to pencil and for the work to be inked by someone really bad…well, it was inked by someone really bad. A competent artist today has a lot more ability to say, “Gee, I don’t want to draw that strip” or “I don’t feel I can work with that writer.”
It’s a good, thoughtful piece, and a nice companion to Evanier’s obituary for the 93-year-old artist.
Tom Spurgeon, Paul Kupperberg, Evan Dorkin, Johnny Bacardi and 20th Century Danny Boy also have solid obituaries and appreciations.
- October 19, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Venture Bros. lives: ‘Hank, I will give you so much money not to shoot your dad’
Venture Bros.
As if you needed more of a reason to check out last night’s season premiere of Venture Bros. on the Cartoon Network, the episode featured a ton of references that fans might enjoy, to Marvel Comics #1, Raiders of the Lost Ark and even the CGC comics grading system. You can watch it online at the Adult Swim website.
- October 19, 2009 @ 09:34 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Silvestri & Portacio’s Philippines flood relief jam piece
Witchblade by Marc Silvestri & Wetworks' Dane by Whilce Portacio
Sure, Image co-founders Marc Silvestri and Whilce Portacio have teamed up in the past—most recently for the Robert Kirkman-penned mega-crossover Image United—but this is their noblest joint effort yet. The pair is auctioning off the above jam piece, starring Portacio’s Wetworks character Drew and Silvestri’s flagship heroine Witchblade, to raise money for flood relief in the Philippines.
The Southeast Asian nation was recently hit hard by back-to-back typhoons Ketsana and Parma, and the number of casualties and people left homeless by flooding is grim. But as reported by Comic Book Resources, the burgeoning Filipino comics scene—which includes such world-famous artists as Leinil Francis Yu, Francis Manapul, Philip Tan, and Carlo Pagulayan, plus a thriving national industry–is rallying to help raise much-needed funds for the victims. The effort has been led by Gerry Alanguilan, Yu’s frequent inker and a writer-artist in his own right, and the Silvestri/Portacio jam is just one of several items that will be made available through benefit auctions on Alanguilan’s eBay page. Go and bid, then check out Alanguilan’s blog for photos of the live relief auction he helped conduct this weekend at Manila’s Komikon 2009, plus more info on what else you can do to help.
- October 19, 2009 @ 09:02 AM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Dragon Ball
Manga | Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has been officially removed from Wicomico County schools in Maryland following a committee review of the popular series. The announcement was made Thursday by Superintendent John Fredericksen, slightly more than a week after a parent’s complaint about depictions of nudity and sexual situations in the first volume triggered the school board to pull the manga from library shelves.
The committee also is reviewing the all-ages Dragon Ball Z; Dragon Ball is rated for teens. Both titles are published in North America by Viz Media. The Wicomico County Public Library announced last week that it is conducting an “internal reconsideration” of Dragon Ball, pulling the series from circulation while it decides where the manga should be shelved.
And in a timely post, Jason Thompson, author of Manga: The Complete Guide, addresses the Dragon Ball dust-up and other issues for io9.com. [WBOC.com]
Publishing | Random House imprint David Fickling Books will publish three collections of comics from its canceled U.K. comics anthology The DFC. The books — Mezolith by Adam Brockbank and Ben Haggarty; Good Dog, Bad Dog by Dave Shelton; and Spider Moon by Kate Brown — will be released in March, April and May 2010. [Booktrade, via Forbidden Planet International]
- October 19, 2009 @ 08:24 AM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading?
Talking Lines
Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading, where we can’t stop talking about the comics (and other things) we love. I’m pleased as punch to write that our guest this week is R. Sikoryak, whose wonderful book, Masterpiece Comics, is out right now from Drawn and Quarterly.
Click on the link below to find out what Mr. Sikoryak and the rest of the Robot 6 crew are reading this week. And don’t forget to let us know what comics or books you’re currently enjoying in the comments section.
- October 18, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Will Dinski wins Isotope Award for Minicomics
Covered in Confusion
Will Dinski‘s Covered in Confusion took home the Isotope Award for Excellence in Minicomics last night. The award was presented during Isotope’s annual APE Aftermath party. If you’d like to see the book, Dinski has a video of it up on his website, where you can also purchase it.
- October 18, 2009 @ 12:19 PM by JK Parkin
APE ’09 | Some quick thoughts on Saturday
Brandon Graham & Marian Churchland
• After a bout of torrential rains earlier in the week, San Francisco welcomed the Alternative Press Expo with sunshine and warm weather yesterday. APE is one of three shows put on by the folks at Comic Con International. There’s San Diego every summer, of course, and San Francisco’s WonderCon, which is usually in the winter/spring (next year it’s the first weekend in April) and then in the fall comes APE. All the shows have their various charms … San Diego is, well, San Diego. WonderCon offers a similar type of programming to San Diego without the chaos of being the mammoth event that SDCC is, while APE has a more laid back, intimate feel.
• I got there shortly after the doors opened, when the crowds were still pretty light. They’d grow as the day went on, so it was kind of nice to have a little elbow room. Most of the mainstays were in their regular places, with a few noticeable exceptions — Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, Buenaventura, SLG, VIZ and Drawn & Quarterly were all where they usually are, but IDW, Oni and AiT/Planet Lar, who have been there in recent years, were missing. (Larry Young told me he wouldn’t be there because he didn’t want to be setting up for a show on his birthday, which was Friday … happy belated birthday, Larry!) And while Image didn’t have a table, they were represented by some of their creators, such as Richard Starkings, who had his own booth, and Brandon Graham and Marian Churchland, who were at the Neon Monster booth.
- October 18, 2009 @ 08:06 AM by JK Parkin
APE ’09 | A few more items to add to your shopping list …
The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, kicks off at 11 a.m. tomorrow at The Concourse in San Francisco. Here are a few more updates that I almost missed thanks to an overzealous spam filter … my apologies for not getting these up earlier.
First up is Lee Post, an illustrator who is traveling down here to the Bay Area all the way from Anchorage, Alaska — the land of “Sarah Palin, meth shacks, and aerial elk-massacres,” he said in his email.
“My friend Pat Race and I will be coming down from Alaska to take part this year at booth #549,” Post writes. “I’ve been down the last four years, hanging out with Jon Adams of Truth Serum fame, but I’ve finally made the jump to booth owner this year.”
Post will be selling The Best of Your Square Life as well as a new mini-comic he did for 24 Hour Comics Day called In Alaska Everyone Has a Beard. He’ll also have this APE-themed print:
Post says that Race is an illustrator from Juneau and is part of the collective Alaska Robotics, who do webcomics, T-shirts, and video shorts, one of which was recently featured on BoingBoing.
*****
Dogtown
Next up is Russ Kazmierczak, Jr. of K.O. Comix, who you can find at table 510. They’ll have the self-published Dog Town by Brent Otey, a post-apocalyptic dogs vs. cats western sci-fi epic, and Karaoke Comics #1 by Kazmierczak, an anthology featuring fictional and biographical tales inspired by karaoke — both hot off the press! Their usual assortment of superhero comics and fanzines will be available, too. Russ has more info on other stuff he’ll have on hand at his blog.
*****
And finally, I mentioned the other day that Jamaica Dyer is a special guest and will be hanging out at the SLG table, but she sent over a few more details on what she’ll be up to …
I saw your post about APE, and wanted to say hi! I’ve been going to APE for about 7 years (a wee teenager when I started) sharing tables with friends to sell my mini-comics. This year is super exciting because my first graphic novel is coming out! I’ll be at the Slave Labor booth signing copies of the book fresh-off-the-press and have some home-made wallets and art prints, I’m on a few panels, and I’m a special guest. Very exciting!
I think her email probably encapsulates everything I love about APE — folks making comics with their friends who go on to be one of the show’s special guests.
Here’s the trailer for her new book, Weird Fishes, which you can buy at the show tomorrow:
- October 16, 2009 @ 09:03 PM by JK Parkin
NYCC staffers kicked out of Big Apple Comic Con
Attention, con warriors: shots fired! The battle between Gareb Shamus’s Big Apple Comic Con and Reed Exhibitions’ New York Comic Con, kicked off today by Big Apple’s announcement that its 2010 show would run on the same weekend as NYCC, has claimed its first casualties: NYCC director Lance Fensterman is reporting on the show’s official blog that three NYCC staffers have been ejected from Big Apple.
The group was reportedly escorted out by security, though their tickets were refunded by Wizard’s Vice President of Business Affairs Peter Katz. (As we reported earlier, Wizard has some experience with kicking rival con staffers out of its shows.) “World War Con” rages on …
- October 16, 2009 @ 06:58 PM by Sean T. Collins
Psylocke, Carnage to be downloadable options for Ultimate Alliance 2
As is expected nowadays with just about any console game that comes out, Activision will release downloadable content, or DLC, for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. No release date has been announced, but they have released info on two characters you’ll be able to add to the game. Earlier this month they announced Carnage, and this week they’ve added Psylocke to the roster.
Check out some more shots and a video of Psylocke after the jump.
- October 16, 2009 @ 03:30 PM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color – Leader in Red
I don’t think I’m fooling anyone when I note that Marvel’s merry Mutants are bite-sized metaphors on the human condition. Each one had their own little quirk or personality touch that makes us think about ourselves and our place in the universe. Lonely girl who can’t be touched. Check. Ice queen who’s more empathic and natural when she puts down her facade of material power. Check, though it’s a new turn on Ms. Frost when her reup’d power set. There’s the teenage girl who feels like she fades out of the room, the sensitive man behind a layer of steel, the intellect of a genius in the body of a beast, the list goes on. Try it yourself on long car rides or waiting for the bus!
Boiling each X-Man down to their essential humanity seems super easy in the case of Cyclops. He’s the blind guy at the steering wheel. The one guy who can never truly control his powers yet tries to control the entire world around him, and can’t see the world outside a single shade of red is in control of the X-Men team. Yes, yes, there’s a lot more to that and it could be easily disagreed that this isn’t his essential point (I eagerly await your comments below), but for today, let’s humor the lady and say he is a man who can never see anything but red trying to lead possibly the most colorful organization in town.
How’s he doing?
- October 16, 2009 @ 03:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
Straight for the art: Vice’s Where the Wild Things Are tribute gallery
Sammy Harkham's Where the Wild Things Are
We’ve said it once before, but it bears repeating: Vice Magazine has commissioned a murderer’s row of 24 alternative comics artists–including Sammy Harkham, Tony Millionaire, Matt Furie, Lisa Hanawalt, Jordan Crane, Benjamin Marra, and Vanessa Davis–for a hugely impressive comics tribute to Where the Wild Things Are, Spike Jonze’s long-anticipated movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic storybook. The movie comes out today, and all 24 artists’ interpretations are now live. Let the wild rumpus start!
- October 16, 2009 @ 02:40 PM by Sean T. Collins