2009 December
Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment expands ties with Disney
Time Jumper
As CBR mentioned earlier today, Disney’s purchase of Marvel is a done deal. On the same day that deal closes, another press release involving someone with close ties to both companies hits the wires.
POW! Entertainment announced today that it is “deepening its ties” with the Walt Disney Company. POW!, of course, is the entertainment company headed by Stan Lee, co-creator of many of Marvel’s biggest characters. Disney already has a first-look deal with POW! for the various projects the company is creating (which includes Disney’s Time Jumper and a couple of live action features, as listed here), but now Disney will have “enhanced rights to the creative output of POW!” and “exclusive consulting services.” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I imagine we’ll find out once everyone has the opportunity to dive into this a little deeper after the holiday weekend. Disney is also buying a 10 percent equity stake in POW! for $2.5 million.
The complete press release is available after the jump.
Addendum: Oh yeah, for your press release collection, here’s Disney’s PR on the close of the Marvel deal today.
- December 31, 2009 @ 03:25 PM by JK Parkin
Our favorite comics of 2009
As you’ll see when you get to my section, it’s really a battle for me to narrow down my favorite comics of the year to just a few stand-outs. I do have to admit, though, that it’s been kind of fun over the last few days to revisit what came out over the past year, maybe pick some of them up again, and figure out what it was about the story or art or whatever that appealed to me when I first read it.
And the great thing about these kind of topics is that while I’ve been blogging with several of the folks here at Robot 6 for a number of years now, I always tend to find something surprising or that wasn’t even on my radar when I read their lists. For instance, I really need to check out this Pluto book.
So, without further ado, here are our favorite books of 2009, as detailed by several contributors to Robot 6. If we missed something good, please point it out in our comments section … I’ve still got a gift card to spend at Amazon.
Tom Bondurant
In (mostly) alphabetical order…
Agents Of Atlas (written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by various artists) was sort-of canceled in 2009, but it will live on in various miniseries and backup features. In fact, the more I look at Marvel in 2010, the more I am convinced that AOA will be bigger than ever. This can’t help but be a good thing, because AOA in 2009 continued successfully to mix 21st-century world-weariness with jet-age optimism. Although steeped in Marvel history, you didn’t need Wikipedia to appreciate the characters, and the book’s bullpen of artists (including Carlo Pagulayan and Gabriel Hardman) gave it looks which were both distinctive and complementary.
Speaking of distinctive looks, June’s big Batman relaunch produced a couple of titles which stood out from virtually everything else on the superhero stands: Batman And Robin (written by Grant Morrison, drawn initially by Frank Quitely) and Detective Comics (written by Greg Rucka, drawn by J.H. Williams III and Cully Hamner). Under Morrison and Quitely, B&R set the tone for a next-gen, post-grit Dynamic Duo, where Batman was the happy warrior and Robin the tormented avenger. Quitely especially broke everything down into finely-choreographed sequences and sleek, effective designs. Meanwhile, Williams turned ’Tec’s “Batwoman” lead into a masterclass on storytelling styles, switching from one to another like a composer manipulating motifs. Moreover, Rucka’s scripts met the challenge of introducing a new Bat-headliner, with 2006′s fading hype adding a degree of difficulty. The “new” Batwoman has earned her spot in the starting lineup, and Rucka and Hamner’s solid “Question” co-feature makes DC’s namesake book one of its best.
- December 31, 2009 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
The Love Song Of The Every-Wednesday Reader
Grumpy Old Fan
Let us go then, you and I,
For the sixth issue of Blackest Night is nigh
And we’ve been about as patient as we’re able;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
We muttering entreats
Of fantasies depicted in panels
And lurid stories they are wont to tell:
Never mind the sometimes tedious arguments
Or mercenary intent;
Which leads us to an overwhelming question …
Oh, not “don’t ask — just buy it!”
More like “it is here, so why not?”
- December 31, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Tom Bondurant
Straight for the craft | We all scream for Joker ice cream
Joker Papercraft
Super Punch always finds the most wonderful toys … check out this Joker ice cream truck papercraft that you can download and assemble for yourself. It’s a great companion piece for this papercraft Batmobile.
- December 31, 2009 @ 10:20 AM by JK Parkin
Cool things to wear: New Maakies T-Shirts
Celebrate your love for all things Uncle Gabby related with these nifty Maakies T-shirts from Warterloo. Dook, dook, dook indeed. (via)
- December 31, 2009 @ 09:50 AM by Chris Mautner
I’ve come alive again, I’m warm and dry again
You can call it the Bat-Umbrella or the Bat-Brolly or, as French creator Maxine Pecourt calls it, the “Batpluie,” but whatever you do, don’t leave it behind in the cab or at your day job or you’ll catch a cold the next time you fight the Joker. (via)
- December 31, 2009 @ 09:20 AM by Chris Mautner
If, 18 years from now, you hear about a felon named Batman Myerzowski, you’ll know why
The guy has t-shirts made up and everything
This smacks of some sort of pr stunt/scam (note all the links to some site called K-Z Entertainment) but … apparently a gentleman on Facebook has started a fan page where he promises to name his soon-to-be-born child Batman if he gets over 500,000 followers. He’s already well past the 900,000 mark, so I suppose the poor unborn tot (the due date is next month) is doomed to bear the Caped Crusader’s moniker until he’s old enough to head to the local registar’s office. Hopefully his younger brother, Zur En Arrh, will deflect some of the massive bullying and teasing he will receive during his K-12 schooling.
- December 31, 2009 @ 08:50 AM by Chris Mautner
Usagi Yojimbo to become fluffy, badass plush toy
Usagi Yojimbo
Dark Horse sent out a preliminary sketch yesterday for a new Usagi Yojimbo plush doll they plan to release next May. Per the release, Dark Horse “brings this fluffy, badass bunny to life” as a plush toy with Stan Sakai overseeing the details of the design process.
“I have always thought that a doll of this type would be an excellent presentation of Usagi,” Sakai said in the release, “and have been happy to assist as the prototype evolved with commentary and revisions. I think he came out very well indeed.”
- December 31, 2009 @ 08:16 AM by JK Parkin
Obama issue of Amazing Spider-Man was most-ordered comic of decade
Amazing Spider-Man #583
Given the amount of publicity surrounding the “Special Inauguration Day Edition,” it’s not surprising that The Amazing Spider-Man #583 was the most-ordered comic of 2009 in the direct market.
But who would’ve guessed that those President Obama covers would make it the most-ordered comic of the decade?
Charts wizard John Jackson Miller places the commemorative issue, with all of its variant covers and reprintings, more than 183,000 copies ahead of the No. 2 comic of the decade, June 2006′s Civil War #2 (issues of the Marvel miniseries claim six of the Top 10 spots).
Captain America #25, the March 2007 issue that featured the “death” of Steve Rogers, comes in at No. 5. DC Comics debuts at No. 8 with — brace yourselves — All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #1. (On a related note: The Dark Knight Strikes Again #1 appears at No. 37.)
Just five publishers are represented in the Top 300 comics of the decade: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and, in a blast from the past, defunct Canadian company Dreamwave Productions, which charted with seven issues of Transformers.
- December 31, 2009 @ 07:38 AM by Kevin Melrose
A roundup of end-of-the-year (and decade) pieces
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds
• NPR’s Glen Weldon lists his “most indelible” comics of 2009, from Geoff Johns and George Perez’s Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds to Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku: The Inner Chambers to John Layman and Rob Guillory’s Chew.
• Brian Gibson of Edmonton’s Vue Weekly selects the best graphic novels of the decade, including Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, David B.’s Epileptic and Marjane Satrapi’s Chicken with Plums.
• Comic Book Resources continues its countdown of the Top 100 comics of the year and its look back at the decade.
• Cartoonist Jeff Smith names his favorite comics of the past 10 years. Among them, Paul Pope’s 100%, Dash Shaw’s Bottomless Belly Button and Jeff Lemire’s The Complete Essex County.
• At Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston and Tom Huxley pick their best comics (British and otherwise) of the decade.
• At Comics Alliance, Chris Murphy names the Top 10 single issues of 2009, including Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham’s Fantastic Four #571 and Brian Wood and Vasilis Lolos’ Northlanders #17.
- December 31, 2009 @ 06:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Mouse Guard
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152
Mouse Guard: Fall and Winter 1152
Written and Illustrated by David Petersen
Archaia; $24.95 each
I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to talk about this week. Not that anyone’s called me on it yet, but I usually talk here about stuff that I enjoy and I know that that can give the impression that I like everything, which simply isn’t true. In fact, I just read a book that I didn’t like so much and contemplated talking about it instead, if only for variety’s sake. But is criticizing a mediocre, small-press book really how we want to end the year? As Tim O’Shea reminded me when I expressed my indecision on the subject, there’s a lot of bad material out there. Why spend a whole column focused on that when there’s good stuff that can use a larger audience? Mouse Guard may not exactly be an underground comic, but until it hits #1 on every Best Sellers list in the world, I’m considering it under-read.
The first thing you’re struck with by Mouse Guard is how beautiful it is. I was reading Winter 1152 in public the other day and a woman stopped and asked me what it was. As much as I try not to make assumptions about people from their appearances, I’m guessing that this immaculately-dressed businesswoman doesn’t have a large comics collection at home. But she saw David Petersen’s highly realistic, stunningly detailed, and lushly colored artwork and was attracted by it enough to want to know more.
But Mouse Guard is about more than the pictures and the seasons in the title dictate more than just Petersen’s color palettes. There’s a deep, compelling story at work with human characters – mice though they may be – and powerful themes that reflect the time of year they’re set in.
- December 30, 2009 @ 08:17 PM by Michael May
Dark Horse fills the comic void in your life with an early MySpace Dark Horse Presents
Brody's Ghost by Mark Crilley
As mentioned earlier this week on CBR, Dark Horse has released the January edition of MySpace Dark Horse Presents a little bit early. New stories by Mark Crilley, Scott Allie and Kevin McGovern, Jill Thompson and David Malki! all went live a little earlier today.
“We’re putting this one online early–usually MDHP goes up the first Wednesday of the month, but because of Diamond cutting off the shipment of new books on the final Wednesday in December, we thought it would be cool to deliver some comics ourselves on December 30,” Allie told CBR. “I wish it did something for the retailers that are missing a week’s revenue–a crucial week’s revenue–but at least readers will have 26 new pages of comics.”
- December 30, 2009 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Welcome to another edition of Shelf Porn. I hope everyone had a nice holiday and is ready for the new year.
Our guest this week is Brian Fitzgerald, who hails from Limerick, Ireland. As you might guess by the above photo, Brian’s a bit of a Batman fan and was thoughtful enough to share his photos with the rest of his fellow Robot 6 readers, though he prefers to let his photos speak for themselves for the most part.
Before we continue though, let me remind you how much we rely on submissions to keep this series going. I know what you’re thinking — “But Chris! My collection isn’t anywhere good enough to be featured on Shelf Porn!” Nonsense I say! Poppycock! Rubbish and balderdash even! Everyone gets a fair shake here at SP, be their shelves large or small. So why not send some photos of your comics to cmautneratcomcastdotnet?
And now here’s Brian:
- December 30, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Strangeways – Winter Solstice (4)
Last time I try to write a serial story as its being published, I swear.
Part 1 is here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here.
Happy New Year everyone! Gosh, new years. Why does this stick in my mind? It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t name it…
—
Screaming not in pain or agony or fear, but in something like release, the Stag dropped to his knees from a dead run. It fell like an avalanche, a torrent in midsummer. The ground itself shook as the stag’s chest heaved and rattled. Collins blade was dug deep into the beast’s neck, but the thought of releasing it was anathema. Better that he fall with the Stag and make sure that the deed was done than to miss even an instant of it, or worse, to think that the Stag could somehow escape.
Collins fell atop it, radiant and golden for an instant before he slid to the ground and rolled. Grass rock and earth crushed him, burying and leaden.
But he would not yield the blade.
- December 30, 2009 @ 01:39 PM by Matt Maxwell
Holy unrefillable prescriptions, Batman
This is why YouTube the internet was invented.
Via Topless Robot > Gorilla Mask
- December 30, 2009 @ 11:10 AM by JK Parkin