2009 December
Straight for the art | Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth process
Pencils and inks from "Sweet Tooth" #4, by Jeff Lemire
On his blog, cartoonist Jeff Lemire walks us through the creation of the fourth issue of his Vertigo series Sweet Tooth, from script and thumbnails to inks and colors.
“[The thumbnail sketches] are really rudimentary doodles, probably so much so that only I could decipher them,” Lemire writes. “But they just let me work out the panel structures and layout as well as the visual flow of the page. I take my script and reinterpret it, pacing out the beats of a scene or a conversation over panels. I often end up with a finished page that is very different from the script, as I tend to “write” best when drawing. The script is only a jumping off point.”
- December 7, 2009 @ 11:35 AM by Kevin Melrose
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Drawn & Quarterly’s spring catalog
From "Wilson," by Daniel Clowes
Having roamed through Fantagraphics’ 2010 plans last week, it’s time to take a look at Drawn and Quarterly’s plans for the coming year, via the Farrar, Straus and Giroux spring catalog. Keep in mind this only covers books and graphic novels, and doesn’t list any pamphlets. So I have no idea when the next issue of Big Questions will be out, for example.
- December 7, 2009 @ 11:05 AM by Chris Mautner
The Sinister Six: an alt-horror update
Before Halloween I posted a list of “Six Deeply Creepy Alt-Horror Cartoonists” as part of Robot 666′s week-long reign of terror. Well, these avatars of alternative comics’ dark side have been up to some interesting things lately. Feast your eyes on the latest enterprises of our strange sextet:
from Chloe by Hans Rickheit
The Squirrel Machine‘s Hans Rickheit is selling original pages from his darkly erotic, Xeric-winning graphic novel Chloe. If you’re in the original art market you can buy them straight from the artist himself here; if you’d just like to take a gander at the book itself, you can buy it here. (And I recommend you do so.)
- December 7, 2009 @ 10:40 AM by Sean T. Collins
Mark Millar Ideas takes a jab at … Mark Millar’s ideas
From the MarkMillarIdeas Twitter feed
Spurred, we may presume, by a tagline for Mark Millar’s next project — “What if Batman was The Joker?” — someone has created a Twitter account to have a little fun with the writer’s approach to high-concept pitches.
Millar began teasing the creator-owned miniseries, Nemesis, in late October before finally revealing the details on Friday at Comic Book Resources: The Marvel/Icon comic, with Civil War and “Old Man Logan” collaborator Steve McNiven, centers on a billionaire genius who uses his attributes to unleash anarchy rather than to fight crime.
“What if this genius billionaire was just this total shit, and the only thing that stood between him and a city was the cops?” Millar told CBR. “It’s Batman versus Commissioner Gordon, in a weird way. Or maybe a super-villain version of Se7en. A billionaire anarchist up against ordinary people. The Joker’s the best thing in the Batman movies, so this guy is a bit of an amalgamation of all the stuff we like.”
- December 7, 2009 @ 10:01 AM by Kevin Melrose
Earth One graphic novels to retell early years of Batman, Superman
Superman: Earth One
DC Comics announced this morning it will tell stories from the early years of Superman and Batman in a series of graphic novels set “on a new earth with an all-new continuity.”
Superman: Earth One, by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis, will journey back to Smallville and chronicle “the journey of Earth’s greatest adopted son, as he grows from boy to Superman.” Batman: Earth One, by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, will take Bruce Wayne back to Crime Alley, where tragedy set him on the path to become the world’s greatest detective.
“Batman: Earth One allows Gary and I to break the restraints of any continuity and focus on two things: character and story,” Johns tells Ain’t It Cool, which appears to be down.
The books will debut in 2010, but no specific date was announced.
- December 7, 2009 @ 09:23 AM by Kevin Melrose
A con grows in Brooklyn: Thoughts on Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival
The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival (photo courtesy of Sam Walker and Rickey Purdin)
* Organized by Desert Island‘s Gabe Fowler and PictureBox‘s Dan Nadel, the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival made its debut on Saturday, and I’m awfully glad I was able to make it. (I didn’t think I’d be able to, but my wife and mother-in-law gave me a reprieve from going to see New Moon for the third time. Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!) I live on Long Island, so having an artcomix convention on my very own land mass is a cause for celebration. And provided you’re willing to brave a dreadful mile or so on the BQE and the Kosciuszko Bridge, it’s not even that much of a hassle to get there — parking in Brooklyn is a snap.
* Less easy was dealing with the weather, which was awful. Freezing rain and, eventually, snow. I figured this would do a real number on attendance levels …
- December 7, 2009 @ 09:02 AM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
One Piece, Vol. 54
Publishing | It’s probably little surprise that Eiichiro Oda’s adventure-comedy One Piece was the bestselling series in Japan 2009, moving a whopping 14.7 million copies. It’s followed in the Top 5 by Naruto, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist and Gintama. [Anime News Network]
Webcomics | Child’s Play, the game-industry charity founded in 2003 by Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, has raised more than $1 million since launching this year’s drive on Nov. 6. “This is Child’s Play’s seventh year, and this is the fastest we have ever gotten to the million dollar mark,” Krahulik wrote on the website. “Considering everything that’s going on, that’s just astounding.” [Penny Arcade]
Awards | Makoto Yukimura’s historical-action series Vinland Saga has been announced as the grand-prize winner in the manga category at the 13th Japanese Media Arts Festival, which isn’t actually held until February. Yukimura, best known in the United States for his science-fiction drama Planetes, debuted the 11th-century Viking epic in 2005. Vinland Saga hasn’t been licensed in North America. [Anime Vice]
- December 7, 2009 @ 08:15 AM by Kevin Melrose
Cullen Bunn and Shawn Lee to develop ‘cross-platform’ dark-fantasy series
Raze
Evileye Books announced today that writers Cullen Bunn and Shawn Lee have signed on to develop Raze, a series of dark-fantasy graphic and prose novels.
Under the agreement, Bunn and Lee will produce at least one prose and one graphic novel a year, beginning with Raze: Cure, which will be released as a webcomic in January 2010 before being collected in printed form in late spring. A prose book titled Raze: Mother, Maiden, Crone will be released later in the year.
“Raze is a dark, mean-spirited series,” Bunn said in a press release. “I also think it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun. This is a dark fantasy world, but there are no dragons, monsters, dwarves, elves or the like. It’s an even darker version of the Dark Ages, a heavy metal ‘pre-apocalypse,’ if you will. Here we have a world that is so fouled up that the closest thing we have to heroes is a pair of self-destructive, pitiless, malicious monsters. They aren’t seeking redemption. They aren’t putting aside their evil ways for the greater good. They serve their own lusts and desires and all else be damned.”
Bunn, co-creator of The Damned and The 6th Gun from Oni Press, has collaborated with Lee on several projects over the past 12 years, including the upcoming webcomic (with Matt Kindt) The Tooth.
You can read the press release after the break, and find out more about Raze at the Evileye Books website.
- December 7, 2009 @ 05:15 AM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading?
Key Moments from the History of Comics
Having had Thought Ballonists’ Craig Fischer over as our WAYR guest the other week, it seemed more than appropriate to invite his blogging colleague, scholar, educator, critic, author and all-around nice guy Charles Hatfield.
Find out what Mr. Hatfield is reading and see some embarrassingly complimentary birthday greetings about yours truly by clicking on the link below. And don’t forget to tell us your own reading picks in the comments section.
- December 6, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics, Covered | The best covers of the week
From the cover of "North 40" #6, by Fiona Staples
The theme this week apparently was revolvers, as they appear on three of my five favorite covers. Another two that didn’t make the final cut also sported guns. Make of that what you will.
DC Comics and its Wildstorm imprint took three of the spots, with Marvel filling out the remaining two.
To find out what made this week’s list, read on.
- December 5, 2009 @ 01:58 PM by Kevin Melrose
CBR launches its new Events Calendar
CBR Event Calendar
Earlier this year we started running these posts called ComicsLive where we’d list upcoming events in the comics world –signings, conventions, etc. — that I abruptly stopped doing at the end of August.
Even though no one has asked, here’s why I stopped doing them — I found out CBR was working on this really awesome Events Calendar, which they just launched in beta today. It has conventions, it has signings, it has DVD releases and movie openings and even links to previews of comics coming out each Wednesday. Kudos to the fine folks behind the scenes who have been working on this, because it is nice. And if you’re hosting an event in the near future, head over there and submit it.
- December 4, 2009 @ 05:56 PM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color | Fool Me Once…
Okay, we should all have this particular saying down pat by now: it’s “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Basically, if I tell you an issue is going to be 48 pages of all new content for $4.99 and then you get the issue and it’s like half that plus a reprint of an issue I didn’t want? That’s a bad thing to do and I should feel bad. But if I tell you that I have another 48-page issue of all new content for $4.99 and I again farm out half those pages for a reprint or ads or a bunch of encyclopedia biographies? Then you’re the one who should be reading solicitations more carefully and not buying the issue when it comes out.
Hits a little too close to home? I’m sorry; that’s bad and I do indeed feel bad.
Anyhoo, Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Get smarter, says the credo. Don’t fall for the same trick twice.
Hey everybody! Siege: the Cabal came out yesterday! Let’s go take a look inside, shall we?
(WARNING: Spoilers for Siege: the Cabal, the first six-pages of Siege #1 and Dark Avengers Annual #1 reside below. Yep, it’s a doozy this week, folks.)
Continue Reading »
- December 4, 2009 @ 03:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
Straight for the art | The Autumn Society’s Hellboy art show
Here’s Red in your eye: The Autumn Society, a collective of Philadelphia-based illustrators, is paying homage to the 15th anniversary of Mike Mignola’s signature creation Hellboy with an art show that opens tonight at 6 p.m. at comics retailer Brave New Worlds. Click here to see a gallery of the contributors’ pieces for the show — a truly dazzling array if you have any interested whatsoever in what Mignola (and John Arcudi, and Guy Davis, and Duncan Fegredo, and and and…) hath wrought.
(Hat tip: TJ Dietsch)
- December 4, 2009 @ 02:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Robot reviews: Strange Suspense
Strange Suspense
Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1
Edited by Blake Bell
Fantagraphics Books, 240 pages, $39.99
I am in no way an expert where Steve Ditko is concerned. My knowledge of him and his work is pretty much equal to that of the average comics fan my age (co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, also did Creeper and Shade, big Ayn Rand fan, has a thing for drawing hands). So I don’t feel I can offer some kind of quantitative analysis about Strange Suspense, a new compendium of pre-Code Ditko stories, and how it compares to his most famous and even current work.
I do, however, have a few thought that sprang to mind while reading the book that I thought worth sharing …
- December 4, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Cameron Stewart’s convention sketches
Batwoman sketch by Cameron Stewart
Incoming Batman and Robin artist Cameron Stewart has posted a selection of sketches drawn for fans during his recent European tour with Karl Kerschl and Ramón Pérez, and the results are … uh, what’s the visual equivalent of “mouthwatering”? I don’t think it’s “eyewatering,” but this little gallery — heavy on the Bat-characters but boasting a few mutants and supporting Spidey castmembers too — may well bring a tear to your eye over the fact that you don’t live in Europe and thus couldn’t get one yourself.
- December 4, 2009 @ 01:30 PM by Sean T. Collins