2009 December
How did I miss the fact that Demo returns in February?
Demo v.2 #1
I’m a big fan of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s original Demo series, which was published by AiT/Planet Lar and later re-released by Vertigo. Not only do I have the original issues and the Vertigo collection, but I even have the script book that AiT published. So I’m both stunned and embarrassed that I not only missed this post on the Vertigo blog about the book’s return in February (which is also being dubbed Brian Wood month at Vertigo), but also that I apparently didn’t see it in the February solicitations when they went live.
Luckily I caught it today on Becky Cloonan’s blog.
“This one is called ‘The Waking Life Of Angels’ and deals with, very broadly, dreams and pre-cognition,” Wood said. “It’s also one of the very, very few Demo stories that goes out of its way to tell you where the story is taking place, geographically.”
The cover’s above, and the first issue of due in February — which is still awesome news, even three weeks later.
- December 4, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Comics Cavalcade: Hoods … in 3-D!
The Great Duckburg Frog Jumping Contest by Carl Barks
- December 4, 2009 @ 12:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Yen Press to ‘re-imagine’ Gossip Girl as manga
Yen Plus: Gossip Girl
Yen Press will publish a manga based on Cecily von Ziegesar’s bestselling Gossip Girl young-adult novels, to be serialized monthly in its Yen Plus anthology.
Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only, which debuts in the January issue, is described as “an original re-imagination” of the girls’ senior year at an elite private school on New York City’s Upper East Side. The manga is written and illustrated by HyeKyung Baek.
Yen Press and Gossip Girl publisher Little, Brown and Company are subsidiaries of Hachette Book Group USA. Yen Press recently published an adaptation of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride, and has announced manga versions of Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
Debuting in 2002, the 13 Gossip Girl novels have sold more than 5 million copies, and spawned a spin-off series as well as a cult-hit television show airing on The CW.
- December 4, 2009 @ 11:56 AM by Kevin Melrose
Red marker for simulated blood not included
"Kick-Ass" paper toy
Nothing says “hyper-violent superhero comic” quite like this adorable paper toy from Cubeecraft, based on the title character from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass. The toy is available for free download here; assembly required. (There’s also a Dick Tracy figure.)
The eighth issue of Kick-Ass is due from Marvel’s Icon imprint in January. Matthew Vaughn’s film adaptation is set to open on April 16, 2010.
(via Super Punch)
- December 4, 2009 @ 11:01 AM by Kevin Melrose
Wait a minute: ‘Marvel Publishing Presents’?
From the "Siege" #1 preview
Thursday’s preview of the first issue of Siege, the centerpiece of Marvel’s latest crossover, has spurred plenty of online discussion about the event’s nature and scope.
But what caught my eye was the motion picture-style credits, led by the words “Marvel Publishing Presents.” Not “Marvel Presents,” “Marvel Comics Presents,” or the traditional “Stan Lee Presents,” but Marvel Publishing Presents.
Perhaps the phrasing was chosen to add a little gravity to those credits, which are presented like something we’d see on a movie poster. (Still, “Publishing”?) Or maybe it was just a whim.
Sure, it appears to be a relatively minor matter of three words — okay, two: Marvel Publishing. However, they appear in connection to Siege #1, which will be among the first comics released after the announced date for Marvel’s merger with The Walt Disney Co.
So, are they simply two inconsequential words, or do they signal something more, such as a change in name or structure or a broadening of focus, post-merger?
A Marvel spokesman had no comment.
- December 4, 2009 @ 09:52 AM by Kevin Melrose
Your video of the day: The MSU comic collection
Public TV station WKAR takes a look at the comic book collection in Michigan State University. (via)
- December 4, 2009 @ 08:30 AM by Chris Mautner
“Brainiac & The Legion of Super-Heroes” to set the stage for DC’s Superman event next summer
Adventure Comics #8
We know that Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul are wrapping up their run on Adventure Comics with issue 6, which will be followed by a Blackest Night tie-in issue written by Tony Bedard. And we know that Paul Levitz, former president and publisher of DC Comics, is slated to start writing the book starting with the book’s first annual next year.
But what happens in between? Levitz hinted to CBR in October that the book would be used to wrap up the story of the Legion in the 20th century, and today DC released more details on that — and unless I missed something somewhere, confirmed the rumored Superman event that’ll run next summer.
First tings first … according to DC’s Source blog today, Adventure Comics #8 will kick off a four-issue story that also runs through several of their Superman titles called “Brainiac & The Legion of Super-Heroes.”
According to Assistant Editor Will Moss, James Robinson and Julian Lopez will provide a 10-page story about the Legion members who are in the 21st Century; Sterling Gates and Clayton Henry will provide a 10-pager about the Legion in the 31st Century; and Eric Trautmann and Pier Gallo will provide a 10-pager about General Lane’s Human Defense Corps. The story will also run in the Superman and Supergirl titles, as well as a fourth “mystery” title.
“Featuring Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Mon-El and the Legion of Super-Heroes, it not only brings to a head all the Legion subplots that DC has been laying down since the JLA/JSA ‘Lightning Saga’ story, but also sets the stage for this summer’s blockbuster Superman event!” Moss said.
- December 4, 2009 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
Oooh, another sale, eh?
Lynda Barry's What It Is
This Strange Brew-derived Canadian linguistic stereotype is brought to you by Drawn & Quarterly, the altcomix anchor of the Great White North, which is offering 30% off all purchases of three or more comics from its web store.
If you’re a fan of Adrian Tomine, Lynda Barry, Seth, Chester Brown, John Stanley, Tove Jansson, Kevin Huizenga, Gabrielle Bell and so on, D&Q’s Holiday Sale is the perfect excuse to stock up. And if you order by Monday you can still get your books in time for Christmas via the United States Postal Service’s super-cheap media mail shipping rates.
What are you waiting for?
- December 4, 2009 @ 07:28 AM by Sean T. Collins
Kentucky library to move ‘mature’ graphic novels to adult section [Updated]
Black Dossier -- The Absolute Edition
A Kentucky library at the center of a controversy involving book access, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier and the firing of two employees will move all of its mature-themed graphic novels to the adult section, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
Those graphic novels that belong in the teen section also will be moved.
The decision comes just two weeks after the board of the Jessamine County Public Library heard often-passionate arguments from community members about censorship, responsibility, and acquisition and shelving policies.
The contentious public meeting was spurred by the dismissal in September of two circulation-desk attendants for violating library policy after refusing to allow an 11-year-old girl to check out a copy of Black Dossier, a book they consider pornographic and inappropriate for children.
One of the employees, Sharon Cook, had begun her crusade against the Alan Moore-Kevin O’Neill book almost a year earlier, when she challenged its placement in the library’s graphic-novel section. When official channels failed her, Cook checked out Black Dossier, and kept renewing it, effectively removing it from circulation, until Sept. 21. That’s when she tried to renew the book again, only to discover the computer wouldn’t permit her to do so because the book had been placed on hold. Cook then went to colleague Beth Boisvert on Sept. 22, and the two accessed library computer records, where they found Black Dossier had been reserved by an 11-year-old. They removed the hold, prohibiting the child from checking out the book. The following day they were fired.
As of the November meeting, Cook still had the library’s copy of Black Dossier, and was being charged 10 cents a day in late fees.
Although Boisvert characterized the library’s decision to recatalog mature graphic novels as “very good news,” Cook seemed unimpressed.
“It would appear that the library is trying to soothe its tax base by moving the graphic novels,” Cook told the Herald-leader. “This is a situation that already exists in other libraries and so is not a new nor creative solution. This very simple solution is one step in the right direction. We can hope that this is the first step in JCPL being more responsive to its tax base.”
Update: Lexington’s WTVQ reports that library staff on Tuesday began moving some of the estimated 500 to 600 graphic novels just one row, next to books about comics and drawing. Others are being shifted from the young-adult section to the adult-nonfiction area.
The most interesting (and encouraging) tidbit, however, is this: “Anyone of any age can still check out a book.”
- December 4, 2009 @ 05:42 AM by Kevin Melrose
Meanwhile, 25 years later…
Grumpy Old Fan
As longtime readers know, I often preach the virtues of “diversity,” whether in genre, style, or approach. Well, now it can be told — apparently I have been channeling a “Meanwhile” editorial written by Dick Giordano (then DC’s Executive Editor) more than 25 years ago.
The editorial appeared in comic books cover-dated October 1984, which meant it was actually published around July of that year (August for books bought on the newsstand). Obviously the comic-book marketplace was vastly different then, with both DC and Marvel not yet fully invested either in the direct-sales market or in formats other than 32-page singles. Nevertheless, I thought Giordano’s points were sufficiently provocative to revisit.
- December 3, 2009 @ 02:02 PM by Tom Bondurant
A quick chat with Dark Horse’s Jim Gibbons
Dark Horse Publicity Coordinator Jim Gibbons
Meet the latest addition to Dark Horse’s stable: Publicity Coordinator Jim Gibbons. Recently tapped to handle PR chores for Hellboy, Buffy, Conan, the Goon, various Sith and Jedi etc. following the departure of Jacq Cohen for fellow Pacific Northwest publisher Fantagraphics, Gibbons is the latest in long line of former Wizard staffers whose exit from that company gave them an entrance elsewhere in the industry. The transition for Gibbons, however, was just about as seamless as it gets — cross-country move excepted, that is.
I had a quick email exchange with Gibbons — a friend and former coworker — that should be of interest to anyone who’d like to get to know the guy who’ll be helping you get to know Dark Horse’s comics in the weeks and months to come.
Robot 6: Jim, how’d you land this gig?
Jim Gibbons: A few days after I was let go from my job at Wizard, my good buddy — and CBR Staff Writer — Josh Wigler sent me a link to the jobs section on DarkHorse.com and suggested I apply. I believe the end date for resume submissions at Dark Horse was set for about a week after I had lost my job, so it seemed fate was smiling upon me and where one door had closed, another had opened… and numerous other cliches. But, in all seriousness, things had luckily lined up for me in an oddly fortuitous way. Not only was there an opening at an amazing comic company right as I’d lost my job, but I had just written Wizard‘s Book of the Month feature on one of my favorite Dark Horse titles, Conan the Cimmerian. I guess I was a victim of some of strange but really good timing.
So, I wrote my cover letter, sent in my resume, didn’t make an ass out of myself in the interviews, thankfully had some fantastic people I had met during my time at Wizard put in a good word for me and was lucky enough to become a publicity coordinator at Dark Horse Comics.
- December 3, 2009 @ 01:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | Santat’s ‘Oh No’
Oh No!
This isn’t exactly comics, but it’s pretty cool so I’m posting it here anyway. Using classic Japanese monster movie posters as his guide, children’s book illustrator Dan Santat turned out a really rocking cover for his latest project Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World). He blogs about putting the whole thing together here,
The best part? The cover folds out to become a poster kids can hang on their wall. (via)
- December 3, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Comics Cavalcade: Clowns and kings
How Now Brown Clown by Roger Landridge
- December 3, 2009 @ 12:40 PM by Chris Mautner
Your video of the day: Birdhouse trailer
SLG’s Dan Vado uploaded a video trailer of one of their upcoming projects, Birdhouse, the debut graphic novel from Vernon White. The book is due in February.
- December 3, 2009 @ 12:10 PM by JK Parkin
DC Comics takes seven spots in November’s Top 10
Blackest Night #5
It turns out that DC Comics’ domination of the Diamond Top 10 in October may have been more than simply an anomaly made possible by a competitor’s schedule drift: The just-released list for November shows the publisher taking seven of the 10 slots, one better than the previous month.
As chart-watcher John Jackson Miller points out, only the appearance at No. 3 of Marvel’s Captain America Reborn #4 prevented DC from repeating its once-in-four-decades claim to the six best-selling comics.
Marvel continued to lead in unit share and dollar share.
DC’s November achievement was again aided by Blackest Night, whose fifth issue was the top-selling comic to the direct market. Four of the company’s six other Top 10 titles were tied to the crossover; only Batman and Robin #6 (at No. 4) and The Flash: Rebirth #5 (at No. 9) were unrelated to the miniseries.
The 10 best-selling comics were evenly split between $3.99 and $2.99.
Perhaps almost as interesting is the list of Top 10 graphic novels, which is led by the first collection of Image Comics’ surprise hit Chew, followed by the fifth volume of Dynamite’s The Boys.
- December 3, 2009 @ 11:40 AM by Kevin Melrose