2010 January
Power, sharing: the JLA at fifty
Grumpy Old Fan
The Justice League of America turned fifty about a month ago, and somehow in the midst of our New Year’s revelry I missed it.
As many of you know, I am a child of the Satellite Era, and specifically of the mid-to-late ‘70s, when virtually every issue was pencilled by Dick Dillin and inked by Frank McLaughlin. I first got into the League in earnest during Steve Englehart’s short tenure as writer, and stayed for a good bit of Gerry Conway’s several-year run as regular writer. There is a certain sameness to the Conway/Dillin/McLaughlin issues, as if all their fantastic settings and sequences are just part of an average JLA workday. That’s comforting, but also a bit confining, and one can certainly argue that after Dillin died and his successor George Pérez left, Conway should have turned over the writing reins to someone else. Still, if I were doing a “fifty stories for fifty years” post, like I did for Batman’s 70th last spring, I think he would be reasonably represented.
- January 28, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
The Fantasy Lantern Draft begins!
Blackest Breakfast by Jeremy Wojchihosky
One of my pet theories about superhero comics is that the best of them don’t hesitate to tap into what I call “inner-eight-year-old gold” — those simple, magical ideas that made playing with your Secret Wars or Super Friends action figures so much fun. (I, for one, made Iron Man and Magneto arch-enemies. I mean, c’mon, it’s right there!)
One of my favorite such goldmines is the opposite-number villain, those baddies who share a hero’s basic look and power set but change the color scheme and otherwise stand as a mean-spirited mirror image. That’s why I’ve loved Geoff Johns’s Green Lantern run ever since he introduced the Sinestro Corps, and why that love has only gotten stronger as a whole rainbow of Lanterns has been introduced for Blackest Night and beyond. And like a kid playing with his toys, I can’t help but daydream about which other characters it’d be cool to draft into the War of Light.
Looks like I’m not the only one. Over at his blog The Cool Kids Table, Ben Morse has selected a rainbow of Marvel characters he thinks are fit to wield the various multi-hued Power Rings floating around the DCU right now. If he had his way, you’d have a very different Red Hulk on your hands from the one Jeph Loeb concocted, while Clint Barton would look more like Green Arrow than ever and Storm would be making Love rain o’er everyone. This isn’t the first time he’s done a Lantern Draft, either: Like any DC fan worth his salt, he came up with his own personal picks for the roles currently filled in Blackest Night by Mera, Lex Luthor, Scarecrow, Ganthet, the Flash, the Atom, and Wonder Woman. Click the links to see his full rosters.
- January 28, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Scholastic’s early 2010 plans
Bone: Tall Tales
The noted children’s book publisher Scholastic has had great success with their comics-oriented Graphix imprint, mainly thanks to their colorized volumes of Jeff Smith’s Bone. And it looks like they’re going to continue their publishing onslaught this year. Already we’ve seen the release of Copper by Kazu Kibuishi and Missile Mouse by Jake Parker. Want to find out what’s coming up next. Read on, read on …
- January 28, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Jack Teagle
I don’t think I’ve ever come across Jack Teagle’s work before, but I sure do like his Flickr set of paintings, especially this collection of small portraits of various sci-fi, comic book and pop culture characters. (via)
- January 28, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
I’m filling in for Kevin on our daily roundup of news items, so my apologies for the lateness and any dip in quality in today’s edition. –JK
Angouleme
Conventions | The 36th annual Angoulême International Comics Festival starts today in France, running through Jan. 31. NBM’s Terry Nantier is on the ground and blogging from it, while Bart Beaty has kicked off his usual thorough coverage at the Comics Reporter. [Angoulême International Comics Festival]
Legal | An Australian man has pleaded guilty to downloading “graphic cartoon porn images” featuring child characters from The Simpsons, The Powerpuff Girls and The Incredibles. Kurt James Milner, 28, was sentenced to 12 months in jail, but it was “wholly suspended” for five years.
“The 28-year-old is now a registered sex offender and will have to report to police after pleading guilty in Ipswich District Court to having the bizarre images on his computer,” the Queensland Times reports. [Queensland Times]
- January 28, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
Frank Miller is on Twitter
Frank Miller's Twitter avatar
As a wise man once said, “‘Nuff said.”
PS: Happy belated birthday, Frank!
(Via Mel Caylo)
- January 28, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | The Taxali 300
Canadian artist, illustrator and cartoonist Gary Taxali has an art show coming up at the Narwhal Gallery in Toronto. The good news for those of you who don’t live anywhere near that city is that almost the entire exhibit is up online for you to peruse. (via)
- January 28, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Chris Mautner
IDW to publish L’il Abner
IDW announced yesterday their next big strip collection project for their Library of American Comics imprint — Al Capp’s L’il Abner. Volume One will cover 1934-36 and feature an essay by Bruce Canwell, and an introduction by Denis Kitchen. It will be a 288 page hardcover, retail for $49.99 and be available in stores in April.
Those with long memories will recall that Kitchen had attempted to publish Abner’s complete run back in the 1990s via his Kitchen Sink Press, but never completed the project due to the company’s going under. The strip, about a colorful group of hillbillies, ventured frequently into political and social satire, and was one of the most popular comics of its day. Capp’s eventual turn into hardline conservatism, however, left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of cartoonists and critics in following generations, and the strip has fallen a bit out of favor in recent decades. It will be interesting to see how this new attempt at collecting the material is received.
Read the full press release after the jump:
- January 28, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Mautner
What does Marvel’s promo image tell us about the coming ‘Heroic Age’?
Marvel's promotional image for "The Heroic Age"
We know that “The Heroic Age,” which arrives in May in the wake of Siege, is intended as a turning point for the Marvel Universe.
Enough of that “dark of age despair” — Marvel’s words, not mine — that began more than five years ago with “Avengers Disassembled.” No more mutant genocides or civil wars or supervillains leading government agencies. Oh, no.
“Heroes will be heroes again,” Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada told USA Today. “They’ve gone through hell and they’re back to being good guys — a throwback to the early days of the Marvel Universe, with more of a swashbuckling feel.”
So that much is clear. But what are we to make of the promotional image the publisher released Wednesday? Are the nine characters the new lineup of the flagship Avengers title, or do they simply represent a cross-section of the Marvel Universe?
There’s a good indication that it’s the former:
- January 28, 2010 @ 07:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: What Looks Good for March
Chip
Time again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for interesting new adventure comics.
Antarctic
Chip #1 – Thanks to comics like this month’s Twilit (a stoner parody of the easiest target of the decade? no thanks) and The Governator (timely!), I’ve almost gotten to the point where I just skip past Antarctic’s section of the catalog. I’m glad I didn’t this time though, otherwise I’d have missed Richard Moore’s comic about a tiny gargoyle out to prove that he can be scary too. If you’ve read Moore’s awesome Boneyard, you’re as excited about this one as I am.
Archaia
The Killer: Modus Vivendi #1 – Whoa, this is going to be a great month for Archaia. I haven’t completely caught up on The Killer, but based on how it was when I switched to trade-waiting, I can’t imagine this being anything but more, excellent Euro-spy comics.
Okko: Cycle of Air #1 – Like with The Killer, I have catching up to do on this series, but Cycle of Water was a fast-paced, gorgeously illustrated adventure in a fantastically realized world. I’m glad it’s finally being continued.
Secret History, Book 8 – I’m even further behind on this one, but the concept alone – four immortal siblings shaping history throughout time – makes me intensely curious. This volume gets them up to WWI and has them searching for a mythical, desert city.
Hollow Earth, a Viking goddess, the Russian X-Files (with gas masks!), and more after the break.
- January 27, 2010 @ 06:17 PM by Michael May
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Before you sit down to watch for the President’s State of the Union Address tonight (you are going to watch it, right?), why not cleanse the palate with some Shelf Porn.
Today’s SP comes once again from the land Down Under, i.e. Australia, courtesy of writer and blogger Ryan K. Lindsay. Must be something in the water there that makes everyone produce such great collections. Whatever the reason, I’m not complaining. Click on the link and you’ll see why …
- January 27, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Eclectic Wrecks
by Declan Shalvey
The Eclectic Micks are a group of Irish comic artists who have set up a group sketch blog featuring all kinds of cool artwork. And this week, with the launch of IDW’s new Tranformers miniseries, Last Stand of the Wreckers (collective member Nick Roche draws the series), they’ve temporarily changed their name to Eclectic Wrecks and are running sketches of characters from the series. If you’re into the Transformers, go check’em out.
- January 27, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Diamond eases minimum-order cancellation policy
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors announced today that it’s modifying minimum-order benchmarks enacted last year that led to numerous small-press titles being dropped from distribution to the direct market.
According to a Diamond Daily dispatch posted by Heidi MacDonald, the distributor now will fulfill initial orders that don’t meet the benchmark but cancel subsequent offerings that fall short. In other words, publishers and creators get a little breathing room with the first issue, but the second (and third) better meet the quota.
“We feel that this modification allows us to better serve our retailers so they in turn can better serve their customers,” Diamond Vice President of Purchasing Bill Schanes said in the retailer newsletter. “If a title or item underperforms, we will still place a purchase order to fill initial orders. We’ll then address our need to avoid unprofitable SKUs [stock-keeping units] by not listing subsequent issues or like products in future issues of PREVIEWS so both retailers and their consumers should order with confidence.”
- January 27, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Kevin Melrose
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 112
And for those of you who are concerned about the ethical treatment of comic book creators, please note that the artists are the first people to get paid on any of my projects. The writer and letterer? Well…eventually.
Art by Gervasio and Jok. Written (and lettered) by Matt Maxwell
Wish I could afford a real letterer…
Back next week with what’s likely to be a big KABOOM.
Update to add: My interview at CBR went live as of an hour ago. Check it out.
- January 27, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
Comics cavalcade: Squirrels, mice and gonzo journalists
MTA by Frank Santoro
- January 27, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Chris Mautner