2010 January
Robot reviews: Two from Vertigo
Unwritten Vol. 1
Air Vol. 2: Flying Machine
by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker
Vertigo, $12.99
The Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity
by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
Vertigo, 144 pages, $9.99
I hate to say it, but I remain thoroughly disappointed in Vertigo. What was once an interesting, thriving imprint has become a rote factory, printing out dull comics that follow a strict formula. To wit: A young, thoroughly average, completely naive white (usually) male (usually) is indoctrinated (or thrown) into a magical world of mystery (or catastrophe) and conspiracy that alters their entire preconceived notions about themselves and the world they know. Seemingly every title in the past decade or so has taken this story path — from American Virgin to Y: The Last Man. If you take away the supernatural elements, even DMZ‘s initial arc fits the pattern. As a result, even the more interesting or idiosyncratic titles have a stale familiarity about them.
This is a ridiculously broad statement, of course. There have been a number of new series from the line in the past few years that seem to be trying to break with that tried-and-true formula — Fables and Scalped being two of the more obvious examples (though one could argue that some of these merely put aside one set of cliches for another). Despite this, however, Vertigo seems determined to cling to its tried-and-true formula, with only superficial changes in the material.
- January 15, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Mesmo Delivery fan art blog
by Andrei Bressan and Marcelo Maiolo
Mesmo Delivery creator Rafael Grampá has set up a separate blog where he plans to post “fan art” based on his creation. And I use quotations because so far it includes some very professional-looking pieces by folks like Bill Sienkiewicz and the above piece by Andrei Bressan. Go check it out.
- January 15, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up
Two quick items of note:
1) Lissa “Kuriousity” Pattillo has sussed out what Vertical’s next big Osamu Tezuka translation project is, following their ongoing release of Black Jack. Apparently it’s Ayako, a work I’m unfamiliar with, but intially came out in 1972 and is described in detail over at the Anime News Network:
Ayako
Jiro Tenge, the second son of what used to be an influential Japanese family, returns home after being a POW in an American camp during the Second World War. He finds his family corrupted by the terrible social aftereffects of the war. His elder brother, determined to keep what remains of the family patrimony after the Government’s forced land reallocation, has prostituted his wife to his father to secure his blessing, while other members of Jiro’s family have been drawn into similar corruption, and he himself is being forced to spy for the Americans after being broken as a POW. Now the family’s youngest daughter Ayako will have to bear the brunt of the family’s sins.
Judging by the page count, it looks like this will be a done-in-one volume similar to MW rather than separated into different volumes. According to Amazon, the book will be out in October. (via)
2) Paul Hornschemeier is currently working on a new collection of short stories entitled Forlorn Funnies Vol. 1. The book will come out in the fall from Fantagraphics. Here he is describing some of the contents:
Our principal concern of this volume, “Obvious Amenities,” is Act One of the story of Edward Molson, salesman. After the untimely osprey-induced death of a co-worker, Molson is thrust into a cross-country speaking engagement, a chance to revisit youthful diversions, and a potential extra-marital love affair. But for now, he has to walk his wife’s dog. Again.
- January 15, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Chris Mautner
DC to launch weekly series set in world of DC Universe Online
From "DC Universe Online"
On the heels of announcing two new biweekly miniseries, DC Comics has unveiled plans for a weekly title set in the world of DC Universe Online, the highly anticipated massively multiplayer game from Sony Online Entertainment.
DC Universe: Legends, which will debut later this year, is an attempt by the publisher and SOE to bridge the comic-book and gaming audiences. But just how will they go about doing that?
“First, we’re going to set up the conceit of the universe, how it works and what the rules are,” DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio tells IGN.com. “We’ll also be trying to work gaming tips and secrets into the body of the book as we move along in the series. You’ll see a lot of support material including turnarounds and designs that went into the actual building of the game.
“What I think is the most exciting thing is that, if everything is working as well as we hope once we get down the line, characters that players create actually have an opportunity to work their way from the game into the comics themselves.”
DiDio also announced that Tony Bedard and Dan Jurgens will write Legends. Other creators will be named later.
- January 15, 2010 @ 11:25 AM by Kevin Melrose
Bryan Fuller has started writing Pushing Daisies comic
Pushing Daisies
Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller reportedly has begun writing the long-discussed comic-book continuation of the canceled television series.
While promoting Fox’s new Human Target adaptation, actor Chi McBride revealed to Sci Fi Wire that he’s read some of Fuller’s script for the comic, which apparently will be released by DC — through its Wildstorm imprint, presumably — as a 12-issue miniseries.
“He sent me a couple pages,” said McBride, who played private detective Emerson Cod in the quirky ABC comedy-drama. “It was off the hook. It’s really good.”
The Emmy Award-winning series, about a pie-maker who can (with some limitations) resurrect the dead, was canceled last spring after just two seasons.
Fuller, who created Dead Like Me and co-created Wonderfalls — both short-lived cult favorites — revealed in May that the comic will tie up loose ends left by Pushing Daisies‘ untimely demise as the characters deal with a flash flood that empties bodies from a nearby cemetery.
McBride said the comic “seems a little darker” in tone than what Fuller was allowed to do on ABC.
“There’s one particular story that I hope he does called ‘The Head’,” he said. “I wished he could’ve done it during the series. It was awesome.”
- January 15, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Brendan McCarthy’s Spider-Man: Fever mini starts in April
Spider-Man: Fever
I’ve been waiting for this one for awhile … Marvel.com released an early look at the Spider-Man solicits for April, and I’m ecstatic to see that Brendan McCarthy’s Spider-Man mini-series is kicking off then. Here’s the solicitation text:
SPIDER-MAN: FEVER #1 (of 3)
Written by BRENDAN MCCARTHY
Pencils & Cover by BRENDAN MCCARTHY
One of comics’ most innovative and original voices, Brendan McCarthy, brings SPIDER-MAN: FEVER — a truly unique and surreal story evoking the classic Silver-Age psychedelia of Steve Ditko’s Dr Strange. In FEVER, Spider-Man is abducted by a depraved tribe of spider-demons to a bizarre dimension, where he is to be eaten alive. Dr. Strange goes on a perilous occult quest to rescue his friend — and tangles with some very peculiar characters along the way…
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
- January 15, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
Creators launch ‘Heroes 4 Haiti’ site to raise money for earthquake victims
Heroes 4 Haiti
A group of comics industry folks have come together to raise funds to support organizations that are helping victims of the recent 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.
Heroes 4 Haiti is “a grassroots movement of artists seeking to raise money for organizations helping victims of the recent Haitian earthquake. Heroes for Haiti is not an organization, it’s a collective response to human tragedy. We’re asking everyone to donate a little bit of their talent, money or time towards helping those in need.” Artist Mike Cavallaro, SMITH Magazine’s Jeff Newelt and the CBLDF’s Charles Brownstein are all involved with the organization.
They’re asking folks to donate art, collectibles and services via eBay auctions. For more information, check out their blog or their Facebook page.
- January 15, 2010 @ 10:02 AM by JK Parkin
Tom Brevoort sounds off on Marvel’s DC trade-in offer
"Wanna trade?": unintentional commentary from Geoff Johns, Art Baltazar & Franco's Tiny Titans #25
It’s a Tom Twitter Twofer today! Perhaps unsurprisingly, Marvel Executive Editor and Twitter king Tom Brevoort took to tweeting on the topic of Marvel’s offer to exchange unsold copies of the Blackest Night tie-ins that were part of DC’s successful power-ring promotion for a rare Deadpool-themed variant-cover version of Siege #3. His opening statement:
I see there’s a lot of chatter about our SIEGE #3 offer, so I have to ask the question: how is this bad? We’re making no money on the deal (actually losing a little) but it will put some more much-needed cash in retailers’ pockets, And if your retailer doesn’t have these books in stock, excellent! Good on them, they ordered appropriate to their customer base. But while no retailer wants to hurt their relationship with DC, we’ve been hearing from lots of them that they’re happy we’re offering this. As for the stripping, that’s all about making it cheaper for these guys to send the books back. But we’ll take complete copies too. And sure, send the stripped insides to the troops–well done, you! They tend not to keep comics mint on the battlefield in the first place. And while we listed the titles we’d be taking–all of the “ring” books– we never mentioned either DC or Blackest Night at all. Not a knock. And if DC wants to make their own offer, let ‘em! That’s cool too, if it frees up deadlocked capital for retailers to order new stuff.
- January 15, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Tom Brevoort and Neil Gaiman (and Bill Willingham) talk Marvelman
Marvelman by Joe Quesada
“I think I just wrote a Robot 6 article,” Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort said via his Twitter account yesterday evening. Right you are, Tom! This blog’s official Top Tweeter of 2009 kept the magic alive yesterday with an impassioned defense of the controversy du jour, Marvel’s offer to swap unsold DC comics for a Deadpool variant (more on that later). But perhaps even more notably, he posted some revealing comments about the status of Marvel’s recently acquired Marvelman.
Brevoort revealed that he attended a meeting focusing on the legendary revisionist superhero series with Neil Gaiman, successor to the book’s prime mover Alan Moore:
On another note, attended a cool Marvelman meeting today where Neil Gaiman told us how his last 2 unfinished storylines will end. Been waitin something like 17 years to find that out!
Brevoort’s followers were soon popping the champagne, but the editor was quick to point out that he was not saying Gaiman would necessarily return to finish the stories, and that future plans for the title have yet to be confirmed:
- January 15, 2010 @ 08:52 AM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
The Storm in the Barn
Awards | Matt Phelan’s The Storm in the Barn last week became the first graphic novel to win the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. However, some are questioning whether the book, which contains a fantasy element, should qualify for the prize.
Established in 1982 by Scott O’Dell, author of Island of the Blue Dolphins, the $5,000 award is given to works of historical fiction for young people written by U.S. citizens, released by a U.S. publisher and set in South, Central or North America. [School Library Journal, Good Comics for Kids]
Publishing | Editor & Publisher, the venerable trade magazine of the newspaper industry, was purchased Thursday by Duncan McIntosh Co., and will resume publication online and in print. E&P and sibling magazine Kirkus Reviews were closed last month after former owner Nielsen Media Business failed to find buyers. [Editor & Publisher]
- January 15, 2010 @ 08:12 AM by Kevin Melrose
‘And I thought Thor was a robot!’
That Hitler/Downfall video meme is really working overtime. First the Führer learns that NBC is moving Jay Leno back to late-night. And now … now he finds out he could have trouble tracking down some of those Blackest Night tie-ins he missed because of Marvel’s Siege #3 variant offer to retailers. (Warning: The video’s subtitles contain obscenities — and typos.)
(Via Geoff Johns)
- January 14, 2010 @ 04:34 PM by Kevin Melrose
Picnic time for teddy bears
Grumpy Old Fan
I lived at home for a few years during college and law school, and soon fell into the habit of watching new Star Trek episodes (various series) with my parents. Every so often, at a particularly cliffhanging commercial break, my mom would turn to me and ask, perfectly serious, what was going to happen next. Of course I didn’t know, and eventually I said something like “oh, this is the one where they beam down to the Cuddly Teddy Bear Planet for tea and scones.” Soon the phrase “teddy bears” became shorthand for “invasion,” “warp core breach,” “musical number,” etc. Indeed, when Voyager’s crew was marooned on a primordial world at the end of the second season, I noted the nasty-looking lizards prowling around and said “look, Mom — there are the teddy bears!”
Accordingly, it is not in my nature to be optimistic about such things; and so I am experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance with all this Brightest Day news coming out of DC. It’s like the publisher has traded so heavily in grim ‘n’ gritty that scrubbing it away will involve a year-long biweekly miniseries which (of course) ties into some of the publisher’s most recognizable titles. Apparently happiness has gotten so far from the DC norm that it’s become a brand.
- January 14, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Your video of the day: Adele Blanc-Sec trailer
Did you know director Luc Besson (of “Fifth Element” fame — or infamy as the case may be) has a movie based on Jacques Tardi’s Adele Blanc-Sec series coming out soon? Well, he does and the trailer is up now. Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson provides a bit of background behind the trailer at Flog and drops a hint as to what their next Tardi project might be:
I’m sure everyone is now thinking, “Gee, with that ADELE movie coming out, wouldn’t this be a great time to re-release those ADELE books that Dark Horse and NBM released the first few volumes of back in the last century, although preferably with spiffed-up lettering and a brilliant new translation, in time to enjoy some of that movie P.R.?”
Why, it sure would.
- January 14, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Chris Mautner
Tommy Lee Edwards’ Book of Eli premiere photos
Tommy Lee Edwards
Turf artist Tommy Lee Edwards worked as a concept artist on The Book of Eli, the Hughes Brothers film starring Denzel Washington that opens tomorrow. A few nights ago, Edwards attended the premiere in Hollywood, and he sent along some pictures from the event. Check them out after the jump.
Also, you can check out CBR’s review of the film here.
- January 14, 2010 @ 11:34 AM by JK Parkin