2010 February
Straight for the art | Emerald City’s Monsters & Dames charity art book art
by Livio Ramondelli
The Emerald City Comicon, scheduled for March 13-14 in Seattle, is once again putting together a charity art book featuring pin-ups of “Monsters & Dames” by some of its very impressive guest list. Proceeds from the book benefit the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Over on Gelatometti, several attendees have been posting their contributions, including Livio Ramondelli (above), Carlos D’Anda and Oliver Nome, among others. Go check’em out.
- February 9, 2010 @ 11:20 AM by JK Parkin
Comic-store owner faces child-pornography charges
Legal
An Ontario comic-store owner charged in July with voyeurism now faces additional charges of possessing child pornography.
Domenic Giorgio, owner of A Dragon’s Realm in Maple, Ontario, was arrested in July after he allegedly was caught using a video camera to spy on a woman in the store’s restroom. Police seized DVDs and a computer, and in the subsequent investigation reportedly discovered files containing child pornography.
York Regional Constable Rebecca Boyd told The Caledon Enterprise that the new charges, filed just last week, are only for the possession of child pornography and are unrelated to accusations of videotaping the store’s restroom.
Giorgio, 43, also is charged with two counts of assault in the original incident, which arose after a 21-year-old female customer asked to use the store’s restroom. She was allegedly followed by Giorgio, who entered an adjacent room. The woman’s boyfriend became suspicious, and reportedly discovered a camera on a tri-pod. The couple confronted the retailer, and a minor physical altercation followed.
- February 9, 2010 @ 10:50 AM by Kevin Melrose
Who was that masked Fantagraphics cartoonist?
Well, that’s Like A Dog author Zak Sally above, but Fanta has a whole Flickr set full of photos of some of their most notable creators and contributors, which is great if you ever wanted to know what Jason or Richard Sala looked like. (Note: Fanta’s Mike Baehr notes that some of these photos are kinda old, and asks not to use them for press/publicity purposes, mkay?)
- February 9, 2010 @ 10:20 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Photos from the Afrodisiac ‘AfroTour’
Jim Rugg outside of Chapel Hill Comics
AdHouse Books has a Flickr photo set documenting the Southern leg of cartoonist Jim Rugg’s “AfroTour” in support of the release of the Afrodisiac hardcover. Rugg and AdHouse Publisher Chris Pitzer appeared at signings at Velocity Comics in Richmond, Virginia, Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“This was the first time I’ve done anything with a comics store outside of my hometown,” Rugg writes on his blog, “and was overwhelmed with everyone’s kindness and support from the store employees to readers both new and old.”
- February 9, 2010 @ 09:50 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Chris Uminga’s superhero art
Colossus by Chris Uminga
Reader David Bedard pointed us to this post on Oculoid with several cool superhero images by artist Chris Uminga. You can also check out Uminga’s website here and his deviantART site here.
- February 9, 2010 @ 09:20 AM by JK Parkin
New Yorker celebrates birthday with Ware, Tomine, Clowes, Brunetti
Yes, the New Yorker
Heidi MacDonald and D&Q beat me to the punch, but just in case you missed the news, I thought I’d let you know that this week’s issue of The New Yorker magazine is sporting four swell covers by Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Adrian Tomine and Ivan Brunetti. Supposedly when you arrange the four covers together in a certain way, a super-secret picture forms. Alright, I’ll spoil it: It’s a picture of Eustace Tilly. It must be one of those “Magic Eye” type images though, because I’ve been staring at the bloody things for hours on end, and all I’m getting is a headache.
- February 9, 2010 @ 08:51 AM by Chris Mautner
Your video of the day: That creepy Crumb figure
Courtesy of Comics Alliance comes this short video of that R. Crumb figurine I mentioned last week. And hey, it does come with a big-boned female fantasy figure! And Fritz the Cat too! How about that.
- February 9, 2010 @ 08:10 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
From "Troublemaker!"
Publishing | Publishers are wagering that Stephenie Meyer isn’t the only prose author whose name can move massive amounts of graphic novels. We already knew that Yen Press is rolling out a staggering — by North American comics market standards, anyway — 350,000-copy first printing for Twilight: The Graphic Novel. But now George Gene Gustines reports that Dark Horse will print 100,000 copies of Troublemaker!: A Barnaby Adventure, a continuation of Janet Evanovich’s series of Motor Mouth novels. The Evanovich deal was announced in May. [The New York Times]
Business | Imagi International, the computer-animation studio behind TMNT and Astro Boy, has shut down amid layoffs and mounting debt. Although the studio will ask a Hong Kong court to name liquidators, it plans to continue to develop film ideas and outsource the animation work to other countries. [ABC News]
- February 9, 2010 @ 07:40 AM by Kevin Melrose
Sammy Harkham’s Crickets returns!
Crickets #3
That’s pretty much all I got, folks. According to a post on the blog for Harkham’s L.A. book and music store Family, Crickets #3 is “happening soon.” That appears to be the cover up above.
Around this time last year, Harkham announced the cancellation of the series, then published by Drawn & Quarterly, due to Diamond’s new minimum-order thresholds. At the time, the Kramers Ergot editor and cartoonist said the third issue “will come out in some DYI form in the next couple months.” I think I speak for all of us when I say better late than never!
- February 9, 2010 @ 07:10 AM by Sean T. Collins
Pirate, Cowboy Batman on ‘Return of Bruce Wayne’ covers
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #3
DC Comics revealed the final next two covers for its Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries today; above you’ll see the cover to issue #3, and after the jump you can find the cover to issue #4. (Update: It’s actually a six-issue mini, so we still have two more to go).
You can also check out the covers to issue #1 and issue #2 if you missed them; all of them feature Andy Kubert drawing various historically themed Batmen, from a caveman to a cowboy.
- February 8, 2010 @ 05:00 PM by JK Parkin
Robot Review: Talking to Strangers
Talking to Strangers
Written by Fehed Said; Illustrated by Nana Li, Wing Yun Man, Faye Yong, Chloe Citrine, and Sonia Leong
Sweatdrop; $12.99
The cover to Talking to Strangers shows a young girl with a Band-Aid on her cheek. She’s in a downtown area of a large city, but there’s no one around. Her expression is very passive. It’s so wounded that it’s not even sad; it’s lifeless. But she’s leaning forward at you and her hand is pulling back the headphones she’s wearing so that she can hear what you have to say. It’s a beautiful, haunting image.
There’s this theme that keeps coming up in movies and books that I’m experiencing lately. It was in Up in the Air and in a Jeff Daniels/Lauren Graham film I just watched from last year called The Answer Man. It’s an especially powerful message in these days of easy, long-distance communication. It’s about how we’re meant to connect with people. Not just to talk to them, but to share with them and laugh with them and cry with them. To reach out to those around us and help; not just with a charitable donation sent by couple of mouse-clicks, but with our hands and feet and hearts. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s a message I need to hear a lot and I love it when it’s delivered with enough power to push through my complacency.
Fehed Said introduces his anthology with a story about how reaching out and talking to strangers literally saved his life. The book itself is a collection of six stories, all written by Said, illustrated by various artists, and dealing with this theme.
How it does after the break.
- February 8, 2010 @ 04:00 PM by Michael May
Talking Comics with Tim: Jim Ottaviani
T-Minus
An interview with Jim Ottaviani is long overdue, on multiple levels. Ottaviani is a storyteller that has been impressing peers and entertaining/informing readers since 1997. I should have interviewed the writer a long time ago. And in fact, I did. This email interview was conducted in mid-November 2009, but logistical snafus on my end prevented me from being able to post this interview until now. My apologies to Ottaviani for the delay. On the good news front, since this interview, Ottaviani’s latest book (T-Minus: The Race to the Moon)–which we discuss a great deal–was included in YALSA’s 2010 Great Graphic Novel for Teens (ALA) list. T-Minus, as described by Ottaviani at his G.T. Labs site, “tells you what happens when you take two global superpowers, dozens of daring pilots, thousands of engineers and scientists, and then point them at the night sky and say “Go!?” So join the whole world as it counts down to sending the first men to the moon, and discover the story of the people who made it happen, both in the rockets and behind the scenes.” We also got a chance to discuss his upcoming work for First Second and Tor.com.
Tim O’Shea: You’ve been writing graphic novels since 1997, a period of time that has seen numerous independent creators come and go. What about the creative process has kept you around and interested in projects?
Jim Ottaviani: The short answer is everything about the process keeps me interested: I enjoy finding out about new scientists and subjects, figuring out whether there’s a graphic novel in their story somewhere, doing the research, and then crafting that story. And the pleasure of seeing the finished product — a story I care about realized via the skills of artist(s) I admire — never grows old.
- February 8, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
First Avenger: Captain America characters, Secret Avenger creators announced
promo image for Secret Avengers
Sometimes covering comics-related news gets Harry Dean Stanton’s gut-wrenching cry from Red Dawn — “AVENGE MEEEEE!” — stuck in my head. Today’s one of those days.
First up: First Avenger: Captain America director Joe Johnston has been making the rounds in support of his new horror remake The Wolfman, and that means the nerd press has been wringing info out of him about his upcoming take on Marvel’s most patriotic hero. So far, we’ve learned that the film’s villain will be the Red Skull, that the previously promised World War II-era superteam the Invaders will in fact play a major role throughout the film’s entire second half (via), and that Cap will, uh, perform for the USO (via). Here’s hoping Bob Hope brings him out in a bathing suit and tells the troops “I just wanted you boys to see what we’re fighting for.”
Second, as you’ve seen on CBR, today Marvel announced the May launch of Secret Avengers, a new series written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Mike Deodato. Unlike the promo images unleashed by the company for Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita Jr.’s adjectiveless Avengers last week, this one is just a silhouette of a crouchy superhero — leading candidates around the Internerd appear to be Spider-Man, the Beast, Black Panther and Gorilla Man after a few months on Jenny Craig.
- February 8, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Your video of the day | Traditional Comics
Sex! Violence! Rockin’ guitars! Bearded dudes in Iron Maiden t-shirts gazing thoughtfully into the distance! Pretty much anything you’d want in a commercial for a comic book company you get in this ad for Traditional Comics, the self-publishing outfit of trashmeister Benjamin Marra. If you’ve ever read Night Business or Gangsta Rap Posse, the throwback jewels in the Traditional Comics crown, you know what to expect. If not, you’re in for a treat.
- February 8, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Wood puts his money down on Northlanders, DMZ
Northlanders Vol. 3
Last week iFanboy’s Talksplode podcast posted a lengthy interview with Brian Wood, who talked about all of his various “D” projects — Demo, DMZ, DV8 — as well as Northlanders. Close to the end of the conversation, he said that he plans to offer a money-back guarantee on the third Northlanders trade paperback, which is due in stores the first week of March.
“If someone hates it they can mail it back to me and I’ll pay them back,” Wood said, adding he’ll share formal details on the offer soon. This trade collects several shorter arcs and single-issue stories from Northlanders — specifically issues 9 and 10, as well as 17-20. Issue 17, “The Viking Art of Single Combat,” is probably the best issue of the series thus far, and the two-part “Shield Maidens” tale follows closely behind it.
In addition to giving fans a risk-free option for checking out Northlanders, today Wood also gave fans a good reason to check out DMZ #50 — he and Fabio Moon are doing a four-page story in it called “Little Plastic Toys” about cluster munitions, and he plans to donate his page rate for it to stopclustermunitions.org. The comic comes out this Wednesday.
- February 8, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by JK Parkin