2010 March
Straight for the art | Under the sea with American Vampire
American Vampire #2 variant cover
The Vertigo blog shares this variant cover to issue 2 of American Vampire by famed horror illustrator Bernie Wrightson. The series is also spotlighted once again by USA Today, who also reveal the artwork for two characters from issue one in their less-pleasant vampire forms.
- March 30, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Bill Sienkiewicz’s Friendly Dictators trading cards
General Francisco Franco, President of Spain, by Bill Sienkiewicz
Man, they made trading cards out of everything in the ’90s, didn’t they? Case in point: Written by Dennis Bernstein and Laura Slydell and illustrated by Elektra: Assassin genius Bill Sienkiewicz, the Friendly Dictators Trading Cards set from 1990 represented a rogues’ gallery of tyrants who were on good terms with the good ol’ U.S. of A. Okay, so Hitler’s a bit of a stretch. But from Papa Doc Duvalier in Haiti to Augusto Pinochet in Chile to Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam, there’s no shortage of creeps, goons, and outright monsters with whom America traded the occasional Christmas card and/or oodles of military and monetary aid, and Sienkiewicz brings them all to ghoulish life. I particularly appreciate the “CANCELLED” stamp applied to the autocrats who eventually fell out of our favor. Poor Manuel Noriega, he never saw it coming.
(Via John Barber)
- March 30, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
‘I’m better than you, you son of a bitch’: a review of The Diary of a Teenage Girl: The Play
The cast of Diary (l-r): Michael Laurence, Marielle Heller, Jon Krupp, Mairann Mayberry, Nell Mooney
I want to avoid the term “must-see” — I haven’t done theater since playing the John Cazale role in a black-box production of The Indian Wants the Bronx my junior year of college, but even I know what a cliche that must be. And yet. Boasting a quintet of strong, awkward performances, staged in an immersive environment best described as “Theater in the Rec Room,” and augmented with a breathtaking gallery of art from the source material, The Diary of a Teenage Girl: The Play is riveting theater, and as skillful a comics adaptation as I’ve come across. If you’re in New York and have any interest in the semi-autobiographical Phoebe Gloeckner graphic novel from which the play was adapted, or in an unusual and innovative theatrical experience, or simply in a movingly no-bullshit exploration of the lives of young people and the older people who shape them, I’m almost willing to buy you the tickets myself.
- March 30, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Strangeways: The Thirsty – Page 127
Art by Gervasio and Jok. Written by Matt Maxwell.
And as a reminder, I’ll be at this weekend’s Wonder-Con in San Francisco, over in the small press area. Probably going to be at the thing at the Isotope on Saturday. And eating at Henry’s Hunan sometime. Mmmm…Hunan ham…
- March 30, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Matt Maxwell
Shogun Warriors returning to comics?
Shogun Warriors
You’ll have to forgive me if my excitement and knowledge on this particular topic is wanting, as I was always more of a Micronauts guy myself … but at the bottom of a very long post on Ain’t It Cool News about a possible Shogun Warriors film is a small tidbit about a new Shogun Warriors comic book.
In regards to the work being done on the film, Harry Knowles says, “Alex Ross has been mentoring on the project and will be doing covers for a new SHOGUN WARRIORS series that Dynamite is involved in.”
Back in the late 1970s, Mattel licensed several giant robots from various Japanese anime shows to create the Shogun Warriors line of toys. From what I remember, they were two-foot-tall plastic robots that threw axes and launched other sorts of projectiles, no doubt an eye hazard for kids everywhere, as well as some smaller versions that were probably choking hazards (how any kid survived the 1970s and early 1980s is beyond me).
Marvel published a Shogun Warriors comic by writer Doug Moench and artist Herb Trimpe, which featured three of the robots. The book was set in the Marvel Universe, as the Fantastic Four and Doctor Demonicus appeared in issues.
- March 30, 2010 @ 12:34 PM by JK Parkin
The Venture Bros. season resumes in August, ends with one-hour special
From "The Venture Bros.," Season 4
The Venture Bros. creator Jackson Publick has ended his long silence to reveal that he thinks the second half of Season 4 will finally debut on Adult Swim in August — “August sounds about right” — and to break the news that the finale probably won’t air until December.
So why the delay?
“Because we suck,” Publick writes on his blog. But there’s more to it than that, naturally, most of which sounds like a good thing for fans.
“In the end, it’ll all be worth it,” he continues. “We think you’re going to really dig these next eight episodes. We seem to have re-embraced the show’s sci-fi/comic book/adventure roots, and as much as it was a struggle to write them, they’re a whole lot of fun. Lots more development of Hank and Dean, lots of new characters, and lots of old faces returning both triumphantly and trivially.”
Here’s the other big reason for the delay: When the season finally does end, it’ll be with a Very Special Venture Bros. Season Finale Hour-Long Extravaganza. Not just a very special season finale, but an hour-long one!
“That’s an extra half an hour of Venture-y goodness for your patience, right?” Publick writes. “What we take away with one hand, we give back with the other.”
Visit the blog for more stills from the second half of the season, and details on The Venture Bros. action figures.
- March 30, 2010 @ 12:09 PM by Kevin Melrose
Everyone’s A Critic | A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces
Castle Waiting
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Flashlight Worthy blog asked ten bloggers (male and female) to nominate their favorite comics by and about women. The range and quality of the list is a reminder that talent knows no gender—or genre: the nominations include Jessica Abel’s La Perdida, Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting, Alison Bechdel’s The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, and Fumi Yoshinaga’s All My Darling Daughters.
If you’re reading this column, you’re probably hip enough to know that all manga does not feature big, sparkly eyes, but in case you missed that memot, Paul Gravett has an explanation and lists six worthy series that don’t have a sparkly eye in the bunch.
Sean Gordon Murphy sets snobbery aside to look at the good points of house styles.
Suzette Chan explains how Faith Erin Hicks tweaks the tropes of boarding-school stories in The War at Ellesmere.
Kate Dacey mulls over the dilemma of being a feminist and a yaoi fan in her review of Hinako Takanaga’s Little Butterfly.
Carlo Santos takes the second volume of Alice in the Country of Hearts as seriously as anybody is going to, and he does some nice analysis of how the book relates to its inspiration, Alice in Wonderland.
- March 30, 2010 @ 10:55 AM by Brigid Alverson
Straight for the art | March MODOK Madness draws to a close
J. Bone's MODOK
March MODOK Madness is almost done for another year, as the end of March approaches and April brings April Avengers Anxiety or April Aunt May Awesomeness or … well, whatever April brings.
Anyway, artist J. Bone sent in a recent contribution to the MMM folks, featuring everyone’s favorite villain in a more awkward stage of his life — “as a surly, lonely teen (he eats lunch alone),” Bone writes. Poor MODOK.
Check out more MODOK artwork at the MMM blog, and more from J. Bone on his blog.
- March 30, 2010 @ 10:09 AM by JK Parkin
Bram Stoker Awards to recognize graphic novels
Bram Stoker Awards
The Bram Stoker Awards, presented annually by the Horror Writers Association, will add a graphic-novel category, presumably beginning next year.
The announcement came over the weekend, during the World Horror Convention in Brighton, England. Other new categories will include Screenplay and Young Adult.
Presented since 1987, the Bram Stoker Awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror writing.
From 1998 to 2004, the awards featured a Best Illustrative Narrative category. Winners included Neil Gaiman for The Sandman: The Dream Hunters and The Sandman: Endless Nights, Alan Moore for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, and Jai Nitz for Heaven’s Devils.
- March 30, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Lanterns of all colors by Ryan Kelly
Red Lanterns by Ryan Kelly
Artist Ryan Kelly shares four sketches he’s selling on his blog, featuring various Lanterns of various colors. He plans to use the money for travel expenses and to print a personal project he’s working on called Funrama.
- March 30, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Alan Moore to watch over the set of The IT Crowd
The Alan Moore poster, based on the cover for "Mustard" #4
When the popular British comedy series The IT Crowd returns in May, its set will feature a poster of the cover of Mustard #4 — the caricature of Alan Moore standing in front of a gallery of art from his best-known comics.
On the comedy magazine’s website, Editor Alex Musson writes that the issue appeared in the show’s second season (or, rather, series), but when writer Graham Linehan put out a call for “cool bits” to decorate The IT Crowd set he was quick to suggest the Moore poster.
The image, inspired by Kevin O’Neill’s cover for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, features panels by O’Neill, J.H. Williams III, Alan Davis, Steve Parkhouse, Eddie Campbell, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon, Bill Sienkiewicz, David Lloyd, Dave Gibbons, Oscar Zarate, Kevin Nowlan, Jim Baikie, Melinda Gebbie, Ian Gibson, Chris Sprouse and John Totleben.
You can download the cover as a desktop wallpaper at the Mustard website.
(via Underwire)
- March 30, 2010 @ 08:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Fantastic fanart
Robert Kline art from FF #12
Before there were LJ communities, before there was DeviantArt, heck, before there was an internet, there were fanzines. And before Gary Groth was the editor of The Comics Journal, he was the editor of Fantastic Fanzine, a project he began when he was 13. At Comic Attack, Ken Meyer, Jr., reproduces all of issue 12 of FF, together with commentary on many of the creators. And if that whets your appetite, check out the earlier issue he blogged about last fall.
- March 30, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
It’s official: Comic-Con 2010 is sold out
Comic-Con 2010 sells out
Comic-Con International has sold out, two months ahead of last year’s event, after the remaining Sunday memberships were purchased late this afternoon.
The early sellout comes as no surprise, as four-day passes disappeared in November, while Saturday memberships were gone by mid-December, almost four months earlier than those for the 2009 convention. The other two days weren’t far behind, with Friday selling out in January and Thursday going the way of the dodo just two weeks ago.
The news arrives as Anaheim and Los Angeles step up their efforts to lure Comic-Con from San Diego, where the event long ago outgrew the city’s convention center, resulting in a capping of attendance at about 125,000.
Comic-Con’s contract expires in 2012, but the San Diego Convention Center Corp. is seeking to extend the agreement an additional three years, in part, by securing commitments from three waterfront hotels to provide for free about 300,000 square feet of meeting space from 2013 to 2015. The San Diego Convention Center has 615,700 square feet of exhibit space, compared to the Los Angeles Convention Center’s 720,000 square feet and the Anaheim Convention Center’s 815,000.
There’s also an effort by San Diego to increase the number of dedicated convention hotel rooms from 7,000 to 14,000, which would give the city a great advantage over Anaheim and L.A. (The former has about 4,500 hotel rooms within walking distance of its convention center, the latter just 2,000.)
Comic-Con begins July 21 with Preview Night, and continues through July 25.
- March 29, 2010 @ 06:48 PM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim: Cyanide & Happiness’ Kris, Matt & Dave
Cyanide & Happiness
I’m not going to mince words, the comedy that fuels Cyanide & Happiness is not for everyone. The webcomic which launched in 2004, is effectively characterized in the opening paragraph of Brigid Alverson’s recent Unbound review: “The Cyanide & Happiness formula is pretty simple: Stick men (and women) do shocking things to one another. There are four different artists, but the style and humor are fairly uniform; a situation is set up in the first panel and resolved, by stabbing, boob-grabbing, or shouting ‘You have cancer! LOL!’ in the last. My kids love this comic, because it’s what teenagers are all about: Working your way through every possible taboo, in public. So in C&H we have Seizure-Man falling down and frothing at the mouth, bungee-jumping childbirth, and lots and lots of stabbing.”
If that description gives you pause, I would advise you skip this interview. But if it doesn’t give you pause, jump on ahead. Last month, It Books released a collection that “highlights 150 of the best comics, including 30 brand-new strips, each packed with inappropriate jokes, irreverent characters, and deviant behavior, guaranteed to leave you laughing despite the gnawing guilt.” The strips are created by four different writers/illustrators who “live all over the world — Kris Wilson in Fort Bridger, Wyoming; Matt Melvin in San Diego, California; Rob DenBleyker in Dallas, Texas; and Dave McElfatrick in Belfast, Northern Ireland”. I was able to interview Dave, Kris and Matt via email. Before jumping in, though, I have to apologize to our female readership and the creators for my ignorant assumption (in one question) that the audience for this work was predominantly male.
Tim O’Shea: How do you develop a sense for when the shock value of the joke outweighs or obscures the comedy of the strip?
Dave: You don’t, really. You just kinda go with what you think is funny, and if that involves either something shocking or something incredibly tame, you go for it. We don’t focus on shock value, we just go with what makes us laugh.
Kris: The humor has to come first. It’s not as if we’re trying to offend people. More often than not, people just get offended at what’s funny.
- March 29, 2010 @ 03:30 PM by Tim O'Shea
Grumpy Old Fan | Remembering Dick Giordano
Green Lantern #122
(Editor’s Note: Tom is on his way to San Francisco and WonderCon this week, so he turned his column in early … and as it relates to legendary artist and editor Dick Giordano, who passed away on Saturday, I thought it was appropriate to go ahead and post it today.)
By now you will undoubtedly have read any number of Dick Giordano obituaries, tributes and/or remembrances, most I’m sure speaking from a much more informed perspective than mine. I am only a fan, and specifically an admirer of his success across various areas of the comics business.
It was easy to spot Dick Giordano’s work, whether penciled or inked. He did not go in for much caricature or exaggeration, but there was invariably a twinkle in his characters’ eyes. (The exception, naturally, was Batman, whose cold white slits often burned menacingly against his black-inked mask.) As an inker, Giordano’s style came through clearly over other people’s pencils, but because it was inherently naturalistic it was never oppressive. Instead, he was a good complement to a wide range of artists, from the elegant lines of José Luis Garcia-Lopéz to the gritty expressionism of Denys Cowan. Of course, he was a fine penciller in his own right, with some 1450 stories to his credit.
- March 29, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Tom Bondurant