2010 March
Best Bets | A look at the week ahead
Highlights from the upcoming week, drawn from the CBR Events Calendar. To submit an event, go here.
WonderCon
Friday: WonderCon kicks off at noon at San Francisco’s Moscone Center South. The three-day convention features creator spotlights and signings, panel discussions, screenings and more (the complete programming schedule can be found here).
Special guests include Murphy Anderson, Sergio Aragones, Frank Cho, Amanda Conner, Darwyn Cooke, Colleen Doran, Mark Evanier, David Finch, Adam Hughes, Geoff Johns, Adam Kubert, Joe Kubert, Jimmy Palmiotti, Darick Robertson, James Robinson, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Kevin Smith, Ethan Van Sciver and Judd Winick.
Friday: Golden Apple Comics and Comic Book Resources play host to a cocktail party and book signing with actress-writer Felicia Day (The Guild) from 6 to 8 p.m. at Golden Apple Comics, 7018 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.
Friday: For WonderCon attendees looking for evening fun, artist Dave Johnson is joining with Isotope owner James Sime for a tiki-bar crawl through San Francisco. It gets rolling at 8 p.m. at Bamboo Hut, 479 Broadway.
Saturday: Zeus Comics and Collectibles in Dallas presents a signing by writer-artist Ben Templesmith (Choker, Fell, 30 Days of Night) from noon to 6 p.m. at the store, 4411 Lemmon Ave.
Saturday: Isotope and iFanboy present “100 Proof Hex,” a party featuring Jonah Hex collaborators Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner and Darwyn Cooke. The event will be from 7 p.m. to midnight at Isotope, 326 Fell St., San Francisco.
Saturday: Golden Apple Comics and Comic Book Resources play host to a signing by writer Zack Whedon (Dr. Horrible, Terminator) at 7 p.m. at Golden Apple Comics, 7018 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.
- March 28, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | Children vs. Nazis
Resistance, Book 1
Resistance, Book 1
Written by Carla Jablonski; Illustrated by Leland Purvis
First Second; $16.99
If you’d asked me last week what’s cooler than robots fighting Nazis or demons fighting Nazis or bullwhip-wielding archeologists fighting Nazis, I would’ve been hard up for an answer. Imagine my surprise to learn that children fighting Nazis does the trick quite nicely.
I love the cover to Resistance, Book 1. The child’s slingshot aimed squarely at the back of a German soldier’s head says everything you need to know about the book. It’s a fun, cute image – an act of childishly brave defiance against a universally recognized evil – but as you continue to look at it, you realize how foolhardy that act is and a feeling of dread sets in. That’s an SS soldier the kid’s about to shoot. As adorable as the picture is, the anticipated consequences are horrifying. Which pretty much sums up this story about a group of French kids who join the Resistance against occupying Germany in WWII. It’s at the same time heart-warmingly endearing and upsettingly dreadful.
Though there are moments to make you chuckle, Resistance is a drama before it’s anything else. There’s some inherent cuteness that goes along with having kids as heroes, but the kids in this book are cute because they’re real. Which makes the danger to them that much more awful.
Join the Resistance after the break.
- March 28, 2010 @ 07:00 AM by Michael May
Legendary artist and editor Dick Giordano passes away
Dick Giordano
News spread online this morning that artist and longtime DC Comics editor Dick Giordano has passed away, reportedly due to complications from pneumonia. He was 77. Giordano, who suffered from leukemia, recently had been hospitalized in Florida.
As an inker, Giordano is perhaps best remembered for his work with Neal Adams on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, with George Perez on Crisis on Infinite Earths, and with John Byrne on The Man of Steel and Action Comics. As managing editor and then vice president-executive editor, he helped to steer DC Comics through its 1980s heyday, when the company revitalized many of its decades-old characters.
“Few could ever hope to match what he accomplished in his chosen profession, or to excel while maintaining great humor, compassion for his peers and an unwavering love for the art form,” artist Bob Layton wrote in a widely circulated statement announcing Giordano’s death. “His unique vision changed the comic industry forever and all of those who work in the business continue to share in the benefits of his sizable contributions. I have been honored to call him a business partner, mentor and dear friend throughout the majority of my lifetime. We will not see his like again.”
Born on July 20, 1932, in New York City, Giordano began his career as a background inker for Jerry Iger’s studio before becoming a freelance artist in 1952 at Charlton Comics. By 1965 he’d risen to editor-in-chief of the company, where he fostered such new talents as Jim Aparo and Dennis O’Neil and oversaw the creation of characters like Blue Beetle and Captain Atom. Two years later he was hired as an editor by DC Comics Publisher Carmine Infantino, and left in 1971 to form Continuity Associates with Neal Adams.
Giordano returned to DC in 1980, initially serving as editor of the Batman line before being promoted to managing editor and then, in 1983, to vice president-executive editor, a position he held until his retirement from the company in 1993. After leaving the publisher, Giordano continued to occasionally pencil and ink — most notably, Modesty Blaise and The Phantom — and in 2002 co-founded the short-lived Future Comics with Layton and writer David Michelinie.
He is acknowledged as a mentor and inspiration to a generation of artists. Rob Liefeld hailed Giordano this morning as “the godfather of the modern inking style,” while Mike Gold praised his talents as an editor and artist as “nothing short of breathtaking.”
“Dick always defended creative freedom and aesthetic opportunity,” Gold wrote, “sometimes putting him heads-on with management powers, often representing not his own work but that of the editors in his charge, most certainly including myself, for which I will be forever grateful. He knew the good stuff when he saw it, he knew how to improve it, he knew how to incubate it.”
Marv Wolfman added: “Dick was way more than a good inker. He was an encouraging force in the industry who brought in new people and helped nurture them.”
- March 27, 2010 @ 11:23 AM by Kevin Melrose
Three Count | Hechinger and Muñoz pit kids vs. bears in Bear Beater Bunyan
Bear Beater Bunyan
You may not have heard of wrestler Bunyan Paulson before — he doesn’t appear on Monday Night Raw, he doesn’t have catchy theme music or fireworks as he walks down the ramp, and he’s never had a confrontation with Vince McMahon. What he does do, however, is wrestle bears — big, bad ass, scary, championship-holding bears.
Bunyon is the star of a webcomic called Yon Kuma, which was created by Josh Hechinger and Jorge F. Muñoz. “The name’s a pun on ‘yonkoma,’ those four-panel Japanese joke strips, and ‘kuma,’ which means bear,” Hechinger said. “Basically, this kid, Bunyan Paulson, spends four 22-page chapters wrestling the Yon Kuma, the four great bears who are the regional champs of human/bear wrestling.”
They finished serializing the 88-page comic on the web at the end of 2009, then changed the name to Bear Beater Bunyan for its release on iTunes and Android by Robot Comics.
I spoke with both Hechinger and Muñoz about the popular webcomic, its move to mobile devices and what comes next for the pair.
JK: How did you guys meet, and where did the idea for the strip come from?
Josh: I posted on Panel and Pixel looking for an artist, and Jorge basically had me audition for him. Somehow, my bear-wrestling comic beat out his other offers.
More than anything, this comic came from me wanting to do something FAST in comics. Garage rock, three-chord-punk fast. It was also me trying to get a handle on what I call my “Yankee shonen” style of comics; i.e. I’m a suburban white boy who grew up reading Dragon Ball Z, and it’s permanently warped the comic-making parts of my brain.
The secret influence on it would be things like the old Fist of the North Star movie, or the Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X OAVs. Cartoons where they condense arcs and arcs of story down to two hours or a handful of episodes. The way I approached the comic was, “Okay, pretend there was this long-running kid vs. bear series in Japan, and I’m condensing it down to a four episode OAV.”
Like I said, my brain’s a little warped.
- March 27, 2010 @ 10:45 AM by JK Parkin
Three Count | Your official Robot 6 Wrestlemania predictions
For the second fall in our best-of-three contest today, I reached out to several comics pros and bloggers to see what they thought about tomorrow’s big Wrestlemania card. Will the Deadman retire Mr. Wrestlemania? Will Jericho get speared? Will the Straight Edge Society get a new phone number in the 619 area code? And does anyone care about Sheamus? Our panel shared their thoughts, opinions, hopes and dreams for tomorrow’s big pay-per-view event.
Our panelists include:
Steven Grant: Comics writer and wrestling fan Steven Grant’s resume includes the Punisher, Avengers, Whisper, American Flagg!, Badlands and numerous other comics titles since the 1980s. Back around the turn of the century, he wrote comics featuring wrestling legends The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin for Chaos! Comics, and he recently wrapped up his long-running Permanent Damage column on Comic Book Resources.
Vito Delsante: In addition to being manager of Jim Hanley’s Universe in New York, Vito Delsante has also written comics featuring Batman, Wolverine and Scooby Doo, as well as the webcomic FCHS and the upcoming Stray.
Chad Nevett: Chad Nevett regularly writes reviews for Comic Book Resources and talks about comics on Comics Should Be Good, and on his own blog, GraphiContent. He’s also writes about wrestling for 411mania.
Carla and Lance Hoffman: Carla Hoffman shares her joy and frustrations with Marvel every week right here on Robot 6 in her Fifth Color column. Meanwhile Lance, her husband, is biggest Undertaker fan I know.
And of course, myself. Read on to see what we think about tomorrow’s card …
- March 27, 2010 @ 09:59 AM by JK Parkin
Smallville creators sue Warner Bros. over licensing deals
"Smallville," Season 9
Smallville, the long-running television series that’s already part of the dispute between Warner Bros. and the Siegel family, is now at the center of another legal battle.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s legal blog, THR, Esq., reports that Smallville creators and longtime executive producers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, and series co-producer Tollin/Robbins Prods., have sued Warner Bros. Television, claiming the division made license-fee deals with The WB Television Network and its successor The CW Television Network that “were not arms-length.”
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, accuses Warner Bros. of licensing Smallville for broadcast on its co-owned WB and CW networks “for unreasonably low, below-market license fees, resulting in lower gross revenues for the series and less compensation for plaintiffs, and failing to renegotiate the series’ license fee to cover its production cost.” The plaintiffs also say Warner Bros. sold the series to foreign markets in a package with other, less-successful shows, resulting in a misallocation of licensing fees.
Although the complaint doesn’t specify damages, THR, Esq. notes that, “given the allegations and the longevity of the series, they could total in the tens of millions of dollars.”
The claim brings to mind one made in 2008 by the family of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, who accused DC Comics with striking a “sweetheart deal” with parent company Warner Bros. when licensing characters for Smallville and Superman Returns, a violation of the terms of their profit-sharing agreement. However, in July 2009, a judge ruled against the Siegels, determining that DC and Warner Bros. participated in a “fair market deal.”
Smallville, which debuted in 2001, was renewed earlier this month for a 10th season. Gough and Millar left the series in 2008 after seven seasons.
- March 27, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Three Count | Keith Champagne enters the squared circle with WWE Heroes
WWE Heroes #1
World Wrestling Entertainment presents Wrestlemania 26, their huge sports entertainment extravaganza, tomorrow in Phoenix (and, of course, on pay per view). With this being a big wrestling weekend, I thought it might be fun to do a trio of posts that show the intersection of wrestling and the world of comics.
To kick things off, I spoke to Keith Champagne, the writer of Titan’s licensed WWE Heroes comic, which hit shops last Wednesday. Along with artist Andy Smith, Champagne is taking the larger-than-life roster of WWE superstars and turning them in comic book heroes. In addition to being available in comic shops, the book is also available directly from the WWE’s website. And you can find a free prequel comic available for the iPhone.
My thanks to Keith for answering my quetsions and to Titan Publishing for setting it up.
JK: When did you first become a wrestling fan, and who were some of your favorite wrestlers back in the day?
Keith: It was a glorious, late-spring day back in May of 81, I remember it well. Killer Khan leaped off the top rope, driving both of his knees into Andre the Giant’s ankle. A giant red ‘X’ flashed across the screen, censoring the Giant’s agony from my young eyes and I was hooked from there.
The day Andre got his revenge against Khan in a stretcher match was the greatest day of my 11 year old life. It might still be.
- March 27, 2010 @ 08:02 AM by JK Parkin
Get a first look at art from Scott Pilgrim the Video Game!
From "Scott Pilgrim the Video Game!"
On the heels of the trailer for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World comes a first look at art from Ubisoft’s much-anticipated video game based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels.
From "Scott Pilgrim the Video Game!"
The art was revealed last night in Boston at PAX East at the concert by chiptune punk band Anamanaguchi, who’s writing the game’s soundtrack. Attract Mode reports that during the performance of one of the tracks from the game, on-stage visuals featured animation and art by “pixel master” Paul Robertson, creator of Pirate Baby’s Cabana Battle.
Announced last year during Comic-Con, Scott Pilgrim the Video Game! is described as an old-school, side-scrolling beat-’em-up game. Its release is set to coincide with the August premiere of Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.
You can see more screen grabs from the Anamanaguchi concert at Attract Mode.
(via Bryan Lee O’Malley)
- March 27, 2010 @ 06:52 AM by Kevin Melrose
Bryan Singer will produce, not direct, X-Men: First Class
Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer will move from directing to producing X-Men: First Class to enable 20th Century Fox to move quickly on the film, which the studio hopes to release next year, Deadline reports.
That means we could see a 2011 movie slate with Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and X-Men: First Class — plus Green Lantern, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Singer, who directed the first two films in the X-Men franchise, announced in December that he had signed on to direct First Class (he’s also rumored to helm the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine). However, according to Deadline, Fox is so pleased with the First Class script Jamie Moss (Street Kings) wrote from Singer’s treatment that the studio wants to push forward. But Singer is tied up this summer with Jack the Giant Killer, so he’ll join Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg as a producer.
“Last December, Singer agreed to direct the First Class prequel after the studio sparked to his detailed treatment,” Deadline’s Mike Fleming wrote, “with the studio knowing full well Singer would likely make the other movie first. The willingness to wait changed when execs flipped for Moss’s script.”
Singer told the Los Angeles Times last week that while the prequel will deal with the early days of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, the focus will be on the relationship between Charles Xavier and Magneto.
“Just doing younger mutants is not enough,” Singer told the newspaper. “The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends — to a point. They are the ultimate frenemies.”
- March 27, 2010 @ 05:46 AM by Kevin Melrose
The Fifth Color | Forward Into the Past: Marvel in June 2010
Hello Handsome.
Okay, all the way back to December of last year, the Marvel solicitations for March 2010 had information about the exciting new two-issue mini-series, BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY! I talked about it last week and, while it was not exactly what I was looking for, it was a fun little book that was more like a ‘Broke Into’ than a ‘Breaking Into’ book. No matter, says I! There’s always issue #2 and who knows, maybe they saved all of the, and I quote, “step-by-step submission information and a sample Marvel Comics script” for the next issue!
Yeah, not so much. No script, some important but pre-twittered intel on how submissions are handled, four tips big font and a ‘go get ‘em, Tiger!’ letter at the end from Mr. Cebulski. I’m not saying this wasn’t useful, but it’s not exactly the step-by-step guide they promised. Maybe after they realized they hired 114 new freelancers, they decided to keep the best secrets for themselves.
Anyhoo, that’s in the past and this week’s present, let’s talk about the future! June 2010 solicitations are out, so let’s remember this all now so when June rolls around and there’s any disappointment, we can all say we told ourselves so.
Okay, that was mean. Let’s go enjoy some comics.
Continue Reading »
- March 26, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
The wisdom of Stu
ICv2 has lengthy three-part interview with Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy today, and as JK correctly predicted, I do have some things to say. Let’s run through a few topics, shall we?
The manga market: Stu: “I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s robust because I don’t think that there’s growth per se, but I do think there’s been stabilization.” One thing he touched but didn’t say explicitly is that the market seems to be splitting into winners and losers, with a few titles selling very well and the rest of them struggling to find an audience. While some of Tokyopop’s books have been popular with bloggers, they had only two titles (Fruits Basket and Chibi Vampire) on ICv2′s list of the 25 top manga properties of 2009. In terms of their current list, Tokyopo pared way back but then brought back books for which there was an obvious demand, so they played to the market that way. Meanwhile, they have been repackaging some tried-and-true series and bringing out new twists on popular niche series like the .hack and World of Warcraft books.
Bookstores vs. the direct market: Stu: “We as a publisher are, moreso than in the past, adapting our content so that it fits clearly into one of those two channels. In the next year or two you’ll see a lot more proactive efforts on our part to work with comic book retailers to develop and release content in the formats that work for that specific channel.” Tokyopop books typically do better in bookstores than comics shops, so it’s interesting he is developing properties for the direct market.
Special demographic aside: Stu also commented that guys tend to build long-term relationships with comics stores whereas women tend to have a strict relationship of convenience with bookstores. Maybe that makes it worth the trouble.
- March 26, 2010 @ 02:25 PM by Brigid Alverson
Comics College: Chris Ware
Quimby the Mouse
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
This month we’re examining looking at the career of one Chris Ware, who’s name you may have seen bandied about in certain circles here and there. He’s certainly become one of the more divisive figures in comics — those who love him proclaim him to be one of the finest and most important cartoonists working in the field today, while those who dislike him describe his work as cold, overly precise, depressing and overly pretentious.
I don’t believe any of those descriptors are true (at least not to the extent that his critics seem to think they are) but I can see where those who have for one reason or another avoided his work thus far may have difficulty finding an entry point. So let’s see if we can alleviate that problem somewhat …
- March 26, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
IDW offering first look at Darwyn Cooke’s The Outfit at WonderCon
From "The Man With the Getaway Face: A Prelude to the Outfit"
Speaking of next weekend’s WonderCon, IDW Publishing just announced it will be selling a convention-exclusive prelude to The Outfit, the follow-up to Darwyn Cooke’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter.
The $2 preview, titled The Man With the Getaway Face: A Prelude to the Outfit, features an entire chapter from the graphic novel, set for release in October. Cooke will be at IDW’s WonderCon booth (#519) to sign copies.
If you can’t make it to San Francisco’s Moscone Center for the convention, don’t worry: The preview will be listed in May’s Previews catalog for release in July.
- March 26, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Kevin Melrose
Tokyopop CEO “bullish” on iPad, planning more iPhone content this year
Tokyopop
Tokyopop CEO and CCO Stuart Levy spoke with ICv2.com about a variety of topics recently, covering everything from the condition of the manga market to new initiatives to the Priest movie to digital comics. The interview is broken up into three parts (part 1, part 2, part 3) and I’m betting Brigid will have more to say about the bulk of it, but the part that caught my eye was what he had to say about digital content and their plans for various Apple devices.
Although they’ve tested the water with a few of their properties in the past through companies like uClick, Levy said Tokyopop plans to start publishing their own iPhone content this year. “We were pleased with the market, but it’s very important to us to publish our own content,” he told the site. “Whether we’re working with developers or whether doing technology work internally we want to be in a position where we felt we could publish directly onto the Apple platform. Now we are in a position to do it.”
After knocking Amazon’s Kindle, he goes on to say that he’s ordered his own personal iPad already, and Tokyopop will be involved with the device’s iBookstore:
- March 26, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
This weekend, it’s Comicpalooza
Comicpalooza
The final stop on our jam-packed convention weekend tour is, appropriately enough, Comicpalooza, which began earlier today at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
Comic guests for the third annual event include Phil Foglio, Rob Liefeld, David Mack, Jim Mahfood, David Malki, Humberto Ramos, Ben Templesmith, Ethan Van Sciver, J.H. Williams III and Bernie Wrightston. The media guest list features Nicholas Brendan, Bruce Campbell, Peter Mayhew and Ray Park.
Comicpalooza continues through Sunday. Comic Book Resources has a more detailed preview.
- March 26, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by Kevin Melrose