2010 April
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
C2E2
Conventions | The inaugural Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo drew an estimated 27,500 unique attendees, slightly less than the 30,000 expected. “We felt it was an excellent launch,” Lance Fensterman, Reed Exhibitions vice president, told ICv2.com. “For the last year this show has been a theory. For the last three days people have been able to walk around and experience what the event, the concept, and the community are about, and now we can grow from here.” Christopher Borelli, Brent DiCrescenzo and Heidi MacDonald file wrap-ups from the show. [C2E2]
Publishing | According to ICv2′s annual white paper, presented during the Diamond Retailer Summit at C2E2, sales of comics and graphic novels in the United States and Canada fell 5 percent last year as the total market declined from an estimated $715 million in 2008 to $680 million in 2009. In the book channel, manga sales dropped by more than 20 percent, while sales of kids and young-adult graphic novels jumped by more than 50 percent. [ICv2.com]
- April 19, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
C2E2 | A roundup of day three news
X-Vampires by Paco Medina
The first-ever C2E2 — Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo — is all but over, and no doubt Brigid and Michael will have more to say about the whole experience here soon. For now, here’s a roundup of news and info coming out of various panels from today, to go with our roundups from Friday and Saturday.
- The X-Men vs. vampires storyline, whose teaser last week set off Ultimate Avengers writer Mark Millar, will run in a relaunched adjective-less X-Men title by novelist Victor Gischler and artist Paco Medina. Gischler, who fans know from his work on Punisher and Deadpool for Marvel, is no stranger to vampires, having written the novel Vampire a Go Go. “It’s going to be a nice fresh look at vampires,” Gischler told Marvel.com about his first story arc in the new title. “I think people are going to be pretty impressed.” The series begins in July.
- September brings another new X-title, as X-23 gets her own solo series written by Marjorie Liu, who wrote the recent X-23 one-shot. “X-23 is a loner at heart, but she’s been forced into a team setting for quite some time now,” Liu told Comic Book Resources. “A pack, if you will. And those conflicting instincts to be alone – and with others – will continue to tug at her. So yes, there will be a rotating supporting cast – a couple of former X-Men who, against their better judgment, will try to mentor Laura. Or at least, be there for her when she needs mentoring. That won’t be without conflict, though – physical and emotional.”
- Wolverine: Weapon X will be replaced by a new Wolverine title by Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes, with covers by Jae Lee. In it, Wolverine goes to Hell. “His soul goes to Hell, and we’re going to see what happens when he’s not around to be in control of his own body,” said editor Jenine Schaefer. The first issue ships in September. Meanwhile, the former Wolverine title, now called Dark Wolverine, will get another title change, as it becomes Daken: Dark Wolverine in September. Liu, Daniel Way and Giuseppe Camuncoli will remain as the creative team.
- April 18, 2010 @ 04:32 PM by JK Parkin
What are you reading?
Nana Vol. 1
Welcome once again to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at the comics, graphic novels, books and whatever else the Robot 6 is reading. This week our special guest is Laura Hudson, editor of the Eisner-nominated site ComicsAlliance and former editor of the Eisner-nominated magazine Comics Foundry.
To see what Laura and the rest of the Robot 6 folks are reading, click the link below.
- April 18, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | Marvel’s Red Hulk guitar picks (or, What does Banner know?) [Updated]
Marvel's Red Hulk/www.bannerknows.com guitar pick (via Kirby Krackle)
Last month at Emerald City ComiCon, Marvel teased its next Spider-Man event by handing out guitar picks at the Kirby Krackle/Joe Quesada show bearing the then-mysterious acronym “O.M.I.T.” Saturday at C2E2 saw another performance by Quesada and the Seattle-based “nerd rock band,” and the return of the guitar picks.
But this time — as seen on the Kirby Krackle Twitter feed — the picks depict Red Hulk on one side and www.bannerknows.com on the other. There’s nothing at the website address at the moment, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess it has something to do with the revelation of Rulk’s identity.
Update: Although www.bannerknows.com isn’t working yet, a reader points out in the comments there’s now a “BANNERKNOWS” video at Marvel.com featuring Senior Editor Mark Paniccia and writer Jeph Loeb.
- April 18, 2010 @ 07:48 AM by Kevin Melrose
C2E2 | Saturday
As expected, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the Exhibit Hall today. I decided to skip one extra-long panel in the morning rather than give up the entire day and I’m glad I did if only for the opportunity to visit with Jeremy Bastian, pick up the third issue of Cursed Pirate Girl, and meet characters from the book — including CPG herself.
Jeremy Bastian
- April 18, 2010 @ 05:00 AM by Michael May
C2E2 | A roundup of Day 2 news
For those playing along at home, here are highlights of the announcements (and confirmations) coming out of the inaugural Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo today:
Casanova: Luxuria #1
• Marvel confirmed the long-awaited third volume of Casanova, the critically acclaimed spy-fi series by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon, will debut in July through its Icon imprint. The issues originally published in the Image Comics “slimline” format — 16 pages of story for $1.99 — will be re-colored, re-lettered and repackaged. “It’s going to be in full color,” Fraction told Comic Book Resources. “It’s hand-lettered by Dustin Harbin, who’s an amazing cartoonist and a very old friend of mine. So it’s really an entirely new presentation of the material. The color is absolutely gorgeous, and it’s going to be produced at full size. So what was once Casanova #2-3 will now be issue #2 of the Icon Casanova, and so on. You’ll be getting 32 full color pages for full price.”
• Via video, writer Allan Heinberg provided details of Marvel’s Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, the miniseries announced in October that reunites him with Young Avengers artist Jimmy Cheung. The bimonthly, nine-issue limited series that builds on plot threads dating back to House of M, and involves Wiccan attempting to find and redeem the Scarlet Witch.
• Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada revealed that “O.M.I.T.” — the mysterious acronym we’ve seen on guitar picks and in comic-book ads — stands for “One Moment In Time,” and deals with the controversial “One More Day” story that erased the wedding day of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Serialized in The Amazing Spider-Man #637-640, the new arc by Joe Quesada and Paolo Rivera will turn back the clock to show the events on what should have been the couple’s wedding day.
• Oni Press announced Yo Gabba Gabba! Story Comic Book Time, an anthology based on the wildly popular preschool television series. The 128-page hardcover will be released this fall.
- April 17, 2010 @ 07:30 PM by Kevin Melrose
C2E2 | Baltazar, Chiang, Moore, Thompson to create comic story on shirts
Threadless shirt by Jill Thompson
Threadless announced today during C2E2 that they’re teaming up with comic creators Art Baltazar, Cliff Chiang, Tony Moore and Jill Thompson to create a series of four shirts, each of which tell part of a story written by Thompson. The tees will be revealed at a party during Comic Con International in San Diego in July.
- April 17, 2010 @ 05:00 PM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | Wildstorm announces The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull
The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull
Wildstorm announced a new project today at C2E2 by B. Clay Moore and Tony Harris –”a pulpy 1940’s noir, wartime London story” called The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull.
“The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull is a thoroughly modern book with dark, twisted roots. Its pulp inspirations are buried in landfills with original copies of PHANTOM DETECTIVE and WEIRD MYSTERY, but the book digs a little deeper into its characters than your grandfather’s pulps ever did,” said B. Clay Moore. “And in our world, a guy who wears a skull for a face is the closest thing to normal you’ll find.”
On his own blog, Moore added, “This book has been in the works for over two years, so I’m jazzed to start getting the word out,” he said. “You can bet I’ll be talking this bastard up a lot before it drops. Creator-owned, introducing a brand new character that Tony and I would like to run with for a long time.”
No word yet on when the series is due.
- April 17, 2010 @ 04:08 PM by JK Parkin
Greg Rucka teases new project with Rich Burchett
by Rick Burchett
Writer Greg Rucka, who recently moved on from DC Comics, yesterday teased a new project he’s doing with Rich Burchett on his blog.
Lamenting the fact that he wasn’t going to make it to C2E2 this weekend due to a stomach bug, he posted the design sheet for a “mystery figure” who will star in a new comic he’s doing. And he didn’t show all his cards in his post — in fact, he kept the identity of the artist a secret and offered up some Stumptown prizes for whoever could guess who he was working with. It didn’t take long for a fan to guess correctly.
No word yet on what the comic is called or who will be publishing it.
- April 17, 2010 @ 10:41 AM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | Friday
C2E2
C2E2 had some pretty high expectations to meet. Comics fans and professionals have been looking forward to it since it was announced, but especially after the disappointment of Wizard’s Chicago Comic-Con last year. Though people had some fun at the Wizard show, that seemed to be in spite of the convention rather than because of it and it’s been even more fun to anticipate having a truly awesome comics show in Chicago again. And with their success in New York, Reed seemed like the folks to do it.
LucasFilm artist Grant Gould and I drove to Chicago from Minnesota on Thursday and met our other roommates — Jason Copland (The Perhapanauts) and Uko Smith (FX 2: The Lost Land) — at the hotel. The downtown location of the convention was already an improvement over Wizard’s Rosemont location. Chicago’s a beautiful city and there’s an excitement in staying on Michigan Avenue that you just don’t get out in the ‘burbs. A couple of blocks’ walk and the four of us were at Lou Malnati’s having some of the best pizza Chicago has to offer.
Friday morning, Grant and Uko went to McCormick Place early to set up their tables, but Jason and I didn’t head over until later. Since the show didn’t open until 1:00, we weren’t sure how early Jason’s professional pass and my press pass would get us in. Grant called from the floor to let us know that Jason could come on whenever he wanted, so that just left me. I sent off a quick email to Reed to see if I could get in early, but I didn’t have a lot of hope for a response. I mean, it’s the first day of the show and Reed certainly has a lot more important things to do than answer dumb questions from bloggers who should have thought to ask this stuff a long time ago. Within a couple of minutes though, I got my reply and yes, I was welcome to enter the convention during set up.
What it was like after the break.
- April 17, 2010 @ 07:00 AM by Michael May
Holy Terror, Batman! may be dead, but Holy Terror isn’t
Earlier this week I linked to a report from last weekend’s MoCCA Festival where Frank Miller said he was no longer working on the long-awaited Batman vs. terrorism graphic novel, Holy Terror, Batman!
But that doesn’t mean the project is quite dead — only different. David Brothers points out a recent post by Miller at the Complete Frank Miller Website Forum, where he says the project has undergone a bit of a change — there’s no Batman in it:
Frank Miller's Twitter avatar
I’m still doing HOLY TERROR!–it’s just not a Batman story anymore. The content got too extreme, and a brand new superhero popped into my head. I’m 94 double-page spreads into it, with more to go. It’s going to be big and loud, I promise.
Neal Adams has fallen so in love with ODYSSEY that he’s scripting it himself. The artwork is STUNNING.
I’ve just turned in XERXES#1 and am going strong.
I’m keeping busy, folks! Having a great time!
Xerxes is the follow-up to 300 that was announced late last year.
- April 17, 2010 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | A roundup of day one news
Shadowlands
The news and announcements flowed freely on the first day of the brand new C2E2 convention, as well as at the Diamond retailer’s summit on Thursday. Here’s a quick summary, in case you missed anything …
- At the Diamond retailer’s summit, Diamond polled retailers on the possibility of moving from a Wednesday to a Tuesday ship date for comics. This would put them in line with DVDs, music and books.
- Marvel kicked off the con with a lot of announcements, not the least of which was two different Captain America mini-series. First up, Steve Rogers jumps into action in Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier, a four-issue miniseries by Ed Brubaker and artist Dale Eaglesham that kicks off in July. Eaglesham will no longer be drawing Fantastic Four as a result.
- That same month brings Captain America: Patriot, by Karl Kesel and Mitch Breitweiser. The four-issue series stars Jeff Mace, the former Patriot who took on the uniform while Rogers was frozen in a block of ice.
- Marvel also discussed the long-talked about Shadowland, a five-issue series by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan during their Mondo Marvel panel and their retailer presentation on Thursday. “You’re going to see a ton of heroes from Spider-Man and Wolverine to Luke Cage…some are fighting to keep New York safe, and some are fighting to keep it unsafe due to Daredevil’s takeover of the ninja organization The Hand,” said Editor Steve Wacker.
- April 16, 2010 @ 10:45 PM by JK Parkin
C2E2 pix | Creators on parade
Lora Innes
Lora Innes, creator of The Dreamer, was having a busy day.
- April 16, 2010 @ 05:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
C2E2 | What is Earth Zero?
Earth Zero
Writer Rick Remender sent out the above teaser today, which artist Greg Tocchini also posted on his website a few days ago. No idea what it is, but it isn’t the first project the duo has worked on, as the pair teamed for Radical’s The Last Days of American Crime last year. Maybe we’ll know more before the weekend is over.
- April 16, 2010 @ 04:56 PM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | Speedball bounces back in the Heroic Age
the Avengers Academy teaching staff
Some weeks ago, Marvel announced the student body of the upcoming Avengers Academy title by Christos Gage and Mike McKone. They were announced in a similar style to how Marvel rolled out their Avengers, New Avengers and Secret Avengers line-ups, but may not have had the same effect, since most of the students are characters we’d never seen before.
But every school needs some teachers, and at today’s Mondo Marvel panel at C2E2, Marvel revealed that the faculty for the book will include Hank Pym, Quicksilver, Justice, Tigra and Speedball. “He’s trying to move past the horrible things he’s been through as Penance, but he’s going to find out it’s not as easy as changing clothes,” Gage said.
With that being said, is there anything else out there that could signal a lighter, friendlier Heroic Age coming to pass than Robbie Baldwin — who was at the heart of the big disaster that kicked off Civil War, the 50 States Initiative and the whole superhero registration thing — dropping the S&M gear and returning to his old identity?
- April 16, 2010 @ 04:30 PM by JK Parkin