2010 April
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A roundup of publishing news
- A hardcover collection of the first chapter of Karl Kerschl’s Eisner-nominated webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher is now available for pre-order. “Wrapped in an embossed, faux suede cover, this 144-page tome collects all of the comics from the first two years of the series, along with many additional illustrations and a gorgeous 40″ gatefold at the end of the book, featuring a dramatic pencil rendering of the key players, all in one scene,” the description reads.
- Artist Mike Hawthorne shows off some nice pages from an as-yet-unrevealed Vertigo title.
- Avatar Comics is launching a new imprint called Boundless Comics. The first comic they’ll publish is Lady Death, penned by her creator Brian Pulido and co-writer Mike Wolfer. They also plan to publish a series of trades that’ll collect older Lady Death material.
- Image Comics will publish a new miniseries by Ben McCool (Choker) and Nikki Cook (DMZ) called Memoir.
- Pat Lee will return to comics with Widow Warriors, a new book that’ll be published by Dynamite.
- April 16, 2010 @ 07:00 AM by JK Parkin
C2E2 | Could New Comics Day move to Tuesday? [Updated]
Diamond Retailer Summit
At the Diamond Retailer Summit on Thursday at C2E2, the direct-market distributor floated the possibility of shifting comics-release day from Wednesday to Tuesday — a proposition frequently discussed among store owners and publishers.
According to a brief report at iFanboy.com, Diamond offered the idea contingent on retailer agreement to pay an additional $5 a week. In a show of hands, a Tuesday release narrowly won.
A Tuesday New Comics Day would put the direct market in line with DVD and book releases.
Developing, presumably …
Update: Heidi MacDonald has more details of the proposal, which would see all stores receiving shipments on Monday — rather than some on Tuesday and others on Wednesday — for a Tuesday street date. I was initially stumped by the reason for the $5 surcharge, but MacDonald reports it would be to fund a “Street Date Team” to help ensure that retailers don’t violate the Tuesday release.
- April 16, 2010 @ 06:15 AM by Kevin Melrose
Dark Horse and Hammer Films to produce comics line
Let Me In
Hammer Films and Dark Horse have partnered for a line of comics and graphic novels based on films from the legendary horror studio.
However, Heat Vision reports that the first title won’t be an adaptation of one of the Hammer classics from the 1950s and ’60s, but rather a tie-in to Let Me In, the company’s remake of the 2008 Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In (based on the 2004 novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist).
Manhunter writer Marc Andreyko has been hired to pen the comic, described as a “spinoff” that “will incorporate some of the film’s characters and mythology with some fresh themes.”
Set for an October release, Let Me In centers on the relationship between a bullied 12-year-old boy and a centuries-old vampire child. The remake moves the setting from a suburb of Stockholm to a small town in New Mexico.
- April 15, 2010 @ 06:37 PM by Kevin Melrose
Details revealed on Bendis and Maleev’s creator-owned series Scarlet [Updated]
Scarlet
We may not be any closer to knowing what “O-X” is all about, but this afternoon we learned a few details about Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s new creator-owned title Scarlet.
On G4 TV’s Attack of the Show, “Fresh Ink” host Blair Butler revealed the Icon series is a “real-world” crime comic in the vein of Bendis’ Jinx. Scarlet centers on a woman “who is pushed to the edge by the fractured modern world” but fights back, starting a revolution in the process.
More intriguing, Butler said Bendis will experiment with a new storytelling approach in which “the fourth wall won’t just be broken to engage the reader — it’ll be smashed.” Scarlet is set to debut in July.
Scarlet marks Maleev’s first creator-owned work, and Bendis’ first since Powers, his long-running superhero-police procedural with Michael Avon Oeming. Bendis and Maleev first worked together in 2000 on the Spawn spin-off Sam and Twitch, and have since collaborated on such Marvel titles as Daredevil, Halo: Uprising and Spider-Woman. A creator-owned collaboration has been teased since at least July 2007.
Update: Watch the video after the break.
Update 2 (Friday A.M.): Bendis’ Jinxworld website now has a section devoted to Scarlet, featuring covers by Maleev, Oeming, David Mack and David Lafuente, desktop wallpapers and promotional banners. (And, yes, I realize now that “O-X” represents the … masking tape? … on Scarlet’s breasts. However, I was busy taking notes during the “Fresh Ink” announcement, and could do little more than glance at the images on the TV screen.)
Comic Book Resources has more details.
- April 15, 2010 @ 05:05 PM by Kevin Melrose
The return of Spanish Alan Moore: ‘Alan Moore! I have joints!’
Remember that video we posted last month of a Spanish Alan Moore impersonator talking about Watchmen and fandom, and eating a page of From Hell? Of course you do. Well, it turns out there’s a rather surreal — okay, more surreal — sequel featuring an ode to Unbreakable, a cartoon snake … and Jumble, the idea elf who lives in Moore’s beard. Bless you, Neil Gaiman.
- April 15, 2010 @ 02:33 PM by Kevin Melrose
Grumpy Old Fan | Morning has broken
Brightest Day
Let me be clear right from the start: I don’t think that Dan DiDio, Geoff Johns, and assorted other DC functionaries had this week in mind whenever they decided to kick off a cycle of crossover-driven carnage which Blackest Night brought to a close. I don’t think they said to each other, back during George W. Bush’s first term, “we want a miniseries starring the Hawks, Aquaman and Mera, Captain Boomerang, Firestorm, and Black Adam Jr. We’ll bring Deadman back to life, and he’ll tie it all together. Oh, and we’ll bring Barry Allen back and launch his new book the same day.”
It’s a neat thought, though, isn’t it? Barry was the avatar of the Silver Age, and his new #1 drops the same week as the first issue of the you’d-think-it-would-be-peppy Brightest Day. They’re both written by DC’s new Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns (BD is co-written by Peter J. Tomasi). Heck, DC should’ve gone for broke and called April 14, 2010 the start of the Brightest Age. Some loose ends notwithstanding, I think we are done for a while with the annual Event That Changes Everything — and before I bury the lede too deeply, I’m not entirely sold on BD, but I liked Flash #1 a lot.
(SPOILERS FOLLOW for both books…)
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- April 15, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Mark Millar vs. … Marvel? [Updated]
The teaser image that broke Mark Millar's internet in half
So you’ve seen the X-Men teaser images Marvel’s been putting out featuring (among other strange character choices like Elektra and She-Hulk II) Blade and what sure looks like Vampire Jubilee, right? So has Ultimate Comics Avengers writer — and current toast of Hollywood thanks to Kick-Ass — Mark Millar.
Apparently the “X-Men vs. vampire mutants” storyline people have deduced from the teaser images is awfully similar to an upcoming Ultimate Avengers storyline Millar’s been talking about for years…and he’s very, very upset about this. Like, to the point where if I were Marvel, I’d worry that he might show up at the office in a green-and-yellow jumpsuit with a crowbar or two.
Here’s the rundown of Millar’s furious posts on his message board, in a thread titled “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS X-MEN/ BLADE THING” (all-caps in original):
- April 15, 2010 @ 01:22 PM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | Sean’s David Bowie Sketchbook, MoCCA 2010
David Bowie by Niklas Asker
I’ve been collecting David Bowie sketches from comics artists at shows and cons since MoCCA 2007. What can I say? He’s my favorite superhero. In that time I’ve amassed drawings of the chameleonic musician from 97 different artists, and adding to the collection is always a high priority for me at every show. I had exceptionally good luck at this year’s MoCCA — you better hang on to yourself as we flip through this year’s haul!
Niklas Asker (above): Oh man, look at that, just look at it. How can a sketch be shiny? Niklas Asker pulled it off with maybe the most elegant and sexy Bowie of the batch–no surprise, if you’ve seen his graphic novel Second Thoughts.
- April 15, 2010 @ 12:40 PM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | Comic Twart tackles Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest, Bandit and Dr. Zin's giant robot spider, by Andy Kuhn
This week, the Comic Twart online art collective selected the 1960s animated series Jonny Quest for its members to illustrate. It’s a cartoon near and dear to my heart because, as a kid, I’d watch the reruns every morning before school (having no idea the show had originally aired before I was born).
Twarts Andy Kuhn, Evan Shaner, Chris Samnee and Mike Hawthorne, naturally, deliver in their takes on Jonny, Dr. Quest, Race, Hadji, Dr. Zin and Bandit.
Browse through the blog’s archives for renditions of Hawkman, Archie, Dan Dare, Torpedo and countless other characters.
(via Marc Bernardin)
- April 15, 2010 @ 12:04 PM by Kevin Melrose
Kickstart my art | Steve Earnhart and Pat Loika’s The Villain
The Villain
Steve Earnhart and Pat Loika released the first issue of The Villain in San Diego last year and had planned to follow it up with three more issues and an eventual trade paperback collection.
“However, as any independent publisher can attest: printing a short run of full color, standard 22-page comics is simply not cost-effective,” Earnhart writes on Kickstarter.com. “In fact, one could say it’s cost-prohibitive. So in order to capitalize on our momentum and keep costs down as low as they can be we hit the accelerator and knocked out the entire arc – 70 more pages (total page count around 100). We’re absolutely thrilled with the results and are really looking to make a splash at San Diego CCI this July, but the bottom line is this: To do it right, we need your help.”
Earnhart and Loika plan to print the 100-page graphic novel in time for this year’s San Diego Comic Con and are using Kickstarter to raise funds. You can get some cool stuff from them for donating anywhere from $1 to $350; check out their Kickstarter page for more information. You can check out a preview of the book here.
- April 15, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
What happened to media’s love affair with ‘flame-haired lesbian’ Batwoman?
Batwoman, from J.H. Williams III, from "Detective Comics"
Following Wednesday morning’s announcement that the long-discussed Batwoman solo title would indeed debut in July — without Greg Rucka, but with J.H. Williams III, joined by co-writer W. Haden Blackman and, later, artist Amy Reeder Hadley — I braced for another onslaught of mainstream-media coverage.
After all, newspapers, cable-news networks and entertainment websites have a long fascination with lesbian socialite Kate Kane, aka the “lady-lovin’ Batwoman,” that dates back to her May 2006 unveiling in The New York Times, and continued through her July 2006 comics debut in 52. That fixation with the “hot lesbian” — or “flame-haired lesbian,” if you prefer — began anew almost three years later, after DC Comics announced that Batwoman would take the lead in Detective Comics during Batman’s “death”-induced absence.
So it stands to reason the official confirmation of a Batwoman monthly series would draw the same sort of attention, right? After all, the elements that fueled the previous media frenzies are still there: homosexuality, the familiar Bat-brand, the idea that comics are a children’s medium. But this go-around, things have been relatively quiet.
- April 15, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
C2E2 | CBLDF, Beanworld and more
C2E2, the new Chicago convention brought to you by the makers of the New York Comic Con, kicks off tomorrow at the Lakeside Center at McCormick Place. In fact, announcements have already started rolling out in conjunction with the convention.
Here are a few more items of note if you’re attending the show. Check back to CBR and Robot 6 all weekend for news, announcements and reports from the show.
*****
Beanworld creator Larry Marder has an offer for fans who bring either of the recent Beanworld collections from Dark Horse up to him to sign:
He’ll also be trading your homemade Beanworld sketches for his homemade Beanworld sketches.
- April 15, 2010 @ 10:27 AM by JK Parkin
My MoCCA haul
Sean's MoCCA 2010 loot
I came to shop.
Seriously, I was just about as excited for this past weekend’s MoCCA festival as I’ve ever been for any comic convention. And it wasn’t because of the guests or the panels or even getting to see so many of my friends and colleagues — it was because of the comics. The best thing about a small-press show is your ability to dig into the tables and come away with enough treasures to keep you reading happily for weeks. Proceeding from the top left of the picture above in as logical a fashion as I can manage, here’s a rundown of my personal treasure trove…
- April 15, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Stan Lee and Iron Man 2 team up to sell Dr Pepper
Yeah, so I’m totally embedding a commercial into the blog. I know, I know … but before you judge me, you should know that it a) has an Iron Man theme, b) features that greatest of Texas beverages, Dr Pepper and c) guests stars Stan Lee. Watch and enjoy:
If you head over to the Dr Pepper website, you can also see all the cool can designs they’ve created featuring Tony Stark, War Machine and even Nick Fury … who doesn’t want a Samuel L. Jackson Nick Fury Dr Pepper can? It will go well with my Spider-Man and X-Men Dr Pepper cans.
- April 15, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
C2E2
Conventions | On the eve of the inaugural Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, the Chicago Reader examines the escalating competition between convention owner Reed Exhibitions and longtime Chicago Comic Con organizer Wizard Entertainment: “It’s but one battleground in a war the two powers are waging across the country — an epic struggle that some observers see as a contest between the forces of good and, well, not so good.”
Writer Deanna Isaacs touches upon the rise of Wizard’s Rosemont event to the second-largest comics convention in North America, and its more recent decline. She quotes a couple of local retailers who have become “disenchanted” with the show. But Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus shrugs off the complaints: “Everybody’s going to tell you this or that. You’re talking about one person. We have 1,000 vendors at our show in Chicago, and they make a lot of money.”
The Daily Herald interviews C2E2 show-runner Lance Fensterman, who says he expects between 35,000 and 40,000 attendees this weekend. The Chicago Tribune, meanwhile, offers its own preview, with eight “must-see” convention events, and brief Q&As with Alex Ross and Jeff Smith. [C2E2]
- April 15, 2010 @ 07:18 AM by Kevin Melrose