2010 April
Straight for the art | Jim Lee’s iPad fingerpaintings
The Joker by Jim Lee and his iPad
The benefits of early adoption: As Apple’s iPad takes the world by storm despite its dubious utility, DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee is taking his iPad and creating some pretty lovely portraits of Batman’s rogues gallery. The Dave McKean/Arkham Asylum-influenced Joker above is one of a pair of images of the Clown Prince of Crime Lee posted to Twitpic after losing his first and (according to him) best one to a crash, and there’s a Catwoman — “fingerpainted” on the iPad screen using Sketchbook Pro — below. Stay tuned to Lee’s Twitter account for more, I would imagine (and hope).
- April 5, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Guest shot | Archaia’s PJ Bickett on the iPad
Editor’s note: PJ Bickett, president of Archaia Entertainment LLC, sent out his thoughts on the new iPad on Saturday, which we’ve provided below in their entirety.
by PJ Bickett
iPad
Many people have been asking me this past week for my POV on the iPad, so I figured I would share with you in case you wanted the 1,000,000th POV. If you are already sick of hearing about the iPad, you might as well hit ‘delete’ now. For those that read on, I am going to try to keep this as short and interesting as possible.
To start, by no means do I think that the iPad is “revolutionary” as it is just the convergence of several existing technologies (many Apple’s) into one device. However, I unequivocally believe that the iPad is the biggest “game changing” media device now and for years to come!
It is important to note that I used the term “media device” and not “eReader,” as the “reader” is just one of many functions this device provides and why the iPad is in an entire class by itself. The Nook, Kindle and Sony’s eReader do not even come close.
As a result of the iPad truly being one of the most complete “media devices” ever created, the biggest opportunity for its success is the fact that the iPad will mean many things to many different people: from an entertainment device (portable DVD player and iTouch in one) to a functional work tool (eventually replacing the HP TouchPad almost every retail salesperson uses for ordering) to video gaming to educational device (Apple is working with several school districts to provide curriculum on it) to even comics (had to mention something relating to Archaia). It is for all these reasons, the Apple Brand Power and marketing prowess, and the fact that it really is more than an eReader that it will remain to be relevant. (A very important note is that Apple is already creating the third version of the iPad, so just imagine how many amazing new tools, features and functions will be available on this device.)
- April 5, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
IDW's Transformers app
Publishing | BusinessWeek looks at how companies like Marvel, Panelfly, ComiXology and Graphic.ly are promoting comics apps for Apple’s just-released iPad, and notes that a cautious DC Comics is still “assessing that tablet and other devices.” It’s a general overview, touching upon the “Is it a game-changer?” theme, but it offers one tidbit I don’t recall seeing previously: Apple takes 30 percent of sales, leaving publishers with — in the words of Panelfly’s Wade Slitkin — “the lion’s share” of revenues from comics purchased through iPhone apps.
The magazine also reports that Apple may have sold as many as 700,000 iPads in the debut weekend, more than double early estimates. In other iPad news: The Marvel Comics App, officially announced on Friday, is ranked at No. 14 on the list of free apps offered through Apple’s iTunes store. And on Saturday, IDW Publishing announced its entry into the iPad arena with four free apps. [BusinessWeek]
Legal | Bestselling Japanese author Manabu Miyazaki, son of a yakuza boss, last week sued police in Fukuoka prefecture for asking stores to remove underworld comics and magazines from their shelves. The police request was meant to enforce an ordinance designed to curtail the influence of the crime syndicates. [New Straits Times]
- April 5, 2010 @ 08:17 AM by Kevin Melrose
Nominees announced for 2010 Hugo Awards
Captain Britain and MI13, Vol. 3
Finalists were announced today for the 2010 Hugo Awards, which recognize the best in science fiction and fantasy.
Presented annually since 1955 by the World Science Fiction Society, the Hugo is among science fiction’s most prestigious awards. This year’s winners will be announced in September in Melbourne at AussieCon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention.
Nominees for Best Graphic Story are:
• Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? — Written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert and inked by Scott Williams (DC Comics)
• Captain Britain and MI13, Vol. 3: Vampire State — Written by Paul Cornell, penciled by Leonard Kirk with Mike Collins, Adrian Alphona and Ardian Syaf (Marvel)
• Fables, Vol. 12: The Dark Ages — Written by Bill Willingham, penciled by Mark Buckingham, Peter Gross, Andrew Pepoy, Michael Allred and David Hahn, colored by Lee Loughridge and Laura Allred, and lettered by Todd Klein (Vertigo)
• Girl Genius, Vol. 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm — Written by Kaja and Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
• Schlock Mercenary: The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse — Written and illustrated by Howard Tayler
This is only the second year for the Best Graphic Story category. Girl Genius, Vol. 8, won last year’s award.
The full list of nominees can be found at the Hugo Awards website.
- April 4, 2010 @ 04:41 PM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading?
D&D Player's Handbook
Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading. JK Parkin is off having fun at WonderCon, so it falls to me to handle this week’s column. Our special guest this week is New Zealand cartoonist Dylan Horrocks, who some of you might know as the author of the seminal graphic novel Hicksville, which was just re-released by Drawn & Quarterly.
To see what Dylan and the rest of us are reading hit the link below. Hard. Then let us know what you yourself are perusing in the comments section.
- April 4, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
WonderCon | Greg Rucka assures ‘there is no drama here, folks’
Greg Rucka
Writer Greg Rucka has relaunched his blog with a post that aims to head off speculation about his departure from DC Comics and the previously announced Batwoman title.
“There is no drama here, folks. It is as it appears,” Rucka wrote this morning. “I’m stepping away from DC to pursue different opportunities. Nothing more nefarious than that. Nothing less sinister. Time is a commodity that is as precious to me as it is rare, and there’s simply not enough of it.”
In the post, Rucka stressed that he tells stories — whether they’re in the form of comics, prose novels or video games — and will continue to do so.
“All I’m doing in stepping away from DC is carving time to tell the stories that have been whispering in the back of my mind for years,” he continued. “The last Carrie Stetko story. The next case for Dex Parios. The story of a family’s service to their country, told over two hundred years. The woman in blue. The other one, looking for a soul. The kids who take what they’re told. The killer who guards a park. The soldiers forever at war. The spy with one wound too many.”
During his spotlight panel at WonderCon on Friday, Rucka mentioned, among other projects, the continuation of Stumptown, the potential for a new Queen & Country series, and a collaboration with Detective Comics artist J.H. Williams III that he describes as “Bladerunner meets Blake’s 7.”
- April 4, 2010 @ 10:47 AM by Kevin Melrose
WonderCon | Gibbons, Jurgens, Morales and more on DCU: Legacies
DCU: Legacies #3
Leading up to today’s DC editorial panel at WonderCon, Alex Segura shares some news that editor Ian Sattler will talk about — that J.H. Williams III, Dave Gibbons, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Rags Morales and Dan Jurgens will all contribute to the DCU: Legacies title.
Announced back in December, Legacies is a ten-issue miniseries written by Len Wein that, according to DC’s co-publisher Dan DiDio, ” breaks down, over its chapters, the five generations of the DCU. They’re very concise generations, each with a beginning and end, and what you see is the various incarnations of our characters evolve, change and grow as the generations pass on.” Each issue is being drawn by a different artist.
Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert were announced as the art team for the first issue, and we’d heard before that Williams would be working on the title as well — his issue will feature the Silver Age Seven Soldiers. That’s Gibbons’ cover to issue #3 above.
- April 4, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | Kids vs Nazis, Round 2 (Ding Ding)
City of Spies
City of Spies
Written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan; Illustrated by Pascal Dizin
First Second; $16.99
This column wraps up sort of an unplanned First Second Month for us, but the publisher isn’t the only thing City of Spies has in common with last week’s subject. It also shares the concept of kids fighting Nazis, though it’s presented in a completely different way from Resistance.
If you look at the cover to City of Spies and imagine that it’s about a couple of New York kids who like to pretend to be superheroes, I’ll understand. That’s what I thought too. That’s also why I bumped a few other books ahead of it in my reading pile. It looks fun – and I love the European look of the art – but I had a hard time getting excited to read what I presumed to be a story about a couple of bored kids who let their overactive imaginations get them into trouble. I should’ve trusted First Second more. Though I haven’t loved everything they’ve published as much as everything else, unoriginality has never been a problem for them. Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, and Pascal Dizin have created a story with a lot more depth and emotion than I expected or even imagined.
It is indeed about a couple of New York City kids with too much time on their hands one summer. And they do get into some trouble chasing spies – or what they think are spies. But the story’s not some flighty, fanciful adventure. There are some heavy feelings at work all throughout the book that keep the plot grounded and make what’s going on feel important. If there are real Nazi spies running around New York stealing government secrets, Evelyn and Tony’s actions matter to the country. But even if it’s all in their heads, what they do will have a lasting impact on them and those around them.
Paranoia and spy-hunting after the break.
- April 4, 2010 @ 07:00 AM by Michael May
WonderCon | ‘DC is firmly committed’ to Batwoman, J.H. Williams says
Detective Comics #857
Following Greg Rucka’s revelation on Friday that he’s walking away from DC Comics and Batwoman, his Detective Comics collaborator J.H. Williams III offers some hope for fans of the character.
“I was afraid something like this was going to occur but held out hope that it wouldn’t happen,” Williams wrote this afternoon on his blog. “That DC and Greg could come to some sort of agreement, apparently not going to happen. So what does this mean for Batwoman and the project I’ve spent a decent amount of time and thought on? I don’t know. I do know that DC is firmly committed to this character from what I hear from them. So where does all of this leave us? I believe DC will want the character to continue somehow. In what form? I’m not sure, but she’ll be back, I’m sure of it. This character has too much potential to just go by the wayside. So we should be hearing some sort of news at the appropriate time I assume.”
Williams’ comments would seem to indicate creative differences between Rucka and the publisher, rather than editorial hesitancy regarding the character, led to the parting of the ways and the apparent shelving (for however long) of the solo title.
For fans of the Rucka-Williams team, the writer announced during his WonderCon spotlight panel that they’re collaborating on a project he describes as “Bladerunner meets Blake’s 7.”
Williams also reveals that, along with assorted variant covers, and a co-feature for DC Legacies, he’ll be illustrating another issue of Jonah Hex. His previous effort, Issue 35, was nothing short of stunning. In case you missed it, you can view several of the pages on Williams’ Flickr account.
- April 3, 2010 @ 01:52 PM by Kevin Melrose
WonderCon | Buffy‘s ‘more concise’ Season Nine should debut next spring
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Fans of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic series should expect a shorter, “more concise” ninth season to follow the sprawling, 40-issue Season Eight.
Buffy creator Joss Whedon, who serves as executive producer of the Dark Horse series, months ago confirmed that after the conclusion of this season, the team would “pause for breath,” then begin Season Nine. Friday at WonderCon, the publisher revealed that pause would be for about six months — meaning we could see the debut of the new season about this time next year.
Just as Whedon suggested back in September, the approach to Season Nine will be “very different,” and not quite as long.
“We’re going to be taking a shorter approach to it,” Jeremy Atkins, Dark Horse’s director of publicity, told FEARNet. “With Season Eight, we didn’t know how long it was gonna take to tell the story Joss wanted to tell. But we think that for this next time around it’s gonna be a little tighter, a little more concise.”
No writers have been announced for Season Nine, but Georges Jeanty will continue as artist.
For more about Buffy and other Dark Horse series, read Comic Book Resources’ WonderCon panel report.
- April 3, 2010 @ 10:21 AM by Kevin Melrose
WonderCon | Greg Rucka walks away from Batwoman, DC Comics [Updated]
Batwoman, by J.H. Williams III, from "Detective Comics"
The bombshell from the first day of WonderCon wasn’t the announcement of a new title but rather the apparent confirmation that DC Comics has again shelved plans for a Batwoman series.
Unofficially announced in December, the Batwoman title, by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III, was to have continued their award-winning story arc from Detective Comics — itself the product of years-long corporate starts and stops. But last month, at Emerald City ComiCon, Williams offered the first indication the project had hit another roadblock: “I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”
Rucka all but confirmed the title’s fate Friday during his WonderCon spotlight panel, where he revealed he doesn’t know what will happen with Batwoman. He also said that on Thursday he turned in his last work for DC, at least for the foreseeable future.
“It is agonizing to walk away from Batwoman,” the writer was quoted as saying.
- April 3, 2010 @ 06:40 AM by Kevin Melrose
WonderCon | Photos from day one
Wow, I’m tired .. had a blast today, but I’m wiped out. I wanted to write something up about the first day of WonderCon, but instead I’m just gonna show off some pictures and go to bed. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow will be longer.
Note that the first six pics here are courtesy of Carla Hoffman, so I’m not entirely sure what some of them are of; the rest are mine.
Joe Kelly and a really big fan
- April 2, 2010 @ 11:24 PM by JK Parkin
WonderCon | HBO website carrying IDW’s just-announced True Blood comic
IDW's "True Blood" miniseries
Although it’s now been officially announced at WonderCon, news trickled out a little early on the HBO website and on Twitter that IDW Publishing will release a six-issue miniseries based on the hit drama True Blood.
What’s more, the show’s fans may buy the comic through the HBO Shop, which has the July debut issue available for pre-order.
The title is co-plotted by True Blood creator Alan Ball and series writers Elisabeth Finch and Kate Barnow, and written by David Tischman (Bite Club) and IDW Associate Editor Mariah Huehner. It’s illustrated by David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown), with covers by Messina and J. Scott Campbell.
True Blood, which debuted on the cable network in September 2008, is based on the bestselling Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris. Set in the fictional small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, the critically acclaimed drama details the tense co-existence of humans and vampires — and the occasional shapeshifter — focusing primarily on the web of relationships surrounding telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). In its two seasons, True Blood has become HBO’s most-watched series since The Sopranos.
The IDW miniseries takes place on a hot, rainy night at Merlotte’s bar, where Sookie, Bill, Eric — really, Eric? — Sam, Tara, Jason and Lafayette are trapped by a vengeful spirit that feeds on shame, and forced to dredge up dirty secrets and dark memories from their pasts. I’m just grateful Eggs isn’t involved. (However, a little Lettie Mae wouldn’t be a bad thing.)
The third season of True Blood debuts on June 13.
- April 2, 2010 @ 06:09 PM by Kevin Melrose
WonderCon | Larfleeze Christmas Special coming this year
Larfleeze
Here’s a bit of fun news … at the Geoff Johns spotlight panel at WonderCon, DC’s new CCO just announced that a Larfleeze Christmas Special is coming out this year. It will feature everyone’s favorite Orange Lantern hunting for Santa Claus — the guy who gives things away for free.
Watch for more news from the panel (in the form of my write-up) on CBR proper.
- April 2, 2010 @ 03:19 PM by JK Parkin
Six by 6: The six most underrated comics of 2009
At the end of any given year, when critics and fans pull together their list of favorites and best-ofs, there are always the books that get left behind, the titles that, for one reason or another, don’t get the critical acclaim and discussion they deserve. We’ve all got our list of books we feel were unjustly ignored. The following is my own list of six titles I think were underrated or insufficiently praised. It skews heavily towards the Fanta/D&Q side of things, but such are the vagaries of my interests at the moment. Feel free to argue about my choices or make some of your own in the comments section.
- April 2, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner