2010 May
Court orders new trial for retailer Michael George in store killing
Michael George
Retailer Michael George, convicted in March 2008 of fatally shooting his first wife Barbara in 1990, should get a new trial, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled today.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the appellate court said Macomb County Circuit Judge James Biernat didn’t abuse his discretion when in September 2008 he determined George was entitled to a second trial after defense attorneys discovered new evidence.
Prosecutors plan to appeal today’s decision to the state Supreme Court.
Barbara George was shot in the head on July 13, 1990, while preparing a surprise birthday part for her husband at Comics World, the Clinton Township store the couple owned. Although police suspected that Michael George had killed his 32-year-old wife, the case went cold until 2007, when a detective reopened it. Prosecutors contend that Michael George staged the killing to look like a robbery so he could collect money from an insurance policy and a shared estate, and start over with another woman.
A jury found Michael George guilty in March 2008 of first-degree murder, felony firearm, insurance fraud and obtaining money from an insurance agency under false pretenses. He was sentenced to life in prison in June 2008, but Biernat set aside the conviction less than three months later, citing prosecutorial misconduct — prosecutors had shown Michael George’s mug shot to the jury — and the release of new evidence that could lead the jury to believe another person was responsible for the murder of Barbara George.
- May 5, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | J.H. Williams III’s Batman Beyond variant cover
Nothing like a little art process to help start the day … artist J.H. Williams III takes apart and reassembles a variant cover he did for the upcoming Batman Beyond miniseries from DC.
“This one was a bit unusual because I had to draw it and then sort of take it apart and put it back together,” he wrote on his blog. “I was a little worried about this one because I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to do it after drawing. I knew that the inked version was far from feeling finished to me because I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. All I knew is that I wanted to try out some different things stylistically than I normally do. So I winged a lot of it, trying out a different drawing look on Bruce Wayne, something less realistic. Same goes for the color processes, I approached it very organically, not knowing where it was all headed.”
Head over to his blog to see how it all came together.
- May 5, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Modesty Blaise
Passings | Writer Peter O’Donnell, creator of the Modesty Blaise comic strip, died May 3 at age 90. Steve Holland notes that although the prolific novelist suffered from Parkinson’s disease, he “kept in touch with fans and continued to pen introductions for Titan’s Modesty reprints.”
Born in south London on April 11, 1920, O’Donnell wrote such adventure strips as the long-running adaptation of the James Bond novel Dr. No, Garth, and Romeo Brown before being asked in 1962 to create a new character for the Daily Express. He came up with Modesty Blaise, whose catsuit-wearing heroine fought villainy with the help of her right-hand man Willie Garvin. The strip was quickly picked up by the Evening Standard, and ran from May 1963 to July 2002.
O’Donnell also wrote a series of Modesty Blaise novels and, under the pen name of Madeleine Brent, several historical romances. [Bleeding Cool, Guardian, Times Online]
- May 5, 2010 @ 08:12 AM by Kevin Melrose
The Middle Ground #3: Whatever Happened To The Mainstream?
Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1
I keep getting caught up in thoughts about mainstream comics. I might be imagining it, but I seem to remember a movement some years ago that tried to rebrand certain indie publishers (Maybe just one publisher? For some reason, I’m convinced that it was Oni Press, but I don’t want to tar them with this brush if I’m wrong) as The Real Mainstream, or The New Mainstream, or some variation on that idea. The thinking, as far as I remember it, was that what we call “mainstream comics” – i.e., Marvel and DC – don’t really reflect mainstream pop culture, and that the books that do come from the publishers somewhat ostracized by the comics industry. Nowadays, of course, I’m not sure that you can really make the same argument.
It’s not that publishers like Oni or IDW or BOOM! or whomever aren’t continuing to put out material that’s in tune with whatever pop zeitgeist is out there at any given opportunity, because they are (Albeit with different methodologies; Oni by, for the most part, creating all-new series and stories that reflect or anticipate trends, IDW by licensing movies and TV shows like Transformers or True Blood. Sure, they sometimes swap – The very idea of Oni’s upcoming Yo Gabba Gabba comic makes my head spin as much as it makes my heart swell, I have to admit – but generally, it’s a relatively safe rule of thumb), but more that… Well, you can’t really discount superheroes as part of the popular culture conversation anymore. I mean, seriously: Who in the US isn’t at least considering going to see Iron Man 2 (International fans: I wouldn’t presume your desires, now that the movie’s been out in many countries for the last week or so)?
- May 4, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
Straight for the art | E.J. Su’s covers for Transformers: The IDW Collection
"The Transformers: The IDW Collection," Phase One, by E.J. Su
Chris Ryall, publisher and editor-in-chief of IDW Publishing, shows off artist E.J. Su‘s beautiful covers for The Transformers: The IDW Collection, a two-volume oversized hardcover collection of the company’s entire run of the series. The first volume will be released on May 26 with the second due out later this year. Visit Ryall’s blog to see the cover of the second volume.
- May 4, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Translate this! Greg Shaw’s Travelling Square District
Travelling Square District
The French zine du9 has a review up of Greg Shaw’s Travelling Square District, which is making me really, really want to read it. Published by the Belgian house Editions Sarbacane, it seems to be a riff on the endless canvas notion of comics: The cover shows a panoramic view of a big city, and each interior page zooms in to show a close-up of one tiny piece of action. The structure seems to be a bit more complicated than that; du9 compares it to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and the other reviews I have seen (mostly in French) all touch on the comic’s theatrical aspects. The Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels (hey, for the first time in my life, I want to go to Brussels!) just did an exhibit based on the book. It’s a great concept, and I hope someone brings it over here soon.
- May 4, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
What’s the best comic shop in the world?
Hermkes Romanboutique
Mark Millar would like to know, and he’s running a contest in the issue of Wizard Magazine he’s guest-editing to find out. Submit your favorite shop before May 14.
And if anyone has an extra airline ticket to Germany, I’d love to visit Hermkes Romanboutique …
- May 4, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Homoerotic He-Man and Tron
Are you "master of your universe"?: Art by Nick Mullins
I think we can all agree it’s a great day that sees not one but two ’80s sci-fi-fantasy icons fed through a Tom of Finland filter by talented cartoonists — and my friends, today is a great day. Both Johnny Ryan and Nick Mullins have taken inspiration from the uber-macho gay erotica artist for their drawings of characters from Tron and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, respectively. Will anyone else follow suit with, say, Thundercats or The Last Starfighter or something? All I know is that Destro and Doctor Mindbender are already dressed for the occasion …
(via Mike Baehr and Tom Spurgeon)
- May 4, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Straight for the art | Cool old magazine covers
Popeye as you have never seen him before
I’m not sure why exactly Stephen Kroninger decided to post a bunch of magazine covers from the 1970s and 80s, but they’re fun to look at, and there are some old friends here like Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb. That Popeye cover alone was worth the click for me. (Found via Journalista.)
- May 4, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Stan Lee, Brad Meltzer team up with the History Channel
Stan Lee
Per The Hollywood Reporter, two comic scribes are making history — History Channel shows, to be exact.
First, comics legend Stan Lee will co-host a show with Daniel Browning Smith called Stan Lee’s Superhumans. Smith, also known as “Rubberboy,” is a contortionist. Cue the Mr. Fantastic jokes now. Lee and Smith will be looking for “people who have remarkable abilities because of being genetically different,” the trade reports. It’s set to debut in the third quarter.
And in the fourth quarter, The History Channel will debut Brad Meltzer’s Decoded, where the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Identity Crisis writer will decode “familiar symbols.” No other details were mentioned, but maybe you can slip in a question about it tomorrow when he answers questions on Twitter about his Buffy run.
- May 4, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
Everyone’s a Critic | A roundup of comic book reviews and thinkpieces
Satsuma Gishiden: Blood, guts, and civil engineering
Review: David Welsh analyzes the first volume of Satsuma Gishiden, which combines extreme violence, political maneuvering, and public works projects to good effect.
Review: Rob Vollmar on all seven volumes of Oishinbo, which is not your typical shonen-battle cooking manga:
Often, Yamaoka and crew will help a struggling business turn around by showing them the error of mishandling a vital ingredient to their menu. Even if only patiently explaining how minor differences in procedure or food quality can effect a given dish, Oishinbo reveals its most important function; namely, holding a sustained and very personal dialogue between writer and audience about the nature of food and our relationship to it.
Review: Tom Ewing discusses the Image series Phonogram:
For one of the friends I lent Phonogram to, the phonomancy parts crystallized “the indie-teen conviction that indie people are magically better at feeling music than other people are.” What would it be like, Phonogram asks, if listening to your special music actually did make you special?
The answer, Ewing concludes, is “It would suck,” but how he gets there makes interesting reading.
- May 4, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Danzig and Rollins and Lost, oh my!
A pair of off-the-beaten-path comics have surfaced over the past few days that are perfect for readers who like their comics with a pop-cultural flair. First up, there’s Henry & Glenn Forever, a collection of romantic one-panel gags starring those famous star-crossed lovers, Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig. If you’ve ever wanted to know how the lead singers of Black Flag and the Misfits would maintain a relationship in the face of interference from their Satan-worshipping next-door neighbors Darryl Hall and John Oates, now’s your chance. Henry & Glenn Forever comes to us from Igloo Tornado, a collective consisting of The Blot‘s Tom Neely and his artistic compatriots Gin Stevens, Scott Nobles, and Levon Jihanian, and it’s available for $4 from Microcosm.
- May 4, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Hiroki Otsuka: Artist in residence
Hiroki Otsuka's Samurai Beam
The Japan Society of New York is featuring the works of Utagawa Kuniyoshi in their gallery at the moment; Kuniyoshi was a 19th-century printmaker whose style and imagery are a big influence on today’s manga artists.
To show that influence in action, the society brought in Hiroki Otsuka, best known as the artist of The Boys of Summer, to be their artist-in-residence through mid-June. Otsuka’s workshops are sold out, but you can read the manga he is creating, Samurai Beam, online; the first chapter went up and others will follow.
I’ll admit to not being super impressed with this manga—the story is looking pretty standard so far, and there are some typos in the dialogue—but Otsuka has a nice line, and his use of limited colors is interesting. In Japan, he does mostly ero-manga, and Japanator’s Brad Rice talked to him about that line of work a few years ago (images may be NSFW). The Japan Society’s interview with Otsuka is more serious (except for the title) and talks about his process and influences. There’s more at his website, including the hottest artist photo in manga.
- May 4, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Mark Millar to launch UK monthly magazine with Kick-Ass sequel
Mark Millar
After just last month teasing “something pretty damn awesome coming up,” Mark Millar this morning announced CLiNT Magazine, a new monthly venture with Titan Magazines.
The debut issue, which goes on sale in September in the United Kingdom, will feature the launch of his sequel to Kick-Ass — Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall — as well as contributions by TV presenter/comics writer Jonathan Ross (Turf) and comedian Frankie Boyle. The 100-page magazine will include interviews and features about movies, television and games, as well as four serialized comics.
“This is The Eagle for the 21st Century,” Millar said in a statement. “I’ve worked on everything from Spider-Man comics to the Iron Man movie for Marvel in New York, but what really excites me is the gap I see in the UK market at the moment. There are absolutely no comic-books aimed at 16-30 year old guys and I think CLiNT has potential to make an enormous impact, bringing a new type of magazine to a new generation.”
On his message board, Millar underscored that CLiNT is “aimed almost entirely at the UK.”
“It’s obviously massively exciting and I’ve been secretly working on it for a little while with some people I’m very excited about,” he wrote. “Some huge names coming down the pipe-line and the cream of UK journalist talent like Steve O’Brien on for features and interviews. All in all, very cool and I’ll talk about this in a little more detail closer to the time. But this is one of the reasons I’ve been spending a lot of time in London lately. I want to make this big, a cultural phenomenon and a showcase in parts for the UK talent I don’t feel has a wide platform anymore here.”
See the full press release after the break:
- May 4, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
I Rule the Night returns to Zuda as a mature readers title
I Rule the Night
Fresh off the news that they are ending their monthly competitions, Zuda announces this week that Kevin Colden’s long-delayed I Rule the Night, one of the site’s instant winner strips from last year, is back after a 10-month hiatus. And it is now Zuda’s first mature readers strip, meaning you’ll need to create an account and log into the site to read it.
“That’s the reason behind the hiatus. Mostly. There was some other business going on with switching publishers and new executives,” Editor Ron Perazza said on the Zuda blog. “Corporate structure aside, we knew this series was going to touch on some dark, thought provoking themes when it first launched but we still needed to do our editorial due diligence, plot out the series with Kevin and, in a larger context, determine just what having a mature readers series for ZUDA might mean. On the development side we have to make sure that users were able to opt in or out of viewing mature content, should they decide that it simply wasn’t for them, and how this affected navigation, the comic display and other site sections.”
Readers who don’t want to view mature content will be able to opt out, Perazza said. He also added that the strip will be updated three times a week for the rest of season one and on into season two.
- May 4, 2010 @ 09:09 AM by JK Parkin