2010 July
SDCC ’10 | A roundup of Friday’s news
Comic-Con International
The second day of Comic-Con International, which began with the official word of Warner Bros.’ Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters video game, concluded with the presentation of the 22nd annual Eisner Awards and news of a feature-film adaptation of Will Eisner’s landmark graphic novel A Contract with God.
In between, there were plenty of other comics announcements:
• During DC’s “Batman: The Return” panel, Grant Morrison revealed he and artist Yanick Paquette will launch Batman, Inc., an ongoing series that will see Bruce Wayne joined by a number of other characters wearing the mantle of the Bat. CBR TV spoke with DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio about the new title.
• In the “DC Nation Special Edition” panel, Geoff Johns revealed plans for a second ongoing Flash series titled Flash: Speed Force, which will focus on the other speedsters of the DC Universe. DiDio also said the publisher will begin reprinting Young Justice material in October.
• Top Shelf unveiled plans to publish Jeffrey Brown’s Incredible Change-Bots Two, five new graphic novels for kids (plus new volumes of Korgi and Owly), Kagan McLeod’s Infinite Kung Fu, and Jess Fink’s Chester 5000 XYV collection. The publisher also previewed a page from Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century #2 — 1969.
- July 24, 2010 @ 10:37 AM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’10 | Red Hulk joins the Avengers in November
Avengers #7 variant
Marvel announced yesterday at the “Marvel: The Heroic Age: Avengers” panel that a Hulk is returning to the Avengers — the Red Hulk, that is. According to the panel report by CBR’s Kiel Phegley, the Red Hulk will join the Avengers team November’s issue #7 at the start of the second arc.
The variant cover for the issue by Ed McGuinness is up top, and you can see the cover by John Romita Jr. on Marvel.com.
- July 24, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’10 | A Contract with God optioned for film
A Contract With God
At the Eisner Awards ceremony last night, Denis Kitchen announced that Will Eisner’s A Contract with God is coming to the silver screen, courtesy of writer and producer Darren Dean, co-executive producers Bob Schreck and Michael Ruggiero, and directors Tze Chun, Alex Rivera, Barry Jenkins and Sean Baker, among others.
Each of the directors will direct one of the graphic novel’s four adjoining chapters. Principle photography will begin in 2011.
“Getting to know Will Eisner was one of the great honors of both my personal and professional journeys,” Schreck said in a press release. “We are all well aware that the work ahead has a very high bar of excellence to aspire to set by Mr. Eisner’s pioneering achievements in storytelling.”
Read the entire press release about the project after the jump.
- July 24, 2010 @ 07:02 AM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’10 | Winners announced for 22nd annual Eisner Awards
2010 Eisner Awards
A Drifting Life and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz were among the titles winning multiple honors in the 22nd annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, presented Friday night in conjunction with Comic-Con International. David Mazzucchelli and J.H. Williams III led the creator categories with two wins each.
The winners were announced at the Hilton Bayfront by presenters ranging from the cast of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and actor Thomas Jane to cartoonists Berkeley Breathed and C. Tyler. Bongo Comics co-founder Bill Morrison and voice actor Maurice LaMarche were the masters of ceremony.
The complete list of nominees can be found here. The winners of the 2010 awards are:
Best Short Story
“Urgent Request,” by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, in The Eternal Smile (First Second)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Captain America #601: “Red, White, and Blue-Blood,” by Ed Brubaker and Gene Colan (Marvel)
- July 24, 2010 @ 06:32 AM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’10 | An Asgardian hat trick at the Marvel booth
Thor, Loki and Odin helmets
Playing the God of Thunder, his mischievous brother or their father takes more than just a powerful presence, it also takes the right headgear. No doubt you’ve seen pictures of the gigantic throne of Odin in the Marvel booth at the San Diego Comic-Con, but today Marvel unveiled what was inside a case at the foot of it — the helmets that will be worn by Thor, Loki and Odin in the upcoming Thor film.
If you can fight your way into the always-crowded Marvel booth, they are worth a look.
Update: Kiel Phegley has more pictures of the helms on CBR
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- July 23, 2010 @ 09:34 PM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’10 | ‘Let the universe howl in despair for I — what was the question?’
Grant Morrison acts nonchalant in the presence of the Lord of Apokolips (photo by Kevin Mahadeo)
This photo, taken by CBR’s Kevin Mahadeo during this afternoon’s “DC Nation Special Edition” panel, will haunt my dreams. No Omega Beam-related audience casualties have been reported.
- July 23, 2010 @ 06:45 PM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’10 | DC to launch second Flash series, Speed Force
Art from "The Flash: Rebirth" #6, by Ethan Van Sciver
In this afternoon’s “DC Nation Special Edition” panel at Comic-Con International, Geoff Johns revealed a second Flash title will debut in 2011.
Called, appropriately enough, Flash: Speed Force, the new ongoing series will focus on the other speedsters of the DC Universe, such as Bart Allen, Wally West, Jesse Quick and XS. (Max Mercury is back now, right?)
No further details were offered. However, it’s probably safe to presume that Johns, writer of The Flash, will be handling Speed Force as well.
- July 23, 2010 @ 06:17 PM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’10 | Top Shelf gets naughty with Jess Fink
At their spotlight panel today, the folks at alternative comics publisher Top Shelf talked about a metric ton of titles they’ve got coming down the pipeline. None are more intriguing to me than the work of Jess Fink, a newcomer to the Top Shelf stable best known for her erotic steampunk-porn webcomic Chester 5000 XYV. Top Shelf is releasing a Chester collection in December — quite a stocking stuffer for that special someone! — and following it with another book from Fink called We Can Fix It!, which combines memoir and science fiction and promises to be on the sexy side as well. Fink, who’s also working on a new website for her personal comics and a one-shot featuring the band Mindless Self Indulgence for Image, took time out from turning people on to tackle our questions about her relationship with Top Shelf, sex, science fiction and more.
So how did a nice girl like you get mixed up with a dirty comic like Chester 5000 XYV?
Ha, who are you calling nice? And girl? And Jess? Oh wait, that is me. I’ve been drawing dirty things for a loooong time, longer than I’ve been comfortable telling people I draw dirty things so it’s more like how did this nice comic get mixed up with a dirty person like me? If we want to talk about inspiration I think a lot of it came from the Tijuana Bibles which were these tiny porn comics made in the 20′s-40′s. Before porn was legal to sell guys used to sell these little black and white books on the street. When I found out about them I became obsessed and I knew I’d have to make some of my own.
- July 23, 2010 @ 05:40 PM by Sean T. Collins
SDCC ’10 | Kagan McLeod’s Infinite Kung Fu coming from Top Shelf in 2011
No doubt you and probably everyone you know have seen Kagan McLeod‘s illustrations. His art has appeared in seemingly every major magazine being published today — Time, Entertainment Weekly, BusinessWeek, Maxim, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Money, Wired and many more, as well as newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. When he isn’t drawing illustrations for his clients or winning awards, he’s self-publishing his own comic, Infinite Kung Fu. You can also find chapters of it on Top Shelf’s website.
At Comic-Con International today, Top Shelf announced they will collect the series into one graphic novel next year. The collection will include all seven of McLeod’s self-published comics, plus about 200 as-yet-unpublished pages. McLeod was kind enough to answer my questions about the book, kung fu, self-publishing and more.
JK: When did you start self-publishing Infinite Kung Fu, and what led you to start doing it on your own?
Kagan: I guess it was 2000 or 2001. It was my first trip to an Artist’s Alley at a comic convention that made me want to do it on my own. I had never even thought of showing it to a publisher. The thought of getting tables at shows and getting the books into local comic shops was very appealing, though after a few years it kicked in that making money in $3 increments is tough, especially when you factor in all the expense that goes with it.
- July 23, 2010 @ 05:35 PM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’10 | First look at LoEG Vol. III: Century #2 — 1969
From The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. III: Century #2 - 1969
Ahoy, there! You’re looking at a page from the next installment in Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s decades-spanning, mind-expanding adventure The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, unveiled this afternoon during co-publisher Top Shelf’s spotlight panel at Comic-Con International. (See the full image after the break!)
Slated for a 2011 release, this second chapter show an ever-dwindling League navigating the perilous waters of late-’60s swinging London, as criminals, hippies and occultists jockey for power over the impending birth of the Antichrist. Moore spoke with Comic Book Resources at length about the series last year: Here’s part one and part two. Who needs Watchmen sequels, right?
- July 23, 2010 @ 05:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
SDCC ’10 | Ch-ch-ch-ch-Change-Bots Two with Jeffrey Brown
The ‘Bots are back in town! Well, they will be sooner or later, anyway — attending the San Diego Comic-Con is keeping creator Jeffrey Brown from polishing off the last few pages of Incredible Change-Bots Two, the sequel to his loving parody of the Transformers and Go-Bots of ’80s action-figure and cartoon fame, until August. (And yes, the “two” is fully spelled out.) But it’s not keeping him from talking to us about the upcoming Top Shelf release, one of, like, a bajillion books the publisher talked up at its panel today.
How long have you been planning Incredible Change-Bots Two? Did you need to see how the first volume did, or were you full-steam-ahead from the jump?
I started thinking about it shortly after finishing the first on. The book was so much fun to write, and draw, and the characters were already kind of taking on their own life. Plus people really liked the first one, and I hope that someday I’ll make enough things that people like, that they’ll like me too.
What’s the basic scoop on the sequel, storywise? Any new ‘Bots to look forward to?
At the end of the first book, Shootertron was defeated and left in a pile of rubble on Earth while the other Change-Bots headed into space to find a new home. Shootertron wakes up, but has lost his memory, but the other Change-Bots end up back on Earth because of some miscalculations, and a run-in with Shootertron becomes inevitable. There’s lots of new ‘Bots, but they mostly get killed off right away, because there’s not enough room in the book. I liked how the old cartoons did that too, introduce a new character and then the character disappears at the end of the episode.
- July 23, 2010 @ 05:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
SDCC ’10 | Top Shelf announces five new graphic novels for kids
Top Shelf already has three winning kids’ series in Owly, Korgi and Johnny Boo. In today’s Comic-Con International panel, the publisher highlighted five new additions:
• Maddy Kettle, by Eric Orchard: A fantasy adventure about an 11-year-old girl on a mission to rescue her parents — who have been turned into kangaroo rats.
• Monster on the Hill, by Rob Harrell: Another fantasy tale, this one set in a small English village in late Victorian times, with a gently comic story of a monster who isn’t quite scary enough.
• Pirate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken, by Ray Friesen: Friesen draws goofy, funny webcomics about silly animals doing wacky things, often involving pirates.
• Okie Dokie Donuts, by Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos: Trouble in the donut shop! Need we say more?
• Upside Down, by Jess Smart Smiley: Life is good for a cheery, candy-loving vampire until his teeth start falling out and a witch sets out to cleanse the world of vampires.
(Links are to Top Shelf’s catalog pages, which are already up.) The publisher also announced some new additions to its existing line: A third volume of Korgi, a full-color edition of Owly (published by Atheneum), and a sixth black-and-white volume of Owly.
- July 23, 2010 @ 05:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’10 | Tokyopop calls for a Priest
Tokyopop's Priest app
Tokyopop’s big San Diego news is that the long-delayed film Priest, based on the manhwa (Korean comic) by Min-Woo Hyung, will finally be released in May 2011, with Paul Bettany in the lead.
At this afternoon’s Priest panel at Comic-Con International, Tokyopop staffers introduced a Priest iPhone/iPad app and showed off a sneak peek of the full-color comic prequel Priest: Purgatory, available exclusively at the convention — oh, and here, where we have the cover and a three-page preview after the cut.
Priest: Purgatory will debut in comic stores on Aug. 1.
- July 23, 2010 @ 05:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’10 | Morrison and Paquette launch Batman Inc. ongoing series
Batman, Batman and Robin by Frank Quitely
Batmen? The riddle of Grant Morrison’s post-Batman and Robin, post-Return of Bruce Wayne, post-Batman: The Return work with the Dark Knight has just been solved: Morrison and frequent collaborator Yanick Paquette will launch an ongoing series titled Batman Inc. The book will see Bruce Wayne joined by a number of characters wearing the mantle of the Bat.
“All I’m going to tell you up front is basically it’s almost a team book,” Morrison explained today during DC’s Batman panel at Comic-Con International, where the book was announced. “I was looking at the Brave and the Bold cartoon which I love and I wanted to do that kind of thing — Batman with other people. We’re come up with a structure that let’s us do kind of a team book.”
Speaking to CBR’s Jonah Weiland, DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio said the concept has been in the works for years. “This was in place even prior to Batman R.I.P.,” he said. “When [Morrison] came out with his two to three-year plan of what he wanted to do with Batman, we were building to this point.”
All told, it’s a pretty novel solution for the question of who would be Batman once Bruce Wayne returned to find his former protege Dick Grayson wearing the cape and cowl. As DiDio put it, “A lot of people have come to us and said, ‘When Bruce Wayne returns, who’s gonna be Batman?’ The answer is ‘more than one.’”
- July 23, 2010 @ 03:51 PM by Sean T. Collins
SDCC ’10 | Grant Morrison’s indie flick Sinatoro
Word started spreading through the San Diego Comic-Con late last night like the movie-buzz equivalent of the Anti-Life Equation: Grant Morrison is writing an independent horror/thriller/psychedelic/god-knows-what film called Sinatoro. Music video director Adam Egypt Mortimer is slated to direct. With Morrison’s spotlight panel underway at the moment I’m sure more info is to come, but for now, you can find the press release below…
- July 23, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Sean T. Collins