2010 August
Library reorganized to shield youth from harmful comics
Psychic Academy, one of the manga Barbaree sought to ban
A few weeks ago, we reported on one Margaret Barbaree, who wanted all manga removed from the public library in her hometown of Crestview, Florida. Ms. Barbaree’s complaint evoked hoots of derision, and some rather unkind personal attacks, from across the blogosphere, but in the end, things may have worked out well for everyone.
Barbaree filed over 200 challenges to individual books in the Crestview library, asking that they be removed from the shelves, and she argued her case in a news piece (scroll down to the July 9 video) for the local cable station. While she may not have been the most articulate spokesperson, her crusade brought up some issues worth discussing. On the one hand, libraries should not have to restrict their collections to books suitable for a five-year-old, and individuals should not be able to dictate what all the patrons of the library can read; on the other hand, it’s reasonable to keep younger readers away from the more lurid adult graphic novels. In fact, the library had already shelved the books Barbaree complained about in the adult section, but now it has created a separate teen room and moved the adult and teen books farther apart. This seems to bring the Crestview library solidly into the 20th century—did they not have a teen room before? Still, they seem to have done a nice job of it, getting the teens involved and taking the opportunity to jettison their collection of VHS tapes (which probably got them a few more irate letters, but there’s no pleasing everyone). More importantly, everyone’s problems were solved without resorting to the nuclear option of removing all graphic novels from the library, and that’s a lesson that some other library districts could learn from—including the Wicomico, Maryland, school system, where Dragon Ball has been banned from all school libraries, including the middle and high schools (the first volume carries a Teen rating, according to the Viz website).
- August 11, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Kodansha to publish yakuza, samurai manga
Cover of the prose edition of Yakuza Moon
Talking to Publishers Weekly Comics Week, Sean Michael Wilson, the editor of the alt-manga anthology AX, reveals that the Japanese publisher Kodansha is bringing out a line of mature manga works. (It’s not clear whether Wilson is referring to Kodansha USA, Kodansha’s US manga publishing arm, or Kodansha International, which is a different division.)
Either way, this sounds like an intriguing project, both in the way it is being done and the books they are working on. Wilson is actually writing the books, which are adaptation of Japanese prose works, and they are going to be published in English in Japan and then in North America and the UK. Wilson has four books scheduled; the first are Hagakure, an adaptation of In the Shadow of Leaves, a guide for samurai, and Yakuza Moon, the true story of a woman born into a Yakuza (Japanese organized crime) family.
Wilson is also working on Gekiga Freaks, the manga biography of Masahiko Matsumoto, whose Cigarette Girl is due out next year from Top Shelf, but the publisher for that project has not been determined yet.
- August 11, 2010 @ 07:30 AM by Brigid Alverson
All six volumes of Scott Pilgrim hit the iPad, iPhone
Scott Pilgrim on the iPad
Just in time for his big-screen debut, all six volumes of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim are now available for purchase digitally via a new application on the iPhone and iPad.
The app is free, along with the first 37 pages of the first volume and the Free Comic Book Day comic that’s set between volumes 3 and 4. The first five volumes can be downloaded for $6.99 each, while the sixth and last one costs $11.99. Created by Comixology, the app hits on the same day that the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World video game arrives on the PlayStation Network and, of course, just a few days before Scott Pilgrim vs. the World arrives in theaters.
Update: I’ve added the official press release after the jump … also, if you’re in the UK, Scott Pilgrim is published by Fourth Estate over there, and they’ve got their own iPhone app for it: http://www.scottpilgrimtheapp.com/.
- August 10, 2010 @ 06:30 PM by JK Parkin
DC says plans for the Earth One original graphic novels ‘have not changed’ [Updated]
Superman: Earth One
To OGN or not to OGN, that is the question that’s been raised by panel reports from San Diego that suggest DC may have changed their plans for their Earth One graphic novel series — something that DC said isn’t the case.
Back in December, DC announced a new series of Earth One original graphic novels featuring Superman and Batman set “on a new earth with an all-new continuity.” During the Superman: The Man of Tomorrow panel at Comic-Con International last month, someone asked J. Michael Straczynski about the future of these graphic novels. Straczynski is the writer of the first one being released this November, which features the story of a young Superman.
“The last question went to Straczynski,” CBR’s panel report by Kevin Mahadeo reads. “The fan asked whether the writer plans on continuing the ‘Earth One’ stories. The writer revealed that the hardcover release will be followed up with single issues, which will later be collected.”
Although panel reports on both Comic Book Resources and Newsarama were published during the show, it wasn’t until this past Sunday that people really started to take notice of that sentence — Kevin Huxford, Johanna Draper Carlson, Heidi MacDonald and Augie De Blieck Jr. have all posted about it this week.
- August 10, 2010 @ 05:24 PM by JK Parkin
The Middle Ground #16: Play That William Tell Overture One More Time
I’ve talked before about the oddness of Dynamite’s Green Hornet line, I think; the sheer deluge of books so quickly after launch, and the way it makes little sense to me in any way other than ensuring a lot of bookstore product in time for January’s movie release. But I’ve been reading a lot of the books recently, and now I have to admit: It makes even less sense. Continue Reading »
- August 10, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Graeme McMillan
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Bone: Tall Tales
Welcome once again to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy based on certain spending limits — $15, $30 to spend and if we had extra money to spend on what we call the “Splurge” item.
So join Brigid Alverson, Chris Mautner and me as we run down what we’d buy this week, and check out Diamond’s release list to play along in our comments section.
Chris Mautner
If I had $15:
This one’s easy, as Wednesday sees the arrival of Jeff Smith’s latest Bone-related project, Tall Tales ($10.99 paperback, $22.99 hardcover — I’m obviously going for the paperback here). My daughter has become obsessed with Bone — to the point where she’s started making her own Bone-related comics (complete with theme music) — and is eager to pick up the latest volume, even if it does mostly collect material she and I have read before (namely the Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails series). I’ll probably pick it up on the sly this week and give it to her for for her birthday next month.
- August 10, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Scott Pilgrim’s Bryan Lee O’Malley draws the X-Men’s Emma Frost…with sexy results!
Emma Frost by Bryan Lee O'Malley
I bet you never even realized that a drawing of Emma “The White Queen” Frost quietly planning to “polish her diamond form” by Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley was exactly what your life was missing, did you? Then thank Douglas Wolk for bringing this final piece of our collective psychological puzzle to our attention.
- August 10, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Spider-Man musical set to open Dec. 21
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
The much-delayed and problem-plagued Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway musical now has an opening date — Dec. 21. Preview performances begin Nov. 14.
The $52 million production, which was supposed to open this past spring, will run in the newly renamed Foxwoods Theatre. The cast includes Reeve Carney as Peter Parker, Jennifer Damiano as Mary Jane Watson and Patrick Page as the Green Goblin. Rehearsals begin Aug. 16.
The musical is directed by Julie Taymor, who brought the Lion King to Broadway. Featuring a score by Bono and the Edge, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark could be the most expensive musical in Broadway history, with weekly production costs of more than $1 million — hundreds of thousands of dollars more than elaborate shows like Mary Poppins and West Side Story.
- August 10, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Quote of the day | Dustin Harbin vs. small-press comic cons
Don't mess with Dharbin
“I can’t BELIEVE MoCCA’s table prices. They are drinking the same hubris Kool-Aid as SPX. Why are the charity shows always the cheekiest? I saw it and I was like *slaps head*. Although to be fair, I’ve never exhibited there, just been a crowded hot attendee. (I read some interviews with them after the super hot year, they were all like ‘hey listen, it’s summer, it gets hot.’) Not to mention how expensive NYC is in general! Just makes it easier to skip. Also today I got my acceptance letter (???) for APE, after applying 3 months ago. Due date for payment: 1 week from now. I had always heard about how well-run HeroesCon is from guests, but now I see why. Indie shows are organized like block parties. Except the kind of block parties where they charge you like $50 to come in, then charge you for beer too. ‘Dude it’s for charity!’ SPX is pretty fun, but TCAF is the best one easily–plus Toronto = my favorite city! Wait, please exclude TCAF from that mini-rant. TCAF is a dream, a dreammmm. Other shows take note! Okay back to lettering, sorry.”
—Cartoonist, Casanova letterer, and “nicest guy in comics” candidate Dustin Harbin has an uncharacteristically grumpy moment on Twitter over the prices that the MoCCA Art Festival is charging exhibitors, and the administration of indie/alt-comics shows generally (except TCAF, of course). It’s hard out there for a minicomics creator.
- August 10, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Drawn & Quarterly announces Daybreak…sorta
Daybreak cover sketch by Brian Ralph
Maybe it was the sharpened instincts I gained from reading Brian Ralph’s first-person POV post-apocalyptic thriller Daybreak, which uses that unique videogame-style eye-view perspective to put you in the middle of the action like no other comic from the zombie craze. Or maybe I’m just a good guesser. But when Ralph (an alumnus of the ultra-influential Providence art/comics/music collective Fort Thunder) started posting never-before-seen Daybreak cover sketches to the New Bodega blog last week, I had a hunch this meant that the acclaimed three-part series had a collected edition in its future. Now Drawn & Quarterly’s Tom Devlin confirms the upcoming creation of a Daybreak hardcover, kinda, with a series of rhetorical questions: “Next Fall?…Additional epilogue? Deluxe hard cover treatment? Comic-Con debut? Are these things in the offing from D+Q?” I’ll bet my right arm that the answer to all these questions is “yes”…
- August 10, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Morrison on Batman Inc., team-ups and that yellow circle
Batman: The Return #1
In an “art imitates life” kinda way, when Bruce Wayne returns to the present after his trip through time in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, he’s appropriately going into the franchise business.
As we learned in San Diego, Batman Inc., set to kick off in November, will see Bat-scribe Grant Morrison and artist Yanick Paquette chronicle Bruce Wayne’s attempts to recruit other heroes to wear the costume. Talking to the L.A. Times’ Geoff Boucher, Morrison reveals more details about the book — which will feature Dick Grayson, Knight and Squire, and El Gaucho.
“A lot of the experiences that he’s been through now, the way I want to play it is that they have changed his focus and his view of what his mission is and what he can accomplish. He starts to bring in more people. The first 12 issues of the book will be team-ups with Batman and different characters as he traveling the world and kind of training people,” Morrison told Boucher.
The article also includes a look at David Finch’s cover to Batman: The Return #1 (right) and his cover to Batman: The Dark Knight #1, both of which feature a “tweaked” costume design that includes the return of the yellow circle around the bat. Morrison and Finch’s Batman: The Return mini-series kicks off in October, while Batman Inc. and Finch’s Batman: The Dark Knight both start in November.
- August 10, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Dear publishers: A rant about websites
I spend a lot of time skipping around publishers’ websites, and lately I have been surprised at how difficult it can be to find even basic information about a comic. As a comics blogger, I naturally use these sites a lot, but it also seems to me that comics readers are an independent lot and providing them with as much information as possible would be an excellent way to market your book. And yet…
So for the benefit of any publishers (or would-be publishers) that are out there, here is what I really, really want to see on your website. And I’ll finish on a positive note, I promise, with an examples of websites that get it right.
A catalog page for every comic you produce: That seems obvious, doesn’t it? You would be surprised how many websites don’t provide that, though. Just working on this week’s Food or Comics post, I looked for and couldn’t find pages for individual comics from Archie, IDW, and Top Cow—in some cases there was a page for a series but not an individual issue. A catalog page doesn’t have to be an elaborate thing—just a cover image, basic information like authors, price, and ISBN, and the blurb from the back cover. It’s enormously helpful to journalists like me, who like to check their facts, as well as to readers who want to know what they are buying. Also—this is another simple thing that lots of publishers overlook—the catalog page for a single issue or volume should include links to all the others in a series.
- August 10, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Caveat creator
Can I pay for this with two copies of this blog post?
The Twitterverse was all abuzz yesterday about this post, in which a cynical game producer advises skipping the professionals and trolling Deviantart to find game artists. A few of the comments really set people off:
These guys aren’t used to making a lot of money for their work so they will be more appreciative of the chance even if they are being payed slightly less than what professionals are payed. Second of all, they’re better… Unless you have a specific price you want to pay in mind, ask THEM what they are willing to charge for the project. This usually causes people to give offers that are lower than what you normally pay, and will make them happy.
…
If an artist knows how much their artwork will increase the value of the game they will then feel they deserve that amount of money. This is not how a market economy works, you hire whoever is able to do the best job for the lowest amount of money, anything else is a loss of money on your end.
The original post has garnered 948 comments so far, and there’s a lively discussion going on at The Beat and Colleen Doran’s blog as well. Meanwhile, Bleeding Cool has another cautionary tale, about Bluewater Comics offering an artist two copies of their Justin Bieber comic in exchange for the copyright to the painting he posted on DeviantArt.
- August 10, 2010 @ 07:16 AM by Brigid Alverson
Talking Comics with Tim: Chris Samnee
Thor: The Mighty Avenger 3
This Wednesday will see the release of the third issue of writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee‘s Thor: The Mighty Avenger. Anyone reading our weekly What Are You Reading column knows how much I’ve praised the first two issues. Samnee and I spoke briefly at this past June’s HeroesCon and from there an email interview came together. In addition to Thor, we discuss some of Samnee’s past work as well as his upcoming collaboration with writer Jim McCann on I Am An Avenger 1. Earlier today, CBR posted a five-page preview to Thor: The Mighty Avenger 3.
O’Shea: What’s the most enjoyable aspect of working from a Roger Langridge script?
Samnee: Roger’s scripts are really funny – I laugh out loud when I read them! I love the humor as well as his ability to tell quiet, emotional moments. Since Roger’s also an artist, he’s really good with pacing and page turns as well. And the scripts have a very silver-age feel, which is right up my alley.
O’Shea: I keep re-reading Thor: The Mighty Avenger 1 trying to figure out what my favorite scene was–and I can ‘t decide if it’s when we first see the Rainbow Bridge on page 2; or the first scene where Thor smiles. Was the smiling Thor a character suggestion from Langridge or was that your idea?
Samnee: The smile was in the script. Roger made clear right from the outline for the book that this Thor smiles and enjoys himself. For me, that was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the book, as an artist and a reader of comics. I’ve worked on a lot of heavy books – it’s a nice change of pace to be on something a bit lighter, a comic where the characters are having fun.
- August 9, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Hero Initiative raffles ticket to the Cubs game with Brian Azzarello
100 Bullets/First Wave scribe and “long-suffering” Cubs fan Brian Azzarello has teamed up with the Hero Initiative to take three fans out to the ball game. Azzarello has season tickets to the Chicago Cubs, who play the New York Mets on Sept. 3.
“Misery loves company, and I’m happy to share this experience with three lucky fans,” said Azzarello. “The Hero Initiative is an important cause, and I’d like to thank the great Chicago comic retailers for making this all happen. Take it from me, the beginning of September is the perfect time to begin waiting for next year. Go Cubs!”
For two bucks, you can buy a raffle ticket at several Chicago comic shops for the chance to win, including Challengers Comics, Chicago Comics, Comix Revolution and Graham Crackers Comics. Tickets will also be available at Hero Initiative’s booth at Wizard World Chicago at the Rosemount Convention Center, Aug. 19-22.
- August 9, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin