2010 August
Hetalia editor on digital-first strategy
Last week, the manga publisher Tokyopop announced they would release the first volume of Hetalia: Axis Powers digitally, via Zinio, before the print edition comes out—and at a lower price to boot, $5.99 as opposed to $10.99 for the print edition. Curious about their motives, I e-mailed a few questions to Tokyopop and Hetalia editor Cindy Suzuki was kind enough to answer them.
One more thing: In my last post on the subject I found an odd listing for Hetalia on Amazon and wondered whether it was a bootleg edition. Thanks to alert commenter Brack, who figured out that it is a printout of the Wikipedia article on the Hetalia franchise. I’m not sure why anyone would pay 12 bucks for that, but hey, it’s a free country.
Brigid: Why did you decide to release the digital edition both earlier and at a lower price than print?
Cindy: We thought Hetalia was the right brand to launch a digital-first program—there’s been such a demand to read it, we decided digital was the best way to satisfy the Hetalia cravings. Also, the ongoing battle against illegal scans weighed into our decision to release it early.
- August 18, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
First look at Fantagraphics’ Moto Hagio anthology
A panel from Hagio's story The Child Who Comes Home
Publishers Weekly Comics Week has posted a generous preview of Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories. The book, which will be released next month, is the first full-length Hagio work to be published in the U.S. since 1981, although a few stories have been published individually, including one in issue 269 of The Comics Journal. (Translator Matt Thorn also interviewed her for that issue.) Hagio is one of the masters of shoujo manga, and A Drunken Dream collects ten of her short pieces ranging from 1970 to 2007, so readers can see both her early and her more mature work.
- August 18, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Dean Haspiel’s Street Code goes digital
Back when Zuda, DC’s webcomics contest site, was still kinda fresh and new, Dean Haspiel pitched a couple of comics and the editors picked his semi-autobiographical Street Code as an instant winner. Haspiel, as he himself points out in the Zuda blog, shows his work in a lot of venues, most notably online as a founder of the Act-I-Vate webcomics collective. But when Zuda folded its tent, rather abruptly, a few months ago, the comics hosted there were left homeless.
Now Street Code has joined the migration of Zuda comics to the ComiXology platform. As Haspiel says in his blog post, “my stuff tends to serpentine around what’s popular for general comic book audiences,” but he draws an interesting analogy as to why ComiXology is a good fit:
if Vertigo, my bread and butter publisher the last few years, has been dubbed “the HBO of comics,” then I posit that Zuda is “the IFC of comics,” where, like ACT-I-VATE, alternative concepts are refined online with the distinct intent to expose and develop fresh voices that could otherwise be lost in the gutters.
An interesting theory, although it may be hard for Zuda to keep an independent identity when its comics are simply lumped in with all the others at ComiXology.
- August 18, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
Spider-Man: Total Mayhem coming to iPhones next month
Marvel.com has a trailer for a new Spider-Man game that’s hitting the iTunes store Sept. 2 Sept. 1. The game features a storyline “inspired by the Ultimate Spider-Man series” and features Venom, among other villains.
- August 18, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim: Daryl Gregory
Dracula: The Company of Monsters
Back when I interviewed novelist Daryl Gregory in February for my pop culture blog (TalkingwithTim) I found myself thinking: “I bet it’s not long before Gregory’s writing comics”. But to find out a few months later that he was teaming with one of my favorite comics writer, Kurt Busiek, still took me by surprise (in a positive way, promise). On August 25 (next Wednesday), BOOM! Studios will release the first issue of Busiek and Gregory’s Dracula: The Company Of Monsters #1. Back on August 9, CBR offered a preview of the first issue. As described there, the concept of the ongoing series is “A powerful, predatory corporation acquires a valuable asset…Dracula! They think they own him, but no one can own the Son of the Dragon. There’s a monster in their midst that puts Hannibal Lecter to shame–and he plans to gain his freedom in blood. It’s bloodsuckers vs. bloodsucker, as Busiek brings an incredibly modern spin to the Dracula mythos.” In addition to the preview, once you’ve read this interview with Gregory, be sure to enjoy CBR’s July 29 interview with Busiek about the project. All combined, with this info you’ll hopefully find a number of reasons to be on the lookout for the first issue next Wednesday.
Tim O’Shea: Did BOOM or Busiek contact you to join the project?
Daryl Gregory: Matt Gagnon from BOOM! contacted me. Chris Roberson, a friend of mine and a fantastic writer who’s doing a book for them (DUST TO DUST, the officially sanctioned prequel to DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRONIC SHEEP), basically forced my first novel into Matt’s hands. Kurt had pitched them his idea for Dracula but didn’t have room on his schedule to write it, and fortunately, something in Matt’s head went “ding!” When he asked me if I’d like to co-write a comic with Kurt Busiek, I thought about it for perhaps 2 nanoseconds. I’ve been a fan of Kurt’s since THUNDERBOLTS, and MARVELS was a huge influence on me.
- August 18, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Watch the new DC Universe Online trailer: ‘I am the next legend’
DC Universe Online
WB Games, DC Entertainment and Sony Entertainment Online have released another trailer for their much-anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game DC Universe Online. Debuting this week at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, the new teaser focuses on custom storylines that allow players to fight with, or against, DC superheroes — “I can choose to save the world … or destroy it” — and shows off plenty of new game footage.
Watch the trailer after the break. DC Universe Online will be released in November.
- August 18, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Fringe alternate covers surface on variant Fringe comic
Hey, remember those “alternate reality” comic covers that appeared on an episode of Fringe last season? They were designed by the artists at WildStorm for an episode that was set on a parallel earth where things were a bit “off” … like Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan wearing red instead of green, Jonah Hex replacing Guy Gardner in Justice League International, and other fun twists like that.
Well, in a weird bit of symmetry, it turns out that one of those covers will appear on an actual comic from WildStorm:
Above is the variant cover for issue #2 of Tales from the Fringe, a spin-off from the TV show. The cover probably looks slightly familiar to anyone who bought the “Death of Superman” books back in the 1990s. Also, I hear if you hold up that cover in front of the TV while watching the episode of Fringe where it appeared, you’ll destroy the space time continuum. So proceed with caution.
- August 18, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Rafael Grampa provides variant cover for American Vampire #6
And speaking of Rafael Grampa, I really dig this variant cover to American Vampire #6 :
American Vampire #6 variant
“I tried to make a ‘horror film’ poster, but very pop! It is based on some dirty and rough grindhouse movies posters + punk rock cover albums,” the artist said on Vertigo’s Graphic Content blog. “I loved to do it! We, comic book artists, need to hold the same style for a whole project, so it was an incredible chance to experiment something different. Thanks everybody and hope you like it.”
- August 18, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Isotope Comics deconstructs the Ex Machina creative process
Back in 2004, James Sime of the San Francisco-based comic shop Isotope Comics teamed up with Ex Machina’s Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris for a voter registration drive where they gave away free copies of the comic and, of course, encouraged people to register to vote for that year’s election. They followed that up with an Election Day party in November, where they gave away an Ex Machina “virtual Criterion Collection styled DVD extras disc, autographed by the creators and jam-packed full of goodness,” Sime said.
Teaming up with Darren and Michelle Murata, co-founders of San Francisco’s celebrated Technology Think Tank & Digital Design Bureau ComradeAgency.com we made something truly beautiful. Packed with pages upon pages of Brian’s never before seen scripts and Tony’s production artwork from start to finish, thisDeconstructing the Machine disc took viewers on a personal tour behind the wizard’s curtain in a way nothing else ever had before. And we gave them away for free to each and every person who attended our event. And also to 100 lucky fans across the nation.
With Ex Machina‘s last issue hitting stores today, Sime has taken the contents of the DVD and put them on his website. It includes interviews with the creators, behind-the-scenes tours of Jolly Rogers Studios, production artwork and lots more. Check out the site here.
- August 18, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Jaime Hernandez covers Strange Tales II #2
Strange Tales II #2
It isn’t often you’ll find a link from the Fantagraphics blog to Marvel.com, but the two seem to intersect squarely at Marvel’s Strange Tales II project. We’ve seen Rafael Grampa’s cover to the first issue, which was revealed back when the project was announced, and now Marvel has revealed the cover to issue #2, by Jaime Hernandez — who also has a story in that issue. Watch for it in November.
- August 18, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comixology celebrates anniversary with two-day sale
Comixology is celebrating the anniversary of their entry into the digital comics market with a two-day sale on select comics available on their comics by comiXology website. The sale should begin … well, any minute now, if by midnight they mean midnight Eastern time. They’re also giving away an iPad and running a sale on comics on the comiXology app for the iPhone and iPad on Thursday only.
Here are the details from the press release:
Comics by comiXology
Digital Anniversary Sale
● From Wednesday August 18th – Thursday August 19th, fans may login to Comics by comiXology on the Web* to receive 50% off select comics for 48 hours. Included in the sale are titles from DC Comics, BOOM! Studios, Robert Kirkman and comiXology’s own original graphic novel, BOX 13.
BOX 13: THE PANDORA PROCESS
● On August 18th, comiXology will also release the highly anticipated sequel to their self-commissioned comic, BOX 13. The follow up collaboration from Zuda and Harvey-Award Winning Creators David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, BOX 13: THE PANDORA PROCESS will launch allowing readers each new issue free for a limited time.
iPad Giveaway
● Finally, in celebration of the anniversary and the recently launched Comics by comiXology Web store and viewer, comic fans will automatically be entered into a drawing for an iPad with every web purchase made during the sale.**
David Steinberger, comiXology CEO, notes “Digital comics can look amazing on any device, PCs and Macs included, which is why we launched Comics by comiXology for the web. You don’t need to have an iPad or iPhone to enjoy digital comics, but we thought we’d make at least one web user’s day by giving them another brilliant way to experience digital comics.”
* Fans may also receive 50% of select comics through the Comics by comiXology iOS app on Thursday August 19th only.
** Purchase not necessary to enter. See Giveaway Rules for details on how to enter.
In addition to the big sale on BOOM!, DC and Walking Dead, they’ve got several other comics on sale as well, for 79 cents versus the usual 99 cents, from publishers like Dark Horse, Top Cow, Red 5, Dynamite, SLG and many more. So go check it out.
- August 17, 2010 @ 08:44 PM by JK Parkin
The Middle Ground #17: I Don’t Give A Damn About My Bad Reputation
Is it just me, or do some “classic” comics scare other people off by their reputation alone? I remember, for the longest time as a kid, being convinced that Maus or Watchmen would be not for me because I wasn’t smart enough, or mature enough, to handle such “heavy” reading (As it turned out, Watchmen ended up disappointing me because I lost interest the first time around – I look forward to your letters, as Craig Ferguson would say – and Maus bowled me over entirely, when I finally got over myself), and only read some other classics because I managed to stumble into them before I had discovered how highly regarded they were. Continue Reading »
- August 17, 2010 @ 06:01 PM by Graeme McMillan
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
The Light #5
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.
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.
Brigid Alverson
If I had $15 …
I would get the last issue of The Light ($2.99). I read the first two issues and was very impressed by the art and the characters; I need to catch up on this story and bring it to a close. I definitely want to get issue 2 of CBGB ($3.99), the comic that takes you behind the scenes at the world’s greatest nightclub, and issue 3 of Sixth Gun ($3.99), which promises to reveal some secrets and push the plot along. I’ll round it out with Donald Duck and Friends #357 ($2.99), and Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo ($1), which is an introduction to a series I have long been curious about but never read.
- August 17, 2010 @ 03:11 PM by JK Parkin
Youngest Eisner winner shares her thoughts on the winning story
“The Magician and the Snake,” by Katie Mignola and Mike Mignola, appeared in the Dark Horse Maverick: Happy Endings anthology back in 2003, and the daughter/father duo took home an Eisner award that year for it. Katie was seven when she wrote it, and now it’s seeing print again in The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects hardcover, which arrives in stores next week.
The young author shares her thoughts on the story on the Dark Horse blog:
The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects
I don’t remember much about how I came up with the story other than that I painted a picture of a snake yelling at a bunch of shapes. I didn’t put any more thought into it until my dad asked me what I did at school that day and I told him about the picture. I made up the entire story on the spot and my dad said that he would like to use it in a comic. Over the course of a few months my dad drew the story, changing small details as he went such as the monkey king, which wasn’t in my original story. There were a few things that I wouldn’t let him change such as the magician’s style (he wanted him to be a parlor magician and I wanted a classic stars and moons magician) and the death of the magician. My dad suggested that the magician turn the snake into a lion so that he could eat the shapes and save the magician but I, for some reason, said that the magician had to die at the end.
She goes on to say that she was excited to tell her friends about the win, but “none of them had any idea what an Eisner was so it didn’t really mean anything to them.”
- August 17, 2010 @ 01:33 PM by JK Parkin
What’s wrong with Booth?
Sometimes, when I’m reading a comic, I’ll think “This art is ugly” or “This is hard to read,” and I’ll wonder if it’s just me that thinks that.
In the case of Booth, the historical graphic novel about Lincoln’s assassin, by historian C.C. Colbert and French artist Tanitoc, it’s not just me. Writer J.L. Bell had the same reaction, and he explains one reason why: Misleading word balloons.
Take this panel, for example. The curve in the tail of the balloon at the left suggests that its words come from the balding man looking away from us. But in fact those words are those of John Wilkes Booth, in the muddy green. If I hadn’t remembered that in real life Booth claimed to have thrust himself into the John Brown affair, I would never have been able to interpret this panel.
Bell also notes that Tanitoc’s art is sometimes too blobby and hard to read visually. Despite these flaws, I would still recommend the book; the story was strong enough to carry me through the rough parts, but I do wish it had been a bit smoother.
- August 17, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Brigid Alverson