2010 September
First Second announces two new releases
First Second Books has just added a winter list to its traditional spring and summer releases. It’s just two books, but it’s nice to see a quality graphic novel publisher expanding its offerings rather than going into retreat. Here’s the 411, straight from First Second marketing coordinator Gina Gagliano:
Lewis & Clark
Most Adorable Book of the Season: Zita the Spacegirl, by Ben Hatke.
Here’s what happens in Zita the Spacegirl: Zita accidentally gets transported into space, and she has to figure out how to get home and also make friends with many alien robots and a giant mouse along the way. Also includes: bonus space-chickens!
Book Most Likely to Make You Grateful that You Are Inside by a Fire and Not Trekking across the Country Having No Idea Where You’re Going: Lewis & Clark, by Nick Bertozzi
Here’s what happens in Lewis & Clark: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explore the American West, in a non-fictional sort of way! Also includes: lots of expansive landscapes that make you realize just how intimidatingly big the American West was before we all started flying across it in six hours.
There’s more at the links, but that’s the gist of it. Look for both in February, but you can read previews at the links. And while I’m saying nice things about First Second, it’s nice to see a publisher get the website thing right, with a clean, useful catalog page for each book that’s up well in advance of publication.
- September 28, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Brigid Alverson
Howard Chaykin covers collector’s edition of Star Wars Insider
Star Wars Insider #122
Star Wars Insider, the official Star Wars magazine, is marking the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back — lord, I feel old — with a limited-edition collector’s cover and pull-out poster by legendary artist Howard Chaykin.
Chaykin, of course, created the Star Wars promotional poster sold in 1976 at San Diego Comic-Con, and penciled the first 10 issues of Marvel’s Star Wars series.
Stars Wars Insider #122, which goes on sale on Dec. 14, delves into the making of the original Star Wars comic by Chaykin and writer Roy Thomas, and includes a never-before-published transcript of a meeting between George Lucas and Chaykin regarding the adaptation.
The limited-edition cover is available only through comic stores; the poster comes free with the regular newsstand edition.
You can see the poster, and read the press release, after the break.
- September 28, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Grant Morrison — cover model?
Cover to 'Grant Morrison All Star'
Here’s an evocative illustration I found by Francesco Biagini for the cover of a new book of essays about Grant Morrison. I don’t know much about the book besides this, but I hope it comes out in English!
For more, check out this site.
- September 28, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Chris Arrant
AdHouse collects rare Joshua Cotter newspaper strips
Early this morning AdHouse Books gave subscribers to its e-newsletter the exclusive first look at one of its upcoming projects: a collection of rare newspaper strips by Joshua Cotter (Skyscrapers of the Midwest).
The book, titled Barbra in the Sky with Neil Diamonds, is a collection of the newspaper strips Cotter created from 2002 to 2007 for the Kansas City Star. AdHouse is taking a unique approach to this, with a print run of just 99 copies, each one being numbered and accompanied with a matching S&N print. It’s going to retail for $39.99 and will debut in December at the Brooklyn Graphic Art Festival.
AdHouse has a preview correct preview up on its website. Fans of Cotter should make sure they read Robot 6′s interview with Cotter from back in May.
- September 28, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Quote of the day | Joe Quesada, on retconning ‘One More Day’
“MJ unknowingly beat Mephisto at his own game. By agreeing to MJ’s terms, Mephisto has actually wiped himself from ever having been involved in their lives. In fact, looking at it linearly, those four issues never happened. Along with the wedding, ‘One More Day’ and Mephisto have been wiped out of continuity and Peter and MJ never made that bargain. … Ooooooh, me hears something breaking.”
– Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, splitting the Internet in half with his explanation of how
“One Moment in Time” has removed from continuity the controversial events of “One More Day”
- September 28, 2010 @ 08:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Buenaventura Press reborn!
Pigeon Press announcement
Or maybe that headline needs a question mark instead of an exclamation point — I’m not exactly sure, and publisher Alvin Buenaventura is letting the picture at right speak for him. But, yes, over on the Blog Flume group blog, Buenaventura posted the image, announcing the launch of Pigeon Press with the latest installment in two of the late, lamented Buenaventura Press’s comic series, Matt Furie’s Boy’s Club #4 and Lisa Hanawalt’s I Want You #2.
It was with heavy heart that we reported the closing of Buenaventura Press back in June after several months in limbo, owing to what Buenaventura described a single knockout financial-legal blow. In addition to comics by Furie, Hanawalt, Ted May, and Eric Haven, BP also released high-end prints, the acclaimed critical publication Comic Art, and recent volumes of Sammy Harkham’s hugely influential anthology series Kramers Ergot. It remains to be seen just how much of a continuation of that work Pigeon Press constitutes, but it’s certainly good to see Boy’s Club and I Want You back in the game at the very least.
- September 28, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Celebrate Banned Books Week: Read a comic!
The most shocking book in America?
This week is Banned Books Week, an annual event sponsored by the American Library Association and a host of other organizations to bring attention to books that have been challenged or removed from libraries, schools and reading lists over the past year. You can find the full list of challenged books from 2009-2010 here, and it contains plenty of good reading, from Sherman Alexie’s Diary of a Part-Time Indian (often challenged but beloved by readers) to the anthology Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems. The list tilts strongly toward young-adult novels and sex manuals, but there are a surprising number of classics, including To Kill a Mockingbird (a parent objected to the word “nigger,” which seems to miss the point), Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (a perennial on this list) and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, which, shockingly, contains the term “oral sex” and has therefore been (no joke) removed from classrooms in the Menifee, California, Union School District and may be banned permanently there. The most often-challenged book in 2009, according to the ALA’s top ten list, is ttyl and its companion volumes ttfn, l8r, and g8r, which, as you might guess, are YA novels.
The list contains a handful of comics, as well:
- September 28, 2010 @ 07:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Creators talk about Bob Harras’ new job as DC’s editor-in-chief
The Bob Harras "memorial" photo in Tom Brevoort's office
The big news of the date — and the week, most likely — is today’s announcement that former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras was named as DC Comics’ next editor-in-chief. Harras is the first person to have held the editor-in-chief position at both Marvel and DC, and his appointment has set creators on all corners of comics abuzz. Here’s a sampling:
Tom Brevoort, vice president-executive editor of Marvel: “Well, that was unexpected. Big props to my old boss Bob Harras on scoring the top DC editorial job. [...] Of course, this does mean that I now have to retire the memorial photo of Bob that’s been sitting here in my office …”
Writer Warren Ellis: “In a tumultuous time at DC Entertainment, which I must remember to start calling it, the steady presence of Bob Harras is very probably what is required.” (Read a longer post on his website)
Writer Greg Rucka: “Funny being so out of the loop. All this DC news I missed! Congrats to Bob Harras and his EiC posting! Many happy returns!”
Writer/artist Rob Liefeld: “Bob Harras named DC comics EIC! This is pretty damn awesome. This will be good. [...] The great thing about the Bob Harras EIC announcement is that it’s controversial, unexpected and instantly energizes the biz. [...] I’m an unabashed Bob Harras fan, he gave me my big break. So it’s nice to see him back on top doing well. [...] Age of Apocalypse, X-Force, X-tinction Agenda, X-Cutioners Song, Gen X, Deadpool. Bob Harras presided over all of these. Good resume.”
- September 27, 2010 @ 04:30 PM by Chris Arrant
Talking Comics with Tim | Jeff Parker
Atlas 5
Any interview in which I can ask a question that prompts Jeff Parker to damn me is a good interview in my estimation (read on to find the “damn” moment, it’s a fun-loving damn). We initially conducted this interview before last week’s announced demise of Wildstorm, but I gave him a chance to adjust his response when discussing the likelihood of a second Mysterius miniseries. I’m sad to see Parker’s series Atlas come to an end this week with the release of Atlas 5. It’s not often that a writer gets to end a series on his own terms, and yet that’s what happened for Parker with Atlas. While the Atlas series takes its final lap, last week marked the start of Parker and artist Gabriel Hardman on the Hulk monthly (and I loved their first issue [25]). While this interview does not cover all of Parker’s Marvel work, we definitely work in a discussion of his Thunderbolts work.
Tim O’Shea: You ended the ATLAS series on your own terms. When you wrote the final scene of the last issue was it upsetting, or was it fine, as you realize you can always find ways to work aspects of these characters into future Marvel books?
Jeff Parker: No, I was actually pretty happy as I wrote it, because I felt this was one of the most “Atlasy” of all the stories. It did its own thing and was exciting and defied expectations, which is what that book should do. I can probably have them pop up in other things, but I really prefer them in their own corner of the Marvel Universe.
- September 27, 2010 @ 03:30 PM by Tim O'Shea
From the bin: Andrew Robinson’s Jonah Hex
Unused Jonah Hex cover by Andrew Robinson
Here is an illustration by Andrew Robinson done as an inventory cover for DC’s Jonah Hex series. I’d love to hold this in my grubby hands, or get a whole issue of Jonah Hex by Palmiotti, Gray and Robinson, for that matter. What do you say, DC?
If you’re attending New York Comic Con, make sure you stop by the Essential Sequential booth to meet Robinson. He’ll have several of his self-published books like Androx, the Dusty Star Sketchbook, Andrew Robinson Goes To Zanyzonkerville and Ten Paintings. He’ll also be doing inked sketches and watercolor pieces for con-goers. And Saturday is his birthday, so make sure you tell him I said “happy birthday!”
- September 27, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Chris Arrant
Bob Harras named DC Comics editor-in-chief, VP
The one-time editor-in-cChief of Marvel Comics has been selected to reprise that role for the Distinguished Competition. Robert Harras has been named Editor-in-Chief, VP, DC Comics, overseeing editorial for DC Comics, DC Universe, MAD Magazine and Vertigo, and reporting directly to Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. Harras had been serving as group editor, Collected Editions for the company.
The move comes at a time when DC is still feeling its way forward following the announcement that many of its non-print divisions will be moving to parent company Warner Bros.’ home turf of Burbank, Calif. — with up to 80 employee layoffs and relocations in the offing — while its struggling WildStorm and Zuda imprints are shutting down entirely. Of course, Harras is no stranger to tough times at a Big Two publisher, having presided over Marvel during its late-’90s bankruptcy.
DC had been without an official editor-in-chief since the departure of Jenette Kahn in 2002. As executive editor, Dan DiDio was mainline-DC’s de facto editor-in-chief, and the absence of such a figure since DiDio’s promotion to co-publisher was a much-noted aspect of the year since Diane Nelson was brought aboard as president of DC Entertainment.
As CBR’s Kiel Phegley notes, the announcement bears additional interest in that it appears to be the first time that “DC Universe” has been used by the company to refer to an imprint akin to Vertigo. DC’s shared-universe titles are obviously an institution dating back decades, but the newly official-seeming nomenclature may serve to distinguish these mostly-superhero titles from books that the DC line has inherited from WildStorm and Zuda.
- September 27, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Quote of the day | Skottie Young, on kids’ comics
Art by Skottie Young
“What is a kid comic? Did we grow up on ‘kid’ comics? Who knows? I think we grew up with comics that could be read by anyone. I got started reading comics when Image started. I was 13-14 years old and seeing bodies ripped apart and child molesters getting murdered in the pages of Spawn. Funny thing is, I could buy those at Toys R Us. Was that material meant for kids? Again, I don’t know. But I was a kid, I read it, and I loved it. I could name 50 other books that rode that line and at the end of the day, I was reading. I was learning and discovering and learning that i may be able to do something with my ‘doodling.’ Some people think that violence in comics isn’t what is needed to get kids to get off the X-Box and pick up a comic. I say that those people don’t really know what kids are playing on their X-Box. If anything our comics are way too tame for them. We all have grand ideas about how to make the perfect comics for kids. I say they already exist.”
– artist Skottie Young, continuing the latest round of debate about the availability of comics appropriate for kids
- September 27, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Kevin Melrose
J.H. Williams III talks Batwoman, writing and ambitions
J.H. Williams III self-portrait
With his artwork on the Batwoman feature in Detective Comics, longtime artist J.H. Williams III cemented his position as one of the most forward-thinking illustrators in comics today. Following healthy attention this year at various awards ceremonies, DC Comics greenlit an ongoing Batwoman series and the chance for Williams to step up as both an artist and a writer. For Williams, it’s a longtime dream come true after furtive previous writing work on anthologies and miniseries, and a chance to fully embrace the process of creating comics — from the ground up.
Chris Arrant: Let’s start with an easy one – what are you working on today?
J.H. Williams III: I’m working on the tale end of Issue 1 of Batwoman, on the art side specifically. Then I’m going to put the finishing touches on a couple other scripts for the series.
Arrant: After [writer Greg Rucka's] departure, you were the natural choice to continue Kate’s story – especially given the intense nature of the creation of the character, as well as your own writing background. But this is undoubtedly your biggest writing gig yet – so what did you do to freshen up your skills on plotting and dialogue?
Williams: Well , the first thing I did was examine the direction of the series so far. There were certain plot elements Greg planned on following up on that I’m going to avoid in case he plans on returning and pursuing those. But besides that, it was just a matter of taking a look at the material and seeing what sort of angle we could take that might not be expected. At the same time, it needs to feel natural as to what came before it. It was a matter of doing brainstorming, figuring out what the series needed, a lot of invention, and plans for a creating a rogue’s gallery that Batwoman can call her own.
- September 27, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Chris Arrant
‘You got superheroes in my altcomix!’ ‘You got altcomix in my superheroes!’
Coober Skeber 2 cover by Seth
Before Strange Tales, before Bizarro, before those pages in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up that Craig Thompson drew, before the past decade’s worth of alternative comics artists taking a crack at the spandex set, there was Coober Skeber 2. Published by Tom Devlin, who would go on to launch the hugely influential (if never quite financially successful) Highwater Books imprint, this anthology’s so-called “Marvel Benefit Issue” contained a galaxy of altcomix stars both famous (that’s a Seth cover above) and obscure taking on the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe.
The book hit an unsuspecting Comic-Con International in 1997, as the ailing comics giant was cape-deep in bankruptcy. And though the “benefit” angle was dubious, since the book was handed out for free, the impact on readers who’d never seen the likes of future underground legends like Mat Brinkman or Ron Regé Jr. before, let alone working with characters like Spider-Man, was substantial.
The good folks at Comics Comics have posted the story behind the book. Here’s a snippet:
- September 27, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Lucy Knisley’s ’30 Wonder Women’
"30 Wonder Women," by Lucy Knisley
“30 Wonder Women” by Lucy Knisley. This is a photograph of an almost-finished painting Knisley is doing, presumably for the Wonder Woman Day art auction to benefit domestic violence programs.
- September 27, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Chris Arrant