2010 September
Around the web: The end of WildStorm
Planetary #21
This week brings the end of an era, as DC Entertainment announced that the WildStorm imprint is shutting down in December. That, of course, has brought a lot of commentary and remembrances around the web.
- Both Newsarama and The Beat have round-ups of reactions from creators and former WildStorm employees. As Heidi notes in her intro, “…it isn’t just another in a long list of comics imprints that have ended over the years. It’s the end of a comics company that made history for 18 years as a vital part of several revolutions in commercial comics.” She received a comment from Rob Liefeld that really drives home how game-changing WildStorm was, noting how several prominent creators got their start under WildStorm, and how WildStorm published some of the biggest comics works of the past two decades.
- My favorite piece on WildStorm is probably Andy Khouri’s essay on ComicsAlliance, where he talks about the generation of comic fans who have grown up with WildStorm (and Fairchild’s breasts). “… the history of WildStorm tracks well with that of many turn-of-the-century babies like myself, whose unconditional affection for the comics medium (and, in some cases, employment in the comics industry) can be traced back to WildStorm founder Jim Lee’s pied piper act, where the most influential comic book artist of the 1990s lured a generation away from the safe, altruistic heroes of our childhoods and into much darker, much sexier and much more violent comic book worlds where we roamed free before he finally led us back to water,” he wrote.
- September 24, 2010 @ 05:00 AM by JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | A different look at DC Comics’ solicitations for December 2010
Elijah Snow and Batman
Most months, this is that special week where I take a look at DC’s latest batch of solicitations. This month, though, the solicitations themselves take a back seat to the larger DC Entertainment news — and, specifically, to the end of the WildStorm imprint.
I know I am not the first to point out WildStorm’s slow death. For a while now it has been a disparate mix of superheroes, videogame tie-ins, and other licensed adaptations. As such, it’s been hard for WildStorm to establish (or re-establish) its own identity, even in terms of that diversity. Ironically, the imprint built much of its reputation on creator-driven titles, like The Authority and Gen13, which have now been incorporated into the greater DC Multiverse. They may have new life down the road, but if DC’s treatment of the Milestone and Red Circle characters is any indication, the quality of that life may well leave something to be desired.
Of course, many of WildStorm’s books will continue under the DC bullet, presumably to build up the DC brand in general. On one level I’m happy to see this kind of assimilation, because it instantly — albeit superficially — makes the DC line more diverse. I’ve argued for a while that it needs to be more than superheroes; but even The Authority and Astro City are sufficiently different from the DCU titles.
I have my doubts about that diversity creating new superhero readers, though. Longtime readers may remember that I got back into comic books through DC’s Star Trek. I started reading the Trek comic in the fall of 1984, just before Crisis On Infinite Earths came out, so the timing was good, to say the least. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t count on today’s readers making a similar transition from, say, Gears Of War to Freedom Fighters. If it’s not happening now, it probably won’t happen under a new masthead.
- September 23, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Quote of the day | Brian Michael Bendis vs. the comics blogosphere
comics as an art form is in fantastic shape. the only things missing? thoughtful longform investigative journalism and critique. all we get nowadays are knee-jerk reviews and cut and paste blogging. which I have no problem with but it’s ALL we get. on a slow news week like this one I would love to see some of our better reporters rolling up her sleeves and helping the medium thrive. even reviews of trade paperbacks and graphic novels have seemed to have fallen by the wayside even though the sales are crazy large.
you’ll forgive me but I think that a snarky pseudo-hip attitude towards mainstream comics is uninteresting. if you’re a cut-and-paste blogger or comics journalist and I just annoyed the shit out of you… prove me wrong.
I am enjoying the e-mails from professionals agreeing with me but not wanting to stir the pot
Cut and paste blogging is cut and pastes from an article from another source… then adding a line of comment & signing their name to it.
I’m sorry I got on my high horse, I just do love this medium and I know a lot of you out there do as well. I miss amazing heroes
–Brian Michael Bendis, the industry’s most popular writer, taking aim at a lot of people who write about the industry, on Twitter today. Shots fired! Shots fired!
(And now, by cutting-and-pasting his tweets, adding a line of comment, and signing my name to it, I’ve become part of the problem. Dammit!)
- September 23, 2010 @ 02:01 PM by Sean T. Collins
Check out the trailer for All-Star Superman
MTV shares the trailer for the upcoming animated DVD All-Star Superman, which adapts Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s excellent run on the comic of the same name. The animated movie features the voice talent of James Denton, Christina Hendricks and Anthony LaPaglia.
- September 23, 2010 @ 01:05 PM by JK Parkin
Becky Cloonan’s Grant Morrison fanart
Grant Morrison by Becky Cloonan
Looks like mine wasn’t the only mind blown by the appearance of Grant Morrison as a villain in the trailer for My Chemical Romance’s upcoming album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Demo artist Becky Cloonan took a crack at drawing Morrison’s dandy-in-the-underworld alter ego on the Drawbridge blog. And since Cloonan is supposedly involved in some sort of Killjoys comics project from MCR frontman/Umbrella Academy writer Gerard Way and co-writer Shaun Simon, methinks this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this world via Cloonan’s brush…
- September 23, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Calvin & Hobbes meet Batman, Legion and more in fan art contest
by Timothy Lim
The indispensable Super Punch is holding a Calvin & Hobbes-themed art contest and has started posting some of the entries. So far they’ve guest starred or channeled Batman, the Legion of Super-Heroes and Lone Wolf & Cub, among others. And of course, Tyranno-Shark … you can’t forget Tyranno-Shark.
- September 23, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Behold the ruthless cuteness of Ivan Brunetti’s Strange Tales II cover
Well, I certainly never thought I’d get to see what Ivan Brunetti‘s Nova would look like, but there you have it: This overpoweringly adorable cover for Strange Tales II #3 comes from the pen of the altcomix lifer himself. Those of you who are unfamiliar with Brunetti’s career might think otherwise, but anyone who’s read Haw! can tell you that this is the best evidence yet that Disney isn’t overseeing Marvel’s hiring decisions.
(via Flog!)
- September 23, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Artists pay homage to Wildstorm characters
Becky Cloonan draws The Grifter
The members of the Deep6 and Hypothetical Island studios have taken to doing a warm-up sketch on a given topic every morning and posting their sketches here. Yesterday, the group decided to pay homage to Wildstorm after the announcement of its demise by sketching a favorite character. Above is Becky Cloonan’s drawing of The Grifter; other contributions include Joe Infurnari’s Tom Strong, Simon Fraser’s Jenny Sparks, George O’Connor’s Planetary trio, Reilly Brown’s Fairchild, and Tim Hamilton’s Ex Machina drawing.
- September 23, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Tokyopop brings manga to comiXology
Hetalia
As you have probably read by now, Tokyopop is releasing the first volume of Hetalia: Axis Powers on comiXology the same day the print edition goes on sale in stores. Here’s the official press release, which calls this “a first-ever simultaneous print and digital release for a major manga title in North America.”
Except that it’s not. Hetalia was actually released in digital form first: Last month, Tokyopop made it available on the web via Zinio. I interviewed Hetalia editor Cindy Suzuki about it. Here’s what she said:
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.
She’s right: Hetalia had a lot of advance buzz, thanks to the anime and the many opportunities it provides for cosplay. People were waiting for it, and making it available digitally (thus capturing part of the market usually left to scanlators) made a lot of sense.
Suzuki’s comments take on new significance in light of yesterday’s news. Continue Reading »
- September 23, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Piracy
Legal | A bill introduced this week in the U.S. Senate would allow the Justice Department to seek court orders against piracy websites located anywhere in the world. The bipartisan legislation, called the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, would permit the government to seek an injunction ordering a U.S. domain registrar or registry to stop resolving an infringing site’s domain names. That means a visitor attempting to access a targeted piracy site would instead get an error message. Domains outside of U.S. control could be blocked by Internet service providers upon a court order. [Threat Level, ICv2.com]
Business | Time Warner has extended the contract of Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer through December 2013 as part of a management restructuring that sees WB President and COO Alan Horn shifting from his current position into a consultancy role in six months. And in a move that may look vaguely familiar to watchers of DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. executives Jeff Robinov, Bruce Rosenblum and Kevin Tsujihara will share as part of a new Office of the President that will report directly to Meyer beginning in April. DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson reports to Robinov, currently president of Warner Bros. Picture Group; it’s unknown whether that will change in the new structure. [The Hollywood Reporter]
- September 23, 2010 @ 08:23 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | Sam Hiti’s Death-Day
Death-Day, Part One
Death-Day, Part One
Written and Illustrated by Samuel Hiti
Edited by Joseph Midthun
La Luz Comics; $19.95
One of the coolest things about Sam Hiti’s work is his ability to tell insane adventure stories in a truly artistic way. His distinct, Latin-influenced style combines with his fantastically wild imagination to create unique worlds full of monsters and demons and fascinating tough guys willing to kill them. His previous graphic novel, Tiempos Finales was the story of a man named Mario for whom monster-hunting was a holy calling. Mario looked like he started in a Sergio Leone Western, but spent time with Hellboy before readers got to meet him. The seaside community he protected had Spanish architecture combined with ancient South American iconography. The monsters and other creatures in the book came straight from Hell. It was an amazing, imaginative book. And now he’s topped it.
Death-Day has a very different tone from Tiempos Finales (it’s much more sci-fi than spiritual fantasy), but there are similarities in the storytelling style that reminded me of what it was like reading Tiempos Finales for the first time. Both books take their time unfolding the story. The art is densely packed, especially in the beginning, demanding that readers spend time taking in the panels and exploring their details. Because of that, the world gets into your head and you enter it. By the time the prologue is done, it’s a real place.
It’s a horrifying place too: a completely alien world filled with six-limbed monsters and floating, invulnerable orbs. Both of which are hostile to the human soldiers who’ve been stranded there. Though the first book (there will be four total when Hiti’s done) is divided into a prologue and four “episodes,” there are three basic stories going on it. The first is about a massive offensive the humans are mounting against the orbs. Told mainly from the perspective of the officers coordinating the strategy in their war room, the scene reveals that the humans are assisted – or is that controlled? – by a computer called Mother-0. The story cuts away before the final results of the initiative are revealed, but success isn’t the only thing called into question in the scene. One of the officers accuses Mother-0 of being in league with the Black Orb, the entity that seems to control the other orblings. How much should the humans be trusting their computer?
- September 22, 2010 @ 04:28 PM by Michael May
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Welcome once again to Shelf Porn! Today’s Shelf Porn comes from Joshua Strasburg, who lives in the Blue Beetle’s hometown, El Paso, Texas. Joshua shares his history as a collector as well as look into his comics closet.
There won’t be a Shelf Porn next week, as I will be out of town, but we’ll be back in October. It would be great to come back to an in-box filled with Shelf Porn submissions, so send them to me at jkparkin@yahoo.com. Also, if you use any comic book or graphic novel themes in your Halloween decorations, we’d love to feature them, too … so send us your pictures!
Now let’s hear from Joshua …
- September 22, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
The latest DC Entertainment shakeups: What we know
DC Comics
DC Entertainment’s twin announcements on Tuesday — the division of operations between Burbank and New York, and the end of the WildStorm and Zuda imprints — was followed by a round of interviews that provides us with a fairly good picture of what the moves mean. Here’s what we know:
DC Entertainment’s “bi-coastal realignment strategy”: Despite the silly corporate-speak, this aspect of the DC announcements is, at least on the surface, the simplest to break down. The company’s operations related to business/administration, as well as multimedia and digital content, will relocate to “a Warner Bros.-managed property” in Burbank, Calif., while the publishing division will remain in New York City. The move is expected to be complete by the end of next year.
From there, however, the details get a little murky. Although the initial press release specifically mentions “consumer products” will be part of the move, neither DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson nor DC Comics Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee would say whether that was a reference to DC Direct, DC Comics’ collectibles division.
- September 22, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Fresh-faced funnies
Freshly Squeeze: The debut strip
After a couple of lean years, the newspaper syndicates will have launched seven new strips this year as of October 4, Alan Gardner notes. Freshly Squeezed, by Ed Stein, went live this week, and Thatababy and Dogs of C-Kennel launch on October 4. And this is all coming before the rush of cartoonists looking to replace Cathy have had time to submit their work. While seven seems like a good number—only three new strips launched in all of 2009—Scott Nickel points out in comments that it’s more a return to the previous level than a new world record. Still, with newspapers floundering and work getting scarcer for editorial cartoonists, this increase seems like a good sign.
- September 22, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Queenie Chan posts horror story
Here’s an early Halloween treat for fans of Queenie Chan, creator of The Dreaming: She has just posted Elevator, a 14-page horror short story at the Bento Comics site. Queenie writes,
The first 3-4 pages of the story was originally one of those “true stories” you read in magazines, where people write in about their “spooky experiences”. It seems that a fair amount of spooky experiences happen to firemen late at night. I’m guessing that among firemen who deal with people supposedly trapped in elevators, this one is a bit of an urban legend. The rest of it, however, is completely made up by me.
Enjoy!
- September 22, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson