2010 September
Hipster superheroes fight crime, tweet and enjoy a Pabst
by H. Caldwell Tanner
H. Caldwell Tanner, Caroline Martin and Michael Christatos imagine several superheroes as hipsters, from an Aquaman who relocated to Portland and a Pabst-drinking Iron Man to a Wonder Woman who drives an Invisible Subaru Outback and a Hulk who shops at American Apparel.
- September 17, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
Cloonan teams with Wood for Northlanders tale
Northlanders #35
Here’s some great news for fans of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Demo … As they usually do the week before DC’s monthly solicitations go public, Vertigo’s Graphic Content blog posted all the covers for their December books today. The one that jumped out at me was the cover to Northlanders #35, which reveals that artist Becky Cloonan will team with writer Brian Wood on a story called “The Girl in the Ice.” Wood told me it’s the first of a two-parter, and I’m sure we’ll learn more next week when the solicitations hit.
- September 17, 2010 @ 11:03 AM by JK Parkin
An interview with the unsinkable Aaron Renier
The Unsinkable Walker Bean
At SPX this past weekend, First Second’s Gina Gagliano told me that cartoonist Aaron Renier was headed up to Maurice Sendak’s home after the convention, as he was one of four young illustrators who won a grant from the brand-new Sendak Fellowship, which, if I understood it correctly, gives aspiring artists the chance to meet, workshop and work on various projects for several weeks at Sendak’s house, as well as soak up wisdom from the author of In the Night Kitchen.
It was hard for me to think of an all-ages cartoonist more deserving of such an opportunity. He came roaring out of the gate in 2007 with the anthropomorphic Spiral Bound, which showcased his deft ability at dealing with a large cast of characters and detailed environments and landscapes. His new book from First Second, The Unsinkable Walker Bean, a rousing tale involving sea monsters, pirates, mysterious curses and a plucky, inventive youngster, should serve to cement his reputation and prove that Renier knows how to craft a sweeping, intricate, epic tale.
I sent Renier a list of questions (via Ms. Gagliano) about his new book that he was kind enough to respond to before he trucked off somewhere where the wild things are and think about comics and children’s books. It was much appreciated.
What was the impetus for Walker Bean? Where did you get the initial idea for the story and how did it develop over time?
The impetus for Walker Bean was the opportunity to propose a brand new story to a brand new publisher. I wasn’t able to use my characters from my first book Spiral-Bound, so I wanted to think up something very different. Humans were the first big leap… and then I thought it’d be fun to try and do something resembling a period piece. I’ve always been interested in nautical adventures ever since I was very little, so the rest just seemed to form from there.
- September 17, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Square Enix reveals online manga plans
The Japanese publisher Square Enix, whose properties include the best-selling series Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist, revealed its online manga plans at the Tokyo Game Show yesterday.
Square Enix already has a website through which fans can purchase games, and they set up an online manga site for North America in July, with some sample chapters and an announcement that its digital media store would launch in Fall 2010. According to the information released at the Game Show, that date has been pushed back to winter. Square Enix already allows users to buy games through their website, and they will use the same system for manga, so existing users will not have to create new accounts.
Several Square Enix properties, including Black Butler, Soul Eater, and Pandora Hearts, are licensed by Yen Press but are not available on Yen’s online Yen Plus magazine. It looks like those series will be running on the Square Enix website.
As far as other platforms are concerned, Square Enix seems to be moving cautiously. In November, it will launch Gangan Online, an iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch app, but that will only be available in Japan, and foreign-language versions are not in the cards for the immediate future.
- September 17, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Brightest Day #7 (August's top-selling comic)
Retailing | Laura Hudson surveys a handful of retailers about what part higher cover prices may have played in August’s plummeting comics sales. “This summer has underperformed, and I think [the $3.99 price point] is a big part of it,” says Chris Rosa of Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, “but also I think the lack of an event and the fact that the big books at both [companies] are extended denouements to events. There’s nothing really inspiring people to run out to the stores. People are tired of buying four Avengers titles at $3.99 a pop.” [Comics Alliance]
Publishing | Tom Mason looks at the return of Atlas Comics: “If you were 13 years-old in 1975 when the original books were out, you’d be 48 today. In other words, the age of the average direct market fanboy. But in order for these new books to succeed, they’d have to appeal beyond nostalgia because with most Marvel and DC comics at $4.00 a pop, you’ve got to have something special and excellent to lure some of those buyers into your own circus tent.” [Comix 411]
- September 17, 2010 @ 08:05 AM by Kevin Melrose
Warner Bros. signals bigger role for DC Comics
The Warner Bros. mural (photo by Jonah Weiland)
DC Comics will begin to play a larger role at Warner Bros., a move marked by an organizational announcement next week, Heat Vision reports.
That will be followed in about a month by the unveiling of a spread sheet laying out how various DC superheroes will be introduced to consumers, Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer told attendees of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference.
The news comes more than a year after a restructuring that saw the creation of DC Entertainment, “a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms,” headed by President Diane Nelson.
Meyer, who’s been chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. since 1999, said the studio had been looking after DC in a “custodial way,” but that it’s now time to become “much more entrepreneurial.” The decision is fueled, in no small part, by the end of the Harry Potter franchise next summer.
There’s little — okay, no — indication what the nature of next week’s “organizational announcement” will be, but we can probably expect plenty online speculation between now and then about the frequently rumored move of DC Comics from New York City to Los Angeles.
- September 17, 2010 @ 06:18 AM by Kevin Melrose
Olmos plans graphic novel sequel to Battlestar Galactica
Edward James Olmos
Screen Junkies is reporting that Commander Adama wants to head back to the Battlestar Galactica universe. Edward James Olmos, who played the commander on SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica remake, would like to do a graphic novel detailing what happened to Adama after the end of the series.
“I’m going to go there. I’m going to go there in a graphic novel. Pretty soon I hope. I don’t know. It just depends on whether people can get behind it and understand it for what it is. I think people will,” he said during a press tour for Comcast on Demand. Their Hispanic Heritage Month programming includes the film Selena, in which Olmos played the title character’s father.
Olmos said he is currently looking for an artist to help him chronicle Adama’s life on Earth 200,000 years ago. “All I can tell you is: aren’t you guys curious as to what happened to them?”
- September 16, 2010 @ 09:58 PM by JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | Old favorites, new memories
New Teen Titans #13
Many times we superhero fans talk about the “need” to read certain prior issues and/or storylines. Blah blah blah, every issue is someone’s first, etc.
Well, I’m here to tell you … if you’re a fan of Silver Age DC, or of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s New Teen Titans, and especially if you’re a fan of NTT‘s Garfield Logan, you need to read the original Doom Patrol. Having just finished Showcase Presents The Doom Patrol Volume 2, which reprints the back half of the DP’s original series, I can say honestly that my eyes have been opened. I never really “got” the appeal of the Doom Patrol before I read this collection — but I get it now.
What’s more, those old stories shed new light not just on what the DP meant to its fans, but on what Wolfman and Pérez were trying to do with Titans.
SPOILERS FOLLOW for some decades-old stories …
* * *
- September 16, 2010 @ 04:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Spider-Man Broadway tickets, Silver Surfer statue highlight charity auction
Stand Up To Cancer, a charity that raises money for and promotes cancer research, has several auctions going right now that might be of interest to comic fans … not the least of which is the above life-size Silver Surfer statue.
“One of only 400 pieces world-wide, the statue incredibly depicts the ‘Sentinel of the Space-ways’ featuring the Silver Surfer on his legendary surfboard and striking a classic pose. The statue measures almost 8ft (7ft x 11) and weighs approximately 250 lbs. The Silver Surfer himself is in excellent condition, but minor wear appears on the surfboard and back drop,” the description reads.
In addition, they’re also auctioning off a walk-on role in the new Spider-Man film, tickets to see the Spider-Man Broadway show (and meet Bono and the Edge from U2), the chance to be immortalized in a DC comic and a visit to the set of the next Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn. That last one is up over $40,000.
The auctions end tomorrow, when a few new ones will go up … including tickets to the season premiere party of the Simpsons. You can find all the auctions here.
- September 16, 2010 @ 03:29 PM by JK Parkin
Lo, there shall come…a kitty!
Catlactus by Katie Cook
Behold the might and the meowjesty of Katie Cook and Chris Eliopoulos‘s Marvel cats. So far the pair has done Catlactus (Devourer of Yarn), Cat-man America, Spider-Kitty, Doop Kitty, and M.O.D.O.C. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Cuteness). Nerd Internet, I think you’re done for the day. See them all on Agent M’s tumblr.
- September 16, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Quote of the day | Rob Liefeld, screenwriter
“Nea[r]ly completing screenplay about Image Comics and the 90′s. Can’t wait to cast this baby! My Image screenplay is nice to everyone. Looks at the craziness of 90′s comics boom. I was inspired by BLOW. The movie, not the powder. I’m not sure of the cast, what do you guys think? Who would be the Image 7?”
–Image co-founder Rob Liefeld is apparently planning to do for ’90s comics what Boogie Nights did for ’70s porn. Who would you cast in this thing? “CGI” is an acceptable answer.
(hat tip: Ben Morse)
- September 16, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Is Euro Disney contemplating a Marvel-ous expansion?
Concept art for the Marvel theme park in Dubai
This week Euro Disney, the company that runs Disneyland Paris, signed a new deal with the French government that will allow them to continue building on the site in Marne-la-Vallée, outside of Paris, through 2030.
Plans are to build a new theme park to accompany Disneyland Paris, which opened in 1992, and the adjoining Walt Disney Studios, which opened 10 years later. According to the Telegraph, the company is considering a “superheroes park” for that third park:
Philippe Gas, the chief executive of Euro Disney, said one idea for a third park is “a superheroes park” following the acquisition of Marvel by Disney – although the construction of a third park is a long-term vision. Mr Gas said there is a possibility that a decision to build a third park could come as late as 2020, although it may come earlier if planned work on the Disney Studios park is completed.
It’s not surprising that Disney would consider using the Marvel stable in their theme parks; while they’re locked out of Walt Disney World in Florida due to licensing agreements Marvel had in place with Universal before the acquisition, there’s no reason why they couldn’t have Spider-Man and X-Men themed rides in France.
(Artwork above is concept art for a Dubai Marvel-themed park that was supposed to open in 2012 … whatever happened with that?)
- September 16, 2010 @ 01:21 PM by JK Parkin
Filipino self publisher on print in the digital age
Comics creator Gerry Alanguilan was supposed to speak at “The Future of the Book” digital publishing conference in Quezon City, The Philippines this week, but had to bow out. So he posted his intended speech on his blog instead.
Alanguilan, who American fans probably know as the inker for Leinil Francis Yu and Whilce Portacio on books like Wetworks and Superman: Birthright, is also a self publisher and creator of comics like Wasted and Elmer in his home country. Elmer will be published by SLG this November in North America.
His speech is definitely worth a read, touching on several notable topics, like the affordability of digital devices in The Philippines, using digital comics to market your print comics and the added value you can put into a print comic that you can’t in a digital version:
My other book ELMER was published through my own Komikero Publishing in 4 issues from 2006 to 2008. The first issue very quickly sold out. And when it did, I digitized it and uploaded it online as both as one HTML file where you can read it in one go, and as a downloadable Comic Book Reader file. FOR FREE. My purpose for doing so was to encourage people to buy the rest of the series in print, and the compiled edition which came out in 2009.
To further entice people to buy the printed comics, I collaborated with my wife’s paper crafting company to create a limited edition ELMER Box Sets which included a hardbound hand crafted copy of Elmer 1-4, photographs, facsimile of some of the objects found in the story, one piece of original artwork, and a certificate of authenticity. These are things that cannot be reproduced digitally, but can be created simply by hand. The minute I made the announcement on my blog about the existence of these box sets, I never had the opportunity to sell them at our local conventions because reservations for it came pouring in through email and quickly sold out.
- September 16, 2010 @ 12:29 PM by JK Parkin
Anthony Bourdain writing graphic novel ‘about ultraviolent food nerds’ for DC
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain, the acerbic chef, author and television host who in July wrote a touching remembrance of Harvey Pekar, is working on a graphic novel for DC Comics — and it sounds fantastic.
The news was revealed in a pair of recent interviews from his book tour in support of Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People who Cook.
The graphic novel, Get Gyro, is “about ultraviolent food nerds,” says the 54-year-old Bourdain. “It’s a gourmet slaughterfest, sort of like Fistful of Dollars meets Eat Drink Man Woman.” Alternately, he describes it as “Yojimbo meets Big Night and Babette’s Feast, an ultra-violent slaughter-fest over culinary arcana.”
In short: awesome. Could Get Gyro be what brings the cooking genre from manga into Western comics?
The graphic novel is set to be released sometime next year, presumably through DC’s Veritgo imprint. No artist is mentioned.
- September 16, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
“Everybody Draw Mohammed” cartoonist goes into hiding
Seattle Weekly reports that cartoonist Molly Norris, who came up with the idea of “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” but later disavowed it, has changed her name and gone into hiding. In July, Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki called her a “prime target,” and the FBI has warned her to take that threat seriously.
Last spring, reacting to Comedy Central’s decision to pull an episode of South Park that spoofed the prophet Mohammed, Norris drew a tongue-in-cheek cartoon and suggested that May 20 be declared “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” The idea caught on but soon careened out of control: There was an Everybody Draw Mohammed Day Facebook page (which has also dialed back and is now devoted to inter-religious understanding), an opposing Facebook page (Ban Everybody Draw Mohammed Day), and even a real website for a fake organization Norris mentioned in her poster, “Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor or CACAH (pronounced ca-ca).”
- September 16, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson