2010 October
NYCC ’10 | A round-up of news and announcements from this weekend
New York Comic Con
News from New York started pouring out last week before New York Comic Con even started, as publishers got a jump-start on press releases leading into the show, and ICv2‘s Conference on Comics and Digital provided plenty of discussion points about the current and future state of the industry.
• At Comic Book Resources, Kiel Phegley has a thorough report from the conference, where Milton Griepp of ICv2 shared that industry sales are down in 2010, as comic sales are only slightly up at 1 percent, with a 20-percent decline in the graphic novel category. Manga sales are also down 20 percent. The bulk of the conference focused on an area where the story isn’t quite so grim — digital comics. While ICv2′s 2009 report gave a $500,000 to $1 million sales estimate for digital, 2010′s number pointed toward a market of $6 to 8 million.
• Coinciding with the conference and the con, several companies, of course, had announcements regarding their digital plans. Dark Horse announced a new homegrown digital comics app that will work across the various Apple devices and on the web, offering single issues for $1.49. It will be available in January. BOOM! Studios made three announcements late last week, about its comics being available on the PSP and from MyDigitalComics.com. The publisher also announced the availability of Farscape through its comiXology app on the iPad and iPhone. Longbox announced that its comics app will be “the exclusive pre-installed service for purchasing, cataloguing and reading digital comics on all four of Notion Ink’s announced tablets.” And finally DC Comics announced Sunday that Hank Kanalz, former general manager of WildStorm, will head up the DC Digital Comics division in Burbank, Calif. Kanalz jumped right into his new role, leading a Sunday panel on DC’s digital initiatives.
- October 11, 2010 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
What Are You Reading?
Make Me a Woman
Welcome to What Are You Reading?, where the Robot 6 crew talks about the books that made it off our “to read” piles and have moved on to greener pastures. This week our special guest is J. Caleb Mozzocco, who blogs regularly at Blog@Newsarama and on his personal blog Every Day Is Like Wednesday.
To see what Caleb and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …
- October 10, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
NYCC ’10 | DC promotes Hank Kanalz to senior VP-digital [Updated]
Hank Kanalz
Hank Kanalz, former vice president and general manager of WildStorm Productions, has been promoted to senior vice president-digital of DC Comics. He’ll oversee the new DC Digital Comics division, based in Burbank, Calif.
The news was announced this morning by DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee during the DC Nation Town Hall Panel at New York Comic Con.
The WildStorm imprint was closed last month as part of a restructuring of DC Entertainment that leaves the comics-publishing division in New York City while moving the company’s administrative and digital and multimedia functions to Burbank. Lee confirmed this morning that most of the WildStorm operations will be moved from La Jolla, Calif., to DC Digital Comics.
Kanalz joined WildStorm in 2004 from Warner Bros. Consumer Products, where he served as director of worldwide theme parks. Before that he was a line editor at Malibu Comics, and the writer of such titles as Ex-Mutants and Ultraforce.
Update: Comics Alliance reports that Kanalz also will oversee DC’s kids comics.
Update 2: DC has issued an official press release, which you can read after the break.
- October 10, 2010 @ 09:33 AM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Archie Comics to release Mega Man series
Mega Man #1
Archie Comics, which has published Sonic the Hedgehog comics since 1993, announced at New York Comic Con that it has acquired the rights to Capcom’s Mega Man.
Debuting in 1987, the Mega Man franchise has made the leap from video games to television to comics, with earlier series released in North America by UDON, Viz Media and Dreamwave Productions.
Archie’s Mega Man, which “promises to build a faithful legacy while exploring a vast universe of heroes, villains and robots,” will premiere in spring 2011 from Sonic the Hedgehog creators Ian Flynn and Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante (the latter also worked on Dreamwave’s Mega Man comic).
According to the publisher’s press release, the new series will follow the original Mega Man in his battles against his maniacal arch-nemesis Dr. Wily: “Mega Man’s jam-packed, fast-paced adventures are told from the perspective of Rock (a.k.a. Mega Man) the young boy with a peaceful heart now thrust into a life of conflict.”
Read the press release after the break:
- October 10, 2010 @ 07:38 AM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Nick Spencer to take an Infinite Vacation at Image
The Infinite Vacation
At today’s Image Comics panel at New York Comic Con, rising star Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, the upcoming Iron Man 2.0) announced The Infinite Vacation, a five-issue miniseries with artist Christian Ward debuting in January. According to Comics Alliance, Spencer said the comic is “about a world in which moving into and out of alternate realities is commonplace, it’s a day-to-day thing that you do, it’s something you do for vacation, something you do for work. … It’s about a young guy who is very much addicted to the infinite vacation and the many opportunities that it provides hm, but something happens that makes him question this life.”
Watch the trailer after the break, and look for an interview with Spencer next week at Comic Book Resources.
- October 9, 2010 @ 03:28 PM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Vertigo officially announces Anthony Bourdain’s Get Jiro!
"Get Jiro!" art by Langdon Foss
Vertigo confirmed at New York Comic Con this afternoon that it will release a graphic novel by Anthony Bourdain, the acerbic chef, author and host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations.
Revealed last month by Bourdain himself, Get Jiro! is a futuristic action thriller set in a world where food and the secrets of its preparation are the source of all power, leading master chefs to fight over a mysterious sushi chef named Jiro. Bourdain has described the graphic novel as “Yojimbo meets Big Night and Babette’s Feast, an ultra-violent slaughter-fest over culinary arcana.”
Get Jiro! is written by Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw) and friend and novelist Joel Rose (The Blackest Bird, Kill Kill Faster Faster), and illustrated by artist Langdon Foss (Heavy Metal). The book is expected to be released sometime in 2011.
During today’s “Vertigo: On the Edge” panel, the DC Comics imprint also announced:
- The Annotated Sandman, a four-volume collection by Leslie S. Klinger, editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes and The New Annotated Dracula, working closely with Neil Gaiman.
- The reunion of the 100 Bullets team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso on “a top-secret Vertigo project for 2011.”
- The New York Five, a four-issue sequel to The New York Four, Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s 2008 Minx graphic novel. The miniseries debuts in January.
- Delirium’s Party, Jill Thompson’s follow-up to 2001′s The Little Endless Storybook, will debut in March.
- Mentioned at Comic-Con International, the six-issue Cinderella: Fables are Forever will debut in February from the Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love team of Chris Roberson and Sean McManus.
Look for a full panel report at Comic Book Resources.
- October 9, 2010 @ 01:45 PM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Marvel responds to DC’s price rollback
Price rollback!
Comparing new efforts by Marvel and DC Comics to lower cover prices isn’t fair to either publisher, a Marvel representative told fans Friday at New York Comic Con.
A day earlier, DC announced it will roll back prices on its standard-size monthly titles from $3.99 to $2.99 beginning in January, a move that will cut the number of story pages from 22 to 20 and eliminate co-features from eight series. Less than an hour later Marvel revealed that its new books debuting in 2011 will carry a $2.99 cover price.
Although some Marvel representatives, like Senior Vice President C.B. Cebulski, responded on Twitter to DC’s announcement — “Kudos to DC on their price drop, but boo on doing it by cutting story pages and adding more ads. Creators now losing monthly income.” — New York Comic Con presented others with their first opportunity to field questions on the topic from readers.
And they weren’t long in coming; at Friday’s “T&A Presents” panel, it took just three questions for Vice President-Executive Editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort to be asked about the $2.99 price point.
“Question #3!” Brevoort said. “Who had that in the pool?”
- October 9, 2010 @ 11:36 AM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Contest winners to write and draw new Stan Lee comic for MTV
Stan Lee
If it’s Saturday, it must be time for another Stan Lee announcement. Sandy Cohen at The Associated Press spoke with Lee about a new digital series called The Seekers that will run on their new MTV Geek website.
While the series is created by Lee, it will be written and drawn by an as-yet-undiscovered creative team. MTV will hold a contest to find a writer and artist to bring the comic to life. The winners will work with Lee and his company, POW! Entertainment, to develop the concept and create the comic.
Lee said The Seekers is “actually the start of a tremendous franchise,” and he hopes to turn it into a TV series or movie.
It’s been a busy weekend for Lee; in addition to the new MTV series, we also found out that he’s co-writing a new sci-fi graphic novel starring Romeo and Juliet, as well as creating superheroes based on hockey teams. Lee also introduced the new MTV Geek site in a video earlier this week.
- October 9, 2010 @ 10:19 AM by JK Parkin
NYCC ’10 | DiDio addresses fate of Jimmy Olsen, other DC co-features
Jimmy Olsen, from the Action Comics co-feature
The announcement on Thursday that DC Comics will eliminate co-features as part of an effort to lower cover prices left many wondering about the fates of stories like the well-received Jimmy Olsen adventure in Action Comics and the upcoming Jim Gordon serial in Detective Comics.
In DC’s press release, Co-Publisher Dan DiDio pledged that “some of these characters will find a new platform,” but he didn’t offer any additional information — at least until Friday’s “DC Nation” panel at New York Comic Con. There DiDio told the crowd that the newly launched Jimmy Olsen co-feature, by Nick Spencer and R.B. Silva, will conclude as a one-shot. Other backup stories may get their own specials or miniseries.
According to Comic Book Resources’ panel report, DiDio and Jeff Lemire “strongly suggested” Lemire will write an Atom ongoing series. The character now stars in an Adventure Comics co-feature by Lemire and Mahmud Asrar.
DC will lower the price of all of its standard-length ongoing titles from $3.99 to $2.99 beginning in January, and cut the number of story pages from 22 to 20 in 32-page comic. The move will also mean the elimination of co-features in eight titles: Action Comics (Jimmy Olsen); Adventure Comics (Atom); Batman: Streets of Gotham (Ragman); Detective Comics (Jim Gordon); Doc Savage (Justice Inc.); Justice League of America (Cyborg); Legion of Super-Heroes; and The Spirit (The Spirit: Black & White).
- October 9, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Marvel vs. Capcom 3 unveils Magneto, MODOK and more
It's MODOK vs. MODOK!
During Friday night’s panel at New York Comic Con, the developers of the highly anticipated Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds revealed that Marvel’s Magneto and MODOK, as well as Bionic Commando‘s Nathan “Rad” Spencer and Ghosts ‘N Goblins‘ Sir Arthur, have joined the game’s sprawling list of playable characters.
Check out the screenshots, plus videos of Sir Arthur and Nathan “Rad” Spencer in action, after the break. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in spring 2011.
- October 9, 2010 @ 06:19 AM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC ’10 | Godzilla returns to comics at IDW
Godzilla
Today at the New York Comic Con, IDW announced that everyone’s favorite Japanese city-stomping giant monster, Godzilla, will return to comics in February 2011. Although they didn’t announce the creative team, they did show off one of the book’s covers by Goon creator Eric Powell (right).
And he’ll be joined by some of his friends from the movies, including Mothra and Rodan. “We wanted Godzilla to return to comics, but this time we wanted him to have some company,” Chris Ryall, editor-in chief for IDW Publishing, told MTV’s Splash Page. “I think fans will be pleased with the monster guest appearances, which will really offer something for every fan of these films. There are the classic characters, but there are also a few surprises, too.”
Of course this isn’t Godzilla’s first foray into comics; he’s appeared in Japanese manga, as well as series from Marvel and Dark Horse in the past. I guess we won’t see him fight the Avengers this time around, will we?
- October 8, 2010 @ 05:00 PM by JK Parkin
NYCC ’10 | Dark Horse announces ‘bookshelf app’ that works across Apple products and the web
Dark Horse
Earlier today I wondered if Dark Horse’s big digital announcement would involve teaming up with a third party to create a Dark Horse app, or if it would mean more comics being released as individual apps within iTunes. Looks like I was wrong on both counts.
Today at the New York Comic Con, as well as via press release, Dark Horse Comics announced a new “proprietary bookshelf app” that will allow users to download and read their comics for $1.49 per issue. The release touts the fact that creating their own application allows them to eliminate third-party fees, thus lowering the cost for fans and offering creators a greater percentage of each digital sale. The new app comes out in January.
Breaking down the release, here are some of the key points:
- In addition to offering the application for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, comics can also be purchased and read via the Dark Horse Digital Store on web browsers. I assume this means that like with comiXology, you’ll be able to buy comics on one platform and read them on another.
- They also plan to “bundle” issues together to give folks a price break, noting that users will be able to buy a “complete narrative” for anywhere from $2.99 to $5.99.
- Starting in February they’ll have day-and-date delivery of some titles in both print and digital.
- They plan to offer some digital titles exclusively through retailers, noting that more details on how this would work are forthcoming.
- They reiterated that several of their current comic apps are free this weekend in the iTunes store, including issues of Umbrella Academy, Serenity and more.
You can find the complete press release after the jump.
- October 8, 2010 @ 04:34 PM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color | Rise to the Real Heroic Age
Chaos War is Marvel’s finest example of what a true “Heroic Age” means to comic books.
Let me say that again (in case any cover blurb people are listening): The new five-issue miniseries event, Chaos War, by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, is the finest example of what the “Heroic Age” means to the Marvel Universe and modern comics. If you had ever wondered what that blue banner on your books was talking about or what they meant by “Heroic Age,” then do yourself a favor and go read Chaos War #1.
Within this incredibly crafted over-sized issue, you not only see the triumphant return of a classic ’70s Marvel hero, but there is a Call to Action because the Universe As We Know It is threatened by divine figures, the ultimate authority figure. All the finest heroes are gathered like the best Whitman’s Sampler, along with a key element to make your tale astonishing: the common man. Along with all these heroes and powerful forces is a young man with nothing stronger than the power of his own brain. One who gave up divinity to be who he is and stand next to the impossible.
Pak and Van Lente have worked very hard to get us to this point. They took a title from one of Marvel’s less-touted events (World War Hulk was awesome, it’s just not as relevant as say Civil War or even Secret Invasion, but this is a topic for another time) and fought back story to provide an entertaining read issue after issue. From where they started, Hercules and Amadeus Cho have done something phenomenal to comics: they have grown as characters. Between Incredible Hercules #113 and Chaos War #1, you can actually plot the character arcs that have not only made them better heroes, but better people as well. Their adventures have been told in short and snappy plot arcs, they have weathered through Big Events like Secret Invasion and Dark Reign, they have read up and incorporated older canon (like the Olympus Group and the Pantheon) and even more recent events (the Oeming Ares miniseries) and incorporated both into their own stories like the finest herbs and spices. Incredible Hercules has gone above and beyond the call of duty to present we comic fans the finest in fun storytelling and legendary adventure.
So why does the best book to honor the Heroic Age not even get a banner? Why does the Thunderbolts have it? We’re not even supposed to know about the Secret Avengers and they got a Heroic Age banner! What gives?
(WARNING: maybe spoilers for Chaos War #1? I mean, everyone knows that there’s a war, and it’s against Chaos and our heroes are going to go and fight it, so … it’s a toss up. Go get yourself a copy of the book if you’re not sure. In fact, get two. Just in case.)
- October 8, 2010 @ 04:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
NYCC ’10 | Download Dark Horse’s digital comics for free this weekend
As Kevin noted earlier today, Dark Horse Comics is supposed to have some news today at the New York Comic Con about their digital comics initiatives — in fact, the panel is going on right now, so we should know soon what they have planned.
Unlike Marvel, DC and the other major publishers, they haven’t aligned themselves with one (or more) of the third-party companies like comiXology or iVerse (Although I should note they released three titles on comiXology’s app earlier this year). Instead, they’ve continued to release individual applications for their titles. So will today bring news of their titles going to one of the existing apps, or will they continue to offer titles individually, but for the lower cost that Kevin noted? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
In the meantime, they’re handing out flyers (see above) at the New York Comic Con advertising that Serenity: Better Days #1 is free in the iTunes application store, both for the iPad and the iPhone, this weekend. And a quick search on my iPad reveals that there are several other free comics out there as well — Beasts of Burden, Troublemaker and several of the other titles shown on the flyer. So head over to iTunes to start downloading now.
- October 8, 2010 @ 03:12 PM by JK Parkin
Quote of the day | Neil Gaiman on the changing landscape of American comics
Neil Gaiman
“In my opinion the biggest way the landscape has changed is just in its willingness to kind of go anywhere. The glory of comics has always been that comics is a medium that gets mistaken for a genre. People look at comics and go, ‘Well, comics is a genre’ and that actually allows you to do anything, any kind of genre, any story that you can tell using words and pictures can be told in comics. And sometimes anything that can be told using only pictures can be told in comics.
“And for me, really, the biggest change has been watching the embracing of that becoming more and more mainstream. Again, just the idea that we live in a world where the bestselling comic of the year was Robert Crumb retelling—completely literally—the Book of Genesis. There are weird things that does to my head…”
–Neil Gaiman, comics writer, novelist and editor of this year’s Best American Comics 2010 in response to a question on how the landscape of American comics has changed over the last few years
- October 8, 2010 @ 02:45 PM by JK Parkin