2010 October
Fantagraphics offers the perfect sale for the poor and the patient
A few weeks ago, stalwart altcomix publishing houses Top Shelf and Drawn & Quarterly announced big fall sales. Now it’s Fantagraphics’ turn, and the good folks behind everything from Love and Rockets to Krazy and Ignatz to Pim and Francie to Fuzz and Pluck are calling it their “Good News/Bad News Sale.” Bad news first: Due to a warehouse move, they’re unable to ship orders from now through October 20th, and they can’t do rush shipping of anything ordered during that period once they get going again. But the good news: 20% off every single book available on the Fantagraphics website, and free shipping to boot! And given that they publish everyone from Charles Schulz to Charles Burns and Steve Ditko to Steve Weissman, that’s very good news indeed.
- October 7, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
NYCC ’10 | BOOM! teams with MyDigitalComics.com for digital distribution
BOOM! Studios sent out the first of several press releases that are expected today on their digital initiatives, as they announced BOOM! titles will now be available on MyDigitalComics.com.
Titles will be priced at $1.99 and will be available in MyDigitalComics.com’s “new page flipper format that fans everywhere can read on a either Mac or PC” — basically allowing you to open a comic in a web browser and flip through the pages. They’ve got some sample BOOM! books up there now on their free products page if you want to see for yourself. The site currently offers comics from a handful of publishers, including Top Cow and Dynamite, in the PDF and CBZ formats as well, but it looks like BOOM!’s titles will be limited to that one format.
BOOM! books currently on the site include issues of 28 Days Later, CBGB, Die Hard and Irredeemable, among others. The release says their entire catalog will eventually be available from the site.
I believe MyDigitalComics is run by the same folks who run Discount Comic Book Service and InStockTrades, popular sites that respectively offer deeply discounted advanced comics ordering and discounted trade paperbacks.
- October 7, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
NYCC ’10 | First look at Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Green Lantern Animated Series
TV Guide has the first look at some artwork from the upcoming Green Lantern: The Animated Series that will debut on the Cartoon Network next year.
The image is actually from a poster that will be given away at this weekend’s New York Comic Con. Executive producer Bruce Timm, producer Giancarlo Volpe and producer/story editor Jim Krieg will be signing the poster at the DC Comics booth from 4-5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
A release date for the new animated series hasn’t been announced yet, but no doubt it’ll coincide with the Green Lantern feature film, which hits theaters next June.
- October 7, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Watch the trailer for SEGA’s Captain America: Super Soldier
SEGA has released the first trailer for Captain America: Super Soldier, its newly announced video game scheduled to debut in 2011, presumably around the time Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger opens in theaters.
Set during World War II, the third-person action-adventure will allow players to become Captain America as he battles the Iron Cross, the forces of Hydra, Arnim Zola and the armies of the Red Skull.
- October 7, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Batman’s secret superpower? Graphic design
The image above, featuring pretty much every variation of the Batman symbol, has been tearing its way across Tumblr for a few days now. I first saw it at Quipsologies, which describes it thusly: “Proof that Batman has one of the greatest logos ever: Recognizable (and equally bad ass) in any incarnation.”
Sounds about right to me!
Here’s something I’d like to throw to the group, though: Which of these Bat symbols do you consider to be the “real” one? Weaned as I was on Tim Burton’s Batman, I have to go with the fifth one down in the third column–that’s the version I myself wear in the classic yellow-on-black t-shirt form. What say you, Batfans?
- October 7, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
NYCC ’10 | Stan Lee to create 30 superheroes for NHL teams
Stan Lee
Stan Lee’s to-do list seems to grow with every major comics convention. This time it’s New York Comic Con, kicking off on Friday, where a Stan Lee and the National Hockey League will officially introduce a new venture called Guardian Media Entertainment.
According to the press release, “this partnership creates the platform from which to launch Stan Lee’s vision for his latest superhero franchise, The Guardian Project.” In short, Lee will come up with 30 superheroes, each representing an NHL team, with the aim of appealing to tween boys.
This release, from motion-capture and company Vicon House of Moves, indicates that artist Neal Adams is somehow involved.
“GME hopes to bring a new audience to the NHL, while engaging the existing, established hockey fan base through a compelling tale of good vs. evil,” the announcement states. The 30 Guardians will be unveiled on Jan. 30 at the 2011 NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C. The plan is to roll out The Guardian Project online, and in mobile applications, publishing, gaming, NHL arenas, merchandising and more.
A teaser for The Guardian Project will be debut Friday at NYCC.
- October 7, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Scott Pilgrim vs. the X-Men [UPDATED]
I’d imagine that for many Robot 6 readers, there are no sweeter five words in the English language than the title of this post. Then allow me to introduce you to this variant version of a new Scott Pilgrim poster from the upcoming SP box set. Drawn by Bryan Lee O’Malley and colored by Rico Renzi (who came up with the idea of this particular version), it popped up on the Tumblr of Oni’s Douglas E. Sherwood the other day and which features Scott and the gang sporting color schemes and power sets that bear a striking resemblance to a certain set of mighty mutants. Envy Adams as Rogue to Scott’s Gambit is an inspired choice, as are Ramona Flowers as Mystique, Knives Chau as Psylocke Jubilee, Gideon Graves as Mister Sinister…aw, who am I kidding, this mashup is a thing of geeky beauty from top to bottom. K.O.!
- October 7, 2010 @ 08:45 AM by Sean T. Collins
NYCC ’10 | Mike Carey writing X-Men: Destiny video game
X-Men: Destiny
Activision sent out a brief press release today announcing that X-Men: Legacy writer Mike Carey is writing the story for a video game called X-Men: Destiny. The details are fairly sparse at this point, but the game will allow you to play “as new mutant recruits in a rich, branching storyline that features a deep element of choice and gives players ultimate control of their destiny.” Huh, maybe it’s akin to Dragon Age or Mass Effect, but with superheroes? That actually sounds very cool.
More details will be shared at the New York Comic Con this weekend. An also-sparse website for the game is live, and a trailer is supposed to debut sometime today on IGN.
Here’s the press release:
A new breed of mutant heroes will invade game consoles next fall in X-Men(TM): Destiny, from Marvel(TM) Entertainment and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI). The all-new original video game casts players as new mutant recruits in a rich, branching storyline that features a deep element of choice and gives players ultimate control of their destiny. Attendees of New York Comic-Con, which is going on now through October 10, can get a sneak peek of the game in Activision’s booth #1833. In addition, fans can learn more about the original storyline which is being penned by acclaimed Marvel X-Men: Legacy writer Mike Carey, during the Marvel Games Panel on Saturday, October 9, at 10:45 a.m. in Room 1A06.
For more information on X-Men: Destiny tune in to IGN.com on Thursday, October 7, as well as the game’s official website at www.XMenDestiny.com. More news will also be shared with the Hero HQ community on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/heroHQ.
- October 7, 2010 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
More Americans read graphic novels than ‘chick-lit’ and Westerns, apparently
Photo by Lisa McCarty
A new survey of American reading habits contains a few surprises — not the least of which is that more people have picked up a graphic novel in the past year than either “chick-lit” or Westerns.
The poll, by Harris Interactive, found that among the people who read a book in that period, the numbers were about even for fiction and nonfiction. Almost half of fiction readers settled in with a mystery/thriller/crime book, but if you skip down four rungs, you’ll find graphic novels (11 percent), nestled between romance (21 percent) and “chick-lit” (8 percent).
The survey was conducted online — an important consideration, of course — among 2,775 U.S. adults ages 18 and over.
Graphic novels were most popular among respondents ages 18 to 33 (18 percent), and decreased with age; almost twice as many men than women said they read a graphic novel in the past year.
Another surprise (maybe?): J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien are less popular than Danielle Steel.
(Photo pilfered from Lisa McCarty’s Flickr account)
- October 7, 2010 @ 07:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | Attack of the Mini-Comics!
As you may have noticed, we’ve been talking about Horror comics lately in this column. In keeping with the Season and all. Continuing that trend, I picked up a bunch of mini-comics at the Minneapolis Indie Xpo back in August, many of which were Horror-related.
Mini-comics are cool because they’re cheap and hand-made and usually put together without a lot of consideration for commerce. Not that their creators don’t care if they sell or not, but sales are a secondary concern to making something cool that the artist is proud of. That sometimes leads to the impression that mini-comics are self-indulgent and inaccessible, but as we’ll see here, that’s not always the case. Mini-comics can be – and often are – about fun, sexy topics as well.
The Midnight March
Written and Illustrated by Brent Schoonover
The Midnight March
I’ve known Brent (Horrorwood, Astronaut Dad) for a while and the guy loves classic Horror. So when I saw the cover of The Midnight March, I knew I’d like it. And I did, though in a different way than I expected. It’s not really a Horror story, but a semi-autobiographical, slice-of-life story about some junior high buddies trying to track down a copy of Dead Alive before all the video stores close for the night. None of them have cars, so they walk from store to store, talking about girls, scary movies, and the future – like how they could totally get away with robbing the town’s one, armored car or open a combination bowling alley/strip club. The dialogue’s a lot of nostalgic fun and Brent’s art is full of humor and emotion.
Yetis and other monsters after the break:
Continue Reading »
- October 6, 2010 @ 04:30 PM by Michael May
Fans to make their own ElfQuest movie
Richard and Wendy Pini have long wanted to make a movie of their ElfQuest series, but for some reason it has moved at a glacial pace. Now, The New York Times tells us, a group of fans are taking matters into their own hands and making an ElfQuest fan film with an all-female cast—and the Pinis have given the project their blessing.
The film is really just a trailer for the ElfQuest franchise, but producers Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes are pulling out all the stops, using a cast of ” some of web video’s best-known actresses,” according to the Times.
Thorpe and Rhodes are producing and co-directing the project, with Galacticast‘s Rudy Jahchan committed to doing special effects and A Good Knight’s Quest director Brett Register editing. A prosthetics artist has been commissioned to create elf ears directly inspired by Wendy Pini’s art, a cost which makes up a significant portion of the budget, along with food and location expenses. The plan is to shoot for two days towards the end of November — before it gets too cold, as ElfQuest characters don’t wear a lot of clothing — creating a one-to-three minute trailer.
The producers are funding the project via IndieGoGo (similar to Kickstarter), and donations have surpassed their goal of $5,000.
Meanwhile, on the non-web film front, Pini reports that Warner Brothers still has their movie in “active development” and recently hired the design team that worked on concept art for Avatar to develop a look for the ElfQuest universe. And no, Pini is not worried about diluting the brand.
“Our thought is that the more buzz ElfQuest has in every possible arena, the better things are for the film,” Pini said. “You never know how Hollywood is going to react, but it can’t hurt.”
- October 6, 2010 @ 03:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
NYCC ’10 | DC’s Batman Beyond moves from miniseries to ongoing
Batman Beyond #1
Batman Beyond, the six-issue miniseries based on the Warner Bros. cartoon, will become an ongoing series in January, DC Comics announced this afternoon.
Writer Adam Beechen (Countdown, Justice League Unlimited) and artist Ryan Benjamin (Midnighter & Grifter, Iron Man) will continue as the creative team on the title, which will relaunch with a new Issue 1.
Announced in March at Emerald City Comicon, the miniseries debuted in June, and centers on Terry McGinnis, the future Batman, as he grapples with a strained relationship with mentor Bruce Wayne and the emergence of a new killer with ties to the Dark Knight’s past. The fifth issue of what DC calls “the surprise hit of the season” will be released on Oct. 20.
Warner Bros. Animation’s Batman Beyond aired for 52 episodes from January 1999 to December 2001, and spawned an earlier DC Comics miniseries as well as a short-lived ongoing title.
- October 6, 2010 @ 02:46 PM by Kevin Melrose
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
If you missed us last week, never fear — Shelf Porn is back this week with some awesome photos.
Today’s Shelf Porn comes from Ken Stacks, who shares his shelves and his memories from the San Diego Comic Con. Although his brother had been suggesting he send in his pictures for awhile, but “it wasn’t until my insurance guy recommended that i archive everything that i bothered to take any pictures,” he said. Which is good advice for anyone with a collection. You can also check out Ken’s Flickr stream if you don’t recognize something in one of the photos.
If you’d like to contribute to Shelf Porn, it’s easy — just send your photos and write-up to jkparkin@yahoo.com. The well is running dry again, so please help us refill it!
Now let’s hear from Ken …
- October 6, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Students create graphic novel about double A-bomb survivor
John Hogan has an interesting interview with Adam Johnson, who runs the Stanford Graphic Novel Publishing Program. Every year, the students choose a nonfiction story and divide up into teams to create a graphic novel about it, working in groups to draft, thumbnail, draw, and produce the comic.
This year, the students chose the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who through either spectacularly bad or good luck, depending on how you look at it, survived both the atomic bomb blasts at Hiroshma and Nagasaki. Yamaguchi, who worked for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, when the first bomb was dropped; the next day, he returned to his home in Nagasaki, which was bombed two days later. He was literally describing the Hiroshima bombing to a colleague when the same thing happened again. Ironically, Yamaguchi had been despondent over the war and was contemplating killing himself and his family if Japan were to lose, but after the bombings, he never looked back.
Johnson said that working with a true story forced the students to resolve problems with the narrative in creative ways:
I loved how, after the second bomb, Mr. Yamaguchi said he was unconscious for a week. Since our story was in the first person, present tense, a move the writer’s chose to help the reader sympathize with Yamaguchi’s story, we were in a narrative trap. But the students decided to switch to the perspective of his wife, Hisako, and the result was one of the more moving, poignant chapters of the graphic novel.
The finished product, titled Pika Don (Flash-Boom), was self-published, but Johnson would like to see it picked up by a publisher to reach a larger audience.
- October 6, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Arcana vs. Marvel: Battle of the character libraries!
Arcana Studio
You expect a press release to inflate a comic’s importance or puff up a creator’s track record. After all, the publisher is trying to convince the media that its announcement has news value. But every once in a while a release overreaches. Just a little.
Take, for instance, this one from Arcana Studio announcing the acquisition of a handful of Devil’s Due Publishing titles that I’ve never heard of. The first half of the release is standard fare, briefly describing the comics and hyping the performance of Arcana (“the company has been growing in leaps and bounds”). But then we get to this paragraph:
Arcana’s graphic novels and intellectual properties have grown in the last two years to be as wide a library of characters as Marvel’s. Marvel was acquired by Disney for $4 Billion, and is the second major comic library to be acquired by a Hollywood studio. DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros., recently announced a newly-revamped business model, focusing on reaching deeper into DC’s catalog of characters.
It’s investor (or acquisition) bait, to be sure. But, hey, Arcana isn’t the first small publisher — or, rather, transmedia entertainment company — to dangle the $4-billion Marvel purchase in hopes of snagging a big fish. (However, it may the only one to date to use the DC Entertainment restructuring as back-up.) I’m not dwelling on that, though.
- October 6, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose