2010 November
The Middle Ground #31: So Close, And Yet So Far…
Ever had a thought in the back of your head that just won’t quite appear, even though you know there’s something there? It’s not something you can just force out, or try and fool into revealing itself; it’s just there, prodding you occasionally to remind you that it’s there and it’s not quite ready just yet.
The reason I’m saying this, y’see, has something to do with James Stokoe and Meredith Gran, and to do with the failures of print against the values of digital. Or something. Like I said, it’s not quite there… yet. Continue Reading »
- November 30, 2010 @ 03:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Action Comics Annual #13
Welcome to another installment of “Food or Comics?” Every week we set certain hypothetical spending limits on ourselves and go through the agony of trying to determine what comics come home and which ones stay on the shelves. So join us as we run down what comics we’d buy if they only had $15 and $30 to spend, as well as what we’d get if we had some “mad money” to splurge with.
Check out Diamond’s release list for this week if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Graeme McMillan
If I had $15, I’d spend the first $2.99 on the last King City, which definitely appears on this week’s list. Yay! Then I’d split the remaining $13 between two DC Comics: Paul Cornell’s Action Comics Annual #13 ($4.99), in which a young Lex Luthor meets Darkseid (Editor Wil Moss promised me on Twitter the other week that this will fulfill my sick, sick desire for more comics like Jack Kirby’s Super Powers toy tie-ins from the 1980s, so I’m entirely sold) and Vertigo Resurrected: Winter’s Edge #1 ($7.99), a collection of long out-of-print seasonal tales starring Vertigo favorites and forgotten ghost characters from Christmas Past. Be warned: I’m a sucker for Holiday comics, so expect to see me picking those a lot in the next few weeks. It’s the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, after all.
- November 30, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Robot Reviews | CBGB
CBGB
By various authors, edited by Ian Brill
BOOM! Studios, $14.99
CBGB is a graphic novel anthology of short stories about the legendary punk nightclub CBGB and the people who hung out there. The music of the era plays a huge part in the stories, especially the introductory tale, but overall the book is really about the things that went with the music—drugs, sex, ambition, rebellion, being young and living in New York City—and most of the characters are on the floor watching the music, not onstage playing it.
For an anthology about punk rock and New York life in the 1970s, CBGB is remarkably colorful. The art leans more toward neon colors than the blacks and grayed-out colors one might expect, although there is quite a range of styles and story types.
- November 30, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
All-Star Superman DVD hits stores Feb. 22
All-Star Superman
Warner Home Video announced this week that the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman will arrive on DVD and Blu Ray Feb. 22.
Here’s how the press release described the film: “In All-Star Superman, the Man of Steel rescues an ill-fated mission to the Sun (sabotaged by Lex Luthor) and, in the process, is oversaturated by radiation – which accelerates his cell degeneration. Sensing even he will be unable to cheat death, Superman ventures into new realms – finally revealing his secret to Lois, confronting Lex Luthor’s perspective of humanity, and attempting to ensure Earth’s safety before his own impending end with one final, selfless act.”
The film will feature James Denton (Desperate Housewives) as Superman, Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) as Lois Lane, Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace, Happy Feet) as Lex Luthor, Ed Asner (Up) as Perry White and Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) as Jimmy Olsen.
The release didn’t mention the inclusion of an animated short, but it will include a preview of their next original animated film, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.
The complete press release can be found after the jump.
- November 30, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Mike Jasper and Niki Smith chart a new course for In Maps and Legends
Mike Jasper and Niki Smith hit the big time when their comic In Maps and Legends won the Zuda competition in November 2009, but shortly after the comic started its run, DC took down the whole site, leaving many of the creators without a platform. Jasper and Smith took the plunge into self-publishing, relaunching the comic on multiple platforms, including Kindle, Wowio, LongBox, Drive Thru Comics, and iTunes. You can get the comic on your computer, iPhone, iPad, or Droid. With the third issue due out on December 1, I checked in with them to see how things were going.
Brigid: First of all, the most important question in an interview like this is: What is the comic about?
Mike: In Maps & Legends is about a young woman caught between this world and another, and her attempts to save them both. It starts off as a contemporary fantasy, as our hero Kaitlin Grayson and her friends get caught in the web of a mysterious man named Bartamus who shows up at Kait’s place one night. Bartamus tells Kait she’s the only one who can save his dying world. As you can guess from the title, cartography, history, and stories play a key role in the unfolding mystery of our comic.
Brigid: How long do you plan it to be?
Mike: This first story arc is ten issues. I can see a lot more stories in this series, but we’re starting with this arc to see if it sparks interest in readers who’d like to read more.
Continue Reading »
- November 30, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Discovery Channel wades into graphic novel market
Top 10 Deadliest Sharks
As we reported this summer, The Discovery Channel is entering the graphic novel market with a line of books aimed at readers ages 9 and older. USA Today provides additional details on the line.
The series, produced by Zenescope Comics’ all-ages imprint Silver Dragon Books, will debut on Dec. 1 with Top 10 Deadliest Sharks, which features the type of information typically showcased in the cable network’s popular Shark Week programming. Subsequent releases will include a dinosaurs-themed title, and Animal Planet-branded books.
- November 30, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Kirby/Marvel copyright fight continues, John D’Agostino dies
Jack Kirby
Legal | New York federal judge Colleen McMahon made several decisions last week in the case of Jack Kirby’s heirs attempting to terminate Marvel’s copyright of his works. The judge agreed with Marvel that it would be premature to make an accounting of how much money is at stake, but rejected a bid by Marvel to throw out the Kirby estate’s main counterclaim. She also ruled that the Kirby estate’s attempt to reclaim original art is barred by the statute of limitations, counterclaims of breach-of-contract and violation of the Lanham Act were tossed, and Disney will be part of the case, even though Marvel said it shouldn’t be.
“In sum, the judge has narrowed the case to its most crucial issue. Both sides disagree about Kirby’s working environment in the 1950s and 1960s when he, along with Stan Lee, conceived many of Marvel’s most popular characters. The judge will soon be tasked with looking at Kirby’s work history and some of the loose contracts and oral agreements that guided his efforts in those years,” wrote Eriq Gardner. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Creators | Artist, letterer and colorist John D’Agostino died Nov. 29. D’Agostino started his career as a colorist for Timely Comics and was head of their coloring department for several years. He also worked for Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Marvel Comics, and lettered the first few issues of Amazing Spider-Man in the 1960s. Tom Spurgeon offers an obituary. [Mark Evanier]
- November 30, 2010 @ 09:50 AM by JK Parkin
Roger Langridge stepping down from the Muppet Show comic
Citing personal reasons, Roger Langridge announced on his blog today that he will no longer be drawing the Muppet Show comics for BOOM! Studios although he will wind up his run on The Four Seasons. He promises he will return, but probably not on that project:
“Thing is, I was ready to move on – this personal situation made me jump when I did, but I was looking for an appropriate time to jump anyway,” he wrote on his blog. “I feel like I’ve done about as much as I can with the Muppet characters – really, I’d rather move on while it’s still fun than carry on grinding away long past the point where I’m enjoying it.”
Langridge’s work on the Muppet Show comics was well received by critics, as was his writing for Thor: The Mighty Avenger, which was recently canceled by Marvel.
- November 30, 2010 @ 07:08 AM by Brigid Alverson
Give this man his Pulitzer already: Benjamin Marra’s The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd
She specializes in zeitgeisty op-ed columns featuring schoolyard-taunt nicknames for the most powerful people in politics…and in MAYHEM! She’s New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, and she’s kicking ass and uncovering the crime of the century in The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd, “A Work of Satire and Fiction” from Night Business and Gangsta Rap Posse author Benjamin Marra.
Told in Marra’s inimitable, po-faced ’80s-trash throwback style, TIFAoMD‘s preview pages show Dowd — winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary and recently named the eighth-biggest hack in journalism by Salon’s Alex Pareene — lounging in lingerie, battling burglars, flirting with fellow Times columnist Tom Friedman, and trying to blow the lid off the Valerie Plame scandal before her big date with George Clooney. And for a political junkie like me, it’s basically heaven. (Ordering info and preview page after the jump.)
- November 30, 2010 @ 04:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Talking Comics with Tim | Nate Neal
The Sanctuary
Nate Neal‘s first graphic novel, The Sanctuary, is a considerably quirky work on multiple levels. It’s a silent graphic novel, it sports an introduction by Dave Sim, and as I found out in this interview, Neal initially wanted the book to have an wordless title. Publisher Fantagraphics describes the book as exploring “the primal mysteries and sordid inner workings of a Paleolithic cave-dwelling tribe, creating an original ‘silent’ reading experience by using symbols instead of words.” The publisher offers folks a 15-page preview in order for consumers to get a small taste of the story. Neal also offers some unique marketing videos as well as other samples at his blog.
Tim O’Shea: Whether one agrees with him or not, Dave Sim typically elicits a strong reaction whatever he does these days. With that in mind, I am curious what motivated you to have him write the intro to Sanctuary?
Nate Neal: Gary Groth (publisher of Fantagraphics Books) and I were trying to come up with someone to write an introduction to kind of ease people into the comic–to explain to the reader that they were in for something different and to prepare themselves. Gary suggested a journalist who writes for The Comics Journal. I mentioned that I knew Dave Sim and thought he might write an intro for the book. Gary perked up. He seemed interested by this, even though he and Dave are kind of nemeses–he told me to give it a shot. He warned me that Dave was making people sign a “Sim is not a misogynist” petition before he’d talk to anyone. I first met Dave in 2005 at a comic con in Ohio. At that time, a couple other artists and myself had been self-publishing a comic book anthology called Hoax. Dave was a big supporter of Hoax–although I think he kind of disinterestedly loathed most of my artwork in that anthology–the style of the art, the ideology behind it, everything! Although when he thought something had merit, he’d tell you. He would write little reviews of Hoax and send them to us. Very detailed, scathing reviews. He butchered a comic I did for Hoax #4. It just destroyed me. Embarrassed the hell out of me because I knew he was right. Later after I got a Xeric grant and printed the first half of The Sanctuary as pamphlet comic books, Dave wrote me a letter telling me he thought it was great. He basically told me I was going in the right direction. So he kind of broke me down and built me up again. His work had astounded me since I first read Minds. Even though he’s been railroaded out of the alt. comics canon (along with other modern greats like David Lapham), he’s still one of the greatest cartoonists alive–a visionary. Of course I’d want him to write an introduction to my book. I’m not an apologist for Dave, but I’ve read every Cerebus book in detail and I believe that he doesn’t hate women. Sometimes I think what he really is is a Confucianist!
- November 29, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Read over 100 pages of James Stokoe’s unpublished Murderbullets
Poster for Murderbullets by James Stokoe
Move over, WikiLeaks: Here’s a document dump that everyone can get behind. While the rest of the world recovered from its tryptophan hangover this past weekend, Orc Stain cartoonist and Strange Tales II contributor James Stokoe uploaded 102 pages (plus front and back covers and a gigantic poster) of his unpublished comic Murderbullets to his blog.
Stokoe says he developed the project for an abandoned anthology between working on Wonton Soup 2 and Orc Stain; it took on a life of its own and expanded to the 100-page prologue you’ll find at the link, with an additional five chapters to come, before Stokoe decided to work on Orc Stain instead. “I don’t think I would be a decent human being if I released this prologue in print without finishing the rest of the book, but the magic of free internet lets me share it with you now,” he says. I think we can all agree he’s a decent human being indeed. Not a bad artist, either.
- November 29, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Kerry Callen imagines a world where Monkey Ghost Rider reigned
by Kerry Callen
Comics creator Kerry Callen has posted the second of two fun posts that dare to ask the question: What if DC published Marvel characters in the 1960s? And the answers are pretty awesome: Monkey Ghost Rider! Composite Power Man/Iron First! Fat Spider-Man! And a Captain America who has to eat his shield. Fun stuff; go check’em out.
- November 29, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Comics College | Herge
Tintin in Tibet
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
Welcome and happy holidays to all our Comics College readers. Today, as a post-Thanksgiving treat to you, we’ll be talking a lengthy look at the career of one Georges Remi, better known by his pen name, Herge, and by extension, his most famous creation, the plucky boy reporter Tintin.
- November 29, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Now we know who really Rules the Night
Charles Lasko Colden
Big-time congrats to I Rule the Night/Fishtown creator Kevin Colden and A Mess of Everything creator Miss Lasko-Gross on the birth of their son Charles Lasko Colden. Charles was born Nov. 24 at 3:20 a.m.
Per Kevin, “Mother and son are resting comfortably at home, Dad is sleeping in fits.”
- November 29, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by JK Parkin
Spider-Man musical’s first performance caught in web of mishaps
From the "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" video
The good news for producers and hopeful fans of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is that the delay-plagued $65-million musical finally previewed Sunday night on Broadway. The bad, if not unexpected, news is … things didn’t go well.
Sure, nobody died, as Vulture so helpfully points out. But the ambitious, technically complex production began 24 minutes late, and then went downhill from there. According to The New York Times, Act I was paused four times — the first coming a half-hour into the show to allow the crew to free star Reeve Carney from an aerial harness. The act’s final pause, described as “the worst glitch of the night by far,” came when Spider-Man was left dangling over the audience before the stage manager abruptly called for intermission.
New York Post critic Michael Riedel, who has gleefully chronicled Spider-Man‘s misfortunes, reports that a scene in which Mary Jane (Jennifer Damiano) was supposed to be rescued from atop the Chrysler Building faltered as part of the building came up missing, and Mary Jane never materialized.
The performance crawled on for 3 1/2 hours, during which time some audience members walked out, one person yelled, “I don’t know how everyone else feels, but I feel like a guinea pig today — I feel like it’s a dress rehearsal,” and Green Goblin (Patrick Page) was forced to stall for time while crew members “openly rushed around to fix faulty equipment.”
Still, though, it could’ve gone worse. Right?
After the break you can watch the segment on the making of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark that aired last night on CBS’s 60 Minutes.
- November 29, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose