2010 December
Comics A.M. | Brenda Starr to retire; women like superhero comics, too
Brenda Starr
Comic strips | Tribune Media Services has announced it will cancel the 70-year-old comic strip Brenda Starr rather than find replacements for writer Mary Schmich and artist June Brigman, who have decided to end their lengthy run. The final installment will appear on Jan. 2. Created by Dale Messick, the flame-haired reporter debuted in The Chicago Tribune on June 30, 1940, and later appeared in comic books and movies, and on merchandise. Messick retired in 1980, and has been succeeded on the strip only by women, from Ramona Fradon to Linda Sutter to Schmich and Brigman.
Kiel Phegley offers commentary, and catches a series of tweets from writer Dan Slott, who relates that his great-grandfather’s sister championed Brenda Starr at The Chicago Tribune. In related news, Tribune Media Services is partnering with Hermes Press on a multi-volume hardcover series titled Brenda Starr, Reporter by Dale Messick: The Collected Daily and Sunday Newspaper Strip. The first volume will be released in June. [press release]
Retailing | Borders Group reported a third-quarter loss of $74.4 million, nearly double the loss incurred during the same period in 2009. ICv2.com provides analysis. [GalleyCat]
- December 10, 2010 @ 08:24 AM by Kevin Melrose
Grumpy Old Fan | Keep your enemies closer
The Flash vol. 1 #174, November 1967
I was watching this year’s South Carolina/Alabama football game when a moment from 1978′s Superman popped into my head. As South Carolina’s upset bid gradually became a certainty, the shots of coach Steve Spurrier reminded me of Lex Luthor’s classic line:
You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason, when it came time to cash in your chips, this old … diseased … maniac would be your banker.
See, there are just some people you never count out, no matter how great the odds against them. Regardless of incarnation, Luthor is one of my favorite villains, especially when he can create a perpetual air of menace. If Superman represents humanity’s best impulses (plus the power to back them up), Luthor naturally represents its worst: self-centeredness, ego, avarice, and an overwhelming superiority complex. Twisted though it may be, Luthor’s enduring motivation is spot-on: but for Superman, he’d be the unquestioned ruler of the Earth. Just the news that Luthor is loose should be enough to clear the streets of Metropolis, sending its citizens into well-stocked shelters. Luthor is scary because only Superman can stop him; and Superman is … well, Superman in no small part because only he can stop the likes of Luthor.
- December 9, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Gift suggestions for every taste | Vintage X-Men game, Brown’s cat cards
Wolverine by Dan Panosian
Brigid did a round-up yesterday of various holiday gift-giving suggestions, so I thought I’d follow suit with some that I’ve seen lately.
• The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is auctioning off original art by Paul Pope, Eric Powell, Gabriel Hardman, Tom Fowler, Dan Paosian and many more, as well as lunch with Chew writer John Layman in New York next week.
• I remember shoveling a whole bunch of quarters into the X-Men arcade game back in the day; my friend Mike and I beat the game as Nightcrawler and Wolverine. If you have an Xbox fan in your life, they too can fight the Blob, Magneto and more in side-scrolling action, as the game will be available on Xbox Live Arcade Dec. 15. The PlayStation Network, unfortunately, won’t get it until February, so you’ll have to find something else this holiday season for the PS3 fan in your life. Joy to the world! The game will hit the PlayStation Network Dec. 14!
• Khepri Comics is selling Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon’s Atelier, a comic they created to sell at conventions.
• Comics creator Ben Towle has a 20 percent off sale going in his web store, where you can purchase original art from books like Midnight Sun, signed copies of Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean and superhero commissions.
- December 9, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Dan Slott responds to message-board insult with well-deserved f-bomb
Every Spider-Man fan knows that with great power comes great responsibility. I don’t know if the ability to make your voice heard on a message board counts as “great power,” but surely there’s some responsibility attached to that, too. A recent run-in between Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott and a CBR message-board user named lejayjay serves as an object lesson on this point, and who you think abused their power-responsibility balance the worst may well reveal a lot about you as a fan and consumer of comics and art.
In a thread called “How long do you expect Dan Slott to be the lead/ sole writer of Amazing Spider-Man?”, lejayjay posted a comment seemingly deriding Slott as a fair-weather comics writer who would likely depart for a more lucrative field. Though the comment eventually spun off into facetiously hyperbolic territory, it began by directly attacking Slott’s motives for writing ASM at all:
It is jus a paycheck for Slott anyway. He’s not a real fan.
- December 9, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Tom Brevoort asks: Where’s the next superstar artist?
Où sont les superstars d'antan?
“My not-terribly insightful comic book epiphany of the day: right now, we’ve got a bunch of top-flight writers in the field, and the next generation on the horizon. But what we could really use is a new, young generation of break-out artists. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got a lot of excellent artists. But who was the last hot young guy who just exploded into the field? I feel like the pump is primed for one or more fresh young artists to just explode in a major, commercial way. When was the last time that happened? We could use an infusion of visual excitement in the books–across all companies.”
–Thus spoke Tom Brevoort, Marvel Senior VP – Executive Editor, on Twitter last night. Personally, I think he’s probably right to wonder about this. Like he says, the point isn’t that there are no good or even great relatively young/relatively new artists right now — there are plenty. Personally I’ve been knocked out by Gabriel Hardman‘s work on Atlas and Hulk over the past year or so, just for example. But what Brevoort is looking for is an artist who just skyrockets to superstardom more or less out of the blue. That requires quite a delicate alchemy. The artist in question must be young enough or new enough or have been working far way enough from the Big Two’s audiences for their work to have “the shock of the new” when fans first see it. They must bring something different to the table than what established artists are doing, so that their work stands out, but they must also be working in a style that’s recognizable and acceptable to large numbers of superhero fans. Their work doesn’t necessarily have to be to your taste, but you should at least be able to understand what others see in it, even if you don’t see it yourself.
- December 9, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
C2E2 goes green in official poster by Ivan Reis
C2E2 poster by Ivan Reis
Both The Source and C2E2′s Lance Fensterman share the official poster for next year’s Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, or C2E2, which will take place March 18-20. The art was penciled by Ivan Reis, inked by Joe Prado and colored by Rod Reis
- December 9, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by JK Parkin
Walt Simonson covers the Avengers for Hero Initiative
The Hero Initiative’s latest “100 Covers” promotion focuses on the Avengers, and former Avengers scribe Walt Simonson has contributed a jam piece that mashes together the original Avengers with the crew he wrote circa issue #300 in the late 1980s. Most of these guys should look familiar to most comic fans, but the guy dressed like a minotaur is the Eternal known as The Forgotten One.
You can check out covers by John Romita, Whilce Portacio, Adam Kubert, Alan Davis and many, many more on the Hero Initiative website.
- December 9, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
New Venom series to blend hardcore violence with international intrigue
Venom #1 (cover art by Joe Quesada)
Venom, Marvel’s salivating alien symbiote, will lay claim to a new ongoing series, and a new host, in March, the publisher announced this morning.
The title, which reunites Fear Agent and Punisher collaborators Rick Remender and Tony Moore, finds the symbiote bonding to a familiar figure — Marvel won’t say who — and working as an operative for the U.S. government.
Remender describes the book as merging “the same brand of ferocious hardcore violence fans of Venom would expect with the international high-adventure of The Bourne Identity, globe trotting from bleak Eastern European war zones to exotic Marvel Universe locations like the Savage Land. It’s James Bond-style worldwide adventuring with high-stakes espionage, intrigue, fast action and an opening mission that holds the stability of the world in the balance.” In short, the “international adventures of 00Venom.”
The new Venom will be introduced in February’s Amazing Spider-Man #654.1 — that’s one of the self-contained stories in the new “Marvel: Point One” initiative — before leaping into his new series the following month.
Since debuting in 1988, Venom has become one of the more popular members of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery and, indeed, the Marvel Universe, starring in more than 20 miniseries and one-shots. However, this new title will be only the second ongoing series for Venom, after the 2003 comic launched as part of Marvel’s short-lived Tsunami imprint.
See some of Moore’s concept art for Venom after the break:
- December 9, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Help advance the cause of science—with comics!
Neil Cohn explains his research
Neil Cohn is a doctoral student at Tufts University who studies the way people read comics—or, according to his bio, “the relationship of the cognition guiding the comprehension of comics to the processes used in understanding language.” He blogs, rather infrequently, at emaki.net, where he finds interesting bits of research about how people read and create comics and other media.
Now you can help: Neil has an experiment up right now, and anyone is invited to participate. It’s basically an online survey—no wires and electrodes, no strange drugs—and only takes a few minutes to complete. So go, be a guinea pig. As an added incentive, participants have a chance to win one of two $50 Best Buy gift certificates.
Neil doesn’t just study comics—he also illustrated the non-fiction comic We the People, so his creator credentials are in order. Here’s a short interview with Neil at Dimes for Nickels, which gives a bit more background on his research.
(Via Scott McCloud.)
- December 9, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Udon invites you to pay tribute to Mega Man
Udon Entertainment, which has published several Mega Man manga, is putting out an artbook paying tribute to the venerable video game-cartoon-comics franchise, and they are inviting everyone to participate:
UDON is sending out a call to comic artists, video game artists, freelance illustrators, and fan artists all around the world to show us your artistic tribute to Mega Man! Give us your best artwork featuring the cast of Mega Man®, Mega Man® X, Mega Man® Zero, Mega Man® ZX, and Mega Man® Legends. All styles are welcome – anime, western comic style, cartoon, pixel-based, sculptures – whatever you can come up with as your tribute to the blue bomber!
The fine print includes some fairly specific legal stipulations. Characters from the Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Star Force series are not allowed, and crossovers are also verboten. And the characters have to be from the games only, not comics or animation. “For example, the green Mega Man from the Captain N animated series is not allowed.” Got that? And no fan-created characters: “You may not, for example, create your own Zebra-themed Robot Master named ‘Zebra Man’.” Damn! Plus no drinking, smoking, or nudity, although now that I think about it, those elements probably be hard to integrate into a Mega Man comic anyway. (Not impossible, but difficult.)
On the other hand, the editors are open to a variety of different styles. The top 300 entries will be published and the creators will get a copy of the book.
- December 9, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Tintin hearing delayed, copyright ruling ignored
Tintin
Legal | A Belgian court has postponed until next week a hearing in the months-long trial over whether to ban Tintin in the Congo because of its racist portrayals of native Africans. The legal battle was launched three years ago by Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese man living in Belgium, who wants the book removed from the country’s bookstores, or at least sold with warning labels as it is in Britain. An anti-racism group joined Mondondo in seeking the ban. Wednesday’s scheduled hearing was postponed after one of the plaintiffs withdrew from the case; however, the article doesn’t say which one. [Expatica]
Legal | Cartoonist Rich Koslowski discovers that winning a copyright-infringement lawsuit against a company that used his artwork without permission didn’t end the matter. More than a year later, Ontario-based Geeks Galore Computer Center still hasn’t complied with the judge’s order, and continues to use Koslowski’s art in signage and advertising. [Eye on Comics]
- December 9, 2010 @ 07:29 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | What Looks Good for February
Time again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for fun, new adventure comics!
Muppet Sherlock Holmes
Boom!
Muppet Sherlock Holmes – Because I’ve mentioned every other Sherlock Holmes comic in Previews for the last year. And because it’s the Muppets.
Campfire
Swiss Family Robinson – I love the Disney movie. Maybe I’ll like this adaptation of the classic, island adventure novel too.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Jekyll/Hyde adaptations succeed or fail on the depiction of Hyde. I’m not totally convinced that Campfire’s the company to present a truly horrific Hyde, but it’s worth checking into.
Dark Horse
King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel#1 – I’m disappointed that Dark Horse is skipping so far ahead in Conan’s career. I’d like to think that this is just a one-off mini-series, but their pronouncement that “a thrilling new era begins” makes me wonder. Still, I do like the King Conan era, so as long as they’re not completely abandoning the plan to chronicle his earlier careers, no harm I guess.
- December 8, 2010 @ 07:59 PM by Michael May
Why Axe Cop will never know love revealed in Dark Horse preview
Axe Cop
One of this year’s biggest webcomics success stories is Axe Cop, the webcomic created by five-year-old Malachai Nicolle and his older brother Ethan. Arriving Dec. 22 is the first Axe Cop collection, published by Dark Horse, who were kind enough to send out some preview pages today. If you’ve been wondering why the axe-wielding cop never married, well, you’ll find that answer on the last page.
Which is a good excuse to point out that the Nicolle brothers are having a big Christmas sale over in the Axe Shop, where you can find prints, shirts and more.
Check out preview pages and the solicitation text after the jump.
- December 8, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Welcome to Shelf Porn, our weekly peep into somebody’s comic collection. This week Shawn Borbandy shares a huge number of pictures of his collection of comics, toys, statues and more. Also, I’m trying out a different layout for Shelf Porn this week, so let me know what you think.
If you’d like to share your collection, hit me up! Email pictures and a write-up to jkparkin@yahoo.com. Also, if you’re decorating for the holidays and using any sort of comic book theme on your tree or around the house, we want to see those, too! So take some photos of your ornaments and send them to me as well.
And now let’s hear from Shawn …
- December 8, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Kickstart my art | Help Tony Harris create Roundeye: For Love
Roundeye: For Love
Heidi over at The Beat points us to a recent Kickstarter project started by Tony Harris. The artist of Starman, Ex Machina and War Heroes is asking for $60,000 to create Roundeye: For Love, a 96-page graphic novel.
Compared to most comic book projects that appear on Kickstarter, it’s a pretty hefty sum, but Harris explains where the money will go.
“So it may initially seems to be too high of a goal to reach , but consider this: Kickstarter takes a percentage of all monies recieved,” he posted on the Kickstarter page. “They also charge for all the credit card processing fees. The money goal set here reflects those things, my page rate for penciling, inking and coloring 96 pages of art, which is a Herculean task to be sure. Then there are administration fees for publishing, and promotional items to be generated and paid for. this project will likely be taken to one of the main publishers in comics such as Dark Horse, Image, IDW, etc…. so they will handle printing, and distribution, and a certain amount of advertising costs ( which can be MASSIVE). These are all big reasons why I decided to post ROUNDEYE: AFor Love here on Kickstarter. To reach as large an audience as possible. And the salary/page rate mentioned will likely be over 1-2 years, which doesn’t amount to a whole lot. But this is the ONLY way to produce an extremely high quality product that will be competitive in the Comics market. I sincerely hope this makes everything I am trying to achieve here totally transparent.”
Harris is offering several incentives for people who donate, from a mention in the book for $25 to a limited edition with a “personal drawing” for $400. You can check out some art from the project here.
- December 8, 2010 @ 12:12 PM by JK Parkin