2010 December
Comics A.M. | Another actor injured in Spider-Man musical mishap
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Broadway | A fourth actor was injured Monday night during a performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the $65-million musical that’s been plagued by delays and technical mishaps. Aerialist Christopher Tierney, who serves as a stunt double for Spider-Man and the villains Meeks and Kraven, fell about 30 feet when the cable to his harness snapped during the closing minutes of the show. Some equipment reportedly dropped into the audience as well. The performance was put on hold and then canceled as an ambulance arrived at the Foxwoods Theatre to take Tierney to Bellevue Hospital. Tierney is in stable condition, but no further information has been released. [BroadwayWorld, The Associated Press, CNN]
Publishing | Fantagraphics has laid off Dirk Deppey,The Comics Journal‘s online editor, former managing editor, and longtime writer of the Journalista! blog. His final day is Wednesday: “No regrets: The last ten years have kicked ass. I’ve done great things and meet interesting people, and was paid it. How great is that?” [Twitter]
- December 21, 2010 @ 08:54 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim | Jason Little
Motel Art Improvement Service
With this interview, Jason Little threw me a great curveball with the manner in which he answered the questions. In addition to his text replies, he supplied me with a wealth of graphics to accompany his answers. This approach appeals to me and I hope it clicks with other folks as well as proves to be an approach that interest others to try (be sure to click on the thumbnails for larger versions of the graphics). This email interview was in the wake of the December 15 release of Motel Art Improvement Service (Dark Horse), described by the publisher as “Eighteen–year–old Bee has finally saved up enough to embark on her long–planned cross–country bicycle trip. However, she doesn’t make it very far before disaster leaves her stranded at a motel. Her hormones surge when she meets a misunderstood young artist on a mission to ‘upgrade’ the banal “artwork” that hangs on the walls of every motel room. Taking a job there as a housekeeper, Bee snoops around in the motel’s dirty laundry and finds herself entangled in a scary drug deal gone dangerously wrong.” My thanks to Dark Horse’s Jim Gibbons for introducing me to the storyteller, as well as Little himself for the interview.
The Archies
Tim O’Shea: Out of the gates, let me reveal a bit of ignorance on my part. Could you define “bubblegum noir”?
Jason Little: “Bubblegum noir” came from a comment in a reader mail. This is the second time I’ve lost track of his name, I will go through my email archives and find it! Bubblegum rock is a genre from the late 60s and early 70s with an emphasis on hooks, danceable beat, and enough mention of sugar in the lyrics to cause tooth decay. I suppose in the same way Bee is “bubblegum” because of the bright colors and clear cartooning, but noir because of the suspense, and flashes of darker content.
- December 20, 2010 @ 04:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
What will the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ mean for Kate Kane?
From Detective Comics #859
I’d be lying if I said that, while following coverage this weekend of the Senate’s repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” I didn’t briefly wonder what this development would mean for Kate Kane, the new Batwoman.
After all, she’s the most notable (if not the only) comic-book superhero whose origin is tied to the law prohibiting gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military: While a cadet at the United States Military Academy, Kate is discovered to be in a secret relationship with another female student. When confronted with the allegation, Kate chooses to resign from West Point rather than lie. The scene, depicted in Detective Comics #859 by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III, is a powerful one.
“Way back — waaaay back — when I knew I was going to be writing Kate, and I knew we’d be telling her origin story, I knew I would write this scene,” Rucka said in a well-timed post that appeared Sunday at DC Women Kicking Ass. “This was, in many ways, the first scene I wrote for Kate Kane, one I kept rewriting and rewriting in my mind until the time came to put it down on the page. I’d done a lot of research into West Point, and the Cadet’s Code of Honor had stuck with me, stuck with me all the more in the face of DADT. In my mind’s eye, even before ever seeing the Bat Symbol of encountering Batman, this was where Batwoman was born — in Kate’s need to serve something greater and to, at the same time, remain true to herself.”
Williams, who’s sharing writing and art duties on the new Batwoman series, commented this afternoon on the repeal, saying, “It’s just sad that this policy ever occurred in the first place. It was grotesque and shameful that we ever went there. And terrible that it took nearly two decades for the folly to be properly dealt with.”
“Now to figure out what this may mean for Kate Kane,” he continued, “we’ll need to acknowledge this in some way, but properly in the plot, much like the policy’s enforcement affected the plot for Batwoman’s origin. Like it informed her past, setting her on the path she now has, this new progress will have to inform her direction at some point in a significant way.”
As curious as I am about how Williams & Co. will address law’s repeal, I’m even more interested in how later writers — those a decade or more removed from the policy — will address the character’s past. The origins of Marvel’s character operate on a sliding scale, with someone like Tony Stark first being tied to the Korean War, then the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War and now (I think) the conflict in Afghanistan. But how will DC revise Batwoman’s history when “don’t ask, don’t tell” is just a relic of the shameful past?
- December 20, 2010 @ 03:30 PM by Kevin Melrose
Bid on new ROM artwork to benefit Bill Mantlo
ROM by Sebastián Fiumara
I mentioned last month that Floating World Comics was putting together a second art tribute/fundraiser for writer Bill Mantlo, asking various artists to draw ROM, Spaceknight. The auctions are now live in eBay, and you can find more info by going there directly or by going to the Spacenite 2 blog, which has links to all the auctions.
- December 20, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
ECCC, comic artists team up for Monsters & Dames charity book
by Guy Davis
Although I’ve never been to the Emerald City Comicon itself, I dig the artwork they get for the Monsters & Dames art book. Case in point: the above illustration by Guy Davis.
This year’s book once again benefits Seattle Children’s Hospital, and includes contributions from Geof Darrow, Cully Hamner, Humberto Ramos, Frank Cho, Yanick Paquette, Skottie Young, Aaron Lopresti, Cliff Chiang, Mike McKone and many more. After the jump you’ll find their official PR, along with a few more images.
- December 20, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by JK Parkin
Ben Towle’s history of the ukulele
Here’s a fun take on an obscure topic: Ukuleles have been around forever, but where did they come from, and who plays them? Ben Towle drew a one-page comic about the history of the uke for the music magazine Signal to Noise, and he posted it on his blog little while back.
In just a handful of panels, Towle quickly sketches out the history of the ukulele, throws in a few fascinating facts, and takes a couple of digs at Tiny Tim. The comic is both funny and informative, and if you like it, check out Towle’s take on the 1950s soul/R&B band, The “5″ Royales.
- December 20, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Quote of the day #2 | “Comics are the literature of outcasts”
“Comics are so often seen as the province of white geeky nerds. But, more broadly, comics are the literature of outcasts, of pariahs, of Jews, of gays, of blacks. It’s really no mistake that we saw ourselves in Doom, Magneto or Rogue.”
–The Atlantic‘s Ta-Nehisi Coates on the influence of superhero comics on hip-hop culture and marginalized people in general. “I tell you [Jim Shooter's writing in Secret Wars] was Faulkner to me,” he says. “I’m 35 years old, and I’m still walking around saying to myself, ‘The Beyonder himself is close at hand…’”
- December 20, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Silver titles announced for Free Comic Book Day 2011
Organizers have announced the Silver titles for Free Comic Book Day 2011, which include everything from kids’ comics to television and movie tie-ins to science fiction and fantasy.
The Silver Sponsors and their books for the May 7 event were selected by the retailers on the FCBD Committee.
“With Free Comic Book Day celebrating its silver anniversary in 2011, I think it’s fitting that this is one of the strongest line-ups of Silver comics the event has ever enjoyed,” FCBD spokesperson Leslie Jackson said in a statement. “There are twenty-seven very different Silver comics to choose from, and that will hopefully mean customers of all ages will walk away from a comic shop on May 7 with a free comic they can’t wait to read. Thanks to all the Silver sponsors that made this possible.”
The complete list of FCBD titles will be available in January’s Previews catalog. Here’s the list of Silver comics:
- December 20, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Lapham gets down and dirty with Caligula in March
Caligula
Via the March solicitations for Avatar Press comes word that Stray Bullets creator David Lapham is writing a six-issue miniseries starring notorious Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, otherwise known as Caligula.
Here’s the solicitation text: “In March, David Lapham (of Stray Bullets fame) debuts a new six-issue sweeping epic with CALIGULA #1. In an age of depravity, one man’s perverse appetites horrified the entire Roman Empire. A ruler who began as a generous man but who ended as the most debased of monarchs, Caligula exemplifies the very concept that absolute power corrupts absolutely. No stranger to horror (as fans of his CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES series can attest), Lapham delivers the bloody tale of the infamous emperor – but with a supernatural twist – as illustrated by new talent German Nobile.”
Avatar also has a new Night of the Living Dead miniseries kicking off in March by Mike Wolfer and Dheeraj Verma. You can see the cover and solicitation info after the jump.
- December 20, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Zita the Spacegirl: The missing links
Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl won’t be out in print until February, but there’s no need to wait: MTV Geek has posted the first four chapters online, for free, using comiXology’s web reader. Zita the Spacegirl is a cute all-ages comic about a girl who travels to another planet to rescue a friend who has been snatched away. If you want to know more, check out Charles Webb and Eddie Wright’s interview with Hatke, also at MTV Geek.
Reading the actual comic presents a challenge, though. You would think a swell outfit like MTV Geek would be able to pay someone to put in links to related posts, or at least use tags, but you’d be wrong. There is no pointer from chapter 1 to chapter 2, and forget about using their search engine—it just churns up an identical list of useless results. It’s a shame: This is a great way to show off a new comic, and get it in front of a lot of new readers, but it looks like no one gave much thought to the problem of leading people from one chapter to the next. I did eventually find the links using Google, but if someone has to use Google to navigate your site, that’s a major failure.
Here, for your convenience, are links to the individual chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4.
Of course, there may be some blindingly obvious link that I’m just missing (the page is busy, and filled with animated ads), but I have had most of my coffee and I’m still stumped. Anyway, now that we have done the work for you, go ahead and read the comic! And here’s a bonus link: Zita started out as a webcomic, and you can read a couple of episodes at Hatke’s website.
- December 20, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Quote of the day | Joe Casey is bored by your comics
Top panel, L-R: Joe Casey, mainstream comics
I’ll tell you what else… I’m actually seeing things in [work for hire] comics now that I was doing seven or eight years ago. Not just techniques, but actual ideas. I love me some Fraction, but seeing that Tony Stark wants to “change the world” by manufacturing a car that isn’t dependent on gasoline and runs on a possibly limitless energy source that only he can provide… where have I seen that before? Grant Morrison, of all people, had the confidence and the grace to name check me in a Wired magazine interview when it comes to whatever minor contribution I’ve made to the “corporate” angle in modern comics, but he seems to be the only one. And there are other little things I see here and there that I recognize as having done myself, ten years ago. Things that are so specific, I know where they came from, I know it’s not just coincidence. Now before certain people go crazy because I dared say that… no one should read this as me being at all bitter, because I actually think it’s fine. Let ‘em all pick at the bones of the carcasses I chased down and slaughtered in the field… I’m on to the next kill. I certainly did it with the creators that I dug when I was a newbie. It’s just weird to be on the other side of it. Any creators out there who don’t think we all share the same ideaspace are deluding themselves.
- December 20, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | Adrienne Roy passes away; contract changes at DC?
Adrienne Roy
Passings | Prolific colorist Adrienne Roy, who was a fixture of DC Comics for more than two decades, passed away on Dec. 14 following a year-long battle with cancer. She was 57. Although Roy’s work appeared in countless DC titles, from Green Lantern and Superman to Warlord and Wonder Woman, she’s best known for her extensive runs on Batman, Detective Comics and The New Teen Titans. Mark Evanier notes that “Her long tenure on Batman (more than 600 issues of various comics featuring the character) meant that her credit appeared on more tales of the Caped Crusader than anyone else except for Bob Kane.” CBGExtra posts an obituary written by her husband Anthony Tollin. [News from ME]
Publishing | Rich Johnston reports on rumored contract changes at DC Comics that would affect all new creator-owned titles in the DC Universe and Vertigo imprints. [Bleeding Cool]
Publishing | Storm Lion, the Singapore-based multimedia studio behind the 2008 Radical Publishing miniseries Freedom Formula, has closed on the heels the summer layoff of 30 employees in Singapore and Los Angeles. The closing leaves a planned movie adaptation, to be produced by Bryan Singer, “in limbo.” [The Straits Times]
- December 20, 2010 @ 08:47 AM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading?
Smile
Happy holidays and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today’s special guest is Caanan Grall, creator of the webcomic Max Overacts and the Zuda strip Celadore.
To see what Caanan and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …
- December 19, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color | DeMatteis brings a moment that matters
Chaos War: Thor #2
Ever read a comic to the last page, close the book and just wonder to yourself how on Earth did this get printed?
Yeah, but in a good way?
Sometimes you meet stories or characters that don’t seem to fit in with the flow of your usual reading milieu and you’re floored that such a thing could hang out next to Iron Man and the Hulk on the shelves. I’m not saying those books can’t be deep or intellectual, I’m just saying when an indie book or Vertigo title gets heartfelt, sentimental, experimental or metaphysical, it’s kind of par for the course. Hey look everyone, Sandman’s referencing an abstract concept in a grounded yet mythological fashion! It must be Tuesday.
But when Thor does something similar and it’s not just a Kirby reference, there’s something that always makes me sit back in my chair and get my adult comic reading hat on and really take in the narrative. I’m as bad as anyone who reads far too many comics in getting complacent and bogged down in “what matters,” that weird, ephemeral concept that drives publishers to event books and banner titles. It has been said that comic readers want books that “matter,” taken to mean they want books that get a notation in the Overstreet guide: “First appearance of So-and-So,” “New Costume for Whatserface” and the ever-so-coveted “Death of That Guy.” These are things that matter… for now. They crack the internet in half and fans panic and then a few months/years later, Hawkeye’s death in ignominy is just something to chuckle about rather than scowl around.
But let’s really think on this.
- December 17, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
The walled kingdom of digital comics
You can only get in if you know the secret word
The Register is a UK newspaper that that makes tech and business news a lot less boring by cloaking it in cheeky slang. An item that popped up today, iPad media apps: Stealthed hobbits thwart Google’s flaming Eye, caught my attention because it relates to the changing landscape of comics.
The point of the article is that iPad and iPhone apps are not accessible to Google and other internet search engines. This may not seem like a big deal, but in January, Apple will unveil the Mac Apps Store, and more and more content will be walled off in separate applications. I already use comiXology’s web app and the Mac version of the Kindle reader, so a Mac app is only a small step away from what I’m doing now.
It’s time for comics publishers and app developers to devote some serious thought to the question of how readers are going to find comics on their mobile devices. Already I have a hard time finding things in the app store, and the lack of a dedicated comics section makes it even worse. Unlike Google’s robust search engine (if I search for “Joseph Smith,” it knows to give me hits for “Joe Smith” as well, and it will ask me if I’m really looking for “Jo Smyth” if there are more hits for that), the iTunes store only responds to a handful of exact keywords.
- December 17, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Brigid Alverson