2011 January
Comics on the iPad: ComicZeal
Almost every comics app—comiXology’s Comics, iVerse’s Comics+, Graphic.ly, and every publisher app—works the same way: The app itself is free, but you have to pay for the comics (well, most of them).
ComicZeal is the opposite: The app costs $8.99, but with it you get access to a huge amount of free content. I don’t think the app provides much that you couldn’t get for free* if you put the pieces together yourself, but it bundles everything together nicely and makes it easy to use.
ComicZeal reads PDFs (and RARs) and the file types that are most popular for downloadable comics, CBZ and CBR. It’s more of a reader than a store; the big attraction, for a lot of people, is that they can simply import their existing comics library into it.
Wait, you may be saying, where do you get that existing comics library? Ah. Some people scan in their print comics, which is more trouble than I’m likely to ever go through. This guy bought DVDs of Archie comics and imported them into iBooks; you could do the same with ComicZeal. You can buy comics in PDF form from DriveThruComics, and they have some free offerings, too. CBZ and CBR are popular formats for bootleg downloads, of course, but we will not speak of this. Because to my mind, the highest and best use of ComicZeal is to read public domain comics from the good old days. ComicZeal syncs to two sites that download public-domain comics, Flashback Universe and Golden Age Comics. These sites provide a cornucopia of forgotten comics: Romance comics, space comics, detective comics, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comics, all the treasures of a misspent childhood.
- January 7, 2011 @ 01:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
The 50 best covers of 2010
Chew #12 (Comic-Con exclusive cover), by Rob Guillory
The third annual rundown of the best covers of the year features 50 images — oh, okay, 51 — representing the work of some 46 different artists (plus inkers, colorists and designers) from nine publishers.
Returning artists like Chris Bachalo, Dave Johnson, Sean Phillips and Yuko Shimizu are joined on this year’s list by “new” names like Kody Chamberlain, Camilla D’Errico, Amy Reeder and Drew Weing. (You can peruse the previous years’ lists here and here.)
As in the past, I’ve tried to explain the appeal of each entry; some covers get just a sentence, while others receive entire paragraphs. That doesn’t reflect the quality of the image, but merely what I have to say about it.
Note: While last year’s list included five manga covers, this year features none. I’m not sure whether that’s a byproduct of the contraction of the manga market, a sign of a shift in cover quality — among manga or Western comics — or a shortcoming on my part (if it’s the latter, I’ll own up to it; however, after several excursions in search of manga candidates, I found none that I felt qualified as among the 50 best.)
With that out of the way, I present, in alphabetical order, the 50 best covers of 2010:
- January 7, 2011 @ 12:30 PM by Kevin Melrose
Axel Rose: Thoughts on Marvel’s new editor-in-chief
Wow — between Erik Larsen and Eric Stephenson, it sure seems like Axel Alonso pissed in Image Comics’ Wheaties at some point!
Hey, it wouldn’t be a Robot 6 post without a “let’s you and him fight” angle. But now that that’s out of my system, there’s a lot one could say, pro and con, about Axel Alonso’s promotion to editor-in-chief of Marvel. Actually, the level of surprise with which the news was greeted says something all by itself. True, he’s never been the public figure that his predecessor Joe Quesada and colleague Tom Brevoort (who, again, has long said he didn’t want the EIC job) have been, so in that regard he’s an unknown quantity to readers and fans. To creators and editors, however, everything I’ve heard indicates that his reputation is sterling, dating back to his involvement in Vertigo — he’s well-liked personally and well-respected professionally (unless you’re Darwyn Cooke).
- January 7, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Talking Comics with Tim | Christopher Yost
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Disney XD’s The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is the kind of show that connects with classic Avengers fans like myself, as well as children seeing the team for the first time. So I considered myself fortunate to catch up with the show’s story editor, Christopher Yost, to discuss the show recently. This Sunday, January 9 at 10 AM EST, in a new episode, The Man Who Stole Tomorrow, Kang the Conqueror, the undisputed ruler of Earth in the 40th Century, and the Avengers cross paths in the 21st century. In addition to discussing the show, Yost entertained a few questions about the four-issue The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes miniseries, which Marvel launched in November. Marvel has been kind enough to provide an episode guide, as well as video teasers at The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! hub page.
Tim O’Shea: On a most basic level, what all do you get to do as story editor for The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes show?
Christopher Yost: I’m in charge of the writing, from top to bottom. A few years ago now, Supervising Producer Josh Fine came to me with Marvel’s desire to do an Avengers animated series, and I put forward two concepts for the show, general frameworks for which the series exists in. We ended up using both, more or less.
- January 7, 2011 @ 09:55 AM by Tim O'Shea
2010: The results are in!
Avengers #1: Top-selling comic of the year
Diamond Comic Book Distributors announced its 2010 numbers yesterday, and the results were mixed: Sales of comics, graphic novels, and magazines in comics stores were down 3.5% for the year, but they moved up a bit in the last three months of the year, which is a hopeful sign.
In terms of market share, Marvel won the year with 38% of the dollar share and 43% of units sold (I’m rounding here). DC was second with 30 and 34%, respectively, and tagging along after them were Dark Horse, Image, IDW, Dynamite, and Boom! Studios. Viz, the top manga publisher, had 1.4% of the dollars and less than 1% of the unit share, which is about where they have been in previous years.
And what comics were we reading this year? Well, we weren’t exactly breaking new ground. Individual volumes of Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead dominated the graphic novel list, which is not surprising given that both had strong media tie-ins. The comics list had a bit more variety, and it’s interesting that the last two issues of Blackest Night outsold the first two issues of Brightest Day.
Here’s the list of the top ten periodical comics for the year:
Continue Reading »
- January 7, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Comic sales slip 3.5%, SD official wants Comic-Con parade
The Avengers #1
Publishing | Sales of comics, graphic novels and magazines to comic stores declined slightly in 2010, slipping 3.5 percent from 2009, according to a year-end report released Thursday by Diamond Comic Distributors. John Jackson Miller’s estimate places the North American market at between $410 million and $420 million, down from the 2008 peak of $437 million.
Marvel again emerged as the top publisher, leading the market in both dollar and unit sales. May’s Avengers #1 was the top-selling periodical, followed by X-Men #1, Blackest Night #8, Siege #1 and Blackest Night #7. As expected, The Walking Dead and Scott Pilgrim dominated the graphic novel and trade paperback list, taking eight of the Top 10 spots (the remaining two went to the Kick-Ass premium hardcover and Superman: Earth One). [Diamond Comic Distributors]
- January 7, 2011 @ 07:50 AM by Kevin Melrose
The history of the Batmobile, as detailed in a massive infographic
From the "History of the Batmobile" infographic
A must-see for Batman fans, or, heck, infographic devotees, this nearly 166-inch-long timeline at CarInsurance.org — created using information and images culled from BatmobileHistory.com — charts the 70-year evolution of the Batmobile, from its first appearance in Detective Comics #48 to the Tim Burton movies to its current comic-book incarnations. Perhaps just as interesting is the inclusion, when applicable, of the actual cars on which the various Batmobiles were based. Ah, the Corvette years …
(via Screen Rant)
- January 7, 2011 @ 05:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Grumpy Old Fan | Ten from the old year, ten for the new: 2010-11 edition
Dates a-plenty on the cover of 52 #19
So, is this a tradition? I have to come up with a better subtitle…
For the past couple of years, I’ve picked out twenty random DC topics, of various levels of importance, for a paragraph’s worth of analysis each. No guarantees as to accuracy, of course — this site is for entertainment purposes only. Regardless, even a blind pig finds a truffle now and then.
With last year’s list in mind, let’s get right to it–!
* * *
2010
1. DC at 75. My first impulse — which is not necessarily the correct one — is to say that DC had a relatively low-key anniversary, because there was no single celebratory event unifying the superhero line, like there was in 1985 with Crisis On Infinite Earths. I think that’s unfair, though, considering that the superhero books did have some commemorative covers, and there was a big coffee-table book. That’s about right, I guess.
Continue Reading »
- January 6, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Jason Aaron to Alan Moore: “Go f*ck yourself”
Battle of the beards: Jason Aaron and Alan Moore
No, seriously! Those are Scalped and Ultimate Captain America writer Jason Aaron’s exact words to the legendary Watchmen and From Hell scribe (and fellow beard enthusiast) in Aaron’s latest “Where the Hell Am I” column for CBR: “Go fuck yourself, Alan Moore.” Apparently the writer took Moore’s spate of angry and dismissive comments about the comics industry — spurred most recently, in straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back fashion, by unpleasant dealings Moore had with former collaborator Dave Gibbons over DC’s potential publication of Watchmen sequels — very personally:
- January 6, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
‘Lighter, leaner, and more adaptable’ War Machine coming in Iron Man 2.0
War Machine
M.O.D.O.K. isn’t the only one getting a New Year’s makeover at the House of Ideas, it seems … Marvel.com has posted Barry Kitson’s redesign of War Machine for the upcoming Iron Man 2.0 comic.
“Rhodey’s new armor, an upgrade to become Iron Man 2.0, emphasizes stealth, recon, infiltration, and combat readiness when boots hit the ground. The War Machine of tomorrow is lighter, leaner, and more adaptable, with the ability to bulk up and fortify for direct confrontations favoring strength over slyness. And it packs quite a few surprises when things get really hairy,” the book’s editor, Alejandro Arbona, told the site.
You can see some additional sketches at Marvel.com. Iron Man 2.0 #1, written by Morning Glories/T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents writer Nick Spencer and drawn by Kitson, comes out Jan. 19.
- January 6, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
“This doesn’t exist, but I can make it happen”: Françoise Mouly explains it all
To paraphrase Mary McCarthy, every word in Françoise Mouly’s interview with CBR’s Alex Dueben is fascinating, including “and” and “the.” It’s a marvelously insightful look at nearly every aspect of the legendary RAW, New Yorker, and Toon Books editor’s multifaceted career: The status of Toon Books, the challenges of producing educational books for children that are also fun to look at and read, her personal history with comics, the importance and legacy of her and husband Art Spiegelman’s seminal alternative-comics magazine RAW‘s production values, the shift among underground/alternative cartoonists’ careers from character-focused (a la Zippy, Jimbo, and Adele Blanc-sec) to creator-focused, her duties and work style as The New Yorker‘s art editor, working with visual artists from across the comics and illustration spectrum, her dream of an increased presence of actual comics in the magazine, R. Crumb’s apparent New Yorker beef, Toon Books’ upcoming slate…pure gold from one of comics’ most influential figures.
- January 6, 2011 @ 01:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Guest interview: McNamara and Braddock return to mars
Paige Braddock and Jason McNamara, circa 2008
A couple of years back I attended a panel at the Alternative Press Expo featuring Jason McNamara, writer of the Martian Confederacy, interviewing the books’ artist Paige Braddock for her spotlight panel at the show. It was an interesting discussion, so when Jason approached me about the possibility of doing an interview on the follow-up to the book, I asked him if maybe he’d be willing to interview Paige instead. And here it is. You can check out a preview of the book here.
by Jason McNamara
She’s an incredible talent, a generous collaborator and a very good friend. I’m talking, of course, about Paige Braddock.
Raised in the South, Paige graduated from the University of Tennessee and spent years working as a journalist before being recruited by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz to join his studio, where she’s now the Creative Director.
After hours, Paige is also the Eisner-nominated creator of Jane’s World, the saga of hapless journalist Jane Wyatt, cracking jokes and suffering one lesbian misadventure after another. Paige employs a classic Sunday-morning approach to modern relationships, creating a natural entry point for all readers. Created as an online strip in 1998, JW became a comic book in 2002 when Paige founded Girl Twirl publishing imprint. Jane’s World continues to be published twice a year as a series of graphic novels and is serialized at Comics.com.
A few years ago, Paige approached me about collaborating on a project. The result was 2008’s The Martian Confederacy, a futuristic Sci-Fi romp, equal parts Noam Chomsky and Dukes of Hazzard. With the upcoming release of our second volume, I thought this would be a great time to catch up.
- January 6, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Quote of the day | Joe Quesada’s Watchmen
Marvel.com: What is your proudest achievement as far as what Marvel has accomplished under your reign?
Joe Quesada: I’ll give you the long answer to your short question. When I was reintroduced to reading comics around 25-26, I remember the first comics I read were [The Dark Knight Returns] and Watchmen. I’m a big believer in role modeling, setting goals for yourself and shooting for those goals, shooting for the moon. So when I broke into comics, the goal became not only did I want to be a writer, not only did I want to be an artist, but someday I wanted to do something as great as Dark Knight or Watchmen—that was the goal. I think a lot of creators have that when they start; they find that one book and say, “someday I want to create something that’s just like that.” That’s the path I tried to follow.
Now nobody, myself included, has ever really had that kind of story that has redefined the genre like those two books. But when I look back at my 10 years at Marvel and everything we’ve accomplished, from Chapter 11 [bankruptcy] to now where we’re part of the Disney family; now that we’re a movie studio, a television studio, and animation studio; we’ve got all these things going on—when I look back on that, I look back on that as my Watchmen. That’s what I hope I’ve left behind as a good thing. It wasn’t a book, but it was certainly a period of time for me that I will remember very, very fondly.
–Outgoing Marvel Editor-in-Chief and reigning Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada gives Marvel.com’s Ryan “Agent M” Penagos what strikes me as an extremely revealing answer to the question of his legacy. Everything I’ve ever heard from Marvel creators and employees led me to conclude long ago that Quesada’s great strength as EIC (and a few of his weaknesses as well) stemmed from the fact that he is an artist first and foremost; seems like he still thought in those terms even when far from the drawing table.
- January 6, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of…Speaker of the House?”
Valhalla, I am coming: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Speaker of the House John Boehner
To some it’s the start of The Heroic Age, to others a new Dark Reign, to still others a possible Orange Lantern attack, but yesterday Ohio Republican John Boehner became the 61st Speaker of the House, as the GOP assumed control of the House of Representatives for the 112th Congress. And to mark the occasion, he dropped the hammer — a ceremonial gavel so big that pundits and twitterati have taken to comparing it to Mjolnir, the enchanted hammer of the gods wielded by the Mighty Thor. Apparently, Speakers may select from a range of gavels of different sizes and styles, depending on the occasion; Boehner, with customary subtlety, selected one that looks like it could have come from Kenneth Branagh’s prop department. Does this make President Obama Loki and Nancy Pelosi the Enchantress? If so, that would make the Tea Party a rampaging barbarian horde, right?
- January 6, 2011 @ 11:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Beetle Bailey marches down the runway with new fashion line
Part of the Beetle Bailey-inspired collection
Cartoonist Mort Walker’s lanky and lazy Beetle Bailey — so lazy that he’s remained an Army private for 60 years — has become, of all things, the inspiration for a limited-edition line of designer clothing.
Working with King Features Syndicate, designers Darren Romanelli and Hitoshi Tsujimoto developed an Americana- and military-infused collection of T-shirts, sweaters, jackets, hats, shoes, pants and bags — many of which will feature Walker’s original cartoon designs. Among the items are authentic G1 leather jackets (shown at right) featuring an image of Gen. Halftrack’s secretary Sheila Buxley sitting atop a bomb beneath the words “Blonde Bombshell.” The line will be unveiled Jan. 16-18 at the apparel trade show PROJECT New York.
“It’s an Americana type of clothing line,” Walker told The Associated Press. “It’s real authentic clothes that people wore — jackets, blue jeans and stuff like that. All sweaters, all the stuff that the ordinary guys wear, not the fancy guys.”
In addition to the debut of the clothing line, the show will feature a retrospective dedicated to Walker and Beetle Bailey.
Beetle Bailey made his comic-strip debut on Sept. 4, 1950, as a college student named Spider. Six months later he accidentally enlisted in the Army, where he’s remained ever since. The strip appears daily in more than 1,800 newspapers worldwide.
- January 6, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose