2011 January
The Middle Ground #39 | Four more Fantastic comic deaths to make mainstream headlines
If there’s one thing that today’s mainstream media coverage of the death of a Fantastic Four member proves, it’s that slow news days are great for Marvel Comics. But if there’s another, then it’s that Death = Attention in the crazy, depressing world of comic book math. Bearing that in mind, here are some new candidates for the Grim Reaper, to goose some other publishers’ coffers. Continue Reading »
- January 25, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Graeme McMillan
Roger Langridge teases new projects
Roger Langridge posted some tantalizing news at his blog yesterday about what he has been up to since he stepped down from the Muppets comics earlier this year.
Three things, actually. He is scripting a chapter for his webcomic Mugwhump the Great, which looks like it hasn’t been updated in a couple of years. No new material is up yet, but now is as good a time as any to catch up. Langridge is in negotiations about a print collection as well.
Next, very vaguely, “I may have a small Jim Henson-related project coming up.” More to come on that, apparently.
And finally, a mini-comic! “I’ve had a fun time working for the Diamond crowd over the past couple of years, but it feels nice to be doing a proper comic again,” says Langridge. That’s the cover up there. Stay tuned for more details.
- January 25, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Fabian Nicieza working on ‘world’s first virtual sports theme park’
FunGoPlay
A new “virtual sports theme park” launching later this spring seeks to combine “the most appealing aspects of online gaming with the joys of real world play,” and helping them to do that is Red Robin writer Fabian Nicieza.
FunGoPlay will allow kids to earn medals, points and power-ups in the virtual world by wearing branded sports gear when they play in the real world that apparently keeps track of their activity levels and sends it back to the game.
“Our research shows that kids’ activity levels are determined when they are eight and nine years old. Not coincidentally, this is the time that they are being sucked into the often sedentary lifestyle of video games and surfing online,” said FunGoPlay President David Jacobs in a press release. “We saw an opportunity to combine two leading kid passions—digital entertainment and real world active sports play—so we changed the game by introducing a virtual world that rewards kids for playing and being active in the real world. We see this as a future of online gaming that both parents and children can enjoy.”
Nicieza, the longtime comic scribe who also served as editor-in-chief of the Acclaim’s comic line, is the head of creative for FunGoPlay. He will write all the storylines for the various characters that appear in the game, a spokesperson said. The company also includes David Mauer, former president of Mattel USA and current CEO of EB Brands, and David Jacobs, formerly with Sesame Workshop.
- January 25, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Dark Horse to collect their Angel stories into an Omnibus in July
Angel Omnibus
With Joss Whedon’s Angel returning to Dark Horse Comics later this year, the publisher plans to collect previous Angel comics into an Omnibus in July.
Dark Horse previously published Angel, first as a monthly then as a miniseries, from 2000 to 2002. The Angel Omnibus will include Angel #1–#14 and #17, Angel: Long Night’s Journey #1–#4, Dark Horse Presents #153–#155: “Hunting Ground,” Dark Horse Extra #25–#28: “Angel,” and Angel: Point of Order. Issues #15-16 of the ongoing Angel series were a crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and were previously collected in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Past Lives.
IDW Publishing acquired the rights to the property in 2005, and since has released numerous miniseries and an ongoing series. Dark Horse will publish new Angel comics again later this year, when the “ninth season” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer kicks off.
Check out the solicitation text after the jump.
- January 25, 2011 @ 09:30 AM by JK Parkin
SpongeBob comic to debut next month
Good news for those who have been missing their SpongeBob Squarepants comics fix since the demise of Nickelodeon Magazine—SpongeBob comics are back!
SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg announced the new comic this morning. It will be published by Bongo Comics (the dead-tree home of Bart Simpson) and edited by former Nick Mag editor Chris Duffy, which is very good news—in its heyday, Nick Mag published not only SpongeBob comics but a wealth of short-form mini-masterpieces by creators of the first order, from Craig Thompson to Gahan Wilson to Justin Green. And indeed, it seems that Hillenburg and Duffy have assembled an impressive stable of creators for SpongeBob: James Kochalka (Johnny Boo, American Elf), Hilary Barta (Fear Agent), Graham Annable (Grickle), Gregg Schigiel (X-Babies), and Jacob Chabot (Mighty Skullboy Army, X-Babies).
The comics will be bimonthly and priced at $2.99 for 32 pages. The first issue will hit comics stores on Feb. 6 and newsstands on March 1.
- January 25, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | More details on Wizard closing; did Comics Code end in 2009?
Wizard
Publishing | More details have begun to emerge about the abrupt closings of Wizard and ToyFare magazines, and the announcement of a new public company headed by Gareb Shamus. ICv2.com reports that Wizard World Inc. was taken public through a reverse merger with a shell company, a failed oil and gas venture known as GoEnergy Inc., which acquired the assets of Kick the Can, a corporate repository for the assets of Shamus’ Wizard World Comic Con Tour. Following the acquisition, GoEnergy’s chairman and chief financial officer resigned and was replaced by Shamus. In the process, the new company raised capital through the issuance of $1.5 million in preferred stock. Meanwhile, an anonymous Wizard staff member reveals to iFanboy he was informed that the magazine had folded during a phone call Sunday evening, and was not permitted to collect personal belongings. A freelance contributors writes at Bleeding Cool that he learned about the closing through a Facebook message on Monday morning.
The comics Internet is swarming with reaction pieces: Andy Khouri points out the huge number of comics editors, bloggers and journalists who got their starts at Wizard; Heidi MacDonald does the same, noting that it was “a total boys club”; Albert Ching surveys numerous creators and editors; and Robot 6 contributor, and former Wizard staffer, Sean T. Collins comments on the magazine’s demise and rounds up links.
In related news, GeekChicDaily, the email newsletter and website co-founded by Shamus in 2009, has secured new Hollywood investors. [Wizard World]
- January 25, 2011 @ 08:35 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim | Chris Walker
Anti-Matter
At some point in every comic book readers life, they have frequented a store that has quirky ambiance, fellow customers and/or employees. Chris Walker is a writer/director/producer who thought a comedy built around a comic book store would make for a great webseries. And from that initial concept the webseries Anti-Matter launched in late 2010. Filmed in New York’s Jim Hanley’s Universe, Anti-Matter features “hilarious hijinks that happen with the staff and idiosyncratic regulars of a NY comic book shop who treat the store more like a clubhouse than a place of business”.
Tim O’Shea: Can you give some insight into the character development and casting process for the series?
Chris Walker: Anti-Matter was created to be a humorous snapshot of hanging out at the comic store. I wanted to move past the conventional geek/nerd cliché and give a candid, witty look at this world. My goal was to show the broad spectrum of people one might encounter at their local comic shop.
Casting is always a challenge, especially at an indie level. Since the series is based in New York, a lot of talented actors came through for auditions. We had the fortune of casting from the same talent as pool shows like SNL and 30 Rock. Gratefully, we had one of the more unique challenges of production: “How do we fit all this talent on one show?”
- January 24, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Start reading now: Ben Towle’s Oyster War
from "Oyster War"
Ben Towle, artist on Hyperion’s Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean and creator of Midnight Sun, has started to post pages from his forthcoming graphic novel Oyster War on tumblr.
“Does that make Oyster War a webcomic now? Probably not,” he said on his blog. “I’ll be violating the webcomics first rule–’update regularly’–right off the bat: I just posted twenty-something pages in one big batch, and I’ll only start posting new pages once I’ve started cranking out pages from the next chapter… which is still a few weeks off at best.”
You can start reading the first two chapters here.
- January 24, 2011 @ 01:30 PM by JK Parkin
Kate Beaton presents the Adventures of Sexy Batman
Okay, nerd internet, job well done — you can go ahead and retire now.
(Dare I point out that showing Batman strutting his stuff even in the midst of crimefighting turns him into gag-strip fodder — thus revealing how totally idiotic it is for female superheroes to constantly be shown doing the exact same thing? Or will that bring out the anti-Beaton He-Man Woman Haters Club again?)
- January 24, 2011 @ 12:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Welcome to the world of comics, Donna A. Lewis
Donna A. Lewis is the creator of Reply All, a comic strip about a single career woman with crazy friends and a bit of insecurity. Lewis herself should have little reason to be insecure: Starting February 28, Reply All will be syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group, making it one of a very few new newspaper comic strips to debut this year. Lewis talked a bit about the comic and her work (she has another career with the Department of Homeland Security) to the Baltimore Jewish Times, which compared Reply All, not surprisingly, to Cathy.
- January 24, 2011 @ 11:30 AM by Brigid Alverson
Quote of the day | Approach Wizard with caution
Gareb Shamus
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release relating to Wizard World’s future plans, expectations, beliefs, intentions and prospects are “forward-looking statements” and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words “will”, “future”, “expect”, “look forward to”, similar expressions and any other statements that are not historical facts are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements. Any such statement may be influenced by a variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of Wizard World that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected, described, expressed or implied in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur. A detailed discussion of these factors and other risks that affect our business is contained in our SEC filings, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, particularly under the heading “Risk Factors.” Copies of these filings are available online from the SEC or by contacting [contact info redacted]. All information set forth in this press release is current as of January 24, 2011. Wizard World undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events.
–The legal boilerplate disclaimer that accompanied today’s Wizard press release in which Gareb Shamus announced the beleaguered company would be going public, launching an all-digital Wizard World magazine, and soldiering on with its convention circuit — without mentioning the shutdown of Wizard magazine and its accompanying layoffs. The line for investors forms to the left, folks.
- January 24, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Breaking: Wizard and ToyFare magazines fold [Updated]
Wizard #234
Wizard magazine has ceased publication after nearly 20 years, laying off its remaining staff and canceling freelance assignments. Its sibling publication ToyFare also has closed.
CEO Gareb Shamus followed a morning filled with reports of the magazines’ demise with a press release announcing the February launch of “an all-new digital magazine called Wizard World” that will target the same audience. Curiously the release, which you can read below, doesn’t mention Wizard magazine. Instead its focus is on the news that Wizard World Inc. is now a public company with Shamus as its president and CEO.
Wizard World has since confirmed the closings of Wizard and ToyFare: “Wizard Entertainment is ceasing publication of the print magazines Wizard and ToyFare. Wizard World, Inc. will begin production of the online publication ‘Wizard World’ beginning in February. We feel this will allow us to reach an even wider audience in a format that is increasingly popular and more readily accessible.”
Calls to the Wizard offices this morning office went unanswered. The Wizard bullpen blog Pie Monkey has been taken offline, with assurances from its Twitter feed to “Please stay tuned — there’s a good chance we’ll be up and operational in the next 24-48 hours.” The link to magazine subscriptions on the Wizard website is also dead.
Launched in 1991, Wizard was once a dominant, if controversial, force in the comics industry, with its price guides, Top 10 Writers and Artists lists and annual Wizard Fan Awards carrying significant weight. But in recent years the magazine’s star faded even as its scope expanded — it rebranded itself as “The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture” — becoming known more for its staff firings than for its exclusive coverage. ToyFare debuted in 1997 as a companion publication devoted to toys and collectibles.
Related: Charts watcher John Jackson Miller chronicles the circulation decline of Wizard, from an estimated 100,000 copies in October 1998 — not the height of its popularity, but the last month it broke the 100,000-copy mark — to just about 17,000 copies in December 2010.
Developing …
- January 24, 2011 @ 09:24 AM by Kevin Melrose
IDW’s Webber: Digital and print are different audiences
“[O]ver 40% of our digital sales are international.”
That’s what IDW director of ePublishing Jeff Webber told an interviewer at the TFAW blog this weekend.
Digital sales are still a very small part of the mix for IDW, but the company has been very aggressive with its digital strategy, putting the bulk of its catalog online in a variety of formats. And since they publish comics based on properties like Star Trek, Transformers, and Silent Hill that are visible all over the world in the form of movies, television, and games, it’s natural that folks in other countries would want to read the comics. But U.S. books and comics continue to be either unavailable or phenomenally expensive overseas, and there is a lot of potential for digital to pick up the slack.
Even domestically, Webber is convinced that digital comics are primarily selling to people who never set foot in a comics store:
An example is that one of the senior directors from Apple was at our booth during San Diego Comic-Con. She wasn’t a comics fan but went nuts when she saw True Blood. She downloaded the app right there and went home reading the print book on the plane! I’m positive she’s never stepped foot in a comic shop before, but ended up enjoying both the digital and print formats.
IDW has an agressive digital program, with over 650 titles available on a variety of formats—iPad, iPod, Kindle, Blackberry, Nokia, Sony PSP—and Webber, who came to IDW from Uclick, is the guy who is making it happen, so the whole interview makes interesting reading. But for me, the big take-away was that for IDW, digital is expanding the market rather than cutting into print sales.
- January 24, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Archie Drops Comics Code, Marking End of Era
Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval
Publishing | Thursday’s news that DC Comics will replace the nearly 60-year-old Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval with its own rating system was followed on Friday by an announcement by Archie Comics that it, too, will drop the Code. The two were the last publishers to abandon the CCA — Marvel withdrew in 2001, Bongo just last year — which means that as of next month, the once-influential self-regulatory body created by the comics industry in the wake of the 1954 Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency will cease to exist. Before a series of revisions in 1971, the Code prohibited even the depictions of political corruption, or vampires and werewolves, and the use of the words “horror” or “terror” in titles.
Christopher Butcher wonders whether DC’s decision to drop the Code was made with an eye toward the bottom line, while Johanna Draper Carlson offers an overview of the CCA’s history. Elsewhere, Mike Sterling asks whether any retailers ever “experienced any kind of real-world impact of the Comics Code Authority?” And Tom Mason makes some tongue-in-cheek recommendations for DC’s new rating system, including “G – GREYING MAN-BOYS” and “R – REFRIGERATOR.” [Newsarama]
- January 24, 2011 @ 08:46 AM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading?
The Sixth Gun
Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today’s special guest is Jim Zubkavich, writer of the Image Comics series Skullkickers and a project manager at UDON Entertainment.
To see what Jim and the Robot 6 crew are reading, click the link below.
- January 23, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin