2011 February
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Bone: Quest for the Spark
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Chris Mautner
If I had $15:
There’s quite a number of good books out this week, making for some tough decisions, but I think I’d initially go for either the third volume of Bakuman by Death Note creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata ($9.99) or Quest for the Spark #1 by Jeff Smith and Tom Sniegoski. The former is a series about would-be manga creators that I’m really starting to dig, the second is a new, official Bone (prose) sequel that, even though it doesn’t star all of the original cast and isn’t being written by Smith, should nevertheless be a worthy purchase, as Sniegoski is no stranger to the Bone universe (having penned the hilarious Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures spin-off).
- February 8, 2011 @ 03:57 PM by JK Parkin
Interview: Michael Kandalaft on That Monkey Tune
That Monkey Tune
That Monkey Tune is a charming gag-a-day webcomic with style reminiscent of 1930s newspaper strips and a gentle sense of humor. Michael Kandalaft has been drawing it daily for over three years, and he recently self-published Ready, Set, Go!, a collection of the third year’s worth of strips. The cheery, bright-colored cover of the book first caught my eye at New York Comic-Con, but since I didn’t manage to connect with Kandalaft there, I e-mailed him with some questions about inspiration and perspiration—what it takes to keep a webcomic going in the long run.
Brigid: What was the inspiration for That Monkey Tune?
Michael: That Monkey Tune was inspired by me and my brother growing up with our stuffed animals. We used to make drawings of everything going on in the house through the eyes of our stuffed monkeys, who were the precursors to the characters we now know as Elliot and Beagly.
Brigid: The comic has a very retro look—their living room looks like Blondie’s, and they even have a telephone with a cord. But then in today’s comic, Umo has a snowblower. Are you consciously setting this in a particular period or just going with the look?
- February 8, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Big-budget Spider-Man musical turns off the critics
Patrick Page as the Green Goblin and Reeve Carney as Spider-Man (The New York Times)
After five delays and nearly 70 preview performances, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark received its first wave of “official” reviews overnight from the nation’s top theater critics — many of whom went to great pains to point out that the $65-million musical was supposed to open on Monday, at least before the most recent postponement.
The results are perhaps predictable, if certainly not flattering. Words like “incoherent,” “cheap” and “atrocious” are used, much to the production’s dismay. (Comic Book Resources reviewed Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark last month, with Staff Writer Josh Wigler describing it as “awful.”)
“The PILE-ON by the critics was ridiculous and uncalled for,” show spokesman Rick Miramontez said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “Their actions are unprecedented and UNCOOL!”
“Unprecedented” likely refers to the publishing of reviews before the show’s official opening on March 15, a baton Showbiz411′s Roger Friedman — a longtime friend and frequent defender of director Julie Taymor — picked up when he described the move as an “ambush” in a post titled “Spider-Man Musical: Told Not To, the Critics Review it Anyway.” That’s the same Roger Friedman who, in 2009, downloaded and reviewed a copy of a stolen unfinished print of X-Men Origins: Wolverine weeks before the movie’s opening.
Here’s a roundup of some of the early reviews that reportedly left Spider-Man producer Norton Herrick “gobsmacked”:
- February 8, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
It’s always time for Richard McGuire’s classic comic “Here” [UPDATED]
From Chris Ware to Dash Shaw to Grant Morrison, many of today’s most innovative creators play innovative games with the way time and space are portrayed in comics. But for my money, it’s tough to top the tour-de-force performance that is “Here,” by cartoonist/illustrator/designer/musician Richard McGuire. Originally published in Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’s seminal RAW anthology in 1989, the strip starts with a shot of the corner of a living room in an unassuming suburban house…and then proceeds to show what happened in that corner — or the space it either used to or will one day occupy — in a dizzying number of time periods, from 500,957,406,073 BC to 2033 AD. McGuire slices, dices, and subdivides his panels to create little windows into different years, so that a single panel can show the same person posing for photographs in 1964, 1974, and 1984; or a man lounging in 1987, another man talking in 2027, a firefighter extinguishing a blaze in 2029, and a Native American lying dead on the ground in 1850. Besides being technically stunning and formally daring, it’s a provocative and I’d say moving take on the passage of time.
“Here” has since been reprinted in Todd Hignite’s Comic Art magazine and Ivan Brunetti’s An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories from Yale University Press, but it’s still relatively hard to come by given its landmark status. Fortunately, the entire strip has been posted on the Rutgers University website, and with McGuire’s permission I’m happily linking to it and encouraging you all to read it if you haven’t already. My description may make it sound confusing or dry, but trust me, when you get into the rhythm of the thing, it’s a knockout. And McGuire knows from rhythm, of course: He’s the bassist for the legendary post-punk band Liquid Liquid, and thus putting him in the enviable position of having crafted both one of the greatest comics and greatest basslines of all time.
UPDATE: Bill Kartalopoulos reminds us that much of McGuire’s work is currently on display in the Cartoon Polymaths art show at New York City’s Parsons the New School for Design. And just in case the strip disappears from the Rutgers site, you can also read it at Entrecomics, as well as watch an impressive short film adaptation of it by Timothy Masick and William Traynor:
- February 8, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
Robb Pratt’s stellar animated Superman fan film
Animator and storyboard artist Robb Pratt created a one-minute “classic” Superman cartoon that’s been making the rounds, and it deserves every bit of praise it’s been getting. Click on the play button above to watch it, then stick around after the credits to hear Pratt talk about creating it. Good stuff.
(I believe I first saw it on ComicsAlliance)
- February 8, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Digital news: Half price sale on Archie comics
The Archie App
Verizon users will get their long-awaited iPhones beginning on Feb. 10, and the Archie folks want to make sure they get a piece of the action from the get-go, so they will be marking down all their digital comics to 99 cents as a way to say hello. The sale applies only to comics bought through Archie’s iVerse app, and prices go back up again at midnight on Feb. 14.
This chiefly affects newer titles, as 99 cents seems to be the default price for older comics on the Archie app anyway. They also have a dozen free comics, including the first issues of the Archie: Freshman Year series and Chuck Clayton’s Cartoon Life. But the sale would be a good time to snap up Veronica #202, which marks the first appearance of Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s first openly gay character, and the Life with Archie magazines, which follow the dual Archie-marries-Veronica and Archie-marries-Betty storylines, for short money.
Also, for those who truly cannot have enough Archie in their lives, the Archie News blog is now updating daily with vintage panels and covers from days of Riverdale past, as well as their usual barrage of information about new releases (including generous previews).
- February 8, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Essex County voted off Canada Reads, NYCC tickets on sale
Essex County, Vol. 1
Awards | Jeff Lemire’s acclaimed Essex County was the first finalist eliminated Monday in the Canada Reads literary debates to select the essential Canadian novel of the decade. Despite a defense by musician Sara Quin, the graphic novel was voted down by the five-person celebrity panel after the first hour, not because of content but because of format: Four of the judges just couldn’t get past Essex County‘s “lack of words.” This year marked the first time that a graphic novel had been a finalist for the prestigious Canada Reads program.
“Well, I was the first book voted off of the Canada Reads competition today, and I’ll admit that it stings a bit more than I thought it would,” Lemire wrote on his blog. “But, in the end I am really proud of the accomplishment of making it to the final 5. It’s a great sign for the future of graphic novels in this country, and their continued acceptance mainstream literary circles on a whole.” [Afterword, CBC News]
- February 8, 2011 @ 07:53 AM by Kevin Melrose
Beasts of Burden returns in 2011
Beasts of Burden
Burden Hill’s resident protectors will be back in 2011, according to this teaser sent out yesterday from Dark Horse Comics. Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s original miniseries received a lot of well-deserved praise, so it’ll be good to see the pack back together again.
- February 8, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim | Joshua Hale Fialkov
Echoes
Echoes co-creators Joshua Hale Fialkov and Rahsan Ekedal‘s first printing of the opening issue for the five-issue Minotaur Press/Top Cow miniseries sold out. So when I found out that Robot 6 was fortunate enough to get to re-run the first issue in one-page installments starting today, I wasted no time in contacting Fialkov for an email interview. Here’s the basic premise of the miniseries: “Brian Cohn was learning to deal with the Schizophrenia inherited from his father. Supportive wife, new baby on the way, drugs to control the voices. But when on his father’s deathbed, he learns that he also inherited the trophies of his father’s career as a serial killer. Will his madness send him further down into the crawlspace of his father’s mind?” My thanks to Fialkov for the interview–and be sure to read Echoes right here at Robot 6.
Tim O’Shea: Minotaur Press was revived partially to publish this series, how flattering is it to be part of the imprint’s return?
Joshua Hale Fialkov: It’s pretty cool. I’ve been looking for places to do what I do for a long time, and I’ve always gotten the impression that there weren’t a lot of options. For Top Cow to more or less reopen a place that’s focused very specifically on the type of books that I do, that virtually no other publisher does, is just an amazing opportunity.
- February 7, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Get a daily dose of Top Cow’s Echoes right here on Robot 6
Echoes #1
If you’re a fan of horror comics or just good comics in general, then you’ll like this. Courtesy of our friends at Top Cow, starting today we will serialize the first issue of Echoes by writer Joshua Hale Fialkov and artist Rahsan Ekedal. In addition, each page will include creator commentary from Fialkov.
You can check it out at http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/echoescomic. The cover and first page with commentary on both are up now, with new pages arriving every day.
And of course, if you decide you’d prefer to read it in print, a second printing of Echoes #1, as well as Echoes #2, can be found in stores now. The third issue arrives Feb. 23. For more information, visit http://www.echoesthecomic.com or follow on Twitter @echoescomic. We’ll have an interview with Fialkov a little later this afternoon, and you can check out the official press release after the jump.
- February 7, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Comic Strips to Comic Flicks: Mark Millar movies they haven’t made (yet)
In recent years, we’ve seen a boatload of comic books and graphic novels make their way to the silver screen, from “big two” stalwarts like Spider-Man and Batman to independent titles like Scott Pilgrim and 30 Days Of Night. Among the various adaptations, though, some creators have emerged as magnets for Hollywood types — one creator who seems to love it more than anyone else is Mark Millar.
After bouncing around the UK comics scene and later DC, Mark Millar made a name for himself for his big-picture epics on The Authority and The Ultimates. Working with artists like Frank Quitely and Bryan Hitch, Millar borrowed some of the wide-screen cinema techniques of film to display comic stories in a new light. From very early on, movie-makers have been cribbing notes from his comics; X-Men: The Last Stand screenwriter Zak Penn said Millar’s work was influencing his own. He was even brought in to act as an informal brain trust to give advice to Jon Favreau during the production of the first Iron Man film.
After seeing glimpses and glimmers of Millar’s influence on company-owned comics-turned-films, it was when Hollywood took notice of his creator-owned work that his bibliography became catnip for movie producers. After back-to-back successes with feature film adaptations of his comics Wanted and Kick-Ass, virtually every creator-owned comic from Mark Millar comes with the question, “How soon will there be a movie announcement?” This attention from movie producers has even led Millar to begin filming his own original movie, which is currently underway.
The question today is this: Of the creator-owned work Mark Millar’s done that haven’t become films yet, which should, and how should they look?
- February 7, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Arrant
IDW: Fending off imaginary cannibals
ICv2 starts off the week with a marathon interview with Ted Adams of IDW Publishing. Part 1 focuses on the current comics and graphic novel market and IDW’s place in it, which is pretty solid — sales held steady in 2009 and 2010, and last year IDW became a Diamond Premier Publisher, meaning they get featured in the front of Previews each month. Part 2 covers their digital strategy, which has been quite aggressive, and in Part 3, Adams talks about IDW’s plans for new comics and collections in 2011.
It’s all interesting reading, but of course the part that’s most interesting to me is Adams’s reflection on the digital comics market in part 2. Digital sales doubled last year, he says, but the number is still small—”an insignificant part of our net revenue.” And it seems to be new revenue:
- February 7, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Quote of the day | Gareb Shamus on the state of the industry
“The comic industry has a lot of issues that need to get solved because the sales on comics are dwindling, and there hasn’t been a leadership role in this industry to change the course of that. So from one perspective I don’t think the material and the talent and the quality of stories has ever been greater. I don’t think we’ve ever had such an exciting time in the comic book industry. But nobody is taking a leadership role in changing the course of sales. And it’s very unfortunate because the retailers are having a very tough time out there, and nobody is helping them. [...] The comic industry lacks the leadership, and I’m not pointing fingers at anybody in particular. But somebody has to make sure that the comic book industry thrives.”
– Wizard World CEO, and self-described pioneer, Gareb Shamus, in an interview touching upon the legacy of Wizard magazine, criticism from former employees and more
- February 7, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics in the classroom: A visit from BOOM! Studios
Chris Schweizer is a professor of Sequential Art at the Atlanta branch of the Savannah College of Art and Design as well as the creator of Crogan’s Vengeance and Crogan’s March, so when Matt Gagnon and Ian Brill of BOOM! Studios came for a visit, he took the opportunity to sketch them along with his class. This is just a small piece of it; click to see the full drawing.
Also, congratulations are in order: Chris recently received a SCAD Presidential Fellowship, which includes a grant for a personal project; his will be an annotated sketchbook collecting his character designs, research drawings, thumbnails, and other preliminary work.
- February 7, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comic artists belt out toons for Portland Opera
by Barry Deutsch
The Portland Opera is currently putting on performances of Turandot, and for a dress rehearsal on Jan. 31 they invited several local comic artists to watch the performance and “draw whatever struck our fancy,” according to artist Mike Russell.
Russell not only drew some artwork you can find on the Portland Opera’s website, but also created a “live comic adaptation” you can find on his site. Other artists who participated include Barry Deutsch, Aaron McConnell, Ron Randall and Joëlle Jones, among others.
You can check out all the images on the Portland Opera’s website.
- February 7, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin