2011 February
Dunlavey teams with leukemia survivor to bring Super Shot to life
Super Shot
This is a really wonderful story … comic creator Ryan Dunlavey recently teamed up with 12-year-old Luke Robinson from Dickson, Tennessee to create a new comic called Super Shot that’s being distributed at area hospitals. Robinson, who has survived open-heart surgery and leukemia over the course of his short life, asked the Make-a-Wish Foundation for the opportunity to visit Marvel Comics and create his own comic.
“Luke created and designed the characters and came up with the story ideas – I wrote the script and drew the artwork under the supervision of then-Marvel Comics editor Nate Cosby,” Dunlavey said on his blog. “This past week the book was printed and distributed for free to hospitals in Luke’s hometown area of Tennessee – the story is an origin of Luke’s characters Super Shot and Dr. Shrink, who battle the Virus in a story that demonstrates that kids need not be afraid of doctors or medical care. This was all Luke’s vision and I was just lucky to be asked along for the ride.”
In addition to area hospitals, Robinson plans to debut the book at The Great Escape in Nashville later this month.
- February 25, 2011 @ 02:30 PM by JK Parkin
This Sunday, it’s Adam WarRock in Dallas
On Sunday, award-winning Dallas retailer Zeus Comics and the web series The Variants present a free performance by comic-book nerdcore rapper Adam WarRock at Alexandre’s Bar (4026 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas). The 8 p.m. show, which also features MC Router, will double as a shoot for an episode of The Variants, the geek-centric comedy series set at Zeus Comics. Check out the press release after the break for more details.
- February 25, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Comics College | Seth
George Sprott 1894-1975
Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.
This month we’re going to take a look at the bibliography of the Canadian cartoonist called Gregory Gallant, better known to you and me as simply Seth.
- February 25, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Investors, not bosses: Ed Chavez on the Vertical deal
When the news that the Japanese publisher Kodansha and printer Dai Nippon had each bought a 46% share of the U.S. publisher Vertical, Inc., hit the internet on Wednesday, manga fans’ initial reaction was shock and dismay. Vertical is well known in manga circles for publishing a number of well-liked series, including Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha and the more recent Twin Spica and Chi’s Sweet Home. They recently announced two more series that had a lot of advance buzz, Tezuka’s Princess Knight and the wine manga Drops of God. When fans heard the news, many of them assumed these series would disappear or be put on hold.
Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez quickly got on Twitter to reassure them that Vertical’s manga plans would not change. In fact, when I spoke to Ed to clarify some of the details of the deal, he told me Vertical’s manga sales were up 650% between 2009 and 2010, which is pretty amazing when you consider that the manga market as a whole contracted during that time.
One of the things I wanted to know was which Kodansha bought a 46.7% share in Vertical: Kodansha Comics, which is publishing manga in the U.S., or parent company Kodansha? Ed said it was the parent company. This means Kodansha is pursuing two different manga strategies in the U.S. Kodansha Comics has taken over the former Del Rey line (which was owned by Random House) and is publishing manga directly, although they have hired Random House staff to edit and localize their books. The Vertical deal is different; Kodansha is simply investing in the company, not running it.
Here is the rest of my conversation with Ed.
- February 25, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | United Media outsources to Uclick, Anant Pai dies
Universal Uclick
Comic strips | In what Michael Cavna so accurately describes as “a seismic shift” for the world of newspaper syndication, United Media has announced it will outsource all editorial, production, sales, marketing and distribution functions for its 150 comics and other features to Kansas City-based Universal Uclick. (Tom Spurgeon likens the move to Marvel outsourcing all of its titles to DC Comics.) The transition begins immediately, and is expected to be complete by June 1. United Media’s stable of strips include Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, Rose Is Rose and Marmaduke. Universal Uclick’s lineup includes Doonesbury, Non Sequitur, Garfield, For Better or For Worse and the recently added Peanuts and Dilbert. [Comic Riffs]
Passings | Anant Pai, who’s credited with launching India’s comic industry in the 1960s with his series Amar Chitra Katha (Immortal Picture Stories), died Thursday of a heart attack. He was 81. Affectionately known by his fans as “Uncle Pai,” he also created the children’s series Tinkle and had spent the past three years working on Glimpses of Glory, which chronicles 40 defining moments from Indian history. After falling and fracturing his foot, Pai underwent surgery of Saturday, which prevented him from attending the first Indian Comic Con, where he was to be given a lifetime achievement award. [The Associated Press, India Real Time]
- February 25, 2011 @ 09:15 AM by Kevin Melrose
Your video of the day | The ‘gritty’ melodrama of Riverdale
Anthony Konechny as Archie Andrews in the "Riverdale" parody trailer
I can think of few better ways to start off the morning than with this beautifully filmed and delightfully over-the-top parody fan trailer for Riverdale, a “gritty” remake of the ageless Archie Comics franchise.
Directed by Andrew de Villiers and written by Michael Cope and Rhys Finnick, the trailer was created with the help of about 100 Craigslist volunteers from the Vancouver film industry: “We produced this and the 10 other comedic videos on a budget of $3, 500 over a weekend. The Craigslist inspired and random nature of this production brought the director and his girlfriend together. It also united the executive producer’s wife with her long lost friend/boyfriend when she recognized him playing the character of Moose.”
It’s a terrific parody that heaps on amounts of melodrama usually reserved for a Lifetime Original Movie (alas, Nancy McKeon is nowhere to be seen). Watch Riverdale after the break.
- February 25, 2011 @ 07:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
300 + a cease and desist letter waiting to happen = 400 BC
Huh, now this looks familiar … a graphic novel called 400 BC recently came across the Comic Book Resources review desk. Here’s the cover:
400 BC
- February 24, 2011 @ 04:31 PM by JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | Dwayne McDuffie, gone too soon
Static #1
Dwayne McDuffie was a great writer of superhero stories, consistently producing solid, entertaining tales about characters familiar and unfamiliar, across a variety of media. He was also a vocal advocate for diversity in the superhero genre, both in terms of characters and creative personnel.
My first real exposure to Mr. McDuffie’s work was through Static, the 1993 series he co-created with fellow Milestone founders Derek T. Dingel, Denys Cowan, and Michael Davis. The Milestone panel at the ‘93 Chicago Comic-Con was handing out copies of Static’s first issue — a shiny-silver-logo variant, naturally — and I was hooked instantly. In any age Static would have stood out as an energetic and thoughtful teen-superhero serial. In the summer of 1993, though, with the speculators’ market at full swing and superhero comics chasing one fad after another, Static’s reliance on fundamentals was especially refreshing.
To some extent I think that’s what helped make Mr. McDuffie’s work so effective. He understood that the best superhero stories bring the epic and fantastic down to personal levels, but he was careful to slight neither the epic nor the personal. His work spotlighted relationships as much as spectacle. When Earth was invaded by Hawkgirl’s home planet of Thanagar (in “Starcrossed,” a 3-episode arc of “Justice League”), it tested both Hawkgirl’s loyalties and her relationship with Green Lantern. McDuffie’s tenure on Fantastic Four started by repairing the damage to the Richards’ marriage wrought by the events of Civil War. The Beyond! miniseries (a sort-of sequel to Secret Wars) was all about relationships, since it stranded a handful of superheroes on a distant planet.
- February 24, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Preview: Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives Volume 5
Courtesy of our friends at Dark Horse, we’re pleased to present a preview of the upcoming horror collection Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives Volume 5. The archive collects stories written by Dick Wood circa 1969-1970 and includes an introduction by horror film legend Christopher Lee.
Check out the pages and more info after the jump.
- February 24, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Marvel alum Takeshi Miyazawa returns to Japan, publishes first manga
It looks like Marvel alum artist Takeshi Miyazawa is returning to his family’s roots. The Toronto-born artist moved back to his family’s native Japan several years ago where Miyazawa has been working diligently to break into the manga industry. After years of hard work — he’s done it, and on Feb. 26 denizens of Japan can buy Miyazawa’s manga debut Lost Planet: Bound Raven.
For years Miyazawa worked as an artist for Marvel Comics, drawing Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Uncanny X-Men and Runaways amongst other minis and guest issues. The artist’s last major work in American comics was 2009′s Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #8.
There’s no word yet on any American publishers securing the rights for Miyazawa’s manga, but here’s to hoping!
- February 24, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Quote of the day | Milestone’s Derek Dingle, on Dwayne McDuffie
Dwayne McDuffie
“Milestone was the shared vision that we would provide the world with images that had been excluded from the mainstream for decades. Dwayne was the key to making that dream a reality to our company and comic book fans, as well as those who sought tales of adventure. [...] Dwayne realized the importance of creating such images because they represented heroes and opportunities. He also saw comic books and animation as a way of dealing with such issues as racism, sexism, gang violence, gun control and conflict resolution without sacrificing entertainment value.”
– Milestone Media co-founder Derek T. Dingle, on his friend and business partner Dwayne McDuffie, who passed away Monday at age 49
- February 24, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Eisner judges pick four for Hall of Fame
This year’s panel of Eisner judges have named four creators to the Will Eisner Awards Comics Hall of Fame: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Jackson (Jaxon), Marty Nodell, and Lynd Ward. Traditionally, the judges pick two automatic inductees, but in the official press release, Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada said, “The judges felt that some significant contributors to comics’ history were being consistently overlooked by the regular voter. Choosing only two creators to induct was proving too difficult this year. The solution they chose was to single out individuals from four aspects of the medium.”
The quartet certainly is eclectic. Nancy, originally a spinoff of the flapper comic Fritzi Ritz, has been a staple of the funny pages since the 1930s, and although it seems trivial to look at (Art Spiegelman once commented that it was easier to read Nancy than to not read Nancy), Bushmiller has his admirers. Jaxon was one of the first underground cartoonists and co-founded Rip Off Press with Gilbert Shelton (creator of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers). Nodell, a comics artist from the Golden Age, worked for DC and Marvel before they were DC and Marvel and was the co-creator of the Green Lantern. And Ward has just returned to public notice with the Library of America’s new edition of his wordless graphic novels, which were created entirely as woodcuts.
Voters (who must be active in the comics industry in some way) will get to choose four more inductees from a list of 14: Bill Blackbeard, Chris Claremont, Kim Deitch, Rudolph Dirks, Mort Drucker, Jenette Kahn, George McManus, Dennis O’Neill, Harvey Pekar, Cliff Sterrett, Roy Thomas, Rodolphe Töpffer, George Tuska, and Marv Wolfman. The last day to vote is March 25, and the results will be announced at Comic-Con in San Diego next July.
- February 24, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics invade San Francisco’s Noise Pop this weekend
Noise Pop
Noise Pop, a music, culture and arts festival that’s kinda like Austin’s South by Southwest, kicked off in San Francisco this week, and this weekend many comic book folks will join in on the fun. And at the center of it all is Isotope Comics, as owner James Sime is serving as “Comics Curator” for the event.
So what have they got planned?
- The Eisner-Award nominated duo of Matt Silady (The Homeless Channel) and Justin Hall (Glamazonia), both of whom teach at the California College of the Arts, will host a workshop on Saturday on comics creation.
- Courtney Crumrin & The Night Things creator Ted Naifeh will host Courtney Crumin Live, “presented in traditional olde tyme radio play fashion,” on Sunday.
- 30 Days of Night, Choker and Fell co-creator Ben Templesmith and DJ Samsupa will present a “cutting edge live-art demo,” which will be available to watch via webcast.
- All this week they’ll have “sequential reporters” reporting form the show, including both Silady and Hall, as well as Jamaica Dyer, Greg Hinkle and many more.
- Vinyl Dreams: a gallery of comic art on record sleeves. Sleeves to draw on are available at Isotope through Feb. 25.
You can find more details on the comic events at the Isotope website, and more on Noise Pop at its official website. Let’s just hope it doesn’t snow.
- February 24, 2011 @ 09:30 AM by JK Parkin
Kaboom! picks up Word Girl license
Word Girl
BOOM! Studios has been rolling out announcements all week regarding their rebranded kids comics line. So far they’ve announced Peanuts comics, a new Roger Langridge book and a Star Wars parody.
Today brings word, or at least another image, of another new book — Kaboom! will publish comics based on the PBS show Word Girl.
- February 24, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Who owns Betty Boop? It isn’t Fleischer Studios, court finds
Betty Boop
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the family of pioneering animator Max Fleischer doesn’t own the copyright or trademark to cartoon sex symbol turned comic strip and merchandising star Betty Boop, and can’t sue others for using the character’s image.
Courthouse News Service reports the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision that a half-dozen manufacturers of Betty Boop merchandise hadn’t infringed on Fleischer Studios’ copyright — because Fleischer Studios couldn’t demonstrate it has one.
Created in 1930 by Fleischer and animator Grim Natwick (probably among others), the cartoon flapper became the star of the studio’s Talkartoons series before being sold to Paramount Pictures in 1942. The Fleischer family contends that Paramount transferred its Betty Boop rights in 1955 to UM&M TV, which three years later sold them to the company that eventually became Republic Pictures. A decade later, Republic allegedly transferred the rights back to Fleischer Studios.
However, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled the Fleischer heirs failed to show proof of any of the transfers the plaintiffs alleged took place after Paramount purchased the rights in 1942. The appeals court agreed in a 2-1 decision, finding that Paramount retained the copyright in its 1955 agreement with UM&M TV, and actually sold Betty Boop to Harvey Films — the animation arm of Harvey Comics, now owned by Classic Media — some three years later. The panel also dismissed Fleischers’ trademark claims for lack of evidence.
In addition to her countless animated appearances, including cameos in commercials and the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Betty Boop has starred in two comic strips, one in the 1930s and another, with Felix the Cat, in the 1980s.
- February 24, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose