2011 February
Kodansha, Dai Nippon invest in Vertical
Is this what they mean by Vertical integration? Kodansha, the largest publisher in Japan, and the Japanese printer Dai Nippon have made a major investment in the publisher Vertical, Inc., which is best known in the comics world for its high-quality editions of works by Osamu Tezuka (Buddha, Black Jack, Ayako) as well as an eclectic line of works by other creators: Twin Spica, the cute cat manga Chi’s Sweet Home, Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo. Earlier this year they announced that they had licensed Tezuka’s Princess Knight and the wine manga Drops of God.
Anime News Network reports that Kodansha bought a 46.7% share of the company and Dai Nippon bought 46%. Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez said on Twitter yesterday that the deal had been in the works for some time, and that it won’t change the company’s manga schedule. Vertical will not restrict itself to Kodansha manga; in fact, more than half their 2012 books will be from other publishers. “No major changes, just financial stability,” Ed Tweeted, although he added, “and hopefully a return to more balance to our catalog. We’ve been manga heavy lately.”
- February 24, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Creator-Owned Spotlight #2 by Steve Niles
Creator-Owned Spotlight
Editor’s Note: With the recent discussions going on around the comics community about creator-owned comics, we’re pleased to welcome one of the voices in those discussions, 30 Days of Night and Mystery Society creator Steve Niles, to Robot 6 for a series of columns on creator-owned comics.
by Steve Niles
Second column and I’m already late! Here’s a creator tip I can’t seem to get through my thick skull: Don’t bite off more than you can chew. That said, here I am again and happy to be here talking about my favorite creator-owned books and creators.
This week I’m going to talk about a creator who dominates the modern creator-owned scene with both his work and his relentless support of other creators.
WARREN ELLIS
I wanted to talk about Ellis for many reasons: his talent, his persistence and his vision. Warren Ellis approaches his work with the strategy of a learned zombie killer. Don’t run into the stinky crowd swinging and shooting like a crazy person, find a place to settle in and let them come to you.
Warren Ellis has not only created worlds within his work, but also a world for himself online where you can follow his daily work routine, check out what he’s reading/watching himself, or meet and discuss his and other people’s work on the various forums he’s overseen. He has created a perfect fort for all of us Ellis zombies to swarm.
- February 23, 2011 @ 04:30 PM by JK Parkin
Kirkman’s Super Dinosaur preview debuts on digital
Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is working on something completely different: Super Dinosaur, a children’s comic that will have a simultaneous print and digital release on April 1. But why wait that long? There’s a free preview up at comiXology right now. (That link takes you to the web version, but of course you can also read it on your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Android device.)
Kirkman talked to CBR about Super Dinosaur and his desire to publish an all-ages comic last December. The preview comes on pretty strong, with 10-year-old hero Derek Dynamo and his pal Super Dinosaur, a 9-foot tall, genetically altered Tyrannosaurus Rex, beating up a bunch of other genetically altered dinosaurs who are trying to steal Dynore, a useful but unstable mineral discovered by Derek’s scientist dad. The first few pages, naturally, are heavy on exposition, but it’s mixed with a lot of action and a bit of a twist at the end.
Kirkman plans to publish Super Dinosaur, which he wrote and Jason Howard illustrated, under his own Image Comics imprint, Skybound. While the first issue goes live, as mentioned above, on April 1, the second issue will be his Free Comic Book Day choice.
- February 23, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | Meet The Spider
The Spider #1
There’s something very attractive about the classic pulp heroes. As cool as superpowers can be, there’s a reason that Batman’s the most popular superhero on the planet and a huge part of that is that he’s a (relatively) normal guy. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know.
What I find interesting is this entire pulp heritage that he’s heir to. We don’t have time to dig into why Batman’s more popular than Doc Savage, the Shadow, and the Spider, but it would be fascinating to pull that apart and look at it sometime. For now, let’s concentrate on the similarities. There’s this huge catalog of characters that share some extremely close similarities with the Dark Knight (many of whom predate him in creation) and yet we don’t hear much about them anymore.
Moonstone’s trying to change that with their Return of the Originals event and that makes me happy. I’m also happy about DC’s whole First Wave thing (or was until that previous post) that I’m finally going to get to read when the first collection comes out in a couple of months, but Moonstone’s effort is even wider spread. They’re reintroducing a ton of characters to comics that I’ve heard about most of my life, but until now have never read a single adventure of. One of the most intriguing is The Spider.
- February 23, 2011 @ 03:43 PM by Michael May
Is DC Comics canceling the First Wave line?
First Wave #1
The Beat and Bleeding Cool both reported today that DC Comics is canceling its pulp adventure comics line, First Wave, which includes the ongoing Doc Savage and Spirit titles. DC has not officially confirmed the cancellations, but hopefully we’ll have an update soon.
It’s probably not surprising, as both Doc Savage and The Spirit have been selling in the range of several other DC titles that have been canceled recently, such as Doom Patrol and R.E.B.E.L.S.
The First Wave line kicked off with a Batman/Doc Savage special by Brain Azzarello and Phil Noto in 2009. It was followed by the Doc Savage and Spirit ongoings, as well as the six-issue First Wave miniseries that wraps up next week. A First Wave special is scheduled for April.
- February 23, 2011 @ 03:30 PM by JK Parkin
George Perez debuts new art technique
After recovering from eye surgery last year, artist George Perez seems to be getting back up to speed. He was last seen doing a sequence in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4, and he was recently connected with several new projects including a series in DC’s Flashpoint event. In addition to getting active on the drawing board, Perez is active on Facebook, where he recently posted a new approach to art that’s been published for the first time.
Perez explains on Facebook that “after experimenting on some private commissions, I decided to try my pencil tone-to color technique on a cover that would actually be published.”
What you see on the left is Perez’s original toned illustration done with marker and pencil, while on the right is the artwork digitally colored — also by Perez. The illustration is intended for the 300th issue of Comics Revue. Can you name all the characters?
Exciting stuff — and this fan hopes for more (much more!) to come from Perez in the coming months.
- February 23, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Adams, Greene cover Dark Horse Presents #2
Dark Horse Presents #2
As they promised earlier this week, Dark Horse today sent out the two covers that will appear on Dark Horse Presents #2. The cover above is by Neal Adams, and after the jump you can find the one by Sanford Greene.
Both Adams and Greene have stories in the second issue of the resurrected anthology; Adams’ “Blood” continues in this issue, while Greene teams up with Chuck Brown for “Rotten Apple,” which kicks off this issue. Other contributors include Paul Chadwick, Howard Chaykin, Carla Speed McNeil, Michael T. Gilbert, David Chelsea and more. You can find the complete line-up also after the jump.
- February 23, 2011 @ 01:30 PM by JK Parkin
Forget Kid Rock, KISS and Eminem — Detroit brings in Jim Rugg
Jim Rugg’s made himself known through a series of thrilling projects both creator-owned and work-for-hire, doing work for Vertigo’s Minx line, collaborating with the frontman of the Dandy Warhols on a graphic novel, and doing two excellent books of his own (Afrodisiac and Street Angel).
And now he’s bringing it to Detroit for one night only.
On March 4, Rugg will speak at the Michigan’s Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit as part of their annual Comic Jam which is co-hosted with local retailer Green Brain Comics. Rugg’s scheduled to go on stage at 7 p.m., and will talk about his experiences in comics — and maybe give a sneak peek of what he’s working on next. Come early and enjoy this free all-ages Comic Jam, which starts at 4 p.m.
- February 23, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Fellow creators and fans remember Dwayne McDuffie
I’m still in shock over the sudden, tragic death of comics writer, Milestone Media co-founder and animation producer Dwayne McDuffie, as I’m sure many of his fans, friends and fellow creators are. I’ve rounded up some thoughts and memories from some of those folks, as well as a few items of note about memorials and some of his work.
- If you’re attending the Emerald City Comicon March 4-6, they’ve announced a memorial panel remembering McDuffie that will take place Saturday at 7 p.m. in Room 4C1-2. Per writer Mark Waid, C2E2 is also planning to hold one.
- Both Heidi MacDonald and Rich Johnston posted pages featuring the parakeet metaphor that McDuffie first introduced in Hardware #1 — a scene that, for me personally, sparked one of those lengthy late-night discussions about society, racism, politics and a whole lot of other things with my older brother. As Heidi points out, McDuffie revisited it in both X-O Manowar and at the end of the Milestone Forever two-parter, basically bookending the life of the Milestone Universe.
- The Weekly Crisis, meanwhile, looks at a poignant page from McDuffie’s more recent Fantastic Four run.
- The good folks at the Project: Rooftop site have declared “McDuffie Week” at their site, and have put out the call for redesigns of Static. Dean Trippe writes: “Dwayne’s work in the field of comics and animation was near-universally respected. His knowledge and understanding of the DCU heroes in particular, always meant a lot to me. He worked for Marvel, DC, founded Milestone along with Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle, achieved more respect and admiration as a screenwriter for Justice League Unlimited and other DC animated projects, faithfully bringing the light of our heroes to the non-comics-reading public. Dwayne has left us far too soon, with too many wonderful stories left untold.”
- February 23, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
A second Spider-Man musical gets the jump on Turn Off the Dark
The Spidey Project (logo by Gregg Rafuse)
A day before the much-publicized, and widely lampooned, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark opens on Broadway — well, a day before it’s supposed to open — another, smaller Spider-musical will premiere at the Peoples Improv Theater in New York City: a parody called The Spidey Project: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.
The brainchild of comedian and composer Justin Moran, the goal of the project is to put together a “fully realized” musical based on Spider-Man in under 30 days with no budget, and do it before Julie Taymor’s repeatedly delayed, and poorly reviewed, $65-million production officially opens. “Our goal isn’t to tear down Julie Taymor or parody her production,” Moran tells The New York Times. “Our goal is to do what she should have done in the first place, and that’s just make a really good musical.”
To help, Moran has enlisted writer Jon Roufaeal to collaborate on the story and book — it’s “100 percent” based on the comic-book origin, so no spider-legged Arachne here! — and composers Adam Podd and Doug Katsaros to write and arrange the score. (There’s no Mary Jane in The Spidey Project, either. “This story pre-dates her a bit,” Moran notes in an FAQ.)
Tickets for the musical will be available as the March 14 opening draws closer. No ticket price has been set, but Moran hopes it will be nominal: “Ideally tickets will be free, but I understand it costs money to keep a theater opened so if they absolutely need to charge a small cost, like $5 a ticket, just to pay their insurance fees or internal staff so we can have our show, I think that’s pretty fair.”
- February 23, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Start reading now: The Most Favoured by the Gods
Here’s a new webcomic with a nice ligne claire style and a classical story: The Most Favoured by the Gods, by Chris Brawn, is based on the play Oedipus, by the Greek dramatist Sophocles. Brawn says he intends the comic to be accessible to people who haven’t read the original, and so far it looks pretty clear. He plans to update twice a week for 12 weeks.
As a side note, this is the first time I have seen Tumblr used to host a webcomic. I suppose it has the advantage of being quick and simple for the creator, but the disadvantage is that the reader has to go down to the first episode and scroll up, clicking back and forth to see the pages at full size. I think the medium is better served by the more traditional format of embedding the comic in a web page with “previous” and “next” buttons. Don’t let that stop you from reading this comic, though, as there aren’t too many episodes up yet and it’s a nice, smooth read.
(Via the Forbidden Planet blog.)
- February 23, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Has pirated manga become ‘property of the internet’?
Akamatsu's legit manga download site
A blog called Welcome Datacomp has translated a discussion of manga piracy between manga creators Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina, Negima), Minako Uchida, and Kazumi Tojo that took place on the Japanese social media site Togetter about the prevalence of scanned and fan-translated manga on the internet. Akamatsu is experimenting with his own free manga site, but even so, he sounds pessimistic: “Am I too late? I get the feeling that [my project to release free manga PDFs] won’t be enough at this point.” He goes on to say
Hasn’t illegally scanned manga, propagated so casually like this, fallen into the category of “property of the Internet”? You won’t be able to eliminate it. The only thing we can do at this point is [launch our own free websites with the] “advertising model”. (Because charging people would be difficult.)
The most recent illegal scans are very high quality, and the translations are exceedingly accurate. (^^;) If there’s no respect for original authors on the net, then obviously the official versions will lose out.
The creators express dismay that people who would not shoplift from a physical store have no compunction about reading pirated manga; as Tojo says, “It seems like people will pay for things they can touch like vegetables, but they think it’s a waste to pay for intangible data.”
It seems like the creators are talking about both scans in Japanese, which are read locally, and fan-translated manga for other markets; they cite one example of a publisher being told by fans to change a name to the one selected by a scanlator. And there’s an interesting side discussion on the decline of the cell phone, which was once a popular platform for yaoi and erotic manga. As people switch to smart phones, the options dwindle: Apple doesn’t allow adult manga in the iTunes store, and Akamatsu says Kindle doesn’t either (I’m not so sure about that), but the fans reassure him that Android allows it, making that the platform of choice for ero manga fans.
- February 23, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Hereville up for Nebula; remembering Dwayne McDuffie
Hereville
Awards | Barry Deutsch’s Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword has been nominated for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as part of the prestigious Nebula Awards. “When the nice lady from the Nebula committee called me, she said this is ‘essentially the Nebula Award for young adult books’,” Deutsch writes. Although graphic novels are specifically mentioned in the Andre Norton Award guidelines, this appears to be the first time one has been nominated. The award was established in 2005 in honor of prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton, who passed away that year. The winners will be announced May 21 in Washington, D.C., during the Nebula Awards banquet. [SFFWA]
Passings | We’ll collect reactions later today to the sudden death of respected comics and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie — Comic Book Resources has remembrances from more than a dozen industry figures — but I wanted to go ahead and point to a handful of links: The Associated press obituary; a few words from Christopher Irving, accompanied by a beautiful portrait of McDuffie photographed by Seth Kushner on Feb. 13; the origin of Static; and a look at Spider-Man anti-drug PSA comics written by McDuffie. There’s also McDuffie’s message board, where he interacted candidly with fans on a regular basis. Two threads are devoted to the news of his death and memories of the creator they often referred to as “the Maestro.” The site’s administrator has posted a message last night on the main page: “Dwayne’s family and friends would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of condolences. They are much appreciated in this difficult time.” [Dwayne McDuffie]
- February 23, 2011 @ 08:28 AM by Kevin Melrose
Paul Pope’s variant cover for Dark Horse Presents #1
Dark Horse Presents cover by Paul Pope
Dark Horse catches a tiger by the tail with a “special ultra-rare” variant cover by Paul Pope for the upcoming Dark Horse Presents reboot. Retailers will receive one copy with the variant cover for every 20 copies they order, which no doubt means they’ll be fetching a high price from your local retailer. Personally I’d love to see it released as a print.
- February 23, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
The Middle Ground #43: When Bad Things Happen…
The more I think about the news that BOOM! Studios has lost the Pixar license, the more it depresses me. It’s not that I don’t think that Marvel is capable of producing good Pixar comics – they’ve done some great all-ages work recently, with Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Paul Tobin’s Spider-Man and Super-Heroes titles and the Oz books – but more that… it seems unfair that BOOM! lost the license, if that makes sense. Continue Reading »
- February 22, 2011 @ 04:30 PM by Graeme McMillan