2011 March
Robot Review | Incredible Change-Bots Two
Incredible Change-Bots 2
As Transformers 3 draws inexorably nearer, I find myself dreading the conversations I know I’m going to have.
My friends will ask, innocently, “Have you seen Transformers 3, yet?”
“No,” I’ll reply, hoping they’ll lose interest and change the subject.
“Why not? It looks great! I thought you were into all that sci-fi, comic booky stuff.”
At which point I’ll either have to lie and say that I just haven’t gotten around to it yet (a tactic I’ll feel horrible about later), or tell the truth about hating Michael Bay movies and come off sounding like a complete snob. Which of course I am, but nobody likes defending themselves against that, especially when it’s true.
You see, my friends just don’t get it. If it’s big, if it’s blockbustery, if it’s got giant robots and it’s based on a popular cartoon from the ‘80s, they’ll go see it regardless of how crap it is. “I know it’s not great,” they’ll tell me, “but come on. It’s fun!” I could argue that last point, but by now I’m tired of the conversation.
I know I’m going to get this because I went through it two years ago with Transformers 2. I don’t want to go through it again. Fortunately, this year I have something with which to deflect the conversation into a positive direction. I have Incredible Change-Bots.
- March 30, 2011 @ 04:21 PM by Michael May
A wealth of new Steve ‘The Dude’ Rude marker sketches
If you like Steve “The Dude” Rude then you’re in for a treat. Although a comics veteran for years, the Dude has kept with the times and keeps a thriving Facebook presence — interacting with fans, talking about new work, and in this case, showing off some new sketches.
Rude recently posted a slew of amazing marker sketches he’s done since the beginning of the year. Some are commissions, some were for conventions, and others for raffles and contests he has from time to time.
In addition to the amazing Superman piece shown at right, Rude has also posted several other pieces including Elektra, Red Skull, several Nexus drawings and even a commission requesting a beefcake and shirtless Scott Free — aka Mr. Miracle!
- March 30, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Paul Pope shows off process for new “Liberty Tree” print for CBLDF
Although he’s constantly at work, every new bit of Paul Pope art that’s released is like catnip for a certain section of comic fans — including me.
So it comes with particular delight to not only receive news that the artist is doing a new fine art print for CBLDF, but that he did a process video showing how it was made as well as talking about why he’s doing it for CBLDF. Here’s the video:
The print is available if you buy a $500 or $1000 membership with the CBLDF. The video was directed and shot by Shahriar Shadab, with music by Sons of the West.
- March 30, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Icarus comes to Robot 6
[Editor's Note: We're very pleased that beginning today, Robot 6 welcomes comics creator Ryan Cody to the blog as we serialize his Icarus comic book. You can find out more about it on his website or in the interview with Ryan we ran earlier this year.]
Starting today, pages from my Icarus comic will be posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Icarus follows Major Robert Riley on his exploits to track and assassinate all super-powered beings on Earth. Things aren’t all that they seem in Riley’s world, girls that can see the future, alien invasions and government conspiracies all play a part in this twisting and turning adventure.
“Wow. This first issue blew me away. I was really, really surprised with this one. Written, drawn, inked and created all by Ryan Cody; ICARUS #1 is an intriguing first issue that zigs when you think it’ll zag and continues to leave you spinning right up until the last page. Fans of Dini’s BATMAN ADVENTURES, Bendis’ POWERS, Brubaker’s SLEEPER, and Eisner & Cooke’s THE SPIRIT (books I hold in very high regard) will definitely find ICARUS as much of a surprise as I did.” – Ambush Bug -www.aintitcool.com
- March 30, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Ryan Cody
Heritage expects to get $100,000+ for The Dark Knight Returns page
from The Dark Knight Returns
Billed as “one of the most important pieces of original comic book art Heritage has ever offered,” Heritage Auctions expects to bring in $100,000 or more for page 10 of The Dark Knight Returns #3 , drawn by Frank Miller.
The iconic shot, arguably one of the most recognizable images from the series besides the covers (and maybe even including the covers), features Batman and the Carrie Kelley Robin leaping through the night.
“Artwork from this famed series is much scarcer than anything else from the period, as demonstrated by the fact that Heritage has only offered two Dark Knight panel pages previously, along with the fact that any splash page – much less a such an undeniably classic image – has never been offered at auction,” Heritage reported in a press release. “This gem has been locked away in a single collection since being purchased upon the series’ original publication. Unlike many pages from the series, where differences between the original art and the published version are evident, no changes were made to this artwork for publication, and the original contains no paste-ups or stats – it’s pure art, just the way it appeared in print.”
Heritage will begin taking bids on April 16, with the final auction running May 5-6. More details on the auction can be found in the press release after the jump.
- March 30, 2011 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
WonderCon | Robert Kirkman leads a zombie bar crawl in SF
Robert Kirkman is taking zombies on the town this weekend for WonderCon. Join Kirkman, Isotope Comics and iFanboy as they give you night on the town you’ll never forget — unless you drink too much!
Kirkman will be heading up a bar crawl of drinking establishments in the Bay Area. Intended for those of legal drinking age and up (21 in California), this event will feature a San Francisco tour bus to the various hotspots in San Francisco. On board will be Kirkman, as well as Isotope proprietor James Sime as well as iFanboy co-founders Conor Kilpatrick and Ron Richards.
For the price of a $50 ticket, people will get “VIP transport” to every stop on the crawl, an exclusive Walking Dead SF Bar Crawl Survival Guide, as well as the chance to rub shoulders with zombie impresario Robert Kirkman.
“Wear your best zombie gear, indulge in one of the many of The Walking Dead drink specials the bars will be serving all night, and get a personal introduction to Robert Kirkman from yours truly! What could be better!?” stated Sime in a press release.
Tickets are limited, so go to Isotopecomics.com or iFanboy.com by today to secure tickets when they go on sale at 3 p.m. Eastern / Noon Pacific today. For those that don’t get tickets before they sell out, Image will be hosting a raffle at their booth at WonderCon this weekend.
- March 30, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Japan report: Earthquake aftermath forcing manga online
The March 11 earthquake and the tsunami and nuclear disaster that followed have had all sorts of repercussions for Japan, and while manga and anime are not as serious as the humanitarian problems, it’s interesting to see the industry adjusting quickly to maintain continuity for its customers.
Ayano Yamane, creator of the Finder series, blogged and Tweeted recently that the earthquake caused serious enough damage to several paper mills to put them out of commission, resulting in a paper shortage. Meanwhile, NHK World reports that the Japanese Printing Ink Makers Association has asked newspaper publishers to reduce their output, in terms of both number of pages and number of colors, because damage to several chemical plants has left them short of key ingredients.
Combine that with disruptions to the transportation network due to the disaster, and you have a potentially dire scenario for the manga industry. Manga publishers are responding by putting all or part of their weekly magazines online, for free. Shogakukan will post two issues of Weekly Shonen Sunday online, and Kodansha is putting up a number of different titles. Shueisha put up the manga sections of Weekly Shonen Jump last week, but in a Windows-only format; they have now repeated them on another website that allows non-Windows users to read them. (Shueisha and Shogakukan are the parent companies of the American publisher Viz.)
So far, all the issues that have been posted have been from the past two weeks, so it makes sense to make them available—the work has been done and paid for, and the sales are lost anyway, so putting them online keeps readers from falling away. The question that remains is whether the system can repair itself and print publication can resume in the near future, and if not, whether the publishers will continue their online program or abandon it for another strategy.
- March 30, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Two more gone from Wizard
Wizard
And then there were two — it looks like Wizard’s editorial staff has been cut in half, as two of the four people listed on the masthead for the now-digital magazine were either fired or are leaving on their own this week.
Current “Co-Chief of Pop Culture” Justin Aclin confirmed on Twitter that he gave notice and is leaving Wizard at the end of this week. Before its cancellation, Aclin was the longtime editor of ToyFare magazine and was the head writer for the popular “Twisted ToyFare Theater” feature. Aclin, who is also the writer of such comics as Hero House and S.H.O.O.T. First, is moving on to an as-yet-unannounced new gig.
Second is Creative Director James Walker, who, according to sources, was fired earlier this week. Walker seems to confirm this on his own Twitter account with several messages, including one that seems to confirm he was fired over the phone: “this apprentice show is strange. people are actually fired FACE TO FACE! what a strange concept.”
According to the masthead, that leaves Wizard World Digital with an in-house editorial staff of two: the second Co-Chief of Pop Culture Mike Cotton and Senior Associate Producer Carlos Mejia.
- March 30, 2011 @ 09:30 AM by JK Parkin
ICv2 lists the hot comics of 2010
ICv2 has just posted its year-end summary for 2010, and to no one’s surprise, it’s rather grim:
Comic sales were softer than graphic novel sales in the direct market, but bookstore sales of graphic novels took a major hit even before Borders entered chapter 11 earlier this year. Declines in graphic novels occurred despite two significant media-driven hits in the second half of the year: Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead.
What’s interesting about their analysis is that they consider all channels, not just Diamond or Bookscan numbers, so it’s a comprehensive overview. They also take a brief look ahead, opining that comics won’t get much of a media boost this year because none of the four superhero movies scheduled for this year has a clear connection to a comic. But the most interesting part of the article (which mainly promotes the latest issue of their print report) is their listing of the hottest properties of 2010. Batman topped the list of the top 10 superhero properties, followed by Superman and Kick-Ass; The Walking Dead, Twilight, and Fables headed the list of the top 10 genre properties; and in the curiously mixed category of “Fiction & Reality Titles,” Scott Pilgrim, The Book of Genesis, and Logicomix led all the rest. The article also includes lists of top kids’, comic strip, and manga properties. It’s an interesting snapshot of the year just past, as well as a reminder that there is a lot of variety in comics, even within categories.
- March 30, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Asterix family feud heats up; WonderCon’s Hollywood appeal
Asterix
Publishing | In the latest twist in a bitter, and prolonged, family feud, the daughter of Asterix co-creator Albert Uderzo is seeking to have her parents declared mentally incapable of running their affairs. Uderzo’s only child, Sylvie, accuses her parents’ advisers of “pillaging” and “destroying an entire family.” Albert Uderzo, 83, fired back by accusing his daughter and her husband of “legal harassment” stemming from his 2007 decision to remove them from senior positions in Editions Albert-Rene, the publishing company he founded in 1979, following the death of Asterix co-creator Rene Goscinny. The family quarrel erupted into the public eye in 2009, when Sylvie Uderzo criticized her father’s decision to sell his stake in the company to Hachette Livre and authorize the publisher to continue Asterix after his death. [The Independent]
- March 30, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Shannon Wheeler signs three-book deal with BOOM! Town
Too Much Coffee Man
Too Much Coffee Man creator Shannon Wheeler has signed a three-book deal with BOOM! Town, the “lit comix” imprint of BOOM! Studios.
As a part of the deal, BOOM! will publish a new collection of Too Much Coffee Man stories, subtitled “Cutie Island & Other Stories,” as well as a follow-up to last year’s I Thought You Would Be Funnier, a collection of Wheeler’s rejected New Yorker cartoons. The third book is an original graphic novel titled Grandpa Won’t Wake Up, written by simon max hill and illustrated by Wheeler.
Too Much Coffee Man started as a self-published minicomic in the 1990s, and was self-published by Wheeler until it was picked up by Dark Horse a few years later. An omnibus collecting four volumes of the series is due from Dark Horse in July. The comic has also been adapted into an opera.
BOOM! announced their BOOM! Town imprint last year. You can find the full press release after the jump.
- March 29, 2011 @ 08:06 PM by JK Parkin
WonderCon | What are your plans?
This weekend WonderCon rolls into San Francisco’s Moscone Center, featuring special guests like Joe Quesada, Frank Quitely (who drew the cover for the program book, above), Jason Aaron, Robert Kirkman and many more.
If you’re a comics company, professional or retailer who is exhibiting at the show or has something special planned this weekend, we want to hear from you. Drop me an email at jkparkin@yahoo.com with details on your show plans, along with any related art, and I’ll include it in a roundup this Thursday.
- March 29, 2011 @ 07:10 PM by JK Parkin
The Middle Ground #47: (Red) Winging It
Maybe I’m just being a little too sentimental about what may be, at heart, business practices, but I can’t help but find my heart a little warmed by the news that Jonathan Hickman is not only returning to creator-owned work, but publishing it through Image. Continue Reading »
- March 29, 2011 @ 05:00 PM by Graeme McMillan
Tom Tomorrow to launch new political cartoon section for progressive powerhouse Daily Kos
They’re two Left tastes that’ll taste Left together: This Modern World cartoonist Tom Tomorrow and progressive pundit and activist Markos Moulitsas Zúniga have announced that Tomorrow is leaving his slot at the online magazine Salon to become the first-ever Comics Editor for Moulitsas’s popular liberal blog and political community, Daily Kos. Tomorrow’s final Salon comic ran today.
- March 29, 2011 @ 01:41 PM by Sean T. Collins
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Godzilla: King of Monsters
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.
Michael May
If I had $15:
I’d start with IDW’s Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 ($3.99) and have Wednesday night’s bedtime reading for my nine-year-old taken care of. And as long as we’re talking about Phil Hester comics, I’m not leaving the store without Wonder Woman #609 ($2.99) and the return of the classic costume. Then I’d add Captain America and the Secret Avengers ($3.99) because it’s Kelly Sue DeConnick’s writing Black Widow and those are two of my favorite people in comics. And I’d round off the order with Elephantmen: Man and Elephantman #1 ($3.99) because I’m behind on Elephantmen and this sounds like a good place to check in and catch up.
- March 29, 2011 @ 12:15 PM by JK Parkin