2011 May
Lego + Ninjas = Awesome!
If, like me, you don’t follow developments in the world of Lego very closely, you might not be aware that there is a new Lego theme called Ninjago, which features little Lego ninja characters practicing the newly invented martial art of Spinjitzu.
Ninjago includes a complicated backstory (laid out neatly at the Lego wiki Brickipedia) in which the world is created by the first Spinjitzu master, using the four mystical ninja weapons: the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shurikens of Ice, the Scythe of Quakes, and the Sword of Fire. Of course, things went bad and now the good ninjas are battling the evil skeleton warriors using these weapons. Needless to say, Ninjago is more than just building blocks; there’s a video game, an iPhone app, and now—and this is why you are reading about it here—a graphic novel.
Papercutz, the children’s comics imprint of classy NBM Publishing, will be announcing a series of Ninjago graphic novels at Book Expo America. Papercutz probably flies below your radar if you’re over 12, but they make some pretty solid kids’ graphic novels that sell like hotcakes. The Ninjago books will be written by Greg Farshtey, the writer of the Bionicle graphic novels, and illustrated by Paulo Henrique, who draws the Hardy Boys graphic novels. Although the Lego people seem to have this pretty well thought out, creating an action-packed story about interlocking blocks with martial arts skills does seem like it would present a challenge. On the other hand, you have the Lego and ninja fandoms locked up, so how can you lose? And with a television show in the works and a DVD ready for release, I would say there’s no stopping these square little ninjas.
- May 18, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Creator hopes to land an appearance on Conan O’Brien by drawing Coco
Conan O'Brien by Jess Smart Smiley
Jess Smart Smiley’s all-ages graphic novel Upside Down: A Vampire Tale comes out in October from Top Shelf, and he’s hoping to promote it by making an appearance on the Conan O’Brien show. So he’s drawing pictures of O’Brien and posting them on Facebook to try and get O’Brien’s attention.
“My goal is to be invited as a guest on the Conan O’Brien show and talk about the book in October, when it comes out. We can talk about other things, too,” he says on the Facebook group, “Will Draw for Coco.” “I’m drawing pictures of Conan from every episode from now (May) until October, when the book comes out. Please help spread the word about the awesome drawings and even cooler graphic novel.”
- May 18, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | FCBD 2011 generated $1.5 million in publicity
Free Comic Book Day
Retailing | Free Comic Book Day founder Joe Field reports that this year’s event drew between 300,000 and 500,000 people to participating retailers, and generated an estimated $1.5 million in publicity for comics and comics stores. “Free Comic Book Day may have been my idea ten years ago, but seeing the remarkable things this event has done for the entire comics world is really encouraging,” he writes on his store’s blog. “Many of my comics retailer colleagues in the U.S., Canada and 40 other countries bring energy, creativity and enthusiasm to FCBD, making it a very special community event that is now the world’s largest annual comics’ event. All of this shows just how current the comics’ medium is — and how vital comic book specialty stores are to our local communities.” [Flying Colors, via The Beat]
Legal | In the wake of the latest confiscation of comics by Canadian customs agents, Laura Hudson looks at how creators and fans can protect themselves when crossing the border. [Comics Alliance]
Comic strips | Tundra marketing director Bill Kellogg has launched Ink Bottle Syndicate, which represents eight comic strips: That Monkey Tune, by Mike Kandalaft; Holy Molé, by Rick Hotton; Sunshine State, by Graham Nolan; Half Baked, by Rick Ellis; Future Shock, by Jim and Pat McGreal; 15 Minutes, by Robert Duckett; Biz, by Dave Blazek; and, of course, Tundra, Chad Carpenter. [The Daily Cartoonist]
- May 18, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
The Middle Ground #53: Soaring Down The Charts
The top selling non-Marvel or DC comic in the direct market last month was The Walking Dead. No surprise there, perhaps; it’s a good book, and one buoyed by a successful television show, as well as an impressive bookstore campaign to draw in new readers. When it comes to non-Big Two books, it’s probably the one you’d expect to be leading the pack in terms of sales. No, the surprise is that, despite that, forty-seven other books managed to sell more copies last month. Continue Reading »
- May 17, 2011 @ 04:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
The Power of Greyskull: two killer He-Man and the Masters of the Universe art galleries
Masters of the Universe art by Earl Norem
I love He-Man and I don’t care who knows it. To my mind, the Masters of the Universe is one of the great untapped influences/resources in nerddom, a breathless (some might even say senseless) amalgamation of fantasy, science fiction, space opera, superheroes, pulp barbarians, and toyetic skunk dudes named Stinkor that in many ways prefigures contemporary comics’ fast and loose genre riffs and mash-ups, from Orc Stain to Prison Pit. The toys and the cartoon were good fun, but for sheer imagination-firing power, it’s tough to beat the line’s concept art. Aeron Alfrey of the indispensable art blog Monster Brains has assembled two eye-popping galleries of MOTU madness, one dedicated to paintings (in particular the work of the great Earl Norem), the other to comic and cartoon art. They have the power.
- May 17, 2011 @ 03:55 PM by Sean T. Collins
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Alpha Flight
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 a “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Michael May
Even if I didn’t have any money at all, I’d stand on the street corner and beg until I collected three bucks to buy Alpha Flight #0.1 ($2.99). I’ve never not bought an issue of Alpha Flight and I’m not breaking that streak this week. Fortunately I have $15 and can afford to get not only that, but also Rocketeer Adventures #1 ($3.99), which I’m only slightly less excited about. And since I’ve still got some money I’d add Drums #1 ($2.99) – because it’s been a while since I’ve read a voodoo story and this looks like a good one – and Snake Eyes #1 ($3.99). I’m not a GI Joe fan, but ninjas are cool and expect that I’d be entertained by a comic about one who fights an evil spy organization.
- May 17, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
He shall be called…Chewie 2
Dammit. Now I want a whole series of Han Solo and Chewie strips by Clio Chiang. (Left the last panel out of this one, but one little click and it’s all yours.)
By the way, 500 demerits to the first person who points out that Chewbacca’s son is actually named Lumpy.
- May 17, 2011 @ 12:25 PM by Michael May
Donate $25 to liver research, get a free Chris Giarrusso sketch!
Giarrusso's sketch for an Image Comics banner
Chris Giarrusso, creator of the whimsical all-ages comic G-Man, is doing something nice for liver research: He has pledged to do a free sketch for anyone who donates $25 to the American Liver Association’s current fund-raiser. You have to donate through a particular page, which Chris links to on his site, and you can make your request during the donation process or separately; Chris will do a full-figure, black and white sketch of the character of your choice.
(If you’re not familiar with Chris’s work, check out the first chapter of G-Man: Cape Crisis. Good times!)
- May 17, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Frank Cho to bring back Liberty Meadows
Good news for Liberty Meadows fans: Frank Cho is working on the long-awaited issue #38, after dropping plans (for now) to make it into an animated cartoon.
Liberty Meadows was originally a newspaper strip, but Cho’s art and sense of humor kept bumping up against editorial standards, and he ended syndication in 2001; “I got tired of the censorship and the low pay,” he told CBR in a 2006 interview, adding that his weakest strips were rush jobs done to fill in for strips that editors refused to run. Cho moved to a comic book format, first self-published, then through Image, but he put Liberty Meadows on hiatus in 2004, after issue #36. Issue #37 came out in 2009.
Cho let loose on his blog about his frustrations with Sony, which acquired the rights to create a downloadable Liberty Meadows cartoon for their Sony Digital division. Here’s his account of how that went:
I wrote the original pilot episode but it was rejected for being too “risque”. So other writers were brought in to tone it down and make it more kid friendly. Once I read the rewrite, I thought it completely missed the point of Liberty Meadows. So I rewrote the rewrite, and this went back and forth couple of times until we reached a compromised script. We turned that script into an traditional 2D animated pilot episode.
Enter Sony Television division. They saw the pilot episode and liked it. Liberty Meadows get bumped up to their television division and a TV series is planned. However there is one request, Sony Television people wanted Liberty Meadows to be more “risque” with adult humor like the “Family Guy”. This is the point where I rip my hair out in frustration.
Then the recession hit and all the executives involved with the project left the company. Fortunately, Cho’s contract had an inactivity clause (something the Tokyopop creators could have benefited from) so the rights have now reverted back to him.
His plan for now is to simply go back to drawing the strip, although he doesn’t rule out another movie or TV deal “if the right offer comes along.”
- May 17, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Strong debut for Fear Itself; is Borders doomed?
Fear Itself #1
Publishing | Marvel’s Fear Itself #1 topped Diamond Comic Distributors’ April charts with an estimated 128,595 copies, the highest monthly sales for a comic since X-Men #1 surpassed 140,000 copies nine months ago. Retail news and analysis site ICv2 sees the strong debut of that crossover and the performance of DC’s Flashpoint prequels as signs “that this summer’s big events may be able to reverse the downward sales trend in the first quarter of 2011.”
DC’s Fables, Vol. 15: Rose Red led the graphic novel category with about 11,600 copies, followed distantly by Dynamite’s The Boys, Vol. 8: Highland Laddie. [ICv2.com]
Retailing | The bankrupt Borders Group reportedly has been unable to find a buyer for its entire business, which could signal the end of the second-largest book chain in the United States. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in February, and is closing about one-third of its locations. [Detroit Free Press]
- May 17, 2011 @ 07:10 AM by Kevin Melrose
Tr!ckster to hold creator-focused event across the street from San Diego Comic Con
Tr!ckster
Last July, right before the San Diego Comic Con kicked off, a group of creators started planning an alternative to Comic Con International via Facebook and other channels.
“It appeared to us that a dramatic shift was taking place, a move away from individual artists, creators, and comics… There are a number of folks that have decided to bow out this year,” creator Ted Mathot, who creators comics like Rose & Isabel when he isn’t making movies for Pixar, told Brand X last year. He said they hoped to have an alternative to San Diego in 2011.
And now we know exactly what that is — Tr!ckster, a free event that will take place July 19-24 at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center, which is across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Convention Center. The event will include retail space for creators to sell “creator-owned wares” like “small run and limited edition books, fine art prints, toys, clothing, and more;” a fine art gallery space; and a series of “focused, creator-driven demonstrations and discussions of method, process, and theory concerning the act of creating new, uniquely-voiced works of art.” Each Symposia will be a ticketed event and will feature creators like Mike Mignola, Mike Allred, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, Skottie Young, Jim Mahfood, Scott Morse, Mathot, Derek Thompson, Greg Rucka, Craig Yoe and more. They plan to run two per day.
The group also plans to offer a $20, 48-page hardcover art book at the event, with illustrations by Mathot, Young, Doug TenNapel, Andy Kuhn, David Mack, Mike and Laura Allred, Mike Huddleston and many more, plus an eight-page story by Morse.
For more information on the event, visit their home page or Facebook page.
- May 16, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim | Patrick Zircher
Mystery Men 1
When you learn how much research and realize how interested that artist Patrick Zircher is in the 1920s/1930s era of the Mystery Men, I expect you might be equally intrigued to learn more about this five-issue David Liss-written Marvel miniseries. The first issue, which was previewed by CBR late last week and goes on sale June 8, introduces readers to the first champions of the Marvel universe. As detailed in the preview: “Before Captain America, before The Twelve, there was The Aviatrix, The Operative, Achilles, The Revenant and The Surgeon! What drives these five heroes to pull on masks and take to the rooftops of Manhattan? What dark conspiracy not only brings them together, but threatens to tear the America apart?” In this email interview with Zircher, we discuss his affinity for designing a comic and characters much in the same vein as “Indiana Jones, the Rocketeer, and the Spirit”, as well as why the word “zeppelin” is cooler than “blimp” plus many other fun details. My thanks to Zircher for his time and to editor Bill Rosemann for giving Robot 6 readers a look at pages from issue 2. Once you’ve read the interview, be sure to comment on which Marvel heroes and villains (circa 1930s) you would love to see in Mystery Men.
Tim O’Shea: In terms of designing characters, how enjoyable/empowering is it to venture into relatively unexplored territory (of the 1920s and 1930s) in terms of the Marvel universe with this Mystery Men project?
Patrick Zircher: It’s been a gas. Though we approached Mystery Men as belonging to the Marvel Universe, as part of the big, big story– working in an earlier era allows for a lot of freedom. At the same time, all the possibilities for cool ties to the Marvel Universe this series opens has the comic fan in me pretty excited.
- May 16, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Comic Strips to Comic Flicks: Brian Michael Bendis 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.
After toiling away for nine years on the independent scene, Brian Michael Bendis became an “overnight success” with his work on Marvel’s Daredevil. After proving himself there, he got his shot at the big time as one of the key figures in the launch of the Ultimate line, specifically for him Ultimate Spider-Man. Marvel further placed their faith in him when they gave him the keys to their flagship superhero team the Avengers, and promptly he ended the team in Avengers: Disasssembled before taking them to new heights. First came New Avengers, then Secret Invasion and Siege, and now years later he’s become the driving force for a new era in Marvel Comics. He’s never left his creator-owned roots behind and has been publishing Powers ever since he got his start at Marvel, but he recently amped up his creator-owned output with Scarlet, TAKIO and the recently announced Brilliant.
- May 16, 2011 @ 02:30 PM by Chris Arrant
Niles, Wrightson reteam for Frankenstein project
Frankenstein Alive, Alive!
IDW’s Chris Ryall teases an upcoming project that reunites artist Bernie Wrightson with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s famous monster, Frankenstein, as well as with his City of Others partner Steve Niles. No word yet on when Frankenstein, Alive, Alive! is due.
- May 16, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Synergy assemble! Tom Brevoort explains how Marvel’s movies and publishing work together
I’m hard pressed to think of a more unexpected development in superhero comics over the past half-decade or so than this: Somehow, the Avengers and Green Lantern have become the genre’s biggest franchises. On a one level it’s not much more complicated to explain than “Brian Bendis and Geoff Johns are very good at writing superhero comics people want to read, and their editors are very good at recognizing this and structuring their lines to support those comics.” Both writers reimagined these perpetual also-ran concepts — Bendis broke the team up, reassembled it with a mixture of Marvel superstars and personal favorites, and placed it at the center of years’ worth of shadowy conspiracy storylines; Johns revived the character at the core of the concept as we know it, then cracked that concept open to reveal a sprawling sub-universe of heroes and villains that arose from the original concept in a totally intuitive way; both of their publishers crafted multiple major event comics in which these freshly popular properties took center stage.
But in Marvel’s case, the newfound primacy of the Avengers was startling in that the franchise appeared to eclipse the properties that used to be Marvel’s bread and butter, the X-Men and Spider-Man. Sure, Wolverine and Spidey are members of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and adding them to the team likely gave it that initial push to the top, but it’s really the “Big Three” of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America who’ve driven the Marvel Universe’s meta-plot for years now. It doesn’t take an omega-level intelligence to notice that these characters, and the team they’ve historically led, fall under the Marvel Studios movie-rights umbrella, while the Web-Slinger, the Ol’ Canucklehead and company belong elsewhere.
- May 16, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Sean T. Collins