2011 June
Grumpy Old Fan | What Green Lantern could learn from Super 8
Hal's in the doghouse in 1984's issue #180
Poor reviews and mediocre box office for the Green Lantern movie, and news that aspiring genre films no longer need Comic-Con, may be combining to signal the end of America’s love affair with nerd culture. However, Super 8, director J.J. Abrams’ tribute to the Steven Spielberg movies of his youth, celebrates nerdity in a few different ways. Protagonist Joe Lamb is a middle-schooler in the summer of 1979 (a summer when yours truly was transitioning similarly from fourth to fifth grade). He collaborates with a filmmaking friend and does makeup for the latter’s amateur movies. On one bedroom wall is a poster of the yet-to-fly Space Shuttle, and on another is a reproduction of Detective Comics #475′s “Laughing Fish” cover (by the great Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin, of course). He builds model kits, and not just so they can be blown up for an inexpensive visual effect. Obviously I recognized a lot of myself in Joe, and just as obviously, I was not alone. More importantly, though, Joe’s nerdity is endearing, not off-putting. Contrast that with Green Lantern’s fidelity to its source material, which reinforces the expectation that superhero comics must lead rookies through mazes of dogma more easily navigated by longtime fans.
- June 30, 2011 @ 03:05 PM by Tom Bondurant
Is Ralph Cosentino’s Story of the Amazon Princess a Wonder Woman who actually works?
Ralph Cosentino is in a fairly unique position when it comes to getting superheroes.
An extremely gifted artist and children’s picture book author, Cosentino has been tasked with telling the stories of several DC superheroes via picture books, which means Cosentino is a) Reclaiming the characters for the audience they were originally created for, b) simplifying their stories down to their most essential aspects in order to fit them into about 32 pages (or the equivalent of thirty-some panels) and c) streamlining them to make them as appealing as possible to an audience unfamiliar with their comics.
Of course, while the children’s story book and comic book have a lot in common, they’re not exactly equivalent, and Cosentino’s work faces some demands that the original, Golden Age comic books did not, including making these characters and their first stories beautiful enough and satisfying enough that they earn their permanent, expensive ($16) format.
Cosentino started this series with 2008’s Batman: The Story of The Dark Knight (which I discussed at some length on my home blog, here), and continued it last year with 2010’s Superman: The Story of The Man of Steel. I was particularly excited to check out his new book, Wonder Woman: The Story of the Amazon Princess, since the character seems like such a difficult one to get…at least judging by the property’s permanent residence in Hollywood development hell, the recently passed-over David E. Kelly TV pilot and DC’s now seemingly annual reboots of the comics character.
- June 30, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by J. Caleb Mozzocco
New art, details of the villains of Captain America: Super Soldier
Red Skull
On the heels of Tuesday’s dossier, offering details on some of the villains of Captain America: Super Soldier, SEGA has released a second round of images and information on some of the main bosses from the third-person action game.
The art — of Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra and Iron Cross — is accompanied by Brandon Gill, game director of developer Next Level Games. You can see it all after the break.
Arriving in stores on July 19, Captain America: Super Soldier allows gamers, playing as Cap himself, to engage in free-flowing combat and acrobatic platforming to infiltrate a mysterious castle and battle the Iron Cross, the forces of HYDRA and a host of enemies serving the Red Skull in an attempt to stop evil scientist Arnim Zola. The game ties into Captain America: The First Avenger, which opens in theaters on July 22.
The villains that we added to the game were chosen for a mixture of reasons.
- June 30, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC Wishlist | Supernatural Law, Zoom and more
The San Diego Comic-Con runs kicks off with a preview night on July 20, then runs July 21-24. If you are a comics creator or publisher, and you’re planning to bring something new to the con — a sketchbook, a print, a graphic novel debut, etc. — then we want to hear from you. Drop me an email and let me know if you’ll have something cool on hand that attendees should know about. Feel free to send any artwork as well. Thanks in advance!
Now let’s take a look at more stuff coming to the con, including Professor Zoom, Supernatural Law, Marvel Mini Muggs and more
Zoom
Flashpoint‘s big villain, Professor Zoom, has San Diego on his schedule. Graphitti Designs will sell the above SDCC-exclusive action figure at their booth during the show, with a limit of one figure per customer.
- June 30, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Brian Wood, comics’ newest free agent
Earlier this month, Brian Wood announced that his exclusive contract with DC Comics had expired, and that he was committing to a broad range of projects with the conclusion of both DMZ and Northlanders imminent. Although best known for his creator-owned work, with the success of DV8: Gods & Monsters he proved he could work within the corporate-owned structure and sell some comics. He was penciled in to write for DC’s Fall relaunch before plans changed at the last minute, and with news he’s out from under the DC umbrella, it highlights an interesting situation.
Described as an “entirely new phase of my career” on his tumblr, Wood went on to list a number of projects he has in the near future, from a creator-owned “stylistic follow-up to DMZ” scheduled to be announced at New York Comic-Con to two licensed series, “some big superhero stuff,” a digital-first project, as well as a long-awaited new collection of Channel Zero with the Jennie 1.0 prequel included. Wood talked with us last year about preparing for some of this, including a project he describes as Northlanders but instead of “vikings,” it’s music.
Although his creator-owned work has a long track record, it’s the idea of Wood committing more to work-for-hire that is sure to raise some eyebrows. His few shots doing work-for-hire like Dv8, GenX and the little-known Vampirella short with Dean Haspiel were all enjoyable; but what if Wood were given the keys to a bigger property from DC or Marvel? What if Marvel put him to work on an Ultimate Daredevil? What if DC booked some time for him in Gotham City? The possibilities are promising but purely speculative at this point — but what better way to spend the time while we wait for an announcement?
- June 30, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Quote of the day | The Odd Future of the anti-DC Comic-Con protest
The Justice League (left), Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All
“Art needs to be challenged via critique, not marching in the streets. Art ‘protesters’ have lost the battle before they even start fighting.”
–Music critic Eric Harvey on the planned San Diego Comic-Con protest against the DC relaunch…Okay, not really — he’s actually talking about plans by various human rights organizations to picket performances by the so-hot-right-now hip-hop collective Odd Future over violent misogyny and homophobia in the group’s lyrics. But the principle is worth considering in either context, even one as relatively low-stakes and trivial as whether Superman should keep his red swim trunks. Personally I don’t buy the idea that physical protest is an invalid response to art you don’t like. It’s simply a critique via a different venue, isn’t it? If the goal is to cajole, shock, persuade or shame someone into the realization that what they’re doing (either by making a certain kind of art or consuming it) is unacceptable, I don’t think standing around with signs is any less appropriate a means to that end than writing a blog post.
Maybe if Tyler, the Creator wrote a new Lobo series we could hash this all out at once…
(via Jessica Hopper)
- June 30, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
San Diego badge resells begin at 10 a.m. Pacific
Comic-Con International
If you thought your opportunity to buy badges for the upcoming San Diego Comic Con was past, think again. Comic-Con International will sell returned single day badges through EPIC online registration beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific. No doubt they will go really, really fast.
An adult single day badge will be sold at the rate of $40 and Junior, Senior, and Military single day badges will be sold at the rate of $21 each. Sunday adult badges will be $23, and Junior, Senior, and Military Sunday badges will be sold at the rate of $13 each. These prices include a $3 reprocessing fee.
You can find more details and a link to buy tickets (after 10 a.m.) here.
Update: Single day badges are sold out. CCI does have additional badges available through a hotel/badge package deal.
- June 30, 2011 @ 09:32 AM by JK Parkin
IDW goes online at eManga.com
Digital Manga has been aggressive about expanding its business in several different directions, but I didn’t see this one coming: This week, their eManga website is carrying a number of IDW titles, including Doctor Who, Locke & Key, and Silent Hill. Oh, and Astro Boy, of course—the movie adaptation, not Osamu Tezuka’s original.
IDW and Digital Manga couldn’t be more different, except for one thing: They were both early adopters of digital media. Both put their wares on the iPhone back in the days when every issue of a comic was a single app, and both have experimented with different formats and platforms. IDW isn’t the first outside publisher that Digital has invited over to the eManga site: They also host manga from two potential rivals, Yaoi Press and BLU.
eManga is a Flash-based site, so it won’t work on the iPad, although it should be OK with Android devices. I use it to read manga on my computer, and it works quite well, although the default image size is a bit too small for me (there’s a zoom button). It’s streaming, so you have to have an internet connection to read your comics; there is no way to download from the site.
- June 30, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
DC’s ‘New 52′ video promises relaunch as ‘the mother of all events’
Fans and retailers awaiting the final, polished pitch for DC Comics’ sweeping line-wide relaunch may be interested in “DC: The New 52,” a video presentation snagged by Bleeding Cool.
The two-and-a-half-minute video has closing arguments from Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee, Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras, Executive Editor Eddie Berganza and Action Comics writer Grant Morrison, all backed by sweeping shots of the cover art from many of the new titles. As you might expect, they ratchet up the excitement in their pitches, using “new” at least 14 times, “opportunity” four times, and “fresh” three times, focusing on the relaunch and same-day digital as a chance to attract new readers.
But Lee, who comes across as genuinely excited, is by far the most quotable of the five, with comments like, “This is a moment in history, for fans and retailers alike,” “We’re looking to grow the industry” and “We’re going to give them something that’s the mother of all events.”
Watch the video after the break.
- June 30, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Court sides with Zohan in comic writer’s lawsuit
Jayms Blonde
Legal | The Second Circuit Court of Appeals backed the 2010 decision by a federal judge to dismiss a comic writer’s claims that Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, Columbia Pictures and parent company Sony Picture stole his idea for a hairdresser-turned-hero and transformed it into the movie You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. Robert Cabell filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit in February 2009 accusing the moviemakers of ripping off his comic The Hair-Raising Adventures of Jayms Blonde, about a Navy SEAL-turned-hairdresser who fights crime armed with a blow dryer. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Creators | The Hero Initiative reports that comics creator Josh Medors, who has a rare form of cancer, has been released from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection. [Hero Initiative]
Creators | Dave McKean discusses his most recent work, the erotic graphic novel Celluloid. [Suicide Girls]
- June 30, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Comics prequels: Do we need them?
X-Men #1
What is it about comics fans (any type of fan, really, but let’s focus on comics fans) that makes us want to see the details of every little thing that happened ever? We know that Bruce Wayne was inspired to become a crimefighter when he saw his parents gunned down in an alley, but what about the gunman? He’s gotta have a story too and I want to read it. The X-Men are already a team when we first meet them in X-Men #1, so how did they form? There has to be a story there as well; someone get on that. And so the publishers and storytellers oblige us.
It’s not just gaps in comic book history that we want filled in. Movies also have back-stories and comics are the go-to medium for showing us Abby the vampire’s adventures with her “father” pre-Let Me In or filling in details of how Romulan Eric Bana went back in time to create Nu Trek. Why are we so interested in seeing this stuff when we’ve already seen how it plays out?
You don’t have to answer that. I think I know. For me, it goes back to my childhood introduction to comics as a casual reader and an experience that I’ve heard shared by countless comics fans. It comes up a lot when we talk about the necessity (or lack thereof) of jump-on points for new readers. Fans of my generation didn’t need jump-on points to get interested in superhero comics and we often argue that neither do new readers today. Part of the fun of Marvel and DC comics was being thrown into the deep end of these universes that felt so real. And the reason they felt real was because of all the history that was referred to not only by the characters, but also by the editors themselves in all those little caption boxes telling us to check out Avengers #53 or whatever if we wanted to see what Hawkeye’s talking about.
- June 29, 2011 @ 05:00 PM by Michael May
Your Wednesday Sequence 17 | Marcos Martin
The Amazing Spider-Man Sunday Spectacular (2011), pages 5-6 panels 4-7. Marcos Martin.
The basic motivating idea behind comics art is “pictures that move.” The whole point of sequence is to force readers into seeing motion between images, to position individual pictures as the captured points of larger, extended passages of movement. That said, on the printed page “pictures that move” is an obvious oxymoron. The stillness of drawn images is one of the most fundamental problems that comics have to work against, and as with other non-negotiable truths of the medium like its lack of ability to produce sound or light, pretty much every artist of note has come up with a slightly different way to overcome it.
One of the more convincing ways to imply real motion is with layout. An individual drawing can communicate a single motion wonderfully when it’s done right, but beyond that it’s limited, unable to do more than pin down one small section of time. When individual drawings are put together they form a string of single moments, single actions, but it’s the way they’re put together that determines whether or not that string reads as something continuous, unbroken. At its best, layout amplifies the motion implied by the drawings it holds, smoothing out the gaps between them and forcing the reader to stitch them together into one unified whole.
- June 29, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Matt Seneca
DC teases new comic logos — but who designed them?
Over the past week or so, DC Comics has been parceling out logos for some the titles in its line-wide relaunch, a process goosed along by a little enterprising URL farming by Bleeding Cool and others, and the release of the cover for the July issue of Previews.
So far we’ve seen logos for Demon Knights, The Fury of Firestorm, Justice League, Justice League Dark, OMAC, Resurrection Man, Stormwatch and Suicide Squad. But what we’ve yet to glimpse is a designer credit.
Demon Knights, Resurrection Man and Suicide Squad, in particular, look like the handiwork of talented artist Rian Hughes, the designer of such comic-book logos as Batman and Robin, Wednesday Comics, Captain Britain and MI13, Strange Tales and NYC Mech. I emailed Hughes last night to see whether any of the new DC logos are indeed his, but he’s yet to respond.
The Justice League logo bears a passing resemblance to Chip Kidd’s somewhat divisive designs for All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder and All-Star Superman, but that probably owes to the tilt on the Previews cover. It seems unlikely that Kidd, who created the cover treatments for Final Crisis and the logos for Trinity, handled Justice League.
Check out the released, and leaked, logos after the break. And please contribute any designer credits if you know them.
- June 29, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Fans plan protest at Comic-Con against DC relaunch
DC Comics
A cadre of fans is organizing a walk at Comic-Con International in San Diego to protest the September relaunch of DC Comics’ superhero line.
Planned for Saturday, July 23, the DC Original Protest Walk is intended to bring together disenchanted readers in a show of solidarity against the sweeping overhaul, which will see the release of 52 new No. 1 issues, as well as changes to the origins and appearances of many of the publisher’s characters.
“Are you utterly baffled, disappointed and just ANGRY to see how DC ruins your favorite character’s design and wipes decades of comic history out of the mainstream universe?” reads a message on the event’s Facebook page. “Well, you’re not alone! And why not make some noise at the biggest pop-culture event this year, where creators, artists and writers appear in person — show them how fans – the fans of the classic characters, the (nevertheless slightly changing) designs, the character’s history and personality — really feel about it!”
So far, 130 people have signaled they plan to attend the hour-long protest, which begins at 2 p.m.
(via Comicbook.com)
- June 29, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Artists you need to know about: Daniel Krall
From his winning entry in Project: Rooftop‘s Iron Man contest awhile back to his designs for a kid-oriented Lois Lane, Girl Reporter series, Daniel Krall has shown he’s not short on talent or ideas. He got his start in comics with the 2002 Oni series One Plus One, but since then has tended to only do pin-ups while he concentrates on his magazine illustration work to pay the bills.
Be that as it may, Krall continues to impress with his comic-stylized work and his brief forays back into comics, such as in a story for 2008′s Comic Book Tattoo and this year’s Madman: All-New Giant-Size Super Ginchy Special. And now you can see his work all in one place… his redesigned website!
Here are three pages from a comic he did for Image called Speed Trials if you’re still not convinced:
- June 29, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Arrant