2011 June
Shelf Porn Saturday
Welcome to Shelf Porn, where fans show us their stuff. Today’s collection of statues, toys and other stuff comes courtesy of Ian Walker from Poole, England.
If you’d like to see your collection featured here, just send a brief write-ups and some jpgs to jkparkin@yahoo.com.
And now here’s Ian …
- June 11, 2011 @ 03:20 PM by JK Parkin
Minimate and Mimoco exclusives for San Diego Comic Con
The folks at Mimoco, who have the license to make USB Flash Drives based on a variety of properties, including DC Comics and Star Wars, will have an exclusive Harley Quinn drive based on her appearance in the upcoming Batman: Arkham City video game:
- June 11, 2011 @ 09:10 AM by JK Parkin
Previews announces San Diego Comic Con exclusives
Diamond Comics Distributors announced this week the exclusive comics and merchandise they’ll offer to retailers through their Previews catalog to sell on the floor of the San Diego Comic Con, which is a little more than a month away. Check them out:
DOLLHOUSE EPITAPHS #1 2011 SDCC VERSION
Exclusive original cover! Retailer Bonus: 1 in every 5 copy that is picked up at the SDCC will be signed by the creators Jed Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, & Maurissa Tancharoen! Overwhelmed by multiple personalities after mind-altering technology, Alpha must save mankind from itself as the viral technology turns everyone into murderous automatons. The fate of the world rests in the hands of Psychotic Alpha.
LIMITED TO 2,500 COPIES
Comic SRP: $3.50
- June 11, 2011 @ 08:07 AM by JK Parkin
Previews | What looks good for August
Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 3
The talk this week’s been focused on September, but let’s not forget that there’s some great stuff coming in August too. It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Dark Horse Presents is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.
Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.
Archaia
Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 3 - I’ve only read Archaia’s first volume of Tom Siddell’s webcomic about a young girl at a strange school, but I’m eager for more. As much as publishers like to shove series at me telling me they’re going to scratch my Harry Potter itch, this is the only one that’s actually done it.
Boom!
Planet of the Apes, Volume 1 - If the rest of the story is as strong as the first issue, this collection will be well worth having. Likely even better than re-watching some of the PotA movies themselves.
- June 10, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
Read three chapters of The Art of War online
A few weeks ago we noted a dramatic publicity stunt by Kelly Roman and Michael DeWeese, the creators of the graphic novel The Art of War: They held a public event in which they stamped sample chapters with their own blood (drawn rather clinically by a doctor, rather than someone with a sharp dagger). Apparently it worked, as the sample chapters they put up have gotten over 25,000 views, and they have signed contracts for several other countries—with a promise to repeat the blood stunt in each one. (I’m surprised they didn’t sign the contracts in blood—now there’s a stunt!) They have already signed with publishers in Brazil and Spain.
They now have three chapters of the book, which is a work of fiction based Sun Tzu’s classic manual, available to read on Issuu—or right here, since it’s embeddable.
- June 10, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Robot Reviews | Mickey Mouse Vol. 1
Mickey Mouse Vol. 1
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Vol. 1: Race to Death Valley
by Floyd Gottfredson; edited by David Gerstein and Gary Groth
Fantagraphics Books, 288 pages, $29.99
It must seem difficult for younger generations to fully understand just how integral Mickey Mouse once was to the Disney franchise. While at one time his smiling, three-circle face was the iconic symbol for the company, today that image has been shoved aside to make room for Cinderella’s castle. The Disney bread is now officially buttered by a bunch of divas and Buzz Lightyear. These days Mickey is relegated to stalwart supporting cast member, fit for entertaining the preschooler crowd on daytime television, though efforts like the recent Epic Mickey video game show an interest in making him a viable player in their stable once more.
Even for my generation (that’s Gen X for those of you keeping score), understanding Mickey’s appeal was a tough proposition at times given how bland he seemed to appear in various cartoons and other products we or our parents were expect to shell good money out for. Everything about him stank of goody-two-shoes pitchman. No wonder he eventually faded from the limelight.
- June 10, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Robot 6 presents Icarus #2, page 12
Icarus is a comic by Ryan Cody
and is serialized here on Robot 6, with new pages every Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Comments welcome.
ICARUS is going on hiatus for a month or two but will be back with new pages later this summer. We’ve hoped you’ve enjoyed what you have seen so far and as always, we welcome you comments and emails.
Ryan Cody is the creator, artist, writer, & colorist of ICARUS, a bi-monthly super-powered adventure/espionage book published through Super 75 Comics. Ryan’s past projects include illustrating the graphic novel VILLAINS forViper Comics as well as contributing to the Eisner-Award winning anthology, Popgun Vol.3, from Image comics.ICARUS #1 is currently available as both a .99 digital download and in print. For more information or to order a print copy of ICARUS, please visit www.super75comics.com
- June 10, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Ryan Cody
As fans await official announcement, final details of DC relaunch leak [Updated]
Superman #1
While most DC Comics fans wait impatiently for the publisher to announce the final details of its sweeping 52-title relaunch, one industrious reader went to work to unearth the covers to Superman #1, Superboy #1 and Supergirl #1.
That leaves only one series, by all accounts Action Comics, which as Comic Book Resources reported last week will likely be written by Grant Morrison. Bleeding Cool contends that Rags Morales is the artist.
The three covers, found Thursday on the DC server by a Comic Book Resources forum member with the time and patience to try numerous file-name combinations, aren’t particularly surprising; Superman and Supergirl, at least, were sure bets for the relaunch, and Scott Lobdell had let slip earlier this week that he’s writing Superboy. However, they seem to confirm Bleeding Cool’s report that George Perez will be drawing, and presumably writing, Superman. Screenwriters Michael Green and Mike Johnson, who worked together on Superman/Batman, are thought to be penning Supergirl, with Mahmud A. Asrar on art (at least judging from the cover).
A question mark remains over Superboy, in part because the character looks radically different on this cover than he appears on the one(s) for Teen Titans #1. (Update: A commenter identifies the Superboy cover artist as Eric Canete.)
DC was expected to officially announce the Superman books today, but as the hours pass it’s beginning to look as if the publisher may hold back until Saturday afternoon, when Co-Publisher Jim Lee and Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns appear at the Hero Complex Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Update 2: DC officially unveiled the remaining titles this afternoon after all, confirming Morrison and Morales on Action Comics, Perez writing but Jesus Merino penciling Superman, Green, Johnson and Asrar on Supergirl, and Lobdell, R.B. Silva and Rob Lean on Superboy. Comic Book Resources has the details.
Check out the covers for Superboy #1 and Supergirl #1 after the break.
- June 10, 2011 @ 11:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Snow White: Through a Glass Darkly coming from SLG next year
Snow White: Through a Glass, Darkly
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer writer Van Jensen dropped us a note about his next project, which attendees at HeroesCon last weekend had the chance to check out in the form of a five-page preview. Jensen and Val the Red Beard creator Robin Holstein are working on Snow White: Through a Glass Darkly, a new six-issue series due from SLG Publishing next year.
According to Jensen, the tagline for the book is, “We all think we know the story of Snow White, the poor girl who suffered under her evil stepmother. But what if the stepmother wasn’t evil after all? What if the mirror was evil?”
Look for it next spring, and in the meantime, be sure to check out Holstein’s webcomic, Val the Red Beard, which is about pirates in flying ships fighting monsters that live inside village-destroying storms. He’s posted seven strips so far, it looks like, so you’ll be getting in on the fun early.
- June 10, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Walt Simonson’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition available for preorder
Walt Simonson's The Mighty Thor Artist's Edition
IDW Publishing announced this week that Walt Simonson’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition is now available for pre-order from their site. And if you’re attending the San Diego Comic Con this year, not only can you elect to pick up your copy at the show, but you can also choose a limited edition version with the above variant cover.
“I wrote and drew The Mighty Thor for Marvel more 25 years ago now, at a time when it was the fate of old comics to be deployed to the back issue bins in comic shops and at conventions. No one had any expectations of reprints or trade collections. Now, it’s a new day,” said Simonson. “I’m pleased that IDW and Marvel have seen fit to go back and revisit this work as they have. I couldn’t be more delighted to know Thor, Beta Ray Bill, and all their friends turned out to have a much longer shelf-life than I would ever have imagined.”
Announced earlier this year at WonderCon, Walt Simonson’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition collects seven issues of the creator’s run on the title — Thor #337-340, which saw the debut of Beta Ray Bill, as well as Thor #360-363, which featured Thor battling Hela and the death of the Executioner. Each page is shot from Simonson’s original art and was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—so you’ll be able to see white-out corrections and blue pencil notations.
You can order the regular edition here and the variant cover edition, which is only available if you can pick it up in San Diego, here. Both editions cost $100. Simonson and his wife, comics writer Louise Simonson, will be at the IDW booth at the show.
- June 10, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair: Frank Quitely draws Alan Moore
Marvel talent scout C.B. Cebulski tweeted this image of writer Alan Moore by artist Frank Quitely from a gallery opening at Rosario, Argentina’s Crack Bang Boom Con. This Quitely kid’s quite a find, C.B. — I think he’s going places!
- June 10, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
DC Comics acquires rights to prose antihero The Tyrant
The Seven Sins: The Tyrant Ascending
DC Comics plans to develop a comic book and multimedia properties based on The Tyrant, the Las Vegas casino owner turned vigilante of Jon Land’s 2009 novel The Seven Sins, Variety reports.
The thriller follows Michael Tiranno, aka The Tyrant, an orphaned farm boy in Sicily who’s adopted by the local mob godfather after the murder of his parents. Tiranno becomes a master of finance, eventually becoming the owner of The Seven Sins, “the grandest and most extravagant casino in the world.” But when Las Vegas is targeted by terrorists, Tiranno returns to his homeland to track down those responsible.
DC struck the deal with King Midas World Entertainment, which envisions a multimedia franchise — the film rights were optioned in 2008 — including, eventually, a real Seven Sins casino. Talks reportedly began with the comics publisher as far back as 2009.
Fabrizio Boccardi, founder of King Midas World Entertainment and, according to this video, the inspiration for The Tyrant, tells the trade paper, “We conceived the character as the Batman of Las Vegas. Honestly, I want to build a franchise. I know it’s not an easy task but I’d like to create something that can endure longer than just three movies.”
- June 10, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Roger Langridge has a trio of new comics due out soon
Freshly returned from Heroes Con, Roger Langridge wants you to know that he has a number of projects that will be bearing fruit later this year.
First up is Snarked! from BOOM! Studios’ all-ages line kaboom, in which Langridge riffs on Lewis Carroll’s characters the Walrus and the Carpenter (from Through the Looking Glass). CBR has a preview so you can get a taste. Langridge has added a few lines to Carroll’s poem and taken the Walrus’s lovable-rascal character to new heights.
Next, Langridge is adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter novels for Marvel, starting with John Carter: A Princess of Mars (which sounds like it’s going to be about a transgender John Carter, although I doubt that’s the case—we’ll have to wait for the manga for that), due out in September.
Finally, a treasure trove for Langridge fans: The Show Must Go On, a 200+ page collection of Langridge’s comics that spans his career, including Mugwhump the Great, which just wrapped up on Act-I-Vate. The collection will be published by Boom Town, BOOM!’s indy comics imprint, and Langridge says it will be ready in time for SPX this fall.
- June 10, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Joe Casey and Nathan Fox take the reins on Haunt
Joe Casey and Nathan Fox have been named as the new creative team on Haunt, replacing co-creator/writer Robert Kirkman and artist Greg Capullo with September’s Issue 19.
Co-created by Todd McFarlane, the Image Comics series centers on Daniel Kilgore, a Catholic priest who’s haunted by the ghost of his estranged brother Kurt, a murdered secret agent. The two combine to form the superhero Haunt.
“The word ‘haunt’ is a very evocative word,” McFarlane tells USA Today. “I didn’t think we had hit that word yet in terms of being dark and moody and creepy in some of the things.” Casey says that he and Fox, who collaborated on Marvel’s Dark Reign: Zodiac, are taking “a real grindhouse/exploitation approach to the series. Hopefully the end result will be appropriately lurid and over-the-top while being a real nail-biter at the same time.”
Kirkman is reportedly leaving Haunt because of demands on his time by AMC’s adaptation of The Walking Dead — the second season began shooting this week outside of Atlanta — while Capullo is teaming with writer Scott Snyder on the September relaunch of DC Comics’ Batman.
- June 10, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Kevin Huizenga unveils the cover for Ganges #4
My, but this has some oomph, doesn’t it? That clean block lettering (Helvetica? font geeks, help me out here), all that black…I know I’m excited. The latest installment in Huizenga’s oversized solo anthology series is due in August from Fantagraphics.
- June 10, 2011 @ 05:00 AM by Sean T. Collins