2011 June
Archaia to bring back classic Fraggle Rock comics
Archaia assembled a talented group of writers and artists for its two anthlogies of comics based on Jim Henson’s 1980s television series Fraggle Rock, but the next volume will go a different route: Reprinting the classics.
The first Fraggle Rock comics came out in 1985-1986, during the show’s heyday, and were published by Star Comics, which was a division of Marvel. The series only ran 8 issues, all of which were written by Stan Kay and illustrated by Marie Severin, who later drew the Fraggle Rock comics that appeared in Muppet Magazine. Marvel reprinted five of these comics in 1988 without the Star logo.
Now Muppet fansite Tough Pigs reports that Archaia will publish a collection of these older Fraggle Rock comics, digitally remastered and collected into a softcover anthology. “That’s 80s content with a modern-day feel! Or at least a modern-day coloring job,” says writer Joe Hennes. The stories include The Magic Time Machine,” “The Trouble With Being #1,” “The Monster That Could Be Anything” and “The Doozer Who Wanted to Be a Fraggle.” The book will retail for $9.95 and will be available on August 31.
- June 23, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | Borders gets more time for sale; Bud Plant to retire
Borders
Retailing | A federal bankruptcy judge has granted Borders Group permission to loosen the terms of its $505-million bankruptcy loan, giving the bookseller more time to line up a buyer and avoid the immediate liquidation of 40 more outlets. The book chain, which has closed 237 of its 642 stores, will file a proposal on July 1 to sell itself at a court-approved auction to a guaranteed buyer — most likely, the Los Angeles-based Gores Group. The private-equity firm has a plan that would save about 250 of the remaining Borders locations by transforming them into “more appealing destinations” similar to the Apple Store chain. [Bloomberg]
Retailing | Bud Plant, one of the initial direct-market distributors who, at one time, operated the largest chain of comic stores in the United States, has announced his retirement. In a letter to his mailing list, Plant said he is looking to find a buyer for Bud’s Art Books, his mail-order/online retail business. [The Comics Reporter]
Retailing | Jetpack Comics in Rochester, New Hampshire, has put out the call for area residents to participate in a photo shoot for retailer-specific variant cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #666: “This is not the first time Rochester has appeared on the cover of a comic book — the organizations also organized a photo shoot of Main Street that was featured on the cover of a Godzilla comic, with the city about to be crushed by the creature. [...] According to Jetpack Comics owner Ralph DiBernardo, after seeing how well the Godzilla comic sold, Marvel Comics wanted to capitalize on that success and suggested the city be featured again.” [Foster's Daily Democrat]
- June 23, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
What’s happening with Wizard’s Winnipeg convention?
A concerned fan alerted us via email that Wizard World has removed the convention formerly known as the Central Canada Comic Con, or C4, in Winnipeg from their convention listings page; trying to hit the Winnipeg page on their site gives you a 404 error.
While there don’t appear to be any details on why the listing was removed, posts on the show’s Facebook group indicate the show will go on. Michael Paille of Raven Toys, Comics & Games posted a message asking for help to keep the show going, noting “I guarantee you Winnipeg will have a comic con this year!” In another post, he indicated he has booked the convention center.
Wizard acquired the convention last November, and according to the press release that went out at the time, it is (was?) scheduled for Oct. 28-30.
I’ve reached out to both Wizard World and Paille for additional comment, and will post any updates I receive.
Update: Paille has posted an update on the Raven Comics blog, noting that Wizard is out, but the con will continue. And he’s looking for help with various fundraising activities, so if interested, head over there to check them out.
- June 22, 2011 @ 04:24 PM by JK Parkin
Your Wednesday Sequence 16 | Brecht Evens
The Wrong Place (2010), page 72. Brecht Evens.
The printed comics page is rarely allowed to exist as a whole. In comics as they’re traditionally done, the page is basically a vehicle for strings of panels, connected to one another by narrative and the flow of action but usually nothing more. Panels are typically conceived as isolated moments, with poses and camera angles and color schemes unique unto themselves. When one follows the next it almost always tracks the same dialogue streams, the same characters, the same forward thrust of time; but rarely if ever does it expand on the actual space set out in the box before it. Comics cut and cut and cut again, like a film helmed by a hyperactive editor. This is most often a searching medium, forever sliding into new angles and new compositions, looking for a newer and more immediate way into the spaces being set out by the story.
But the page itself is a space too — a single, uninterrupted space, one surface, even when it’s been sectioned up by gutter lines. The artists of comics worth paying attention to are usually aware of this to some extent or another, composing passages of panel-to-panel cutting that also work as a single visual unit, treating the page as a venue for both incremental storytelling and immediate fine art. There’s something to be said for pages that can be taken in all at once, that pull all the space the surface has to give into the accomplishment of a single visual effect.
- June 22, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Matt Seneca
Wonder Woman: What makes her tick?
Wonder Woman by Brian Bolland
About a month ago, I quoted Tom Spurgeon and agreed with him that a major problem with getting a Wonder Woman TV series or movie off the ground is the tendency of writers to over-think the character. There was some good discussion in the comments that followed that post. Not all of it on-point, of course, but that’s the cool thing about conversations. It’s okay if they lead you away from where you started.
I’m thinking specifically of some comments around the middle of the thread where folks started to do the very thing that – on the surface – I said writers shouldn’t do: fuss with the character. That’s fine though, because a certain amount of fussing is necessary. Spurgeon even implied it in his original quote and some of the comments he made later. “Stop fussing” implies that some fussing is already being done and Spurgeon doesn’t appear to judge that. Taken literally, he’s just saying that there’s a time to put that away and just write some damn adventure stories. When he says in the comments, “embrace what you like and streamline past what you don’t,” he assumes that some thinking has been given to what you like and don’t about the character.
It’s the same point I made when I wrote, “While it’s important to know the character you’re telling a story about, the story itself doesn’t have to be an overt demonstration of how you’ve figured that out.” Figuring out the character and writing fun stories about her are two different things and should be kept separate, but they’re both important to do. Since that last post focused on the need for writing fun stories, this one’s about offering a suggestion on figuring Wonder Woman out. Particularly, how it’s not as hard as it’s made out to be.
- June 22, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Michael May
Hero Initiative auctions off Josh Medors original art
Alter Ego #105
Earlier this year Michael mentioned the limited edition print that the Hero Initiative was selling to help raise money for artist Josh Medors, who has a rare form of spinal cancer. Now that original art, which is also the cover to Alter Ego #105 and is a re-creation of the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #33, is being auctioned off on eBay. Go check it out and place a bid for a good cause.
- June 22, 2011 @ 11:08 AM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim | Roger Langridge
Snarked! #0
Recently I was lucky enough to see a preview of Roger Langridge‘s Snarked! #0, his all ages series for Kaboom where the writer/artist uses Lewis Carroll‘s “Walrus and the Carpenter” poem (from Through the Looking-Glass) as a springboard for his storytelling. For every consumer that railed against the cancellation of Langridge’s Thor: The Mighty Avenger, here’s your chance to support Langridge again. For every pundit and website commenter who opined that Thor would have flourished, had it not been caught in the deluge of Thor titles that dashed any chance of it succeeding, take note.
A quick look at the CBR front page reveals a full court press for every new DC #1 coming our way in September. And we should be covering the DC relaunch, don’ t get me wrong. But I am fearful that some great books coming out around the same time, say this one, for example, are going to get overlooked. Roger Langridge’s Snarked! should not be overlooked. This is the comic that non-comics reading parents are looking for when they wander into a store seeking something to give their kid. This is a fun comic. This is a funny comic. This is an intelligent comic. This is a comic with puzzles, mazes and word searches. This preview issue is only a $1. This is a project that I hope to see on many folks Best of 2011 lists (I know it will be on mine).
Langridge chatted with me briefly in this email interview, and Kaboom was kind enough to give us a preview of Snarked! (provided at the end of our discussion). While the preview is not on sale until August, of course it is in Previews this month, with orders due June 30 [Diamond Code: JUN110963]. I can count on one hand the number of active creators that write and draw as engagingly a story as Langridge. If that does not win you over, the book stars a talking walrus (Wilburforce J. Walrus, as noted by Kaboom: “that’s right, the same Walrus that inspired the Beatles song “I Am the Walrus” is now in Roger Langridge’s merry, mad hands”) for the love of God. Check it out, I think you’ll agree it should be on everyone’s must-read list, no matter your age. To paraphrase Langridge fromthis interview, I hope this project is something that people will want to re-read many times–and if that’s not the definition of a great comic, I don’t know what is.
Tim O’Shea: How long have you been a fan of the work of Lewis Carroll?
Roger Langridge: It’s tempting to say “since I could read”; I’m sure it can’t have been quite that long, but I know I was very, very young when I first read the Alice books. And I’ve gone back and re-read them every couple of years since then, pretty much. They’re that rare thing, books which hit you in one way when you’re a kid, and in a different (yet equally powerful) way when you’re an adult, when you appreciate some of the really black humor and the general pricking of pomposity. They reward repeated re-readings more than most.
- June 22, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Tim O'Shea
Check out My Deadbeat Dad… in Hell
Yokaiden creator Nina Matsumoto and veteran Simpsons comics writer Ian Boothby have a treat for us today: My Deadbeat Dad, a short story about a girl who pays weekend visits to her dad… in Hell. It’s amazingly economical; in just a handful of pages, Matsumoto and Boothby introduce the characters, establish a fairly complicated premise, and bring in a couple of twists; even small details turn out to be important.
Both creators are in their element here; Matsumoto won the 2009 Eisner award for best short story for one of her Treehouse of Horror tales, and she and Boothby previously teamed up to create the Simpsons Death Note parody in Treehouse of Horror #14. This short comic is labeled “dbdpitch,” so we can only hope that they have plans to develop this into a longer comic. With this team and this premise, it certainly has potential.
- June 22, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
First Second relaunches Derek Kirk Kim’s webcomic Tune
The webcomic Tune, by Derek Kirk Kim (The Eternal Smile, Same Difference and Other Stories), has been out there for a while, but now First Second is taking it under their wing and relaunching it with a new artist, Les McClaine, a new website, and new content. The comic tells the story of art school dropout Andy Go, who somehow ends up doomed to a life of incarceration in a parallel universe and has to figure a way out. It’s a classic sort of story but very nicely handled by Kim, who illustrated the first ten chapters. Although the comic is being relaunched this week, there are already quite a few chapters up from its earlier incarnation, so settle in for a good read. The comic will be updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and although the press release doesn’t say so, I’m guessing that if First Second is taking it over, they will eventually publish a print edition.
- June 22, 2011 @ 07:22 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | B&N has $74M loss; Lew Sayre Schwartz passes away
Barnes & Noble
Retailing | As the bankrupt Borders Group weighs competing bids, Barnes & Noble — the largest book chain in the United States — reports a loss of $74 million for the fiscal year, in part because of heavy investment in its digital initiatives. However, the company saw a 50-percent sales increase at BN.com, fueled by Nook devices and digital content sold through the Nook Bookstore. [Publishers Weekly]
Passings | Lew Sayre Schwartz, one of Bob Kane’s ghost artists on Batman and Detective Comics, passed away June 7 as the result of an injury suffered in a fall. He was 84. Schwartz drew as many as 120 Batman stories between 1948 and 1953, all signed “Bob Kane,” before leaving comics after a junket entertaining troops in Korea. Eddie Campbell quotes Schwartz as saying, “’When I got back, I couldn’t stand drawing another page’ of Batman.” He went on to work in television advertising, co-founding the commercial production company Ferro, Mogubgub and Schwartz. [Mark Evanier, ComicMix]
Conventions | Scott Lewis looks at the plan by Mayor Jerry Sanders to pay for the $500-million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center: the Convention Center Assessment District, an entity that will add an additional 3 percent tax on room bills for hotels downtown, 2 percent on those out to Mission Valley, and 1 percent on those farther away. [Voice of San Diego]
- June 22, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
Aspen teams with iVerse for digital distribution
Aspen Comics sent over a press release earlier today detailing their plans to offer their comics digitally through iVerse‘s Comics+ application. They also plan to participate in the Diamond Digital retailer initiative that iVerse and Diamond Comics Distributors are set to launch later this summer.
Titles now available on the Comics+ app for the various iOS devices include Fathom, Executive Assistant: Iris, Soulfire and Shrugged. comiXology announced last month that they would be carrying Aspen titles as well.
You can find the complete press release on the iVerse announcement after the jump.
Update: Aspen Comics are also available on Graphicly.
- June 21, 2011 @ 10:00 PM by JK Parkin
The Middle Ground #58 | Blow, big man, blow!
I’ve been thinking lately about the whole “The Big Guy versus The Little Guy” thing, when it comes to comic publishers. Specifically, when it comes to Marvel and other people’s comics, and the way that the former really doesn’t seem to be looking too good in that area recently.
- June 21, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Graeme McMillan
It’s tough to top a headline like ‘Fantagraphics’ Groth Discusses the State of Comics’
Gary Groth in action
…so I’m not even going to try. Instead I’m just going to link you to Alex Dueben’s thusly titled interview with Fantagraphics Co-Publisher and The Comics Journal Editor Gary Groth over on the CBR mothership, in which the trailblazing alternative-comics publisher and critic tackles a wide variety of the biz’s big topics. Here are a few choice nuggets:
On Fantagraphics shifting to digital:
To one degree or another, all of our books can be read on a screen.
We’re cognizant of that and we’re certainly moving in that direction. I think what the future is going to hold is that books are going to be on multiple platforms, in digital and in print. I don’t think one is going to necessarily overshadow the other. They can be available in various formats. We’ve been literally working on the digital formats for the last year, just working out all the bugs and talking to the various platforms. I’m sure by this time next year, a lot of our books, if not the majority of them, are going to be available digitally.
- June 21, 2011 @ 02:02 PM by Sean T. Collins
Help me put together my San Diego Comic-Con wish list
Comic-Con International kicks off in exactly one month in San Diego — unless you count preview night, of course. In any event, it’s coming up sooner rather than later.
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 at jkparkin@yahoo.com 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, and we’ll start posting them. Thanks in advance!
- June 21, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Ultimate Spider-Man #160
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop 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, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Graeme McMillan
I’ll be honest: The first thing I’d do with my $15 this week would be to buy Ultimate Spider-Man #160 (Marvel, $3.99), just to finally see Peter Parker die. This storyline has seemed so drawn out and by the numbers that it’s pretty much killed my interest in the series, and I’m hoping that the final issue either has a last-minute turnaround that makes everything worthwhile, or else provides some weird karmic payback by finally living up to its title. Much less bloodthirstily, I’d also grab the first issue of David Hahn’s All Nighter (Image, $2.99), which rescues what was, I believe, a one-time Minx book and looks like an awesome mash-up of Stuart Immonen, Jaime Hernandez and, unexpectedly, Steve Rolston. In other words, pretty damn great. Finally, I’d pick up Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search For Swamp Thing #1 (DC, $2.99), for curiosity value if nothing else. I mean, John Constantine in a DCU book? How odd can that actually get?
- June 21, 2011 @ 12:03 PM by JK Parkin