2011 July
Talking Comics with Tim | Jason Latour
Loose Ends
One of the perks of working with Robot 6 is often getting to see a glimpse at a new project before it is available for purchase. This past week (thanks to the project’s colorist, Rico Renzi) I was able to read the first issue of Loose Ends, a four-issue southern crime romance miniseries by writer Jason Latour and artist Chris Brunner, which goes on sale this Wednesday, July 13. As a native of the South, it is not often I get to read comics set there–so the comics caught my attention purely on that level at first. But then, when I started reading the issue, I realized it reminded me on some level of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal. That’s not to say Latour and company have done a wannabe story, far from it, as the creators have their own distinctive voices/styles, that mesh quite well. If the remaining three issues are as strong as this first one, I expect it will land on a few best of 2011 lists (at least mine, for sure). Latour and I discuss the first issue and other aspects of the series in this email interview. If you want a preview of the miniseries, be sure to enjoy the one CBR posted a couple of months back.
Tim O’Shea: The opening page of the first issue is all art, no narrative boxes or dialogue. Was the script always that way, or was that a creative choice you made after seeing Chris Brunner’s art for that page?
Jason Latour: Well as an artist myself I’ve worked on a few stories where I was dying to stretch a moment or let something play out visually and it just wasn’t possible. So from the start there was always an allowance for some organic growth in this script. The simplest reason for that is because I trust Chris. We’re collaborating. His point of view is equally important as mine is. If I’m doing my job then I’m inspiring him, not fencing him in. The medium itself, the page limit already does that. I tried to give him a script that communicated the tone, the pace and specific details needed to tell the story within that space. From there it’s on us as a team to communicate. If he has an idea, I listen. If he nails a scene and I’m in the way… I try to move. If he needs me to pick him up, hopefully I’m ready and able.
- July 11, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Gallery of Game of Thrones: awesome A Song of Ice and Fire fan art from around the web
The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword by Brad VandenBerg
Tomorrow, the Game of Thrones is afoot once more. After six long years of waiting (longer, in the case of some characters), A Dance with Dragons — the fifth volume in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire, the first volume of which, A Game of Thrones, being the inspiration for the hit HBO series — will finally be released. Personally, I’ll be so cut off from the Internet in order to read the thing that you’ll have to reach me by raven. But until then, let’s celebrate the publication of this long-anticipated hope-it’s-a-masterpiece with a gallery of the best Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire art the Internet has to offer. Please note: If all you’ve seen is the TV show, there are some mild SPOILERS ahead in the form of characters you haven’t met and, in a couple of cases (though nothing major, so don’t panic) events you haven’t seen. Just avoid that map at the bottom and you’re all set.
Many thanks to Zack Soto’s The Wall Defends Itself tumblr, Kris Mukai & Maritsa Patrinos’s Game of Thrones minizine, the #Winterfell deviantART community, and Elio & Linda of Westeros.org for helping me discover many of these treasures.
Check out the whole gallery after the jump — click on any image to go to its original source, or as close to it as I could get! And please, NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS, for any book in the series. I will be very strict about this. Longsword-swinging strict.
- July 11, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Rucka, Burchett launch Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether
Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether
Writer Greg Rucka and artist Rick Burchett launched their swashbuckling steampunk webcomic today, Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether. As announced back in April, Rucka said the comic is “steampunk, pirates, western thing,” noting it would feature airships, floating islands, gunslingers and sword fights.
“Swords are cool. People fighting with swords are cool. Airships are cool. Cowboys are cool. Pirates are cool. Clockwork men are cool. Smart, savvy, witty women are very cool. Laconic gunslingers? Totally cool. Steampunk? Frosty,” the strip’s “About” page reads. “That’s what Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether is, that’s what it’s about. The adventures of the Lady Seneca Sabre and those she meets along the way as she travels the Sphere. Who she fights, who she foils, who she befriends. It’s about adventure and romance and excitement and, to paraphrase the great Zaphod Beeblebrox, ‘really wild things.’”
They plan to update the comic every Monday and Thursday, and they’re also selling a limited edition print (above) featuring the title character. Go check it out, or at least add it to your RSS feed for updates.
- July 11, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Womanthology reaches funding goal in less than 19 hours
Womanthology, the charity anthology of comics by female creators that’s using Kickstarter to raise money for publishing expenses, crossed the finish line just 18-and-a-half hours into their fundraising efforts. The crew behind the anthology raised $25,000 in less than a day, and as of this morning they’re raised more than double that — currently their total is at $51,844, but I’m sure it’ll go up even more before I post this.
“WOW! I am amazed, grateful, shocked, awed, astounded, baffled, flabbergasted and a whole fistful of other emotions!” wrote Renae De Liz, who organized the project, in an update on Kickstarter. “I mean, I had high hopes that we would make our goal, I had confidence in our book & all of our contributors and their abilities to help make this happen, but this completely blew me away at how it seemed the whole world came together to help! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!”
De Liz says she will use the extra money to fund a larger print run for the current book and fund a second book that “that will include both men and women, and promote more opportunities for people to be published and work with their favorite creators.”
You can still donate to the project and qualify for some of the rewards; head over to Kickstarter to check it out.
- July 11, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Riddler trailer premieres for Batman: Arkham City
"Batman: Arkham City" Riddler trailer
MSN has debuted a new trailer for Batman: Arkham City that spotlights the Riddler and his role in the hotly anticipated sequel to the bestselling 2009 video game Arkham Asylum. Developer Rocksteady Studios is inviting fans to comb the video for riddles and post them on the game’s official message board by Thursday.
Produced by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment, Arkham City is set inside the newly constructed fortified walls that have transformed part of Gotham’s slums into a sprawling maximum-security prison for the city’s gangsters, thugs and criminally insane.
Check out the trailer after the break. Arkham City will be released Oct. 18 in North America and Oct. 21 in Europe.
- July 11, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC Wishlist | Skullkickers, panties and more
Skullkickers
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, anything! — 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.
This time around we have panties from Pantheon (seriously), more Mimoco, word of an announcement by Dark Horse, plans for Viz and Arcana, several Hasbro exclusives and more. So let’s get to it …
Skullkickers creators Jim Zubkavich and Edwin Huang will be at the Image Comics booth #2729, selling hardcovers of the first volume of Skullkickers with an SDCC-exclusive cover. You can find more details here.
- July 11, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Tell DC to send Supergirl to high school
Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade, by Landry Walker and Eric Jones, was a six-issue limited series (later collected into a single volume) that got a lot of love from critics but, for whatever reason, wasn’t continued beyond its original run. Now there’s a Facebook group called “Get ‘Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Ninth Grade’ Published” that is out to change that. (It’s an open group, so anyone can go check it out.) Jude DeLuca started the group and has been energetically adding members. The explanation: Walker and Jones pitched the sequel to DC, and DC hasn’t given a firm answer, so they are asking fans to write to DC and ask for it by name.
To help close the deal, Walker has posted some fresh Supergirl concept art on his website, as well as an explanation of his and Jones’s vision of the series:
Eric could have drawn Supergirl as the epitome of style and grace. But that wouldn’t have been our Supergirl. Our Supergirl was a character who needed to grow. She was overly self-aware, insecure and gangly, that’s part of being a young teenager (particularly as younger teens see themselves from within) and therefore an important part of the storytelling.
I think with the slight changes to the artwork here we really begin to see Kara’s self confidence manifest physically. This would have continued on a curve, all through 12th Grade. By the end (and there was a definitive end planned) 18 year old Kara would have looked like an adult – particularly because you watched her grow up.
Sounds tempting. Walker and Jones are working on something else as well (to be announced at Comic-Con), but it would be nice to see this series continue. If you agree, go to the DC Letters Page and let them know what you think.
- July 11, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Win cool prizes for redesigning Spider-Man
Project: Rooftop, the costume redesign site run by our own Chris Arrant, and comics retailer Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics have teamed up for a contest that asks artists get “to spin a new web” for Marvel’s Spider-Man.
In “Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0.,” artists can redesign Spider-Man for a chance to win one of several prizes:
- First Prize: The Spider-Man Diamond Select Maquette (retail value of $85) and a bagged copy of Ultimate Spider-Man #160.
- Second Prize: Spider-Man Masterworks Vol. 5 Softcover (retail value of $25) and a bagged copy of Ultimate Spider-Man #160.
- Third Prize: Spider-Man: Peter Parker Essential Vol. 3 (retail value of $18) and a bagged copy of Ultimate Spider-Man #160.
“Encouraging artists is something I’ve always enjoyed doing,” said Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors Comics in Concord CA, president of ComicsPRO and founder of Free Comic Book Day. “I came up with some cool Spidey-related prizes and look forward to seeing all the Project: Rooftop entries!”
The deadline for entries of Aug. 8. You can find all the details over on the Project: Rooftop site.
- July 11, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
ComiXology offers digital Planetary omnibus
The standard format for digital comics is single issues, which can be an expensive way to read an entire story. Fortunately, more and more publishers are experimenting with digital bundles and graphic novels, and here’s the biggest one of them all: ComiXology is offering Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s Planetary, all 633 pages/27 issues of it, for $24.99. (Unless I’m missing something, this is only available on comiXology’s Comics app, not on the DC app.) That’s quite a bargain compared to buying it one issue at a time, which would set you back almost $52 (the first issue is free), and it includes an eight-page introductory story as well.
This is where the rubber meets the road for potential digital customers. On the one hand, $24.99 is a lot of money for something that is “only” pixels on a screen; on the other hand, it’s cheaper than the print edition—even secondhand, if Amazon is any guide. This looks like it may be a trial balloon of sorts, as it is only available until July 16. One has to wonder why—hopefully DC isn’t going in for that “digital vault” stupidity. Once you put the package together, it should stay on the digital shelf forever—it’s not like you’re going to run out of books. On the other hand, having the deal end just before Comic-Con may be significant; maybe there’s something more on the way.
(via Blog@Newsarama)
- July 11, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Comics A.M. | The Walking Dead bookstore streak; Parker delay
The Walking Dead, Vol. 14
Retailing | Although the 14th volume of The Walking Dead wasn’t released until June 21, it still managed to secure the No. 2 spot on BookScan’s list of graphic novels sold in bookstores that month, behind the 51st volume of Naruto. It’s the ninth consecutive month that at least one volume of the horror series has appeared in the BookScan Top 20, a run that began as marketing geared up for the AMC television adaptation. [ICv2.com]
Publishing | Darwyn Cooke has announced that the release of Parker: The Martini Edition will be postponed for a few months, and takes full responsibility for the delay. The book is now scheduled to debut at the Long Beach Comic Con in October [Almost Darwyn Cooke's Blog]
Publishing | John Jackson Miller looks at the history of comics numbering, which he traces back to dime novels of the 19th and early 20th centuries: “Comics are anomalous in American magazine publishing because most comics don’t use volume numbers and issue numbers that roll over ever year; rather, the numbers keep on going. In that, our numbering is much like that used for the cheap, disposable fiction of the earlier days.” [The Comichron]
- July 11, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Bone 20th anniversary world tour details
Bone creator Jeff Smith’s busy travel schedule only begins at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. The creator will also hit Baltimore, Toronto, New York, Ohio and Italy this year in support of the 20th anniversary of Bone and the release of the Bone: 20th Anniversary Full Color One Volume.
In addition, he shares that the Bone One Volume Slipcase Edition, which is the same book that’s included with the $350 box set without the extra bells and whistles, will debut at the Mid-Ohio Con in October. Check out a picture of it after the jump.
- July 11, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
Milk and Cheese deluxe hardcover loaded with extras
Milk and Cheese
The release of Dark Horse’s latest round of solicitations last week revealed that Evan Dorkin’s humor comic Milk and Cheese will get the deluxe hardcover treatment, collecting “every single stupid Milk and Cheese comic ever made from 1989 to 2010, along with a sh*t-ton of supplemental awesomeness.”
On his LiveJournal, Dorkin revealed details on what the “supplemental awesomeness” will entail:
- The book will feature over 80 pages of comics that have not been collected before.
- There will be a 24-pg color section featuring all the color M&C strips, a cover gallery, pin-ups, merchandise art, trading cards, etc.
- There will also be a 24-pg B&W supplemental section featuring pin-ups, t-shirt designs, and other art, etc.
- The book will include the rare 1997 M&C Special Edition 16-pg mini-comic featuring the expanded “Darth Vader Overdrive” strip and extras.
- The only M&C-related comic that will not be in the collection is the M&C/Pirate Corp$! strip from Munden’s Bar Annual #2.
- Some very swell folks gave us some very nice back cover quotes.
- The book should be hefty enough to hurt anyone hit over the head with it.
- The book should be pretty freaking awesome.
The hardcover is due Dec. 21, just in time for Christmas.
- July 11, 2011 @ 05:00 AM by JK Parkin
What Are You Reading? with Kelson Vibber
Elric: The Balance Lost
Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today our special guest is Kelson Vibber, Flash fan and proprietor of the Speed Force blog. To see what Kelson and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.
- July 10, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Comic-Con International rolls out Sunday programming
Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International has unveiled the programming schedule for Sunday, July 24 — the final day of the convention — that’s heavy on presentations and workshops for kids and teens, with plenty still for older attendees.
There are spotlights on Jordi Bernet, Ashley Wood, Mark Tatulli and Joelle Jones, the annual tribute to Jack Kirby, a look back at 25 years of Watchmen, and a breakdown of what it takes to create a great cover. Want more? There’s a Q&A with Axe Cop creators Ethan and Malachai Nicholle, a showcase for the women of Marvel, a collaboration how-to, and the last of the panels devoted to DC’s September relaunch.
To help you with your Comic-Con planning, we’ve highlighted the comics-specific programming below. To see the full Friday schedule, complete with television, film and video game content, visit the convention website.
- July 10, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comic-Con International announces Saturday programming
Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International continues to roll out their programming schedule, as Saturday’s schedule of activities went live earlier today — a day that starts off with a philosophical discussion between Deepak Chopra and Grant Morrison, and ends with the annual masquerade.
In between you’ll find a tribute to Harvey Pekar, as well as spotlight panels on Jerry Robinson, Ernie Chan, Jim Steranko, Terry Moore, Anders Nilsen, Robert Kirkman, Peter Kuper, Jamal Igle, Garth Ennis, J. Michael Straczynski, Mell Lazarus, Peter Tomasi, Walter and Louise Simonson, Jim Lee and Jonathan Hickman. Companies like Archie, Top Cow, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, Legendary, BOOM! and Archaia will share their publishing plans, while Dark Horse will focus on their Joss Whedon books, DC highlights their Green Lantern, “Dark” and “Edge” titles, and of course, Marvel brings you the annual Cup O’ Joe panel with Joe Quesada.
To help you with your Comic-Con planning, we’ve highlighted the comics-specific programming below. To see the full Saturday schedule, complete with television, film and video game content, visit the convention website.
- July 9, 2011 @ 03:15 PM by JK Parkin