2011 July
SDCC ’11 | Because every hero (and villain) needs to eat
While riding the bus back to my hotel yesterday, we passed the world famous Kansas City Barbeque, where several heroes and one villain had just finished dining.
Kansas City Barbeque is well known as the setting for the famous bar scene in the 1980s Tom Cruise movie Top Gun, but as you’ll see in the image below, it’s also the favorite BBQ joint of super heroes from every publisher — including Crusader and Darkblade from Love and Capes, who are on the poster behind Cap:
- July 23, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’11 | A roundup of Friday’s announcements
The Massive
Friday was a busy day in San Diego, with a full slate of announcements capped by the Eisner Awards in the evening.
• Image Comics will resurrect the classic television show MacGyver as a five-issue miniseries written by MacGyver creator Lee David Zlotoff and Doctor Who writer Tony Lee, and illustrated by Becky Cloonan.
• Brian Wood’s newest project was announced — The Massive, about environmentalists who survive the last environmental collapse. The comic will start its run in Dark Horse Presents #8 in January.
• Vertigo Executive Editor Karen Berger confirmed that Scalped will end with issue #60.
• Marvel teased the return of the Scarlet Spider.
• DC Comics released more interior art for several of their “New 52″ titles, including Aquaman, Mister Terrific and more.
- July 23, 2011 @ 07:57 AM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’11 | Winners announced for 2011 Eisner Awards
Eisner Awards
IDW Publishing led the 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards with five wins, including Joe Hill for best writer for Locke & Key and Darwyn Cooke for best writer/artist for Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit. The awards were announced last night during a ceremony at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Other winners included Vertigo’s American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquerque, for best new series, Image’s Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory, for best continuing series, and Skottie Young for best penciler/inker for Marvel’s The Marvelous Land of Oz. Comic Book Resources earned its second Eisner for best comics-related periodical/journalism.
The complete list of winners can be found below:
- July 23, 2011 @ 05:35 AM by Kevin Melrose
The Fifth Color | Captain America lives the Dream
It's a lot like this. Art by Kevin Maguire
I thought about this a lot, but I don’t think you can talk about Captain America without talking about… well, America. It’s in his name, he is a symbol of our country and in the best of times is taken as such through exceptional storytelling and dynamic iconography. I’m going to get out my scholarly hat and mention a couple things that won’t have much to do with comics, but hopefully will put how awesome the new Captain America movie is in some context to simmer lightly with white wine and fava beans while I go on about explosions and punching later.
But first: smart stuff! Alexis de Tocqueville was a French historian and thinker of great thoughts back in the 1800s. In his book, Democracy in America, he spoke of this country and democracy itself having a “love of physical gratification, the notion of bettering one’s condition, the excitement of competition”, and the darling soundbite of the hour, “the charm of anticipated success.” By this last phrase, we see a condition unique to the USA considering that it was uniquely founded with the notion that “everything will be better once we’re over here.” The first settlers had to get on boats and believe that when they set down in empty, foreign and cruel new lands, they were going to be as successful and as exemplary as a early Puritan settler John Winthrop put it in 1830, “city upon a hill”, watched by the world”.
A little arrogant? Yes, but comic books by their very nature speak to that charm of anticipated success that makes us U.S.A. When know Spider-Man will win the day, but how? And to what lengths will he achieve that success? Who would win in a fight, Thor or the Hulk? The excitement of competition fuels message boards to this take on these ideas. Tony Stark was able to build his suit in a cave with a box of scraps, bettering not only his own condition, but the country and the world by taking his bettered self into fighting crime for the common good.
Best of all, Steve Rogers takes Alexis de Tocqueville’s words to heart and manages to make a action film out of them, one that speaks less to what America is, but what ideals are that simply cannot be argued against.
WARNING: I don’t think I give much away as far as specific plot details but we are gonna talk some Captain America: the First Avenger up in here. There’s one reference to something said in the trailers, a brief visual from the end of the film but the anticipation of WHO WILL WIN between Captain America and the Red Skull will charm the pants off of you. Go see the movie, have a good time!
- July 22, 2011 @ 06:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
SDCC ’11 | Japanese publishers unveil JManga web portal
A panel of Japanese manga editors revealed the first details about the JManga website in Friday’s JManga panel at Comic-Con. The JManga site, which was created by a group of 39 Japanese publishers to serve as a manga portal, will launch for U.S. users on August 17 and will be rolled out for other countries after that. While the panel doesn’t seem to have spelled out the exact titles that will be carried on the site, Deb Aoki Tweeted that the images on the screen behind them (apparently the same as the image above, which was taken from Crunchyroll) included Dragon Girl, One Piece, Crayon Shin-Chan, Cigarette Kisses, and Larceny Log of Zampei the Cloud Snatcher In addition to manga, the site will include original content, social networking features, wallpapers, author interviews, and even a way for readers to text questions to the manga creators. In some cases, the reader will be able to toggle between Japanese and English text.
The idea behind the site is to increase the number of releases to foreign readers and speed them up. Manga fandom is up, moderator Saki Miyata said, as measured by attendance at cons such as Anime Expo, but sales are down. While piracy was cited as one reason, panelists also noted the lack of licensees and the loss of the Borders bookstore chain, which was known for carrying a wide range of manga. The site will include some series that were licensed for the U.S. and then dropped, the panelists said, and it will include a mix of well-known and lesser-known titles, in order to bring the latter to a wider audience. Prices have not been determined yet, but the panelists said that the site will include a lot of free content.
- July 22, 2011 @ 05:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’11 | Oni announces Rascal Raccoon’s Raging Revenge
Brendan Hay of Robot Chicken fame is teaming up with artist Justin Wagner for a new series from Oni Press called Rascal Raccoon’s Raging Revenge. Announced at the Oni Press panel at the San Diego Comic-Con today, the book asks the question, “What if the coyote ever killed the Road Runner?”
The story stars Rascal Raccoon, a “meanie” in the cartoon world, who takes credit for the accidental death of his nemesis, Jumping Jackalope. Rascal goes through an existential crisis as a result of killing his arch-enemy and goes looking for new targets for his rage. The book comes out in December, and you can check out preview pages that were revealed at the panel after the jump.
- July 22, 2011 @ 03:55 PM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’11 | Dark Horse’s Star Wars comics go digital
Dark Horse announced at the Dark Horse/Star Wars panel today that it is adding Star Wars comics to its the Dark Horse digital store. Over 50 titles are available right now, including Star Wars: Crimson Empire, Marvel’s adaptation of Episode IV: A New Hope, The Clone Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, Legacy: War, Knight Errant, The Old Republic, Jedi: The Dark Side, and Darth Vader and the Lost Command. Dark Horse will continue to add both new and backlist Star Wars titles to their digital store weekly. The price point for single-issue comics is $1.99, but there are some bargains: KOTOR #1 and Clone Wars #1 are free, and Crimson Empire #1, Knight Errant #1, and The Old Republic #1 are priced at 99 cents. And it looks like the store is offering a discount on bundles of these comics, as it does with others, with a six-issue arc of Star Wars: Legacy, for example, priced at $8.99 instead of $11.99.
- July 22, 2011 @ 02:47 PM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’11 | IDW to publish Artist’s Edition of Eisner’s The Spirit
IDW Publishing announced yet another Artist’s Edition today at Comic-Con International in San Diego: A collection of Will Eisner’s The Spirit, to be released in 2012. The 144-page book will be shot from the original art, and the black-and-white strips will be photographed and reproduced in color in order to catch every nuance and correction — as you can see from the cover image. The book will also be in the large “Golden Age” format, which is bigger than the other Artist’s Editions.
Editor Scott Dunbier says this edition will focus on Eisner’s work from just after his return from World War II, because his work showed a new maturity in that period. “When he came back to the strip in 1946, he became, I think, one of the foremost comic artists ever,” Dunbier told CBR. “His storytelling reached such heights, he really produced a nearly unparalleled body of work during this period.” Dunbier and Dennis Kitchen, who is the agent for Eisner’s estate, are in the process of selecting the stories for the book.
- July 22, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’11 | Scalped confirmed to end with Issue 60
Scalped, Vol. 1
Scalped, the Eisner Award-nominated crime series by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra, will end in April with Issue 60.
While Aaron had repeatedly suggested the Vertigo comic was nearing its conclusion, he resisted naming a final issue, writing just three months ago that, “It’s never been a secret that Scalped had a definite ending point. I still haven’t put a specific issue number on it, but we’re certainly getting closer.”
However, during Thursday’s Vertigo panel at Comic-Con International, Executive Editor Karen Berger got specific, confirming that Aaron and Guéra will bring the story to a close with the 60th issue.
Debuting in January 2007, Scalped is a gritty crime Western that’s been described as “The Sopranos on an Indian reservation.” It follows Dashiell Bad Horse, an angry undercover FBI agent who’s to return to the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation after a 15-year absence to infiltrate the criminal organization headed by Chief Lincoln Red Crow and bring him to just for the murder of two agents 30 years earlier.
The end of Scalped will follow the conclusion of DMZ in December and the cancellation of Northlanders in March.
- July 22, 2011 @ 12:05 PM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’11 | Viz Media announces online manga site
Viz Media announced the launch of their online manga site, VIZManga.com, at their 25th anniversary party in San Diego last night. The site syncs with their iPad and iPhone apps, so users can buy the manga on one platform and read it on all three, and it is also compatible with Android devices. As with the iOS apps, the manga is priced at $4.99 per volume, but Viz is offering 40% off all volume 1′s through July 31 to get people started. In addition, the first chapter of every manga is available as a free preview. Viz has been aggressive with their digital strategy, so the new site launches with over 300 volumes comprising more than 40 series, and some, such as Bakuman, are up to date with the print releases.
- July 22, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’11 | Nate Powell explores Any Empire
Any Empire
Nate Powell wowed indie readers back in 2009 with the release of Swallow Me Whole, a haunting graphic novel about a teen-age brother and sister suffering from mental illness and attempting to hold themselves and their family together.
Now Powell has released his follow-up to Swallow, Any Empire. The book, available through Top Shelf, examines the way children are taught about war and violence and how even “acceptable” military violence can end up appearing on our city and town streets.
The book debuts in San Diego this week, and should be in stores next month. We talked to Powell about the book and its underlying themes, both political and social.
Let’s start by talking about the book’s origins. How did Any Empire first take shape?
Well, the book emerged as I was finishing up Swallow Me Whole, and I’d been pretty impacted by the books Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker, On Killing by Dave Grossman, the movie Children of Men, and also a zine supplement in an LP by some friends Please Inform The Captain This Is A Hijack. I’d been very focused on the long history of the state’s prime directive of ensuring its own existence, even if that meant killing or imprisoning its own citizens, or provoking air raids to flatten its own cities for a “proper” moral justification for war (as was one of Churchill’s many shadier moments leading into WWII). We’ve all grown up accustomed to seeing smoldering wastelands on CNN, but I began imagining the rubble as buildings, transplanting foliage back onto the blight, and couldn’t stop imagining my own neighborhood as a wasteland indistinguishable from the ones I’m so used to seeing on the news.
- July 22, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
SDCC ’11 | Second ‘Comics-On Tees’ features Azzarello, Risso, Bermejo, more
T-shirt website Threadless has released another round of “Comics-On Tees,” this time featuring the artwork of Eduardo Risso, Lee Bermejo, Matheus Lopes and Dave Johnson. The four shirts tell a story that was written by Brian Azzarello, called “Sorry Babe…”
You can find all four shirts on the Threadless site.
- July 22, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’11 | The Crow returns at IDW
IDW Publishing announced yesterday at the San Diego Comic-Con plans to bring James O’Barr’s The Crow back into print, both in new comics and in collector’s editions of the older material.
According to the press release, IDW will produce several comics series in the universe of The Crow comics and based on the upcoming feature film. “I’m glad to see The Crow land at IDW,” said Ted Adams, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “I edited the last Crow series when I ran Todd McFarlane’s comics in the late ‘90’s, and we’re looking forward to bringing this classic character back to the medium in 2012 at IDW.”
Published by Caliber Press in the late 1980s, the comic has appeared from many different publishers over the years, including Kitchen Sink Press, London Night Studios, Random House and Image Comics. It was adapted into film in 1994, spawning three sequels and a television series. The story revolves around Eric Draven and his girlfriend, who are attacked by a group of thugs when their car breaks down. After both are beaten and killed, Draven is resurrected and seeks revenge.
- July 22, 2011 @ 08:30 AM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’11 | First Comics taking submissions
First Comics
As we learned earlier this month, First Comics is back in action, and they held a panel Thursday in San Diego to discuss several of their new projects, which include new material and reprints of older material (like some of Bill Willingham’s early work from Warp).
After the panel, Larry Young, their new director of production, shared one tidbit with me — Susannah Carson, First’s young adult editor, is also the submissions editor for the company. To submit material, creators can email her at submissions.firstcomics@gmail.com.
Watch for more information from the panel soon.
- July 22, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
SDCC ’11 | A roundup of Thursday’s news
The serious business of Comic-Con got underway Thursday in San Diego with a wave of panels and announcements. Here are the highlights:
• Announcements at the Marvel panel included Jeff Parker and Patrick Zircher’s Hulk of Arabia arc, a new Deadpool arc, an Avengers Academy recruitment drive and Villains for Hire, a new spin on the Heroes for Hire concept. Also in the works: A series of Avengers Origins one-shots.
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is coming back in November; the new comics will be written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Wes Craig.
• At the Marvel Digital panel, Marvel senior vice president of publishing David Gabriel announced that Marvel will begin simultaneous print and digital release of its Spider-Man and X-Men comics, starting next week with Amazing Spider-Man #666 and Spider Island line.
• DC released art for several of their New 52 comics. They also revealed Lois Lane’s new boyfriend.
• At the Vertigo panel, Executive Editor Karen Berger announced a new graphic novel called Marzi that would ba marketed to both young and old readers. She also said that Vertigo will launch a new Halloween anthology in October and a totally new series later this year.
- July 22, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Brigid Alverson