2011 August
Marko Djurdjevic ends Marvel deal, blasts editors [Updated]
FF #1, Marko Djurdjevic
If you’re breathlessly awaiting for more Marvel work from Marko Djurdjevic, you may be disappointed. The acclaimed artist, known for his character designs and for his covers for FF, Daredevil and Thor, revealed last night at FanExpo Canada that he’s ended his exclusive contract with the publisher — a split that apparently couldn’t come soon enough for Djurdjevic.
“When I get hired for movie work or video game work, I get hired for my creativity,” Djurdjevic said in the ironically named “Team Spirit” panel. “At Marvel, I get hired for what they know sells. It’s really just a pigeon hole for an artist.”
According to the Comic Book Resources report, softspoken FF artist Steve Epting stood in stark contrast to a joking yet visibly frustrated Djurdjevic, who complained about interference from Marvel editors and repeated requests for revisions without additional pay. “I was fighting with the guys at Marvel about this,” he said. “You can’t make people re-work your shit because you can’t decide what you want. Either pay or leave.” After showing the audience numerous mock-ups for his redesign of Lady Bullseye — mocking editors’ comments in high-pitched tones — Djurdjevic added, “When they would not interfere with my direction, they would get results that would amaze even me.”
He didn’t restrict his criticism to the editors, however. Asked by Epting whether he wished he’d done more interior work at Marvel, Djurdjevic replied, “They never put me with any writers that I liked.” From there, CBR reports, he launched into a tirade about the company and fired a few shots at former Thor writer J. Michael Straczynski, who he said writes “like toilet paper.”
Read full coverage of the “Team Spirit” panel at Comic Book Resources. FanExpo Canada continues in Toronto through Sunday.
Note: The post has been edited to reflect that Djurdjevic was actually criticizing J. Michael Straczynski, not Duane Swierczynski.
- August 26, 2011 @ 10:45 AM by Kevin Melrose
Looking back at Top Cow’s previous Pilot Season contenders
One of the most innovative concepts coming out of American comic companies in recent memory has been Top Cow’s Pilot Season. Every year for five years, Top Cow has released a slate of one-shots that are voted on by fans for the possibility of getting a longer limited series down the road. Originally centered around company-owned concepts, after the first year the company expanded to include creator-owned concepts from names like Robert Kirkman, Marc Silvestri, Jonathan Hickman, Joshua Hale Fialkov and others. And with the full announcement of 2011′s titles, I thought we should look back on the previous herds of titles and where they’re at today.
- August 26, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Arrant
We3 hardcover sneaks in new pages by Morrison and Quitely
Last week’s release of a hardcover edition of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s We3 miniseries was something to behold, and not just for the new packaging. In addition to the extensive sketchbook section of the 144-page book, 10 new pages of story were added in what was the first issue of the Vertigo series.
This isn’t the first time DC has elaborated on comic series when they’ve gone to collected format; new pages were added to the collected edition of Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse’s Ocean series, clarifying an element glossed over in the original series. Neither the creators nor the publisher have stated the exact reason the creators went back to the drawing board (literally) for this collection and not the previous softcover, but it gives fans one more reason to buy the book despite having already purchased previous versions.
After receiving early attention from Hollywood just months after its original debut, We3‘s feature film prospects have dimmed in recent years. But regardless, the We3 series remains an evocative work worth having, especially with the hardcover costing less than $25.
- August 26, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Enter the Sindiecate
If there’s anything that comic readers know, it’s that there’s nothing better than a good team-up. And now five artists — Mike Choi, David LaFuente, Ryan Ottley, Jorge F. Munoz and James Harren — combine their forces like some sort of drawing version of Captain Planet to form the web collective known as the Sindiecate.
Carrying on in the tradition of other group sketchblogs like Comic Twart and SkottieScott, this quintet of artists are banding together to tackle a different topic each week. For this fivesome, they’re focusing on independent comic books and authors with their inaugural week to cover Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo’s Tellos.
Seeing the art already on display, it’s creating fond memories for Tellos and Wieringo, and dreaming up what these five guys could cover next. Might I suggest Xenozoic Tales?
- August 26, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Is Flashpoint DC’s deadliest (and bloodiest) event yet?
Congorilla meets his end in Flashpoint: Grodd of War #1
DC Comics has been criticized for the sheer brutality and wholesale slaughter depicted in its blockbuster crossovers and events, where characters are decapitated, disemboweled and devoured with a frequency that approaches parody. But is it possible that Flashpoint, that concludes next week just as “The New 52″ debuts, has a butcher’s bill that makes the body count of Final Crisis seem like, well, kid’s stuff?
Like a U.N. observer, Funnybook Babylon’s Chris Eckert surveyed the sprawling battlefield — no easy task, considering there’s the core title, 16 miniseries and a handful of one-shots — and emerged with a death tally that’s staggering, as entire nations fell in alternate-timeline global wars involving Aquaman’s Atlanteans, Wonder Woman’s Amazons, Gorilla Grodd’s armies, and other factions.
“Given that everything is going to be returned to The New Normal at the end of it, DC has gone hog wild with killing people off in Flashpoint,” Eckert wrote. “It’s not just ‘shocking’ death scenes for beloved intellectual property: the Flashpoint Earth got seriously depopulated.”
- August 26, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Marvel offers free ad for retailers who order 5,000 copies of Ultimate Comics Fallout #4
Ultimate Fallout #4
Marvel is offering a special deal for retailers on Ultimate Fallout #4, which is the first appearance of the new Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales — order 5,000 copies, receive a full page ad for their store in “upcoming Marvel comic books.”
The notice is posted on Diamond’s retailer website and says that the deal can apply to orders for both the first or second printing of the comic, “or any combination of the two.” And orders must be placed between Aug. 25 and Aug. 29. Retailers who qualify will also receive one Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 Pichelli Sketch Variant, which is limited to just 20 copies total.
Here’s the text, which doesn’t offer many details on where exactly the ad will appear:
Order 5,000 copies of Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 (JUN110611D) or Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 Second Printing Bagley Variant (JUN118244D) — or any combination of the two — from August 25 through August 29, and you will receive a free full page ad for your store in upcoming Marvel comic books, either of your design or designed along with Marvel. Qualifying retailers will be contacted by Marvel to coordinate design of the ad.
Plus, you will get a free, extremely rare Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 Pichelli Sketch Variant, limited to a print run of 20 total copies. This offer is on a first-come, first-served basis as supplies are limited.
But wait! There’s more. According to the notice, “One good variant deserves another, especially when it comes to the much-discussed, high profile comic that is Ultimate Comics Fallout #4.” So Marvel is also offering retailers one free copy of the Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 Second Printing Sara Pichelli Variant for every copy of Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 Second Printing Mark Bagley Variant they ordered. That’s two second printings for the price of one.
You have to wonder what drove this special deal — did they overprint and are now trying to move copies with the reward? Or is this the first salvo in the upcoming fall chart wars that DC’s 52 new issues will likely ignite? As noted earlier this week, the first issue of DC’s relaunched Justice League has garnered initial orders of more than 200,000. The figure will make Justice League #1 the bestselling direct market comic of the year, knocking Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 and its 168,000 copies out of the top spot. Could this help push Ultimate Fallout #4 up to those numbers? And it’s only August — the real action should begin in September, which not only brings 51 more first issues from DC, but also Ultimate Spider-Man #1. It should be an interesting fall for chart watchers.
Ultimate Fallout #4 came out Aug. 3. A second printing is due Aug. 31. You can find a screenshot of Diamond’s site after the jump.
- August 25, 2011 @ 08:05 PM by JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | Remembering the anticipatory Summer of ’86
Superman vol. 2 #1
… And here we are, the day after DC’s ongoing superhero line put a period on an era. Next week brings just two titles, Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1, one sending off the old order and the other ushering in the new. Maybe you’re waiting for next week before starting (or coming back to) explore the superhero books. Maybe you’ve been reading since the start of Blackest Night or Infinite Crisis or even Identity Crisis. Goodness knows DC has tried hard for several years to increase its audience.
For me, though, this week closes the book (make the metaphors stop!) on some twenty-five years of Post-Crisis storytelling. Although there have been a number of reboots and relaunches during this period, it all goes back to the changes which started in earnest in the summer of 1986. I remember that summer well, both in terms of comics milestones and personal memories, because each was bound up with the others to various degrees. For me, Summer 1986 ended in a parking lot on a Friday afternoon in early September, reading John Byrne and Terry Austin’s Superman #1.
- August 25, 2011 @ 05:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Portland’s Floating World Comics to hold fundraiser for Sparkplug’s Dylan Williams
Portland retailer Jason Leivian of Floating World Comics has announced that his store will be holding a benefit sale for Dylan Williams, the ailing head of independent publisher Sparkplug Comic Books. 100% of the proceeds generated at the store on Monday, August 29 and Tuesday, August 30 will be donated to pay for the medical care of the gravely ill Williams, who has no health insurance.
In addition, Leivian is organizing a benefit art show to raise additional money for Williams’s medical expenses, with a theme of Phillip K. Dick book covers. Leivian says he plans to post the contributing artists’ pieces on a dedicated blog, sell the originals on eBay, and sell prints of the contributions online, at retailers, and at cons like SPX and APE. Full details on this will be available Monday.
And remember, if you don’t live in Portland or aren’t in the market for original art, you can simply stop by Sparkplug’s online store and buy anything you like. (I suggested a few titles to start with the other day.)
The full press release on the benefit sale at Floating World is after the jump.
- August 25, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Walter Simonson knows (Captain) Fear
Walter Simonson has been posting lots of pirate art lately on the Official Walter Simonson Page at Facebook. In one post, he describes the project as “one story in a set of stories I’m working on for a single project. So, basically, it’s a one-off of a character I drew in another one-off 30 years ago.” One reader guesses that’s a reference to Captain Fear, an early-’70s DC character from Adventure Comics whom Simonson drew some back-up stories about for Unknown Soldier in 1981.
Rich Johnston concurs and offers an old quote from Simonson referring to the Golden Age stories as “beautifully drawn,” but “an historical rat’s nest” with ships, uniforms, and weapons from many different time-periods (or no recognizable time-period at all) appearing in the 1850s.
Captain Fear later appeared in John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake’s Spectre series in the ’90s as well as Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Doctor 13 story in Tales of the Unexpected. Most recently he’s shown up in last year’s The Outsiders #26 and Peter Tomasi and Gene Ha’s story from Superman/Batman #75. There’s no telling exactly what Simonson’s working on, but I’d love to hear guesses in the comments.
- August 25, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
Government forces break the hands of Syrian political cartoonist
Ali Ferzat after his attack (via the Washington Post/Facebook)
Look, I’m not even going to pretend to be familiar with the work of Ali Ferzat, a Syrian political cartoonist who has emerged as an outspoken critic of dictator Bashar al-Assad and his bloody crackdown against anti-government protestors over the past several months. But you can bet Assad and his regime know his work, and hate it, because their security forces abducted Ferzat, beat him, made a point of breaking his hands, and dumped him on the side of the road. This Washington Post article lays out the details as they are known right now, and included the terrifying Facebook picture above. The news comes via Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter, generally your best source for information on the pressures faced by political cartoonists worldwide.
Though people like Mike Diana, Jesus Castillo, and Christopher Handley provide us with sad exceptions to this rule, in general, no one in America is subject to legal (or extralegal) punishment for the comics they draw, sell, or consume. We’re lucky. And while it’s impossible not to be gobsmacked by not just the brutality but the arrogance of a government that would punish a cartoonist critic in such an overtly symbolic manner, it’s just as impossible not to be awed by the bravery of an artist who knows he’s up against a government that would do a thing like that, but goes up against them anyway.
You can express your support for Ferzat at this Facebook page. And why not take your wallet out and donate to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund while you’re at it?
- August 25, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Balloonless: Siegel and Shuster’s Funnyman: The First Jewish Superhero
For much of the still-being-written history of comics, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Funnyman has been something of a footnote, usually mentioned as one more sad detail in the sad story of the two creators who fathered the superhero genre, and the medium and industry that genre carried for a while.
Funnyman, their creator-owned follow-up to Superman after their falling out with National, the company that became DC Comics, is generally seen as an example of how hard it is to catch lightning in a bottle a second time.
Writers Thomas Andrae and Mel Gordon have taken up that footnote and expanded on it like never before, focusing on an aspect of the creators’ careers that could use the focus in their 2010 book Siegel and Shuster’s Funnyman: The First Jewish Superhero.
The sub-title suggests a thesis that I’m not entirely sure the book itself supports, and I’m even less sure that’s where the ultimate value of the book lies (particularly to an audience like us).
The book is sectioned off into articles by the authors and reprints and summaries of Funnyman comic book stories and comic strip stories. Mel Gordon’s “The Farblondjet Superhero and his Cultural Origins” notes that the fourth issue of Funnyman was released the same week the state of Israel was declared in 1948, claiming the hero was a perfect one for the time of immense Jewish anxiety.
From their he launches into a relatively long history of Jewish comedy (35 pages of a 185-page book), including discussion of various out-dated theories as to why the Jewish people have come to be regarded as a more humorous people than other groups, and then a brisk but thorough recounting of their traditions of humor and their interface with pop culture through the dawn of Golden Age Hollywood.
Continue Reading »
- August 25, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by J. Caleb Mozzocco
Another day, another round of DC ‘New 52′ artwork
Resurrection Man
The #52splash hash tag on Twitter seems to have slowed down a bit, but David Macho came back once again today with another puzzle, revealing art from the upcoming Resurrection Man series (above).
I don’t have a lot after the jump right now, but I’ll add more as I see them today.
- August 25, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
This weekend, it’s FanExpo Canada
Captain America #1 FanExpo Canada variant, by Dale Eaglesham
FanExpo Canada will kick off in just a couple of hours, drawing an estimated 60,000 fans to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre over the next four days. Tickets are still available at the box office for the convention, which is divided into five components: comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming.
This being a comics blog, we’re most interested in that first component and such featured guests as Jeff Smith, Junko Mizuno, Joe Kubert, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, Chris Claremont, Matt Fraction, David Finch, Tony Moore, Steve Epting, Jonathan Hickman, Jason Aaron, Stuart Immonen, Axel Alonso, DanDiDio, Steve McNiven, Tony Daniel, Jill Thompson, Jimmy Cheung, Brian Azzarello, Ethan Van Sciver, Francis Manapul, Dale Eaglesham and Fred Van Lente. Comics special guests — I don’t know the difference, either — Becky Cloonan, J. Bone, Camilla d’Errico, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Kathryn Immonen, Dale Keown, Leonard Kirk, Jeff Lemire, Dan Parent, Bill Sienkiewicz and Cameron Stewart.
The convention continues through Sunday. The full programming schedule can be found here.
- August 25, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
52 teasers for 52 titles
DC Comics New 52
After a pretty robust week of preview art popping up on Twitter from DC’s New 52 titles, today DC’s The Source blog posted 52 “teases” from the relaunched titles — most of which looks to be dialogue from the books.
But which books? Some are easy to identify, and some aren’t … you’ll find all 52 after the jump, so if you’re bored today, take the quiz and see how many you can match to their respective book.
- August 25, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Digital brings Harlequin manga to the Nook
I used to wonder why Digital Manga only published print books, but over the past few years the company has made all sorts of inroads into the digital realm. The latest: bringing Harlequin manga to the Nook, Barnes & Noble’s e-reader. These Harlequin manga are quite a phenomenon: They are actual American Harlequin romance novels that were adapted into manga for the Japanese market. A company called Softbank has been localizing them for American readers and publishing them on Digital’s eManga site, and plans are also in the works for French, Chinese and Korean editions. There will be two versions, one optimized for black and white, the other for the color Nook; the price is $5.99. If you’re not tied to an e-reader (I have both the Nook and the Kindle apps on my iPad), you might check out the Kindle store, where the Harlequin manga are two bucks cheaper per volume. Most comics look like crap on the Kindle app because of its small size and poor resolution, but the digital files for these manga are somehow better and they look fine.
Harlequin manga are a niche within a niche. I have never compared a Harlequin romance and its manga equivalent side by side, but having read some of each, I can say that the manga versions are pretty compressed—after all, a typical Harlequin romance is about 200 pages of prose, while the manga are about 160 pages with very little text. Even given the economies that sequential art bring to the storytelling, that’s tight.
- August 25, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson