2011 December
Thoughts on the FCBD Gold comics
Free Comic Book Day is only six months away, and the FCBD folks started the drumbeat on Friday with the announcement of the Gold Sponsor comics. I didn’t realize this was a competition:
“We had a record amount of entries from publishers this year with more than forty-five different titles” said FCBD spokesperson Leslie Jackson. “Retailers on the committee had a tough time deciding on which titles to choose for Gold sponsorship, but we’re sure fans will be pleased with the line-up for next year.”
While the choices may have been difficult, it’s hard to imagine that someone couldn’t come up with something more enticing than what Image has to offer: “An anthology featuring all-new stories with a mix of Image’s old and new best loved characters!” Could you possibly get any vaguer than that? They don’t even have a cover design. If my comic got bumped for that, I’d be steaming. On the other hand, Archaia’s 48-page hardcover, featuring new material (not reprints or bits of something to come) looks mighty sweet, all the more so because they name names: A Mouse Guard story from David Petersen, a Jim Henson’s Labyrinth story by Ted Naifeh and Cory Godbey, a side story from Royden Lepp’s new graphic novel Rust, a Cursed Pirate Girl story from Jeremy Bastian, a Cow Boy story by Chris Eliopoulos and Nate Crosby, and a Dapper Men tale from Jim McCann and Janet Lee. There’s this year’s wow factor.
The line-up actually seemed pretty obvious to me, so I went back and looked at the Gold Sponsors for the past five years. Sure enough, six of the publishers are there every year: Archie, Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image, Marvel. Since five of these are also Diamond’s premier publishers, and Archie is a newsstand juggernaut, there’s no surprise there. BOOM! Studios has been a Gold Sponsor for the past four years and Archaia for the past three. The other slots vary: Ape Entertainment was a Gold Sponsor in 2011 and 2010 but is missing this year, and Bongo and Oni are back after a two-year absence. Others who have popped up once or twice in the past five years: NBM/Papercutz (2011), Drawn & Quarterly (2010), Viz (2008 and 2009), Dynamite (2008), Virgin (2008), Gemstone (2007), and Tokyopop (2007).
There’s more to come: The Silver Sponsors will be announced next week.
- December 3, 2011 @ 04:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
Chain Reactions | T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
This week saw the return of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from DC Comics in a new miniseries by writer Nick Spencer, who wrote the previous, pre-New 52 edition of the book. This time he’s joined by artist Wes Craig, who picks up where CAFU and several guest artists, like Mike Grell, Nick Dragotta, Dan McDaid and Dan Panosian, left off.
The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves have had a long, tumultuous publishing history. Before DC Comics announced they were bringing the concept back last year, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents had been published by at least seven different publishers since the 1960s. It started with a 20-issue run by Tower Comics, the longest run the title would enjoy in its history. One thing the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents have always enjoyed over the years is association with some of the industry’s best talent, with the likes of George Perez, Dave Cockrum, Keith Giffen, Steve Ditko, Jerry Ordway, Paul Gulacy, Terry Austin and of course Wally Wood working on the characters.
So what do folks think about the title’s latest return? Here’s a sample of reviews of the first issue:
Andy Hunsaker, CraveOnline: “The new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 has managed to keep its previous continuity – a privilege shared mostly by Things Geoff Johns Writes and Batman – but Spencer has lightened up the proceedings significantly, injecting a bit more fun into this first issue. It’s a bit thick with exposition this time around, but while in other cases it might seem turgid, as a reader of the previous series, it feels rather welcome. This iteration is a bit more straight-forward, and there’s much less of the feeling that everything sucks and will suck forever for everybody involved. In fact, the two people who wound up killing their own family members go out on a date in this issue – the no-bullshit Colleen Franklin, who killed her supervillain mother The Iron Maiden, and the much-bullshit Toby Henston, aka Menthor, who put a special mind-control helmet on and found his skullduggerously planned betrayal to his brother’s terrorist organization Spider rewritten into a triplecross. Henston even goes so far as to say ‘We could all use a little sunshine in our lives.’ That attitude sure helps to dissipate that hesitation about picking up the series.”
- December 3, 2011 @ 09:30 AM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color | Keep your eye on the Fantastic Generation Gap
What, did you think I was going to show the panel? Go buy this book!
There is a page in FF #12 that would knock Jerry Springer’s socks off. Not in trashiness, but in the complexity of the relationships of the people on panel. Let’s see who we have here: there’s an alternate Reed Richards who came from a collective of Reed Richards..es. There is the time-traveling Nathanial Richards, his not-quite father. Doctor Doom sits collared by the machinations of alter-Reed, while Kristoff demands justice for his not-exactly father and the inherited name of Doom. Did I mention there’s a Wikipedia entry that has hinted that Nathaniel Richards might actually be Kristoff’s biological father? Yeah, wrap your head around this, because this is key: the relationships of these people on this page are why no one should be dropping this title due to the return of the Fantastic Four.
Potential spoilers for Fantastic Four #600 and FF #12 after the jump!
- December 2, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Carla Hoffman
The Lunch Lady chronicles
Ten years ago, author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka had a chance meeting with the lunch lady from his old school. That led him to think about what her life was like outside the lunchroom, and that, in turn, led to the creation of the Lunch Lady books, a series of all-ages graphic novels that feature a superhero lunch lady (armed with fish-stick nunchuks and a banana boomerang) and her sidekick, Betty. There are Sadly, Jarrett reported that the original Lunch Lady, Jeannie, passed away recently.
On a more upbeat note, Krosoczka is holding a pretty nifty auction to raise funds for the Joe and Shirl Scholarships, which he established in memory of his grandparents, who raised him. The scholarships will be used to pay for underprivileged children to attend art classes at the Worcester Art Museum. In an interview with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Krosoczka talked about how his grandparents encouraged him to study art—and how much he looked forward to the classes at the museum.
“That time, 1989, was another time like we’re living through now where the art budgets were just slashed at public schools, so at Gates Lane Elementary School I actually went from having art class once a week to once every other week to once a month to not at all,” he said.
Because of those classes, Krosoczka said, he realized that a career in art was a real possibility. And it seems to be working for him; the Lunch Lady books are being developed into a movie, with Amy Poehler in the title role. The auction items include a sketchbook, original art, and lunch with Krosoczka in his studio, and the bidding ends on December 5.
- December 2, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Get hammered with Mjolnir
Thor’s mythic warhammer Mjolnir can level mountains, emit blasts of mystical energy and even detect illusions. But for those swingin’ parties at Avengers mansion, only those who are thirsty shall possess its mighty power.
Early next year Diamond Select Toys will roll out a series of Marvel-based bottle openers, beginning with — you guessed it! — Thor’s hammer, complete with its legendary inscription: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
With it, you’ll be the hit of every party. Well, at least those that don’t feature twist-off caps — or Loki.
- December 2, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Comic Industry Job Board – December 2011
In the wide world of comics there’s always a need for talented people — and not just for creating the comics. The books you read every day are supported by an immense infrastructure of editors, publishers, designers, distributors and retailers that make American comics what it is today. And despite the frail economy, the comics industry is looking for employees.
We’ve compiled a list of all the openings in the comics industry for non-creative office positions and put it all into one place. It’s a good resource if you’re looking to work in comics, and also for armchair speculators seeing what companies are looking to do by seeing what positions they’re hiring for. We accumulated these by looking on publisher websites and job boards — if you know of a job not listed here, let us know!
- December 2, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Kerry Callen is brilliant, part two: animated comics covers
If Super Hero Thanksgiving isn’t enough to prove Kerry Callen’s awesomeness, his quartet of animated covers to classic comics ought to do the trick. Comics Alliance has the whole set, including The Amazing Spider-Man #33, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1, Iron Man #128, and this one, Justice League of America #6.
[Updated: See the comments below for the explanation, but my not linking directly to Callen's blog where he originally posted these was an oversight on my part. I apologize.]
- December 2, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Michael May
Kickstart My Art | Comics professor makes graphic novel for aspiring artists
For over 18 years, Bob Pendarvis taught comics and sequential art at the Savannah College of Art & Design, or SCAD. And now he’s looking to take his teaching into bookstores and the laps of even younger would-be cartoonists.
A Girl Called Ana Teaches Kittens How To Draw is a graphic novel by Pendarvis is, as he says, “meant to provide inspiration for the next generation of young sequential artists and storytellers.” The 200+ page hardcover book shows the young girl attempting to teach cats how to draw. Pendarvis’ goal is to use Kickstarter to fund the production of a limited edition run of these books to to send to readers, libraries, and even potential publishers for a larger run.
To fund this project, Pendarvis has set a $15,000 goal with 1/5th of the money already raised. In addition to prints from the book as a reward, a number of talented friends and former students of his has contributed art as rewards for higher-level donors.
- December 2, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Cursed Pirate Girl sails back to Archaia
When Jeremy Bastian first declared that he was going to make a comic called Cursed Pirate Girl, it was part of an explosion of titles planned by Archaia. The comic ultimately came out through Olympian instead, but Bastian has just announced that CPG is back at Archaia. “Olympian Publishing was the perfect place to introduce CPG to the world,” he writes, “as well as a great partner to brainstorm with about coming up with new things to accent the book with. Archaia will help bring it to a much larger audience.”
He doesn’t mention why the series will no longer be published by Olympian, but the publisher’s website no longer exists, so it’s possible the company’s no longer in business, perhaps another victim of the turbulent publishing industry. That’s complete speculation, though.
At any rate, Bastian promises “a couple of differences” between the two publishers’ versions, and says the new edition — presumably hardcover, as that’s what Archaia is known for — will be available sometime next spring.
Oh, and be sure to visit Bastian’s announcement yourself to also see his versions of Sandman and Death, Black Cat, and Little Nemo, done as commissions at recent conventions.
- December 2, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Michael May
After the JSA/JLA Thanksgiving, it’s time to clean up
Kerry Callen posted this before Thanksgiving, but it seems especially appropriate now that the holiday is over. Ever wonder how super heroes handle clean-up chores after those big turkey dinners? Callen has the answer. Are Flash’s pals being unfair? Can he convince them that they are? Only one way to find out.
- December 2, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Michael May
This weekend, it’s the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival
From noon to 9 p.m. tomorrow the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival (or BCGF as it’s more commonly known) will take place at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, 275 North 8th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The show, curated by Picturebox, Desert Island and Bill Kartalopolous, has very quickly built up a reputation as being one of the “must-attend” indie shows on the East Coast, and this year promises to be the the most impressive and largest show yet with a murderer’s row of top-flight guests and expanded exhibitors list debuting some killer-looking books. Best of all, the show is free to attend, so
Click on the link below to read a run-down of who will be debuting what, when and where:
- December 2, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Advance registration opens for WonderCon 2012
WonderCon
Advance registration has opened for WonderCon 2012, which will be held March 16-18 at the Anaheim Convention Center while the event’s traditional venue, San Francisco’s Moscone Center, undergoes renovations.
Three-day adult badges cost $40 in advance ($50 onsite), while junior/senior badges go for $20 ($25 onsite). One-day passes for Friday or Saturday are $20 for adults ($25 onsite), and $10 for juniors/seniors ($13 onsite); Sunday badges are $10 in advance for adults ($15 onsite), and $5 for juniors/seniors ($7 onsite). Badges can be purchased on the convention website.
Special guests for WonderCon 2012 include Sergio Aragonés, Mark Evanier, Matt Fraction, Michael Golden, Mike Mignola, Steve Niles, Eric Powell, Bob Schreck, Fiona Staples and J. Michael Straczynski.
- December 2, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Grumpy Old Fan | Save The Shade
The Shade invites you to Starman #6 (April 1995)
Writer James Robinson tweets that low sales might cut short his twelve-issue Shade miniseries. That would be a shame, because the first two issues of The Shade are tremendously entertaining, great-looking superhero comics. Robinson has returned to the character he revitalized, bringing with him the artistic talents of Cully Hamner and a bevy of high-profile guests like Darwyn Cooke, Frazer Irving, Javier Pulido, and Jill Thompson. The Beat’s Todd Allen has written a supportive post, noting along the way that certain New-52 titles which are selling below The Shade #1′s level (30,648 issues estimated sold to retailers) might also face the axe.
I’m somewhat skeptical of this rumor, despite Robinson’s insider knowledge, for reasons having to do with the 2009-10 miniseries The Great Ten.
- December 1, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Behold the Geof Darrow Superman cover that never was
I did some for DC Comics and they didn’t run it. I did a Superman cover and they gave me—the editor was a really nice guy, but he gave me some reason why they didn’t run it and I was like “Come on!”
That was recently?
Oh yeah yeah. I liked it. I thought it was funny. It was this whole thing, Superman is on a walkabout, kind of rediscovering America. They asked a bunch of guys to do like—Kevin Nowlan was one of them and they said, you can draw whatever you want. Superman, that’s the thing. He’s rediscovering America. You just can’t show him in New York. So I thought about it. I thought, “Well, flying in front of Mount Rushmore, all this stuff…” I said, “I know!” I drew him having tea with this cat lady in this room, she’s like a little old lady and she’s serving him tea and cookies and he’s sitting on her couch having tea with her and there’s all these cats around and all these pictures of her family on the wall. I thought it was funny! That’s kind of America. They didn’t run it. The issue was supposed to run and they had to change it, it was Lois Lane-centric and they had pffft! I was like…and the editor was a really nice guy, he was very “We’re going to use it someday and blah blah blah.” But I don’t think they ever will, because I’m sure someone will say, “Wait a minute…”
[laughs] “Nothing’s getting hit!”
The other ones are pretty much what you’d thought they would be, him flying with clouds—and they’re all beautiful, I just thought mine was kind of funny. But it’ll never see the light of day.
—Hard Boiled and Shaolin Cowboy cartoonist Geof Darrow reveals his lost Superman cover to Inkstuds’ Robin McConnell. Looks like the Crazy Cat Lady is one villain not even the Man of Steel could defeat.
In all seriousness, though, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of McConnell’s career-spanning interview with Darrow, originally conducted and aired in February and recently transcribed in full on the Inkstuds website. Darrow has stealthily become one of the most influential comics artists in the English-language comics world — recent works by Chris Burnham, Brandon Graham, James Stokoe, Rafael Grampa, Nate Simpson, Ulises Farinas, and Sam Humphries & Steven Sanders all bear his imprint in one way or another — and McConnell’s interview is a treasure trove of anecdotes about Miller, Moebius, Métal Hurlant, The Matrix, and more.
- December 1, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Cartoonist sues over Cowboys & Aliens movie
A cartoonist has sued Universal Pictures, DreamWorks and Platinum Studios, claiming that the sci-fi Western Cowboys & Aliens infringes on his 1995 comic of the same name.
In his complaint, first reported by TMZ, Steven Bunti contends the 2006 Platinum graphic novel on which the film is based “contains striking similarities” to his own story, published more than a decade earlier in Bizarre Fantasy #1. Among those are “an alien spaceship zooming overhead the main cowboy character, the spacecraft being discovered by Native American warriors (specifically Apache) who are then attacked” and an alien commander “incredibly similar” to the conqueror “Morguu” in Bunti’s work.
Although Bunti didn’t register his comic with the U.S. Copyright Office until September, two months after the premiere of the Universal film, he notes that a preview of the story appeared on the back of Bizarre Fantasy #0 in November 1995, and was spotlighted in Comic Shop News — on the same page as a story about Malibu Studios and Platinum chairman, and Cowboys & Aliens creator, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg (he’s also named in Bunti’s lawsuit).
In May 1997, Platinum released a one-sheet featuring a cowboy chased by an alien spaceship, part of a promotional effort that led Universal and DreamWorks to buy the film rights to Cowboys & Aliens, and Platinum to publish the 2006 graphic novel, overseen by Rosenberg.
- December 1, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose