Kenji Endo

Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys is soaked in rock music, so it’s no surprise that Urasawa himself is not only a fan but a musician; he talks a bit about his music in this interview, saying modestly, “I didn’t notice this myself, but Koji Wakui says that I have sound that’s a little like Neil Young.”

You can judge for yourself from this obviously bootleg video (see below) of Urasawa performing in concert. In fact, the creator of Monster, 20th Century Boys and the greatest manga of all time, Pluto, is a pretty serious rocker in his spare time, and he released an album, Half Century Man, a couple of years ago. His best-known song is “Bob Lennon,” which was written by his fictional character Kenji Endo in 20th Century Boys.

And now Urasawa is taking his act on the road: The French site Japan Journal reports that Urasawa will be a featured guest at the French anime and manga event Japan Expo, and not only will he speak to fans and sign autographs, he will also perform a concert, backed by J-Rock band Hemenway. Urasawa has performed in clubs in Japan, but this looks like his first gig outside the country.

Sex in the City meets The Book of Eli? Not quite, but it’s hard to describe cartoonist Angie Wang‘s Girl Apocalypse without pushing you to actually read it. The 24-page comic stars a group of “hungry and inexplicably fashionable young ladies” roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland en route to the little hamlet of Bridal Veil, Oregon. Why? You’ll have to read it — either online or in a well-crafted print edition Wang just put on her website.

Hailing from the comics mecca of Portland, Wang balances cartooning with illustration work for such magazines as The New Yorker and Wired. In comics, she’s had stories in anthologies like Dark Horse Presents and Popgun, and has released several well-received minicomics prior to this one.

Check out pages from Girl Apocalypse below.

After a storied career drawing comics on both sides of the Atlantic, Chris Weston found one of the coolest gigs for any comic artists: creating storyboards. And after a long working relationship with filmmaker Albert Hughes on The Book of Eli and an aborted Akira adaptation, Weston re-teamed with the director for a different kind of project: an ad for the German liqueur Jagermeister.

Titled “A Seat At The Table,” the live-action spot was storyboarded by Weston based on Hughes’ ideas. The director then used Weston’s drawings to do a strict reproduction, down to a statue of arctic explorers. You can see the completed commercial is below, and check out Weston’s storyboards on his blog.

A panel from "Fantastic Four" #55, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

A page of Silver Surfer original art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott from 1966′s Fantastic Four #55 sold last week for $155,350 in an auction of vintage comics and comic art that included the very first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sketch. According to Heritage Auctions, that price for the Page 3 half-splash marks the most ever paid for a panel page of comic art.

Held in Dallas, the auction brought in a total of nearly $5.5 million, including $113,525 for a restored copy of Detective Comics #27, featuring the first appearance of Batman, $107,500 for a near-mint copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #1, and $101,575 for Detective Comics #29, the second-ever Batman cover.

Other items included a good copy of Pep Comics #22, featuring the first appearance of Archie ($35,850), and Archie Comics #2 ($31,070).

Titled “When Strikes the Silver Surfer,” Fantastic Four #55 was the fourth appearance of the Herald of Galactus. The page, which you can see in full below, was signed by Stan Lee during a 1983 convention appearance.

On creators’ rights: “People talk to me about what’s going on with the Watchmen stuff. If Image Comics had been around when Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons wanted to do Watchmen, they would have had someplace else they could have gone to do that type of work.  The situation that developed out of what did or didn’t happen with those contracts would have been irrelevant because they would have had a deal that offered them 100 percent creator ownership.”

On competing with long-established properties from Marvel and DC Comics: “If you look at the success stories over the last 20 years (start with Sandman, which is a weird deal between DC and Neil [Gaiman]), and moving up until now, you can’t point to anything new that has been created by Marvel and DC that’s had any lasting impact, but there are all these things, whether it’s Bone, Hellboy, Sin City, The Walking Dead or Y: The Last Man, that are all tremendously successful properties that have done especially well as trade paperback sales both in and outside the comics market. Those things support the fact that there’s an audience for new material. Is there an audience for superhero stuff? Of course, all of the DC and Marvel superhero stuff that goes back 50, 60, 70 years, those people are going to be there, but I think there’s an audience that craves something new. Once you’ve read a story about Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin for the dozenth time, I think you get hungry for something else. I think there are publishers out there who provide that something else.”

On the success of Saga, the new series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: “It’s been our biggest launch of the year so far. We just announced a fourth printing on that. [...] We’re getting to the 70,000 mark, and that’s in addition to really strong digital numbers on the book too, which I find heartening in terms of the conversation of print vs. digital.”

On the disparity between Diamond sales estimates and the actual figures: “Just going off of what happens, usually in the space of a month, there seems to be a pretty great difference in how things are being reported. If that’s being reported to you as the U.S. numbers as opposed to U.K. numbers, that’s not how the numbers come to us. That to me seems a little odd. [...] I would love an explanation of why those numbers, including Diamond UK, aren’t reported. They’re reported to publisher. When we get our numbers from Diamond, it is not broken down by channel; it is ‘here is a lump number.’ Why we would be provided one number and reporting for sales would be different, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

The Avengers #1

Organizations | Tom Spurgeon reports that The Hero Initiative has now received close to $3,000 so far due to campaigns asking those people who watch Marvel’s The Avengers to donate money to the organization. The Jack Kirby Museum, meanwhile, reports it has received $1,300 from Avengers-related giving. [The Comics Reporter, The Kirby Museum]

Conventions | Chris Butcher, co-founder and director of the Toronto Comics Art Festival, reports that about 18,000 people attended this year’s TCAF-related events: “TCAF 2012 was the most ambitious festival yet, and my most ambitious personal undertaking. With more off-site and lead-up events than ever before, more partnerships than in previous years, an additional day of programming, and more than 20 featured guests, I worried in the weeks leading up to the show that perhaps we’d bit off a bit more than we could chew. Luckily through the talent and support of some wonderful folks we had varying levels of success on every front, and as always, lessons were learned and we think 2013 will be even stronger.” [Comics212]

Jack Kirby in the Marvel offices in 1965

Creators | Following a Heritage auction that saw a page from a Jack Kirby-drawn issue of Fantastic Four fetch $155,350, The Wall Street Journal profiles the artist. ”Kirby was like Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis in that his touch just elevated what he did,” author and collector Glen David Gold tells the newspaper. “He turned [comics] from junk into something with real emotional depth.” [The Wall Street Journal]

Creators | Tom Spurgeon provides a thorough rundown of the creators of the various characters who appeared in The Avengers film. [The Comics Reporter]

Creators | CNN talks to Stan Lee about the success of The Avengers: “I hate to admit this, but I do not share in the movie’s profits. I just share in the interviews, in the glamour, in the people saying, ‘Wow, I love that movie, Stan’ — but I’m not a participant in the profits.” [CNN]

Creators | Shannon O’Leary reports on how the Cartoon Network has become a “haven for some of the best independent comic book creators working today,” including Sarah Oleksyk and Minty Lewis. [Publishers Weekly]

Baby's in Black

Creators | Matthew Perpetua profiles cartoonist Arne Bellstorf, creator of Baby’s in Black, a graphic novel chronicling the courtship of photographer Astrid Kirchherr and original Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe. [Rolling Stone]

Creators | ESPN chats with professional poker player Giancarlo Antonetti about his upcoming poker-themed comic book Shut Up and Fold. [ESPN]

Process | Brian Fies details the creation of the cover to his graphic novel Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? [The Fies Files]

Looking through the previews of Archie’s New Crusaders revival the other day, I had this odd reaction that took me a while to work through. My first impulse was a sense of … dissatisfaction, perhaps, that it looked too “cartoony” and aimed toward kids, which was immediately followed by its own backlash as I remembered, oh, that’s right: that’s what they’re supposed to be.

It seems odd to think about that these days, now that The Avengers is breaking box-office records like a hobby and mainstream pop culture has been hijacked by what used to be four-color fantasies. Somehow, the world at large has bought into the idea that we’ve been playing with for years that superheroes are modern-day myths and therefore deserve to be taken seriously, to the point of finding myself at a party recently listening to two men who’ve seen the movies but never read the comics arguing at each other about the origins of their new favorite characters and the metatextual roots of Tony Stark’s Afghanistan armor-forging. (Also, note to both: Alan Moore didn’t create Iron Man. Sorry) On the one hand, it feels like a victory because, hey! Everyone finally gets it after years of abuse! But on the other…

Somewhere, the “mainstream comic audience” — the direct market fans, the ones who not only know that comics come out weekly on Wednesdays but try to get to the store that day to pick up their books — became too possessive about their characters, I worry. “Comics aren’t just for kids anymore!” went the 1980s slogan created in the wake of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, and that’s obviously, undeniably the case because it’s an entire medium, how can a medium be solely for any one audience? But in trying to prove that to everyone, we’ve reached a point where the idea of superhero comics created for kids has become as much an anomaly as those created for adults was 30 years ago.

This isn’t a new thought, of course; everyone’s been here before me, and knows that (a) the western comic industry skews weirdly, self-destructively older than it should as a whole, and (b) it’d be great if the larger publishers in the direct market made more of an effort to cultivate a younger readership than a couple of specialty books a month. But quite how that translates into New Crusaders feeling too much like a kids’ book and therefore not for me is the thing that has stuck with me: Exactly what is that all about, my brain?

Annoyingly, it’s likely the art, which doesn’t fit into the detailed hyper-realism school as pioneered by Neal Adams and then twisted into the Jim Lee and/or Bryan Hitch schools in the last couple of decades? It’s far closer to something Mike Parobeck or Mike Wieringo would do, if a little more static right now, which is annoying because … I prefer Parobeck or Wieringo to Hitch or Lee, and the idea that I’d jump to “not for me” when I see their art seems particularly like I’ve missed the part where over-exposure has programmed my brain to think that way (I didn’t agree to that, dammit).

There’s a tendency to accept received wisdom over your own taste, sometimes, because it’s easier; you can look at something and think “Yeah, that’s the way things aren’t meant to be” or “that’s what sells” or whatever and be okay with it in ways even if a moment’s thought would put you elsewhere on the spectrum of good to evil. Maybe that’s just me, but it’s something that I have to be aware of and push back on more than I’d like. New Crusaders may benefit from that kind of course correction, because I know I’m going to sign up when it launches tomorrow if only to try and deprogram my brain from this weird preconception. After all, I have to try and learn not to be so stupid sometime, right …?

I love old photos of Jack Kirby for many reasons, not the least of which is, in his day, he was one suave-looking, pipe-smoking gentleman. But Sean Kleefeld points us to Greg Theakston’s Facebook gallery, where we’re introduced to another side of the Kirby: the dancing King, bustin’ a move with wife Roz and, at a Comic-Con party, with a belly-dancer. There’s also a nice shot of he and Roz sitting (apparently at the same gathering where they danced). You can see all shots here, and visit Theakston’s gallery for many for great photos of Kirby and others. Now I’m off to start f-yeahkirbydancing.tumblr.com.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Saucer Country #3

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15 this week, I’d pick up the third issues of what may be becoming my two favorite new series: Saga (Image, $2.99) and Saucer Country (DC/Vertigo, $2.99). The former is easily one of the most enjoyable, most packed books out there right now for me, with Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples firing on all cylinders with the two issues to date, whereas the latter has an enjoyably retro feel that reminds me of the earliest days of the Vertigo imprint in ways that I can’t quite put my finger on but love nonetheless.

If I had $30, I’d grab the new edition of Leviathan (Rebellion, $16.99), a collection of a 2000AD horror story by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli that the creators apparently described as “Agatha Christie meets Silent Hill” about a Titanic-esque cruise ship that disappears in the middle of the ocean, and ends up somewhere else … with no land in sight for more than two decades. Really looking forward to reading this one.

Should I suddenly find enough money down the back of my couch to splurge this week, then I’d hope to find the $29.99 I’d need for the Deadenders trade paperback (DC/Vertigo). I entirely missed the Ed Brubaker/Warren Pleece mod romance comic the first time around, so this collection of the entire series will be a welcome chance to make up for past mistakes.

Dancer #1

Chris Arrant

This week’s a bloody one if you’re on my pull list, because there’s a lot of cuts. If I had $15, I’d dive first into the long-awaited/nearly forgotten Hardcore #1 (Image/Top Cow, $2.99). Originally intended for release in 2010, it’s finally coming out – and I hope it was worth the wait. Seeing Brian Stelfreeze and Robert Kirkman doing a book together is a rare treat. Next up would be Dancer #1 (Image, $3.50). I think Nic Klein and Nathan Edmondson are future A-listers, and they’re already beginning to stake out claim to my comic book shelves with their work on Viking and Who is Jake Ellis. Next up would be Thief of Thieves #4 (Image, $2.99); I’m probably going to switch to trades on this soon, but I can’t stop from buying this first arc – I really enjoy Nick Spencer’s style on this classic plot trope and Shawn Martinbrough is finally getting some credit for the great work he’s been doing the past few years. And last up would be Avengers Vs. X-Men #4 (Marvel, $3.99); if you’re in the business of covering American comics like I am, this is a must buy.

If I had $30, I’d dig into Conan the Barbarian #4 (Dark Horse, $3.50); Brian Wood’s been delivering the goods in the first three issues, and this issue sees relative unknown James Harren step up and deliver what is shaping to be a breakout performance from the previews. After that I’d get Glory #26 (Image, $2.99); the first arc was kind of muddled but had some really enamoring moments, and I’m confident this new arc will wear down those rough edges and hit me straight between the eyes. After that I’d do a trio of creator-owned books with Manhattan Projects #3 (Image, $3.50), Secret Service #2 (Marvel/Icon, $2.99) and Saga #3 (Image, $2.99). It’s amazing to see that vibrant a pool of creator-owned comics come out in one week.

Last up, I’d steal money out of Graeme McMillan’s Dennis the Menace and Gnasher piggy bank to buy 100 Months (Cutting Edge, $29.95). I’ve heard about John Hicklenton’s work in sideways mentions in old magazines, but never been able to read it for myself. This book is said to be a sci-fi parable about environmental collapse with capitalism poised in the guise of the über-villain Longpig.

Are You My Mother?

Chris Mautner

There’s not much in the $15 and under market this week that appeals to me, so I’ll jump right to the $30 mark and note that one of the most-eagerly anticipated graphic novels of the year comes out this week. I’m speaking of course about Are You My Mother, Alison Bechdel’s long-awaited follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir Fun Home. Named one of the best books of 2006 by Time Magazine, Fun Home was one of the big breakthrough comics in terms of reaching wider appeal outside of the traditional Wednesday crowd. Obviously there’s a lot of anticipation for this new book, which chronicles her troubled relationship with her mother, much as Fun Home followed her relationship with her father. Early reviews have been glowing. I’m anxious to read this.

If that doesn’t appeal to you, however, I’ll note that the first volume of Best of Enemies - Epileptic author David B.’s look at the relationship between the U.S. and Middle East over the centuries, done with historian Jean-Pierre Filiu – is also out this week. I raved about the book here and strongly urge you to at least check it out should your local comic shop be wise enough to get a copy.

In the splurge category Vol. 13 of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy is out, with lots more oddball villains like Blowtop and T.V. Wiggles. If memory serves, this is about the time where the strip started to really go off the rails. More so than usual. I’m way behind in collecting this series but if I had the extra cash I’d nab it for reading once I’d gotten caught up.

Crogan's Loyalty

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d grab the latest issues of some of my favorite series: Planet of the Apes #14 ($3.99), Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #2 ($2.75), Wonder Woman #9 ($2.99) and Supergirl #9 ($2.99).

With $30, I’d add that Leviathan volume ($16.99) that Graeme mentioned. I’ve been meaning to get it for a long time as it’s seen new printings and it’s finally time. I love mysteries and stories that take place at sea, but I’m really in this for Edginton and D’Israeli. Scarlet Traces, their sequel to War of the Worlds was amazing, as was their subsequent War of the Worlds adaptation.

With some splurge money I’d have a difficult time picking between two Oni graphic novels being released this week. Crogan’s Loyalty ($14.99) is the latest in Chris Schweizer’s Crogan Adventures series. I need to read Crogan’s March before I dig into Loyalty, but based on the strength of the first volume, Crogan’s Vengeance, I expect to love it. On the other hand, Antony Johnston and Sam Hart’s The Coldest City ($19.99) sounds like a thrilling return to the Cold War spy era. Tough decision.

Here’s my short list of comics that, if it were up to me, would have gotten Eisner nominations.

Best Limited Series

One of my favorite series of 2011 was Spontaneous, by Brett Weldele and Joe Harris. It’s a great crypto-mystery about spontaneous human combustion, with a nerdy know-it-all played off against an aggressive reporter. The story has its flaws, but I couldn’t put it down.

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)

Nina in That Makes Me Mad: We had an unusually strong field of children’s books, even after we split the category into two age groups, but this book was my first choice for a nomination. The writing is sharp and perceptive, and Hilary Knight’s illustrations are amazing. Even the page layouts are awesome. This is a book that speaks directly to children, in a voice they can understand, yet does it with an elegance that adults can appreciate as well.

Best Publication for Young Adults (Ages 12-17)

The Last Dragon, by fantasy writer Jane Yolen and Magic: The Gathering artist Rebecca Guay, is a stunningly beautiful book with a real classic fantasy look in the tradition of N.C. Wyeth. I knew it would be lovely to look at, but what surprised me was the witty script and a delightful story that even a fantasy-averse reader like me can enjoy.

Best Anthology

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Every story in this beautifully produced book is a gem, which is no surprise considering the stellar lineup of writers and artists: Roger Langridge, Marjorie Liu, Jeff Parker, Colleen Coover. The stories are all traditional fairy tale-type stories, tied together by the framing device of the storyteller sitting by the fire, talking to his dog. There are only scant references to the television program that inspired the book, and it’s quite possible to enjoy the one without ever seeing the other.

Best Digital Comic

I was really surprised that The Abaddon, Koren Shadmi’s updated take on Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, didn’t make the cut. The story, of a disoriented former soldier who moves into the apartment from hell, is both original and intriguing, and Shadmi’s austere yet expressive style really sells it.

Also, while I was happy to see Dylan Meconis’s short story Outfoxed make the cut, I would have loved to see her longer supernatural story Family Man on the list as well. Set in 18th-century Germany, it’s the story of a theologian who finds a place in a university in the hinterlands where strange things happen in the light of the full moon.

Best Graphic Novel

I fell in love with Snaps, by Rebecca Kraatz, because of the concept behind it: It grew out of a handful of vintage photos that Kraatz found in a flea market; she studied the people in the photos and imagined lives for them, then told their stories in an intertwined set of short vignettes. Kraatz’s art has a simple, almost naive look, but her storytelling techniques and panel compositions are wonderfully creative. This is a book you have to look at twice to truly appreciate.

Best Penciller/Inker

Joelle Jones does a lot of YA work, and that may be why she isn’t as well known as many less accomplished artists. Her crisp, clean-lined yet kinetic art has a classic look yet seems right up to date. I enjoyed her work in Troublemaker, Spell Checkers, and most recently, Dark Horse’s adaptations of P.C. Cast’s House of Night.

New Category: Best Self-Published Comic or Mini-Comic

There are good practical reasons not to have this category — there would be millions of submissions, and the comics can be hard to find — but self-published comics and mini-comics are the life blood of comics and I would love to see them recognized. Some of these were entered in the best one-shot category, but they are too different to stand up there. Here are some of the books I would choose:

The Potter’s Pet, by Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline: This is a professional-quality comic and it’s beautifully produced, with a lovely color cover. Lamb and Paroline are now working on the Ice Age and Adventure Time comics for BOOM! Studios.

Wolves, by Becky Cloonan: This one is simply beautiful, and the digital version is the best 99 cents you’ll spend all week. Heck, all year!

Lopopo’s Lost Sock, by Alexander Serra: This comic caught the attention of a number of judges, and it made me laugh out loud. It’s a clever spin on the tyrannical-kid/smart alecky butler story where a spoiled rich kid goes ballistic over a lost sock. As the story goes on, though, the logic gets more and more twisted. The link is to a free download, so go, see for yourself.

"Avengers on Parade," by Hannah Friederichs

Combining joy over The Avengers movie with sadness about the death of children’s book illustrator Maurice Sendak, Hannah Friederichs has created a wonderful tribute to both. You can see the entire image — including what Hawkeye is so concerned about — below.

What sets the Graphic Textbook apart from most other educational projects is the quality of the creators, many of whom are already well known in the world of children’s or adult comics: Roger Langridge (Snarked, Popeye), Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey (Action Philosophers), Raina Telgemeier (Smile) and a host of others. With creators like that on board, the pledge premiums are pretty good.

Anyway, Schweizer’s post grabbed me because I’m a fan of his Crogan Adventures, a series of graphic novels about members of the same family set in different historical eras, and the short story he is doing for The Graphic Textbook is a Crogan story set during the Revolutionary War. His premiums include original art, a video tutoring session, and sketches of the donor in 18th-century garb, but if that doesn’t appeal to you, there are still some other nice premiums left, including Langridge sketches, tickets to the Charles Schulz Museum, a script or portfolio review by former DC/Vertigo editor Brandon Montclare, or a personalized action figure.

Rob Flickenger with his Tesla Gun

Inspired by The Five Fists of Science, the 2006 steampunk graphic novel by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders, author Rob Flickenger did what any aspiring mad scientist would do: He constructed his own working Tesla Gun, powered by an 18-volt drill battery.

“You pull the trigger, and lightning comes out the front,” Flickenger writes on his blog, where  he breaks down the process, complete with photos. “It is functionally inferior to that of Tesla’s design in the Five Fists in a few important respects. Notably, it is a bit longer and heavier than Tesla’s own. It also cannot (yet) create an ion wind strong enough to cushion the user when leaping from a four story building. On the other hand, my design is an improvement in two important respects: 1) It is battery powered, and 2) It actually exists.”

The device received an enthusiastic endorsement from Sanders, who acknowledged “kind of half-assing the engineering on the guns” before offering to provide a design for backpack to house the battery, should Flickenger attempt a second model.

In addition to the photos on his blog, Flickenger has put together a Tesla Gun video, complete with a catchy soundtrack and a warning that “Electricity in dangerous … dangerously delicious.” Check it out below.

(via The Verge)

Debuting in 1941 as Classic Comics, Classic Illustrated adapted such literary works as Treasure Island, The Last of the Mohicans and Jane Eyre, publishing 169 issues during its 30-year run. More than 120 titles are available from Apple’s iBookstore.

“Making the Classics available in digital form brings these brilliant works to where people live now, on their mobiles,” Trajectory CEO Jim Bryant said in a statement. “The iPad and iPhone are great for interacting with one of the most beloved comics and graphic novel series of all time.”

The Vampire Chronicles novelist Anne Rice also endorses the series, saying, “I remember reading Jane Eyre in the Classics comics and how much I loved the details and seeing the madwoman in the attic in those little panels and seeing the whole novel play out. What always drew me were very detailed, representational drawings, rather than something abstract. I wanted to see a lot of richness and a lot of depth.”

Watch the trailer and read the press release below.

TRAJECTORY LAUNCHES CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED – NOW AVAILABLE ON APPLE® IPAD, IPHONE and IPOD TOUCH

Over 120 eBooks Now Downloadable From The Apple iBookstore

CAMBRIDGE, MA—May 15, 2012— Trajectory, Inc. announced today that the iconic Classics Illustrated comic and graphic novel series are now available in the Apple iBookstore. The series consists of over 120 digital graphic novels presented in a comic book format with robust color illustrations that introduce great literature to readers of all ages. Trajectory is collaborating with Apple, Inc., the world leading provider of smartphones and tablets to deliver the series on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Comic book lovers worldwide get ready; the Classics Illustrated digital graphic novels published by Trajectory are now available for purchase in the iBookstore. The digital comics series features the world’s greatest stories by the worlds greatest authors including: “The Last of the Mohicans,” “War of the Worlds,” “The Pearl Princess,” “Treasure Island,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “Robin Hood,” “Snow White”, “Jane Eyre”, “The Three Musketeers”, and hundreds more.

“Trajectory, Inc.’s Classics Illustrated has diversified and strengthened its already solid reputation as a thoughtful, intelligent publisher of canonical, traditional titles” said Dr. Katie Monnin, Professor of Literacy, University of North Florida. “From the perspective of an educator I foresee limitless potential in bringing Classics Illustrated into the classroom. Probably well known to teachers, parents, and librarians the Classics Illustrated titles are sure to be engaging and exciting comic book stories for an entirely new generation of readers.  An A+ idea and comic book execution eBook format, I highly recommend these titles make their way into your child or student’s hands.”

Novelist Anne Rice states, “I remember reading Jane Eyre in the Classics comics and how much I loved the details and seeing the madwoman in the attic in those little panels and seeing the whole novel play out. What always drew me were very detailed, representational drawings, rather than something abstract. I wanted to see a lot of richness and a lot of depth.” Classics Illustrated graphic novels, she said, “Have a freedom that is all their own to create an entire universe in detail fairly inexpensively, compared to a film.”

“Making the Classics available in digital form brings these brilliant eBook works to where people live now, on their mobiles. The iPad and iPhone are great for interacting with one of the most beloved comics and graphic novel series of all time.” said Jim Bryant, Trajectory CEO.

Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery Deluxe Edition

Retailing | The retail news and analysis site ICv2 contends sales of graphic novels in the direct market may be better than recent numbers indicate because of the way Diamond Comic Distributors reports those figures. While the distributor’s calculations are based on the wholesale value of shipments, ICv2 based its estimates on the retail value, and found graphic novel sales rose 24.4 percent in March, rather than declined 5.7 percent (versus a year ago), and climbed 27.7 percent in April, rather than just 12.6 percent: “The big differences between the wholesale and retail rates of change in recent months appear to be caused by big increases in the number of graphic novels liquidated through Diamond in March and April.  So retail dollars were up, while wholesale dollars lagged. ” [ICv2]

Conventions | Audrey Gillan previews this weekend’s Kapow! in London by casting a spotlight on organizers Lucy and Sarah Unwin — they’re partnered with Mark Millar — and their efforts to create a female-inclusive comic convention. “We ourselves as women organising the show have been accused of misogyny because of the obviously male guest list, but there is just this lack of female creators and it’s the nature of the industry,” Lucy Unwin said. “There’s no point in taking it to heart because I don’t employ the creators. I would love there to be more women at the show in terms of guests.” [The Guardian]

Creators | Writers and artists at the Long Beach Comic Expo explain why they decided to self-publish. [LA Weekly]

Giants Beware!

Creators | It’s a creators-on-creators interview when the Giants Beware! team of Jorge Aguirre and comics artist Rafael Rosado interview Smile creator Raina Telgemeier. Here’s Telegmeier on the creative life: “I try to view my career broadly: some years are hard-working, creative years, where I am chained to my desk. Other years are promotional. In 2011 I had to produce 240 pages of art for Drama, but I know my own work habits so well that I was able to budget exactly how much time that would take. 2012 is looking like a heavy promotion year, but with time set aside for writing my next book. It kind of goes in cycles. To that end, I only get paid a couple of times a year, and some years I make a decent amount and others I make almost nothing. Being a full-time graphic novelist means being extremely conscious and disciplined in your spending habits!” [Tor.com]

Creators | Writer Scott Snyder discusses his work on Batman, Swamp Thing and American Vampire on Suvudu’s 15 Minutes of Fiction… With Fictional Frontiers podcast. [Suvudu]

Jinx

Creators | J. Torres talks about Jinx, the classic comic that Archie Comics has revived and relaunched as a teen story, in a video shot at TCAF. [Geek Hard]

Creators | Russ Burlingame has a brief interview with Matt Kindt, whose new series Mind MGMT is due out next week from Dark Horse. [ComicBook.com]

Creators | Kate Kelly talks to James Disco, who writes graphic novels to educate children about hard topics: modern-day slavery and the Lost Boys of Sudan. [The Huffington Post]

Comics | Johanna Draper Carlson shows off some of the minicomics she picked up at MoCCA. [Comics Worth Reading]

Rotworld

August brings the preludes to the Swamp Thing/Animal Man crossover that writers Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire have been talking about for awhile now, as Team Red and Team Green take on The Rot. According to Lemire, the crossover, Rotworld, is an “epic superhero/horror story” that he’s been working with Snyder on for the past year. “Buddy Baker and Alec Holland join forces to lead a pre-emptive strike deep into The Rot, the consequences of which will tear both of their worlds apart forever,” he said on his blog.

The crossover runs through each title’s 17th issue and will feature art by regular series artists Yanick Paquette and Steve Pugh, who worked together on the above joining covers for Animal Man #12 and Swamp Thing #12.

From Matthew J. Rainwater's version

When Colleen Coover posted her version of a weird tryout page featuring Wolverine and Freddie Mercury, she expressed hope that other artists would follow her example. And they have.

Coover’s been curating a small gallery of Wolverine/Mercury pages, and she would love to add more to it. What I like is how the artists already on display have taken to heart the potential that Coover initially saw in the meme. In that first post, she talked about the questions raised by the nonsensical story: What’s Wolverine looking for? Why does Freddie Mercury appear? “I have decided to explore these mysteries by recreating the original story, ” she wrote, and went on to say, “I invite other artists to do the same, by which exercise we may one day come close to the fictional Truth of the matter.”

The artists she found have done that too, not just recreating the page, but also explicitly answering some of those questions. It’s a fun look at not only varying stylistic takes on a single page of art, but also the way different people tell the same story, usually with hilarious results. For instance: I’m dying to spoil Andrew Meyerhoefe’s page for you, but I’ll resist and let you enjoy it for yourself.

In writing, once a gender is established … it’s often best to leave it alone. A woman does not need to walk to the door with a decided roll to her hips that a man would not have. She just walks to the damn door. Likewise, a man does not need to reach out for a cup of coffee, all the time grunting, thinking about football, about how hard it is to follow a map, and how much he believes he could beat a tiger in a knife fight …

– Paul Tobin, discussing the depictions of gender in fiction, but especially in reference to women in superhero comics. He talks about specific traps that comics creators fall into (including an observation about drawing breasts that’s both hilarious and sad) and how female characters should be written.

“What an incredibly exciting week this has been! The Turtles have been blessed with the best fans on the planet, so I chose this event to make available personal historical TMNT items for those really hardcore supporters – but WHOA – what a response!” Eastman, who consigned  the sketch to the auction house, wrote in a statement. “My many, many, thanks to all the fans that have given me the best job in the world, and for their love for a great, goofy, bunch of green guys that just wanted to be normal teenagers – Mutant Ninja ones anyway!”

That 1983 drawing led the following year to the publication of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, a black-and-white parody from Eastman and Laird’s Mirage Studios, that, with the help of licensing agent Mark Freedman, grew into a multimedia empire of comics, animated television series, feature films, video games and merchandise. Laird completed a buyout of Eastman’s interests in TMNT in 2008, and then sold the property to Viacom the following year for $60 million.

“For 30 years the Turtles have been a worldwide phenomenon, entertaining hundreds of millions of children and that influence shows no sign of slowing with the upcoming TV and film projects featuring the team,” Barry Sandoval of Heritage Auctions said of the sketch. “This is a piece of pop culture that will only increase in value and influence over the coming decades.”

After the super-success of Marvel’s The Avengers, everyone in the world knows who Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are. And now Netherlands-based cartoonist Junaid Chundrigar is showing you just how funny they can be (and we’re not talking shawarma here).

Not to be confused with the Brian Michael Bendis-Dave Finch comic book arc, Chundrigar’s “Disassembled” makes Marvel’s heroes, not just the Avengers, bouncy, funny and sometimes creepy.