Current Transmissions
Scott Snyder and Sara Pichelli dominate Stan Lee Awards
Sara Pichelli and Scott Snyder topped the second annual Stan Lee Awards, presented over the weekend at Kapow! Comic Convention in London. Pichelli won for Best Artist and Best Newcomer, while Snyder walked away with Best Writer and Man of the Year. Snyder’s run on Detective Comics with Jock and Francesco Francavilla was also named Best Ongoing Series.
The full list of winners:
Best Writer: Scott Snyder
Best Artist: Sara Pichelli
Best Superhero or Sci-Fi Movie: X-Men First Class
Best Game or Toy: Arkham City
Best TV Show: Game of Thrones
Best Publisher: DC Comics
- May 21, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
DC to release Sandman slipcase edition in November
Sandman Slipcase Edition
DC Entertainment will release a slipcase edition of Sandman this November, collecting all 10 volumes of the landmark series by Neil Gaiman and friends. The slipcase will retail for $199, which is about what you’d pay if you bought all the books by themselves at full price. Amazon has it available for pre-ordering for $125. (Update: the price went up today to $179).
According to Gaiman, the collections are recolored, using the recolored Absolute Edition pages of the first few books.
- May 21, 2012 @ 08:00 AM by JK Parkin
DC Comics to reintroduce established character as gay
Less than a year after Dan DiDio indicated that DC Comics wouldn’t alter the sexual orientations of existing characters in the New 52, the co-publisher revealed Saturday at the Kapow! Comic Convention in London that he’s changed his position.
When asked by a fan during a convention panel why race or age could be changed in the relaunch but not sexual orientation, Bleeding Cool reports DiDio responded that a previously established heterosexual character will be reintroduced as “one of our most prominent gay characters.” Bob Wayne, senior vice president of sales, added that like President Obama, DiDio’s stance “has evolved.”
- May 21, 2012 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
What Are You Reading? with Austin English
Hot Dog Beach
Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly rundown of what comics and other stuff we’ve been checking out recently. Today our special guest is cartoonist Austin English, creator of the graphic novel Christina and Charles and publisher of Domino Books.
To see what Austin and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.
- May 20, 2012 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Princeless leads 2012 Glyph Comics Awards
Princeless, the all-ages comic about a princess who’s tired of waiting to be rescued, led the 2012 Glyph Comics Awards, taking home honors for story of the year, best writer and best female character. The awards, which recognize “the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year,” were presented this weekend at the 11th annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention in Philadelphia.
The winners are:
Story of the year: Princeless, by Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin (Action Lab Entertainment)
Best writer: Jeremy Whitley, Princeless (Action Lab Entertainment)
Best artist: Sara Pichelli, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (Marvel)
Best cover: Chew #27, Rob Guillory (Image Comics)
Best male character: Miles Morales, Ultimate Spider-Man; Brian Michael Bendis, writer, Sara Pichelli, artist; inspired by the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (Marvel)
Best female character: Adrienne, Princeless; created by Jeremy Whitley, writer, and M. Goodwin, artist (Action Lab Entertianment)
Rising star award for best self-publisher: Whit Taylor, Watermelon
Best comic strip or webcomic: Fungus Grotto, by Ms. Shatia Hamilton
- May 20, 2012 @ 05:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Chain Reactions | Mystery in Space #1
Mystery in Space
Vertigo has produced a number of one-shots that harken back to various DC anthologies of yesterday, dusting off titles like Strange Adventures and The Unexpected and giving them a modern Vertigo flavor. The latest is Mystery in Space, which includes sci-fi stories by creators like Mike Allred, Kyle Baker, Ann Nocenti, Ming Doyle, Andy Diggle, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Ramón F. Bachs and many more.
Like most anthologies, there are hits and misses. Here are some overall opinions on the collection; if you’re curious what people thought about each individual story, I recommend heading over to the reviews by Multiversity Comics, Martin Gray or Comics Bulletin.
Martin Gray, Too Dangerous for a Girl: “Mystery in Space #1 has a beautiful cover by Ryan Sook, evoking celestial wonder. As for the rest of the book, the only wonder is that someone thought it was fit to publish as a $7.99, 80pp giant. For while the revived Silver Age one-off hosts a few decently written and drawn stories with an intriguing idea or two, much of the material proved a slog to get through.”
Jason Clyna, Broken Frontier: “Vertigo’s new Mystery in Space anthology is so much more than a loose collection of stories. Several of these unconnected tales boggle the mind, break the laws of physics, and challenge humanity’s concept of reality. Over the course of more than 70 consistently gorgeous pages, Duane Swierczynski, Michael Allred, Andy Diggle, and many more tell their own short stories that will satisfy fans of both science fiction and quality storytelling.”
- May 19, 2012 @ 06:00 PM by JK Parkin
John Allison creates a comic cookbook in Bad Machinery
I woke up this morning to a breakthrough on my RSS reader. Bad Machinery cartoonist John Allison has defined for me a new kind of comic: a cookbook comic (or would it be comic cookbook?). Although not the first to do it, Allison’s most recent Bad Machinery strip boils it down (pardon the pun) into an easy-to-digest (pardon the other pun) form.
- May 18, 2012 @ 03:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Michael Lunsford steps out with Eilis of the Underground
Although I don’t have the figures to back it up, I’d imagine there’s more new titles released each week in webcomics than in traditional print comics. And you can add one more promising entry to your pullbox/RSS Feed: Michael Lunsford’s Eilis of the Underground.
Launched Thursday, Eilis of the Underground follows a young woman with elvish ears named Eilis who’s trying to carve out a life for herself as part of an underclass living in a world where green-skinned horned people rule the roost.
Just one page has been released so far, depicting Eilis posting up flyers in the old wheat-paste fashion looking for work as a private investigator. It seems to be setting itself up as an interesting fantasy version of the mid-’90s movie White Man’s Burden, showing a fair-skinned person on the unusual side of being persecuted for her race.
Lunsford is no webcomics newcomer. Since 2009 he’s been doing the twice-weekly series Supernormal Step, which is worth checking out. In it, a young woman named Fiona is transported to a weird alternate Earth with magic, monsters and futuristic technology. It’s like a supernatural sitcom, with an unlimited creature effects budget.
- May 18, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Arrant
World War 3 Illustrated tackles censorship, from Comics Code to Wikileaks
Anthologies are an overlooked lot in comics, and one of the most overlooked is the long-running World War 3 Illustrated. I myself have fallen victim to having a blind spot for the series, but the solicitation in the most recent Previews catalog drew my attention.
Scheduled to ship in July, World War 3 Illustrated #43 focuses on the subject of censorship — an all-too-current subject in the larger world of comics. Subtitled “Expression/Repression/Revolution,” this issue features cartoonists who may not be all that familiar to our readers. The best-known name is Peter Kuper, who’s joined by the likes of Mike Diana, Gianlucca Costantini and others to do stories about Occupy Wall Street, Wikileaks, the Comics Code Authority and more.
World War 3 Illustrated is a different kind of comic than what most people expect, akin to magazines like Maximumrocknroll, 2600: The Hacker Quarterly and Adbusters. Definitely an overlooked facet of comics, and something many comic stores don’t even stock. If your comic shop doesn’t, you can order World War 3 Illustrated #43 directly from the publisher, Top Shelf.
- May 18, 2012 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Quote of the day | Advice from Dr. Neil Gaiman: ‘Make good art’
“Remember, whatever discipline you’re in, whether you’re a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a singer, a designer — whatever you do, you have one thing that’s unique: You have the ability to make art. And for me, and for so many of the people I’ve known, that’s been a lifesaver, the ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times, and it gets you through … the other ones. Sometimes life is hard. Things go wrong — in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, eventually time will take the sting away, and that doesn’t even matter. Do what only you can do best: Make good art. Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days, too.”
– Neil Gaiman, in his commencement address to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he was bestowed with an honorary doctorate in fine arts (watch the full speech below)
- May 18, 2012 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
And baby makes three: Love and Capes returns this summer
Love and Capes
The most recent Love and Capes miniseries ended with the two main characters, newlyweds Abby and Mark, finding out that they were expecting. I remember it pretty well because I read it the same week I got to see the sonogram that told us we were having a boy, therefore I say with all the sappiness implied in such a statement that it’ll always be one of those comics I remember when and where I read it, and I will treasure it forever because of it.
So the subject of Thom Zahler‘s next Love and Capes, subtitled “What to Expect,” is one that I can really identify with, as the characters go through the process of trying to pick a name. (Actually, once we knew we were having a boy, the name came really easy).
“I’m thrilled to be able to tell another chapter in Mark and Abby’s adventures. And there’s no greater adventure than parenthood,” Zahler said. “Except, of course, for a fight for existence itself against an all-consuming galactic threat, and this book isn’t about that. Well, probably not. Fifty-fifty, tops.”
- May 18, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Robot 6 Preview | Ed Piskor’s Wizzywig
Wizzywig
Courtesy of the fine folks at Top Shelf Productions, we are pleased to bring you a preview of Ed Piskor’s latest graphic novel, Wizzywig.
Wizzywig is the story of Kevin “Boingthump” Phenicle, a precocious child who grows up to be one of the most notorious computer hackers in America. An orphan raised by his grandmother, Kevin is a lonely, socially awkward child who, apart from his sole friend Winston, can only count on his skills with computers and breaking into the “Ma Bell” telephone system for solace and entertainment. As he grows older his pranks get more daring, more dangerous and attract the attention of the federal government, which in turn finds him a fugitive on the run. Culled from true stories of real-life hackers, Wizzywig follows not just Kevin’s development from computer geek to wanted man, but also follows the story of the Internet and personal computing itself, and how it changed from handheld, landline phones and 14K modems to social networks and instantaneous communication.
Wizzywig comes out in stores in July. Check out the preview as well as a short promotional video about the book, below.
- May 18, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Comics A.M. | Exhausted, Stan Lee cuts short appearances
Stan Lee
Creators | Stan Lee will cut his visit to this weekend’s Dallas Comic-Con short and has canceled his appearance at Monday’s Hero Complex Film Festival. A spokesman for POW! Entertainment said Lee, 89, is distraught and depressed after the death of Arthur Lieberman, one of his business associates at POW!, and is also fatigued after multiple appearances promoting The Avengers. Lee will appear Saturday at the Dallas Comic-Con, but not on Sunday. [Hero Complex]
Publishing | Todd Allen notes that DC Comics has dropped some titles from its subscription service, including Aquaman, Batwoman and Swamp Thing. The move seems to be motivated by low sales in that channel, and Allen takes that as evidence DC is being cost-conscious. They are offering substitute series to subscribers, but it’s not clear what the logic is behind the substitutions. DC has also just launched a web store that sells lots of merch and a handful of graphic novels. [The Beat]
- May 18, 2012 @ 08:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Before Watchmen is ‘a love letter’ to Moore’s creation, Dan DiDio says
Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1 variant cover by Jim Lee
Just as the initial reviews of Before Watchmen begin to trickle in, DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio takes to The Guardian to defend the sprawling prequel, which he calls “a love letter” to the seminal 1986 miniseries by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, and to respond to the writer’s scorching criticism of the project as “completely shameless.”
“Honestly I can understand why he might feel the way he does because this is a personal project to him,” DiDio tells the U.K. newspaper. “He has such a long and illustrious career and he’s been able to stand behind the body of work he’s created. But quite honestly the idea of something shameless is a little silly, primarily because I let the material speak for itself and the quality of the material speak for itself.”
He reiterates that DC won’t “shy away from the controversy on this – as a matter of fact we’re embracing it because we have belief in the strength of the product and stand behind it.”
DiDio also dismisses assertions by Moore that DC is “still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago,” saying that, “all the characters in all the universes and all that we do in comics, we’re constantly building on other people’s lores and legends. [...] Realistically some of Alan’s strongest works at DC outside of Watchmen were built off of characters like Swamp Thing which was created by Len Wein, Superman, Batman, so many of our great characters he’s worked on and they helped build his career.”
- May 18, 2012 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Conan artist Ernie Chan passes away at age 71
Veteran artist Ernie Chan, perhaps best remembered for his work in the 1970s on Batman and Conan the Barbarian, passed away Wednesday at age 71. According to cartoonist Gerry Alanguilan, Chan recently had been diagnosed with cancer. His death follows that of fellow Filipino artist Tony DeZuniga last week.
“It’s sad to lose one, but it’s truly crushing to lose so many in such a short amount of time,” Alanguilan wrote on his website. “But Mang Ernie lived a full life. He had accomplished a lot. There was a point in time that he was one of the hottest artists working comics. DC wouldn’t give you the honor of drawing so many cover on their mainstream titles if you weren’t so well regarded. He deserves to be remembered and recognized as someone who contributed positively to the image of Filipinos and their talents worldwide.”
Born July 27, 1940, as Ernesto Chua in the Philippines, he legally changed his last name to Chan after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1976. Chan broke into American comics in the early 1970s drawing short stories for DC Comics’ Ghosts mystery/suspense series before beginning a nearly two-year stint on Batman in 1975 while also penciling Claw the Unconquered and Detective Comics. Under the name Chua, he also served as the publisher’s primary cover artist from about 1975 to 1976.
Moving to Marvel in the late ’70s, he illustrated such titles as Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Destroyer, Power Man and Iron Fist, and inked Sal Buscema’s pencils on The Incredible Hulk.
Chan shifted into animation and the 1990s before retiring in 2002. Funeral services will be held Monday in Oakland, California.
Related: Greg Hatcher showcases some of Chan’s work at Comics Should Be Good.
- May 18, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose