The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that we don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Batwoman is still awesome!” every month. And we’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

One cool change this month and for the foreseeable future: I’m joined by Graeme McMillan who’ll also be pointing out his favorites.

Finally, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell us what we missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Abrams Comicarts

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist – I admit, I tend to run hot and cold on Clowes’ output, but I’m a sucker for coffee-table career retrospectives, so the idea of taking 224 pages to look back at his career to date (with, of course, the traditional little-seen artwork and commentary) seems like a must-look at the very least. [Graeme]

Abstract Studios

Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death – Terry Moore’s latest series gets its first collection and I love the premise of a woman’s waking up in a shallow grave with no memory of how she got there and needing to figure out who tried to kill to her. [Michael]

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

Arcana

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom – I don’t know enough about Lovecraft, but man I love me some undersea kingdoms. [Michael]

Archaia

Cow Boy – As much as I don’t want to stick writer Nate Cosby in an all-ages box, I’m eager to read his and Chris Eliopoulos’ story of a kid bounty hunter trying to bring in his family of outlaws. [Michael]

If nothing else, Nate Cosby’s Twitter feed made me curious about checking out his western collaboration with Eliopoulos, but finding out that Roger Langridge and Colleen Coover were also contributing pushed me over the edge. [Graeme]

I’m Not A Plastic Bag – Color me skeptical but hopeful about Rachel Hope Allison’s ecological debut, even if that title makes me a little nervous. [Graeme]

Archie

Archie #631 – Picks up on that story where Archie and Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats hook up. Look, Archie’s going nowhere with either Betty or Veronica, so I’m rooting for the furry. [Michael]

Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 #1 – At first, finding out that this comic was actually by Tony Blake and Alex Saviuk without Lee was a letdown; until I found out that the comic is actually about Stan Lee, which pushes it into the “This will either be horrendous or bizarrely enjoyable” category. [Graeme]

I’m not sure that I’ve ever unreservedly enjoyed a comic that Stan Lee wrote, much less just came up with the idea for, but I love his persona and putting him in the comic with some superheroes is so crazy it just might work. [Michael]

Crossed: Badlands #1

Avatar Press

Crossed: Badlands #1 and 2 – I’m definitely not a horror fan, but the idea of Garth Ennis’ writing an ongoing biweekly series feels like it’s as good a lure to get me to pick this up as anything else. (I think the plan is to have creators alternate on arcs, with Si Spurrier and David Lapham as part of the alternate writers on the book. That’s a pretty impressive line-up.) [Graeme]

Boom!

Exile on the Planet of the Apes #1 – I’m all for another Planet of the Apes comic from Boom!. [Michael]

More Apes by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (art by Marc Laming)? This can only be a good thing. [Graeme]

Supurbia #1 – I feel like we’ve seen a few of these “what if superheroes and reality shows were mashed together?” series, but here’s the first of four issues of another one written by former Marvel staffer Grace Randolph. [Graeme]

Kitchen Sink Press: The First 25 Years – Remember what I said about being a sucker for coffee table retrospectives above? That goes double for this one, which has the added benefits of being both cheap (only $15!) and having contributions from Alan Moore and other creators from Denis Kitchen’s vast address book. [Graeme]

Dark Horse

BPRD: Hell on Earth – The Pickens County Horror #1 – I’m all for new BPRD comics, but it’s getting more and more difficult to keep track of everything. Still, I’ll buy a Scott Allie Mignolaverse story any day. [Michael]

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories - Abe’s my favorite BPRD character, so I feel like this the way I do the previous item: grateful, but also a little saturated. [Michael]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Volume 1 – The first ten issues – or two trades, if that’s how your brain works – of the Joss Whedon-led series get an oversized hardcover edition. [Graeme]

Channel Zero – Brian Wood’s breakthrough book comes back into print with this collection of the original series, the Becky Cloonan-illustrated follow-up and material from the awesome Public Domain design book. Jonathan Hickman fans, you should really pick this up. [Graeme]

Manara Erotica, Vol. 1: Click! and Other Stories – Yes, it’s comic porn. But unlike Lost Girls, this is actually sexy comic porn. [Graeme]

Ragemoor #1 – If they hadn’t got me with Richard Corben, they certainly would have with “living castle nurtured on pagan blood.” [Michael]

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Volume 2 – The Promise, Part 2 – Yikes, what a title. I’m still missing Avatar: The Last Airbender though, so this is welcome. [Michael]

Empowered, Volume 7 – Why haven’t I started reading this critical darling yet? I do not know. [Michael]

DC

Batman: Death by Design - Chip Kidd’s writing a Batman book and it’s a real-live, honest-to-goodness superhero adventure. What’s more awesome is that the concept of design plays a large role in the story in the form of a massive reconstruction project in Gotham City. [Michael]

Saucer Country #1

Saucer Country #1 – Paul Cornell + Ryan Kelly + saucer aliens = SOLD. [Michael]

Fairest #1 – Bill Willingham launches a new series about the women of Fables and makes me even less interested in everyone else’s modern updates of fairy tales. [Michael]

New Deadwardians #1 – The solicit opens, “Another vampire/zombie comic? Really, Vertigo?” My sentiments exactly and yet, this one’s illustrated by INJ Culbard whose work I’ve loved on the Sherlock Holmes adaptations he’s done with Ian Edginton. [Michael]

Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child #1 – It would be redundant to mention that the cover to this is both “striking” and “by Rafael Grampá,” so I’ll just mention the concept, which is also eye-catching. It’s the story of a grad student who also happens to be heir to the Voodoo Queenship of the most haunted city in America, and someone is killing off the royal family. Vertigo was created for stuff like this. [Michael]

Dynamite

Bionic Woman #1 – I had the deepest crush on Jaime Sommers as an 11-year-old. My current crush on Paul Tobin’s writing is slightly less deep, but still significant enough to make me want to read this. [Michael]

I’ve been following Dynamite’s Bionic Man series and surprising myself by digging the hell out’ve it; seeing that this spin-off is being written by the insanely-underrated Paul Tobin was all I needed to convince me to read this. [Graeme]

George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 – For the fantasy fan (or HBO subscriber) in your life, here’s the first quarter of Dynamite’s adaptation of the not-so-cult-anymore novel. [Graeme]

Vampirella: The Red Room #1

Vampirella: The Red Room #1: On the one hand, it’s “monster vs. human cage matches.” On the other, it’s written by Dan Brereton, so it’s probably going to be good fun… [Graeme]

Fantagraphics

Angelman – I’ve not read much by Austrian cartoonist Nicolas Mahler, but I think I’m won over just by the idea of his new book, which satirizes not just superheroes, but the business behind them. [Graeme]

Interiorae – Lovely, lovely art by Gabriella Giandelli in this collection of his Ignatz series. (It’s also in full-color, unlike the original serialization, which is another win.) [Graeme]

I don’t know why it’s taken this long for Fantagraphics to collect the comics that got their cool Ignatz format a few years ago, but I’ll shut up and be grateful. I greatly enjoyed Giandelli’s creepy tale of an apartment building, its residents, the large rabbit who roams its halls, and the creature the rabbit seems to serve. What’s also exciting though is that this means Richard Sala’s Delphine will get a collection too. [Michael]

Humanoids

Monsieur Jean: The Singles Theory – So, so excited for this new book by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian, making its English language debut in this edition. [Graeme]

IDW

Berkeley Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Collection Sunday Comics, 1989-1995 – The star of this collection of Breathed’s Bloom County follow-up isn’t the title strip, but the reprints of his early, college-era work that’ll accompany them. [Graeme]

Funny Stuff

Funny Stuff By Frank Frazetta – It makes me a bad nerd to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Frazetta’s legendary early comics work, so I’m pretty excited for this oversized hardcover collection, especially to see just how much he… homaged other, more famous strips. [Graeme]

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 – Featuring work by Stan Sakai, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, and Sandy Plunkett. Plus covers and pin-ups by Dave Stevens, Darwyn Cooke, and Art Adams. [Michael]

The first series of anthology tributes to Dave Stevens and his retro creation worked so much more than I’d expected, so I’m definitely up for a second go-’round. [Graeme]

Smoke And Mirrors #1: Mike Costa’s been winning me over every month with his Cobra series, so I’m looking forward to this creator-owned book he’s co-writing about a stage magician who gets trapped in a world where magic has taken the place of science. [Graeme]

Star Trek, Volume 1 – Dear all fellow Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever you want to call yourselves: If you liked the original TV show and also the JJ Abrams movie reboot, you owe it to yourself to check out this monthly series, so grab this collection of the first issues and dig in. [Graeme]

Will Eisner’s The Spirit: Artist’s Edition – Of all the IDW “Artists Edition” books to date, this is the one that just feels like a must-have. Eisner’s Spirit pages as they appeared on his drafting table? I cannot wait to see these. [Graeme]

IDW probably explained the “Artist’s Edition” concept before and I just wasn’t paying attention, but I am now and I finally get why it’s cool to have COLOR scans of original-size black-and-white art so you can see blue pencils, art corrections, editorial notes, and stuff like that. Especially for someone as legendary as Will Eisner.  [Michael]

Saga

Image

Saga #1 – New Brian K. Vaughan. Does anything else need to be said? Oh, alright: FIona Staples on art. Seriously, you guys. [Graeme]

I’d buy a Fiona Staple fantasy epic anyway. That Brian K Vaughan is writing it makes me sigh like a Belieber. [Michael]

Hell Yeah #1: There’s something weirdly fitting about reading a series about the generation who’s grown up with super-heroes that’s created by someone like Joe Keatinge, who’s been around in comics for a long time, and Andre Szymanowicz’ art looks good as well… [Graeme]

The Manhattan Projects #1 – Jonathan Hickman returns to indie roots with the true story behind the atomic bomb. Turns out, Oppenheimer created this rocket ship, but forgot to shield it against cosmic rays… [Graeme]

Mad scientists! By Jonathan Hickman! [Michael]

’68, Volume 1: Better Run Through the Jungle – Mark Kidwell, Nat Jones, and Jay Fotos’ Vietnam War/zombie series is collected. [Michael]

The Walking Dead: Cutting Room Floor – I’m very, very curious about this collection of Robert Kirkman’s handwritten notes about the creation of his hit series. It sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But it could very well be awesome… [Graeme]

Marvel

Avengers Academy #27 – Guest-starring the Runaways, ya’ll! And Bruiser’s totally punching Mettle cross-eyed on the cover. [Michael]

Savage Beauty

Moonstone

Savage Beauty Limited Edition Hardcover – I’m really curious to see how Mike Bullock’s contemporary, political jungle-girl story turns out. [Michael]

Oni

The Coldest City - If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy taught me anything, it’s that I’m really not done with Cold War spy stories just yet. This one’s set in Berlin, which is even cooler. [Michael]

I’ve already read this one in galley format, and it is really, really good for those who like the spy stuff (Queen and Country fans, it’s written by Antony Johnston, so you know that it’s great; the art by Sam Hart follows Steve Yeowell’s lead from his early Zenith days, and for those who know my love for that series, there are few higher compliments I can offer). [Graeme]

The Secret History of DB Cooper #1 – Beyond “colorful weirdness and conspiracy-laden Americana,” I have no idea what to expect from Brian Churilla’s new series, and that just makes me look forward to it all the more. [Graeme]

I can’t wait to find out once and for all if Mr James is Doobie Keebler. [Michael]

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures

Red 5

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #1 – Eep! An Atomic Robo anthology! Great news for a series whose back-up stories have always been just as entertaining as its lead feature. [Michael]

Atomic Robo returns with an all-new ongoing series?!? Surely this means that Christmas is either not over, or coming early or… well, you know what I mean. Good stuff. [Graeme]

Top Shelf

Blue – I’ve never heard of Pat Grant, the creator of this OGN, but Craig Thompson calls him “the Australian Mark Twain,” which is good enough for me. [Graeme]

Zenescope

The Jungle Book #1: Zenescope get around to “updating” the classic and well-loved story, which is more than likely going to mean adding more cleavage than you would’ve thought appropriate. Welcome to the year 20BOOB, everyone. [Graeme]

from Matthew Petz

It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re winding down here at Robot 6 to go spend time with family and friends. Before heading off to celebrate, though, you’ll find a collection of holiday-themed links after the jump, along with this year’s collection of holiday cards we received.

On behalf of all of Robot 6, have a great holiday and stay safe. We’ll see you next week.

(Above: a Christmas showdown by Matthew Petz)

*****

Stories | Cullen Bunn offers a four-part Sixth Gun Christmas tale on his website.

Stories | J.M. DeMatteis shares a Christmas tale, “The Truth about Santa Claus.”

Webcomics | Mike Maihack presents one final Batgirl/Supergirl comic, this one with a holiday theme.

Webcomics | Jon Adams has a Santa comic only he could offer.

Webcomics | Mike Hawthorne’s Raising Crazy has several holiday-themed comics up right now.

Classics remixed | Medium Large offers some alternate takes on A Christmas Carol.

Classics remixed | John Martz and Graham Roumieu update various Christmas specials for the modern era.

Nightmare style | Dan Hipp pits Tintin against Jack Skellington.

Faux comics | Chris Sims and Kerry Callen give us a glimpse at a comic that never was–The Santa Squad.

Holiday art | Anthony Vukojevich redraws the Glory and Friends Christmas Special cover from back in the day.

Holiday art | Brendan Tobin corners Christmas Spider-Man.

Good cause | Ross Campbell shares a Shadoweyes drawing he did for a multi-artist snowball fight for Comic Creators For Freedom.

Podcasts | Timothy Callahan and Chad Nevett’s Splash Page returns for a special holiday episode.

Music | Fred has the yearly Venture Bros. holiday single available for download.

Holiday cards:

from DC Comics

from James Turner

from Dark Horse Comics

from Tyler James

from Archaia (outside)

from Archaia (inside)

from Ilias Kyriaszis

from Dean Haspiel

from Devastator

from Arcana

from Kevin Colden

from Broken Frontier

from Neil Kleid

You can find more cards out on the web, from Atomic Robo, the Perhapanauts team, Jeff Lemire and a whole bunch of Marvel-themed cards from Agent M.

Here’s a video holiday greeting from Akira the Don:

Have a great holiday!

Last year, around this time, a Christmas comic caught my eye: Scrooge and Santa, by Matthew Wilson and Josh Kenfield. I liked it a lot—it mashes up a lot of Christmas traditions but still has a fairly original story, and the kinetic art made me think of an animated cartoon. So this year, I fired off some questions for Wilson and Kenfield about their story—which is back in comics stores this week, just in time for Christmas.

Robot 6: What was your favorite Christmas special (or movie or book) when you were a kid? (I see a lot of shout-outs to It’s a Wonderful Life—was that one of your favorites?)

Matt: Definitely It’s a Wonderful Life! It’s not only my favorite Christmas movie, but one of my favorite movies of all time. I love the honesty. It’s known as a feel-good movie, but people forget how dark it is. George Bailey spends most of the movie frustrated and angry. His life is so hard and difficult that he’s ready to kill himself.  But in the end, when all his family and friends show him the impact a lifetime of doing the right thing has made, that joy is real and the feel-good moment is earned. That’s something I hoped to do with Scrooge and Santa, give everyone a feel-good Christmas moment without cheating and manipulating emotions.

Josh: My long time favorite Christmas movie is a balance between 1985′s Santa Claus: The Movie (at least the first half) and Ernest Saves Christmas. Favorite Christmas TV special is definitely A Muppet Family Christmas (1987). Favorite book is a fight between Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas (illustrated by Douglas Gorsline) and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker (illustrated by Maurice Sendak). As for the visual references in the book, I came up with them as I was drawing out the comic, looking for any spot where I could squeeze them in without too much distraction.
 

Robot 6: I have seen a lot of Christmas mashups, but never Scrooge and Santa before. How did you come up with this odd pairing?

Matt: It started with the title. I was watching Christmas movies at home with my family, and thinking that as much as I love them, they’re all the same. They’re either one of the classics (It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th St, etc.) or an imitation of one of the classics. I started exploring Christmas ideas that would be new, but would still fit in the same world of Christmas folklore we know and love. So I thought about new stories for George Bailey, or Scrooge, or Santa. And then one day I found myself writing down the title – “Scrooge and Santa.”  And then the creative juices started flowing.  The guy who hates Christmas and the guy who is Christmas.  What if they had to team up?  Conflict galore!
 
Robot 6: How did you deal with the challenge of writing a fresh story about such iconic characters?

Matt: I always had “What if?” ideas about all my favorite Christmas stories. What if George Bailey got what he wanted and became rich? What if Scrooge lost all he had and became poor? What if Santa discovered nice children could become naughty adults? In most Christmas stories, they take iconic Christmas characters and put them in the exact same circumstances we’ve always seen them. I wanted to put them in new circumstances and explore how these character choices we’re used to seeing (right over wrong, people over money) would be affected by new challenges.

I also wanted to challenge the expectation people normally have with a Scrooge story, and make them wonder if Scrooge might actually be right. This is why I took so much time early in the story to have Scrooge rebuke the ghosts and prove to them (and us) that it’s better to have money. It’s as if Scrooge, like all of us, has heard the Christmas Carol story many times before and is not convinced. I think we all can recognize that even though we smile and nod when we read A Christmas Carol, that is not how we actually live. Something deep within us is unwilling to let go and be unselfish, particularly when it comes to money. But also deep within us is a belief that unselfishness is the right thing to do. Scrooge’s journey in this story is an exploration of that conflict. 

Robot 6: Santa is usually a pure good guy in Christmas specials, but yours has a bit of a dark side—he doesn’t just bring presents to the good girls and boys, he tells some adults why he didn’t bring them presents when they were kids. Why did you go there?

Matt: Even though the story is a fantasy, I still wanted it to be “true.” “True,” meaning it feels true to life and the way of the world, so that we’re experiencing something more meaningful than snow and Christmas lights. Santa is normally pure good, but that’s because he lives in the North Pole making toys with happy elves and doesn’t see the real world. If he were to go out there, he would find many of the nice children he knew were now naughty adults. Some of the saddest people in the world are those whose children have done wrong and disappointed them. Santa experiences this, and it hurts. But what gives him hope in the end is the change in Scrooge, because the reality is that while people can change for the worse, they can also change for the better.
 
Robot 6: Similarly, Tim Cratchit is not physically disabled but he is a holy terror—you imply it’s because of some undiagnosed condition. Why did you decide to change that?
 
Matt: I wanted Tim to be worse because of how it would affect Bonnie. If he’s just a cute sick kid we think “The poor child!” But if he’s a crazy bad kid we think “The poor mother!” Bonnie is often overlooked but in my mind she’s the strongest. She has the worst circumstances. The worst boss and the worst child. And yet she sucks it up and smiles, repaying hate and abuse with love and kindness. And this does not come from naivety. Unlike Santa, she understands the harsh reality of the world, but she has a joy that the toughest circumstances of life can’t defeat. It is the power of her joy that ultimately inspires Scrooge to change his ways.

Robot 6: I particularly like look of the Ghost of Christmas Present. What was the inspiration for that character design?

Josh: That was a tough one to figure out. He went through dozens of variations. The Ghost wears a present day suit to show that he’s “current” but his head and hands float separately to show that he’s not part of the clothes.  The head shape was the result of an evolution of heads, inspired by a burning flame and a cornucopia, which the Ghost bears in the original Christmas Carol. 
 
Robot 6: This is a very kinetic book—Scrooge in particular is always zooming around in some crazy device. How do you figure out the action sequences?

Josh: I took what Matt had written and tried to sum up the action steps visually, adding my own twists whenever I could.

Matt: Josh is not giving himself enough credit here so I am going to elaborate. I had no experience in comics. I knew animation and film, so I came up with the wildest toys and action sequences I could think of for Scrooge, keeping in mind that he is an overgrown child who never learned to share. It was on Josh to make it all read visually as a series of panels. Josh knew comics well, so I entrusted all the layout decisions to him. Now that I’ve become more versed in the comics world, I realize how much extra work I made for Josh by writing so much action. But I think we ended up with some pretty great sequences because I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that.
 
Robot 6: Scrooge and Santa came out a year ago. Who do you think is buying it, and how do you market it?

Matt: For the last year, it’s only been available on Amazon and at conventions. Due to some distribution complications, it did not ship to stores in time for Christmas last year. And since it’s a seasonal book, we had to wait till this year to put it out again. But now it’s in stores, and I hope people react the same as what we’ve seen at the conventions. People start smiling as soon as they see the cover image, and when I pitch them the story they smile a little more. My favorite convention moment was when I was telling a few 10ish year old boys about the book, and then they came back later with their dads, wanting them to buy it. But the dads weren’t convinced so they said they’d keep looking. Every hour or so the boys would bring their dads back and ask them again to buy it. The third time, they finally caved and each bought a copy. That meant a lot to me, to know that these kids, after seeing the art and hearing the story, wanted the book so bad that they hounded their parents till they had it. 

I think the best marketing is word of mouth. People read it, like, and tell their friends. I’d much rather have a long slow process where buzz for the book is built honestly than make a splash with slick marketing and trick people into buying a book they won’t like.

We tried Internet marketing last year, where we posted banner ads pointing people to the book’s website but that didn’t help sales. Whereas at the conventions, where people are there because they want to buy new comics, we almost always sold out. I hope the same thing happens in the stores, that comics fans, young and old, who are searching for a new story (especially a new Christmas story) find our book and like it.
 
Robot 6: What are your plans for the future? Will there be a digital version?

Matt: We’re working on putting a movie together. A producer optioned it and I wrote the script. They’re starting the process of looking at directors, cast, budget, etc. It could take years, or it could happen tomorrow. The movie development process is so chaotic that it’s a miracle any movie gets made, let alone a good one. I’m hopeful, though. I think it could be a great movie.

I believe converting the book to digital is on Arcana’s “to do” list. They have a lot of books to do that for, though, so it may take awhile.

The Dare Detectives: The Snow Pea Plot

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Life with Archie is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Ape

Richie Rich Gems Winter Special - In addition to their modern-look Richie Rich, Ape has also re-introducied the classic version in both new and reprinted adventures. I missed the solicit for Richie Rich Gems #44 last month (which picked up where the Harvey series left off in 1982), but the series continues with not only the Winter Special, but #45 as well.

Arcana

Dragons vs Dinosaurs - I haven’t had great luck with Arcana’s books in the past, but c’mon. The title alone…

Hero Happy Hour: On the Rocks - This, on the other hand, is no risk at all. I’m a big fan of Dan Taylor and Chris Fason’s superhero bar stories and this is an all-new, 80-page adventure. Not reprints; not even a printed version of the webcomic. It’s all-new and I need it.

Archaia

The Dare Detectives: The Snow Pea Plot Collected Edition – Archaia prepares for their publishing Ben Caldwell’s Dare Detectives: The Kula Kola Caper by re-publishing the first story that was originally put out by Dark Horse.

Andie and the Alien

Archie

Archie #637 – The first installment of the “Archie Meets Kiss” story. Not quite as odd as Archie’s meeting the Punisher, but gettin’ close.

Bliss On Tap

Andie and the Alien - An alternate-history story in which an alien prevented Europeans from colonizing North America and how that affected WWII. That’s a harrowing premise and I’m eager to see how Philip and Brian Phillipson and Alex Niño (the team behind God the Dyslexic Dog) tackle it.

Boom!

Outcast #1 – Undead (but not Zombie) Conan. I can get behind that.

Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas - And my nine-year-old can get behind this. Just realized it’s written by Caleb Monroe too and that bodes well. I really liked his stuff on Hunter’s Fortune.

Dark Horse

The Strain #1 – Pandemic stories are too scary for me and zombies make me yawn, but this might just hit the sweet spot between the two.

Hellboy, Volume 12: The Storm and the Fury – The Death of Hellboy for trade-waiters.

Star Wars: Agent of the Empire – Iron Eclipse #1 – I don’t remember the last time I was interested in a Star Wars comic, but I’ve always supported the notion of using big, popular settings like that and Star Trek for other genres. James Bond in the Star Wars galaxy sounds kind of awesome just so long as it doesn’t turn into the same Empire vs. Rebels story I’ve already seen too many times.

Ningen's Nightmares

Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago, Volume 5 - Wrapping up the reprints of Marvel’s 107-issue Star Wars series. I have fond memories of a lot of those comics and have been waiting to read them all back-to-back.

Dark Horse Presents #7 – Another excellent lineup of talent from Neal Adams and Howard Chaykin to Mike Mignola and Eduardo Barreto.

Empowered: Deluxe Edition - Collecting the first three volumes (and some extra material) of the critically-acclaimed superhero spoof.

Ningen’s Nightmares - A warrior-monk fights bounty hunters, a witch, and her demon-samurai with art that reminds me a little of Mike Oeming’s.

DC

Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1 – Grant Morrison continues his popular, pre-New 52 Batman Incorporated story in this one-shot.

Ray #1 – Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Jamal Igle bring out the New 52′s Ray and make him fight giant monsters.

Catwoman, Volume 1 - Collecting the first issues of Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke’s much-loved time with the character.

Resurrection Man, Volume 1 - This was a fantastic series and deserving of a collection. It raises the question though: why isn’t there a New 52 Aztek comic?

Dynamite

Lord of the Jungle #1 – It’s been too damn long since we had a Tarzan comic. I just wish they didn’t feel the need to retell the origin story again.

Romeo and Juliet: The War

Voltron #1 – On the other hand, since I know nothing about Voltron (except that it’s about a giant robot, which is really all I need to know), I can do with a re-telling of the origin story on this one. So, yes, I’m a hypocrite.

1821

Romeo and Juliet: The War - Stan Lee turns my least-favorite Shakespeare play into a sci-fi fantasy with cyborgs and genetically enhanced humans. So torn.

Fantagraphics

Young Romance: The Best of Simon and Kirby’s 1940s – 1950s Romance Comics – Not only am I extremely curious from an historical standpoint, but damn it, sometimes you just wanna read about kissing.

Flannery O’Connor Cartoons - Growing up in the South like I did, Flannery O’Connor’s short stories were required reading. I had no idea she made comics too.

First Second

Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues - Sled dog soap opera! That’s so crazy it just might work.

Hermes

The Phantom: The Complete Series – The King Years – I really can’t seem to get enough Phantom.

The Hero Initiative

Justice League of America 100 Project - Great artists drawing great characters for an even greater cause.

Madman: 20th Anniversary Monster!

Humanoids

Before the Incal: Classic Collection – One of these days I’m going to get around to finally reading Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’ The Incal and when I do, I’m going to include this prequel.

Muse – Terry Dodson draws the story of a beautiful (it’s Dodson; how could she not be?) governess to a mysterious family.

IDW

Memorial #1 – Magic shops are great settings for stories, but I rarely read one that lives up to my hopes for it. Maybe this one about an amnesiac girl (another favorite concept of mine, Starfire notwithstanding) will do the trick.

Magic: The Gathering #1 – I still get a little angry over the concept of a game where the advantage goes to the person most willing to spend a bunch of money on it (yeah, I’m looking at you too, baseball), but the art on the Magic cards did a great job of suggesting a cohesive world, even if I didn’t understand anything about it as I was playing. I’m hoping that this series can flesh out that suggestion while also telling a good story.

Curious Cases of Sherlock Holmes – I’m a big fan of Gary Reed and Guy Davis’ alternate universe Holmes in Honour Among Punks, so I’m pretty excited by the prospect of Reed’s doing a comics anthology of the “real” Holmes teaming up with and/or fighting Dr. Jekyll, the Phantom of the Opera, Oscar Wilde, and Toulouse Lautrec.

Image

Madman: 20th Anniversary Monster! - Madman’s already cool. He doesn’t need Peter Bagge, Kyle Baker, Peter Milligan, Darwyn  Cooke, Dean Haspiel, Los Bros Hernandez, Erik Larsen, David Mack, Mike Oeming, Paul Pope, Eric Powell, Frank Quitely, Steven T Seagle, Jeff Smith, Craig Thompson, Matt Wagner, and others to make him cooler. But he’s got them anyway.

Polly and the Pirates, Volume 2: Mystery of the Dragonfish

Last Battle - Dan Brereton does the art on this Rome vs barbarians one-shot.

Marvel

Defenders #1 – I wish this had Green She-Hulk in it instead of Red (and also that it had Valkyrie and maybe Hellcat), but it’s still a revival that’s past due.

X-Club #1 – The X-Men’s Science Team was always a cool idea and deserves a shot at its own series, but I’m kind of scratching my head over why Beast isn’t in this. Apparently it’s Second-Guess Marvel Team Lineups day.

Moonstone

Captain Action: The Complete Adventures – Including both Fabian Nicieza and Steven Grant’s runs on the series. Over 400 pages for less than $30. I’ll take that Action. (Sorry.)

NBM

Inner Sanctum – I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a single episode of Inner Sanctum, but I always get a thrill of recognition when I hear the title thanks to Bill Cosby’s name-dropping it in his “Chicken Heart” story. Anyway, if you’re going to do a horror anthology, you could do much, much worse than have it inspired by Inner Sanctum and completely created by Ernie Colón.

Oni

Polly and the Pirates, Volume 2: Mystery of the Dragonfish – Have I only been waiting six years for this? Feels like sixty. Volume 1 was wonderful and I can’t fault Ted Naifeh for only writing this one when he got someone as awesome as Robbi Rodriguez to take his place on the art. The preview pages look amazing.

Spontaneous – The mini-series that combines Spontaneous Human Combustion with conspiracy theory gets its collection.

Th3rd World

The Intrepid Escapegoat – Guys, it’s a paranormal-investigating escape artist who’s a goat. You’re welcome.

Titan

The Complete Flash Gordon Library, Volume 1: On the Planet Mongo – I’m still not sure I understand the difference between this volume and IDW’s (except that IDW’s also includes Alex Raymond’s Jungle Jim comics), but I’m mentioning it just in case there is a difference that I don’t figure out until later. Seriously though: if someone knows, please explain it to me.

That’s it for me. What did I miss?

Brigid: The Broadcast was my introduction to your work, but I know you actually wrote Awakenings first, and actually self-published it with black-and-white art. Can you tell me the story of how that happened and how it worked?

Eric: Awakenings has been a long, long time coming. I think I wrote Awakenings about a year before Broadcast so it’s kind of crazy to see it hitting stands a year after Broadcast was released.

Basically, Awakenings came into existence because a friend introduced me to comics and I quickly decided I wanted to get involved as a creator. Most people are shocked to hear this, but I started writing Awakenings about a month after picking up my first comic. I fell in love with the medium that quickly and wanted to do something right away.

Anyway my friend and I were going to do it together but that fell through so I started looking online for an artist to bring on board. I eventually found an incredibly talented penciller in Gabe Pena, and the thing just kind of took off from there. I brought on an inker and a letterer and just slowly started to teach myself the business of comics publishing.

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the project wasn’t nearly enough to make up for the fact that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing as a publisher. Even though we had a book that was getting great reviews and moving a good number of units each month—I was barely making enough to pay the print bill let alone everyone I had promised page rates to. We put out four great issues, but I put myself in so much debt I had to shut down production. I had to move back in with my parents. It was … it was kind of a crazy time.

Brigid: What brought it to Arcana’s attention?

Eric: So at that point I was sitting on a story that was half finished. I couldn’t stand it. Everyone who read the book was really responding to the work, but I just didn’t have the means to keep putting it out. I put it on the back burner for a while to make sure everyone involved was getting what was owed to them, but I knew I was going to finish it eventually. Once my financial situation got a little stronger, I got everybody together again and we started publishing it on the web. It slowly developed this small yet really loyal following. Those guys would come by the site everyday and post positive comments about the series that really helped keep me motivated to see it through to the end. Anyway, Sean O’Reilly became a fan of the comic online and approached me about bringing it to Arcana and it just went from there.

Brigid: What inspired Awakenings, and what do you feel sets is apart from other supernatural-cop stories?

Eric: That’s a good question because there are a lot of supernatural stories floating around right now. I guess, for me, it always comes down to the characters.

When I wrote The Broadcast I wanted there to be a compelling story there even if you stripped all the War of the Worlds stuff away. It’s the same with Awakenings. If you take the horror elements away from this story, there’s still something there. It’s about a guy who’s been accused of killing his own son and how he deals with that accusation. It’s a little deeper than just your typical cop-on-the-run story.

Brigid: The book is about a detective who is suspected of killing his own child. How did you deal with writing about such an emotional subject?

Eric: It’s not easy! But that’s the only stuff worth writing about, right? And once you figure out what the heart of your story is, it gets a lot easier. It does kind of write itself. While Awakenings is about a guy on the run who’s looking to clear his name, it’s really just about a guy who wants to earn his wife’s trust. Even as the whole city is tracking him down, this guy just wants to make sure  his wife doesn’t believe what people are saying. With his son gone, he doesn’t care about anything else. He knows things aren’t going to end well for him, but he wants them to end knowing his wife still believes in him. It’s a very dark story, but there’s something kind of sweet about that.

Brigid: How has the book changed between the original version and what readers will see this week?

Eric: The only major change is that the book is now in color. New readers will get a chance to read the story in its entirety while old fans who didn’t catch up online will finally get a chance to see how this thing ends. Hopefully they’ll find it was worth the wait.

One of the books Arcana is bringing to the San Diego Comic-Con is SideShows by Erik Hendrix and Michael David Nelson. The graphic novel, set in Las Vegas in the 1950s, is about super-powered circus attractions who work for the mob. Hendrix was kind enough to send over a preview; check it out after the jump.

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Here’s a description: “In 1950′s Las Vegas, the mob enlisted former circus attractions as their aces in the hole. These SideShows had a little secret… they really did have the abilities they pretended to. The Rat Pack was in their prime, the bartenders knew your name, and the same guy who comped your rooms could put a hit on you for stiffing him a tip. High rollers, lounge singers, cigarettes, alcohol, and superpowers. Welcome to Las Vegas.”

Flashpoint

The San Diego Comic-Con kicks off with a preview night on July 20, then runs July 21-24. If you are a comics creator or publisher, and you’re planning to bring something new to the con — a sketchbook, a print, a graphic novel debut, anything! — then we want to hear from you. Drop me an email (before Wednesday!) and let me know if you’ll have something cool on hand that attendees should know about. Feel free to send any artwork as well.

In addition to the portfolio of DC relaunch covers I mentioned this past week, Graphitti Designs will also sell a variant cover edition of Flashpoint #1 at their booth during the show.

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Devastator

The crew from the humor anthology Devastator will be at booth L-05 in the Small Press Pavilion, where they’ll have their newest cat-themed issue. They’ll also have several of their contributors at the booth signing:

We’ve got some awesome stuff going on for our first year exhibiting in SDCC, including the most fun indie signings in Small Press. Meet some of our favorite headlining contributors, only at Comic-Con!

Thursday, July 21 @ 3 pm: Jon Schnepp
(Metalocalypse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force)

Friday, July 22 @ 3 pm: Jeffrey Brown
(Ignatz award-winning author of Clumsy, Funny Misshapen Body, Incredible Change Bots)

Saturday, July 23 @ 3 pm: James Urbaniak
(The Venture Bros., American Splendor)

Sunday, July 24 @ 3 pm: Becky Dreistadt
(Tiny Kitten Teeth, Tigerbuttah)

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Radical Comics will have variant covers, art prints and more:

In addition to the usual fare, Radical will be offering a selection of exclusives at this year’s SDCC. These special, limited edition items will include:

• Damaged #1, Leonardo Manco Painted Cover Variant
(Limited to 250 copies, only 50 available per day)
• The Last Days of American Crime SDCC Sketch Cover
(Limited to 500 copies, only 100 available per day)
• Damaged #1 Sketch Cover, SDCC Limited Edition
• Damaged #1 Virgin Cover with original sketch by Leonardo Manco
• Driver for the Dead, Time Bomb and The Last Days of American Crime trade paperbacks with mini SDCC-lithographs
• Hotwire Signed Hardcover
• Limited edition art print lithographs
• And more!

Only a set number of the first two exclusives will be available each day at Radical’s booth, #3735, so plan accordingly— when they’re gone, they’re gone!

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I listed Arcana’s exclusives a few days ago, and it looks like they’ve added another one — Becoming by Brook Burgess:

Becoming

Here’s more info, from Arcana:

Brook Burgess, creator of the animated epic, Broken Saints, is releasing his debut Arcana comic at San Diego Comic Con, starting on Wednesday, July 20th, where he will appear throughout the week alongside the artist of Becoming, Dane Cypel. Please refer to the updated signing schedule below for the latest signings.

Of his decision to work with Arcana, Brooke explains, “I was approached by Sean back in 2004, after finishing the original Flash motion comic Broken Saints and producing the 4-disc DVD upgrade of the series with Telefilm Canada. I had no idea there was such a prolific independent comic publisher in Canada, and was impressed with his savvy in developing original IP and packaging concepts for TV, film, and other media.”

At SDCC 2005, Brooke signed a deal with “20th Century Fox to distribute Broken Saints worldwide, which was an amazing opportunity. It was launched the following year in San Diego, and Sean was one of the first to swing by and offer congratulations and support! Arcana was growing by leaps and bounds by then, and I knew he had several feature films in development. I wanted to start writing a new story asap, but some other motion comic projects – Will Smith’s I Am Legend, and Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy – owned my life for the next year+.”

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And finally, the Hero Initiative will have all sorts of cool stuff going on at the show:

The Hero Initiative, the charitable organization dedicated to helping veteran comic creators in medical or financial need, is rolling into Comic-Con International: San Diego in a BIG way.

Hero will be at booth #5003 at the San Diego Con, July 20-24 at the San Diego Convention Center with a variety of great activities for attendees.

• Hero’s exclusive hardcover edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #41 will make its world premiere at San Diego! The limited edition of only 500 copies, with great and exclusive new art by comics legend John Romita, Sr., will be available at $35 a copy. Last year’s exclusive Guides FLEW out the door, so get to booth #5003 QUICKLY!

• San Diego is also the world premiere for Hero Comics 2011 from IDW Publishing and comics’ most beloved editor, Scott Dunbier. The new fundraising book features 32 pages of all-new material, including an exclusive “Elephantmen” story by Richard Starkings and Dougie Braithwaite, and a NEW “Chew” story from John Layman and Rob Guillory. But MOST importantly, Hero Comics reunites the original “Sandman” creative team of Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg and Sam Kieth for “My Last Landlady,” their first collaboration in more than 20 years! Hero Comics 2011 is available with covers by J. Scott Campbell or Adam Hughes at a mere $4. A small amount of Campbell sketch variants will be available for $8 each.

• Hero is your EXCLUSIVE conduit to get your books submitted under CGC’s prestigious Signature Series when signed by Dave Gibbons or Joe Quesada! See CGC’s Website or drop off at the CGC booth at San Diego NO later than Friday, July 22 to take advantage of this special, limited offer!

• Hero’s famous “fantasy camp” eBay auctions can get you private time with Joe Quesada, a sketch from Dave Gibbons, or secrets from the Fables team of Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham, all aboard Hero’s luxury yacht with some great food and drink, besides! Check out Hero’s eBay auctions to bid NOW!

• And of course, no convention is complete without a bountiful bevy of talented writers and artists parked at the Hero booth to sign autographs and do sketches. Check out your faves at these times:

WED., JUL 20 (con hours 530-900)

600-900: Scott “Kaiser” Koblish

THUR., JUL 21 (con hours 900-700)

930-1030: Bill Morrison
1030-1130: Jamal Igle
1130-130: Mark Buckingham
130-330: Albert Morales and Victor Olazaba
330-530: Tim Seeley
530-630: Roy Thomas

FRI., JUL 22 (con hours 900-700)

930-1130: Dan Jurgens
1130-1230: Jimmy Palmiotti
1230-130: Sage Michael
130-330: Tony Parker
330-430: Andy Smith
430-530: Frank Tieri
530-700: Kevin Eastman

SAT., JUL 23 (con hours 900-700)

1000-1100: Albert Morales and Victor Olazaba
1130-100: Kevin Eastman
200-330: Greg Pak
330-430: Andy Smith
430-530: Marv Wolfman
530-700: Ken Lashley

SUN., JUL 24 (con hours 900-500)

1000-1130: Alan Davis
1130-130: Albert Morales and Victor Olazaba
130-230: Sage Michael
330-430: Walt and Louise Simonson

Skullkickers

The San Diego Comic-Con runs kicks off with a preview night on July 20, then runs July 21-24. If you are a comics creator or publisher, and you’re planning to bring something new to the con — a sketchbook, a print, a graphic novel debut, anything! — then we want to hear from you. Drop me an email and let me know if you’ll have something cool on hand that attendees should know about. Feel free to send any artwork as well.

This time around we have panties from Pantheon (seriously), more Mimoco, word of an announcement by Dark Horse, plans for Viz and Arcana, several Hasbro exclusives and more. So let’s get to it …

Skullkickers creators Jim Zubkavich and Edwin Huang will be at the Image Comics booth #2729, selling hardcovers of the first volume of Skullkickers with an SDCC-exclusive cover. You can find more details here.

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by Craig Thompson

Pantheon Books will be at booth #1515, giving away MetaMaus buttons and … panties? They’ll also have the above poster by Craig Thompson, which he’ll be signing at the booth:

Pantheon Books will be at this year’s San Diego ComicCon (July 20-24), and we would love to see you there. We will be at Booth #1515.

We have two Pantheon authors joining us at ComicCon this year: Craig Thompson/HABIBI (onsale 9/20) and Chip Kidd/BAT MANGA!. Both will be appearing at our booth and on author panels.

Also, just a note that this year marks the 25th anniversary of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-Prize winning Maus, and in the fall Pantheon is publishing Spiegelman’s METAMAUS (onsale 10/4), a studied look at the genesis of Maus, accompanied by a DVD with never-before-seen panels, a home movie, and other objects relating to the original publication of Spiegelman’s groundbreaking original comic book. We will have METAMAUS buttons on hand for giveaway throughout the convention.

Finally, next spring, Pantheon’s sister imprint Schocken Books is publishing its first ever graphic novel: UNTERZAKHN (onsale 3/20/2012) by Leela Corman, a mesmerizing, heartbreaking story of immigrant life on New York’s Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century. In anticipation of this exciting release, we will be giving away women’s panties at the Pantheon booth, since, as some of you may know, the word “unterzakhn” is Yiddish for “underthings.”

Unterzakhn

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Previously I highlighted the Harley Quinn USB flash drive that Mimoco will have at the show. They’ve released more details about their plans, which also include SDCC-exclusive Flash Drives featuring Bossk, the reptilian bounty hunter from The Empire Strikes Back, and Emily the Strange:

They’ll also be hosting Emily the Strange creator Rob Reger, Harley Quinn voice actress Tara Strong and Billy Dee Williams, aka Lando Calrissian, at various times during the show. You can find all the details here.

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Viz sent out information on their booth activities, which include:

VIZ Media’s Booth (#2813) will be a hub of continual activity on the main show floor. The VIZ MANGA APP is the latest technological innovation for digital manga comics for the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Fans that drop by the booth and show the App installed on their Apple device will receive a special free tchotchkie as a ‘thank you’ from VIZ Media while supplies last.

Video game fans will also want to be sure to check out playable demos for Namco Bandai’s NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: ULTIMATE NINJA STORM GENERATIONS, which will be released in Spring 2012, and NIS America’s new BLEACH: SOUL RESSURRECCIÓN, launching in August 2011.

Sunday July 24th is Kid’s Day at the VIZ Media booth. Young and older fans alike are invited to pose for pictures with Kon from BLEACH, NARUTO (Classic Version), Edamame from MAMESHIBA, and more. Visitors can also attend screenings of Episode 1 of the new VOLTRON FORCE anime series and stay for special free VIZ Kids samplers and product giveaways.

Don’t miss other exclusive VIZ Media product giveaways during special times throughout the show (attendees should check the booth for a daily schedule). There will be free NARUTO ninja headbands and whisker tattoos, as well as MAMESHIBA headbands and the ever-popular VIZ Media convention tote bag. This year the tote commemorates VIZ Media’s 25th Anniversary. Don’t miss the chance to score this special convention exclusive!

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Dark Horse, meanwhile, is promoting an announcement that will be made at 7:30 p.m. on Preview Night, July 20::

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Arcana has two new books they’ll have at the show:

SideShows

Kade Art Book. Limited to 250 copies, Arcana’s seminal character, Kade, created by owner Sean Patrick O’Reilly is celebrated in style in a limited edition art book. Featuring an original cover by Tim Bradstreet (HELLRAISER, IRON MAN: THE RAPTURE) and including brand new artwork from talented artists such as Tim Seeley (HACK/SLASH), Brent Schoonover (HORRORWOOD), Greg Horn (THOR GOES HOLLYWOOD), Kevin Mellon (GEARHEAD), Ashley Wood (MYSTERY SOCIETY), Liam Sharp (GOD KILLERS), Ben Templesmith (30 DAYS OF NIGHT), Greg Titus (VAMPIRE HUNTRESS), and Whilce Portacio (UNCANNY X-MEN, WETWORKS). Don’t miss out on this limited title and your chance to see some of the industry’s top talent’s take on Kade, Arcana’s enigmatic warrior.

Sean Patrick O’Reilly says of the art book, “Kade is Arcana’s first comic and graphic novel, and we now have seven graphic novels in the library for the series. This comic book artbook looks back at some of the great talents that have worked on the series, and also showcases some never before seen artwork. Just some of the artists are Tim Bradstreet, Greg Horn, Bob Hall, Whilce Portacio and many of the talented artist at Cadence Comics.”

SideShows Launch Edition. Written by Erik Hendrix with art from
Michael David Nelsen, SideShows is an action-packed story of crime and powers set in 1950′s Las Vegas. It makes its debut at SDCC this year in an extremely limited “launch edition” of 100 copies. In addition to the story, it contains some behind the scenes of the concept as well as pin-ups from some amazing artists.

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And finally, Hasbro will have a whole bunch of exclusive toys for sale at the show, from Marvel, Transformers, G.I. Joe and Star Wars. Check them out:

This isn’t exactly new territory for Arcana, as at least some of their books have been available for quite a while via comiXology’s Comics app, and Clockwork Girl was one of the free e-books offered by Wowio last year. It’s interesting, though, that they have taken the additional step of creating their own app. While that makes sense for a publisher with a strong image (such as DC or Marvel), Arcana is less well known and their comics are more of a mixed bag. I can’t imagine there’s much of a crossover between the teen-friendly 100 Girls and Helen Killer, or the fantasy comic Kade. Harlequin romance readers will read anything that’s a Harlequin romance, regardless of the author or even the cover art, because they know exactly what they are going to get; I doubt that Arcana Comics evokes the same response. That’s a good thing—their line actually has some interesting variety. But it makes branding by publisher problematic.

Of course, Arcana still has a healthy 60 series available via the comiXology app, and the two apps sync with one another, so clearly they are covering all the bases. But making your own app must involve quite an investment—it will be interesting to see how this pays off for Arcana.

Wowio was a pioneer in digital comics back in the olden days, when they offered free, ad-supported digital comics. The company has been through a lot of changes since then, and the comics aren’t free any more, although they do offer a free download every month (usually a pretty good one) to readers who “like” them on Facebook. And unlike other digital distributors, they offer books in PDF and ePub format, so they are portable and can be moved from one device to another. (In other words, you can actually own these digital comics.)

Spacedog Entertainment developed comics and graphic novels that were then published by other publishers and shopped around for film development. Their properties include The Covenant and Proximity Effect (published by Top Cow), The Gift (Image), and Helen Killer (Arcana).

Now Wowio has acquired Spacedog and is relaunching it as a graphic novel imprint, starting with four previously published titles: Helen Killer, Fiction Clemens, Death Comes to Dillinger, and M.I.T.H. The comics are priced at 99 cents each, and the plan is to publish an issue a week, starting in April, and to expand the line to include other Spacedog properties, including those mentioned above.

Of course, comics can’t just be comics any more, so part of the plan is to expand these properties into other media:

As part of its strategy to provide original digital entertainment, WOWIO will also produce exclusive new material based on the Spacedog Entertainment library for distribution across its family of sites, including eBook outlet WOWIO, social comics community DrunkDuck and pop culture video destination PopGalaxy. Original offerings will include bonus content, and the development of new formats incorporating video, prose and other blended media elements.

“The Spacedog library provides us with exciting new material to develop into digital and traditional entertainment properties,” said Linda Engelsiepen, WOWIO’s VP of Content Development. “This is the first step of many that will help us further generate audience awareness around Spacedog’s titles and build a strong platform to grow them into franchises.”

That’s a lot of words, but the concept is still pretty vague, and Wowio’s track record is mixed at best. On the other hand, they are offering 99-cent, platform-independent, almost DRM-free digital downloads, so if they just stick to comics, they might be on to something there.

I was exchanging e-mails with Sean O’Reilly, the founder and CEO of Arcana Studio, just before Borders filed for bankruptcy, so when the other shoe dropped, I asked him to talk a bit about how it affects his business. Arcana is a small publisher, and I assumed the bankruptcy would have a big effect on them. What interests me about his response is the importance of the middleman, Diamond Book Distributors, in this case.

As always, I also wanted to talk about the different ways the company gets its books out to readers, and the relative importance of the different channels. Having spent the weekend at C2E2 talking about these different factors, I was interested to hear how they directly affect a single publisher.

Brigid: How much of your revenue comes from each channel—comics shops, bookstores, online sales, digital?

Sean: While digital is an ever-growing market to keep an eye on, that part of the industry is still in its growth phase. The majority of Arcana’s current sales come from bookstores and online – still primarily through Diamond Comics and Diamond Books, Amazon, eBay and of course you can find our product in local comic shops as well. That said, we’ve made a significant turn away from the ‘floppy’ comic market and are concentrating on the graphic novel market. Digital is the next step and we’re working with Comixology, Wowio, Graphic.ly and others.

Brigid: Looking just at the bookstore piece, how big a part of your business was Borders?

Sean: Borders made up a huge chunk of our sales from the bookstore market making up about 25%.  Their bankruptcy will be a huge hurdle to overcome and we’ll have to try to develop our other revenue streams to make up for the loss.

Brigid: From your perspective as a small publisher, what are the advantages and disadvantages of selling through bookstores versus comics shops, online retail, and digital?

Sean: Bookstores like Borders allow you to reach a much broader audience than the more niche audience you’re able to access in comic shops and online. Again, while digital and online sales will continue to expand and drive a lot of growth, there are still people who actually want to go into a store and hold the book in their hands before they decide they want to purchase it. At the same time, ‘brick-and-mortar’ bookstores are limited by their locked physical and geographic space. That’s why the potential in online and digital is so promising.  For us our orders have gone up 50% in the last six months (even with the Borders announcement) and sadly I believe it’s more of a state of the industry rather than Arcana’s growth.  That is, even though we are a small fish, with so many companies gone we’re become bigger relatively and as a result have been getting bigger numbers.

Brigid: Back when things were going well, did Borders stand out in any way? Were they easier to work with, offered better terms, did more marketing, or in some way help you establish yourself in that sector?

Sean: I did love how Borders would contact us and help us work together on marketing, what’s coming up and they always wanted to see what we were working on.  There are a number of measures being implemented to allow consumers choice and previews.

Brigid: How did Borders’ problems impact your relationship with them, and when did that start to happen?

Sean: Ultimately Borders’ relationship was with Diamond Books, and other than the previously mentioned, we really didn’t work together first hand.

Brigid: Were you able to do anything to protect yourself?

Sean: I was able to protect myself by not relying too heavily on the income from the books.  Sounds weird from a publisher, right?  Well it might be but Arcana is a transmedia company that relies on building brands, not just book publishing.  We’ve been working hard on The Clockwork Girl animated feature film, working hard for Mattel on a number of projects and a couple more feature films.  Ultimately we were protected because we have developed enough of a cashflow to publish 140 graphic novels in about two years and make sure we give enough of a runway so that revenues can come in the door.

Brigid: I understand Borders stopped paying their vendors in December. How much money do you have tied up with them, and do you think you will actually get any or all of it?

Sean: Diamond Books is ultimately the one that gives me a check and as a result I’m not sure how it’s affected the numbers at that level of detail.  I have to say Diamond Books have been amazing during this time being professional, and even more than that, they’ve been very communicative to publishers.  The faster and clearer we know a problem exists, the faster and more realistic we can respond.  Here’s a public thank you to Kuo, Kate and the Diamond Books team!

Brigid: How has the bankruptcy filing changed the situation from your point of view?

Sean: It’s unfortunate, but it likely needed to happen. They’ll be able to restructure their finances and hopefully, pay off their debts.  It’s a Chapter 11 so they should be looking to reduce overhead (storage costs, facilities) and after the crash in 2008 it seems like most finances are being relooked at to see if it can be done better.  I’m hoping they can get things together and we can start working together again.

Brigid: Going forward, how will you do things differently?

Sean: Honestly, keep doing what we’re doing.  I’ve never had a financier I’ve had to listen to, I’ve been able to be quick and nimble with our decisions and we’ve had continual growth since 2004.  I’ve learned a lot of lessons through other publishers and we’ve accumulated a library of nearly 150 graphic novels being distributed worldwide.  We’re doing more international publishing deals, digital distribution deals, deals with Scholastic and Harper Collins more than ever, and ultimately I think we just keep driving with the same passion we started with.

Brigid: Do you think that bookstores will continue to be a viable channel for your books, or are you going to look elsewhere?

Sean: With regards to the advantages of ‘brick-and-mortar’ I mentioned earlier, I don’t see traditional bookstores disappearing completely and we have had great success in books in the last year and will continue to pursue this as a great channel. We love holding books, we love graphic novels and while there is real potential in online/digital markets it is still emerging. Arcana was already looking at expanding our efforts there even before the Borders bankruptcy and we’ll have to continue our efforts there. If the right fit comes along for a more ‘traditional’ bookstore partnership, we’d be open to looking at that too.

Wowio is being kind of coy about the title of the book, but I’ll spoil it for you: Go to their Facebook page, click the “Offer” tab, click “like,” and you can get a free e-book of Sean O’Reilly and Kevin Hanna’s The Clockwork Girl. Instructions are on their site for the Facebook-impaired. Enjoy!

Arcana Studio

You expect a press release to inflate a comic’s importance or puff up a creator’s track record. After all, the publisher is trying to convince the media that its announcement has news value. But every once in a while a release overreaches. Just a little.

Take, for instance, this one from Arcana Studio announcing the acquisition of a handful of Devil’s Due Publishing titles that I’ve never heard of. The first half of the release is standard fare, briefly describing the comics and hyping the performance of Arcana (“the company has been growing in leaps and bounds”). But then we get to this paragraph:

Arcana’s graphic novels and intellectual properties have grown in the last two years to be as wide a library of characters as Marvel’s. Marvel was acquired by Disney for $4 Billion, and is the second major comic library to be acquired by a Hollywood studio. DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros., recently announced a newly-revamped business model, focusing on reaching deeper into DC’s catalog of characters.

It’s investor (or acquisition) bait, to be sure. But, hey, Arcana isn’t the first small publisher — or, rather, transmedia entertainment company — to dangle the $4-billion Marvel purchase in hopes of snagging a big fish. (However, it may the only one to date to use the DC Entertainment restructuring as back-up.) I’m not dwelling on that, though.

No, I was tripped up by that first sentence, which claims “Arcana’s graphic novels and intellectual properties have grown in the last two years to be as wide a library of characters as Marvel’s.” This is the same studio that, just a few paragraphs earlier, boasted “over 100 graphic novels.”

Now, I’ve written before about the “proven library” of Marvel characters, which jumped from 4,000 or so to “over 5,000″ to 7,000 in the course of a few months. I have no idea how the House of Ideas came up with those numbers, but I imagine it involved counting each and every Morlock, Daily Bugle employee and Hydra member (“Hail, Hydra!”). Still, Marvel has had 70 years to accumulate those characters, so I’m willing to believe 7,000 characters is possible (“proven” characters is another matter). However, Arcana has been around for six years.

Of course, maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to call shenanigans: The press release doesn’t come out and say Arcana has as many characters as Marvel; it states that Arcana has “as wide a library of characters as Marvel’s.” Which means … something about genre diversity? A crack at Blob and Big Bertha? All right, I have no idea.

Hero House

As he said last month, Justin Aclin went to the San Diego Comic-Con both to promote his new graphic novel from Arcana, Hero House, and to cover the con for his day job with ToyFare Magazine. I caught back up with Justin after the show to see how everything went on both fronts.

JK: Unfortunately I was already on my way home when you were doing your signing on Sunday for Hero House. How did the signing go?

Justin: The signing was great! Obviously no one had the chance to read Hero House yet, but I was able to meet a bunch of really nice ToyFare fans who were willing to pick up the book and give it a shot. At one point I had one Twisted ToyFare fan standing at the table while I signed his book, and another walked up and started talking about his favorite Twisted ToyFare moments, and it just became a conversation between the two of them, quoting their favorite jokes. As a comedy writer who never gets to see an audience react to what he writes, it was a very gratifying moment. We also had our artist, Mike Dimayuga, sketching at the signing, which brought in even more curious onlookers.

JK: How did Hero House do at the show?

Justin: It did great! I know Arcana was only able to bring in a limited number that were right off the presses, but by the end of our signing early Sunday afternoon we were totally sold out for the entire show. If you’re one of the folks who picked it up at the show, drop me a line on aclincorp.com and let me know what you thought of it!

Unfortunately, selling out meant I wasn’t able to bring home a bunch of copies for friends and family that I was intending to, but (cheap plug imminent) Hero House will be in the September Previews catalog for items shipping in November, so make sure to look for it there and let your retailer know you’re interested.

JK: You also covered the con for ToyFare. What were some of the toy-related announcements you were excited about?

Justin: Every year I go to the show wondering if I’m going to have seen everything that gets revealed, and this year there were some legitimate and nice surprises. One of the first things I saw was Hard Hero’s new Lion-O statue from Thundercats – it’s the first piece of Thundercats merch I can recall in who knows how long, and they did a great job with it. It’s only partially toy-related, but Mattel is doing a really cool augmented reality thing with their packaging for toys based on James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Hasbro’s new Marvel Legends for their fan poll were excellent as predicted, and I was shocked to find out that a lot of them were just kitbashed together with new paint jobs – they looked good enough to be actual figures. NECA acquiring HeroClix was probably the biggest surprise of the show to me, possibly tied with the fact that Diamond Select Toys now owns Battle Beasts and is going to be making them as part of their MiniMates line.

JK: On a personal note, what were the highlights of the show? Did you meet anyone, see anything or buy anything that blew you away?

Justin: The highlights of the show for me were all about the stolen moments where I got to see my friends in the industry who were out for the show…and they were mostly moments. It seemed like everyone was twice as busy this year as in years past! I did get to grab a nice long dinner with my college roommate who now plays Office Jesus on Attack of the Show, and we were sitting two tables away from Jerry Lewis. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t in town for the Con, but at this point nothing would surprise me. I also went to check out Gwar on Thursday night with Ryan “Agent_M” Penagos, which means that 500,000 people on Twitter know that I went to see Gwar.

I’m always blown away by anything the Four Horsemen sculpt, and getting to see some of their new Masters of the Universe Classics and DC Universe Classics figures was one of my show highlights. I also got some great figures from a small independent toy company called Onell Design – they’re called Glyos and they’re completely customizable with interchangeable parts. I always thought they looked fun and now I can confirm that they are, in fact, a total blast to play with. I mostly avoided panels because I’m allergic to lines, but the Venture Brothers panel was one of the best panels I’ve ever seen, and the preview of Season 4 they showed looks amazing.

Oh, and in our pre-Con interview, I said I wasn’t coming home until I got an Owly book signed by Andy Runton for my three-year-old daughter. Not only did I accomplish my mission, but Andy proved to be one of the nicest guys I’ve ever spoken with. Everyone, support Owly!

All and Sundry by Paul Hornschemeier

We’ll likely have a few more updates on what folks are up to at the con later today …

Publishers | Fantagraphics has posted the signing schedule for their booth, which includes appearances by Johnny Ryan, the Hernandez Bros., Lewis Trondheim, Jordan Crane, Paul Hornschemeier and many more. They’ve also listed a dozen new books they’ll be debuting at the show, so go check it out and update your “to buy” list.

Creators | Larry Marder will have a Beanworld preview at the con, and gives you the goods on how to get a secret sketch.

Manga | Deb Aoki offers a list of 20 things manga fans can do at the con.

Books + Movies + Social | The L.A. Times takes a look at CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker’s Level 26, which will be showcased on Saturday at the con.

Advice | Scott McCloud’s daughter wife Ivy offers advice to novice Comic-Con attendees.

Publishers | Arcana Comics sent over their booth schedule + list of debuts + exclusives:

Arcana Comics is proud to showcase a number of signings, exclusives and attractions the San Diego Comic Con, Booth 2415.

Signings include William Katt (The Greatest American Hero) signing The Greatest American Hero, Doc Wyatt (Napoleon Dynamite) & Bill Rude signing Creepsville, Ben Magid (Pan) signing Trout, David Greenblatt and Phil Nibbelink signing Ultima Thula, Stjepan Sejic (Witchblade) signing Kade, Jimmy Blondell signing Black Jesus, Mark Poulton, Stephen Sistilli & Jennifer Pershing (Playboy’s Miss March ’09) signing Daddy’s Little Girl, Grant Chastain signing Corrective Measures, Frank Barbiere signing Endless West, Ash Jackson & a beautiful Eve model signing Eve: Vampire Diva, Matt Jacobs signing Grunts, Siike Donnelly signing Heaven’s Echo, Jiba Anderson signing The Horsemen, Andrew Kreisberg (The Simpsons) & Matthew Rice signing Helen Killer, Sean O’Reilly & Kevin Hanna signing The Clockwork Girl, Justin Aclin (Wizard Toy Fare Theater) signing Hero House,Thormod and Asta G signing Fafnir, Chris Harden signing The Fro, as well come by and see JC Spink (The Hangover) as well as the great people at WACOM.

Premiering at SDCC ’09 at the Arcana Booth is the original graphic novels Black Jesus, Ultima Thula, Fafnir, Paradox, Hero House, The Fro and The Matriarch.

Exclusive comic books available only at Booth 2415 are Daddy’s Little Girl, Avengelyne vs. Koni Waves #1, Harbor Moon #0 and Trout #0.
Also see the debut of The Clockwork Girl Animated teaser only in Room 7A, Thursday at 6:30pm.

Creators | Omaha Perez dropped us a note about his whereabouts at the con:

I am scheduled to sign at publisher AiT/Planet Lar , booth # 2001, every day from 1pm to 2pm. I will also be sharing Artist’s Alley space S15, with writer Jason McNamara (The Martian Confederacy, First Moon). I will have a fine assortment of my graphic novels and comic books along with a selection of Originals and Prints. If you will be there, please come by!

You can find AiT’s entire signing schedule here.

Creators | As did John Kovaleski:

I’ll be at the San Diego Comic Con, July 23-26, at the National Cartoonist Society’s booth (#1370). I’ll have my new limited-edition book, a collection of my illustration work called Kovaleski in Color. I’ll also have my new graphic novelette “Great Scott: A Day in the Life,” in addition to “APPEELING: The Best of Bo Nanas” and “Jack N. Box” comics. And maybe a special gift, if you ask nice.

On Sunday, 4:00-5:00 I’ll be at the Cartoon Art Museum booth (#1930) drawing for their 3rd annual fund-raising Sketch-A-Thon.

Culture | The L.A. Times also posts 10 questions they hope get answered at Comic Con.

From the streets | So I guess I shouldn’t plan my annual $50 one-way pedicab ride to the convention center?

Creators | And finally, here’s what Molly Crabapple will be doing at the con:

Nerd prom is upon us! Like the rest of my ilk, I’ll be hearkening to San Diego for the hell week that is Comic-Con, July 23rd-27th. Hope to see you at some signings, and if you glimpse me at the Hyatt Bar, feel free to buy me a drink. Btw, New Yorkers, get thee to my MoCCA signing tonight!

July 24th, 3-4pm
Signing “Scarlett Takes Manhattan” @ Comic Relief Booth #1514
Me and “Scarlett Takes Manhattan” author John Leavitt will be signing copies of Scarlett at the Comic Relief booth. This is probably your only chance to get a signed copy, so…
July 24th, 8-10 pm
Third Annual Dr. Sketchy’s Comic-Con Afterparty

Join us for a special COMIC CON / Dr. Sketchy’s San Diego 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY celebration at the RUBY ROOM! Hosted by me, Dr. Sketchy’s founder MOLLY CRABAPPLE – this Dr. Sketchy’s will bring characters to life from her first graphic novel – SCARLETT TAKES MANHATTAN! San Diego burlesque beauty LADY BORGIA poses as the title character. John Leavitt will also be djing and signing.

Admission for this special session will be $12 ($6 for attendees with Comic-Con badges!). Free admission if you come bearing a copy of Scarlett
@
The Ruby Room
1271 University Ave, San Diego

Get your tickets at www.drsketchysandiego.com
July 24th, 10pm-12:30am
Planet Illogica Launch Party: I’m frantically working on a painting for this now.

Piece in progress +++Description+++
Please join us for a major art happening that delivers fine art, live music featuring Taylor Bates composer of “300,” “Watchmen,” cash bar, food and great friends : RSVP for this great event held at a Andy Warhol styled warehouse space minutes away from the San Diego Comic-Con convention hall :

RSVP today and jump in :
Planet Illogica Extravaganza featuring art, music, fashion and great friends. Live painting on nude model by Ron English.

Location : Wonderhaus : 1441 L Street : San Diego : CA : 92101 :
www.wonderbreadhaus.com

+++Featured Artists+++
David Van Alphen : Jonathan Bergeron : Chris Buzelli : Bob Dob : Molly Crabapple : Amy Crehore : Steven Daily : Brendan Danielsson : Leslie Ditto : Travis Lampe : Jason Limon : Travis Louie : Lola : Tim Mantoani : Dan May : Mike Maxwell : Brandi Milne : Joel Nakamura : Kathie Olivas : Nathan Ota : Brandt Peters : Luke Ramsey : Chris Ryniak : Erik Sandberg : Raudiel Sanudo : Mijn Schatje : Nathan Spoor : Matt Stallings : David Russell Talbott : Jon Todd : Joe Vaux : Marco Wagner : Jeni Yang

July 25th, 12pm-1pm.
Live drawing @ SketchTheatre Booth #5363

I’ll be making drawing music videos live at the SketchTheatre booth. Here’s an example of what we’ve done before.
July 26th, 3-4pm
DC Comics “Making Webcomics” Panel @ Room 4

Join Ron Perazza (ZUDA COMICS), Kwanza Johnson (ZUDA COMICS), Kevin Colden (Fishtown, I RULE THE NIGHT), Cameron Stewart (Transmission X, VERTIGO), Molly Crabapple (Act-i-vate, Dr. Sketchys Anti-Art School) and others for an inclusive, roundtable discussion about the advantages, challenges, questions, solutions, costs and benefits of making webcomics for fun and profit. Topics include working with a publisher, self-publishing, promoting yourself, best practices, style and moving from web to print (or vice-versa)! Room 4

I am currently stealing myself for the packed, drunken, hellacious yet awesome time that is SDCC. I hope to see you guys there.

Hero House

Justin Aclin is no stranger to the San Diego Comic Con. As the lead editor for ToyFare, he’s covered the con for the magazine a few times. But this year will be the first time he’s going to be there as a comic book creator, as he’s written a graphic novel called Hero House, drawn by Mike Dimayuga and published by Arcana Comics. The book doesn’t come out until November, but attendees can get a copy early at the con.

Justin is also the head writer of Twisted ToyFare Theatre, and the latest collection, Volume 10, hits comic shops on the first day of the show, with an introduction by Joe Quesada. I spoke with Justin about his plans for the con, both in terms of covering it and promoting his new book.

JK: You mentioned over email that you’ll have copies of Hero House, your new graphic novel, at the Arcana booth in San Diego. What’s the concept behind Hero House?

Justin: Hero House is about Epsilon Epsilon Psi—a college fraternity that trains the superheroes of tomorrow. It’s not nearly as wacky as my day job comic strip, “Twisted ToyFare Theatre.” There’s humor in it, but what I was really hoping to do was just tell a fun superhero adventure with memorable, relatable characters, and luckily in the early reviews, people really seem to be responding to the characters. If you’re a superhero fan, a Twisted ToyFare fan, or you’ve ever been in college, I totally think you should check it out. And it’s been mentioned before around these parts, but you can find out a lot more about the book by checking out my production blog, aclincorp.com.

JK: What are your plans for promoting it at the con?

Justin: It’s tough, because I’m not going to be at the Con to promote the book—I have to fit in any promotion around the rest of what I have to do there…which is a lot. The main thing I’m going to be doing right now is a signing at the Arcana Comics booth (2145) on Sunday from 12-2 p.m. I’m going to be signing with Hero House artist Mike Dimayuga (Hack/Slash #23), and Mike will be doing sketches for folks who pick up the book or bring it by to get signed.

That’s pretty much it for promoting the book right now. But if you see me walking the floor (I’ll be the husky guy with a beard), I will gladly sign anything you put in front of me, whether or not I wrote it. And if anyone out there is hosting a panel they’d like me to sit in on, I happen to love the sound of my own voice. Just leave a message on my blog!

JK: How many San Diego Comic-Cons have you attended in the past?

Justin: I want to say this is my fourth San Diego, and I’d like to think that by now I know how to do it in a way that isn’t going to drain me of all my life force…but I probably haven’t. Not in the year where I make my debut as an honest-to-god comic book writer, at any rate.

Hero House, page 33

JK: You also write for ToyFare, and mentioned you’ll be covering the con for them. What does that entail?

Justin: I’m actually the lead editor for ToyFare (as well as the head writer for “Twisted ToyFare”), and I’ll be the only staffer out there covering the Con for us. What that means is I’ll be sitting in on as many toy panels as possible, but the main thing I’ll be doing is walking the floor, talking to my toy industry contacts and taking photos of the new toys on display for use in the magazine.

JK: In terms of toys being released at the show, what are you most looking forward to finding out about?

Justin: According to Mattel’s DC panel description they’re going to be announcing a new toy line, and considering how fantastic their DC Universe Classics line is, I’m pretty excited about what they’ve got cooking. Similarly, (as announced at Wizard World Philly) the Marvel Legends line from Hasbro is going to be making a comeback starting at the show, and I geeked out enough just seeing the Madrox figure in Philly that I’m frightened for how I may react when I see more of them.

Since I’m an extremely lucky person and get to see a lot of toys in advance of the show, I’m almost more excited for toy fans to see some of the new figures from people like NECA and Diamond Select (to just name a couple and hopefully not piss everyone else off) than I am to see this stuff myself.

Hero House T-shirt

JK: Is there anything or anyone you’re personally looking forward to at this year’s con?

Justin: Well, Mike and I started working on Hero House five and a half years ago. In the intervening time, my wife and I had two kids, and I went from low rung on the totem poll at ToyFare to running the thing…so you can probably guess I’m a little excited about being able to finally hold this damn book in my own two hands. I’m really excited about sharing it with friends, industry folks and potential fans and finding out what they think of it.

The other thing I’m excited about is a larger chunk than usual of what I like to call the “Wizard diaspora” is going to be present at the show, and it’s a great chance to get together with the former co-workers who are among the nicest people I’ve ever met—or, in the case of Archaia Marketing Manager Mel Caylo, might be THE nicest person I’ve ever met. I’m hoping to be able to devote a big chunk of my socializing time to catching up with good friends.

And finally, I’m not coming home until I’ve got an Owly trade signed by Andy Runton for my three-year-old daughter, who’s a huge Owly fan.

***

In addition to the blog Justin mentioned, you can also check out Hero House on Facebook or buy the shirt pictured above right here. My thanks to Justin for his time this week!

Also, today’s the cut-off day for hotel deposits, so it might be a good time to check for a room at that closer hotel you were aiming for but couldn’t get.

Hero House

Comics | Justin Aclin dropped us a note about two projects of his that will be available at the show. The first is the graphic novel Hero House from Arcana Comics. The book won’t be in shops until November, but attendees can get a copy early at the con. Justin and artist Mike Dimayuga will be at the Arcana booth to sign it as well.

Justin is also the head writer of Twisted ToyFare Theatre, and says the latest collection, Volume 10, hits comic shops on the first day of the show, with an introduction by Joe Quesada.

Comics | Scott Morse lists the books he’ll have at the show, including the fast-selling The Ancient Book of Sex and Science, and the two issues of Strange Science Fantasy he posted on his blog earlier this year.

Comics | SLG Publishing has posted a list of creators who will be signing at their booth during the show.

Comics | Artist Francis Manapul will have about 200 copies of his new art book at the show.

Comics + Movies | Radical Comics will have Darren Bousman, the director of Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, signing at their booth on Saturday. Bousman is working with Radical on a new comic called Abattoir, which comes out next year.

Video games | Sony has announced two panels for the show — one on the next Uncharted, and the other on Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.

Television | Jim Caviezel, Jamie Campbell-Bower and Lennie James will be on hand for a panel on AMC’s upcoming The Prisoner remake. AMC will also have a mini-comic at the show, created by Marvel, based on the mini-series’ first hour.

Greatest American Hero(es)

Yesterday Arcana Comics released the third issue of their Greatest American Hero mini-series, which featured the above variant cover. The book joins a never-ending list of books that have featured President Barack Obama on their cover, from Amazing Spider-Man and Savage Dragon to Barack the Barbarian: Quest for the Treasure of Stimuli and My Neighbor Taro-kun.

If I was a bit faster on the uptake, I would have thought about doing a CBS News-style list of all the comic and pop culture-related news surrounding Obama when we reached his 100th day in office. But then I would have missed this:

Puppy Power!

Check out the full list of nominees in the press release after the jump.

*****

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2009 JOE SHUSTER AWARDS

Toronto, Canada — April 2, 2009. From coast to coast, Canada is home to many of the comic book industry’s top talents. The JOE SHUSTER AWARDS are a way of recognizing and celebrating the achievements of these Canadian creators – past, present and future. Since their establishment in 2004, the JOE SHUSTER CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR AWARDS have been Canada’s national awards program for recognizing the outstanding achievements of Canadian comic book creators, publishers and retailers. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman.

Between January and March 2009, the Nominees were selected from master lists of eligible works originally published in English and/or French in 2008. Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents were eligible for consideration. Now that the list of nominees has been finalized, nominated creators will have their work reviewed by a jury, who will ultimately decide the winners. Winners will be announced at a public ceremony in Toronto on June 27th, 2009.

JOE SHUSTER AWARDS 2009 NOMINEES for Work Published in 2008

Artist/Dessinateur

• Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Dale Eaglesham – Justice Society of America #12, 14-15, 18-22 (DC Comics)
• David Finch – Ultimatum #1-2 (Marvel Comics)
• Karl Kerschl & Serge LaPointe – Teen Titans: Year One #1-6 (DC Comics)
• Jacques Lamontagne – Les Druides, Tome 4 : La Ronde des Géants (Soleil Productions)
• Steve McNiven – Amazing Spider-Man #546-548, Wolverine #66-70 (Marvel Comics)
• Steve Rolston – Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), “Familiar” – House of Mystery #4 (DC/Vertigo), You Ain’t No Dancer #3 (New Reliable Press)
• Stephen Sadowski – Avengers/Invaders #1-7 (Marvel Comics/Dynamite Entertainment), Superpowers #0 (Dynamite Entertainment), Jack the Lantern: Ghosts #2 (Castle Rain Entertainment)

Cartoonist/Créateur

• Grégoire Bouchard – Vers les Mondes Lointains (Paquet)
• Darwyn Cooke – “Chapter X: The Greater Good” Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1, The Spirit #12 (DC Comics)
• Francis Descharnais – Burquette (Les 400 coups)
• Jean-Paul Eid – Des tondeuses et des hommes (La Pastèque)
• Michel Gagne – “The Saga of Rex” Chapter 4 – Flight Vol. 5 (Ballantyne Books)
• Faith Erin Hicks – The War at Ellsmere (Slave Labor Graphics)
• Jeff Lemire – Essex County Vol. 3: The Country Nurse (Top Shelf)
• Seth – “Thoreau MacDonald” Kramer’s Ergot 7 (Buenaventura Press)
• Dave Sim – Glamourpuss #1-4, Judenhaas (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Colourist/Dessinateur Couleur

• Jean-Francois Beaulieu – G.I. Joe: America’s Elite 31-36, Voltron: A Legend Forged 1 (Devil’s Due), Marvel Zombies 3 #1-3, Wonderful Wizard of OZ #1, X-Men: Divided We Stand #1, X-Men Legacy #215 (Marvel Comics)
• Blond – Team 14 #1 (Digital Webbing), Freshman: Summer Vacation Special #1, Magdalena/Daredevil #1, True Blood: The Great Revelation NN, Witchblade: Takeru Manga #11-12 (image/Top Cow), Ultimate Fantastic Four #50-59 (Marvel Comics), Beyond Wonderland #4, Grimm Fairy Tales 2008 Annual (Zenoscope)
• Chris Chuckry – Brave and the Bold #17-18, Countdown to Mystery #4-8, Simon Dark #4-7, Two Face: Year One #1-2 (DC Comics), Air 1-5 (DC/Vertigo), G.I. Joe #0 (Devil’s Due), Comic Book Tattoo (image), Amazing Spider-Man #546, 565-567, newuniversal: Shockfront #1-2, The Twelve #1-8 (Marvel Comics)
• Maryse Dubuc – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Nathan Fairbairn – Fear Agent 21 (Dark Horse), Pilot Season: The Core #1 (image/Top Cow), Civil War: House of M #3, Guardians of the Galaxy #1-3, Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? NN, Wolverine: Origins #31, X-Men: Divided We Stand #2, X-Men: Kingbreaker #1, X-Men Legacy #217, X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1, 3, Young Avengers Presents #1 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #3 (Oni Press)
• Lovern Kindzierski – Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1-2 (DC Comics), The Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons #1-2Coraline (HarperCollins), Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel Comics) (Devil’s Due),
• François Lapierre – “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec), Magasin général 4 (Casterman)
• Dave McCaig – Star Wars: Dark Times #11-12 (Dark Horse), Action Comics #861-863, Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge #1-3. Joker’s Asylum: The Penguin #1, JSA Classified #35-37 (DC Comics), Family Dynamic #1-2 House of Mystery #4, Northlanders #2-8, 11-2 (DC/Vertigo), Broken Trinity: Angelus #1, First Born: Aftermath #1, Pilot Season: The Core #1 (image/Top Cow), Fantastic Four Cosmic Size Special #1, Secret Invasion X-Men #1-4, Ultimate Iron Man II #3-5 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #2 (Oni Press) (DC/Johnny DC),

Writer/Écrivain

• Ian Boothby – Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #14, Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2008, Futurama #35-39, Simpsons Comics #136, 141, 148, Simpsons Summer Shindig #1, Simpsons Super Spectacular #7 (Bongo Comics)
• Cecil Castellucci – Janes in Love (DC/Minx)
• Darwyn Cooke – “Dragster Riot starring Robin the Boy Wonder”, “Wonder Woman and Black Canary” Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1, Superman Confidential 11 (DC Comics)
• Maryse Dubuc – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Ray Fawkes – The Apocalipstix (Oni Press)
• François Lapierre – “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec)
• Mariko Tamaki – Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), Skim (Groundwood Books)
• J. Torres – The Family Dynamic #1-3, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #11, 13, 17-19, Teen Titans Go! #51-55 (DC/Johnny DC), Wonder Girl #5-6 (DC Comics)

Cover/Couverture

• Adrian Alphona – Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Season Two #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Darwyn Cooke – The Spirit #12 (DC Comics)
• Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Dale Eaglesham – Justice Society of America #14 Variant (DC Comics)
• David Finch -Amazing Spider-Man #572 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Philippe Girard – Les Ravins (Mécanique Générale)
• Niko Henrichon – Hostile Tome 1 (Dupuis)
• Steve McNiven – Kick-Ass #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Dean Motter – Mister X: The Condemned #1 (Dark Horse)
• David Sim – Glamourpuss #4 Zombie Variant (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Webcomics/Bandes Dessinées Web

• Kate Beaton – Hark! A Vagrant
• Michael Cho – Papercut
• Lar De Souza & Ryan Sohmer – Least I Could Do / Looking for Group
• Kathryn & Stuart Immonen – Moving Pictures
• Karl Kerschl – The Abominable Charles Christopher
• Gisele Lagace – Menage A 3
• Ramón K. Pérez– Kukuburi / Butternut Squash (w/Robert Coughler)
• Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo

Publisher/Éditeur

• Aardvark-Vanaheim
• Arcana Studio
• Conundrum Press
• Drawn & Quarterly
• La Pastèque
• Les 400 Coups/Mécanique Générale
• Red 5 Comics
• Udon Entertainment

Artist, Cartoonist, Colourist & Writer Nominees selected by: Jay Bardyla (Happy Harbor Comics), Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Ty Buttars (blogger and collector), Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Rachelle Goguen (Strange Adventures, Living Between Wednesdays), Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jonathan Kuehlein (The Toronto Star), Robin McConnell (Inkstuds podcast), Shawna Roe (Happy Harbor Comics) and the Vincent Massey College Comic Book Club (Montreal) under the direction of Mr. Steven Bakos. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Cover Nominees selected by Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Kevin A. Boyd, Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Peter Fisico (All New Comics), Robert Haines, Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jason Truong and James Waley. Additional input provided by Ty Buttars (blogger and collector), and Rachelle Goguen (Strange Adventures, Living Between Wednesdays). Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Webcomics Nominees selected by the CCBCAA Executive. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd and Scott Townsend.

Publisher Nominees selected by Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Kevin A. Boyd, Allison Covey, Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Peter Fisico (All New Comics), Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jason Truong and James Waley. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Comics for Kids / Bandes Dessinées pour Enfants

Nominees will be announced in early May 2009.

Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishers / Le Prix Gene Day pour Éditeurs Direct Canadian de Bandes Dessinées

Submissions from self-publishers will be accepted until May 18, 2009. Please visit http://joeshusterawards.com/2009-awards-sat-june-27/gene-day-award-for-canadian-self-publishers/ for full details. The winner of the Gene Day Award also receives a $500 Bursary.

The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer /Le Prix Harry Kremer pour Détaillant Exceptionnel Canadien de Bandes Dessinées

Nominations from retailers and the general public will be accepted until May 18, 2009.

Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame / Temple de la renommée Créateur Canadien de Bandes Dessinées

Four inductees will be announced in early May 2009.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and all of the eligible creators for another memorable year of great comics, both in print and online!

About Joe Shuster (1914 – 1992)
With the permission of his estate, the Joe Shuster Awards are named in honor of the great artist, JOE SHUSTER (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and Siegel, which electrified the industry 71 years ago and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon that endures to this day.

About The Joe Shuster Awards
The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s first national achievement awards for Canadians working on comic books, graphic novels and webcomics and the only awards without restrictions on language, content and/or genre. The Joe Shuster Awards honour the people who create comics, publish comics and sell comics. Creator nominees are nominated for their BODY OF WORK during the previous calendar year, not just for one specific work (except for cover art).

The Hall of Fame, Harry Kremer Retailer Award and the new Gene Day Award for self-publishers are selected by individual committees after a review and discussion of eligible and/or submitted candidates. Four Hall of Fame candidates will be initiated into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame in 2009. Aside from the retailer and self-publisher award committee, active creators can only act as advisors so as not to influence a bias in any of the creative awards categories.

The Joe Shuster Awards are run by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association (CCBCAA), a not-for-profit organization that relies on sponsorship, eBay and convention sales of art donations, prints and memorabilia as well as private donations. 2009 sponsors include: Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), Sipps Publishing, Diamond Distributors, Quebecor World, and comicspriceguide.com and all of the artists that donated pieces to last year’s Visions of an Icon: Superman art show and sale.

For more information please contact info@joeshusterawards.com or visit www.joeshusterawards.com

from Hero House

Justin Aclin and Mike Dimayuga have a new series coming out from Arcana Comics in September called Hero House, about a superhero fraternity. And they’ve launched a blog to detail how the book came together. Here’s a description of the book:

Epsilon Epsilon Psi is a fraternity with a unique mission: to prepare the super-powered students of today to become the best superheroes they can be. Nate Hedges was a teen superhero and the star of his school, but at college he feels like a nobody. So when he’s tapped by the university president to go undercover and investigate the Eps, will he find the super-powered hazing the administration fears? Or will he find a place where he finally belongs?

Although the blog is still fairly new, you can check out a lot of art from the series at Mike’s website (which is where I nabbed the Owl-topus art up top).

Via Sean T. Collins