from Strange Tales #3

Yesterday we learned that Becky Cloonan is one of several creators contributing to the third issue of Marvel's Strange Tales anthology, and over on her blog she reveals she'll be doing a four-page tale featuring the Sub-Mariner -- a tale she wrote, drew, colored and lettered.

Bone: Quest for the Spark

San Diego Comic-Con is always a wild ride filled with crazy cosplayers, Hollywood hype and just generally somewhat-controlled chaos. In the midst of it all, a few comic book announcements managed to sneak out.

Here are 15 of those announcements (in no particular order) that Kevin Melrose, Chris Mautner and I were happy to hear:

1. New Bone books
So it looks like one of those new books isn't going to be comics but a novel written by Tom Sniegoski and illustrated by Smith. Which is a bit of a bummer, but only a bit. I'm still pretty psyched to see more stories set in that universe and Sniegoski has proven himself to be an able and witty writer on stuff like the Stupid Stupid Rat Creatures mini series, which, by the way, will be included in the Tall Tales book. So yeah, this is great news all around. I'm eager for more Bone. --Chris Mautner

2. Petrograd, by Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook
I piped up the moment JK Parkin posted his interview on Thursday with Petrograd writer Philip Gelatt. The book, which examines the events surrounding the murder of Grigori Rasputin in 1916, hits the right historical note with me, of course. But it was the art by Tyler Crook that really drew me in. Beautiful stuff, that. Plus, it doesn't hurt -- in my book, at least -- that Gelatt is taking a factual approach to the life, and death, of the Mad Monk. --Kevin Melrose

American Gothic

3. Kurt Busiek's Wildstorm titles
Fresh off the weekly Trinity series, Kurt Busiek had two announcements on Saturday at the Wildstorm panel. First, Astro City is going monthly. After wrapping up the Dark Age tales he's been telling in various mini-series over the last few years, and doing an Astra two-parter and a Silver Agent special, Busiek will pick the Astro City monthly series back up with issue #23. Brent Anderson is still on board for the art, with Alex Ross on covers.

But that's not all. Busiek also has a brand new title called Kurt Busiek's American Gothic, featuring artwork by Connor Willumsen. It's an ongoing due sometime next year, and will feature tales of American mythology -- truck drivers driving the dead to their final resting place, fishing village residents finding Thor living on an island off the coast of Rhode Island, that sort of stuff. I also understand Busiek will be writing some prose to go along with it.

More Busiek is always a good thing, and more of Busiek doing his own stuff is a really great thing. --JK Parkin

From "Blacksad," by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido

4. Blacksad from Dark Horse
If you were to only read a description of Blacksad, the French-published, award-winning series by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, you might discount it as silly. I mean, a noirish crime comic set in 1950s America and starring a cast of anthropomorphized animals? But one glimpse of Guarnido's lush, moody and, yes, realistic art immediately wipes away any doubts about the premise. Of Blacksad's three volumes -- Somewhere Within the Shadows, Arctic Nation and Red Soul -- only the first two have been translated into English because of the bankruptcy of the previous North American rights-holder. Dark Horse plans to remedy that. -- Kevin Melrose

5. Daniel Clowes' Wilson
His stint for The New York Times Magazine aside, we haven't had any new comics from Dan Clowes in a dog's age. It's not like he's the speediest of cartoonists or anything. So the news that he is in fact working on a new graphic novel and that it will be out in less than a year from now is excellent news. Sure to be the most talked about book in 2010. --Chris Mautner

Killjoys

6. The Killjoys, by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan
Gerard Way proved with his work on Umbrella Academy that not only does he know how to make comics, but he knows how to make them fun, engaging and a little bit twisted. “If Umbrella Academy is me taking a look at, among many other things, Doom Patrol, Killjoys is me, with my co-writer Shaun Simon, taking a look at when the best stuff was going on in the '90s, things like Invisibles and stuff like that," he told Comic Book Resources.

Of course, it also really, really helps that Becky Cloonan is drawing it. That's worth the price of admission right there. --JK Parkin

7. 6th Gun, by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt
As I mentioned on Saturday, I'm an easy mark when it comes to supernatural stories in a historical setting. So I immediately took notice when Oni Press released promotional art for 6th Gun, the new project from The Damned team of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. According to CBR's panel report, 6th Gun is a fantasy/Western that "follows the story of six terrible handguns and how one falls into the hands of an innocent girl." Sold! -- Kevin Melrose

8. The Anchor by Phil Hester and Brian Churilla
"God's own leg breaker." Coming from BOOM! Studios, this new title details the main character's fight to keep demons and monsters from spilling out of hell and onto the Earth. Or, in the words of BOOM! CEO Ross Richie, “Monsters get punched." This seems a bit different from what you'd typically expect from BOOM!, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. -- JK Parkin

Nancy!

9. Complete Nancy from Fantagraphics
I'm pretty much a neophyte when it comes to Nancy. I've read slivers of the strip here and there but not enough to really get a feel for it, apart from the fact that it's a bit ... off-kilter. A lot of people seem to really worship it however, so I'll be sure to be checking out this collection to see if I agree with the comics cognoscenti or not. --Chris Mautner

10. Revolver by Matt Kindt
Matt Kindt, creator of Super Spy, makes this graphic novel must reading already. And the description, courtesy of Graphic Content, sounds like a lot of fun and something that's right up his alley:

Sam, a 20-something living in Seattle, wakes up one morning to a world where things are out of control—the stock market has crashed, there’s a bird-flu epidemic in Asia and radioactive material has gone missing in Russia. Next, Sam wakes up and the world is fine. REVOLVER, written and illustrated by Eisner Award nominated Matt Kindt, is a tale of two realities and how they both test Sam’s limits until he makes a move that changes his path forever.

Vertigo has announced several new titles recently I'm really looking forward to -- I, Zombie, Sweet Tooth -- and this is one more for the buy pile. --JK Parkin

"Furry Water" poster, by Rafael Grampá

11. Furry Water, by Rafael Grampá and Daniel Pellizzari
I've been banging the drum for Furry Water from the moment Rafael Grampá posted the first character sketch on his blog in early June. Almost two months have passed and I still don't know much about the six-issue Dark Horse miniseries, other than it centers on five weapons-wielding brothers in a postapocalyptic setting. That's not much to go on, but I enjoyed Grampá's previous work Mesmo Delivery (which Dark Horse will re-release), and I'm a big fan of his artwork. That's enough to convince me to go along for the ride. --Kevin Melrose

12. Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck in hardcover
This is a good thing because a) my paperback copy is falling apart; and b) it suggests that BOOM! has a real interest in making sure that Rosa's (and by extension Carl Barks') work remains out in the public eye. I'm hoping that this is merely the beginning of more good things to come, duck-wise that is. --Chris Mautner

Deathlok

13. Deathlok by Charlie Huston
This announcement may have gone under the radar a bit, as it was made at the Cup 'o Joe panel where Marvel's big Marvelman announcement was made. While I'm not sure what to feel about that announcement until we know exactly what Marvel's plans are -- if the Moore and Gaiman stories end up back in print, then I reserve the right to update this list at a later date -- I do know that I'm happy about the new Charlie Huston/Lan Medina Deathlok series that was announced.

What can I say? Ever since I first saw him in the pages of Captain America, I've always liked Deathlok. --JK Parkin

14. The serialization of Bakuman in Shonen Jump
I'm not typically a fan of the metafictional self-absorption that typically accompanies authors penning stories starring authors who struggle with writer's block, fame, fandom, what have you (sorry, Stephen King fans). It's just a little ... much. However, I'll make an exception for Bakuman, which follows two ninth-grade boys who dream of becoming mangaka. That's because it's by Death Note creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, who get as much leeway as they want went it comes to subject matter. -- Kevin Melrose

15. The Scott Pilgrim video game
Seriously, how can you not want to play this? --Chris Mautner

No doubt Dark Horse will have all sorts of cool stuff to buy, look at and pick up for free at their booth as well. Check out their complete schedule after the jump.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 (Preview Night):

Domo raffle! Come to our booth to win one of our San Diego Exclusive Domo Figures!

6:00 – 7:00 Charles Vess: Drawing Down The Moon
7:00 – 8:00 Bryan Talbot: Grandville

THURSDAY, JULY 23:

*11:00 – 12:00 Sergio Aragones: Groo
12:00 - 1:00 Dean Motter: Mister X, Electropolis
1:00 – 2:00 Steven Daily: It Ate Billy On Christmas
1:00 – 2:00 Scott Allie: Solomon Kane, Exurbia
2:00 – 3:00 Eric Powell: The Goon
2:00 - 3:00 Jill Thompson: Beasts of Burden
3:00 – 4:00 The Cleaners: Mark Wheaton & Rahsan Ekedal
3:00 – 4:00 Aliens & Predator: Raymond Swanland, Mark Irwin & Chris Warner
4:00 - 5:00 Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon: Umbrella Academy, Pixu, MySpace Dark Horse Presents, B.P.R.D.
4:00 – 5:00 Joshua Dysart: B.P.R.D., Conan
5:00 – 6:00 Dave Gibbons: Martha Washington
5:00 – 6:00 Rick Remender: Fear Agent, End League, Gigantic
6:00 – 7:00 David Lloyd: Kickback

FRIDAY, JULY 24:

10:00 - 1:00 Stan Sakai: Usagi Yojimbo
11:00 – 12:00 Applegeeks: Ananth Panagariya & Mohammad F. Haque
11:00 – 12:00 Ricardo Delgado: Age of Reptiles
12:00 - 1:00 Adam Warren: Empowered
1:00 – 2:00 Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Jane Espenson & Georges Jeanty
1:00 – 2:00 Thomas E. Sniegoski: Lobster Johnson – The Satan Factory
2:00 – 3:00 Steve Niles: Criminal Macabre
2:00 – 3:00 Matt Wagner: Grendel
3:00 – 4:00 Yasuhiro Nightow: Trigun (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
4:00 – 5:00 Mass Effect: Omar Francia & Mac Walters
5:00 – 6:00 Creepy: Mike Woods, Joe Harris, Neil Kleid, Jason Shawn Alexander, Eric Powell, Dan Braun & Hilary Barta
5:00 – 6:00 Unbound Saga: Joe Linsner, Lienil Yu & Mike Kennedy
6:00 – 7:00 Umbrella Academy: Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)

ALSO, FRIDAY, JULY 24TH IS STAR WARS DAY! STAR WARS CREATOR SIGNINGS ALL DAY:

11:00 – 12:00 Jeremy Barlow, Rick Lacy & Michael Atiyeh: Star Wars Adventures
12:00 - 1:00 Rob Chestney & Alex Sanchez: Star Wars – Old Republic
3:00 - 4:00 Colin Wilson & Tom Taylor: Star Wars - Invasion
4:00 – 5:00 Matt & Shawn Fillbach: Star Wars – Clone Wars Adventures

SATURDAY, JULY 25:

10:00 – 11:00 John Landis: Ground breaking filmmaker
11:00 – 12:00 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Jane Espenson & Georges Jeanty
11:00 - 12:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Dave Filoni, Henry Gilroy & Steven Melching
12:00 – 1:00 Bryan Talbot: Grandville
12:00 – 1:00 Star Wars: Old Republic – Rob Chestney & Alex Sanchez
1:00 – 2:00 Ricardo Delgado: Age of Reptiles
2:00 – 3:00 Dethklok Vs. The Goon: Eric Powell & Metalocaplypse Director Jon Schnepp

Saturday afternoon celebrates Dark Horse Originals!

2:00 – 3:00 Citzen Rex: Mario & Gilbert Hernandez
3:00 – 4:00 Insomnia Café: M.K. Perker
3:00 – 4:00 3 Story: Matt Kindt
3:00 – 4:00 Rick Geary: The Adventures of Blanche
3:00 – 4:00 Mike Mignola: Hellboy (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
4:00 - 5:00 SUPER SECRET ANNOUNCEMENT PANEL (see Dark Horse Panel for details!) Gerard Way, Shaun Simon & Becky Cloonan (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
4:00 - 5:00 Larry Marder: Beanworld
5:00 – 6:00 365 Samurai: J.P. Kalonji
5:30 – 7:00 Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Joelle Jones (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
6:00 – 7:00 Matt & Shawn Fillbach: Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires

SUNDAY, JULY 26:

11:00 – 12:00 Bryan Talbot: Grandville
11:00 – 12:00 Star Wars: Invasion: Colin Wilson & Tom Taylor
12:00 – 1:00 Pixu: Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Becky Cloonan & Vasilis Lolos
12:00 – 1:00 Furry Water: Rafael Grampa & Daniel Pellizzari
1:00 – 2:00 Emily the Strange: Creator Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner
1:00 – 2:00 David Lloyd: Kickback
2:00 – 3:00 Tara McPherson: Lost Constellations
2:00 – 3:00 Nathan Fox: Pigeons From Hell
3:00 – 4:00 Dean Motter: Mister X, Electropolis
3:00 – 4:00 Unbound Saga: Joe Linsner, Lienil Yu, Mike Kennedy

And Check out these Dark Horse Related Panels and Events!

THURSDAY JULY 23

Action Figure Times present the Toy Maker Q&A
(featuring Dark Horse’s David Scroggy)
11:00 – 12:00 Room 32B

Free Screening: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog with Musical Commentary!
8:00pm – 10:00pm Room 6A

FRIDAY JULY 24

Comic-Con in the 80’s (featuring Dark Horse’s David Scroggy)
12:00 – 1:00 Room 2

Creepy Panel
3:30 – 4:30 Room 3

Joss Whedon Panel
4:00 – 6:00 Ballroom 20

Eric Powell’s Goon Panel
6:00 – 7:00 Room 8

SATURDAY JULY 25

Dark Horse Panel!

Dark Horse: We Love Comics, Too! Join Publisher Mike Richardson, Director of Public Relations Jeremy Atkins and Senior Managing Editor Scott Allie, along with a cast of top creators, for an exclusive preview of all that Dark Horse has to offer in the coming year. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Dark Horse breaks the mold with a format you've never seen. Make sure you're able to say you were there when a new era in panels was ushered in. With breaking news on all of your favorite Dark Horse titles, major announcements and surprise guests, be the first to know about heroes, horror and more!
11:00 – 12:00 Room 2

Gerard Way Panel
2:15 – 3:15 Room 6DE

Hellboy Panel
4:30 – 5:30 Room 4

El Cortez Memories (Featuring Moderator David Scroggy, of Dark Horse)
5:00 – 6:00 Room 2

SUNDAY JULY 26

Emily the Strange Panel
11:00 – 12:00 Room 2

Usagi Yojimbo 25th Anniversary Panel
1:30 – 2:30 Room 8

“Grandville and the Art of Anthropomorphic Comic Tradition”
A presentation by Bryan Talbot
3:30 – 4:30 Room 3

The 2009 MoCCA Festival poster, illustrated by Molly Crabapple

While I did not attend Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) Art Festival 2009, held back on June 6-7, I was struck at the amount of constructive feedback that came out of people's reports after the festival. It goes without saying that almost everyone thought the new venue (the 69th Regiment Armory) needed air conditioning and many folks were understandably dismayed with the logistical challenges and delays that occurred at the festival's start. While reading a great deal of reactions from attendees and exhibitors, I was curious to get a lessons learned perspective from the organizers. Fortunately, Karl Erickson, MoCCA Director, was willing to take my email questions. In his answers, Erickson seemingly made it clear he was open to constructive feedback. While my questions aimed to cover a great deal of various concerns, I welcome folks to chime in with additional thoughts in the comments section. My thanks to Erickson for his time.

Tim O'Shea: The first question has to be--did you explore the possibility of air conditioning this year? Was it deemed just too cost prohibitive? If you're staying at the Armory, do you intend to have air conditioning in 2010?

Karl Erickson: We did explore air conditioning for the Armory, but, yes, it was just too expensive. As far as staying at the Armory we are looking at dates earlier in the spring to help alleviate the heat.

O'Shea: Can you speak to what happened to cause the hour-long delay on Saturday and logistical challenges (like delayed book deliveries, only one trashcan on the show floor [by some reports], names missing from the guide book)--and are you establishing measures to try to minimize these situations next year?

Erickson: The delay was due to a few different factors, the major being a severe miscommunication with the trucking company that was to deliver not only many of our exhibitor’s books, but all of our supplies for the festival, not least being our cash registers and other check-in essentials. Of the problems that we did have, having one trashcan for the entire show floor was not one of them. We definitely had many trashcans.

We are certainly taking steps to contain and minimize the mistakes of this year, the most important of which is getting a much earlier jump in the planning and execution of the Festival. This includes a lengthy review of the 2009 Festival with practical solutions suggested. These include moving the Festival earlier in the spring (as this is not the first year we have had heat problems, AC or no), starting on every aspect of the Festival earlier, and creating a new MoCCA website that will deliver information much more effectively to exhibitors and attendees.

O'Shea: Every show has snags, I know, but I was curious if there were scenarios that you know now how to avoid going forward--what are some of the lessons learned?

Erickson: Certainly, and I think I went over a lot of them above. Of course, one of the main lessons is to be in touch with our exhibitors earlier and more regularly.

O'Shea: Am I correct in thinking the dates have not been announced for next year? With that in mind (and please correct me if I'm wrong) how realistic is it to ask exhibitors to make a commitment and pay a $50 nonrefundable deposit for table reservations without knowing MoCCA's 2010 dates?

Erickson: We are still researching dates for 2010. The Armory isn’t able to commit dates until later in July, the beginning of New York State's fiscal year, so that is part of the delay in announcing dates. Also, as mentioned, we are also researching dates earlier in the spring.

Nearly 50% of our 2009 exhibitors renewed their tables for the 2010 Festival, which is pretty close to par. As far as the $50 non-refundable deposit: if an exhibitor reserved their table at the 2009 Festival and aren’t able to attend once we announce the date, we are happy to completely refund their money within 30 days of the date announcement.

O'Shea: How much of a priority is it to improve promotions/communications for the MoCCA festival overall and gain a stronger web presence?

Erickson: We feel that promotions for the Festival in 2009 were fairly strong: we had active presences on the Onion, Village Voice, and Time Out NY, as well as strong chatter over blogs and other internet sites. With over 4,000 attendees (our most yet!), we are pleased with the number of people coming to the Festival, though we always want more. As mentioned above, we plan on being more in touch with our exhibitors and other stakeholders earlier in the planning stages, especially through our soon to be launched new website.

We also sent out a steady stream of press releases leading up to the festival, and we look forward to partnering with others to strengthen our press relations. Except for a few key personal, this years festival was put on by a new team at MoCCA, starting nearly from scratch, including having to rebuild our press lists.

And yes, we are in the process of re-designing our website into a much more user-friendly experience, which we expect to have up soon.

O'Shea: While there have been a great deal of complaints about the festival and concerns about the MoCCA Art Festival going forward, it was almost always in the context of "there's so much I love about MoCCA, but ...". Did you take solace that while people were making negative comments it was frequently in the context of accompanying praise?

Erickson: Yes, we do take to heart all of the positive comments people have made both publicly and privately, as well as the criticisms. We also realize that people are very vocal about their negative reactions because they care very much for the MoCCA Festival. It should also be said that the quality and variety of comics, books, and other great items on view this year were just great.

O'Shea: Enough about the festival's challenges this year--what were some of the highlights/successes of MoCCA 2009?

Erickson: Well, of course, the brightest highlights are all of the fantastic comics, cartoons and graphic novels! It would take up to much space to list individual favorites and delights! For me, being able to give the Klein Award to Jerry Robinson was pretty special, having Al Jaffee and Arnold Roth on stage was great, comics from Derek Van Gieson, The Moth and the Flame by Joshua Ray Stevens, Sugar Booger, Sara Edward-Corbett, Becky Cloonan, the entire Scandanavian contingent, Hard Comics from Romania, and just everything else was a highlight. Another major positive factor is the dedicated volunteer core that puts the Festival together. The panels were incredible, and very well attended. And the Festival was a successful fundraiser for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art.

O'Shea: In terms of exhibitors how many did you have in 2009, compared to years past? And how much growth did the festival experience in terms of international exhibitors?

Erickson: We had over 250 exhibitor tables, with more than 750 individual artists, publishers and creators exhibiting. We had 43 artists and creators from Scandanavia, and Ireland, England, Romania, and Japan were all represented. We keep getting more and more from around the world. It is great and a vital part of our Festival to have the international comics community represented.

O'Shea: What were the biggest benefits gained by moving to the Armory (as compared to years past at the Puck Building)?

Erickson: The biggest benefit to moving to the Armory is having all of the exhibitors in one area, no one was hidden away are stashed around a corner. Plus, we were able to have all of our programming on site, which greatly benefit the excellent talks and lectures MoCCA hosted. We understand how attractive the character of Puck Building is to people, however, it is just not available to us, given their rising fees and space redesign. Plus the Armory has a significant bit of history itself, for those into modern art.

O'Shea: What's on the horizon at the museum this year? I know the Conversation with David Mazzucchelli and Dan Nadel is set for July 16, but are there other events you are busy arranging for in 2009?

Erickson: Immediately upcoming we have the Mazzucchelli/Nadel conversation, we have Molly Crabapple talking about her new book on July 21st. By the time this sees print, we have had an evening with TYPHON and Carousel with Danny Hellman and R. Sikoryak. Upcoming we have shows planned with Archie Comics, romance and love in comics and cartoons, and a whole host of youth workshops. We have on view "Meanwhile... at 594 Broadway: The Art of MoCCA's Volunteers" as well as the Mazzucchelli show.

O'Shea: Any final thoughts you want to share?

Erickson:  MoCCA would like all of our exhibitors, attendees and press to know that we value them very highly and we are working diligently on making the 2010 Festival the best yet.

We would also like to thank all of the volunteers that make MoCCA and the Festival possible. Neither would exist without their dedication and efforts.

40th Anniversary Souvenir Book

The 2009 San Diego Comic-Con is less than a month away, with preview night kicking things off on Wednesday, July 22. If you are a publisher, creator, retailer or any other kind of exhibitor who would like to let folks know about any special plans you have for the show (panels, signing schedules, exclusives, debuts, etc.) drop me an email and I'll run it here.

Also, to the right is the 40th anniversary souvenir book cover, featuring art by the great Rick Geary. Comic-Con debuted it on their Twitter feed, where they've also been announcing panels and auctions for membership badges.

Publishers | Red 5 Comics will be at booth S-9 in the small press area, with the creators of We Kill Monsters, Neozoic, Atomic Robo and Afterburn available for signings.

Books | Scott Morse says he'll have about 100 copies of The Ancient Book of Sex and Science, which sold out before its release after being mentioned on BoingBoing. He's also taking orders for a signed and numbered edition, which he'll bring to the con if you order one.

Exclusives | Becky Cloonan will have a set of four silkscreen prints at the con, limited to 100 "signed, numbered, stamped and enveloped" copies.

I asked if she and the 5/Pixu crew had another book planned for this year, but she said they've all been so busy they haven't been able to do one. She also said she'll have a big announcement at the con, and she'll have a table with with Brian Wood, Cliff Chiang and Jill Thompson.

Mini-comics | According to Ben Towle, J Chris Campbell of Wide Awake Press is putting together a Michael Jackson memorial mini-comic to sell at the con, which will feature stories and pin-ups of the King of Pop.

Panels | The Crogan Adventures creator Chris Schweizer sent over a list of panels he'll be at this year, providing more pieces in the ever-growing Comic-Con schedule puzzle:

THURSDAY, JULY 23:
3:00-4:00 Oni Press: Panelmonium 2009-Often imitated but never duplicated, get up close and personal with trend setting indie comic powerhouse Oni Press. Join in the Q&A with your favorite Oni creators including Ross Campbell (Wet Moon), Jamie S. Rich (You Have Killed Me), Greg Rucka (Whiteout), Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim), and Chris Schweizer (The Crogan Adventures). Get sneak peeks at upcoming Oni projects, news on Oni Press fan initiatives, free Oni comics, prizes and more! Guaranteed by Oni Press' totally biased employees to be "the most fun you'll ever have at a panel." Room 10

Crogan's Vengeance

SATURDAY, JULY 25:
5:00-6:00 Graphic Novels: Sense of History-There's a wonderful world of history awaiting you in numerous graphic novels available now. Whether it be real life stories adapting historical events to the comics form, or fiction taking place in a specific time, these practitioners of the historical graphic novel are all presenting work at the top of their form. Moderator Randy Duncan (co-chair of the Comics Arts Conference) talks to Comic-Con special guests Rick Geary (Treasury of XX Century Murder: Famous Players), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), and Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo), plus Jason Lutes (Berlin), Chris Schweizer (Crogan's Vengeance), and Eric Shanower (Age of Bronze), about their individual takes on history. Room 8

SUNDAY, JULY 26:
10:00-11:00 Kids' Graphic Novels- What's new and wonderful in the world of comics and graphic novels for kids in 2009? Moderator Robin Brenner, creator and editor-in-chief of NoFlyingNoTights.com highlights the works of panelists Lewis Trondheim (Tiny Tyrant), Gene Yang (American Born Chinese), Derek Kirk Kim (The Eternal Smile), Eric Wight (Frankie Pickle and The Closet of Doom), Chris Schweizer (Crogan's Vengeance), Jennifer Holm (Babymouse), and Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Lunch Lady), who all recommend other great titles. Room 3

2:00-3:00 Kids Write!-Kids, join creators Chris Giarrusso (G-Man), Chris Schweizer (Crogan's Vengeance), Eric Wight (Frankie Pickle), and Gene Yang (American Born Chinese) as they draw the story you tell! Moderated by Cory Casoni (Oni Press). Room 30CDE

Panels | Mark Evanier lists all the panels he'll be moderating at this year's con, including a spotlight on comics legend Gene Colan.

Exclusives | The Comic-Con official website posted a whole bunch of exclusives that'll debut at the show, including Avatar comics, Dark Avengers minimates, a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man bank, signed and numbered copies of The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke and more. Hasbro has a cool Invaders action figure boxed set (right) and a black-and-white Captain America that look like they're worth checking out. I also like the Peanuts shirts and the Astronaut Snoopy figurine.

Movies | Footage from Matthew Vaughn’s big screen adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s Kick-Ass will debut at the con.

Television | The Sci Fi Channel has announced their line-up of panels, which will include one devoted to Caprica and Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. They'll also be showing episodes of Warehouse 13 and Eureka.

Merchandise | Cartoon Books has three new Bone shirts that they'll be selling at Comic-Con. Or you can buy them now online.

Movies | Speaking of Bone, there will be a screening of The Cartoonist, the documentary about Jeff Smith, on Friday at the con.

Movies | King of the Hill and Office Space creator Mike Judge will show footage from his next movie, Extract, on July 25 at the con.

Movies | Comic-Con has released the schedule for their International Independent Film Festival, which will run all four days of the con. You can find it here.

Meanwhile, MTV's Splash Page kicks off a series of interviews where Percy Carey talks to Grant Morrison:

And it must be "Two for Tuesday," because G4's Blair Butler also spoke with Morrison:

Becky Cloonan draws Delirium

Over on her blog, Demo artist Becky Cloonan shares a bunch of sketches she's done at recent conventions, including this one of Delirium of the Endless. Nice.

The cover to the hardcover edition of PIXU, coming July 2009 from Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse recently revealed it will publish a hardcover collection of PIXU, a unique four-way collaboration between award-winning creators Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos and Fábio Moon. Previously released as two self-published issues, PIXU is a horror comic book that tells the story of an apartment building full of haunted individuals, and the PIXU itself, a supernatural mark that portends great evil.

The four PIXU creators are scattered across the globe -- with Cloonan living in Brooklyn, twin brothers Moon and Bá in São Paulo, Brazil, and Lolos splitting his time between Brooklyn and Athens, Greece. The book is at once a story, an experiment and a reflection of their tight friendship -- four disparate, distant and visionary mad scientists becoming one through the magical act of creating comics together. Best of all, the book is creepy as all hell.

The original issues of PIXU were printed at a limited run of 1,000 copies each -- but you can still find these handcrafted soon-to-be-eBay-bait comics at Khepri.com.

To celebrate the July release of the hardcover edition, we reached out to the PIXU quartet to find out the secret history of the book, and their own origins in the world of horror.

Which of your PIXU collaborators did you meet first? What was your first impression of them?

Gabriel: Easy. Fábio. Twin brother. Handsome guy, very talented. Very obedient, too. Does as I tell him to do.
Becky: I met Fábio and Gabriel, I think at the same time, at San Diego a bunch of years ago. I think it was 2004? Anyway, I was very impressed by their enthusiasm and skills. A year later, again at San Diego, I saw them again -- and I was immediately quizzed to see if I remembered who was who. Of course, I was a good guesser.
Vasilis: That would be Becky; I thought she was a worthy art rival and really hot.
Fábio: I was right there inside my mother's belly when suddenly I looked to the side and I saw Bá. At first, he looked small and I didn't think much of him. He was kinda lazy and was born 15 minutes after me.

PIXU I cover

How did the idea of collaborating on a book come about? How did you come up with the idea of the horror story?

Fábio: Bá and I always worked together. We learned long ago that collaborating with other people who you feel inspired by creates a "good internal competition." We see great stuff and we want to do great stuff, and that has been the fuel of our brotherly collaborations, and we saw that same energy in Becky and Vasilis work, especially when they worked together and also challenged each other.
Vasilis: PIXU is the logical followup of 5. I think we wanted to take it a bit further on the way we collaborate and incorporate our teamwork on script and visuals.
Gabriel: We all wanted to do it, but we wanted to do something different from everything we had done or were doing by the time, and that's when we came with the idea of making a horror comic.
Fábio: Horror is cool to draw. It's a great genre to use black and white, to use closeups, to use silence and sound effects. You can really explore the language of comics making a horror comic.
Becky: Ironically, I hate horror movies. I have a really overactive imagination and I tend to be scared for weeks after I see one ... But doing a horror comic was fun. I was able to step back a bit and try to figure out what scares me, why it does, and then work that into the comic.

Was it difficult to do a four-way collaboration across the globe? How did you coordinate everyone's efforts?

Fábio: I don't think it would have been easier if we were all together. With the Internet, the communication is much easier, and it's possible to work from any corner of the globe.
Becky: Besides daily emails and weekly MSN meetings, we also have a "secret" blog that we started as we did 5 to keep track of everybody's progress. On that blog we post photo ref, thumbnails, scripts, basically everything. It's an archive of the entire process, and it's a good resource if we need answers and nobody is around.
Vasilis: We did a lot of planning out, scouting for houses, making blueprints of the houses, assigning rooms and spaces, figuring out common areas where the characters interact.
Fábio: The most difficult part was to put together the story and write it separately and then watch it to see if it worked as one story. The melting of four heads into one was the biggest challenge, but at the same time I see it was what made the story so rich as everyone brought their own different perception of horror to the house and the characters.
Gabriel: When you're making an independent comic where nobody is getting paid and everybody is in it for the love of the craft, you can't really go bossing everyone around. In the end, we finished the comic one month late, but it's a lot better than we have anticipated in the beginning.

The PIXU gang and the spoils of war at the 2008 Eisner Awards, left to right: "5" collaborator Rafael Grampá, Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos

What was it like debuting the first issue together? Why at San Diego Comic-Con 2008? Any memorable moments or reactions?

Vasils: San Diego Comic-Con was ideal because that’s a time where we all meet and hang for a couple of weeks every year.
Gabriel: Becky goes to lots of conventions in the U.S., we do our rounds here in Brazil, Vasilis visits Olympus, but in San Diego we are all together and it always feels great.
Becky: We could debut it at any time, I guess, but we did the book together so it only makes sense to debut it together!
Gabriel: San Diego is like our magic place where we all live together for a week. It's our safe place where we recharge our batteries and our belief that we're doing the right thing and why we love comics so much.
Fábio: We felt blessed to be in San Diego doing comics because of our passion for comics, and our previous independent effort together, 5, won an Eisner Award and we were all there together and we received the award together and I felt that there's nothing better than doing what you love with people you love and that, if you want something hard enough and you work as hard as you can, you can do anything.
Becky: Plus it's like the Con of Cons.
Vasilis: I think my most memorable PIXU moment wasn’t at the convention, I had a couple intense ones at home while working on it ...

Page from PIXU I by Gabriel Bá

What movie scared the shit out of you the most as a child?

Gabriel: The NeverEnding Story, if you believe me. I was scared of "the nothing," but mainly of that wolf. Big, low-budget fake wolf with gloomy yellow eyes still haunts me in the dark. The scariest part is that due to the technological limitations of the time, very little was shown of the whole wolf, only his head coming out of the shadows or a shade moving through the woods. This "insinuation" of the "monster" without actually showing the thing is the most scary effect you can generate.
Vasilis: I would have to say E.T. -- that hospital scene where he went all white, jeez. But truly awesome.
Becky: I gotta echo Vasilis and say E.T. really did a number on me. I was even scared of the Touchstone logo for years after I saw it. It was so fucked up.
Fábio: The Shining. I will fear hotels for the rest of my life.
Becky: Grease scared me too, but I think that was just John Travolta.

Scariest comic book of all time?

Becky: I've read a lot of very creepy comics, including Uzumaki by Junji Ito, and The Abandoned by Ross Campbell.
Fábio: Otomo's DOMU was disturbing, and Black Hole made me feel like I was going to die in the forest if I wanted to have sex. There's something powerful and scary in the silence these two stories show.
Gabriel: Black Hole. It's very creepy. Those woods.
Becky: Horror is, I think, the hardest genre to pull off in comics not only because we have a total lack of sound, and unlike novels (which can leave more to the imagination) comics relies heavily on visuals ... I think what draws me to horror in comics is the challenge, because to get the audience in that particular mood is, I think, very difficult to achieve.

Page from PIXU I by Becky Cloonan

Have you ever seen a real-life PIXU? What did it look like? What happened next?

Becky: Thank God I have never seen a PIXU in real life, or else I wouldn't be here today.
Gabriel: PIXO (with an "O") is a kind of graffiti in Brazil, just writings mainly, with this very particular kind of calligraphy. And the people who write these words, they really break the boundaries of where you can go and "how the hell did they get there," you know? So it's this kind of transgressive graffiti that can appear anywhere, with words and sentences very hard to understand, but that bare a message.
Vasilis: I've seen some stuff, but they were truly indescribable. Really, really uncanny.
Fábio: I see it all the time, and I'm sure you have, too. Try to remember a place you know where something bad happened. After that, that place was never seen with the same eyes by you, as if it was tainted by the bad memories. We remember places by events we had in those places (or events we know happened there), so the "bad" places will always have that stain, that ghost.

PIXU depicts the lives of tenants in an apartment building. Would you live in an apartment with your PIXU collaborators?

Gabriel: I lived with Fábio for 31 years and I've shared a hotel room with Becky and Vasilis once.
Becky: The closest we got to living together was last summer after San Diego Comic-Con. We shared a hotel in L.A. -- that explains the earthquake we had! For the good of the planet I don't think we should ever live together; who knows what natural disasters will occur?
Gabriel: The scariest moments were when Vasilis would turn on the TV. He would never turn it off.
Becky: Although living closer would be nice! Or seeing each other for more than a few weeks a year.
Vasilis: I kind of am already, ha-ha. Me and Becky share an apartment when I am staying in the States. And we plan a long visit to the twins, too.
Fábio: Didn't we tell you PIXU is autobiographical?

Page from PIXU I by Vasilis Lolos

Would you do it all again?

Gabriel: Not in the circumstances we did this one, among lots of different projects at the same time.
Fábio: We are still learning to choose projects and determine what will we do, as the possibilities grow, but the itch to work together will never die, so I guess it's just a matter of time.
Vasilis: We are going to do it again but not all over, ha-ha, we want to keep it different and interesting.
Gabriel: We respect and admire each other too much not to work together again. We don't want to do the same thing again. Next time we do something together, it's gonna be something entirely different.
Becky: I love collaborating with Fabio, Vasilis and Ba. I don't know when it will happen, but we'll start another comic fire one day.

What's next?

Gabriel: Who knows? I'm almost done with Umbrella series 2 (Dallas), I'm getting deeper on the BPRD: 1947 series, and Fábio and I are making our series at Vertigo called Daytripper. It's all ending by the third quarter of this year and I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do next. More Umbrella? Sure, there's more. Casanova? Yeah, it's coming back. That's all I know.
Becky: I just finished writing a script for Buffy: Tales of the Vampires, which Vasilis will be illustrating, and I'm currently working with Brian Wood on Demo. I'd love to go back and finish my graphic novel East Coast Rising, but right now it's tied up with Tokyopop so we'll see ... Apart from that, I have a few other projects in the works, one is a webcomic with my dear friend Hwan Cho, and the other is in the pitch process with two friends as well, so we'll see. I'm always making room for new projects though, I have a bad habit of taking on too much at once.
Vasilis: Some sort of cosmic adventure. Or a slice-of-life story.
Fábio: Right now I have my hands full working on Daytripper with Bá and on the BPRD: 1947 with Bá, Mignola and Dysart. Whatever comes next will have to wait for these projects, and that's at least one year away, so right now I'm focusing on the present because the comics I'm working right now are too exciting to let me think of the next ones.

Page from PIXU I by Fábio Moon

Four creators in PIXU, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the final book of the Bible. Which PIXU creator best matches each Horseman of the Apocalypse? (War, Famine, Pestilence, Death.)

Vasilis: I think Becky is War because she fires us up for comics; Fabio and Gabriel are Famine and Pestilence because those two are related, ha-ha, and I think I am Death, because I come when everyone else is done.
Fábio: You'd die (and kill) to be as talented as Becky. Vasilis is a Greek god of War and he takes no prisoners. Bá is the sick bastard you can't stand how awesome he is, and I'll always leave you hungry for more, so I think it's pretty easy.
Gabriel: I'd say we made our turns as every and each one of them. We became our worst nightmares at some point, a point of no turning back, so we had to face our fears and overcome the problems we have created. Making PIXU was a challenge for all of us, as creators and as a team. And we won. On the other hand, Vasilis is Pestilence, Becky is Death, Fábio is Famine and I'm War!
Becky: If I were to answer this it would signal the end of the world, which in turn means no more comics!! Oh god, then we'd all be out of a job. And life. So let's compare us to four something else ... The Four Seasons? The Four Elements of Hip Hop? I don't know, I just don't feel comfortable with these Horsemen guys. They are not to be trusted.

Cloonan's cover for "East Coast Rising," Vol. 2

Last summer's restructuring at Tokyopop triggered an "OEL constriction" that left the fate of many of the publisher's original English-language titles up in the air.

Some books would see print, others reportedly were destined for life online, while others still -- contract negotiations permitting -- could find a home at another company.

One of the books affected was the second volume of Becky Cloonan's East Coast Rising, a generally well-received romp about punk-rock pirates who sail the waters of a submerged New Jersey.

Some eight months after the announced restructuring, and more than a year after Vol. 2's scheduled release, the book's future is still in doubt.

"A lot of you are probably wondering, 'Oh, Becky! When O when is East Coast Rising v2 coming out?' and to that I can only say I don't know," Cloonan writes today on her blog. "I have kept quiet since they decided not to print it last year, but I'm very close to finishing it; about 30 pages away from completion, I'm just waiting on the 'go' from TP. Every time I think we get close to making a deal, something happens that makes it seem like it won't go through, so right now I'm just waiting. Hopefully I'll have some good news about it soon, but in the meantime I'm treating it like a pet project that one day I might see printed."

Meanwhile, Cloonan is plenty busy: In addition to the new volume of Demo at Vertigo, she's working on a Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Vampire one-shot with Vasilis Lolos for Dark Horse.