Jayms Blonde

Legal | The Second Circuit Court of Appeals backed the 2010 decision by a federal judge to dismiss a comic writer’s claims that Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, Columbia Pictures and parent company Sony Picture stole his idea for a hairdresser-turned-hero and transformed it into the movie You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. Robert Cabell filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit in February 2009 accusing the moviemakers of ripping off his comic The Hair-Raising Adventures of Jayms Blonde, about a Navy SEAL-turned-hairdresser who fights crime armed with a blow dryer. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Creators | The Hero Initiative reports that comics creator Josh Medors, who has a rare form of cancer, has been released from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection. [Hero Initiative]

Creators | Dave McKean discusses his most recent work, the erotic graphic novel Celluloid. [Suicide Girls]

Rachel Rising

Creators | Terry Moore talks at length about his upcoming comic Rachel Rising, the end of Echo and and the in-the-works film by Lloyd Levin and screenwriter Kerry Williamson. He says the idea for Rachel Rising came from an unused idea he had while working on Birds of Prey for DC: “The rough idea was a woman committing a crime, like burglary, when Batrat drops in and a minute later she’s dead. A terrible accident. He pretends to care, blah, blah. He’s in the morgue watching them slide her drawer shut. That’s that. The next night he’s taking a leak off a rooftop or whatever it is a guy with his underwear on the outside does at night on rooftops, and there she is. The girl from the morgue is back, robbing the shop below. He engages the suspect. Damn if she doesn’t get killed again. Swear it wasn’t Fatman’s fault. Morgue. Next day, she’s baaaack. Get the idea? That was Deadgirl. I loved her. Unfortunately, I left Birds of Prey before I could use my secret weapon, so I put her in a drawer for later. Meanwhile, the name of Deadgirl was copyrighted at Marvel, so when it was time for my new series I re-titled it Rachel Rising. And that’s where she came from.” [PopMatters]

The Lives of Sacco & Vanzetti

Creators | Rick Geary reveals the roots of his fascination with true crime. [NBM Blog]

Commentary | Melinda Beasi thinks publishers, and readers, should take more pride in manga that is created by and for women, rather than apologizing for that fact or brushing it aside. [Manga Bookshelf]

Comics | As the final issue of Mome rolls off the presses, Brian Heater talks to editor Eric Reynolds about the anthology’s genesis and the purposes it served. (Part 1 of 4.) [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Movies | Daniel Snyder lists five fatal errors for comic book movies. [The Atlantic]

Criticism | Jason Thompson takes a long look at Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, a horror manga that relies on creepiness rather than shock. [Anime News Network]

Conventions | The Miami New Times profiles this weekend’s Florida Supercon. The show’s guest list includes Dennis Calero, Charlie Adlard, Paul Gulacy, Ariel Olivetti, Tony Bedard, Duncan Fegredo, Sean McKeever and musical guest Motion City Soundtrack. [Miami New Times]

Comics | Stan Lee gets the Bluewater treatment. [Bluewater Comics]

OK, it’s been done before, but just because Zane Gray wrote westerns doesn’t mean nobody else can write westerns. The problem, as I see it, is that superheroes that are not from Marvel and DC are a tough sell. Let’s take BOOM! Studios as a comparison, as both BOOM! and Bluewater are small indy publishers. BOOM! has well known writers and artists, and it promotes the hell out of its comics to retailers and the comics press. Its superhero comics sell between 10,000 copies (Mark Waid’s Irredeemable and Incorruptible) and 7,000 copies (the Stan Lee titles) a month—respectable for a small press, but hardly DC/Marvel numbers. Bluewater has unknown writers and artists, and while it promotes the hell out of its comics, a lot of the press they get is bad. So it looks like this line has a lot of obstacles to overcome. (Not that bad reviews don’t move comics—I’m sure there are people who bought the Justin Bieber bio-comic because it’s cheaper than LSD.)

I don’t read many superhero comics, but I follow a lot of bloggers who do, and the chief complaints I hear are high cover prices, overly complicated continuity and too many titles for a given character. If Bluewater is offering a new universe, with superheroes no one has heard of, at a cover price of $3.99 (they don’t say that in the press release but that seems to be standard for Bluewater), then it doesn’t seem like there is much there to attract the already committed superhero reader. As for readers who don’t already follow superheroes, they may pick up a few, but this comic has no movie tie-in, no big-name creator, and no interesting hook beyond the Greek-gods angle, which has been done before.

How about creators? That’s often a weak point with Bluewater. They are billing the line as created by art director Gregg Paulsen, line editor AE Stueve, and “a slew of artists and writers.” Paulsen’s Judo Girl looks fairly decent (I’m judging by the cover here, not having read it), and I have seen some good writing in these books, but Bluewater has gotten some bad press for its creator contracts as well, which has to cut into the talent pool. For a line like this, I would want a marquee contributor, but it doesn’t look from the press release like that’s going to happen.

So, while I’m interested in how this will play out, I’m taking it with a grain of salt. But hey, Bluewater, feel free to surprise me!

Every week, I get an e-mail from comiXology listing all of its new issues for the week, but the order seems to be somewhere between alphabetical and random. Viz Media also does a nice job of letting me know what’s new on its app. Graphicly sends a chatty e-mail featuring a couple of titles, but the company doesn’t put them front and center in its app, so I have to go looking for them (and it’s not the most intuitive interface). And while I know the iVerse folks have been busy, they don’t update their blog or (as far as I can tell) send out e-mails. This is all my way of saying that while the following may seem heavy on comiXology content, that’s not because I’m biased — it’s because comiXology has more titles and is doing a better job of promoting them.

That said, I thought it would be helpful to sift through this week’s offerings and pull out some good weekend reading.

A couple of classic series are debuting on comiXology this week. Having attended both the Vertigo panel and the Bill Willingham spotlight panel at C2E2, I was interested in seeing more of Fables, so it’s a happy coincidence that Jack of Fables #1 is up there for free. It’s just as clever as the main series, and Tony Akins’ supple penciling is a treat for the eyes. (One of the things I enjoy about Fables is that there is plenty of eye candy for the ladies as well as the guys.) Sometimes the free samples are kind of mingy, but not here: This is the whole first issue of Jack of Fables, and if that whets your appetite, Issue 2 is up there for $1.99.

Also new this week, although, sadly, not free, is Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Batman and Robin. The first six issues, comprising two complete story arcs, are up this week.

For less than a buck you can jump in to the Archie Marries Veronica saga with Archie #600, which kicks off the first story arc (in the second—spoiler alert!—he marries Betty). Oh, and here’s that Wonder Woman #600 that Tom was just talking about.

There were three same-day-as-print releases this week, Walking Dead #83, World of Warcraft: Curse of the Worgren #5, and Jughead #206. Also, they are offering half off on Elephantmen comics.

Finally, here’s a comic that’s a little offbeat: Sherlock Holmes: The Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner, by Bret Herholz and Rori Shapiro. It’s from Alterna, and done in a sort of Edward Gorey style, which fits the subject matter rather nicely. At $1.99 for 130 pages, it’s a real bargain if that’s your cup of tea.

Viz gets ahead of the day-and-date game by releasing the fourth volume of Bakuman this week, a week ahead of the print release. Created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Death Note), this is the story of two would-be manga creators, and with its clean-lined style, it’s a nice read even if you’re not a fanatical manga fan. (You can check out the first chapter for free at the publisher’s website.) Also new on the app this week are Vol. 19 of Naruto, Vol. 19 of One Piece, Vol. 11 of Bleach, and a handful of others, skewing heavily toward shonen action series.

Over at Graphicly, the newsletter was promoting Ryan Cody’s Icarus, but there is only one issue up so far (Robot 6 began serializing Icarus just this week). This week’s featured comics are a decidedly mixed bag: Archie and Friends #153, Incorruptible #15, and the Bluewater Oprah Winfrey bio-comic. I think the Archie and Friends, with its demonic Reggie face dominating the cover, would be my pick from that bunch. There are also three very indy-ish comics up there for free: Bondage #1, Think Weasel #1, and Warlash: Dark Noir #1.

On iVerse’s Comics + reader (sorry, no links as these are not posted on its website), this week’s new comics include two issues from IDW’s Infestation crossover series, Star Trek: Infestation #2 and Transformers: Infestation #2. Also worth a look: Kill Shakespeare #9, which is leading up to a major story twist the creators have promised in issue 10, and Pocket God #6, just because it’s so cute.

Bluewater sent out a press release last week to announce that Morningside Entertainment has optioned the film rights to Bluewater’s Sinbad: Rogue of Mars comic from 2007. There are several interesting things about that.

According to the press release, Morningside has optioned the comic in order to adapt it into a feature film for 2012. Not a reboot, the movie is intended to be an extension of the Sinbad films that started with 1958’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and continued into the ‘70s with The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

The release went on to quote Executive Producer Barry Schneer as saying that Rogue of Mars would be the first film in a new trilogy. “I’m thrilled to continue the amazing legacy my uncle, Charles Schneer began with 7th Voyage and to bring to the screen the Sinbad movie that he and Ray Harryhausen never got to make.”

Since Bluewater published Sinbad: Rogue of Mars as part of its Ray Harryhausen Presents line of comics, I started wondering how this fit together and who owned the rights to what. I assumed that Morningside already owned at least a portion of the rights to the Sinbad films. Since Rogue of Mars was based on those movies, why would Morningside need to option the story from a comic book company that had bought the license from them in the first place? What exactly was Morningside optioning? And how does Ray Harryhausen himself fit into all of this?

I contacted Bluewater’s Darren G Davis and asked him to help me put the pieces together. “It’s sad to say that Ray Harryhausen doesn’t own rights to the characters that he created,” Davis told me. “Sony controls a lot of the rights to the previous film library.”

He went on to clarify. “What people have to understand is that Harryhausen was the special effects person behind the films. He was instrumental and a huge part of them, but doesn’t own the rights. The film industry was very different back in the day. I am a huge Harryhausen fan and when I got to work with him it was a dream come true. Charles Schneer, who was the producer of the films, owned a stake in them, which now has gone to his nephew Barry Scheer, who is producing this film.”

As for the comic and the ideas in it, “We own the rights to it. It was part of the deal when we decided to move forward with Harryhausen and produce the comics.”

But wasn’t Harryhausen part of the creative process on Rogue of Mars? When the series was first announced, Davis talked about his “excitement toward developing the property with Harryhausen.”

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Davis explained it to me, “We took the basic concept from an idea that was out there called Sinbad Goes to Mars from the ‘80s. They were going to produce it after Clash of the Titans, but it never got green lit. There was a script or treatment on it that we got from Harryhausen’s people, but we took it and went another direction with the story and concepts.

“I wish I could say that Harryhausen had a lot to do with this one, but his people just signed off on what we were doing. When we started this project Ray Harryhausen was in the midst of retiring. When we created the world, we definitely wanted to pay tribute to his world, giving new people an introduction to who Harryhausen is as well as giving Harryhausen fans something classic.”

I talked to Harryhausen’s people and they told me basically the same thing. Tony Dalton, the curator of Harryhausen’s collection and co-author of The Art of Ray Harryhausen said that “neither Ray Harryhausen nor The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation have been formally approached to participate in this project.” But he also added that he met with Schneer earlier and advised the producer that neither Ray nor the Foundation would desire to be involved.

So with Harryhausen out of the picture (so to speak) except for developing the core concept of Sinbad’s visiting Mars, it’s Bluewater’s take on that concept that Morningside is interested in. Davis specified that “they optioned the characters, story and design of the worlds” and added that Bluewater and Morningside have had a partnership for a couple of years now. This is just the first thing that’s come out of it.

That got me wondering about how faithful to the comic the new movie will be then. Especially since the film’s not being written by Greg Thompson, who wrote the original story. Instead, Morningside and Bluewater selected Logan’s Run: Last Day writer Paul Salamoff to write the screenplay. I talked to Salamoff and my first question was about how he got the assignment.

“I’ve been a screenwriter for many years and Darren hired me to write comics based on the strength of my screenwriting. As I continued to write comics for Bluewater we would also discuss doing film projects together. Because I’m primarily a genre writer and such a huge fan of genre material, when the Rogue of Mars project came up, Darren felt I was the right person for the job. I met with Barry Schneer and his development team and they responded to my writing and my ideas for Sinbad. The next week I was hired to write the screenplay.”

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

I was curious about his other credits, both in film and comics. “Currently I’m developing a number of films; one with the producers of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World called The Last Breath. It’s a horror movie that I wrote that I’m also attached to direct. I’m also writing a comedy called Population: Me for Unstoppable Entertainment in the UK. Noel Clarke is the producer. He’s the writer/director of Adulthood as well as a BAFTA award-winning actor (you may also know him as Mickey Smith on Doctor Who).

“In comics, I’m currently writing for Bluewater the next Logan’s Run series called Logan’s Run: Aftermath as well as more issues of Vincent Price Presents. I also have two graphic novels coming out later this year for other companies. Discord is a new twist on the Frankenstein legend with stunning artwork by Giuseppe D’Elia. The other is Stasis with artist Adrian Paladini. It’s in the vein of Aliens and The Thing.

“Sinbad is a good fit for me,” he added. “It’s 100% in my wheelhouse as a writer. I’ve been a fan of Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy since I was a little kid and the Harryhausen films were a big part of it. So the good news is that the property is in safe hands.”

But what about Thompson’s story?

“Morningside had been developing Rogue of Mars for many years and they had very definite ideas of what they wanted Sinbad’s newest adventure to be like. They had developed the comic, but simultaneously also worked out a pretty amazing outline for a potential film. But they didn’t want me to be too influenced by either.

“I was hired because I’m an idea guy and bring a lot to the table with my knowledge of genre films. So I was just given broad strokes and told that the comic was the comic and was only to be used as a springboard for the film. They didn’t want me to be slavish to the comic or the outline, just certain concepts and design aspects.

“What’s great is that the storyline has been evolving into something really special because the story development has not been so rigid. They want my input and ideas and my take on the characters. I’ve actually already written the first draft of the script, which was well received by the producers. We’re now using my draft as a base to even further expand the story. We’re weaving back in some of their original ideas as well as new ideas that have evolved directly from my draft. It’s very exciting as a writer to have a development process like this. The end goal is to have something really special that not only will appeal to the legions of Sinbad fans that have been with the series since the ‘50s but also to a contemporary audience just discovering the characters.”

I asked him too about special effects restrictions. How much are budgetary concerns a limiting factor as he writes?

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger

“Fortunately they have not restricted my imagination at all, just the opposite. [Morningside] wants to do this as a trilogy and they want it epic. Like Lord of the Rings epic! You can’t do this kind of scale on a small budget and from what I’ve been told these are going to be high-budget, tentpole films.

“In regards to special effects, we now are working in a time where virtually everything is possible. I worked in Special Make-Up FX for the first 14 years of my career and worked on over 40 films, so I have a really good base knowledge of what can be done on what budgets, but I also know that FX are only a tool that’s supposed to enhance the story, not dictate it.

“I feel that’s the mistake a lot of these big FX-driven movies make. They become more about spectacle than story and character. What makes these kinds of films truly work is having relatable characters that you care about and want to go on a journey with. That’s my number one goal with this. The FX will be top notch and we’re working on some amazing visuals (and creatures) that will have that ‘wow’ factor, but once again it will be in service of an exciting story.”

I asked Salamoff if he could tease the story any and he was happy to oblige. “Sinbad has had amazing adventures over the years, but nothing has prepared him for his latest voyage. On a mission for King Kassim, he unwittingly releases a Jinn trapped for millennia. He and his crew are soon transported to Mars where his actions are going to have dire consequences to the planet’s inhabitants, who are already burdened by an impending war over a recent discovery hidden for centuries beneath an ancient temple.”

With Harryhausen retired and uninterested in making more movies (or comics) based on his ideas, Morningside doesn’t have a choice about whether to move with or without him. I’d love to see more of his stamp on Rogue of Mars, but frankly I’m excited just by the possibility of a new Sinbad film, especially if it ends up getting the budget that Morningside wants it to have.

What do you think about this? How do you feel about continuing the Harryhausen films without Harryhausen? Does it matter that he’s not involved or is the concept cool enough on its own to make a good movie?

Ray Harryhausen photo from Stuart Crawford’s Flickr photostream.

Update: Greg Thompson, whom I mentioned as the writer of the Sinbad: Rogue of Mars comic, wrote me to clarify his involvement with the project and to offer some additional commentary. Thanks, Greg!

Greg Thompson: I read your article on CBR regarding Sinbad: Rogue of Mars, and while I’m thrilled about the potential of the film and the release of the trade paperback, I did want to clarify a few points.

Morningside Ent. did not have anything to do with the development of the comic story on my end. I was given art for the first issue and developed the story from that. I had written the fourth and fifth issues of the series but I never delivered them to Bluewater, and they hired a different writer to finish the story with a “fourth issue” that will be included in the trade. I don’t know how the story ends, but I’m very excited to read Ryan Burton’s wrap-up!

I was asked by Morningside Ent. to write the screenplay for the film, and had a meeting with them at SDCC in 2007 to go over the outline they had. I made a few changes and started work on the script. After several starts and stops on the screenplay over the course of the next year and a half, I decided to bow out for personal reasons. Barry Schneer and the folks at Morningside were great throughout the process, and the legacy of Harryhausen’s Sinbad films is in great hands.

As for Harryhausen’s involvement, I was told that he and his people had approval on my scripts for the comics. Had I known Harryhausen was not involved, I probably would not have taken on the project, despite my love for the source material.

The Mis-Adventures Of Adam West

Although it’s been a few decades since Adam West played the title role in the 1960s TV series Batman, the actor is now moving from being a comic character to a comic creator. MTV announced today that The Mis-Adventures Of Adam West will debut in Spring 2011 from Bluewater Comics as an ongoing series co-written by West, Walter Fernandez Jr. and Arastao Maree.

Per the post on MTV’s Splash Page blog, the comic will feature “a dimension-hopping adventure featuring encounters both fictional and within [West's] real-life history.”

“That’s what I wanted: something that was more Walter Mitty or ‘Pink Panther,’ with adventure the kids will love, and action,” he told reporter Rick Marshall. “For example, an adventure might be based on him meeting Batman and how he feels about it. . . He might even be meeting himself as Mayor West on ‘Family Guy,’ and laughing at it or along with it. There are so many ways to go, as you know — especially with the audience today. I have this incredibly wonderful fanbase out there, and I know they’ll love this.”

It will be interesting to see how they pull off a meeting with Batman that doesn’t have the lawyers at Warner Bros. calling a foul. The book will feature interior art by Lipe, who drew another famous 1960s TV star in William Shatner Presents: TekWar, with covers by Matt Bellisle.

Feinswog’s claim seems to be that the comics are trademark infringements and violate the performers’ intellectual property and likeness rights.

Bluewater Publisher Darren G. Davis wouldn’t talk to Johnston, but he did confirm that he had received the cease-and-desist orders and offered a response to MTV’s Splash Page. His defense is that the works are bona fide biographies and are therefore protected under the First Amendment:

“These are not-poster books and as it was explained to the licensing lawyer, Kenneth Feinswog, it tells the story of [Bieber's] life in 22 pages,” he continued. “We offered to send him a copy of the book before it went to print. We have been offered deals with poster books, sticker books and we had to turn them down because we know we do not have the rights to that. But doing an unauthorized biography we are in full within our rights.”

Davis also offered the theory that the reason for the action is that Bluewater’s comic is competition for Bieber’s memoir Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever, which is due out this fall, as are several other books about the 16-year-old singer.

There is some precedent for this, but not in Feinswog’s favor. In the late 1990s, Revolutionary Comics produced Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, unauthorized biographies of rock musicians. Feinswog sued on behalf of New Kids on the Block and Motley Crue, claiming trademark infringement, but the court ruled in favor of the comics. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Bluewater recently acquired the rights to the Revolutionary line.

Comic-Con International

Conventions | A limited number of four-day memberships for Comic-Con International will go on sale at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST today as part of hotel-stay packages. [Comic-Con]

Conventions | Michael Cieply looks at Comic-Con as a destination for filmmakers to promote their next big projects, and convention attendees as “consummate insiders” who don’t always pick the box-office winners. [The New York Times]

Legal | As a Brussels court decides whether Tintin in the Congo should be banned in Belgium, Pallavi Aiyar provides some background on the book’s history and on the civil case. [Business Standard]

Manga Factory

Publishing | Former staff members of Aurora Publishing have launched Manga Factory, “an all-American manga publishing company owned & operated by the same people who brought you all of your favorite Deux, Aurora & Luv Luv books.” The new company will exhibit this week at Anime Expo in Los Angeles. Aurora, the American subsidiary of Japanese publisher Ohzora Publishing, was put up for sale in April. [Anime News Network]

Business | Bill Jemas, the former chief operating officer of Marvel, has joined the board of directors of Alloy, Inc., parent company of Alloy Entertainment, which develops and produces books, television series and movies like Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Alloy is being acquired by ZelnickMedia for $127 million. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Nick Curtis spotlights the biographical comics of Bluewater Productions. [London Evening Standard]

Passings | Ted Dawson reports that artist Joe Messerli, whose comics work included Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, The Flintstones and Woody Woodpecker, passed away on June 23.  He was 80. As a television production artist, Masserli designed the logo for The Twilight Zone and illustrated the credits for Bonanza. [Three Men in a Tub, via The Daily Cartoonist]

Tony DeZuniga

Creators | Veteran artist Tony DeZuniga talks about the creation of Jonah Hex, his career and his new graphic novel Jonah Hex: No Way Back. [Asian Journal]

Creators | Jeffery Klaehn chats with writer Chuck Dixon about his early influences, superheroes, CrossGen, the comics industry, and continuity: “Continuity is a framework. I always find it more instructive than restrictive. Continuity is just the readership’s perceived reality for whatever comic you’re writing. You get into the feel of it and build on it rather than constantly looking for ways to tear it down. Sometimes there’s stories you can’t tell. But generally these are stories that shouldn’t be told in any case.” [Pop]

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 6

Creators | Joe McCulloch transcribes a Q&A session with cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley from the 2008 Small Press Expo. [Comics Comics]

Creators | Tom Spurgeon interviews Bongo Comics writer Ian Boothby. [The Comics Reporter]

Creators | Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro lists his major influences. [The Daily Cartoonist]

Creators | Michael Cavna profiles Lincoln Peirce, creator of Big Nate. [Comic Riffs]

Comics | Does DC hate cats? [Multiversity Comics]

Comics | Tom Mason offers a peek into Superman’s diary as the Man of Steel walks across America: “Batman called to laugh at me. Said even Terra-Man used a horse. Ha-ha. Prick.” [Comix 411]

Ellen DeGeneres, animal lover

When last we heard about Bluewater Productions, the publisher was getting bad press for making bad comics and not paying creators. But now it gets to play the Heroic Defenders of a Noble Cause by issuing this press release detailing how the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance has launched a wave of protests against its biography of Ellen DeGeneres, taking aim at her “lifestyle,” which includes being gay and donating a third of the profits from her comic to the U.S. Humane Society.

The gay-bashing seems to have come from individuals, rather than the Sportsmen’s Alliance, however; the actual press release on the group’s site only bashes the U.S. Humane Society on the grounds that it is a lobbying organization and doesn’t actually help lost puppies. And the letter the USSA sent to Bluewater asks the publisher to cut off its relationship with the Humane Society, not to withdraw the comic, as has been reported elsewhere. While it wouldn’t be surprising, given the state of the culture wars, that Bluewater did get some nasty hate mail, and some of it may have come from USSA members, the organization itself seems to be more preoccupied with preserving its right to kill animals than telling people how to live.

Anyway, given Bluewater’s track record (see the link above about not paying creators), I seriously doubt the U.S. Humane Society is going to be building its next headquarters with the proceeds from this comic.

ComicsPRO

Retailing | The annual meeting of ComicsPRO, the direct-market trade organization, begins today in Memphis, Tennessee, with DC Comics-focused programming — we’ll likely see some announcements this afternoon — and continues through Saturday. Matt Price gauges the general mood among attendees concerning the economy, digital comics and the increasing reliance by publishers on “classified” solicitations whose details aren’t revealed until just before the final-order cutoff. [Nerdage]

Publishing | French publisher Les Humanoïdes Associés, which in recent years has had deals with DC Comics and Devil’s Due Publishing, plans to “formally reestablish itself” as a U.S. comic-book publisher — this time without a partner. The venture, called Humanoids Inc.,  is overseen by Publisher Fabrice Giger, Director Alex Donoghue, Editor-in-Chief Bob Silva and Senior Art Director Jerry Frissen. The first titles will be released in June. [Humanoids]

Creator-Con

Conventions | As Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Diego vie over who will lay claim to Comic-Con International after 2012, a group of artists is pushing for the establishment of a more “creator-friendly” Creator-Con. To that end, the artists have created a Facebook fan page as “a forum for the artists, writers, designers, self-publishers, retailers and fans that have become disillusioned and frustrated with what the flagship of comic conventions has become … The Creator Con idea was hatched a few years ago by a few exhibitor friends as a reaction to the popular media takeover of a convention that used to celebrate artists and creators. We were tired of being pushed further and further aside each year to make room for the bigger, louder and flashier attractions that had nothing to do with the convention’s humble beginnings.” As of this morning, the page has nearly 1,700 fans.

However, writer and industry historian Mark Evanier thinks the organizers’ efforts may be a bit misguided: “I’m not attacking those who complain about the con or want to start something else, even though I don’t quite understand what they want that’s doable and doesn’t already exist somewhere. I’m just suggesting it’s silly to bash the biggest con for being the biggest con or to fault it because people who are into comics these days are more into movies and video games and TV shows.” [Cartoon Brew, News From Me]

Awards | The deadline for voting for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Hall of Fame is March 31. [Eisner Awards]

Awards | Nominees have been announced for the annual Comics Buyer’s Guide Fan Awards. Voting is open through May 31. [CBGXtra.com]

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152

Publishing | Calvin Reid spotlights Archaia’s comics and graphic novel line, noting that David Petersen’s first Mouse Guard hardcover has sold more than 100,000 copies. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | Jeffrey Simpson considers the apprehension and head scratching surrounding digital distribution. [Georgia Straight]

Publishing | Steve Jones looks at the resurrection of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics biographies through a partnership between Revolutionary Comics and Bluewater Productions. [USA Today]

Creators | Writer Scott Snyder continues his promotional tour for Vertigo’s American Vampire. [The Huffington Post, Hero Complex]

Creators | Author Joe Hill, writer of the Locke & Key series from IDW Publishing, answers questions from newspaper readers. [Liverpool Daily Post]

From "The Guild"

Creators | Actress-writer Felicia Day discusses her web series-turned-Dark Horse miniseries The Guild. [USA Today]

Creators | Cartoonist Jim Woodring is profiled in his role as the artist in residence at the Burnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska. [Homer News]

Creators | Jonathan Hickman chats about Fantastic Four, his new series S.H.I.E.L.D. and more. [The Weekly Crisis]

Creators | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson talks with writer J. Torres about the new editions of Alison Dare. [Publishers Weekly]

Creators | Alex Dueben begins a two-part interview with Ho Che Anderson. [TCJ.com]

Creators | Garfield creator Jim Davis will be honored April 17 by his alma mater Ball State University with “An Extraordinary Evening with Jim Davis.” [The Star Press]

Blogosphere | Happy fifth anniversary to the 4thletter! crew. [4thletter!]

– from a Splash Page preview of Freedom Force: Ellen DeGeneres, made somewhat amusing by recent online criticism of the publisher’s work-for-hire agreements in which creators get paid when, and if, a comic turns a profit

Shi Long Pang

Awards | The Xeric Foundation, the nonprofit corporation established in 1992 by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird, has announced the recipients of the fall/winter grants: Sarah Becan, The Complete and Original Ouija Interviews; Sixta C., Soldiers of God; Ben Costa, Shi Long Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk; Blaise Larmee, Young Lions; Lane Milburn, Death Trap; Stefan Salinas, Within the Rat; and Nathan Schreiber, Power Out.

The Xeric grants assist creators with the costs of self-publishing. [The Xeric Foundation]

Retailing | Ron Marshall has resigned after just a year as chief executive of the financially troubled Borders Group. Michael J. Edwards, who joined the book chain in September as chief merchandising officer, has been appointed as interim chief executive. [The New York Times]

Bluewater Productions

Publishing | Criticism of Bluewater Productions’ work-for-hire agreements — creators get paid when, and if, a comic turns a profit — continues to mount in the blogosphere, where Heidi MacDonald pledges to no longer run the company’s press releases. More commentary from Simon Jones, Tom Spurgeon and Johanna Draper Carlson. [Bluewater Productions]

Conventions | This article about the opening of the Taipei International Book Fair is worth reading just for the penultimate paragraph: “At the opening ceremony for the Anime and Comics Pavilion, Kazuo Umezu, author of the Japanese horror manga series The Drifting Classroom, was invited to sing a song.” [Central News Agency]

Creators | Brian Heater continues his multi-part conversation with Eddie Campbell. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Batman and Robin #8

Creators | Grant Morrison talks about Batman and Robin, the return of Bruce Wayne, and introducing new villains without getting bogged down by backstory: “I like the idea that the Joker was never really explained, and then six months later you got another Joker story in 1940 or whatever. They didn’t explain his origins or motivations at all. They just kept telling more cool stories and showing more sides of his character. He was built up, developed and refined along the way rather than introduced as a complete package. To me that seems to be the mark of the best villains – they’re introduced in a really cool way and then left for the future to play with. Like some future Alan Moore and Brian Bolland will come along one day and tell the origin of Professor Pyg and it will be the best comic ever. [laughs] That’s how it should be.”

Morrison also notes — and I don’t recall seeing this elsewhere — that “Season 1″ of Batman and Robin has been extended from 13 issues to 16, with “Season 2″ featuring Bruce Wayne and “a different sort of dynamic.” [IGN.com]

Creators | Arthur de Wolf interviews Italian cartoonist Andrea Castellan, better known as Casty, about his Disney comics work. [Disney Comics Worldwide]

Creators | I like this overview of “the finest comics writers in the universe” simply because it notes what work the author considers the “shining moment” and “darkest hour” of each creator. Runaways represents Brian K. Vaughan’s creative low point, apparently? [Indiana Daily Student]

Comics | Preservation work is largely complete on a Roman ship discovered in 1982 at Saint Peter Point, Guernsey. It’s been named Asterix in honor of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo’s pint-sized Gaul. [BBC, with video]

Legal

Legal | Sentencing has been delayed until Feb. 11 for Christopher Handley, the 39-year-old man who in May pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and of mailing obscene matter. Sentencing originally was scheduled for Monday, but was moved at the request of the defense attorney.

The Handley case began in May 2006, when customs agents reportedly intercepted a mail package from Japan addressed to Handley containing what they deemed obscene material, “including books containing visual representations of the sexual abuse of children, specifically Japanese manga drawings of minor females being sexually abused by adult males and animals.” Agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service obtained a warrant to search Handley’s Glenwood, Iowa, home, where they seized “additional obscene drawings of the sexual abuse of children.” Handley was indicted in May 2007 under a federal law that prohibits the possession any visual depiction — including cartoons — of “a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct that is obscene.”

Handley faces up to 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $500,000 and three years of supervised release. [ICv2.com]

Legal | Two men who met while in federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin, have been charged with operating a Ponzi scheme that bilked about 100 investors out of $4 million. Federal authorities say the two Illinois men, Christopher Andersen and Daniel Parrilli, operated a fraudulent business called Sundown Entertainment that bought and sold film and comic-book rights for enormous profits. [Chicago Tribune]

The Dreamer #2

Awards | The winners of the 2009 SPACE Prize have been announced by the Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo. [SPACE Prize]

Publishing | Geek Monthly, a science fiction/fantasy/pop culture magazine established in 2006, has shut down. [FishbowlNY]

Publishing | Marvel Talent Liaison C.B. Cebulski reveals that the publisher’s editorial division hired 144 new freelancers in 2009, and breaks down the number by category. [Chesterfest]

Publishing | Bloggers Christopher Butcher and Johanna Draper Carlson take issue with Bluewater Productions’ back-end payment deal (creators are paid when, and if, a comic turns a profit). [Comics212, Comics Worth Reading]

Retailing | Don MacPherson reports on plans by Halifax, Nova Scotia, store Strange Adventures for a Ladies’ Night event, at which “fangirls to gush about comics without guys.” [Eye on Comics]

Creators | Girls with Slingshots creator Danielle Corsetto is profiled by her local newspaper. [WTOP.com]

Comics | The alternative weekly in Boise, Idaho, spotlights the city’s appearance in Captain America #602. [Boise Weekly]

Faith Series: Jesus Christ

Bluewater Productions has received international publicity, and more than a little criticism, for its biographies of political and cultural figures ranging from Barack Obama and Sarah Palin to Princess Diana and Stephenie Meyer.

But in April the Washington-based publisher is setting its sights a little higher. No, not Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor or even political pundit Rush Limbaugh (although they’re both getting biographies). Go higher.

That’s the one: Jesus Christ. Hey, his first biography still sells pretty well, so why not?

The 32-page Jesus Christ, which launches the publisher’s Faith Series line, “tackles the life of arguably the most famous person in history” and “highlights different aspects of the life of Christ to show that Jesus of Nazareth was more than just a great man in history, but proof of a providential force at work in the universe.”

So it’s safe to presume the comic, written by Don Smith and sporting a cover by Mike S. Miller — interior artist is listed as “TBA” — will have a clear point of view.

Unfortunately, however, it looks as if Faith Series: Jesus Christ will miss Easter by this much.

Female Force: Ellen DeGeneres

Bluewater Productions, fresh off a mention on ABC’s The View for its Female Force: Barbara Walters comic, has announced another comic that virtually guarantees more daytime-television exposure: a biography of popular comedian/talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres.

Set for release in March, Female Force: Ellen DeGeneres aims to chronicle “the highest of highs and the lowest of lows” of her nearly 30-year career, during which time she’s been a comedy-club emcee, stand-up comic, television and movie actress and now, most successfully, the host of an award-winning talk show.

“Ellen DeGeneres is taking the world by storm!” the solicitation reads. “Emmys! Endless accolades! It all seems so easy, but Ellen’s journey to get where she is now was not always a smooth one. She’s felt the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But through it all, she managed to stay true to herself and prove that she is a female force to be reckoned with!”

The DeGeneres comic, which joins biographies in the Female Force line devoted to figures like Sarah Palin, Princess Diana, JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer, is written by Sandra C. Ruckdeschel and illustrated by Pedro Ponzo. The cover is by Vinnie Tartamella.

Polly and Her Pals

• IDW announced over the weekend that it will be collecting the Sunday strips from the Cliff Sterrett classic Polly and Her Pals. The first volume, encapsulating 1925-27, will be in stores this coming August.

The strip began in 1912, but it was in the 20s that Sterrett’s art really took off. Influenced by the modernist art movements, he started incorporating abstract and surrealists motifs into his Sunday pages, and many historians and critics have compared this period favorably to strips like Krazy Kat.

Kitchen Sink attempted to publish these strips back in the 90s before going under but they were only able to get two volumes out the door. Having managed to find those books in a back issue bin years ago and devoured them several times since then, let me say this is fabulous news and I’m really looking forward to seeing this release.

• IDW also posted about their intention to publish a four-issue mini-series about the Weekly World News’ Bat Boy, which I imagine will be quite different from Polly and Her Pals.

• Writer Clifford Meth reports on his blog that Marvel will be publishing The Invincible Gene Colan in February 2010. The 128 page book will feature art work by the master as well as appreciations by folks like Stan Lee, Marv Wolfman and John Romita Sr.

• Apparently Erik Larsen (and his Savage Dragon) is featured in the latest edition of McSweeney’s newspaper. That’s kinda cool.

• Jim Woodring says he’s finished Weathercraft, his first Frank story in several years and is already hard at work on a new one.

• Bluewater Productions has entered into an agreement with famed young adult author S.E. Hinton. The company will adapt several of Hinton’s books into comics, with Taming of the Star Runner being the first. Hinton will also create a new title for Bluewater that will see print next summer.

• Here’s the cover for Dash Shaw’s upcoming BodyWorld book from Pantheon.

• Noah van Sciver is letting it be known the fifth issue of his comic, Blammo, is out.

• And, in case you haven’t seen it yet, Kiel Phegley gets the dope on just about everything there is to know (at least for now) about the upcoming revamp of The Comics Journal.

Shel Dorf with Warren Beatty in 1990

Passings | Sheldon “Shel” Dorf, who in 1970 co-founded the event that grew into Comic-Con International, passed away Nov. 3 in San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital from diabetes-related complications. He was 76.

A collector of comics and Dick Tracy memorabilia, Dorf had run Triple Fan Fest in his native Detroit. After he moved to San Diego in early 1970, he met Ken Krueger of Alert Books in Ocean Beach and the two, together with a group of teen-aged fans, organized first Golden State Comic Con, held Aug. 1-3, 1970, at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Dorf served as president, or chairman, of the convention until the mid-1980s, stepping away just as the annual event was becoming a national stage for pop culture.

Dorf reportedly struggled with diabetes for years, gradually losing mobility and vision. He entered Sharp Memorial Hospital in 2008 and never left. His brother Michael was with him when he died.

Mark Evanier, of course, has a nice tribute to Dorf peppered with memories dating back to before that first convention. There’s also an extensive Shel Dorf Tribute website, and a memorial banner topping the Comic-Con International homepage. The photo above, of Dorf with Warren Beatty on the set of the 1990 Dick Tracy movie, is borrowed from Alan Light’s Flickr stream. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]

Red Light Properties

Publishing | Tor.com, Macmillan’s science fiction and fantasy online initiative, has acquired the web-only publishing rights to two full-length graphic novels: The Imitation Game, a biography of mathematician Alan Turing, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis; and Red Light Properties, a real-estate horror story by Dan Goldman. The two books will be serialized on Tor.com beginning in January. [PW Comics Week]

Publishing | Bestselling novelist S.E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders, has partnered with Bluewater Productions to publish comic-book adaptations of some of her books, beginning in spring 2010 with her young-adult novel Taming of the the Star Runner. [Bluewater Productions]

Publishing | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson talks with BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid about the company’s philosophy, its position in the marketplace, the BOOM! Kids line and newsstand distribution. [PW Comics Week]

Creators | Writer, and Image Comics partner, Robert Kirkman talks up Image United, the six-issue miniseries that brings together six of the company’s seven founders. [USA Today]

Creators | Brian Heater wraps up his four-part interview with Guy Delisle. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Hatter M

Creators | Author Frank Beddor discusses his Looking Glass Wars novels, which have spawned the Hatter M comic book tie-ins. [Hero Complex]

Conventions | The Des Moines Register previews Saturday’s I-CON convention in Altoona, Iowa, with a series of articles profiling a local artist, a local writer, a cosplayer, a collector, etc. (You can find an index here under “Related Stories.”) Guests include Phil Hester, Sean Galloway, Kevin Cannon, Bob Hall and Ryan Benjamin. [I-CON]

Conventions | Saturday also will see the return of Tucson Comic Con in Arizona, which will feature appearances by Max Cannon, Ryan Cody, Brian Pulido, and others.  [Daily Wildcat]

Back in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Revolutionary Comics published comic book biographies on everyone from Guns N’ Roses to MC Hammer. Several of these comics resulted in lawsuits against the company, including the ones about New Kids on the Block, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. In the NKOTB case, the judge ruled in Revolutionary’s favor, saying the book was protected by the First Amendment. Other artists supported the line, and Pink Floyd even included the Pink Floyd Experience comics in their official Shine On box CD set.

The NKOTB suit and a threatened suit by Guns N’ Roses brought the comics and the publisher, Todd Loren, a lot of publicity that translated into huge sales for the line. Per the press release from Bluewater, the comics regularly sold in the 50,000 range. I remember their first release, the GNR comic, having multiple printings as a result of all the attention it received.

Loren died in 1992, and in 2005 a documentary about his comics and his unsolved murder — Unauthorized and Proud of It: Todd Loren’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics — was released.

Bluewater’s graphic novels will include:

Volume 1: Hard Rock Heroes
Guns N’ Roses; Metallica; AC/DC; Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne; Motley Crue; Poison; Van Halen; Black Crowes; Motorhead; Pantera; Megadeth; Sammy Hagar; Anthrax; Joan Jett/Lita Ford; Skid Row (unpublished RnR Comics #8)

Volume 2: The Beatles (8 issues)

Volume 3: The Spirit of the ’60s
Doors; Grateful Dead; Bob Dylan; Jimi Hendrix; Spirit; Janis Joplin; 60s San Francisco Scene (Bill Graham, Jefferson Airplane, etc); British Invasion (Herman’s Hermits, the Animals, Yardbirds, Zombies, Small Faces, etc.)

Volume 4: Led Zeppelin Experience (5 issues)

Volume 5: A Rock Pantheon
Eric Clapton; Rolling Stones; Elton John; Bruce Springsteen; Aerosmith, Alice Cooper; ZZ Top; The Jackson 5; Rod Stewart; Def Leppard

Volume 6: Pink Floyd Experience (5 issues)

Volume 7: The Art of Rock
The Who; Queen; Rush; Genesis; David Bowie, Frank Zappa; Kate Bush; ELO; The Cure

Volume 8: The King: Elvis Presley (7 issues)

Volume 9: SMASH! A Punk/Alternative Retrospective
Sex Pistols; REM; Jane’s Addiction; Nirvana; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Soundgarden; Alice in Chains; Pearl Jam; Dead Kennedys; Ramones; The Runaways; Iggy Pop/Stooges; MC5; New York Dolls; U2

Volume 10: Hip-Hop and Funk Heroes
Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, NWA. Ice Cube, Ice-T, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, MC Hammer, Janet Jackson

“Great ideas, like the marriage of rock ‘n’ roll and comics, have the half-life of uranium and will always be popular,” said Jay Allen Sanford of Revolutionary Comics in a press release from Bluewater. “The folks at Bluewater clearly have their fingers on the same pop culture pulse that enabled the original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics to become one of the top-selling indie comics of the ’90s. Truth is often stranger than fiction…and certainly much more interesting!”

According to the press release, each graphic novel will feature new covers as well as new forewords and epilogues written by music journalists and industry insiders.

“In some cases we will add an epilogue for groups that experienced notable milestones after the issues original publishing,” Bluewater president Darren Davis said. “Like Pink Floyd’s reunion concert at Live8, or the passing of the Who’s John Entwistle or even the release of the long delayed Guns N’ Roses album ‘Chinese Democracy.’”

Female Force: J.K. Rowling

Bluewater Productions isn’t all about biographies of politicians, dead celebrities, dead politicians and presidential pets.

Just two months ago the publisher announced a comic detailing the life of Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. And now comes news the Vancouver, Washington-based company is setting its sights on one of the biggest names in modern fiction: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Like the Meyer comic, the Rowling one-shot will be released under the “Female Force” banner, which has been home to biographies of such public figures as Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin and Princess Diana.

It’s unclear, though, whether, like Meyer’s title, Rowling’s will be narrated by a fictional character. (In Meyer’s case, it’s “the most famous vampire of them all.” For Rowling, I vote for a house-elf.)

“She is a remarkable and multi-dimensional woman,” writer Adam Gragg said in a press release. “Learning about who she is and how she struggled to become a success was a truly enlightening experience. Twelve publishers turned her down. If it weren’t for the daughter of a British publisher who liked Rowling’s first chapter of Philosopher’s Stone, we might never have met Harry Potter.”

The comic’s cover, as Rowling devotees are well aware, depicts a pivotal moment from the author’s life previously only seen air-brushed on the side of a van: When an aged unicorn-physician tended to Rowling’s dislocated shoulder.

Female Force: J.K. Rowling is set for release in December.

Wrath of the Titans

Sources associated with Ray Harryhausen and BlueWater Productions confirmed that they are no longer collaborating on comics based on Harryhausen’s works. The partnership ended in May.

Darren G. Davis, head of Bluewater Productions, said that BlueWater chose not to renew the contracts.

According to Harryhausen’s representative, they have no plans to move the properties to another publisher.

BlueWater began publishing comics based on the works of the filmmaker in 2006, including Jason and the Argonauts, Wrath of the Titans and Sinbad, Rogue of Mars.

Thanks to CBR Executive Producer Jonah Weiland, who contributed to this post.

Update: In response to the above, Ray Harryhausen’s representative contacted CBR again and said, “In fact, it was Ray Harryhausen, and Ray Harryhausen alone who decided, for reasons I cannot disclose, not to renew the contract. Saying otherwise is simply not true.”

Female Force: Stephenie Meyer

Yen Press isn’t the only publisher getting in on the Twilight phenomenon.

Bluewater Productions, which has been churning out one political biography after another, is now turning its attention to Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.

The comic will be released in October under the company’s “Female Force” banner, which has been home to biographies on such public figures as Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin and Princess Diana.

“We chose Stephenie Meyer to be one of the subjects for Female Force because her voice is one for a new generation,” Bluewater Publisher Darren G. Davis tells Diamond’s PreviewsWorld. “Now people will find out the history of how she created this series, as well as her life story.”

Billed as “the first-ever illustrated biography of the world-renowned author,” the Meyer comic doesn’t appear to be authorized by the 35-year-old novelist.

Also, I’m not sure what to make of the phrase, “witness her story being told by the most famous vampire of them all.” Is the comic being narrated by Dracula? Edward Cullen?

Meyer released the first novel in her vampire-romance series in 2003. To date, the four-volume Twilight Saga has sold 53 million copies worldwide. A 2008 film adaptation grossed nearly $400 million worldwide. A sequel, New Moon, will open in theaters in November.

It was announced yesterday that Yen Press will adapt Twilight as a series of graphic novels, under the supervision of Meyer.