Brandon Graham
King City collection due from Image Comics in February
King City
Brandon Graham confirmed on his blog today that Image Comics will release a collection of King City on Feb. 22. The 424-page book will be the same “Golden Age” size as the individual issues Image released last year for $19.99.
“There’s a couple new drawings but for the most part I kept it pretty close to what was in the issues,” Graham said. “It’s still got all the back ups, covers, games and puzzles that were in those. I’m a big advocate of the fun of getting a book in issues as it comes out and I didn’t want the people who had picked it up month to month to feel like they should have waited.”
Image teased the collection last week. The first half of the well-regarded series was published by Tokyopop in 2008, and after that publisher’s OEL implosion, Tokyopop and Image reached a deal for Image to publish it as a 12-issue series. No doubt some fans have been waiting since its original release to see the second half–I certainly wasn’t going to wait, but hey, different strokes–so this will give them a chance to own the whole thing.
- November 15, 2011 @ 08:12 PM by JK Parkin
Previews: What looks good for January
Explorer: The Mystery Boxes
It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Mouse Guard is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.
Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.
Amulet
Explorer: The Mystery Boxes - With the Flight anthologies done, the all-ages version, Flight Explorer has morphed into this. I expect it to be as lovely as its predecessors and especially like the Mystery Box theme.
Archie
Jinx – J Torres and Rick Burchett’s graphic novel aimed at tween girls.
Kevin Keller, Volume 1 and Kevin Keller #1 – Archie collects the first appearances and mini-series of their major, gay character and also launches his ongoing series.
Ardden
Flash Gordon: Vengeance of Ming – The third volume in Ardden’s Flash Gordon series.
- November 11, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by Michael May
Landing on its feet in 2012: Image teases something from Brandon Graham
Image Comics sent out a teaser today with the above image and the subject line “Landing on its feet in 2012.” They didn’t share any other details, but I’m pretty certain the art is Brandon Graham, and based on the setting and the cat’s shadow, I suspect this has something to do with King City. Maybe Image is releasing a collection, or, dare I hope, is it a new King City project?
A collection seems more likely; Graham said earlier this year that Tokyopop was looking at possibly releasing a collection of the completed series, and even printing it at the size of the Image issues. But that was before the company imploded. So maybe Image is once again picking up where Tokyopop left fans hanging? It would certainly fit the tagline, “landing on its feet,” considering the book’s publishing history.
Then again, if it’s a new project from Graham, I’d certainly be down for that, too.
- November 9, 2011 @ 04:00 PM by JK Parkin
Brandon Graham finds his Voice in Dark Horse Presents #7
The Speaker
Here’s a nice Christmas present — Brandon Graham is doing a new story in Dark Horse Presents #7, which arrives in shops Dec. 21. I didn’t realize until Dark Horse called it out that Graham has a story in that issue, titled “The Speaker.”
“A man loses his voice—his voice goes off to see the world,” Graham said about the story. “Years later the man dies and the voice that walks like a man hears the news and returns home. The Voice has to deal with all the personifications of the man’s doubts, secrets and ideas that are left behind. It’s got doubts using tuning forks like guns and ideas that smash the light bulbs over their heads like they were bottles in a bar fight.”
In addition to “The Speaker,” Dark Horse Presents #7 also features new Age of Reptiles and Skeleton Key material, as well as a “Hellboy in Mexico” story by Mike Mignola.
- October 28, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Read the Extreme Preview book right here
Image Comics has released a digital version of the Extreme Preview book that was available at the New York Comic Con last weekend, and thanks to the embed feature offered by Graphicly, you can read it right here. It can also be downloaded via ComiXology, Graphicly, iVerse and Diamond Digital.
The preview book offers a look at Brandon Graham and Simon Roy’s Prophet, Joe Keatinge and Ross Campbell’s Glory; Alan Moore, Erik Larsen and Cory Hamscher’s Supreme; Tim Seeley and Francheco Gaston’s Bloodstrike; and John McLaughlin, Jon Malin and Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood. The first comic from the revived Extreme, Prophet #21, arrives Jan. 18.
- October 21, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
Brandon Graham previews Prophet, teases Multiple Warheads
From "Prophet"
King City creator Brandon Graham updates his blog with a seven-page preview of Prophet, his collaboration with Simon Roy and Richard Ballermann — part of the resurrection of the Extreme Studios line announced Friday at New York Comic Con. Graham, who’s handling the writing for the series, describes their take on the ’90s Image property as “Fucking future space Conan ish.”
“This is the first really collaborative comic I’ve done,” he writes. “This is the first time I’ve had to work out how to collaborate and try to make it carry the weight of my solo comics. So yeah, this is the first time I’ve cared about collaborating.”
Graham also teases a two-page spread from Multiple Warheads, and shows off some gorgeous images from Orc Stain creator James Stokoe.
- October 19, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
The Middle Ground #74 | None More Extreme
My first thought when learning that there was going to be a revival of Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Comics line at Image was that I was an old, old man. We’d already reached the point where something so recent was old enough to have a nostalgia hook? And then I realized that we’re more than a decade since the last revamp of Prophet and almost as long since the last attempt at a Glory series. Continue Reading »
- October 18, 2011 @ 04:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
Gaze in wonder at Brandon Graham’s Habibi fanart
King City cartoonist Brandon Graham dropped this beauty on twitpic the other day — it’s a lovely tribute to Craig Thompson’s Middle Eastern epic Habibi, centered on the book’s female lead Dodola. It’s funny: I never would have thought there’d be much visual kinship between Thompson’s lush brushwork and Graham’s thin lines, but both artists have a curvilenear sweep to their work that turns out to make their styles mesh beautifully. And obviously, Graham can pack in the Thompson-esque ornamentation like whoa.
The best thing about the illustration is that no matter what you like about it, you can find more of that thing someplace online today:
- October 6, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | New lead in Michael George case; SLG’s digital priority
Legal
Legal | Authorities in Clinton Township, Michigan, tracked down two men mentioned in police reports by comics retailer Michael George after his wife’s 1990 murder who were never questioned. The judge gave police 48 hours to locate and question them. One of the men passed away, while the other, John Fox, will be questioned Friday about a family car that is similar to one seen near the comic book store where Barbara George was killed. [Detroit Free Press]
Digital comics | Heidi MacDonald talks to SLG Publisher Dan Vado about plans to release the company’s serialized comics digitally rather than in print. Vado reveals SLG’s popular Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez will be released in digital format. [The Beat]
Comics | Lisa Fortuner notes that this week’s Green Lantern Corps #1 story shares a title with a Nazi propaganda film: “That’s a beheading, followed by cutting a woman in half, followed by the loss of a finger, followed by a reference to an infamous Leni Riefenstahl film. For those of you who are new to the Internet and it’s population of history snobs, Leni Riefenstahl was an early 20th Century pioneer who made inroads for women in the field of Evil. She did a Nazi propaganda film called ‘Triumph of the Will’ which to this day is still inspiring horror of authoritarian power in film classes and museums. It is probably not the best choice of titles for a book where the main heroes are fueled by willpower.” [Written World]
- September 21, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by JK Parkin
Brandon Graham re-draws the Fantastic Four
On his blog this week, Brandon Graham shared this recent commission in which he redrew (and updated the dialogue to) a page from Fantastic Four #9. The uncropped version and the original Lee/Kirby page are in that link, but if you want to skip the NSFW parts of his blog, he’s also got handy direct links to both pages.
- August 12, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Michael May
Comics A.M. | Why the new Spider-Man matters; a look at ‘work for hire’
Miles Morales
Comics | In a post subtitled “Why the new biracial Spider-Man matters,” David Betancourt shares his reaction to the news that the new Ultimate Spider-Man is half-black, half-Latino: “The new Ultimate Spider-Man, who will have the almost impossible task of replacing the late Peter Parker (easily one of Marvel Comics most popular characters), took off his mask and revealed himself to be a young, half-black, half-Latino kid by the name of Miles Morales. When I read the news, I was beside myself, as if my brain couldn’t fully process the revelation. My friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was … just like me? This is a moment I never thought I’d see. But the moment has arrived, and I — the son of Puerto Rican man who passed his love of comics to me, and a black woman who once called me just to say she’d met Adam West — will never forget that day.”
The New Yorker, meanwhile, posts the opening on an essay from the year 2120 that looks back at the cultural significance of the new Spider-Man. [Comic Riffs, New Yorker]
Legal | Analysis of the Kirby estate/Marvel case continues, as both Modern Ideas and Copyhype look at the concept of “work for hire” in light of the ruling. [Modern Ideas, Copyhype]
- August 5, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | ICv2 conference returns to San Diego; surviving CCI
Comic-Con International
Comic-Con | ICv2 will host a Comics, Media, and Digital Conference on July 20, the afternoon before Comic-Con International kicks off in San Diego. The event will include panels on digital comics, comics in Hollywood and “Comics, Paper and Digital at Comic-Con 2013.” [press release]
Comic-Con | Comic-Con International has released the floor map for this year’s show. Heidi MacDonald helps translate it. [Comic-Con International]
Comic-Con | With just 14 until the big event, Acquanetta Ferguson offers 18 tips to surviving your first Comic-Con, while Liz Ohanesian talks with Doug Kline, author of The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guide. [Examiner, LA Weekly]
Creators | Sean Witzke talks with King City creator Brandon Graham about world-building, collaborating with other writers or artists, porn and his approach to storytelling: “I’m really into the idea of conveying a story clearly enough for the reader to get all the basics while at the same time having enough information going on where you don’t necessarily get it all or even miss something on the first read through. I think it’s something that came from me reading a lot of European and Japanese comics growing up and just not always getting everything, culturally or just because of weird translations. I like that nice mystery. And there’s the idea that when a story doesn’t give you everything it forces the reader to think a little more. Turns them from being a passive reader to an active one. I think that would be my ideal destination, some kind of clear and simple with a background of complexity.” [supervillain]
- July 7, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Bid on Brandon Graham art, hard-to-find comics to benefit the CBLDF
Escalator
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is getting some help from one of our favorites, Brandon Graham, who provided them not only a piece of King City original art to auction off, but also seven copies of Escalator, a collection of his early short stories. Each volume carries a CBLDF signature plate that Graham tagged with a custom full-color sketch and signature.
You can find all these items and more — including some sweet signed Amanda Conner prints — on the CBLDF’s eBay page.
- April 20, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
One more reason to go to Stumptown Comics Fest: Illustrated badges by Brandon Graham
You might say “Badges? I don’t need no stinkin’ badges!” but wait ’til you get a look at these.
Brandon Graham has created these new illustrations to be used as badges for next weekend’s Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, Ore. They will also be selling a convention shirt with another new piece of Graham art — which I believe is the first professionally made Brandon Graham shirt.
In addition to Graham attending, also attending as guests will be Rick Remender, Eric Powell, Jeffrey Brown, Paul Tobin and the cartoonist of the second-most popular comic of the week — Nate Simpson (Nonplayer).
If anyone goes to Stumptown, mail me one of these badges! I’m serious!
- April 8, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Comics A.M. | Hereville up for Nebula; remembering Dwayne McDuffie
Hereville
Awards | Barry Deutsch’s Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword has been nominated for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as part of the prestigious Nebula Awards. “When the nice lady from the Nebula committee called me, she said this is ‘essentially the Nebula Award for young adult books’,” Deutsch writes. Although graphic novels are specifically mentioned in the Andre Norton Award guidelines, this appears to be the first time one has been nominated. The award was established in 2005 in honor of prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton, who passed away that year. The winners will be announced May 21 in Washington, D.C., during the Nebula Awards banquet. [SFFWA]
Passings | We’ll collect reactions later today to the sudden death of respected comics and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie — Comic Book Resources has remembrances from more than a dozen industry figures — but I wanted to go ahead and point to a handful of links: The Associated press obituary; a few words from Christopher Irving, accompanied by a beautiful portrait of McDuffie photographed by Seth Kushner on Feb. 13; the origin of Static; and a look at Spider-Man anti-drug PSA comics written by McDuffie. There’s also McDuffie’s message board, where he interacted candidly with fans on a regular basis. Two threads are devoted to the news of his death and memories of the creator they often referred to as “the Maestro.” The site’s administrator has posted a message last night on the main page: “Dwayne’s family and friends would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of condolences. They are much appreciated in this difficult time.” [Dwayne McDuffie]
- February 23, 2011 @ 08:28 AM by Kevin Melrose