Comic-Con International
Comics A.M. | Neil Gaiman comments on end of Spawn dispute
Spawn #26
Legal | Neil Gaiman comments briefly on the settlement agreement that ends his decade-long legal dispute with Todd McFarlane over Medieval Spawn, Angela and Cogliostro, and a handful of derivative characters: “The main thing is, I feel like an awful lot of good things have come out of it. … I think the various decisions, particularly the [Judge] Posner decision, were huge in terms of what the nature of dual copyright in comics is. What is copyrightable in comics is now something that there is a definite legal precedent for. There were a lot of things that were … misty in copyright [law] that are now much clearer. And it’s of benefit to the creator.”
While the details of the settlement are confidential, it’s known that Gaiman and McFarlane now share ownership of Spawn #9 and #26, as well as the first three issues of an Angela spin-off series. [Comic Riffs]
- January 31, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Eisner judges select Rudolph Dirks, Harry Lucey for Hall of Fame
The Captain and the Kids
The judges for the 2012 Eisner Awards have selected The Katzenjammer Kids cartoonist Rudolph Dirks and Archie artist Harry Lucey as this year’s automatic inductees into the Will Eisner Awards Hall of Fame.
Dirks created The Katzenjammer Kids in the late 19th century for William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, and wrote and drew the comic strip until 1912, when he decided to take time off to travel around Europe. Hearst replaced Dirks with Harold H. Knerr, leading to a court battle between Dirks and the Hearst organization over who owned the characters. Hearst kept The Katzenjammer Kids, but Dirks was allowed to use the same characters elsewhere as long as he used a different title for the strip. Dirks moved to one of Hearst’s rivals, Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, kicking off a half-century run on The Captain and the Kids. The Katzenjammer Kids, meanwhile, continues to run in newspapers worldwide today. Dirks passed away in 1968.
Harry Lucey began his comics career in the late 1930s, going on to draw Madam Satan, Magno, Crime Does Not Pay, Sam Hill and Captain America. From the 1950s until the 1970s, he was the primary artist for Archie, drawing not only the flagship title but also in-house ads, covers and various other comics for the publisher. His work went on to inspire many current artists, including Jaime Hernandez: “My favorite being Harry Lucey—he did the actual Archie title, while [Dan] DeCarlo did Betty & Veronica. I like them both, but Lucey just happens to be a personal favorite, because I think he was better at drawing natural characters—just their expressions taught me a lot about how I do my comics.” Lucey passed away in 1984.
Each year the judges typically choose two nominees who are automatically inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with a list of nominees who voters can select from. This year they’ve chosen 14 nominees, from which voters will choose four to go into the Hall of Fame: Bill Blackbeard, Howard Chaykin, Richard Corben, Carlos Ezquerra, Lee Falk, Bob Fujitani, Jesse Marsh, Tarpé Mills, Mort Meskin, Dennis O’Neil, Dan O’Neill, Katsuhiro Otomo, Trina Robbins and Gilbert Shelton. The judges were assisted by students at Vermont’s Center for Cartoon Studies, who made suggestions for Hall of Fame nominees and provided background information on the people they suggested.
The Eisner Awards will be presented during Comic-Con International in San Diego July 12-15.
- January 23, 2012 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
Pre-registration opens for Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International has opened pre-registration for those hoping to attend the July 12-15 convention. That’s right, pre-registration.
Seeking to ease the online process for purchasing badges, organizers this year are requiring prospective attendees to sign up for a free Comic-Con Member ID that they will use to log into the system once registration actually opens.
Having a Member ID doesn’t ensure your entry into Comic-Con; anyone with a valid and unique email address can get one. However, everyone — attendee, volunteer, professional or press — who intends to purchase or apply for a convention badge must first have a Member ID.
More information can be found on the Comic-Con website. You can sign up for a Member ID here; the video below will walk you through the process.
- January 11, 2012 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Comic-Con co-founder Richard Alf passes away
Richard Alf
Passings | Richard Alf, who as a teenager fronted the money for the first three years of San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con, the annual event that later became Comic-Con International, passed away Wednesday from pancreatic cancer. He was 59. Alf, who co-chaired the first convention in 1970 and became chairman the following year, later opened Comic Kingdom in North Slope, a business he sold by the end of the decade. [U-T San Diego, Mark Evanier]
Conventions | iFanboy, San Francisco’s Isotope Comics and Grant Morrison are teaming up for MorrisonCon, which will feature “A once in a lifetime opportunity to see Grant Morrison and 9 hand picked comic creator superstars, all together for one weekend, one time only.” They’ve released few details so far, but the website says it’ll occur next fall. [MorrisonCon]
Awards | Comic-Con International is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Eisner Awards, which will be presented in San Diego in July. The deadline for submitting materials for consideration is March 6. [CCI]
- January 6, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by JK Parkin
Judges announced for 2012 Eisner Awards
Eisner Awards
Comic-Con International has announced the judging panel for the 2012 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, which includes Comic Book Resources and Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson.
The six-person committee will meet in San Diego in late March to select the nominees to appear on the Eisner ballot, which then will be voted on by comics industry professionals. The winners will be announced July 13 during an awards ceremony at Comic-Con.
Besides Alverson, who also writes MangaBlog and contributes to Publishers Weekly and MTV Geek, the judging panel includes: retailer Calum Johnston, owner of Strange Adventures: Comix & Curiosities in Nova Scotia; Jesse Karp, librarian at the LREI independent school in New York City and instructor of a graduate-level course on graphic novels at the Pratt Institute; veteran cartoonist Larry Marder, creator of Tales of the Beanworld, former executive director of Image Comics and former president of McFarlane Toys; author and educator Ben Saunders, professor of English at the University of Oregon; and Mary Sturhann, longtime secretary on the board of directors of Comic-Con International.
- December 1, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | More on Marvel layoffs; CCI plans Balboa Park event
Marvel
Publishing | Heidi MacDonald and Tom Spurgeon offer commentary and context regarding last week’s layoffs by Marvel. [The Beat, Comics Reporter]
Conventions | San Diego City Council President Tony Young and Comic-Con International staff are working together on a “marquee event” at Balboa Park that around the time of Comic Con. While convention organizers are interested in a Balboa Park event, they don’t support Yong’s original proposal, a nationally televised parade that would kick off or end the con, saying that the logistics, traffic and crowding would be problematic. [Sign On San Diego]
Conventions | Ohio State University’s student newspaper covers this past weekend’s Mid-Ohio Con. [The Lantern]
- October 24, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Stan Lee to receive visual-effects award
Stan Lee
Awards | The Visual Effects Society has named Stan Lee as the recipient of the VES 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors individuals whose “lifetime body of work has made a significant and lasting contribution to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry by way of artistry, invention and/or groundbreaking work.” Previous recipients include George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Ray Harryhausen and James Cameron. The award will be presented Feb. 7 at the 10th annual VES Awards. [press release]
Organizations | The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund reports it raised $12,500 last weekend at New York Comic Con. [CBLDF]
Awards | Comic-Con International has opened nominations for the The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, which awarded to “an individual retailer who has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large.” [CCI]
- October 20, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Quote of the day | Dave Gibbons, on the future of Watchmen
“I think, without wishing to sound like a deposed dictator or a mob boss, that I’d like to take the Fifth and at this point say I reserve my position and say I have no comment to make. [...] It’s not something that I’d personally like to see happen. I sense you’re drawing me a little off the position of not commenting on it, so I think I’ll kind of leave it like that. What I would say is, intrinsic to the whole idea of Watchmen is that they existed in a world that was the way it was because of their existence. And I think to transplant them into another world actually removes a huge part of what is the essence of Watchmen.”
– Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons in an interview with CBR TV,
addressing perennial rumors about a sequel to the landmark 1986 miniseries, and the possibility of the characters being integrated into the DC Comics universe
- August 11, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Steve Bissette calls for Marvel boycott in wake of Kirby copyright ruling
Online reaction has been noticeably subdued by a judge’s ruling last week that the family of Jack Kirby has no to claim to the copyrights of the characters he co-created for Marvel. Maybe it’s because a lot of people who’ve followed the case were disappointed but not exactly surprised. Or maybe, because the decision was in Marvel’s favor, there wasn’t outcry from the those readers whose chief concern is whether they’ll continue to get their monthly adventures of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four uninterrupted. Maybe both.
But Stephen R. Bissette, long an advocate for creators and creators’ rights, hasn’t been quiet. No, over the weekend the artist, perhaps best known for his collaboration with Alan Moore and John Totleben on Saga of the Swamp Thing, called on fans to draw inspiration from the woman who, dressed as Batgirl at Comic-Con International, increased pressure on DC Comics to address the number of female creators and characters in its September relaunch. (DC at last responded with, “We hear you.”) In short, he wants them to make next year’s Comic-Con “the least comfortable event Marvel or any fleeting participant in any product, movie, videogame, or anything derived from Jack Kirby’s Marvel legacy, should ever attend in the history of comicbook conventions.”
But the convention is nearly a year away. Bissette suggests that, in the meantime, fans should start by “simply pulling the plug on all individual support for any and all Kirby-derived Marvel ANYTHING (comics, movies, videogames, merchandizing). Now. Today. [...] TELL THEM what you’re doing, and spend what you would have spent on Kirby-derived Marvel product on other product from other companies in their store.” He continues:
- August 1, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Kirby family lawyer vows to appeal copyright ruling
Jack Kirby
Legal | Marc Toberoff, the lawyer suing Marvel on behalf of Jack Kirby’s heirs, plans to appeal Thursday’s ruling by New York federal judge Colleen McMahon that the Kirby estate had no claim to copyrights on the superheroes Kirby co-created for Marvel Comics. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and intend to appeal this matter to the Second Circuit,” Toberoff told The Hollywood Reporter. “Sometimes you have to lose in order to win.” [The Hollywood Reporter]
Creators | Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison chat about Supergods, The Sandman, Superman and more. “…when I did comics, it was also a performance,” Morrison said. “It’s like playing live. You don’t get much time to edit; we don’t really do second drafts in our business. I love that aspect of comics, where you could have a Sandman out and people would be talking about it immediately, and we could be responding to things that were happening all around us and it could be published three months later, or two months later, depending on how late we were. It’s not like writing a book, which is over a span of years like building a cathedral. The comic is so instant. That’s why it covers the seismic shifts of culture very, very accurately.” [Shelf Life]
- July 29, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Joshua Middleton joins The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
From Joshua Middleton's poster for "The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra"
Following a stint last year as an art director for Warner Bros. Animation’s upcoming Green Lantern: The Animated Series, artist Joshua Middleton announced this week that he’s joined the staff of Nickelodeon’s The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra. And he does so in fine fashion, with the beautiful illustration he created for the limited-edition poster that debuted at Comic-Con International.
The eagerly awaited sequel to the hit Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra picks up 70 years after the original series, following the current incarnation of the Avatar, a hotheaded teenage girl from the Southern Water Tribe. The 26-episode series is set to debut in mid-2012. Check out Middleton’s full poster after the break.
- July 28, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Location, date for WonderCon 2012 still uncertain
WonderCon
Despite a report that WonderCon will be held next year in Anaheim, Calif., because of renovations to San Francisco’s Moscone Center, event organizers say no final decisions have been made.
David Glanzer, director of marketing and public relations for Comic-Con International, tells The Comics Reporter that while the organization is considering the Anaheim Convention Center as one of the possible locations for 2012, it’s possible that WonderCon could remain at the Moscone Center, its home since 2003.
He explained that although organizers were initially told there would be no dates available next year because of the construction, that recently changed. Now, with Comic-Con over, officials will turn their attention to the dates and facilities included in the new proposal.
- July 27, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’11 | Shepard Fairey covers Tom Morello’s Orchid
"Orchid" variant covery by Shepard Fairey
OC Weekly has a look at Shepard Fairey’s variant cover for Orchid, the debut comic by Rage Against the Machine guitarist and Audioslave frontman Tom Morello and artist Scott Hepburn announced last week at Comic-Con International by Dark Horse. Morello stopped by the Comic Book Resources yacht at the convention to talk with CBR TV about the 12-issue series, which involves 16-year-old prostitute in a dystopian future leading a revolt.
“When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed,” so the premise goes. “Human settlements are now ringed by a dense wilderness from which ferocious new animal species prey on the helpless. The high ground belongs to the rich and powerful that overlook swampland shantytowns from their fortress-like cities. Iron-fisted rule ensures order and allows the wealthy to harvest the poor as slaves. This is the world of Orchid.”
Orchid debuts from Dark Horse in October.
- July 26, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
SDCC ’11 | Ape to release Cut the Rope comic based on game
Following on the success of its Pocket God comic, which was one of the top book apps of 2010, Ape Entertainment is doing another digital comic based on an iOS game: Cut the Rope. Like Pocket God, Cut the Rope will be a standalone app (although Pocket God is also available through iVerse’s Comics+ reader). No talent was announced, but the art here and in the slightly longer preview at Mashable looks more than competent.
- July 26, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
SDCC ’11 | A roundup of Sunday’s announcements
Defenders
As is typical, Sunday was a bit slower in terms of announcements at the San Diego Comic-Con, but there were some on the last day of the show:
• At the Fear Itself panel, Marvel made several announcements, including a new Defenders series by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson. The team includes Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Namor, Red She-Hulk and Silver Surfer.
• Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri will chronicle the adventures of Bruce Banner and his alter ego starting in October, when Incredible Hulk #1 hits the stands.
• Much like Siege begot the Heroic Age, Fear Itself will bring Battle Scars, a post-event branding for the Marvel Universe titles. Several Shattered Heroes one-shots will be released, focusing on how Fear Itself impacts various Marvel heroes.
• Marvel confirmed the launch of The Fearless, a bi-weekly series by Matt Fraction, Chris Yost, Cullen Bunn, Mark Bagley and Paul Pelletier.
• DC Comics released a gallery of character designs and sketches for the New 52 launch.
• Comic-Con International released the full list of Inkpot Awards recipients from this year’s show. The list includes Steven Spielberg, Alan Davis, Chester Brown and many more.
- July 24, 2011 @ 08:17 PM by JK Parkin