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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

I believe we've reached the pre-Thanksgiving industry slowdown.

Green Arrow: Year One

Internet | A website called the Home of the Green Arrow, which supports the far-right British National Party in its "fight to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia," has co-opted Jock's art from the DC Comics miniseries Green Arrow: Year One for its banner. "This is leaving a horrible taste in my mouth," the artist wrote this morning on Twitter. He has contacted DC's legal department. [Jock's Twitter feed]

Art | Frank Frazetta's original cover painting for the 1967 Lancer paperback edition of Conan the Conqueror sold at auction last week for a reported $1 million. That's nearly four times the previous record price for the artist's work -- $251,000 -- paid in 2008 for the cover to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Escape on Venus. [Spectrum Fantastic Art, via Sci Fi Wire]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Stuck in the Middle

Libraries | There is, of course, follow-up on the decision by the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to remove the anthology Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age from middle-school libraries. Local CBS affiliate KELO reports on the reactions of parents and highlights some of the better-known challenged and banned books.

As we noted yesterday, teachers will still have access to the 2007 collection of stories about life as a teen-ager (by such contributors as Gabrielle Bell, Daniel Clowes, Joe Matt and Dash Shaw). That's because, in the words of School Board President Kent Alberty, "There is value in the book. One of the subjects addressed is bullying, something the district is very interested in making sure is handled appropriately, and the book does address that." [KELOLAND.com]

Publishing | Japan's NHK television network reports that publishing giant Shueisha, a co-owner of Viz Media, plans to develop plans to sell manga via mobile phones in the United States beginning in spring 2010. [Anime News Network]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Google

Legal | Google and a group of authors and publishers have until Friday to revise a proposed settlement over the Internet giant's plans to make millions of out-of-print books available online. They originally were given a deadline of Nov. 9. DC Comics is among the parties that objected to the terms of the agreement -- -- $125 million and a registry to identify and compensate copyright holders -- arguing that it violates international copyright law. [Bloomberg News, Media Decoder]

Legal | The sentencing of Christopher Handley, the 39-year-old Iowa man who in May pleaded guilty to possessing manga depicting children in sexual situations, is scheduled for Jan. 25. He faces up to 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. [ICv2.com]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Green Lantern Corps #41

Publishing | Buoyed by its Blackest Night miniseries and tie-in books, DC Comics claimed the first six slots on Diamond Comic Distributors' Top 300 list of books sold to the direct market in October.

It's a rare occurrence, to be sure, but just how rare? Charts-watcher John Jackson Miller contends we have to travel back more than 40 years, to a time well before the direct market, to find when DC last had the six best-selling comics (as sold to retailers). Yes, 1968. The closest DC came in the direct-market era, according to Miller, was in April 1993, when the publisher held the top five positions.

But back to October 2009, when DC also narrowed the market gap with Marvel to the closest margin in some time: The competitors were separated by just 2.43 percent in unit share, and 2.68 percent in dollar share. [Diamond Comic Distributors, The Comics Chronicles]

Retailing | Borders Group announced Thursday it will close about 200 of its Waldenbooks, Borders Express and Borders Outlet stores in January. The retail chain has been steadily closing mall-based stores in its Waldenbooks Specialty Retail division since 2001. About 130 mall stores will remain once the downsizing is complete. [Publishers Weekly]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

The Book of Genesis Illustrated

Sales charts | R. Crumb's The Book of Genesis Illustrated climbs seven spots to No. 2 in its second month on BookScan's list of top-selling adult graphic novels in bookstores. It's bested, as most are, by the latest volume of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. But it's another story on USA Today's bestseller chart, where Crumb's book drops 49 places in its second week to No. 129. [ICv2.com, USA Today]

Passings | Tom Spurgeon, NPR's Mark Memmott and Ina Jaffe, and Michael Cieply of The New York Times have obituaries for Comic-Con co-founder Shel Dorf, who passed away on Nov. 3 at the age of 76.

Libraries | The Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subculture opened over the weekend at Meiji University's Surugadai campus in Tokyo. Users can become one-day members of the library, where they can have access to about half of the 140,000 manga for about $1.10 per copy. The books can't be removed from the library. [The Japan Times]

Internet | Tom Spurgeon points out that the review blog Guttergeek will move to the expanded TCJ.com, joining a stable of hosted blogs that will include The Hooded Utilitarian. [Guttergeek]

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Hey Colbert, Cap's gonna need that shield back now ...

You might remember back in 2007 when talk show host Stephen Colbert was given Captain America's shield after Steve Rogers was apparently (but not really) shot to death. Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor in chief, passed the shield on "to the only man who has the red, white and blue balls to carry the mantle" -- the "conservative" talk show host/comic fan whose show runs on the Comedy Channel.

Well, as we learned in June, Captain America isn't exactly dead, so schoolteacher and Robot 6 reader Robt Seda-Schreiber has served Colbert with "a legal document called a writ of replevin that I have prepared." Here's what it looks like:

"As I am sure comes as no surprise to anyone, Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, has returned ('reborn' if you will) from his supposed death. More to the point, reports of his death were greatly exaggerated in the first place. It was under this false pretense that Mr. Colbert was 'bequeathed' said shield, so it would follow that the good Captain’s shield be returned to him post-haste," Seda-Schreiber writes. "I bring this legal action in his name, with the help of my brilliant & beautiful lawyer-wife." Check out his blog for updates and to find out exactly what a writ of replevin is.

(And a closer look at the writ makes me wonder if it IS actually legal ... there's a really good chance the sheriff who signed it was a Life Model Decoy ...)

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Dragon Ball

Manga | Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball has been officially removed from Wicomico County schools in Maryland following a committee review of the popular series. The announcement was made Thursday by Superintendent John Fredericksen, slightly more than a week after a parent's complaint about depictions of nudity and sexual situations in the first volume triggered the school board to pull the manga from library shelves.

The committee also is reviewing the all-ages Dragon Ball Z; Dragon Ball is rated for teens. Both titles are published in North America by Viz Media. The Wicomico County Public Library announced last week that it is conducting an "internal reconsideration" of Dragon Ball, pulling the series from circulation while it decides where the manga should be shelved.

And in a timely post, Jason Thompson, author of Manga: The Complete Guide, addresses the Dragon Ball dust-up and other issues for io9.com. [WBOC.com]

Publishing | Random House imprint David Fickling Books will publish three collections of comics from its canceled U.K. comics anthology The DFC. The books -- Mezolith by Adam Brockbank and Ben Haggarty; Good Dog, Bad Dog by Dave Shelton; and Spider Moon by Kate Brown -- will be released in March, April and May 2010. [Booktrade, via Forbidden Planet International]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Wowio

Publishing | Gary Tyrrell reports that publishers have begun receiving payments for the second quarter of 2008 from long-struggling e-book site Wowio. All publishers are expected to be paid by Nov. 15. [Fleen]

Awards | When the National Book Award nominations were announced Wednesday, some wondered why David Small's graphic novel Stitches: A Memoir was included in the young people's literature category. It turns out the publisher nominated it as a young-adult title. [GalleyCat]

Business | Former DC Comics President Jenette Kahn and ICv2.com President Milton Griepp have joined the board of advisers and directors of comiXology, which produces the Comics by comiXology digital comics application. [press release]

Conventions | Remember that ad incorrectly announcing Warren Ellis as a guest at Toronto Comic Con? It turns out they totally meant Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku. Not Warren Ellis. Eliza Dushku. [Bleeding Cool]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Legal | Anime producer and distributor Funimation Entertainment issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice to the webhost of AnimesFree demanding that the fansub site remove more than 1,000 infringing episodes of more than 40 series. The site's administrator complied, and then complained about the company enforcing its copyrights: "AnimesFree.com will continue just as STRONGLY as it has been these past three months. Meeting everyone new on the website was great and I don’t intend for it to stop anytime soon. So we’re not going to quit just because of a few dozen series. There’s two things that you can do when a bully pushes you down. You either stay down and cower, or you stand back up and fight until you can’t walk anymore. There are just some things that the ‘Anime’ corporate giants will never understand about how people rely on online Anime communities." The commenters on the post aren't particularly sympathetic to the administrator's plight. [AnimesFree, via Deb Aoki]

Rich Hafstead

Retailing | Heidi MacDonald reports that Rich Hafstead, partner in the Jim Hanley's Universe chain in New York City, passed away Oct. 9. He had been semi-retired since suffering a heart attack in 2006. [The Beat]

Retailing | A 10-year-old girl is in a coma after she was trapped Tuesday under shelves that collapsed in a bookstore in Sapporo, Japan. The girl's 14-year-old sister also was injured. The store, Daily Books, sells secondhand manga and video games. [The Japan Times, The Mainichi Daily News]

Legal | In light of recent legal moves by the heirs of Jerry Siegel and Jack Kirby, Christopher Murray and Paul Iannicelli consider the termination provisions of the 1976 Copyright Act. [ Mondaq]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Dragon Ball, Vol. 3

Manga | Wicomico County Public Library in Maryland is conducting an "internal reconsideration" of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball after the popular series was removed from a combined elementary/middle school library last week due to depictions of nudity and sexual situations. The public library has pulled the manga while it decides in what section the T-rated series should be shelved. [The Daily Times]

Publishing | Deb Aoki gets more details from Viz Media Senior Editor Eric Searleman about the publisher's relaunched original comics initiative, which began accepting submissions last week: "We're hoping to publish a wide range of comics by a diverse group of creators. A lot of people are expecting Viz Media to publish manga (or comics that look like manga) but we don't plan on limiting ourselves, in any way. It doesn't matter to us if you draw like Tite Kubo or Darwyn Cooke. If you've got an awesome idea for a comic book, we want to see it." Simon Jones provides commentary. [About.com, Icarus Publishing]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Dragon Ball

Manga | Wicomico County schools in Maryland removed all copies of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball from library shelves Wednesday after the mother of a fourth-grader complained about the nudity and sexual situations depicted in the first volume of the hit series. The manga, which sports an "All Ages" a T+ rating, is published in North America by Viz Media.

A committee of administrators and "people from outside the school system" will review books, but the schools superintendent will make the final decision on the fate of the series. At a Tuesday meeting of the County Council, one councilman distributed photocopies of scenes from Dragon Ball, describing some of the illustrations as "disgusting." [The Daily Times, The Daily Times]

Legal | An amended agreement between Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers is expected to be filed by Friday to address concerns raised by the Google Book Search settlement. DC Comics is among the parties that object to the terms of the original deal, designed to resolve a 2005 lawsuit accusing the Internet giant of infringing on copyrights by digitizing out-of-print books without permission. [Publishers Weekly]

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Perhaps Planetary would be better served by a Venn diagram

Planetary #27

In what he bills as the first part of "A Planetary Restrospective," Funnybook Babylon's Chris Eckert goes all Nate Silver on the Warren Ellis-John Cassaday series, which concludes this week after 27 issues ... and more than 10 years.

Eckert isn't fooling around, either: He has a pie chart -- one that breaks down Cassaday's page output over the past decade. A pie chart!

Take us back to Feb. 3, 1999, the day the first issue of Planetary was released, Mr. Peabody Eckert: "Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Geoff Johns and Greg Rucka were all newcomers to mainstream comics with a smattering of 'Big Two' credits between them. Mark Millar was best known in America as Grant Morrison’s writing partner. No one had heard of Bill Jemas or Dan DiDio, and when people thought of 'comic book movies' Batman & Robin or Spawn came to mind."

Simpler times, indeed.

But back to the pie chart: I'm not sure what it really tells us, other than Planetary and Astonishing X-Men comprise about three-quarters of Cassaday's interior work since 1999. Still, though, everything's better with pie charts. And pie.

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Akira, Vol. 1

Publishing | Kodansha confirms what virtually everyone has known for quite a while now: that the publisher -- Japan's largest -- is setting up shop in the United States, establishing an office in New York City. Kodansha USA Publishing will launch Kodansha Comics with Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira and Shirow Masamune's Ghost in the Shell, two titles that had been licensed in North America by Dark Horse. The company will focus on translating its sizable backlist, but views original publishing as one of its "eventual ambitions." David Welsh provides a little commentary. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | BOOM! Studios has signed a deal with Haven Distributors to distribute second printings of all of the publisher's monthly titles to direct-market retailers. [BOOM! Studios]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Long Beach Comic Con

Conventions | The local newspapers were all over the inaugural Long Beach Comic Con, held over the weekend in Long Beach, California. The Long Beach Post reported on the ribbon-cutting by Stan Lee -- "Some Stan Lee Day," he joked. "They're still delivering mail, and the banks are still open." -- and some of the other convention highlights. The Contra Costa Times also has a wrap-up.

Gelatometti, the Wildstorm Studios blog, has a nice photo set from the convention, including a great shot of Jim Lee and Stan Lee having a laugh. [Long Beach Comic Con]

Conventions | The fourth annual British International Comics Show, held Saturday and Sunday in Birmingham, reportedly drew more than 3,000 creators, publishers, dealers and fans. [Birmingham Mail]

Events | A handful of news outlets have coverage of local 24-Hour Comics Day events: Columbia Missourian, KTUU (Alaska), Minneapolis Comic Books Examiner and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. [24-Hour Comics Day]

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Your Mileage May Vary: Detective Comics #857

Detective Comics #857

Detective Comics' "Elegy" storyline has come to a close, and it's interesting to see what different readers have to say about the ending.

Johnny Flash at btalkworld.com mostly liked the issue, but had a few nitpicks:

While there was a lot of Batwoman in action this issue, there wasn’t much in the way of character development with Kate herself. Or at least it didn’t appear overtly until the end. At one point Kate’s dad seems to recognized the pale Alice, calling her “Beth”, but Alice turns away. As the issue wraps up, Alice is headed toward a classic “Joker” moment by falling from the plane to the waters of Gotham below but not before addressing Kate and making a remark about “Our Father”! In classic comic book fashion, we can be assured to see Alice again someday, but I love the cliffhanger! A perfect tease to make me want to know even more about Kate’s origin and see how Beth/Alice fits in!

The backup feature, Renee Montoya’s Question finally feels like she is getting somewhere in her investigation by conferring with her associate Toth, but then quickly finds herself in yet another skirmish where the bad guys would rather take out one of their own than let her find out the next bit of the puzzle. I’m just really not sure if I’m not getting into this because of the limited pages and the pacing. I think that when compiled in an eventual trade it will seem to go on endlessly with a lot of the same. I think I need to set up a weekend task of reading all the Question back up’s in one sitting to see if they are more cohesive when read that way.

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