Lucky Star

Publishing | Longtime industry hand Jason Thompson has written a thoughtful essay on why the manga industry is in trouble, going beyond the American scene to point out structural problems in the Japanese market: An aging readership, the decline of print and the reluctance of Japanese publishers to embrace digital publishing in any coherent way. “Perhaps wary of creating an iTunes-like behemoth which could drive prices down,” Thompson writes, “publishers haven’t united in any reasonable way to create a consistent digital newsstand/bookstore format for their titles.” This, of course, has just made life easier for the scanlators. He also points to a shift toward the individual creator — it’s the big publishers who are hurting, while self-published and indy manga are on the rise. All this may sound familiar to American comics fans, but Thompson’s prescriptions for the future — more gag manga, simpler art, more color, and motion comics — don’t seem like convincing ways to rescue the industry. An iTunes-like behemoth is probably the way to go. [io9]

Awards | The Horror Writers Association has released the preliminary ballot for the 2011 Bram Stoker Awards, which includes a graphic novel category. [Horror Writers Association]

Awards | The Japanese publisher Shogakukan has announced its 57th annual manga awards. [Crunchyroll]

Retailing | The comics business is booming in Johnson City, Tennessee, and the retailers are giving a lot of credit to DC’s New 52. [Johnson City Press]

Fukitor

Creators | Jim Rugg interviews Jason Karns, the creator of Fukitor. Don’t feel bad if you have never heard of Fukitor, but do check out the article: Rugg starts out by explaining why the comic is important — and why he thinks it is deserving of greater renown. [The Comics Journal]

Creators | This interview with Caleb Melby, writer of The Zen of Steve Jobs, makes some interesting points about journalism and, in particular, journalism that uses the graphic novel medium. However, it’s hard to get past the fact that Forbes assigned Melby to write the Jobs book when he was an intern at the magazine, just out of college. [@PSFK]

From The Sixth Gun #5

Creators | Cullen Bunn walks through his process for writing an issue of The Sixth Gun. [CullenBunn.com]

Creators | Lunch Lady creator Jarrett Krosoczka hands out some solid advice to elementary school students about drawing comics and perseverance: “I tell the kids to write for the love of coming up with stories. I try to show them what I did as a child and show them it doesn’t have to be great … The main thing is they use their imagination. Writing is using your imagination on paper.” [The Press of Atlantic City]

Comics | Paul Gravett treats us to a brief survey of comics creators in the Middle East, an area where sequential art seems to be flourishing right now. [Paul Gravett]

Comics | An exhibit in New York looks at the way comics have portrayed Tibet over the past six decades. [PRI's The World]

from Matthew Petz

It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re winding down here at Robot 6 to go spend time with family and friends. Before heading off to celebrate, though, you’ll find a collection of holiday-themed links after the jump, along with this year’s collection of holiday cards we received.

On behalf of all of Robot 6, have a great holiday and stay safe. We’ll see you next week.

(Above: a Christmas showdown by Matthew Petz)

*****

Stories | Cullen Bunn offers a four-part Sixth Gun Christmas tale on his website.

Stories | J.M. DeMatteis shares a Christmas tale, “The Truth about Santa Claus.”

Webcomics | Mike Maihack presents one final Batgirl/Supergirl comic, this one with a holiday theme.

Webcomics | Jon Adams has a Santa comic only he could offer.

Webcomics | Mike Hawthorne’s Raising Crazy has several holiday-themed comics up right now.

Classics remixed | Medium Large offers some alternate takes on A Christmas Carol.

Classics remixed | John Martz and Graham Roumieu update various Christmas specials for the modern era.

Nightmare style | Dan Hipp pits Tintin against Jack Skellington.

Faux comics | Chris Sims and Kerry Callen give us a glimpse at a comic that never was–The Santa Squad.

Holiday art | Anthony Vukojevich redraws the Glory and Friends Christmas Special cover from back in the day.

Holiday art | Brendan Tobin corners Christmas Spider-Man.

Good cause | Ross Campbell shares a Shadoweyes drawing he did for a multi-artist snowball fight for Comic Creators For Freedom.

Podcasts | Timothy Callahan and Chad Nevett’s Splash Page returns for a special holiday episode.

Music | Fred has the yearly Venture Bros. holiday single available for download.

Holiday cards:

from DC Comics

from James Turner

from Dark Horse Comics

from Tyler James

from Archaia (outside)

from Archaia (inside)

from Ilias Kyriaszis

from Dean Haspiel

from Devastator

from Arcana

from Kevin Colden

from Broken Frontier

from Neil Kleid

You can find more cards out on the web, from Atomic Robo, the Perhapanauts team, Jeff Lemire and a whole bunch of Marvel-themed cards from Agent M.

Here’s a video holiday greeting from Akira the Don:

Have a great holiday!

Thinking about some of the news from SDCC this year — specifically, the Sixth Gun news, about it being made into a television series by the Syfy network — it struck me: Indie comics are the small-screen Marvel. And I’m not quite sure what that’s going to mean for their future.

This shouldn’t have been a surprise, of course; with The Walking Dead such a success on AMC, and Powers in production for FX, television had already discovered indie books, albeit indie books by creators familiar to fans of Marvel Comics. If Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World had dimmed the idea of the non-Mark Millar, non-superhero indie comic as mega-successful blockbuster movie for awhile (Even though, as I never tire of exclaiming, it’s a spectacular movie and by far the most enjoyable thing to hit theaters last year), it’s clear that they seem to have been embraced by television as idea farms waiting to happen. Look at the much-buzzed-about Locke & Key pilot (Not picked up by Fox, but something that the studio felt so strongly about, they signed the writer to a development deal and kept shopping it around to other networks), Chew‘s optioning by Showtime and, now, Sixth Gun‘s Syfy deal. Yay?

Okay, I admit it: There’s definitely a level on which that “yay” isn’t in the least ambivalent: The majority of the comic money involved in these deals is going straight to the creators in (almost?) all cases, which is a great thing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be something that helps the comic’s continued existence in a couple of cases. Plus, each of the projects that have been optioned so far are shows that deserve the bigger audiences and wider success that a successful television show would bring.

(Okay, I admit: Powers is probably doing just fine right now, but still.)

But I worry that there’s a danger of transmedia success pushing publishers towards more television/movie-friendly projects, or creators feeling as if they should try and come up with something more easily filmed for a potential future moneymaker. It’s ridiculous, I know; there’s no more pressure on either publishers or creators to do this now than there has been all along, or at least since Wanted got turned into a movie way back when, but… I get nervous, I guess, that whatever ideological purity I imagine in indie comics – And feel free to point out the number of licensed comics, worthless spin-offs and gratuitous pandering in books that undercut that very concept in the comments – will somehow get lost in the weird world of producers and directors and adaptations, Charlie Kaufman-style.

All that said, yay for Sixth Gun creators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt; they deserve all the success and rewards they get from this deal, and as a fan of Syfy’s Warehouse 13, Haven, Alphas et al, I’m really looking forward to see what the television show ends up looking like.

October will see the debut of The Fearless, “an event that shows readers what’s in store for their favorite characters in the wake of the Fear Itself event. Anyone that enjoyed Fear Itself should be interested in finding out how Captain America, the Avengers, and other characters from all across the Marvel Universe deal with the aftermath.”

Although further details haven’t been publicly released by Marvel or Diamond Comic Distributors, Newsarama reports that the twice-monthly series will be written by Matt Fracion, Cullen Bunn and Chris Yost, and illustrated by Mark Bagley and Paul Pelletier. The website also confirms the October launch of Incredible Hulk, by Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri.

Stay tuned to Comic Book Resources for more information as details surface from Comic-Con.

Batman Inc. #7

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

I’d pick up Batman Inc. #7 ($2.99) and that would be it, so afterwards I’d pat myself on the back for not blowing my whole $15.

If I had $30:

I’d go with Farm 54 ($25), a new hardbound collection of stories by the brother and sister team of Galit and Gilad Seliktar, courtesy of Fanfare/Ponent Mon. It’s basically a semi-autobiographical collection of tales capturing a young woman at various critical stages in her youth, adolescence and young adulthood, all done in a tentative, wispy watercolor. Lovely stuff to flip through, at the very least.

Splurge:

There’s actually quite a lot that’s splurge-worthy this week. Top Shelf has Lucille ($29.95), Ludovic Debeurme’s 500-plus-page, award-winning (in Europe, natch) graphic novel about two lovestruck teens on the run, one with anorexia, the other with OCD and really bad daddy issues. It’s rather striking, and occasionally breathtaking, work. Elsewhere, Humanoids has a $50 version of the classic Moebius/Jodorowsky sci-fi mash-up The Incal, which is much more reasonably priced than that $100 slipcased version they put out earlier in the year. Finally, the always reliable Sunday Press Comics has Forgotten Fantasy Sunday Comics:1900-1915, an oversized hodge-podge of early 20th century strips by such folks as Winsor McKay, Lyonel Feininger, George McManus and many more. The book features all of Feininger’s Kin-Der-Kids and Wee Willie’s World, which is a real treat if you haven’t been exposed to that material before.

Graeme McMillan

The More Than Complete Action Philosophers

It’s the fifth week of the month, so of course, it’s surprisingly quiet. That means my $15 will go towards the latest issues of series I’m already getting: Batman Incorporated #7, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11 (which is, unless I’m wrong, the epilogue to the War of the Green Lanterns, the final part of which — Green Lantern #67 — has slipped deadlines and won’t ship for another two weeks. Good planning, everyone) and Xombi #4 (all of which are DC and $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d probably make a point of adding the first issue of Paul Jenkins’ All Winners Squad: Band of Heroes mini (Marvel, $2.99), the latest Avengers: The Children’s Crusade (#6, Marvel, $3.99, and this has skipped schedule at some point as well, surely…?) and probably The Iron Age #1, the second part — of course, what else do you expect from a first issue — of the series that should really be called Iron Man’s Time-Traveling Marvel Team-Up (Marvel, $4.99).

Splurging, thankfully, is a far easier choice: The More Than Complete Action Philosophers is arguably the most entertaining and amusing way to spend $24.95 this week. If I was rich, I’d buy one for all of you to prove it.

Brigid Alverson

The Sixth Gun #12

If I had $15, I wouldn’t have any trouble spending it on single-issue comics this week: Sixth Gun #12 ($3.99), for some great supernatural-Western action; Richie Rich #2 ($3.95), because I want to see what Ape Entertainment is doing with this relaunch; Skullkickers #8 ($2.99), and Super Dinosaur #3 ($2.99). That leaves a dollar, and that goes toward the next purchase.

If I had $30, I’d add Yakuza Moon: The True Story of a Gangster’s Daughter ($15.99), from Kodansha International (not Kodansha Comics). This is adapted by Sean Michael Wilson, who edited the AX anthology, and it looks like a fascinating read.

Splurge: Farm 54, Galit and Gilad Seliktar’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel about growing up in rural Israel. It’s closer to the literature end of the scale than, say, Skullkickers, but it’s good in a very different way, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Michael May

Black Widow: Fear Itself #1

If I had $15, I’d start with Wonder Woman #612 ($2.99) to see Phil Hester begin wrapping up JMS’ alternate universe story. Then I’d grab Xombi #4 ($2.99) because John Rozum. I’d also add Richard Moore’s Gobs #1 ($3.99) to console myself (open-mindedly, I promise!) through my Boneyard withdrawal. Finally, I’d top off the pile with Fear Itself: Black Widow #1 ($3.99). I hate that cover, but Cullen Bunn seems to be writing all my favorite super heroes lately and that’s irresistible.

With $30, I’d add Batman: Knight and Squire ($14.99) to the pile because Paul Cornell’s writing an English Batman and Robin sounded like a lot of fun when it was coming out as single issues.

It’s difficult again this week to pick just one splurge item. Graeme’s already mentioned Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s More Than Complete Action Philosophers ($24.95) and that’s a temptation. As is the classic Aquaman: Death of a Prince collection ($29.99). And Humanoids has two cool releases this week. There’s The Incal: Classic Collection ($44.95) that Chris mentioned and also Fabien Nury and John Cassaday’s I Am Legion ($19.95). Pressed to make a choice though, I’m going with John Cassaday and psychic Nazis.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #50

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week our special guest is Ross Campbell, creator of Shadoweyes and its recent sequel, Shadoweyes in Love, as well as Wet Moon, Water Baby, The Abandoned and “Refuse,” a short story in the recent Strange Adventures anthology from Vertigo.

To see what Ross and the Robot 6 crew have been reading lately, click below.

*****

Tim O’Shea

Avengers Academy #15

Avengers Academy #15: As much as I love the teen stars of this series, Christos Gage is writing the best dang Hank Pym since the days of Kurt Busiek’s Avengers. At the heart of most comic book series I enjoy, there’s a soap opera element. And artist Tom Raney pulls off the soap opera angle in this issue, showing the anguish in Pym’s face, when faced with certain hard choices.

Last week I avoided contributing to WAYR, because all I could think to write about DC comics was “What the hell is the point of recommending these any DC main titles, given that the series–no matter how great they may be–will end in a few months?” Well, Bryan Q. Miller’s Batgirl coming to an end is a prime example of a comic and creator who I will hate to see go. I expect Gail Simone’s Batgirl will be a big hit with folks, but I was dismayed to see Miller has not been tapped (to date) to work on any new DC projects. Here’s hoping that’s not the last I will see of Miller’s writing in comics.

Hulk #35: I love Jeff Parker for writing a scene where Thunderbolt “Red Hulk” Ross opines on his admiration for George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Few other mainstream comics are as equal parts quirky and entertaining as Parker’s Hulk.

Michael May

Alpha Flight #1

My enjoyment of Alpha Flight #1 was unfortunately tainted by paying an extra buck for two story pages and a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff I’d already seen online, but the story itself was a welcome return to what I originally liked about the team when Byrne created the series. I’m even digging Marrina’s new personality now. Van Lente and Pak sold me on it in three panels that simultaneously made me laugh and suddenly, totally get why Marrina would be exactly the way she is now. I’m still a bit sad about innocence lost, but they’ve found the silver lining in the storm clouds of Marrina’s history. Also, hell of a cliffhanger.

I don’t know what it was, but I just couldn’t stop adding periodical issues to my stack this week. I’m a stubborn trade-waiter by nature, so that surprised me. Cullen Bunn’s (The Sixth Gun) writing a Defenders vs Atlantis story in Fear Itself: The Deep was too tempting to pass up and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s gotta be hard to make a team starring Doctor Strange, Namor, and a Hulk feel like underdogs, but Bunn pulls it off and makes it look easy.

I also read Kelly Sue DeConnick and ChrisCross’ Supergirl #65 and it reminded me that there are still great comics being published by DC that don’t tie into a larger story. This is the first of three issues that have Supergirl going undercover for Lois Lane at a college to investigate some student disappearances involving robots and possibly faeries. Maybe even robot faeries. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s only going to cost $12 to read.

I did pick up another event-related comic though: last week’s Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1. (I think it was last week. Two weeks ago?) It’s sort of the perfect Flashpoint tie-in because it starts during WWII and drops its heroes into the present, Captain America-style, so that readers can learn about the Flashpoint world along with them. Unlike Grodd of War, which I also read, I didn’t feel like I needed to have purchased Flashpoint and World of Flashpoint and three other mini-series to understand everything that was happening. It’s just Frankenstein and a bunch of monsters whooping up on some bad guys and trying to figure out what’s going on. Cool characters, great action, and a nice mystery.

Carla Hoffman

Batgirl #22

I gotta go with Tim on this one: I love Batgirl so much. Batgirl #22 was just as good as the issues that came before it and was totally bittersweet because I just don’t know if we’ll ever see its like again. The art was clever and fast paced, the writing was swift and adventurous, never leaving you too long to explain anything but connecting all the dots along the way. Stephanie Brown is fun, funny and confident in her role, a fantastic female character without having to be The Best Female Character, if that makes any sense. However, this is the killer part: you get a full story in that one issue. It’s one of the reasons I’ve kept up with Batgirl as much as I have: each issue tends to give you the most bang for you buck and requires very little from me but to kick back and enjoy. I kind of want to go back and read the Knight and Squire mini-series thanks to the fun I had with this book.

To show my true colors, I also read X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3 and have deemed it the best of the prelude books out thus far. I still don’t know what’s going on plot-wise besides the obvious (there is a threat! there is a decision!), but this week we took a peek inside the head of Scott Summers as he makes the decision to fight … something. Jenkins hasn’t been this on for personal storytelling in awhile, at least for me; I enjoy a good quiet moment where we really look at the motivations of why a particular hero is the way they are and he nails it for one of the quietest load-bearing characters of the X-Universe. Scott, even in his new souped up position as the leader of Utopia, remains reserved and thoughtful and it’s easy to see why in this issue. He is, in effect, a blind man leading people who are in a whole new phase of existence, which is a neat little way to look at this event, whatever this event may be.

I also read Avengers #14 because I have a streak of masochism. It’s embarrassing how much I don’t enjoy a book I actively seek out every month, like I should have learned by now not to do this because I’m just not the person Brian Michael Bendis is writing these books for. There are plenty of people who enjoy this flagship book of the Marvel Universe, its sales are consistent and the story is popular, so they don’t need me as a reader. But yet, here I am. Whereas X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3 is giving me one quiet character moment, this tries to give me several with a variety of talking heads, some living, some dead, being interviewed. At the same time, the main point of the story is that the Thing fights the Hulk. Not only that, but the Godly-Hammer-Chosen Thing fights the nigh-unstoppable Red Hulk! And it’s drawn by John Romita Jr. who, from his work on World War Hulk, kind of sort of declared himself Artist King of Hulk Fights(tm) in my humble opinion. Why didn’t I like this? Why won’t you let me love you, Avengers!? Because it’s slow. There’s a whole lot of tell-not-showing in the issue, some beautiful shots that have these little head shot boxes dotting their margins telling you how awesome this picture is. Because they destroy Stark Tower and I can’t say I’m worried for where the Avengers will live now, nor is Stark Tower so endeared to our hearts as the Avengers Mansion was when it also was destroyed by Bendis. Because at the end of the book, Jarvis tells us that this moment was more terrifying to him than having his life threatened in front of Captain America in the classic “Under Siege” story line. This is just, what, two issues in? He tells me this point blank, instead of showing me a moment that tops the classic panels from the Avengers’ past and, as a reader, I don’t feel like that’s really happening between the panels.

Ross Campbell

Remake Special

Remake Special by Lamar Abrams: The first Remake is hilarious but this second book is without a doubt the funniest comic I’ve ever read. Being a connoisseur of poop humor, I was delighted to see that Remake Special features hero Max Guy and his pals Magma Boy and Sick Rick going up against people made of poop.

Happyface by Steve Emond: Emond is most known for his comic Emo Boy from SLG Publishing, but he really shines in his first novel. It does include artwork, though, which is interesting, I’ve never read a book quite like it. Anyway it’s really good, I saw a lot of my younger self in the main character, a self-absorbed, angsty, whiny, sometimes delusional hopeless romantic high school boy, which isn’t something I look for in fiction but which turned out to be entertainingly embarrassing. It starts off kind of superficial seeming but it unfolds really interestingly and unexpectedly, and ends up being honest and unflinching.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor: I only just started reading this the other day but I had to include it! I’ve been reading Nnedi’s books for a while and they’re all great, and her last book Who Fears Death, about a powerful mystic girl in post-apocalyptic North Africa, was amazing but it looks like she may top it with Akata Witch, which is about an albino black American girl, Sunny, living in Nigeria, who discovers she has magical powers.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson: Man, this book sucked me the hell in, I was so absorbed in this. It’s about a girl dealing with anorexia and it’s brutal and sad and compelling.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: City At War by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Jim Lawson: I grew up on the old Mirage TMNT comics and felt like reading City At War again, and I’d forgotten how awesome it is. Issue #50, all wordless, is super awesome. I love when Leonardo says of Splinter “I would gladly die for him… but I don’t know if I can give him my life.” DANG.

Green Lantern #1, by Dave Johnson

Although it seems like DC’s big relaunch announcement came out an eternity ago, it actually took the publisher less than two weeks to roll out the 52 titles and their creative teams for the big relaunch/reboot/overhaul coming in September. Now that the cats are out of their respective bags, I thought I’d see where various creators and characters will land after the reboot.

So I went back through DC’s August solicitations to see who was writing or drawing what, and tried to map everyone to their post-relaunch project — if they had one. However, looking at DC’s August solicitations, there seem to be several fill-in issues, so where appropriate I tried to map the most recent ongoing creative teams to their new projects (for instance, I consider Gail Simone and Jesus Saiz the regular creative team for Birds of Prey, even if they aren’t doing the last two issues before September hits). Keep in mind that I just went through the ongoing series and skipped over all the miniseries … of which there are a lot, what with Flashpoint winding up in August.

It’s also worth noting that although several creators didn’t appear in the “big 52″ announcements, that doesn’t mean their tenure with DC is necessarily over — some, like Frazer Irving, have said they have future projects that haven’t been announced. So I tried to note where creators have talked publicly about their post-relaunch plans with DC (or lack thereof, as the case may be). The same could probably be said for some of DC’s characters as well. Or, as Gail Simone said on Twitter: “Again, September is NOT THE END. There’s still plans for characters that we haven’t seen yet.”

So let’s get to it ….

Green Lantern titles: There is no Green Lantern title in August. July’s issue, #67, wraps up “War of the Green Lanterns” and is by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christiam Almy — the same guys working on Green Lantern #1. Green Lantern Corps #63 is by Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham, while Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13 is by Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. The latter creative team takes over Green Lantern Corps in September, while the former moves to Green Lantern: New Guardians. As Sean Collins pointed out last week, not a lot of change here in terms of creative teams, although the GL books do have a new sister book in the previously announced Red Lanterns title by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes.

Booster Gold: Looks like issue #47 is the last one, which ties into Flashpoint. Dan Jurgens is writing Justice League International #1, starring Booster Gold, with artist Aaron Lopresti. And Jurgens is drawing the J.T. Krul-written Green Arrow.

Justice League of America: The book will drop “of America” from the title in September, as Geoff Johns and Jim Lee take over the series from James Robinson and … I guess the last regular artist was Brett Booth? Booth moves to Teen Titans, while James Robinson doesn’t appear anywhere on the big list of 52 titles. Which is … odd.

Between this, GL and Aquaman (with artist Ivan Reis), DC Chief Creative Officer Johns is tied with Teen Titans/Red Hood and the Outlaws/Superboy scribe Scott Lobdell for writing the most titles for DC come September.

Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1

Superman titles: Lots of changes here … Paul Cornell and Kenneth Rocafort wrap up the “Reign of the Doomsdays” storyline in Action Comics in September. Cornell moves on to Stormwatch and Demon Knights, while Rocafort moves to Red Hood and the Outlaws. The book’s previous artist, Pete Woods, is on Legion Lost. Meanwhile, Grant Morrison and Rags Morales take over Action Comics.

The “Grounded” storyline in Superman ends with August’s issue #714, by J. Michael Straczynski, Chris Roberson, Allan Goldman and Eber Ferreira. Straczynski’s not tapped to write any of the September titles, which isn’t surprising, based on the fact that he stepped away from monthly comics to work on the sequel to Superman: Earth One — another question entirely. In any event, the man they brought on to finish up “Grounded,” Roberson, isn’t on the list either. Roberson tweeted last week, “I’ve laid off alcohol & nicotine after Heroes, but I’m treating myself to a cigarette and beer, marking the end of my brief stay in the DCU.” He’s still writing iZombie for Vertigo. Goldman also isn’t on the list, while the book’s regular artist, Eddy Barrows, moves to Nightwing. George Pérez and Jesus Merino relaunch the the book in September as Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.

Two issues of Superboy arrive in August, by Jeff Lemire and a trio of artists. Lemire moves on from the title and will be writing Frankenstein and Animal Man in September, while Lobdell takes over writing Superboy with artist R.B. Silva. Artist Pier Gallo doesn’t appear to be doing anything for DC in September.

Supergirl‘s final creative team before the reboot, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chriscross, aren’t working on any of the September books, although DeConnick did note that she was approached to pitch to them.

Most recently Superman/Batman has featured the work of Cullen Bunn and Chriscross, neither of whom appears on the big list o’ 52, with Joshua Hale Fialkov’s three-parter appearing in the final issues this summer. Fialkov will be writing I, Vampire in September.

The Bat-titles: Batman Incorporated goes on hiatus after August, but DC has announced that it will be back as a maxi-series next year. Morrison, as noted above, goes to Action Comics. The Bat titles themselves stay fairly consistent — Tony Daniel will continue to write and draw one of them as he moves from Batman to Detective Comics; writer Scott Snyder moves from Detective Comics to work with former Spawn artist Greg Capullo on Batman; and David Finch will continue to write Batman: The Dark Knight (a series he once drew as well) for artist Jay Fabok, who is slated to take over art chores with July’s pre-relaunch-resolicited issue #4. The only creators from those books pre-relaunch who don’t appear on the big list of 52 books are Jock and Francesco Francavilla, although Jock is apparently still doing Batman-related covers, while Francavilla will do “special fill-ins” for Snyder’s other writing project, Swamp Thing. Daniel has another project as well — The Savage Hawkman, with artist Phillip Tan.

Batman & Robin

Tomasi is also listed as the writer for Batman & Robin, a book he was announced as the regular writer for after Morrison left. However, since then the book has actually been written by several folks, including Judd Winick, David Hine and Cornell. Hine’s name doesn’t appear on the relaunch list. Winick and artist Guillem March, who worked together on B&R, will team up on Catwoman in September. Winick is also writing Batwing with Ben Oliver on art.

The last few issues of Batgirl have been by Bryan Q. Miller and Dustin Nguyen, while Pere Pérez is the artist for the last three issues before the relaunch. None of them are listed as creators on the 52 titles in September. In responding to a question on Twitter, Bryan Q. Miller said: “RT Anything new on the horizon for you at DC? @TreyKrimsin Maybe – but nothing in any way immediate.” The new Batgirl creative team is Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes, with Barbara Gordon stepping back into the costume.

Red Robin ends in August with an issue that has Tim going after his dad’s killer, Captain Boomerang, since CB is back from the dead. Writer Fabian Niceiza is working on Legion Lost in September. The artist for the last arc, Marcus To, isn’t doing anything in September, while the book’s previous artist, Freddie Williams, is working on Captain Atom with Krul. Red Robin will appear in Teen Titans come September.

The characters from Gotham City Sirens — Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn — seem to have scattered into the wind; Catwoman has her own book in September, while Poison Ivy appears to be in Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn is heading to the Suicide Squad. Creators Peter Calloway and Andres Guinaldo aren’t on any books in September.

Birds of Prey #1

And speaking of Birds of Prey, Simone’s last issue is #13, as the July and August installments are by writer Marc Andreyko and Billy Tucci — neither of whom is working on September’s books. Simone will move on to Batgirl, as noted above, as well as Firestorm, which she’s co-writing with Ethan Van Sciver. Jesus Saiz, who took a break from the book after issue #13, returns to BoP for the relaunch in September.

So what happens to Batman Beyond? Honestly, I’m not sure. It isn’t listed as one of the 52 titles, but CBR’s interview with Adam Beechen last week seemed to indicate the book isn’t going away:

I do know what our next arc is going to be, but I can’t talk about it yet. I’m in the process of plotting it out, and I even know what the next arc after that will be as well as our next “Legends of the Dark Knight” issue. We’re in a pretty good place about what’s ahead of us, and if all goes according to plan, we’re pretty well set for the next bit of time. And we’re going to keep the team intact as long as we can and keep trying to crank out good stuff.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a Superman Beyond #0 in August; it’s listed as a one-shot, but c’mon, a zero issue in August? How can there not be a first issue in its future?

Wonder Woman: The somewhat-controversial “Odyssey” arc, which put Wonder Woman in pants, wraps up in August by Straczynski, Phil Hester, Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher. None of these four is listed as a creator on any of September’s books. Wonder Woman #1 will be by Doctor 13: Architecture & Morality collaborators Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.

Hester was brought onto the book at the same time Roberson came onto Superman, when Straczynski decided to step away from monthly comics. And while neither of them appears to be doing anything in September, Hester said on Twitter that “there are a lot of moving parts here,” and “So much in motion right now, but it is appreciated” when fans asked about his involvement, or lack thereof.

Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes: Paul Levitz will continue to chronicle the tales of the Legion, while Fabian Nicieza will write a Legion Lost series. Adventure appears to be gone. As for Adventure artist Phil Jimenez, a DC-exclusive creator, he tweeted, “Hey, comic readers — thanks for all the inquiries! I’m not a part of the big DCU relaunch, but I’ve got a few cool tricks up my sleeve!” followed by “Fun stuff! Hopefully announced by SDCC!” And artist Yildiray Cinar is working on the previously mentioned Firestorm book, as Francis Portela takes over Legion of Super-Heroes.

All-Star Western

Jonah Hex: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey will continue to tell the tales of the ugliest bounty hunter in the west in All-Star Western. They’re joined by artist Moritat.

Green Arrow: J.T. Krul will continue to write Green Arrow, joined by artist Dan Jurgens. Artist Diogenes Neves moves to Demon Knights, written by Cornell.

Secret Six: Simone has confirmed that issue #36 is indeed the last, as the characters Deadshot and King Shark move on to the new Suicide Squad book. Artist J. Calafiore is not listed as working on any of the 52 titles.

Zatanna: According to Paul Dini on his LiveJournal: “A few folks have asked me about the future of the Zatanna book at DC. I don’t know what plans DC has for it after this August, though I can confirm my last issue is the current one, #13.” Issue #13 came out in May. Solicitations for issues #14 and #15 list Dini as the writer, while Beechen is listed as the writer for August’s issue #16. So … I’m not sure what that means.

Responding to a question about the relaunch, Zatanna artist Jamal Igle tweeted, “I wasn’t invited to participate.” The character will appear in Justice League Dark.

Justice Society and Power Girl: I guess this explains why the description for the new Mister Terrific title didn’t reference the Justice Society. Apparently issue #54, by Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Ordway, will be the last. Neither Guggenheim nor Ordway was listed as working on any of the 52 titles, although artist Tom Derenick, who drew the recent issues #51-53, will team with Ivan Brandon on Sgt. Rock and the Men of War.

Power Girl, meanwhile, ends with August’s #27 by Matthew Sturges and Hendry Prasetya, neither of whom is listed as working on any of the 52 titles. The series’ previous writer, Winick, is working on Batwing and Catwoman, as noted above, while artist Sami Basri is working on Voodoo with Ron Marz.

Honestly, I was half-expecting a round of Justice Society titles to be announced at some point — Justice Society, Power Girl, maybe Star Girl or Starman. Maybe they’ll be tapped as mid-season replacements? On the other hand, the description of the Morrison/Morales Action Comics relaunch offered by DC’s The Source blog — “This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn’t trust their first Super Hero” — would appear to preclude the existence of a team full of World War II-era heroes that predates Superman’s generation.

Teen Titans

Teen Titans and Titans: Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul is penning two books come September, Captain Atom and Green Arrow. But I’m not seeing Nicola Scott or Doug Hazlewood on anything, though. That can’t be right; someone at DC get on that, stat.

Titans writer Eric Wallace is working on Mister Terrific; Fabrizio Fiorentino isn’t on anything. Deathstroke gets his own title in September, while Arsenal will join Red Hood and Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: I was kind of wondering about the long-term future of this one even before the reboot. Which is too bad, as it’s also one I really enjoyed. Writer Nick Spencer is exclusive to Marvel now, so his name wouldn’t be on any other DC book, while the regular art team of Cafu and BIT will work on Grifter. Recent issues have featured art by Mike Grell and Nick Dragotta, who aren’t listed on any of September’s books.

Xombi: With John Rozum working on the new Static Shock series, I would have assumed that was it for Xombi. But someone asked about it on his blog, and he responded: “… I still can’t comment one way or another. Check back periodically, but in the meantime, please take a few minutes to write a letter to the powers that be at DC about what you think about Xombi and send it to them via snail mail. It has an impact. It’s what led to the current run of Xombi in the first place.”

At the very least, maybe they’d let Rozum and artist Frazer Irving wrap up the series in the new anthology title. Speaking of Irving, he tweeted: “For all interested parties, I do have a post-relaunch DC gig but it’s a secret at the mo And Gutsville still needs finishing…” More Gutsville is a plus for sure.

Flash: Flash‘s current run ended in May with issue #12 by Johns and Francis Manapul. The title will return in September sans Johns and with Manapul and Brian Buccellato sharing art and writing duties.

So there you have it, DC’s September books through the filter of their previous line-ups … and I still didn’t hit every single book that’ll come out in September. And based on some of the comments from various creators about additional projects beyond the 52, now I’d just really like to see what DC’s October looks like …

In the meantime, what September books are you going to get? Head over to CBR and take the survey!

The Tooth
Written by Cullen Bunn and Shawn Lee; Illustrated by Matt Kindt
Oni; $24.99

Equal parts Hellboy and Hulk, The Tooth is the story of a young man named Graham Stone who inherits a spooky old estate from his grandfather, Ezekiel. While looking over the place, Graham discovers a room full of “occult esoterica,” a collection of dangerous artifacts that Grandpa Zeke spent a lifetime accumulating. Unfortunately, Graham doesn’t understand how unsafe the stuff really is and grabs an amulet designed to control a mystical, yellow tooth.

Who does understand the significance of the collection is Caleb King, evil mage and one-time arch-nemesis to the late Ezekiel Stone. But when King gets rough with Graham, the supernatural tooth forms a humanoid body and grows to fightin’ size in order to protect his new… well, “master” doesn’t seem like the right word, but the relationship between Graham and the Tooth is hard to define.

Graham doesn’t command the Tooth, but it is attached to him, sometimes quite literally. In between battles with King’s monsters, the Tooth shrinks down and implants itself in Graham’s gums. Graham acts as a reluctant host for the creature who in turn defends the young man. The relationship between the mild-mannered protagonist and the uncontrollable monster brings classic Hulk comics to mind, while the Tooth’s occult origins and the evil wizard who seeks to exploit them are reminiscent of Hellboy.

There’s also a great supporting cast worthy of the comics that influenced The Tooth. Graham is engaged to a woman named Beatrice who’s trying to figure out what’s happened to her fiancé. She partners with Sheriff Turnbull, the only law in the small town where the story takes place, and as her relationship with Graham becomes unfamiliar and strained, her relationship with Turnbull begins to feel easy and comfortable.

Beatrice is no damsel-in-distress though. She’s not someone to be used as a pawn in the conflict between Graham and the man who’s hunting him. She’s her own woman and capable of defending herself to a certain point. The Tooth owes some of its tone to the Hulk, but it’s not simply an analog for those comics. Turnbull is neither General Ross nor Jack McGee. He’s only interested in solving crimes, not hunting monsters. It’s Beatrice who worriedly drives the investigation into Graham’s affairs. In many ways, she’s as much the hero as Graham.

That’s all for the good. The Tooth wouldn’t work if it simply mimicked the material it’s paying homage to. That would shatter the illusion that it’s a reboot of a real comic series, an illusion that everyone’s worked very hard at creating, from drawing fake covers and ads to writing fake letters pages and Bullpen Bulletins-style articles. It’s a successful trick that brought back the joy I felt as a kid when I’d discover a new comic.

The story in The Tooth is almost entirely self-contained. It certainly leaves room for more stories to be told about these characters, but no one’s going to come away from it feeling like they have to buy anything else to be satisfied. And yet, the letters and editorials create a history that begs to be explored. The introduction speaks of “die-hard Tooth historians” not needing to worry about the series’ new direction because it includes “connections aplenty to the past – including occult icons such as Ezekiel Stone.” Letters pages refer to past stories and characters in ways that make me want to dig through some back issue bins. I know next to nothing about them – they don’t appear in this story – but I’m hoping future volumes include the return of the Voodoo Queen or a fiendish plot of Dr. Torment. If they don’t though – if this volume is all there is – that’ll be okay too. It’s almost as fun to make up your own Voodoo Queen and imagine the kind of trouble she might have caused the Enameled Enigma.

Still, I really want to see Bunn, Lee, and Kindt take another turn at it.

Alpha Flight

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Michael May

Even if I didn’t have any money at all, I’d stand on the street corner and beg until I collected three bucks to buy Alpha Flight #0.1 ($2.99). I’ve never not bought an issue of Alpha Flight and I’m not breaking that streak this week. Fortunately I have $15 and can afford to get not only that, but also Rocketeer Adventures #1 ($3.99), which I’m only slightly less excited about. And since I’ve still got some money I’d add Drums #1 ($2.99) – because it’s been a while since I’ve read a voodoo story and this looks like a good one – and Snake Eyes #1 ($3.99). I’m not a GI Joe fan, but ninjas are cool and expect that I’d be entertained by a comic about one who fights an evil spy organization.

If I had $30, I’d trade-wait Drums and Snake Eyes and grab Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: The League of Ordinary Gentlemen ($5.99) because Ted Naifeh. Then I’d add Batgirl: The Flood ($14.99), because Batgirl has come up in a couple of recent conversations about modern comics that are sort of quietly fun and appropriate for younger readers without being “kids comics.” I want to check that out.

I’ve got a couple of splurge items this week. I’ve been catching up on The Adventures of Dr. McNinja online and it’s hilariously fantastic. I definitely want to support that by buying The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Night Powers ($19.99). But I’m also extremely interested in Winshluss’ darkly beautiful and wordless take on Pinocchio ($26.95) from Last Gasp.

Chris Arrant

Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: League of Ordinary Gentlemen

If I had $15, the belle of my comics buyin’ ball would be Ted Naifeh’s Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: League of Ordinary Gentlemen (Oni, $5.99). Naifeh continues to amaze me, and although he might be overshadowed at Oni by Bryan Lee O’Malley he does amazing work. I love this prequel story of Courtney’s ward, Aloysius. Second up would be DMZ #65 (DC/Vertigo, $3.99), which writer Brian Wood said is the first ending for the series –- with the finale coming later this year. Third and final would be Avengers #13 (Marvel, $3.99) for Chris Bachalo’s amazing work; in fact, the previews for this push me even more to buy it than his name alone. I still think him and Bendis could do a great, and great-selling, Dr. Strange series.

If I had $30, I’d double back and pick up the new Rocketeer Adventures #1 (IDW, $3.99) and then spend the rest of my money on Ross Campbell’s Shadoweyes In Love (SLG, $12.95). Seriously, why isn’t Ross Campbell more appreciated than he is?

For my splurge, I’d spend my hard-earned money on Chester Brown’s Paying For it (D&Q, $24.95). I’m buying this based on Brown’s name and previous work, as well as the review Tom Spurgeon gave it a couple days ago.

Chris Mautner

Paying for It

If I had $15: This is a mostly “already own, but let me recommend” type of week. The main exception would be Liar’s Kiss ($14.95), Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano’s noirish detective story about a detective who’s surveillance case takes a turn for the gruesome. Skillman is best known as the top designer over at the Criterion Collection, and he’s done a couple of crime-themed comics titled Egg. I have a strong suspicion this is going to be very good.

If I had $30: Paying for It ($24.95) is clearly the book of the week, and surely one of the most anticipated and talked-about books of the year to date. I offered my own thoughts on it here. To sum up: It deals with a touchy subject, prostitution, in a rather forthright and honest way, which may make some uncomfortable. It also makes some proposals about the nature of romantic love and relationships that may irk others. On the other hand, it’s by one of the finest cartoonists alive today and offers a fascinating, at times even funny, look at a world rarely viewed in broad daylight.

If all that hits your “ick” button too much however, let me suggest Eye of the Majestic Creature ($18.99), a lovely little collection of comics by relative newcomer Leslie Stein, mainly concerning a young girl named Larrybear (basically a stand-in for Stein) and her adventures with her best friend, an anthropomorphic guitar. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this up, but Stein quickly won me over with her charm and good humor.

Splurge: If you’re looking for a great book to splurge on, look no further than French cartoonist Winshluss’ rather loose adaptation of Pinocchio ($29.95). I picked this up at MoCCA this year and it was easily one of the best purchases I made, a tour-de-force that reimagines the little wooden boy as a metal machine housing some nasty weapons of destruction, Jimminy Cricket as a slacker, stoned cockroach and more. Yes it’s a puerile and “oh so naughty” take on a classic fairy tale, (think classic-era underground comics) but masterfully done, full of sharp, knife-edge humor and wonderful art. Highly recommended.

Graeme McMillan

IDW’s Rocketeer Adventures #1

If I had $15 this week, I’d probably blow more than half of it immediately on DC Comics Presents Batman: Dark City (DC, $7.99), a collection of a little-remembered three-part Peter Milligan-written story from the 1990s that accidentally served as the basis for a lot of the Gotham mythology in Grant Morrison’s The Return Of Bruce Wayne arc (It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember the Kieron Dwyer art being pretty great, as well). I also wouldn’t be able to resist IDW’s Rocketeer Adventures #1 ($3.99), the start of a new anthology series about Dave Stevens’ famous character with work by Kurt Busiek, Mike Allred and Mike Mignola, amongst many others. With the $3 left to me, I’d give in again to nostalgia and pick up Alpha Flight #0.1 (Marvel, $2.99); I read the original John Byrne stories when I was ten years old, in the back of Marvel UK’s Secret Wars reprint title, and remember them far more fondly than they deserve… It’ll be a depressing but necessary sight to see what they’ve become today, I think.

If I had $30, I’d continue my Batman fix with the first issue of Scott Snyder’s Batman: Gates of Gotham (DC, $2.99), before picking up regular purchases like Justice League of America #57 (DC, $2.99), Legion of Super-Heroes #13 (DC, $2.99) and recent addition (at least until Cullen Bunn leaves), Superman/Batman #84 (DC, $2.99).

I’m torn when it comes to splurging. I mean, the superhero fan in me is very, very tempted by The Flash Omnibus By Geoff Johns Vol. 1 (DC, $75), especially as I’ve not read the majority of those stories before, but I have to admit, I think Paying For It (Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95), Chester Brown’s book about prostitution that, from the sounds of it, is part admission memoir and part polemic, would be more bang for my buck. So to speak.

His Face All Red

Organizers of the Stumptown Comics Fest presented the 2011 Stumptown Comic Art Awards last night in Portland, Ore.

Nominees were selected by a panel of judges — Michael Allred, Brandon Graham, Laura Hudson, Michael Ring and Jason Leivian — from among the entries submitted earlier this year. Winners were determined by an online vote.

The winners are:

Best Artist: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red
Best Writer: Aaron Renier, The Unsinkable Walker Bean
Best Cartoonist: Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour
Best Letterer: Johnny Ryan, Prison Pit #2
Best Colorist: Emily Carroll, His Face All Red
Best Publication Design: Michael DeForge, Spotting Deer
Best Anthology: Studygroup 12 #4, edited by Zack Soto
Best Small Press: I Want You #2 by Lisa Hanawalt
Best New Talent: Michael DeForge
Reader’s Choice: Pang, the Wandering Shaolin Monk by Ben Costa
Director’s Choice: The Sixth Gun, by Brian Hurtt and Cullen Bunn, published by Oni Press

And they were. If you missed part one, no worries; you can find it here. In part two, they discuss Marvel and DC, the recent focus on creator-owned comics, Dungeons & Dragons, their ad swap and more.

Zub: So, speaking of collaborators, how did your DC and Marvel work come about?

Cullen: I did a little thing for Marvel a year and a half ago, which was one of the Immortal Weapons books. That one came after I sent the editor a copy of The Damned. He finally got around to reading it and said, “Hey, you want to do this one-shot?” The new stuff all came about primarily through The Sixth Gun. A number of writers, artists and editors have picked it up, read it and either pushed me to their editors or thought I would work for other projects they had. It was definitely weird because I’m not used to anyone contacting me. I’m used to begging for work. For years I’ve gone to San Diego, and it’s the most humbling experience.

Zub: Yeah, up until now I’ve been going to San Diego with UDON and helping run the booth. This summer for me is, honestly, kind of terrifying. I’ve got this new trade now and I want to walk around, show publishers and say “I made this,” but I don’t know what the reaction’s going to be like. People are enjoying it, the sales are fine, but when you’re giving it to your peers -– editors, professionals, people you respect like that — you just don’t know.

Cullen: For someone like me, I’m networking adverse. I’m not good at it; I don’t like breaking the ice. I can’t stand those awkward first few minutes of meeting someone. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to do it. Thankfully there’s Facebook and Twitter for people who are paralyzed in person by it. You have to get out there.

Immortal Weapons #2

Zub: A lot of people don’t appreciate how important the social element is. Some people get bitter about it, too. They think “You’re getting that opportunity because of your friends,” but you need to be able to do the work, too. Admittedly, people enjoy working with someone they like more than a stranger or an asshole.

Cullen: I’m not going to recommend friends who can’t do the work. It reflects poorly on me. But that’s not just comics, that’s everywhere! People want to interact with folks who have similar interests and can engage them, not just be a cold sales pitch saying, “Will you publish me”, right?

Zub: I think some people, artists or writers, they feel like if they’re talking to an editor that will be their only shot ever and if they don’t make that connection right then, it’ll never happen. In reality it takes years, you go to shows for years; interacting with people for a long time before it kicks into whatever it’s going to be. I didn’t fully appreciate that before.

My first year at UDON, the gang was doing a couple books like Agent X and Sentinel, so I thought I had an “in.” I grew up on Marvel books, and I figured this is my big chance. So I put together a pitch with Ray Fawkes. We brainstormed a cool new take on a character that wasn’t being used at the time, and I was really proud of the pitch. And, of course, it didn’t even make a ripple because who the hell were we? We had no body of work, and no one gave a damn. At the time I was really hurt, but I didn’t know about all those other social elements. I didn’t think about the fact that everyone who writes at Marvel has been where we were. Nowadays Ray’s done Oni books and a Marvel gig and now I’ve got UDON books and an Image book under my belt and I have a greater appreciation of the whole process. The time will come if it’s meant to be and doing the work, doing it well, is the most important thing.

Cullen: I would go to the World Horror Convention year after year and they’d set up these pitch sessions. They did one in New York, before The Damned came out, and I had a pitch session with Marvel. I remember putting all these pitches together for all these different characters -– Moon Knight, Devil Dinosaur, Morbius -– this big folder full of pitches. I wanted to throw it all at the wall and see what happened. It was Axel Alonzo and Ruwan Jayatilleke in the room. I sat down there and couldn’t even tell you what I said in the five minutes I had. I’m certain I sounded like a 12-year-old boy asking out the first girl he ever wanted to date; Stuttering, muttering. I think I even pitched Top Dog, that Marvel kid’s comic from the 80’s. [laughs]

Zub: That’s awesome. I know what you mean. I just didn’t appreciate how much those guys get inundated with material from every direction. In the end if you’ve got a body of work and if someone there likes it, then that makes all the difference. I know that a book like Skullkickers may limit me right now because the only clear connection is a character like Deadpool or whatever. If I show that I can write stuff that has a different mindset and atmosphere, maybe something will come of it. I’ve got the day jobs, I’m doing a book I enjoy and have more ideas for the future. I’ve still got the Marvel heart on my sleeve but I can’t worry about it in the short term.

Cullen: That’s honestly a healthy attitude to have about it.

Zub: The nice thing is I’m doing a book I love writing right now and I have the ability to pitch something else and have people at least look at it. Yes, there’s a part of me that really wants to write Dr. Strange and wants to make my mark on these long running characters but what I’m doing right now is great too.

I think it’s great that you’re able to leave your day job and just jump right into this stuff. That’s the dream.

Skullkickers #7 variant

Cullen: It’s taking some getting used to. Now I have to really prioritize my day. I’ve never been busier, but I’m enjoying it.

Zub: It’s weird because there’s been a surge of fresh conversation about creator-owned books lately. How do you feel about that?

Cullen: There really has been.

Zub: When I think about the fact that if we would’ve gotten Skullkickers off the ground two years ago, when I originally pitched it, maybe it would have done well but it might’ve just fallen through the cracks. I have no way of knowing. But right now creator-owned books seem to be a talking point again, and it’s exciting.

Cullen: It’s been just a few months of real intensity. It’s nice to see the attention.

Zub: Between Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead, there’s been a sense that these properties are just as worthy as superheroes. I don’t know if a book like Chew would’ve shown up on peoples’ radars before and now they’re really pushing the forefront.

Cullen: Some of these books are really the gateway for new readers into comics as a whole. A book like Skullkickers is a fantasy book, a comedy book, and you can get people who might be into either of those things.

We get a bunch of people who come up to us at conventions and say “I don’t normally read westerns but I read The Sixth Gun”… do you get that with Skullkickers?

Zub: Totally. They tell me “I don’t read sword and sorcery stuff” or “I’m not a D&D guy” but they enjoy the book and they get into it anyways. It’s easy for new readers to pick up.

You’ve got so many fantasy elements in Sixth Gun. Are you getting fantasy fans on board?

Cullen: Yeah, we are. A lot of people categorize the book as a “horror-western” and to me it’s really a “fantasy-western.” There’s fantasy, swashbuckling, the Old West and monsters –- somewhere in there I’ve gotta catch something people are going to like.

Zub: I think both of our books have real cross-genre appeal going for them. They work in multiple fan camps. Taking elements from different areas and retooling them to surprise and entertain.

from Skullkickers #7

Cullen: The Sixth Gun as I originally pitched it was definitely a horror story. It was much smaller in many ways, and I don’t think the audience would have responded as positively if we had gone that direction with it. It was originally conceived as a six issue mini-series and it was a bleak, very dark and depressing story. Drake was a villain. He was the bad guy in the piece even though he was our point of view character. Maybe he is even now, but…

Zub: He definitely has moral greyness. In Skullkickers, because I’d written the two idiots as wholly morally reprehensible in the short stories, I needed to pull back a bit and make sure it stayed fun in the series. They used to be maliciously nasty and now they’re more ineptly bad for everyone around them.

Cullen: You want it to be fun at times, dark other times. When I get together with the Oni guys they’ll ask me “Is Drake evil or just morally grey?” and I don’t want to answer that question yet. I know how his arc plays out but I kind of like that even my publisher isn’t sure just yet.

Zub: Swashbuckling is a great term for both books. The adventure is the thing, not good versus evil.

Cullen: Okay, so let’s get back on this creator-owned stuff… We got some buzz when we did the ad swap between our two books.

Zub: Yeah, and that’s also how this whole interview between you and I came about, too.

Cullen: I don’t think the ad swap is anything groundbreaking, but I got a lot of people asking me about it, wanting to know how it came about and why we did it, all that. Why do you think people reacted that way to it?

from Skullkickers #7

Zub: Whether it’s true animosity or just a big game, there’s this entire Marvel versus DC antagonism, right? This sense that they’re at each other’s throats for the market share. So publishers, business people in any industry, everyone thinks that if they’re not actively partnered together they can’t possibly be happy for someone else’s success. This weird assumption that every sale you get is one you took away from me or some crazy crap. The feeling that I have to choke you out in order to “win,” something ludicrous like that. So the idea that two companies would be cool enough to say “Hey, let’s brag about each other because we feel there’s some crossover appeal here” is nice and it’s noteworthy. I don’t understand why more companies don’t do it.

Cullen: I freely admit that, especially now that I’ve grown past it, several years ago I had real difficulty being happy for other peoples’ success, even good friends.

Zub: Oh, I’ve been there. The more people I meet in this industry, the more folks you see going through upswings in their success and it puts you through an emotional ringer wondering “Am I not doing the right thing? Am I missing opportunities?”

Cullen: I had a really rough time of it. I couldn’t be happy for anyone and I had to fight through that because it was petty and stupid. I think a lot of creators have to fight through it.

Zub: Totally. You go to a convention and you see other people with line-ups at their booth or you hear about some amazing new project just announced and all you can think is “I really want to be there. I want to feel that.” You can’t help that but you have to look past it.

The Sixth Gun #7

Cullen: People love to talk about the things they hate and the things they think are terrible or stupid, but we don’t spend nearly enough time talking about the things that are awesome. I’m glad we did the ad swap because I think people who like The Sixth Gun will enjoy Skullkickers. They have different vibes, different moods, but the audiences are compatible. I am happy to be able to say “this is something I like and I think you’ll like it too.”

Zub: Places like Twitter where creators, retailers and fans are having frank discussion is part of it too. People seem more willing to talk about the things they enjoy. I don’t want to rage about what sucks in such an immediate forum like Twitter. I want you to know what I like, to get excited about possibilities. I find myself being more positive, hoping it’ll follow The Golden Rule. I want people to speak positively about me and the best way I can do that is to make sure I’m not spewing negativity.

Cullen: Yeah, it all comes back.

Zub: As much as I feel I’ve learned things working at UDON, this summer in particular, emotionally, it feels a bit like I’m starting over. I’m making impressions on people who didn’t even know my name before. I’m out there for the first time saying “I have ideas” and “I write stories.” That scares the crap out of me.

[pause]

It’s been great talking about the books. I am so glad we had this conversation, Cullen.

Cullen: Yeah, I am too. I appreciate it. We will have to meet up at San Diego and drown our sorrows.

[both laugh]

Cullen Bunn and Jim Zubkavich

Many who have been following this blog know I’m a fan of both Image’s Skullkickers and Oni’s The Sixth Gun. So when I saw that the two creator-owned books were having a mini-crossover of sorts — or, to be more specific, an ad swap — I thought it might be fun to see if Skullkickers writer Jim “Zub” Zubkavich and The Sixth Gun‘ writer Cullen Bunn might be up for interviewing each other.

So the duo hit Skype and had a long conversation that covered many different topics — how they pitched their books, their writing process, how they work with their artists, finding time to write and much more. My thanks to both Cullen and Jim for doing this, with an extra tip of the hat to Jim for transcribing it. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the second part of the interview.

*****

Zub: So, let’s start right off with the big news. Did I hear correctly that you’re now writing full time? You quit your day job?

Cullen: I did. This is my third week as a full-time writer.

Zub: Awesome. What were you doing before that?

Skullkickers ad from Sixth Gun

Cullen: I was the vice president of marketing for a small relocation assistance company here in Missouri. I was there for 15 years.

Zub: And how long have you been writing comics? I mean, how long would you consider yourself a professional?

Cullen: A professional? Probably about the time The Damned came out, the book with Brian (Hurtt). So that’s about five years ago. That was the first time I got any kind of traction.

Zub: And that was just a cold pitch to Oni?

Cullen: It wasn’t completely cold because Brian had worked with Oni on Queen and Country and Skinwalker, books like that. They knew Brian and were open to something he was involved with.

Zub: Okay then, the question then becomes how do you know Brian?

Cullen: Brian and I worked at a comic book store together 17 years ago. A comic and gaming emporium! It seems like it shouldn’t be that long ago. He was that kid always drawing on the back of comic backing boards, things like that. We started talking about putting pitches together, trying to get a comic book going. We used to hang out maybe once a week and tried to create stories but we never seemed to gain any ground.

Zub: Did you go to school for Writing, or anything related to that?

Cullen: I have a degree in writing from Southwest Missouri State University.

Zub: Was it scriptwriting in particular or just fiction as a whole?

Cullen: Fiction writing, primarily. It was around that time that Brian moved to New York and we stopped hanging out, but when he came back to St. Louis we started working on pitches again. Oni turned us down on a few things, but they finally jumped on The Damned.

Zub: Are those other ideas things you still have in the drawer?

Cullen: Yeah, actually! We pitched a Victorian England-style supernatural story and, even after they rejected it, they came back at some point and said, “You know, if you guys had pushed us, we might have considered it,” but we didn’t know.

Zub: You didn’t know the pitch process and didn’t know the editors well, right?

Cullen: Right, and it’s probably for the best anyways. The Damned was a stronger book and The Sixth Gun is definitely stronger too. We’ve actually discussed taking some of those Victorian characters and putting them in The Sixth Gun now.

Zub: That’s cool. No idea stays dead. It just gestates longer.

Cullen: That’s right! So, how about you? You have a day job, though your day job is a lot cooler than mine was…

The Sixth Gun #8

Zub: I have two day jobs actually. I’ve worked with the UDON studio for just over eight years, starting as a colorist and artist but eventually helping manage projects and dealing with clients. I’m also teaching at a college here in Toronto called Seneca, in their Animation program.

My background is in Animation, traditional 2D-style stuff. I thought I’d end up working in Saturday Morning cartoons and I did do that for a bit, working for a bunch of smaller companies and start-ups that combusted. At times it was a real grind. I was going to go back to school for 3D computer animation, take a post-grad course and try to break into the video game industry. I came back to Toronto when my cash flow was really bad and set my mind on doing that.

My friend Omar (Dogan) and I worked together in Calgary at a start-up and he was now working at UDON. At that point I think he was colouring Deadpool. Anyways, I came back into town and hung out with him, showed him my Photoshop colouring and he eventually introduced me to Erik Ko, the guy who ran UDON. Within a few weeks they had some extra work and I started coloring comics as a summer job. The plan was to make a bit of money and then go back to school. One thing lead to another and I started helping organize stuff around the studio. I really enjoyed the work and wanted to be involved with comics any way I could, so I put my roots down and stayed. It’s the best summer job I’ve ever had [laughs].

Soon after that I started teaching part-time at the college and I’ve been there ever since too. So I’m juggling teaching and UDON work… and now Skullkickers on top. Skullkickers is my first professional push into creator-owned comics.

Cullen: Cool. How do you do all that? I know it was next to impossible for me. I had a real tough time in terms of balancing the day job with family and writing. What’s your secret?

Zub: Time management is everything. I looked at these opportunities and said to myself, “I want to do all these things. They mean so much to me.” Constantly thinking, “This is what I want to do and if I don’t do them will I regret it?” The answer has always been “yes,” so that drives me when I work.

I’m not perfect about organizing or productivity, but when this all started I looked at what I was spending the majority of my free time doing — watching TV, playing video games or whatever. Social time with friends and family is important but even looking at that I realized what was important and what needed to be prioritized in order to get the work done. I guess I’m just obsessive-compulsive.

Cullen: No, I think that’s a good point. I talk to a lot of people who want to break in and they don’t know how to do it while making ends meet, and I was right there with them for many years — trying to write fiction, short stories and novels. It wasn’t until I started really treating this like a job that I was able to make any headway whatsoever.

Zub: I think people look at this and they say, “Well, it’s just comics” or “Hey, I’ve got a cool idea,” but everyone has ideas. Are you going to develop it, work on it, make it into something and really push yourself? That’s the difference between an idea and completing something worthwhile.

Cullen: Folks always say, “I just don’t have time to do it,” but when they sit down in front of the TV watching shows they don’t even enjoy, some sit-com they don’t even laugh at -– there’s 30 minutes right there. You have to make the time.

Zub: I don’t want to sound holier-than-thou because I know what it’s like to feel frustrated and not know where to start. The hardest part is at the beginning. Page one, you know. Maybe your first story will suck, but the next one will be better.

The Damned

Cullen: Yeah, totally. There are all those elements about networking and getting in with publishers involved at some point, but the one constant is that if you don’t do the work then you won’t get anywhere. I know people who write on their commute to work while they’re on the train in the morning or during a 30-minute lunch break. That’s their writing time.

I used to get hung up on the whole “I hate doing this work when I’m not sure anything will come of it.”

Zub: I think everyone goes through that. Unfortunately you need to prove you can do it before anyone’s going to pay you for it.

Cullen: Absolutely. So… Skullkickers is your first big push for yourself, creator-owned. How did it come about?

Zub: It happened in a really strange sideways series of events. Chris Stevens, he’s now the cover artist on Skullkickers, was doing a bunch of work for UDON and he was approached by Joe Keatinge at Image about contributing a story to Popgun 2, Image’s anything-goes comic anthology.

Joe told Chris he could do any kind of story he wanted, so Chris and I talked about the kind of things he likes, what he’d draw if he had his choice. So, he wanted to draw a fantasy tale but something earthy, not a typical heroic kind of fantasy. I brainstormed this idea for two monster hunter jerks, Chris liked it and went off to do it. A couple days later he admitted that the whole thing sounded funnier when I told it over the phone than when he tried to write himself and he asked me to write it up. So, we did up a 10-page story called “Two Copper Pieces” and Erik Larsen, publisher at Image at the time, quite liked it. He told us if we wanted to do more with it he’d green light it.

We did another short story for Popgun 3 and I outlined a five-issue adventure for these two guys, but as soon as we started working on it as a series things just stalled. Chris’ schedule got slammed, financial problems crept up, just everything that could get in the way did, you know. So eventually after Chris penciled half of issue #1 it just got mothballed and I figured it would never going to go forward.

Cut to two years later and Edwin Huang, this young 20-year-old art student, applies to UDON looking for work. They don’t have any openings but I was really impressed with his portfolio. It’s good, the storytelling is good. Almost everything is firing on all cylinders. So I sent him an e-mail and encouraged him to keep working on his stuff. We ended up talking back and forth and I eventually sent him the Skullkickers script just as a way for him to practice and build up his portfolio. He really busted out some amazing quality pages, picking up where Chris left off, and the next thing I knew we were getting the book going again.

Cullen: Awesome. Finding an artist who can do the work and one who communicates can be so difficult. That’s a great story and a real win for you there.

Zub: Brian’s a real workhorse, too!

Cullen: Oh yeah! Brian’s a great collaborator, and he challenges me. He won’t let me phone it in. If I ever get lazy, then he’s gonna call me on it. He has a knack for storytelling, and I know he has some stories of his own in him that he wants to tell as well. As a visual storyteller I couldn’t ask for a better collaborator. When we started working on The Sixth Gun he just told me point blank “Don’t hold back. Go ahead and challenge me in whatever way you want to. You’re not gonna scare me off with this book” which is obviously very liberating. I can do anything I want and say “You told me it was alright”! [laughs]

And that’s why we have characters with 36 feet of iron chains flying around in the air that he has to painstakingly draw link by link, or a flock of owls attacking people in a hotel in New Orleans because Brian told me to challenge him! He asked for it, he got it.

Zub: The bond you two have is driving both of you to push yourselves in terms of quality.

Cullen: Absolutely. You can tell that this is a book he’s really enjoying. He loves what he’s doing, and it’s all there on the page.

Zub: I know that you’ve had this feeling — when you get new art and it just pops in your in-box.

Cullen: I love it! It’s like Christmas. Getting new pages from artists helps keep me sane. They’re little rewards I get throughout the day. It’s just “Hey, here’s what I’ve been working for.” That’s one of the advantages of comics anyways, the collaborative nature of it. Seeing what an artist is going to do with the material I wrote.

Zub: Because I come from an art background, it’s all pretty visual in my head when I write it. I get an idea of how it might look but it’s not fully formed. It’s a bit murky, but I know that the description of a panel can all fit in one drawing. I’m not describing four actions in one panel or anything like that.

Skullkickers #7

Cullen: I do that occasionally. Brian always calls me on it when it happens. I haven’t done it in a while. It usually comes up when I’ve changed something and just missed taking a bit out from before.

Zub: Sometimes I get really picky, and I feel bad about it. Edwin is new to this, and he’s really eager, so he’s super careful. I feel like I can be ultra-specific. Sometimes I’ll specify the exact page layout because, especially with comedy, I need it to be just so in order to work. And he really hits the mark. But in turn I feel weirdly protective like I don’t want to steer him wrong.

Cullen: I’m kind of a stickler for certain pacing elements. I want things to appear in a certain panel, but I trust in Brian as an artist.

Zub: You write full script, right?

Cullen: Oh yeah. I write a lot more detailed than many scripts I’ve seen, but I don’t write a novel or anything like that.

Zub: How much reference material do you send? Visual reference kind of stuff, or do you leave that up to Brian?

Cullen: I’ll occasionally put it in there. We’re working on an arc that has a lot of trains, and I went to the transportation museum here in St. Louis and took pictures of all these trains from that era on my phone. Still, I don’t generally put a lot of links in the scripts I send to Brian. I know he’s slavish to that stuff.

Zub: It’s so easy to tell when I read The Sixth Gun that you’re both coming from an inspired mindset. You love westerns, you love the supernatural and you want that love to come through in the work.

Cullen: We’re very much on the same page in terms of the kind of story we want to tell and building a world is also really important to us. We wanted to make sure that The Sixth Gun was taking place in its own fantasy world.

Zub: Melding those western and fantasy elements… where did your love of westerns come from?

Cullen: My Dad owned a photography studio, and I’ve got a picture from when I was just a little kid where I’m wearing a jean jacket, jeans and I have a black cowboy hat on. They did a double exposure of me holding myself hostage, western-style. So I obviously loved cowboys even way back then. It was a steady diet of westerns on Sunday afternoons and reading weird western comics.

One of my favourite writers is a guy named Joe R. Lansdale, and he writes a lot of weird western stuff. He wrote a novella called “Dead in the West” and I go back and re-read that probably once a year because I really like what he did with it. In fact the first short story I ever sold was a weird western. It was to a magazine called Eldritch Tales.

Zub: A small press kind of thing?

Cullen: Thankfully the story never got published! [laughs] It wasn’t a very good story. A cowboy rides into town and fights Cthulhu creatures and snake men… that was a long time ago. I’m pretty sure I just sold it for copies. I still have a printed out copy of the story. Sometimes I think about sharing it with the world, but I’m not quite ready yet.

So, now my question to you is, I was thinking about Skullkickers, where you’ve got all these great sound effects. Did you name it “Skullkickers” before you came up with the big “Skull Kick” that ends the first story? Which came first, the title or the ending?

Zub: The title came first. When I went ahead and was planning the mini-series Erik Larsen wisely told us the “Two Copper Pieces” title wasn’t very engaging. So I just started jamming words together that sounded violent and cool. For a bit it was called “Corpsekickers,” which sounds quite awful. I don’t know where it came from in the end. I combined those two words, and it just worked. I was so worried that someone else must have used it elsewhere so I Googled like crazy to make sure no one had and then snapped up skullkickers.com as soon as I saw it was available. It just sounds too good!

I wanted to end the mini-series on the biggest, most bombastic note I could. Are they gonna fight a dragon or some other big beasty or what? I eventually came up with the idea for the Corpse Giant, the 30 foot tall zombified mess of bodies oozing together, but I didn’t know how the two idiots would kill this thing. When I struck on the idea of killing it from the inside out, that’s when it all clicked, and I worked backwards from there with the Dwarf’s leg and all that. It changed the whole middle of the outline and really tied it up with a bow.

Cullen: It does read like some of these things happened in a Dungeons & Dragons game…

Zub: Most people assume that it’s “my” D&D game, but it’s actually not. It intentionally feels like a game that’s headed off the rails though.

Cullen: Do you still play Dungeons & Dragons?

Zub: Barely ever, unfortunately. It really is a lot of fun if you get the right group together. It’s all about who you’re playing with. Whether it’s dramatic stories or more like a board game where you’re hoarding treasure -– every group is different and the game changes to suit it. If you find a group that’s all in the same mindset then it can be incredibly creative and really fun. If not, then it can be a real quagmire. Did you play?

Cullen: Yeah, I played D&D and other role-playing games for many years. Brian Hurtt, Matt Kindt, Shawn Lee and I have talked about trying to game again. Brian has never played anything like that. He says he wants to, so we’ll see.

Zub: I have a group here sort of in the same boat. We talked about Skullkickers and that rolled into a D&D conversation. They’re intrigued and want to get a game going. You need a group with the right attitude to make it work.

Cullen: You never really shake it. I thought I was done and packed my books away, sold a bunch of them. But I go to the comic shop and there they are, tempting. I was there today and I saw the new Gamma World. I read the back and thought “This sounds awesome!”

Skullkickers #1

Zub: They’re really open concepts that lend themselves to stories and new ideas. They’re a neat little framework for creativity. You can make whatever kind of story you want.

But even still, Skullkickers isn’t D&D. It does feel like these guys are bulldozing through your favourite fantasy story and wrecking everything though. They’re too big, too stupid and too boisterous. When it comes to the humour of it, pacing, dialogue and subplots, I take it very seriously. I want to create a high quality “funny book.” Some people assume that “funny” equates to “easy,” that I’m not thinking as much about it. But I really do take it seriously and want to make it all work.

So, back at you, when you’re generating the story, how tightly do you plot things out? How far ahead have you plotted?

Cullen: I plot it out pretty tightly. I do a page beat-by-beat “This is going to happen on this page” kind of thing.

Zub: Oh, I do that too!

Cullen: Sometimes I’ll break that down even further and then say “Okay, this important thing happens on this particular panel” all before I write the script. I’ve tried a bunch of formats trying to see what will be the magic bullet for me in terms of what’s going to work for plotting out a comic every time and it almost never works the same way twice for me. The other day I mentioned that I wrote a script all in long hand and some people couldn’t believe it. They wrote me messages saying, “Are you serious? All in long hand, why would you do that?” but sometimes that’s just what works.

I’ve never felt more ludicrously self important than when I’m actually leaving myself voice messages of story ideas. I’m driving down the road saying into my phone “One of the guns shoots fire…”

[both laugh]

I’ve got The Sixth Gun plotted out for 50 issues. I mean, broad strokes, mainly “in this arc this stuff will happen” sort of thing. And when I get closer it becomes more specific. I get down to the issues, then the pages and then the panels.

Zub: So issue 50 is the ending or 50 as a story goal that continues from there?

Cullen: 50 will end it. 50 issues will be needed to tell the story. Everything from the first issue will play into the ending.

Zub: For me, we were doing Skullkickers originally as a five-issue mini and then when Eric Stephenson (Image’s current publisher) said “Hey, sales are decent enough. If you want to keep going, just do it” I knew I wanted to tell a bigger story. That was after issue #3 came out, so I immediately started putting new subplots and foreshadowing in issue #4. From there I had to figure the bigger picture out –- broad arcs to make sure I know where it’s going. I’ve got an ending now and it’s a matter of wondering whether I’ll get a chance to tell it all.

Cullen: That’s always the question. We have an ending planned and things are going well. Oni Press is very pleased and it looks like we’ll reach that goal, but you never can tell. For The Damned we’ve also got a big ending planned that ties everything up in a nice little package, but we don’t know when we’re going to be able to get to that.

The Sixth Gun

Zub: Exactly. I know how I want Skullkickers to end and in the middle I could compress it or extend it depending on sales and the will of the art team. Because it was originally a mini-series, I said to Edwin, “If the book doesn’t make enough money, at least you’ll have a great portfolio of solid work you can show around in the summer of 2011.” And here we are, we’ve got that trade. My deep-seated fear is that he’ll get scooped up before we can finish this thing. Someone at Marvel or DC will snap him up because he’s consistent and professional through and through.

Cullen: Brian’s in for the long haul but he has to eat, so with other books like The Damned he had to move on to other projects.

Zub: Exactly! I don’t begrudge that at all. I totally get it, but I obviously have that intense sense of “I want to see this through to the end.”

Now that I’ve got a little bit of traction, the cork has been unplugged and now I want to do more books. I want to show that I can write a variety of subject matters. I want to write something dark, something emotional, all different areas. I want to find more collaborators, but you don’t know what you’re going to find in terms of consistency or professionalism when you work with other people. That’s kind of scary.

Cullen: That’s just as difficult as finding a publisher. You want to make sure they’re artistically appropriately, too. That they have the right feel for it.

Check back tomorrow for more from Zub and Cullen on superhero books, non-superhero books, social media and more.

Oni Food Court

Decisions be damned, Oni Press has taken over the food court at C2E2. The Sixth Gun writer Cullen Bunn tweeted the above picture yesterday of the menu at the Carvery, which features references to such Oni series as Sixth Gun, Ghost Projekt and even Super Pro K.O.. Per Oni, they worked with the food court and Reed, the company that runs C2E2, to set it up.

I hear the Scott Pilgrim Sandwich was taken off the menu because, as we all know, bread makes you fat.

Captain America, by Jason Latour

It looks like Marvel’s wind-up to the July premiere of Captain America: The First Avenger will include a collaboration between artist Jason Latour and The Sixth Gun writer Cullen Bunn.

On his blog, Latour, who illustrated the well-received Silver Samurai back-up story in September’s Wolverine #1, posted a color test for Captain America to accompany the announcement of his “next short Marvel gig.” “This time I’ll be collaborating with my buddy Cullen Bunn (The Damned, The Sixth Gun),” he wrote. “Rico Renzi will also be back helping me tag team the colors. Chances are high this character is involved.”

“I’ve always kind of loved Cap,” Latour continued, “in part because at face value he’s such a seemingly nonsensical character. He really works or fails based on the sum of little considerations. That’s a real challenge, but when he does work I like him as much as any superhero around. So, fingers crossed.”

No further details were revealed, so it’s unknown whether the project will be a back-up story or one of several one-shots or miniseries the publisher tends to roll out before the release of a movie. Update: We’ve been told by Marvel that Bunn, Latour and Renzi are collaborating on a story for March’s Captain America #616, a 104-page comic marking the character’s 70th anniversary.

Latour’s other recent work includes Daredevil: Black and White, I Am an Avenger #1, Scalped #43 and, out this week, Wolverine #5. Noche Roja, his graphic-novel collaboration with Simon Oliver, will be released by Vertigo next month. Bunn, the co-creator of The Damned, The Sixth Gun and The Tooth, wrote Immortal Weapons #2: Bride of Nine Spiders and Deadpool
Team-Up #888 for Marvel.

Borders Group headquarters

Retailing | The picture keeps looking worse for Borders Group: Even as news surfaced Wednesday that Diamond Book Distributors has stopped shipping to the troubled retail chain a report circulated that Borders will close its LaVergne, Tenn., distribution center in mid-July, resulting in the elimination of 310 jobs. That follows more than 200 layoffs made at the center since 2009. [WKRN.com, via GalleyCat]

Publishing | The remaining licensed Muppets and Pixar titles from BOOM! Studios have been listed as “canceled by Previews.” In response to inquiries, the publisher pointed to the teaser for “BOOM! Kids 2.0,” the relaunch of its kids imprint announced in September. Rumors that BOOM! had lost the Muppets/Pixar licenses began swirling in late November, following Roger Langridge’s announcement that he would no longer be drawing The Muppet Show. The publisher’s relaunched kids line will include such Disney licenses as Darkwing Duck, and reprints of Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. [Comics Worth Reading]

Diamond Comic Distributors

Retailing | In the first week of Tuesday delivery to the direct market, reports have emerged of suspected mystery shoppers sent by Diamond Comic Distributors to ensure stores adhere to the on-sale dates. [Bleeding Cool]

Conventions | Priority registration for Comic-Con International is open to returning professionals. Registration for first-time professional applicants opens on Feb. 28. Convention organizers also are soliciting contributions to the 2011 souvenir book. [Comic-Con International]

Conventions | Stumptown Comics Fest has opened submissions for the 2011 Stumptown Comic Arts Awards. [Stumptown Comics Fest]

Conventions | Retailer and convention organizer Jim Burleson talks about this weekend’s Albuquerque Comic Con. [Weekly Alibi]

Retailing | The Duquesne University Barnes & Noble location has cuts its graphic novel and computer-book sections to make more space for Duquesne women’s clothing. It also condense its children’s, young adult and travel sections. [The Duquesne Duke]

Retailing | Leslie Westbrook briefly profiles Acadiana Comics and Collectibles in Lafayette, Louisiana. [The Advertiser]

The Sixth Gun, Vol. 1

Creators | Collaborators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt chat about their Oni Press series The Sixth Gunn. “If you’re a reader who has a hankering for zombies, it’s definitely got more action than some zombie comics,” Bunn says. “The Sixth Gun gets miscast as a horror story a lot, but it’s a fantasy.” [Time Out Chicago]

Creators | Collaborators Nick Spencer and Christian Ward discuss their new Image Comics miniseries The Infinite Vacation. [USA Today]

Digital comics | A Dubai newspaper spotlights the growth of digital comics. [Gulf News]

Cullen Bunn

It’s Halloween, which means Robot 666 Week will soon draw to a close. But before we put the skeletons back in the closet and the bats back in the belfry, we’re pleased to bring you the debut of Cullen Bunn‘s latest short story, ‘The Best Costumes Are Homemade,’ starring, once again, Mrs. Friedly.

Bunn’s previous Mrs. Friedly tales:

• Gone Fishin’
• Friedly’s Treats
• The Silent Auction

The Best Costumes Are Homemade
By Cullen Bunn

Mrs. Friedly had been feeling quite festive, but the children were raising such a fuss that she was growing cross. She took a deep breath, though, and reminded herself that it was, after all, her favorite holiday. She refused to let it be spoiled. She picked a piece of candy from the bowl on the kitchen table and plopped it into her mouth. She instantly felt better.

But the children still whined and mewled.

“Now, now, my sweet ones,” Mrs. Friedly said, “I’m afraid this really is a necessity. I know you love the costumes we’ve made, but it is simply too cold out, and you must wear your jackets.”

The children moaned and sighed, whimpered and cried. Mrs. Friedly clucked her tongue as she gathered their jackets.

“Now, now. I know what you think. We worked very diligently on those costumes, and they are very scary. I realize you think that wearing a coat will ruin the illusion, but I can’t imagine your parents will approve if you come home with colds. I mean, look at you. You’re already shivering, each and every one of you.”

She offered the first of the children—Sara—her coat. Sniffling, the little girl slipped into the garment and shuffled off.

“There you are,” said Mrs. Friedly, “and you still look quite frightening!”

She handed jackets to little Billy and Gretchen and Scotty. The children screeched with disappointment as they pulled their jackets on.

“Now, that’s just about enough of that,” Mrs. Friedly said. “It’s Halloween, and you should be happy to go trick-or-treating. I still have to finish costumes for the other children.”

Mrs. Friedly looked over her shoulder. In the living room, the other children in her care—the children from the “wrong side of the tracks”—waited patiently while watching Charlie Brown. Misshapen shadows from the flickering TV screen danced across the walls.

“You know they are less fortunate than you,” Mrs. Friedly said, lowering her voice, “but you don’t see them complaining. Now, off you go!”

She ushered the whimpering children towards the door.

“Have fun!” she called, but she could hear them crying as they shuffled down the walkway.

Shaking her head, Mrs. Friedly shut the door and returned to the kitchen to finish the costumes for the other kids. The floor, she noticed, was a mess, covered in puddles of spattered gore and tracked around in four sets of bloodied footprints.

Those really were frightening costumes, she thought to herself. Perhaps I should have put plastic down. Oh, well. No use worrying over spilled milk now.

She sat at the table and set about stitching and patching together the four new Halloween disguises. Normally, she would have taken the time to clean the table up a bit before she got started. She, like her mother before her, had always been a clean-as-you-go kind of woman. But she could hear Charlie Brown coming to an end in the next room, and she knew the children would soon grow restless. She worked around the oozing, dripping blood and promised herself she’d make the entire house spotless once the holiday was over and done.

After a few minutes, she sat back and surveyed her handiwork. The new costumes were ready and—if she did say so herself—they looked terrific. She called to the children in the other room.

The kids shuffled and loped and slithered into the kitchen. Their teeth and fangs and mandibles clicked together with anticipation. They could already taste the treats they’d receive tonight, and saliva oozed down their chins, dripping to the bloody floor with all their other ichors and bodily secretions.

“Here you are.” Mrs. Friedly held up the first of the costumes for one of the children. “Tonight, you’ll be going as Sara.”

The child took the fleshy, sticky costume and pulled it on over its chitenous, roach-like shell.

“And you,” Mrs. Friedly said to the next child, “will be Billy.”

The second child took the costume, sniffing it hungrily.

“It’s not for eating,” Mrs. Friedly said, “at least not until after you’re done trick-or-treating.”

The third child wore the Gretchen costume, although Mrs. Friedly had to cut additional holes into the face for the extra set of eyes.

The final child had never dressed up for Halloween, but the Scotty costume Mrs. Friedly had made fit perfectly over his twisted, scaly body.

Mrs. Friedly clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Oh, don’t you look wonderful!”

Before her stood Sara, Gretchen, Billy, and Scotty, albeit stitched and bloodied versions of said children. They looked grotesque, that was for certain, but far less so than usual.

“And isn’t that what Halloween is all about?” asked Mrs. Friedly. “Pretending to be someone you’re not.”

She handed each of the children a plastic jack o’lantern and each, in turn, a slip of paper. On each scrap of paper was written an address.

“Sara’s home, and Scotty’s, and Gretchen’s, and Billy’s. I think their parents will be most thrilled with your costumes. Oh, how I wish I could be there to see the looks on their faces.”

The four costumed creatures shuffled out the front door—none of them wearing a jacket. They croaked, “Trick or treat! Trick or treat!” as they moved along the walkway.

“Would you look at that,” Mrs. Friedly called from the doorway. “Someone left you some treats right in the front yard.”

Four crumpled, bloody, skinless figures were sprawled in the yard. Blood had soaked through their jackets, ruining them.

End

Cullen Bunn

Continuing our run of Halloween short stories by Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun), we’re pleased to present “Friedly’s Treats.” You can see the previous two stories here and here, and be sure to come back on Halloween for a brand-new story!

Friedly’s Treats
By Cullen Bunn

Joshua hated Halloween. He once loved costumes and jack o’lanterns and candy. But now he dreaded the holiday.

Outside, trick-or-treaters giggled and climbed Mrs. Friedly’s porch steps. The shuddering knock sent shivers down Joshua’s spine. He squeezed his eyes shut.

The door creaked open. Cool air swept the foyer.

Guttural voices cried, “Trick or treat!”

“Aren’t you fearsome!” Mrs. Friedly beamed at the anxious little monsters. “I’ve something extra special for you.”

Joshua squirmed as she lifted him, but the ropes around his hands and feet held tight. The gag muffled his screams. Grinning sweetly, Mrs. Friedly plopped him into one of the yawning treat bags.

“Oh, dear!” She pursed her lips. “I’m afraid I’m all out of treats. I don’t have enough for each of you.”

A disappointed groan rose from the beasties.

“Oh, I know!” The kindly-looking woman snapped her fingers and ducked into the house. She reappeared minutes later.

She dropped shiny treats into the other bags.

Wide-eyed, Joshua watched over the edge of the bag.

“Here you go!” Mrs. Friedly said. “Remember to share.”

Thanking the old woman, the hideously-masked trick-or-treaters skipped down the sidewalk, Joshua in one bag, butcher knives and meat cleavers in the others.

End

Cullen Bunn

As I mentioned earlier this week, The Sixth Gun writer Cullen Bunn has written a horror story starring an old woman named Mrs. Friedly at Halloween for the past few years. This year, to help us celebrate Robot 666 Week, Bunn sent us all three of the previous Mrs. Friedly tales to share with our readers, along with a brand new one that we’ll debut right here on Halloween.

So a big thanks to Bunn and Mrs. Friedly for sharing their Halloween with us. “Gone Fishin‘” went up on Monday, and you can read “The Silent Auction” below. Check back Friday and on Halloween to read more.

The Silent Auction
By Cullen Bunn

“My word, Mrs. Friedly!”  Claire tapped the tiny, elderly woman on the shoulder.  “I’ve never heard such questions in all my life!”

Mrs. Friedly turned and regarded her new neighbor over the rim of her round-framed eyeglasses.  “What’s that, dear?”

“These questions–”  Claire waved towards the gorilla-suited MC, who was busy reading trivia questions from a crumpled sheet of paper.  Behind him, a banner was tacked to the wall.  HALLOWEEN TRIVIA NIGHT, it read.  “–They’re dreadful!”

Mrs. Friedly smiled sweetly and nodded.

“OUR NEXT QUESTION …”  The MC’s voice, muffled beneath his ape mask, boomed over the microphone.  “…NAME, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, THE VICTIMS OF JACK THE RIPPER.”

Claire gasped in disgust, but a nervous titter passed through the crowd.  At each table, a group of costumed ghouls gathered around scorecards.  They whispered to each other and jotted their answers down.  The question seemed to spark a heated debate at one of the nearby tables.  A thin man in a skeleton get-up asked his companions, “Do you think he means just the known victims?  Or should we list all the others, too?”

“AND THE FINAL QUESTION IN THIS CATEGORY,” The MC announced.  It must have been very hard to breathe under the mask.  Drool dribbled from the gorilla’s lips.  “ACCORDING TO POPULAR BELIEF, HOW MANY CHILDREN WERE DEVOURED AT THE SIXTH FEAST OF EIBON?”

Mrs. Friedly clucked her tongue and muttered, “Trick question.”

“I’m afraid this is not what I had in mind,” Claire told the elderly woman.  “I don’t care if it is Halloween.  These questions are simply revolting.  What charity is this event benefiting anyway?  I appreciate you trying to introduce me to some of the other people from the neighborhood–I really do–but I think it would be best if I left.”

“Oh, don’t run off,” Mrs. Friedly said.  “I’m sorry about the trivia questions.  But I didn’t write them.  I just run the silent auction, and that’s about to begin.

A cheer rose from the crowd as Mrs. Friedly walked to the center of the stage and took the microphone from the gorilla.

Just then, a pair of hands grabbed Claire by the shoulders and roughly pushed her on-stage.  She struggled to free herself, but the beast that held her refused to let go.

“Here we have a lovely young woman,” Mrs. Friedly said.  The crowd of monsters clapped and hooted.  “She’s new to the neighborhood, and very sweet, I’m sure.  Do I have an opening bid?”

Several members of the crowd raised clawed hands to place bids.

“Let me go!” Claire yelled.  “This isn’t funny!  Let me go right NOW!”

Mrs. Friedly looked at the young woman and made a tsk tsk tsk sound.  She handed the microphone back to the gorilla, and approached.  She dug in the pockets of her dress and withdrew a pair of bright, shiny scissors.

“Didn’t I tell you, dear?”  Mrs. Friedly asked.

The hands at Claire’s shoulders  strayed to her face and forced her mouth open.  Mrs. Friedly raised the scissors.

“This is a silent auction,” she said.

The scissors snipped closed.

End

Cullen Bunn

For the past three years at Halloween, The Sixth Gun writer Cullen Bunn has written a horror story starring a charming old woman named Mrs. Friedly. This year, to help us celebrate Robot 666 Week, Bunn sent us all three of the previous Mrs. Friedly tales to share with our readers, along with a brand new one that we’ll debut right here on Halloween.

So a big thanks to Bunn and Mrs. Friedly for sharing their Halloween with us. Check out the first tale below, then check back Wednesday, Friday and of course on Halloween to read more.

Gone Fishin’
By Cullen Bunn

“Another year,” Mrs. Friedly piped, “another Halloween Festival!”

The Elk Ridge Community Center was decorated with paper jack o’lanterns, dancing skeletons, and dozens of orange and black streamers. Children in costume—goblins and witches, vampires and ghouls, princesses and ninjas—scurried around the large chamber, and their laughter and squeals formed a constant din.

Mrs. Friedly clucked her tongue as she watched the children. Maybe she was old-fashioned, but some of the costumes just didn’t seem very… Halloweeny… to her. Ghouls and ghosts and monsters—those were fine. But the princesses and cowboys and monkeys just didn’t seem to fit the spirit of the occasion. Halloween, as the elderly woman saw it, was supposed to be a spooky night.

What on earth, she thought, is a ninja anyway?

The festivities were in full swing. Music swelled as a group of older children (and more than a few parents) took part in a cake walk. Screams and giggles rose from the make-shift haunted house the local Industrial Arts club was putting on behind the curtain on the auditorium stage. Groups of kids were playing Pass the Pumpkin and Candy Corn Catch. All around the perimeter of the massive chamber were small booths featuring all sorts of attractions and games. Fortune tellers, face painting, apple bobbing—there was something for everyone. There was even a kissing booth, sponsored by the Elk Ridge High School cheerleaders, and the line of teenage boys waiting for a smooch was impressive.

A pudgy little boy approached Mrs. Friedly’s booth.

“What’s this all about?” he asked.

Mrs. Friedly looked the boy over in disappointment. His only attempt to get into the spirit of Halloween was to wear a t-shirt that read, “This IS my costume!” Still, she forced a sweet smile.

“This is the fish pond.” She motioned to the curtain wall behind her. The curtain was decorated with dozens of swimming fish, many with sharp, fearsome-looking teeth. “You cast a line over the curtain and fish for a prize.”

“What kind of prize?”

Mrs. Friedly eyed the boys round belly and smiled. “Usually something good to eat!”

“I’ll give it a try,” the boy said.

Mrs. Friedly giggled happily. “Oh, goody!”

The boy looked around the booth. His brow furrowed. “Where are the fishing poles?”

Just then, he noticed something large moving behind the curtain. It was the shape and size of a gorilla, but the head was misshapen and covered in what might have been wriggling snakes. The grotesque figure made awful grunting sounds as it approached.

“W-what’s that?” the boy asked.

He had his answer soon enough. The shadowy figure moved behind the curtain. A fishing line dropped down next to Mrs. Friedly. At the end of the line was a large, rusty hook. Mrs. Friedly grabbed the hook. Without a second’s hesitation, she flicked her wrist and drove the hook through the flesh of the boy’s mouth.

The boy screeched and trembled, pulled at the hook and flailed.

Mrs. Friedly looked around. No one else seemed to notice.

The elderly woman gave the fishing line two quick tugs. The line was quickly retracted, and the little boy was hoisted up. He vanished over the top of the curtain. The last Mrs. Friedly saw of him was his kicking legs flopping over the edge.

Mrs. Friedly smiled and hummed to herself as she waited for her next customer. Within a few minutes, she saw a princess walking her way, and she felt a little rush of Halloween excitement.

End

Crooked Hills

A few days ago I posted a teaser for a new Cullen Bunn project coming from Evileye … and now Cullen has revealed more details about it on his blog. Crooked Hills is a new series of prose books for kids that “blends mystery and adventure to weave a fun an unforgettable story of will, friendship and family bonds,” according to the press release.

“Crooked Hills, Missouri, is a combination of many of the small towns in which I grew up,” Bunn said, “from Newton Grove, North Carolina, to Thayer, Missouri. (Thayer in particular helped to form a template for Crooked Hills.) Those towns were rich with interesting people and even more interesting urban legends and ghost stories. With CROOKED HILLS, I imagined sitting in the heart of a dark forest around a campfire, telling kids those kinds of spine-tingling ghost stories. So it seemed to me that having a witch come back to life to kidnap kids and be eaten by a hell hound would scare the living daylights out of almost anybody. But in that nightmare, I also saw a chance to explore what happens when kids face their fears; to overcome them can be incredibly liberating and empowering.”

And as someone pointed out in the comments section of the teaser image, the promo artwork is indeed by Bunn’s The Sixth Gun co-conspirator Brain Hurtt.