Danny Fingeroth
Comics A.M. | Manga sales down, but cons & scanlation sites thrive
Gate 7, Vol. 3
Manga | Call it the Manga Paradox: Manga sales are way down, but traffic on scanlation sites is robust and attendance at anime conventions is way up. What’s the story? I crunched some numbers and talked to some publishers to get a picture of the new normal for the manga market in North America. [Publishers Weekly]
Comics | A collection of 60,000 comics sold for $200,000 at auction over the weekend in East Vancouver. It seems impressive until you do the math and realize that’s a little more than three bucks a comic. The star of the collection was a restored Hulk comic that went for $6,500. [CBC]
Celebrate a comics legend during Will Eisner Week 2013
This March marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of Will Eisner’s influential graphic novel A Contract with God, and to celebrate, the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation is hosting a 10-day series of events in more than a dozen cities. The theme is one that’s worth getting behind — “Read a Graphic Novel.”
“This year, we will be having Will Eisner Week celebrations in more places than ever before,” said Will Eisner Week Organizing Committee Chair Danny Fingeroth in a press release. “The people doing the events are planning some amazing happenings that will spread the word about how cool graphic novels are, and that celebrate Will Eisner’s astonishing body of work done over a career that spanned seven decades.”
Events will take place across America, from Oregon to Arkansas to New York, and will include panels at cons, guest lectures and readings, and screenings of Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist. Check out the event poster and schedule below.
Watch the trailer for the documentary Wonder Women!
A full-length trailer has been released for Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines, a Kickstarter-funded documentary that will receive its world premiere next month at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
Directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, the documentary traces the evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman and examines “how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation.” Among those interviewed for the film are Gloria Steinem, Lynda Carter, Lindsay Wagner, Trina Robbins, George Perez, Gail Simone, Danny Fingeroth and Andy Mangels.
Talking Comics with Tim: Jim McCann
Dazzler
Jim McCann‘s name is going to be popping up in Marvel Comics more regularly starting toward the end of this month. First up is the May 26 release of the writer’s Dazzler one-shot, followed by the June 3 launch of his Hawkeye & Mockingbird ongoing monthly series. I recently got to discuss both projects in an email interview. It’s never dull for me to chat about Marvel characters with a writer who clearly both enjoys and does his research. My thanks for McCann’s time.
Tim O’Shea: For folks that are afraid the Dazzler one-shot is a nostalgia romp, far from it–in fact the story comes out of the recent Necrosha event. Can you talk a little bit about it?
Jim McCann: Dazz has a bit more heat & attention on her post-Necroshia, both with the fans…and with her enemies! Specifically Mortis, a.k.a. Lois London, her long-absent half-sister, who has massive anger issues and a very strong desire to kill Dazzler!
I wanted to give Dazzler a strong nemesis and family, two things all great characters need, and found both in Lois. They avoided the fight in Necrosha, but, as the cover & solicit says, THIS is the fight, the Necrosha Aftermath for these two!