Comic Book Resources

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

Black Dossier

Libraries | The library board in Jessamine County, Kentucky, heard public comment last night about acquisition and borrowing policies and the recent firings of two employees who kept a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier out of circulation. The hourlong meeting was marked by shouting, crying and the presentation of petitions, including one that called for the removal of two books and two DVDs -- Black Dossier among them -- from county library shelves. No action was taken by the board. [Lexington Herald-Leader]

Awards | A controversy emerged just a day before the National Book Awards ceremony as author/blogger Janice Harayda suggested that Kathi Appelt, a judge in the Young People''s category, should recuse herself because finalist David Small had illustrated her novel. In her response Appelt was cryptic, at best, saying that as committee deliberations are private, "I or any other judge might well have excused ourselves from voting on any particular book, if conflict of interest were an issue.” In the end, Small's celebrated graphic memoir Stiches didn't win last night; Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice did. [ArtsBeat, Jacket Copy]

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

Weekly Astro Boy Magazine

Publishing | Tezuka Productions and D-Arc Inc. has launched Weekly Astro Boy Magazine, a service that delivers manga by Osamu Tezuka to iPhones and iPods in the United States. Announced last month, it's the first English-language manga service for mobile devices.

If I'm reading the site correctly, the premier "edition" of Weekly Astro Boy Magazine offers the first volume of Astro Boy for free. Subsequent volumes of that title, and other Tezuka classics like Phoenix, Dororo, Black Jack and Buddha, cost 99 cents each, and are available in weekly installments. [Weekly Astro Boy Magazine]

Education | Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza, creators of the webcomic Least I Could Do, have established The Rayne Summers Webcomic Scholarship at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. Named for the protagonist of their nearly seven-year-old comic, the scholarship will cover tuition for one student each year who is working toward a career in webcomics. [Least I Could Do, via The Daily Cartoonist]

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

Flight Explorer, Vol. 1

Publishing | Retailer Christopher Butcher catches word that Flight Explorer, the younger-readers spinoff of the long-running Flight anthology, is without a publishing home. Although the first volume, published in March 2008 by Villard, reportedly sold through its 20,000-copy first printing, editor Kazu Kibuishi tweeted last week that "the project remains orphaned." Butcher provides commentary on his blog. [Comics212]

Legal | Google and groups representing publishers and authors on Friday filed a revised settlement they hope will resolve a dispute over the Internet giant's controversial plans to make millions of out-of-print books available online.

The original agreement, created to resolve a 2005 lawsuit, was opposed by parties ranging from DC Comics to the U.S. Justice Department to the governments of France and Germany, who argued that its terms could violate copyright law. The revisions address the handling of orphan works, restrict the Google database to books published in the United States, Britain, Canada or Australia, and allow other companies to license the digital catalog.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin is expected this week to set a date for a "fairness hearing" in which arguments about the settlements will be presented by b0th sides. [The New York Times]

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Slash Print | Following the digital evolution

iPhone applications | Apple has rejected an iPhone application called "Bobble Rep" featuring artwork by MAD Magazine artist Tom Richmond. The application is a database of the members of the U.S. Congress, and includes names, contact information and caricatures of each of them drawn by Richmond. Each image also serves as a virtual "bobblehead" when the phone is shaken.

Apple's rejection letter said "it contains content that ridicules public figures," which they said violates their iPhone Developer Program License Agreement.

"This is the very reason that Apple as a company should be taken to task over its ludicrous and inconsistent app approval policies," Richmond writes. "Clearly this app does not 'ridicule public figures' and is violating nothing, but Apple has decided the world must be protected from the insidious subversiveness this would force upon the public and the brutal, heinous ridicule that my cruel, cruel caricatures would subject these politicians to."

Daryl Cagle, who is waiting to hear back from Apple on a political cartoon application, offers commentary. Richmond says the producers of the application are looking at other options, including other platforms.

Digital comics | Over at Boing Boing, Douglas Rushkoff talks a little bit more about the alternate reality game and online graphic novel he's doing for Smoking Gun Interactive.

Webcomics | Shannon Wheeler of Too Much Coffee Man fame is considering joining the ACT-I-VATE crew with a new strip, and he needs a name for it. Speaking of ACT-I-VATE, be sure to check out Dean Haspiel's new strip, A-Okay Cool.

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

Stuck in the Middle

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

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

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

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An early trip into the Village

The Prisoner

In support of the new Prisoner TV miniseries, which runs Nov. 15-17, AMC has posted the first chapter of an online comic featuring "a new heroine and more secrets of The Village exposed." The art is by Mitch Breitweiser.

Another item of interest might be this timeline of Prisoner references in pop culture, which include The Simpsons, Battlestar Galactica, the music of Iron Maiden and comics like Watchmen and Fantastic Four. (Although the site loses points for using a Fantastic Four movie image when they could have featured Jack Kirby artwork from issues 84-87).

This weekend, it's King Con Brooklyn

King Con Brooklyn

Here's an event that makes me wish I lived close to New York City again: King Con Brooklyn, a comics and animation convention being held Saturday and Sunday at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

It has a great name, and boasts an impressive lineup of largely local guests, including Harvey Pekar, Al Jaffee, Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, Brian Wood, Alex Robinson, Molly Crabapple, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Kevin Colden, David Gallaher, Steve Ellis and Matt Loux.

In addition, there's a programming schedule that includes workshops, a DC Comics/Zuda portfolio review, creator spotlights, and panels devoted to kids' comics, European comics, digital comics, animation and Marvel's publishing plans.

The convention will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both days at the Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 Fourth Ave., Brooklyn.

Douglas Rushkoff writes X, a graphic novel for new video-game franchise

From "X"

Author, media theorist and sometimes-comics writer Douglas Rushkoff (Testament, Life, Inc.) has penned a graphic novel to promote an as-yet-unnamed video-game franchise from Smoking Gun Interactive.

Illustrated by Cheoljoo Lee and Younger Yang, the comic -- it's simply called X -- is being previewed on this marketing site in installments that roll out over the next four weeks. The full graphic novel will be released next year. More stories are set to follow.

As you might expect from the mysterious title, the story of X involves secrets -- specifically, "the secret history of mankind."

So says the press release: "As a small, scattered group of people stumble onto the truth, they find that they are too late: every great power on earth has already aligned itself against humanity. The war is all but over. Their struggle to discover the truth will lead them into a massive conspiracy that predates humanity itself -- from the world's most ancient sites to the global centers of power."

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

Shel Dorf with Warren Beatty in 1990

Passings | Sheldon "Shel" Dorf, who in 1970 co-founded the event that grew into Comic-Con International, passed away Nov. 3 in San Diego's Sharp Memorial Hospital from diabetes-related complications. He was 76.

A collector of comics and Dick Tracy memorabilia, Dorf had run Triple Fan Fest in his native Detroit. After he moved to San Diego in early 1970, he met Ken Krueger of Alert Books in Ocean Beach and the two, together with a group of teen-aged fans, organized first Golden State Comic Con, held Aug. 1-3, 1970, at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Dorf served as president, or chairman, of the convention until the mid-1980s, stepping away just as the annual event was becoming a national stage for pop culture.

Dorf reportedly struggled with diabetes for years, gradually losing mobility and vision. He entered Sharp Memorial Hospital in 2008 and never left. His brother Michael was with him when he died.

Mark Evanier, of course, has a nice tribute to Dorf peppered with memories dating back to before that first convention. There's also an extensive Shel Dorf Tribute website, and a memorial banner topping the Comic-Con International homepage. The photo above, of Dorf with Warren Beatty on the set of the 1990 Dick Tracy movie, is borrowed from Alan Light's Flickr stream. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]

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Slash Print | Following the digital evolution

comiXology

Digital comics | Kiel Phegley talks to Ira Rubenstein, Marvel's executive vice president of digital media, about their partnerships with comiXology, iVerse, ScrollMotion and Panelfly. comiXology, meanwhile, has added another Marvel title to their catalog this week -- Civil War.

Digital comics | Don Reisinger over at CNET reviews several comics applications for the iPhone, including comiXology, Clickwheel, iVerse Comics and Comic Envi.

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Marvel Comics now available via comiXology, iVerse, Panelfly and ScrollMotion apps [Updated]

Marvel on Panelfly

Users of the comiXology, Panelfly and iVerse digital comics applications on the iPhone can now download and read titles from Marvel Comics.

It looks like as of midnight Eastern time all three sites posted updates and added Marvel to their libraries. Here's a breakdown of what each app is offering:

Panelfly

Amazing Spider-Man #1-25
Amazing Spider-Man #519-523
Astonishing X-Men #1-24
Invincible Iron Man #1-16
X-23 #1-6
X-Men: Age Of Apocalypse #1-6

comiXology

Astonishing X-Men #1–24
Captain America #1–30
Marvel Zombies #1–5
X-23 #1–6
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1–6

iVerse

Amazing Spider-Man #519–524
Astonishing X-Men #1–12
Captain America #1–7
Invincible Iron Man #1–6
X-23 #1–6
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1–6

iVerse and comiXology are offering Marvel's comics for $1.99. Panelfly has them for $.99 each for the first few issues, then $1.99 for later ones.

Update: CBR's Kiel Phegley is working on a piece for the main site now, and sent me this tidbit ... per Marvel, there's a fourth partner as well, ScrollMotion. There's no mention of it on their site yet, however. ScrollMotion has published a large number of books for the iPhone, including titles by Stephen King and Stephanie Meyer, among many others. If you do a search in iTunes for ScollMotion or Iceberg Reader, you can find all the books they've released.

Also, Marvel has posted more information on their website.

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

Longbox

Digital comics | Technology columnist Andy Ihnatko spotlights LongBox Digital, the much-anticipated "iTunes for comics," and claims he's "pretty sure" the company is entering into a "formal alliance" with Apple: "Comic-industry cluelessness and their inability to unite towards a common, mutual good are the two main reasons why we haven’t seen anything like LongBox before. But they probably haven’t been as serious a roadblock as the simple lack of any portable device that’s perfectly-suited to reading digital comics. This is a form of storytelling that needs a tablet. A big, page-sized color screen with lots of resolution and a touch interface for turning pages and navigating from panel to panel. Apple is rumored to be making one of those things. And they’re also rumored to be speaking with a great many high-profile print publishers about bringing their content to this new device." LongBox CEO Rantz Hoseley wouldn't confirm Ihnatko's Apple assertion. [Chicago Sun-Times]

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

Blackest Night #3

Publishing | Sales of comics to the direct market increased 12 percent in September over the same month last year, lifting the third quarter by 7 percent. Graphic novels, meanwhile, slipped 2 percent in September and 10 percent for the quarter, largely because of the strong performance of Watchmen in 2008.

DC's Blackest Night #3 topped Diamond's comics chart, with sales estimated at 140,786, followed by Marvel's Captain America: Reborn #3 with 108,331. The "Blackest Night" event performed well for DC, with five related titles placing in the Top 10. ICv2.com notes in its analysis that the $3.99 price tag on some of Marvel's comics appears to be having an impact on sales, with the second issues of Ultimate Comics Avengers and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man falling about 15,000 copies each, and Hulk #15 dropping about 18,700 from the previous issue.

The graphic novels list was led by the fifth volume of Dark Horse's Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, with an estimated 7,225 copies. However, the most interesting entry is probably R. Crumb's The Book of Genesis Illustrated, which charted at No. 28 with some 2,178 copies. [ICv2.com]

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Apple to allow purchases within free iPhone apps

Apple told iPhone application developers yesterday that they can now sell content through free iPhone applications. Previously any application that offered stuff for sale, such as the comics applications developed by companies like iVerse and comiXology, couldn't be offered for free in iTunes, per Apple's policy.

"Apple makes us charge $0.99 for our app," comiXology CEO David Steinberger told me last week. "We'd give it away if we could, but it's against their rules to give away an app that then ‘up-sells’ users to buying content within the app. That presents us with the challenge of getting people to purchase the app."

With this change, both comiXology and iVerse began offering their applications for free.

"This afternoon Apple dropped a bombshell on developers – Applications with In-App-Purchase can now be FREE," iVerse wrote on their blog yesterday. "This is a phenomenal move on Apple’s part that allows us to finally offer our digital comics store with no entry price. Sure, we’ve been able to offer over 35 free comics (which we will still continue to offer), but to no longer HAVE to charge $0.99 for the App allows us to open the experience up to anyone who wants to give it a try."

Slash Print | Following the digital evolution

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

Digital Comics | Dark Horse announced via press release that both Umbrella Academy and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction are available through the iTunes Store, with subsequent issues available soon. Seed of Destruction is available as four issues at $0.99 each, or as a bundle of all four issues for $3.99. The first issue of Apocalypse Suite is available for free, with issues #2–#6 only $0.99 each, or a bundle of all six issues for $4.99.

Digital Comics | Disney Comics Worldwide shares more details on Disney's DigiComics initiative. They'll eventually be rolled out worldwide, starting in December in English-speaking countries and Italy. They'll be available for the iPhone, iPod and Sony PSP, and eventually Disney hopes to expand to other platforms like Nokia phones and the Wii. The stories will initially come from "the huge archive that The Walt Disney Company Italy has built up in the last 50 years."

Motion Comics | All five episodes of the Spider Woman, Agent of S.W.O.R.D. motion comic are now available for free viewing on Hulu. Because it is "intended for mature audiences," you'll have to register and verify your age.

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