Comic Book Resources

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

I apologize for the lack of a roundup yesterday, and the lateness of today's installment, but I've been without a properly functioning Internet connection.

Fighting American #3

Publishing | Plans by Dynamite Entertainment to revive Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's 1950s superhero Fighting American appear to have unraveled after Simon announced he rejected the publisher's proposal. He claims he only learned that Dynamite had moved forward with the project after reading a Comic Book Resources report from Comic-Con.

An attorney for the Kirby Estate disagrees with Simon's version of events, saying the creator had been informed of, and had approved, negotiations from the "very beginning." However, out of respect for Simon's wishes, the Kirby Estate will no longer participate in the Fighting American revival. [Simon and Kirby blog, Newsarama]

Marvel

Publishing | Although Marvel Entertainment's second-quarter profits dipped slightly, primarily because of lower licensing revenue, it still beat its estimates for the three months ending June 30. The company earned $116.3 million, or 37 cents per share, for the quarter. Sales in the publishing division were flat at $31.7 million. On a related note: The Globe and Mail looks at how Marvel and Hasbro are ratcheting up the number of toy tie-ins for the Iron Man movie sequel. [Yahoo! Finance, ICv2.com]

Publishing | Drawn & Quarterly has extended its deal with cartoonist and author Lynda Barry to include two new works: The Near-Sighted Monkey Book: Picture This, and a prose novel called Birdis. [The Comics Reporter]

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SDCC '09 | Day Two

Comic-Con

The second day of Comic-Con was dominated by just two stories: Marvel's purchase of the rights to the legendary Marvelman, and the 2009 Eisner Awards.

The Marvelman announcement, made during the "Cup O' Joe" panel, was met largely with a mix of surprise and excitement. After all the property, known in the United States as Miracleman, has been out of print for years, mired in a bog of questions about copyright ownership.

Still, some wondered why the news is considered such a big deal, and even what this Marvelman is. For those, Robot 6 contributor Chris Mautner has put together a handy primer.

Marvel's plans for the property, or even what exactly the acquisition includes -- Mick Anglo's original tales? The later comics by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and company? All of it? -- haven't been revealed.

"This is only Day One," Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada told Comic Book Resources. He did, however, mention reprints and new stories.

The other big story, of course, was last night's presentation of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Robot 6's JK Parkin live-blogged the ceremony. You can find the official list of winners here.

In other Friday highlights:

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

Twilight: The Graphic Novel

Publishing | Deb Aoki takes a look at the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, which features color character sketches from Yen Press' newly announced Twilight: The Graphic Novel, and assurances of the involvement of author Stephenie Meyer. “Stephenie is reviewing every page, every panel," says Kurt Hassler, publishing director for Yen Press. “People should feel like they are getting a rare glimpse inside her vision of the property.”

Aoki points out that neither "manga" nor "manhwa" is mentioned in the brief article. [About.com]

Publishing | Speaking of Kurt Hassler, Christopher Macdonald interviews him about his background in the book industry, founding Yen Press, and the state of the manga market. [Anime News Network]

Publishing | Dynamite Entertainment has acquired the comic-book rights to Stargate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's long-running TV franchise. The publisher plans three series: Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. The comic license previously was held by Avatar Press. [ICv2.com]

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Super Zombies #5 cover misnumbered

Super Zombies #5

Dynamite Entertainment sent over word that one of the two covers for this week's Super Zombies #5 was accidentally printed with the wrong numbering. The cover, featuring art by Fabiano Neves and shown above, is labeled as being issue #3. So if you spot the issue and wonder what's up, don't worry -- you're buying (and reading) the last issue of the mini-series.

The second cover, featuring art by Mel Rubi and the correct numbering, can be found after the jump.

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Send Us Your Shelf Porn!

Welcome to Send Us Your Shelf Porn. Our special guest this week is Joseph Rybandt, an Associate Editor for Dynamite Entertainment.

Before we get to Joesph's shelves though, I want to offer up my usual pitch and remind anyone and everyone that we're always on the lookout for new shelf porn submissions. If you'd like to see your graphic novel collection featured at this site, drop me a line at cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet.

With that out of the way, lets see what Mssr. Rybandt has to say about his collection ...

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Food or Comics | The cover-price edition

I've been folding much of the economics-related content into our daily "Comics A.M." features, but recently there's been a decent amount of discussion about cover prices, which I've rounded up here:

Red Sonja #0

• Writing for PW Comics Week, Chris Murphy looks at how DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment have turned to discounted promotional issues to try to appeal to readers.

• Johanna Draper Carlson tries to figure out the thinking behind Tokyopop's formula, which ranges from the new $10.99 price point for standard-format manga to $14.99 for yaoi titles.

• Carlson also notices that Viz Media has standardized prices for its Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat imprints. Previously, the Shonen Jump titles were $7.99 while the Shojo Beat books were $8.99. Beginning in the fall, titles from both imprints will be $9.99.

• In response to a reader's question Absolute Death, writer Neil Gaiman admits he was surprised to see its $99.99 price tag, and explains some of the reasons behind it: "I'm a bit surprised -- I'd been told that it was going to be retailing for about $75, which with an Amazon discount would put it solidly into the area you suggest. But I also know there are a bunch of extra expenses that have turned up on this book, including having to reletter the whole of Death: The High Cost of Living, which weren't originally planned or budgeted for."

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

Will Elder

Retailing | Comic stores in Florida are feeling the effects of the recession as customers cut back on purchases and sell their prized collections. "Nine months ago we were getting three to five collections a week, three months ago we were getting three to four collections a day and now we are seeing six to seven collections a day," says Joel Kilmer, owner of Big Dog Comics. [TCPalm]

Creators | New Jersey's Jewish Standard marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Will Elder with a cover story examining how the MAD cartoonist helped to bring "a Yiddish sensibility" to American culture in the 1950s: "American kids didn’t know it but Will and [Harvey] Kurtzman were hitting them over the head with Jewish humor. This was the way they thought about the world, and America’s youth, ready to question established values and mores, ate it up." [The Jewish Standard]

Legal | Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, provides a little commentary on recent analysis of the Christopher Handley and Dwight Whorley cases. [The Comics Reporter]

Conventions | This weekend, it's the eighth annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention in Philadelphia. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

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Kevin Smith to tackle Batman (again) and Green Hornet

The Green Hornet

After demonstrating that he can meet a publishing deadline, filmmaker Kevin Smith is returning to comic books with a pair of miniseries for DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment.

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch reports that Smith will follow last fall's three-issue Batman: Cacophony with the 12-issue The Widening Gyre, and transform his abandoned 2004 Green Hornet screenplay into a miniseries for Dynamite, which announced in March that it has secured the license for the property.

Smith says The Widening Gyre will be split into two volumes, with a six-month break in between, to ensure "we don't run into my usual problems with lateness." The miniseries will feature a new hero who will spin off into a bimonthly solo series, written by Smith.

Batman: The Widening Gyre will debut in August, with Green Hornet bowing soon after.

Emerald City Abides

Emerald City ComiCon

Editor's note: Strangeways creator Matt Maxwell attended the Emerald City ComiCon and agreed to write up a report for us about his weekend.

by Matt Maxwell

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See, I’m good enough at this convention thing now that I have to tack on extra difficulty just to keep myself from being bored. Which is why I traveled with my two kids by plane up to Seattle instead of doing the sensible thing and flying up on my own. At least I have enough sense to drop them with the grandparents while I try to sell books. Having an easily bored pair of five and eight-year-old kids is just not conducive to doing anything other than clinging to my last shreds of sanity and composure, and add to that selling books and spreading the Strangeways gospel? Not gonna happen.

Not that I’ve sold a ton of books this year as of yet. I write this on the Sunday morning of the show, as vendors and guests are beginning to creep in, volume steadily rising, like the lion house waking up at the zoo on a lazy morning, murmurs of greeting peppered with good-natured laughter. I guess other folks are doing better than I am. Not bad existentially, mind you, but I coulda sold a lot more books than I ended up doing yesterday. The comparison between this show and WonderCon isn’t fair, though. WonderCon on Saturday was OFF THE CHIZZAIN as the kids say. ECCC, by comparison, had a lot of foot traffic, but perhaps not as many people opening their wallets, at least not yet.

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A few quick notes ...

Just wanted to share a few quick housekeeping items with everyone ...

• Sad news: I'm sad to report that Chris Mautner is taking a break from blogging due to the death of his father-in-law earlier this week. Please keep Chris and his family in your thoughts.

• Where's Carla? Last we heard from our friend Carla, she was released from the hospital and recuperating. And Twittering. So, the question is ... when will she back blogging with us again? Soon. Very, very soon. We don't have a specific date yet, but we're definitely talking.

• A word to our sponsor: Big thanks to Dynamite Entertainment for sponsoring the blog this month. Click on the banner up top if you'd like to learn more about Dead Irons, which hit comic shops this week. Or you can check out the trailer here.

• Thanks: Lastly, it's been about a month since we launched Robot 6 here at CBR, and I just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who welcomed us back after our sabbatical. We're really happy to be here and have some fun stuff planned for this month, so stay tuned!