Comic Book Resources

Oooh, a sale! TWO sales!

Milk & Cheese #2, from SLG Publishing

Kramers Ergot 7, from Buenaventura Press

Unholster your credit cards, comics fans: Two publishers are currently holding nigh-irresistible sales in their webstores.

As we've reported, cartoonist Evan Dorkin notes that indie-comics stalwart SLG Publishing -- home of comics by Dorkin, Jhonen Vasquez, Jim Rugg, James Turner and more -- is slashing prices on its entire library by 40%. Meanwhile, art-comics trailblazer Buenaventura Press -- the outfit behind books by Johnny Ryan, Jerry Moriarty, Lisa Hannawalt, and Matt Furie, not to mention Kramers Ergot -- has announced that they're offering an across-the-board 20% off sale. Both sales are designed to help their respective publishers weather these still-nightmarish financial times, so not only would taking advantage of them help score you some sweet deals, it'd be a mitzvah as well.

But these prices aren't sticking around forever, so you've gotta act now. And if you're ;ooking for a guide to help you do so, The Comics Reporter's Tom Spurgeon has recommendations for both the SLG and Buenaventura sales, as well as a smidge of analysis as to what it all means. Beyond "great deals," that is.

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

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

Green Arrow: Year One

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

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

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AOL hopes to cut a whopping 2,500 jobs

AOL

AOL, which has been described as an albatross around the neck of DC Comics parent company Time Warner, plans to shed more than a third of its workforce as it spins off from the media giant next month.

Although earlier speculation placed layoffs at about 1,000, the struggling Internet company announced this morning that it will ask 2,500 of its 6,900 employees to accept buyouts. If it can't find enough volunteers, AOL will resort to layoffs. The announcement, part of an effort to cut $300 million in annual costs, comes a little more than a week after 100 layoffs.

Founded in 1983 as Quantum Computer Services, AOL at one point boasted 30 million subscribers, a number that shrank considerably after its 2001 merger with Time Warner -- a disastrous deal that resulted in a record $99-billion loss for the (briefly) rebranded AOL Time Warner and the removal of Steve Case as chairman.

AOL, which The Associated Press points out still makes money, counts among its operations the comics blog Comics Alliance, the tech blog Engadget, the video-game blog Joystiq and, in partnership with Time Warner's Telepictures Productions, the high-profile celebrity-news site TMZ.com.

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

Blue Bloods: Masquerade

Publishing | Italian movie producer Domenico Procacci has purchased Bologna-based graphic novel publisher Coconino Press, adding it to his Fandango filmmaking and book-publishing company. In addition to its own titles, Coconino publishes the Italian editions of works by such artists as Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, and Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi. [Variety]

Publishing | Young-adult novelist Melissa de la Cruz has signed new contracts with Hyperion, the Disney Book Group imprint that publishes her bestselling Blue Bloods series. The deal calls for three companion books to the teen-vampire drama, including Blue Bloods: The Graphic Novel. [Variety]

The Last Unicorn

Publishing | IDW Publishing will adapt Peter Beagle's bestselling 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn as a six-issue miniseries. The comic, by writer Peter B. Gillis, artist Renae De Liz and colorist Ray Dillon, will debut in April. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Simon Jones offers commentary about declining manga sales in Japan: "Some blame was again placed at the industry’s increasing focus on niche genres (just as comics is a spandex ghetto, manga is facing a crisis of the moe slum), but I think this is being overstated as a cause, when it’s really a symptom that is self-feeding.  Manga sales have gone down … it could be lower birth rates, or competition from other media, or internet piracy (come on guys, we don’t need to couch this in flowery language), or any combination of those.  But it all comes down to fewer companies being able to produce mainstream products, because a growing segment of mainstream audiences are no longer willing to pay for them despite increasing demand." [Icarus Publishing]

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

Green Lantern Corps #41

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

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

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

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

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

Legal

Legal | Twin brothers in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, have been sentenced to three months in jail for possessing anime- and manga-style images depicting children in sexual situations.

David Scott Hammond and James Cory Hammond, 20, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after police discovered the images downloaded on their home computer last November. Although David Hammond's attorney said his client didn't realize it was illegal to download cartoon pornographic images of children, the prosecutor asserted that, "Every one of these images involves the victimization of children. The victimization wouldn’t happen in the first place if there weren’t people there to look at this material."

Earlier this month, lawmakers in Alaska began considering a bill that would expand the state's child-pornography laws to include cartoons. And in June a U.S. appeals court upheld the conviction of a Virginia man who was prosecuted, in part, under a 2003 federal statute outlawing possession of cartoon images depicting the sexual abuse of children. [The Chronicle Herald]

Viz Media

Publishing | The San Francisco headquarters of Viz Media was closed for two days this week after an unexpected downpour on Monday caused storm drains to overflow, flooding parts of the city. [Anime News Network]

Publishing | Just last week we were reporting that Villard had acquired the rights to Fated, a graphic novel written by Michael Jackson and Gotham Chopra. Now comes word that the Random House imprint paid $800,000 for it. Illustrated by Mukesh Singh, artist of Virgin Comics titles Gamekeeper, Devi and Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter, the black-and-white book is due out in June. [Crain's New York Business]

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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

Wowio

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

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

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

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

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

The Avengers #4

Creators | Using the copyright-reclamation bid by Jack Kirby's children as a news hook, Geoff Boucher takes a look at the artist's legacy, his creative partnership with Stan Lee, and his bitter feud with Marvel. "A lot more people know the name Stan Lee than the name Jack Kirby," says daughter Lisa Kirby. “I’m not putting down Stan Lee’s talents but it’s difficult for us to see that he does dominate the credit. That doesn’t reflect the work or the reality. To see Jack Kirby in small letters and Stan Lee in big letters, that’s hard for us.” [Los Angeles Times]

Publishing | Jim Shelley considers what effect the recession may be having on the illegal downloading of comic books. He finds there are more downloads, but they've become more difficult to track. [Flashback Universe, via Kleefeld on Comics]

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

Yaoi Press

Legal | Yaoi Press Publisher Yamila Abraham was arrested Monday in Las Vegas on federal fraud charges related to online sales of an "herbal" alternative to recreational street drugs. Authorities claim the product contained no herbal supplements and was actually composed of dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DXM), the active ingredient in over-the-counter cough suppressants. The charges date from 2005 and 2006, when Abraham operated the mail-order website Pleasureherbs.com.

If convicted, Abraham, 34, could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the seven counts of mail fraud, up to one year in prison and a $250,000 fine on one count of misbranding a drug, and up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on one count of introducing goods in domestic commerce by means of false statement. She also could be forced to forfeit property from the proceeds of the crime up to $186,680 and any equipment used to make the drugs.

On the Yaoi Press blog, Abraham asked for everyone to "please keep a cool head, and have faith. This situation is not going to end Yaoi Press. Don't believe the hype." She stressed that she will continue to appear at conventions, including this weekend's OtakuMex in Albuquerque, New Mexico. [Las Vegas Sun]

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

DC Comics

Business | It should come as no surprise that the creation by Warner Bros. of DC Entertainment, and the resignation of Paul Levitz as president and publisher, dominates the news again this morning.

I'll devote a separate post to that coverage, but there are a few links worth highlighting here: ICv2.com has a succinct timeline of Levitz's career to date plus earlier comments by the industry veteran about having "one of the best jobs on the planet." Kurt Busiek, Marv Wolfman and Rich Johnston offer solid tributes to Levitz and his accomplishments as head of DC Comics. And at Comic Book Resources, Kiel Phegley gathers reactions from industry figures. [Warner Bros. press release]

Legal | DC Comics is among the parties objecting to Google Inc.'s settlement with publishers designed to resolve a 2005 lawsuit accusing the Internet giant of infringing on copyrights by digitizing out-of-print books without permission. DC, Microsoft and the governments of France and Germany are among those who say the agreement -- $125 million and a registry to identify and compensate copyright holders -- violates international copyright law. [Bloomberg]

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

Convention center concept art

Publishing | Everything else kind of pales in comparison to the big Disney-Marvel announcement, doesn't it? [Comic Book Resources]

Conventions | As a mayor's task force this afternoon delivers its final report and, presumably, officially endorses the proposed $750-million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center, the focus again turns to how the city will raise the roughly $50 million a year to fund the project.

Meanwhile, a leading expert on convention centers claims his views have been misrepresented in the task force's report. "There is stuff that so misrepresents reality it is appalling," says Heywood Sanders, professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio. He tells the San Diego Reader that convention centers are grossly overbuilt nationwide, and that the task force distorts statistics in its report. [Convention Center Task Force]

Editorial cartoons | The Westchester, N.Y., Journal-News has reversed its decision to lay off Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Matt Davies, who has been with the newspaper for 17 years. [The Daily Cartoonist]

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Task force recommends expansion of San Diego Convention Center

San Diego Convention Center

A mayor's task force has recommended a proposed $750-million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center, a move viewed as crucial to keeping Comic-Con International in the city past 2012.

In its final draft report, released yesterday afternoon, the Mayor's Citizen Task Force on the San Diego Convention Center Project found the expansion "would provide a significant positive economic impact" to the region, and would generate new jobs. The task force also laid out several options for financing the project, including an increase in city or county sales tax and the creation of a special taxing district around the convention center.

As Liam Dillon notes in his overview of the expansion debate, Mayor Jerry Sanders has called the convention center "the goose that lays the golden eggs"; it's contributed an estimated $18.3 billion to the city's economy since it opened in 1989.

Officials have feared that without the expansion, which would allow the convention center to better compete with those in cities like Anaheim, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, San Diego could stand to lose some $2.7 billion as organizations moved there events elsewhere. Among those groups is Comic-Con International, whose contract with the San Diego Convention Center expires in 2012.