Comic Book Resources

SDCC '09 | Image Comics hosts Image United signing event, more

Image United #1

Image Comics will be out in full force at the con, with several panels and a huge list of folks who will be signing all weekend -- everyone from Mike Allred to Christopher Yost.

The biggest event on their schedule is a special signing event with everyone involved in their upcoming Image United book: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portacio and Jim Valentino.

Find their full press release and schedules after the jump

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Larsen fires back at Wacker in Spider-Man dustup

Savage Dragon #137

The back and forth continues about the appearance of Barack Obama in this week's Amazing Spider-Man #583, which sports an alternate cover featuring the president-elect.

But this particular thread involves Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen and Amazing Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker.

It began last week when Larsen posted on a message board that he feels "very betrayed" by Marvel because, in his eyes, the publisher duplicated elements from Savage Dragon #137 -- namely, the incentive cover and the use of the “terrorist fist jab” -- and used as a story element a shape-shifting villain masquerading as the president, which he'd done previously in an issue of his long-running series.

Then yesterday, Wacker responded with an email to Robot 6 countering Larsen's assertions: "The idea that this was off-limits because the President-Elect had appeared on another comic cover (or that we wouldn’t have had this idea without Erik Larsen) is beyond preposterous."

And now Larsen has fired back:

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Steve Wacker responds to Larsen's Spider-Man comments

Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Obama variant cover)

Earlier this week I blogged about Erik Larsen's comments on Amazing Spider-Man #583 and Savage Dragon #137 that appeared on the ComiCon.com message boards. If you haven't seen those comments, go read them first before you read this post, as it'll make more sense that way.

Everybody up to speed? Good. Here's Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker, who sent us an email responding to Larsen:

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Amazing Spider-Man #583">Larsen feels "very betrayed" by Amazing Spider-Man #583

Savage Dragon #137

Most comic fans probably remember that President-Elect Barack Obama's first comic book appearance didn't come in this week's Amazing Spider-Man #583. Last year IDW published their biography of Obama in October, and he appeared in Savage Dragon #137 last August.

It's that second one that's causing a stir over on the Comicon.com message boards, in a thread titled "The house of stolen ideas." "Bendrix," who started the thread, says that Marvel promotion ripped off The Savage Dragon's "publicity stunt."

A few pages in, creator Erik Larsen shows up in the thread to say he feels betrayed by Marvel:

As far as Marvel goes-- I can't help but feel very betrayed. They duplicated the incentive cover--and preempted my upcoming one--and even used the "terrorist fist jab." Clearly those in the "house of ideas" looked at what I did and found inspiration.

I hear that they're even doing a story similar to the one I did four years back, where an image-altering villain disguises himself as the President (in my story the Impostor replaced President Bush and took his place for a speech--in theirs the Chameleon, the shape-shifting villain, is going to spoil a speech being given by President-Elect Obama). The whole mess just feels really underhanded. I feel betrayed and, frankly, ripped off and in the real world--the one outside our funnybook bubble--Marvel will spin themselves as these great innovators who came up with this terrific publicity stunt--instead of the thieves they are.

And I know what they're saying when they're called on it--"Presidents have appeared in comics before" and "Erik didn't create Barack Obama" and blah, blah, blah.

The thing that Marvel is attempting to do is to frame the argument. To say "we've featured presidents in the past--this is what we do--it's part of a pattern." But that's a false argument. The "stunt" was an alternate cover featuring Obama-- which was something no publisher had done with any president in the past and one that received a lot of press when I did it. If Marvel had done alternate covers with Bush and Clinton or any of the others-- they could legitimately claim that they were following a pattern and doing what they've done in the past-- but that wasn't the case. And theirs is not simply the appearance of a president in a comic book but one on an alternate cover-- and one concocted to try and get some of the same attention that got. I did not create Obama-- I did, however, have a character endorse him, long before he was elected while Marvel played footsie with Stephen Colbert-- a joke candidate.

Via Rich Watson