G.I. Joe
IDW’s Infestation crossover goes digital
IDW Publishing has announced its crossover event Infestation is not only infecting comic stores, but has also found its way to Apple’s iTunes store. This unique zombie-fied crossover among IDW’s licensed titles Transformers, Star Trek, G.I. Joe and Ghostbusters has been coming out with a series of one-shots and miniseries over the past few weeks, and IDW’s new Infestation app offers all of the titles of the event in one place.
“We’re excited to bring out Infestation as a stand-alone comics app,” Jeff Webber, IDW’s director of ePublishing, said in the press release. “While all of the issues are also available in our IDW Comics app for our regular readers, creating a stand-alone Infestation Comics app allows us to introduce the whole event to fans of the individual brands. This way, casual readers of Transformers, Star Trek, G.I. Joe and Ghostbusters digital comics can see what this big comics cross-over event is all about!”
In addition to offering digital equivalent to the stories in print, IDW has also teased a special “TOP SECRET digital-only crossover” for the app. The press release murkily teases that, saying: “This will be one huge surprise for comic fans everywhere. All we can say right now is, bring a life vest!”
What could it be? Maybe the undersea-born Godzilla, which IDW recently started the license for? Maybe. Or it could be the launch of something new … maybe zombies vs. Jaws?
- March 15, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Arrant
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Finder: Voice
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Chris Arrant
$15:
This week is a busy week for me -– I count 13 single issues I’d buy if I was a rich man, but with only $15 I’d narrow it down to four things. DMZ #62 (DC/Vertigo $2.99) looks to be really amping up the series for it’s final year. I’ve enjoyed this series’ long run, and the way he’s built up this world only to tear it down seems amazing. Second in my bag would be the closest thing to a modern Moebius at Marvel, Shield #6 (Marvel $2.99). This secret history of the Marvel U has been really eye-opening, and Hickman’s bold reach really takes some big brass ones. This in line would be Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force #5 (Marvel $3.99). Remender’s done some solid modern-work while trying to not be outshone by Jerome Opena’s star-turn, but in this issue it’s got guest art by Esad Ribic. Ribic’s work has always carried this sense of gravitas without being stuffy like some painters, and I’m interested to see how he does these visceral heroes. Last up would be Brightest Day #20. On paper, a book with a league of b-list heroes seems like a non-starter, but I really like what the team have done on this, especially the Martian Manhunter and Firestorm threads.
- February 15, 2011 @ 03:07 PM by JK Parkin
Jeffrey Brown takes aim at the Transformers again in Incredible Change-Bots Two
Or does he? According to cartoonist Jeffrey Brown’s interview with CBR’s Alex Dueben, the upcoming sequel to his hit transforming-robot action-parody Incredible Change-Bots owes a bit less to the robots in disguise and more to his desire just to play around some more with the characters he concocted for Volume One — and to spoof the Superman mythos, of all things…
There are a lot of superhero parodies, but not a lot of transforming fighting robot parodies. Does it help, knowing you’re treading on ground no one’s covering?
[Laughs] It’s hard to say how much that helped. I think especially with the second book, it became less a parody of Transformers and more just being interested in these characters…who just happen to have the same functions as Transformers. It becomes more of its own thing. I think it’s one reason why I’ve enjoyed the Change-Bots stuff more than I enjoyed doing [the superhero parody] “Bighead.” It doesn’t feel as much like it’s something that’s been done to death already.
- January 26, 2011 @ 02:30 PM by Sean T. Collins
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Invincible Iron Man #500
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list for this week if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Graeme McMillan
If I had $15 this week, IDW would be seeing a lot of it. It’s a cheat, because I’ve actually already read both Doctor Who Vol. 2 #1 and GI Joe: Cobra II #12 (both $3.99), but both are licensed comics done right in my opinion; Who in particular really catches the tone of the TV show in a way that the last series, as fun as it was, didn’t quite do (despite the writer, Tony Lee, being the same for both), and Joe has an ending that’ll get the nostalgics in the audience jumping up and down. It’s a weird mix of anti-nostalgia and art appreciation that gets me looking at my other pick of the week, Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man #500, which I’ll be picking up less for the story – although I like the “What if this really was #500 of the current series, and set 40-odd years in the future?” idea behind it – than the art, seeing as the wonderful Nathan Fox, KANO and Carmine Di Giandomenico join the okay-if-you-like-photo-tracing Sal Larroca for this oversized issue.
- January 18, 2011 @ 06:30 PM by JK Parkin
Exclusive Preview | IDW’s Infestation #1
IDW manages to find something new to do with two of comics’ favorite subjects this year, with Infestation breaking new ground for both zombies and crossovers. The story that starts in Ashley Wood and Chris Ryall’s Zombies Vs. Robots reality before crossing into the universes of Ghostbusters, GI Joe, Star Trek and Transformers begins this month with a first issue written by fan favorites Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by David Messina. Click through for a preview.
- January 2, 2011 @ 08:25 AM by Graeme McMillan
SDCC ’10 | A look at Hasbro’s exclusive action figures
Hasbro sent over images of the action figures and toys they’ll be selling at Comic-Con International next week, including Thor, Galactus, Spider-Man and Captain America figures. Some of them will be available on HasbroToyShop.com after the show.
Check’em all out after the jump …
- July 16, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Legal
Legal | A judge in Macomb County, Michigan, has reduced the bond for Michael George from $2.5 million to $500,000 following an appeals court ruling that that the retailer should get a new trial in the 1990 fatal shooting of his first wife. He has been in jail since his arrest in August 2007 after detectives reopened the 17-year-old cold case.
George was convicted of first-degree murder in March 2008 and sentenced in June 2008 to life in prison. However, the judge set aside the conviction less than three months later, citing prosecutorial misconduct and the release of new evidence that could lead the jury to believe another person was responsible for the murder. [Detroit Free Press]
Legal | Drew Combs digs for additional information about the unnamed lawyer who allegedly stole the documents that represent the basis for the Warner Bros. lawsuit against Mark Toberoff, the attorney representing the heirs of Jerry Siegel and the estate of Joe Shuster. [The AM Law Daily]
- May 21, 2010 @ 07:50 AM by Kevin Melrose
The Middle Ground #5: Sitting Up Straight On The Back Of The Bus
I’m pretty sure that the first licensed comic I actually bought would’ve been a Star Wars comic. I don’t really remember ever buying any of them, but I remember always having them around (For some reason, I specifically remember them always being around when I was sick, although I do remember eagerly running home from the newsagent with the first issue of Return Of The Jedi, hoping to find out what happened in the new movie before it came out, and being somewhere between excited and upset to realize that the movie adaptation only filled the first third of the issue, with a random SW story and The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones filling up the rest). The first one I remember actively collecting was the Marvel UK version of Transformers, although I didn’t think of that as a licensed comic; my head didn’t work that way, yet, so it was just a comic that was connected to those toys that I thought were awesome in some mysterious way.
So why is there some kind of stigma against licensed comics these days?
- May 18, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
The Middle Ground #3: Whatever Happened To The Mainstream?
Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1
I keep getting caught up in thoughts about mainstream comics. I might be imagining it, but I seem to remember a movement some years ago that tried to rebrand certain indie publishers (Maybe just one publisher? For some reason, I’m convinced that it was Oni Press, but I don’t want to tar them with this brush if I’m wrong) as The Real Mainstream, or The New Mainstream, or some variation on that idea. The thinking, as far as I remember it, was that what we call “mainstream comics” – i.e., Marvel and DC – don’t really reflect mainstream pop culture, and that the books that do come from the publishers somewhat ostracized by the comics industry. Nowadays, of course, I’m not sure that you can really make the same argument.
It’s not that publishers like Oni or IDW or BOOM! or whomever aren’t continuing to put out material that’s in tune with whatever pop zeitgeist is out there at any given opportunity, because they are (Albeit with different methodologies; Oni by, for the most part, creating all-new series and stories that reflect or anticipate trends, IDW by licensing movies and TV shows like Transformers or True Blood. Sure, they sometimes swap – The very idea of Oni’s upcoming Yo Gabba Gabba comic makes my head spin as much as it makes my heart swell, I have to admit – but generally, it’s a relatively safe rule of thumb), but more that… Well, you can’t really discount superheroes as part of the popular culture conversation anymore. I mean, seriously: Who in the US isn’t at least considering going to see Iron Man 2 (International fans: I wouldn’t presume your desires, now that the movie’s been out in many countries for the last week or so)?
- May 4, 2010 @ 02:30 PM by Graeme McMillan
C2E2 | A roundup of day three news
X-Vampires by Paco Medina
The first-ever C2E2 — Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo — is all but over, and no doubt Brigid and Michael will have more to say about the whole experience here soon. For now, here’s a roundup of news and info coming out of various panels from today, to go with our roundups from Friday and Saturday.
- The X-Men vs. vampires storyline, whose teaser last week set off Ultimate Avengers writer Mark Millar, will run in a relaunched adjective-less X-Men title by novelist Victor Gischler and artist Paco Medina. Gischler, who fans know from his work on Punisher and Deadpool for Marvel, is no stranger to vampires, having written the novel Vampire a Go Go. “It’s going to be a nice fresh look at vampires,” Gischler told Marvel.com about his first story arc in the new title. “I think people are going to be pretty impressed.” The series begins in July.
- September brings another new X-title, as X-23 gets her own solo series written by Marjorie Liu, who wrote the recent X-23 one-shot. “X-23 is a loner at heart, but she’s been forced into a team setting for quite some time now,” Liu told Comic Book Resources. “A pack, if you will. And those conflicting instincts to be alone – and with others – will continue to tug at her. So yes, there will be a rotating supporting cast – a couple of former X-Men who, against their better judgment, will try to mentor Laura. Or at least, be there for her when she needs mentoring. That won’t be without conflict, though – physical and emotional.”
- Wolverine: Weapon X will be replaced by a new Wolverine title by Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes, with covers by Jae Lee. In it, Wolverine goes to Hell. “His soul goes to Hell, and we’re going to see what happens when he’s not around to be in control of his own body,” said editor Jenine Schaefer. The first issue ships in September. Meanwhile, the former Wolverine title, now called Dark Wolverine, will get another title change, as it becomes Daken: Dark Wolverine in September. Liu, Daniel Way and Giuseppe Camuncoli will remain as the creative team.
- April 18, 2010 @ 04:32 PM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
C2E2
Conventions | On the eve of the inaugural Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, the Chicago Reader examines the escalating competition between convention owner Reed Exhibitions and longtime Chicago Comic Con organizer Wizard Entertainment: “It’s but one battleground in a war the two powers are waging across the country — an epic struggle that some observers see as a contest between the forces of good and, well, not so good.”
Writer Deanna Isaacs touches upon the rise of Wizard’s Rosemont event to the second-largest comics convention in North America, and its more recent decline. She quotes a couple of local retailers who have become “disenchanted” with the show. But Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus shrugs off the complaints: “Everybody’s going to tell you this or that. You’re talking about one person. We have 1,000 vendors at our show in Chicago, and they make a lot of money.”
The Daily Herald interviews C2E2 show-runner Lance Fensterman, who says he expects between 35,000 and 40,000 attendees this weekend. The Chicago Tribune, meanwhile, offers its own preview, with eight “must-see” convention events, and brief Q&As with Alex Ross and Jeff Smith. [C2E2]
- April 15, 2010 @ 07:18 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
The Murder of King Tut
Publishing | Bestselling author James Patterson is partnering with IDW Publishing for adaptations of his novels and comics based on new material. The first title, a five-part miniseries based on Patterson’s young-adult novel Witch & Wizard, will debut in May.
“Comics could reach a much larger audience than they do right now,” the author tells USA Today. “With all of the quality work and talent that’s out there, this industry could be so much bigger.”
Chris Ryall, IDW’s publisher and editor-in-chief, provides additional information on his blog. [USA Today]
Retailing | Discussion, or perhaps dissection, of retailer Brian Hibbs’ annual BookScan analysis continues: Hibbs, responding to Tom Spurgeon’s criticisms; Eric Reynolds, associate publisher of Fantagraphics; Hibbs, responding to Reynolds; and Johanna Draper Carlson. [Tilting at Windmills]
- February 16, 2010 @ 07:18 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Dave Perillo’s GI Joe
GI Joe
Artist Dave Perillo drew this Jay Ward-esque image of the GI Joe team, as well as one featuring their archenemies in Cobra. Maybe next he can do their animal sidekicks.
- September 17, 2009 @ 11:02 AM by JK Parkin
The other half of the battle? Lasers
The Battle
Robb Irrgang of Nerduo dropped us an email about the upcoming G.I. Joe movie and why they created a new T-shirt called “The Battle”. He said they’re “a liiiiitle bit (okay, a lot) worried about the upcoming GI Joe movie and felt like shining a spotlight on the TV show instead. So, we crafted a T-shirt around the classic ‘Knowing is half the battle’ phrase.
“No matter how the movie turns out, we’ll always have knowing. And lasers.”
- July 30, 2009 @ 11:10 AM by JK Parkin
Everyone’s A Critic: A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces
G.I. Joe
* Tucker Stone ruminates on the wonder that is G.I. Joe: “This is pretty solid comics–it’s aggressive, it’s far more cynical and hard boiled than I’d imagine a comic based off a toy empire to be, and as long as I’m not having to listen to him screech, Cobra Commander is a great heavy.”
* If that’s not enough Tucker Stone for you today, there’s also the second episode of this.
* Also over at Comixology, Valerie D’Ozario debuts her new column, Comics-Op, which promises to talk about comic-book related news from a “semi-insider” perspective.
* Staying on the Comixology vibe, Kristy Valenti scrutinizes two anthologies about, ahem, doin’ it.
* After staying silent for awhile, the Savage Critics site roars back to life, as Jog looks at the Eurocomic classic Perramus, while Graeme McMillan plays catch up on a few ongoing titles.
* Sean T. Collins reviews the latest issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle: “I think what Kupperman’s doing–with his long, digressive “stories,” with his riffs on old-fashioned comic-book covers, and so on–is using the stuff of comics itself as a locus of the comedy.”
- May 27, 2009 @ 02:03 PM by Chris Mautner