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Comics A.M. | Brenda Starr to retire; women like superhero comics, too
Brenda Starr
Comic strips | Tribune Media Services has announced it will cancel the 70-year-old comic strip Brenda Starr rather than find replacements for writer Mary Schmich and artist June Brigman, who have decided to end their lengthy run. The final installment will appear on Jan. 2. Created by Dale Messick, the flame-haired reporter debuted in The Chicago Tribune on June 30, 1940, and later appeared in comic books and movies, and on merchandise. Messick retired in 1980, and has been succeeded on the strip only by women, from Ramona Fradon to Linda Sutter to Schmich and Brigman.
Kiel Phegley offers commentary, and catches a series of tweets from writer Dan Slott, who relates that his great-grandfather’s sister championed Brenda Starr at The Chicago Tribune. In related news, Tribune Media Services is partnering with Hermes Press on a multi-volume hardcover series titled Brenda Starr, Reporter by Dale Messick: The Collected Daily and Sunday Newspaper Strip. The first volume will be released in June. [press release]
Retailing | Borders Group reported a third-quarter loss of $74.4 million, nearly double the loss incurred during the same period in 2009. ICv2.com provides analysis. [GalleyCat]
Comics A.M. | Tintin hearing delayed, copyright ruling ignored
Tintin
Legal | A Belgian court has postponed until next week a hearing in the months-long trial over whether to ban Tintin in the Congo because of its racist portrayals of native Africans. The legal battle was launched three years ago by Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese man living in Belgium, who wants the book removed from the country’s bookstores, or at least sold with warning labels as it is in Britain. An anti-racism group joined Mondondo in seeking the ban. Wednesday’s scheduled hearing was postponed after one of the plaintiffs withdrew from the case; however, the article doesn’t say which one. [Expatica]
Legal | Cartoonist Rich Koslowski discovers that winning a copyright-infringement lawsuit against a company that used his artwork without permission didn’t end the matter. More than a year later, Ontario-based Geeks Galore Computer Center still hasn’t complied with the judge’s order, and continues to use Koslowski’s art in signage and advertising. [Eye on Comics]
Comics A.M. | Comics fall short of the 100,000-copy mark (again)
Batman: The Return
Publishing | Following its grim snapshot of year-to-date dollar sales in the direct market, ICv2.com has released a dreary analysis of the November charts: For the third time in 2010, the top-selling title failed to crack the 100,000-copy mark. Batman: The Return, priced at $4.99, sold about 99,500 copies, compared to the 144,000 sold by November 2009′s top title, Blackest Night #5. According to the retail news and analysis site, 20 of the Top 25 titles experienced a drop last month. As ICv2 noted last week in its initial report, dollar sales of comics were down 10.2 percent when compared with November 2009, while graphic novels jumped 14.84 percent, tied to the release of the 13th volume of The Walking Dead (it sold more than 19,000 copies). [ICv2.com]
Digital publishing | Google on Monday unveiled Google eBooks, a web-based e-book platform/digital storefront that boasts “the world’s largest selection of ebooks.” Dan Vado offers brief commentary. [TechCrunch]
Comics A.M. | Troubled St. Louis retailer found murdered
Legal
Crime | A St. Louis retailer involved in an armed standoff in October when police attempted to arrest him on rape and weapons charges was found murdered Tuesday in a Missouri state park. Kenneth McClure, who operated Legends Comics & Sports Cards for more than two decades, was discovered shot to death about three hours after he failed to appear for a routine court hearing. Police say McClure’s 1992 Chevrolet Camaro was seen leaving the park Tuesday after the shots were fired, then found abandoned Wednesday morning.
The charges against the 57-year-old McClure stemmed from alleged sexual encounters with a 13-year-old girl between June 2008 and June 2009 at the comic store, where he lived in the basement. McClure recently gave Legends Comics to his nephew Everett “Sonny” McClure III. [Post-Dispatch]