Judge Bao and the Jade Phoenix

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Wonder Woman is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Archaia

Judge Bao and the Jade Phoenix - A detective story set in ancient China. Plus: cool name.

Avatar

Dicks #1 – Garth Ennis and John McCrea’s humor makes my top hat explode and my monocle fly off my face, but I remember this being pretty popular back in the day and I imagine that it’s new presentation in color and leading into a new storyline could make it popular again.

Bongo

Ralph Wiggum Comics #1 – This, on the other hand, is exactly my kind of funny. Kind of like 30 Days of Night, I’m astonished no one’s thought of it before. Too bad it’s just a one-shot, but hearing that Sergio Aragones is one of the contributors makes me want to poke myself with my Viking helmet to see if I’m dreaming.

Terror on the Planet of the Apes #1

Boom!

Terror on the Planet of the Apes #1 – Boom continues its domination of the Planet of the Apes by reprinting classic stories from Marvel’s time with the concept. Between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Boom’s other PotA comics, I’ve been itching to read these stories.

Adventure Time #1 – As much a welcome no-brainer as Ralph Wiggums Comics. Oh, man. Now I want a crossover!

Dark Horse

Conan the Barbarian #1 – Not only does this have Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan; it also features one of my favorite Conan characters, Bêlit the pirate queen.

BPRD Hell on Earth: The Long Death #1 – The Mignola-verse is managing to come out with some kind of first issue or collected volume just about every month now. That’s amazing. In this mini-series, the team returns to the spooky woods from New World.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1 – If this had come out fifteen years ago when I was still voraciously devouring all the Star Wars EU history I could get my hands on, I would’ve been dancing like a Twi’lek slave girl over finally getting the story of how the Jedi came to be. It’s one of the few events in Star Wars history that haven’t yet been explored.

Dark Horse Presents #9 – Featuring Tarzan, Lobster Johnson, and the world’s largest pirate ship. Not in the same story, unfortunately, but still pretty cool.

DC Universe Presents #6

DC

DC Universe Presents #6 – The Challengers of the Unknown take over the title with a beautiful, fantastic cover by Ryan Sook.

Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo - This isn’t even out yet and I’m already impatient for Volume 2.

Northlanders, Volume 6: Thor’s Daughter - I’ve been looking forward to finally trying out Northlanders with this volume. Telling the story of the Siege of Paris through the eyes of a Viking woman is a great hook.

Dynamite

Warriors of Mars #1 – Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter stories couldn’t be more different in tone from Edwin Lester Arnold’s goofy Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, but the similarities in concepts (Southern soldiers transported to Mars where they fall in love with princesses) has had fans and writers making connections between them for decades, including Alan Moore in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Now Dynamite’s taking a turn with Carter’s princess (or her people, anyway) kidnapping Gullivar’s.

First Second

Friends With Boys - I’m all for three things: First Second publications, Faith Erin Hicks comics, and stories about people learning to communicate with people unlike themselves. No, wait: four things. Ghost stories.

The Big Town

Fantagraphics

The Big Town - Charles Schulz’ son wrote this novel (the last in his jazz-age trilogy) about the end of the Roaring Twenties and “the role of business, crime, morality, and love in our lives.” It’s not comics, but it sounds ambitious and transporting.

Humanoids

Celestial Bibendum – New York is now on the Seine and there’s a lonely seal named Diego living in it. That’s weird enough that I’d like to know more.

IDW

Road Rage #1 – You might think that the short story “Trucks” was Stephen King’s ultimate homage to the Richard Matheson novella Duel. After all, “Trucks” was collected in Night Shift and King himself directed the movie adaptation of it, Maximum Overdrive featuring Emilio Estevez, AC/DC, and a giant Green Goblin mask. What you might not know is that King also collaborated with his son Joe Hill on a biker-gang novella called Throttle that’s more directly inspired by Duel (which you probably remember was also adapted to film as Stephen Spielberg’s first feature-length project). IDW is now adapting both Duel and Throttle to comics with this four-issue mini-series.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 1: Change is Constant – The first issues of the new, ongoing series are collected.

Jack Avarice is the Courier - I love the way IDW released this mini-series: weekly over the course of a single month, then the entire collection the month after that. I’d love to know how it sold for them, but for me as a consumer, that’s a perfect system.

Thief of Thieves

Image

Thief of Thieves #1 – Some new guys named Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer team up to write one of those crime comics the kids love these days.

Glory #23 – Rob Liefeld’s Extreme relaunch continues to impress me with the talent it’s choosing. In this case, Joe Keatinge (Popgun) and Ross Campbell (Shadoweyes) offer a very different take on the Wonder Woman archetype.

King City - Brandon Graham’s masterwork is finally collected.

Marvel

Winter Soldier #1 – The closest thing we’re going to get to a Black Widow comic right now.

Ka-Zar by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert, Volume 2 - Ka-Zar vs. Thanos. ‘Nuff said.

Metropolitan

Journalism - A collection of short comics by cartoonist/war-reporter Joe Sacco.

Moonstone

The Lone Ranger: Vendetta - The concealed cowpoke and Tonto investigate a serial killer with possible connections to the Ranger’s dead nemesis, Butch Cavendish.

Rohan at the Louvre (French edition)

NBM

Rohan at the Louvre - A newly famous mangaka meddles with a cursed painting deep in the bowels of the famous museum. This will not end well.

Oni

Sixth Gun, Volume 3 – Trade-waiters have reason to whoop it up now that the next installment of the awesome Weird Western is on its way.

Courtney Crumrin, Volume 1: The Night Things Special Edition – The comic that put Ted Naifeh on so many radars gets color and a hardcover.

SLG

Malleus Maleficarum: A Guide to Catching Witches - Everyone’s favorite Inquisitorial treatise on How to Hunt and Torture Pagans, the Homeless, and Other People You Don’t Like is adapted to comics.

Top Shelf

Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland – One of the last projects Pekar worked on before his death is also – according to Alan Moore’s intro – “one of [his] very greatest works.”

That’s it for me. What are you looking forward to?

Amazing Fantasy #15

Comics | While going through a box in his attic, a Grange Park, Illinois, man discovered a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man, that he had bought as a kid. While other copies of the comic have fetched as much as $1.2 million, Chimera’s Comics is selling it for $12,000 due to its condition. [LaGrange Patch]

Comics | Brian Truitt profiles Marvel’s Fantastic Four, talking to Mark Waid, Tom Brevoort and Tom DeFalco about the long-running comic. [USA Today]

Publishing | Janna Morishima, formerly of Scholastic and Diamond Comic Distributors, has joined Papercutz as its first marketing director. [Papercutz]

Creators | Alan Moore discusses his friendship with Harvey Pekar: “We developed a friendship, because of a mutual love — an obsession, really — of old books. Harvey loved looking around the old tomes in my library, and Joyce told me I only enabled Harvey. They hadn’t got a spare inch of space, and Joyce would blow a fuse if he brought home a slim volume of poetry. He would smuggle them into the house by stealth. He’d slip them in among the old dusty books, and leave them there for about six weeks, then one day, walk over to the shelf and open them like they were cherished artifacts. The fact that this would take weeks showed his level commitment to great literature. He did everything short of wrapping them in plastic and hiding them in the lavatory.” Moore wrote the introduction for the forthcoming Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland, a posthumous graphic novel due in March. [Fast Company]

Art by Cameron Stewart

Creators | Andy Khouri talks to writer and artist Cameron Stewart about his work on B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Exorcism, part of a flurry of upcoming B.P.R.D. comics due out next year. [ComicsAlliance]

Creators | Author Marc Singer discusses his book Grant Morrison: Combining the Worlds of Contemporary Comics. [Mindless Ones]

Creators | Just a few months after winning the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, Mike Keefe has accepted a buyout offer from the Denver Post. Keefe plans to “semi-retire” and will continue to draw cartoons for the Cagle Syndicate. [Comic Riffs]

Commentary | Alex Woodward looks at Steve Duin and Shannon Wheeler’s Oil and Water. [Gambit]

Review | Manga newbie Jeff Jackson Ian Johnson reads Breathe Deeply, a new indy manga from small publisher One Peace Books that mixes medical ethics, suspense, and wistful romance. [Comic Attack]

Analysis | Kristy Valenti looks at Osamu Tezuka’s use of theatrical techniques and motifs in two very different books, Princess Knight and The Book of Human Insects. [comiXology]

Amazing Spider-Man #666

Publishing | Sales of comic books and graphic novels in July fell 6.17 percent versus July 2010, with dollar sales of comic books sold through Diamond Comic Distributors falling 4.27 percent and graphic novels falling 10.10 percent year-over-year. Unit sales for comics were only down slightly, at .52 percent, which ICv2 points out “indicates that comic book cover prices have in fact declined. The problem is that circulation numbers have not risen enough to make up for the decline in revenue from lower cover prices.” Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #666, which kicked off the “Spider-Island” event, was the best-selling comic of the month, while League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III Century #2 from Top Shelf topped the graphic novel chart. John Jackson Miller has commentary.

Marvel saw a slight increase in its dollar market share for July when compared to June, while DC’s jumped from 28.03 percent in June to 30.55 percent in July. IDW, the No. 5 publisher in terms of dollar share in June, moved to the No. 3 position in July. The top seven publishers were rounded out by Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite and BOOM! [ICv2]

Darkwing Duck #18

Publishing | BOOM!’s Disney comics officially end in October with the publication of DuckTales #6 and Darkwing Duck #18, for which the solicitation says, “This is it fans, the last Disney single issue from KABOOM! has arrived. It’s the end of an era as we say goodbye to Disney at KABOOM!” [Comics Continuum, via]

Conventions | The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York will hold the 10th annual MoCCA Fest on April 28-29, the same weekend the Stumptown Festival will occur in Portland, Ore. Heidi MacDonald has commentary. [Convention Scene]

Creators | Brian Heater talks to artist Joseph Remnant about illustrating Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland after Pekar passed away last year. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | Robert Stanley Martin has posted the results of the Hooded Utilitarian’s International Best Comics Poll, which were voted on by 211 editors, journalists, academics and retailers (including Robot 6 contributors Sean T. Collins, Chris Mautner and Matt Seneca). Topping the list is Peanuts, followed by Krazy Kat, Calvin and Hobbes, Watchmen and Maus. [The Hooded Utilitarian]

Organizations | Derek McCaw interviews Dr. Mauricio Heilbron, the Hero Initiative’s medical consultant. [Fanboy Planet]

FreakAngels

Webcomics | Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s long-running FreakAngels webcomic has reached its conclusion. [Warren Ellis]

Webcomics | Doug TenNapel has brought his webcomic Ratfist to an end after 150 episodes, and he reveals that a print version is in the works. [Ratfist]

Retailers | San Francisco-based toy and comics retailer Neon Monster will close down its brick-and-mortar shop on Aug. 7 and its online store on Aug. 14. [Neon Monster, via Twitter]

Reviews | Cartoon Brew rounds up commentary on BOOM!’s third DuckTales comic book in a post titled “Is This the Worst Disney Comic of All-Time?” Per CB poster Amid: “Panels are flipped and repeated, characters speak to other characters that aren’t even drawn into the comic, backgrounds appear to be drawn by a twelve-year-old in MS Paint, and even the cover is an uninspired swipe of an earlier Daan Jippes cover.” The comic even inspired one fan to write a song about it. [Cartoon Brew]

Manga | The four-woman manga supergroup CLAMP is resuming work on Legal Drug after an eight-year hiatus. The series was published in the U.S. by Tokyopop, and there is no word yet on whether the new volumes will be published here. [Anime News Network]

Comics | Sean Kleefeld shows off some new pieces of original comics art he just picked up. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Fandom | Chad Rouch remembers the day his brother tossed Captain America’s shield out of a moving car. [Orlando Sentinel]

ZIP is proud to be publishing Harvey Pekar’s CLEVELAND which he finished writing and which is currently being illustrated by Joseph Remnant. We will keep you updated, and right now we’re looking at a summer/fall 2011 release for that.

According to the press release (quoted in full at The Beat), the book will mix Pekar’s own story with the history of Cleveland:

Harvey Pekar’s CLEVELAND covers familiar American Splendor-ous territory while weaving in chunks of Cleveland history, including the Indians winning the 1948 World Series, the notorious 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River as well as profiles of Cleveland “characters” like Charles Ruthenberg, leader of the city’s Communist party whose ashes were buried in the Kremlin wall. And of course cameos by Pekarverse regulars like Toby the Genuine Nerd, Mr. Boats and Harvey’s wife Joyce.

Sounds like my kind of book.

line art for the Strange Tales II #1 cover by Rafael Grampa

Over at ComicsAlliance, Laura Hudson has a real treat for those of you who like your superhero comics with an alternative twist: 50-plus pages of sketches, thumbnails, pencils, inks, color studies and more from the Strange Tales II hardcover, which debuted this week. Click on over and get a glimpse at the creative process behind contributions from Kate Beaton, Jeffrey Brown, Ivan Brunetti, Farel Dalrymple, Rafael Grampa, Dean Haspiel, Jaime Hernandez, Paul Hornschemeier, Benjamin Marra, Edu Medeiros, Harvey Pekar, Frank Santoro, and Paul Vella. That’s hella Strange!

Adrienne Roy

Passings | Prolific colorist Adrienne Roy, who was a fixture of DC Comics for more than two decades, passed away on Dec. 14 following a year-long battle with cancer. She was 57. Although Roy’s work appeared in countless DC titles, from Green Lantern and Superman to Warlord and Wonder Woman, she’s best known for her extensive runs on Batman, Detective Comics and The New Teen Titans. Mark Evanier notes that “Her long tenure on Batman (more than 600 issues of various comics featuring the character) meant that her credit appeared on more tales of the Caped Crusader than anyone else except for Bob Kane.” CBGExtra posts an obituary written by her husband Anthony Tollin. [News from ME]

Publishing | Rich Johnston reports on rumored contract changes at DC Comics that would affect all new creator-owned titles in the DC Universe and Vertigo imprints. [Bleeding Cool]

Publishing | Storm Lion, the Singapore-based multimedia studio behind the 2008 Radical Publishing miniseries Freedom Formula, has closed on the heels the summer layoff of 30 employees in Singapore and Los Angeles. The closing leaves a planned movie adaptation, to be produced by Bryan Singer, “in limbo.” [The Straits Times]

Josh Blaylock

Publishing | Josh Blaylock, founder of Devil’s Due Publishing, frets that sudden cover-price cuts by DC and Marvel will lead to a “direct market massacre” in February: “Even in the best of times the holiday spending craze is over, everyone has spent their post-X-mas, January gift money, and the lull begins, and this will likely be one of the flattest X-Mas seasons in memory. This year, as our currency buys less and less essentials (I’m talking food and clothing, not your essential weekly publications), February is already poised to be tougher than ever, but it’s also running parallel with the forced 25% drop in sales from the majority of DC and Marvel titles. It’s an open wound plus salt.” [JoshBlaylock.com, via The Beat]

Retailing | Frances Dinkelspiel follows up on last week’s report about the imminent closing of legendary Berkeley, Calif., store Comic Relief. The article mentions that two employees have been laid off, but that the family of founder Rory Root is apparently talking to a potential buyer. Rich Johnston and Heidi MacDonald have commentary. [Berkeleyside]

Retailing | Drew Sullivan, owner of Ash Avenue Comics and Books in Tempe, Ariz., said his store had an exceptional November, thanks in large part to brisk sales of The Walking Dead, triggered by the popularity of the AMC television adaptation: “That comic book is one of our biggest sellers right now. We can’t keep it stocked. [...] It’s basically introducing new customers to the world of comics.” [East Valley Tribune]

Publishing | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson considers the pitfalls of comics age ratings. [Graphic Novel Reporter]

Sleeper: Season One

Publishing | Tom Spurgeon pens a eulogy for WildStorm, complete with a list of favorite titles. [The Comics Reporter]

Conventions | Jayson Peters previews Amazing Arizona Comic Convention, which will hold is debut event Jan. 8-9 at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, Ariz. Guests will include Robert Kirkman, Rob Liefeld, Jeph Loeb, Joe Benitez, John Layman, Ryan Ottley, Cory Walker, and cast members from The Walking Dead. [East Valley Tribune]

Creators | Dean Haspiel posts his comic-strip tribute to Harvey Pekar that appears in the year-end issue of Entertainment Weekly. [LiveJournal]

Creators | Amy Mebberson talks about kids’ comics and BOOM! Studios’ Muppet Show titles. [TFAW.com]

Best of the year | David Allen Jones compiles his favorite comics of 2010, including Scalped, The Sixth Gun and Empowered. [Popdose]

Best of the year | Larry Cruz looks at the “Webcomic Moments of 2010.” [The Webcomic Overlook]

John Byrne's Next Men

Welcome once again to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy based on certain spending limits — $15, $30 to spend and if we had extra money to spend on what we call the “Splurge” item. Check out Diamond’s release list for this week if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Michael May

If I had $15:

There are a lot of great periodicals coming out this week, so I’d have some hard choices to make. With only $15, I’d concentrate first on those with the cheapest prices: the first issue of Dark Horse’s new Mighty Samson ($3.50), Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science #2 ($3.50), and Mouse Guard: Black Axe #1 ($3.50). I’m already a huge fan of both Atomic Robo and Mouse Guard and – based on its concept and vague memories of stories I read as a kid – hope to become one of Mighty Samson too. I’d spend the last of my money on Northern Guard #1, because I’m a sucker for Canadian superheroes.

If I had $30:

I’d add Doc Macabre #1 ($3.99), John Byrne’s Next Men #1 ($3.99), and Strange Tales 2 #3 ($4.99). “Doc Macabre” is an awesome name and I love Steve Niles’ pulp stuff, I’ve been waiting 16 years for that Next Men issue, and the Strange Tales book has a Kate Beaton story in which the Avengers go to a carnival. I’d pay five bucks just for Beaton’s deal, but it’s also got a Thing tale by Harvey Pekar (and yes, Harvey Pekar is in the story).

Splurge:

Speaking of Steve Niles pulp: the Mystery Society collection ($19.99) comes out this week, as does Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp: Yeti Wars ($17.99). Those should both be a lot of fun.

Graeme McMillan

Strange Tales II #3

I’m having the opposite reaction to Michael this week, with lots of more expensive items leaping out at me, but nothing seeming particularly urgent in the periodicals list. And so, if I had $15, I’d probably start with the second issue of IDW’s Dungeons & Dragons ($3.99) after loving the first so much, and then try out the debut of John Byrne’s reborn Next Men ($3.99), to see where his head’s at after all these years. I’d probably also pick up Marvel’s Strange Tales #3 ($4.99), because I’ve enjoyed enough of what’s come before, and really love Kate Beaton’s work… but that remaining $2.03…? That’ll remain up for grabs, I think.

If I had $30, I’d forget about Next Men #1 and put that money and some of the unused $2.03 towards Jason Little’s Motel Art Improvement Service hardcover from Dark Horse ($19.99). There’s something compelling about Little’s comics, which feel to me like a mix of Jessica Abel and Chris Ware, in some strange way. I only vaguely caught up with this as a webcomic, hoping to read it in print. And here it is!

As far as splurging goes, there’s an embarrassment of riches this week: Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s better-than-Earth-One-even-if-delays-in-original-release-killed-momentum Superman Secret Origin HC ($29.99)? The second volume of Judge Dredd Complete Case Files ($19.99)? A new Yotsuba! ($10.99)? But nostalgia wins me over again: I’d go for DC’s Tales of The Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 ($19.99), which begins collecting Steve Englehart and Joe Staton’s “The Green Lantern Corps” run from the late ’80s that I loved so much. John Stewart was always my favorite back then. Followed by the kinder, gentler Kilowog.

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15…

Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science #2

I have to confess, there aren’t too many books that leap out at me and demand my attention this week. One that I must see, however, is the second issue of Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science ($3.50). I really liked the first issue, and I want to see more. That leaves just enough for the ninth volume of Yotsuba&! ($10.99), and I’m grabbing that because it’s that rare book that is funny to adults as well as children.

If I had $30…

I don’t know too much about it, but NBM’s latest Nicolas de Crecy graphic novel, Salvatore: Transports of Love ($14.99) looks like the sort of thing I’d like. It’s a weird fantasy about a dog who works as an auto mechanic and moves his shop to a mountain peak… yeah. Well, it’s something to talk about at Christmas parties, anyway.

Splurge…

Two things, which together add up to less than 40 bucks: I liked Nathan Edmondson and Brett Weldele’s The Light, especially Weldele’s art, so I would like to pick up the trade ($16.99). And Fumi Yoshinaga’s Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! ($10.99) is sort of a foodie’s tour of Tokyo, with Yoshinaga and a friend sampling the signature dishes of various restaurants. I have no plans to go to Tokyo anytime soon, but the book looks like fun.

Chris Mautner

Big Questions #15

If I had $15:

The trade collection of Anders Nilsen’s Big Questions will be out next year, but I’m the impatient sort, so I’ll probably pick up the final issue, No. 15 ($7.95) this week. Nilsen earned his cred on books like Dogs & Water and Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, but Questions, which he’s been doing seemingly since before Dogs debuted, may prove to be a defining work.

I’ll also pick up the fifth issue of Highland Laddie ($3.99) though the next time they do one of these Boys spin-offs I might opt to wait for the trade …

If I had $30:

… as I did with Strange Tales. I’m anxious to see the third issue, but in this instance I’m holding off. Instead, I’ll pick up the ninth volume of Yotsuba&!, a book that never fails to charm just about every member of my family.

Splurge:

I already have a copy, but if you’re a Steve Ditko fan then your splurge item for the week should be Unexplored Worlds, the second volume in Fantagraphics and editor Blake Bell’s ongoing attempt to collect his pre-Code and pre-Spider-Man material. My splurge, however, is a $30 hardcover collection of Jodorowsky and Moebius’ Madwoman of the Sacred Heart. I know next to nothing about this book, but c’mon, it’s Jodorowsky and Moebius! The same folks who brought The Incal! How could it not be awesome? (please don’t answer that)

Harvey Pekar

Legendary comics writer Harvey Pekar died on July 12 as a result of an accidental overdose of antidepressants, a coroner has determined.

Pekar, 70, was found dead by his wife Joyce Brabner in their Cleveland Heights, Ohio, home. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller ruled his death by natural causes. “He did not take his own life,” said a spokesman for the coroner’s office. “His death came as a result of accidental ingestion of fluoxetine and bupropion.”

Fluoxetine, often marketed as Prozac, is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attacks. Bupropion, also known as Wellbutrin or Zyban, is prescribed for depression and smoking cessation; it poses a risk of seizure when taken incorrectly.

Pekar, best known for his American Splendor series of autobiographical comics that inspired the acclaimed 2003 film of the same name, had been suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and depression. He was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1990, which inspired him to collaborate with Brabner and Frank Stack on Our Cancer Year.

photo by Seth Kushner from MOCCA 2010 Panel

There are more comics being produced now than ever before — from new releases to reprints and re-issues to comics coming in from outside the United States. And while the number of comics arriving weekly to your favorite store grows every year, the shelf space doesn’t. As comic books fight for your attention, some of the more entrepreneurial-minded creators are engaging their public directly. They do it with forums, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and interviews with the comics press — but when does that leave time to … you know… create comics?

That’s where publicity person and uber-fan Jeff Newelt comes in. Newelt, who often goes by the moniker of “Jah Furry,” worked for years as  a publicity director for major companies such as Samsung, but left it all to go solo and to take his love of comics — and the craft of making comics — to the people.

As the minister of hype for webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE and working with friends such as Paul Pope, Newelt has brought attention to their work by reaching out to journalists and by communicating directly with fans through Twitter and Facebook.

He’s also parlayed his skills into editing, as the comics editor for the online magazine SMITH and in gigs for Heeb and Royal Flush. He also headed up the recent grassroots Harvey Heads gallery, with artists from all over the world drawing a rendition of Harvey Pekar. Newelt also edited The Pekar Project, and is speaking at the “Remembering Harvey Pekar” panel next weekend at New York Comic Con.

Through it all, Newelt has become an indispensable part of the comics world, as well as a staple of the New York City comics scene. In many ways he’s a 21st-century Stan Lee — goodwill ambassador for comics to the outside world. He offers a unique perspective on the creators he works with, and the vibrant scene he lives in. Don’t expect any hard-hitting journalism — this is just me seeing what makes the man tick.

Chris Arrant: What do you see your role in comics as?

Jeff Newelt: I gots multiple roles with mad prongs. To nutshell it: 1) I’m both an ambassador of the medium to the uninitiated and a spreader of sublime shite to existing fans on behalf of creators/publishers by way of public relations, social-media shenanigans, event producing/promoting, and boppin’ around with books in my murse. Comics clients of mine include/have included Paul Pope, Rick Veitch, David Lloyd, Molly Crabapple, Dan Goldman, ACT-I-VATE, Larry Marder, Al Jaffee/Harper Collins, Bill Ayers/Teachers College Press, CBLDF, Doug Rushkoff, Bryan Talbot, as well as newcomers like SoulCraft Comics (Tribes: The Dog Years) and ZIP! Comics (Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland, coming in 2011).

I’ve been converting people to comics since I was 7 years old; I once got in a teacher’s face with the Kirby/ Lee Thor vs. Hercules “Treasury Edition,” and showed him how I already knew the mythologies we were learning, and that the vocabulary was even more complex in “my” version, forsooth!

I like to think I played a small part in the tectonic shift we’re still experiencing. The boom in interest in graphic novels these past two years is not, as the cynical naysayers might assert, part of a “cycle,” it’s a change. THINGS DONE CHANGED. Here’s the dealio: You don’t have to be an indie-film freak to see a few indie films a year, right? You don’t have to be a theater buff to go to one or two plays; you don’t have to be a jazzhead to see a few shows or download a Miles Davis album. BUT before now, unless you were already into ‘em, or had someone like me literally shoving one in your face, there was little chance you’d be exposed to, let alone read, a comic. Finally, you don’t have to be a comics-store regular to get a few graphic novels a year, or read webcomics regularly … Comics are now just another medium for culture-lovers to consume. This is very much a result of the Internet, in terms of webcomics allowing folks to read comics (often for the first time) while they’re not-working, and also Facebook, Twitter, etc., that has all sorts of folks in each others faces recommending shit to each other all day, and the easy access to Amazon and ordering books online …

2) I’m a connector of comics creators with badarses in other mediums to share audiences and ideas as well as concoct cosmic team-ups. For example, two years ago I mashed Paul Pope with video remix masters Eclectic Method; they really dug each other’s shit and Paul, whose comics exude music, always wanted to DJ. So the EM guys taught Paul a thing or three, he opened for them at the NYCWTF parties and San Diego Comic-Con 2009 CBLDF benefit, and now, training wheels off, PP is an actual DJ Pulphope and headlined a dozen gigs in the past year.

Newelt modeling for appearance in 'Shooting War' illustrated by Dan Goldman

3) As comics editor of SMITH Magazine, I’m a curator/producer of ambitious webcomix projects, each of which has gone on to become a book or is on its way to, knock on wood. The first was Shooting War, by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman, then A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge, by Josh Neufeld, the Next-Door Neighbor anthology edited by Dean Haspiel, and currently, my first all-out editor gig, The Pekar Project, Harvey Pekar’s (RIP) webcomics series. For “The Pekar Project” my role was/is actually three-fold: editor/producer/promoter. I edited the comics, meaning Harvey read me the scripts over the phone and we’d jam, then I would work with the artists on manifesting his story; I produced the website, wrote blogs concocted, special features like the Harvey Heads gallery for Harvey’s 70th birthday; I promoted/publicized it, knowing in my gut that so many more people could be into Harvey’s work, even after the American Splendor movie. Before Seinfeld had an episode in a Chinese restaurant, Harvey had comics that took place at the supermarket, etc. I treated working on this project like I was a record producer, and Harvey was the composer/band leader, the artists the musicians/soloists. For example, I teamed-up Harvey and Doug Rushkoff for a “conversational comic.” Harvey went on Doug’s WFMU radio show, but even before they chatted on-air, I knew the results would be a raw extended track for us to edit, remix and produce the final album, which is a four-part comic illustrated by Sean Pryor. It felt like putting Duke Ellington and John Coltrane together in the studio, knowing it would work and be a spectacular simpatico one-off. And Pryor did a terrific job of illustrating the conversation itself, not two people talking.

4) I’m comics editor of Heeb and Royal Flush magazines, and also a frequent moderator of panels at various cons. In my journalism work, I act more as an appreciator then as a critic; I only write for non-comics publications and I don’t do any negative reviews. My criteria for what’s covered is that the work should be something appealing to both the aficionado and the newbie. For example for Heeb I’ve done profiles on Gary Panter, Paul Pope, Mike Allred, Jeff Smith, etc., and every year I get to be the first in comics to pop out a best-of list, because the Jewish New Year comes first! I recently chose my Top 10 Comics of 5770. For Royal Flush I did a fun piece on the friendship between Jack Kirby and Frank Zappa, by way of an interview with Ahmet Zappa, and got Rick Veitch to draw “Zappa as a Kirby New God.” I co-curated the MoCCA Fest 2010 with Brian Heater, and got to moderate a dream panel, “The Art of the Superhero,” with Frank Miller, Kyle Baker, Jaime Hernandez, Paul Pope and Dean Haspiel, and also throw a helluva after party with DJ Pulphope, DJ Crosshatch (Brian Heater of The Daily Cross Hatch), and DJ Man-Size (Dean Haspiel)

Arrant: What do you do for comic creators — are you a manager, agent or the comics equivalent to a superhero’s tech guy? And what are some projects you are working on now.

Newelt shows up in a Harvey Pekar Comic by Joseph Remnant

Newelt: It’s a mixture, I do different things for different clients/cohorts. For the most part, I provide a combination of public relations and social-media services, meaning I help score articles ranging from The New York Times features like this one for Molly Crabapple, to interviews in cool blogs like Robot 6 [laughs]; I advise on/help run Twitter/Facebook accounts, and act as a media outlet myself by popping goodies from clients into my own robust feeds. But I can’t be paid to promote something I don’t adore — that would poison my feeds and defeat the porpoise of love.
I enthuse about so many things I adore that its tough to tell whom my clients are. Only so many hours in a day, so clients get priority, but I’m perpetually pimpin’ anything I think rocks heiny. I do act as occasional agent, scoring gigs for creators for a commission. I also throw a mean launch soiree. I usually do it as a team-up, for example we did a party to launch Next-Door Neighbor true-life webcomix anthology, edited by Dean Haspiel, combined with Doug Rushkoff’s Life Inc., which brought together both complementary fan bases that wouldn’t necessarily know about the other’s work without a nudge.

I also help produce and perform live comix readings, like the one ACT-I-VATE did this past weekend in Dumbo. The comics were projected, dialogue read aloud, and each strip had its own soundtrack. I wound up doing four voices, including my specialty, Harvey Pekar’s, and ’twas quite a delight. Photos here. I’ll be performing an encore of Pekar pieces I read at the RIO Comic Con in November.

Some recent fun projects: I’m working on promoting Al Jaffee’s Mad Life, a biography written by Mary-Lou Weisman with 65-plus new illos by Al. It’s a fucking page-turner and a tearjerker. He had an abysmal childhood, with a nutty mom who not only locked him and his brothers in an apartment with nothing but a piss bucket to run around giving all her money to beggars, but after Al’s dad got the family out of Lithuania to the U.S., she kidnapped them and took them back! Just in time for Hitler! So no wonder he’s the ultimate sillyhead, he escaped all that misery by entertaining himself and others. I set up a Facebook page for Al Jaffee, which I take pride in doing just right, with the right mix of content in the right places to provide an instant hearty, enticing and real introduction to the “product.”

Bill Ayers! What a treat to work with someone Sarah Palin hates! If Sarah hates them, I wanna hug ‘em. I helped promote To Teach: The Journey, In Comics, his kick-ass teaching memoir/manifesto. A lazier “celebrity” would have handed his original book to an artist and said, “Adapt this.” But no, Ryan Alexander-Tanner lived with Bill for six months, and they recreated his memoir from the ground-up. ‘Twas a privilege to work with such a passionate creative duo. Bill got the hang of Facebook, but I still owe him a tweetorial.

I’m having a blast helping photographer Seth Kushner curate his remarkable ACT-I-VATE series CulturePOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real Life Characters. For Season 1, I set him up with jazz sousaphonist Clark Gayton, VJ Jonny Wilson from Eclectic Method, sculptor/graffiti artist Mare139, and Doug Rushkoff. Wait til you see who we lined up for Season 2, which starts October 4th.

You are what you eat and you are what you work on. I’m blessed to be working with terrific creators and creations. Right now I’m promoting two gawjuss graphic novels, Tribes: The Dog Years, a manga-meets-Moebius widescreen sci-fi epic written by Mike Geszel, who along with Larry Smith of SMITH, was my editor-in-chief on 34th Street, the weekly arts mag at UPENN, and illustrated by Inaki Miranda who WILL be a star within one year, and Red Light Properties by Dan Goldman, a now-complete online graphic novel about a real estate firm that performs exorcisms on haunted properties in Miami. Red Light Properties is the comic I wanted to read from Dan ever since I got a taste of his psychedelic prowess with Kelly! I would eat each new Red Light Properties chapter like candy and poop out peppy promotional posts! As a fun way to promote Red Light Properties, interviewed not Dan, but Jude Tobin, the lead character, for ComicsAlliance. It was a unique opportunity to jump into a fictional world a la Purple Rose of Cairo.

I’m also working again with Doug Rushkoff, promoting his new book Program of be Programmed: 10 Commands for a Digital Age; its fun to be a fan, friend and collaborator with your clients! People tell me to stop working, but it’s also my play! Now sometimes I should stop playing AND working and just relax, that’s probably a good idea …

From left: Paul Pope, Dean Haspiel, Frank Miller, Jeff Newelt, Kyle Baker and Jaime Hernandez (photo by Seth Kushner)

Arrant: What’s your day job, and how does that relate to your work in comics?

Newelt: I left day-job land over two years ago to go solo. For my last fulltime PR gig, I had Samsung as a client for four years. This relates to my work in comics in that I have a corporate PR background, and certain connections I made during that period, I still pitch stories to, but with my shirt tucked out. It was like my secret identity, “Tucked-In Boy,” I fucking hate tucking! And they made me tuck. No one outside of that world would recognize me tucked; I’d see someone on the street, they’d have no idea who I am, then I would untuck and they’d go “JEFF!!!” Now afternoon job is more like it, my eight hours of sleep are 4 a.m. to 12 p.m,. it’s how I’ve always worked and played best, because my play is my work, and vice versa … I often organize outings to jazz and reggae gigs that I also promote, and who joins me but clients, media, artists, etc., so much of my work gets done at night, that I don’t apologize for my unique schedule.

My non-comics clients are cool, too. I’ve become a go-to guy for corporate clients to outsource blog-outreach/social-media work when the project is sweet enough not to pollute my feeds. Recent clients were Volvo, ESPN, the Korean government and the British government; they all needed someone to organically infiltrate on their behalf who would be believed because, not only don’t I bullshit, I can’t — I’d bore myself to death if I ever had to B.S. for a living, or even a minute.

This all relates to comics because I am able to combine my comics peeps with all these other great peeps to make cross medium magic happen. And I’m always noodging journalists who cover cool stuff of all kinds to cover comics, making sure comics are on their radar.

Arrant: Part of what you do is related to the fact you live and work in NYC, where the biggest collection of comic creators live. Could you do what you were doing if you were living in … Muncie, Indiana, or somewhere?

Newelt: No, I couldn’t and I wouldn’t. I can do a lot on the Internet, but the online feeds the offline and vice versa. Only working one side of that equation won’t work, I need to be out and about and within, and, as I said before, I conduct a lot of my “networking” at jazz and reggae shows, etc., I know where the crazy-good shit’s at each night, and I bring together all sorts of folks at those gigs.

Newelt's logo courtesy of Dan Goldman

Arrant: What would you do if you were promoted from minister of hype at AiV to do it for the entire comics medium?

Newelt: Basically I’d do what I’m already doing. I’m certainly not the only hypester of the medium — there are many — but I do a good job promoting the medium as a whole already.

Arrant: Since you know comics and know New York City: Take me on a walking comics tour of NYC. Where would you go?

Newelt: In Manhattan I’d take you to the offices of DC and Marvel; to Forbidden Planet, Midtown Comics and St. Marks Comics, to the apartment of Heidi MacDonald and Ben McCool to meet their Twitter-famous puking cat, to Landsdowne Road — a pub frequented by many comics peeps, especially after NYCC; in Brooklyn to Deep Six studios to say hi to Dean Haspiel, Simon Fraser, Nathan Schreiber and that lot, to Desert Island and Bergen Street Comics, and out to Rockwood Music Hall midnight on a Tuesday to hear the Dred Scott Trio or to NuBlu to check out Clark Gayton with me, Paul Pope and posse.

Photographed by Seth Kushner

This has been a year of ups and downs for Dean Haspiel.

He’s riding high after last week’s win at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. He, along with the crew of the HBO series Bored To Death, won for outstanding main title design, and Haspiel returned to his native New York City to continue the promotional blitz for his upcoming graphic novel Cuba: My Revolution with artist and family friend Inverna Lockpez. He just had a short feature published in Marvel’s Deadpool #1000 and has more work on the way for the House of Ideas. But this was also the year his friend and longtime collaborator Harvey Pekar passed away.

Throughout it all, Haspiel has become one of the strongest independent voices of comics (or “comix,” as he would say). His years of networking and socializing in the New York City comics scene came to fruition in 2006 with the inception of the ACT-I-VATE collective, resulting in several series making the jump from web to print in IDW Publishing’s ACT-I-VATE Primer. He continues to be a driving force in webcomics, with the third installment of his semi-autobiographical series Street Code just out from Zuda‘s newly transplanted home on Apple’s mobile-phone platform.

Today, he has a girlfriend, a studio full of friends dubbed DEEP6, a Sept. 15 signing at Midtown Comics, and new work appearing later this month in the second season of Bored To Death. On a recent morning, I talked to Dean by phone before he rode his bike to his nearby studio.

Chris Arrant: Let’s start with an easy one, Dean – What are you working on today?

Dean Haspiel: Today I’m going to the studio to work on the final page of Street Code. It’s a semi-auto-bio comic about the transition of moving between Manhattan and Brooklyn. While it takes place during a certain era in my life – around when I turned 30 to recent events – the latitude of semi-auto-bio allows me to crunch time and tell certain kinds of stories. The themes of Street Code are about my avatar, Jack, and how he interacts with his new neighbors, and how they interact wit him. I use stories that have happened to me. Street Code recently transitioned from being a Zuda webcomic to being on the ComiXology and the DC Digital app.

The particular story I’m working on now is called “Beef with Tomato,” which is my love letter to New York City and a slight homage to Charles Bukowski’s Ham On Rye. This will end up being the sixth “issue” of Street Code on the digital app but, fingers crossed, if the transition to digital is popular for Street Code then it’s possible it could yield more stories in the future.

Then what I’m working on next is a backup feature to Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Girl #1 – written by Paul Tobin, who’s writing the regular series as well. And it features a young version of Spider-Girl before she became Spider-Girl; her father was a reporter, and she goes with him on a visit to the Baxter Building to interview Sue Storm. It gives me a chance to draw the lumpy version of the Thing. It’s a wink at the old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories. It’s probably why I got hired, because Marvel is paying attention to how much I love Kirby and old Marvel comics.

It’s not too retro … It’s not me getting my Mad Men on and drawing Sue Storm as January Jones, but it will be a lot of fun.

Arrant: Are you doing just the first issue, or is this an ongoing backup?

Haspiel: This is just for the first issue; who knows if I’ll get another gig. It’s possible that, by the end of the year, I’ll have scored another long-form gig.

And coming in December we’ll finally see the release of the Woodgod story I did for Marvel in Strange Tales #3. My Woodgod story is my Marvel Two-in-One homage; it features the Celestials and the Thing.

I finished my art for the original graphic novel Cuba: My Revolution last December, and I reunited with Jonathan Ames to do some things for the second season of Bored To Death, which starts Sept. 26. It was a lot of work. Jonathan and I cobbled together some of the artwork for Season 2 and designed a Super-Ray minicomic to promote the show at the current comic cons. At San Diego, they hired people to dress up as Zack’s Super-Ray character to pass out the minicomic. I was also passing them out at my table at last weekend’s con in Baltimore, and I’ll also have them at SPX and the New York Comic-Con.

Arrant: That’s a lot, but like you said you’re wrapping up – or have already wrapped up – most of these. What’s your big project in the future you’d like to work on?

Haspiel: I’m always trying to pitch my next big book. I’m used to working on one major project throughout the year, and then fitting in smaller projects, like things on ACT-I-VATE or the Deadpool story I just did for Marvel. I love those challenges, but I also like the security of having a 120- to 140-page graphic novel to work on throughout the year while taking these small jobs. But I don’t have that large job right now. I’ve been pitching some long-form stories, and collaborating with different writers I like to work with. The trajectory I’m aiming for is to be able to write more. I hope that’ll happen at some point.

Super Ray minicomic for HBO series 'Bored To Death'

Arrant: After all the work you’ve done at Vertigo with other writers while also writing your own stories in a smaller clip, the next step for you is your own graphic novel there writing and drawing.

Haspiel: Yeah, I have my ideas. I made my hay doing memoirs and semi-auto-bio comix, but my passion is doing superheroes, psychedelic romance and science-fiction noir.

Arrant: I know we’re jumping around here, but how was your first day back at work after winning an Emmy for the title design on Bored To Death?

Haspiel: I got in at 1 a.m. off the flight back from California, placed my Emmy on my dresser, caught about six hours sleep then had to finish a gig inking a cover of an upcoming series at Marvel. I went right back to work.

Arrant: So no rest, huh?

Haspiel: Not much, but this is the kind of work I’ve been itching to do. Right now I’m doing what I can do the best I can so editors will shine a light on me and see where I stand at Marvel. This is what I think: There are segments of the superhero books that are “blockbuster” comics; the regular titles are ones where I wouldn’t necessarily fit with in terms of the ideology or the look or feel of it. But there are also titles, like the ones Nathan Cosby edits, and the ones Paul Tobin writes, that are more cartoony and allow for a Silver Age feel. As long as they keep producing those comics, I’ll have a potential place there professionally.

But at the same time, you don’t need to be working at Marvel or DC to make a living in comics. For me, it’s a choice and a desire to work on franchise comics because that’s what I grew up reading.

Arrant: I understand what you’re saying about those “blockbuster” comics, the top-tier books. I’d hate to see you try to alter your style to fit into that mold.

Haspiel: Don’t take me wrong, I don’t think there’s a house style, per se, but there’s a perception amongst editors of what the audience wants. There seems to be a polarization between the comics I grew up with, the comics I draw and like, and then the comics today that are the neo-realistic Hollywood blockbusters of comics.

I will tell you this, though – one guy I really admire because he dances between cartoony and stylized is Stuart Immonen.

Arrant: Yeah, I’m interviewing him later this week for Robot 6.

Haspiel: He’s great. I wish I had half his talent. That guy really creates a great balance; I see him as an artist at the crossroads, acknowledging the tradition of Marvel Comics in the older style, while also standing shoulder-to-shoulder with what’s currently being published in the franchise.

Arrant: Did you see the recent book he and Kathryn [Immonen] did at Top Shelf, Moving Pictures?

Haspiel: It’s beautiful. He’s a master storyteller and draftsman. He gets it.

Arrant: Jumping back to Bored to Death before we descend into more comics, what exactly did you do for the new season? Did you do new title credits?

Haspiel: The title credits are the same. This time I did more artwork for the Ray Hueston character played by Zack Galifianakis. In Season 2 we get to see more of his life, his studio and art table – and that’s my artwork he’s doing. And a particular comic book he draws in the show, we see some of that. The season is going to be eight episodes, and in the season finale it culminates in a comic convention in which I make a cameo, as well as other Brooklynite cartoonists.

Arrant: Has that been filmed yet?

Haspiel: Yeah, it’s already been shot, but I don’t know what’s going to make it out of the editing room and into the final scene. It was shot at the Brooklyn Lyceum where King Con is held.

Cuba: My Revolution (DC/Vertigo)

Arrant: From King Con to Cuba, your next big release is Cuba: My Revolution from Vertigo. I just received a press copy, and although I haven’t read it yet, I keep coming back to your artwork and José’s [Villarrubia] colors. How do you normally handle things with a colorist?

Haspiel: Well, the major works I’ve done have been in black & white  — The Quitter and The Alcoholic. For those toned works, I trusted Lee Loughridge to know what to do. I see pages as they come in and give notes on a few alterations, but basically it’s just a matter of adding a couple greytones to help shape some of the pages. With José and Cuba: My Revolution, he’s a master artist and painter himself. I handpicked him because I love what he does. He comes from outside of comics, and teaches art in Baltimore. So with him on board, so much more has been added to this project. Plus I wanted someone Spanish to help me realize this view of Cuba. Although he’s from Madrid, Spain, and not Cuba proper, he adds that Spanish flavor to the book.

I knew going in I wanted a limited color palette because I love the simple two-color treatment like I did on Billy Dogma, which I felt was needed for this. I don’t like to use color as color but as a tone. I knew that if I could get José on-board to color it as adding tones, and get him to bring his A-game, explore and experiment with the limited gamut, then this would look great. Our aim was to evoke an era from the late 50s and early 60s; I wanted this to look like a cross between a Preston Sturges film and I Love Lucy, even though the content of the book is very severe and dramatic.  Most of the book is black and white with gray tones, but the introduction of the passionate color of red gives you a multitude of variations: pink, salmon, blood, communism, romance and revolution. I knew that when we settled on this color scheme I was excited what José was going to do with it.

Arrant: So how would the coloring process work?

Haspiel: José would do a first pass on a page, then me, the writer, Inverna Lockpez, and editor, Joan Hilty, would make notes and send it back to José to finally arrive at what is published. With a limited palette, you may not believe it but it’s harder to decide what to assign colors to. Orchestrating the color palette, choosing the paper stock, as well as the design of the book, all came together into something I’m very proud of. I’ve described the book as something you might find if you dug a shovel into the sand of Cuba; when you pull out that dirt, you’ll find Cuba: My Revolution. That dirt gives you a sense of time and place you couldn’t otherwise document.

Arrant: Did you go, or at least think about, trying to make it in to Cuba for research on the book?

Haspiel: I would have loved to go to Cuba during the making of the book, but I never figured out a way to do it. I would like for it to be translated into Spanish; that was one of my first notes towards the publisher. I’m excited to see what the reaction will be to Cubans, but also a little scared. If you’ve ever met a Cuban who has lived in Castro’s Cuba, the ideology there polarizes people. It’s a very black-and-white subject for Cubans from Cuba, and while some people believe in Castro’s ideology and fight for it, others are vehemently against it. I know you haven’t read the book yet, but the majority of it is in support of Castro’s Cuba from the eyes of the protagonist because she buys into the ideas at an early age, joins the militia and becomes a surgeon. But slowly, with evidence from family and friends beginning to leave, she herself is betrayed by the regime and is tortured by sharing the ideology. With most of her friends and family gone, she’s the last one to break and leave. It’s about the story of Sonya, this woman who, when she finally emerges as an artist, can’t express herself freely in her own home and country and has to leave and come to America to tell her story. It took Inverna a long while to tell her story – a good fifty years.

Arrant: And this project came about from you knowing Inverna and pitching it to Vertigo. I’ve always known you as one of those people who knows everyone. You gave a film producer the idea to do a movie based on Harvey Pekar’s work, you created the personal webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE.com, wrangled your Gowanus, Brooklyn, studio DEEP6, and you’ve been close with Jonathan Ames in comics and now with the HBO show. I know working on comics can be a solitary experience sometimes, but how does the socializing part of things affect you?

Haspiel: For Harvey’s American Splendor film, it all started when I was an assistant to Ted Hope. While I was working at his house, I uncovered a script for American Splendor written years and years ago, as well as – believe this – a script for “Ed the Happy Clown” from Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur. I told Ted, “Wow man, I didn’t realize you had these things!” I had just finished a comic with Harvey and I told Ted how cool an American Splendor film would be. Ted liked the idea, so I talked to Harvey about it. Harvey was initially hesitant about it because he’d heard this kind of story before and how it backfired, but Harvey said he’d talk to Ted. So Ted and Harvey talked, and a year and a half later this amazing movie came out. It was an award-winning, incredibly innovative film.

I also just saw a rough cut of James Gunn’s upcoming film Super, produced by Ted Hope, starring Rainn Wilson, Kevin Bacon and Liv Tyler; that’s another low-budget film coming out to watch for. The only way I can describe it is that it’s like a cross between Taxi Driver and Dan Clowes.

For ACT-I-VATE, it all started out by just talking to people. It seemed to scratch a certain itch that I couldn’t find elsewhere. That kind of thing sometimes gets me in trouble, in terms of not making my own work because I’m matching people up and helping getting balls rolling. Plus there’s the fact that since we live in a world of artists, writers and creators, we spend 50 percent of the day branding ourselves with social networking and such. Today, you can’t rely on a publisher to market you; it’s actually gotten harder to market because of the Internet. I spend at least 50 percent of my day hyping, and cobbling together things for other people. Maybe these concentrated efforts will yield me a position as an editor or organizer of a publishing imprint. I only have so many stories in me that I want to show and tell in comics, and my attention gets distracted by working with other truly talented people who create wonderful content, perpetuating the comics form, and doing other kinds of storytelling.

Arrant: Do you think the socializing and networking helps you when you sit down to do comics?

Haspiel: Absolutely. Of course. I know people who can’t or won’t do it, and that’s fine. Maybe it’s a focus issue or they can’t deal with distraction; I respect that. But I can’t move a pencil eight hours in a row; I’m getting older. Drawing is my least-favorite part of making comics. I enjoy doing layouts, conjuring ideas and working on dialogue. It’s the actual execution and craft of comics that’s the doldrums for me. To make it fun, I work around like-minded people like the crew at DEEP6. Sure there’ll be lulls and the ebbs and flows, fights and such –- it has its pros and cons like any office environment. Then you remind yourself you’re sitting among a bunch of folks doing what you love, and although we sure can complain like the best of them, it’s a fantastic thing to be able to spend each day writing and drawing comics. That’s what I like to do, and that’s what we do. I’ve become unemployable otherwise.

But, in this day and age, I wouldn’t know how to get a job outside of the comics and film industries. Sure, I sit at my art table eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a lot more than I’d like to. I work until midnight most nights, six days a week, and there’s an irony to that. Sometimes I look out the window and wish I was at the beach, or could stop and watch a movie and eat dinner with my girlfriend. I guess I let my ego get in the way, because I think I’m creating a testament to my life here. I draw other people’s stories, too, because I believe I’m a good collaborator and I like working with people, but I would also like to experience life more, outside of my work, so, when I do write and draw, I can report my life and allow for hindsight to be expressed like how I do with my work on Street Code and Billy Dogma, both very emotional auto-bio comix.

Arrant: What’s it like having these avatars of you floating around: Billy in Billy Dogma, Jack in Street Code and Ray in Bored to Death?

Haspiel: The character in Bored to Death is only very loosely based on me; I don’t consider it to be me at all. There are some background story elements we share to help fill out the character – but Zack and Jonathan have fully realized the Ray Hueston character on their own.

But on the subject of avatars, I think that if you buy into the concept of “write what you know,” then I can’t help but include variations of myself. I think my personal works are like variations on those Russian dolls where they are different-sized versions of the exact same thing.

Arrant: Does it ever sneak into your non-auto-bio comix?

Haspiel: I just wrote and drew a story for Deadpool #1000, and I put a version of myself, a conflict I know very well, in that job. In the Woodgod tale for Strange Tales v2 #3, that’s all me. It’s rare that I get to write franchise characters but, ultimately, I write what I know. In Cuba: My Revolution, I cast myself as one of Sonya’s torturers. The writer, Inverna, was having emotional trouble embracing her story as visualized, as it dug up buried memories. So, in a weird and bizarre solution to help counteract her troubles, I elected to cast myself as one of the torturers to be there for her. In a twisted way I was protecting her. Comforting her.

Arrant: Do you find yourself drawn to franchise characters like the Thing and Woodgod because you see yourself in there somewhere?

Haspiel: Definitely. I love the Thing. He’s a tragic monster. Not that I’m walking around like Ben Grimm, but there’s also a bit of romance in his depiction that I respond to. Even though he’s sold as “the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing,” I understand his main story to be that of a tragic, creature romance comic. We all hurt, feel pain, and that’s one of the universal things we can latch onto – our vulnerability. One of the reasons Jonathan Ames has been so successful is that he understands you have to be vulnerable to tell a powerful story; it’s about showing that you’re vulnerable, or you become vulnerable. There’s nothing you can do when you’re standing before a knight in shining armor; the heroes I like to tackle are the flawed ones, the one who have problems, who make mistakes and learn. We all make mistakes, and we’re always learning.

Arrant: Do you mind if we talk about Harvey and his passing?

Haspiel: Sure, it’s okay.

Arrant: Now that some time has passed since Harvey Pekar’s death, are you at peace with it? Do you ever forget he’s gone and want to give him a call, or expect a phone call from him?

Haspiel: Yeah, I can’t believe he’s dead – bottom line.

I don’t even know how to answer. I hope he’s at peace. Not that he lived an especially hard life, but he lived a small life, a common life, and was somehow able to exploit that artistically, which was great; not many people can do that. Yet, if you want to learn about Harvey Pekar, it’s all out there in his comics. You know, I think maybe his death was poetic. Sometimes people will die and it seems like they were taken away far too soon. Yeah, seventy is a young age to die at, but I think it’s okay. And it’s a shame he didn’t get to tell his last story – you don’t get to do that with autobiography. That’s his wife’s job, or maybe his many collaborators.

Harvey Pekar was a consistent, like a smoke signal, observing what was around him and reporting on it. Because of the storytelling medium he worked in, the oracle of Harvey Pekar will always be around for us to read and ponder.

And it’s encouraging to me that his stories encourage you to tell your own story. It was Harvey Pekar’s work that I read as a teenager that showed me that comics didn’t have to be just superheroes or genre-oriented work. He convinced me of that.

Arrant: Where do you see yourself in five years, Dean?

Haspiel: Well, there’s the cynical part of me that sees it one way and then there’s where I hope I’ll be. Where I hope to see myself in five years is writing and drawing my own stories, my own comic books, and also working in television and movies. I’d like to create a show, and write and possibly direct it. That’s what I’d like to do. In my early years, I went to SUNY Purchase to study filmmaking. I love music, and sound. I don’t get to do that in comics, and I’m not satisfied by animation except for PIXAR. I think what they do is brilliant, but I’m not interested in working in that medium. For me, its either static images like comics or working with live actors in film.

Arrant: Have you taken any steps towards these film ambitions?

Jonathan Ames, Stephanie Davis, Vanja Cernjul, Dean Haspiel, Jennifer Ferguson

Haspiel: I’m working up a couple of screenplays I wrote years ago, dusting them off and pitching them as graphic novels. But I’d love for them to go their original intended direction and become films. I’ve always thought in terms of movies; a ninety-minute/two-hour story, but because I’ve been working with Jonathan Ames on Bored to Death I’m rethinking that. There are some great shows out there – Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Deadwood, 30 Rock. I’m really looking forward to The Walking Dead TV series. I think television has become a great way to tell a story. With movies you tell one story and it’s finished, but with television it’s episodic and you’re given the latitude to advance characters and situations and story arcs. You’d think that I’d have a good grasp with episodic storytelling since I work in comics, but with television the minute you start dealing with real money it’s a whole new ballgame. The great thing about comics is that you can truly experiment with new ideas on a page, and because there’s no budget on what you can draw on a page, it can do pretty much anything. It doesn’t cost that much to produce and print a comic – but that’s kind of a crime, because in comics there are many creators out there coming up with fantastic ideas and trying out new things, to only get poached by other more expensive mediums that pay better. And you know, it’s tough to make a buck in comics even when you’re at your most successful.

Look at me, I won an Emmy and I have a book coming out that people are excited about that could entice the literary crowd and be made into a movie. It might also tickle the fancy of superhero readers – you never know – because fans are hungry for a wide range of stories. But with all that, I don’t have health insurance; I eat cheap; I live small. It’s not to say I’m a great storyteller that deserves more because there are a lot of great storytellers out there in my same situation. Jack Kirby alone came up with half the ideas being done today in our culture. Comics have become some kind of IP farm for savvier businessmen to reap.

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1

Sales charts | Although Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World performed poorly at the box office, it continues to boost sales of the Bryan Lee O’Malley series on which it’s based. The six volumes claimed the top six spots on BookScan’s list of graphic novels sold in bookstores in August, followed at No. 7 by the latest volume of The Walking Dead, whose television adaptation debuts on Halloween on AMC. [ICv2.com]

Legal | The owners of BATS BBQ in Rock Hill, South Carolina, are digging in for a legal battle after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from DC Comics, which objects to their attempts to trademark the restaurant’s logo. [The Herald]

Publishing | Mark Millar discusses CLiNT Magazine, his new monthly venture with Titan Magazines that debuts today in the United Kingdom. [Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser]

Publishing | Calvin Reid spotlights Lerner Publishing Group’s four-year-old comics division. [Publishers Weekly]

SPX

Conventions | Mike Rhode interviews Jeff Alexander, executive director of the Small Press Expo, which will be held Sept. 11-12 in Bethesda, Maryland. [Washington City Paper]

Creators | David Itzkoff looks at the unsettled state of affairs of prolific writer Harvey Pekar who, when he passed away in July, had numerous projects in the pipeline. [The New York Times]

Creators | Longtime Archie Comics cartoonist Dan Parent talks about the introduction of gay teen Kevin Keller in this week’s Veronica #202: “”I see Kevin as the red-blooded American boy who just happens to be gay. I’m not really trying to make a social statement – if anything, just that Riverdale is a diverse and welcoming town.” [Bay Area Reporter]

She Died in Terrebonne

Creators | Kevin Church and T.J. Kirsch, creators of the webcomic She Died in Terrebonne, chat about their collaboration on the crime mystery. [Avoid the Future]

Creators | Anne Ishii talks with Johnny Ryan about Detroit Metal City, the manga series by Kiminori Wakasugi. [TCJ.com]

Creators | Brian Heater wraps up his four-part interview with Dan Goldman. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | Douglas Wolk considers the difficulties of writing a long-running superhero serial like Fantastic Four, and looks back at the many series debuts of Wolverine. [Techland]

Comics | Bully hilariously highlights many of the countless — well, 59 or so — shell corporations used by Martin Goodman to publish Marvel comics. Or should that be “Marvel” comics? [Comics Oughta Be Fun!]

Comics College is a monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium’s most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.

This month we’re paying homage to a writer who left us a little too recently and too soon, the late, great Harvey Pekar.

Why he’s important

In a time when no one — apart from maybe a select few underground artists like Aline Kominsky-Crumb — was attempting to use comics to tell stories about everyday life, Pekar had an epiphany. By adapting into comics (with the help of an ever-expanding cadre of artists) his daily thoughts and experiences, as well as those of his friends and co-workers, he pushed people to look beyond their prejudices and preconceptions about the comic-book medium and think about its potential instead.

What’s more, he was a gifted writer, with a wonderful ear for people’s cadences and behavior. His self-awareness and probing honesty made incredibly minor incidents — making lemonade, a trip to the grocery store — fascinating and entertaining. Pekar wasn’t great because he focused on minutiae. He was great because in examining minutiae he found truths and emotions that most of us are in too much of a hurry to pay attention to.

Where to start

You have a couple of options here. My first suggestion would be to go with the American Splendor movie tie-in book (the one with Paul Giamatti on the cover, above). This collects the first two Ballentine anthologies from his comic book series and contains most of his best work, including “The Harvey Pekar Name Story,” “Alice Quinn,” “Hypothetical Quandary” and “A Ride Home.” This is pretty much the pure, unadulterated source.

On the other hand, if you want a slimmer, more distilled reading experience, you could start with Bob an Harv’s Comics, which only collects the stories Pekar did with Robert Crumb. Crumb was one of Pekar’s best — if not the best — interpreters, and the two had a rapport that made for one of the best collaborations in the history of comics.

Continuing along the “greatest hits” thread, there is also apparently a Best of American Splendor collection, though I haven’t had an opportunity to track down a copy yet. My understanding is it only collects stories from the 1990s and onward, which may not make it the best pick for a first-timer, but if there’s an intrepid reader out there who can enlighten me of its value in the comments section, please feel free.

From there you should read

The New American Splendor Anthology is another solid anthology culled from Pekar’s series, and features some great collaborations, including an inspired (and kinda loopy) one with Chester Brown. This is also where he delves into his appearances on the David Letterman show, for those who are curious to hear about that.

After American Splendor and Letterman, Pekar is best known for Our Cancer Year, in which he and his wife, Joyce Brabner, chronicled his first bout with Lymphoma (his cancer returned later in his life). Ably and strikingly illustrated by Frank Stack (author of The New Adventures of Jesus), it’s a pretty stark look at what a draining, tense experience it is to be seriously ill in modern America. The book takes a while to get going (there’s a lot of stuff about Brabner’s peace activism work and her relationship with some teen refugees that honestly could have used some trimming), but once it does, it makes for a compelling read. There’s been a number of graphic novels about cancer and terminal illness in the ensuing years, but this remains the best of the bunch.

Further reading

In the mid-90s Pekar joined up with Dark Horse and published a bunch of American Splendor comics through them. The most notable of the bunch are Unsung Hero, which tells the story of Vietnam vet Robert McNeill (with art by David Collier), and Music Comics, which, as the title suggests, culls a number of jazz-themed strips Pekar did with Joe Sacco (jazz being Pekar’s other big love of his life). All of the Dark Horse books are pretty good though, and they’re easily available through the publisher’s Web site.

The Quitter, Pekar’s memoir of his youth and early adulthood, had it’s share of detractors when it first came out, but I’m a fan of the book. Pekar writes with insight and pathos about his years as a street fighter and how his fear of success made him constantly give up every opportunity that came his way. Plus, the book features some of artist Dean Haspiel’s best work to date.

Not one to ever rest on his laurels, Pekar kept working right up until the end. One of his last works was The Pekar Project, an ongoing Webcomic hosted by Smith magazine. It’s not all gold, but there are a few gems tucked away in the archive, like Muncie, Indiana.

Ancillary material

While it cuts perhaps a little too cute a portrait in the end, the American Splendor movie is probably about as honest and true an adaptation of Pekar and his work as anyone is ever going to get. At the very least, it has the common sense not to try a straightforward biography and mixes its docudrama with interviews from the real Pekar and Brabner. Plus, it’s a good entry point for those who aren’t in the mood to, well, read.

Tying into the film, Ballentine released American Splendor: Our Movie Year, which is little more than a loose collection of strips about making the film, doing the press junket and just general odd things that happened during the same time period, as well as some biographical sketches done for various magazines. It’s a mixed bag at best, and while there’s some good material here, it’s not one of the stronger collections.

After the success of The Quitter, Pekar did two American Spendor mini-series for Vertigo, collected in paperback as Another Day and Another Dollar. The idea was to pair Pekar up with some unexpected, more genre-based artists in addition to his more traditional collaborators and see what happens. While there are some amazing surprises (who knew Richard Corben could portray Pekar’s milieu so convincingly?) there’s also a lot of “meh” material as well and the end result is another one of those mixed bags.

Finally, for those looking to get go beyond the comics, there’s Harvey Pekar: Conversations, a collection of interviews, edited by Michael Rhode.

Avoid

In addition to writing about his life and milieu, Pekar frequently delved into biography and history, talking about figures and movements that fascinated him. Unfortunately, very few of these non-Splendor books are very good.  The Beats and Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History in particular are muddled, dull affairs and should be avoided at all costs.

Next month: Kim Deitch

Thor: The Mighty Avenger 3

This Wednesday will see the release of the third issue of writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee‘s Thor: The Mighty Avenger. Anyone reading our weekly What Are You Reading column knows how much I’ve praised the first two issues. Samnee and I spoke briefly at this past June’s HeroesCon and from there an email interview came together. In addition to Thor, we discuss some of Samnee’s past work as well as his upcoming collaboration with writer Jim McCann on I Am An Avenger 1. Earlier today, CBR posted a five-page preview to Thor: The Mighty Avenger 3.

O’Shea: What’s the most enjoyable aspect of working from a Roger Langridge script?

Samnee: Roger’s scripts are really funny – I laugh out loud when I read them! I love the humor as well as his ability to tell quiet, emotional moments. Since Roger’s also an artist, he’s really good with pacing and page turns as well. And the scripts have a very silver-age feel, which is right up my alley.

O’Shea: I keep re-reading Thor: The Mighty Avenger 1 trying to figure out what my favorite scene was–and I can ‘t decide if it’s when we first see the Rainbow Bridge on page 2; or the first scene where Thor smiles. Was the smiling Thor a character suggestion from Langridge or was that your idea?

Samnee: The smile was in the script. Roger made clear right from the outline for the book that this Thor smiles and enjoys himself. For me, that was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the book, as an artist and a reader of comics. I’ve worked on a lot of heavy books – it’s a nice change of pace to be on something a bit lighter, a comic where the characters are having fun.

O’Shea: Over at your DeviantArt site, you provide a sketch of the Destroyer , The Warriors Three, Beta Ray Bill and Pluto. Can we look forward to any of them appearing in future issues? And how goes your campaign to make folks aware that “There just aren’t enough characters with mustaches in comics these days.”?

Samnee: Haha! I can definitely tell you that The Warriors Three make an appearance in issue 4, which I’m currently inking. And all of the original Avengers will show up at some point. There are so many characters I’ve been itching to draw that show up in Thor: The Mighty Avenger. As for more characters with mustaches, I would fully support a write-in campaign to Marvel to see more mustaches in comics! And not just on the bad guys, good guys can rock a mustache too!

O’Shea: Was Langridge already onboard when you joined the project? Can you describe how you came to be on Thor?

Samnee: Roger was already onboard when I was offered the project. I had first worked with Thor: TMA editor Nate Cosby on the backups I did for Agents of Atlas vs. X-Men, then again when I did an issue of Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man. I was finishing up Siege: Embedded when I got an email from Nate offering me Thor: TMA, which was an easy decision.

O’Shea: Issue 5 sports Namor on the cover, what can you tell folks about the Thor: TMA version of the Submariner?

Samnee: I’m so happy Namor shows up in Thor: TMA! He was on the short list of characters I sent Roger when he asked me who I wanted to draw. As for our version of Namor, if you’ve seen my design sketches – I’ve given him some slightly longer trunks instead of the ladies panties he typically wears. His ankle wings are slightly larger, but aside from that it’s as close as I can get to Bill Everett’s original design as possible. I love getting to tweak character’s designs bit, but really try to honor their original design as much as possible. As for anything else – I don’t want to spoil it – you’ll just have to read to find out!

O’Shea: I could do an entire interview based on your DeviantArt sketches–please tell me you have an interest in doing a Fantastic Four miniseries at some point?

Samnee: Absolutely! I would love work on a FF book at some point, they’re some of my favorite characters in all of comics. I’ve got a “bucket list” of projects I keep next to my desk and they are most certainly on there!

O’Shea: Care to divulge other characters on that bucket list?

Samnee: I don’t think it would surprise anyone who follows my blog to know that Batman is on that list. Jimmy Olsen is as well. I’d love to write and draw my own Commissioner Gordon/Alfred tale. Supergirl, BPRD/Hellboy, Buffy, Wonder Woman, The Spirit, Iron Man, Lois Lane, Superman. I’d love to write and draw an Ant-Man/Wasp story. I’d love to do more Spider-Man and Daredevil as well. And Thor was on there until very recently! Honestly, the list of characters I wouldn’t want to draw is probably shorter – there are just so many great characters in comics

O’Shea: There was a great deal of anticipation for you an Langridge’s first issue–but were you surprised at how much praise was heaped on you the day or so after the book’s release (on Twitter in particular)?

Samnee: I was incredibly surprised but so incredibly happy that people responded so positively. I’ve felt from the beginning that this book was something special and it’s been such an absolute joy to draw. I just hoped that people would enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed drawing it. The response on Twitter, on my blog, my devianArt page and through email was just incredible. I was terribly nervous for it to come out though – I was afraid people would pass it up, thinking it was “just a kid’s book”. I’m so happy people are enjoying it and it’s unreal to hear praise from folks like Kurt Busiek, Bryan Hitch and Kevin Nowlan.

O’Shea: Anytime I encounter an artist like yourself clearly influenced by Alex Toth, the fanboy in me comes out in my questions. Can you single out your favorite Toth story?

Samnee: Oh geez, it changes every week! I would say it’s probably the Batman story “Death Flies the Haunted Sky”. I also love his Black Canary work, “The Land Unknown”, his few Torpedo pages. Really, I love all of it. He’s an incredible inspiration to me.

O’Shea: You’re collaborating with Jim McCann on an upcoming Avengers tale, what can you tell folks about that?

Samnee: I actually just wrapped that up a few days ago! It’s an 11 page story for “I am an Avenger” #1. Our story focuses on the Young Avengers. I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say, so I’ll quote from Jim’s blog. It’s “a story of the teen-aged heroes as they face their final challenge before truly becoming Avengers”. I haven’t done much in the way of team books, so it was a fun challenge for sure.

O’Shea: As a person who clearly relishes the contrast of black and white in your art, how much fun did you have doing that noir/pulp style Area 10 for Vertigo Crime with Chris Gage?

Samnee: Well, the book was actually drawn in 2006, before I had really been published in color anywhere. The noir/pulp style is very much in line with my other projects from that time period, like Capote In Kansas and Queen & Country. I love working in black and white, as you can see from my daily blog sketches. I love playing with light, shadow and contrast, which is much easier to do in black and white. I think working in black and white for most of my early career really helped my skills progress since there was no colorist to cover up my mistakes. I’d love for DC to bring back Batman Black & White at some point – and I’d love for the opportunity to work on a story for it! That’s said, I love having my work colored too – especially when it’s by amazing colorists like Matt Wilson and Dave Stewart.

O’Shea: Speaking of Wilson, he clearly is relishing the opportunity to work with you. Can you single out a favorite scene for you that he has colored?

Samnee: I really love everything that Matt colors, he’s such a talent and I feel very lucky to be working with him. For Thor: The Mighty Avenger, I love page 1 in issue 1, since that was the first page I saw of him trying out the “flat” colors we were going for. My jaw just dropped when I saw it. In issue 2, there’s a sunrise scene colored mainly in gold followed by a thunderstorm that’s just breathtaking. I’m so delighted that editor Nate Cosby is letting us go flat with the colors – and Matt is just nailing it. He adds so much to the storytelling and visual look of the book.

O’Shea: You clearly love your work, as well as studying your craft. What prompted you to recently write “…In between working on pages I’ve been flipping through a bunch of old Steve Ditko issues of Spider-Man lately.”?

Samnee: Why wouldn’t you want to flip through old Steve Ditko issues of Spider-Man? They’re amazing! I love working in comics and I love reading comics too. Sometimes I’ll hit a slump, and that’s when I pull out books that inspire me, like those issues of Spider-Man.

O’Shea: While Marvel’s got you busy at present, you also are making sometime for Dark Horse with Serenity: The Shephard’s Tale. Judging from this CBR interview a few months back, you were enthused about the project (You said then: “I love that it’s sort of a mish-mash of sci-fi, western, and Asian influences, populated by all of these wonderfully well-rounded characters. It’s like Sergio Leone meets ‘Blade Runner’ with Joss Whedon’s voice. There’s nothing in that formula that doesn’t appeal to me!”) Now that you have the whole issue drawn, can you talk a little bit more about what made the project click for you.

Samnee: I think I might have summed it up best back then! I’m such a fan of Joss Whedon and the worlds he creates. It was just such a privilege to get to work in one of those worlds for a little bit. Being a fan of the character and a fan of the creators made that a really easy project to say “yes” to!

O’Shea: Any interest in working with Peter J. Tomasi again, after working with him on DC’s The Mighty?

Samnee: Absolutely! I loved working on The Mighty and I loved working with Peter. I did two Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps stories with Peter while working on The Mighty. I really enjoy his writing and would happily work with him again!

O’Shea: Am I mistaken in thinking (judging by these sketches) and your involvement at Comic Twart, that you love doing character designs?

Samnee: I do! I absolutely love doing character designs – I wish I had more time for it, actually. It makes me feel like a little kid again, drawing my own versions of characters.

O’Shea: I had not realized until reading some of your recent Tweets (in the wake of Harvey Pekar’s passing) that you had worked with him on a few American Splendor stories. Can you briefly talk about working with Pekar and what you learned from the exprience?

Samnee: Sure, I illustrated two American Splendor stories in 2006 and 2008. I actually didn’t have any contact with Harvey, everything came through Vertigo editor Jon Vankin. Harvey had such a unique style of writing, which I’m sure many people know. Instead of scripting, he drew everything out in stick figures. He also didn’t break anything up into pages, so it was up to me to determine pacing, page breaks, etc. It was a great (and challenging) exercise in storytelling early in my career.

Rocketship

Retailing | Heidi MacDonald confirms rumors that well-regarded Brooklyn retailer Rocketship, the setting for numerous signings, release parties and art shows, has closed after five years. “We’ve come to the end of a five-year lease, and are deciding what to do now,” said co-owner Alex Cox. “Five years went by fast, and my partner and I are suddenly making some large life decisions about what comes next. We love the shop, and as fun as it is, we have to figure out what makes sense for us on a practical level.” [The Beat]

Pop culture | KRCW-Santa Monica (89.9 FM) will rebroadcast the 1991 radio production of American Splendor, starring Dan Castellaneta, from 7:30 to 8 p.m. PST today. This broadcast will appear on air and via KCRW.com live stream only, and will not be available on demand or via podcast. [KCRW.com]

Legal | The Wall Street Journal’s Tomomichi Amano looks at efforts by a newly formed coalition of Japanese and American manga publishers to crack down on U.S.-based scanlation websites. “People might say it’s like whack-a-mole,” says Vertical Inc.’s Ioannis Mentzas, “but we think even making one (legal) case will greatly change the situation.” [Japan Real Time]

Axe Cop

Publishing | Dark Horse will release a printed collection of Axe Cop, the Internet sensation created by brothers Malachai (5) and Ethan (29) Nicolle, in December, followed by an all-new three-issue miniseries. [Comics Alliance]

Publishing | IDW Publishing has hired Dirk Wood, former director of communications for Dark Horse, as the company’s first director-retail marketing. In-house marketing manager AnnaMaria White has been promoted to director-marketing and public relations. [press release]

Creators | The A.V. Club contributors offer a primer on Neil Gaiman that includes a rundown of such comics works as The Sandman, Miracleman, Marvel 1602 and Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? [The A.V. Club]

Chew #12 Comic-Con exclusive cover

Creators | Chew artist Rob Guillory talks briefly about the comic’s steadily growing audience: “We believed in the book, but we didn’t think people would connect with something that isn’t generally successful in comics. But it’s been way more successful and it’s had more appeal than we expected.” [The Daily Advertiser]

Comics | OC Weekly‘s Joe Vince names six “criminally underrated” crime comics from the past decade, from The Couriers to Gotham Central to The Left Bank Gang. [Heard Mentality]

Comics | Thor walks across America. [Comics Oughta Be Fun]

Legal

Legal | The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund joined a coalition of booksellers and other organizations  in a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday to challenge an expansion of Massachusetts’ obscenity law to include distribution via the Internet of material “harmful to minors.”

The new law, which went into effect on Monday, is intended to close a loophole that led the state Supreme Court to overturn the conviction of a man accused of sending sexually explicit instant messages to someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Following the February ruling, the state Legislature swiftly to add IMs, text messages, email and other electronic communications to the existing obscenity law.

But the coalition, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Association of American Publishers, argues that the law is too broad, and “bans constitutionally protected speech on the Internet for topics including contraception and pregnancy, sexual health, literature, and art.” Under the statute, violators can be fined $10,000 or sentenced up to five years in prison, or both, which the group asserts will cause “a chilling effect” or online booksellers. [The Associated Press, CBLDF press release]

Harvey Pekar

Passings | Obituaries and tributes continue to appear for writer Harvey Pekar, who passed away on Monday at age 70: The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Jewish News, Tom Spurgeon, Eric Reynolds, Heidi MacDonald, Calvin Reid, Mike Rhode and Michael Ruhlman. [Robot 6]

Publishing | Heidi MacDonald looks at recent moves by comics publishers into digital distribution, and how sales might affect the direct market. “Retailers know that digital is here to stay,” says DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee. “They don’t want to be ignored — they want a way for them to survive and be healthy and grow within this new market. It’s not that we are fleeing from a dying marketplace into the arms of something that saves our industry. There’s already cool stuff — it’s an additive thing.” [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | Actor/comedian Scott Thompson, a founding member of the Kids in the Hall sketch-comedy group, is collaborating with Frozen Beach Studios on an original graphic novel starring Danny Husk, one of his recurring characters. Danny Husk: The Hollow Planet, based on a screenplay by Thompson, will be released by IDW Publishing in October. [Montreal Gazette]

The Walking Dead: Book Six

Publishing | Image Comics will release two new Walking Dead collections to coincide with the October debut of AMC’s television adaptation: The Walking Dead: Book Six, and The Walking Dead:  The Covers. [ICv2.com]

Awards | The Oakland, California-based weekly newspaper East Bay Express has named Daniel Clowes as best graphic novelist and Image Comics as best comics imprint in its annual “Best of the East Bay.” [East Bay Express]

Comics | Tucker Stone reviews some of last week’s releases, trying to determine which one led Mark Waid to declare he had “stopped reading super-hero comics.” [The Factual Opinion]

Comics | Cyriaque Lamar counts down the five most tear-jerking X-Men deaths. One guess what No. 1 is. [io9.com]

Anthony Bourdain with Harvey Pekar

Among the many tributes to Harvey Pekar that have begun to appear online and in print, this one by chef and author Anthony Bourdain stands out. That’s in large part because Bourdain’s remembrance centers on a 2007 episode of his Travel Channel series No Reservations that brought him to a wintry Cleveland, where the irascible Pekar served as a guide and narrator.

Watching that episode, it was obvious a handful of ingredients — Bourdain, comic book-style illustrations and, most importantly, Pekar in his element  — had combined to create something special. So it’s nice to see that, three years and almost 60 episodes later, “Cleveland” remains Bourdain’s favorite.

“That show was unique among over a hundred others in that everything — absolutely everything — went perfectly and exactly as planned,” he wrote today on his blog. “Unlike every other episode, pretty much everything had been ‘written’ (or at least planned out) in advance: the look, the American Splendor graphics, destinations, subjects and content. In the middle of a blizzard in the dead of winter, we got exactly what we were looking for. We wanted American Splendor and that’s what we got.”

It’s a lovely tribute that moves beyond an episode of a food and travel show, with Bourdain trying to capture what drew so many to Pekar and his work: “A few great artists come to ‘own’ their territory. As Joseph Mitchell once owned New York and Zola owned Paris, Harvey Pekar owned not just Cleveland but all those places in the American Heartland where people wake up every day, go to work, do the best they can — and in spite of the vast and overwhelming forces that conspire to disappoint them — go on, try as best as possible to do right by the people around them, to attain that most difficult of ideals: to be ‘good’ people.”

You can watch a teaser for the Pekar episode after the break.

Chew, Vol. 2: International Flavor

Publishing | The direct market saw a 21-percent jump in graphic novel sales in June, reversing the category’s dismal trend. ICv2.com notes that’s the best year-over-year comparison since June 2008. Periodical sales, meanwhile, remained virtually unchanged, inching up just 1 percent from June 2009.

DC’s Arkham Asylum: Madness, by Sam Kieth, led the graphic novel list with modest sales of about 7,400. The No. 2 title, the second volume of John Layman and Rob Guillory’s Chew, actually experienced an increase in sales in its second month on the chart. The periodicals list was topped by the first issue of Marvel’s relaunched New Avengers — one of four Avengers titles in the Top 10 — with about 129,000 copies. John Jackson Miller has additional analysis. [ICv2.com]

Harvey Pekar (by Dean Haspiel)

Passings | The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post carry obituaries for legendary comics writer Harvey Pekar, who passed away Monday at age 70. Michael Cavna collects memories from such friends and colleagues as Neil Gaiman, Scott McCloud Josh Neufeld and Ted Rall, while elsewhere Alison Bechdel, Mark Evanier, Dean Haspiel, Mike Rhode, Tom Spurgeon, Ken Tucker, David Ulin and Gene Luen Yang offer their own tributes. TCJ.com reruns Gary Groth’s 1993 Comics Journal interview with Pekar.

Crime | Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris, who instigated “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!” in support of the creators of South Park, has been targeted for execution by a radical Yemeni-American Islamic cleric linked to the botched Times Square car bomb. FBI officials have contacted Norris, saying they consider it a “very serious threat.” [New York Daily News]

Legal | The heirs of Jack Kirby have filed a notice of dismissal of their complaint against Marvel and Disney, ensuring that the fight over ownership of such characters as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man and Thor will take place in New York rather than California. The notice is a technicality, as a judge ruled in April that New York has jurisdiction in the dispute. Following that decision, the Kirby family filed a 29-page counterclaim to Marvel’s January lawsuit that’s virtually identical to their March complaint. That means that, well, not much has really changed in this bitter feud. [Media Decoder]

Publishing | In the wind-up to Comic-Con International, Marvel talent manager C.B. Cebulski is collecting tips from his Twitter feed on “How to Break into Comics the Marvel Way.” [Marvel.com]

Alan Moore, by David Ma

Creators | John Doran’s interview with Alan Moore from The Stool Pigeon is made available online: “I’m interested in the superhero in real life, but not the comic book version. I’ve had some distancing thoughts about them recently. I’ve come to the conclusion that what superheroes might be — in their current incarnation, at least — is a symbol of American reluctance to involve themselves in any kind of conflict without massive tactical superiority. I think this is the same whether you have the advantage of carpet bombing from altitude or if you come from the planet Krypton as a baby and have increased powers in Earth’s lower gravity. That’s not what superheroes meant to me when I was a kid. To me, they represented a wellspring of the imagination. Superman had a dog in a cape! He had a city in a bottle! It was wonderful stuff for a seven-year-old boy to think about. But I suspect that a lot of superheroes now are basically about the unfair fight. You know: people wouldn’t bully me if I could turn into the Hulk.” [The Quietus]

Creators | Robert Kirman discusses The Walking Dead — both the comic and the upcoming television series — Invincible, Pilot Season and the conclusion of The Astounding Wolfman. [TFAW.com]

Harvey Pekar

Legendary underground comics writer Harvey Pekar was found dead early this morning by his wife Joyce Brabner in their Cleveland Heights, Ohio, home, The Plain Dealer reports. He was 70.

Pekar, best known for his American Splendor series of autobiographical comics that inspired the acclaimed 2003 film of the same name, had been suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and depression. He was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1990, which inspired him to collaborate with Brabner and Frank Stack on Our Cancer Year.

A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

The curmudgeonly writer, who began publishing his American Splendor comics in 1976, most recently had been working on The Pekar Project webcomic series for Smith magazine.

Born on Oct. 8, 1939, in Cleveland to Saul and Dora Pekar, Polish immigrants who owned a small grocery store, Pekar dropped out of college and joined the Navy, only to return to his hometown. There he worked at a string of menial jobs until settling in as a file clerk for the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Cleveland, where he remained until his retirement in 2001.

In recent years Pekar released two new American Splendor series through DC’s Vertigo imprint, as well the autobiographical hardcover The Quitter. In 2009, he released The Beats, a history of the Beat movement, and Studs Terkel’s Working: A Graphic Adaptation.

Pekar is survived by his third wife Joyce Brabner and their foster daughter Danielle.

Update: Vertigo Editor Jonathan Vankin, who worked with Pekar and Dean Haspiel on The Quitter, has released a statement: “I am terribly sad today. Working with Harvey Pekar was one of my first experiences at Vertigo and it’s still one of my best, not only in comics but in my life. Underneath the well-known gruff exterior, Harvey was a deeply compassionate person and of course, a brilliant mind. He created, almost singlehandedly, an entirely new kind of comics and his commitment to what he did was absolute and uncompromising. We’ve all suffered a huge loss today, in comics of course, but also in American culture.”

Alison Bechdel by Alison Bechdel and Harvey Pekar by R. Crumb

Fun Home‘s Alison Bechdel and American Splendor‘s Harvey Pekar can be ranked alongside Persepolis‘s Marjane Satrapi and Maus‘s Art Spiegelman (to the extent Maus is autobiographical) as the cartoonists whose autobiographical comics have made the biggest splash in the larger pop-cultural pond. So it must have been a real treat to hear the pair talk about their comics, their lives, and the intersection of the two at UCLA last Friday. Fortunately, CBR’s Tom Gastall was there to tell us all about it today. In addition to talking about process and success, Bechdel and Pekar tease their next projects — Bechdel’s working on a memoir about the making of Fun Home, while Pekar’s got a political work called “How I Lost My Faith in Israel” on the horizon. Should be plenty of grist for discussion. Go read!

SMITH magazine's Harvey Heads

Harvey Pekar, the irascible, inimitable observational writer whose slice-of-life series American Splendor has been a cornerstone of alternative comics for decades now, turned 70 yesterday. (That’s right, he’s only seemed like a lovably grumpy old man until now.) To celebrate Pekar’s big Seven-Oh, SMITH Magazine–already the home of Harvey’s current comics outlet, The Pekar Project–has commissioned over 90 artists and counting to draw Pekar portraits for its Harvey Heads gallery. Contributors so far include Jeff Smith, Jim Mahfood, Jeffrey Brown, Alison Bechdel, Renee French, Molly Crabapple, Bryan Talbot, Bob Sikoryak, Peter Kuper, Josh Neufeld, Joshua W. Cotter, The Quitter‘s Dean Haspiel, longtime American Splendor artist Gary Dumm and many, many, many more. Click the link and soak up the splendor.