From Uncanny X-Men #137

Comics | An original page by John Byrne and Terry Austin from Uncanny X-Men #137, the 1980 issue that featured the death of Phoenix, sold at auction Wednesday for $65,725. As ICv2 notes, the sale continues the trend of 1980s comic art going for high prices; a page of Frank Miller art from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3 sold for $448,125 in May. [ICv2.com]

Digital | ICv2′s Milton Griepp makes the case for publishers to provide sales information on digital comics. “Why would this information be useful? There are a number of reasons. One is that it would help distributors (most importantly, Diamond Comic Distributors) and retailers selling physical comics and graphic novels identify which titles have the largest audiences in digital form. They could then make sure that they’re merchandising the top digital titles appropriately, so they can take advantage of demand for physical titles that results from digital exposure (we’ve been hearing that there’s a significant phenomenon of digital purchasers looking for collections of comics they’ve purchased online). Digital demand can also indicate potential demand for physical books from consumers that aren’t purchasing digitally; a good book, after all, is a good book, and if digital purchasers are finding a title that’s not as popular in physical form, it may indicate that there’s an untapped market of consumers of physical books as well.” [ICv2.com]

Bil Keane

Creators | R.C. Harvey writes the definitive obituary of Bil Keane, with samples of his humor and a very complete history of his work. [The Comics Journal]

Creators| Max Allan Collins discusses his work on Return to Perdition. [USA Today]

Creators | Scott Tuft, co-writer with Scott Snyder of the Image comic Severed, talks about writing the book with his longtime friend. [Biff Bam Pop]

Creators | Joanne Huang looks at Steven Seagle’s use of Superman as a character to explore issues in his own life, including dealing with Huntington’s Disease, in his graphic novel It’s a Bird … [Swarthmore College Daily Gazette]

Creators | Eva Volin interviews Jason T. Kruse, creator of the graphic novel World of Quest and the artist for Scratch 9. [Good Comics for Kids]

Lost Trail

Creators | The local paper interviews Donn Fendler, whose story of spending nine days lost in the wilderness on Mount Katahdin is the basis for the new graphic novel Lost Trail. [The Bangor Daily News]

Comics | The family of Gilbert Bouchard, an Edmonton, Alberta, Canada arts writer who passed away in 2009, has donated his more than 3,700 single-issue comics and related materials to the University of Alberta. [Edmonton Journal]

Comics | Chris Sims looks at the fashion history of Darkseid. [ComicsAlliance]

Comics | The New York Times presents its gift guide for comics fans. Despite the headline “A Superhero for Your Stocking,” the suggestions are mostly other types of graphic novels. [The New York Times]

Organizations | Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, spoke at the 20th annual Conference on Libraries and the Future about the history of comics censorship and the challenges comics will face in the future. Audio of his speech and his presentation are available on the conference’s website. [CBLDF]

Milton Greipp, publisher of the retail news site ICv2, did more or less the same thing with numbers at the ICv2 Comics, Media, and Digital Conference that kicked off this year’s Comic-Con. In his White Paper on the industry, Griepp estimated that the market for digital comics grew from about $1 million in sales in 2009 to $6 to $8 million in 2010, but the fact that he still had a $2 million error bar shows just how much uncertainty remains. One thing is for certain, though: Griepp expects the market will double this year. He credited the growth in sales of mobile devices such as the iPad and Android tablets (the Sony PSP, one of the early digital comics platforms, seems to be dead in the water; Griepp attributed this to the hacking of Sony).

Looked at in isolation, that number seems impressive, but Griepp also estimated total sales of print comics and graphic novels in 2010 at $635 million, which means that digital sales are about 1% of the print market, a tiny slice indeed.

These numbers are dynamic, however, and print and digital sales are changing in different ways. Digital may be burgeoning, but print is in a slump, with total sales down in 2010 from $680 million the year before. Things have picked up this year, but the picture remains grim for monthly comics: Sales of comics were down 8%, graphic novels were up 3%. Put those together, and the market as a whole is down 2%.

There are two conclusions to be drawn from this. One is that print is not filling the gap, at least not yet; the decline in print sales is far larger than the entire digital market. The strong growth in digital sales, however, suggests that it is a market that has yet to reach its full potential, which may be why publishers are increasingly willing to release comics simultaneously in print and digital format.

The other conclusion is that the direct market is facing a severe challenge. Sales of their core product, single-issue comics, are dropping, and graphic novel sales declined in the direct market as well (this was balanced by an uptick in bookstore sales). Griepp cited a recent CBR poll in which the overwhelming majority of readers said they would continue to buy print comics after DC goes “day and date” as evidence that digital sales are not cannibalizing print sales. It would be interesting to redo that poll a year from now, after the digital comics have been on the market for a while, and see if the answers have changed.

While graphic novels are now the mainstay of the comics business, with about half the total sales and a more positive growth curve, that wasn’t always the case. Griepp noted that sales of graphic novels quintupled from $75 million in 2001 to $395 million in 2008. It is possible that something similar will happen with digital comics; from the looks of things, the publishers seem to be counting on it.

Comic-Con International

Comic-Con | ICv2 will host a Comics, Media, and Digital Conference on July 20, the afternoon before Comic-Con International kicks off in San Diego. The event will include panels on digital comics, comics in Hollywood and “Comics, Paper and Digital at Comic-Con 2013.” [press release]

Comic-Con | Comic-Con International has released the floor map for this year’s show. Heidi MacDonald helps translate it. [Comic-Con International]

Comic-Con | With just 14 until the big event, Acquanetta Ferguson offers 18 tips to surviving your first Comic-Con, while Liz Ohanesian talks with Doug Kline, author of The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guide. [Examiner, LA Weekly]

Creators | Sean Witzke talks with King City creator Brandon Graham about world-building, collaborating with other writers or artists, porn and his approach to storytelling: “I’m really into the idea of conveying a story clearly enough for the reader to get all the basics while at the same time having enough information going on where you don’t necessarily get it all or even miss something on the first read through. I think it’s something that came from me reading a lot of European and Japanese comics growing up and just not always getting everything, culturally or just because of weird translations. I like that nice mystery. And there’s the idea that when a story doesn’t give you everything it forces the reader to think a little more. Turns them from being a passive reader to an active one. I think that would be my ideal destination, some kind of clear and simple with a background of complexity.” [supervillain]

G.I. Joe

Publishing | Following up his accounts of how ROM, Transformers and Dazzler came to Marvel, former Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter recounts how the company began working with Hasbro on G.I. Joe in the early 1980s. [Jim Shooter]

Publishing | The Associated Press talks to BOOM! Marketing Director Chip Mosher about the Elric minisite the publisher launched this week. [Associated Press]

Publishing | J. Caleb Mozzocco has read DC’s FAQ on their relaunch and he has some follow-up questions. [Every Day Is Like Wednesday]

Publishing | Brian Heater continues his multi-part interview with Mome editor Eric Reynolds. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | Webcomic writer and commentator T Campbell is the guest on the latest Webcomic Beacon podcast. [The Webcomic Beacon]

Comics | Ben Morse discusses event comics and how they can end. [The Cool Kids Table]

Comics | In his manga nostalgia column House of 1000 Manga, Jason Thompson takes a fond look at Wild 7, a children’s manga about a gang of rogue motorcycle cops chasing bad guys: “It’s one of the most violent children’s manga imaginable, a manga that feels like someone shouting at readers ‘Hey! Manga aren’t just for kids anymore!’ before pistol-whipping them in the face.” [Anime News Network]

Comics | Patton Oswalt dusts off some rejected Batman pitches. The “Arkham’s Arsenal one sounds kind of cool. [Patton Oswalt, via Ferret Press]

Comic-Con

The 2009 San Diego Comic-Con is less than a month away, with preview night kicking things off on Wednesday, July 22. If you are a publisher, creator, retailer or any other kind of exhibitor who would like to let folks know about any special plans you have for the show (panels, signing schedules, exclusives, debuts, etc.) drop me an email and I’ll run it here.

Programming | Leading up to the con, ICv2 will host a comics and media conference on Wednesday, July 22 at the San Diego Marriott. This ticketed event will include speakers such as Mike Mignola, Jeph Loeb, Dynamite’s Nick Barrucci, Top Cow’s Matt Hawkins and many more. Registration is now open.

Television | Warner Bros. sent out a press release on their schedule for Comic-Con, which includes panels for Smallville, Supernatural, Chuck and Big Bang Theory, as well as new shows like Human Target and V. They’ll be showing the pilot episodes of all their new shows.

Middleman

Television | Fans of the excellent but, alas, canceled show The Middleman will be happy to know that not only will the cast be at SDCC, but they plan to do a reading of the final script that was never filmed, for an episode called “The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse.” This is the same episode being adapted into comic form, which will make its debut at the show as well at the Viper Comics booth.

Comics publishers | Speaking of which, Viper Comics has released details on a talent search they’re holding for writers and artist at San Diego. You can find the details here.

Animation | Oscar-winning anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki will attend the con and show clips from his latest film, Ponyo.

Animation | TV Guide Magazine has word that the Brave and the Bold episode “Mayhem of the Music Meister!” will be shown at the convention. The episode features Neil Patrick Harris as the villainous, singing Music Meister. The episode will air on the Cartoon network sometime this fall.

Daydream

Creators | Dead at 17 creator Josh Howard will have copies of his new sketchbook, Daydream, available at the convention.

Toys | Mattel has announced two panels for the show — one on their DC products and one to talk about their collector’s website, which also features a lot of DC product. Surely one of these sessions will bring news of a Guy Gardner JLU figure …

Creators | Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, will sign at the show on Saturday.

General information: Ticket info | Panels | Autographs | 2009 ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference | Blog

• ICv2 has announced details on the Graphic Novel Conference they host the Thursday before the convention, which will include a keynote address from Art Spiegelman and panels on topics like comics on the web, social networks and literary adaptations. Note that this conference isn’t open to the general public, but “is open only to those who hold a Professional or Exhibitor Pass,” the site says.

• The con has started to announce additional Hollywood-related programming, which includes Life on Mars, Disney’s Aaron Stone, Japan’s Takashi Miike and Sho Sakurai, Dr. Who Colin Baker, the cast of Fringe and Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia. They’ll also have Tumblers featuring Wolverine.

• NBM will be at the show:

For NBM that means having Miss Don’t Touch Me, Nocturnal Conspiracies by David B, Happy Hooligan and fresh in: LITTLE NOTHINGS 2 by Lewis Trondheim! We’ll also have Neil Kleid of Brownsville and other comics with Slave Labor, Image, etc… Publisher Terry Nantier will be there, ready to chat with you.

For Papercutz, the big news is we’ll have Greg Farshtey on Saturday, the writer of Bionicle and of course the latest Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Tales from the Crypt and Classics Illustrated. Meet also our industry-beloved Editor-in-Chief Jim Salicrup.

• Artist Jill Thompson is taking 10 commissions before the show, on a first come, first serve basis.

• Oni’s up to something Scott Pilgrim-related for the con … I mean, in addition to Bryan Lee O’Malley being a special guest and Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5 debuting at the show. O’Malley also has two store signings the week before the show — he’ll be at Jim Hanley’s Universe in midtown Manhattan Feb. 3 and at Rocketship in Brooklyn Feb. 4.

• For more information on the con, check out Heidi’s pre-show report for Publisher’s Weekly.

• And finally, the gelatometti crew is headed to the Big Apple and shares a few inspirational drawings:

by Joel Gomez