Anaheim Convention Center

Conventions | As San Diego tries to sweeten the deal to keep Comic-Con International, Eric Carpenter considers the odds of the pop-culture phenomenon moving to the 815,000-square-foot Anaheim Convention Center in 2013.

"It's one of those things where it's hard to unseat an annual convention from any area, and Comic-Con has a long history in San Diego," says Charles Ahlers, president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. "But we think we have a lot to offer." Chief among Anaheim's offerings: more convention space and hotel rooms. [The Orange County Register]

Comic strips | Mike Manley has been named as the new permanent artist of Judge Parker, replacing Eduardo Barreto, who is "gravely ill" with meningitis. This will be the first newspaper strip for Manley, a comic-book artist who created and edits Draw! magazine. "I've got big shoes to step into," Manley writes on his blog. "I've been a fan of Barreto for a long time, from his stint on Atari Force at DC onward through his varied career. He could do it all, super-jocks, pretty chicks, noir, pedestrian, detective stuff. His work had charm class and power. He made JP his own, something I hope to do in time as well." Manley's first strip will appear in mid-March. [Comic Riffs]

Pearls Before Swine

Awards | Cartoonists Stephen Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Dan Piraro (Bizarro) and Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac) have been nominated for the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year. The winner will be announced in March. [National Cartoonists Society]

Publishing | In a multi-part Q&A with ICv2.com, IDW Publishing CEO Ted Adams discusses the state of the comics and bookstore markets, his company's success with licensed properties, and digital comics. [ICv2.com]

Creators | Paul Hornschemeier reveals he'll teach a course called "Writing the Graphic Novel" in the Creative Writing Department of the University of Chicago. [News and/or Head Lice, via FLOG!]

Hicksville

Creators | Dylan Horrocks chats briefly about Hicksville returning to print after 10 years. [Publishers Weekly]

Creators | Artist Rufus Dayglo discusses his influences and drawing Tank Girl in the shadow of Jamie Hewlett: "I feel comfortable with Tank Girl. I draw like that, so it feels natural. It doesn't look quite like Jamie because I'm not him -- as many people have pointed out! On the whole, people seem pretty happy that Tankie's back, and have been very positive and welcoming. I felt like CJ Ramone taking over from Dee Dee Ramone. I'd joined my favourite band–but I'm not Dee Dee, and I want Alan, Jamie, and the readers to be happy with it. I spend pretty much every waking hour drawing it." [Crikey!, via Forbidden Planet International]

Creators | David Harper talks with Axe Cop co-creator Ethan Nicolle. [Multiversity Comics]

Comics | Terry Gant examines the love lives of Batman, Superman and Spider-Man. [Loyola Phoenix]

Comics | Wire.com readers recommend must-read comics, from Wanted and Hellboy to The Walking Dead and The Eternals. [Underwire]

Wire Hangers #1 variant

Writer, artist and musician Alan Robert wants to kill you -- or at least make you the latest victim of a serial killer on the cover to his new book from IDW Publishing.

Wire Hangers kicks off its four-issue run in April and is about a homeless man who tries to stop, and subsequently gets blamed for, a series of disappearances in New York. One of the comic's first issue covers will feature a newspaper article listing the latest victims of the Suicide King Killer, and IDW is giving away a chance for one lucky(?) fan to be that victim.

You can find all the contest details on their site, but hurry -- the contest closes on Friday.

Incidentally, CBR's Shaun Manning recently spoke with Robert, who plays bass for the metal band Life of Agony and is the front man for the punk band Spoiler NYC. Robert told Manning how he used Twitter to pitch the book.

"I started using Twitter at the beginning of last year," Robert said. "It was around the same time that I was finishing up my 'Wire Hangers' proposal and pitch pages. I started following some of my band-mates at first and then started following some of my favorite comic artists and writers. Templesmith was one of those people. I saw that he had a new book coming out with writer Chris Ryall, called 'Groom Lake.' So, I started following Ryall, too. Little did I know that Ryall happened to be the Editor-In-Chief of IDW Publishing! Anyway, long story short, Ryall and I traded some music and comics and ended up hitting it off right away. A few months later he saw the animated trailer I put together for 'Wire Hangers.' He asked what my plans were for the series and pretty soon after, we had a contract in place."

Is there anything Twitter can't do? Besides let me post more than 140 characters, of course ...

The Murder of King Tut

Publishing | Bestselling author James Patterson is partnering with IDW Publishing for adaptations of his novels and comics based on new material. The first title, a five-part miniseries based on Patterson's young-adult novel Witch & Wizard, will debut in May.

"Comics could reach a much larger audience than they do right now," the author tells USA Today. "With all of the quality work and talent that's out there, this industry could be so much bigger."

Chris Ryall, IDW's publisher and editor-in-chief, provides additional information on his blog. [USA Today]

Retailing | Discussion, or perhaps dissection, of retailer Brian Hibbs' annual BookScan analysis continues: Hibbs, responding to Tom Spurgeon's criticisms; Eric Reynolds, associate publisher of Fantagraphics; Hibbs, responding to Reynolds; and Johanna Draper Carlson. [Tilting at Windmills]

Siege #1

Publishing | Marc-Oliver Frisch uses a comment made by Marvel Vice President-Executive Editor Tom Brevoort in a recent interview with Robot 6 to lay out "what's been wrong with Marvel and DC's editorial management": "Both publishers are still acting like it's 2005, seeking a kind of aggressive expansion that the market stopped supporting long ago." [Comiks Debris]

Legal | R.C. Harvey tackles the case of Christopher Handley, the Iowa man who was sentenced last week to six months in prison under the PROTECT Act for possessing obscene manga: "As a nation, we have a decidedly confused (perhaps insane) attitude about sex and obscenity. Our bewilderment is probably rooted in a misbegotten sense of morality fostered by our Puritanical religious heritage, which successfully proclaimed, without a basis in any fact about human nature, that sex is bad or nasty or wrong, somehow, which leads, inevitably, to the sort of confusion Butch Hancock, a songwriter, discovered as a boy growing up in Texas: 'Sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth, and you should save it for someone you love'." [TCJ.com]

Captain America #602

Comics | Yes, people are still talking about the Captain America-Tea Party controversy: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Tony Norman summarizes the current kerfuffle, and points out previous appearances of politics in the pages of Captain America. Christopher Bird and Bill Reed, meanwhile, respond to political commentator Warner Todd Huston.

Comics | IDW Publishing's G.I. Joe: Cobra II miniseries, and its writers Christos Gage and Mike Costa, get a fair amount of ink in the increasingly comics-friendly USA Today. [USA Today]

Comics | John Geddes looks at the multimedia marketing effort in support of the remake of the horror film The Crazies -- one that includes a four-issue prequel comic from Top Cow Productions and motion comics from Double Barrel Motion Labs. [USA Today]

The Flash promotional ring

Retailing | I'm betting retailer Rich Biedrzycki has poked a hornets' nest with this brief post asking that Marvel and DC Comics stop rewarding stores that "can't sell your books" with low minimums on promotions like the Brightest Day rings: "Come on! Are 10 copies too much of a stretch? If you can't order or sell 10 copies of these books, written no less by Geoff Johns, then you are not a comic retailer! DC should have made the quantity 100 copies to get the rings." [ICv2.com]

Creators | Brian Heater continues his multi-part interview with cartoonist Jim Rugg about Afrodisiac. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | David Brothers talks to Jay Potts, creator of the webcomic World of Hurt. [4thletter!]

Comics | Just how evil has Norman Osborn's "Dark Reign" really been? [The Weekly Crisis]

Crime | Police in Biloxi, Mississippi, are on the hunt for a bank-robbery suspect wearing a baseball cap emblazoned with a skull. But it's not just any skull: "Investigator Steve Schlict said the skull on the robber’s cap is The Punisher, a character popularized by Marvel Comics. The Punisher is a vigilante." [Sun-Herald]

"If only I'd known, I never would've changed the Teabagging reference in one of the protestors' signs to a mention of Batman. Somehow I thought a nod to a DC character would garner more attention for the book. So much for Bat Boy and I having our finger on the political zeitgeist."

--Chris Ryall, writer of IDW's Weekly World News comic, in response to the Captain America/Tea Party "controversy"

From "Troublemaker!"

Publishing | Publishers are wagering that Stephenie Meyer isn't the only prose author whose name can move massive amounts of graphic novels. We already knew that Yen Press is rolling out a staggering -- by North American comics market standards, anyway -- 350,000-copy first printing for Twilight: The Graphic Novel. But now George Gene Gustines reports that Dark Horse will print 100,000 copies of Troublemaker!: A Barnaby Adventure, a continuation of Janet Evanovich's series of Motor Mouth novels. The Evanovich deal was announced in May. [The New York Times]

Business | Imagi International, the computer-animation studio behind TMNT and Astro Boy, has shut down amid layoffs and mounting debt. Although the studio will ask a Hong Kong court to name liquidators, it plans to continue to develop film ideas and outsource the animation work to other countries. [ABC News]

Fallen Angel

Publishing | Chris Ryall, publisher and editor-in-chief of IDW Publishing, has announced that "thanks to some graciousness on DC Comics' part --namely that of Paul Levitz and a few others," his company will collect the original 20-issue run of Fallen Angel, by Peter David and David Lopez. The series was published by DC from July 2003 until its cancellation in May 2005. The title relaunched at IDW in December 2005. [RyallTime]

Publishing | First Second Books Editor Calista Brill continues her look at the company's submissions process. [First Second]

Conventions | Don MacPherson detects some problems with the rapid expansion of the Wizard World convention stable: "If there are 11 Wizard World cons, which one is the big one, the most important show? Furthermore, why is Shamus clinging to the Wizard brand at all with what appears to be a new business venture with these comic conventions? Wizard’s a damaged label. The publishing and product-sales divisions have been shrinking and stumbling. Once a powerhouse in the industry, Wizard magazine is really more a symbol of the excesses of comics in the 1990s. It’s like a C-list media guest at one of Shamus’s conventions, smiling awkwardly as it hopes people remember it fondly as they pass by." [Eye on Comics]

The Complete Peanuts: 1971-1972

Best of 2009 | Rob Clough concludes his list of the top 50 comics of the year. [The Comics Journal]

Events | LA Weekly has a slide show from the "Zap! Pow! Bam! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950" exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. [LA Weekly]

Creators | Brian Heater kicks off a multi-part interview with James Sturm, co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | Writer John Layman discusses his surprise-hit series Chew, and the long journey to get to that point: "I’ve been trying to do comics since 1995 and now I’ve got a comic that some people care about and that makes it a hit. It’s been a long road and you better freakin’ love comics. It takes awhile." [Multiversity Comics]

Sweet Tooth #5

Creators | Cartoonist Jeff Lemire is briefly profiled in advance of an appearance in London, Ontario. [London Free Press]

Creators | "Brian Wood Month" continues with this interview focusing on DMZ, whose 50th issue is released this week. [Comics Alliance]

Creators | Artist Tommy Lee Edwards discusses his concept work for movies like The Book of Eli, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Batman Begins. [Daily Press & Argus]

Creators | I love Brandon Graham's meandering, art-filled posts. [Livejournal]

DC Entertainment

Publishing | The filmmakers behind Spellbound, the Oscar-nominated documentary that followed competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee, plan to premiere an authorized documentary on the history of DC Comics at Comic-Con International. Mac Carter (The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft) is directing the project, with Spellbound's Sean Welch producing and Jeffrey Blitz executive producing.

"DC Comics contacted us and asked if we would do this," Welch told Collider. "Jeff and the director are comic book enthusiasts since they were kids and remain comic book enthusiasts. So yes, we have access to their archives, their material, their covers, their panels, the creatives and the executives in the DC world. [Collider]

Publishing | The weeklong standoff between Amazon and Macmillan over the price of digital books ended Friday evening, with the publisher's electronic and paper books quietly returning to the website of the retail giant. Details of the dispute's resolution have not been made public. [Bits]

Panelfly's app on iPhone and iPad

Publishing | Rosa Golijan has high hopes for Panelfly's revamped comic-book app for the iPad: "I'd buy an iPad just to read comic books." [Gizmodo]

Publishing | Blogger Sean Kleefeld asserts there are plenty of comics for kids -- it's just that "the comics community on the whole seems to be willfully ignoring them." In the comments, Brigid Alverson and Johanna Draper Carlson point out that there are, indeed, sites covering kids' books. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Publishing | Tom McLean, Graeme McMillan and Tom Spurgeon consider the possibilities of a Watchmen sequel. [Bags and Boards, i09.com, The Comics Reporter]

Publishing | Breeanna Hare looks at Hollywood's love affair with comics "graphic novels". "The days of being embarrassed to be caught reading a graphic novel is over," author Stephen Weiner says. [CNN.com]

Best of 2009 | Rob Clough rolls out the first part of his rundown of the Top 50 comics of the year. [The Comics Journal]

Best of 2009 | Paul Gravett names the best reprints of the year. [Paul Gravett]

Angoulême poster

Conventions | Paul Gravett posts a lengthy report about the 37th annual Angoulême International Comics Festival: "More than ever with this 37th edition, I was struck by the sheer scope and variety of Francophone and international comics on offer. The comic market in France is vibrant, even overloaded, and has seen constant, year-on-year growth over the past 14 years. In 2009, a recessionary year, that growth slowed down but still managed a 2.4% increase in the quantity of titles published, 4,863 in total." [Paul Gravett]

Retailing | Retailers Brian DiStefano and Mike Okaly receive spotlights. [Poughkeepsie Journal, Courier News]

Creators | Alicia Lozano covers an appearance at UCLA by Neil Gaiman, who over the weekend revealed he has written an episode of Doctor Who. [Hero Complex]

The Invincible Iron Man #24

Creators | Writer Matt Fraction holds court on The Invincible Iron Man, the movie sequel, the video game, Avatar and more. Note: The first link may contain spoilers for the comic series. [Techland, New York Post]

Creators | Brian Wood scores a Q&A in USA Weekend, focusing on the return of DEMO, Northlanders and getting things right: "I went to Norway and I was really, really worried. I signed books and some guy came up to me who knew zero English, and he was holding open Northlanders to a page. I was like, 'Uh oh, here we go. You’ve got something to comment on.' He points to a few pieces of clothing and weapons on this page, and he’s like, 'Sax,' which I know is the name for like a short sword. He seemed to approve — he was very gruff about it, but he was sort of nodding. I guess I did OK." [USA Weekend]

Creators | Kathy Lauer-Williams profiles Eric Wight, cartoonist and creator of the popular Frankie Pickle series of children's books. [The Morning Call]

Creators | Kyle Strahm, artist of IDW Publishing's upcoming miniseries We Will Bury You, is profiled by his local newspaper. [St. Joseph News-Press]

Cold Space

Time again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for interesting new adventure comics. I know it's only been a week since the last one, but that's 'cause I'd gotten behind.

Ape

Black Coat: Or Give Me Death - It took a while, but the second collection of my favorite Revolutionary War-era monster-hunter's adventures is finally arriving.

Antarctic

Robin Hood - I'm a little nervous about Antarctic's take on Robin Hood, but I'm encouraged by their publishing Richard Moore. I'll give this a "shot" (ba-dum CHING!).

Boom!

Cold Space #1 - Celebrity comics aren't exactly known for their high quality, but Samuel L Jackson is a smart, talented man. I'm taking the bet that he's a pretty good writer too. Plus: space men.

Brave and the Bold #33

Dark Horse

Beasts of Burden - You don't know how hard it's been trade-waiting a series about ghost-busting pets. Well, maybe you do. If so... wait's over!

Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago, Volume 1 - I thought that there was pretty much no way anyone was going to get me to buy another Star Wars comic. Never underestimate the power of pure nostalgia. I love those cheesy old Marvel issues and a collection of them for the bookshelf is irresistible. Looking forward to seeing that giant, green rabbit again.

DC

Brave and the Bold #33 - I'm a sucker for these girls' night out stories, especially when Cliff Chiang's drawing it and the women are Zatanna, Wonder Woman, and... is that the Barbara Gordon Batgirl? I'm confused. I thought this book was set in current continuity, but that's some red-looking hair on that Batgirl. Anyway, the only way this could get better would be to put Black Canary in it too. They should make an ongoing series from this concept. Get Kelly Sue DeConnick to write it with Chiang on art. Just... don't call it Sheroes.

The Last Unicorn

Del Rey

Stuff of Legend - Toy stories are cool. Especially when the toys have to save their owner from the Boogey Man. The art in this has an epic quality that's missing from other, cutesy, toys-come-to-life comics.

IDW

The Last Unicorn #1 - A lot of people have fond memories of the Rankin-Bass movie version, but I'm not one of them. I'm hoping this series is able to show me why everyone loves the story so much. Not that it would kill me to just read Peter S Beagle's book, but Renae De Liz's artwork is gorgeous and I'm thinking that if anything's going to sell me on the wonders of this story, it'll be that.

Kill Shakespeare #1 - Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Falstaff, and Puck search for a reclusive wizard named William Shakespeare who may have the ability to assist them in their battle against evil forces led by Richard III, Lady Macbeth and Iago. As I said on my other blog, "This will probably be the greatest story ever written."

Turf

Image

Turf #1 - I'd like to hug whoever came up with the idea to have aliens invade at the exact same time that the Vampires vs 1920s Gangsters War is heating up. I guess that would be writer Jonathan Ross.

Marvel

Black Widow #1 - After I'm done hugging Jonathan Ross, I'm going over to Marvel's offices to find the person responsible for a Black Widow ongoing. I don't know Marjorie Liu's work, but I hope she knows her spy stuff.

Her-Oes #1 - Hate the title, but love the idea of reading about the high school hijinks of Marvel heroines. Is it bad though that I'm going to be rooting for teen Namora to stuff teen Wasp in a locker? I can't imagine this series lasting very long, but as long as it has teen She-Hulk and teen Valkyrie in it, I'll be there.

SHIELD

Super Heroes #1 - Paul Tobin already writes comics just for me, but he's really proving it by putting the Invisible Woman on the Avengers with Black Widow. I'm sure he'll even find something interesting to do with the Vision.

SHIELD #1 - Dang, Marvel's on fire this month. Leonardo da Vinci, Agent of SHIELD is genius. I want a series starring just him.

Black Widow and the Marvel Girls - This Paul Tobin/Black Widow mini-series sure got collected fast. Thanks, Iron Man 2!

That's it for me. What are you looking forward to in April?

Here at Shelf Porn Central, we're not size conscious. We know it's not the number of shelves you have, but what's on them that counts.

That's why today we're featuring not one but two collections. They are perhaps a wee bit smaller than some of the more ostentatious offerings we've had in the past, but they're filled out in all the right places.

The first collection of photos comes from Doug Goodwin in Cartersville, Georgia. The second is from Jesse Young, founder and co-president of Saint James Comics.  Click on the link to see their pics.

Jesse Young: The only thing I can think of to say about my collection is that it's very Creator Owned. I only have a couple of Marvel/DC books. Everything else is mostly Vertigo, Image, Dark Horse, Oni, etc. I'm just really into the creator owned/indy books. I like being able to start the story at the beginning. I didn't grow up reading comics as a kid so the Marvel and DC books are a bit intimidating for me, because there is all this back story I don't know and it makes the stories a little harder to get into.

Oh and by the way, I only started reading comics 2 years ago, so this is my collection in such a short time.

IDW announced yesterday their next big strip collection project for their Library of American Comics imprint -- Al Capp's L'il Abner. Volume One will cover 1934-36 and feature an essay by Bruce Canwell, and an introduction by Denis Kitchen. It will be a 288 page hardcover, retail for $49.99 and be available in stores in April.

Those with long memories will recall that Kitchen had attempted to publish Abner's complete run back in the 1990s via his Kitchen Sink Press, but never completed the project due to the company's going under. The strip, about a colorful group of hillbillies, ventured frequently into political and social satire, and was one of the most popular comics of its day. Capp's eventual turn into hardline conservatism, however, left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of cartoonists and critics in following generations, and the strip has fallen a bit out of favor in recent decades. It will be interesting to see how this new attempt at collecting the material is received.

Read the full press release after the jump:

San Diego, CA (January 26, 2010) – IDW Publishing and its imprint, the Library of American Comics, are proud to announce the upcoming series, The Complete L’il Abner, collecting Al Capp’s comedy masterpiece as never before. Volume one of this new collection will feature both daily comics and previously unreprinted full-color Sunday pages from 1934 to 1936.

Debuted on August 13, 1934, L’il Abner became one of the most influential comic strips of all time during its 43-year run. Creator Al Capp developed the hillbilly character of L’il Abner, striking a nerve with Depression-era America through his social commentary, mock dialectics and hapless yet lovable Yokum family.

In The Complete L’il Abner, Volume One, the title character moves to New York to live with his rich aunt and has to dodge kidnappers and socialites, alike. Meanwhile, back home in Dogpatch, Marrying Sam works to get Abner and gorgeous Daisy Mae to the altar, while shiftless Hannibal Hoops schemes to split them apart! Then it’s a classic case of mistaken identity when Abner’s evil twin, the ruthless criminal Gat Garson, comes to town.

The Complete L’il Abner, Volume One is published by IDW under its Eisner award-winning imprint, the Library of American Comics. The Complete L’il Abner series is edited and designed by Dean Mullaney, with a biographical essay by Bruce Canwell, and an introduction by Denis Kitchen. Included in the introduction are the proto-Abner “Big Leviticus” strips that Capp created the year before Abner began when he ghosted Joe Palooka for Ham Fisher.

The Complete L’il Abner Volume One ($49.99; 288 pages; hardcover) will be available in stores in April. Diamond order code JAN10 1030; ISBN 978-1600106118.

by Declan Shalvey

The Eclectic Micks are a group of Irish comic artists who have set up a group sketch blog featuring all kinds of cool artwork. And this week, with the launch of IDW's new Tranformers miniseries, Last Stand of the Wreckers (collective member Nick Roche draws the series), they've temporarily changed their name to Eclectic Wrecks and are running sketches of characters from the series. If you're into the Transformers, go check'em out.

Via