Image Comics
’90s Image artist Dan Fraga re-emerges as director of The Ricky Gervais Show
In the comics boom of the mid-’90s, a number of new creators burst onto the scene. Dan Fraga was hired fresh out of high school in 1991 to draw for Rob Liefeld’s line of comics at the then-newly launched Image Comics. He disappeared from the comic shelves around the turn of the century, but now he’s popping up in the most unlikely of places: directing a television show for comedian Ricky Gervais.
To jog your memory, Fraga made his comics debut in the pages of Youngblood, and went on to do his own creator-owned work like Black Flag and Gear Station as well as work for the Big Two on everything from What If? to Superman. But in 2000 Fraga segued out of comics to become a storyboard artist for films like Transporter 2 and the second Fantastic Four movie. In 2010 a gig doing storyboards for an MTV series called The Hard Times of RJ Berger led to the producers expanding his role to direct animated scenes for the show. That in turn got him the offer to direct Ricky Gervais’ self-titled animated show based on his pre-recorded podcasts.
“While the show is from preexisting podcasts, Ricky worked with us to make sure that what we did coincided with what he wanted for the show,” Fraga said in an interview with Examiner.com. “He was a fun guy to work with and had great notes.”
In addition to directing this show, Fraga says that he’s working on a pilot for Adult Swim as well as a novel. You can catch up to Fraga and his work over at his blog, FragaBoom!
- April 20, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Arrant
Comics A.M. | Funky Winkerbean storyline to tackle gay rights
Funky Winkerbean
Comic strips | Cartoonist Tom Batiuk, whose Funky Winkerbean has addressed such topics as teen pregnancy, land mines and capital punishment, will next turn his attention to gay rights in a storyline about a gay couple that wants to attend the prom at the comic strip’s fictional fictional Westview High School. “It struck me that whenever I sit in classes at Midview High, which I still do, my overall impression is that the younger generation’s attitudes toward gays is more open and accepting than their predecessors,” Batiuk said. “It’s not perfect, but it shows promise for an emerging generation that will bring this issue (intolerance) to an end. I wanted to take those two opposing viewpoints to reach across that divide of intolerance.” The month-long storyline begins April 30. Funky Winkerbean appears in more than 400 newspapers nationwide. [The Chronicle-Telegram]
Conventions | The seventh annual Cape Comic Con kicks off today in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. [Southeast Missourian]
- April 20, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Tony DeZuniga hospitalized; record 3.5M FCBD comics ordered
Tony DeZuniga
Creators | Legendary comic artist Tony DeZuniga, the co-creator of Jonah Hex, has been hospitalized in the Philippines after suffering from a stroke and pneumonia. The 70-year-old DeZuniga is reportedly in the intensive care unit as friends and family rally to help with his medical expenses. [GMA News]
Retailing | Diamond Comic Distributors announced that retailers have ordered more than 3.5 million comics for Free Comic Book Day, up 23 percent from last year. Diamond also confirmed a second event centered on Halloween. [ICv2]
Graphic novels | The Irish Education Minister, Ruairí Quinn, has given his blessing to a manga-style graphic novel intended to help teenagers develop “emotional intelligence.” [TheJournal.ie]
- April 18, 2012 @ 06:06 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Archie feud goes into mediation; C2E2 attendance ‘way up’
Archie Comics
Legal | The New York Times ventures deep into the legal battle between Archie Comics Co-CEOs Nancy Silberkleit and Jonathan Goldwater, noting the two sides have gone into court-approved mediation. “Competing lawsuits filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan and State Supreme Court in Westchester County lay out a litany of bitter allegations. He punctured her car tires, destroyed her Web site and claimed that she sexually harassed employees. She ordered him to fire several longtime employees because they were too old, too fat or too buxom, and let her dog, Willow, roam the offices and defecate in the art department.” [The New York Times]
Conventions | Although no figures have been released for last weekend’s Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, organizer Lance Fensterman said attendance was “way up,” noting that, “the size of the show floor doubled and the aisles were much more full than last year. That tells you how much attendance jumped to keep pace with the floor growth.” [Publishers Weekly]
- April 17, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Quote the day | ‘We’re … creating some of the best comics in history’
“The numbers don’t lie: More people are reading Image comics every single week, and those numbers are going to increase, whether they get them from your stores or from someplace else, because no offense to everyone who made the last 20 years so vital and creative, but right now, we’re blasting headlong into the future and creating some of the best comics in history.
See – in the past, when everyone claimed the sky was falling, it was because we were losing readers in droves – and worse, we were losing stores – because our numbers had been inflated by speculation. But the reason the sky isn’t falling now – the reason we’re actually skyrocketing – is because there are readers – real readers, the kind of customers we all want – in abundance. It’s our job – yours, mine, and the creators we publish – to capture their attention and give them the kind of experience they’ll come back for again and again.”
– Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson, in his speech at the Diamond Retailer Summit at C2E2
- April 13, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Anders Nilsen’s Big Questions wins Lynd Ward prize
Big Questions
Awards | Big Questions by Anders Nilsen has won the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize for 2012, the second such award given by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book. The organization also named four honorees: Freeway by Mark Kalesniko, Habibi by Craig Thompson, Life with Mr. Dangerous by Paul Hornschemeier and Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Khalil. The awards will be presented during a ceremony at Penn State later this year. [Pennsylvania Center for the Book]
Publishing | IDW Publishing has promoted Dirk Wood to vice president of marketing. Wood joined IDW in 2010 as director of retail marketing. [IDW Publishing]
Conventions | Misha Davenport previews this weekend’s Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- April 13, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by JK Parkin
The Walking Dead #100 cover gruesomely remembers the fallen
Skybound has provided Robot 6 with Charlie Adlard’s corpse-strewn cover for the 100th issue of The Walking Dead, which depicts every prominent character who’s died in the acclaimed series.
“You can’t see it, but (hero cop) Rick is actually holding a birthday cake in his hand,” creator Robert Kirkman told USA Today. “Or, I guess, his only hand.”
The anniversary issue arrives July 11 from Image/Skybound, marking what Kirkman hopes is only the first of such major milestones. “I really do want to do this for decades,” he tells the newspaper. “I’m thrilled that it still feels like I have a full tank of gas.”
- April 12, 2012 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Food or Comics? | Pete and mirliton
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
The Amazing Spider-Man: Hooky
Chris Arrant
If I had $15, I’d first snap up a book I’ve been trying to track down for years: Amazing Spider-Man: Hooky (Marvel, $4.99). This 1986 lost classic features Bernie Wrightson drawing a webhead story featuring monsters and alternate worlds – looks like a real gem. Now to convince Marvel to republish John Paul Leon’s Logan: Path of the Warlord… Next up would be Secret Service #1 (Marvel/Icon, $2.99). I’ll buy pretty much anything Dave Gibbons puts out these days, and seeing him with Mark Millar is bound to be a unique experience. Next up is Saga #2 (Image, $2.99); Brian K. Vaughn is really setting up a world – like a sci-fi sitcom here, with loads of direction to go in. Lastly I’d get Conan the Barbarian #3 (Dark Horse, $3.50). Can I admit I might like this more than Northlanders? Brian Wood’s definitely expanding how people think of him with this story, and Becky Cloonan is making a lot of editors look foolish for not putting her on these kinds of books sooner.
If I had $30, I’d start out with Secret #1 (Image, $3.50). Manhattan Projects seems more up my alley than this story, but Jonathan Hickman’s built up some credit in me to try anything new he puts out even if I’m not too interested. Next up would be Northlanders #50 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99), which I’m sad to see go. I think this will be one of those series that achieves more popularity after it’s over, and it’s a shame DC can’t find a way to continue it. After that it would be Glory #25 (Image, $2.99). I was a bit shaky on the story after Joe Keatinge’s first issue, but everything after has really put the pieces into place and Ross Campbell seems to be finding his footing to really land the superheroics of this story. Last up would be Secret Avengers #25 (Marvel, $3.99); Rick Remender’s clearly put his own spin to this series, so much I’m surprised Marvel didn’t use this as a chance to renumber the series… but I’m glad they didn’t.
If I could splurge, I’d throw money at my comic retailer for Pete and Miriam (Boom!, $14.99). Big fan of Rich Tommaso, and he seems to be honing his craft like a knife, creating more pointed and poignant stories here. And Miriam, she’s a real gem.
- April 10, 2012 @ 01:00 PM by Michael May
A thousand-piece puzzle without the frame: McCann talks Mind the Gap
On the surface it may not look like The Return of The Dapper Men, Hawkeye and Mockingbird, and Mind the Gap have much in common, beyond the fact that they are all written by Jim McCann. One’s a fairy tale, one’s a straight up superhero comic and the third McCann describes as a “thriller mystery” with some “preternatural” elements.
But McCann says they have more in common than you might think, or at least that I thought. Last week when I interviewed him about his new Image series, McCann drew parallels between Mind the Gap and those two previous projects, noting that he had plans for a big central mystery for his run on Hawkeye and Mockingbird that never came to pass.
“With Hawkeye and Mockingbird, unfortunately that series was cancelled, but I had a two-year plan for that, and it started to lay a couple of seeds early on,” McCann told me. “Brian Bendis picked up on one of them that occurred in the last issue of Hawkeye and Mockingbird, issue #6. There was a brief moment between Clint Barton and Jessica Drew that was supposed to set up a fling between the two of them. We had talked about that before, and when the series ended he was able to take it and run with it. So there are still some ideas out there that were able to live on. I like to plan things out no matter what the story is. I think it’s important to know your ending, and I think it’s fun to plant Easter eggs and seeds.”
- April 9, 2012 @ 03:07 PM by JK Parkin
Chain Reactions | Danger Club #1
Danger Club #1
This week brought the debut of a new creator-owned comic from Landry Q. Walker and Eric Jones, the creative team behind DC’s Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade and SLG’s Little Gloomy. While the duo have made a name for themselves doing kid-friendly titles, Danger Club #1 is definitely not for kids. The comic’s premise is that all the world’s superheros left for space a few months back to battle an alien threat, leaving their sidekicks behind to fend for themselves. Things fall apart, to say the least.
So what did folks think of the first issue? Here’s a round-up of opinions:
Erika Peterman, Girls Gone Geek: “Writer Landry Q. Walker sets a fast pace and doesn’t waste a lot of time with setup or character introductions. This is an efficient, action-packed story that makes the most of the comic’s premise. Left to their own devices, a bunch of agitated, powerful youngsters are fighting among themselves, jockeying for position and abandoning their ideals. With apologies to The Who, the kids are not alright. I’m thinking ‘Lord of the Flies,’ only with teleportation, giant robots and sonic blasts. Walker has created quite an interesting cast of characters to develop.”
Doug Zawisza, Comic Book Resources: “Eric Jones won me over from the start with a fun flashback-style recap/history page seemingly torn from a comic we haven’t seen yet that leads into this story we hold in our hands. That page is two panels, drawn a little more cartoonishly by Jones and colored by Michael Drake to invoke the feel (and darn near smell) of an older comic recently rescued from its bagged and boarded prison. It also acts as a nice contrast to the hyper-detailed modern-day tale that follows.”
- April 7, 2012 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Chris Giarrusso pays tribute to 20 years of Image Comics
Robert Kirkman and Chris Giarrusso‘s The Walking Dead For Kids may have been an April Fool’s joke, but what isn’t a joke is the fact that Giarrusso is creating 12 tribute variant covers for various Image titles this year as a part of their big 20th anniversary. First up is the way-to-Youngblood cover above, which will serve as a variant cover for Youngblood #71.
“Twenty years ago, I was eagerly anticipating the launch of Image Comics,” said Giarrusso in a press release. “Maybe it was partially due to my upcoming high school graduation, but it felt like the whole world was changing. I vividly recall the excitement of seeing the Image books on the shelf for the first time. It was a new era, and these cover images were instantly iconic. The opportunity to pay tribute to these classic Image covers is an honor and a privilege, and I couldn’t be more excited about my role and participation in Image’s 20th anniversary celebration.”
Check out the Walking Dead cover after the jump; no word yet on what other covers he’s doing.
- April 7, 2012 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Des Taylor provides pin-ups for Image’s Epic Kill
Devoid of Life creator Raffaele Ienco has a new comic kicking off at the beginning of May called Epic Kill, which is about an 18-year-old assassin looking to kill the president. Each issue of the five-issue series will include a pin-up by Vesha Valentine creator Des Taylor, and Image Comics sent over three of the five; check out the other two after the jump.
And if your curious what the story will look like, you can see a lot of Ienco’s art for the book at his Tumblr.
- April 7, 2012 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Eisner ballot change; more on March comics sales
Eisner Awards
Awards | The Guy Davis short story “The Phototaker” has been removed from the 2012 Eisner Awards ballot after it was determined to be ineligible. “The ‘Phototaker’ Eisner nomination was a mix up,” Davis wrote on Twitter. ” Jackie Estrada messaged me after I posted asking about the original English version, which came out in Metal Hurlant #9 (2003). So it’s not eligible for the 2012 Eisner nomination and has been removed. Thanks for all the congratulations yesterday, but I’m happy to clear this up and have it removed from the running.” [Eisner Awards]
Publishing | DC Comics’ Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne and Vice President of Marketing John Cunningham respond to March’s direct-market sales estimates, which saw Marvel claim three of the Top 10 spots after a February shutout. “We are pleased that we gained share, and we never expected that we would hold ten out of ten at the top of the chart for ever,” Wayne said. “I think it is better for the business if everybody is firing on all cylinders, that our competitors are doing interesting things, and we are doing interesting things. It keeps everybody on their toes and it keeps enthusiasm in the readership. The retailers remain involved wanting to make sure that they have enough of everything. I think it’s a good thing all around.” [ICv2.com]
- April 6, 2012 @ 08:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Teaser: ‘The existence of a lie is a lie’
A few weeks back I posted some artwork from a story by Ales Kot and Tyler Crook for the upcoming Occupy Comics project, but that’s not the only thing Kot has coming up. Over on his blog he’s teasing a new series he’s working on for Image Comics. No word yet on what it’s called or who he’s working with on it, but it comes out in July.
- April 4, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Relaunching Justice Society, rebuilding Billy Batson
Earth 2 #2
Creators | Alex Zalben talks to James Robinson about his rebooted version of DC Comics’ Justice Society in Earth 2, and the process of creating a world of one’s own: “It always starts with certain plot points that immediately come to you, and you always want those moments to happen at some point, and you work towards them. There are some characters that come to you almost fully formed in your mind, and those are you anchors. And same with the world, there are some aspects of the world that you say, this is what I want to do, here or there, or there. They’re the anchors, and you slowly begin to add the other pieces so it links, and forms, and becomes a whole tapestry.” [MTV Geek]
Creators | Geoff Johns talks about the new, more nuanced version of Billy Batson that he and artist Gary Frank are creating in the Shazam back-up stories in Justice League: “Billy is trouble, but trouble in a way that I think we’ll find understandable, relatable and fun. He has a heart, a big one, but he also has a protective shell around it. He’s mischievous, independent and strong. He’s conflicted, tough and sad. And many other things. For us, Billy had to be as complex and as interesting as his alter ego.” [Hero Complex]
- April 4, 2012 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin