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ComicsLive | A guide to next week’s comic-related events

Welcome to ComicsLive, a guide to upcoming signings, conventions and other comic-related events.

If you’d like to submit an event for inclusion, please email them directly to me. Please include the venue, city and state, start time, event details and any related websites where we can send folks for more information. Virtual events, like online creator chats, are also welcome.

July 10

Brooklyn, N.Y. | Michael Kupperman will be signing at Desert Island from 7 to 9 p.m. Details can be found here.

Cleveland | The Screaming TikiCon begins today and runs through July 12. Guests include Todd Dezago, Thom Zahler, Mike Gustovich, Edward James Olmos and more.

North Hollywood | Mastermind, a play written by CBR contributor Michael Patrick Sullivan, kicks off at the Eclectic Company Theatre. More details here.

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Straight for the art | Detective Comics second printing cover

Detective Comics #854, which kicked off Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III's Batwoman run, is getting a second printing with a new cover by Williams and colorist extraordinaire Dave Stewart.

Although it's hard to find anything wrong with the book's first cover, I like the fact that the star of the book's co-feature, The Question, is featured this time around.

Shades of Gray(son): Rounding up June's Bat-books

Grumpy Old Fan

So there I was in the spring of 1988, a college freshman buying snacks at the local convenience store, when I saw Amazing Spider-Man #300 sitting on the magazine shelf. I knew artist Todd McFarlane had helped make the book pretty popular, and I had fond memories of writer David Michelinie from his earlier work on Iron Man and Avengers. Accordingly, I stuck with ASM through the end of McFarlane's run (in #325), and never gave much thought to Spidey's two other regular titles. Spectacular Spider-Man and Web Of Spider-Man might have been great reads, but for whatever reason, I just wanted the "headliners," Michelinie and McFarlane.

I suspect the same is true these days with the Batman line. Yesterday's releases of Detective Comics #854 and Gotham City Sirens #1 close out the first month of the Big Batman Relaunch. The Grant Morrison-written Batman And Robin (drawn initially by Frank Quitely) has drawn the most attention, with much of the rest going to Detective's Batwoman lead (written by Greg Rucka, drawn by JH Williams III). Each of these high-profile creative teams has been charged with producing new-reader-friendly stories, and thereby building an enduring foundation of loyal consumers.

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Klein, Williams draw the sword -- and a new print

Drawing the Sword

As I mentioned back in April, award-winning letterer Todd Klein has been working on a new print with Promethea artist J.H. Williams III. "Drawing the Sword, " which features a young King Arthur the moment before his whole life changed, is available now on Klein's website.

The text is from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and Klein details the creation of the print on his blog.

Straight for the art | J.H. Williams III's Flickr stream

by J.H. Williams III

If you'd like to see some preview art from the upcoming Batwoman run in Detective Comics, check out J.H. Williams III's Flickr stream, which features various, beautiful images in both color and black and white.

Todd Klein teams with J.H. Williams III for new print

Drawing the Sword

Letterer Todd Klein announced a new print on his blog yesterday, a collaboration with Promethea artist J.H. Williams III. Titled Drawing The Sword, the text Klein will add is from Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. All 500 copies will be signed by both creators, and it will sell for $20 plus shipping.

Klein has done other prints over the past year or so with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Alex Ross; you can find them for sale on his website.

Stiletto heels are so ... three years ago

Batwoman character designs, by J.H. Williams III

One of the criticisms lobbed at the new Batwoman when she was introduced back in 2006 was that her costume played up the "lipstick lesbian" titillation angle. After all, who could effectively leap from rooftops and fight crime in those Alex Ross-designed stiletto heels?

Luckily for Kate Kane, and for us, artist J.H. Williams III has taken a more practical approach to Batwoman's costume.

In character designs posted Friday on the DC Comics blog, we're given a glimpse into Williams' thought process: Gone are the stilettos, replaced by boots -- with serious tread! -- "more realistic to purpose." She's given more heavily armored arm braces, with detachable points that transform into throwing weapons, and a protective mask.

I'm not sure at this point what I think about Batwoman's "retro-rockabilly" alter ego, but I'll concede that it's several steps up from the generic, slinky gown-wearing persona we were initially introduced to almost three years ago. This Kate Kane radiates personality with a look that's distinctive, at least in the DC Universe. Before, she could've been any background character from virtually any crowd scene.

Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams' take on Batwoman debuts in June in Detective Comics #854.

NYCC | A relieved Rucka shares a little about Batwoman

From "Detective Comics" #854, by Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart

New York Comic Con attendees were treated to a preview in their programs of Detective Comics #854, which kicks off a run by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III. So that long-rumored Batwoman title won't be a separate miniseries, but instead an arc of Detective timed to coincide with the "death"-induced absence of Batman.

"Which means finally -- finally! -- I can openly admit that yes, JH Williams III and I have been working on a Batwoman title for nearly two years," Rucka writes on his blog. "And that is both a pleasure and a relief, if I may say so, because I've been wanting to share this for so long it's not funny. And as much as it's been hard for me to keep my tongue still on the subject, I think it's been infinitely harder for JH, all the more so because I believe, sincerely, that this is some of the best work I've ever done, and it's certainly the finest work I've ever had the pleasure of seeing from him."

Rucka also shares a five-page preview, along with the corresponding script.

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

From Promethea #39

Creators | Artist J.H. Williams III has posted a two-page spread from Promethea #39 under the cryptic title "Something is coming ..." Oddsmakers say it's an Absolute Edition of the well-regarded series by Williams and Alan Moore, published from 1999 to 2005 by America's Best Comics/Wildstorm. Too much to wish for?

Williams won't give any more details ... yet: "I can’t comment any further at this time. I’ll have something to say about it relatively soon." [J.H. Williams' blog]

Comics strips | Cartoonist Mike Peters talks about being sued by the Colombian coffee-producers association over a joke in his Mother Goose & Grimm strip: "... I am totally amazed at this. I'm an editorial cartoonist. I expect bad things from my editorial cartoons, not from my comic strip." [Comic Riffs]

Legal | Marvel Entertainment has sued MGA Entertainment, claiming the California-based toymaker overstepped the terms of its licensing agreement by producing merchandise based on Spider-Man and Ghost Rider, which were excluded from the agreement. MGA recently lost a legal battle with Mattel over ownership of those ubiquitous Bratz dolls. [Los Angeles Business Journal]

Sales charts | Still reaping the benefits of the buzz from the (judge willing) upcoming movie adaptation, Watchmen jumps 16 spots to No. 29 on USA Today's list of the Top 150 books. The collection of the 1986 DC Comics miniseries by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is in its 25th week on the chart.

The 33rd volume of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, meanwhile, leaps 36 places to No. 68 in its second week. [USA Today]

The Hunter

Passings | Scott Timberg of The Los Angeles Times pens a tribute to novelist Donald E. Westlake, who passed away on New Year's Eve at age 75. Neil Gaiman and Christopher Mills also note Westlake's passing. Under the pseudonym Richard Stark, Westlake wrote some 20 crime novels about the professional thief Parker.

IDW Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall reveals the cover to Darwyn Cooke's graphic-novel adaptation of the first Parker book, The Hunter, which is due out in July: "For anyone who hasn't read any of Westlake's books, and especially his Parker novels written under the name Richard Stark, hopefully this project coming next summer kickstarts some new interest in his novels." [The Los Angeles Times]

Webcomics | Lyle Masaki profiles a handful of gay-themed webcomics, and webcomics with gay characters. [AfterElton.com]

Art and design | Comics artist Jock (The Losers, Green Arrow: Year One) has created concept art for the upcoming Judge Dredd movie. [io9.com]