john romita jr.
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Apple
Digital comics | Following more than two years of complaints, Apple has given developers the guidelines it uses to determine which programs can be sold through its App Store, and relaxed some restrictions on content and tools. The company recently was criticized for forcing the creators of a comic adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses to remove nonsexual nudity from some panels — Apple later changed its stance — and for initially rejecting an app from Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore because his animated political satire contained “content that ridicules public figures.” Alan Gardner notes that the revised guidelines specifically exempt “professional political satirists and humorists” from a clause prohibiting defamatory or offensive material. [The Associated Press]
Comic strips | After 60 years with United Feature Syndicate, Peanuts will move in February to Universal Uclick. The news isn’t totally unexpected, as Iconix Brand Group partnered with the heirs of Charles M. Schulz in April to buy the rights to the comic strip from United’s parent company E.W. Scripps. The $175 million deal was for the entire United Media Licensing division, which includes Dilbert. [Comic Riffs]
Straight for the art | John Romita Jr.’s Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide cover
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide
I remember as a kid going all the way to Washington, D.C. to visit the Smithsonian Museum on a two-week family road trip (shudder), and the only thing I walked out of the gift shop/bookstore with was a copy of the newest Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Not that I really cared about how much any of my comics were supposedly worth — I never planned on selling them anyway — but the draw for me was the tons of advertisements for various comic shops around the country. I spent part of the trip back to Dallas circling all the ones I needed to order comics or catalogs from.
Nowadays I’m really out of touch with the segment of fandom that does care about how much their comics are worth, and I haven’t seen one of the guides in ages. But I do like the 1970′s Conan #1 cover recreation that John Romita Jr. provided for the Hero Initiative’s limited edition version of the guide. They’ll have 500 copies of them in San Diego this year for $35, with the full cover price going to the Hero Initiative.
Talking Comics with Tim: Jim McCann
Dazzler
Jim McCann‘s name is going to be popping up in Marvel Comics more regularly starting toward the end of this month. First up is the May 26 release of the writer’s Dazzler one-shot, followed by the June 3 launch of his Hawkeye & Mockingbird ongoing monthly series. I recently got to discuss both projects in an email interview. It’s never dull for me to chat about Marvel characters with a writer who clearly both enjoys and does his research. My thanks for McCann’s time.
Tim O’Shea: For folks that are afraid the Dazzler one-shot is a nostalgia romp, far from it–in fact the story comes out of the recent Necrosha event. Can you talk a little bit about it?
Jim McCann: Dazz has a bit more heat & attention on her post-Necroshia, both with the fans…and with her enemies! Specifically Mortis, a.k.a. Lois London, her long-absent half-sister, who has massive anger issues and a very strong desire to kill Dazzler!
I wanted to give Dazzler a strong nemesis and family, two things all great characters need, and found both in Lois. They avoided the fight in Necrosha, but, as the cover & solicit says, THIS is the fight, the Necrosha Aftermath for these two!
John Romita Jr.’s Iron Man 2 poster from USA Weekend
Iron Man poster by John Romita Jr.
This past weekend’s USA Weekend, the supplement that appears in Gannett’s papers across the country on Sunday, was all over the upcoming Iron Man 2 — in addition to a feature story and photo shoot related to the film, they also included the above poster by John Romita Jr.
John Romita Jr. confirms Shmuggy and Bimbo from Icon, Gray Area trade
The Grey Area
Last summer John Romita Jr. told CBR’s Jonah Weiland about a new creator-owned book he’s working on with Howard Chaykin called Shmuggy and Bimbo. iFanboy recently caught up with Romita on his press tour for the film Kick Ass, and Romita talked about the project as well as a reprint of his creator-owned series The Gray Area. He says that both projects will be published through Marvel’s Icon imprint.
“Grey Area is gonna be re-released by Marvel in a trade with new colors and new lettering, and a new scene added,” Romita said, noting that the series was getting some interest from Hollywood. “This is what Kick Ass is doing to me.” You can find the conversation about these books around the 21-minute mark.
He also talks about the Kick-Ass film (of course), his upcoming run on Avengers and the fact that he’d like to work on Doctor Strange at some point.
Mask up, bitches: Kick-Ass tears through South by Southwest
Red Mist
This past weekend South by Southwest in Austin hosted the premiere of Kick-Ass, the movie adaptation of the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was accompanied by a panel featuring both creators and members of the cast … and a trio of really cool retro posters that attendees received. Above is one featuring the Red Mist, and you can also check out the ones featuring the title character and Hit Girl.
Reviews of the film have also started to pop up around the web, on sites like io9 and Reuters, among many others. Millar and Romita also spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the film.
New outdoor posters released for Kick-Ass
"Kick-Ass" outdoor posters
Ahead of the movie’s world premiere on Friday at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Lionsgate has released outdoor posters for Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the Icon comic series by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
The film, which stars Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, will be released on April 16. You can see the individual character posters after the break.
Spider-Man, Wolverine join the Big Three on Avengers #1′s cover
Avengers #1 by Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita Jr.
Behold John Romita Jr.’s cover for Avengers #1, coming at you courtesy of IGN. (I spotted it via a tweet by Brian Michael Bendis himself.) Note the presence of Spider-Man and Wolverine, members of the New Avengers who nonetheless did not appear in Marvel’s recent series of teasers for the new adjectiveless Avengers line-up. Note also the presence of Iron Man, Thor, and Bucky Barnes as Captain America, who did get teasers. Ponder the absence of Hawkeye and Spider-Woman, who also got teasers. Keep in mind that Bendis tweeted “no, that is not the entire team.” Factor in Secret Avengers writer Ed Brubaker’s tweet that there are more Secret Avengers than those featured in that team’s mysterious teasers, too. Wonder just how many more Avengers surprises are in store.
Straight for the art | Mr. Kick-Ass and Little Miss Hit
Mr. Kick-Ass and Little Miss Hit, by Steven Anderson
Artist Steven Anderson depicts characters from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass in the style of children’s book illustrator Roger Hargreaves (author of the Mr. Men and Little Miss series). Anderson’s Flickr account features similar takes on Red Mist, Wolverine, The Hulk, Nick Fury and numerous other comic-book characters.
(via Super Punch)
Bendis on the Avengers/Romita Jr. announcement
"I Am an Avenger": Captain America by John Romita Jr.
As you’ve no doubt seen on CBR and all across the comics Internet, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist John Romita Jr. will be relaunching the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes franchise with the adjectiveless Avengers #1 this May. I first heard the news through various and sundry social networks, where word was spread by ecstatic JRJR fans like wildfire.
One such fan? Bendis himself. In a pair of posts to his Twitter account, Bendis talked a bit about the announcement — and promised more to come:
for the record. me and jr jr are the team for AVENGERS not new avengers. more announcements and line up teases coming very very soon. as excited as u guys r for jrjr on avengers, i am fifty times more excited to actually be writing it. been waiting for this for a long time.
Indeed, Bendis recently tweeted enthusiastically about a killer page he’d seen by an artist he’d never worked with before, a description that fits Romita Jr. to a tee. UPDATE: Our eagle-eyed commenters Tom Daylight and Rich Doyle point out that the pair did in fact work together on Mighty Avengers #15, so that leaves another mystery project out there someplace.
Sounds like we should stay tuned for further word on which Avengers teams — creators and characters alike — will be assembling when Siege is over and The Heroic Age begins…
Matt Fraction confirmed for Thor — along with John Romita Jr. [Updated]
Thor & Iron Man Free Comic Book Day cover
The L.A. Times’ Hero Complex blog confirms what Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley hinted at last week — Matt Fraction is indeed taking over the ongoing Thor title. He’ll be joined by an artist familiar with the character, John Romita Jr., who drew the title circa 1998-2000.
Update: So it looks like I jumped the gun a bit; John Romita Jr. is drawing Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day book, whose cover is featured above, featuring Iron Man and Thor. The regular artist for Fraction’s run on Thor has yet to be announced.
Update: Fraction speaks with Comic Book Resources about Thor.
