Comic Book Resources

SDCC '09 | More exclusives, more panels, more everything

40th Anniversary Souvenir Book

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.

Also, to the right is the 40th anniversary souvenir book cover, featuring art by the great Rick Geary. Comic-Con debuted it on their Twitter feed, where they've also been announcing panels and auctions for membership badges.

Publishers | Red 5 Comics will be at booth S-9 in the small press area, with the creators of We Kill Monsters, Neozoic, Atomic Robo and Afterburn available for signings.

Books | Scott Morse says he'll have about 100 copies of The Ancient Book of Sex and Science, which sold out before its release after being mentioned on BoingBoing. He's also taking orders for a signed and numbered edition, which he'll bring to the con if you order one.

Exclusives | Becky Cloonan will have a set of four silkscreen prints at the con, limited to 100 "signed, numbered, stamped and enveloped" copies.

I asked if she and the 5/Pixu crew had another book planned for this year, but she said they've all been so busy they haven't been able to do one. She also said she'll have a big announcement at the con, and she'll have a table with with Brian Wood, Cliff Chiang and Jill Thompson.

Mini-comics | According to Ben Towle, J Chris Campbell of Wide Awake Press is putting together a Michael Jackson memorial mini-comic to sell at the con, which will feature stories and pin-ups of the King of Pop.

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Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Atomic Robo don't capitulate

Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #1

Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #1-5
Written by Brian Clevinger; Illustrated by Scott Wegener
Red 5 Comics; $2.95/issue

One of the things I loved most about the first Atomic Robo series was that each issue stood on its own and told a different story from the others. Nikola Tesla’s greatest creation could fight giant ants in one issue and mummies in the next. You just never knew what you were going to get.

It was the perfect format for a monthly serial. In a time when I almost always wait for the collections on independent books, Atomic Robo made me excited to tune in each month for the next installment. There was no incentive to hold off and read the story all at once later on. It was all about instant gratification.

When I heard that the second mini-series, Dogs of War, was going to be more of a serialized story, I was worried that it would lose some of that spontaneity that I’d loved so much the first time around. It didn’t though. Dogs of War focuses on Robo’s service fighting Nazis in WWII and the stories are connected, but there’s still a great deal of variety from issue to issue. There’ll be a little more flow in the eventual collection than there was in the last volume, but it’s still very much an instant gratification kind of book.

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