Comic Book Resources

Straight for the (horror) art | Alex Sheikman's Strangeways illustration

Part of an illustration by Alex Sheikman

For his one-a-day sketch series on his blog, Robotika creator Alex Sheikman drew a terrific illustration based on Strangeways, the Western-horror series by Matt Maxwell and Luis Guragna. The second graphic novel in the series, The Thirsty, is being serialized online right here at Robot 6.

To see the full illustration, visit Sheikman's blog.

Children of the night! What music they make: Robot 666 week

With Halloween coming up, we thought we'd have a little fun and get into the spirit of the season. So all this week, in addition to our regular blogging, we'll look at the scarier side of comics, from six special editions of Six by 6 (Six by 6 by 6 -- or 666, which inspired our logo change this week) to Halloween-themed columns to appearances by special "spooky" guests.

In fact, we should have something you can sink your fangs into later today ...

Two "Thank yous" and a "Welcome aboard"

First off, a big "Thank you" to David Gallaher, who guest blogged with us all week. If you missed his interviews with Ron Perazza and id.ego, or his write-up on the Winter Guard one-shot he and Steve Ellis have coming out this December, be sure to go check them out. And you can read his and Steve'sHigh Moon over at the Zuda Comics site; it just launched its fourth season this weekend.

Second, you may have noticed Lisa Fortuner hasn't been around these parts in awhile, which was due to the increasing demands of her day job. Unfortunately those demands have continued increasing, so Lisa has decided to make it official and leave the blog. Which is too bad, as I was hoping she'd find the time to start contributing again. I've always admired her courage in tackling the subjects she did in her column. She'll definitely be missed.

And finally, a bit of good news for the blog ... after his guest stint a few weeks back, we've invited Sean T. Collins to join the blog on a permanent basis. Welcome aboard, Sean! Watch for his first post this week.

Robot 6 in Long Beach

Long Beach Comic Con

Okay, that's grabbier than "Strangeways in Long Beach," ya gotta admit.  It's even more accurate, since this week's guest blogger, David Gallaher, will be there as well.

Where in Long Beach?  Why, Long Beach Comic Con, of course.

It's been a long time since the LA area had a bigger show to go to.  The last show there was in 2008, and while it made for an interesting debut and and a great place to see friends over the weekend, it wasn't a barn-burner of an event.  I always felt that the shows put on in Long Beach far overshadowed the LA shows in terms of quality and location, and I've no doubt that this new show will live up to that.  Apparently Stan Lee himself will be cutting the opening ribbon, which might be fun to see.  I would love to have him sign my copy of ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS some day (indeed the book that made me a Marvel zombie so many years ago, also forming an impression of comics as books that I've yet to shake.)

I'll be down at booth 63, Mr. Gallaher at booth 62 (I wonder if I can get him to swap booths with me -- sentimental reasons).  I'm sure he'll have plenty of copies of HIGH MOON to sell, as I will have plenty of copies of MURDER MOON and the limited-edition red cover chapter #1 collection of THE THIRSTY.  And don't forget, those fabulous five minute stories will also be available for the asking.

See you there!

Guest blogger: David Gallaher

High Moon

I'm pleased to welcome comics writer David Gallaher to Robot 6. David will be blogging about his various projects, webcomics and other fun stuff with us for the next week.

David's the writer of High Moon, the first winner of Zuda's monthly webcomics competition. A print collection of the strip comes out this Wednesday. He and his High Moon collaborator, artist and new father Steve Ellis, are also doing a Winter Guard one-shot for Marvel in December. They're also doing a straight-to-the-iPhone comic called Box 13 for comiXology.

Watch for David's first post tomorrow.

Welcome guest contributor Sean T. Collins

I'm going to be out of town for most of this coming week, so writer/blogger Sean T. Collins has agreed to lend a hand here at Robot 6 while I'm out.

Sean's no stranger to the blog, as he contributed to our Shelf Porn feature back in February, and we've linked to his blog and the various interviews he's done in the past. Sean has written for Maxim, Wizard, Comic Book Resources, The Comics Journal, ToyFare and Marvel.com, where recently he's been doing a series of interviews with the creators associated with the Strange Tales anthology. You can find some of his comics over on the Top Shelf 2.0 website.

He also blogs at Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat and the Savage Critics on a regular basis.

Thanks to Sean in advance for helping us out; I look forward to reading his contributions all week!

Jamie S. Rich | My Criminal Record

Hey, everyone! Before I get started, I thought I'd take the time out to give a brief wave and also thank the Robot 6 crew for inviting me to be Robot 7 for a week.

You Have Killed Me

My name is Jamie S. Rich, and I am a crime junkie. Movies are my major poison, particularly of the classic film noir variety. You know, moody black-and-white flicks from the 1940s and 1950s featuring tough guys in nice suits slapping bad guys in even nicer suits all because of something going on with a girl who may or may not be nice, but who cares, because she dresses better than both of the fellas combined. That said, I also like crime comics, and thanks to some gentle urging from my artist, Joëlle Jones, I decided to act on that love and write my own. My week amongst the CBR blogosphere is meant to promote just that--the newly released Oni Press hardcover comic book You Have Killed Me. Written by myself and illustrated by Joëlle, it's got all those things I mentioned above--including the slap!--and more. It's been about two years in the making, and we're excited to be getting it out on the shelves.

I realize that, for many, the idea of me writing a hardboiled crime comic book seems like a departure. I'm known as the goopy romance guy who likes to write dark relationship stories full of references to excellent bands no one has ever heard of. It's a fair reputation, though a limited one, and soon to be shaken all to pieces once You Have Killed Me drops its foot on the collective neck of the reading public. I think followers of my work will be a little surprised that I have more range than they might have expected, but also that what I have done with Joëlle is exactly where my other work has been leading all this time.

Folks would also do well to remember that I spent a decade editing comics, starting at Dark Horse in 1994 at the tender age of 22 and then moving to Oni Press in 1998. In my time, I naturally gravitated to certain crime-related books. I assisted on some comics starring the Shadow, as well as Paul Pope's futuristic con The One-Trick Rip-Off. I was part of the team on the Whiteout books by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, one of the more straightforward crime/mystery series you're likely to find in comics, as well as editing Scott Morse's more off-center Volcanic Revolver and Spaghetti Western. I even worked with Ed Brubaker, long before Criminal, serializing stories he and Jason Lutes were doing together and separately in Dark Horse Presents.

What I'm saying is, I have a pedigree. This dog is ready to show!

Continue Reading »

Guest blogger: Jamie S. Rich

I'm pleased to welcome writer and editor Jamie S. Rich to Robot 6. Jamie will be blogging about his latest book, sharing his Shelf Porn and generally having fun with us for the next week.

Jamie's latest graphic novel, You Have Killed Me with artist Joëlle Jones, was published by Oni and is out in stores now. Artwork from the book is currently on display at Meltdown Comics in L.A.

He's also written Have You Seen The Horizon Lately?, Love the Way You Love, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, Cut My Hair and The Everlasting. He also edited titles like Usagi Yojimbo and Red Rocket 7 while at Dark Horse, served as editor-in-chief at Oni and has done freelance editing for titles like Powers and The Atomics. He also edited the next edition of Liberty Comics, which benefits the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. In his spare time, he reviews movies for DVD Talk.

Watch for Jamie's first post later today.

Follow us on Twitter during San Diego Comic-Con

A few Robot 6 contributors will be in San Diego this week, so be sure to check back here for live reports, photos and other fun stuff. And a few of us will be at home, watching the news and posting about it here ... so stay tuned for that as well.

You can also follow us on Twitter for moment-by-moment updates, wisdom and fits of insanity:

• JK Parkin
• Carla Hoffman
• Matt Maxwell

And if you're on Twitter, don't forget to subscribe to Robot 6 and Comic Book Resources. Not only will you receive links to all the panel reports, interviews and posts coming out of the con, but we'll also be posting other little news bits throughout the week as well on both feeds.

Seven Days | The week in comics

A look at the big news, and noteworthy posts, from the past week.

• Former Judge Dredd artist Ron Smith was cleared of all charges that he sexually abused a 13-year-old girl over a three-year period in the 1980s.

• Although the week began with upbeat reports from last weekend's MoCCA Festival, attention quickly turned to complaints from exhibitors and attendees about the lack of air conditioning, and a level of disorganization that led to a late opening on Saturday, poor promotion and the omission of several creators’ names from the official website.

• The author and illustrator of the Nate the Great children's book series counter-sued Cosmic Debris Etc., claiming the Emily the Strange franchise violates their copyright. Last month Cosmic Debris sued Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont, and asked a judge to declare that Emily doesn’t infringe on the copyright to their 1978 book Nate the Great and the Long List, which introduced the goth girl Rosamond. Dark Horse Entertainment, which is producing an Emily the Strange movie, also is named as a defendant in the counter-suit.

Continue Reading »

Welcome aboard, Brigid Alverson

I’m really pleased to announce that Brigid Alverson of MangaBlog, Digital Strips and Good Comics for Kids fame is joining the Robot 6 team.

Brigid will cover webcomics in her new column, which kicks off this week. Here’s her description of what she plans to cover:

"’Webcomics’ is a huge topic and I plan to keep it pretty broad. I'm very interested in the business side of things and how people can make the webcomics model work, as well as evolving platforms such as iPod Touch, Kindle, etc. And I'm also very interested in the creative side of things—how people do it. I plan to have the column be a mix of material—interviews, reviews, and the occasional think piece.”

Brigid’s column will run on Tuesdays, as Tom Bondurant’s Grumpy Old Fan moves back to its original Thursday spot now that he’s wrapped up the Trinity Annotations.

Again, welcome aboard, Brigid – I’m looking forward to reading your first column!

Live chat tonight with 'Labor Days' creators and goofball blogger

The Rick and Phil Hour

Last fall I interviewed Rick Lacy and Phil Gelatt, the creators of Labor Days, and tonight they're turning the tables on me. They host a live chat show on the Oni Press site and have invited me to join them for their 20th episode at 9 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Pacific. Here's the description of the show:

Well here we are! Victorious after 20 episodes of Tuesday night jaw-flapping! God, has it really been that long already?

In honor of this momentous milestone, we will be doing something a little different, something a little special, something a little crazy. Instead of the normal free form shotgun blast of chit-chat, tonight we have a special guest to interview about their life in comics.

And that special guest is J.K. Parkin of the super-blog, Robot 6.

That's right, the interviewer shall become the interviewee. All bets are off!

We'll be chatting about what it's like wheeling and dealing in the world of comics blogging, all manner of pop culture ephemera and how he works that magic that he works so well.

As per the norm now, we'll be doing it via Cover-It-Live. We'll put a link to the chat up here so you can find it easily.

9 pm eastern/6pm pacific

Stop in and have a chat with the man who brings you all the news you need!

See that picture of Phil up top, where he's snoozing on the plane? I only hope I don't have that effect on their audience. In all seriousness, it should be fun, so stop by if you're online tonight. The chat will occur on the Oni Press blog.

Welcome guest contributor Sam Humphries

Sam Humphries

With JK Parkin taking a well-deserved vacation this week, Robot 6 is pleased (and lucky) to have writer and new-media developer Sam Humphries stepping in to lend a hand.

Sam worked for more than two years in content and development at MySpace, where he was the architect of the successful MySpace Comic Books program. The initiative's MySpace Dark Horse Presents online anthology earned an Eisner Award last year for "Sugarshock!," the short story by Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon.

Sam lives in Los Angeles, and can't stop reading Boy's Club.

To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars

WonderCon starts today at the Moscone Center in glorious San Francisco. I'm wrapping up a few things before I head into the city today.

Where you can find me online this weekend:

• I'll be covering several panels for Comic Book Resources.
• I'll be contributing to CBR Live! as well, as someone was crazy enough to give me direct access.
• If I remember, I'll post random thoughts on Twitter.
• Oh yeah, I'll probably blog some, too, right here at this very site.

And contrary to the evidence suggested above, I'll also be talking to real people at the show, really, so if you see me wandering around, stop me and say hi!

A few quick notes ...

Just wanted to share a few quick housekeeping items with everyone ...

• Sad news: I'm sad to report that Chris Mautner is taking a break from blogging due to the death of his father-in-law earlier this week. Please keep Chris and his family in your thoughts.

• Where's Carla? Last we heard from our friend Carla, she was released from the hospital and recuperating. And Twittering. So, the question is ... when will she back blogging with us again? Soon. Very, very soon. We don't have a specific date yet, but we're definitely talking.

• A word to our sponsor: Big thanks to Dynamite Entertainment for sponsoring the blog this month. Click on the banner up top if you'd like to learn more about Dead Irons, which hit comic shops this week. Or you can check out the trailer here.

• Thanks: Lastly, it's been about a month since we launched Robot 6 here at CBR, and I just wanted to say thanks again to everyone who welcomed us back after our sabbatical. We're really happy to be here and have some fun stuff planned for this month, so stay tuned!