Comic Book Resources

Straight for the art | Annie Wu's Scott Pilgrim/Venture Bros. mash-up

by Annie Wu

Artist Annie Wu's mash-up of the Venture Bros. and Scott Pilgrim is just one of many pieces of fun artwork you can find on her blog.

Straight for the art | Scott Pilgrim poster

The "Scott Pilgrim" cast, by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Bryan Lee O'Malley has unveiled a fantastic poster of the Scott Pilgrim cast -- comic, not movie -- that pays homage to the 1997 flyer for Capcom's Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix.

SDCC '09 | Scott Pilgrim video game is on the way

Scott Pilgrim

As announced by Oni Press yesterday, and reported by Attack of the Show, Ubisoft is developing a video game based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series.

Described as an old-school, side-scrolling beat-'em-up, the downloadable game will be released next year to coincide with Edgar Wright's movie adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Expect details from Ubisoft next week.

(via /Film)

Scott Pilgrim's Toronto, from page to screen

We don't post much about comic-book movies -- we generally leave that to Comic Book Resource's "Comic Reel" -- but I'll make an exception for the latest video blog from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World director Edgar Wright. In it, he and Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O'Malley visit some of the Toronto locations that appear in the graphic novels and that are now being used for the film.

Everyone's a Critic: A round-up of comic reviews and thinkpieces

A Comic Studies Reader

* Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester talk about their latest book, The Comic Studies Reader, among a myriad number of other things, on the Inkstuds podcast.

* Speaking of podcasts, The Comics Journal has posted a panel discussion between Dark Horse editors Philip Simon and Carl Horn, Funimation’s Adam Sheenan and Japanamerica author Roland Kelts on the state of the manga and anime industries that took place during Sakura-Con in Seattle.

* There's a new site in town, Comic Book Critics, which collects reviews of various comics and then assigns them a score from 1-10 based on the consensus, a la Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

* Mark Seigel and the rest of the First Second staff review the new Scott Pilgim book, comic book style!

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What Are You Reading?

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading. This week I'm pleased to announce that our special guest star is Dash Shaw, who wowed the critics last year with his doorstop family drama Bottomless Belly Button and was just nominated for an Eisner for his recently completed Webcomic Bodyworld (soon to be published in book form by Pantheon).

To see what Shaw and the rest of us are reading, click on the link below.

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Scott Pilgrim vs. high demand

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5

As the minutes tick down to the start of New York Comic Con, cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley appears to be the man of the hour.

The much-anticipated fifth installment of his popular Scott Pilgrim series, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe, debuted this week to positive reviews, and a string of release parties in New York City.

As Heidi MacDonald pointed out yesterday, demand for the new volume is so high that some retailers, and fans, are coming up short.

Twitter is, well, atwitter with praise for the book, reports of quick sellouts, and concerns about locating a copy. Rogues Gallery owner Randy Lander ended up without a copy for himself, while Isotope Lounge's James Sime jokingly considered renaming his email in-box as, "Save Me Scott Pilgrim." He teased: "What is going to happen when Obama is on the cover of volume 6?"

Although Amazon.com lists the release date for Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe as Feb. 18, the title already is No. 296 on its bestselling books list, and No. 5 in graphic novels (behind Watchmen and three volumes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid).

To top is all off, this morning's New York Times features a profile of O'Malley, who tells George Gene Gustines that he's looking forward to see what kind of reception awaits him at Comic Con.

If the response so far is any indication, convention-goers should expect long lines at the Oni Press booth, and a sea of shiny covers and "I (Scott) NY" T-shirts.

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

Naruto, Vol. 33

Sales charts | Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen continues to have its way with bookstores as it holds the top spot on BookScan's graphic-novel list for the seventh month in a row. The hardcover edition was No. 3 for the second consecutive month.

The 33rd volume of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto checked in at No. 2 on BookScan's Top 20 for January (six other volumes also appear on the list). Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Joker was No. 4.

Elsewhere, Watchmen slipped 13 places to No. 48 in its 29th week on USA Today's bestseller list. [ICv2.com, USA Today]

Creators | Writer Brian Michael Bendis discusses, at some length, his run on Ultimate Spider-Man: "Doing my initial Spider-Man research, in going back and reading everything, [I found] for a sad sack this guy was getting laid left and right. This guy had more girlfriends than I ever had in high school. Betty Brant was hitting on him. MJ, Gwen. There were girls everywhere. There is an element of Peter that sees himself a certain way. But the reality is that he’s doing much better than he thinks. That’s always been there. It was only accentuated during the [John] Romita years where everyone looked real good. Everyone started looking very attractive and romance comic-y. And my goal overall was to hit the spirit of the Romita years. That’s when I thought the rules of Spider-Man really kicked in." [Bookslut, via Dirk Deppey]

Creators | Writer Dale Lazarov talks about his new work Manly, collaborating with artist Amy Colburn, and deciding against using dialogue: "At first, I struggled with writing non-cheesy porn dialogue, then realized that translation would be a problem, as most of the serious publishers for gay erotic comics are in Japan and Germany. It made sense to transform this limitation into a creative choice and a selling point; the lack of text makes the work more suggestive and involving for the reader, and the books are distributed absolutely everywhere." [Windy City Times]

Conventions | Tom Spurgeon compiles a list of 10 things he'd do if he were attending this weekend's New York Comic Con. [The Comics Reporter]

Events | Steven Padnick has photos from Tuesday night's Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe release party at Jim Hanley's Universe in New York City. [The Roar of Comics]

Blogosphere | In other Scott Pilgrim-related news, blogger Rachelle Goguen is having a contest in which you could win Scott Pilgrim: Full-Colour Odds & Ends 2008, a compilation of short stories. [Living Between Wednesdays]

Fandom | BBC presenter Jonathan Ross has donated a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 for an auction to benefit Comic Relief. [Telegraph]

An early peek at Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

From "Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe," by Bryan Lee O'Malley

For those of you who can't wait until tomorrow to get a peek at the fifth volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series -- Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe -- New York magazine has a six-page preview.

NYCC | I 'Scott' New York

I 'Scott' New York

They've been teasing them for weeks on their Twitter feed and blog, and now Oni Press sent over some info on all of their various NYCC-centric Scott Pilgrim release activities (and special items!) that kick off next week:

COMIC BOOK CLUB LIVE! FEATURING BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY
Tuesday, February 3, 8 p.m.-10 p.m. at The Peoples Improv Theater. Tickets are $5
www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub

MIDNIGHT RELEASE PARY
Tuesday/Wednesday, February 3/4 Midnight at Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan.
www.jhuniverse.com

AFTER WORK SIGNING AND MIXER
Wednesday, February 4, 7-9 p.m. at Rocketship Comics in Brooklyn.
http://rocketshipstore.blogspot.com

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NYCC | Art Spiegelman keynotes ICv2's Graphic Novel Conference

With the New York Comic Con coming up Feb. 6-8, we'll be collecting and posting information on the various things you can do and see while at the show. If you're a publisher, creator, retailer or otherwise exhibiting at the show, feel free to drop me an email with your booth schedule, any comics you might be debuting, giveaways or any other fun stuff you have planned for the show.

General information: Ticket info | Panels | Autographs | 2009 ICv2 Graphic Novel Conference | Blog

• ICv2 has announced details on the Graphic Novel Conference they host the Thursday before the convention, which will include a keynote address from Art Spiegelman and panels on topics like comics on the web, social networks and literary adaptations. Note that this conference isn't open to the general public, but "is open only to those who hold a Professional or Exhibitor Pass," the site says.

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