Sean Murphy
Food or Comics? | Tales Designed to Sizzlean
Parker: The Score
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Graeme McMillan
While the offerings on show at my local comic store this week won’t compare with those available at Comic-Con International, if I had $15 this week, I’d pick up Sean Murphy’s Punk Rock Jesus #1 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99), the new Bloodshot #1 (Valiant, $3.99) and the final issue of the enjoyable Kirby: Genesis #8 (Dynamite, $3.99); the first for the art alone (I know very little about the story, but Murphy’s art is always worth checking out), the second for the high concept, and the third for the payoff that I know is coming from Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and Jack Herbert’s resuscitation of the King’s concepts after following the series thus far.
That said, if I only had $30, I’d put both Punk Rock Jesus and Bloodshot back on the racks for another week, and add Darwyn Cooke’s new Parker adaptation, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score (IDW, $24.99) to my pile, instead. Cooke’s Parker books are consistently must-buys, and I can’t see why this one would be any different.
Food or Comics? | Mais or The Massive?
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a splurge item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Spider-Men #1
J.K. Parkin
With my first $15 I’d get the following: The Massive #1 (Dark Horse, $3.50), X-Men #30 (Marvel, $3.99), Spider-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99), and Saucer Country #4 (Vertigo, $2.99). That leaves me roughly 50 cents out of my budget. I dunno if it was planned this way or not, but two of Brian Wood’s latest projects, The Massive and his run on the X-Men (of the un-Ultimate variety), kick off this week. We also have the debut of Spider-Men, the crossover that features Peter Parker of the 616 Marvel U meeting up with Miles Morales from the Ultimate-verse. I’ve enjoyed the Miles Morales/Ultimate Spider-Man stories this far, which is the reason I’m getting it. Finally, Saucer Country is the best of the new Vertigo titles, featuring clever writing by Paul Cornell and great art by Ryan Kelly.
Add another $15 and I’d also get Captain America #13 (Marvel, $3.99), Uncanny X-Force #26 (Marvel, $3.99), Resurrection Man #10 (DC Comics, $2.99), and Frankenstein: Agent of Shade #10 (DC Comics, $2.99). Again, with some change left over for a candy bar or whatever. I laughed out loud at the big reveal at the end of the last issue of Captain America, as we learned who the new guy was behind the Scourge mask. I assume this is a What If? comic, along the lines of “What if (name redacted for spoiler reasons) wasn’t lame?” So I have to see this through. I mentioned this weekend on What Are You Reading? that I’d downloaded a whole bunch of the current run of Uncanny X-Force for 99 cents from comiXology, and since then I’ve completely caught up on the book, so I’ll definitley be getting the current issue. Add to that one of the final times I’ll get to see Abnett and Lanning’s Resurrection Man comic (sniff … well, it was probably a longshot anyway, based on how well his last comic did) and the debut of Matt Kindt on Frankenstein, and that rounds out my week of comics.
I don’t really have anything on my splurge radar this week, so maybe I’ll just hold onto the cash and save it for next time.
Sean Murphy on the affair of the Wolverine ABCs
Sean Murphy's Wolverine ABCs
Last week, in the wake of the Gary Friedrich case, Joe the Barbarian artist Sean Murphy said he would no longer sell sketches or do commissions of characters he doesn’t own.
Over the weekend, Murphy explained how he learned from personal experience that even a small, innocently conceived project can put a creator into legal jeopardy. Murphy did a set of Wolverine ABCs and printed it up into about 200 sketchbooks to give to friends—including Marvel creators and editors—as gifts.
Because I was a pro and because I wasn’t selling them, I figured I’d be fine. After three conventions of EVERYONE telling me I should sell them, I broke down and sold some. At the last show that season, I sold the remaining 40 copies or so.
Then Marvel called. I explained that I didn’t have a warehouse of sketchbooks, I only made around 200 (or close to that) and mostly I gave them away. I explained how none of the Marvel editors complained when I handed them one, and my lack of hiding the ABCs should show the innocent nature of my endeavor. I even offered to sign a Cease and Desist, and pay them the money I made selling the last 40. But Marvel wanted the rights to the ABCs–they wanted to own them and pay me nothing. I wasn’t willing to do that, so I got a lawyer. And we eventually came together and agreed to drop the subject if I simply removed them from my site and promised not to make any more sketchbooks.
Murphy readily admits that he was in the wrong, not only in using characters he doesn’t own the rights to but also in thinking that Marvel would overlook something so small. While their reaction seems excessive, they were within their rights. And he is in no way reassured by the statements made by Marvel execs Dan Buckley and Joe Quesada about not making any new policies and not wanting to interfere with creators who are “providing a positive Marvel experience for our fans.” They seem to him to be purposefully vague, leaving the door open for them to take action if they choose—as, in his case, they already have.
(Via Blog@Newsarama.)
What Are You Reading? with Chris Duffy
Optic Nerve #12
Welcome to What Are You Reading? Our special guest today is Chris Duffy, editor of First Second’s Nursery Rhyme Comics. We spotlighted this anthology project all week here on Robot 6; check out our interviews with Chris as well as contributors Scott C., Aaron Reiner, Richard Sala and Eleanor Davis.
And to see what Chris and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.
Life after Joe: Looking at what Sean Murphy is doing next
Artist Sean Murphy has been tearing up the fringes of mainstream comics. Although he’s yet to make a big splash in the super-hero genre, he’s found his own path with a string of projects at Dark Horse, Oni and IDW. For the past few years he’s called Vertigo home, and his first major series for the DC imprint, Grant Morrison’s Joe the Barbarian, just finished.
But for people who have followed him over the course of his career, or just followed his active DeviantArt account, you can easily tell he’s got a lot on his mind and an itch to get it out. Right now Murphy’s prepping to begin a spinoff miniseries for Vertigo’s American Vampire as well as writing and drawing his long-gestating series Punk Rock Jesus (which he talked about with Comic Book Resources in December). But besides that, he’s been prone to just draw whatever’s on the top of his head — like the amazing pin-up to your right. Murphy’s got a lot more, from a stellar Carl Sagan pin-up (who ever thought you’d see those three words together?), as well as an exclusive early look at Punk Rock Jesus, which isn’t due out until 2012.
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Joe the Barbarian #8
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Chris Arrant
$15:
This week’s a big week for me, so with only $15 I’d have to leave a lot of things back and make some hard choices. My five under $15 would start with Joe The Barbarian #8 (DC/Vertigo, $3.99) by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy. I’m a big fan of both guys, but I have to admit the story went over my head the same way The Filth did in serialization. Be that as it may, I’ve kept buying the issues just to amaze myself with Murphy’s art. Now that the complete series is out, I’ll re-read it all in one sitting and hope for the best. Second would be the fourth issue of Incognito: Bad Influences (Marvel/Icon, $3.50) because, well, Brubaker and Phillips can do no wrong. After that I’d get Secret Warriors #25 (Marvel, $3.99) because Hickman’s writing here plays up to all the things I like — espionage, secrets, and overly-complicated story arcs. Over on the DC side I would pick up Brightest Day #21 (DC, $2.99). This series has ebbed and flowed for me, depending on which story arcs are brought to the fore in each issue… but I’m excited to see what happens and that’s what it should be about, right? My last pick is a cheat — I only have some change left, but thankfully the Fear Itself Sketchbook (Marvel) coming out is a free promotional item. I’ll take Stuart Immonen sketches any day!
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Infestation #1
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
Graeme McMillan
If I had $15 to spend at the comic store this week, the first thing I’d grab would be Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s New York Five #1 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99), the follow-up to New York Four (obviously), their contribution to the much-loved-by-me-at-least Minx imprint. Really, almost everything else pales into comparison, but I’ll also go for IDW’s Infestation #1 ($3.99, which I was convinced came out last week), the fun opener for the zombie crossover that’s about to go across their licensed line for the next few months. My superhero fix for the week comes from Paul Cornell and Pete Woods’ always-entertaining Action Comics (#897, DC Comics, $2.99), which pits Lex and the Joker against each other, and Age of X: Alpha #1 (Marvel Comics, $3.99), which starts off another reality-altering timequake or something for the X-Men. I’m not expecting much from this, to be honest, but Mike Carey has proven me wrong before…
$2.99 across the line, new letter columns, Milligan on Red Lanterns top DC announcement onslaught
Wow, DC Comics has returned from the holiday break with a vengeance. On its multiple blogs and here on CBR, the publisher has unleashed a veritable avalanche of announcements and initiatives for 2011.
Topping the list is the announcement, first mentioned by DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson and then expanded upon by Jim Lee, that DC will be holding the $2.99 price point across its line for all standard format ongoing series from both the DC Universe and Vertigo.
Meanwhile, PR guru David Hyde unveiled the return of letters pages to DC’s comics, presumably in the place of the current DC Nation column. Letters will be collected from both snail-mail submissions and messages submitted to the publisher’s new DCLettersPage.com website.
Sean Murphy helps American Vampire go to war
American Vampire #13
Pamela Mullin announced on Vertigo’s Graphic Content blog today that Joe the Barbarian artist Sean Murphy will draw an upcoming American Vampire spin-off miniseries that will coincide with an arc in the main book that takes place during World War II. In addition, he’s also supplying the above variant cover for issue #13, where the WWII “epic” begins. Scott Snyder is writing the spin-off.
This seems to be a vote of confidence in the series, which is good to hear, as it is an awesome read each month. The comic received a lot of attention when it launched because Stephen King wrote half of the first five issues, but in my opinion Snyder’s half made up the stronger of the two stories (he has since gone on to become the regular writer on Detective Comics). Both, of course, received a lot of help from the awesome Rafael Albuquerque.
Apparently I’m not alone in my assessment, as the book made it into CBR’s Top Ten of best comics in 2010. I also gave the recent hardcover collection to both of my brothers for Christmas this year, with my younger one declaring that it “kicked ass.”
For more on American Vampire, check out CBR’s video interview with Snyder from last year’s New York Comic Con, and of course the interview Paul Cornell conducted with him last month.
Food or Comics? | This week’s comics on a budget
Morning Glories #2
Welcome once again to our weekly round of “What would you buy if your budget was limited?” — or, as we call it, Food or Comics? Every week we set certain hypothetical spending limits on ourselves and go through the agony of trying to determine what comes home and what stays on the shelves. So join Brigid Alverson, Chris Mautner and me as we run down what comics we’d buy if we only had $15 and $30 to spend, as well as what we’d get if we had some “mad” money to splurge with.
Check out Diamond’s full release list if you’d like to play along in our comments section.
JK Parkin
If I had $15 …
Morning Glories #2 ($3.50)
Image promoted this book pretty heavily before it came out, and I hope it paid off … I really enjoyed the first issue, and I hope it sticks around for awhile.
Unwritten #17 ($3.99)
This issue hearkens back to the days of my youth with a “Choose Your Own Adventure” issue, as Mike Carey and Peter Gross continue to have fun with literature of all sorts (with an assist from Ryan Kelly this issue). I was always a total cheater — I would read ahead to get a good ending, which is probably what I’ll do with this issue.
EXCLUSIVE: Joe the Barbarian film adaptation in the works
Joe the Barbarian #1
Grab your sword and check your blood sugar: Writer Grant Morrison has informed Robot 6 exclusively that a feature film version of Joe the Barbarian is now in development with Thunder Road Pictures, producers of this year’s Clash of the Titans remake. “Thunder Road just called me today and said we can officially announce it, so I’m quite happy about that,” Morrison says, though he himself won’t be writing the screenplay.
Launched in January, Joe the Barbarian is an eight-issue DC/Vertigo miniseries written by Morrison and illustrated by Sean Murphy. In its pages, a diabetic teenager named Joe is drawn into a fantasy world populated in part by his toys and his pet rat, where he discovers he is the long-prophesied “Dying Boy” who must save the world from the sinister King Death — while in the real world, home alone and delirious from diabetic shock, he struggles to stay alive. A hardcover collection of the acclaimed series is slated for a February 2011 release.
This is the third Morrison movie project announced in as many days: Morrison is writing the independent film Sinatoro for director Adam Egypt Mortimer, while Warner Bros. is planning an animated adaptation of Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Eisner Award-winning series All-Star Superman, written by Justice League Unlimited‘s Dwayne McDuffie.
Vertigo announces Hellblazer miniseries by Spencer and Murphy
John Constantine: Hellblazer -- City of Demons #1
Ahead of its October solicitations, released this afternoon, Vertigo has announced a five-issue Hellblazer miniseries by Si Spencer (Books of Magick: Life During Wartime, The Vinyl Underground) and Sean Murphy (Joe the Barbarian, Off Road).
Called John Constantine: Hellblazer — City of Demons, the hard-living magician is run over by a truck. After a few weeks of hospital rehabilitation, “Constantine finds the London streets very different from when he left them behind as a series of occult murders and mutilations demands his attention. The common denominator points back to the ER where he was admitted …”
The first issue is set to debut on Oct. 13, followed two weeks later by the second.
City of Demons marks Murphy’s return to Constantine. He previously illustrated the “Newcastle Calling” story, written by Jason Aaron, in 2008′s Hellblazer #245-246. The character also played a supporting role in Spencer’s short-lived Books of Magick.
According to Murphy’s DeviantART account, the art for City of Demons will be nearly two years old by the time the miniseries debuts. “Am I upset?” he wrote. “Yep.” You can view some of Murphy’s cover sketches for the series here.
What Are You Reading?
New Avengers #1
Welcome once again to What Are You Reading?, where you’ll hopefully find something to add to your summer reading list. Our guest this week is Chris Arrant, who you may know from his comic book journalism work for Newsarama, Comic Book Resources and various print magazines for Marvel Comics, or from his comic book writing, which includes Female Force: Princess Diana, Tori Amos’ Comic Book Tattoo and 24Seven Vol. 2.
To see what Chris and the rest of the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click the link below …
Talking Comics with Tim: Shawn Crystal
Deadpool Team-Up 896
Shawn Crystal is a SCAD Atlanta professor I met back in October (as documented in this story). In addition to his role educating storytellers, Crystal is a professional artist equally busy building a name for himself in the comics industry. Tomorrow (February 3) will feature the release of his latest effort, Deadpool Team-Up 896 (written by Stuart Moore). As previewed last week by CBR and detailed here: “Get ready to hit the road with U.S. ACE, Marvel’s truckin’ hero! He’s back behind the wheels of a big rig with an unlikely partner — DEADPOOL — and together they’re puttin’ the hammer down, ridin’ the open road, and decapitatin’ giant killer raccoons. Good times…if they don’t kill each other first! Featuring the working-class villainy of THE HIGHWAYMAN, and the world premiere of the chart-toppin’ “Ballad of U.S. Ace,” composed and performed by Wade Wilson. What part of ‘Collector’s Item’ don’t you understand?” I was pleased to get an opportunity to talk to Crystal about this issue and creators he respects (as well as find out his David Lapham news). After enjoying this email exchange, be sure to check out Crystal’s blog as well as his deviantART page.
Tim O’Shea: The first question I have to ask–what reference does an artist use when drawing giant killer raccoons?
Shawn Crystal: There is a very popular book many artists have in their studio, and cherish like the arc of the covenant. It’s called “Homicidal Animals: A reference manual for the aspiring cartoonist.” Unfortunately, I do not own this book, so I had to resort to some more traditional methods. I started with the obvious, books on raccoons that were peppered with glamour shots of these little buggers. I also spent some time seeing how other artists had handled raccoons, mainly animators. There was some decent stuff in “Disney’s: The art of Pocahontas.” I also talked to a buddy of mine, Brad Walker who draws Guardians of the Galaxy, which has Rocket Raccoon as a team member. Researching raccoons was fairly easy; creating the chopper gang was a ton of fun. I needed to design a gang of Uzi wielding raccoons on motorcycles. The first thing I needed to find was a thread, something to make this gang seem like a team. Working for Marvel affords me the luxury of using their library, so I chose the X-Men. Well, the kid in me did. I started designing raccoons based on the themes and shapes of some of the X-Men and their costumes. I also wanted to give this biker gang a Hells Angel’s feel, ol skool choppers and leather. I didn’t want to go with the more current crotch rocket trend. I have an affinity of the art of Von Dutch, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and Robert Williams. I pulled out the books I have on these guys and started drawing. X Men + Hells Angels + Racoons = Crazy fun designing.
Talking Comics with Tim: Sean Murphy
Joe the Barbarian #1
For several months, there’s been a great amount of interest in Sean Murphy‘s work on Joe the Barbarian (the artist’s latest project/eight-issue miniseries with writer Grant Morrison, the first issue of which goes on sale this Wednesday, January 20). I was looking forward to meeting Murphy at the late October 2009 SCAD event (covered here). After talking about his craft with him (and seeing his work first hand), I am genuinely enthused to see the release of the first issue. I truly relish Murphy’s candor, as evidenced in this interview, and appreciate him giving me the opportunity to discuss Joe the Barbarian (as well as other topics).
Tim O’Shea: How did you come to be involved with Joe the Barbarian?
Sean Murphy: I’ve had a rough ride with DC for many years it seems. After Batman/Scarecrow: Year One I couldn’t get work there. My editor apparently pushed hard for me but the people in charge didn’t like my stuff and blacklisted me from the DCU. I’ve got a Teen Titans story that was never published because of how I reinvented Cyborg (shame on me for bringing him out of the 90s).
Then one day Karen Berger calls from Vertigo. She wanted me to work on this book they were doing with Neil Young called Greendale. Needing cash, I of course agreed. But there were a lot of delays for about a year. At one point I passed on Spider Man 1602 because I thought Greendale was almost ready. In the end Neil opted to go with another artist, so I started talking to Marvel about working there. When they offered me Dr. Strange, Karen countered with a Morrison book called Warcop. Soon they were both talking exclusives.
It was a rush. I remember thinking that I must have given the lord of comics a hand job in a past life or something.