Lolicon

Legal | The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is resurrecting a revised bill to tighten regulations on the sexual depictions of minors in manga, anime and video games. An earlier version of the controversial proposal was voted down in mid-June. The new bill removes vague defining terms like “nonexistent youth” and reportedly avoids references to “characters younger than 18,” increasing the likelihood that the proposed legislation will pass. [Anime News Network]

Retailing | As the small independent retail chain Joseph-Beth Booksellers files for bankruptcy protection, its president warns of even tougher times ahead for bookstores. “I think in the next three to five years, you’ll see half the bookstores in this country close,” Neil Van Uum says. [Lexington Herald-Leader, via ICv2.com]

Awards | The Webcomics List Awards is accepting nominations until Dec. 20. Winners will be announced on Jan. 31. [via Forbidden Planet International]

Conventions | A solid report from this year’s King Con, held Nov. 6-7 in Brooklyn, N.Y. [Secret Acres News]

L.A. Diary

Best of the year | Frank Santoro names his favorite comics of 2010, from Gabrielle Bell’s L.A. Diary to Daniel Clowes’ Wilson to Brandon Graham’s King City. [Comics Comics]

Creators | Sam Adams talks to Sergio Aragonés about his influences, his first exposure to Mad, his work process, Groo and more: “When I’m doing Groo, and suddenly there’s a double-page spread that takes a lot of cartoons, I have to do at least a page a day for Groo. So when my telephone rings, I put it aside and take this massive drawing and start adding things to it. After the conversation, I take the massive drawing and put it aside. So any breaks I take, I start adding things. So that page will take probably the whole month to draw. They say, “How can you do that?” They think of it as a one-pager or a two-pager. But it’s not true, that page took so long to draw because it’s not a regular page. It becomes natural.” [The A.V. Club]

Creators | Brian Heater continues his multi-part Q&A with Jaime Hernandez. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | Jeff Greenfield profiles cartoonist Garry Trudeau as Doonesbury turns 40. [CBS Sunday Morning]

Fishtown

Creators | Kevin Colden discusses Fishtown, and the pitfalls he experienced serializing the comic online before collecting it in print: “I spent so much effort promoting the serialized version of the book, that by the time it hit print, I think it was old news and had worn out its welcome. Also, the book was released at the end of 2008, and the economy had just shit the bed. In my decidedly biased opinion, as a book with as much buzz as it had, that won the Xeric and later went on to garner an Eisner Award nomination (Best Reality-Based Work), it had all the makings of a massive hit. There may have been a lot of people reading it online, or borrowing copies, or reading library copies; I don’t actually know! That might be the big negative.” [Go Home Paddy]

Creators | Robot 6 contributor Chris Mautner talks to Jerry Robinson about his sale of Fred Ray’s original art for the cover of Superman #14. [Patriot-News]

Creators | Writer Brandon Montclare chats about Marvel’s Chaos War: Chaos King #1. [Cosmic Book News]

Comics | Douglas Wolk sifts through 33 years of Spider-Women and Spider-Girls. [Techland]

Spider-Woman #7

alex did the work of 24 issues just to make this story. it was a lot of concentrated spider-woman for one man. i got to come and go to other projects. this was all he was doing, day in and day out. when we got to 7, he needed a break. i didn’t want to go on with it without him.

meanwhile, we’ve been deving our new icon book for two years. its something different. something bold. it’s time to do that. if you love our work, you’ll love it. it will be announced in chicago.

this was not a matter of sales or interest. we were number one on itunes for weeks.

thank you for digging her as much as i . she will be in every issue of avengers. and when the dust clears marvel has told us to consider returning to it and we might.

After an Origin limited series in 2005, Spider-Woman returned to her own ongoing series last fall, along with a “motion comic” on iTunes. Her previous ongoing last 50 issues before being canceled in 1983.

Siege #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel

Very busy writer Brian Michael Bendis became an even busier writer this weekend. With little fanfare — it “happened by accident” — Bendis spent over an hour on Saturday answering reader questions via his Twitter account.

The 125-message micro-interview cost him some followers, irritated Warren Ellis (not really), and was eventually cut off by Twitter, but by the time all was said and done some interesting info had hit the Internet courtesy of his tweets.

First up, Bendis spilled the beans on a trio of upcoming projects with familiar collaborators:

* Bendis and his Daredevil: Wake Up partner David Mack will reunite for a new Hornhead project, Daredevil: End of Days, next summer. The project was first announced in February 2007, with Bendis and Mack as co-writers and art from Alex Maleev, Bill Sienkewicz, and Klaus Janson. (Daredevil will also appear in New Avengers #60.)

* “If the stars allow,” Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos will reunite for a new Alias miniseries next year. It could be a MAX series “if the content needs it.

* Look for a creator-owned crime project from Bendis and his Daredevil and Spider-Woman collaborator Alex Maleev next summer.

But what about Bendis’s existing series — New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Spider-Woman, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, the soon-to-return Powers, and the upcoming Siege? Here are the highlights of Bendis’s tweets on these titles — as well as some extra goodies…

* Look for an announcement about the post-Siege fate of Dark Avengers “very very soon”.

* Maya Lopez, aka Echo, aka the first Ronin, will be returning in the pages of Spider-Woman.

* After the conclusion of “Dark Reign” and Siege, Bendis’s focus will be on “mini title events” per the wishes of Joe Quesada.

* The story of Hawkeye’s imprisonment by Norman Osborn will be told in New Avengers Annual #3.

* As they are occupied with the events of “Fall of the Hulk” and “Nation X,” neither the Hulk (nor the Hulk family of characters, presumably) nor the X-Men will be directly involved in Siege.

* The long-running saga of the Hood, the superpowered crimelord, Cabal member, and antagonist of the New Avengers first powered by Dormammu and now by Loki, will be ending “sooner than you think.”

* The secrets of how the Sentry survived the events of Dark Avengers #9 and what he did after being sent to outer space by Cyclops in the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men crossover will be revealed in January’s Dark Avengers #13.

* The Shroud, the red-cloaked vigilante now making waves in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, is a new character rather than an established hero or villain–he’s not the Ultimate Hood.

* You knew it would have to happen eventually: There will be “a proper showdown” between Spider-Man and Norman Osborn.

* Look for both the Secret Warriors and Ares to be involved in Siege in a big way. Will Marvel Boy play a big role in the event? “Kind of.”

* Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #11 will reveal the future of the Daily Bugle and J. Jonah Jameson, while Ultimate Rick Jones will pop up in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #7.

* Brother Voodoo’s ascension to the role of Sorcerer Supreme was Bendis’s idea, but was ratified by a vote.

* Siege will result in “the biggest change in over a decade” for the Avengers and their team line-up. Two things that won’t change, however, are the team’s writer and its artist, Stuart Immonen, both of whom are with New Avengers for the long haul.

* He might have to get in line behind Ethan Van Sciver, but Bendis says his dream DC project would be a “gritty noir” Plastic Man series.

* Not sure how this ends well for Dark Wolverine, but there’s a Daken/Thor showdown on the way in Siege.

* Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming have “at least a year” of Powers set for a regular monthly schedule upon the series’ relaunch.

* Cosmic-level Avengers stories are on the way next year.

* Ultimate Doctor Doom will be rearing his metal head once again in January’s Ultimate Enemy miniseries.

* Plans for Namor and the Atlanteans are in place for next year.

* The “jury is still out” on whether there will be any more motion comic episodes of Spider-Woman.

But Bendis wasn’t all answers–he punted on questions regarding the current and future status of Carnage, the Scarlet Witch, and Molecule Man, which unexpected post-Siege Avengers characters he’d be writing, and whether he’d be writing Marvelman anytime soon.

One extra, very different announcement popped up on Sunday: Bendis is now a professor at Portland State University, with “class details and explanations” coming sometime today. With all of the above on his plate, where will he find the time?

G4 has a new music video featuring scenes from the Spider Woman Motion Comic set to a song called “Watch Your Step.” If anyone sees the lyrics to the song pop up anywhere, please let me know …

Then again, some fans may still be unsoothed and are continuing to photoshop Mickey’s head on Marvelman in milking out that one last drop of sneering humor.

We here at the Fifth Color have decided to eschew all ribbing and ranting at the House of Mouse… except for one thing.

You see, after making beloved children’s fairytales that generations of fans have grown up on, someone in marketing realized that they have a lot of stories… and a lot of girls at the center of these stories.  Pretty girls who overcome a lot of danger or cruelty or just sleep a lot.  These girls are heroines, adventurers or just sources of adventure and that makes them idolized.  In an obvious move to sell some more t-shirts, mini-movies and create a brand, Disney took all their heroines, dubbed them ‘princesses’ regardless of sovereignty and BAM! Put ‘em on a lunchbox.  And the lunchbox sold well, and it was good.

Now everyone take a big pink slippered take back of what the common Marvel fan might think of a ‘princess’ and let’s look at who we have.  Spider-Woman, She-Hulk, Jean Grey, Sue Storm, the Wasp- errr, uhm, Photon, Firestar, Stature, Black Widow… it would be silly of me to list the kick-ass female roster of the Marvel Universe but it certainly would pad out my word-count on this article.  There are just so many women in the Marvel U who are indeed, heroines.  Beautiful women who overcome a lot of danger or cruelty… heck, you could say dying is a lot like ‘sleeping’, right?  They’ve stood side-by-side the Mightiest of Heroes or the Strangest of Teens and yet, we still don’t have a Wonder Woman.

There is no iconic female in the Marvel U that has been marketed towards the public, given her own face time and, for lack of a better term, lunchbox.  It’s not like we’re strapped for ideas, people!  Why can’t the average Joe in our demographic recognize Ms. Marvel when the company is in her name!  Superman has Supergirl again and Jessica Drew is just now getting into the limelight?  By all of Bendis’s praising, she should have been big since the ’70s!

Okay, okay, it took Disney a long time to figure out their goldmine too, and when they did, they grouped all their girls together under a banner and took them as they are.  No one’s changed and outfit or a hairstyle since we first saw them; Ariel is even back to Mermaid status, legs be damned!  They can even throw in Jasmine and Mulan for some local color (though I’m not sure Mulan is technically a princess…).  But the point is that everyone looks the way they did in their movies, no story has changed, no ‘modernizing’ needed.  The characters have been touchstones to little girls everywhere, a g-rated ‘I’m a Samantha!’ quiz, so why mess with anything that already works?

The Women of Marvel have been a diverse and fascinating bunch since the beginning and no one can take that from them, not seasonal event, not new bold direction, not even ‘modernizing’ for the new era.  What does hurt them is disuse and reinvention that takes them further and further away from the characters that caught our eye to begin with.  There are a lot of strong archetypes,  ethnicities, body types that can be found in anyone’s imagination or real life.    I know I think of myself as a She-hulk kinda gal,. so why don’t I have book to read anymore or a t-shirt to declare myself with?  Once people get to know the women of Marvel, they’ll love them for their strength and originality and personal triumphs if only we got them all together for a big show of faith.  Don’t change a thing, don’t invent some crazy reason for them all to be together other than a fond friendship and respect.  It will sell like gangbusters.

Hopefully, someone in marketing is looking at their internal memo with the Mouse ears on it and thinking about how to turn this to their advantage.  It’s going to be a long time before Disney will hold any real sway with our Bullpen, so let’s enjoy the good of it while we can.

Or kind of ridiculous in regards to the ongoing narrative. But don’t be afraid, not everything is all new and different. Let’s take a gander at the September solicitations for the House of Ideas and see what we can look forward to hearing about when we’re darn good and ready.

Okay, no joke, there are indeed 11 #1 issues coming out, from the benign Thor and Punisher Annuals (I actually find myself missing when they used to number annuals by the year they came out) to the long-awaited Spider-Woman #1 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1. There’s even the ridiculous, but I’ll get to that later. Point is, this is just as much a month for starts of things to come as August, which tips the scales at 14 #1 issues. Marvel may tout their 600th Captain America, Spider-Man or Incredible Hulk, but let’s face it: #1 on a cover gives the book that delectable little collector’s spice.

The good news is that most of these #1 issues are mini-series (and no you’re not seeing double, that’s both Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow: Command School coming out back to back). A lot of the #2 issues that arrive this month are also mini-related, with a delicious ‘collect me in a trade’ taste. Iron Man & The Armor Wars #2 lands with Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars #1, declaring the month unsafe for armor. Ultimate Comics: Avengers #2 enters the running for ‘most ridiculous phrase in a solicit’ this month with “Meanwhile, Nick Fury reveals the horrifying truth behind the Red Skull and kick-starts Project Avengers in earnest with the arrival of Gregory Stark, Tony’s older, richer and smarter brother!”. But on the whole, nearly half of these #2 issues are the halfway mark on their respective stories; the promising books are the Ultimate Comic titles and, of course, Ed Brubaker’s retelling of the Golden Age as a hot new espionage thriller in The Marvels Project.

Okay, so we got a lot of short stories to enjoy, tidbits of Marveliciousness to nibble on, what about the rest of the Marvel Universe, those long established tales that draw readers back again and again? What about Spider-Man, flagship hero of the House of Ideas?

Well, that’s classified. ALL FOUR ISSUES. Even Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man doesn’t want to tell you to what’s going on. But next week we’re promised the truth about September’s Spidey, leaving us with HeroesCon this weekend as prime announcement bait. In fact, even now I could totally be getting scooped by a con panel! So let’s venture a guess: since last month seemed to be hot for Mary Jane, Peter Parker could very well learn of the devil-made deal from One More Day. He’ll probably charge to the internet to call Joe Quesada Hitler and swear he’ll never read his own book again.

Spider-Woman #1 has been a long time coming and her fanfic- I mean, post-Secret Invasion story will finally be told. Personally, I’ve been interested in the story if only to learn what from Spider-Woman: Origin (all the way back in 2005, wow!) is actually true or a Skrull fever dream. Yeah, four years is a long time to hold a grudge but the wild shift from one origin to another would be a fine time for a Skrull gaffe in programming, getting us back to the girl from Wundagore Mountain that we started with. Outlook is hazy, but I’m sure Bendis has other plans for his favorite character, perhaps taking it to that Amazonian he cares little for (thanks, Graeme!).

In other Spider News, who let this happen? No, really. Who let them reissue Spider-Man: The Clone Saga as reprint issues? If anything, a trade would have been just fine and more than enough for the laughable little series that could but getting people to buy it again in six issues “now with an ending you have to see to believe!” Marvel’s balls are brass, folks.

Speaking of brass balls (and aren’t we always?), the plethora of Avengers and Avengers-like books (Avengers-esque?) both hit highs and lows as covers like this one reminding me exactly why I adore the art of selling comics (really, the pic does the work for me; thanks Deodato!) as the tale of Ares finally finding out that his 10-year-old son has been skipping school and probably home to go truck around with a surly man in an eyepatch. Yeah, I’d get an axe too. But while Secret Warriors and Dark Avengers deal with an angry father, there are three issues to handle what very well just might be the last of the Hood (I can dream). From his rather hasty and uncreative takeover of the criminal underworld, the man who helped beat up Tigra is finally feeling the heat from the many mistakes he’s made and is getting Dark Avengers #47, Dark Reign: Made Men and Dark Reign: the Hood to sort himself out. In a world where Norman Osborn runs the world on a string, do we really need to know that the Hood is having problems?

Something we don’t have enough of is War of Kings fall out. Just two issues this month, Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. Maybe we’ll get a couple more in the following months but the cosmic stories have done well enough in the past (not to mention now) that I would have expected another ongoing series to play around with by now. The Imperial Guard, the Starjammers, something.

But then again, my Marvel math isn’t up to par. How else could I not understand why they would sell a separate Ultimatum HC collecting the four ‘Requiem’ issues for $20, an Ultimatum HC with just the main series for $25 and the Ultimatum: Spider-Man HC with no Requiem issue also for $25? In one trade, you’re getting five issues for around $5 each while another gives you an incomplete story for a little under $4. Some local comic shops might be able to get you the back issues for cheaper than that. To me, it’s a misappropriation of hardcoveriness but again, my math might be a little confused.

There’s a lot to talk about from the solicitations, from the “long-awaited Peter Bagge ‘Incorrigible Hulk’”, the rather madcap ‘M.O.D.O.C. as Grosse Point Blank’ one-shot, the surprise return of the N to Christos N. Gage’s name (welcome back, friend!), Dan Slott’s ‘Classify THIS’ approach to solicit writing (“Readers already know the Scarlet Witch is secretly LOKI”), the mighty end and fallout from the under-hyped X-Men/Avengers crossover, the list goes on. Take a look yourself and start making your lists early. In the words of the Bard Fraction, “Nothing gold can stay, Pony-Boy.”