Comic Book Resources

Bendis on the Avengers/Romita Jr. announcement

"I Am an Avenger": Captain America by John Romita Jr.

As you've no doubt seen on CBR and all across the comics Internet, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist John Romita Jr. will be relaunching the Earth's Mightiest Heroes franchise with the adjectiveless Avengers #1 this May. I first heard the news through various and sundry social networks, where word was spread by ecstatic JRJR fans like wildfire.

One such fan? Bendis himself. In a pair of posts to his Twitter account, Bendis talked a bit about the announcement -- and promised more to come:

for the record. me and jr jr are the team for AVENGERS not new avengers. more announcements and line up teases coming very very soon. as excited as u guys r for jrjr on avengers, i am fifty times more excited to actually be writing it. been waiting for this for a long time.

Indeed, Bendis recently tweeted enthusiastically about a killer page he'd seen by an artist he'd never worked with before, a description that fits Romita Jr. to a tee. UPDATE: Our eagle-eyed commenters Tom Daylight and Rich Doyle point out that the pair did in fact work together on Mighty Avengers #15, so that leaves another mystery project out there someplace.

Sounds like we should stay tuned for further word on which Avengers teams -- creators and characters alike -- will be assembling when Siege is over and The Heroic Age begins...

Straight for the art | Frank Miller's new Sin City covers

Miho by Frank Miller

He's only been on Twitter for five days, but already Frank Miller is making the most of his newfound outlet: This afternoon he posted a pair of new cover illustrations for what I assume are new versions of the Sin City trade paperbacks. That's Miho above, for Family Values; click here to see Dwight from The Big Fat Kill.

Meanwhile, this is a bit on the cryptic side, but there appears to be more art to come: "ps. DINOSAUR is coming next week," read Miller's final pre-weekend tweet. That's a callback to the "really cool dinosaur" he announced having drawn in his Twitter debut. Dare I hope for a full-length Cretaceous-Era Frank Miller thriller?

'My five-year-old could write that!': Bow before the blade of Axe Cop

Malachai and Ethan Nicolle's Axe Cop

Twitter has given us some good things -- breaking news from Iran, Tom Brevoort -- and some bad things -- celebrity death hoaxes, #nowthatsghetto. Yesterday, it served as the social-media equivalent of Paul Revere, spreading word of a new webcomic called Axe Cop to every nerd and geek village and farm.

What's so special about Axe Cop, you ask? Well, it's an action-adventure series about a superheroic cop armed with an axe, joined by his partner, a half-man/half-avocado who used to be a half-man/half-dinosaur who used to be a cop who used a flute for a weapon. It's illustrated by Ethan Nicolle, the Eisner-nominated writer-artist of SLG's Chumble Spuzz.

And oh, yeah, it's written by Nicolle's five-year-old kid brother Malachai.

One look at its genuinely childlike imagination, action and sense of humor -- my favorite bit is when a guitar-wielding supervillain called Bad Santa is defeated when another character gains his powers and becomes Good Bad Santa -- seems to have been all it took for the twitterati to get hooked, no doubt recalling all their own afternoons spent making up stories and playing hero in backyards and basements. Indeed, the site has been fairly groaning under the collective interest of the Internet; it was completely down last night, and the strip's image loading has slowed to a crawl as of this writing.

The elder Nicolle has been blogging about the strip's literally overnight, Twitter-driven success, providing a unique in-the-moment document of a webcomic "making it." (I did my part by reviewing it on my other blog.) Hopefully he'll be able to shore up the infrastructure so that you too can thrill to the adventures of the coolest mustachioed hero since pre-goatee Tony Stark.

Frank Miller is on Twitter

Frank Miller's Twitter avatar

As a wise man once said, "'Nuff said."

PS: Happy belated birthday, Frank!

(Via Mel Caylo)

Slash Print | Following the digital evolution

Tablets | Jim Shelley talks to various digital comics folks, including Rantz Hoseley from LongBox Digital, Micah Baldwin from Graphic.ly and David Steinberger from comiXology, about the rumored Apple tablet. Check out part one, part two and part three.

Speaking of which, HarperCollins is talking to Apple about the tablet, according to the Wall Street Journal, and I thought this article on how Apple does controlled leaks was kind of interesting, in light of all the attention a device that doesn't officially exist yet is getting.

Digital comics | If you've been wanting to check out Robot 13, Robot Comics released it on the iPhone last week. Check out a trailer here.

Digital comics | Disney has launched Italian and British websites for their Digicomics application.

Twitter | Congratulations to everyone behind the Twitter feed Fake AP Stylebook, who have landed a book deal with Three Rivers Press. Their line-up includes several former and current comics bloggers, including former Robot 6 contributor Lisa Fortuner, former Meanwhile... columnist Shane Bailey, retailer/blogger Mike Sterling, CBR reviewer/artist Benjamin Birdie and many more.

'Frienemies': Tom Brevoort on the Marvel/DC rivalry

I'm starting to think we should make "What's Tom Twittering Today?" one of our recurring features, like "Straight for the Art" or "Talking Comics with Tim." Anyway, spurred by a comment from Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort took to his do-not-miss-it Twitter account to comment on the age-old competition between Marvel and DC -- which, at least on Marvel's end, seems to have heated up of late:

JLA/Avengers art by George Pérez

I am told by @DanSlott that I'm coming across as too mean and petty towards DC. Putting aside why Dan was Twittering rather than scripting[, it] seems like something I should address. First off, my affiliation should be clear, but that doesn't mean I don't like DC or it's people. I know all of those characters just as forwards and backwards, and have edited more DC-related material than any other Marvel editor. And most DC editors have been pleasant. Dan Didio's been nothing but nice whenever our paths have crossed. But by that same token, DC is the competition. Friendly, but not friends. Frienemies. The sports team rivalry between Marvel and DC is all part of the game, for readers as much as us. Everybody likes to cheer on their faves. It profits nobody for things to get too lovey-dovey with them. That's dull for everyone. And, particularly when they start pulling plays from our playbook, we pride ourselves at being faster, sharper and smarter in [our] promo as well as in the books themselves. So, long story short, they stink and we're great! And hey, it keeps us from talking about Dark Horse, Image or IDW ...

(I'm pretty sure those last bits were said with tongue in cheek.)

So in short, Brevoort's take seems to be of the "healthy rivalry" variety, something that's not just good for the respective companies, but entertaining for their fans. Or, as he put it in response to a fan of both Marvel and DC who said he didn't like to see the two companies being dicks to each other for no reason: "Never dicks just to be dicks. Always dicks with a point."

This leaves me wondering a few things:

1) Which plays have DC swiped from Marvel's playbook, in the eyes of the House of Ideas? ( 1.5) Do Houses have eyes?)

2) Will anyone from DC publicly sound off on the rivalry as well?

3) How does the trash-talk and gamesmanship play with the new corporate stewards of the two companies?

I know where I'll be looking for the answers ...

Tom Brevoort sounds off on Marvel's DC trade-in offer

"Wanna trade?": unintentional commentary from Geoff Johns, Art Baltazar & Franco's Tiny Titans #25

It's a Tom Twitter Twofer today! Perhaps unsurprisingly, Marvel Executive Editor and Twitter king Tom Brevoort took to tweeting on the topic of Marvel's offer to exchange unsold copies of the Blackest Night tie-ins that were part of DC's successful power-ring promotion for a rare Deadpool-themed variant-cover version of Siege #3. His opening statement:

I see there's a lot of chatter about our SIEGE #3 offer, so I have to ask the question: how is this bad? We're making no money on the deal (actually losing a little) but it will put some more much-needed cash in retailers' pockets, And if your retailer doesn't have these books in stock, excellent! Good on them, they ordered appropriate to their customer base. But while no retailer wants to hurt their relationship with DC, we've been hearing from lots of them that they're happy we're offering this. As for the stripping, that's all about making it cheaper for these guys to send the books back. But we'll take complete copies too. And sure, send the stripped insides to the troops--well done, you! They tend not to keep comics mint on the battlefield in the first place. And while we listed the titles we'd be taking--all of the "ring" books-- we never mentioned either DC or Blackest Night at all. Not a knock. And if DC wants to make their own offer, let 'em! That's cool too, if it frees up deadlocked capital for retailers to order new stuff.

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Tom Brevoort and Neil Gaiman (and Bill Willingham) talk Marvelman

Marvelman by Joe Quesada

"I think I just wrote a Robot 6 article," Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort said via his Twitter account yesterday evening. Right you are, Tom! This blog's official Top Tweeter of 2009 kept the magic alive yesterday with an impassioned defense of the controversy du jour, Marvel's offer to swap unsold DC comics for a Deadpool variant (more on that later). But perhaps even more notably, he posted some revealing comments about the status of Marvel's recently acquired Marvelman.

Brevoort revealed that he attended a meeting focusing on the legendary revisionist superhero series with Neil Gaiman, successor to the book's prime mover Alan Moore:

On another note, attended a cool Marvelman meeting today where Neil Gaiman told us how his last 2 unfinished storylines will end. Been waitin something like 17 years to find that out!

Brevoort's followers were soon popping the champagne, but the editor was quick to point out that he was not saying Gaiman would necessarily return to finish the stories, and that future plans for the title have yet to be confirmed:

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Michael Kupperman's rejected New Yorker comics

a rejected New Yorker comic by Michael Kupperman

Eustace Tilley's loss is our gain! Michael Kupperman, writer/artist of Tales Designed to Thrizzle and Twitterer extraordinaire, has posted a slew of comics that didn't quite make it into the pages of The New Yorker.

His submissions, which can be viewed on his Twitpic account, include a look at Microscopic Goings-On About Town, Pigeons in Film, Slightly Cursed Merchandise, Other Species' Currency, and the eternal question seen here, How Much Do You Know About Your Mutual Fund Manager? And because he's that kinda guy, Kupperman has even shared a pair of strips that actually wound up in the mag.

Kupperman's trip down memory lane was prompted by a request from The New Yorker to pitch them some comics again. The problem there, he tweeted, was that "after years of working for them and other magazines like them, I am in the wrong income bracket to adopt their worldview/sense of humor." Here's hoping that at some point soon, the likes of Hendrik Hertzberg and David Denby will once again be guarded by McGritte the Surrealist Crime Dog.

Work begins on long-awaited third volume of Casanova

Casanova #14

I was a bit skeptical last month when writer Matt Fraction teased, "Just wait till we make the Casanova announcements." After all, we've been fooled before.

But if you followed Twitter over the holidays -- the accounts of Fraction and artists Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon, specifically -- you saw clear indications that work has indeed begun on the long-rumored and much-anticipated third volume of the critically acclaimed spy-fi series.

"Hey, guess who remembered how to write Casanova today?" Fraction tweeted on Dec. 19. "Pages 1-6 of Casanova v3 completed and sent to @Gabriel_Ba e @fabiomoon. ho ho ho." Bá replied two days later with: "Pages 1-6 of Casanova v3 - [In] @mattfraction 's own words: 'Okay. That might actually sound like the most impossible thing of all time --'"

And just this week Fraction posted: "Writing more Casanova tonight. Rereading the whole series since the last time I proofread the issues." That was followed last night by, "It's as though I've set out to make Moon and Bá hate me and salt the earth beneath my feet" and the encouraging tag "casanovasback."

Debuting in June 2006 in Image Comics' 16-page "slimline" format, Casanova follows the timeline-jumping exploits of free-lance thief and espionage artist Casanova Quinn. The second volume, Gula, concluded in May 2008.

Second Love and Capes trade coming this summer, plus a Twitter contest

Love and Capes

Here are a couple of follow-up items to something we published this weekend ... as you saw on Saturday, Love and Capes creator Thom Zahler said that IDW will publish the second Love and Capes trade later this year. Yesterday IDW publisher Chris Ryall followed up on his blog with some additional details on the trade -- he posted the cover to it, which you'll see to the right, and he said the trade would come out in the summer.

Also in the interview, Thom talked about the possibility of holding a contest on Twitter related to a song he had in his head when he drew one of the pages in issue #12. He's followed through on that; you can find the details here, and you can follow Thom on Twitter here.

Geoff Johns reveals first post-Blackest Night Green Lantern storyline

The DCU could use some New Guardians

MILD SPOILER WARNING

One of our first (quasi-)official glimpses of the DC Universe after Blackest Night emerged this past holiday weekend from an increasingly common source for this sort of thing: a Twitter feed.

Responding to reader praise for the most recent issue of Green Lantern, Blackest Night writer Geoff Johns teased the shape of things to come:

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Today only: Win a copy of Hellboy Library Edition Vol. 3

Hellboy Library Edition Vol. 3

Dark Horse Comics is hosting another contest on Twitter today, and this week they're giving away a copy of Hellboy Library Edition Vol. 3. Here's how to enter:

1) Follow Dark Horse Comics on Twitter.com; winners must be “following” Dark Horse Comics to be eligible.

2) Use the tag “#newcomicday” and direct it to “@darkhorsecomics” to show your support. Winners must use “#newcomicday” and “@darkhorsecomics” to be eligible. Your tweets must be twittered between 12 a.m. and 5 p.m. on 12.23.09.

So head over to Twitter and get to tweeting ...

And the award for comics' Tweeter of the Year goes to...

His comics ain't so bad either

Brian Michael Bendis! At least according to Samuel Rules of Are You a Serious Comic Book Reader? In a post stuffed with evidentiary linkage, Sammy proclaims "No one used Twitter better in 2009 than Bendis," citing the Siege writer's honesty and humor, as well as the "little insights into his life" he provided. "I used to talk a lot of trash on him," Sammy recalls -- "Upon discovering his Twitter, however, I started to understand him as a person, and then kinda wanted to hang out with him."

Which got me thinking: Who would I proclaim comics' Twitter-er...Twit...uh, Tweeter of the year?

Would I stick with Bendis, for his informative Q&A alone?

What about Matt Fraction, for his performance-art masterpiece Hobo Darkseid?

Michael Kupperman, for a consistently hilarious feed that's like reading Tales Designed to Thrizzle in pictureless 140-character snippets?

Paul Pope, for his philosophical musings?

Kate Beaton and Dustin Harbin, the dynamic duo of Tweeting webcartoonists?

Ryan "Agent M" Penagos, for having more followers than the rest of the comics industry combined?

But then I remembered the one man whose Twitter account impacted my life, or at least the blogging side of it, more than anyone else. For my money, no one tops the ever-interesting, refreshingly candid Tom Brevoort. Why, just the other day he took to his feed to breathe a sigh of relief about Captain America: Reborn finishing before The Flash: Rebirth as he predicted, size up his chances regarding Siege finishing before Blackest Night, criticize Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver for drawing convention commissions while his book is delayed, and defend Reborn artist Bryan Hitch from accusations of habitual lateness. Can you imagine if everyone in comics were that forthright? I can, and it looks like heaven from here. Tweetin' Tom Brevoort, we salute you!

What does Fall of an Avenger mean to the future of Incredible Hercules?

Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1

As writer Fred Van Lente promised last week, Marvel's March solicitations hold some clue to the future of The Incredible Hercules. Some, but not much.

Rich Johnston had reported that the low-selling but critically acclaimed series would end with Issue 150, almost a year from now. However, the solicitation for the two-part Hercules: Fall of an Avenger would seem to indicate the title comes to a close with February's Issue 142, the conclusion of the four-part "Assault on Mount Olympus" storyline. The assault didn't go well for the son of Zeus, I guess.

The miniseries, which includes an Agents of Atlas back-up story, is billed as a "two-part mini-epic that marks the end of an era and the beginning of something utterly unexpected for Hercules, the Lion of Olympus." That obviously hints at a continuation for the title, but whether that's as a relaunched series, a back-up feature or something else entirely remains to be seen.

Van Lente, who writes The Incredible Hercules with Greg Pak, offered little by way of elaboration. "The future of Incredible Hercules begins here, folks," he wrote on Twitter. When asked by a fan whether Fall of an Avenger simply means a break for the series, Van Lente replied: "Mmmmmmmmaybe ... Keep watching the solicits! More surprises to come."

The Incredible Hercules debuted in January 2008 in the aftermath of World War Hulk, with the boisterous demigod and teen sidekick Amadeus Cho simply taking over the Hulk's title.