The Hero Initiative’s questionable political tweet [Updated]
A crude political comment that’s appeared for most of the day on the Twitter feed of The Hero Initiative has apparently gone unnoticed by most of the charitable organization’s more than 3,000 followers.
The tweet, “America! Stick your dick in the crazy!,” popped up early this morning as part of a tongue-in-cheek meme devoted to potential campaign slogans for Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate. Twitter memes aren’t at all uncommon — they appear daily without fail in the “Trends” column — but it’s unusual for an organization reliant on volunteers and donations to wade in with a remark so potentially, or patently, offensive.
Only two of The Hero Initiative’s Twitter followers responded to the comment: One wrote, “Love the cause, not so much the twitter feed,” while the other asked, “Can I get a refund on my 2011 membership?”
It seems likely the tweet wasn’t intended to be sent from The Hero Initiative feed, but instead from the personal account of an organization staff member. If that’s the case, it’s a matter of carelessness rather than poor judgment. However, it remains crude no matter what.
Hero Initiative President Jim McLauchlin didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
Updated (6:51 p.m. PT): McLauchlin responded in the comments below, explaining, “We had a spam problem over the weekend as well while I was on the road as well. Just saw this, and we have deleted the message. Passwords changed.”
- August 16, 2011 @ 05:56 PM by Kevin Melrose
One man’s Tweet is another man’s comic
Look, everyone thinks their kid is cute. But we all can't be right. So somebody got the ugly baby.
J. Torres is a pretty prolific comics writer, with credits that include Alison Dare, Lola: A Ghost Story, Wonder Woman, Jinx, and the Degrassi: Extra Credit graphic novels. Now even his Tweets are being turned into comics, thanks to Eric Kim (Love as a Foreign Language). The two are collaborating on Twit, a single-panel gag strip based on Torres’s Twitter feed. There are just three comics up so far, but already a theme has emerged: Torres is the father of a new baby, and that has factored into all three episodes. The humor is pretty good, and Kim’s deft art makes these comics easy on the eye, so stay tuned for more Twitter funnies.
- July 5, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Talking Comics with Tim | Jimmy Palmiotti
Trailblazer
Anytime I get to talk to Jimmy Palmiotti, we never lack for projects to discuss. I can’t prove it, but I am willing to bet Palmiotti came up with at least two new story ideas while in the midst of this email interview. This Wednesday, July 6, marks the release of Trailblazer, a 48-page full-color western science fiction comic book ($5.99 [Image]) that he co-wrote with Justin Gray and art by Jim Daly. As detailed in this recent CBR release coverage, Trailblazer is “about a hired killer who turns in evidence against an employer for the murder of the woman who raised him. The government must then shield their star informant by enacting Operation Trailblazer, a witness protection program that uses not only location but time travel as well in order to keep their charges safe. As the assassin adjusts to his new life in the old west, he soon finds that no matter when or where he is the future is dead set in coming back to haunt him.” If you buy the book via Comixology, the original script is included as a bonus.
Before discussing this new Image release, we talked a bit about the impressive Jonah Hex 70-issue run (please note, for more scoop on Palmiotti and Gray’s plans for the new All-Star Western series be sure to read CBR’s Jeffrey Renaud’s recent interview with the creators)–not to jump the gun though, as issue 69 goes on sale this Wednesday (with art by Jeff Lemire). Also our discussion delves into the Palmiotti/Gray team reuniting with artist Joseph Michael Linsner on the Claws II (a sequel to Marvel’s Black Cat/Wolverine 2006 team-up) miniseries, which amazingly enough also goes on sale this Wednesday (check out the CBR preview of the first issue). Go into a comic book store this Wednesday, and bottom line, you will have your pick of Palmiotti product to buy. Palmiotti’s passion for comics and his equal commitment to meeting deadlines are two things I’ve always admired about him and that shine through in this interview. As you’ll read at the end of the interview, Palmiotti is curious to know what characters fans would like to see him work on, so please be sure to let him know in the comments section.
Tim O’Shea: You and Jonah Hex have a heck of a future together (with All-Star Western), no doubt. But I really want to talk about how amazing it was that you and Justin successfully told Jonah Hex for 70 issues. How proud are you of that accomplishment?
Jimmy Palmiotti: Very proud…and proud of the excellent work of so many amazing artists along the way. Justin and I would celebrate each and every year we were on Jonah , thinking at any minute it could be the last, but the great crew at D.C. comics always believed in us and believed in our choices and seventy issues is a huge milestone. They believed in us so much that with the new 52 books, they let us continue too do what we do best. In our minds, issue one of All Star Western is another chapter in the characters life and we haven’t missed a beat. The good news is that we are going to have a lot of fun with the other western characters in the D.C. universe.
- July 4, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Comics A.M. | Borders to name bidder; Peanutweeter taken down
Borders
Retailing | Bankrupt bookseller Borders Group said in court papers filed Friday that it will name a stalking-horse bidder by July 1, with an eye toward completing the sale of all of its assets by the end of July. The Detroit News spotlights the two private-equity firms that have placed bids to buy at least a majority of the book chain’s 416 remaining stores: Phoenix-based Najafi Cos., which owns the Book of the Month Club, Columbia House and BMG; and Los Angeles-based Gores Group — the likely stalking-horse bidder — whose investments include Alliance Entertainment and Westwood One. [Reuters, The Detroit News]
Legal | Peanutweeter, a blog that combined frames from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts strips with real, out-of-context tweets, has been taken down by Tumblr as the result of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint from Iconix Brand Group, which acquired a majority stake in the Peanuts assets last year. One blogger, however, argues the blog should be considered fair use. [RIPeanutweeter, Boing Boing]
- June 20, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Borders loses another $132M; Rubenstein exits Marvel
Borders
Retailing | Borders Group, the second-largest book chain in the United States, reported a loss of $132.3 million in April, its second full month in bankruptcy. That figure follows on the $52.6 million loss reported in February and March as the bookseller sought Chapter 11 protection and began liquidating 226 locations. [Detroit Free Press]
Publishing | Ira Rubenstein, executive vice president of Marvel’s Global Digital Media Group, has left the company to become executive vice president of digital marketing for 20th Century Fox. He begins the new job in Los Angeles on Monday. Rubenstein joined Marvel in 2008 after 12 years at Sony, and oversaw the launch of the publisher’s digital subscription service. His departure comes less than two weeks after news surfaced that Ron Perazza is resigning as DC Entertainment’s vice president of online. [Variety]
Publishing | Ada Price surveys the graphic novel exhibitors at this year’s BookExpo America, which opens today in New York City. [Publishers Weekly]
- May 24, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim | Alex Segura
Archie & Friends 156
My friendship and association with Alex Segura dates back to late 2004 when he invited me to join Robot 6‘s ancestor blog (or however you want to call its relation) The Great Curve. I wear my bias on my sleeve for this interview–I’ve always been a supporter of Segura’s work–be it years at DC Comics, or more recently, his current role as Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing at Archie Comics. In addition to discussing what he’s accomplished to date at Archie (and hopes to achieve in the near to long term), we delve into his own writing and musical pursuits (in the band, The Faulkner Detectives).
Tim O’Shea: Before your first stint with Archie a few years back, you worked at Wizard. So I gotta ask, what’s your reaction to the end of the print magazine?
Alex Segura: On a gut level, it’s sad. Wizard was a big part of my getting into comics – or at least, sticking with them – in middle school and into college. There were times when I wasn’t actively buying any regular comic books but would still pick up Wizard to keep tabs on the industry. Working there was also huge. It was my first full-time job in the industry and gave me a crash course in comics and how they work. I also met some of my best friends there – many of whom I still talk to on a regular basis. Hell, I live with Ryan Penagos, who I first met at Wizard. So, yeah. I have a lot of fond memories of both my time at the company and my relationship with the magazine leading up to that.
Professionally, I’m not all that surprised. There was a time when Wizard was a major tastemaker – they had a big part in the rise of Image and for a long while broke major news from the Big Two. But with the rise of comic news on the web, it just seemed like they got left behind. Hopefully this new incarnation can revive the company. We’ll see.
- March 21, 2011 @ 03:30 PM by Tim O'Shea
Talking Comics with Tim | Gabriel Hardman
Hardman's Fortean character design
Not to mince words: In the plethora of talented artists that are working at Marvel currently, Gabriel Hardman is the best. His eye for layout alone injects a vitality to his work rarely seen in comics. In addition to discussing his collaborative efforts with writer Jeff Parker, most recently on Hulk (Issue 30.1 hits stands this Wednesday, March 16, 2011), Hardman was kind enough to give Robot 6 a sneak peek of a sci-fi OGN he’s working on, with his wife, Corinna Bechko, called STATION TO STATION. My thanks to Hardman for his time and to friend of the blog, Jeff Parker, for helping arrange this interview. Finally, please be sure to contribute to the comments section this week, as Hardman is seeking suggestions for future Daily Sketches.
Tim O’Shea: In terms of current artists in the industry, you have a strikingly distinctive layout approach. Not every artist is as ambitious as you are. Do you ever back off from challenging scenes to layout, or is that what part of what makes the work interesting for you.
Gabriel Hardman: Storytelling in general is what keeps me interested in comics and the layouts are a huge part of that. My only goal is to serve the story being told. When I read the script, I can visualize the angles and layouts pretty easily. Figuring out a given angle is fairly simple: focus on the most important thing happening in the panel. Then place those important elements on the page in a way that leads your eye from top left to bottom right. It all works best when she script gives me freedom with the layouts.
- March 14, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Comics A.M. | Amazing Fantasy #15 brings $1.1M; CCI hotel blocks
Amazing Fantasy #15
Comics | A near-mint copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the 1962 comic featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, was purchased in a private sale on Monday for $1.1 million — short of the record $1.5 million paid in March 2010 for Action Comics #1. “The fact that a 1962 comic has sold for $1.1 million is a bit of a record-shattering event,” says Stephen Fishler, chief executive of ComicConnect.com. “That something that recent can sell for that much and be that valuable is awe-inspiring.” [The Associated Press]
Comic-Con | Hotel reservations for Comic-Con International open this morning at 9 PT. A preliminary list of hotels included in the Comic-Con block is available on the convention website. [Comic-Con International]
Comic-Con | ICv2 has announced it will host the its Comics, Media and Digital Conference on July 20, in conjunction with Comic-Con International. [ICv2]
- March 9, 2011 @ 07:45 AM by Kevin Melrose
Talking Comics with Tim | Sean T. Collins
Destructor
It’s happened again (last time it was Michael May), I am interviewing one of my fellow Robot 6 pals. This time it’s writer Sean T. Collins, regarding Destructor, the webcomic described as an “ongoing story of villainy byCollins and Matt Wiegle, updated Mondays and Thursdays … ‘Alone he fled, and came in from Outside. Upon the seething streets of Planet D he landed, in his armor and his rage. With General at his side and Wall behind, he wrote his name in blood across the worlds, worlds he would conquer, filled with foes to crush. He formed the Mob and set their star alight, the guns and gangs, machines and magic theirs, the red ambition his and his alone, until the System shuddered at his name: Destructor—the most dangerous man alive.’” As engaging and sometimes maddening a co-worker (we have vastly different critical minds, an observation that I hope he takes as the compliment it is) as Collins may be, I was not surprised in the slightest to find him to be a great creator to interview.
Tim O’Shea: You are a faithful reader of Tom Brevoort’s Twitter account, do you think he returns the favor and is an avid reader of Destructor?
Sean T. Collins: Hahaha! Aw, I’m sure we don’t have nearly enough commenters asking us who would win in a fight, Jean Grey or the Blue Marvel, and given how much he looooooves that sort of thing we’re probably not high on his reading list. He’s a reader I’d love to have, though. Are you there, Tom? It’s me, the guy who makes posts out of your tweets.
- January 31, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Quote of the day | Tom Brevoort’s bad-comic blind item
Yesterday in Reading Circle, we read a competitor’s book that was one the absolutely most amateurish pieces of drek I’ve ever seen. I don’t really want to name the book or the creators, because that feels like a different sort of bashing, but this book embarassed itself. From the folks involved and the company involved, you’d expect a better minimum set of standards. Made worse by the fact that one of the principle creators is a key player at the company, and displayed an utter lack of storytelling knowledge or understanding of how comics work. We put out our share of stinkers, but if one of my editors turned this book in, they’d be on probation, at least. Comics are expensive these days, and so every issue, every shot, must count. We need to have better minimum standards. All of which is hopelessly cryptic without naming the book, of course, but there you have it. It made me want to slap someone.
There’s more craft evidenced on the plastic bag of FF #587 than on the whole of the issue we read yesterday. One of our editors read it and was appalled by it, so I thought it was worth further study by the group. Sometimes, a bad example teaches more by example. An absolute lack of understanding of character, theme, scene, pacing, lousy tinny dialogue, incompetent artwork…it was just a red hot mess. And editorial oversight was ineffective, if even engaged. The editor in question is now in my mind, so if he ever applies over here, he’d better have a good story to tell.
–Marvel Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort in a no-punches-pulled (except the name of the book, of course) Twitter takedown of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad comic from some other publisher. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a pretty harsh thing to say about Drawn & Quarterly and Adrian Tomine’s Scenes from an Impending Marriage. Haha, jk, LOL — what book do you think he’s talking about?
- January 26, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Tom Brevoort asks: Where’s the next superstar artist?
Où sont les superstars d'antan?
“My not-terribly insightful comic book epiphany of the day: right now, we’ve got a bunch of top-flight writers in the field, and the next generation on the horizon. But what we could really use is a new, young generation of break-out artists. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got a lot of excellent artists. But who was the last hot young guy who just exploded into the field? I feel like the pump is primed for one or more fresh young artists to just explode in a major, commercial way. When was the last time that happened? We could use an infusion of visual excitement in the books–across all companies.”
–Thus spoke Tom Brevoort, Marvel Senior VP – Executive Editor, on Twitter last night. Personally, I think he’s probably right to wonder about this. Like he says, the point isn’t that there are no good or even great relatively young/relatively new artists right now — there are plenty. Personally I’ve been knocked out by Gabriel Hardman‘s work on Atlas and Hulk over the past year or so, just for example. But what Brevoort is looking for is an artist who just skyrockets to superstardom more or less out of the blue. That requires quite a delicate alchemy. The artist in question must be young enough or new enough or have been working far way enough from the Big Two’s audiences for their work to have “the shock of the new” when fans first see it. They must bring something different to the table than what established artists are doing, so that their work stands out, but they must also be working in a style that’s recognizable and acceptable to large numbers of superhero fans. Their work doesn’t necessarily have to be to your taste, but you should at least be able to understand what others see in it, even if you don’t see it yourself.
- December 9, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Quote of the Day | Larry Marder on stupid ideas
Larry Marder
“The best part of owning your own work is no one can stop you from trying your most stupid ideas. Cuz sometimes those are your best ideas. I’ve made a lot of mistakes marketing Beanworld over the years but they were MY mistakes. And It’s in the best shape its ever been.”
–Tales of the Beanworld creator Larry Marder on the merits of creator ownership and learning by doing
- November 22, 2010 @ 03:30 PM by JK Parkin
Quote of the day | Thor: The Mighty Avenger and the Thunder God glut
“About cancellation of Thor: The Mighty Avenger: Want to see a big part of the problem? Just look at next week’s schedule…TMA out same week as Astonishing Thor #1 and Thunderstrike #1. Add to ongoing Thor, Thor: For Asgard, Thor: First Thunder, Ultimate Thor, recent Loki, Sif, Warriors Four and Warriors Three minis/one-shots. Count in Avengers, Avengers Prime, New Ultimates…Mighty Avenger was clearly the best of the bunch, but how was it meant to stand out amongst the glut?”
– retailer Tom Adams of Brooklyn’s Bergen Street Comics, with one possible explanation for the cancellation of Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee’s much-lauded, low-selling Thor: The Mighty Avenger, starring the much-published, soon-to-be-a-movie-star Asgardian Avenger. He forgot Marvel Adventures Super Heroes, Chaos War, Chaos War: Thor, Thor: Wolves at the Gate, Thor: Heaven and Earth, and Hulk.
- November 18, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Quote of the day | Joe Quesada, on the end of Thor: The Mighty Avenger
Thor: The Mighty Avenger #4
“Sorry about the TMA cancellation, folks. For the record, I don’t make those decisions. That said, it’s a great [comic] and may be back again someday.”
– Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief and chief creative officer of Marvel,
on the cancellation of the critically acclaimed, yet low-selling, Thor: The Mighty Avenger
- November 17, 2010 @ 05:01 AM by Kevin Melrose
Watch Mark Waid track down the thief who stole his iPad
We already know he’s a great chops-buster, but is Amazing Spider-Man, Incorruptible, and Irredeemable writer and BOOM! Chief Creative Officer Mark Waid a crimebuster too?
If you’ve followed his Twitter account today, you’ve watched him use the power of technology to hunt the thief who stole his iPad off an airplane after Waid left it there on a previous flight. Waid has already used MobileMe to determine the (alleged!) thief’s address and Google Maps location, and, as of the latest update, he has the suspect pinpointed at a specific hotel at the Indianapolis International Airport. The writer says the local cops can’t do anything until a report is filed by police in Los Angeles, where the iPad was initially lost; meanwhile, the LAPD says it’s too busy to file the report. Just remember, this isn’t the funnybooks: Let’s let the proper authorities do their thing, no matter how easy the Internet has made taking the law into one’s own hands, superhero-style.
- November 15, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins