Over at the Engine, Another potential NYCC controversy may be set to break, as Brit writer Tony Lee explains:

“So I’ve been asked to come to New York for a meeting or two in February. And, as it’s the month when the New York Comic Con is on, I thought I’d combine the two, with a couple of days in NYC before and after. However, when going on the NY Con website, and filling out a ‘Pro Registration Form’, it told me I had to pay $45 for the privilege. I’m sorry? Is this a common thing, that professionals at cons pay for their tickets? I’ve never seen it at a UK con, WorldCon didn’t, San Diego doesn’t, so I’m just looking for clarification… What usually happens?”

NYC Mech and Cross Bronx writer Ivan Brandon:

“it’s not a common thing, but it’s an especially small venue with an especially high demand on the pro side, so they’ve cut off the comps. that’s my understanding of it, anyway.”

Brian Wood:

“$45 for a working professional is ludicrous. I can’t think of a single convention that ever charged me to attend it as a professional. If they are so inundated with people wanting in for free and its breaking their bank, they can tighten the requirements.”

Craig Taillefer:

“What’s annoying me is, I’m shelling out $350 for an Artist Alley table and I can’t seem to get a second exhibitor badge so my girlfriend can man my table while I stalk editors. I’m a little pissed that I have to shell out an extra $45 dollars to get her into the show when I’m already paying a pretty stiff fee for a table. I’m a little neutral about the whole making ‘pros’ pay to get in thing. If I’m not exhibiting or on any panels then I’m not really a part of the show. Then it’s just a status thing. But if they hand them out to anyone and everyone (like they do in Chicago) then having a pro badge doesn’t really give you any status on it’s own.”

At YouTube, there’s a Dec. 9 television interview with Tank Girl and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett at his studio in which he discusses his influences, his love of horror films and his all-time hero, Daffy Duck.

(Thanks, Ron, for the link)

The Melbourne, Australia, Herald Sun chats with My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, with talk turning briefly to comics and his upcoming series The Umbrella Academy:

Will you feel more vulnerable putting a comic book out than you do with the music?

I think so (laughs). Whether I like it or not, I’m gonna really take it to heart if it’s not received well, ‘cos it’s kinda like a secret dream.

Does the secret dream lead from a comic book to cartoons, a movie, merchandising…?

I dunno. That stuff doesn’t appeal to me. But to be honest with you, if there were action figures made of it, that’s exciting for me to have them on my shelf.

The Umbrella Academy, by Way and Gabriel Ba, will be released by Dark Horse next year.

Writing for the UK’s New Statesman, author Ursula Le Guin makes a case for the necessity of fantasy literature — “books in which magic works, or animals speak, or the laws of physics yield to the laws of the human psyche” — and argues that it’s the only fiction genre with cross-generational appeal:

Realism comes in three separate age categories, fully recognised by publishers. Didactic, explanatory, practical and reassuring, realistic fiction for young children hasn’t much to offer people who’ve already learned about dump trucks, vaccinations and why Heather has two mommies. Realistic “Young Adult” novels tend to focus tightly on situations and problems of little interest to anyone outside that age group. And realistic fiction for adults, with its social and historical complexities and moral and aesthetic ambiguities, becomes accessible to adolescents only as and if they mature.

As for “genre” fiction — mystery, horror, romance, science fiction — none of it is for children; they begin to read it as they approach their teens, but not before. The only kind of fiction that is read with equal (if differing) pleasure at eight, and at 16, and at 68, seems to be the fantasy and its close relation, the animal story.

Le Guin’s argument isn’t earth-shaking, or even new. I just like how she makes her case.

(Via the Science Fiction Book Club blog)

NPR talks to birthday boy Stan Lee, who turns 84 tomorrow, about realism and superheroes. Go listen to the audio file.

Slave Labor mastermind Dan Vado is accepting questions about the comic business (and anything else, actually) over at his LiveJournal:

The email above got me to thinking that there are legitimate questions people might have about the business of publishing comics, not because everyone is interested in starting a company but because people like that kind of behind-the-scenes kind of stuff.

So, I am making a limited time offer, post your questions (any questions actually, not just business type stuff) as replies to this post and I will do my best to give you answers. I won’t answer all of them (really, I am not interested in telling people how to be my competitor and to push me off the shelves and anything resembling a trade secret is going to stay that way) and I may not get to them all right away, but the questions I do respond to will have thoughtful replies posted as new entries to my Livejournal.

Comic critic Don MacPherson takes a look back at 2006’s best comics with his first Eye on Comics awards. Part 1 detailed his picks for mini-series, ongoings and the like, while part 2 focused on creators, like his best writer choice, Brian K. Vaughan:

Brian K. Vaughan impressed as much with the power and depth of his writing this past year as he did with the volume of his output this year. Three ongoing titles - Runaways, Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina. Two limited series - The Escapists and Dr. Strange: The Oath. And one graphic novel that attracted a fair bit of mainstream-media attention - Pride of Baghdad. Any two or three of those various projects would have made for a landmark year. All of those strong, well-crafted stories together make BKV an easy pick for the best writer of 2006.

Other winners included Frank Quitely, Brian Wood and Hope Larson’s Gray Horses.

What do Michael Richards, Mel Gibson, Dick Cheney and Archie Comics have in common? All of them found themselves involved in some sort of controversy this year. Earlier this month Archie Comics announced that for four issues, they’d be drawing Archie, Betty, Veronica and the gang in a different style. In the words of one poster over on the main site, “What’s next? Donald Duck wearing pants?” Oh well … at least they didn’t shoot anyone.

So are the folks over at Archie Comics God-hating communists, tampering with a beloved American icon in a way that can only end in tears? Or are they geniuses for finding a way to get people talking about their comics again? I’d probably go with the latter, based on reactions and recent media coverage. When was the last time the Wall Street Journal talked about Archie (if they ever have):

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Well, this is it, Folks, the End of 2006. What a wild, wild year it’s been. The Marvel Universe has indeed changed forever and continues to change all the way through the new year. I have to admit, the change has been a little jarring as Joe Q makes good on the idea that these, indeed, aren’t your Daddy’s comics. Heck, these might not even be your comics when all is done.

So what do we say to the new year?

We say…. WOO HOO! NEW FF TRAILER ONLINE! The Silver Surfer looks AWESOME! WOO!

More coherent thoughts in the new year.

Have a happy one, everybody and remember new books come out on Thursday for this week and next.

ICv2 looks at how the bookstore market has fared this year:

Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket Vol. 15 from Tokyopop was the best-selling graphic novel during one of the busiest weeks of the year at the nation’s bookstores.  In one of the strongest weekly performances by a graphic novel all year the latest volume of the most popular shojo series in both Japan and the U.S. sold over 12,000 copies for the week ending December 17th.  To put it in perspective, it was good enough for only the number five spot on the BookScan list, which also includes comic art calendars (ICv2 does not) and which was topped by the 2007 edition of Gary Larsen’s Farside Box Calendar that sold over 143,000 copies during the same week.

The latest volume in Viz Media’s popular Naruto series, Volume 12, which topped the BookScan chart during the previous week, finished a strong second.  Altogether there were four volumes of Naruto in the top ten including Volume 1, which sold over 2,700 copies (a good indication of how many new readers are joining the swollen ranks of Naruto fans) and came in seventh followed by Naruto Vol. 2 in eighth and Naruto Vol. 11 in ninth.  Viz Media’s Bleach Vol. 16, which finished in fifth place and Del Rey’s xxxHolic Vol. 8, which came in tenth, were the only other manga volumes in the top ten.

Non-manga titles accounted for 16 of the top 50 spots on the charts (ICv2 does allow comic-related art books and manga and anime-related novels in our rankings).  Thirty-two percent may not seem that high, but when you are talking about non-manga graphic novels selling in the manga-dominated bookstore market, it is an “epic” performance and represents in considerable part the holiday-related sales of gift books including the Rejection Collection of would-be New Yorker cartoons, which came in third and DK Publishing’s Marvel Encyclopedia, which finished fourth.

Actually, talking of Brian Wood as I just was, apparently in the festive rush I missed the following:

LOCAL’s coming along well, though slowly. Ryan’s on #9 now, and I should have a release date for #8 shortly. This book’s been exciting to write… turning into a true epic, transcending its “done in one” format to really be about Megan’s story, her life, that progression over time. When I started the book I felt that part of it would be small, almost an afterthought, but as is common with my writing, things evolve as I go, and I’m never hesitant to let the plan change. This will be one that, when read in its collected format, will truly be more than the sum of its parts. I was re-reading some old notes for the book, and the first draft proposal carried the tagline: A NOVEL IN TWELVE PARTS, which now seems strangely prescient. I may have to bring that back.

Also: Ann Arbor was the intended location for LOCAL #11, but we’re changing it to Toronto. (apologies to Meghann Sheridan and Vault of Midnight)

NORTHLANDERS: did I talk about this already? #1’s been written and I’m extremely happy with it. Took me several drafts to get the voice down, as well as the panels and pacing. This is a very dense book - I ended up shortening the original outline from 12 issues to 8, and then fitting two issues of story into this first issue. It’s a great process to go through as a writer, to take something you’ve written and remove absolutely everything that isn’t needed to tell the story. Amazing to see just how much can be cut, and how much better it is for it.

We should be announcing the artist soon, with some preview art to show.

2007: Year of Wood? If nothing else, more Local will make me a happy boy.

Over at The Engine, retailer Robert Scott puts the next two months in industry perspective:

It has often been posited that if only there wasn’t so much “spandex” flooding the racks, small press would have a better chance.

While I don’t necessarily agree, it’s that time of year when “those publishers” have scaled back output because “nobody buys comics in January and February.” Yeah right!

Larry Young has done well in the past with Brian Wood Month, and retailers have tons of customers with holiday $$$ and gift certificates to be spent, so who else wants to step up.

Here is your chance to grab back some retail rack space. Who has new work, solicited through Diamond or not, ready to roll?

Brian Wood (whose second DMZ trade collects seven issues for $13 - bargain!) and Jacen Burrows (talking up the new Avatar Garth Ennis book, Chronicles of Wormwood) are amongst the first creators to respond. Go see.

Other awesome things online from last week that I’ve missed: Stuart Immonen shows how he would have redesigned the Archie characters. He explains why, later:

I’m fascinated by this, actually. Archie’s one of the few remaining comic companies with a house style– At the beginning of Archie (the character)’s development, there was a lot of variation, and even through the sixties, you could readily tell a Schwartz from a DeCarlo. Disney manufactures a variety of versions of their characters (Winnie the Pooh, for example comes in at least three distinct “styles”, one being based on Shepard’s art) Many anime and manga use chibi versions of characters — usually in the same context as the “regular” versions– and no one bats an eye. The intended audience for Archie comics is still kids, isn’t it? Without preconceived notions of what Archie “should” look like. The B&V art is just fine, IMO. On par with anything else the company publishes.

Immonen’s really one of the best artists around these days, isn’t he? I hold out secret hope that he’ll do a Scott McCloud and come up with his own version of Understanding/Making Comics one day… Meanwhile, Drawn points you in the direction of even more Archie revisions…

Although the 1993 Elvis stamp reigns as the most popular stamp of all time, the DC Comics Super Heroes set — issued on July 21, 2006 — ranked high on the Postal Service’s annual survey of the 25 Most Popular Commemorative Stamps.

Since 1988, the Postal Service has surveyed more than 100,000 households annually in an attempt to determine the number and types of stamps purchases versus those saved.

The DC Comics set came in at No. 5, with an estimated 73 million stamps saved. It may be a little while before they topple the King, who accounts for more than 124 million collected stamps.

Disney stamps performed well, with three sets on the list: Art of Disney: Romance (No. 8 ), Art of Disney: Celebration (No. 10), and Art of Disney: Friendship (No. 12). The 1997 Bugs Bunny stamp ranked at No. 17, while the 2005 Jim Henson: Muppets set came in at No. 20.

Gamasutra features an interview with writer Gerard Jones on violence in geek culture.

GS: If we’re a culture with few outlets for boys’, we’re a culture with zero outlets for girls.

GJ: There are people who are arguing that the greater verbal and social nastiness of girls in elementary school and middle school may be partly a product of that, that they still have the aggression, they still have the frustration, but they have fewer ways to process that in fantasy. Boys may slam into each other, but girls are more likely to do the excluding and gossiping. Then another aspect of that is that girls tend to be more interested in social systems, relationships, subtle cues between people.

Part of it has to do with definitions. This word violence is rather old, but the way we use it now to mean physical damage to someone’s body is pretty recent. I think that a good verbal drama has its own psychological violence. And of course, we’re talking generalities. There are women who love violence. My next-door neighbor plays Halo; that’s just how she unwinds. But with girls there’s the tendency to take aggression to a verbal level, where with boys there’s this fascination with bodies flying around.

Pretty early kids are getting this message that there’s a boy way to be and a girl way to be, and one of the positions we adopt is that girls are squeamish about blood and boys like blood. When we’re talking about defining maleness, part of that is saying, I love gore, and therefore loving these games. What’s interesting though is how many adolescent girls like horror movies.

(Via Heroine Sheik)

With just a handful of days left in 2006, a couple of mainstream media outlets squeeze in their best-comics-of-the-year lists.

Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker makes his picks for Best Miniseries (Doctor Strange: The Oath), Best New Series (The All New Atom), Best Independent-Publisher Comic (Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness), Best Graphic Novel (The Left Bank Gang), and Best Reissues (Walt and Skeezix: Book Two, and Popeye: Vol. 1).

Meanwhile, Terry Morrow of Scripps Howard News Service gets less categorized, selecting his 10 best comic book series of the year: Civil War (Marvel), Ultimate Fantastic Four (Marvel), Marvel Zombies (Marvel), Walking Dead (Image), The Exiles (Marvel), Revolution on the Planet of the Apes (Mr. Comics), Ghost Rider (Marvel), Justice League of America (DC Comics), and Moon Knight (Marvel).

Related: Quick DFW’s comics columnists names Spider-Man “Comic Book Man of the Year”

It’s the last week of 2006, making this the last Can’t Wait for Wednesday for the year. It’s also the one-year anniversary of this feature, which started back during our Great Curve days. Remember that time when Monday was a holiday, and we had to change the name to Can’t Wait for Thursday? Ah, memories.

This week is a pretty heavy one for comics; even though there aren’t a lot of new or “event” comics dropping this week, there are a lot of solid reads coming your way on Thursday. Marvel manages to sneak in a couple of Civil War tie-ins with Black Panther and the Winter Soldier one-shot. The latter is written by Ed Brubaker, so it should be worth checking out if you’re a fan of Cap. We’ve also got new issues of Astonishing X-Men, Daredevil, Iron Fist and Nextwave coming from the House of Ideas.

DC, meanwhile, offers up another issue of Boys, the second Crossing Midnight (which I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would), Justice League and what’s becoming one of my favorite titles, Jack of Fables. Speaking of favorites, there are also new issues of Usagi Yojimbo and Gumby due on Thursday, as well as the long-delayed second issue of Wolfskin from Avatar. Keep an eye out for a new Love & Rockets, the second Public Enemy comic and the Cyberforce/X-Men crossover, if that’s what you’re into.

Now let’s see what my cohorts are into this week …

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Check out the Silver Surfer and the Human Torch’s game of tag through New York in the new Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer trailer, now up on the Apple website.

Testament writer Douglas Rushkoff reports he is ok after being mugged at knifepoint outside his home in Brooklyn on Christmas Eve:

I got mugged at knifepoint while taking out the garbage Christmas Eve at 9pm.

I negotiated with him for my health insurance card - not only because it has my Social Security number and was really hard to get, but because I knew that such a request would humanize me in the mind of my attacker, and make it harder for him to stab me. Such are the benefits of studying human behavior. All I lost was my phone, cards, and money.

Getting a knife pushed into your ribcage now and again is just part of the price we pay to live in a city, and New York is supposedly one of the safer of the bunch. But I have to admit, it makes me question working two extra gigs (I won’t divulge which ones they are) in order to pay the exorbitant rent this part of Brooklyn - when the streets are less safe than they were in the supposedly bad parts of Manhattan where I used to live.

Related: Rushkoff interview at 10 Zen Monkeys

Wizard talks to the 52 writers, and asks the questions that matter. Like, will they do a weekly book again?:

RUCKA: “[Laughs hysterically for 30 seconds] There isn’t enough money. Will we do this again next year? Not in comics format. [Laughs] We’re thinking of podcasting. [Laughs]”

JOHNS: “I worked with the best, we did it, and we’ll move on to other things.”

MORRISON: “I’ll never do this again in my life. [Laughs] I’m sure som