David Hine, a fine and upstanding gentleman. It’s got nothing to do with his Spawn work or his Marvel work. Instead, it’s all about his interviewing Shaky Kane, old standby of Britcomics from the late ’80s and early ’90s:

What did I draw for [Mark Millar]? I seem to remember a writer on the phone, saying ‘You’d better draw what I’ve written, the last artist didn’t keep to the script’. Was that Mark Miller? If it was he was certainly a Fleetway guy. Who is he? He’s not Frank Miller that’s for sure!

Kane’s Kirby-influenced artwork and weirdass dialogue were highlights of an already-bright comics scene back then; I’d love to see him return and find a new audience.

If you’re one of the growing number of folks who enjoy the work of Frank Espinosa as much as I do, we may be waiting a little longer for his next Rocketo story arc. The reason: Espinosa is illustrating a five-issue miniseries, Killing Girl, created by Glen Brunswick, whose current projects include writing and producing the live-action adaptation of Ex Machina for New Line Cinema.

Check out the wonderful conceptuals by Epsinosa, who’s been keeping busy teaching courses this past school year as a visiting scholar at MIT on character design and world-making. And, read more about the premise for Killing Girl here.

Manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment announced earlier this week that their upcoming series, Nymphet by Kaworu Watashiya, has been temporarily put on hiatus. Why, you ask? Might it have something to do with the fact that the book is about an eight-year-old girl that wants to have sex with her teacher?

Let me repeat that. Nymphet is about an eight-year-old girl who wants to have sex with her teacher. From what I understand, there’s nothing explicit in the book, but certainly the concept alone is enough to start a nationwide anti-manga campaign. Seven Seas publisher Jason DeAngelis explained the decision to delay the book thusly:

In Japan, Nymphet is a highly popular and successful manga written and drawn by a female creator for an older teen male audience. It is published in Futubasha’s weekly seinen magazine COMIC HIGH. It is not considered pornographic by any means, and Japanese would be shocked to hear this sort of accusation about what they consider to be a mainstream property. In fact, it is so mainstream that it has been turned into an anime program which will be broadcast on Japanese TV starting this July. My personal stance on this title is, if it’s good enough for the Japanese, then it’s good enough for us.

[snip]

As a policy, we at Seven Seas do not believe in altering or “censoring” manga artwork or content, so that approach, which has been taken in the past by others, is out of the question. Instead, despite the fact that we have already received thousands of orders on this title, I have decided to delay its release and to have an open dialogue with the large book chains and other vendors. My intention is to make them fully aware of this debate, familiarize them more fully with the content, and let each of them make the final decision as to whether or not it is appropriate for their stores and their customers — and then give them the chance to cancel their orders if they wish.

Any references to the book have since been removed from Seven Seas’ Web site. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t say whether the execution overrides the unsavory premise, though the small sampling of previews I read was enough to skeeve me out. You can, however, read irate message board postings on the topic here and here. You can read a defense of the manga here, and the usual insightful comments from Simon Jones (some images nsfw) can be found here.

Update: According to ICv2, the manga has been cancelled.

This week’s PWCW is notable mainly for the debut of The Loudmouth, a new, alternating column by industry professionals. Steven Grant kicks things off, writing about sexism in comics:

The big companies didn’t invent this trend, of course. Fetishizing the human body, especially in superhero comics where every hero and heroine looks like an overinflated doll, has been an accelerating trend for years, and it’s arguably unfair to criticize Marvel and DC for things smaller publishers like Avatar and Image turned into house styles years ago. (Image has since largely abandoned such things.) As far as fetishism goes, American comics are still nowhere near as fetishized as a lot of manga, which, considering the rapid encroachment of manga on their traditional markets, may be why they’re racing to catch up. But no smaller American company has anything like Marvel or DC’s saturation, and no others are corporately vying to become household names or marketing the superheroes line as one-size-fits-all cross-media entertainment. It’s a complex situation, though. Both companies maintain “adult” lines (DC has Vertigo, Marvel Max and Icon), but the pressure to “adultify” virtually all other material comes from numerous directions, and there’s the argument that they’re not doing anything other media aren’t doing, which they often use as a shield when complaints roll in.

Also: Papercutz brings back Tales from the Crypt, Simon Spurrier and artist Frazer Irving talk about Gutsville, Wendy Pini discusses her Masque of the Red Death adaptation, and Paul Pope reveals will have a THB exclusive for San Diego.

Apparently, comic geeks aren’t the only kind of geeks who make grand sweeping statements:

Okay, I figured a long while ago that comics in general had jumped the shark. I haven’t really read any serial comics since the 90s, and the only comic that I’ve read recently was Preacher… only when my friend gave me the complete trade paperbacks.

But I love the comic mythos, so, while in my local Books-a-Million on Sunday, I picked up a recent issue of Fantastic Four to see what was happening. I soon found out that Reed and Sue had quit the team, to be replaced with Storm and Black Panther.

…

WTF?

Yeah… so, jumped the shark. Confirmed.

Yes, that’s right: Comics have entirely jumped the shark because the lineup of the Fantastic Four has temporarily changed. Good to know that someone has a sense of perspective.

(Thanks, Dave.)

If you have any yellowing Sunday comics up in your attic or encased in scrapbooks, Gary Groth has a request for you:

We are requesting the help of Pogo collectors who may have original art or high quality reproductions of Walt Kelly’s Pogo strip. We are currently assembling Walt Kelly’s POGO: The Complete Daily & Sunday Strips. We are looking for the best possible black-and-white reproduction of both Sundays and dailies — especially the Sundays. If you have original art or proofs that you would be willing to let us scan, we would be grateful if you’d contact us. You may e-mail me directly at:

groth@fantagraphics.com

(Please put POGO in the header). Thank you.

Gary Groth
Fantagraphics Books

The ComicBloc has a lengthy interview with writer Adam Beechen, who talks about leaving Robin and — rather abruptly — Teen Titans for Countdown and Countdown to Adventure:

I love the Titans and I always will, but the chance to start a book from issue #1 and develop a title’s voice using characters I happen to really like is just a great opportunity. And 52 left these particular characters in great places where a lot could be done with them — they could be taken any number of ways. By the way, this works out well for Teen Titans, too.

As happy as some of that book’s fans are that I’m leaving the title, they should really be excited that Sean McKeever’s the guy coming in to take it over. He’s good. I mean, really, really good. I’m loving his stuff for Countdown and anyone who’s seen his work elsewhere knows how well he gets the teen voices. The book is in very good hands.

Beechen also reveals a deep desire to write Aquaman: “He was one of the first superheroes I gravitated toward as a little kid. I’ve got a great story for him I’d love to tell one day, but it runs counter to the direction the character’s moving in now, so maybe it can be a ‘down the road’ thing.”

Scryptic Studios plays it cryptic in a recent interview with a mystery editor, complete with little black lines over some of the text to keep his or her identity a secret:

4. At the risk of blowing your secret identity, you’re now the lead editor on some books and the assistant editor on others. What is it like wearing those two different hats and switching back and forth between them? And perhaps most importantly, what does it say on your business cards?

That’s an interesting question — never really gave it much thought before. I guess being an assistant kind of gives me a little more protection in a sense that I’m only “second in command”. At the same time, I’m also the first line of defense — it’s basically my job to catch any of the grammatical errors or any art that might be deemed questionable, letting the editor focus more on the story aspects with the writer and/or artists. Given that I don’t have an assistant on the books I edit, a lot more pressure falls on me to catch everything, and also make sure the story being told makes sense and above all else is enjoyable to the readers. Then of course, I have to make sure all the trains are running on time, deadline-wise, which can be a job unto itself.

I’m not sure why Scryptic Studios, or the editor for that matter, opted to keep his or her identity secret … the writer notes that it might be “to circumvent miles of red tape,” which is odd, considering there really isn’t a lot in here that I would imagine anyone would have a problem with. Unless he or she works on Lost for ABC.

At The Pulse, writer Tony Bedard — with the help of concept art by Renato Guedes — gives readers hope for Supergirl:

“One nice thing is that I am relatively unburdened by knowledge of previous Supergirls. Yeah, I read some of their previous appearances, but I never did figure out what the deal was with the girl/matrix/angel thing or anything like that. I’m just sticking to the basics: Kara is from Krypton, she’s insanely powerful, but she wants to be good. I also happen to think she needs to eat a sandwich and cover up a bit, but then I’m a father.”

Bedard debuts on Supergirl with August’s Issue 20.

Whilst checking out yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, I discovered an interesting tidbit about Georges Remi’s most popular creation, Tintin, especially for those who collect original art.

One page of original art from the hands of Remi, aka Herge, can range in cost from $107,000-202,000. What’s more, Belgian collector Gaetan Laloy (who sells Tintin memorabilia in his Bedemania shop in Brussels) owns a signed page from a long-abandoned series starring Tom Colby, valued at nearly $400,000 (200,000 pounds).

A Superior Court judge upheld the right of a suburban Atlanta school district to keep the mega-popular Harry Potter series on the shelves of school libraries in Gwinnett County, despite the protests of one mother who believes J.K. Rowling’s books promote witchcraft.

Superior Court Judge Ronnie Batchelor’s decision, the latest setback in a nearly two-year battle between Gwinnett schools and parent Laura Mallory, upheld a recent ruling by Georgia’s Board of Education.

The argument against the Harry Potter books, the most challenged texts of the 21st century, according to the American Library Association: Witchcraft is a religion practiced by some people, thus, the books should be banned because reading them in school violates the constitutional separation of church and state, according to AccessNorthGa.com.

Seems the news on the censorship front is getting is getting a bit better by the day…

Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, which the author describes as a “picture book” but media reports are calling a graphic novel, has won Australia’s Community Relations Commission (CRC) Literary Award for 2007, a $15,000 award.

Mr Tan’s novel illustrates the stories of migrants as they undertake journeys to other countries.

Australian born Mr Tan’s work was highly praised by CRC chairman Stepan Kerkyasharian.

“It can be very difficult for non-migrants to empathise with this experience but Shaun Tan’s work gives the reader a superb insight into the process and the emotions of leaving the homeland for good,” he said.

“Compulsive, rhythmic, heart-breaking and inspiring, it is the intimate details within the vast landscapes that draw the eye of the observer.

“The Arrival is a master work, with time as one of its major images.”

On the author’s website, where you can find preview pages from this and several other books, he says:

Most of my time is currently spent writing and illustrating picture books, which have reached quite a broad readership in Australia and overseas via foreign publication and translation into several languages. They are best described as ‘picture books for older readers’ rather than young children, as they deal with relatively complex visual styles and themes, including colonial imperialism, social apathy, the nature of memory and depression.

He also has a longer essay about how picture books aren’t just for children.

Pirates beats X3′s Memorial Day record, but can’t match Spidey 3

USA Today reports that the third installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, At World’s End, took in more than $156 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend:

Pirates fell short of Spider-Man 3′s record opening —Spider-Man took in $151 million in its first three days, and Pirates earned $115.1 million — but Pirates still set the Memorial Day weekend record by eclipsing last year’s X-Men: The Last Stand, which opened to $122.9 million. Worldwide, Pirates has taken in $401 million.

My quick, spoiler-free review: The first half of the movie is slow and, quite frankly, kind of sucks. The second half gets a heck of a lot better.

(more…)

Chris blogged about the Poetry Foundation’s comics experiment a couple of months ago. The most recent addition to the series by comics creator Jeffrey Brown — “Of Memory and Distance” — is now up on their site.

USA Today reports that The Dark Knight will be the first feature film to be shot in the expensive IMAX format.

According to the newspaper, director Christopher Nolan will shoot four action sequences — including the introduction of Heath Ledger as The Joker — on IMAX.

That’s great and all, but the most interesting thing is one of the images accompanying the article: an on-the-set photo of a partially obscured Ledger in The Joker makeup. All right, it’s not that interesting, but still …

The Dark Knight is set to open July 18, 2008.

Related: The Hollywood Reporter on the IMAX format

Between Paul Pope’s recent illustration for GQ magazine and Takeshi Miyazawa’s photos from a sumo tournament, I’m itching for someone to do a sumo comic book. Preferably, Paul Pope or Takeshi Miyazawa.

Chip Mosher, writer of the recently released Left On Mission, posted a message on his blog to people who scan in his comics to distribute them without his permission … but rather than being angry that it’s happening, he’s mad because the quality of the scans is sub par:

This past Thursday I was made aware that a bootleg of issue one was available for download and showing up in rudimentary searches for “Left On Mission” in Google. While the bootlegging of comics is not something that’s new, I was shocked to find that the quality of this bootleg was just terrible, much more so than others that I have been shown.

Putting aside the legal and moral questions, I know a bunch of people in the industry look at this practice of bootlegging as a loss leader – the rationale being the book gets a bigger audience and there is the possibility that some of those downloading will actually buy the book.

Of course, as part of our aggressive marketing campaign for Left On Mission #1, we made more than half the book available on line at Comic Book Resources and MySpace. So you can imagine how I felt, when even those pristine pages that were previously released looked horrible in the bootleg.

In the bootleg, the colors are totally off and there are fingerprints, hair and dust on the scan. Not to mention that the page layout has been messed with so if you look at the book 2 pages showing mode in the .cbr readers – it’s not representative of the real 2 page spreads contained in the book.

Mosher asked several sites to remove the scans, which they did. Is there just no pride in illegal comics distribution anymore? Kids today …

ComicBloc wonders how DC can kick Marvel’s ass:

“IIRC, Superman and Batman had their day. Even though they still sell ok today. Marvel has Spider-Man and X-Men. Plus their Ultimate Line. That’s all they really need. That gets them over the hump in sales. Can DC really compete with that. Dan Dido or no? Many might not like Dido, but at least DC is competing with Marvel some months. If not, how can DC up there sells?”

“i am sick of these silly threads that trolls start, dc vs marvel blah blah blah, nearly all of my comics are DC that i buy. marvel to me is going backwards, while DC is going forward, countdown, amazons attacks, sinestro corps war, sean mckeevers titans, batman’s outsiders, all the wildstorm and vertigo titles too.”

“DC has always been behind marvel and this will probably continue till the end of time. sad bt true”

“I think it’s at least public stigma that DC will always be second place to Marvel, whether or not it’s actually true at the time it’s said. Given Civil War and its followup, that is the case for the moment at any rate.”

“All DC has to do is stay profitable. It would LIKE to grow in profitability. Does it really NEED to compete with Marvel?No. They just need to make money. IF the edge out Marvel one month, that’s great, but not a necessity to anyone but the fanboys. Or, to put it another way….hows about people stop being company fans andstart being comics fans again? I’m pretty sure neither Marvel nor DC sends out royalty checks to all their hard core fans who blindly follow the company line.”

“Yes … DC you’ve been at this long enough as a second rater … pack it in .. cancel those loser books like Batman and Superman and the JLA and the JSA [...] the handwriting is clearly on the wall”

If you ever needed a reason to justify one less trip to the movies and, instead, wait for the DVD, a friend of ours told us about her rather fiery experience seeing Ghost Rider — not her first choice, mind you — with her sister in an Idaho movie theater last month.

Some 20 minutes into the film, close to the first Nicolas Cage to Flaming Skull Guy transformation scene, the film begins to melt, ala Grindhouse, this time for real, setting off fire alarms, forcing every moviegoer to abandon the 12-plex. After that first problem was resolved — an irony too good to be true — patrons were given free passes and the option of finishing the movies they were watching.

So far, so good, until Cage’s Flaming Skull Guy dukes it out with the Devil (Peter Fonda) for possession of his soul near the end. Seems nobody bothered to re-synchronize the automated announcements for later showings due to the evacuation, because just as Cage begins wailing on Fonda, digitally, so do coming attractions, ergo a second set of passes…

A reminder to readers, friends and loved ones: The Flaming Skull Guy movie arrives on DVD June 12.

The Escapist talks with writer Antony Johnston about Wasteland, his post-apocalyptic series with artist Christopher Mitten: “A post-apocalypse world gives you the opportunity to create the world anew, but keeping enough familiar touchstones that you’re not stepping fully outside a reader’s comfort zone. So there’s all the weird stuff — the landscape and environment, the almost mediaeval society of the cities, the new language and slang, and in [the] Wasteland itself of course the psychic powers and the new mythology of The Big Wet — but there’s also persecution of minorities, ideological conflict, violence, betrayal and power struggles. People are still people, you know?”

Related: Behind the scenes of Wasteland #9