Over at the NBM Publishing website, Lewis Trondheim of Dungeon fame has started a cartoon blog, featuring material that will eventually be collected in his upcoming book, Little Nothings.

No matter where I shop, eat, visit, or go I want an experience. We all know a piece of chicken costs much less than 25 dollars, and yet thousands of people eat 25 dollar chicken at fine restaurants every day. They’re paying for an experience. If a comic book store provides an exceptional experience they’re much more likely to do well even in hard economic times. Gifting your customers with wonderful memories and a great experience is something you can do for absolutely no cost to you. Do what you can to give those out every day and all the time. The more you can make those experiences and memories of the “wow” variety the better your business will do.

That’s the Isotope’s James Sime, posting in a thread over at Your Mom’s Basement about how to make the perfect comic book store.  James isn’t the only retailer participating – Hello, Ryan! – and the entire thread is worth reading, if only for an idea of what people are looking for from their stories these days…

Wondering how fandom is taking the announcement of the One More Day delay? Look no further than the (usually Marvel-friendly) Bendis Board:

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Let’s face it, villainy in the Marvel U. has been a little… waining as of late. With heroes fighting heroes, it seems a lot of the threats superheroes once faced have either taken a vacation or are building up to something big while they have the time. A bank robbery seems ironically small change when the Hulk is building a gladiatorial pit in New York and Iron Man is enforcing his law over the United States. Even ol’ Doc Doom hasn’t succeeded along the lines of those who’d thwarted him time and again! Things have gotten so intense for our heroes that consistently trying to step up and outdo the latest big thing is getting more and more difficult.

So what can you do? Are villains even relevant anymore? How can you make your mark as the opposition when the stakes have been raised pretty high by the people who are supposed to be defeating them in the first place? Well, you can take the quick approach, gather up some folks we haven’t seen in awhile (or… at least since Omega Flight), give them some seed money, show them you’re a viable force and complete your first gig all in one issue. This sets you up as fast as possible to get to the meat of a story that or you can take your time. Hit them truly where it hurts. Show some smarts and prove that being a villain is more than just taking cash or beating up people. Show them that it’s personal.

(NOTE: the following has some spoilers for today’s Daredevil #101 and I am distinctly lacking a proper scanner, so grab your own copy, enjoy and read along!)
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Comic Book Resources, which is based in L.A., reports on the wildfires currently burning in that part of the state. CBR is fine, and checks in with several comic shops, pros and companies in the area:

CBR News spoke with IDW Publishing Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall, who said their offices in Bay Park, just down and across the Interstate 5 freeway — a major traffic artery in Southern California—is not at risk, but a number of employees of the company have evacuated their homes.

“The fire isn’t too close to where I live, but it’s also not that far away either,” Ryall told CBR News. “We’re gathering all our financial stuff together per the suggestions of the fire department and I’m heading home to give my wife some added piece of mind.”

A call to the Comic-Con International offices in San Diego Tuesday afternoon was met with a recording announcing that due to the fires the offices would be closed until Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM. CBR News spoke with Comic-Con Marketing Director David Glanzer who said the offices remain closed due to poor air quality and will likely stay that way until Thursday.

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Following up on the Alex Ross cover they posted last month, TVGuide.com has posted the Jim Lee version of the Heroes graphic novel cover.

I’m slow waking up this morning, but this press release from Gorilla Nation announcing that it’s been selected to “represent the online ad inventory for Marvel.com” seems somewhat significant, even if all the corporate-ese makes it difficult to figure out what it all means.

Gorilla Nation bills itself as “the largest online advertising sales representation company.” From what I gather, the firm will push Marvel.com to companies looking to advertise to a certain audience. And what is that audience? The press release actually provides some interesting information on that front:

“Marvel has become the #1 choice for advertisers looking to reach the all-important, elusive kid, teen and young adult male target audience. With an incredible 21 million page views per month, the property represents one of the most engaging destinations on the web today. Prime demographics include 64% ages 18-49 with 54% HHI $60K+”

Kids and teens? Well …

In any case, it appears as if Marvel is looking to drive advertisers to its newly redesigned — if cumbersome — website, which currently only features ads for the licensed Spider-Man: Friend or Foe video game and something from Google AdSense.

(Via Neatorama)

William Steig has always been one of my favorite children’s authors, not to mention gag cartoonists. So imagine my delight upon finding that the Jewish Museum in New York is presenting an exhibit of his work:

From November 4, 2007 through March 16, 2008, The Jewish Museum will present From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig, the first major exhibition of the artist’s work. Marking the centennial of Steig’s birth, the exhibition will offer a rare opportunity to view over 190 original drawings, many of which have never before been on display. Museum visitors will discover art ranging from classic cartoons to psychologically charged pen-and-ink drawings, from Picassoesque portraits to geometric figure studies, and from delicately rendered sketches to vibrant watercolors. In addition, the exhibition will include several of the artist’s notebooks and sketchbooks, letters, and Steig’s preparatory dummies for children’s books. Some of the character studies and models created by animators at DreamWorks, the studio that produced the Shrek movies, will also be on view. Following its New York showing, the exhibition will travel to The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA (June 8 – September 7, 2008) and one other venue.

That’s the question Will Moss asks, looking at the success of Dark Horse’s ongoing Buffy series and looking at other similar big-name ventures coming down the pipeline:

California-based comic book publisher IDW, which puts out comics based on Buffy characters Angel and Spike, is following suit in November by relaunching its Angel series in a model similar to the way Dark Horse is handling Buffy Season 8. The new 12-issue series, Angel: After the Fall, will directly follow the last season of the Angel TV show, and Whedon will oversee the story, though in a less direct manner than with Buffy. He won’t, for instance, be writing any of the comics; rather, he will be working with writer Brian Lynch, who will handle the actual scripting duties.

Also in this week’s newsletter: A profile of Iron Wok Jan publisher DrMaster; an interview with Danny Fingeroth about his new book; an interview with New Yorker cartoonist Mort Gerberg about his new book; and an explanation of what exactly “TekkonKinkreet” means.

Steven Miller tapped to direct Area 52

Variety reports that Benderspink has hired novice director Steven C. Miller (Automaton Transfusion) to helm Area 52, based on Brian Haberlin’s Image Comics miniseries.

Another newcomer, Jack Phillips, wrote the adaptation for the sci-fi movie, which was announced in February.

The 2001 comic centers on a storage facility in Antarctica where top-secret artifacts and alien weaponry are stored after Nevada’s infamous Area 51 is finished testing them. When a dangerous alien escapes containment, an Army nurse and a team of misfits must stop it.

Benderspink also is developing The Ghouly Boys, Pet Robots, Power and Glory, and Y: The Last Man.

Will the Lone Ranger ride again? Again?

According to EW.com’s Hollywood Insider blog, the writing team behind Pirates of the Caribbean is working on a draft of The Lone Ranger movie for Jerry Bruckheimer.

Although Disney wouldn’t confirm the information, EW’s sources say Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot “are trying to create a new juggernaut for Bruckheimer to exploit.”

That would be quite a feat, seeing as how the last two attempts to rejuvenate the property — with a 1981 film and a 2003 TV series — failed miserably. Still, the comic book seems to be performing well enough for Dynamite Entertainment.

British cartoonist Posy Simmonds is relatively well known in her home country. Lee so here in the U.S., though her book Gemma Bovary received a number of accolades when Pantheon published it a few years back.

Anyway, the Telegraph has a very nice profile of her online, giving a nice bit of backstory and her new book, Tamara Drewe:

Simmonds appears a mild, rather reserved woman – hard to pair with the bawdiness of some of her jokes (a pivotal scene in Tamara Drewe takes place with one character on the lavatory). She is 62 but looks younger, with a neat oval face, arched eyebrows and dark fringed hair that cups her countenance. She talks softly, with a considered air, and when early on she cries ‘Good God’ it comes as a shock. She is wearing a black trouser suit with a Nehru collar, and lace-up shoes with a heel. No sign of a handbag, and the room we are in is unclassifiably elegant – polished boards, a velvet sofa, Chinese vases, interesting prints on the walls, bound copies of Punch on a black lacquer bookshelf. She is not a figure and this is not a room one might necessarily find in any of her work. Increasingly, with age, she likes to think of herself as ‘invisible, which is very useful. People say things in front of you as though you’re not there.’

Producer David Kirschner (Curious George, Child’s Play) has struck a deal with Universal Press Syndicate to develop Mark Tatulli’s dark Lio comic strip as a live-action film.

Kirschner will produce the project with Corey Sienega, his partner on Frailty, Seed of Chucky and other movies.

Tatulli’s strip, which launced in 2006, focuses on an odd, spiky-haired boy whose imagination allows him access an often-macabre world of monsters and aliens.

“Lio’s world is really happening, it’s just that generally he’s the only one who sees it or cares to see it,” Tatulli says. “Kind of like the kid in The Sixth Sense who sees dead people. And while the Sixth Sense kid was frightened by his visions, Lio is much more accepting … this is normal to him. He takes it in stride and in some cases revels in it.”

Again, speaking of Numb3rs, the show that will feature a comic book convention during an episode in November … you have to wonder if one of the show’s stars had a hand in that episode’s subject matter:

The picture above is from the Left on Mission launch party at Meltdown Comics earlier this year. Peter MacNicol, who you may know from Numb3rs, 24 and Ally McBeal, poses with the book’s writer, Chip Mosher. MacNicol, BTW, is also voicing Doctor Octopus in the upcoming Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, adding another villain to his resume … he’s also voiced Chronos on Justice League Unlimited, Dr. Kirk Langstrom on The Batman and X the Eliminator on Harvey Birdman.

Speaking of comic books on TV shows … Whitney Matheson points out that this Sunday’s episode of Dexter sends the title character into a comic shop:

Sunday’s episode will take the star into new and mysterious territory: a comic-book shop. There, he’ll meet someone named “The Dark Defender,” but that’s all I’m allowed to reveal.

Dexter airs on Showtime, a channel I don’t have …

Stuart Immonen points out that an Adam Hughes sketchbook sold for $11,200 on eBay last week:

Original Adam Hughes personal sketchbook: OVER 60 pages of original artwork ( 61 to be precise ). Not a mass produced sketchbook found at cons or online. This sketchbook is a complete GRAIL with all original penciled pages by Adam Hughes dating approximately year 2000-2001. How often do you get an opportunity to obtain an original sketchbook by a modern master? Never! I have proudly owned this book for all these years and have had many offers on it and I felt that the fairest way for all fans to get an opportunity to own this would be through Ebay. It’s time to let another Hughes fan own a piece of history. Pages range from looser concept drawings to beautiful full-blown cover quality masterpieces.

The Zuda team, the crew behind DC’s webcomics initiative, sent out an email today announcing that the site would start posting webcomics on Oct. 30:

On that magical day, when fairies push back the clouds and allow the golden rays of the sun to shine through, flowers bloom to the sweet melodies of harps, a parade of majestic, rainbow-colored unicorns prance down Broadway and corruption is eliminated as the rule of law is reestablishing in the United States (ok, maybe that last one is a bit far fetched) you’ll be able to read our first ongoing series and read, rate, vote and more in the first Zuda Competition!

Also, on that blessed of blessed days, when we no longer have to crowd into a “war” room and collectively code against a deadline, the submission doors open and they don’t ever shut – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You’ll be able to send us your comic proposals any time, day or night, whenever YOU’RE ready. But wait…there’s more!

If you’re going to be in the New York City area (and are 21 years of age or older) on Launch Day (Tuesday, 10/30) then come on and join the Zuda staff for the Zuda Comics Launch Event and Live Submissions…um…Extravaganza! Face it, you can submit online any day of the week, but for this one night only, from 5:30 – 6:30 PM, Ron, Kwanza and Nika will be reviewing pitches live! Bring your best! And don’t worry, if you can’t make it at that time for the next couple of hours we’ll still have a drop box where you can leave your submission and we’ll have some laptops where you can submit “ye olde fashioned” way – digitally! Where will this magic happen? At one of the most magical places on Earth, of course.

Lansdowne Road
599 10th Avenue
(between 43rd and 44th Streets)
New York, NY 10036

My “Can’t Wait for Wednesday” cohort, Chris Mautner, is probably casting the Evil Eye in my direction, because he ended up doing most of the work this week. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much to get excited about.

It’s not the beginning of some autumnal malaise — at least I don’t think it is — it’s just a light week for me. Considering the last few Wednesdays, that’s probably a good thing. At least for my wallet.

That obviously doesn’t mean other people won’t find a lot of good titles on the shelves tomorrow. DC’s popular “Sinestro Corps Wars” continues, Image has new installments of Casanova and The Walking Dead, and Marvel gives Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD the Masterworks treatment (something I’d intended to highlight below, but forgot about amid all of our server issues). Plus, for comic strip fans, there’s a Charles Schulz biography, and collections for Mutts, B.C., and the legendary Winsor McCay.

To see what other titles Chris and I — well, Chris, mostly — think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco
Written and Illustrated by Rick Smith
Published by Alternative Comics
$14.95

When I first heard about the concept behind Rick Smith’s Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco, I was skeptical. I don’t like looking at friends’ vacation photos, so how interesting am I going to find a comic book version of a stranger’s slideshow of his trip to northern Africa? But, hey, I review comics. Part of the gig is keeping an open mind about concepts that you might not ordinarily be drawn towards. So, with open mind in head, I started reading.

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The L.A. Times reports on several wildfires in Southern California that have destroyed an estimated 1,000 homes in San Diego. Per the Times, “at least 15,000 people spent the night in shelters, and the number of evacuees could exceed half a million.” The site also has set up an interactive Google map that details where fires are burning.

Several comic pros and bloggers have posted on how they’ve been affected, including former Wildstorm editor Scott Dunbier:

So far we’ve been lucky. 4000 homes in San Marcos, our town, have been evacuated, including a couple occupied by friends. I don’t believe any have burned. As of right now the fire is not coming closer to us; we’ve gotten no reverse 911 call that instructs residents to get out fast. The smoke is getting closer but the news says the fire in our area has “calmed down.” We’ve packed up important papers, photo albums, artwork, external hard-drive, trying to figure out what are the most important to us. It’s a very slow Sophie’s Choice, picking out what we love and need the most. One I hope we don’t have to make.

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