The crew at Comic Relief plans to honor Rory Root, who passed away earlier this month, with a celebration on June 21 at his comic shop in Berkeley, Calif. The details:

Saturday, June 21st, 7pm Comic Relief invites you to join in a celebration of the life of Rory Root.

All are welcome, regardless of relation to Rory. Long-time friends to casual shoppers of the store- and total strangers, come and hear stories from some of the people who knew him the best.

Rory had a vision that Comic Relief would thrive and bring people together with that special book that
would plant a seed of love for the art of comics; we hope that you will share with us that vision on June 21st, and long into the future.

Rory Root Memorial Celebration
June 21st 7pm

Comic Relief THE Comic Book Store
2026 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94704

Phone: (510) 843-5002

Hours:
Mon-Sat: 11am-10pm
Sunday: 12-8

Desperado Publishing is collecting 12 of the stories that ran on the Chemistry Set webcomics site into an anthology called No Formula in August. The complete press release can be found after the jump …

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Now that I’ve gone through another set of solicitations, it’s time to return to the topic of line-wide events. I’ve already run through an inventory of post-Crisis events, so this week I’ll be looking at how Crisis On Infinite Earths and its antecedents set the stage.

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Sony says it’s not searching for a new Peter Parker

Sony Pictures representatives deny this week’s Big Internet Rumor that the studio is considering a replacement for Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 4.

According to IESB, some websites were even asked to remove the link to the original story, reported by Latino Review. IESB quotes Sony’s Steve Elzer as saying the rumor is false, and that, “No one is being considered for the role but Tobey. Period.”

Of course, I have to point out that Maguire’s interest in donning the red-and-blue tights again appears tepid at best, and largely contingent on the participation of director Sam Raimi.

The Ticker

• Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige envisions The Incredible Hulk as only the first part of “an on-going saga,” with the Green Goliath possibly appearing in other Marvel movies: “The sky’s the limit right now and it’s us being very cautious about how we do these crossovers so we don’t collapse under our own weight. … I never want to lose track of what the characters are really about so I want each of the franchises, knock on wood, to stand on their own two feet and the inter-connectivity between them to be that extra bit of fun for fans, comic fans and everyone who stayed in their seats for the Nick Fury scene at the end of Iron Man are now, you can consider them, whether they read comics or not, now Marvel fans and part of the bigger continuity.” [IESB]

• Hollywood producer William Teitler (The Polar Express) has signed on for the South Korean giant-robot movie Robot Taekwon V, based on a 1976 animated movie and a more recent comic series. Won Shin-yeon will direct the live-action feature. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• The July issue of Empire magazine has two Dark Knight covers, one with Batman and the other with The Joker. But the Joker edition goes further, with “defaced” pages. You can see an interactive preview at the magazine’s website. [Empire]

• Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson has joined the cast of Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Eight superheroes who deserve a shot at a movie franchise reboot. [IGN]

• With the addition of Doomsday next season, does Smallville have “a big villain problem”? [BuddyTV]

According to his fake blog on NBC.com, Dwight Schrute, a character on The Office, likes manga … but don’t try to slip him any shokushu goukan:

The comic books that the other gentleman was purchasing were of the “hentai” sub-genre. Hentai is disgusting. It is Japanese comic pornography and it is completely inappropriate. What disturbed me most about this man’s choices were that they were exclusively of the shokushu goukan variety. For those not familiar, shokushu goukan is the Japanese term for tentacle rape. These comics feature Japanese women getting taken advantage of by octopi. I truly do not understand their appeal. Octopi are, by their very nature, non-sexual creatures. After they reproduce, both the mother and father octopus die within a matter of months. What’s sexy about that? To chronicle the sexual nature of an octopus is as pointless as trying to find a beet weevil in December – it’s just a waste of time.

As I was perusing the contents of the various shokushu goukan comics, I kept happening on the same plot. Woman loves sailor. Sailor goes out to sea. Sailor is killed by giant octopus. Giant octopus rapes woman with its tentacles. This plot doesn’t make any sense. It paints giant octopi as if they’re these terribly vindictive creatures, not content to just kill sailors, but also to seek out and infiltrate their women. What do the Japanese have against octopi? What did octopi ever do to the Japanese besides providing a tremendous amount of nourishment in the form of tako sushi? It baffles me. It angers me. It saddens me.

His blog goes on to say that he’s a fan of Ranma 1/2, because it lacks “horny vindictive creatures with tentacles.”

Ah, The Office … I’ll miss you while you hibernate this summer.

Cartoonist Coco Wang is sharing stories via comic strips about the recent major earthquake (and aftershocks) from China:

I don’t know how much information the BBC or any UK media received from us, I imagine the UK audiences were presented with the major developments of the incident, but you are probably unaware of many important and inside details which are only known to people inside China.

The amount of incredibly moving stories of victims, rescuers, volunteers is simply shocking at the moment. I have been collecting newspapers of all the stories, and telling them in the form of comic strips. I hope these stories could show the UK readers the love, warmth and courage of the Chinese people, also the sad and cruel reality of the horrible 5.12 Earthquake

Via

ASIFA has a gallery of gag cartoons by the beloved Playboy artists. Probably NSFW though.

A promising new Webcomic by David Reddick.

If you’re in L.A., BOOM! Studios is sponsoring an event with Brendan Hay, writer of their upcoming comic Scream Queen, at Meltdown Comics June 4. And free beer. More details after the jump …

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Batman lends his upper lip to the “Body by Milk” campaign with this new ad that, of course, also promotes The Dark Knight. The Body by Milk website includes a Batman page with trailers for The Dark Knight, downloads, and a “Be in a Batman Comic” contest.

Just about everyone is offering their opinion on Tokyopop’s contract for their Manga Pilot program. Very little of it is nice:

Johanna Draper Carlson (who’s been covering the hell out of this story by the way) already has a statement back from the company. Note this little piece:

Making the contracts available to all is just the first positive step for TOKYOPOP that the Pilot Program represents. Of course we want our Pilots to be successful, and we want to work with Pilot creators to develop their Pilots into other media. And if we do so, an entirely new contract is drafted for that particular project—whether it be a full-length book deal, a film/TV deal, etc. However, TOKYOPOP realizes that some Pilots will not develop beyond their initial stage. And that’s why the Pilot Program is also progressive in returning rights to creators. For any Pilot that doesn’t pan out, the rights to the project are returned to the creator after the one-year Exclusive Period ends. After that, the creator is free to take that exact chapter created for us as well as the property anywhere they like—whether that’s self-publishing, publishing with another company or putting it on the back burner. At this point, for example, if the creator were to land a film/TV deal based on their Pilot property, TOKYOPOP would have no stake in that venture.

Meanwhile, here’s John Jakala:

I really don’t want to be promoting a company that engages in (let’s phrase this charitably) extremely questionable business practices at the expense of creators. In fact, I’ll take it a step further and suggest it’s time for a general boycott of Tokyopop until they get this contract mess straightened out so it’s more equitable for creators:

Chris Butcher:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TOKYOPOP?! I WANT TO LIKE YOU BUT YOU’RE MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE. I may no longer want to like you. (more…)

Vulture links to this fan-made video that collects key moments from the Lost “Flash Forwards” we’ve been seeing since last year’s season finale. It’s a nice recap before the big finale tonight.

What a week to have to wait an extra day for comics!

DC Comics finally unveils its Big Summer Event, Final Crisis, while delivering two more doses of Grant Morrison with the second installment of the “Batman RIP” crossover and the penultimate issue of All-Star Superman. And don’t forget the first volume of The Starman Omnibus.

Not to be outdone, Marvel at last ties up Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s popular Astonishing X-Men run, and debuts Marvel 1985, by Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards.

Elsewhere, Fred Hembeck gets a massive archive collection, Lynda Berry gets a hardcover, Dragon Ball gets an omnibus edition, and Nightmares & Fairy Tales comes to an end.

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

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This week our summer-long feature, I ♥ Comics, returns to Blog@Newsarama. Each Wednesday comics bloggers and creators will discuss the things they love about the medium.

This week we’re joined by Eisner nominee Matt Silady, creator of The Homeless Channel and a teacher at the California College of the Arts … the picture to the right is of his graphic novel class at WonderCon earlier this year.

by Matt Silady

“You really couldn’t have shown up at a better time. You are making comics in the New Golden Age.”

As I looked around the classroom, I was a little surprised how easily the words slipped out of my mouth. The New Golden Age? Seriously?

I’d certainly heard the idea batted around a bit. Comic book critics like Douglas Wolk seem pretty convinced. Heck, a quick survey of The New York Times Arts section would make you think that comics could bring about world peace. But this was the first time I heard this sort of thing coming from me.

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I’m really looking forward to Air, the intriguing-sounding new Vertigo series by Cairo creators G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker. So, I’m pleased to see that MySpace Comic Books has an equally intriguing seven-page preview of the first issue, due in August from Vertigo.

Artist Matt Busch has designed and is selling this poster featuring Return of The Jedi‘s villains, with proceeds going to the National Lymphoma Society.

Via

Rumor mill: Fugit, Angarano top list for Spider-Man 4

Another day, another Spider-Man 4 casting rumor … Last week it was confirmed that Sony Pictures has renewed its film rights to the Spider-Man franchise, which may account for the latest rounds of gossip about who may play Peter Parker.

Latino Review reports that, although no offers have been made, Patrick Fugit (Saved!, Almost Famous) is the top pick of producers Laura Ziskin and Grant Curtis to replace Tobey Maguire.

If Fugit doesn’t pan out, the website says Michael Angarano (The Forbidden Kingdom, Sky High) is another favorite.

Maguire, whose interest in a fourth installment waxes and wanes, said last year that if director Sam Raimi were to return, he might consider playing Peter Parker again. However, Raimi’s involvement remains uncertain.

The Ticker

• Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons says he thinks Zack Snyder’s adaptation will be as faithful to the comic as it can be: “I think that as long as it’s true to the spirit of the comic book, and as long as — in broad strokes — it follows the plot and the characterisations…I don’t think you can ask for every individual detail to be replicated.” [Den of Geek]

• Fans playing connect the dots with the Marvel Studios movies may want to pay special attention to the opening-credits sequence of The Incredible Hulk. If you do, you’ll catch glimpses of the words “SHIELD,” “Nick Fury” and “Doc Samson” (who is said to actually appear in the movie). [Sci Fi Wire]

• Although the Justice League movie has stalled indefinitely, Green Lantern appears to be inching forward. “Whatever free time I have left is pretty much thinking about Green Lantern,” writer/director Greg Berlanti says in a profile. “That’s all I’ve got time for mentally right now.” He’s co-writing the picture with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green. [Out.com]

• Rainn Wilson of The Office has been cast in a small role in Transformers 2. [MTV Movies Blog]

• No country for old men? Heroes don’t age gracefully in Hollywood. [Variety]

• Looking for spoilers for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek? Well, here you go. [TrekMovie.com]

Bryan Lee O’Malley reads Tokyopop’s contract for their new “Manga Pilot” program and proceeds to tear it into itty-bitty shreds:

Pilot Fee $____, payable in full when we receive and accept the Manga Pilot

That’s a conspicuous blank. I’m not aware of just what they’re offering. Are they asking you to put up your own number? What are they, Radiohead? Also, please note that whatever amount they’re giving you, they aren’t giving it to you until they receive and accept your comic – which is 24-36 pages, by the way, “inked, toned, ballooned, and lettered”, not to mention that you’ll be doing all the digital prepress. (If you’re “only writing”, you get off easy – just a manuscript.)

So, hey, what does accept mean? Does it mean that they might not accept your story, the one you slaved over for weeks or months, and then they’ll be well within their rights to never pay you? Yes. Yes it does.

It also means they might just ask you to change stuff! That’s okay, right? Back and forth, back and forth. You may not know it, but this editorial stuff can take ages. It can also drive a sober man to drink. Not a fun time. And PS, you won’t be paid until it’s all over. The dollar amount that seemed so big when you signed the contract is going to seem smaller and smaller with each passing week. But hey, you live with your parents, right? It’s not like you have anything better to do, right?

If you’re even thinking of submitting your work to TP, you need to read this right away.

Also: Lea Hernandez and Johanna Draper-Carlson offer their thoughts. If you come across more, feel free to add them in the comments section.

Artist Renee French covers The Stranger’s Official Guide to Sasquatch 2008 — a music festival held this past weekend in Washington featuring The Cure, The Flaming Lips, R.E.M. and Modest Mouse, among many others.

Via

Madman‘s religion never really crossed my mind until I saw this post by Ken Jennings. The Jeopardy! champ points out several references in the book to the Mormon religion, stretching back to the book’s early days all the way to the most current series from Image:

Take note, LDS folks and/or comics fans: Madman is apparently Mormon as well. Even back in the ’90s, Madman was being stalked by “the Three Nephites,” which Mormons will recognize as a reference to Book of Mormon-related folk myth. More recently, his archenemy Monstadt tried to corrupt him by paraphrasing dialogue spoken by the Satan character in the LDS temple ceremony. Madman sang the oddball Mormon hymn “If You Could Hie to Kolob” to himself after being blasted into outer space. And in the March issue, Madman even (spoilers!) got married, kneeling at an altar across from his bride, while an alien performed the ceremony. This may be an unusual way for most Earthlings to marry, but it does closely resemble the “sealing” ceremony used to perform marriages in Mormon temples. Um, minus the aliens.

He also points out that Ultimate Cypher is also a Latter-Day Saint … and is based on Ken Jennings.