Monday, May 20
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Ralph Niese has been named the grand-prize winner of Project: Rooftop’s Vampirella ReVamp contest, co-sponsored by Harris Comics.
More art from Niese, the other winners and runners-up, plus judges’ commentary, can be found at the Project: Rooftop website.
• USA Today’s Whitney Matheson has the first look inside IDW’s comic-book biographies of John McCain and Barack Obama.
• A new comic from a U.K. sexual-health group teaches kids about the birds and the bees, but not everyone is happy about it.
• Den of Geek talks with artist Frank Quitely about All-Star Superman, We3, and his involvement with Alan Grant and Jamie Grant in the adult-humor comic Wasted.
• Comics are literature, which means that what I have always suspected is true: The Hulk is Shakespeare. I knew it!
• Invincible Iron Man writer Matt Fraction chats with MTV’s Splash Page about meeting with director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux about Iron Man 2.
• Who’s more powerful, Spider-Man or Spider-Woman? How about Hulk or She-Hulk? Nisha Gopalan of io9.com looks at the super-powered battle of the sexes.
Compiled by Aron Head and Kevin Melrose
Following up to yesterday’s article about Wizard World Texas, the Convention Report confirms the collaboration between WWTX and FearFest: “Two cons at the cost of one!”
While I’m sold on the idea, there’s a lot of concern that Wizard won’t be as aggressive in booking comic book talent for the show with FearFest rounding out the program. According to the Convention Blog, Wizard is “currently in talks with a bunch of great creators to get them to come out west.”
Not much this week in the way of Easter eggs, but look for a first-act wrapup in the next couple of days.
As for this issue … well, it’s the official end of the first act! Any more and I’d have to say…
SPOILERS FOLLOW
* * *
[Disclaimer: Obviously I've been working on this post long before I heard about the demise of the Minx line. Although the following is about publishing variety within the DCU line, just on general principles I'm sorry to see Minx go.]
Dan DiDio, from a few weeks back:
When I first started reading DC comics many years ago…, one of the things I loved best was the different types of comics you could buy. There were … horror, western, war and barbarian comics as well [as superheroes]. And with DC, for me, it was those books that I gravitated to first. Don’t get me wrong–I LOVE (notice all the capitals) super-hero comics–but there was something really cool about the way DC did the other genres. They always felt special, and always made me stop and take notice.
Since I also remember those days (big shocker there), I read that column with great interest. Back in the 1980s, before DC developed many of its present imprints, one of its taglines was “More than superheroes (but we’ve got them too)!” Dumb line, maybe, but it made the point.
At the Mental Floss blog, Mark Juddery considers “5 Memorable Moments in Comic Book Censorship,” including the altered ending of a Steve Ditko story from Marvel’s trange Tales #83 (April 1961):
Artist Steve Ditko’s story told of a vengeful socialite who meets a guy dressed as the Devil at a costume party, and falls for him. But at midnight, when it’s time to unmask… you can probably guess the rest. “Mask?” says the Devil. “What mask, my love?”
However, the editors were afraid of what the Code might think, so they removed the final panel (which presumably suggested a terrible fate for the socialite) and hurriedly replaced it with two small panels, drawn by another artist, in which she faints, recovers and resolves to change her malicious ways, while the “Devil” (who is obviously somewhere else) pulls of his mask, and is revealed to be one of her would-be victims in disguise. Yes, they included all of that. When you’re censoring a story, you can squeeze a lot into two small panels.
Related: Blake Bell, author of Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko, has more on the story.
With the release later this month of The Graveyard Book, and an appearance this weekend at the National Book Festival, author and comics writer Neil Gaiman is making the interview rounds.
The Washington Post has the transcript from Wednesday’s online chat in which Gaiman answered questions ranging from his upcoming projects to the future of his blog to an unanswered 20-year-old question from The Sandman #1:
Takoma Park, Md: Did we ever find out what made Dream so weak that he could be captured in Sandman No. 1? If no, when do we find out? Thanks!
Neil Gaiman: We never did. I was hoping to tell that story in a book DC Comics would publish this year, for Sandman’s Twentieth Anniversary (20! Years! Unimaginable!) but we weren’t able to come to an agreement. Maybe for Sandman’s thirtieth anniversary…?
In the meantime, I’m writing the last Batman story for DC, for Andy Kubert to draw. I’ve seen the first eleven pages of pencils and they are things of beauty that make me feel guilty for having written words that will, when lettered, cover bits of the artwork up.
Elsewhere, at Goodreads, Gaiman reveals that he doesn’t plan to tackle anything of The Sandman‘s scope again:
It definitely didn’t leave me thinking, “I need to write more giant things.” Depending on how long I get to live, I will probably get to do another two, maybe even three, more American Gods books, and they are all great, big things, 500 to 600-page books, so it will probably be that length. But I can’t imagine doing anything that takes up my life and my headspace in the same way that Sandman did. There were times when what was going on in Sandman was much more real to me than anything that was going on in the world outside, just because I was spending more time with these characters.
It’s been a rough week in the financial sector. With banks faltering, the stock market has taken a tumble, the dollar’s dipping and the yen’s a bit shaky. Now the government is considering an estimated $700 billion bailout. One has to wonder, how have our heroes fared?
Last year, Forbes estimated Bruce Wayne’s net worth at around $7 billion. Tony Stark is close, at $6 billion. Both men earn a solid chunk of their change from defense contracts, which should find their respective nuts well covered in the current geopolitical climate with steady cash flow.
Their other investments? Let’s just say that Batman might want to watch how many of those Bat-a-rangs he tosses around, and perhaps Iron Man needs to stick to one suit for a while. Those things don’t grow on trees.
DC Comics has confirmed a report that it will shut down its Minx imprint of graphic novels aimed at teen girls in January.
“Minx was an experimental imprint for DC Comics and we are extremely proud of the books we published and the stories we told during the past two years,” the publisher said in a statement released this morning. “We thank all of the writers and artists who lent their talents to our endeavor and especially thank readers who came along for the ride. DC Comics remains committed to publishing diverse material for diverse audiences as we continue to welcome new readers.”
According to Comic Book Resources, some solicited and otherwise approved books will be published, while others won’t — at least not as part of the imprint.
Announced in November 2007 and launched the following spring with much fanfare and an impressive — by comic-book standards, at least — marketing budget, Minx targeted the growing young-adult demographic in the book market.
Headed by Vertigo’s Shelly Bond and Karen Berger, the line debuted with The PLAIN Janes, by popular YA novelist Cecil Castellucci and Street Angel artist Jim Rugg. They also recruited the likes of Andi Watson, Derek Kirk Kim, Rebecca Donner, Brian Wood, Aaron Alexovich, Alisa Kwitney, Ross Campbell and Mike Carey.
Despite the $250,000 marketing budget, assistance from Alloy Marketing + Media — the company that promoted The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Gossip Girl – mainstream-media coverage, and a mix of talent familiar to readers in both the comics and the YA book markets, Minx didn’t seem to find its audience. (That, of course, is a familiar refrain.) CBR reports that Random House, DC’s book-trade distributor, apparently hasn’t been able to place the Minx books in the YA sections of chain stores, which would seem essential when marketing a graphic novels written by the authors of The Queen of Cool and Boy Proof and Flirting in Cars.
Jesse Reklaw is doing a book tour for his new Slow Wave collection (to be published by Dark Horse) and is chronicling the trip comic-strip style.
The Walrus offers an amusing commentary on a recent Chester Brown strip designed for Toronto’s “Live With Culture” campaign (you can download a pdf of the strip in question here).
Vulture has a sneak peak look at Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan’s next book from Drawn and Quarterly, the short story collection Jamilti.
– Comic Debrief talks to Douglas Wolk.
– Not comics, but really cool: A Babar exhibit in New York.
– Matt Thorn provides a fascinating look at the rise and fall of the phrase “shojo” in Japan.
– Here’s a rather nifty blog devoted to Frank Franzetta.
– Matthew Penney examines the nonfiction manga of Mizuki Shigeru.
– Nick Blodgett talks with Carnal Comics publisher SS Crompton about the ups and downs of publishing x-rated funnybooks.
Earlier today, I caught a tweet from Richard at Zeus Comics stating that FearFest and Wizard World Texas would be hooking up in November.
Fascinated, intrigued even, I went on a hunt. Finding nothing on the Wizard site, I eventually turned up a forum post from Joe Yanarella, senior vice president of operations at Wizard Entertainment.
“Wizard World Texas is fortunate enough to host this year’s Texas FearFest, Texas’ premiere horror convention … It’ll essentially add an entire extra hall of themed pop culture activity to our current Texas convention at no extra cost for consumers. Think of it as two shows in one. And if fans respond positively, we may make this a staple of all our Wizard conventions …”
Initially, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. I like my WWTX pretty much the way it is. The only change I generally care for is usually stolen from me by my wife. But one thing I often complain about is that I want more at Wizard World. More guests, more stuff, more fun, more, more, MORE! So maybe this is good change?
Too much is always better than not enough, after all.
Okay, so I’ve decided this is a good thing.
Not everybody is sold on this idea, though. While some hailed this as a win-win, others on the forum responding to Joe’s announcement expressed concern about the appropriateness of the horror content for younger convention goers. WWTX is billed as a family-friendly event.
Wizard World Texas is Nov. 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center.
On Friday, Isotope in San Francisco will play host to a release party for the fourth issue of Hard to Swallow, the gay erotic comics anthology, featuring creators Justin Hall and Dave Davenport.
The event, held from 7 to 11 p.m., also helps to kick off the Folsom Street Fair weekend. DJ Bearzbub of The Eagle & The Cinch Saloon will provide the music for the 21-and-over party.
Isotope is located at 326 Fell St. (at Gough).
The official press release can be found after the break.
Man, what a day for comics, guys. Today, live and in person at your local comic shop is not only All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #10, but Ultimates 3 #5 and Hulk #6. For me at least, this is the equivalent of a new Mystery Science Theater box set coming out; long, dipped in snark and funny but not in the way nature intended. These books are my Three Horsemen of Stupid Fun Comics and boy howdy, do they sell well.
Letting ASBAR #10 take a break from the incessant news coverage it garnered this week, let’s turn our eyes to Marvel’s double duo of Knoxville-esque comics, Hulk and Ultimates 3. Both are by acclaimed and Eisner-award winning writer of page and screen, Jeph Loeb. Both have superstar artists that seem nothing but butter on titles like these; Ed McGuinness is the man to go to for big meaty brawls and Joe Madureira would make a team like the Ultimates super cool with his dynamic character designs and hyper-styled action. These should be glorious examples of the medium considering the weight of talent these comics bear and yet…
We’re not looking at award-winning work here, are we?
Could this possibly be a case of just not living up to the hype? Are the books a testament to what they could have been, the ridiculousness living long after them, the finer points of their work buried into back issues?
The ninth annual Baltimore Comic-Con will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Baltimore Convention Center. The weekend will kick off Friday at Camden Yards as Jim Lee throws the first pitch before the Orioles-Blue Jays game, and then signs autographs.
Convention guests include Kyle Baker, Brian Michael Bendis, Dennis Calero, Howard Chaykin, Cliff Chiang, Frank Cho, Gene Colan, Amanda Conner, Darwyn Cooke, Guy Davis, Steve Dillon, Dean Haspiel, Adam Hughes, Geoff Johns, J.G. Jones, Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Jeff Lemire, David Petersen, Eric Powell, James Robinson, Tim Sale, Jim Shooter, Walter Simonson, Carla Speed McNeil and Mark Waid.
The Harvey Awards will be presented Saturday evening during a ceremony at the Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel.
The complete convention panel schedule, and another poster by Paul Conrad, can be found after the break.
Let’s say you’re a small comics publisher and you see that another publisher is getting a lot of mileage out of its upcoming biographies of the presidential candidates. What do you do? What do you do?
If you’re Bluewater Productions, you “[break] new ground” with a comic-book biography of a former presidential hopeful — one Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“John McCain and Barack Obama have all of the spotlight,” Publisher Darren G. Davis says in the press release. “Our goal is to show the historical impact that maybe underrated from by those who are too facetted on the candidates to fully understand the historical impact of being a few votes show [sic] for the 1st female president. Many people are daunted by the endless stream of articles on the candidates. A visual medium provides perspective that is not only accessible but more relatable to the average person without loosing [sic] any of the information involved.”
“Too facetted”?
The comic, called Female Force: Hillary Clinton, features a woman on the cover who doesn’t much resemble the senator. At all.
But I’m hoping the Female Force of the title is a super-team whose ranks include Barbara Boxer, Carol Moseley Braun, Dianne Feinstein, Claire McCaskill, Barbara Mikulski and Nancy Pelosi. Fingers crossed!
The issue is due out in time for Inauguration Day, with a side of salt and lemon to help soothe Clinton’s wounds.
Update: Holy cow! I just took another look at the covers for IDW’s Presidential Material comics — you can see them after the break — and compared them to the cover for Bluewater’s Female Force: They sport the same scroll at the top, same font for the title, similarly tilted flags, similar photo backgrounds, and similar poses.
That’s … What’s the word I’m looking for?
ICv2 has a nice nine-page preview of Why I Killed Peter, an acclaimed book about child abuse by French authors Alfred and Oliver Ka. The English version will arrive in stores in November from NBM.
