DC Comics, via its new blog The Source, has released some artwork from J.H. Williams III from his upcoming run on Detective Comics, starring Batwoman:

…Now discuss.

Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing

by Box Brown

96 pages, 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, $10 US

Pre-order: Available in DIAMOND Previews starting April 1st 

On Sale: June 3rd, 2009 

http://www.boxbrown.com/book/

I’ve read the Xeric Grant winning Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing and, just as the last page suggests, I went to the Box Brown website to read his webcomic, Bellen!, because I ended up wanting more. Yeah, I’m hooked.

Much like the panels melt away in the comic strips of Tom Hart and you see his main character, Hutch Owen, come to life, the same can be said for Box Brown’s Ben and Ellen. That is a high compliment indeed, if you know Tom Hart’s work. Even though Brown is still new to the comics game, I feel confident that he has a good handle on things. Like the work of Tom Hart or James Kochalka, to name just a couple of artists working in a similar vein, Brown manages to find new ways for the venerable comic strip to spring to life. His comics do not rely on formulas. You are more likely not to find anything resembling a punch line. Observations are top priority and characters get to have their say until they’re good and ready to wind themselves down.

Prose and art is elegantly spare. We’re down to the essentials like a best friend sitting down for a beer. Maybe an attempt will be made to grapple with the big questions for awhile before everything mellows out and we all just chill. Love is a peculiar type of thing. Yeah man, it is.

Box Brown’s alter ego, Ben, is a simply drawn young man trying to make sense of the world. Lucky for him, he has found his soul mate, Ellen. So, time together is precious and we see them revel in their romance. Cute stuff to be sure but not too cute since neither Ben nor Ellen are especially cute by themselves, at least not in an annoying way. The chemistry between them works and makes for engaging storytelling.

As an example, let’s look at one of the stories, “Your Sins Will Be As White As Snow.” This tale runs for nine pages and is ambitious in its scope. Ben is in the park when he meets up with an old man sitting at a park bench. Like an innocent child, Ben accepts from the man a little pamphlet which turns out to be one of those infamous comic book religious tracts by Jack Chick. As if empowered by an epiphany, Ben reports back to Ellen about his discovery. Ellen, who clearly knows about Jack Chick comics, tries to provide a voice of reason. Ultimately, obsession wins over reason as Ben must answer for his sins in hell to the one and only, Jack Chick.

Comic strips are a very unique art form and everything needs to be in place, the characters, the timing, the story, to maintain that delicate balance that allows the panels to melt away and carry you off. It looks like Box Brown is on his way.

And for more on Box Brown, read on my friend, to my interview with him here at Newsarama.

Four years ago, Box Brown says he was a fan of comics without any background in art. He started drawing comics and posting them to his LiveJournal where the webcomic, Bellen!, emerged. When Top Shelf 2.0 launched last year, Brown was asked to contribute some longer comics. The first was a six page comic called “Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing.” When Brown applied for a Xeric Grant, he had completed about 30 pages of a proposed 96 page collection, Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing. 

Now, he’s a Xeric Grant winner with a book to sell. He’s also set to have his comic strip, Bellen! picked up by United Feature Syndicate‘s comics.com. I had an opportunity to interview Box Brown and ask him about his good fortune and his thoughts on comics.

Just to give a little context, as all of us swimming in comics are aware, Diamond is the one big distributor of comics which handles all the big publishers as well as smaller publishers. What’s happened is that, due to the recession, Diamond needs to cut back on what books it will distribute and so has set a pretty high benchmark on pre-orders from comics retailers. If a comic doesn’t get enough pre-orders, it won’t be distributed. Not a problem for big publishers. A problem for everyone else. You can get the full story on Diamond from Heidi MacDonald over at The Beat.

A ray of hope for the small publishers is that Diamond has a history of willing to bend the rules. One glowing example is that it is willing to give special consideration to Xeric Grant winners and that’s where Box Brown comes in. His book is in the April Edition of Diamond‘s Previews, the listing that comics retailers use to determine what to order. His book is due out in stores in June.  Ask for it at your local comic shop. Every little bit helps.
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From our pals at Action Figure Insider . . . a look at Mattel’s SDCC Exclusives for 2009. Aside from the Wonder Twins (with a Gleek that WILL NOT be available in online purchases afterward), there’s a JLU/GL animated three-pack, Ghostbusters goodness, and the answer to what you get with the Anti-Monitor points from the backs of Infinite Heroes. Turn in 50 points and get a free 3-3/4″ Anti-Monitor figure. For every 25 points you turn into the booth (including your first 50), you get a raffle to ticket to win a 30″ Anti-Monitor. There will be one for each day of the show.

These all look tremendous, though I wish they’d reconsider the Gleek bit. That may cost them some online sales. What say you?

Capcom’s Dark Void, a Sci-Fi “Vertical” 3rd Person shooter looks to bring some new mechanics (namely jetpacks and mostly vertical levels) and an engaging story to the 3rd person shooter field. Now, they’ve gotten some help from composer Ben McCreary. While the name may not be a household one, most Sci-Fi fans have heard his music. McCreary provided score for the recently completed Battlestar Galactica re-imagining, as well as Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. According to the press release, this is his first video game score:

“When I got the call from Capcom to work on the music for Dark Void, I jumped at the chance to do it, considering my love for Capcom games.” said McCreary. “I have been looking for the opportunity to compose a game score for a long time, but I’ve been waiting for the right one.  Dark Void’s epic story and unique gameplay drew me in immediately and I have had a lot of fun working on the project.”

So at least the music is sure to be awesome! Gamers can find out if the rest of the game is, too, on August 25, 2009, the currently scheduled release date.

If you like what’s you’ve read so far totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

So as I’m sure you probably would have guessed, yesterday was havoc for anybody covering actual news, but when a press release surfaced about a new ride at Six Flags Great Adventure based on Superman’s imperfect clone Bizarro, well… it was pretty unbelievable.

Even with a press release with this sort of detail:

Over 500,000 players have participated in the ARG thus far. In November, players were introduced to a newly-formed relationship between Six Flags and Clawshun Industries and quickly discovered that Clawshun was actually a subsidiary of LexCorp. A special edition of the Daily Planet newspaper, inserted into regional weeklies in New York, Philadelphia, Hartford and Boston, confirmed the relationship and invited players to participate in an eight-week investigation by the Planet’s enterprising young journalist Jimmy Olsen via jimmystruth2power.com and Twitter. Speculation ran rampant as players worked together to discover the names and plans for the coaster transformations, designed by LexCorp CEO and Mastermind, Lex Luthor.

But lo and behold, on Six Flags’ web site, it’s true — after reconverting the old Medusa roller coaster, BIZARRO NO AM WILL BECOME SIX FLAGS’ NEWEST ROLLER COASTER!!!!

Unlike traditional coasters, the Great Adventure attraction is floorless, giving riders the sensation of flying as their feet dangle above the track. The 3-1/2 minute thrill begins with a pulse-quickening 142 foot climb before plummeting 60 miles-per-hour through BIZARRO’s freeze vision “cool zone.” The rush continues as riders twist and turn through seven loops – including 114-foot vertical and 96-foot dive loops – blast past bursts of BIZARRO’s fire breath, and race by bizarre scenes and illusions. The mind-boggling 3,985-foot twisting journey of storytelling and high-tech elements ends by sending riders head first into a spiked-shaped Auger of Doom, set inside interlocking corkscrews.

I think, even if you’re not in the New Jersey area to go check out the ride itself, I would certainly hit the viral marketing sites Lois Lane Reports, the Daily Planet Special Edition, and Jimmy Olsen’s Truth 2 Power.

For our readers in the Los Angeles area: the Hero Initiative, which works with struggling creators including Josh Medors, who we reported a few days back, has announced their schedule for Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day this year is on May 2nd, just one day after the upcoming film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The Hero Initiative will be teaming up with other charities for L.A.’s Big Sunday event. Here’s the schedule:

- BOOM! Studios Editor in Chief and Kingdom Come/52/Superman: Birthright* scribe Mark Waid will be hitting Collector’s Paradise in Winnetka, starting at noon and running until 3pm. Other luminaries in attendance will be Marc Guggenheim (Amazing Spider-Man), Mike Kunkel (Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam), Joe Benitez (Titans), Jim Mahfood (Clerks), and J.T. Krul (Fathom).

- Meanwhile, mighty Meltdown Comics will be having an event with Tim Sale, artist for Heroes and Batman: The Long Halloween! Timing is still pending based on the Hero Initiative and Meltdown’s web site.

- And finally, the Hero Initiative has hinted to a “smorgasboard of fun” that will be taking place at 4 Color Fantasies out at Rancho Cucamonga. More details hopefully to come.

*Can you tell which series of his I like?

At Daryl Cagle’s cartoon blog, Taylor Jones takes on the treasury secretary from a cartoonist’s point of view. It’s pretty hilarious, whatever your political views:

No, the problem with Timothy Geithner is the way he looks and sounds — like a kid. A fifteen-year-old high school sophomore who’s nervously reciting his book report in front of the class. Afraid, more than anything, that his voice might crack and make his classmates laugh. That’s why the stock market usually tumbles when he delivers a policy address. The stockbrokers are waiting for his voice to crack, and signs that he might look very afraid, or maybe even cry! Recently, the stock market went UP after Secretary Geithner spoke, but that’s because cameras and microphones were banned from the room. He should do that more often — it might jumpstart the economy!

The economy is still scary, but we can spare a few laughs at the expense of Geithner. Not to mention, Jones’ points are well taken. Confidence is as important as anything else in a time of crisis, and Geithner certainly doesn’t inspire it.

As we reported last week, Chaos! Comics’ Brian Pulido, best known for his work on Lady Death, is working on a new film called the Graves. Mischief Maker Studios, which is backing the project, has just sent us two teaser posters for the upcoming film, which will star Tony Todd, Bill Mosely, Amanda Wyss and D. Randall Blythe:

This is for all our Midwest readers, specifically those in the Windy City:

Challengers Comics in Chicago is having their one-year anniversary party this Saturday night! Starting at 5pm, the shop (located at 1845 N. Western Ave #2R) will have food, drink, and $1.00 back-issues.

“We didn’t want this to be our store and customers just shopped here,” said Challengers co-owner Patrick Brower in a press release.   “We wanted it to be the customers store and we just happen to work here.” W. Dal Bush, the other co-owner, added, “We wanted a store that brought a high level of professionalism to our retail industry.  Comic books are now in the mainstream. More Hollywood blockbusters than not are based off them. The New York Times now has a best selling graphic novel list.  We are proof that the family unfriendly, grimy disorganized stereotype of a comic shop is history.”

Comics and community always go well together, so if you’re in the area, I’d suggest you check it out!

SLG Publishing has just announced that it will be creating a comic version of the 1922 Rafael Sabatin novel and Errol Flynn film Captain Blood!

Matthew Shepard of Dead Eyes Open and Tron artist Mike Shoykhet will be teaming up on the first issue, which is due to be released in June. The publisher’s description:

Peter Blood had always been a driven man. He was a soldier, a sailor, a captain, and a doctor. Nothing seemed unattainable for the skilled Dr. Blood. But when an act of compassion during a rebellion thrusts him into the bottom trenches of slavery, Peter must use his wits and experience to fight his way back to freedom. Shepherd’s Captain Blood promises to chronicle Blood’s ascension to power as he eventually becomes one of the most notorious pirates to roam the seven seas.

The book will be 24 pages in sepia tone, and will cost $3.50.

And now — for some unadulterated swashbuckling: I give you… ERROL FLYNN AS CAPTAIN BLOOD!

Some genre heavyweights have gotten yet another prestigious award: both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Lost received Peabody Awards, an award given to “the best in electronic media” from the University of Georgia.

If you’re shrugging your shoulders at this, this actually puts the two shows up with some pop culture behemoths, including the Daily Show (which has won two, if I recall my thesis research correctly), Saturday Night Live, and 60 Minutes. That said, YouTube also won an award this year, which is about as lame as Time having the Person of the Year be a mirrored cover. Hey, I still put the honor on my resume — it looks classy.

Obama Depressed, Distant Since ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Series Finale

Courtesy of The Onion HERE…

It’s a curious irony that Charles Dodgson is an extremely difficult writer to follow, and yet writers and artists of all kinds are constantly attempting to do just that.

Alice in Wonderland adaptations, parodies, reimaginings, homages, allusions and riffs are as common as can be, yet relatively few of them end up being worthwhile. That’s part of what makes Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew’s Wonderland (Disney Press) graphic novel such a joy to read.

As difficult as following Dodgson may be, Kovac and Liew actually had an even more difficult task. Their Wonderland was originally published as a six-part comic book series from SLG, part of the publisher’s 2005 licensing agreement with Diseny (along with Haunted Mansion, Gargoyles and Tron), so not only were they doing a comic based on the original Wonderland books, but they were doing a comic based on a beloved, classic animated film adaptation of those beloved, classic books.

That can’t have been an easy balancing act to strike, and yet if the creators were sweating at all during the creation of the work, it sure doesn’t come through in the finished product: They’ve produced a comic book that should amuse rather than insult fans of the original prose books, a comic that continues elements of the Dinsey movie without coming across as a cheap cash-in along the lines of the company’s direct-to-DVD sequels and prequels, and, perhaps most remarkably, a comic book that is recognizably theirs.

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I like the middle one, because it looks like Wolverine is swimming naked in your Slurpee: 7-Eleven will have X-Men Origins: Wolverine Slurpee cups, and you can read about them here if you like.

Living Between Wednesdays undergoes de-blogspot.com-ification: Rachelle Goguen’s Livingbetweenwednesays.blogspot.com is dead, long live Rachelle Goguen’s Livingbetweenwednesdays.com.

And here I thought it was a contraction of the words “web” and “log”: Invincible Super-Blogger Chris Sims reports on the true origin of the word “blog,” one of the many, many lessons Showcase Presents: Superman Family can teach us.

This makes me wonder: The Flash is the fastest man on earth, but how fast can he run in heels? Probably faster than Victoria Beckham in tennis shoes.

Hey look!: New uniforms for comics bloggers!

“In general, cartoonists have a macho, pugilistic attitude, intending to offend people”: Mike Rosen-Molina pens (well, types) a wide-ranging article about how cartoons and cartoonists are parsed on the Internet. Daryl Cagle, Francesco Marciuliano and Josh Fruhlinger are all featured.

“Dan DiDio, who knows villainy…”: I think the AP writer who wrote that meant that DiDio knows villainy as part of his job, not as a villain himself. Anyway, here’s an article about the ever-changing nature of pop culture villains. DiDio is among those interviewed, and Lex Luthor is used as an example of a corporate villain. Oddly, the article mentions that the former mad scientist was “recast in recent years as an amoral industrialist and businessman who dabbles in politics.” Being elected the president of the United States isn’t really “dabbling” is it?

Warren Ellis has a page up which he claims is from the finished Planetary #27 art. The longest-awaited comic in the history of comics? I don’t know about all that. But he swears it’s not a joke. I don’t know if I trust him, though. I mean, it IS Warren Ellis.

The library is a great place for readers to discover comics, and it’s a great place for comics readers to check out things that they want to try without spending their hard-earned cash. I’m looking at comics that I find in the New York Public Library system.

Lewis Trondheim is really a can’t-miss cartoonist. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by him, a claim I can make about very, very few fixtures in the comics market. Trondheim manages to tell stories for all-ages that are fast and funny to keep young readers interested, but filled with crisp dialogue and considerable moral questions to keep older readers engaged. Readers of every age are likely to be stunned by his endlessly surprising twists.

Astronauts of the Future tells of Martina and Gilbert, a pair of elementary school kids who believe that everyone around them are either robots (Martina’s theory) or aliens (Gilbert’s). It starts off as a precocious kid comedy, with our heroes attempting to prove their theories without getting into (too much) trouble. Of course, when they find out they’re both correct (I thought I was annoyed at NBM’s cover copy for spoiling the surprise, but it happens so early on that NBM’s claim of a shocking twist could refer to any of a dozen different events!), the world becomes a wholly new experience, one that justifies Gilbert’s ray-gun obsession and needs Martina’s creative leadership. The first of the European albums reprinted in this book from NBM Publishing establishes the world and circumstances. A second tale pits Martina and Gilbert against an alien invasion with a truly startling moral quandary.

Sometime Trondheim collaborator Manu Larcenet (author of the superb autobio Ordinary Victories) provides the artwork. Packing each page with information (usually around ten panels), Larcenet keeps every scene active, exciting and filled with drama and humor. The character designs are clever and cute – from people on the streets to alien ships, and Larcenet captures the broad humor of boys and ray guns, and the shock, terror and excitement of living among an aliens and robots.

Trondheim’s upbeat and lively dialogue keeps the story moving.  Twists come flying at the reader with rapid-fire pacing, and the subtle sense of family and belonging is built with strong, distinct supporting players that ground Martina and Gilbert in this wild sci-fi world.  Readers of all ages will find plenty of reasons to fall in love with comics if they’re lucky enough to find a copy of Lewis Trondheim and Manu Larcenet’s Astronauts of the Future in their local library.

Good stuff for you this week, I promise.

When Fangirls Attack linked to this piece about the Silhouette in the Watchmen film. I’m partial to this piece because on my first read through Watchmen, Silhouette was the character that most intrigued me, even though she only warrants a passing mention. Sally Jupiter was easy to read, and both she and Laurie are characters worth re-reading and studying many times over, but I wanted to know more about this other woman.

Becky Cloonan has another Comic Attack up, this one with a mention of a game I have many fond and not-so-fond memories of from middle school. Am I dating myself? Do I care? Go. Read. Laugh.

Leigh Walton wants to know why Swamp Thing didn’t warrant as great a “remastering” as the Absolute Sandman or Absolute Death.

This piece at Jezebel isn’t comic-related, but does ask some questions that I ask myself when thinking about comics. The story is about Flannery O’Connor, a famed Southern writer who apparently was both judgmental and racist in her private life. The question, one that most avid readers of any stripe ask themselves, is, “Can you love the work and not the author?”

Since comics writers and artists are often far more accessible to their fans than long-dead authors of canonical Great Works of prose, this question seems to come into play fairly often. My answer to it is a definite “yes,” and I back it up by my wholehearted defense of the works of authors whose political beliefs are pretty diametrically opposed to my own. Sure, I love reading works where the authors believe what I believe, but I also like to challenge myself. My criteria for a good work is based on the work itself–is it complex, deep, with living, breathing characters who have agency? Does it make me ask tough questions? Or perhaps, is it just thrilling, addictive fun? Not everything has to be Les Miserables (says the girl who wrote a defense of Twilight).

Joelle Jones has more preview pages up, Ryan Kelly has the prettiest Megan drawing yet on his blog, and Fiona Staples has some secrets she’d like to tell you.

(No, I promise nothing in this blog is an April Fool’s joke. I’m too tired for that.)

Wolverine may be the best at what he does, but can even his beserker rage take on cyber piracy? EW has gotten a news tip that may be a grave misfortune for Fox:According to them, a workprint version of the upcoming May film X-Men Origins: Wolverine has allegedly been leaked, and is making the rounds on some pirating sites.

The story has since been confirmed via a number of sources, and the copy of the film has reportedly been downloaded over 75,000 times.

While many bootleg copies are from earlier editions, and are marred with timecode, studio watermark, and other defects, this copy apparently is a bit more advanced, lacking only a few of the film’s final special effects. Reportedly, the copy of the film has an identifying mark of Rising Sun Pictures, an Australian visual effects company. Whether this means the copy of the film leaked through Rising Sun is not clear.

The problem with this scenario is twofold: (A) it shows there is possibly a large breach in security at Fox, if this DVD-quality bootleg came from them or someone working with the studio on the film, and (B) it could certainly hurt the film if word of mouth starts before the film is even released. (Conversely, if the pirate crowd eats it all up, it’s just going to encourage more pirates to do the same.)

The film is scheduled to be released to the public – in theaters- on May 1.

Those in large cities – give a holler when you see it show up as part of the offerings from the sidewalk vendors.