At the San Diego Comic Con Comics Arts Conference, Kim Munson presented material from her ongoing research on the landmark 1983 Comic Art Show at the Whitney Museum. Her slides from the panel offer a useful overview the event, which helped set the stage for comic art becoming a staple of major museum exhibits around the globe.

Danielle Corsetto is no stranger to the world of webcomics, though she might not be a household name…yet. She’s been writing her own comics since the tender age of 8, albeit an obvious Garfield rip-off called “Fat Cat”. Chances are though, if you do know her name, you know it’s synonymous with the webcomic sensation “Girls with Slingshots”. It’s tag line is “two girls, a bar, and a talking cactus” might make one think of a Bryan Fuller project, it’s the story of love, friendship, and how at times, life is just that nutty.

The main characters are Hazel, the up-and-coming writer who is a bit stubborn and cynical at times. Jamie, who works at a local flower shop and, to me, has some of the best lines in the strip. Then there’s McPedro, the Irish talking cactus, that only really “talks” when Hazel when she gets inebriated. He loves his giant spider girlfriend. Of course the comic is not just about them, there is a plethora of assorted characters, each having their distinctive voice and personality. When I read it, it felt more like a sitcom, since there is an actual on-going story, and not just a regular webcomic.

It’s LGBT-friendly and I think that’s what really drew me to it. It’s written with heart and humor made for adults, and Corsetto works hard for it and it shows.

If this sounds like something you would like, just click here and prepare to have some good laughs.

Blogging may be a little light on my end today, but I couldn’t resist showing you guys the true problems with swimming in money, illustrated by CollegeHumor and Scrooge McDuck himself.

And by “true problems,” I’m not talking about eating 20 minutes before you get in the pool.

All I can say is, my inner child is now thoroughly traumatized. Thoughts?

Jake Lloyd, who ten years ago rocked the sci fi press after being cast as Anakin Skywalker, spoke pretty candidly about Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

In a lot of ways, this is kind of a living example of how damaging this movie was. (Don’t get mad at me if you a Phantom Menace fan, just look at this guy! He couldn’t escape the shadow of this franchise if he tried!) Topless Robot, who I found this link from, makes a crack about how “he just keeps rocking slowly back and forth, like a bomb victim,” but at the same time, I gotta give the guy credit for trying to maintain some sense of his own destiny, after being probably the most public and powerless victim in all this.

The war for comics is hitting cyberspace with a vengeance, as Archaia announced that it will produce original graphic novels exclusively for the the Kindle. iPhone and iPod users can access these comics via Kindle’s app on the iTunes store.

Archaia announced that of its first four graphic novels, Josh Hale Fialkov’s Tumor would be the first one to be released to the Kindle. The first chapter is free, and each subsequent chapter is 99 cents. Chapter Two will be released August 3, and they will release a new chapter every three weeks.

The story of Tumor is about a Los Angeles detective who struggles to solve one last case before his brain tumor does him in.

“Archaia is consistently working to break the boundaries of comic book distribution,” said Stephen Christy, Archaia’s Director of Development, in a press release. “I’m psyched to be able to say that we will now be the first comic book company to produce a full-length graphic novel exclusively for the Kindle. Working with a partner like Amazon has been amazing, and I couldn’t be happier that we’re launching this partnership with Tumor, from one of my favorite writers in the industry.”

Additionally, tumorthecomic.com promises to have “behind-the-scenes” extras and commentary. Archaia says they also plan to release Zachary Quinto’s Mr. Dead to the Kindle as well in a spring 2010 release.

That’s just marvelous, man: Among the “big” “news”  of this year’s San Diego Comic Con International, at least as far as Big Two super-comics are concerned, dealt with Marvel Comics and Marvelman. I assume you’ve already heard the news, right?  It seems like a really big deal, at least until you actually read the announcement, which basically just says Marvel has some of the rights to Marvelman, they’ll pursue reprints and new stories at some point in the future and they’re “talking to” creators Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham (Which presumably means they’re trying to secure the rights to reprint the only stories anyone really cares about, but aren’t there yet). So add that all together, and it basically amounts to “Big announcement! A big announcement could come in the future!” In the meantime, they’re selling a Joe Quesada poster and t-shirt of the Miracleman logo. Our own David Pepose spent some time this weekend walking us through the convoluted history of one of the most legally disputed characters in comics, and Steve Bissette has an excellent post about that convoluted history here. Also offering salient (and cynical) commentary are Alan David Doane (Headline: “Marvelman: What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Wait, It Just Did”) and Christopher Bird (“I’m sure that twenty years of lawsuits will all go away now”).

“I would like to know more about this sort of thing. But, instead, the two major comics companies seem devoted to onanism”: The Onion AV Club’s Todd VanDerWerff goes off on an interesting tangent about how damn impenetrable Big Two super-comics are after attempting to understand what he saw at a DC panel at San Diego last week. Any article that includes the words “comics” and “onanism” in the same sentence is a good one in my book. Also at the AV Club is a nice “Gateway to Geekery” piece about Hernandez Brothers’ Love and Rockets comics; I particularly appreciated it as I had previously wrestled with how to approach the expansive universe of their comics, which had grown quite large by the time I started reading comics.

Cartoonist cat fight: In a previous edition of Linkarama, I had linked to a report of the rivalry between Becky Cloonan and Amy Reeder Hadley exploding into violence at MOCCA. According to The Beat, the two had it out again at last week’s Comic Con International, and, as they say in the funnybooks, Hadley got knocked the @#$% out!

Stay-at-home Diego Comic Con: The Fantagraphics employees who didn’t go to the big show this year had their own Fantacon 2009, while blogger/stuffed animal Bully The Little Stuffed Bull staged Bully-Con 2009. In other Bully-related news, check out this post about that which Daredevil seems to spend much of his time fighting (Hint: It ain’t ninjas or obese bald men who wear white before, during and after Memorial Day).

I guess that’s why Spider-Man just wears a full-face mask: Canadian pop star Skye Sweetnam demonstrates her make-up strategies for a couple different superhero looks. It looks like an awful lot of work, and a good argument for just wearing a mask

“Obama may be battling this recession one page at time, by increasing comic sales and giving those smaller comic companies a fighting chance”: So says the New York Daily News in a sad little article rounding up all of the terrible-looking comic books Barack Obama is appearing in and on this summer. The headline for the piece, naturally enough, begins with the word “POW!”

Speaking of the New York Daily News, I somehow missed this incredible headline a few weeks back: “Holy throwback to old-style newspaper strips, Batman! DC Comics unveils weekly ‘Wednesday Comics‘”

In the off chance you haven’t seen this yet: Here’s Abhay Khosla’s Abhay Khosla’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Read it and weep…with laughter. (Via Everyone and Their Mothers)

Folks, it’s time to dig out your copies of SUPERMAN BEYOND, because this trash is in 3D! (It’s like I want to alienate readers, ha!) And, NO, I will never stop re-purposing this image of Amazing Man lobbing a bull into the stratosphere…

I work a day job at a used book store, where I gleefully run the comic section. This task affords me an interesting perspective on comics, but also I get cool crap from unopened quarter bin fodder! Trading cards, mini posters, pogs, death of Superman armbands, and even 3D glasses. I had an urge to start a collection of all the different glasses when it hit me that an intelligent man with Adobe Photoshop, like myself, could probably figure out a way to make comics look three dimensional. Turns out it took all of 30 minutes to Google up some info an churn out the images you see above.

It’s pretty simple. Just copy the stuff you want in front on the top layer, remove the foreground items from the background wit h the stamp tool, copy the background ‘screen’ a cyan layer over one background (red over the other), merge the respective backgrounds with each color, set them to ‘multiply’, then just nudge the cyan layer left a few and the red layer right a few. BOOM. 3D.

The applications of this kind of thing can be pretty cool. Not only can you achieve depth in your composition, you can use the lenses to filter out one color or the other to create twice the content in half the space (like the trick I pulled in the corner of the logo at the top). None of this is new technology, and this really isn’t even a super creative idea anymore, but it’s something I haven’t seen a lot of in digital comics. Really, digital comic making can take even greater advantage of this simple 3D technique than comics and movies of old. I’m not saying every comic should be in 3D, use it tastefully. It’s like breaking the gutters of a panel, use it only when you need to and when it serves the story and composition best so it can maintain it’s visual potency.

Just for fun, I’ve adapted one of my favorite chapters of Winsor McCay’s LITTLE NEMO to 3D. Enjoy the comic as never before, and I’ll yell at you next week.

Agree, disagree? Questions, comments? Love poems, hate limericks? Want to paypal me wads of digital cash for my brilliance? Email: latino.kyle (at) gmail (dot) com.

-Kyle Latino

Chris Meloni, who portrays the voice of Hal Jordan in the animated film Green Lantern: First Flight, sat down with Warner Home Video to talk about playing the titular ring-slinger. The film was released on Tuesday.

QUESTION:  How did you approach this the role of Hal Jordan?

CHRISTOPHER MELONI: I’ll be honest, I wasn’t quite certain about Green Lantern. I just didn’t know what his shtick was.  But I was onboard just to play a super hero. The script was so great, I had to do it.  I didn’t really want to play him too heroic, because he’s a human caught in a different world. They gave me a lot of great snappy lines to play off, so I thought it was just kind of easy and normal, then every once in a while they gave me that kind of heroic line that you had to
summon up from your belly. But for the most part, I just kind of kept it real. (he laughs) Yeah, I kept the Green Lantern “real.”

QUESTION:  You’ve played a very wide range of characters. How does Hal compare to any of the characters that you’ve played previously?

CHRISTOPHER MELONI:  I think he’s having a whole lot more fun than any character I’ve ever played, zipping around wherever he needs to go, having all these powers.  It’s a different universe, different challenges, so how could you compare Hal to my other characters? Can I put Freakshow in an intergalactic battle for policing the universe?  I don’t think so. Maybe Hal is the intergalactic Elliot Stabler. Are there sex crimes in outer space?  Tune in.

I think the only hero I’ve ever played is kind of Elliot Stabler and Elliot is flawed in a different way. Hal has his flaws – he’s more fun-loving and cocksure of himself and those qualities, you’ll find, are what makes him all too human.

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If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

It’s not often that I feel bad for a comic book, but I do kinda feel for Kid Colt #1. It’s written by Tom DeFalco, who writes that Spider-Girl comic no one wants to read (or, more accurately, that a few thousand people really, really want to read very badly, but no one else does), it’s drawn by the incredibly talented Rick Burchett and it even has a pretty nice cover by Luke Ross, but it’s still a random Kid Colt one-shot thrown out into the market the same week Marvel is releasing almost 40 other comics and trades.

I say I feel bad for it, but not so bad that I’d want to part with $4 for it. Kid Colt’s probably too proud to accept my pity dollars anyway.

A closer look at some of those 40 Marvel comics, and some stuff from their archenemy DC comics and some other publishers as well, after the jump.

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One scene from a few clips shown of Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass got a standing ovation during its panel at Comic-Con in San Diego. To get a standing ovation is suppose to be a rare thing at Comic-Con and that is a sign that this adaption of a Mark Millar (Wanted) creator-owned comic book has legs and will ultimately find a distributor.

Whether or not your taste is for the ultra-violent, is something to consider. Vaughn admits that part of the problem with finding a distributor is that “the script broke every taboo known to man.” But it sounds like this film about teenagers who want to be superheroes is going to turn out to be pretty cool.

Keep in mind, Matthew Vaughn, the co-writer and director of Kick-Ass, also produced Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1997 and that was a fun ride. Is this something you’re looking forward to? I think I’d give it a try. It is Mark Millar after all.

I guess you’ll have to say “Jennifer Love Drew-it.”

The Ghost Whisperer star will be launching a 10-issue series with IDW, MTV reports. The series, called the Music Box, will focus on the horrific stories surrounding an old heirloom.

“The chance to create my very own comic, and a horror/thriller at that, is like a very fun nightmare come true,” Hewitt told MTV. “I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that an inanimate object can hold as much malevolent energy as a human being can. And when they two meet, or are at cross purposes, very bad things can happen.”

Scott Lobdell will be writing the series, while Casey Maloney and Adam Archer will provide interior art. Michael Gaydos will provide the series with painted covers.

This video comes from a surprising source — Capcom!

I’m definitely getting a Gladiator vibe here, from this Planet Hulk animated film — “What we do in life, echoes in gamma-ternity!”

According to this post, the film is due out in February 2010.

Warren Ellis has posted on his web site two teasers for the upcoming anime work he will be doing with Marvel — Iron Man and Wolverine.

Now, this second one might irk a few fans, so let me give it some context — Ellis himself describes it as “different,” saying that he plans to loosely base this anime on the Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Wolverine miniseries, which puts him in Japan, fighting crime boss Lord Shingen for the hand of his daughter Mariko. Ellis said he believed Rintaro was the director of this clip:

Wow. What say you, Rama readers?

One of these days, I’m going to go look at the comics that come out that week and there will be no mention of President Obama. And then I will be thrilled.

On the upside, there are plenty of great comics coming out this week that aren’t set anywhere near the White House. I’m fairly sure that neither the cast of Madame Xanadu nor Northlanders have ever heard of Obama, and while Unknown Soldier might be present-day, I think he’s got more pressing concerns than a guest spot by the President.

So besides those three, what else is worth reading this week?

For those of you who didn’t watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, you missed out on some comicky goodness!

In last night’s episode, the comedian went to the San Diego Comic Con met up with industry figures like Stan Lee, Dan Didio, Geoff Johns, and Jon Favreau to discuss his comic book character, which I will refer to as “Rechargo Boy.” He’s solar-powered, and looks suspiciously like a late-night host.

While Johns kind of made me chuckle with his response, it’s Stan Lee that (as always) steals the show. You can see the full episode, which this is in the first segment of, by clicking here.

Hollyscoop.com has picked up on an amusing rumor, regarding the possible third Batman film (which Gary Oldman let slip to AICN might start filming as early as next year)…

That Miley Cyrus wants in. And she’s not afraid to cosplay to do it.

Hollyscoop said that the young Hannah Montana star allegedly surprised Warner Bros. execs by arriving fully dressed in her own Batgirl costume, spouting off lines (of dialogue, not anything else, despite what you might think about this situation) that she had made up herself.

She apparently really wants to become Barbara Gordon, even as uber-realist Christopher Nolan has said that in his Batman films, Dick Grayson is “still in a crib somewhere.”

Now, I’ll be honest in saying that I’m pretty sure this rumor is bunk, but that is the rumor going around Hollywood these days. What say you, ‘Rama Readers?

Here’s a quick rundown on some of the other things I did at Comic-Con International in San Diego starting out with some photos. Here we’ve got some shots of the con, the Heroes panel, the Pop Candy Meetup, Jennifer Daydreamer, Henry Chamberlain, Popcultour, Paul Pope, and live art by Jim Mahfood, Josh Blaylock and Scott Morse:

Here is a lineup of stuff including things to come and look out for:

Anthony Zuiker Presents The Digi-Novel, Level 26: The creator of the CSI franchise was very kind to take some time to speak with me about his new project, Level 26. I will have that interview for you to check out later.

Lucky Man At Heroes Panel: I think the very best moment was towards the end of the Q&A when a quite smitten young man asked if he could see Hayden Panettiere up close after a quest to meet her that began four years ago. Hayden smiled and said, “When this is adjourned, will you meet me over there?” This was immediately followed by a warning not to get any ideas. “Too many brothers up here,” quipped Hayden.

Whitney Matheson’s Pop Candy Meetup: Talk about a very mellow and fun get-together Saturday evening. Whitney was totally charming and accessible. I highly recommend Whitney’s coverage of Comic-Con among other pop candy treats. I enjoyed a cocktail with my sweetie, Jennifer Daydreamer, as we took in the view and later on got into a comics discussion with James Sime.

James Sime’s Favorite Geek Out Moment: JamesSime, the proprietor and driving force behind Isotope Comics, had this to say: “It was during the Eisner Awards ceremony. Suddenly, there’s Leonard Starr at the podium making a presentation. He’s well known for his legendary comic strip, Mary Perkins, On Stage. It hasn’t been in print for so long. So, it was a deer in the headlights moment for me to see him.”

Paul Pope at Popcultour: I think the theme of the night was “accessible” since, after Whitney’s party, it was also great to see Paul Pope later that night at another party. Paul was open to do a little meet and greet as the opening DJ for an event to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. A live art performance featured Jim Mahfood, Josh Blaylock and Scott Morse.

Alfonso Ruiz: Cartoonist Alfonso Ruiz, a very talented young man is well on his way. I bought one of his original pages and I will need to keep my eye on what he’s up to. He loves the fact that he’s involved with a lot of great comics talent which includes a lot of great Mexican artists. We’ll hear more from him soon.

Rum For Comics: I was speaking with someone waiting in line for the Popcultour event. He said he never spends money on comics. He simply trades it for some of the best rum you’re ever going to find. I believe that would be Puerto Rican but I didn’t catch the name. Email if you read this!

DC Comics Talent Search: As many of you are aware, SDCC is a great place to try your luck at being discovered by DC Comics. The best advice I can offer, having gone through the orientation process but sadly not chosen for a portfolio review, is to take this very seriously and go in with your best work. That said, keep in mind that this is highly competitive and only five or six of the hundreds who submit each day are chosen for a closer look. It really doesn’t hurt to go through the process and you will learn something about your work.

Lark Pien Debuts New Book: A big name in the small press is Lark Pien. So, to see her first published book, Long Tail Kitty, is such a beautiful thing. She’s published by Blue Apple Books and distributed by Chronicle Books. Keep an eye out for it or ask for it at your local bookseller. I’ll have a review and more info about it later.

Be Good And This Won’t Happen To You: I will leave you with a disturbing image to ponder. We were waiting near the train tracks overlooking the Gaslamp District as we were about to walk over to Comic-Con, when a police officer asked us all to stop. Well, this guy, probably about fifteen, really wanted to join his friends who had already gotten across. In a panic or just plain stupid, he began to push his way past the officer. Maybe he figured since this was a female officer that he’d get away with it. Wasn’t long before two fellow officers frog marched our little friend back to the curb. They did an excellent job of it too. I know I was inspired to be extra courteous to everyone around me after that scene.

Warren Ellis dropped some news today. The writer of many things in many media let his readers at WarrenEllis.com know that he’s going to be scripting an “Arthurian project” that the producers are calling, yep, “Excalibur”.

I’m writing a film treatment for Hollywood Gang, who co-produced Frank Miller’s 300. Hollywood Gang have previously optioned my graphic novel (with Chris Sprouse) OCEAN.

On my desk, the treatment is called Untitled Arthurian Project.

On their desk, the project is called EXCALIBUR.

I’m working directly with Gianni Nunnari, Oliver Kramer and Craig Flores (whom I was delighted to bump into on the Warner’s lot the other day) and having a great time.

I have no doubt that Ellis is having a great time. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, because Boorman’s has always been a favorite of mine. Certainly, adapating Arthur can sometimes be a thankless task; fortunately, Ellis typically doesn’t care if he pisses off the squares. In the meantime, enjoy this:

Because I still think it’s disgusting.

From Kotaku:

Let’s play this down the middle, as much we can. “Costumed representatives,” are there to make a physical appearance, both sides would agree. But Iola is right: Neither Comic-Con, nor E3, nor any other convention, is a strip club. It’s no more appropriate to assume she’s there for casual opposite-sex companionship than it would be to think a well dressed public relations professional – who’s also there to promote a product and likewise is expected to look good on the job – is after the same thing.

The problem is that EA’s promotion projected just that image – not only on their own reps, but reps of other companies as well, whether or not it was consistent with the spirit or tradition of Comic-Con, E3, or any other show. That’s the reason for the furor, and that’s why you got an apology.

The whole post is worth reading, as it includes comments from a self-proclaimed costumed rep who’s suffered through much obnoxious behavior at cons.

The comparison to a strip club, however, struck me as particularly apt. Because it’s NOT what Comic-Con is supposed to be. Yet by projecting the idea that cons are for boys, the corresponding assumption that any girl who is there is there for the sexual gratification of the male attendees (and thus the attendant reaction to the Twilight-fangirls who are there for their own damn visual sexual gratification, thank you very much) is not only prevalent among attendees, but played to by just this sort of promotion.

I find it interesting that the most egregious examples of this stuff came from video game companies. Am I strange in noting this?