The Joe Shuster Awards (sometimes referred to as the “Shusters” or the “JSAs”) are given for achievement in the creation of comics, graphic novels, and web-comics by Canadians. This year, four categories were on hiatus: Outstanding Achievement related to Canadian Comic Books, Favourite Canadian Creator – English Language Publications, Favourite Canadian Creator – French Language Publications, Favourite International Creator. However, two new categories were created: Comics for Kids Award, and the Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing.

And the Shuster goes to… (more…)

“If it paints the rebels as heroes, says the book’s creator, that is because his extensive research brought him to that conclusion”: A Saturday feature in the Irish Times profiles graphic novel Blood Upon the Rose: Easter 1916, The Rebellion that Set Ireland Free, about the 1916 Rising. Surely it won’t be the least bit controversial.

Christopher Borrelli of The Chicago Tribune is wrong, wrong I say!: In this well-written and rather interesting profile of the talented author Audrey Niffenegger, whose popularity recently experienced a sharp spike thanks to the film adaptation of her novel The Time Traveler’s Wife and the release of her new book Her Fearful Symmetry,her 2005 picture book The Three Incestuous Sisters is referred to as a graphic novel. It is not a graphic novel by any definition of that nebulous term. It’s a picture book. And a pretty good one at that. But it’s not a graphic novel.

“My father’s name is probably one of the most well-known names around the world, but as the brand or trademark has spread, for many, the man has become lost”: Sunday’s Morning Call has a nice feature story about their former cartoonist William R. ”Bud” Tamblyn and Walt Disney, prompted by the new Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco including a Tamblyn cartoon marking Disney’s death in their collection. That quote is from Disney’s daughter Diane Disney Miller, who established the foundation responsible for the museum and “telling the story of Walt Disney’s life, in his own words, and in the words of others who knew him well and worked with him.”

High on the list of things I never thought I’d say? “Aw, Lex Luthor is so cute!”: The Grand Island Independent has a feature story about a 150-superhero strong Kiwanis Kids Day Parade. Check out the photo of lil’ Lex, hanging out with a tiny little Clark Kent and a tiny little Superman. The story itself is well worth a scan to see who the kids consider superheroes, and to hear the identities some of their own made-up superheroes. I’m going to have to dock reporter Robert Pore and the Independent editorial staff for spelling Jimmy Olsen’s last name with two O’s though.

“German designer Adrian Riemann has spent the last few months illustrating 16 redesigns of famous ‘Masters of the Universe’ characters including both He-man and Skeletor. All superheroes and villians featured are immaculately dressed complete with American Apparel, H&M and Dior”: The results are even more awesome than they sound. Go check it out. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as you’ve never seen them before—skinny!

What comes to mind when you think of Jeff Parker comics? A talking gorilla with a machine gun? Harrison Oogar, The Caveman of Wall Street? The entire roster of the Avengers, transformed into a team of M.O.D.O.K.s?

Well Parker’s latest comics work, five-part Image miniseries Underground, doesn’t have any of those things in it, nor is it much of anything like the vast majority of the Parker-written comics you’ve probably read.

That’s not a bad thing.

While his ability to make me laugh is one of the things I admire most about Parker’s writing, there’s nothing wrong with range, and it’s nice to see Parker taking the opportunity to demonstrate his own. Underground has very little humor in it, aside from an early scene in which park ranger Wesley Fischer stares at herself in the bathroom mirror and tries to figure out the best way to say good morning to the sleeping co-worker in her bed, who is now more than a co-worker.

The mode is more straightforward action drama, and Parker has a perfect collaborator for work in the genre—Whiteout artist Steve Lieber, who’s no doubt having a pretty exciting month in general.

Wesley, the aforementioned park ranger, is also an expert caver, and wants to keep Stillwater Cave off-limits to amateur cavers and tourists, who could damage the delicate system. That places her at odds with much of the rest of the small, economically depressed Kentucky town, the residents of which think opening up the cave could prove an economic boon. Leading the charge is local businessman and entrepreneur Winston Barefoot, who may have something to do with guys going ahead with the dynamiting of the cave on their own.

A great deal of this first issue is spent on introducing the characters and conflict before ultimately complicating it, leaving us with an underground cliffhanger promising more action in the unusual, underground setting in future installments.

If the comic seems like a bit of a departure for Parker, whose writing has dealt with some of the more off-beat corners of Marvel’s superhero universe and a colorful magician character fighting demons for DC/WildStorm, Lieber is well within his comfort zone of drawing real people in real places doing realistic things.

Lieber’s a strong designer, storyteller and actor, and makes every page beautiful (if you stop and really look at it), unassuming (if you don’t) and, most admirably, perfectly natural. He’s one of those rare artists who manages to make great art look effortless, so that his panels and pages simply look as they should, making it easy for the reader to be drawn in.

In that respect, it mirrors the issue as a whole—it’s really quite inviting.

“That’s sort of the appeal behind all of these ‘alternative comics folk do big famous characters’ anthology projects, granted, but this one takes it uniquely far”: Want to read a really excellent review of a really exciting comics project? Then you should really check out Jog’s review of Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #15.

“If you look around, there’s a bunch of people in spandex and capes and everything like that”: The Albert Lea Tribune ran a local interest article about Superhero Day at Albert Lea High School. Part of the school’s home coming festivities, it was a day in which kids could dress up as superheroes for school. Imagine, being able to wear a cape to school… and not getting beat up for it!

“To be fair, Public Enemies actually fixes a lot of the plot problems with the original comic it’s adapting”: Graeme McMillian has an early review of the latest of those weird DC direct-to-DVD movies for io9, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and it doesn’t sound like this one is going to be very good either. On the other hand, can it actually be any worse than the source material? McMillian finds several improvements over the Jeph Loeb-written, continuity-heavy story arc it’s based on.

“One of the year’s most interesting comic book experiments comes to an end today. Turns out? It wasn’t particularly experimental”: Glen Weldon bids Wednesday Comics farewell for NPR.

One of the most hyped films of the year, is without a doubt, Iron Man 2. We’ve seen Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, we’ve seen Don Cheadle as the new Rhodey, and leaked SDCC footage aside, we haven’t seen much of, well…anything.

That is about to change.

Courtesy of MTV, here is a video of Entertainment Tonight’s coverage of their set visit of Iron Man 2. We see Whiplash do this thing, we see some of Scarlet Johannson’s stunt work as Black Widow and bit of talk of the love triangle among herself, Tony, and Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow).
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Are you chomping at the bit for some more manga madness? Have no fear, as Tokyopop has revealed its publishing lineup from January through April!

In January, the publisher is printing the shojo romantic comedy Happy Cafe by Kou Matsuzuki, which chronicles the stories of the employees at Cafe Bonheur.

Meanwhile, February has a ton of new releases: first off, there’s Portrait of M & N, which follows masochistic high schooler Mitsuru and her narcissistic pal Natsuhiko. Then there’s going to be a strange, Tim Burton-style remake of Alice in Wonderland called Alice in the Country of Hearts, followed by a series of romantic stories called Remember, a full-painted book by Orange creator Benjamin.

And let’s not forget Deadman Wonderland (Tokyopop’s trailer is seen above), which follows a high schooler who witnesses the deaths of his classmates — and then is sent to death row for it!

March, meanwhile, starts out with a .HACK//CELL novel by Ryo Suzukaze and Akira Mutsuki, and continues with Hanako and the Teller of the Allegory, which follows a detective who investigates physical manifestations of people’s beliefs in urban myths. Probably the solicit that looks most amusing is Haru Hana, by Million Tears creator Yuana Kazumi, which follows Hana Yamada, a girl who has just moved to Toyko — and who breaks out in hives every time an attractive guy touches her.

Finally, trailing out in April, Tokyopop will release the comedy .HACK//4KOMA, as well as Kokaku Detective Story, which follows the flashy, chili-pepper-eating samurai Kokaku.

The last thing the world needs is another telling of Superman’s origin story, particularly in comic book form. Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu and company just did a perfectly good job of retelling it for the 21st century in Superman: Birthright, a twelve-part series that started just six years ago, and even more recently Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and company  reminded readers they knew the story like the back of their hand already, so why not just fast forward right through it, in the first four panels of their All-Star Superman?

Of course, DC’s been fiddling with their continuity, and one of the changes of their 2005-2007 Infinite Crisis/52 continuity reboot that many of the things that were done away with in the previous continuity reboot were gradually restored, which left a lot of questions in the minds of those of us who worry about things like when Superman first put on his suit or first met the Legion of Super-Heroes.

So here comes Superman: Secret Origin #1, the first in a six-issue series by the “Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes” team of Geoff Johns, Gary Frank and Jon Sibal to put our anxious minds at ease.

Johns rather wisely skips over the destruction of Krypton, the rocket ship, the Kent discovery and so on, opening with young Clark Kent already a teenager at Smallville High. He, his parents and his confidant Lana Lang all know he’s a lot stronger and tougher than he should be, but Clark doesn’t know why. When his heat vision shows up, Ma and Pa reveal the rocket ship hidden in the barn, and Clark begins to learn about his origin, which has been kept a secret from him all this time (See? Secret Origin. That works perfectly).

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Part eight of Jaia’s debut with a kid’s imagination.

Find out more about her adventures here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.

Speaking of the Siegel litigation and Judge Larson’s decision to resign his judgeship, more details are out on the Superman case calendar between now and November 2nd.

• The judge has offered to help mediate the case. The Siegels have agreed to go forward with that; the lawyers for DC, Time Warner & Warner Bros. are consulting with their clients.
• Certain issues will be reviewed in connect with motions for reconsideration, with that hearing date scheduled for October 19.
• The parties could not agree on a special master, so the judge is providing a list of approved individuals, along with a description of the special master’s duties and responsibilities should one be appointed.

Yesterday the first issue of Superman: Secret Origin appeared in comic shops, and I’ve been asked whether about its legal ramifications in regard to DC’s claim on the ownership of Superboy.

As I describe in more detail in these two posts, the question of who owns Superboy has undergone some interesting twists and turns. At one point a judge ruled that the Siegels owned the character, but then Judge Stephen Larson came on the case and granted DC’s motion to reconsider the earlier judgment.

For reasons I explain in more detail here, Judge Larson’s opinion could have led DC to conclude that the worst it could end up with is co-ownership of the Superboy character. That changes the copyright landscape considerably. If the Siegels owned the character, DC arguably couldn’t publish new Superboy stories without the Siegels’ approval, but if Superboy is a joint work now co-owned by the Siegels and DC, both sides would have the right to publish new Superboy stories–though they’d have the share the profits and the Siegels would have to be mindful of trademark concerns.

There’s actually a fun historic precedent in this regard. As Michael Patrick Hearn relates in The Annotated Wizard of Oz, the original publication of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was registered as a joint work co-owned by its author, L. Frank Baum, and illustrator, W.W. Denslow. After the pair had a falling out, Baum and Denslow went on to publish their own separate individual Oz stories. These competing versions of Oz even extended to the Sunday comics section, with “Denslow’s Scarecrow and Tin-Man” a rival to Baum’s “Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz.”

Precisely who owns what percentage of Superboy has yet to be determined. Judge Larson had prioritized the Superman litigation, with the Superboy trial scheduled to follow the resolution of the Superman case. Now that Judge Larson has decided to leave the bench to tend to his seven children, we’ll have to wait to see if Superboy gets another legal retcon.

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!

For those of you who aren’t big on the national news front, Massachusetts has a new senator:

That’s right, Paul Kirk. I’m pretty sure I know what his stance on clones is, but how will he vote on healthcare?

I’m pretty sure that Joe Wilson has something to say about this after the cut.

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This past Wednesday afternoon was a rather bittersweet one.

Well actually, every Wednesday afternoon is rather bittersweet for me, since it’s the time I look forward to all week finally arriving (the sweet part) followed immediately by the realization that I have now read all my new comics and must wait a whole seven days to read more (that’s the bitter part).

But this Wednesday afternoon was a little extra bittersweet, as it brought with it the last issue of Wednesday Comics, a series I really enjoyed.

Among its virtues was the simple fact that it was a weekly. I haven’t personally enjoyed each of DC’s four weekly series—I thought 52 was brilliant, Countdown unreadable and Trinity a decent enough read with some very ups and and only shallow downs—but I sure like them in theory.

(One billion more words, about Wednesday Comics, and the quality of the individual stories now that they’ve wrapped up, after the jump)

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Batman: The Brave and the Bold
The Mayhem of the Music Meister

“As I regale you with my story
you know you’ll have no choice
but to do my evil bidding
when you hear this booming voice!”

– Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris)

This is the musical episode that you’ve heard about that was shown at San Diego Comic Con this year, and it was worth the wait. Well, to me anyways. I have a theater background, as well as a degree in it, so this was right up my alley. It hasn’t debuted yet on American TV, but aired a few days ago over in the UK.
Today, I see it found its way to YouTube and below my review is the episode yourself (split into 3 parts) in case you want to view it yourself.

Now, I am a bit biased towards something like this. I mean, we’ve seen Adam West’s Batman dance, but this is something entirely different all together. Neil Patrick Harris supplies the voice for the Music Meister (a villain that resembles the Fiddler) though instead he uses song to induce a trance instead of an instrument. There are some great musical numbers here and NPH does an excellent job showcasing his talent. For those of you worried, Diedrich Bader’s Batman doesn’t have a song, though Grey DeLisle as Black Canary nails it. Then again, are you really surprised by Ms. DeLisle’s extraordinary voice? You shouldn’t be by now.
There’s action, drama and a tad of romance thrown in this episode. Just when I thought this show couldn’t get any better, they throw something like this at me. Michael Jelenic (who has worked on the Wonder Woman and Legion of Super-Heroes animated programs) wrote four out of the six songs and they are sure to drive you batty, but, in a good way.

Author’s Note:
However, while they were linked to the official Batman: The Brave and the Bold Facebook Fan page, the episode has been since taken down. We apologize for those who didn’t get a chance to view it.

This Halloween, Fangoria invades Las Vegas with its Trinity of Terrors.

Trinity of Terrors is an exciting three day celebration of all things horror. The 3 day event will feature the ultimate horror convention full of exhibitors, video gaming, vendors, celebrity panels and autograph signings, a film festival, a very special Halloween performance by Slipknot and much more!

Guests appearing at the event include Roger Corman (DEATH RACE 2000, THE PIT AND THE PEDULUM), Malcolm McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, ROB ZOMBIE’S HALLOWEEN), George A. Romero (NIGHT/DAWN/DAY OF THE DEAD), John Waters (PINK FLAMINGOS, SEED OF CHUCKY), Fairuza Balk (THE CRAFT, AMERICAN HISTORY X), Jeffrey Combs (RE-ANIMATOR, THE FRIGHTENERS), Ken Foree (DAWN OF THE DEAD, THE DEVIL’S REJECTS) Tony Todd (CANDYMAN, THE CROW), Dee Wallace (THE HOWLING, CUJO) and many, many more.

Sounds like a kick-ass party.

For more info, check out their site for special tickets offers, scheduling and event announcements.

Okay, this is pretty cool — Kevin Cannon has created a comic story in the shape of a car.

But underneath that unassuming cardboard chassis is 26 segments of alt comics horsepower. The whole thing is readable at Top Shelf’s web site. Click here, and you won’t regret it.

I only ask based on this Adidas promotional comic of Emmanuel Adebayor, drawn by Jae Lee.

If he tests positive, somebody lock up Barry Allen, ‘cuz he’s dealing again!

Other promo comics include “The Powerhouse” Stevie Gerrard, by JG Jones, and “The Maestro” Kaka, by Ryan Benjamin.

[via The Beat]

Want to get your Drawn and Quarterly fix at half cost? It’s a multiple-fraction proposal that’s sure to get your inner indie excited, as the comics publisher is holding it’s warehouse clearance sale.

According to the publisher, almost all titles have some degree of savings, spanning from 40 to 50 percent. Meanwhile, purchases in Montreal are 25 percent off. The massive savings can ONLY be done online, however, so check out their catalogue here!

Along with the news that Ghost Rider will get a sequel, Empire Online reports a confirmed Daredevil reboot.

Marvel are “quietly developing a new version of Daredevil“. No other details of writers or producers or potential directors or stars (although we know it won’t be Ben Affleck, who’s been vocal about how he felt stung by the reaction to the original).

Now, I’m a big fan of the Daredevil character and am happy for a reboot since a sequel is out of the question. Though, I’ve said on the record in many blogs and articles that I don’t mind the Affleck treatment and especially love the director’s cut. It has an entirely different feel than the theatrical cut and recommend it for people who weren’t a fan of the original.

There are so many Hornhead stories to tell from Kevin Smith to the more recent Ed Brubaker stuff, I’d personally love to see something in between those and not just a rehash of Frank Miller’s arc. There’s been rumors of Jason Statham as Matt Murdock, but I’d love to see Guy Pearce wear the horns and billy club.

So, with this news I ask you, readers: who or what would you like to see in this new Daredevil feature?

As always, send ‘em to newsaramaevents [at] gmail [dot] com.

TONIGHT, Brooklyn:

Thursday, September 24th, Bergen Street is thrilled to host Josh Neufeld in honor of his latest work, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.

The event will start at 7pm and – of course – refreshments will be served!

Josh will be signing books and limited-edition giclée prints will be for sale – all proceeds from the sale of the prints will go to Common Ground Relief.

BSC will also be collecting donations to benefit Common Ground Relief.  If you don’t know about Common Ground Relief, please take a few minutes to check them out:

http://www.commongroundrelief.org/

If you can’t make it, we hope you will find a way to pick up this important book and also spread the word (a donation would be even better!) about Common Ground Relief.

Los Angeles:

COPE2 and CHOR BOOGIE are:  Beauty & The Beast
Mid-City Arts, September 26th, 7pm – 11:30pm
Video trailer for the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ej_Z8x6400

COPE 2 is a Graffiti legend from the Bronx whose reputation for bombing has earned him the title “God of Destruction”. He was recently tapped to customize a vinyl toy for the Bic Buddy Artist Series 1, and was hired by TIME magazine to create a unique billboard for them (see below).  CHOR BOOG IE hails from San Diego, CA and his work is purely legal, spiritual and therapeutic. A deep spiritual healing and recovery from addiction nearly a decade ago transformed his life and has had a major impact in his style of color therapy and techniques of creative innovation.

These two diverse artists come together for the “Beauty & The Beast” exhibit at Mid-City Arts, curated by POSE 2 to challenge and expand our notions of art.

Both artists have been featured in the media several times, here’s a few highlights:

* COPE 2 has been featured in a Converse/MTV Artist spotlight:
http://www.cope2kingsdestroy.com/clips_converse.html

* COPE 2 was hired by TIME magazine to create a billboard for them:
http://www.cope2kingsdestroy.com/clips_time.html

* Chor Boobgie and Pose 2 created an MTV ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teuI4Qx5AEM

* Chor Boogie explains his theory of art, color theory and healing:
http://www.vimby.com/video/art/us/all/detail/8013

Long Beach, CA:

Long Beach Comic Con programming is official. With no shortage of premieres, comic panels, guests and exhibitors, the inaugural convention kicks off Friday, October 2 with a Stan Lee hosted ribbon cutting ceremony, which is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Long Beach Comic Con is October 2-4 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California.

Scheduled throughout the weekend are four movie screening events: Trick R’ Treat, a Warner Brothers celebration of Halloween starring Anna Paquin and Brian Cox, screens Saturday, October 3rd at 3:00pm. Writer/Director Michael Dougherty will host the screening and host a Q&A session. Sony Pictures Dark Country in 3-D, which marks Thomas Jane’s directorial debut, and stars Jane and Ron Perlman, screens Friday, the 2nd at 7:00pm. The 3-D projection is being provided by Stereoscopic Projection courtesy of the 3D Movie Division of the Stereo Club of Southern California (la3dclub.com). Raw Entertainment’s, Give ’Em Hell Malone, an action flick starring Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible, Surrogates, Pulp Fiction) is Saturday, October 3rd at 6:00pm. On Sunday, October 4th at 1:00pm Anime fans will have a chance to check out Dixie Dynamite, a classic kung fu myth with redneck style!

Saturday night at 8:00pm Kirby Krackle, the comic book rock band from Seattle will perform their brand new song, “Going Home” for the first time ever live at a concert, with proceeds going to the Hero Initiative.

For a complete list of events, guests, activities, ticket prices and times, visit www.longbeachcomiccon.com.

Tickets will also be available at select comic book and hobby shops in the area, including Golden Apple, Crazy Cat, Pulp Fiction, Amazing Comics and Cards, Comic Bug, Southern California Comics, Comics Unlimited, San Diego Comics, House of Secrets, Amazing Comics, Metropolis Comics, Meltdown Comics, DJ’s Universal, Geoffrey’s Comics, and Atomic Comics in the Phoenix area. Also, visit Frank & Son Collectible Show and buy your tickets there.

Manhattan Beach, CA:

CREATORS FROM ICONIC APPEAR AT LOCAL CA STORE
MANHATTAN BEACH, CA: Creators from the recently released Iconic will
be appearing at the popular Manhattan Beach comic store, The Comic Bug
on Wednesday September 30 from 6 to 8pm. Published by the Comicbook
Artists Guild, Iconic is a collection of short stories based on old
tales that are taught in schools all over the world, but each one has
a twist to it.

Included in Iconic are stories based on mythological characters such
as Prometheus, Talos and Cuchulainn. Legendary literary characters
such as Ebeneezer Scrooge and Sherlock Holmes appear in slightly
varied narrations from their original. The creators of the Guild
explore the trials and triumphs of folklore heroes Robin Hood and John
Henry. Lastly, the creators share stories based on historical figures
Mark Twain, St. George and Gustave Whitehead. All of the stories are
tied together by a fictional grandfather as he shares the stories with
his grandchildren.

The following creators are scheduled to appear at The Comic Bug:

David Gutierrez & Adam Von Arx: David and Adam co-authored Prometheus
and the Fire of Tomorrow.

Scott Ludwig: Scott created and wrote George and the Monster.

Philip Clark & Rafael Gonzalez: Phil and Raf are the creative team
behind The Life and Death of Talos the Bronze.

Gerimi Burleigh: Germini lent his artistic talent to John Henry:
America’s First Superhero.

The Comic Bug is located at 1807 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan
Beach, CA 90266. For more information on The Comic Bug or this
particular event, visit http://thecomicbug.com

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