“Thor Walks Across America”: God bless Bully. Odin too.

“I believe strongly in the axiom that you never learn how to write; you only learn to write the book you’re writing, by writing it”: (Mostly) prose author Sara Ryan, responsible for 2001′s Empress of the World and 2007′s Rules For Hearts,  is currently scripting a graphic novel, and talks a bit about the differences between writing a novel-novel and writing a graphic novel on her blog. It’s a pretty interesting process piece, and gets at the heart of something fairly unique to comics—there isn’t really a standard, right and wrong way to make them.

The kid in the graphic novel: Scott Thompson from comedy troupe The Kids in The Hall is working on a graphic novel featuring his Kids character Danny Husk. I’m not sure if that headline, from a Montreal Gazette article announcing the project, is a great headline, or a terrible headline.  Either way it got me to contemplate it—and link to it!—so I guess it’s a headline that gets the job done okay.

“Whether anchoring autobiographies, fighting crime in capes, or cracking mysteries in an old-school noir thriller, LGBT protagonists appear in three distinct graphic novels this summer”: Well I’m sure there’s more than just three, but that’s the lede from a Bay Area Reporter book review column focusing on graphic novels. The three it’s referring to are are DC’s Batwoman: Elegy, DC/Vertigo’s Stuck Rubber Baby and their upcoming Fogtown. Also covered are Pedro & Me and Fun Home for reasons I’m not quite clear on (Maybe they have new editions out?).  The article, by Web Behrens, marks the first time I’ve heard Batwoman Kate Kane referred to as “The Dyke Knight.” Something tells me we won’t be seeing that nickname appearing on any future Batwoman comics.

“Mostly I want to know who’s idea it was to take Superman, make his comics really fun and interesting and then spend two years sapping all of the joy and punching out of them. If it is one person then they are a monster”: I haven’t read any of JMS’s Superman Walks Around story yet—If he isn’t walking through Ohio, I’ll wait for a trade—but I have been enjoying the various Internet reactions to it (Interestingly, more people seem to object to Superman’s characterization and behavior than the whole walking-around-instead-of-flying-faster-than-a-speeding-bullet thing). The above is from a regular Living Between Wednesdays review column.

And if anyone’s wondering why DC is doing the Superman/”Grounded” thing…: Here’s why. Well, J. Michael Straczynski may have wanted to tell that story for artistic reasons too, but at least part of the motivation has to be that it’s a guaranteed mainstream press generator. That’s the AP article about his first stop; I’m certain lots of local media will cover Superman’s various stops to their towns along the way.

I approve of this: The Cool Kids Table suggests some vocabular–er, some brocabulary words to use when talking about Comic-Con. At the same blog, praise was sung for the original run on the nineties volume of Superboy. That character has been through so many attempts to fix him, with just about every succeeding writer seeking to radically reinvent his origin, status quo, setting, supporting cast and/or costume that it’s easy to forget that, at the outset anyway, those were really quite solid super-comics.

Well, Hal Jordan looks good, anyway: Here are some more images form Entertainment Weekly‘s Green Lantern movie coverage. I’m going to need to see a lot more of that superhero costume before I can get used to it I think (and I’m sure I will see a lot more of it before the thing even opens, given how much hype is likely to exist between now and opening weekend), but Ryan Reynolds looks okay in a t shirt and leather jacket with a ring on his finger. Carol Ferris sure looks…little, though, doesn’t she?

Is Marvel headed for their own implosion?: At ICV2.com, Kansas retailer Chris Walsh explains why he thinks Marvel’s increasing number of titles and their higher price point may make that an inevitability. “Marvel’s line has gone from about 30% at $3.99 to about 70% or more at $3.99 (and many books at MORE than $3.99!), all while constantly out-publishing DC some 100 titles to DC’s approximate 75-80 offerings,” Evans writes. ” In that same time, DC’s pricing has gone from about 15% of all titles line wide at $3.99 to just about 30%.  If DC is able to hold form for another 6-18 months, then my employer’s prediction of a Marvel implosion may not be so far fetched after all.” I’m all for DC holding the $2.99 line for as long as possible—I don’t know if it will help them make more money in the long run or how it will help them fare against Marvel in market-share, but I’m all for comics being priced as cheaply as possible. (Via Journalista)

Scalped v.6: The Gnawing
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by R.M. Guéra
Colored by Giulia Brusco and Trish Mulvihill
Lettered by Steve Wands
Cover art by Jock
Published by DC/Vertigo

Some time ago, I read the first Scalped collection and was underwhelmed.  I always intended to give the series another chance to reach its potential, but at the time my library didn’t have the second book (they do now) and Scalped just slipped off my radar.  When the most recent collection, issues 30-34 of the monthly series, was placed under my nose, I decided to dive into the deep end.

Amazingly, I feel like I barely missed a beat.  Oh, events have occurred since that first book, but the emotional core of each character has remained.  I immediately remembered what I liked and disliked about the first book and where each character was at that time.

I didn’t like the first book, feeling that the characters were too obvious, too extremely distressed and unbalanced and “noir,” verging on caricatures.  Writer Jason Aaron continues to push his cast deeper into a self-destructive spiral, but he’s also unearthing different facets of them in The Gnawing.  He’s uncovering their humanity.

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Now that the BP oil leak is apparently capped, X-Men: First Class casting talk might now officially be the most consistent subject of daily news. Today Variety has reported that, as has been rumored for the past week, Kevin Bacon, pictured, is on board as a villain — apparently the villain — of the film. No word on who, though, it seems people are thinking Mister Sinisten — well, he was plenty sinister in Hollow Man. Given the already large cast of the film, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon just got a whole lot easier.

Also, the Hollywood Report’s Heat Vision blog is saying Jennifer Lawrence is First Class’s Mystique. You might know Jennifer Lawrence from her role on the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show, or … OK, you probably don’t know her. But looks like you will by this time next summer.

And no, neither of Mister Sinister or Mystique were around in the First Class-era of X-Men in the comic books, though Sinister was screwing around with Cyclops’s life for a long time, so that’s something. There’s really no reason to expect the film to reflect the events of the comics, so by this time tomorrow we very well may be reporting that someone from Gossip Girl is playing Adam X.

By Vaneta Rogers

We asked Green Lantern creators of today and yesterday on their thoughts of the Green Lantern movie costume that had its first image debut today.

Neal Adams
I would love to like the costume, and I suppose I like the effort, but it has seemed to me that the advantage of the originating company to control the property would be followed by a desire and a commitment to keep the character as created. Many hands have worked on this character. It seems awfully disrespectful to all those people to allow an outside designer to undo all that work and effort.

Perhaps it will work out for the best. I certainly hope so. Because I am 100% behind the project. But I will say, had I been in charge, I would have seen to it that it bore a far more real resemblance to the original. (more…)

Here’s an addition to the already stellar lineup of events and activities at and around next week’s Comic-Con International in San Diego: legendary competitive eater Joey Chestnut, “fresh” off of his fourth consecutive victory at the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, will attempt to break the world record for “Most Chocolate Bars Consumed in One Minute.” And some people think Comic-Con isn’t about comic books anymore.

To add a degree of gravitas to the proceedings, we’re told “Guinness World Records’ Editor-in-Chief will be on hand to officiate.” Now, I’m not quite sure what the current record for “Most Chocolate Bars Consumed in One Minute” is, and a search on the official Guinness site was no help, but rest assured that Chestnut will no doubt eat a lot of candy bars within those sixty seconds.

The tie, tenuous as it might be, to a Comic-Con related activity is that it’s a promotional stunt for upcoming PS3/Xbox 360 video game Red Faction: Armageddon, which takes place on Mars — and, yeah, Chestnut’s gonna be eating Mars bars, which apparently were just reissued in America for the first time in eight years. (Thanks, Wikipedia!) It goes down Thursday, July 22 at 1:30 p.m. at the nearby Tin Fish Restaurant. (It’s not an official Comic-Con event, just meant to tie-in to the frenzy).

DC Comics is making announcements this week via official DC Universe blog The Source at a speed that would give even (insert name of Flash family character here) pause. The latest is an October one-shot starring Ragman, one of Gotham City’s costumed protectors and a character recently seen as part of the Shadowpact team (and not to be confused with Rag Doll of the Secret Six).

Ragman: Suit of Souls is from writer Christos Gage and artist Stephen Segovia. DC’s release states that the book “reintroduces” readers to the character, and asks “Could the souls he has consigned to redeem themselves within his suit have the answers he needs about the great beyond? What mysteries surround Rory’s own father?” Full DC post here.

Last week, Newsarama brought you an interview with Mary H.K. Choi, sister of X-Force artist Mike Choi and writer of next week’s Lady Deadpool one-shot from Marvel Comics. She hinted that her, her brother, and her brother’s fiancée — colorist Sonia Oback — have some creator-owned projects in the works to be premiered at Comic-Con:

“I’m working on a couple of different things — my brother, Sonia and I are presenting three different properties.”

OK, not even a hint, really; more like a direct statement. Then mere moments ago, Mike Choi tweeted this image: (more…)

Just like the rest of the comic world, Top Shelf has some pretty big plans come SDCC this year.  The Top Shelf zone at San Diego will feature no fewer than fourteen amazing creators, who will be signing and sketching for you all convention long! An impressive list that consists of Sean Michael Wilson (AX: ALTERNATIVE MANGA), Kathryn & Stuart Immonen (MOVING PICTURES), JD Arnold & Rich Koslowski (BB WOLF & THE THREE LPS), Jeff Lemire (ESSEX COUNTY), Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele (THE SURROGATES), Andy Runton (OWLY), James Kochalka (JOHNNY BOO, DRAGON PUNCHER, SUPERF*CKERS), Jeffrey Brown (UNDELETED SCENES), Nate Powell (SWALLOW ME WHOLE), Matt Kindt (SUPER SPY), and Kevin Cannon (FAR ARDEN).

Of course in addition to that,  there will be two Top Shelf panel sessions at Comic-Con as well! The first is MANGA FOR GROWN-UPS: GARO, AX, GEKIGA, AND THE ALTERNATIVE MANGA REVOLUTION (Thursday, July 22, 12:30-1:30), featuring Sean Michael Wilson and friends discussing the amazing history of adult-oriented “alternative” manga in Japan and its recent arrival into the English-speaking world, including the debut of our AX anthology. And the second one is TOP SHELF 2010: SWEDEN, JAPAN, AND SO MUCH MORE (Friday, July 23, 5:30-6:30) as we celebrate our most international year ever and announce a whole pile of new projects!

So it sounds like a lot of fun. Sorry I have to miss out on this, but hopefully some of you readers will check it out.

In spite of reports earlier in the year that Dynamite Entertainment plans to begin publishing Flash Gordon comics soon, Ardden Entertainment, whose Flash Gordon: The Mercy Wars was widely praised a couple of years ago, has maintained that they plan to follow up on that story in the fall. By way of evidence, series writer Brendan Deneen provided Newsarama with a first look at artist Eduardo Garcia’s pair of variant covers to Flash Gordon: Invasion of the Red Sword. The accompanying press release (below) also indicates that Garcia is committed to two more miniseries after this one–Flash Gordon: The Vengeance of Ming and Flash Gordon: King of the Impossible, which are meant to help get Ardden’s flagship franchise back on its feet after some time off.

Having enjoyed the first mini and really, really dug the hardcover I picked up at New York Comic Con last year, I’m looking forward to where they take the character next. Like so many mid-level publishers, their biggest problem now (as evidenced by both Flash Gordon and Casper & the Spectrals) isn’t the quality of Ardden’s catalog, creators or output–which have all impressed–but the reliability of their publishing schedule. Announcing not one but three miniseries is a bold step in the right direction, especially if they can keep the books on track for the duration of their run. (more…)

As cartoonist Jim Woodring explains in this video explaining his proposed giant steel dip pen and penholder project, the steel dip pen is a very difficult tool to master.

If you’ve ever seen any of Woodring’s work, like the recent graphic novel Weathercraft, then you’ll probably agree that Woodring has mastered it. But is he going to just rest on his laurels, content with his mastery of the steel dip pen?

No, Jim Woodring seeks even bigger challenges, and if there aren’t any bigger steel dip pens for Woodring to challenge, then he’s just going to go ahead and create a giant steel dip pen to wrestle with.

That’s sort of the gist of this project. “I want to draw public attention to this beautiful piece of ancient technology and at the same time create an art object that will be the nucleus of public performances,” Woodring explains in the video, in which he also briefly touches on the history of the pen and elaborates its virtues.

He wants to create a 16-inch nib to mount on a six-foot holder, and, in addition to creating the pen itself and addressing the engineering challenges it will present—steel dip pens weren’t meant to be that huge, after all—he figures he’ll need  “a whole gallon of black acrylic ink” and “an eraser the size of a brick” and “a chunk of graphite the size of a plumber’s candle,” plus penty of large sheets of Bristol.

Visit the first link in the post to learn more about the project, and see how you might be able to help raise the $4,500 Woodring figures he’ll need. Or just to marvel at Woodring’s artistic audacity. [Vial Flog!]

Our friend Jess Peacock comes up from The Crawlspace to review David Wellington’s “Frostbite”. Take it, sir.

What is it about werewolves? In the early-80’s, some of the first cinematic horrors I was exposed to was An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. We could spend hours debating which was the better film (coughthehowlingcough), but this is a lit review, not a fanboy forum on Aint It Cool News. I simply draw attention to these movies in order to illustrate how lycanthropes have really never grabbed the pop culture imagination since John Landis and Joe Dante’s cinematic one-two punch of 1981. Yes, books have been written, and yes, there have been other movies produced, however the werewolf often stands envious of the attention granted to its genre cousins the vampire and zombies.

This lack of adequate attention to the werewolf mythos is unfortunate, if only due to the fact that David Wellington’s stellar novel Frostbite probably won’t receive the proper consideration it deserves. After redefining both the walking dead and the undead with Monster Island and 13 Bullets respectively (in addition to their sequels), the author has turned his razor sharp prose to the criminally underrepresented lupines.

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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!

There’s the costume, kids. Sound off below! Still not big enough for you? Click here for an ultra-high-res version. Warning, it’s gigantic.

At Comic-Con International in San Diego, pretty much any old thing becomes a coveted prize; freebies that most would normally consider an annoyance — buttons, stickers, mini-posters — for four days are seen as objects of unparalleled desire. Some are actually useful, though, like bags. As weird as it is to see people line up for, um, bags, it’s definitely helpful to have as sturdy of a sack as possible to cart your new acquisitions around the exhibit floor. In the past, Manga publisher Viz attracted so many people with their freebie totes that they had to start rationing them out at scheduled increments, and recently the large Warner Bros. canvas numbers, distributed at their booth, have become popular enough that some attendees fashioned outfits out of them.

Well, you might wanna get ready to see a whole lot more bag muumuus, as Warner Bros. Entertainment announced today that everyone attending Comic-Con is going to get one of 11 Warner Bros. bags, each showing off one of their properties, at check-in.

And hey, look at that, one of them even is promoting a DC comic book, Brightest Day! The others? A Batman: The Brave and the Bold video game, the new Looney Tunes Show, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, the DVD release of Clash of the Titans and the following live-action TV shows: The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Fringe, Human Target, Nikita and The Vampire Diaries. Check ‘em all out after the jump, except for Human Target, which was mysteriously left off of DC’s official release — keeping that bag under wraps for now, I guess. (more…)

Perhaps you’ve caught wind of Dignity and Respect, the informative comic apparently distributed by the US Army in 2001 with the goal of helping soldiers better understand the then-eight-year-old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding homosexual and bisexual service members. It seems like kind of a waste of the medium to use a comic book to portray a story consisting entirely of people speaking to each other across from desks and talking on the phone, but there’s a lot I don’t understand about how the military works. It was published on the hilarious and possibly educational Web site Comics With Problems, and then quickly and justly spread throughout the Internet, hitting up places like Huffington Post and BoingBoing.

MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show featured Dignity and Respect on Wednesday night’s show, even enlisting voiceover help to really bring staggering lines of dialogue like “Based on Williams’ statement, I may have to initiate discharge procedures, but first I’ve got to contact the battalion commander and then get advice from SJA” to life.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Crawlspace’s Jess Peacock drops by with a new interview with author Alexandra Sokoloff.

“I am staggered at how lucky I am,” exclaims Alexandra Sokoloff, author of the newly released novel Book of Shadows. “I’m making a living writing exactly what I want to write, and getting everything I write published. That’s a delirious kind of success!” Where she sees luck, however, others might see a boundlessly creative and deserving writer dedicated to her craft.

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

The Source, DC’s official blog covering the DC Universe, has been a busy place this week.

Today we’ve already found out about Scott Snyder on Detective Comics and Marc Guggenheim taking the reins of the Justice Society of America (Newsarama interview here), and here’s a few more pieces of news straight from DC Comics: Nicola Scott, probably best known for her run on Secret Six, will be handling art for J.T. Krul’s upcoming run on Teen Titans, starting with October’s issue #88, as evidenced by the art over to the right. Oh yeah, they’re getting a new member, too …

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Well, you had to see this one coming. Bluewater Productions, the very same folks responsible for the unauthorized comic book biographies of Lady Gaga and the Twilight cast, have announced the latest subject of their “Fame” series: preternaturally shaggy 16-year-old pop sensation Justin Bieber.

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Not everyone can go to Comic-Con International in San Diego — it sells out earlier and earlier each year, after all. As first hinted at last week, Dark Horse Comics is making life a little brighter for the unlucky masses not attending the massive pop culture conglomeration.

Today, Dark Horse gave fans the scoop behind their #NotAtComicCon promotion (named so after the Twitter hashtag used by folks, you guessed it, not at Comic-Con) — they’re working with 55 comic book stores across the country to bring a little bit of the Comic-Con flavor to those stuck at home.

Taking place on Saturday, July 24 (Saturday traditionally being the biggest day at Comic-Con), stores will offer “free drinks” (soft, we’re guessing), and more than $200 worth of Dark Horse-provided prizes. They’re also making an announcement through the stores sometime between noon and 2 p.m. Pacific time that day, before it becomes public information at Comic-Con — one could guess that might have something to do with The Guild panel taking place at 2 p.m. at Comic-Con that day.

Five stores — Atomic Comics in Mesa, Arizona; Graham Crackers in Naperville, Illinois; Midtown Comics Time Square in New York City; Lone Star Comics in Arlington, Texas and Comics Dungeon in Seattle, Washington — are “premiere locations,” a list of remaining 50 participating stores after the jump, full lowdown from Dark Horse here. (more…)