Cleopatra in Spaaaace creator/artist, Mike Maihack always manages to do a pin-up here and there during his time between other commissions and his highly-acclaimed webcomic. Today on his site and DeviantArt, he featured main protagonists Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games, in a mild celebration for the movie being released tomorrow.

“Just finished reading the books and wasn’t going to be able to sleep at night until I got some fan art out of my system,” he told Blog@. “Seeing the film this weekend and can’t wait! There’s no way it’ll compare to the book, especially the brutality of it (both physically and emotionally), but everything I’ve seen so far looks like they are making the best effort possible. Super psyched.”

Maihack a huge fan of the series, went to say that this wasn’t the first idea that came to mind. “Originally, I was going to draw something more directly out of Mockingjay [the third book of the series]–the book it seems I’m in the minority of really enjoying. But opted for something a bit more general from the first book instead. Plus it’s fun to place Katniss and Peeta’s differing personalities together. Which is just a long way of me saying I wanted to draw Peeta.”

I’ve been of Maihack’s works for years, especially his contributions over at Project: Rooftop. His style really pops and has a great sophisticated  simplicity to it that makes you want to see more from him. I love the details on this and Katniss just looks so damn fierce.

Check out more of Mike Maihack over at cowshell.com.

For those of you who read yesterday’s Avengers: X-Sanction #4 and saw something that seemed curiously at odds with the pre-release publicity for Avengers vs. X-Men, things may not be what they seem. Major spoilers for X-Sanction under the jump. (more…)

More proof, if proof was needed, that Geoff Johns was using the (mainstream) public preconception of characters and concepts as a touchstone in his New 52 work comes in yesterday’s Justice League #7, where – for the second time in two issues – a particular phrase is used to describe the JL:

Thinking about this, the use of Darkseid as big bad for the first six issues makes a lot more sense. It’s not that he was a face familiar to all of us comic fanboys who worship at the altar of the Fourth World books – Well, at least, I certainly do – but that he’s a familiar face for those who saw Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show on Saturday mornings in the mid-80s.

Just as Aquaman has made a big thing (Too big a thing? Maybe) about the “Aquaman is lame, he just talks to fish” idea, I wonder whether we’re going to start seeing a similar war against the “Super Friends” label being waged in Justice League while Johns simultaneously uses and takes advantage of fond memories and nostalgia for the more useful, less lame parts of the team’s non-comic history…

This is a remarkable rundown of the legalities surrounding ownership of Miracleman/Marvelman, with a special focus (as you might expect) on the Todd McFarlane/Neil Gaiman legal battle over the character. Pádraig Ó Méalóid has been particularly thorough, and (accidentally?) makes a good case for Marvel actually not owning any part of the classic Alan Moore/Garry Leach/Alan Davis/Neil Gaiman/Mark Buckingham/etc. run, and it all being Neil Gaiman’s (with a little bit belonging to Mark Buckingham, too), unless I’m completely misunderstanding. Which, with this character, is entirely possible.

The question is, I guess, whether Marvelman is legally the same character and property as Miracleman at this point…? I mean, obviously, the former is based on the latter to such a degree that they are (and any legal battle trying to prove it would easily succeed, I suspect), but Marvel bought Mick Anglo’s ownership of his character, and the Moore/Gaiman/Eclipse run was always published/copyrighted in the U.S. under a different name, and I genuinely wonder whether that makes a difference. Lawyers in the audience, help me out here.

According to Bleeding Cool, Marvel is intending to ship copies of Avengers vs. X-Men #1 to retailers planning to have a Tuesday Night Launch Party a week early to ensure that stores will definitely have copies on hand to sell during the parties (Rich says that they’ll be shipped March 20, which is (a) yesterday, and (b) two weeks early, not one; I presume he meant March 28). This isn’t the first early-shipping, keep-under-lock-and-key release in early memory; DC did the same week-before ship trick for Blackest Night #6, and had to deal with the same thing that Marvel is opening itself up to here: The comic leaked ahead of time.

Yes, both Marvel and Diamond are threatening “dire retribution” for any retailer who sells the book early, but that almost doesn’t matter; if you’re shipping the book early, it will leak. Whether it’s a digital version – actually, that doesn’t even have anything to do with print editions shipping, they’re still leaking early from somewhere – or someone reading a copy and posting spoilers online, Avengers vs. X-Men #1 will be leaked and spoiled by the time its “official” release date rolls around. It’s sad, but true.

Of course, this could be a calculated risk for Marvel. After all, the cost/benefit ratio of potential spoilers/every store having copies to sell at the right time is definitely in play here (and so it should be), but there’s also the added benefit – albeit one that I don’t think anyone involved would ever admit to – of spoilers and leaks adding to the hype for the book ahead of the release, especially considering (a) there’s not that much likely to be actually spoilable in a first issue, (b) more likely to spoiled is the quality, and early reviews/leaks along the lines of “It’s actually great, better than I’d expected” are only a good thing, and (c) the AR/Infinite Comics component isn’t something that can be leaked or spoiled ahead of time, thereby providing a big reason for fans to buy the book even if they happen to know all of the plot points ahead of time.

Early shipping is always a risk – Can Diamond police all of its stores so well that no copies are sold ahead of time? – but it seems to me that Marvel have managed to build in enough factors to ensure that any leaks could actually work in the book’s favor, if they happen. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Something interesting from yesterday’s Marvel solicits (Well, beside Untold Tales of The Punisher somehow being both “#1 (of 5)” and “ONE-SHOT,” that is): The Amazing Spider-Man: The Movie comic. How long has it been since we had a straight-up movie adaptation from Marvel? The Avengers isn’t getting one, neither did Thor or Captain America, and I’m pretty sure that X-Men: First Class didn’t, either… Iron Man did, but some time after the fact and it wasn’t a straight adaptation.

I’m tempted to say – and I fully expect someone to contradict me with reality here – that the last concurrent-with-release adaptation Marvel did was Spider-Man 2, way back in 2004, which makes me wonder whether there’s some Sony/Marvel contract clause that allows the studio to demand a tie-in comic, or whether Amazing Spider-Man is just so good that Marvel is doing its first movie adaptation in “real time” for eight years.

(Personally, I hope this is some kind of sea-change in Marvel’s thinking, and we’ll see more movie adaptation comics; I always used to love those as a kid.)

I feel that these two blogposts from the last couple of days, by Eric Canete and Dean Haspiel, may speak for the experiences of more creators than it may first appear. Canete, first, explained why he’s only going to be inspired by mainstream superhero characters when doing sketches and commissions, instead of actually drawing those characters:

In the 5+ years of images that I’ve put into my blog, I have done more – by way of style, design and flourish – with the characters I’ve wanted to draw than if I was actually directly hired by the companies who own them. I did all of that with full liberty and with no censor. It’s sort of like this: I grew up wanting to draw my version of Character/Team X, Y and Z. With this blog, I did exactly that. And having accomplished all of that, I believe for the time being, I have said all I can about them. Put simply, I don’t know if I can draw another Mr. Freeze, or another Harley Quinn, or another Galactus that could better what I’ve done already.

But let me be clear: I am not saying that what I’ve done with those characters are the ‘perfect’ versions of how I will draw them. And I’m not saying, “No more mainstream superheroes. Forever.” What I am saying is that for now, I think that’s as good as I can draw them – without going into some unsatisfying, auto-pilot version of that character. What I’m saying is that for now, I’m going to put those guys aside.

And then, Haspiel wrote about his own surrender of franchise characters:

I love what I do but I really don’t want the comix industry to send me into an early grave. I’d prefer to have stability and make comix on the side, for fun, than continue holding out for rare piece meal gigs. ACT-I-VATE, the premiere webcomix collective, was partially invented from a desire to work INSIDE the comix industry. Six years later, TRIP CITY, the Brooklyn-filtered literary arts salon, was partially invented from a desire to work OUTSIDE of the comix industry.

Franchise comic books are more editorially driven than ever before. It takes the fun out of conjuring unsolicited ideas. They only recruit new talent when an indie talent is getting tons of buzz and/or when someone from their regular talent pool starts to balk at editorial directives and splits dodge or falls out of favor. There is a game afoot and I never even got the chance to pass “Go.”

Look at the new Image Comics launches, both those that’ve appeared since January and those only announced so far; it’s not just these two creators who are moving away from Marvel and DC right now. This is the year, it seems, when creators are feeling a restlessness that appears to pull them towards their own ideas, creations and ownership. It’s not the Image 7 breaking away and beginning a revolution all over again, sure, but it’s definitely something.

This ICv2 post – and the thinking behind it – fascinates me. In short, it’s a post that posits the idea that, with Borders gone, there’s a swath of manga fans roaming the metaphorical streets looking for a source to feed their manga needs and wondering if the direct market can end up taking that position if it tries hard enough:

We took a look at the number of manga titles in the top 50 graphic novels in comic stores in January and February over the past ten years, and found an upward trend in 2012 for the first time in seven years.  The move, while modest and at this point just a one year trend in an imperfect measure, is a positive sign that may point to an opportunity created by events in 2011.

Unless I’m entirely misremembering, manga has historically underperformed in the direct market in part because of the availability in mainstream outlets. I’m not sure whether willing manga to join the American comic industry as a niche market is necessarily the right thing to do, but having the additional revenue stream definitely seems like a plus for the DM, and a way to more easily cross-pollinate the two comic audiences, so I find myself uncertainly, somewhat awkwardly hoping that the DM can take as much advantage of this situation as possible. Thoughts?

Will Wondercon return to the Bay Area, or stay in Southern California? Heidi MacDonald considers the evidence over at The Beat:

The Anaheim show was certainly fun and served the local market—perhaps especially for people who had gotten shut out of San Diego badges just a few days before—so a return to this location wouldn’t be a disaster. But it isn’t the Bay Area, where WonderCon is a local tradition, either.

Another possible venue: nearby San Jose, which has a good-sized facility. However, according to Glanzer, there might not be enough hotels and amenities for a WonderCon-sized fest there.

It’s ironic that after a yearlong quest to settle the San Diego Comic-Con’s home, the folks running both shows are now faced with another location dilemma.

While I don’t understand the Moscone Center’s seeming apathy towards Wondercon, I’d be sad to see both of CCI’s shows end up in Southern CA. The idea of San Jose becoming a con town for a weekend could work out surprisingly well, though, if the hotel thing can be worked out…

The problem with so many big announcements at Wondercon is that some of the less “And we’re also launching this title Oh My God My head is exploding with awesome!” news gets a little lost in the shuffle. For example: Dale Eaglesham is joining Jeff Parker’s great Hulk book as artist, and he’s bringing Alpha Flight along with him (“Once I found out [Dale] could do it, I didn’t want to miss the chance to connect to the ALPHA FLIGHT stories he just did,” explained Parker).

Between the addition of Alpha Flight and been-there-for-awhile-now Machine Man to the book, Parker and his various artists on the book seem to be quietly turning Hulk into the greatest Marvel Team-Up book I’ve ever wanted to read (Seriously, we’re just the addition of Gargoyle or Hellcat or some other former Defender away from my weird Marvel ideal line-up). Now, if only there was some way to convince Marvel to revive Marvel Two-In-One with Parker in charge. I mean, you know that he’d probably write the greatest Ben Grimm team-up title imaginable, right…?

(Also, chances are – looking at the sales figures – you’re not buying Hulk. You really, really should.)

Mark Millar has commented in the past that he sees the movies based on his Millarworld properties as advertisements for the comic books, and those words certainly come to mind today, with the debut on The Hollywood Reporter of a live-action promotional video for Supercrooks — his new Marvel/Icon series debuting this week, illustrated by Superior‘s Leinil Francis Yu, about a group of supervillains who flee the US to head to superhero-free Spain. The clip is directed by Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo, who is attached to direct the in-development Supercrooks film. And here it is:

This is possibly great news, if a bit of a head scratcher: According to Steve Niles at Wondercon, Epitaph Records will start comic book distribution at some point in the near future. Bleeding Cool reports Niles as explaining,

We’re going to form a partnership because I have been living in fear for… how many years? I don’t know if you know, but comic books only have one distributor—Diamond. And if they go under? These guys saw the potential and that’s really what it’s about. When I see the shrinking number of comic sales I just see potential. People just don’t know comics are out there—how to find them. I grew up with spinner racks. You literally couldn’t avoid comics… I am really excited about this, [b]ecause what this means is we are finely going to get the chance to at least see. We are going to get a chance to get comics in front of the age group that 52-DC was trying to get. They decided they would shoot for what, 18-20? And they hit 35 year old male.

No specifics were apparently revealed, nor was the “we” defined – Is this Epitaph distributing all publishers, or just Niles’ publishers (which means, at this point, IDW and Dark Horse, I think…)? But there’s definitely potential here for great things. I can’t wait to find out more.

As rumored, the new Captain Marvel series coming from Marvel next year (if the date on Marvel’s own promo pics is correct) will indeed star Carol Danvers and be written by the marvelous Kelly Sue DeConnick. In her interview with the mothership about the book, DeConnick talked about pre-ordering, selling out and the secret horror of the Direct Market, and it’s something that bears all manner of repeating:

The problem isn’t just that we have to get folks to buy it; it’s that we have to get retailers to order it. The failing of our distribution model is that our customer isn’t really the reader, our customer is whoever places the Diamond order at any store. So if there’s a perception that the book won’t sell, it gets under-ordered and it becomes this self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here’s a thing that happens to every creator on Twitter on one Wednesday or another: an incredibly sweet reader who really wants to support you, writes to tell you that they tried to buy your book at their LCS and it was already sold out! It’s only noon, they say! The shop only opened at 10! Your book must’ve flown off the shelves!

And then the creator, not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings, says, “Wow! Thanks for your support — better pre-order the next one!” and then they cry into their coffee. Because, friends, selling out by noon on a Wednesday is not good news. Heck, selling out by Thursday is not good news. That means your book was under-ordered — if it was ordered at all. If the consumer wants the product and we can’t get them the product, our system is broken.

I hate the pre-order thing. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Ten years ago, I was complaining about it on the [Warren Ellis Forum] — I’m a shopper. I looooove to shop. I will spend money. But I am not going to buy a pair of shoes that I’m expected to order three months in advance and am not able to try on! And that’s what we’re asking of our readers. It’s the dumbest system. No wonder we have problems! Is there another industry that works like this?

I’m a fan of the DM, albeit a fan who thinks that the system could be better, but I read this and thought, “I wish there was a weekly column somewhere called Kelly Sue Tells It Like It Is where she can just be this right all the time.”

And when Captain Marvel is solicited? Pre-order the hell out’ve that book, why don’t you.

The news that Brian Wood is taking over Ultimate Comics X-Men with June’s #13 was one of the few genuinely surprising pieces of Big Two news from Wondercon this weekend, not least because outgoing writer Nick Spencer hadn’t given any hint that he was going anywhere prior to the announcement, and wasn’t co-writing any issues with Wood before the hand-off, a la Jonathan Hickman’s leaving Ultimate Comics Ultimates.

On Twitter, Spencer said that “I see word is out– my run on ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN ends with 012. Proud of what we accomplished– working w/ Pac & Carlo was a blast,” professionally being neutral about the details of his exit (and going on to say that Wood’s run will be awesome), but Wood’s interview on Comic Book Resources hinted that Spencer was being replaced on the series, with the book being given a new direction:

It’s tricky, because based on what I’ve seen, Nick was taking a real longview with his plotting, seeding things that were not likely to be resolved for years, probably. My job, as it was given to me and also as per my own instincts, is to re-focus the book and re-establish the core cast and get it in line with what’s happening in the “Ultimates” and “Ultimate Spider-Man.” The Ultimate universe is tight, we’re all working really closely together to make sure our plots line up and reflect each other and adhere to a common timeline.

The longterm stuff that Nick set up will take a breather for a little bit while we take care of that immediate business.

Spencer has had a seemingly difficult time since signing his Marvel exclusive deal a year ago: His first Marvel ongoing series, Iron Man 2.0, was cancelled with artist Ariel Olivetti giving an interview about the book “going to hell” with “backwards” scripts, and his much-anticipated Victor Von Doom mini-series was cancelled in the same month it was due for release under somewhat mysterious circumstances (It’s not all bad news; he completed both a critically-acclaimed Cloak and Dagger mini-series and a three-issue run on Secret Avengers during the year, as well) With his leaving Ultimate X-Men, the only comics projects he’s working on – at least publicly – are at Image Comics: Morning Glories, Thief of Thieves and the long-delayed Infinite Vacation, although it’s likely that his name will be attached to a new Marvel project in the wake of Avengers vs. X-Men.

(Also interesting/surprising: Spencer off Ultimate Comics: X-Men means that two of the three books have lost their core writers within a year of the line’s relaunch. Considering the quality of their replacements, it’s unlikely that the books will suffer as a result, but holy creative musical chairs, Batman.)

I never do this on here, but it’s Friday and it’s a con weekend, and more importantly, it’s the Friday of this week… Maybe it’s just me, but this week’s new releases are the kind of thing that just make me optimistic for the future of comics in the face of my usual cynicism. There’s a perfect storm of new books, with Saga, Saucer Country and The Secret History of DB Cooper all debuting this week, all of which I loved. Saga, in particular, is just downright amazing, the kind of thing that just makes you glad for all the things that comics can do as opposed to other mediums; I’m assuming the majority of people reading this have already read it, but if not, you should. And for those who like their comics weird, pick up DB Cooper as well: It’s very hard to describe – I keep coming up with “It’s like Hellboy, but with a real guy, psychic ninjas instead of monsters and there’s a talking bear,” but that isn’t even half of it – but one of the most enjoyable comics out this week, for me.

It doesn’t even end there: With Avengers Assemble and Crossed: Badlands, the new first issues are coming from all directions this week. Call it a particular strain of March Madness, but there’s something about this week’s new launches in particular that feels particularly… what? interesting, yes, but important, too, in a way that I can’t really describe. For a business that seems so rooted in the past so often, there’s something to be said for appreciating the new with books like these, you know?

Consider this a weekend open thread, but I’m curious: Best book of the week for you, dear reader? And best new book for you, recently…?

I know that it’s probably just empty hype, but when Grant Morrison explains Dinosaurs vs. Aliens by saying “At the beginning of the project I saw this as the next step beyond what Frank Quitely and I did in We3,” I have to admit that I find myself all manner of more excited about the project than I otherwise might have been. He’s talking about the project to ICv2, teasing that the comic and movie are two different scripts altogether, and setting up the main conflict:

It was important for the dynamics of the story to give the aliens a legitimate reason for their invasion and to make them much more complex and even more relatable than the typical alien invasion force.  We liked the idea of flipping the sympathies and allegiances of the audience repeatedly as the story progressed.  This is a film where there are monsters on both sides but where the dinosaurs are ‘natural’ the aliens are ‘synthetic.’  It’s flesh vs. technology, Mother Nature vs. the Mother of Invention.

This still sounds like a 2000AD story that’s accidentally escaped to Hollywood, but I kind of love it for that.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how much Before Watchmen is a gift to the ongoing argument that is the Comics Internet; no matter which “side” you’re on, you have something to point to and get angry about. “Alan Moore said that there were no talented people in comics!” “JMS said that at least it isn’t as bad as having Mr. Hyde rape the Invisible Man to death in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen!” and so on. It may not beat Avengers Vs. X-Men in final sales, when the various titles are eventually released, but it’s possible that it may be the comic to finally do the very thing that Brian Michael Bendis promised way back when he was doing House of M, and tear the internet in half, which is something, right…?

(Something that is interesting from the J. Michael Straczynski interview linked above: The revelation that the series don’t seem to be as interconnected as it may at first appear. JMS explained that “We’re all over the place [in terms of timeline], depending on what part of a character’s life the individual writer(s) wanted to explore. The only commonality they share is that they don’t go beyond the first page of the WATCHMEN GN. We are specifically not touching anything after that point as a gesture of respect.” Well, that and the fact that it couldn’t be called Before Watchmen if it didn’t happen before Watchmen, of course…)

I missed this when it went live earlier, but Leah Moore guest-blogged on Warren Ellis’ site this week about women and comics:

If comics is to survive the financial turmoil we are all suffering under, it doesn’t matter if it’s paper comics or digital, trade paperbacks or floppies, it’s about “ARE THE COMICS ANY FUCKING GOOD?” and “ARE WE SELLING THEM TO AS BROAD A MARKET AS POSSIBLE OR ONLY 50% OF IT?” If we continue to try and sell crappy comics to half the population based purely on what they keep in their underpants and nothing else then we are totally doomed.

It’s nothing new, sure, but it’s always worth saying: That the comic industry (and comic culture) continually treats women as “other” or “different” instead of just potential readers and customers is not only ridiculous and embarrassing, it’s also amazingly bad business. Considering the newfound attention publishers like DC and Marvel are getting from their corporate parents, you’d think that someone would’ve done more to broaden the appeal of their output by now (I wonder, do Minx and CrossGen count…?).

First a comic book, then a TV show, board game and video game — the next step for The Walking Dead is inside the pages of Playboy magazine, which will contain an exclusive feature titled “Michonne’s Story,” from the regular comic book series team of writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard. The story runs six pages, and tells Michonne’s origin for the first time. It’s in the April issue, making the wait brief — the magazine goes on sale tomorrow, March 16, for those of adult-magazine purchasing age. Insert your own “I’m literally buying Playboy for the articles!” joke here.

Also in Walking Dead news: Those attending WonderCon this weekend, running Friday through Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center, can leave with an impressive bonus on their mobile device: A free digital copy of the first trade paperback volume, “Days Gone Bye.” The first 5,000 folks at ComiXology’s booth (#107) will get a postcard with a free download code, for a book that normally retails at $8.99.

And in perhaps the most notable Walking Dead news of the week, the second season finale airs this Sunday night on AMC. Avoid Twitter spoilers accordingly.

This is kind of hilarious (from Wired’s GeekDad blog):

Aside from my complaints about the archery, I’m sure The Avengers is going to be great. I think the personality clash between the snarky-arrogant Tony Stark and the haughty-arrogant Thor is going to be electric, Captain America’s man-out-of-his-time angst will be compelling, and the Hulk will finally be the tortured hero-monster we all knew he could be. That collapsible bow Hawkeye is toting looks pretty cool, and if it were possible to actually make it work, I’d love to have one. I’m sure Jeremy Renner’s performance as Hawkeye will be great on a character level — he’s an engaging performer and perfect for the role. The movie looks very good. It would be even better if Hawkeye were shown as capable of keeping up with the big boys when it comes time to get out the weapons.

Frankly, he shoots like a rank amateur. Does this ruin the movie? No. But if they’d gotten it right, the film would be even better; attention to the details is usually an indicator of attention to the big picture. In a few interviews last year, Renner said he was taking archery lessons in preparation for the role, but from what I see here, it looks like he (a) had no coach and was entirely self-taught; (b) had an incompetent coach (there are many out there); or (c) is a terrible student and refused to do what his coach told him.

This is so specifically nerdy, I love it far too much. Somewhere, Christopher Nolan is happy that “throwing batarangs” isn’t a real sport just yet.