I can’t remember the last time I ever sat down to write a review and felt as daunted by the task as I am at the moment, as I stare past my laptop screen and think of how to best address Larry Marder’s Beanworld Book 1: Wahoolazuma!, Dark Horse’s upcoming hardcover collection of the first nine issues of the well-regarded series.

Those already familiar with Marder’s Beanworld, those who caught it the first time around, as an independent book in the ‘80s, don’t need a review, of course. For them, a simple, “Hey, Dark Horse is collecting Beanworld!” should suffice.

But the current generation of readers, those of us who have never read Beanworld, or would respond to that same news with a, “Um, what’s a Beanworld?” How to review it to that audience, an audience I myself was in until a few days ago?

Scott McCloud, a guy who knows a thing or two about explaining comics, suggests in his introduction to the volume (originally penned in 1989), that there’s probably little point in doing so.

“You’re the first person on earth to read this comic,” McCloud writes, “Others have been here…but they all saw something different, and they all left thinking different things…you’re the only one able to see it this way. Your way.” Because of how truly collaborative the work is between the creator and his audience, McCloud explains, the reader inevitably brings a lot to the table when it comes to the perception of this work.

To a certain extent, all comics—all art, really—is a work of collaboration between author and audience, but Beanworld asks a lot more from the reader, and, in fact, seems specifically engineered—either through intent or accident—to remain just abstract enough, just self-contained enough that this enormous amount of collaboration is encouraged…and rewarded.

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GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has announced its nominees for its 20th annual media awards. Among its comic book nominees are:

The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames (Vertigo/DC Comics)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Drew Goddard, Jeph Loeb and Joss Whedon (Dark Horse Comics)

Final Crisis: Revelations by Greg Rucka (DC Comics)

Secret Six by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott (DC Comics)

Young Avengers Presents by Ed Brubaker, Brian Reed, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Paul Cornell, Kevin Grevioux and Matt Fraction (Marvel Comics)

It’s a small, small world when it comes to the comics industry.

MTV has reported that Gerard Way, the writer of the critically-acclaimed Dark Horse series The Umbrella Academy, will be leading his band My Chemical Romance for a track on the upcoming Watchmen movie soundtrack.

Way and Company will apparently be contributing a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row.” The song will be released January 27th.

By Filip Sablik, Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc.

I love ice cream. It’s one of my many vices and I’m cool with that. Chocolate and vanilla are old standbys because they pair well with just about anything. Pie? Good. Cake? Good. Cookies? Good. Bananas, nuts, and candy? Good. A nice filet mignon? Probably not, but I’d be willing to try it.

As much as those two flavors are standbys and consistently the most popular flavors in surveys, I do love to experiment with different flavors. Hit me with some Peanut Butter Cup, Mint Chocolate Chip, Cookies & Cream, Rocky Road, or any number of more unique combinations and I’m a happy man. What does this have to do with comics?

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen a bunch of “Best” lists online for top picks of comics and graphic novels for 2008 and couldn’t help but notice how heavily dominated they are by Big Two books. When I scan the list of top-selling books from Diamond each month on ICv2, I can’t help but notice the lack of what I would call independent titles.  In the top 25 comics last month, there was only one non-Marvel, non-DC title – Buffy, The Vampire Slayer – an excellent read, but a licensed property with its roots in television. In the top 50, only two others – Angel (same boat as Buffy) and The Umbrella Academy. The Umbrella Academy gives me a little bit of hope, because it’s a fantastic, unique comic that doesn’t rely on a pre-established licensed property, but that’s only one out of 50! The top 100 looks a bit better, but only slightly so with the addition of The Walking Dead, Spawn, Conan the Cimmerian (licensed again) and Black Terror from Dynamite Entertainment.

Then reading John Mayo’s monthly report of sales through Diamond, I came across this chilling statement – “the total units sold for the top 300 comics was down by an estimated 1,763,925 units from October 2008 and down 1,185,793 from November 2007.” As John explains, the reason for this significant sales hit is because a number of high-profile titles from Marvel and DC Comics did not ship in those two months.

Back to my ice cream analogy so we can bring this blog entry full circle. Marvel and DC are our vanilla and chocolate. I say “our” because they’re mine as well, I love the characters and the stories these companies produce. But the pure domination of the market concerns me both as a fan of independent and original comics and as a publisher of the same said comics. It bugs me when I see a second or third-tier superhero character outselling a unique, critically acclaimed title like The Goon, Mouse Guard, Firebreather or Pax Romana.

Using November as an example again, Marvel had almost 43% of the total units sold to comic shops and DC had 35%. The percentages by which vanilla and chocolate are favorite flavors? According to the International Ice Cream Association, 29% prefer vanilla and less than 9% prefer chocolate. Independent comic publishers fight over 22% of the market, while other ice cream flavors compete for 62% of your taste buds. I think the latter makes for a much richer market place overall.

What do you think?

Take care,

Filip Sablik
Publisher Guy

Filip Sablik is the Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc. He’s been in the business for eight years and just officially entered his thirties. Occasionally, he does a bit of writing and drawing. He loves comics.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. was founded by Marc Silvestri, co-founder of Image Comics. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades.

The New York Comiccon has announced a tentative lineup of its panel schedule!

Here are some of the highlights for this year’s programming:

The Do’s and Don’ts of Being a Comic Professional: Creating the work is one thing, but what should you keep in mind in order to present yourself well to an editor? Do personality and rapport play a part in how you’re perceived? What’s the difference between a pro’s attitude and a novice’s? How do you balance doing quality work with making the deadline? What’s the proper way to pitch? (Friday, 2-3pm)

BOOM! Studios: BIG! BOLD! BOOM! Join Mark Waid, Ross Richie, and Chip Mosher as they run down the most exciting new projects at BOOM! Including a special announcement by Mark Waid that is sure to make your head explode! (Friday, 2:15-3:15)

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Standing approximately 2inches tall, Mezco’s new take the ever popular Hellboy and friends is sure to make even a troll smile. This case of includes twelve 2packs featuring the following figures:
* Hellboy with Big Baby- Whatever you do, don’t make Hellboy wake the baby!
*Prince Nuada- The leader of the elves.
*Hellboy in black shirt- Hellboy ponders his next move.
*Abe Sapian- Hellboy’s aquatic pal.
*Hellboy in action stance- He’s crouched down and ready to fight!
*Johan- Hellboy’s ectoplasmic teammate.
*Wink- Prince Nuada’s troll sidekick.
*Golden Army Soldier- A member of the 49,000 member supernatural army built by goblin metalsmiths.
With BPRD Buddies you relive your favorite Hellboy adventures, or create new ones of your own!

Available for pre-order now at finer retailers everywhere. Appearing in stores June 2009.

By Jimmy S. Jay

Looking at the advance ship lists from Diamond of books hitting the stores on 12/24, It looks like Christmas is coming a little early. Marvel is dropping two of its heavyweights on the same day, ULTIMATUM and HULK; both entries are from the pen of Jeph Loeb.

This prompts the discussion, when was the last good thing written ABOUT Jeph Loeb? It seems that the writer has become the whipping boy for the bloggers and comic literati, yet the fact remains that an overwhelmingly majority of fans love his comics. Or why else would folks be willing to plunk down their hard earned $3 or $4 bucks several times a month?

The New Sales rankings for the month of November have been released with Ultimatum #1 topping the charts with Red Hulk quickly following in third place.

GOLD and BRONZE Medals in the competitive world of comics, even the decorated Olympian Michael Phelps wouldn’t think think was too shabby.

Add the newest Loeb book - Buffy the Vampire Slayer #20, hitting stores this past week, looks like the writer will close the year with three more books in the top 10 in DECEMBER. And this isn’t anything new; Loeb has been parked near the top of the charts for the better part of the decade, yet 2008 was a banner year in terms of accomplishments though - Loeb launched (or relaunched) THREE franchises (Ultimates 3; Hulk; Ultimatum) in the #1 top spot during the last 12 month span.

Perhaps we should look to the approach of Jeph Loeb to grasp the basis of this popularity - much like a Hall of Fame coaches such as Phil Jackson or Joe Torre, Jeph Loeb puts his team in the best position to score. Here the writer manages his titles by letting the artists shine to their strengths, and incorporating multiple splash page storytelling.

More specifically, In the Red HULK Hardcover, which collects issues #1-6 of the current series, 91 pages are pure action splashes out of the 132 total. Out of that number, 58 are double page splashes. Further-
In issue #1, 6 of 22 pages are Splashes
#2 10 of 22 are splashes
#3 7 of 22 are splashes
#4 9 of 22 are splashes
#5 8 of 22 are splashes
#6 8 of 22 are splashes.
Please note, these counts do not include half page images, nor other pages with boarder breaking panels with posed characters.

Jeph’s approach to comic storytelling does not deviate from the wide variety of artists he frequently collaborates with: the Tim Sale Eisner-winning partnerships; Jim Lee’s beloved Batman HUSH; the pop of Michael Turner’s “Supergirl” run of Superman/Batman; Joe Mad’s return to the medium in Ultimates 3; or Finch bringing down the house in Ultimatum. All incorporate a healthy dose of splash pages.

And this success does not happen in a vacuum - Brian Bendis’ best selling monthly comic to date follows the path of a Jeph Loeb story. SECRET INVASION #1, and the rest of the 8 issue mini-series, leans on artist Leinil Yu with loaded action and almost as many splash pages of an IMAGE COMIC from the mid-1990s.

How is this not candy in its connection to the mass audience? People buy, collect, and consume these books in monthly format, and for years as evergreen products in trade paperbacks and hardcovers. And in this challenging economy, retailers must respect the cash these products bring in.

And that’s the bottom line.

Jay Company Comics is a family run and operated comic book retail organization that focuses on the hottest collectibles in the market. Jay Company was founded by brothers, Bill and Jimmy S. Jay, in the spring of 1996, as they established an extensive mail order company and quickly became the #1 largest convention dealership in the nation. You can visit our family at the Jay Company booths at the San Diego Comic Con International, all WizardWorld Conventions, and other shows throughout the country.

– So Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki’s Skim was named as a finalist for the Governor-General’s Award for children’s literature up in Canada, except that Tamaki’s name was left off of the official list of nominees, because technically, she’s the artist and not the “writer.” Letters of protest were written, but apparently to no avail. Tom has reactions from those involved, including Jillian Tamaki.

– Spurgeon also has an interesting interview with Slow Wave cartoonist Jesse Reklaw. I never knew, for instance, that Reklaw left Yale to pursue a career in comics.

– Some people were worried that Tribune Media might be ending the Dick Tracy comic strip. But it turns out those fears may have been premature.

– Aaron Albert talks the Hellboy talk to Mike Mignola for About.com.

– Hey, Kramer’s Ergot 7 is going on tour!

– Another day, another editorial cartoonist gets laid off.

– Finally, Vice magazine talks to Lynda Barry.

Slow Wave author Jesse Reklaw talks about how people dream about their presidents for Powell’s Books.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, Brett Ratner, the director of the third X-Men movie, is in final negotiations to direct a new Conan movie, set for release in 2010 (Ignore the date on the image to the right, which was released some time ago). He chose to direct Conan over directing a new Beverly Hills Cop movie (which he is still involved with developing):

Who would you rather spend a year with: Axel Foley or Conan the Cimmerian?

This has been director Brett Ratner’s dilemma for the past few weeks, as he weighed two high-profile projects: Paramount’s fourth installment of the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise and a 21st century take on “Conan” co-produced by Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate Films.

By the end of Friday, Ratner had made his choice. He has committed to take on literature’s most famous barbarian and is in final negotiations to helm the picture, which is aiming for a release in early 2010. Eddie Murphy and the Pointer Sisters will have to wait.

The new Conan movie was written by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who wrote Sahara. “The writers are doing a quick polish to incorporate some of Ratner’s ideas,” the trade reports.

Over on her blog, comics creator Jill Thompson shares some pages she created about five years ago for a proposed Nightmare Before Christmas comic for Dark Horse that neevr saw the light of day. Too bad; I enjoy her stuff, and she’s the perfect choice for a project like this.

To close out the day, here are 13 fun & frightening links — some comic related, some not — to enjoy …

• Splash Page has a preview of Dark Horse Comics’ upcoming Creepy archive.

• Great Caesar’s Post has been running horror posts for the past couple of weeks, including Iron Man pumpkins and Hellboy stories.

• The Beat has the complete “Teratoid Cystoma” from Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack Volume 1 as a Halloween treat.

• Bruce Springsteen has a free song about the Jersey Devil up on his site for Halloween.

• World record zombie walk.

• Check out one of the special features from the upcoming Hellboy II DVD release.

• Marvel.com talks to various creators about terrifying moments in comics.

• Character Design looks at various characters from Nightmare Before Christmas.

• Neil Gaiman shows the one-sheet poster for the upcoming adaptation of his book Coraline.

• They Crawl By Night!

• Freddy Krueger, registered offender.

• I’ve had this nightmare before.

• And finally, Halloween is a good time to check out Necessary Monsters if you haven’t yet.

Happy Halloween!

Becky Cloonan announces that she’ll have a story up on the Dark Horse Presents MySpace site this November called “I See The Devil In My Sleep.” She says it’s an “eight page tale of lurid grimness, written and drawn by yours truly with colors by the gruesome Dave Stewart.” Can’t wait.

Seventy years ago tonight, Orson Welles’ now-legendary adaptation of The War of the Worlds was aired over the CBS radio network, triggering a panic nationwide as countless listeners believe the report of a Martian invasion to be real.

That’s the story, in any case. The reality, one media historian claims, was far less dramatic.

“Nobody died of fright or was killed in the panic, nor could any suicides be traced to the broadcast,” Michael J. Socolow writes in the latest issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. “Hospital emergency-room visits did not spike, nor, surprisingly, did calls to the police outside of a select few jurisdictions. The streets were never flooded with a terrified citizenry. Ben Gross, the radio columnist of the New York Daily News, later remembered a ‘lack of turmoil in front of CBS’ that contrasted notably with the crowded, chaotic scene inside the building. Telephone lines in New York City and a few other cities were jammed, as the primitive infrastructure of the era couldn’t handle the load, but it appears that almost all the panic that evening was as ephemeral as the nationwide broadcast itself, and not nearly as widespread. That iconic image of the farmer with a gun, ready to shoot the aliens? It was staged for Life magazine.”

It’s an interesting article that examines how the legend took root and grew, thanks largely to the showmanship of Welles and the news media’s craving for a good story.

This being the 70th anniversary of the broadcast, it seems like a perfect time to read Ian Edginton and D’Israeli’s adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel on the Dark Horse website.

Overture Films has hired David Gordon Green to direct Freaks of the Heartland, an adaptation of the 2004 Dark Horse miniseries by Steve Niles and Greg Ruth.

Newcomers Peter Sattler and Geoff Davey are writing the script. Green and Dark Horse CEO Mike Richardson are producing; Niles is executive producing.

The six-issue horror miniseries is set in rural America, where a young boy named Trevor tries to protect his little brother, and other “freak” children, from their parents’ worst instincts.

Green recently directed Pineapple Express and Snow Angels.

Universal picks up Umbrella Academy

Dark Horse and Universal Pictures are moving forward with an adaptation of Umbrella Academy, the Eisner Award-winning miniseries by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba.

Way, who’s best known as the front man for My Chemical Romance, told IESB this weekend that Universal has picked up the option — no surprise, as Dark Horse has a first-look deal with the studio — and now they’re on the hunt for screenwriters and a director. Way named Alfonso Cuarón, director of Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as a favorite.

Apparently, Universal has suggested Diablo Cody (Juno) as a possible writer.

The Ticker

• Warner Bros. will preview new footage of Watchmen on Tuesday during Spike TV’s Third Annual Scream Awards. The ceremony airs at 9 p.m. [Sci Fi Wire]

• Warner Bros. is “100 percent supporting” a campaign for an Oscar nod for Heath Ledger. [EW.com]

• Samuel L. Jackson confirms he’ll appear as Nick Fury in Iron Man 2. [Latino Review]

• Rookie screenwriter Brad Inglesby has been hired to adapt Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Sleeper for Warner Bros. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Frank Miller says The Spirit will blend eras and influences: “It’s romantic, but as in Sin City, you don’t know what date it is. It’s a very urban/Zorro story. I tried to make it as timeless as possible, so you will see cell phones and vintage cars and not really know where you are.” [Sci Fi Wire]

• Westfield Comics in Madison, Wis., is using IDW’s Presidential Material to divine the outcome of the election. Well, sort of. The retailer is keeping a tally of which candidate biography sells more: John McCain’s or Barack Obama’s. Heck, it’s probably as accurate as some of the polls. [The Isthmus]

• The spotlight is on Dark Horse CEO Mike Richardson today as he’s interviewed about donating copies of all of his company’s books to Portland State University, and about the state of the industry. [The Oregonian, ICv2.com]

• In her “All the Comics in the World” column, Shaenon K. Garrity ropes in a panel to decide which American cartoonists draw attractive men. Finder creator Carla Speed McNeil gets the most mentions. [ComiXology]

• Rapper Percy Carey, writer of the Vertigo graphic novel Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, chats with comics blogger and analyst John Mayo. [Complex.com]

• A new graphic novel focuses on little-known Confederate general Patrick Cleburne. “He is the perfect vehicle to tell a story from the Confederate point of view,” says creator Justin Murphy. [Trumann, Ark., Democrat]

• Penny Arcade co-creator Mike Krahulik talks about the Penny Arcade Adventures video games. [GamePro Arcade]

• Ryan Kelly draws Delirium.

• Congrats to former Blog@ columnist Neil Kleid, who welcomed his son into the world this week.

• Online comics retailer Westfield Comics talks to Larry Marder about his return to Beanworld. “I spent 15 years at Image Comics and McFarlane Toys, and three years before that at Moondog’s Comicland as Marketing Director,” he says. “I spent a long time managing other people’s creativity and I decided it was time for me to come back and do my own work.” Also, Blog@ sends our condolences to Marder, whose father recently passed away.

• Here’s an interesting comic reference in a non-comics news story — U.S. News & World Report interviews Bill Bishop, author of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart about why people are drawn to living where they do:

Now you can find people who share your views by picking the TV channels you watch, radio you listen to, and websites you visit. Is it still important to live in a specific place with like-minded people?
If you’re in that consciousness, you can find people like you. They are there. And there’s a marketing reason to move. If you are around people who are like you, then the movies and books you like come to your bookstore. The author you like comes to city hall. If you’re a comic book artist, you move to Portland, and that way the stuff that you want is all around you. You are going to be around the stuff that accumulates around the people who are like yourself.

• How to get your fix in the DC universe.

• And finally, you can read Walking Dead #17 over on MySpace Comics for free.

Ramayan 3392 AD coming to the big screen

Liquid Comics, which bought out Virgin Comics last month, has struck a deal with Mandalay Pictures to bring Liquid’s graphic novel Ramayan 3392 AD to the big screen.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, John Collee has been tapped to adapt the story about a legendary blue-skinned warrior who in mythology is an incarnation of the god Vishnu fighting to save his love from demonic forces.

The trade also reports that the comic also is being developed as a multiplayer online game by Sony Online Entertainment.

The Ticker

• Splash Page talks to Die Hard scribe Steven de Souza about Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

• Scifi.com is hosting the latest Watchmen production journal — this one’s about Dr. Manhattan. [Scifi.com]

• Zap2It observes that sophomore TV shows that didn’t come back from hiatus after the Writer’s Strike ended — shows like Chuck and Pushing Daisies — are having a tougher time in the ratings than shows that did. [Zap2It]

• Clone Wars, meanwhile, is doing pretty well in the ratings. [Variety]

• Marvel promoted Simon Philips to president, worldwide consumer products. [Variety]

• Yogi Bear is coming to the big screen. [MTV Movies Blog]

• Tarantino Babies make our dreams come true … or shoot us. (via Rick Marshall … I also have a T-shirt addiction, Rick).

• Spike TV has announced the line-up for their Scream Awards, which air on the cable network Oct. 21. [press release]

Dark Horse Comics and Jones Soda are teaming up for a promotion that’ll put characters like the The Goon and Emily the Strange on limited edition bottles available for purchase at myjones.com. The bottles will be limited to 100 six packs.

Look for The Goon bottles to be available on Oct. 7 and the Emily bottles on Oct. 14.