In the midst of all the Before Watchmen noise yesterday – please, someone, tell me that I’m not the only person who’s already exhausted with that particular subject after one day of everyone talking about it – I entirely missed that February 1 wasn’t just the 20th anniversary of Image Comics, but also the 30th anniversary of Diamond Comic Distributors, two institutions that have done more than their fair share – positively and negatively – to shape the comics industry into what it is today (There’s probably some kind of irony attached to those two events being overshadowed by Before Watchmen, come to think of it). Image seems to be having a resurgence these days – deservedly, considering a lot of the projects it’s publishing these days – while Diamond’s future seems far more uncertain considering the threat of digital (Whatever happened to Diamond’s digital plans? Weren’t they supposed to go live last September…?), so it’ll be interesting to see how both anniversary years pan out for the respective companies; will either announce a big overhaul before its next birthday…?

The long-running legal battle between Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane is finally over, with a settlement that apparently closes the door on a case that had already seen Gaiman awarded co-ownership of Medieval Spawn, Angela and Cagliostro way back in 2002, and now co-ownership in Spawn #9 – the first appearance of those characters – as well as Spawn #26 (featuring the return of the Cagliostro character) and the three-issue Angela spin-off miniseries.

Talking to the Washington Post, Gaiman said that he was “delighted with the case… I’m delighted with the decisions. … And I’m delighted to put it behind me.” He went on to say that he thought that “an awful lot of good things have come out of it. I think the various decisions, particularly the [2002 Judge] Posner decision, were huge in terms of what the nature of dual copyright in comics is. What is copyrightable in comics is now something that there is a definite legal precedent for. There were a lot of things that were … misty in copyright [law] that are now much clearer, and it’s of benefit to the creator.”

McFarlane has so far not released any comment.

That mysterious project that Bryan Hitch has been counting down to on his Twitter account has now been revealed, with the first teaser originally unveiled over at CBR:

As that image makes pretty clear, he’s teaming with famed UK talk show host Jonathan Ross — the writer of five-issue 2010 series Turf —for America’s Got Powers at Image Comics in April, and here’s how Ross described it on Twitter: “America’s Got Powers Full on superhero angst and action as Americas most gifted superpowered teen wannabes slug it out on tv for a place in the worlds only official super- team.” Keep reading Newsarama for more details as they come.

Talking of Robot 6, the blog also premieres Image Comics’ ad campaign for 2012, emphasizing creativity over intellectual property:

According to Eric Stephenson,

We’re doing one of these a week over the course of the year, each focusing on a different creator, and there will be some video components to the campaign as well.The message is pretty simple: Our business thrives on creativity.

Everyone else throws their weight behind characters, behind IP. We put ours behind the people create those characters and develop that IP. The men and women who write and draw comics are Image’s–and this industry’s–most valuable resource. It takes a certain amount of bravery to create something of your own and share it with the world. We support those people, and we salute them.

Considering some recent commentary by Stephenson, this definitely seems to be the Image branding for the year: Creation versus Maintaining Intellectual Property. It’s a bold, and smart, idea that definitely sets Image apart from Marvel and DC, even if it fudges some truths (Vertigo may not be creator owned, but with the exception of Hellblazer, all the series there are younger and more “newly created” than, say Spawn or Savage Dragon. And isn’t the revival of the Extreme line the kind of intellectual property development/renewal that this campaign is quietly condemning?), and I hope it pays off for them; anything that pushes the importance of new ideas and new stories is always a good thing.

Now this is something I can get behind. Joe Eisma, one half of the tag team that created critically-acclaimed Morning Glories, put this up over at his DeviantArt. It’s a nice little mash up of the Morning Glories gang with the Peanuts crew. ” Had this idea for awhile, but never got around to it until now,” Eisma stated on the post. “Would love to do more of these fun things with the Morning Glory Babies as time permits!”

Morning Glories is one of the most talked-about books on the market now. So if you’re looking for getting something for a person interested in getting into comics, but fear they might not be that into capes, I recommend this one.

The first issue is a double-sized, 44 pages of Fiona goodness for our regular ongoing price of just $2.99. I think people are going to love it so much they’ll want to forever tarnish their flesh with bad tattoos of our characters, but in the off-chance the book’s not for you, I’ll happily buy our first issue back from you (my address is included in what promises to be a trainwreck of a letter column).

That’s Brian K. Vaughan, talking about his new Image series, Saga, which launches March next year. I’ve really been looking forward to this since it was first announced – I’m a big BKV fan, with the exception of some of his Marvel work (Sorry, Ultimate X-Men, it’s probably me, not you) – but there’s something so charmingly old-fashioned about when a creator offers to buy issues back on their creator-owned books that would’ve won me over no matter what. Of course, judging by the Fiona Staples art from the book that’s been released, people might end up buying it for the visuals even in the unlikely possibility that they hate all the words.

It makes me wonder, though; Ed Brubaker offered to buy back issues of Criminal early in that book’s existence, didn’t he? What other creators have done the money back guarantee thing to promote their work?

What lies ahead for Image Comics in 2012? Well, according to president Eric Stephenson, it’s “the best work by big names and big names to be, on books they own,” and he goes even further:

If you are a fan: You are in for one hell of a year. If you are a retailer: This is the future your customers are looking for, not a snake eating its own tail for diminishing returns every month.

Besides the projects we already know about – Brian K. Vaughn’s return to comics with Saga, illustrated by the spectacular Fiona Staples, the latest Brubaker/Philips series Fatale and Jonathan Hickman’s The Manhattan Projects – Stephenson offers these teases for other things to look forwards to: (more…)

Let’s all thank Image Comics for saving the Bay Area from being conventionless next year, with Wondercon making a temporary move to Anaheim for the year; the publisher has announced that it will be holding its own comic-con, Image Expo, at the Oakland Convention Center – the original home of Wondercon, before it moved to San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center – between February 24-26 next year.

Announced guests will include Image partners Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino, as well as Rob Liefeld and Whilce Portacio, with other creators present including: Joe Casey,  Jonathan Hickman and Brian K. Vaughan. Despite the name and the Image-creator-heavy guestlist, the publisher calls the event “a celebration of independent creativity in comics” and has opened the floor to “anyone who makes creator-owned comics.” More details as they become available, but I have to admit, I kind of want to go already.

(As an aside, when was the last time a publisher held their own convention, WizardWorld aside?)

Joe Keatinge is talking about his new Image series, Hell Yeah, and what it’s about:

Youngblood and X-Statix focused on the celebrity superheroes. Hell Yeah is about the world they made, twenty years after their initial appearances. It’s about their effects on culture, economy and government with a focus on the generation born into their world. Even so, all this is merely a starting point. Where do you go in a world where time travel is possible? What’s the effect on religion when a gigantic being comes to Earth to eat the entire planet? I think a lot of the times when comics explore these themes they take the fun out of it. Watchmen is a great comic, but man, it is a downer. I like Marvels too, but I don’t want to see how Celestials effect an old man. I want to see how they effect hot bands.

The idea of superhuman culture is one that’s been touched upon in only a few books throughout the genre’s life – Astro City, perhaps, Grant Morrison’s NewXMen, Joe Casey’s Wildcats and Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Top 10, Steve Englehart’s completely-forgotten Big Town – but it’s one of those ideas that feels as if it’s been waiting to happen for the longest time. The weirdness about something like the Marvel Universe is that it tries to be both “the world outside your window” and a superheroic world of possibility and invention, and those two things are completely in conflict if taken to their logical conclusions; if you think of how world events affect culture, whether it’s 9/11 or Occupy Wall Street or the Moon landing or whatever, it’s both ridiculous and frustrating to consider that no-one’s ever really managed to put this kind of thing into a comic book entirely successfully yet. It’s a reason to look forward to Hell Yeah, definitely, but also a question to think about for ourselves: What would it actually be like to live in a world with unstable molecules, the existence of time travel and parallel dimensions that we can visit, and an annual threat to your very existence?

It’s a fairly classic good news/bad news moment for Jonathan Hickman fans, as Image Comics announces that Feel Better Now won’t be released this month as originally solicited, but that’s because it’s going to be a much longer book than originally intended.

“Unfortunately, during the course of creating this story, it got bigger. Far beyond the 40 pages we had allocated for the book, and, as a result, I have decided to give the story the scope I feel it deserves,” Hickman says in the PR. “Right now, we think the best thing to do is pull it from Diamond and re-solicit the book at a later date when we can firm up the final price point, page count and delivery date. I apologize for the inconvenience, but sometimes these things take on a life of their own and FEEL BETTER NOW is a story that deserves a full canvas.”

Running on time, however, are the reissue of The Nightly News and the collection of The Red Wing, due November and October respectively. Hickman also says that he’s already at work on next year’s The Manhattan Projects and new ongoing series Secret.

First Archie, then DC Comics, and now Image Comics: The linewide day-and-date revolution is slowly continuing. According to press releases from both ComiXology and Image Comics, as of this Wednesday, Image’s line will be available day-and-date on both ComiXology and Graphicly, including the latter’s Facebook app.

Oddly enough, while the ComiXology press release makes a point of saying that it will be offering “the majority of their highly acclaimed comics the same day as print,” the Image Comics release describes their agreement with Graphicly as one that will “digitally supply and share their entire publishing catalog, including such hits as Walking Dead, Invincible, Savage Dragon, Chew and many more, to be released same day as print on Graphicly” (emphasis mine). Whether this means that ComiXology is being explicitly denied titles or simply that all the Image creators haven’t agreed to ComiXology terms yet but will soon is unknown.

In the Image Comics release, publisher Eric Stephenson is quoted as saying “For years, print comics have been dependent on a single distribution network, so it’s interesting to be a position to utilize a variety of different digital platforms. As digital comics continue to become a greater concern, it’s important to embrace as many different options as possible.”

There’s a great thread over at Millarworld about the debt that the comic industry owes the original Image Comics founders:

Looking back on the founding members of the Image 7 it is easy to dismiss what a monumental moment it was in the medium. As a direct result of their actions creators are in a much better position financially and creatively. Despite this fact I have yet to see any of their peers or notable predecessors thank them for their boldness and courage.

What is most striking is that the most creative of the seven is the most hated. That being Rob Liefeld. Despite the jokes and the scorn his legacy is clearly established in Previews every single week.

So, just what exactly is the debt that current creators owe to the Image founders?

The thread that follows runs the gamut from “They created a viable alternative to the Big Two” to “No-one owes them any debt, they’ve all sold out,” but it’s an interesting point: The founding of Image Comics nineteen years ago – God, I’m old – was a major shift for the mainstream industry, and one for the better, but it’s one that doesn’t seem to really get the attention or respect that it deserves. Is that because we’re still too close to it, or that it gets lumped in with the rest of the 1990s craziness? Or maybe it’s just that fandom as a whole really can’t get over the fact that, of the Image Seven, only Todd McFarlane and Jim Valentino didn’t eventually go back at Marvel in one way or another.

Fans upset that the end of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 1 veered away from the comics quite a bit will be happy to hear Season 2 has us back on track, heading directly to Hershel’s farm.

New showrunner Glen Mazzara spoke with AMC.com a bit about his past work but also what we can expect to see in The Walking Dead Season 2. “What’s been surprising is that in the graphic novel the story that takes place on Hershel’s farm is really only a few issues. We’ve been able to mine that for many episodes, and we’re very excited about the depth to which we’re able to push the characters, the different dynamics that we’re able to explore,” he told them.

“Our approach to our group of survivors when they reach Hershel’s farm is that they are a plague unto themselves,” he continued. “Nothing goes right for Hershel once Rick and his band show up. They make the zombie apocalypse look like kids in a candy story. What’s interesting is that if this was a show solely about Hershel, Rick and his band would really be the antagonists. And that’s been really surprising because every action that Rick and his band take is completely logical, but you’ll certainly sympathize with Hershel.”

We told you earlier this week that AMC has decided to split the second season of the hit show into two parts. The premiere will air October 16 and be 90 minutes long and after seven episodes the season will pick up again February 12. The role of Hershel will be played by Scott Wilson.

Mazzara also spoke about the adaptations originator. “What’s great about this adaptation is that Robert Kirkman is such a huge part of it. In Crash [his previous show], the writers and director of the film were involved at certain points, not involved at others, and then when the show deviated from what they believed Crash meant, I had a problem as a show-runner,” he said. “On this show Robert has been very open to letting us tell our own story. Robert sees them as two different works of art — and they’re not in conflict with each other. As long as it’s good and as long as it’s scary, he’s happy.”

Speaking of the comic, Mazzara said he’s “dying to meet the Governor” (as we all are) and that his family are excited about his new post. “My son seemed to have a lot of unique ways to kill zombies. None that I really am interested in putting on TV, but that’s a big topic of conversation at the dinner table.”

This part of Image publisher Eric Stephenson’s latest interview at Bleeding Cool has me curious:

We publish the books that are pitched to us – we don’t hand out assignments. I don’t work at Marvel or DC, so I can’t tell you how they do things there, but I do know we don’t get many pitches from women. When we do, I give them the exact same consideration I would give a pitch from a man. It’s either good or it isn’t, and that’s really all I care about. I mean, maybe I’m not like everybody else, but I don’t really sit around and separate people into different groups. It has nothing to do with political correctness, it’s just not how I’m wired.

The curious part: Why doesn’t Image get many pitches from women? Even if you don’t take Eric at his gender-blind word, what’s to lose in pitching to Image? Is it some idea of what Image comics are like? Did stories about not being able to afford to publish series scare potential creators off, considering what tends to thrive in the direct market? Do webcomics just seem like a better option? I’m really wondering what’s going on here, because as Womanthology demonstrates, the creators are out there. Is there something about Image that’s scaring them off?

Fans of the hit AMC television adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead were surprised to hear showrunner Frank Darabont would be exiting the series. Apparently, so were the cast and crew.

The Hollywood Reporter gathered this information from an insider on the show, writing:

“In hot, sticky Atlanta, where production on the second season had been under way since June, the cast was summoned to a lunch meeting with AMC vp scripted programming Ben Davis, who confirmed that Darabont was out. The crew was briefed separately. One insider says those gathered were stunned at “the duplicity of AMC” for having used Darabont to promote the show at Comic-Con before firing him. And they were angry about the lack of explanation; they were simply told, cryptically, “This isn’t working.” Above all, they were disheartened. “It’s a crushing blow,” says the insider. “Even when you have a hit, they can still destroy you.”

Yikes. “Insiders” always seem to dramatize any situation under the condition of anonymity but it seems at least that the firing of Darabont was an unpopular decision all around. THR reports that Darabont returned to Los Angeles after the news to finish some notes and send out cordial goodbye emails but that he and his representatives are maintaining a “steady silence” on the topic.

“There also have been no public comments from the cast,” writes THR, “and a source with knowledge of the situation says AMC has been ‘terrorizing’ them and their representatives to discourage them from speaking out on Darabont’s behalf. ‘They’re scared,’ confirms another insider. ‘They’re on a zombie show. They are all really easy to kill off.’”

Again, very dramatic but whatever the case, not even AMC is opening up about the decision. “AMC issued a statement after Darabont was dismissed, expressing gratitude for his ‘innumerable’ contributions to the show,” writes THR. “Asked to comment on criticism for the handling of his departure, a spokesperson said, ‘We have nothing further to add.’”

However, it has previously been reported that Glen Mazzara, Darabont’s former second-in-command, will be taking over as showrunner of The Walking Dead. Season 2 is currently in production.

GK Films has picked up the rights to Image Comics’ The Vault by Sam Sarkar and Garrie Gastony, the first issue of which, just hit stores last week.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The underwater sci-fi story centers on a group of divers who, off the coast of Nov Scotia, uncover a sarcophagus with unusual remains and inadvertently unleash an ancient evil.” They also mention that Sarkar and Gastonny previously created the supernatural Western graphic novel Calberfor Radical Publishing.

Johnny Depp and his production company, Infinite Nihil’s, president Christi Dembrowski will produce the adaptation along with GK’s Graham King and Tim Headington.

Anyone pick this up last week? It’s apparently only a three issue series so it will be interested to see how it’s adapted.

As the creator of Hack/Slash, Tim Seeley is no stranger to feisty (and frequently scantily clad) females, so it shouldn’t be too shocking to hear that he’s replacing Ron Marz as the writer of Witchblade as of October’s issue #151. As first reported in USA Today, Seeley is joined by penciler Diego Bernard and inker Fred Benes.

Top Cow crossover Artifacts also ends in October (that’s out 10/5, Witchblade #151 is released 10/26), and Seeley’s run will pick up on the direct fallout of that story, with the character moving to Chicago along with “a new job and a bunch of new supporting characters.” Marz, who’s leaving the book as of #150, had been on the title since November 2004′s issue #80, collaborating with artist Stjepan Sejic since #116. Marz and Sejic are leaving the book to launch a yet-unannounced title with Top Cow.

The complete Comic-Con International: San Diego programming schedule is now up, but if your specifically interested in knowing what Image Comics/Top Cow has going on, we’ve got you covered. To find out where Robert Kirkman, John Layman, Marc Silvestri and more can be found — plus AMC’s The Walking Dead TV series panel — keep reading after the jump.

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EDIT: Wow, both Robert Kirkman and producer Gale Anne Hurd have confirmed on Twitter that this is NOT an official The Walking Dead teaser but fan made. I’m floored. Watch it and see why both I and The Hollywood Reporter were fooled.

[Original story] I’d like to say the wait is almost over, but it isn’t. We’ve still got four months to go until The Walking Dead Season 2 premieres on AMC. But thankfully we’ve got our first teaser trailer to drool over.

Guh.

The trailer comes via The Hollywood Reporter who spoke with Robert Kirkman a short time ago and told them Season 2 will pick up right where Season 1 left off. “The last time we saw our characters, they were loaded up into the RV and they were driving away from the CDC,” Kirkman said. “We will definitely see where that caravan is going and follow them on their journey. So, pretty much where we get blown up.”

Meanwhile, showrunner Frank Darabont spoke with Deadline about the new season not too long ago either. “It’s fair to say that the first six episodes were teeing up a lot of conflicts that will be more fully explored in our second season,” said Darabont, “We find a growing conflict with our two main guys, Rick [Andrew Lincoln] and Shane [Jon Bernthal]. We’re really excited about putting all of the characters on a chessboard and seeing how wonderfully and effectively we can toss conflict into the game.”

Personally, after last year’s booth, I can’t wait to see what they pull out for San Diego Comic-Con in two weeks.

Frank Darabont shocked fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead last November when he fired the entire writing staff of the successful show. Turns out, Darabont wrote most of the episodes himself anyway but it still raised some eyebrows. The director is finally speaking out about the decision.

Speaking with Deadline, Darabont said the whole thing was “pretty overblown.” “It left the impression that I walked in one day and murdered 12 people. Would you like to know how many writers we were talking about? Two,” he said, “My thought had been that they’d under-delivered, and a change was necessary. I had to do too much of it by myself last year, and that was only six episodes.”

Season 2 is slated for thirteen episodes and the director is not going to be sitting in a room by himself to write all of them. “We hired Glen Mazzara as our Number Two in the room. We consider him our head writer and he’s just a fantastic asset,” he said, “We’ve also got three other staff writers in Scott Gimple, Evan Reilly from Rescue Me, and Angela Kang. Plus Executive Producer Robert Kirkman, who wrote the original comic book, is also writing for us.”

So what’s on tap for Season 2? “It’s fair to say that the first six episodes were teeing up a lot of conflicts that will be more fully explored in our second season,” said Darabont, “We find a growing conflict with our two main guys, Rick [Andrew Lincoln] and Shane [Jon Bernthal]. We’re really excited about putting all of the characters on a chessboard and seeing how wonderfully and effectively we can toss conflict into the game.”

Darabont also mentioned how grateful he is to Kirkman for his understanding when it comes to transferring his beloved comic to the small screen. “He realizes how different the mediums of comics and television are from one another,” he said, “One of the things that really attracted me to this material in the first place was how smartly Kirkman incorporated the characters and their journey in trying to survive and better themselves in this world. It was a really adult approach. And because we’re a TV series, we’ve hopefully got years to flesh out that story and all of the aspects of who they are.”

The director also said he worked for five years to get The Walking Dead on television before AMC picked it up but that the network has been good to them. “We certainly get notes, but nothing that we believe doesn’t make sense. We feel very much in partnership with AMC,” he said, “Sometimes we have to compromise, sometimes they do. But we have to admit that a lot of the stuff they’re telling us is sensible, and none of it’s dumb. Believe me, I’ve gotten a lot of dumb notes in my time, and after 25 years in the business I can tell the difference.”

Asked if he’d given much thought to the upcoming Emmy Awards Darabont said, “You know, a little bit. And it’s awesome to be a part of that chatter. We were just blown away to get nominated for a Golden Globe, a DGA award, and a WGA award in our first year. But that stuff is out of our control.”