The webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE has their own documentary!

Seth Kushner and Carlos Molina announced that they are almost finished their film on the group called “The ACT-I-VATE Experience,” and will premiere it at the Baltimore Comic-Con on October 11th. It will also be shown at Brooklyn’s King Con on November 6th.

What do you call a story about grandfathers, comas, legacies, and mysteries?

Perhaps Sin Titulo is the only good name for it.

Though you might not have heard of it, Cameron Stewart, the artist behind Seaguy and the Apocalipstix, has been setting Twitter aflame with his neo-noir webcomic, as part of the ambitious Transmission X crew. With Sin Titulo, Stewart has charted out the course for Alex MacKay, a lowly fact-checker who begins to fall deeper and deeper into a mystery linked by his late grandfather and a mysterious woman in sunglasses. Cameron was kind enough to answer a few questions for Newsarama as a primer for his work.

David Pepose: Well, first and foremost, I have to ask — what inspired this story for you? It seems like such a hodge-podge of different genres, yet it all seems to work.

Cameron Stewart: When I first decided that I was going to do a comic of my own, I started with an entirely different premise - I was intending to write a pulpy action adventure series, and I attempted to sit down and script the entire story from beginning to end. I found this much more difficult than I’d anticipated, and I became crippled by the pressure of wanting every early scene to cleverly pay off later, every line of dialogue to have multiple layers of meaning, and so it became really unenjoyable to try to write this way. I shelved that idea (I’ll probably revisit it at some point in the future) and decided that I was instead going to try working on something that was more open, more stream-of-consciousness, something that allowed me to feel free to explore different plotlines as and when I thought of them.  I wanted to do something fluid and dreamlike and so the first page of the comic (which has since developed into a significant part of the story) is taken from an actual dream that I’d had.

Around this time I’d also found out that my grandfather had passed away, and had been dead for almost a month and I’d not known about it.   I felt terrible and guilty and so I thought it might be a form of self-therapy to incorporate that event into the story.  From there it’s developed naturally into a mystery story based on my interest in that genre. It’s been described by various sources as a stylistic mashup of Raymond Chandler, David Lynch, Haruki Murakami and “Lost,” all of whom I’m a fan.

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Well, the movie is out, and a LOT of people wound up going to see it. While no spin-offs have been announced yet, a sequel is apparently already in the works. The chief complaint by most longtime fans of the characters depicted in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the changes made to Deadpool. Of course, fans can be a bit… overbearing on these issues, so we thought we’d go straight to the source. We had a short, quick conversation with Deadpool’s co-creator Fabian Nicieza to find out what he thought. He may have danced around the issue a bit, but he did make one great suggestion.

Newsarama: What did you think of the movie overall?

Fabian Nicieza: I think it had some good things in it and some not so good things in it. Pretty much the batting average for Hollywood’s treatment of most comic book properties.

NRAMA: What’d you think specifically of the treatment of Deadpool, especially before and after the transformation?

FN: I think Ryan Reynolds had the wit, delivery and physicality for a pre-cancerous Wade Wilson, as for what they did after that? Well, I’ll let audiences decide for themselves.

NRAMA: Would you want to see a spin-off featuring him, even if it meant it had to go from what this movie started?

FN: If they’re smart enough to hire Joe Kelly and Fabian Nicieza to co-write the script, then I’d likely go see it…

NRAMA: Did you see either of the “after-credits” endings? (as I’ve heard one somewhat redeems the character)

FN: I only saw the after-credits where his hand is reaching out to find his severed head — Is that the ending you mean? I don’t know that it does anything to “redeem the character,” as you say, all it does is acknowledge his indestructibility and the potential for a spin-off. Was there another after-credits scene I missed? Did Sam Jackson come out and offer Wade a job with SHIELD?

So there you have it. Who wants to see a Deadpool movie penned by Kelly and Nicieza?

As the upcoming Watchmen movie (March 6th) begins its expected rollout of major cover stories, one you won’t readily find at your local supermarket checkout line is with Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre) on the cover of Inked magazine. A relatively new publication that’s become a favorite of mine (I’m so biased), thanks to it’s ability to strike the right blend of tattoo art, pop culture and fashion, Akerman is the latest cover girl. For those not familiar with the monthly magazine (found mostly at specialty shops), they run several interviews per issue with guys and gals of the inked persuasion, and they typical go with a celebrity to grace the cover.
In stores now as well as online, most of the Akerman interview discusses her own personal tattoo history, and the pros and cons of getting work on herself in the particular profession she’s in, but of course the discussion eventually veers toward her current role in 2009’s most high-profile comic book-based film…

You spent a large part of last year making, arguably, one of the most anticipated movies of 2009, Watchmen. How would you describe this movie to the uninitiated? Yeah, that’s a difficult task. It’s so layered and complex. So far I’ve failed at trying to describe it. Every time I say something some fan starts blogging, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” It’s not your typical superhero film. What would it be like if real people, real vigilantes that we call superheroes, lived among us and were just regular people? Watchmen is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. It’s so smart and it’s one of those things you can pick up and read over and over again and always get something new from it. It’s a bit of a thriller and a love story and a conspiracy theory—there’s a little bit for everyone.

Have you had any physical encounters with overzealous fanboys? Not yet. They kept us at a distance from all of them at Comic-Con. You know, I have a friend who is a big comic book geek and he freaked out! All of a sudden, as soon as I got Watchmen, he became a fan instead of a friend. I was like, “It’s still me!” [Laughs.] “I’m not Silk Spectre for real.” It was just amazing to see him get so excited.

Speaking of which, has your husband demanded you bring the latex costume home? I saw in his eyes how much he loved it. He came to the set and I came out in my costume and his eyes popped open—I’ve never seen them as wide as that before. But before he opened his mouth I said, “Listen, it’s never coming home. It won’t be in the bedroom, so just forget about it.”

You know, Jude Law has a Watchmen tattoo—apparently he’s a huge fan. Couldn’t that have scored him a small role? He does? Really?

Yeah, it’s the character Rorschach. Well, then no. If it’s not Silk Spectre, screw it. He doesn’t deserve a scene!

Most of you probably know Dean Haspiel from his high-profile collaborations with Harvey Pekar and Jonathan Ames. But he’s also one of the leaders in the webcomix movement, with the ACT-I-VATE collective, Next-Door Neighbor for Smith, and work for the New York Times.

Haspiel took some time to answer my questions about comics for the Web, and I personally recommend his webcomix to anyone–they’re equal parts swagger and romance, sci-fi and mythology. Enjoy!

Blog@: Which webcomics do you write/draw/edit/have some affiliation with?

Dean Haspiel: I created, write and draw:

BILLY DOGMA in IMMORTAL [Act-i-vate]
BILLY DOGMA in FEAR, MY DEAR [Act-i-vate]
Dean Haspiel’s STREET CODE [Zuda]
SNOW DOPE [NY Times.com]

If that wasn’t enough, I created and edit:
NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR anthology [SMITH Magazine]

And, last Fall I was asked by the merry folks at Marvel to write and draw:

Frankenstein’s Monster vs. Werewolf By Night in “Another Bad Night” [Marvel.com]

Blog@ Can you tell me about the differences with making comics for the web? Formatting, artistic choices, story length, panels per page, etc.

DH: There’s isn’t that much difference between preparing a comic for print and a comic for the Internet. In fact, all the webcomix I make are prepared with a print destination in mind. However, format and presentation between print and web is slightly different. For instance, I paced my two BILLY DOGMA stories, “Immortal,” and the sequel, “Fear, My Dear,” for the ACT-I-VATE website differently than I imagine the final print version to be. Those stories were presented online as one panel revelations per click. An assembly of panels made up weekly installments until the story was completed and seamless. A print version will most likely show four panels per page, changing the original reading experience, and the colors will be presented in the more limiting CMYK rather than RGB, which allows for a larger palette online. (more…)

With all the hubbub going on with Amazing Spider-Man #583, the Washington Post’s Michael Cavna has taken an interesting angle on the news: ask the Man himself.

That’s right: Stan “The Man” Lee, otherwise known as the co-creator of Spider-Man.

In the interview, which you can read here, Cavna asks Stan about the Obama issue, the new status quo in the newspaper comic strip, and future Marvel films. An amusing highlight:

MC: If Obama did return the favor and reciprocate somehow, what would you want in return?
SL: I’d just like a Cabinet position. For comic books. I’d be secretary of comics — something simple.

Hey, I’d go to his press conferences.

Daniel and Jason of AFI interview Jim Mallon (Gypsy) and Trace Beaulieu (Crow T. Robot and Dr. Clayton Forester) of Mystery Science Theater 3000 about their recently released 20th Anniversary Boxed Set from Shout!Factory.

This was a near, life long dream for me (Daniel0, as I have been a HUGE MST3K fan, and have watched and own hundreds of hours of episodes.   You can see the goofy grin on my face through the whole thing.  And to have the real logo planet and Crow puppet in the same room with me… was almost enough to make my head bust open!

MST3K 20th Anniversary Interview

Image Comics’ giant art-book of comics inspired by Tori Amos songs isn’t just for Tori fans, or comic fans. The book’s sold so well that it’s coming out with a new, shiny, hardcover slipcased edition (full disclosure: my review of it is blurbed on the back). You may be a Tori die-hard like me, or you may go “Eeeewww” at the mention of her name (as at least one person will no doubt do in comments), but the book is really a treasure, with work from so many writers and artists indie and mainstream. It spans the breadth of what’s being done in comics these days.

Editor Rantz Hoseley took some time to fill me in on the response to the book since I picked it up and wrote that review. So please, read on.

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When the going gets tough, do the tough get going? Or do they stay and fight to the bitter end?

Kevin Huizenga examines both in his new graphic novel Fight or Run, published by Buenaventura Press. The Pulse took an in-depth look at the book:

“I wanted to make up something with a stable structure and rules that I could just draw as an exercise, without having to think about it too much. There are a lot of strips like this–like Little Sammy Sneeze. Threats are indeed an ageless subject. There’s not a real subject though in the strips–it’s just a game…as they say. That means other people can play too, if they want, or not, c’est la vie.”

According to previews, the minimalist book was similar to “prehistoric cave art or the arcade classic Mortal Kombat.” Huizenga said he received a grant from the French government to inspect several cave paintings, which helped influence his work. You can read the rest of the interview here.

– Tom Spurgeon interviews James Kochalka.

– The Chicago Tribune talks to the guy who models as Superman for Alex Ross.

– S. Clay Wilson is now out of the ICU.

– Tintin made Herge “sick” according to recently discovered letters.

– I enjoyed this LA Times piece on the legal battles surrounding the Watchmen film.

– Buy a copy of Stan’s Soapbox and get it signed by John Romita Sr.

– If you can read Polish, here’s an interview with Milo Manara where he talks about his X-Men project he’s working on with Chris Claremont.

– Finally, here’s Watchmen, the Condensed Version.

I’ve read enough bad or lackluster anthologies over the years to know it’s not something you can just slap together. It takes real editorial vision and guidance to put together a solid collection of work, whether you’re talking about new material or older reprints.

Which is my roundabout way of saying just how impressed I am with Ivan Brunetti’s two Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories. I had already known Brunetti was a first-rate cartoonist (Schizo, Misery Loves Comedy), but these books, taken together, show him to have a considerable sensitivity and thoughtfulness towards the medium, not just in his choices, but in their arrangement and layout.

While the first volume provided a strong art-comics overview for the uninitiated, the sequel casts a somewhat wider, though no less fascinating net. I was pleased, for example, to discover there were a few artists new to me, while the stories I was familiar came with a slightly new perspective due to their juxtoposition with other works.

I talked to Brunetti recently over the phone about the new collections, the challenges of putting together these anthologies in general, and the chance that we’ll see a new issue of Schizo in 2009 (sadly, probably not likely).

Q: What made you decide to do a second volume?

A: Besides insanity? At the time I put together the first book, my list of stuff I wanted to put in there got so huge I had 800 pages at one point. Actually the first book was supposed to be no more than 300 pages but I convinced Yale to let me do 400. And at some point I was thinking “500 pages would be good.” (more…)

– Alison Bechdel and Harvey Pekar, together at last.

– Steve Duin has some good news about underground cartoonist S. Clay Wilson, who has been in ICU for the past several days.

– Ada Price talks to Dave Gibbons about his new book, Watching the Watchmen.

– Looks like it’s official: Naruto Nation 2009 is totally a go.

– Sam Thielman looks at the significance of Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing in light of the new super-fancy collection coming out soon.

– Over at Stars and Stripes, Gary Trudeau answers some of his critics.

– Van Jensen talks to Mike Allred about the revamped Red Rocket collection.

– Here’s my idea of a fun time: Dan Nadel, Gary Panter and CF sitting around, talking about art and comics.

– Did you know About Comics is 10 years old this year? I didn’t. Chris Murphy has a recollection.

– Sandy Bilus is giving away a copy of Alan’s War over at his blog.

– Oscar Pedro Musibay looks at the Comics Galaxy event that was held at last weekend’s Miami Book Fair.

– Frank Santoro considers the new Popeye collection.

– 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.

Comic Book Resources has recruited writer Jeff Parker to host a new feature over at their site called Writer vs. Artist. It’ll feature a battle to the death between Parker and an artist of his choice. Not really; actually, he explains the concept in this first one:

CBR is kindly testing out this new feature wherein I directly engage a potentially hostile artist in the wild and attempt to coax him or her into sharing with our fellow process junkies valuable secrets of hammering out a readable comic book.

For the first one, he talks to MAD Magazine artist Tom Fowler, who is drawing a new Wildstorm book Parker is writing called Mysterius The Unfathomable. If you’re a process junkie, it’s definitely worth a look.

– Harry N. Abrams plans to publish Barry Deutsch’s acclaimed Webcomic Hereville in book form. Brigid Alverson has details.

– Steve Duin provides an update on S. Clay Wilson’s health. Short answer: “His condition has not improved significantly.”

– “There’s an exotica Americans find in my stories that’s lost on Israeli readers:” Nisha Gopalan interviews Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan about her new book Jamilti.

– Colleen Doran is looking for a few good cartoonists to help her review data for the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines.

– Kai-Ming Cha has a great interview with editor Sean Michael Wilson about Top Shelf’s upcoming AX anthology. “We’re selecting it from the 10 year archive so we’re talking about some 20,000 pages. That’s a lot of stuff to choose from.”

– Peter Sanderson celebrates the 20th anniversary of Sandman with a look back.

– Sanderson also looks at the new Vertigo Encyclopedia.

– The Daily Cartoonist reports that editorial cartoonists Steve Greenberg and Lee Judge are being laid off from their respective newspapers.

– Things to do: David B and Igort will be at the Beguiling in Toronto this Saturday.

– Other things to do: Kim Deitch will be doing a Q&A event with Bill Kartalopoulos at MoCCA tomorrow night. From the pr: “In a unique and wide-ranging conversation, the two will discuss Deitch’s work and
career to date.  Deitch will preview images from his current works in progress and field questions from the audience.”

– Joe Sacco offers an insightful review of Guy Delisle’s Burma Chronicles.

The Daily Cross Hatch offers the first of a three-part interview with the Black Hole creator about that seminal book and also his contribution to the new animated film, Fear(s) of the Dark:

In its most elementary sense, sequential art can almost be seen as a storyboard for animation. It seems like a fairly logical step to make.

Well, it was funny—at this point, I feel secure about writing comics. I’ve been writing comics long enough. It’s not easy, but it’s a domain I understand and feel comfortable with. So, when I started out, I came up with a storyline and wrote that out and broke it down into storyboards. All of that felt comfortable and familiar. But the minute we moved onto the next step, I felt like I was in deep trouble, because there’s an absolutely different sense about how a story is told when it’s moving. This is a very different process, which I quickly found out. That’s what was interesting too, was that there was an understanding that myself and other artists involved hadn’t done animation before. We hadn’t directed before.

Forbidden Planet International’s Mark Clark spoke with Mark Millar to talk about Wanted, Kick Ass and the Olympics, among other subjects … you can watch it below:

– Over at his blog, Scott Saavedra notes that he is rather ill and could use financial help, either via donations or by purchasing his some of his art work. (hat tip: Tom Spurgeon)

– Bloggers Paul O’Brian and Alistair Kennedy have started a new podcast, titled House to Astonish. It’s going to be an every-other-week affair, and focus on comics news and reviews. The premiere episode looks at recent Batman books, Dark Horse’s Gigantic and other books.

– Chris Butcher has more to say on the Bat-Manga! controversy.

– Tom Spurgeon tells us what comics he’s reading online these days.

– David Baille emailed us to let us know what a busy beaver he is these days. He’s got his first ever story in 2000AD this week, animator David Hailwood has animated a couple of his Zombies Interviews strips, and, perhaps most significantly, he’s started a new Webcomic, the Belly Button Bubble Chronicles.

– The work of cartoonists Josh Neufeld and David Rees can currently be seen at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library through January 10, 2009. From the press release: “Neufeld will show material from his true-life graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and Rees will exhibit a collection of his “Clip-Art Comics.” Neufeld will be showing original pages, oversized giclée prints, and an example of the creative process from script to final art.”

– The Windy City Times talks to Alison Bechdel about the release of the new Dykes to Watch Out For collection.

– A quick reminder: Quentin Blake is awesome.

– For your Monday enjoyment: Ten years of New Yorker covers.

• Toy company Mattel, which creates numerous lines of toys for DC Comics, has posted images of its DCU Classics Wave 8 on their collector’s site. Wave 8 of the toy line will include Dr. Fate, Gentleman Ghost, Hawkgirl and Vigilante, among others.

• Former Marvel editor Carl Potts shares memories of working with artist Steve Ditko and trying to convince the artist to let him see two Dr. Strange stories that never saw print. “I told him that I’d be happy to look over his shoulder as he flipped through the pages,” Potts says. “That way the pages would never leave his hands, but he still declined to bring them in. Since then I’ve fantasized about what those pages look like and what the story was about. I wonder if I’ll ever find out!”

• Comics retailer Rocketship has an interview with Raina Telgemeier, the artist of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel adaptations, up on their blog. On her own site, the artist reveals her webcomic Smile! will be come to print courtesy of Scholastic. She’ll be at Rocketship this Sunday, along with Dave Roman and Matt Loux. Details on the event can be found here.

• Sparkplug Comics posted a video they made at the Alternative Press Expo last weekend.

• Zippy the Pinhead creator Bill Griffith will be at the Fantagraphics store in Seattle this weekend. Details here.

• The Comic Book Club in New York will host Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis and Jeff Katz next Tuesday. Details here.

• Via Drawn comes news that United Features is offering its comics content, including years of archives, for free.

• Kevin stole my headline for this one earlier this week: Salman Rushdie says he’s “a world expert on superhero comics.” He also says he’s been approached about doing a graphic novel, but hasn’t said yes yet.

• Here’s two names that might look familiar … Tim O’Shea talks to Frank Santoro, and Chris Mautner talks to Art Spiegelman.

• Colleen Doran shares more agents who work with comics folks.

• Jim Rugg adds to Kevin Church’s J. Jonah Jameson sketch collection.

• This weekend’s Wordstock Book Fair in Portland, Ore. will feature several comic creators, including Mike Mignola, Alison Bechdel and Lynda Barry. Oni Press, Dark Horse Comics and other comic companies will also be there.

– Van Jensen hangs out with Paul Pope to find out about the new reprint edition of Heavy Liquid, which Pope initiated when he discovered out of print copies selling on eBay for as much as $200: ” ‘That was disgusting to me,’ he said. ‘That was money those fans could’ve spent on other books.’ ”

– Kai-Ming Cha talks to Yen Press’ Kurt Hassler about the imprint’s absorption into Hachette’s Orbit imprint.

– Tom Richmond looks at how Mad Magazine has covered close elections in the past.

– Alan Gardner critiques the revamped Comics.com site.

– Erin Finnegan reports on the MangaNext show in Somerset, NJ.

– Apparently Famous Monsters of Filmland’s Forrest J. Ackerman is not doing well.

– Doug Wolk reports on last weekend’s APE convention.

– Noah Berlatsky doesn’t care for S. Clay Wilson’s work.

– Jen de Guzman wonders why Slave Labor isn’t getting that many submissions anymore and decides to blame the Internet.

– Because you don’t have enough to read: Here’s Graphic Novel Reporter.