– Stan Sakai shares the character designs for Usagi Yojimbo and Gen from the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Setting my TiVo to “stun” …

– Willy Harold Vassaux is creating an Olympic comic. And will our search hits skyrocket if I mention “superhero” Michael Phelps?

– Brigid Alverson and her fellow contributors at Good Comics for Kids discuss Robot Dreams making Oprah’s Reading List for Kids.

– Film.com analyzes the most rabid fanbases — movies fanbases, that is, like Trekkies, Twilighters and Potterheads. They say Harry Potter fans are the most rabid, even more so than Whedon fans, who I would have picked for the top spot.

– “Because I want to set you free.”

– I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong.

– The New Yorker blog interviews Comics Curmudgeon Josh Fruhlinger.

– Tom Spurgeon talks to Abandoned Cars author Tim Lane.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

Over in his regular Cup O’ Joe column at MySpace, this week Joe Quesada talks about San Diego and The Dark Knight, and shows off the latest of those “funkadelic teaser ads” (which, as someone points out in our comments section below, actually came out a few weeks ago):

In October, SLG Publishing will release Tales to Suffice, a new anthology comic from the mind of a new creator, Kenny Keil. The book features, according to its website, “DAMSELS IN DISTRESS!! MEN IN TIGHTS!! ZOMBIES IN NECKTIES!! Everything you ever loved about comic books, mercilessly skewered for YOUR amusement! Five senses-shattering stories for the paltry price of one, and SURE to be a collector’s item – So stock up on copies while they’re still cheap!”

I spoke with Keil about his background, his influences and the book itself.

JK: Hey Kenny, thanks for agreeing to talk to me. So, Tales to Suffice — is this your first comic?

Kenny: The pleasure is all mine. And yes, this is my first published comic book.

JK: Tell me a little bit about your background.

Kenny: I suppose my childhood was pretty typical, much like something you might see in a John Cougar Mellencamp video. Born in a small town, lived in a small town, sucked on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze. That sort of thing. I was one of those kids who drew constantly, although my focus shifted from cartooning to graphic design around the time I discovered that most colleges didn’t offer “cartooning” as a major. So I’ve been designing professionally for the past six years or so, with a little bit of comics and illustration on the side.

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– This is fantastic news.

– The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Marjane Satrapi.

– Not everyone’s fond of Gary Panter it seems.

– Manga completists will want to buy the Black Jack hardcover editions it seems.

– Forbidden Planet shows us what Bryan Talbot is working on next.

– Chris Mautner interviews Jason.

– Jim Mahfood designs Colt .45 cans.

– This is pretty cool; using Flash, Plasmic Studios has a great “poster to poster” comparison going for the Watchmen posters.

– Time delves into the Stephen King/Marvel web thing, N.

– Jay Faerber talks about Urban Myths and Dynamo 5.

– Speaking of Urban Myths, it’s currently ahead in Top Cow’s Pilot Season competition, with Genius coming in at no. 2.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

A. David Lewis has a scintillating chat with the brains behind Final Whosiwhasis about magic, mysticism and conjuring demons:

GM: Yeah! Because it’s the obvious, isn’t it? Again, this isn’t a mystical concept, because I’m not a mystical person sometimes. I got into magic to see if it was real. If someone says, “Ok, a demon will appear if you do this spell,” I just say, “Bullshit.” So, I did this spell, and then the demon appeared. So I had to revise my vision of what the world was and how it worked. Again, that’s another element of magic for me, trying to figure out, why do these things happen—what are we doing to our nervous systems to make us believe a demon has entered the room? It became to me about the actual “nuts and bolts” of it, not the fantastic thing or the mystic thing or the names of angels. I became interested in what’s actually going on.

PWCW: But you tried it out, and a demon did appear?

GM: Yeah!

PWCW: Wow.

– Project Rooftop and Harris Comics have teamed up for a “Vampirella ReVamp” contest.

– David Lasky’s doing a book about the Carter Family.

– The Daily Cross Hatch talks to Jamie Hernandez.

– Our own Tim O’Shea chats up Dirk Deppey.

– DK plans to keep making funnybook-related coffee-table books.

– How to play Calvinball.

– How much more black could this be? The answer is none. None more black.

– Cripes, I completely forgot that Otakon was last weekend.

– Good lord, people are still griping about that Kramers Ergot volume? Buy it or don’t buy it, just stop complaining about it.

– Not Comics: Clue is being updated. Now you can kill people with a baseball bat.

Compiled by Chris and JK.

– Stephen DeStefano shares a Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend commission.

– The Hugo Awards were announced this past weekend in Denver.

– As were the Doug Wright Awards (though not in Denver).

– Tom Spurgeon talks CCI with David Glanzer.

– Alley Oop turned 75. I didn’t even know it was still around.

– A Matt Bors’ cartoon makes it all the way to Gitmo and the hands of Salim Hamdan.

– Own an iPhone? Like comics? Bookmark this site.

– It’s not comics, but I liked this MTV story about fan reaction to Diablo III screenshots and the developers explanations as to why they did what they did.

– Arvid Nelson and Jesse Falcon join the Comic Book Club this Tuesday.

– io9 picks the VP candidates. Yes, it’s comics related.

– Cartoons for grown-ups.

– Trent Reznor thought about turning Year Zero into a graphic novel. Instead, he’s talking to HBO.

– Mike Sterling presents “Things not to say to a comic book shop employee.”

– Where were you?

Compiled by JK and Chris.

Although Adam Rifkin’s resume only includes one comic book so far — Shmobots — he’s written and/or directed many movies over the course of his career, including Detroit Rock City, Underdog, Look and Small Soldiers. This week I conducted an interview with Rifkin over email to find out more about his comics work, what he’s working on now and, of course, The Kitten Channel.

JK: So how did the Shmobots come about? Did you know Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby (BOOM! co-founders) before you pitched the series?

Adam: The idea for Shmobots came to me in a flash of thinking that it might be funny to see a group of pot smoking, slacker robots incompetently try to pick up a hooker. At first I considered writing it as a short film, but then I couldn’t help but feel that there was a bigger idea to explore. The bigger idea being that of a whole subculture of stupid, pot-smoking robots who don’t work, don’t contribute to society in any productive way, but have an offensive sense of entitlement. I grew up with a lot of kids like that, so I knew what there voices would sound like. I wondered what people might call this subculture of mechanical loser and thus, Shmobots was born.

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The Wall Street Journal has a Q&A up with DC President and Publisher (and Blog@ contributor) Paul Levitz:

Q: What was your first publishing experience?

A: I started publishing my own fanzine from 1971 to 1973 called the Comic Reader. It was really the first TV Guide for the business and it became the bible for the field. I won awards for it when I was 15 and 16. I eventually sold off the magazine.

Q: Did the zine open doors for you?

A: Definitely. I got to know everybody through the zine since the industry was very New York-centric then. I was up in the offices of DC collecting news when Joe Orlando, one of its legendary editors, called me into his office. One of his writers had quit his assignment doing text pages and he asked me, ‘You wanna do them?’ I (told him I wasn’t) a writer and he said, ‘I read your fanzine and you can write well enough for this.’ Then I filled in for Joe’s assistant that summer as an assistant editor. The guy I filled in for never came back, and I never left.

They also included a sidebar with advice from Levitz on how to break into comics.

This week’s edition of Publishers Weekly Comic Week is still heavy on Comic-Con reports. For me though, the most noteworthy links are a pair of interviews Kai-ming Cha did with some visiting manga-ka. First she spoke with Bleach author Tite Kubo:

PWCW: What is your favorite aspect of creating Bleach?

TK: When I draw the scene that I’d been dreaming about or had always wanted to draw, that is the time that I’m happiest. The other time that I really enjoy is when I create new characters. But when I create new characters, it’s not usually when I’m working. When I’m running errands, it will come up in my mind, and then I’ll develop it. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts. But I enjoy drawing and creating manga, so it’s always fun.

Then, she talks to Hiro Mashima, whose Fairy Tail and Rave Master series has garnered no small bit of attention:

PWCW: In Rave and Fairy Tail, you have two main characters, both boys, who have no fathers. Additionally, two adventures in Fairy Tail entail saving a father-son relationship. Why is this relationship important for you to explore?

HM: It’s partly from my personal experience. I lost my father when I was younger. In a way, it’s difficult to imagine what a father is. In my stories, instead of introducing the father figure first, I introduce him in the later part and expand from there. I kind of keep him as a mysterious figure and introduce him little by little later on.

The Cul de Sac guinea pig goes on a quest for romance while creator Richard Thompson reminds us yet again of how awesome he is. And that seems as good a segue as any to link to an interview I did with Thompson several months ago and just got around to posting on my blog now.

Cyclops, Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men have relocated to San Francisco, and the San Francisco Chronicle rolls out the welcome wagon with not one but two articles. The first points out several references to The City in Uncanny X-Men #500:

The comic has much more of an insider’s vibe. Marvel Comics artists will be visiting San Francisco frequently to get a feel for the fashion, architecture and even the way residents walk and talk. There are no cable cars in the first issue, but the artists did include a KRON TV news truck and a panel where the iconic mutant Wolverine walks through Noe Valley. The heroes make their base in the concrete bunkers beneath the Marin Headlands and join the protest of a controversial art installation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Perhaps most significant, they seem to appreciate San Francisco’s much publicized (and recently criticized) role as a sanctuary city.

“San Francisco is now a mutant sanctuary,” X-Men group leader Cyclops proclaims, near the end of Issue 500. “Any of you – and your family or loved ones – are invited to join us here, and know safety and protection our kind has never known.”

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– I really don’t need any more tote bags, but if I did, I’d snag this Adrian Tomine-designed one The Strand is selling.

– Here’s the cover for the next Kramers Ergot. And here’s the cover for the next issue of Kevin Huizenga’s Or Else.

– Wow, Franklin’s 40 years old? Now I feel really old.

– Danny Fingeroth picks his favorite comics evar.

– Will no one save the Aquaman hoodie?

– Missed it: Phoebe Gloeckner talks about her current project.

– This just in: Publishers like Comic-Con.

– Chris Arrant profiles Tiki Joe Mysteries.

– The greatest double-page spread in comics history. In my book, anyway. Bully has a few more.

– If Charles Schulz drew Sandman. Via.

– Action Figure Insider has a bunch of toy pictures from the San Diego Comic-Con.

– Time looks at The 99, a comic-book series “based on characters that each personify one of the 99 qualities that the Koran attributes to God.”

– Chris interviews Cul de Sac creator Richard Thompson.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

Full disclosure in that Grant Gould is a friend of mine. It may not be important to you that he’s one of the nicest dudes I know and that he constantly cracks me the hell up, but what should be important to you are that he’s talented and the following three words: Vikings vs. Werewolves. How can you not want to read that?

Grant’s career so far is mainly as a sketch card artist for every major trading card set from Revenge of the Sith to Iron Man. His first comic Wolves of Odin is coming in November from Super Real Graphics, but I wanted to know more now, so I asked him some questions and I’m sharing the answers with you. He was also recently announced as one of the artists on Lucasfilm’s Clone Wars webcomic, but I’ll save that conversation for a future column.

Michael May (MM): Tell me about your background with sketch cards. How’d you get into that?

Grant Gould (GG): In 2004, Topps was looking for new artists to tackle their Revenge of the Sith card set and one of my online pals, artist Tom Hodges, was already on the set and gave me the heads-up and put in a good word, etc. I sent Topps some samples, they got me approved through Lucasfilm, and that was that. Since then I’ve worked on several more Star Wars sets, Lord of the Rings sets, DC, Marvel, Heroes, Halo, Indiana Jones, you name it. Sketch cards have been huge for me in terms of helping to get my name out there and get my foot in the door.

MM: What’s your favorite piece that you’ve done so far?

GG: As in, which is my favorite card set so far?

MM: I’m wondering more about which drawing of yours are you most proud of? You’ve done so many sketch cards and commissions and fan prints; is there one particular piece that you still look at and think, “Yeah, that was a really good one.”

GG: Well, I tend to be my own worst critic. I have a habit of really liking a piece, then going to sleep and looking at it the next day and suddenly hating it. But there are a few things I’ve done that I’m pretty pleased with, even if I do see faults in the art that I wish I could change. For example, on the most recent Lord of the Rings: Masterpieces card set, I had the opportunity to illustrate one of the base cards and that was a huge thrill because I’m such a massive fan of Tolkien and the LOTR movies. I think I tend to be most proud of the projects that I enjoyed the most – not so much the projects that I think the drawings look the best, if that makes sense.

MM: Perfect sense. Drawing sketch cards and commissions is pretty secure work for you, right? What’s the attraction to making a comic that makes you want to spend more time on that and less time on the work that pays more regularly? In other words, at this point in your career, why comics?

GG: To be honest, sketch cards and commission work aren’t very secure, or reliable, in terms of making a living off this stuff. I knew that I would have to start branching out into other things if I wanted to keep any sort of fulltime art career going. I think there are three major factors in me getting into comic work:

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– Deadpool smooching Bea Arthur is just kind of wrong. (Thanks, Rich!)

– Oh, for heaven’s sake.

– Ooo, I hope Miles Edgeworth puts in an appearance.

– Here’s a virtual symposium on Doug Wolk’s Reading Comics.

– Du9 talks with Dave Cooper.

– Sean Collins did a great interview with the Hernandez brothers for CBR.

– Remember, not every librarian is pro-comics.

– John Byrne shares some starship designs from his IDW Star Trek work.

– The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are celebrating 25 years with a contest.

– Barbie goes to Comic-Con.

– Jamie Coville conducted an in-depth interview with Mark Waid on BOOM! and his Spider-Man work. It’s also available as an MP3.

– The Forbidden Planet blog talks to La Muse creator Adi Tantimedh.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

Last week Tom Spurgeon interviewed IDW president Ted Adams, who said IDW is thinking about not exhibiting at the San Diego Comic-Con next year. To quote Adams:

I think we’re likely not to be at San Diego next year. There are people that work for me that think that’s not the right decision. I’m trying to weigh what they’re telling me, think hard about what they’re telling me. Certainly for the freelance community that works for us, it’s important to them that they have a place at this show. I’m trying to think about how can I accomplish those goals with drastically reduced cost to us. Not so much the financial cost, but the opportunity cost. How can I have a place where Ash Wood can meet his fans at San Diego Comic-Con without it requiring all this time?

Tom also posts comments from fans, media and other publishers on the IDW interview, which you can find here.

Tom also asked IDW about their press conference with Darwyn Cooke, which I attended Wednesday night. Hopefully even if they do elect not to have a booth, they’ll still look for opportunities like this to get the word out on their announcements, because I thought the press conference went over really well. Which is kind of funny, if you think about it … the idea of a good old-fashioned press conference is old hat, but use the concept to publicize comics, and it’s something unique and different.

Artwork for this post, BTW, is the press envelope and what was inside … three pieces of Darwyn Cooke art and a CD that contained more artwork and background info on the project. You can get a better look at the three pieces after the jump …

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Heavy Ink chats with Gerard Duggan, writer of the Eisner-nominated series The Infinite Horizon:

Tell me about your “ah-ha” moment on Infinite Horizon. When did you first realize that there was a story to be told in drawing from the Odyssey for a modern story that would bring in some modern politics as well?

When I first have an idea, I stop and write down as much of the idea that can be captured at that moment. If it’s a decent idea, a lot of thoughts can pour out of you at once. The very next thing that I do is try to punch as many holes into the idea as possible. If I don’t, somebody else will.

With this particular story, I wasn’t able to really sink it. Breaking the tale was very exciting. Hours disappeared into a computer, but it felt as though minutes had passed. I knew right away I was going to write it as a comic book. Luckily, Phil said yes right away and we began immediately. I spent sleepless nights either getting out of bed to jot down ideas, or staring at the ceiling wondering if someone was further ahead that I was in telling this story. That was not a good feeling. Getting the first issue into comic shops relieved me of that stress.

PW’s Calvin Reid grabs Comic-Con marketing director David Glanzer to ask him the lingering questions:

PWCW: I guess you’ve had to answer this question a lot, but what is your response to the general discussion out there that, perhaps, the show should move to another city?

DG: We would love to stay here; we love San Diego and it would make things so much simpler if we stay here. When we signed our last agreement with the city to stay through 2012, we knew we would have to forego growth for a few years. Now there is the possibility of the expansion of the Convention Center by the city. That’s something that wouldn’t just be just good for Comic-Con, but would be good for the city as a whole. They could book shows simultaneously and other things. But we haven’t seen much movement from the city on plans to expand the convention center.

It must be comics week over at the Onion’s AV Club. First there’s an extensive Jeff Smith interview. Now we’re blessed with one with Explainers author Jules Feiffer:

The A.V. Club: It’s surprising, reading the book, how early the strip’s sensibility was formed. Almost right from the beginning, you deal with the themes that preoccupied you for the next 40 years.

Jules Feiffer: Originally, there were going to be a few weeks of introductory strips before I started serializing Munro. When I went to the Voice, I showed them Munro—and maybe Passionella, although I’m not sure I’d written Passionella by then—and something on the bomb called Boom!—what today would be called graphic novellas. They were just long narrative cartoons. They had political content to the extent that they were strongly anti-government, anti- the prevailing political tides of the time. I though what I’d do was break the longer stuff down into weekly installments, but I thought it might be difficult in the beginning for readers to figure out what I was doing and what the hell was going on, so perhaps I should do five or six or seven weeks of introductory strips to tell them who I was and what I was going to do. The introductory strips were still taking over 40 years later. Once I got into the habit and routine of it, I realized what a good format this was for me, and how much better it was than serializing work I’d already done which wasn’t designed for that format and would never be ideal for it.

The Daily Cross Hatch has the first of a multi-part interview with Lucky creator Gabrielle Bell up:

Was there a point for you when it was clear that your work was publishable, or did you ultimately just want to get it out there?

Well, I think it’s more of the latter. I just wanted to start getting stuff out there. But I definitely do comics with intention of publishing them and others with the intention of not publishing. Sometimes I do comics that are sort of in-between and I think that maybe I could publish it, and then when I finish, I realize that it’s not publishable. And then there’s a lot of stuff that just ends up on the cutting room floor.

Are there any consistent things that come up which make works unpublishable?

Generally it’s just because it’s not interesting enough, or it just embarrasses me, in one way or another. Usually when I do Lucky, there will be several more pages that I don’t release, because they’re just kind of boring. The comic could really be twice as many pages. I kind of have to weed through stuff I’ve written down and comics I’ve done. It’s not necessarily that the most interesting things that happen get published—there are a lot of personal and sentimental things that I write.