Sean T. Collins shares the wealth once more.

Me and my friend made a comic book
And guess how long it took*

In this interview with Digital Strips, which is mainly about his current problems with Platinum Studios, D. J. Coffman reveals he’s working with the band The Flobots on a webcomic. Called Vote for Change, the plan is for stories to be inspired by Flobots fans:

Welcome to the Flobots webcomic Beta launch– I call this the “beta” launch because there are still some things I want to add to the site before a bigger public push. Currently there are three updates up now, and the story will begin running daily, M-F this Thursday, June 12th.

I’ve met with Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit from the band and we have many ideas we’d like to infuse into not only the stories here, but also the overall experience. The stories here are inspired by you, from tales the band hears while out on the road, emails we receive– they all go into a big melting pot of creative energy that we’ll remix and inject into the Flobots comic. The end result will be stories that not only entertain but make you think, feel, move and inspire you.

The webcomics site can be found here.

*From the Flobots’ very catchy song “Handlebars.”

The L.A. Times blog Extended Play recently spoke with Bryan Lee O’Malley about the music in the Scott Pilgrim series:

For those who want to play along at home, O’Malley writes out lyric and chord changes, and it’s easy to picture a bratty, Screeching Weasel-influenced pop-punk song. Sample lyric: “You’ve been out partying with guys I’ve never met / Drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, killing brain cells and killing me.”

But while the song is only three chords, and O’Malley writes that it’s “kind of crappy,” there’s more than punk rock to Sex Bob-omb. Just look to name of the band’s lead singer, Stephen Stills. Did O’Malley hear the band as more Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young than Mr. T Experience?

“Yeah, and nobody seems to notice that [Stills] is banging on an acoustic guitar and singing about his tortured relationship. I think they’re a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. He’d be like Gram Parsons, but the rest of the band won’t let him slow down.

“I thought of early Uncle Tupelo, when they were really smushing punk and country into one weird arrhythmic monstrosity,” O’Malley continued.

In the past, O’Malley has shared “soundtracks” for each book (the fourth one is here), and the one reprinted on the blog for the first book includes stuff you might expect (Plumtree’s “Scott Pilgrim,” Guster’s “Ramona”) and some that just pleased me to no end as an alt.country fan, like Old 97s and friggin’ Cuff the Duke. That’s cool.

This summer we’ve resurrected one of our favorite features, I ♥ Comics, and each Wednesday comics bloggers and creators will discuss the things they love about the medium.

This week, our guest contributor is Jamie S. Rich, the writer of Cut My Hair, The Everlasting and 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, Love the Way You Love and You Have Killed Me, all from Oni Press. He also edits Madman Atomic Comics and writes movie reviews for DVDTalk.com.

CONDEMNED TO ROCK ’N’ READ

Comics nearly lost me once. Rock ‘n’ roll found me and brought me back.

We had pretty much broken up. I lived in a town with no comic book store, and like most teenagers, I was finding other things to occupy my time than what had made me happy only a short time before. I was still too much of a nerd to get into anything that was really and truly bad for me, so it wasn’t drugs or sex or crime that took over for my four-color addiction. It was movies and literature and, most importantly and passionately, music. Like most misfit adolescents, that music tended to be on the more cultish side–strange, dark bands that sang about strange, dark things. Being into those kinds of bands was like learning the password into a whole new social circle. Unlike comics, which had largely been a solitary hobby for me, listening to the Smiths and Depeche Mode and the like provided me with a dual outlet: I could listen to my music alone or I could listen to it with friends and get two totally different things out of it.

Since this was the late 1980s, one of the bands we all really liked was Love & Rockets. In obsessive music circles, much like obsessive comic book circles, knowledge is a top commodity. The things you know that nobody else knows determines your coolness. Then, I was the guy that knew that the band had stolen their name from the Hernandez Bros.’ comic book. I had a handful of well-read issues and a couple of the early Jaime collections that I could show around and use to impress my friends. One of those issues was Love & Rockets #24 (Fantagraphics Books), which I remember because the cover of that comic is still one of my all-time favorites. It’s of Ape Sex, Hopey’s band, up on stage, taken somewhere from the back of stage right. You see the performers, and they look like they can really play, but more importantly, you see the audience. There’s all kinds of different people in there, including a girl’s legs sticking up over the stage and some dude leering at them. Another guy is in the background flipping the band the bird. All you see is the arm, the hand, the finger rising up above everyone else’s heads.

I hung onto my Love & Rockets even as my interest in the X-Men and Spider-Man waned because of covers like that one. I could look at it and see something that was recognizable to me, an existence that, even though far removed from my own (where I lived in Southern California might as well have been a galaxy away from where Hoppers would have been), touched my own. I could know those people. I could maybe be one of those people. They were interested in the same things I was, and from what I could tell, so were the Los Bros Hernandez. Love & Rockets was, as far as I know, the first comic to include a soundtrack in every issue, listing the tunes the guys were listening to when they created their comics. It’s a practice that has since been adopted by the likes of Paul Pope, Jim Mahfood, Chynna Clugston and even me. Whenever I see one of us criticized for doing it, the accusation is usually that we are being self-serving and conceited about our own musical tastes; really, though, we just want to be like the Hernandez Bros.

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Artist Renee French covers The Stranger’s Official Guide to Sasquatch 2008 — a music festival held this past weekend in Washington featuring The Cure, The Flaming Lips, R.E.M. and Modest Mouse, among many others.

Via

– Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba finish up Casanova:

– Kerry Callen shares his theory on how to create a famous super hero.

– Variety reports that Dick Sutcliffe, creator of Davey and Goliath, passed away. I used to love watching the show on Sunday mornings before being dragged to church.

– Check out pictures from An Evening with Paul Pope at the Wexner Center in Ohio.

– Ben Towle breaks down how different artists draw water.

– Pass me the Bat-salve, Robin.

– The Canadian feminist blog Shameless has added a comic column by Tiina Johns called Comics Are For Everybody.

– Berlin makes the Wall Street Journal’s summer reading list.

– Ryan Kelly’s Lucifer art gallery.

– Marc Mason reviews the first episode of ABC Family’s Middleman adaptation.

– Tommy Lee’s life to become a cartoon. As if it isn’t already.

Topless Robot selects the “10 Worst Album Covers by Comic Artists,” shredding their claws over such works of art as Neal Adams’ cover for Trixter’s debut:

A highly influential Avengers and Green Lantern/Green Arrow artist—and certifiable crackpot, thanks to his “expanding Earth” theory—Adams did quite a bit of album artwork in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, but mainly for “WHO?!” musical acts like the Mighty Groundhogs and Bill LaBounty. Somewhere in between his failed Skateman series and failed Mr. T and the T-Force series (which both sounded like such can’t-miss concepts!), Adams accepted forgettable pop-metal band Trixter as a client, penciling the cover for their first self-titled album in 1990. Though their lone minor hit was called “Give It to Me Good,” Adams apparently never got that memo and accurately portrayed the group as huge tools.

– The Independent has a profile on Jack Kirby.

– Check out the trailer for Dollhouse.

– Mort Walker’s International Museum of Cartoon Art now has a home at Ohio State University.

– Cameron Stewart shares more Seaguy character art.

–The Daily Cross Hatch interviews Gerard Way.

– Tom Spurgeon talks to the Aqua Leung guys.

– The first Scott Pilgrim page ever drawn.

– Forces of Good interviews Gerry Conway.

– Stan Sakai shares his Hulk cover for the Hero Initiative Hulk project.

– Craig Thompson likes to doodle.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

• As you’ve likely already read, Iron Man grossed an estimated $104.2 million domestically and $201 million worldwide in its first five days. That makes it the second-best opening for a non-sequel, behind 2002′s Spider-Man. It also gives Iron Man the 10th-best opening of all time.

At this moment, in Hollywood, a Warner Bros. executive is wondering whether they can just forget about Justice League and the Superman sequel and take another run at Steel. Or maybe a Cyborg feature leading into that Teen Titans movie. Hell, what about the Rocket Red Brigade? A bunch of men in flying armor beats just one guy, right? Right?

• You’ve probably also seen that the sequel is scheduled to open on April 30, 2010, kicking off a summer that will include a Thor movie.

• What does the $100 million milestone mean for Iron Man and the blockbuster? [PopMatters]

• “Why Iron Man is like Steve Jobs.” [Slate]

• Iron Man and (probably) The Dark Knight are Oscar-worthy. [EW.com]

• Stan Lee talks about his Iron Man cameo. [Wired.com]

• Sabbath rules! The movie soundtrack hits stores on Tuesday. [Wired.com]

– Rapper Method Man has a graphic novel coming out in July.

– Here’s an abstract comic by Raymond Pettibon.

– Eric Reynolds has been sharing pages from his sketchbook.

– David Peterson blogs about giving a lecture on Mouse Guard at the Flint Institute of the Arts.

– The Boston Herald covers DC’s Final Crisis.

– Nick Abadzis has set up a mini-site on how he created his graphic novel Laika.

– Optimus Prime, made from cans.

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National Public Radio’s Morning Edition looks at the move into comic books by rapper Percy Carey, novelist Jodi Picoult and TV and movie producer Joss Whedon:

… As Picoult learned, writing in the sequential art form required a different set of skills from the ones she had honed as a novelist.

“I almost have to [write] more like I imagine a director would than a novelist,” says Picoult. “That visualization of how the words are going to play out on the page and where … the camera angle would swoop in to the scene. That was really foreign to me.”

Despite the differences in the writing process, Picoult sees a direct parallel between the graphic novel and other forms of literature:

“In all the years that I’ve been writing — 15 years now — there’s only one genre that’s really debuted in The New York Times Book Review, and that’s the graphic novel,” says Picoult. “And that tells me that someone’s taking them really seriously as a form of literature.”

The website includes John Ridley’s audio story, and excerpts from Buffy the Vampire Slayer #11 and Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm.

NBC has released some more details on the Heroes soundtrack, which comes out March 18. The packaging will include artwork by Steven Parke of each of the bands on the soundtrack, as well as some of Tim Sale’s art used in season two. They also released the complete track listing:

1. Heroes Theme – Wendy & Lisa
2. Fire and Regeneration – Wendy & Lisa (*new release)
3. He’s Frank – Brighton Port Authority featuring Iggy Pop (*new release)
4. All For Swinging You Around – New Pornographers
5. Glad It’s Over – Wilco (*new release)
6. Weightless – Nada Surf (new release)
7. Nine In The Afternoon – Panic! At The Disco (new release)
8. Chills – My Morning Jacket (*new release)
9. Natural Selection – Wendy & Lisa
10. ABoneCroneDrone 3 – Shelia Chandra
11. Not Now But Soon – Imogen Heap (*new release)
12. Jealously Rides With Me – Death Cab For Cutie (*new U.S. release)
13. All Things Must Pass – The Jesus and Mary Chain (*new release)
14. Homecoming – Wendy & Lisa
15. Man In The Long Black Coat – Bob Dylan
16. Maya’s Theme – Yerba Buena (*new release)
17. Keep My Composure – The Chemical Brothers featuring Spank Rock (*new release)
18. Heroes – David Bowie

* Denotes an exclusive new release on the “Heroes” soundtrack album.

Wow, two pop diva stories in one day. Avril Lavigne, who already has some manga experience, is selling an exclusive comic based on her song, “Girlfriend,” at concerts and on her website.

The story, per her website, is about “a girl who wants a boy who’s too good for the girlfriend he’s got.” Kind of like the song, if you’ve heard it.

And if you aren’t a pre-teen girl, there’s another reason this might be worth checking out … per the website, the 92-page, $12.99 comic was written by Gail Simone.

Britney Spears … super hero?

Reuters reports that the pop diva/paparazzi bait’s video for “Break the Ice,” which debuts on a dedicated website next Wednesday, features the singer as “an animated superhero in a futuristic world.” Per Reuters:

The release of the video, along with an upcoming acting role on U.S. television comedy “How I Met Your Mother,” marks something of a comeback for Spears, 26, whose career has been sidelined by psychiatric problems and months of bitter child custody battles.

Spears’ Jive record company said the video was made in South Korea in Japanese anime style. Spears last year released two singles from the “Blackout” album which has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide but whose commercial success pales in comparison to the singer’s heyday six years ago.

Variety reports that Fugees member Pras Michel has optioned film and TV rights to Dark Oz, originally published by Caliber Comics and Arrow Comics:

Screenplay was adapted from the work of original comic creators Aaron Denenberg, Ralph Griffith and Stuart Kerr with plans to begin production at the end of 2008. Pic will be a live-action version of the comic trilogy, which Michel intends to produce as three separate films. In addition to producing duties, Michel plans to star as the Scarecrow.

I’m not familiar with the comic, but there was more about it online than I thought there would be. You can see some pages from the series here and read about it on Wikipedia here.

NBC is releasing a soundtrack for Heroes on March 18 that will feature a mix of new and old songs:

The NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music & Consumer Products Group has set a March 18 release for the album, which will feature exclusive new singles from artists including Wilco (“Glad It’s Over”), Panic! at the Disco (“Nine in the Afternoon”), Imogen Heap (“Not Now But Soon”) and Brighton Port Authority featuring Iggy Pop (“He’s Frank”) as well as classic tracks from Bob Dylan (“Man in the Long Black Coat”) and David Bowie (“Heroes,” as one might have guessed).

It also will include the “Heroes” theme and three other songs by former Prince collaborators Wendy & Lisa as well as Jesus and Mary Chain’s first new studio recording (“All Things Must Pass”) in a decade.

And apparently NBC’s tension with Apple is a plus for Microsoft’s Zune, which has a big Heroes ad on their home page right now:

In addition, “Heroes” executive producer/director Allan Arkush has crafted five music video montage podcasts — featuring “Heroes” footage set to select tracks from the album — that will be exclusively available for free download on the Zune Marketplace online store and for streaming at MSN. Nada Surf’s “Weightless” will be the first available, starting Feb. 29.

The soundtrack, being released through NBC Records, will be available in CD format at Best Buy stores and digitally at Zune and other digital service providers. It is executive produced by music industry veteran Errol Kolosine in collaboration with “Heroes” creator/executive producer Tim Kring and Arkush.

Lucas over at Shotgun Reviews sent me a link to this on Friday, but with WonderCon going on I didn’t have time to follow it. In a post titled “This Lie’s Been Bothering Me…” on his LiveJournal, Hart D. Fisher of Boneyard Press says he published Gerard Way’s first comic:

The most troubling side of this lie is the collusion of the comics industry at large. Boneyard Press was not a small time publisher that was a flavor of the month that got flushed after one year. We published regularly for over 13 years. Boneyard Press was a unique publishing house and held it’s own place in the comics industry, one that has not been filled while I’ve been active in movies. I was listed two years in a fucking row on the Top One Hundred Most Important People In the Comics Industry, and that shit happened a couple years AFTER the Dahmer affair began.

So why was it so easy to pull one over on the public and hoodwink everyone in the comics world that good ol boy Gerard was doing his first published work at Dark Horse?

–snip–

So did a big company like Dark Horse knowingly commit fraud on the public in their advertisements touting these books by Gerard as his first foray into comics, or were they unknowing dupes. How many kids bought this comic book, The Umbrella Academy, because it was the FIRST. It’s a well known fact that the first issue of any new series is the best selling, or the first issue of a celebrity’s FIRST comic ever published. You see where I’m going with this? Sales for a book like that are going to be much higher than for a an old comics pro coming back to the fold now that he’s famous. You think Dark Horse had any part in this, I’ve already shown motive.

Shotgun Reviews contacted Scott Allie at Dark Horse and Gerard Way. Allie said he doesn’t think they ever billed The Umbrella Academy as Way’s first published work, noting that he did something for DC when he interned there. Way said:

I sent [Hart] an email years ago, before we finished ‘Revenge,’ thanking him for believing in me, and never got a response. I think I emailed him once again as well…never heard anything back. I’m not ashamed of what I did for him, and wanted to see him in person and thank him. I’ve never had the chance.

Rolling Stone reports that the Foo Fighters are suing Marvel Entertainment, First Serve International, Toonz Animation India and First Serve Toonz for copyright infringement:

The band alleges that Marvel used “substantial excerpts” of their songs “Best of You” and “Free Me” as the music for the trailer of the new animated series Wolverine and the X-Men. You can watch the trailer here, and it’s pretty obvious that the Foos are used to soundtrack the cartoon’s preview.

The trailer hit the ‘net back at the beginning of February and has since been pulled from YouTube.

E! Online has a few more details:

Per the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, “substantial excerpts” of the tunes “Best of You” and “Free Me,” both off the 2005 album In Your Honor, were used in a teaser for the upcoming animated series Wolverine and the X-Men.

The song samples “were copied directly from the Foo Fighters’ sound recordings of those two songs” and people can watch the trailer online, the suit alleges.

The suit was also filed on behalf of Roswell Records Inc., owners of the master recordings.

(Thanks, James!)

I’ve never been into Transformers, but this IDW Publishing promo is kind of funny.

Leslie Nielsen makes everything better.

Superhero Movie. The question is: did they clear the name “superhero” with Marvel and DC?

Indy’s hat and jacket

IndianaJones.com has a new featurette about Indy’s iconic look and trying to recreate it for the new movie.

Indy’s trailer

Apparently, the teaser trailer for Indy and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be attached to The Spiderwick Chronicles when it hits theaters on Thursday. You can catch it earlier than that though on Thursday’s Good Morning America, sometime between 8-9 am. After that, it’ll be available on IndianaJones.com and Yahoo! Movies.

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