Elmer
Written & Illustrated by Gerry Alanguilan
Published by SLG

After reading Gerry Alanguilan’s chicken-centric Elmer, I’m left wishing that he didn’t need to spend precious hours inking other people’s comics to pay the bills.  So I’ll ask you all to go pick up a copy of this amazing book so Alanguilan will have money and time to devote to his own comics.

Elmer tells of a world where chickens, spontaneously, gain human-level intelligence. Told via the framing device of a son reading a father’s journal, the story deals simultaneously with its titular lead character’s struggle for acceptance in the post-talking-chicken world, while his son, Jake, copes with his father’s death and the anger that comes of being a disrespected, often mistreated minority. Firstly, Elmer is beautifully drawn, with detailed renderings and careful pacing. Alanguilan lays out each page precisely, building emotional connections with close-ups, while pulling back to give proper impact and scale to the dramatic confrontations that occur frequently throughout the narrative.

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Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer

Written by Van Jensen

Drawn by Dustin Higgins

Published by Slave Labor Graphics

Who knew Pinocchio was such a badass? Well, he is in this 128 page graphic novel. Just released in time for Halloween, “Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer” is a treat combining horror and humor. This isn’t coming from the Disney “Pinocchio” either but a far more earthy version in keeping with the original 1883 tale by Carlo Collodi.

This Pinocchio has a sort of Scott Pilgrim energy to it. When his father/maker, Geppetto, is killed by vampires, that seals the deal: a wooden puppet vampire slayer is born. All he has to do is tell some lies, watch his nose grow and then snap it off to instantly dispatch any blood sucker. And if he needs back up, there’s always his faithful surrogate dad, the other carpenter, Master Cherry. With his own modified machine gun, “The Monsterminator,” he’ll get anything that might try to get away. And no cute cricket in a top hat here. This cricket gets routinely stomped on within an inch of its life.

Dustin Higgins sure knows how to create a world. His live wire brush work is crooked, jaggy and sharp. The buildings themselves have character. And he is certainly in tune with Van Jensen’s writing as each balances the laughs with the spooky stuff. Within this world, tension mounts and the vampires do feel like a real threat.

Speaking of Scott Pilgrim, there are hints that we may see more of a growing boy’s life in future installments. In this first book, Pinocchio is caught in a bashful moment as he chats it up with a girl he is sweet on. But, of course, he is mostly concerned with killing vampires.

By the end of the book, there have been a whole lot of changes and a whole lot of issues dealt with so it will be interesting to see what happens next. “P:VS”  began as a one panel gag by Higgins and was transformed by Jensen into a full-fledged serious, yet funny, work.  One thing is for sure, the creative team of Van Jensen and Dustin Higgins are two to keep an eye on. You can pick up a copy here.

What’s better than one iPhone distribution app? If you’re SLG Publishing it’s two!

SLG has announced that it will partner with iPhone applications Panefly and comiXology to distribute its comics to iPhone users.

Both applications will have the same books, such as online-only The Warlord of Io as well as books such as The War at Ellsmere and Chumble Spuzz.

“I think a key to success in publishing at this juncture is to make sure our titles are available in as many channels as possible,” said SLG president Dan Vado in a release. “Digital distribution could be as important for us as our distribution through Hot Topic was a few years back. Sales in that channel actually helped us create new readers for us.”

I… well, there really are few words I can use to describe SLG Publishing’s preview for Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer, other than “awesome.”

The original graphic novel by writer Van Jensen and artist Dustin Higgins will be out in September. It deals with the wooden puppet boy swearing revenge on the nocturnal bloodsuckers after they kill Geppetto.

Really, in any event, you could not have a higher concept if you put it in a hot air balloon — I am really pumped to see what happens here.

It’s a curious irony that Charles Dodgson is an extremely difficult writer to follow, and yet writers and artists of all kinds are constantly attempting to do just that.

Alice in Wonderland adaptations, parodies, reimaginings, homages, allusions and riffs are as common as can be, yet relatively few of them end up being worthwhile. That’s part of what makes Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew’s Wonderland (Disney Press) graphic novel such a joy to read.

As difficult as following Dodgson may be, Kovac and Liew actually had an even more difficult task still. Their Wonderland was originally published as a six-part comic book series from SLG, part of the publisher’s 2005 licensing agreement with Disney (along with Haunted Mansion, Gargoyles and Tron), so not only were they doing a comic based on the original Wonderland books, but they were doing a comic based on a beloved, classic animated adaptation of those beloved, classic books.

That can’t have been an easy balancing act to strike, and yet if the creators were sweating at all during the creation of the work, it sure doesn’t come through in the finished product: They’ve produced a comic book that should amuse rather than insult fans of the original prose books, a comic that continues elements of the Dinsey movie without coming across as a cheap cash-in along the lines of the company’s direct-to-DVD sequels and prequels, and, perhaps most remarkably, a comic book that is recognizably theirs.
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SLG Publishing will provide a unique opportunity for those interested in breaking into comics with its latest Creator’s Studio series event on May 16 held at The SLG Art Boutiki and Gallery in San Jose. For only $15 admission, you get to attend a day long event chock full of industry tips and culminating with a live drawing demonstration by the artist of the Eisner Award nominated humor series Chumble Spuzz, Ethan Nicolle.

“The revival of the day-long event was a big success,” said SLG President and event organizer Dan Vado. “We had one guy come all the way from Oklahoma just for the seminar. I think we may have hit on something and the upcoming events can only get better.”

The tentative panels for Creator’s Studio IV include:

Preparing a Proposal – Taught from the SLG Publishing perspective, Dan Vado will go over what should and should not go into your written project proposal to a comics company. Also covered will be what to put into your portfolio and how to handle yourself when you are planning to show your work to editors at a convention.

Good Design/Bad Design – SLG Art Director Scott Saavedra goes over good and bad design choices and how they apply to comics and graphic novels.

In addition to being SLG‘s Art Director, Scott is the creator of Comic Book Heaven, a book series that looked at comics from the Golden and Silver Age with an eye towards examining the goofier aspects of those books.

Conjuring a page – Artists in semi-residence Ethan Nicolle sits down at his drawing table and demonstrates his drawing and storytelling techniques. This is an interactive demonstration, questions are encouraged. Ethan will show how he breaks down a page and take a page of script and show and explain his thought process for creating a finished piece. Ethan is the Eisner Award nominated creator of Chumble Spuzz and is one of the funniest and most inventive creators to hit SLG Publishing in a long time.

The Creator’s Studio seminar is not a how-to-draw class, a certain amount of proficeincy on the part of attendees is assumed. While some attention will be paid to the basics of drawing, for the most part this session will be devoted to storytelling and design. Recommended age for this seminar is 16 or older.

Cost for the event is $15, tickets should be purchased in advance at www.slgcomic.com/workshops or at http://cstudio4.eventbrite.com

The SLG Gallery will be open late the night before the event as the site has become an official venue for Left Coast Live, a downtown San Jose music festival. More information for that event can be found at http://www.leftcoastlive.com. “Anyone coming a long distance for the event should make a point of stopping by, we will be letting Creator’s Studio attendees into the gallery free,” said Vado, ” we will have loads of live music going on until late that evening and the downtown itself should be pretty jumping.”

For more information about SLG Publishing or the Creator’s Studio series contact Dan Vado at dvado@slgpubs.com or call 408-971-8929

It’s a curious irony that Charles Dodgson is an extremely difficult writer to follow, and yet writers and artists of all kinds are constantly attempting to do just that.

Alice in Wonderland adaptations, parodies, reimaginings, homages, allusions and riffs are as common as can be, yet relatively few of them end up being worthwhile. That’s part of what makes Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew’s Wonderland (Disney Press) graphic novel such a joy to read.

As difficult as following Dodgson may be, Kovac and Liew actually had an even more difficult task. Their Wonderland was originally published as a six-part comic book series from SLG, part of the publisher’s 2005 licensing agreement with Diseny (along with Haunted Mansion, Gargoyles and Tron), so not only were they doing a comic based on the original Wonderland books, but they were doing a comic based on a beloved, classic animated film adaptation of those beloved, classic books.

That can’t have been an easy balancing act to strike, and yet if the creators were sweating at all during the creation of the work, it sure doesn’t come through in the finished product: They’ve produced a comic book that should amuse rather than insult fans of the original prose books, a comic that continues elements of the Dinsey movie without coming across as a cheap cash-in along the lines of the company’s direct-to-DVD sequels and prequels, and, perhaps most remarkably, a comic book that is recognizably theirs.

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SLG Publishing has announced that it will rerelease the series Stitch in honor of the book’s 10th anniversary.

Stitch, which was created by Tommy Kovac, was the story about a rag doll waking up in an attic with amnesia. Stitch is the only denizen of the playroom to question his surroundings, as he wonders about life outside, as well as the motives of his owner, Granny Pairley.

This new edition will not only collect all four original issues, but will include addition material including an illustrated prose epilogue.

Describing the project, Kovac told SLG, “”It seems like the quest for identity is obviously my own journey in defining myself as a creator… whether I intend to or not, I always wear my heart on my sleeve. I wish I knew how not to do that! But there it is.” You can read an interview with the author on SLG’s web site, linked here.

[Image via Tommy Kovac.]

Print may be dying, but some people are putting out really great arguments for its continued existence.

The glossy magazine Coilhouse is one of those arguments. Billed as “A love letter to alternative culture,” it’s kind of goth-y and kind of steampunk-y and completely gorgeous.

Among the goodness in the current issue: full-color cutout paper dolls by Molly Crabapple, interview with comics creator Andy Ristaino, Margaret Cho, and lots of pretty, pretty pictures.

Warren Ellis says you want one, and who are you to tell Warren Ellis no? Or me, for that matter?

Faith Erin Hicks’ new graphic novel The War at Ellsmere (SLG Publishing) is pretty much perfect.

I don’t mean that this is the Platonic ideal of a comic book, or that this is one you’ll find on the shelves in the library in heaven, or that it completely changed my life, or that if Hicks asked me to join a new cult she was thinking of starting up (Unless this theoretical cult of hers has health insurance).

But the story—on the plot, character and narrative level—is absolutely perfect, with each piece of the work fitting together so that they all work in unison; no words or images are wasted. Some of this perfection is somewhat transparent, as when a minor element from earlier in the story becomes important later on, so perhaps its not perfectly perfect, but as I closed the book and first started to return to the real world I was reading it in after the time spent in the one Hicks created, the first thing that impressed itself upon me was that this was a carefully created work by someone who knows the medium so well she can manipulate it effortlessly to tell the story she wants to tell.

But enough vagaries and appreciation of Hicks’ mastery of mechanics, what is this story Hicks is telling?
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The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Vanguard Films has acquired the rights Steve Emond’s Slave Labor Graphics comic Emo Boy. Emond himself will be writing the screenplay adaptation, while Kyle Newman has been tapped to direct.  The article goes on to give a definition for “emo” (which is pretty funny, considering that the thing that emo has become now, which is more or less Goth-lite, is about 10.4 light years away from the “emotional hardcore” of the Washington D.C. punk scene where the term first originated).  This is great news for Emond; perhaps THR will spell his name correctly in the future.

I’m also amused by the line that “Vanguard discovered the book at Comic-Con”.  I like the notion of Production Assistants with mining hats and flashlights, trolling the booths for potential properties.  Actually, that’s not too far from what actually happens.

Director Newman does bring some cult cache to the project.  He’s the guy that directed Fanboys, the film that’s most famous for putting Kristen Bell in the Slave Leia ensemble.  That will finally open in February.

• Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch blog shares the Dr. Manhattan character banner from the Watchmen movie.

• In his weekly Q&A column on MySpace, Joe Quesada spends the entire column answering fan questions, as his regualr partner in crime, Jim McLauchlin, just had a new baby. Congrats to the McLauchlin family and their new son, Logan.

• Johanna Draper Carlson shares the process she went through in judging the Isotope Award For Excellence in Mini-Comics, and lists five other contenders she liked.

• SLG shares progress on the creation of their new retail store.

• This list of 50 facts about Barack Obama says the U.S.’s new president is a fan of Conan the Barbarian and Spider-Man.

• Early Star Wars storyboards. Via.

• 14 movies have been submitted for the Oscar’s best animated feature category, including Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda and the unreleased Bolt.

• Season premiere updates … Lost returns Jan. 21, and 24 returns Jan. 11.

SLG Publishing will open their own “Boutiki” in San Jose, Calif. this December. The shop will carry graphic novels, books, toys and art prints, and will display art by comics artists.

Per the press release:

The Boutiki’s December 5 grand opening will feature a gallery show with fine art by SLG comic artists, including Evan Dorkin, J.R. Goldberg, James Turner, Camilla d’Errico, Lesley Reppetaux, S. Eddy Bellows and Evan Waldinger. Limited-edition prints of some of the pieces will also be available to purchase. There will also be a special signing by S. Eddy Bellows to mark the release of his new graphic novel Lulu and Mitzy, live music and refreshments.

Keep an eye on their blog for “in progress” pictures of the store as they prepare it for the grand opening.

– 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.

Variety reports that Paramount has optioned Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery, a webcomic written by Dave Roman that was collected by SLG Publishing a couple of years ago.

According to the trade:

Thor Freudenthal (“Hotel for Dogs”) is attached to direct, and Evan Spiliotopoulos is writing the script.

Pic marks the first acquisition for Adam Goodman since transitioning from DreamWorks, where he shepherded “Hotel for Dogs.”

Graphic novel’s title character turns 16 and inherits from her grandfather an estate and an ability to see and communicate with the dead.

Actually that’s kind of a weak description; I prefer the one on SLG’s site:

Agnes Quill is the story of a teenage detective, the haunted city she lives in, the strange cases she solves, and the ghosts who help, hinder, or just plain annoy her. Set in Legerdemain a congested, fog-filled, cobblestone-paved Victorian city built around a cemetery the size of Central Park Agnes adventures include confrontations with trapped spirits, cursed souls, possessed relatives, disappearing pets, decapitated scientists, ambitious zombies, and a mess of other supernatural oddities. Written by Dave Roman, and featuring stories illustrated by Jason Ho, Jen Wang, Jeff Zornow, and Eisner nominee, Raina Telgemeier.

The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, moves from its typical springtime home to the fall this year … or, more specifically, to this coming weekend. The small press comics show will be held Saturday and Sunday at the San Francisco Concourse.

Special guests include Jessica Abel, Paige Braddock, Megan Kelso, Matt Madden, Ethan Nicolle and Chris Ware. The programming schedule includes panels with each of them.

In addition, the exhibitor floor will be filled to the brim with all sorts of comic retailers, creators and publishers, from mini-comics to bigger publishers like Image, Fantagraphics, SLG, IDW and Oni. I personally plan to help stimulate our faltering economy by spending a bunch of money on cool comics this weekend.

Here’s a sample of what some of them have planned … if you’re exhibiting at the show and would like a mention, let me know; I’ll post again later this week.

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• Artist Jim Rugg shares a commission he did for a local comic shop.

• Joshua Dysart has started a blog on his site about his Vertigo title The Unknown Soldier, where you’ll be able to check out a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff like script excerpts, pencils, layouts, etc.

• Friends of Lulu is looking for nominees for treasurer, reporting secretary and membership secretary for their board of directors. Lulu President Valerie D’Orazio has more details.

• Mark Evanier reports on the death of Tom Fagan, who was responsible for the annual Halloween parade in Rutland, Vt. “Writers and artists from the industry journeyed to Rutland to participate in the festivities, often in costume, and art began to imitate life: Many comic book stories were done that were set in Rutland involving DC and Marvel heroes actually attending,” Evanier writes.

• Austin English has a new blog where he’s interviewing various comics creators like David King and Dylan Williams.

• Just in time for your Halloween viewing pleasure, SLG Publishing posts a creepy story on their website — “The Addlepated House of Odds” by Kurt Hartman.

• The Sardinian Connection posts Mike Carey’s afterword from an Italian tribute book to Watchmen (the afterword is in English, BTW).

• Don MacPherson wonders why he hasn’t seen more about Stephen Colbert’s comic book tie-ins on The Colbert Report.

• Shannon Smith takes a look at the minicomic anthology Not My Small Diary #14.

The Wretch, Volume One
Written and Illustrated by Phil Hester
AmazeInk; $13.95

I’ve been a big fan of Phil Hester’s art since his Green Arrow days. I think it was The Atheist or thereabouts where I realized he could write too and became an even bigger fan of that part of his career. Since then, I’ve slowly been tracking down stuff like The Coffin, Stronghold (which I hope he and Tyler Walpole will finish some day), and now The Wretch.

I didn’t know what to expect from The Wretch. I guess from the costumed character with the pitiful name I figured it must be about some kind of under-appreciated superhero. Knowing Hester’s other work, I knew there had to be something else to it than that, something deeper, but I never anticipated the metaphysical questions Hester introduces.

I remember reading something Hester said in an interview or wrote in an article when The Atheist came out. He wouldn’t pin down exactly what he was trying to say in The Atheist, but he did specify what it wasn’t doing. He wasn’t trying to declare his world-view through the mouth of his title character. He was, in fact, coy about what his world-view actually is. I’d be putting words into Hester’s mouth to try and paraphrase further, but the feeling I got was that he was trying to raise some worthwhile questions without specifying what he thought the answers are. I see a lot of that in The Wretch too.

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• If you’re a fan of The Amazing Race, check out Batton Lash’s illustration of Mark and Bill, the pair of comic fans on the current season of the show.

• Act-i-vate has a preview of Michel Fiffe’s upcoming graphic novel Cuba.

• Thought Balloonist Craig Fischer interviewed cartoonist Ben Towle for Stay Tooned! magazine, then posted the leftovers that didn’t make it into the interview on his site.

• Brendan Wright reports on a recent appearance by “The Un-understandable Understanding Comics” creator, Art Spiegelman, who is making the rounds to promote his new book Breakdowns.

• Jake Parker, who is working on a new book starring his Missile Mouse character from Flight Explorer, shares a lot of early sketches from the past 15 years or so of the character.

• And finally, SLG Publishing is holding a contest related to their upcoming graphic novel, The War at Ellesmere by Faith Erin Hicks:

Illustrate a moment from school that you find particularly memorable, and email it to me at slgchief@slgpubs.com. Please include your name. Faith will choose three winners of The War at Ellsmere School Memories Contest –

1. An all-around winner, based on artwork and originality
2. An originality award, based on the concept of the illustration
3. An artwork award, based on those fancy drawing skills.

You can read my interview with Faith here.

Faith Erin Hicks, 28, burst onto the comics scene last year with Zombies Calling, a fun take-off on the “rules” of horror movies that was published by SLG. This month’s issue of Previews includes her latest work, The War at Ellsmere, which is about “queen bees and mythological beasts” at a girl’s boarding school.

I interviewed the Canadian creator over email to find out more about her background, the new book and what she thinks about “comics for girls.”

JK: When did you decide you wanted to make comics for a living?

Faith: I … uh, don’t yet make comics for a living. Maybe someday! That’s a question I ask any full-time cartoonist I happen to bump into: how do you make a living wage doing this? So far the answers have been varied. And the term “living wage” gets me laughed at a lot. Not many make a living wage.

But as for the WANTING to make a living from comics, it’s a fairly recent goal. I have a background in animation and writing. In university I was an English major and wanted to be some sort of writer (what kind, exactly, I never discovered), then fell in love with drawing towards the end of university and ended up getting in to Sheridan College’s classical animation program after that. So I’ve been working in the animation industry, off and on, for the past four years, and drawing comics on the side.

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