• Colleen Doran sent this one over to me — check out some really nice preview pages from an as-yet-unpublished book called Elf~Fin: Hyfus and Tilaweed. They’re looking for a publisher, by the way.

• High Moon creator David Gallaher has a new column over at ComicMix called Mixing It Up, where he “experiences the world beyond comics to discuss the influences, hobbies, and thoughts of your favorite artists and writers.” In the first column, he joins his fellow Zuda compatriots Johnny Zito and Tony Trov for Zombie Prom in Philadelphia.

• If you crave some additional reports from SPX beyond what Chris Mautner has shared so far, you can check out reports from The Beat, Ben Towle, The Daily Cross Hatch, Zack Smith and the Cool Kids Table, a new blog by Marvel’s Ben Morse, DC’s Rickey Purdin and freelancer Kiel Phegley.

• Laura Hudson, meanwhile, returns from SPX wanting to break up with mainstream superhero comics. “Coming directly off of my weekend at SPX, as well as recently reading a string of excellent, engrossing non-superhero graphic novels like Skim, Swallow Me Whole, and Alan’s War, picking up a comic book like Nightwing #149 feels a lot like shutting my hand in a car door,” she says. “And I’m thinking — I’m thinking I should stop doing that.”

• Wayne Alan Harold has pictures from the Mid-Ohio Con.

• Fortress of Fortitude remembers Ann Nocenti’s awesome run on Daredevil.

• SLG is now accepting digital submissions. SLG chief Jennifer de Guzman also has some tips for what she looks for in a submission.

• The Exterminape cometh.

• Todd Dezago, writer of Perhapanauts, is holding a scary story contest on his blog.

• “I remember going from $20 dollars a page, pencil and ink, to $40 a page, pencil and ink. And then, the next two years, every time I took a job in, I got a cut and I ended up at $20 a page again. We were flying without a parachute. I used to be afraid of getting a mortgage.” — John Romita Sr.

• And finally, blogger Sean Kleefeld looks at online comics that are eventually published in print form and the “extras” that they add to the print version.

– Sean Galloway shares character designs for the upcoming SLG series Progeny, one of two projects Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman is doing for the publisher.

– Same Hat is having a Tokyo Zombie giveaway contest.

– And Big Shiny Robot is giving away the Alan Moore DVD.

– More reasons to go to SPX.

– Ben Schwartz on Little Orphan Annie.

– Boo hoo, it’s hard to find comics for kids, waa waa. Someone hand this guy a Little Lulu volume.

– The Simpsons opening, done with Legos.

Compiled by JK and Chris.

Publisher Dan Vado plays host to SLG Office Beautification Adventure: “The floor, which probably if we’d hired professionals to do it, would’ve been done, y’know, in a couple of days — we’re now into Week Two.”

– Big Shiny Robot has a preview up of SLG’s Pirate Club.

– C.B. Cebulski and the Immonens shares pictures from this past weekend’s Fan Expo Toronto.

– G. Willow Wilson begins her own guerrilla marketing campaign for the recently released Air.

– Congrats to our friend Rick Marshall, who is the new co-editor of MTV’s Splash Page blog.

– A Distant Soil creator Colleen Doran shares a tale about how not to make friends in the comics industry … it ranges from annoying to creepy. And apparently one of the folks involved really doesn’t have a clue.

–BusinessWeek takes a look at Marvel and DC’s recent online comics ventures, and in the process asks retailer James Sime what he thinks. I’m going to guess that this isn’t the answer they were expecting:

But James Sime, owner of the Isotope comic book store in San Francisco, isn’t too worried about the impact of digital comics on his business. He says he believes there’s a great opportunity for comics retailers and publishers to learn from the mistakes of the ailing music industry.

According to ICV2, a trade publisher that monitors the business of comics and pop culture, trade paperbacks (collections of single issues in one book) generated $375 million in 2007 and single issues did $330 million that same year. Although Sime doesn’t think single-issue sales will go away, he envisions a scenario in which they are moved from print to online as promotion for the trade paperback. “I’m all about it,” said Sime. “People are excited about comics. The more people get them into their hands, the more they read them—the Internet is a great facilitator for that.”

Halo and Sprocket, Vol. 2: Natural Creatures
Written and Illustrated by Kerry Callen
SLG; $8.95

First thought on receiving a review copy of the book in the mail: Uh oh. I haven’t read Volume 1 yet. I’d better see if I can get that one sent to me so I can review it first.

First thought on reading the letter that accompanied the book: Hmm. It’s been five years since Volume 1 came out. There are probably a lot of folks who haven’t read that one. Maybe I should just dive in and see how it reads to someone new.

First thought five pages into the book: Reads really well, actually.

On the back cover of the book, Randy Lander calls Halo and Sprocket “the perfect sitcom.” With all respect to Lander, I disagree; mostly because that description raises expectations that I don’t know if Halo and Sprocket is trying to meet. I tend to judge comedies on one thing only: how much they make me laugh. And while Halo and Sprocket is cute and charming and insightful, I didn’t find it uproarious or side-splitting. Nor do I think it was intended to be.

Maybe what Lander meant by “sitcom” (I haven’t read his full review) has more to do with the book’s format. It’s not a narrative with a plot; it’s a series of short stories about a young woman who lives with a robot and an angel. More Casper the Friendly Ghost format than Owly, if that distinction makes sense. The stories are all delightful and funny, so yes, “situational comedy” is definitely an appropriate label, but again, you won’t be struggling to breathe from laughing too hard. You’ll be smiling though. Widely.

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Editor’s note: Newsarama contributor and Olympics fan Seth Robison wraps up his series of “tangentially Olympic-related” comics and pop culture moments. You can read more from Seth on the Olympics at his blog Off The Podium.

By Seth Robison

In reality, success and happiness are unfortunately linked to fame and popularity, giving rise to so-called “stage mothers,” parents who relentlessly push their children into careers in entertainment (i.e. following the American Idol auditions around the country) or athletics (been to a Little League baseball game lately?) in order to achieve the former though the latter. However, in a universe like the one that runs though the books of DC Comics, there is another way to make your child’s name last forever: being a superhero.

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I first heard the words “Chumble Spuzz” at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, during the SLG panel. “I like anything that makes me laugh,” SLG publisher Dan Vado said about the book, which at the time was being serialized on their EyeMelt website before the collection came out. He promised a pig possessed by Satan and an over-the-top story, which is exactly what creator Ethan Nicolle delivered in that first volume.

The second volume of Chumble Spuzz came out right before this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, featuring many of the same characters in different but equally as over-the-top situations. Heck, maybe even more so. I interviewed Nicolle over email last week about both books, conventions, poop jokes and working with his brother.

JK: So first off, San Diego … how did the show go for you?

Ethan: I’ve been going to San Diego every year since 2002. This was my first year with books published on SLG, along with a stack of books over at Bad Karma Productions in small press. I brought my brother along, who co-wrote on Chumble Spuzz book 2. We had a blast. I made some awesome contacts this year, and it was awesome how many people knew about my book. BJ Novak, from The Office, stopped my table at the SLG booth. That was cool. But I think the best part of Comic Con is always the group of close geek friends I have that I don’t get to see but about once a year. And slave Leias.

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I can’t remember if we ever mentioned this, but SLG Publishing has started publishing webcomics on their site (as opposed to making print comics downloadable via the web, which they also do through their Eyemelt site). Right now you can read Java Town, Serenity Rose and the latest one, Sparko.

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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I picked up a preview ashcan of Faith Erin Hick’s next comic, The War at Ellsmere, in San Diego. She definitely won me over as a fan with Zombies Calling, so I’m looking forward to buying her sophomore book when it comes out in December.

She talks about the new book over on her blog:

The War at Ellsmere is the story of Juniper, an aggressively self-sufficient 13 year old who wins a scholarship to the prestigious (and slightly creepy) Ellsmere Academy, a girls’ school which Jun hopes will gain her easier entry into ivy league post-secondary schools. While at the school Jun makes friends with a crazy girl named Cassie who thinks there’s a mythical monster living in the forest next door, and offends the school’s alpha student, a dead-eyed, probably dead-souled girl named Emily. Jun’s defiance of Emily leads to an escalating war between the two of them, which finally results in … well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out, won’t you?

I have to tell you, this book has been kicking my ass since January. When I started I was pretty terrified, sure I wouldn’t be able to properly convey the school setting and manage the multiple plotlines, and I took everything I learned from doing Zombies Calling and applied it to this book. I think it is a big step up in terms of storytelling for me. I tried to pay attention to all the legitimate criticisms I received from Zombies Calling and address them (the most common being that Zombies Calling was a bit short; Ellsmere will be nearly 40 pages longer).

You can check out a preview of the book here.

“People keep warning me about this whole thing, but at this point I’m still not sure what to expect. I’m trying to imagine that very first convention I went to crossed with the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan … yet somehow I can’t quite picture it.” — Zombies Calling creator Faith Erin Hicks, who will attend her first San Diego Comic-Con next week.

Lots more to get through this time around, and I’ll probably divide it up into a few different posts today …

*****

First up, I need to add this to my “must buy” list …

Top Shelf will have copies of Essex County Vol.3: The Country Nurse, which Jeff Lemire will be on hand to sign.

*****

If you have any extra bears, Stan Sakai’s daughter is collecting them for the South Pasadena Fire and Police Departments:

Daughter Hannah is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award–collecting teddy bears to donate to the South Pasadena Fire and Police Departments. Bears are given to comfort children after traumatic experiences, such as home fires or domestic disturbance calls.

She has contacted churches and other organizations in the area. If you would like to help, and if you will be at the San Diego Con, bring a new teddy over to our booth–#4906. It is listed in the exhibitor’s guide under “Stan Sakai”.

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SLG Editor in Chief Jennifer de Guzman was kind enough to send over some promo art for the two properties they announced a couple of days ago, Progeny and Mecha-Nation. Here’s Progeny:

And here’s Mecha-Nation:

Both books are created by The Spectacular Spider-Man producers Greg Weisman and Vic Cook. If I’m not mistaken, the art for the Progeny piece (and maybe the Mecha-Nation one as well) is by Sean Galloway, who worked with them on the Spider-Man cartoon. Jennifer added that they don’t have a firm release date yet, as both Weisman and Cook are pretty busy with their animation work, but Weisman would be in San Diego to talk about them.

SLG Publishing sent out a press release today on two new comic series by Greg Weisman and Vic Cook, who produce the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. Weisman, of course, is also the creator of Gargoyles.

Here’s the press release; they’ll have more info on the books in San Diego:

Fresh off the hit animated series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, producers Greg Weisman (Gargoyles) and Vic Cook (Hellboy: Blood and Iron) in collaboration with SLG Publishing announce their latest all-ages creations: Progeny and Mecha-Nation.

In Progeny, teenager Mike Talan’s world is turned upside down when he discovers that he’s inherited his grandfather’s legacy. You see, Mike’s grandfather wasn’t an ordinary man. Mike’s grandfather is a legend. The greatest hero of them all: Night-Ray. Confronted with the discovery of his grandfather’s power-band, flight boots, costume, and journal, Mike decides to try out being a super-hero. He quickly finds himself working alongside other super-powered individuals as they work together to build the foundations of a new era of heroes. An era for Progeny, the next generation of legends that will fight to bring back hope to a weary world.

The New Kid. The Geek. The Rocker. The Cheerleader. The Goth. An unlikely group of friends under normal circumstances, right? But in Mecha-Nation, Glass Lake High School’s newest transfer student, Kevin Cho, discovers that he has a lot more in common with these individuals than just econ class! These kids are more than just homo-sapiens, they’re Mecha-Sapiens! Empowered with the ability to transform into robotic warriors, they are Earth’s latest batch of unlikely heroes; the first of a brand new Mecha-Nation!

Weisman and Cook forged a creative partnership when they were both working for Disney’s Gargoyles animated series in the nineties. “[We] are very excited to reveal the secret world of the Mecha-Nation and Progeny as SLG comic books,” Weisman says.

Progeny and Mecha-Nation will be published by SLG Publishing in late 2009. Greg Weisman will be appearing at the SLG Publishing booth (#1815) during Comic-Con International and will also discuss the two new projects at the SLG Panel on Saturday July 26.

If you were planning on attending the con for just a day or two, it looks like your options are even more limited now — Friday is sold out, according to the official San Diego Comic-Con site.

Before we get into the updates folks sent me, a couple of links:

–Writing for Publisher’s Weekly, Laura Hudson does a deep dive into how the size of Comic-Con has affected the overall experience of attending. Laura does a nice job of tying all the big non-comics properties you can find there, like video games and movies, back to comics … First Second’s Prince of Persia graphic novel, Gerard Way writing for Dark Horse, Steve Niles and all his movie opportunities, etc.

– I don’t think I’ve linked to Tom’s Guide to Visiting and Enjoying CCI in San Diego yet, which has a lot of great tips about the show and San Diego in general. I feel like I’ve fulfilled the community service portion of my parole by sending you to it, esp. if you’ve never attended the show.

Now let’s get into the updates. This time around we’ve got’em from DC Comics, BOOM!, Impact Books, Marc Bernardin and many more. And we still have plenty of time before the show for me to do more of these round-ups, so send me your booth schedules, comic debuts and all that good stuff.

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I thought the first one was great, so I was pleased to hear that Ethan Nicolle has a second volume of Chumble Spuzz coming out in July. To get a taste, MySpace.com has the first 26 pages of one the stories in the book, “Pigeon Man,” up on their comics site. Go check it out.

– The MTV Movie Blog shares a poster from the New York Licensing Expo of … Marvel movie logos! Or at least one semi-official movie logo and some old Marvel Comics logos. I always did love that classic Avengers one with the arrow.

– The big movie companies are preparing for Comic-Con … and are going a little overboard.

– Speaking of Comic-Con, ComicsPRO is hosting a breakfast on Friday morning with free food and free gifts. While I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing, they had me at free food …

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Tonoharu Part One by Lars Martinson, Pliant Press (but distributed by Top Shelf), 128 pages, $19.95.

Travel abroad is supposed to provide a life-changing, mind-broadening experience. It’s an notion that Lars Martinson craftily subverts in the first volume of his ongoing, Xeric-award winning “innocents abroad” story, Tonoharu. (more…)

Lit blog Chasing Ray talks at length with cartoonist Ben Towle about Midnight Sun, his SLG Publishing graphic novel based on the 1928 crash of the dirigible Italia in the Arctic Ocean.

Friends of Lulu recently spoke with Jennifer de Guzman about various topics related to women and comics. During the interview, Jennifer reveals some information on Faith Erin Hicks’ next project:

We’re doing our second graphic novel with Faith Erin Hicks, The War at Ellsmere. She really skyrocketed after the publication of Zombies Calling last year, and it’s been one of our best-selling graphic novels lately. Ellsmere again focuses on female characters, this time freshmen at an elite girls’ boarding school. It deals with bullying and friendship and fostering your gifts. I was really excited when she pitched it because I’ve been thinking a girls’ boarding school comic would be great for a while now.

I really dig this zombie poster, which doubles as a zombie recipe guide.