The Ruby Files cover artist, Mark Wheatley loves reading. He will be offering the poster above for FREE at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend, with the purchase of any other item from his booth! Get an extra for your local library!
Mark’s a fantastic artist. You’re sure to find all manner of cool items at his booth.
Stop by and say howdy.
Tell ‘im Rick Ruby sent ya!
The Shadow Fan returns for Episode 40! This week, Barry Reese responds to listener feedback, talks about The Shadow Now series that’s coming from Dynamite and offers up a trio of reviews: The Black Falcon (1934), The Salamanders (1936) and The Shadow # 15 (Dynamite, 2013).
If you love pulp’s greatest crimefighter, then this is the podcast for you!
Listen to The Shadow Fan Podcast Episode 40 now at http://theshadowfan.libsyn.com/the-black-falcon
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| Cover: Dean Haspiel |
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| Cover: Darwyn Cooke |
Archie Comics has tapped an A-List line up of talent to celebrate the launch of their new Red Circle Comics series, The Fox. Award-winning creators Mark Waid and Dean Haspiel craft the story inside the book, which also includes variant covers by Darwyn Cooke and Fiona Staples.
THE FOX #1
NEW RED CIRCLE SERIES!
From the world of the New Crusaders, comes the FANTASTIC debut of the high-flying FOX! Emmy Award winning writer/artist Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma, HBO’s Bored to Death) and Eisner Award winning writer Mark Waid (Daredevil, Thrillbent) bring the legendary, pulp-style hero The Fox to life in “Freak Magnet, Part One: The True Face of MyFace”! When photojournalist Paul Patton, Jr. donned a super hero costume,
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| Cover: Fiona Staples |
he thought it would be a quick way to make some news—now the strange and unusual just can’t help but be drawn to the freak-magnetism of the fabulous fighting FOX! While working on a puff-piece at the Red Circle Gazette, an evil truth about social media mogul Lucy Fur is discovered, bringing Paul face-to-face with a criminal kingpin! Get in on the ground floor with the hottest new fall series featuring art and story from the biggest names in comics today! Get freaky!
Plot/Script: Dean Haspiel, Mark Waid
Art: Dean Haspiel, Allen Passalaqua, John Workman
Cover: Dean Haspiel
FREAK MAGNET Variant: Dean Haspiel
Running with the Foxes Variant Cover: Darwyn Cooke
High-Flying Variant Cover: Fiona Staples
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| Cover: Dean Haspiel |
Shipping Date: 10/16
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops:
32-page, full color comic
$2.99 US.
Click on images for a larger view.
Everyone’s packing for ComicCon – and so are we, but we wanted to take time to get you our regular Preview of the things at the show you might miss. There is something for everyone here – even if you aren’t coming to San Diego. Then we are back again in a few drays with more news from the ComicCon floor plus our talk with Vera Farmiga and there cast of the new film, THE CONJURING opening this weekend. For instant updsates from the floor of the biggest event of the year, be sure to stay locked on The Point Radio!
This summer, we are updating once a week – every Friday – but you don’t have to miss any pop culture news. THE POINT covers it 24/7! Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.
The final ballot for the 2013 Harvey Awards is now available. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry’s most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. The 26th Annual Harvey Awards will be presented Saturday, September 7th, 2013 as part of the Baltimore Comic-Con.
If you are a comics professional, you can vote online at harveyawards.org/2013-final-ballot/. This will enable easier and faster methods for the professional community to submit their nominees. Ballots are due by Monday, August 19, 2013.
And the nominees are… (more…)
1. It would be carry more weight if the Dragon Con Director of Media Relations would not use the asterisk in his job title.
2.They’d get more search engine optimization if they got rid of the space too.
Here’s the press release:
How to Spell Dragon Con
Dragon Con Now Spelled Without Asterisk
Atlanta, GA, 2014 – As part of the recently announced merger that created Dragon Con, Inc., we have elected to change the style and spelling of our name. Going forward, the proper style and spelling of the convention is Dragon Con (two words, no asterisk) while the company is Dragon Con, Inc.
We hope that by providing this style note, it will be easier for reporters and editors to write about Dragon Con by eliminating questions about usage. We also believe that a consistent spelling of the name will make searching for stories about Dragon Con on your website or on the Internet more complete.
It is entirely possible that you will see printed materials at Dragon Con 2013 that still show the company or event name using the asterisk. These materials were printed before the merger. Materials printed in the future will be consistent with the new style.
####
—
Thanks!
Dan Carroll
Dragon*Con Director – Media Relations
http://mediarelations.dragoncon.org
mediarelations@dragoncon.org
LA-based illustrator, animator, and artist Brian Kesinger has just released his first book, Walking Your Octopus: A Guide to the Domesticated Cephalopod. I first came across Brian a few years ago when I was the judge for the WeLoveFine steampunk tee shirt art contest, where he submitted “Walkies for Otto”. He won that contest and thus started the Internet’s love affair with his adorable characters Otto and Victoria. Since then, Otto and Victoria have grown to encompass books, prints, shirts, and more. Brian was good enough to sit down with me for an interview on his new book, upcoming projects, and the very important question of “why the octopus?”
ComicMix: How did you get started in the arts?
ComicMix: How did all this Steampunk style art you started doing in 2010 come about?
Brian Kesinger: I had been drawing steampunk art before I knew of that term. Back in 2000 I was doing layout and background design for Walt Disney animation studios on the film, Atlantis. It was on that film that a grew fond of drawing submarines, gears and gadgets. After that I moved on to the film treasure planet where I continued my alternate history aesthetics that time with the mixture of tall ships and sci-fi. It wasn’t until recently that I started doing my own steampunk art and I think my passion for the subject matter stems from the education I had on those films.”
ComicMix: Can you tell us a little about the new book you have coming out?
Brian Kesinger: My book, walking your octopus: a guidebook to the domesticated cephalopod is based on two of my more popular original characters, Otto and Victoria. It’s not your typical storybook. It reads more like an owner’s guide to pet octopuses. (Think of a Victorian era “puppies for dummies”)
It’s sort of a satirical look at how we all can get a little carried away with how we raise our pets. It’s certainly inspired by my own dog Scout but also inspired by the ups and downs of raising two young children with my wife. My hope is that the book speaks to not only steampunk fans but pet owners and parents as well.
ComicMix: Why the Octopus?
Brian Kesinger: I find octopuses extremely fun to draw. It is a real challenge inventing eight different things for them to do in every image. They are nature’s original multi-tasker and they certainly have captured the imagination of a lot of people. Along with the squid and other Cephalopods, octopuses seem to be a sort of theme animal for steampunk so when I set forth trying to render an image of a high class Victorian lady and her boutique pet the choice was obvious. What was not obvious was how popular Otto has become since I first drew him a year ago. He has inspired fan art, tattoos and I’ve even seen girls cosplay Victoria and conventions around the country! And for that I am so grateful and it keeps me drawing octopus.
ComicMix: What other things do you have coming up that we all should look forward to?
Brian Kesinger: Well my first love is movies. It’s why I have wanted to work in animation. So I have been developing several short film ideas and in addition to that I am in the very early stages of developing a full length feature of Otto and Victoria’s adventures. I would love to see a beautifully rendered steampunk animated film and I can’t think of any characters better suited for that than Otto and Victoria. Stay tuned for more details!
In a few days, I’ll be in California. Not in San Diego, but in California. I’ll get the good weather without the mobs.
It is the habit of old farts (check out our editor-in-chief’s tirade in this space next Wednesday morning) such as myself to complain about the San Diego Comic Convention. It’s too big. It’s not about comics anymore. Nobody kisses my ass anymore. I don’t have an expense account. (Those last two might be unique to me.)
My major philosophical objection is that a fine, non-profit educational organization has been completely co-opted by Hollywood. True, comic book companies used the occasion of the convention to promote their books, but the convention was at least about comics. Now, it’s a stop on the promotional train for television, movies and video games, complete with red carpets and stylists.
And, apparently, rock bands. Metallica will be performing a live concert for those lucky enough to get tickets (in case you haven’t waited in line for Hall H long enough), to promote their new movie.
Metallica is no doubt a fine group of people (although their music is not my genre), and, since they’ve been together since 1981, they aren’t exactly amateurs at attracting and keeping fans. They should live and be well.
But, as the New York Times story in the link reports, there is going to be a panel about rock music at the Con. And it will include people who score movies, but not the people behind the new Dark Horse graphic novel, The Fifth Beatle, which actually combines rock music and comics. It won’t include John Holmstrom who was combining rock’n’roll and comics even before Metallica was a band.
Look, I enjoy soundtracks as a musical form. Mark Knopfler did some of my favorites. It is an interesting and a demanding musical form with its own unique challenges and structures. There are lots of places that could host interesting panel discussions on the subject with a variety of experts, including composers, directors, and editors. I just don’t think the panel, as described in this article (and maybe it’s not accurate? Could happen) is that kind of conversation.
If you are going to San Diego, I hope you have a fabulous time. I hope you get into The Black Panel because it is so much fun. I hope no one hits you in the face with a backpack.
And, if you’re really lucky, I hope you find some cool new comics.
SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman
SUNDAY: John Ostrander
Scott Lobdell talks on ComicVine about raising money for We Can Be Heroes:
I’m a big fan of crowdsourcing — for comics and graphic novels on sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. So far I’ve only watched from a distance, calling attention to special projects and generally being a cheerleader for the ambitious creatives involved in these passion projects.
That was until DC Comics asked me to participate in their crowdsourced We Can Be Heroes fund-raiser — part of their ongoing initiative to raise money for and awareness of the plight of the hungry in the Horn of Africa.
My “bosses” gathered a veritable Who’s Who of some of DC and Warner Bros. most talented creators and said I could hang out with them and help a worthy cause in the process. We’re signing super exclusive and limited run graphic novels, animated movies, caps, T-shirts, prints and other assorted products (Did I mention you can have yourself written into a DC Comic? Or that none other than Jim Lee will come to your town and paint a mural on your wall?) with all the money going to fight something far more destructive than anything Lex Luthor has ever come up with on his worst day.
The best part about this campaign? It really does give the fans the opportunity be the hero here: every dollar you commit goes directly to International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps and Save the Children to help fund their efforts on the ground in the Horn of Africa. Every donation, no matter how small, helps.
In this particular case the goal is to raise $100,000… and we’re halfway there!
So please, take a moment – -watch the video — find one of the multitude of special incentives from the likes of Scott Snyder, David Goyer, Greg Pak, Kenneth Rocafort, Jim Lee, Geoff Johns, James Tucker, Mike Carlin… and some guy named Scott Lobdell!
Is it a donation? Is it a special purchase?
Call it what you will… it is an opportunity to help a worthy cause!
It’s a chance to show that, really, We Can Be Heroes.
www.indiegogo.com/projects/dc-entertainment-we-can-be-heroes-superman-edition
via Scott Lobdell on WE CAN BE HEROES — A Crowdsourcing event! – Comic Vine.
Comics and New Pulp writer and Comics Historian Jim Beard is the guest on this week’s episode of the White Rocket Podcast. Jim joins Van Allen Plexico to discuss everything from Sgt Janus to the 1960s Batman TV show!
Find the show here:
http://whiterocket.podbean.com/2013/07/09/white-rocket-031-batman-and-more-with-author-jim-beard/
The White Rocket Podcast is produced by White Rocket Books and is a part of the ESO Network of shows.
Contact Van via http://www.plexico.net
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
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