Category: News

Nickelodeon Announces “Best Kids’ Graphic Novel Awards”

  • News
  • August 16, 2008

Nickelodeon Magazine recently announced their first-ever awards for kids’ graphic novels, and creators should take note of the open call for submissions. The awards, which will be given out in in spring 2009, are intended to honor "the best comic books and animated novels for kids published across the U.S."

Also worth noting is the pedigree of judges who will be evaluating submissions. Dave Roman, co-creator of one of my favroite webcomics, Teen Boat, will be joined by former DC associate editor Chris Duffy in determining the best of best in kids’ graphic novels.

Here are some details about the awards:

All graphic novel submissions must be submitted before Sept. 30, 2008. A list of books for kids to vote on, pre-selected by the Nickelodeon Magazine editorial staff, will be available in the December issue and online. The results will be announced in print and online in spring 2009 in conjunction with the release of Nickelodeon Magazine’s popular annual cartoon-themed issue.

Publishers interested in submitting graphic novels should send two copies of each title no later than Sept. 30, 2008. Submissions should be mailed to:

Chris Duffy or Dave Roman
Graphic Novel Award
Nickelodeon Magazine
1515 Broadway 37th Floor
New York, NY 10036.

Before you get your hopes up, however, keep in mind some words of advice from Gary Tyrrell of Fleen.com, who I assure you is not advocating murder in pursuit of childrens’ literature glory:

Got something that’s appropriate for the 7 to 13 crowd? Send it in and get yerself a little publicity. You probably won’t win unless you kill Kean Soo. Please note that this is not a suggestion that you kill Kean to improve your chances, ’cause he’ll just get the sympathy vote.

Check out the Nickelodeon Magazine website for more information.

Bigfoot Found, Cryptozoo Crew on the Way… Coincidence?

  • News
  • August 16, 2008

With all of the recent chatter about Bigfoot being discovered in Georgia, it seems appropriate to mention some big news regarding one of the upcoming series you’ll be seeing here on ComicMix — because if anyone can determine whether that’s a real Bigfoot in the cooler, it’s the Cryptozoo Crew.

Previously published by NBM, writer Allan Gross and artist Jerry Carr’s Cryptozoo Crew is headed to ComicMix for an all-new online series exploring the facts, fables and funny business surrounding mysterious creatures like, for example, Bigfoot. In fact, Gross has promised that the first storyline in the series will involve our ol’ buddy from Georgia — so the timing couldn’t be better, eh?

In case you haven’t been keeping up to snuff with the goings-on of the ‘Crew, here’s a quick synopsis of the series, according to Gross:

The story of CRYPTOZOO CREW is the story of Tork Darwyn and his wife Tara. Tork is a Cryptozoologist. He can understand all the "unknown" animals he discovers, but can never figure out his wife (or wife to be in this origin story). It is a mix of Indiana Jones adventure and Moonlighting/Romancing the Stone type male-female (mars/venus) relationship interaction. All ages appropriate.

What’s more, Gross tells me that Cryptozoo Crew was recently optioned for film adaptation by Alcon Entertainment — so it might be a good idea to get to know Tork and Tara real soon. (Well, before all that fame goes to their heads, that is.)

You can find out more about Cryptozoo Crew on the series’ official website, www.cryptozoocrewonline.com.

 

 

Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Aquaman and me, by Martha Thomases

  • News
  • August 16, 2008

Watching the Olympics, like so many other things, reminds me of super-heroes.

Not that I watch a lot of the Olympics. The jingoistic nationalism of the coverage disturbs me. While I admire the perseverance and determination and hard work of the athletes, I don’t find it particularly heroic. Heroism, I think, involves putting yourself out for the benefit of others. Competing in the Olympics may be a way to test oneself, to try to attain an ideal of physical perfection and international harmony, but it doesn’t benefit others. Unless, that is, your idea of benefiting others is enriching the corporate coffers of the sponsors, the networks, and the governments that use their victories for propaganda purposes.

But I digress …

To look at me, you would not think that there was a time when I could have been an Olympic-level athlete.

And you’d be right.

However, I was on a swim team for most of a decade. From the time I was five until I aged out of the league at 15, I swam every summer for a local league, and every winter for the YMCA. This meant hours and hours every week, swimming laps until my eyes were red from chlorine (this was before racing goggles) and my lips were blue.

I loved being able to hold my breath for a long time, and I loved the way my body felt when I was slicing through the water. My body made sense, hips powerful enough to keep my torso level while I kicked. I loved wearing a racing tank, sleek and fast, like a superhero costume. Of course, I thought I was Atlantean, like Aquaman. It would be so much cooler if I could breathe underwater, like he could.

Writers complain that it’s hard to write stories for Aquaman, that his only powers are that he can breathe underwater and communicate with fish. Some examine the possibilities of the strength he must have to live under water, and how tough he must be to withstand the cold of the ocean. I think there’s an entire world to explore on the ocean floor, and that a character who can breathe water and air is inherently more versatile than one who can breathe only air. (more…)

Robbie Greenberger, R.I.P.

  • News
  • August 16, 2008

robbie-1-4900308We are incredibly sad to have to report that Robbie Greenberger, son of DC and Marvel alumni and ComicMix contributor Robert Greenberger, passed away on Thursday evening after a months-long struggle with leukemia. He was 20.

He is survived by his father, mother Deb, sister Kate, and everyone who knew him, all of whom are staggered by the news. Bob has been blogging about the entire course of treatment, and has written up the final week.

Friends may greet the family Sunday from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. in the Spear-Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road., Fairfield. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, August 18, 2008 at 1 p.m. meeting directly at Saint Pius X Church 834 Brookside Drive, Fairfield. Interment will be private at Oak Lawn Cemetery, Fairfield. In lieu of flowers contributions in Robbie’s memory may be made to The Tommy Fund for Childhood Cancer, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, 20 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511-3202 (www.tommyfund.org). For information or to offer an online condolence, please visit www.spearmillerfuneralhome.com.

Black Ice: See Spot!

  • News
  • August 15, 2008

In today’s brand-new episode of Black Ice, by Mike Baron and Lee Oaks, Neil learns a lot from his new friend, Spot.  Spot can’t talk, but there’s a lot it can do.  Will Neil be able to use this knowledge?  Will he be able to use it in time?

Credits: Mike Baron (Writer), Lee Oaks (Artist), Bob Pinaha (Letterer), Matt Webb (Colorist), Mike Gold (Editor)

Skrull Marketing Department Invades Twitter

  • News
  • August 15, 2008

You have to hand it to Marvel Comics’ online marketing crew. From the viral success of their MySpace "Home Invasion" video series to a Twitter presence that seems to grow exponentially every day, the Merry Marvel Marketing team seems to be firing on all cylinders (or whatever the digital equivalent might be) these days. Their latest foray into the online world is a Twitter user going by the name of "Embrace Change" — a very green user, with some distinguishing features around the chin area.

Here are some of the observations offered up by Embrace Change today:

We have traveled across the universe to save you from yourselves.

We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to save you.

While I applaud the original art that Marvel seems to have created for the Twitter profile of Embrace Change (I’ve posted the user image here), thus far the account doesn’t appear to be much different from the multitude of Twitter-spam marketing ‘bots out there. It features random cryptic remarks about the Skrull’s mission on Earth, and appears to be following every Twitter user whose profile it comes across. Heck, if you substitute the whole "Skrull’s mission on Earth" part of that last sentence with "profitability of an ambiguous moneymaking scheme," you’ve got a pretty good description of the last dozen-or-so spammers I’ve blocked on my own Twitter account.

An "A" for effort, though, Marvel crew… consider my interest piqued.

An Animated Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

  • News
  • August 15, 2008


Long after the notion of a Buffy Animated Series has come and gone, a brief clip from what would-have-been has popped up on YouTube. The idea that the show is still in the works seems pretty far fetched, seeing as how most of the cast has moved on far from the world of Sunnydale and Vampires, but its still a nice piece of Buffy nostalgia to watch.

 

“FreakAngels: Book One” Concludes, Collection Teased

  • News
  • August 15, 2008

Fan-favorite writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield concluded the first chapter of their grand experiment in the webcomics world today, posting the final six pages of FreakAngels: Book One were earlier this morning. Ellis and Duffield aren’t wasting any time, either, as Book Two of the series begins next week.

In addition to posting the final pages of the first chapter of FreakAngels, Ellis also pointed readers of his "Bad Signal" mailing list to some new images and information related to the upcoming FreakAngels collection due out in November 2008 from Avatar Press. Here’s a quick roundup of where to find out more about what’s planned for the FreakAngels project:

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Watchmen” Trailer Prompts 1 Million Sales in ’08?

  • News
  • August 15, 2008

The New York Times is reporting that DC has ordered around 900,000 additional copies of Watchmen printed since the trailer for the film adaptation of the graphic novel debuted last month. Only 100,000 copies of the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons project sold last year, but DC’s president and publisher, Paul Levitz, says he expects to sell more than a million by the end of 2008.

“As far as we can tell from our conversations with the book industry people, there has never been a trailer that did this,” said Paul Levitz.

As we reported late last month, Watchmen has occupied a prominent spot on various bestseller lists for the last few months due to anticipation of next year’s feature film adaptation of the project, due out March 6, 2009.

Click here for information about where you can view the trailer, or you can view a gallery of images from the Watchmen trailer here on ComicMix.

Robert Kirkman’s Creator-Owned Call-Out?

Reaction to Robert Kirkman’s recent "mission statement" video has been creating quite the buzz around the comics industry lately, and rather than surfing every message board, column and blog in the comics world to find out what everyone’s saying, there are a few good places to go for roundups.

First off, here’s the video that started all of the hub-bub:

 

 

 

While the banjo music used in the video has actually prompted a discussion of its own on some sites, JK Parkin over at Blog@ has put together an exceptionally comprehensive roundup of who’s saying what and where it’s being said around the ‘Tubes. Naturally, one of the busiest (and awesomely snarky) chats about the video is currently underway over at The Bendis Board, including this bit from Bendis himself: " … coming soon from image comics: MASSIVE GENERALIZATIONS!!" More can be found at the sites Parkin lists in the roundup, with others poppingup here and there on various other sites. (Or possibly, this one?)

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