Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of the best games of 2009. Only four months after its release, Rocksteady and DC Comics are already giving us a teaser trailer and a new website for the sequel.
Color me excited, but aren’t we at least a couple years away from a sequel?
With this many twos, you’d think the Harvey was Harvey Dent.
The 2009 Harvey Awards were given out tonight at the Baltimore Comic-Con in a ceremony MC’d by double nominee Scott Kurtz. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art.
All-Star Superman repeated the win for best continuing or limited series, with Grant Morrison picking up the Best Writer award. Last year’s best writer winner, Brian K. Vaughn, picked up the award for Best Single Issue for Y: The Last Man #60. In the two-time winners, The Umbrella Academy won for best artist Gabriel Ba and best colorist Dave Stewart, the Mark Evanier biography Kirby: King Of Comics won for best historical/journalistic and excellence in presentation, and Al Jaffee won for best cartoonist and a special award for humor in comics.
Special awards were given by the Hero Initiative: the Humanitarian Award was given to Neal Adams for his years fighting for creators, and Baltimore Comic-Con organizer Marc Nathan received a surprise award just because he puts on a great show.
Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators – those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. This was the fourth year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD.
The full ballot is listed below, with winners listed in bold. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.
Loverboy, which purports to be something of a dramatized autobiography, will be released
by Vanguard Publishing in December. Joe Kubert and Neal Adams contributed cover blurbs; Irwin has been a teacher at the Kubert School.
In addition to Wildcat and Dondi, Hasen had been a regular
contributor to the golden age versions of Green
Hornet, Green Lantern, The Flash and Justice Society of America, among many others.
It’s ironic that on a day that many people in the world are talking about the Beatles in one form or another, people in the comics industry are asking if Paul is dead.
Certainly, you don’t see this amount of coverage of a man’s life until his funeral. It reminds one of Twain: “They say such nice things at a man’s funeral that it’s a shame I’m going to miss mine by only a couple of days.” Paul Levitz has had many, many nice things said about him. Mark Evanier may have the best post placing Paul’s place in historical context so far:
DC and Marvel could not now interface with Time-Warner and — assuming the deal goes through — Disney if they had not evolved from hot dog joints into real businesses.
Many have taken credit for that evolution, including some who fought it until it became inevitable and a few who resisted even after that time. Among those who honestly do deserve great credit is Paul Levitz.
Kurt Busiek also sums up:
Paul has been at the forefront of just about every industry
development of the last couple of decades, and has been key to how the
industry’s shaped itself over those years. Shifting from a
periodicals-only business to a strong backlist-oriented business with
trade paperbacks and hardcovers, adding imprints like Vertigo, creating
new opportunities for creators and for creator ownership, seeing that
DC gave a fair (or at least fairer) deal to the creators who originated
the concepts that turned up in DC-based movies, from Arkham Asylum and
Lucius Fox to Robin’s motorcycles (yeah, because they called Chris
O’Donnell’s ride the “Redbird” in one of the movies, Paul Levitz saw to
it that Chuck Dixon got money) and more, Paul was an important part of
a huge number of changes that DC’s seen, and that the whole industry’s
seen. Some of them big changes everyone’s noticed, some of them
behind-the-scenes stuff few people know about.
Heidi MacDonald, another one of us who toiled in the vineyards under Paul, said: “Paul is one of the smartest, kindest people I’ve ever worked with. He changed comics for the better in such vast ways that it’s hard to imagine where the industry would be without his stewardship. I wish him all the best.”
Marv Wolfman said: For years now, Paul has talked about retiring someday soon and
returning to writing, his first love. For that reason alone I am so
happy for him because I know that’s what he deeply cares about and has
been wanting. As readers, we are in for some major treats. I
can also say, without fear of rebuttal by anyone who is in the know,
Paul is probably the best, the smartest, the most creative and the most
moral Publisher the business has ever seen. Most fans have no idea how
important Paul is, not only to DC, but to the entire industry. I have
often said, and mean, that without Paul there very well might not be a
comics industry today. I am not speaking in hyperbole. I am being
literal; I mean exactly what I wrote.
And I’m fond of Rich Johnston’s comment: I asked Keith Giffen what was up with Ambush Bug. He told me “He’s taking Paul’s job.”
One more thing that I’ve been told that I haven’t seen mentioned: Paul contributed tremendous numbers of comics to Len Wein when he lost his collection in the recent fire. Huge numbers.
So now what? Me, I’m just waiting for those great Legion stories… hey, and what is it with guys who write Legion going on to become head honchos at comics companies? Paul Levitz, Jim Shooter with Marvel, Valiant and Defiant, Mark Waid at BOOM!… what makes it such a prerequisite?
In a not-unexpected move, Warner Bros. has taken complete control of DC Comics, renaming the company DC Entertainment and promising to integrate the publishing house’s work into its existing divisions.
President and publisher Paul Levitz, an employee of the company for nearly four decades, is relinquishing those roles and will go back to writing comic books for the company. He will also be serving as both an editorial consultant and as a transition consultant for the new operation.
Rumors, of course, run rampant, the most persistent being DC’s possible move to Los Angeles. Levitz has had an “I don’t have to move west” clause in his employment contract, which adds fuel to this fire.
Unlike the Disney / Marvel situation, Warner Bros. is clearly moving DC’s various operations into its mainstream, so it is logical to expect that a great many changes lie ahead. When Disney announced its purchase of Marvel, they said they were leaving its management team in place.
Full details from Warner Bros’ official press release follows.
WARNER BROS. CREATES DC ENTERTAINMENT
Diane Nelson to Serve as President, DC Entertainment
Paul Levitz to Segue from President & Publisher of DC Comics
To Writer, Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant to DC Entertainment
(Dateline – Burbank, CA) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI) has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros.
DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.
In her new role, Nelson will report to Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, in order to best capitalize on DC Entertainment’s theatrical development and production activities and their importance to drive its overall business with each of the divisions of Warner Bros.
Nelson will bring her expertise and more than 20 years’ experience in creative brand management, strategic marketing and content development and production to ensuring DC Entertainment’s dual mission of marshalling Warner Bros.’ resources to maximize the potential of the DC brand while remaining respectful of and collaborative with creators, talent, fans and source material. Additionally, Nelson will continue to oversee the franchise management of the Harry Potter property, which she has done since 2000, and also continue to represent the Studio’s interests with the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling. Nelson will segue from her post as President, Warner Premiere but maintain oversight responsibilities of that division. (An executive succession plan for Warner Premiere will be announced shortly.)
Paul Levitz, who has served as President & Publisher of DC Comics since 2002, will segue from that role to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to DCE. This transition will take place as expeditiously as possible without disrupting DC’s business operations.
In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media. Additionally, he will consult as needed on the transition and integration of the DC Comics organization into DC Entertainment and will utilize his unique experience, knowledge and relationships with the comics industry’s creative community to help achieve DC Entertainment’s goal of maximizing the value of DC properties. Further, Levitz will advise DC Entertainment on creative and rights-holder relationships, in particular regarding the legacy relationships that have been a part of DC Comics for decades.
Widely recognized and respected for his support of writers, artists and creators in the comics industry, Levitz is best known creatively for his work with DC Comics, having written most of the classic DC characters, including Batman, Wonder Woman and the Superman newspaper strip. At Comicon International in 2008, Levitz was awarded the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award as part of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the only industry executive ever so honored.
“DC Comics and its super hero characters are truly touchstones of popular culture, and the formation of DC Entertainment is a major step in our company’s efforts to realize the full potential of this incredible wellspring of creative properties,” said Meyer. “Diane knows our studio as a creative executive, a marketer and a senior manager, and this varied background will help her effectively and creatively integrate the DC brand and properties across all our businesses. We’re also thrilled that Paul will remain involved with DC and we’ll be able to tap his expertise to help us reach our goals for this new business.”
“It’s no secret that DC has myriad rich and untapped possibilities from its deep library of iconic and lesser-known characters,” said Horn. “While we’ve had great success in films and television, the formation of DC Entertainment will help us to bring more DC properties across additional platforms to fans around the world, while maintaining brand integrit
y and authenticity. Diane is a terrific choice to lead DC Entertainment, and with Paul in his new role as a valued consultant and contributing editor, both our company and comic fans win.”
“Based on the great success we’ve had working with DC Comics to create some of the most popular and successful super hero films of all time, I’ve long believed that there was much more we could do across all of Warner Bros.’ businesses with this great body of characters and stories,” said Robinov. “The prioritization of DC and the creation of DC Entertainment is a great opportunity that reaches far beyond the film group. There are endless creative possibilities to build upon the many significant successes already achieved by my colleagues Kevin Tsujihara and the Home Entertainment Group in the videogame, home video and direct-to-platform arenas and Bruce Rosenblum and the Television Group in live-action, animated and digital series. Collectively, we have the ability to grow a body of properties highlighting the iconic characters and the diversity of the creative output of DC Comics.”
“The founding of DC Entertainment fully recognizes our desire to provide both the DC properties and fans the type of content that is only possible through a concerted cross-company, multi-platform effort,” said Nelson. “DC Entertainment will help us to formally take the great working relationships between DC Comics and various Warner Bros. businesses to the next level in order to maximize every opportunity to bring DC’s unrivalled collection of titles and characters to life.”
“After so many roles at DC, it’s exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage,” said Levitz. “It’s a new golden age for comics and DC’s great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time.”
DC Comics will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010 (NEW FUN COMICS #1, the first DC comic, began publishing in 1935), at which time more explicit details regarding DC Entertainment’s corporate and management structure, film and content release slate, creative roster and business objectives will be unveiled at a multi-faceted anniversary celebration and press conference in the first quarter of the year.
Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:
– “Human Target” is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.
– “Midnight Mass” is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.
– “Jonah Hex,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.
– “The Losers,” Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures’ action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.
– “The Green Lantern,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.
– “Lobo,” based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.
– Warner Premiere’s direct-to-platform DVD animated release of “Green Lantern: First Flight” debuted July 28.
– Warner Bros. Animation currently produces “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” which airs on Cartoon Network.
– Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released “Batman: Arkham Asylum” on August 25, a dark, action packed videogame adventure for Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows.
Prior to being named President, DC Entertainment, Nelson most recently served as President, Warner Premiere since its founding in 2006. Warner Premiere is a Studio-based production company which develops and produces high-quality, direct-to-DVD and short-form digital content, including the highly successful line of DC Universe animated DVD titles, and also pioneered the development of the motion comics category. Under Nelson’s leadership, Warner Premiere functions as a full-service production entity with its own resources and release schedule, furthering the Studio’s mandate of being a destination for both established and up-and-coming talent to create stand-alone properties as well as experiment in new media.
Before that, Nelson served as Executive Vice President, Global Brand Management, Warner Bros. Entertainment, with the primary responsibility of working cross-divisionally and throughout Time Warner to maximize and optimize all the various windows and outlets available to the Studio’s signature franchises, brands and event properties on a global basis. In this post, Nelson’s primary focus was the management of the Harry Potter brand, which she has overseen since the brand’s launch at the Studio in 1999. These efforts have helped drive the success of the brand to become the most successful film franchise of all time, as well as a respected consumer property that has generated billions of dollars for the Studio.
At Global Brand Management, Nelson and her team of more than 15 employees worked in all media and platforms to support a number of other key franchise properties, including “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Happy Feet,” “Polar Express” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” among others.
Prior to overseeing Global Brand Management, Nelson had
served as Executive Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures. Nelson rose quickly through the ranks, having also served as Senior Vice President, Domestic Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures and prior to that, Senior Vice President, Family Entertainment, Warner Bros. Corporate Worldwide Marketing and Planning. She was also Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Promotions, a post to which she was promoted in March 1998, after joining the Studio in September 1996 as Director of Worldwide Corporate Promotions.
Nelson came to the Studio from Walt Disney Records, where she served as Director of National Promotions. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.
Hello ComicMix dwellers (and loyal FOMAFers…). I come to you today a bit… deflated. Why you ask? Because I just took a sneaky-peak over at the Chicago Comicon’s exhibitor list and program schedule. Long story (…forthcoming…) short? It’s not looking great on paper. This angers and frustrates me to no end, but I digress. The more I get angry at this, the brighter the silver lining comes creeping in. Confused? Now, I ask unto you my loyal readers, all seven of you, to take this brief journey with me on the anger-train. After we reach the end of the journey, you’ll see why our last stop is in Happyville.
The Backstory
The Chicago Comicon (as long as I’ve known it, mind you) was built on the ‘Wizard World’ platform. (Yes, I know it predates Wizard, but that’s not how I experienced it.) Growing up on comics in the 90’s meant Wizard was my one-stop shop for all the hip and trendy news about comic books… whilst the “internets” was still in it’s primordial-ooze phase. My first con, sadly, was right prior to my senior year in high school. Even back then (and if you ask Glenn, or Mike, or Russ, or really, a lot of people patrolling this site) it wasn’t that long ago, this con was pretty darned cool. I’m a mid-westerner mind you, so trekking to SDCC is NOT in any Chicago-kid’s budget. But it never mattered. SDCC was always at the beginning of the summer, and Chicago’s was at the end. There was enough time for people to calm down, and as Dan DiDio says (said) every year… “Chicago’s con is always about the books. Always about the fans.”
Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image all put up HUGE booths where fans could grab free schwag like buttons, posters, and bookmarks. Samples and previews of forthcoming issues adorned tables behind which our favorite creators were signing piles of their own penned materials. Beside these mammoth booths sat smaller publishers, just as happy to show off their wares. And of course beyond that lay the monstrous sea of dealers, and beyond that still, the indie and mainstream friendly confines of Artist Alley. When time came that one could be sick of this massive room of geekocity, there sat a bevvy of panels where the pros came to sit and talk to their fans nearly face to face on a multitude of topics. Some came for the sneak peaks of the years books to come, some (like me) came for the free hints and tricks to learn in the schooling panels, and some came for screenings of geek-laden cinema. All in all, it was wrapping up Christmas Channukkah, my birthday, and your birthday all in one long weekend.
And every year since, for the next 7 years, I went as a fan. Last year I went for the first time as a “semi-professional (having published a graphic novelette in 2008. Over the course of these last 8 years now, looking onto my 9th, I’ve begun to see my “Rome” begin to crumble. (more…)
Boy, it’s been taxing today. Here’s a list of quick comic-related items that have piled up here…
Any more? COnsider this an open thread.
Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…
* Even Batman can’t save everybody at Warner Brothers from a lousy economy. Reuters reports the studio is considering ways to cut its budget by 10 percent, saving tens of millions of dollars via layoffs or other steps. "No decisions have been made," said a Warner Bros spokesman regarding the cost cuts, which are widely expected to result in an unspecified number of layoffs at the studio. Warner Bros is owned by Time Warner Inc, which last week projected a loss for the year, compared with a previous forecast of earnings of $1.04 to $1.07 per share.
Hey… isn’t DC Comics owned by Warner Brothers? Watch your backs, folks.
* Hexed #1. Free. Downloadable. CBZ file, even. Enjoy. I did.
* ICV2: "Titan Books has announced the expansion of its publishing agreement with Golden Age comics pioneer Joe Simon, the co-creator of Captain America. This summer Titan will launch The Official Simon and Kirby Library, which will now include full color hardcover volumes collecting Simon & Kirby’s horror, detective, and romance comics." I detect the fine hand of Steve Saffel in this; way to go, Steve.
* According to a recent study, forty-six per cent of Canadians can’t name a single Canadian writer. Here, let me give you two. Ty Templeton. Robert J. Sawyer. You’re welcome.
* Laurel Maury reviews Jonathan Lethem’s Omega The Unknown for NPR. (Come back to the Malibu, Laurel, we miss you!)
* Friday night’s airing of the start of season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica will run 3.5 minutes long according to information released by SciFi. Dish Network has already adjusted the run time but you should double check any PVR’s you may have set up. You’ve been warned.
* An interview with Dean Mullaney.
* Why I dislike Batwoman too.
Anything else? Consider this an open thread.
Comic du jour from Hugh MacLeod, the creator of Mr. Hell.
Batman’s next animated incarnation will take on the form of Batman: The Brave and the Bold debuting on the Cartoon Network wnext Friday night. This is based the DC Comics titles that evovled into a team-up title between super-heroes and ultimately featured Batman as its co-host from issues #73 though its cancellation with issue #200 in 1983. The animated series targets a younger demographic than the most recent animated incarnation.
Each episode will introduce Batman to a partner and a villain from the DC universe. Fans of Frank Miller’s comic book Batman and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movie franchise should take note that this particular series focuses on the more jubilant and innocent aspects of the iconic character. The color palette seems to be brighter than the animated series of the mid nineties, and viewers can expect a throwback to the golden and silver age DC Comics.
After speaking with Story Editor Michael Jelenic, it became clear that this series was a throwback to an older more simple time for comics and super-heroes. Jelenic said that the dark, brooding Batman had become the norm, and by creating this series they were doing something different that the hardcore comic heads and kids could all enjoy together.
“Previous incarnations of Batman were serious. This was an opportunity to go into a new series, and see how Batman interacts with different characters from the DC Universe.” These different characters all come from the extensive DC mythos, and many of these characters have never appeared in cartoon form before. Animated versions of the rarely seen Blue Beetle and Red Tornado will make their small screen debut with Brave and the Bold. When asked if this new take on the Batman will affect die hard fans of Frank Miller’s Batman or Christopher Nolan’s movie version, Jelenic responded by saying, “You will always have people that think you got it wrong. Anytime you deal with icons you run that risk, but if the series doesn’t talk down to the viewer, then you can get it right.”
Typhon
Dirty Danny Press, $24.95
At 50, I’m pretty set in my comic book reading habits. Having been raised largely on the output from DC Comics and Marvel, I have fairly mainstream tastes. Now and then, though, I push myself to see what else is out there. As a result, reading Danny Hellman’s recently published [[[Typhon]]] anthology was an eye-opening experience.
The 192-page full-color trade paperback allows me the chance to see who else is producing comic book work. Typhon takes its name from Greek mythology and is a creature with hundreds of hissing serpents, outdoing the Medusa. Venom was said to drip form their eyes and lava to be spit from their mouths. There are no super-heroes, no continuing characters, nothing based on a media property (although Droopy appears in one story). Each tendril from the creature’s head is the product of the fertile imagination of the 42 creators who contributed to over the course of several years.
Hellman may be best known for his [[[Legal Action Comics]]] in addition to his own work at Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and the Village Voice. Promoting the book, he said, “I realized that I was looking at a far more ambitious book than what I’d done previously. The work presented in Typhon covers a wide spectrum of what’s possible in comics, from zany, offbeat humor to unnerving existential angst, and on to chilling horror, all of it brought to life with breathtaking, cutting-edge artwork.
“Anthologies give us the opportunity to enjoy work by talented cartoonists who, for whatever reason, don’t produce enough material to fill out solo books. As an editor of anthologies, I’m excited to provide a showcase for artists and work that we might not see otherwise. Diversity makes for a richer comics scene.”
Everything he says is correct and to be applauded. I really enjoyed the colorful, inventive use of the page from Hans Rickheit, Rupert Bottenberg, Tobias Tak, and Fiona Smyth. They created visually arresting images and used color in appealing ways. On the other hand, I could not make heads or tails out of Bald Eagles’ eight page head trip that is hard on the eyes and unreadable.
On the other hand, way too often I’d reach the end of these short works and scratch my head. “What the hell was that all about?” was a repeated refrain. I’m used to stories about character or stories about something. Yet, these works seem to be characters and situations that begin and end and say nothing. Too frequently, I think the creators were out to amuse themselves, forgetting their audience. Rick Trembles’ “[[[Goopy Spasms]]]” feels like it was done because he could not because he had something say or share and was generally off-putting.
Hellman told Tom Spurgeon, “…It can be tough to pin down precisely what ‘good drawing’ is. Ultimately, beautiful art is a matter of taste. Drawing chops, anatomical knowledge, the ability to recreate the natural world in two dimensions and have it be both accurate and pleasing to the eye; these are important. But what’s really vital is that we connect with the art on an emotional, perhaps spiritual level.”
I’m all in favor of creative freedom but if someone wants my $24.95, then the editor of the collection has to step up and guide the talent to make certain their point, if there is one, gets across, from page to reader. Here, Hellman spectacularly fails.
He kicks off the collection with his own “[[[The Terror in Peep Booth 5]]]” which looks and reads closest to a mainstream comic, complete with beginning, middle and end. After that, though, it’s all over the place. Perhaps the most moving piece is Tim Lane’s “The Manic Depressive from Another Planet”.
I enjoyed being exposed to new voices and talents but come away disappointed that there are all these people with very little to say.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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