Tagged: DC

#SDCC: Semi-liveblogging the Eisner Awards

  • News
  • July 25, 2009

The 21st annual Eisner Awards, the “Oscars” of the comics industry, will be given out at a gala ceremony at a brand-new location: the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront. This year’s special them is “Comics and All That Jazz.” Scheduled presenters include writer/actors Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Reno 911, Balls of Fury), acclaimed comics creators Jeff Smith and Terry Moore, actor/comedian Patton Oswalt, actor/musician/writer Bill Mumy, actress/musician Jane Wiedlin, and G4’s Blair Butler, with many more to be announced.

Other prestigious awards to be given out include the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, and the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The master of ceremonies is Bongo Comics’ Bill Morrison.

We’re going to cover it as best as we can here… boldfacing the winners as they are announced.

8:46: Neil Gaiman tweets: “on my way to present eisner award. Car just pulled over for illegal left turn. Will we make it?”

9:03: Heidi MacDonald tweets: “No phone coverage in Indigo Ballroom so NO live Twitter Eisner Awards. #techfail”

Hmm. This will make life challenging. Time to get a goat to sacrifice…

9:12: Neil made it.

9:14: First winner of the night: Best Publication For Kids: Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)

9:16: Best Publication for Teens/Tweens: Coraline.

9:28: Robot6 enters the liveblogging! And they report:

Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien: The Drowning, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #19 (Acme)

Best webcomic: Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil

9:45: Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Guy Davis, BPRD (Dark Horse)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Jill Thompson, Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

9:51: Best Cover Artist: James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)

9:54: Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland
(www.comicbookresources.com)

10:06: Running back and forth posting here and tweeting each award individually is exhausting… but it’s all worth it for you. :-*

Best Comics-Related Book: Kirby: King of Comics, by Mark Evanier (Abrams)

Best Publication Design: Hellboy Library Editions, designed by Cary Grazzini and Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)

10:14: Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: Creepy Archives, by various (Dark Horse)

10:17: I’m soooooo glad my iPhone app is updating me on all the Eisner winners.

10:24: Best Humor Publication: Herbie Archives, by “Shane O’Shea” (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: The Last Musketeer, by Jason (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan: Dororo, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)

10:47: Jane Wiedlin tweets: “Im @ Eisner Awards getting ready 2 present. Major wardrobe malfunction in pedicab on way here. Front zipper burst on dress exposed all 2 all!”

10:55: Whoops, missed some:

  • Tate’s Comics in Fort Lauderdale won the Spirit of Retailing Award.
  • Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award presented by Mike Royer — winner is Eleanor Davis, writer/artist of Stinky

Hall of fame inductees:

11:11: The home stretch! Here we go!

Best Writer: Bill Willingham, Fables, House of Mystery (Vertigo/DC)

Best Writer/Artist: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library (Acme)

Best New Series: Invincible Iron Man, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca (Marvel)

Best Limited Series: Hellboy: The Crooked Man, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

11:15: Best Continuing Series: All Star Superman. by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)

Continuing?!? Since when? Take it away and give it to Miss Congeniality. (That’s Andrew Pepoy, right?)

11:22: Best Short Story: “Murder He Wrote,” by Ian Boothby, Nina Matsumoto, and Andrew Pepoy, in The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror #14 (Bongo)

Hey, Andrew did get an award right after I said to give him one! I promise to use my powers only for good…

11:33: The last batch:

Best Anthology: Comic Book Tattoo: Narrative Art Inspired by the Lyrics and Music of Tori Amos, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Image)

Best Reality-Based Work: What It Is, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Hellboy Library Edition, vols. 1 and 2, by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)

Best Graphic Album—New: Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf)

Thanks to the liveblogging of Heidi MacDonald and JK Parkin at CBR and all the various Twitter folks who were eyes and ears for us tonight. I owe all of you. And I’m really glad I didn’t have to pay for the Eisner Award iPhone app.

Full list of nominees with winners bolded after the jump.

(more…)

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#SDCC: ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ movie coming?

  • News
  • July 24, 2009

batman-killing-joke-poster-8302010A reliable source just told me: “Warner Premiere has a great many DC graphic novels in production or pre-production with WB Animation, including The Killing Joke. Scheduling through 2018– including Superman projects.”

A few notes:

  1. Well, it’s not like DC hasn’t made money on Alan Moore projects before.
  2. One wonders if an animated film would satisfy the Siegel lawsuit requiring a Superman film to be in production by 2011.
  3. Are they actually planning Superman films after 2013, after DC loses the copyright to the character?

Very interesting. We’ll try to find out more ASAP.

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#SDCC: DC: Superman: Two Worlds panel

  • News
  • July 23, 2009

superman-dccomics-art-2286364It’s going to be an exciting year for the Man of Steel: Superman group editor Matt Idelson, writers Geoff Johns (Adventure Comics, Superman: Secret Origins), Greg Rucka (Action Comics), James Robinson (Superman), Sterling Gates (Supergirl), and Renato Guedes (Superman) discussed what the future holds for the current New Krypton status quo and answered fan questions. CBR has the liveblog, but here are some highlights:

  • “Hunt for Reactron” will be a Supergirl/Action
    crossover in October, with both series co-written by Gates and Rucka
    for the arc. “It’s a big story with a lot of big, crazy action. And a
    lot of fighting,” Gates said.
  • Geoff Johns briefly ran down what would appear
    in Adventure Comics, drawing laughter when he mentioned “the good
    Teen Titans.” He also said, “If you don’t like Krypto, don’t read our
    book.”
  • The final three issues of the 12-issue World of
    New Krypton     will be an arc tying together developments on Earth with
    those on New Krypton.
  • “Coming out of ‘Codename Patriot,’ we’re going to finish the finish
    the book up to #700, with ‘Mon-el, Man of Valor,’ which will see him
    return darker, with a new purpose, and a new costume.”
  • The Superman Annual will be about the history of Daxam with art by Javi Pina.
  • Sterling Gates mentioned September’s Supergirl Annual, which is
    the origin of Superwoman. “Secret Files” comes out in conjunction with
    “Codename Patriot,” with art by Jamal Igle, Francis Manapul, and more.

  • “You’ll see every Legion in Adventure Comics eventually,” Johns said.

There’s a lot more at the liveblog, so go forth.

One more tragic connection between Michael Jackson and comics

The one Michael Jackson comics reference I haven’t seen mentioned yet is from Wasteland #16 from DC Comics, in a story entitled “Heartshadow” written by John Ostrander and drawn by Rick Magyar. It’s a story where a young fan of “a dark prince named Michael” commits suicide.

Now, in the wake of Jackson’s death, reports are coming in of Michael Jackson fans committing suicide:

Fans of MICHAEL JACKSON have
been hit hard by the star’s death – 12 devotees have allegedly killed
themselves following the tragic news.

The King Of Pop passed away on Thursday (25Jun09) from a cardiac arrest and millions of his fans worldwide went into mourning.

But several of them found it too hard to cope and subsequently
ended their own lives, according to the founder of an online Jackson
fanclub.

Gary Taylor, president and owner of MJJcommunity.com, says, “I
know there has been an increase (in deaths), I now believe the figure
is 12. It is a serious situation that these people are going through
but Michael Jackson would never want this. He would want them to live.

“They (fans) can’t accept it, they feel in some sort of different
reality. I’m stunned that he’s dead. One minute he is coming here for
concerts and the next he is gone. I think the funeral will be where the
reality kicks in that he is gone and won’t be coming back, there will
be a huge depression in the fan community when that happens.”

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2009 Harvey Awards nominees announced

  • News
  • June 30, 2009

harvey-logo01fullcol1nom-8226752The 2009 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the final ballot, presented by the Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con. 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. They will be presented October 10, 2009 in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con.

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. Professionals who participate will be joining nearly 2,000 other comics professionals in honoring the outstanding comics achievements of 2008. Thank you to all that have already participated by submitting a nomination ballot.

Final ballots are due to the Harvey Awards by Friday, August 28, 2009. Full details for submission of completed ballots can be found on the final ballot. Voting is open to anyone professionally involved in a creative capacity within the comics field. Final ballots are available for download at www.harveyawards.org. Those without Internet access may request that paper ballots be sent to them via mail or fax by calling the Baltimore Comic-Con (410-526-7410) or e-mailing baltimorecomicccon@yahoo.com.

This will be the fourth year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD. Our Master of Ceremonies this year will be Scott Kurtz. Look for more details soon on how you can attend the Harvey Awards dinner.

This year’s Baltimore Comic-Con will be held October 10-11, 2009. The ceremony and banquet for the 2008 Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, October 10.

The full ballot is listed below. (more…)

Review: ‘Bayou’ Volume One

One of the first questions posed regarding digital comics is just how you make any money from a strip available for free. The usual answer is that the strip, if it’s any good, will find an audience who will then happily pay for a print compilation. That seems to be the model for DC Comics’ Zuda Comics as they released Bayou
, the first book collecting Jeremy Love’s charming southern serial.

Zuda has been a nice place to find some new talent or see familiar talent try new things. The interface is fairly dreadful but the content is a nice mixed bag, veering just a little too much on the traditional genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Few, though, use the genre as a jumping off point with the same affection and craft as Love’s feature. He called it “a southern fried odyssey”, set in 1933 Mississippi when the races were segregated. Two little girls, one white and one black, play as equals despite their parents’ views. When the white girl goes missing, Lee’s father is arrested for the crime and so begins the girl’s adventure.

Working with 1-4 panels per page (or screen), Love leisurely introduces us to the world of the Deep South and its players. Wisely, they are products of their time but not stereotypes or clichés. His simple art and lush color are wonders I these days of scritchy line art and oversaturated pages. Love knows how to tell a story from pacing to dialogue to art and color. No wonder the strip was lauded last month at the Glyph Comics Awards taking home five awards, including Best Writer, Best Artist and Story of the Year, Best Comic Strip, and his lead character, Lee Wagstaff, was declared Best Female Character.

The problem with the collection, though, is that at 160 pages we get only part of the story. Nothing is resolved and everything is left dangling, forcing you to wait for a second volume or more before we find out who these creatures living in the Bayou are and will Lee be fast enough to save her daddy from a lynching he does not deserve.

The book also lacks any sort of introductory material about the strip, Zuda or Love. All we get are a few sketches at the back to show the development, but even those pages are lacking context.

[[[Bayou]]] in print is a wonder to behold and comes recommended but be careful. Love’s work and the world he created are addictive and you will be left wanting much more.

Z-Cult FM pirate site is closing down… so what?

So, over the weekend, those of us with somewhat shady connections heard about the comic pirate site Z-Cult FM shutting down– living up to their slogan of “Give Me Comics Or Give me Death”, they’ve died. Rather than admit whether or not I got a copy of the good bye letter, I’ll claim I’m quoting from Comic Related:

Dear Cultist, I have decided that within the next few weeks Z-Cult FM
will be slowly closed down and the server put offline resulting in the
death of Z-Cult FM as we know it. Z-Cult FM was born in 2004 and over
the last 5 years has seen many high and low times. I would like to
thank everyone who was involved over the last 5 years in making Z-Cult
FM what it became. I would personally like to thank all the staff past
and present, all torrenters and supporters of the site. I did start
listing everyone by name but the list was too big and was scared I
would miss someone off. Thanks to everyone who posted and helped out in
any way possible. I would also like to unthank all the people who
during the 5 years have caused trouble for the site such as no-ip,
Marvel, DC Comics, etc etc list goes on….. least you made Z-Cult FM
into a soap opera with many dramas along the way. The future for Z-Cult
FM is currently a sad quiet death and a think about it’s future. If it
does return it will be just as a message board for the members who
still like to use it but we will see what future holds.
Thanks, Serj

R.I.P. Z-Cult FM 2004 – 2009

This now brings up the next question: so what? Is this going to make a dent in piracy? I got a note from one of the numerous shady characters I know, and the answer is– probably not.

My first reaction was – doesn’t affect me. I haven’t been to Z-Cult in at least 3 or 4 years. I stopped when it was still big, before they got all of their publicity. Why? Because it was a good place to start and then move on.

What was Z-Cult? Well, for me it was a place where I could find comic torrents to download. I would stop over every few days and see what had been posted. Usually I’d only get the latest comics for that week but sometimes there was something else I wanted. The only problem was that you had to either take the entire torrent or hand pick what you wanted. And if something went wrong, you got what you paid for (in other words, nothing). But as I said, I moved on.

I won’t say where I went or how I got there but eventually I got close to where some high quality scanners hung out. This got me the weeks comics much faster than Z-Cult ever did and also allowed me to get specific files I wanted. Listening to the people there gave me information I didn’t have, including the various troubles Z-Cult was having. But like I said, doesn’t affect me.

There are still things posted to torrent sites and you can find them if you know what to look for. And then there are specialty sites. I get my manga in raw (original scans) and scanlation (scanned with fan translations) formats on one ot two different sites. I read web comics such as Girl Genius from their author’s sites. I’ll even hit the site of a comic company to see what they have that’s nowhere else yet.

And yes, I still buy the comics I like. Sometimes I even get them on a per issue basis rather than in compilations. And if something I download really grabs my attention, I may go out and buy the back issues of it as well.

I don’t know what caused Z-Cult to finally shut down. I also know that there are too many other places to get comics, and there are still lots of people with scanners out there– including comics professionals. And there are still lots of people that want comics that they can conveniently read on their computers– including comics professionals.

Or, to quote the classics, “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”

BookExpo America 2009 recap

As with any convention, a lot of fast, disjointed thoughts kicking around. In no particular order:

  • The most action at the con was in the Diamond Comics aisle and the e-publishers area. Other areas seemed quieter.
  • There seemed to be fewer freebies this year. A lot, in fact. When asking about getting on the press list, most publicists were relieved when I asked for PDFs over paper copies.
  • One paper copy I did get was a preview of IDW’s upcoming adaptation of The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke, taken from the Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) Parker novel. Having read the thing and knowing that they haven’t printed the final version yet, they should just save time and print “Future Eisner Award Nominee” on the cover now. Barnes & Noble is going to move a lot of these babies. (Disclaimer: IDW will be publishing the print version of ComicMix projects, and they picked up the tab for lunch on Friday. We tried, but Ted Adams insisted.)
  • DC did not have an official presence at the con, which considering the amount of backlist books they do is very surprising. Marvel and Diamond did, and seemed to be well rewarded for their efforts, with many people showing up for signings and even more showing up later on Saturday for the finger food and drinks. (Sorry you missed it, Alan.)
  • Lines for comics creators were very long. Neil Gaiman made a “surprise” appearance at the Harper Collins booth signing The Graveyard Book and handing out previews of Odd And The Frost Giants (I say surprise because I don’t remember seeing it on his blog).
    Marvel’s signings for Peter David and Chris Claremont went strongly, Chris estimated that he went through about two and a half boxes of X-Men Forever. I lost track of how many Oz books Skottie Young and Eric Shanower went through.

  • Over at the Image booth, Frank Cho and Chris Giarusso moved a lot of copies of their books as well.
  • The crowd seemed a bit older, even for BEA. Not sure if it’s an actual age difference, or if the young folks got fire from publishing houses, or if everyone at traditional houses were just muted this year.
  • There will be photos surfacing of me and Torsten Adair. I will not say which of us is the evil twin.
  • I had two publishers who knew me from my days as an e-publishing pioneer come up to me and say that their sales in paper were flat and the only bright spots were in e-publishing. Nice to know I’m remembered as a prophet, even if it’s taken a while to get there.

All in all, a decent, if not spectacular, trade show. Always fun to see many of my colleagues in a much less frenzied venue than San Diego or even Wizard World. Hopefully I’ll be recovered in time for MOCCA this weekend. Oy.

Oh, one final shot– this is from Thursday’s CBLDF party, with Denis Kitchen, Heidi Macdonald, Milton Griepp, and ComicMix alumnus Rick Marshall ordering a drink– no doubt steeling himself for the upcoming hell week starting with the MTV Movie Awards and ending with his name being pinned to an idiot in a major motion picture. Pray for him.

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Ecocomics! (Or: where did they get those wonderful toys?)

scrooge-mcduck-8712282If you thought comics weren’t dismal enough nowadays, just wait until they meet up with the Dismal Science. Lo, we shall combine comics and economics and there shall be Ecocomics:

In the Marvel Universe, Canada is responsible for creating some of the
most deadly super-soldiers in history. Wolverine, Sabretooth, Deadpool,
Kane, and Agent Zero were all deadly assassins who were empowered by
Canada’s Weapon X program. This secret division of the Canadian
government went to great expense to create nearly unstoppable weapons
(and in almost all cases, allow them to escape shortly thereafter).
This gives rise to a single question: WHY?

What threat was Canada so afraid of that the government felt the need to constantly produce human death machines?

“Holy Crap, Quebec is getting uppity again, let’s coat another mutant in adamantium!”

Or:

It has occurred to me that building repairs must make up something like
90% of the economy in comic book universes. This must be true to combat
the rampant destruction in the comic book world. Nearly ever major
title from DC comics showcases this constant and overwhelming
destruction. Superman frequently levels Metropolis while “protecting”
its citizens. Riots happen in Gotham City roughly every five minutes. A
FRICKIN DARK GOD POSSESSED EVERY LIVING SOUL ON THE PLANET AND
DESTROYED TONS OF BUILDINGS WHILE BURNING EVERY BOOK EVER WRITTEN!

I can’t wait to see the psych workup on Richie Rich. (Hat tip: Amy Goldschlager.)

Stories That Inspired ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’

  • News
  • April 29, 2009

So you’re excited for the new movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

You’re thinking, man, I can’t wait to see the full-out origin of the Canucklehead himself, the guy who is the best he is at what he does even if what he does isn’t very nice. Now, at least, you can see for yourself the truth behind the project that gave Wolvie his adamantium-laced skeleton, the famous Weapon X Program. And along the way, you get to meet fun guys such as Remy LeBeau (the card-wielding mutant called Gambit) and Wade Wilson, the “merc with a mouth” who calls himself Deadpool.

And yet, we all know films take liberties with the comics they are based on. Many of you are wondering what comic book stories this is lifting from and where you can find those same tales so that you can properly judge the adaptation.

Well, look no further, folks. Here is a small list of stories that are being used as the basis for the new movie. Enjoy!

(more…)

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