Tagged: IDW

‘Transformers’ and ‘G.I. Joe’ sets coming to DVD

  • News
  • April 13, 2009

Shout! Factory, the happy folks behind, well, lots of DVD collections (I’m fond of Greg The Bunny myself) has signed a multi-year deal with Hasbro to release DVDs of several animated properties based on the toymaker’s product lines, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Included in the deal are episodes of the 1980s animated Transformers and G.I. Joe TV series , and the direct-to-DVD animated movie My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure.  The Transformers: The Complete First Season  25th Anniversary Edition releases June 16, 2009.  For those of you about to check your calendars, that is a week before Paramount and DreamWorks release Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on June 24.

According to ICv2, Shout Factory plans to release improved versions of the episodes that were previously released on DVD by Rhino, and to complete the GI Joe run, which was only partially completed by Rhino. The episodes will have remastered video and a new stereo soundtrack created from the original audio.  Extras will include a printable script, rare PSAs, toy commercials, concept art, a limited edition Autobot magnet, and the featurette “Triplechanger:  From Toy to Comic to Screen:  The Origins of the Transformers.”

And of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point to the wonderful comics currently coming out from IDW.

The 2009 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees

  • News
  • April 8, 2009

The nominations for the best of the year are finalized. Ballots with this year’s nominees will be going out in mid-April to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers. A downloadable pdf of the ballot will also be available online, and a special website has been set up for online voting. The results in all categories will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 24 at Comic-Con International. More information about the Eisner Awards can be found by clicking here.

Congratulations to Simone & Ajax creator Andrew Pepoy on his nominations for Best Short Story and Best Continuing Series, and to all the other nominees!

Here’s the full list of nominees… (more…)

IDW and ComicMix Join Forces

  • News
  • March 26, 2009

idw-cmx-logo-8952454Well, we’ve been hinting at this for about six months now. Some of you traditionalists have been asking when and how and where and when you can buy printed versions of the ComicMix comics. I’m proud to announce that we have partnered up with our friends at IDW (where GrimJack and Jon Sable Freelance and Mars last appeared) to produce one graphic novel and two comic books each month, starting this fall. Plus hardcovers and omnibuses and such, as the market demands.

O.K., I’m one of those traditionalists as well, and while I love reading this stuff online (particularly on my iPhone), I’m looking forward to seeing them in print. And I’m looking forward to running my typical long-winded introductions in the trades and letter columns — yet, genuine letter columns! — in the comics.

So if you’d like to email us a letter for publication, just post ’em as comments to the comics. Oh, yeah, we’re starting off with GrimJack: The Manx Cat and Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden in mini-series format. As if we should start somewhere else? IDW’s press release, for the record:

SAN DIEGO, CA (March 25, 2009) – IDW Publishing, a leading publisher of comic books and graphic novels, has begun an innovative partnership with ComicMix.com, a free website offering new and classic comics. Through this multi-year agreement, IDW will publish graphic novels, books and comics for ComicMix.com properties, enabling both companies to expand their offerings to customers and retailers, and combine their audience reach.

“ComicMix has a great line up of original and classic brands that are currently only available online, and despite the shift to the virtual world, there is still something unmistakable about reading a real-life book” said Greg Goldstein, chief operating officer of IDW. “IDW is known for producing some of the highest quality books in our industry, and we are looking forward to offering this to fans of ComicMix properties.”

Beginning in the fall of 2009, IDW will release trade paperbacks of ComicMix comics, as well as monthly comics, including many new stories that have previously been only available online at ComicMix.com. Initial titles will include GrimJack: The Manx Cat by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman, Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden by Mike Grell, and Hammer of the Gods by Mark Wheatley and Mike Avon Oeming, among others.

“This is a bit of a homecoming for many of us at ComicMix, because we have had a professional relationship with IDW Publishing over the past several years,” ComicMix Editor-In-Chief Mike Gold noted. “We’re honored to be among such first-rate comics and graphic novels. Quite frankly, I don’t think the ComicMix properties could find a better publishing home than IDW.”

The partnership with ComicMix allows IDW to distribute comics via mobile devices, increasing the company’s growing digital, downloadable publishing program, which already includes several major titles such as Star Trek: Countdown and Ghostbusters.

About IDW Publishing

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. As a leader in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including television’s #1 prime time series, CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation;” Paramount’s “Star Trek;” Fox’s “Angel;” Hasbro’s “The Transformers;” and the BBC’s “Doctor Who.” IDW’s original horror series, "30 Days of Night," was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. In April 2008, IDW released "Michael Recycle," the first title from its new children’s book imprint, Worthwhile Books. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.

About ComicMix.com

Organized in 2007, ComicMix.com is the free website for brand-new comics, news, opinion and historical research. Organized by comics veteran Mike Gold (DC Comics, First Comics, Image Comics), Internet pioneer Brian Alvey (WebLogs Inc., Blogsmith, AOL, Netscape) and print and online publishing vet Glenn Hauman (Random House, Simon & Schuster, BiblioBytes, DC Comics), ComicMix has been leading the comics industry in the production and online distribution of new comic book stories by major talent.

On playing at being DC’s editor-in-chief

  • News
  • February 17, 2009

The Occasional Superheroine herself, Valerie D’Orazio, has an interesting thought experiment going on at her blog:

Play "Fantasy DC EIC" and Redo The DCU!
This is like Fantasy Baseball, but instead of pretending to play a professional sport, you pretend to be the new Editor-In-Chief of the DC Universe.

You come in to the job, and are given carte blanche to totally rearrange the DCU as you see fit. Among your powers:

1. Killing characters and/or bringing them back from the dead.

2. Canceling titles.

3. Starting new titles.

4. Creating events.

5. Hiring talent and editorial.

6. Offering exclusives.

7. Steering the "direction" of characters and books.

8. Creating special projects (movie tie-ins, new initiatives, etc).

My immediate response:

The biggest problems that face DC right now aren’t in Editorial. The structural problems are elsewhere.

Do I get to make changes to other parts of the company as well?

Valerie replied:

If this was real? Probably not. So you have to factor that in.

In a real scenario, any big changes you make to major characters or books or directions have to be signed off on by The Powers That Be.

But isn’t working together fun?

It makes me think that somehow Valerie hasn’t heard the joke:

Q: How many DC Vice-Presidents does it take to change a lightbulb?

Although having worked at DC, she can probably guess the punchline: (more…)

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo coming from Reed in 2010

  • News
  • February 3, 2009

c2e2-1264395The city of big shoulders will soon hold up a second "as major as you can get in the midwest" comic convention. As announced today by the fine folks who bring you the New York City Comic Con, the newly dubbed Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (or for us locals, the aptly catchy ‘C2E2’) will take the city by storm April 16th-18th, 2010 in the ‘As Deep As Our Pizza’ McCormick Place Convention Center.

Boasting the fastest growing attendance list in recent memory, Reed Exhibitions promises to come to town with guns a’ blazing, Capone style. Lance Fensterman, Vice President and Show Manager (for this year’s impending New York Comic Con, and the aforementioned Chicago show) wants to let the fans know that they are “aiming big”:

“We plan to apply everything we have learned in launching and building New York Comic Con to our Chicago event and we intend for it to be a major attraction right out the gate. Of course, this not only means providing a customer friendly atmosphere but also providing dynamic programming that boasts top talent from across the pop culture spectrum, including artists, creators and celebrities from Hollywood, TV, comics, books, video games, toys,  Anime, Manga and all other applicable aspects of the popular arts.  But, most importantly, we will also seek to make adjustments so that our show reflects the essence of Chicago.  This will be critically important.  The city itself will form an important part of our identity.”

Prior to this, Chicago has been host to Wizard World Chicago, as well as the new-and-not-created-by-corporate-overlords-grassroots Windy City Con. Given the recent announcement of Wizard World Austin’s demise and the postponing of Wizard World LA, it seems the wave of change hitting the nation is hitting the con circuit too.

(more…)

Star Trek setting licensing phasers on stun

  • News
  • January 30, 2009

As Yogurt the wise teaches us, "Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Coloring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower." CBS has learned their lessons well, one could even say it’s a paramount lesson.

CBS Consumer Products has cranked its Star Trek licensing up to 11 in preparation of the new Star Trek movie, which will debut on May 8th.  In addition to the IDW comics tying the movie to Next Generation continuity, the Pocket book publishing license, and the previously announced Star Trek Barbie Dolls, Mattel has also acquired the rights to create radio-controlled flying vehicles for its Tyco subsidiary, a Star Trek Scene-It DVD movie/TV game, and a 20Q Star Trek Trivia Game. (Bob Greenberger’s on our team, we take on all challengers.)

 

Other game tie-ins include a Star Trek-branded Monopoly edition from USAopoly, and co-branded games for UNO, Scrabble ("Ferengi" is a 61 point word, "Klingon" is 62– no ruling on whether words from their languages count), Phase Ten, All About Trivia, and a Magic 8 Ball. If only the good Kirk from "The Enemy Within" had one.

Review: ‘Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe’

Crossovers are nothing new to comics.  Who could forget when the [[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]] found their way into a [[[GrimJack]]] book, or when the Punisher visited the Archie Universe?  Well, apparently, they can cross into game universes too.  As if to answer the challenge put up by [[[Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter]]] over almost 11 years ago, Midway has released [[[Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe]]] for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  Building on the series’ newer 3D fighting mechanics, the new title boasts a refined move set, two separate storylines, three new kombat modes, and, of course, a new roster featuring DC’s mightiest heroes and villains.  So how does the game fare?  Read on…

So, how would the DC characters find themselves caught fighting the kombatants from Earthrealm?  Well, due to several well-timed attacks during battles, both [[[Superman]]] and the lightning God, Raiden, cause a tear in each universe that cause their worlds to collide (and their greatest foes, namely Darkseid and Shao Kahn, to conjoin).  These events are played out in both ends of the story mode, which you can play either from the DC perspective or the MK point of view.  In this mode, players don’t choose their characters. Rather, as the chapters in the story progress, the character they control is swapped out as the story focuses on each new fighter.  This allows the players to get a good handle on several different fighting styles, as well as the differing angles and roles each character has in the story.

Playing the story mode is where fans of DC will really get the most enjoyment out of this title. As focus shifts from hero to villain, other characters flesh out the story and interact with whomever you play as, either in battle or in aid.  And honestly, as hokey as the story sounds, the excellent cut scenes really make it work within the confines of what we know about these characters.  So how are characters like Liu Kang and Scorpion able to put the beat down on Superman and [[[Captain Marvel]]]?  Well, as the worlds collide, they take on each other’s properties.  Since the world of Mortal Kombat is a magic-based realm, and Superman is susceptible to magic…yeah, you can kick Kal-El’s ass.  This also makes our heroes a bit more aggressive…the rage builds within them and the urge to fight grows, making each character stronger and more brutal.  This “Rage” is built up over time in battle, and is unleashed as a yellow aura around the character that strengthens attacks and allows you power through your opponents’ hit,not allowing them to knock you back.

(more…)

Matthew Sturges Pens Sequel to ‘Midwinter’

  • News
  • December 30, 2008

midwinter-2-2659309

Matthew Sturges has spoken much of his comics work, including his new miniseries Run! and being named last week as co-write of Justice Society of America in the wake of Geoff Johns’ departure. But his prose work has gone little mentioned.

Over at his blog, he reports, “Since it’s been announced elsewhere, I guess it’s safe for me to announce that I’ve sold a sequel to Midwinter, which is tentatively titled The Office of Shadow. I pitched it as ‘a spy thriller set in Faerie’ and I think that’s actually one of the most accurate elevator pitches I’ve ever come up with. It follows directly from the events of Midwinter, and will hopefully be released sometime around early 2010.”

 

American McGee’s Grimm Comes to IDW

  • News
  • December 24, 2008

Celebrated game designer American McGee’s Grimm, an episodic videogame that debuted on GameTap, offers gamers the chance to create darkness across traditionally lighter fairy tales. And now Grimm, the game’s macabre dwarf who wreaks havoc on these fairy-tale tableaus, will be unleashed in a new comic book series coming from IDW Publishing in April 2009.

American McGee’s Grimm is a five-issue miniseries that takes the games’ high concept and tweaks it a bit, allowing Grimm to unleash his dark magic across five familiar comic-book universes. In issue one, Grimm exits the latest fairy tale he darkened only to discover bright and sunny superhero comics. He enters the world, kick-starting a "Crisis on Earth 57," where he launches a secret invasion crisis into a domain where villains are doomed to fail… until he gets involved!

Subsequent issues of the series, written by Dwight MacPherson and illustrated by Grant Bond, will find Grimm invading — and forever changing — the worlds of romance comics, westerns, teenage high-school comics, and anthropomorphic comics. In each issue, Bond’s art style will reflect the archetypal art form of these traditional universes before Grimm’s dark influence fully takes over the comic.

About the comic series, creator American McGee said in a release, "It’s great fun to see the transformative ‘Grimm effect’ applied to narrative universes outside the Brothers Grimm tales. The world needs more of this — exposure to the gritty, sometimes painful truth of the human condition — be it in Red Riding Hood’s well-earned demise, or the reversal of ‘good guys win’ scenarios that we all know to be far from everyday reality."
 

‘Star Trek’ Beams Down from Comics to Apple Products

  • News
  • December 9, 2008

The Original Crew of the Starship Enterprise is roaring to the iPhone and iPod touch from IDW Publishing and iVerse Media.  Available immediately, Star Trek Archives: The Best of Peter David #1 is the first issue of the ongoing digital comics series that reprints some of the best comics from Star Trek’s illustrious history. Peter David is one of the most popular and respected Star Trek writers, known for his mingling of humor and popular culture.
 
“We’re very excited that some of IDW’s Star Trek titles will now available for readers to download from itunes through the App Store. It’s a great way for fans to experience some of the best work in comics,” IDW’s Ted Adams said in a release.

This issue reprints Star Trek #13 (originally published by DC Comics) – "The Return of the Worthy: Part One" by cowriters Bill Mumy and Peter David, illustrated by Gordon Pucell and Arne Starr, and edited by yours truly.  The story stars the Original Series cast, and is set between the 5th and 6th Star Trek feature film, with some familair overtones.

"Star Trek Archives allows us to bring the universe of Star Trek to the iPhone and iPod touch for the first time", said Michael Murphey, owner of iVerse Media. "Through this series we can publish stories throughout the history of Trek, from TOS to TNG and beyond.  Being Trekkies ourselves, we couldn’t be more excited about that."

Star Trek Archives #1 is available now in the iTunes App Store for 99 cents.
 

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