Articles by rick-marshall
Fri Aug 1, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Thoughts on IDW, Comic-Con and Publishers' Presence at Conventions
Comics industry reacts to Comic-Con question
Yesterday I linked to Tom Spurgeon's interview with Ted Adams, president of IDW Publishing, about Adams' recent announcement that this year's show might be IDW's last. Today, Spurgeon posted some thoughts from various figures in and around the comics industry about IDW's decision, what it says about Comic-Con International and the convention scene, and how it all ties together with the changing face of the comics scene.
At Spurgeon's request, I offered up my own reaction to the interview (you can find it down at the end of the post), and was joined by noted representatives of the publishing industry and comics media.
Here are some of the thoughts contributed by Fantagraphics' Eric Reynolds on the issue:
I feel very strongly myself that sometimes the amount of effort and money expended on cons like Comicon and BEA is fairly absurd and might be simply better spent elsewhere. But no one wants to blink, including us. If everyone in publishing agreed to take a year off of a Comicon or BEA and simply not hold it, would the industry suffer? I doubt it. So I admire Ted's take on it.
We don't have any plans to not attend, and it really is an amazing show in most respects, but when you really sit down and add up all of the expenses of time and money at the end of the show, it's absurd. We spend so much money to potentially make a very little bit of money when it's all said and done.
Head over to The Comics Reporter for more on the IDW/Comic-Con debate.
Fri Aug 1, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Webcomic News Roundup: Comic-Con, Remembered
No more Comic-Con news after this, I assure you...
Comic-Con International might be over, but the 'Net was full of San Diego-related reports this week from webcomic creators. I'll do my best to round-up some of those reports before getting into some of the news with no connection whatsoever to Comic-Con.
By far the most buzz-heavy event of the week in webcomics circles was the night out that began as an innocent webcomic creators' meet-up but later evolved into a drunken cabaret with Star Trek actors Jonathan Frakes and Avery Brooks. As Rich Stevens of Diesel Sweeties put it: "Screw the Holodeck. My reality is way more fantastic."
Here's one of the videos from the event making the rounds -- if nothing else, it's proof that such a surreal moment actually occurred:
On that note (pun totally intended), Scott Kurtz of PvP has a great recap of the events that transpired to make such an event possible, while also providing some video of his own from the night. Goats creator Jon Rosenberg also has a nice assessment of why Star Trek, a great bartender and eagle poop made this year's Comic-Con International such a magical experience. Oh, and Brad Guigar of Evil Inc. joined the chorus with his own recap of "The Night" (as it is now being called).
Continue reading Webcomic News Roundup: Comic-Con, Remembered ›
Thu Jul 31, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
The Saga of "Italian Spiderman"
Newsweek.com looks at the rise of a viral video superhero
Sure, he has nothing to do with the Spider-Man we know and love, but The Italian Spiderman recently caught the eye of Newsweek.com, who examined the viral video saga's origins -- as well as that of its creators. The final chapter of the YouTube sensation, which chronicled the adventures of a swingin' 1960s Italian superhero, was posted just a week or two ago.
According to Newsweek, the video's rise to viral superstardom was an unplanned -- but pleasant -- development for its creators:
The trailer was supposed to be a one-time lark. But Russo says that when he posted it on YouTube last November, it was watched 1,800 times within two days. In March, it was featured on YouTube's homepage. As of this writing, it has been watched more than two million times. When Russo realized he had touched a nerve with his joke, he raised a little money ("we could have bought a 1990 or '92 Toyota Corolla for what this project cost," he says) and began filming Italian Spiderman episodes in January. The first was posted on May 21 to both YouTube and the website for Russo's production company, Alrugo. A new episode followed every week and eventually a fictional back story evolved—that only one 1968 print of "Italian Spiderman" ever existed, that it was recovered from a shipwreck last year.
Thu Jul 31, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
IDW Says "No More Comic-Con?"
Is this year's CCI the last for IDW?
There's been no shortage of discussion, complaints and analysis to be found around the 'Net the last few months with regard to the changing focus of San Diego's Comic-Con International, but the recent suggestion that this year's show could be the last for publisher IDW still created quite a stir. Tom Spurgeon recently spoke with IDW's president, Ted Adams, about his buzz-worthy proclamation, and the interview is must-read material for anyone interested in the evolution of comics' place in both Comic-Con and the convention scene as a whole.
SPURGEON: How much has the way the show's transformed itself the last half-decade had an impact on your decision?
ADAMS: It's part of it.
I should make a point of saying that the people that put on San Diego Comic-Con are pretty extraordinary. This show, what they do every year is I think is flat-out unbelievable. You couldn't pay me enough money to take on any of their jobs. They've done nothing but treat us with respect. The decisions I'm weighing have nothing to do with the way we've been treated by San Diego or really this sort of perceived -- I see these things on-line about the perception that Comic-Con is getting away from comics and becoming an entertainment show, and there's no question that's true. But I don't have the angst over those things. I think we're just seeing the free market at work here with San Diego Comic-Con. The market is saying "We want to see Hugh Jackman." [laughter] I don't know how Comic-Con could make that not be. What are you going to do, go to Fox and say, "You can't have Hugh Jackman here"? [Spurgeon laughs] You're going to disappoint the tens of thousands of people that want to see that.
Head over to The Comics Reporter for the rest of the interview.
Thu Jul 31, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Interview: Ryan North on "Dinosaur Comics"
It's stomp-a-licious...
Canadian webcomic creator Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics is another one of those projects that defies the norm in the comics world and succeeds despite all of the very good reasons why it shouldn't. I mean, come on, folks: A series in which the art never changes, and readers just get day after day of a pair of dinosaurs chatting about heady subject matter in mid-stomp? Back in the day, no one would've predicted a comic like that would be around five days, let alone five years.
But that's exactly what it's done -- Dinosaur Comics has not only survived, but thrived, in its five-year existence. It's done so well, in fact, that North has been able to develop a complex history for his small cast of characters while also having his creation named among the Web's best comics in one award after another over the last few years. Not content to simply make comics on the 'Net, North has also lent his considerable programming skills to Project Wonderful, a robust online ad-serving system that allows users to bid on placement of their ads on participating websites. Much like Dinosaur Comics, Project Wonderful is a new approach to a long-established system that has left countless others slapping their foreheads and wondering why they didn't think of something similar.
I had the opportunity to chat with North recently about Dinosaur Comics, Project Wonderful and a variety of other topics, including his recent experiments with online photo-sharing site Flickr and the multitude of other projects he manages to juggle on a regular basis.
COMICMIX: Before we even get started, what were you up to when you sat down to answer these questions, Ryan?
RYAN NORTH: I'm disgusting, man. Sunday morning, I haven't showered yet and I'm covered in stink lines. I'm wearing the clothes I wore yesterday. I've just eaten a burger with bacon built into it, and I have crumbs on my chest. I am the sexiest man, Rick. Tell your readers.
Continue reading Interview: Ryan North on "Dinosaur Comics" ›
Wed Jul 30, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
San Diego Comic-Con 2008 Report
4.5 days of madness condensed into one report!
So... how was San Diego Comic-Con?
I've been asked that a lot in the last 48 hours, so here's my best attempt at wrangling the bucking, spitting beast that was this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. It's a long one, so consider yourself warned.
First off, it's worth pointing out that I didn't arrive until late Thursday night after a series of travel problems that included (but were not limited to): canceled flights, one missed connection, a sprained ankle (not mine), an hour spent standing in place during a "security breach" situation in the main Charlotte airport, and a pair of storms that seemed quite capable of ripping the roof off a house or sending various farm animals across the road in an airborne state.
Once I was actually in San Diego, however, there was a slightly more manageable form of chaos to deal with. Here were some of my thoughts on the whole affair, as well as some of the highlights from my chats with publishers, creators and various other groups around the show:
Tue Jul 29, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Comic-Con Photo Gallery: Creators, Sights and Swag
Stuff and nonsense from SDCC!
As the Comic-Con chaos winds down and everyone deals with the last of the canceled flights and catch-up time, I figured it was a good time to dump the rest of the photos off my camera and provide a final hodge-podge of sights from the show floor (and beyond). Here, then, in no particular order, is the contents of my camera.
Oh, and keep an eye on ComicMix later today for my round-up of the show and the general San Diego Comic-Con International experience. It's a big one!
By the Power of Hefty Marketing Budgets! It's the Mattel Booth!
Continue reading Comic-Con Photo Gallery: Creators, Sights and Swag ›
Mon Jul 28, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Comic-Con Photo Gallery: Costumes (Part 3)
Yes, more costumes!
Sometime tomorrow I'll post a general gallery of some of the creators, sights and swag that made this year's San Diego Comic-Con memorable, but for now, here's yet another gallery of some of the costumes that are such a big part of the Comic-Con scene. As I mentioned with the first and second galleries, you have my apologies for the blurriness of some of the photos -- it was a wall-to-wall experience on the show floor and not the most ideal environment for photography.
Continue reading Comic-Con Photo Gallery: Costumes (Part 3) ›
Mon Jul 28, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #12 - "The Stolen Earth"
It's world-shaking!
The hit BBC series Doctor Who
Every week, I'll do my best to go through the most recent episode with a fine-tooth comb (or whatever the "sonic screwdriver" equivalent might be) and call out the highlights, low points, continuity checks and storyline hints I can find to keep in mind for future episodes. I'll post the review each Monday, so you have ample time to check out the episode once it airs each Friday at 9 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel before I spoil anything.
Missed a week? Check out the "Doctor Who in Review" archive or check out any of the past editions of this column via the links at the end of this article.
Keep in mind, I'm going to assume readers have already watched the episode when I put fingers to keyboard and come up with the roundup of important plot points. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!
Let's begin now, shall we?
Season Four, Episode #12: "The Stolen Earth"
Continue reading Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #12 - "The Stolen Earth" ›
Sun Jul 27, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Comic-Con Photo Gallery: More Costumes!
Cosplay for me, cosplay for you...
Saturday at Comic-Con International 2008 was its typical, packed-to-the-walls self, with swag to be had around every corner and a host of new costumes along with it. One of my favorites was the "Awesome X" costume shown here (from the Frisky Dingo animated series), and I've posted a few more after the jump. As I mentioned in the previous Comic-Con Photo Gallery I posted, it wasn't easy to get a good photo with all of the pushing and shoving and general "no time to stop here" crowding, so I apologize for the blurriness in many of the photos. I promise I wasn't drunk -- at least, not at that point.
Sat Jul 26, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
SDCC Photo Gallery: Costumes!
Cosplay and Comic-Con go together like mayonaisse and asparagus... What?
As with every Comic-Con, the cosplay masses made their presence known at this year's show. While the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds made quality in-crowd photos a bit difficult, here are a few shots from the floor provided by my intrepid partner, Jessica Bloustein. We've tried our darndest to caption the photos as best we can, but keep in mind that things are a bit hectic out here on the West Coast, so there was rarely enough time to do anything more than point-and-shoot. Feel free to identify some of the costumes in the comment section if we weren't able to do so.
Oh, and if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the webcomics-related photos posted in my latest news roundup posted earlier today.
It's a "d*ck in a box," of course...
Sat Jul 26, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Webcomic News Roundup: Comic-Con Photos & "Overcompensating" Gets Animated!
Also: Fleen looks at the Wowio/Platinum deal, more print publishers go online...
This week's roundup of webcomic news is arriving a little late because, well... I arrived a little late to this year's Comic-Con. It's a long story, and involves a sprained ankle (not mine), a "security breach" at a major airport, two canceled flights and a storm that had me expecting to see cows flying across the highway at any moment. That being the case, this week's roundup also features some images from the show floor that will hopefully be worth 1000 words -- because I'm still too jet-lagged to write 'em.
Overcompensating creator Jeffrey Rowland told me this week that he's "so excited not to be going to San Diego" -- and judging by my own experiences thus far, his excitement was justified. However, be sure to check out Tuesday's OC by guest artist (and animator) Carly Monardo, who provided one of my favorite moments of guest-ifaction in quite a while. Everyone does the robot! 'Nuff said.
Gary Tyrrell over at Fleen has been following recent developments on the Wowio/Platinum front with great attention. And rightly so, it seems. While you're over there, make sure to read the comment section for each post, as Fleen has become a lightning rod of sorts for creators involved with these developments.
I tracked down You'll Have That creator Wes Molebash at Comic-Con yesterday, and he told me about his recently launched YHT website at: www.yhtcomic.com. While he described the convention as "mediocre" at this point -- since he didn't have any new projects to promote this year -- he did say he was hard at work on his mysterious graphic novel project.
Continue reading Webcomic News Roundup: Comic-Con Photos & "Overcompensating" Gets Animated! ›
Sat Jul 26, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
SDCC Interview: Joss Whedon on "Shepherd's Tale," "Buffy: Season Eight" and "Angel: After the Fall"
Fan-favorite creator Joss Whedon is just about everywhere this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, promoting his groundbreaking Internet series Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog [here's my recent interview with Joss Whedon on Doctor Horrible] as well as his work on various comic book spin-offs from his popular TV series Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among other television and film projects.
I had a chance to sit down with Whedon recently to discuss The Shepherd's Tale, his upcoming miniseries featuring the enigmatic Derrial "Shepherd" Book, a character from Firefly whose origins remain one of the series most popular unresolved threads. We also spent some time chatting about the current comics based upon Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as his thoughts on bringing characters back from the dead.
COMICMIX: With The Shepherd's Tale, why is Shepherd Book the first character from Firefly to get a solo story?
JOSS WHEDON: I've done a breakdown of the story. I think Jim Krueger is going to write the actual script. The biggest mystery of what we never got to tell is Shepherd's backstory. Everybody knew there was something more than just being Shepherd in there. And poor Ron [Glass] came to me during the strike and said, "I'm going to another convention. You've got to give me something." It's been a number of years and they always ask [about Shepherd]. I said, "You know what, it has been long enough and this isn't something I'm going to save for the sequel that may never happen, so we'll make a comic book out of it."
Because it's an interesting story, really. It's the single most-asked question: "What's up with Book?" And now we're going to answer that.
CMIX: Have you considered doing spin-offs for any of the other Serenity characters?
JW: I'm spending a lot of time with the Buffy comic and that series just lends itself to the medium very well. The Serenity comics are a bit harder to pull together, so I haven't focused on them as much.
Fri Jul 25, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
SDCC Interview: Rick Geary on "Blanche" and Dark Horse Comics Collection
From New York to Paris and everywhere between...
Among the many projects on Dark Horse Comics' long list of San Diego Comic-Con announcements this year is an upcoming collection of the well-received Blanche stories created by well-known Gumby and Classics Illustrated artist Rick Geary.
Originally published in 1992 by Dark Horse, Geary's Blanche Goes to New York first introduced readers to Blanche Womack, the character whose adventures would pair Geary's already highly regarded and artistic talents with original stories of his own plotting. Only three Blanche stories saw print in the decade that followed, with the last -- Blanche Goes to Paris -- released in 2001 by Headless Shakespeare Press.
The hardcover collection of Blanche stories published by Dark Horse will feature an all-new introductory comic by Geary, as well as the previously published trio of Blanche Goes to New York, Blanche Goes to Hollywood and Blanche Goes to Paris. The project is currently scheduled for an early-2009 release.
I recently had the opportunity to ask Geary about Blanche, the series' place in his greater body of work and what's next for his favorite heroine.
COMICMIX: For readers who might not be familiar with Blanche, can you provide a little background on the character and her adventures?
RICK GEARY: Blanche is a young woman from a small town in Kansas who tours the world as a concert pianist during the early decades of the 20th century.
In the first story she goes to New York (in 1907, as a piano student in Greenwich Village), in the second to Hollywood (in 1915, as the musical director for a film studio) and the third to Paris (in 1921, as the director of an avant garde musical production).
In the stories, she deals with various intrigues and challenges, some of a supernatural origin, and interacts with historical figures like D.W. Griffith, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. The character of Blanche is based ever so loosely on my grandmother, who taught piano in her small Kansas town and, as a young woman, studied in New York. From these facts I let my imagination fabricate her outlandish adventures.
Continue reading SDCC Interview: Rick Geary on "Blanche" and Dark Horse Comics Collection ›
Wed Jul 23, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Alan Moore on "Watchmen" & Writing
On scripting and "Kid Rorschach"
It makes my fingers ache when I think about how long it must have taken to transcribe Daniel Whiston's interview with Alan Moore (Watchmen, V For Vendetta), but it's well worth a read for anyone interested in the legendary scribe's approach to the craft of writing. Moore addresses his work on various prominent and a few, well... slightly less-prominent projects, including the "cleverness" of Watchmen.
Watchmen was kind of clever – I was going through one of my clever periods – probably emotional insecurity, I thought: “People will laugh at me ‘cos I'm doing superhero comics. I'd better make ‘em really clever, then no-one will laugh”. (laughter)
So we've got all this sort of thing with the metaphor of the clock face, and yes it is a kind of clockwork-like construction – a swiss watch construction – where you can see all the works of it. Different areas where the text reflects itself, different levels – I was showing off.
But you'll need all of those elements. They don't all have to be tied up as fussily as that – in fact, I kind of decided after Watchmen that there was no point ever doing anything like that ever again, because having done it once, it would have been silly to have taken it further and done something more complex, when it's already this sort of elaborate wedding cake of a comic book - you don't want any more icing on the top.
(via journalista)
