ComicMix

Well, it says here that this is Whizzy’s Wazoo #53. That means today ComicMix starts our second year.

Wow. 

This is a good time to look back at what we’ve done, what we’re trying to do, and how we’ve made the world a better place. Whereas that last point is undoubtedly true, I’d rather look forward. Not a whole year forward; that seems like bad luck. Just the next few months.

ComicMix is going to increase our number of pages by tens of thousands. No kidding. We’re almost ready to do that; our tech team has been working furiously to do the tech voodoo that they do so swell. We’ve already got enough broadband to bury Atlantis. You’ll be seeing a lot more of… well, everything, including some of the greatest names old and new in comics and related media.

And speaking of comics…

You’ll be seeing some brand-new series over the next several months. Trevor Von Eeden has finished penciling a 240 page graphic novel called The ORIGINAL Johnson that is, literally, going to set the world on fire, just as the original Jack Johnson did 100 years ago. Trev has started inking it, John Workman’s busy lettering, and as soon as we’ve got a nice safety margin in our art bank we’ll be putting it up on ComicMix. Stay turned; you’ll know when.

When it comes to grand masters of comics, it hardly comes any grander than the celebrated team of Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin. These guys have teamed up to produce a new heroic graphic novel,White Viper – created by Frank and marking his return to the martial arts field (he created Judo Master back before such was fashionable). Working with Frank on the script is newcomer Erin Holroyd, who’s breaking into comics at the high end while simultaneously beginning her Hollywood career.

We’ve got the return of Munden’s Bar, with stories by John Ostrander, Stuart Gordon (yes, that Stuart Gordon), Mike Baron (featuring The Badger; yes, that Badger), Martha Thomases and Val D’Orazio, and art by Joanna Estep (artist on TokyoPop’s Road Song), Hilary Barta, Rick Burchett, Chris Burnham, Bill Reinhold and a host of others. We’ve got the long-awaited return of Black Ice, by Mike Baron and Lee Oaks. And we’ve got the return of The Prowler as well. And Fashion In Action.

As for the people who helped get ComicMix off the ground… The aforementioned John Ostrander is cooking up something entirely brand-new – as opposed to only practically brand-new, which we see in comics all-too-often. Mike Grell will be doing something he hasn’t done in a long, long time: he’ll be drawing a graphic novel from a different writer’s script; in this case, actor (The Transformers, The Prestige, Robin of Sherwood) Mark Ryan. Oh, and Timothy Truman’s been talking with a rock’n’roll legend about a major collaboration. 

Not bad for free, huh?

That leaves only one question.

Does anybody else remember Whizzy?

Mike Gold is editor-in-chief of ComicMix.