Fan-favorite writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield concluded the first chapter of their grand experiment in the webcomics world today, posting the final six pages of FreakAngels: Book One were earlier this morning. Ellis and Duffield aren’t wasting any time, either, as Book Two of the series begins next week.
In addition to posting the final pages of the first chapter of FreakAngels, Ellis also pointed readers of his "Bad Signal" mailing list to some new images and information related to the upcoming FreakAngels collection due out in November 2008 from Avatar Press. Here’s a quick roundup of where to find out more about what’s planned for the FreakAngels project:
The New York Times is reporting that DC has ordered around 900,000 additional copies of Watchmen printed since the trailer for the film adaptation of the graphic novel debuted last month. Only 100,000 copies of the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons project sold last year, but DC’s president and publisher, Paul Levitz, says he expects to sell more than a million by the end of 2008.
“As far as we can tell from our conversations with the book industry people, there has never been a trailer that did this,” said Paul Levitz.
As we reported late last month, Watchmen has occupied a prominent spot on various bestseller lists for the last few months due to anticipation of next year’s feature film adaptation of the project, due out March 6, 2009.
Click here for information about where you can view the trailer, or you can view a gallery of images from the Watchmen trailer here on ComicMix.
Reaction to Robert Kirkman’s recent "mission statement" video has been creating quite the buzz around the comics industry lately, and rather than surfing every message board, column and blog in the comics world to find out what everyone’s saying, there are a few good places to go for roundups.
First off, here’s the video that started all of the hub-bub:
While the banjo music used in the video has actually prompted a discussion of its own on some sites, JK Parkin over at Blog@ has put together an exceptionally comprehensive roundup of who’s saying what and where it’s being said around the ‘Tubes. Naturally, one of the busiest (and awesomely snarky) chats about the video is currently underway over at The Bendis Board, including this bit from Bendis himself: " … coming soon from image comics: MASSIVE GENERALIZATIONS!!" More can be found at the sites Parkin lists in the roundup, with others poppingup here and there on various other sites. (Or possibly, this one?)
It’s another one of those weeks when I have to shoo the kids away; this time, Manga Friday looks at three books about sex. (This is all fairly mainstream stuff, not hentai and without any tentacles to be seen. But there are still naked body parts doing their thing, however tastefully.)
What we have this time is three views of sex – one a general guide (in fictional form) for the young and inexperience, and two romances of different genres.
Futari H: Manga Sutra, Vol. 1: Flirtation
By Katsu Aki
Tokyopop, January 2008, $19.99
I think of this as just Manga Sutra, but the title on the cover is Futari H Manga Sutra – and, on the first page, there’s the completely different title Step Up Love Story (which also seems to be the title of the related anime series). To avoid confusion, I’ll just call it Manga Sutra, since that’s what everyone has been and will call it.
This is the story of two very, very sheltered newlyweds – Makoto and Yura Onoda – who had a semi-arranged marriage somewhere in Japan at the age of twenty-five, and who seem to have not even seriously dated anyone before they met each other. Their families, though, are heavily populated with horndogs, and Makoto and Yura are the objects of much unwanted advice. They’re virgins – in the most extreme, literal sense of the word – when they marry, and it takes them about a week to manage to consummate their marriage. Even then, the sex isn’t all that good – Yuka is embarrassed by everything and Makoto has a major problem with premature ejaculation.
This is part two of the Milestone Media story I began last week. What follows is a brief overview of last’s week article.
Read last week’s article. End of overview.
Denys Cowan, Christopher Priest, Dwayne McDuffie, Derrick Dingle and myself started meeting about building Milestone a few days after Denys rallied the troops. I remember that Priest was a freakin dynamo! This guy would show up with reams of information at every meeting. He was also very inpatient, if we were stalled on something Priest would present a variety of different ways something could work, just to move the process along.
I loved his energy. I loved how he saw the importance in every detail and even when we butted heads (which was often) I respected his point of view. Dwayne wanted to make sure that our books were the best they could be. He stressed professionalism and excellence over everything. He dismissed with respect what was being done in comics then as “What they are doing. Not what we should do.” Derrick was all about the business; he wanted to make sure that we were protected and smart about our business plan. Denys was focused on the magnitude of Milestone – what we could be and our sense of history. Me? I wanted to make sure that we brought new talent into the industry that included people of color.
Yes, Derrick wanted the business to work on a grand scale. Dwayne wanted excellence in everything we did. Denys to make history. Priest to create a dynasty. I wanted to find talent that could make Milestone the absolute best place to be. All of these made up Milestone. Notice that none of these objectives had anything to do with keeping the company black or excluding anybody with regards to race. Shit, we were too busy trying to make this a GREAT company to worry about it being a black company.
Oh, and there was a non-black member (although unofficial) to Milestone. Her name was Chantal d’Aulnis. Chantal was a V.P. at DC Comics and a friend who gave us invaluable advice in the beginning. No, she did not create any characters, or write any (creative) bibles, her advice was along the lines of. “Look at the way that deal was done.” Or “Maybe you should ask that question of so and so.”
This was important because she gave us a matter-of-fact look at who we were. One of the BIG misconceptions about Milestone is that we were owned, created by or part of DC Comics. Over the years we have tried to answer that clearly but somehow it never quite took, so I’ll try and say it clearly here. MILESTONE WAS NEVER OWNED OR CREATED BY DC COMICS.
As anyone who follows the Twitter feeds, Facebook profiles and various other online extensions of comic creators has probably noticed today, the newest meme circulating through the comics scene is Face Your Manga — a website that allows you to create your own "manga" avatar.
As Michael Pinto points out over on Fanboy.com, the art actually isn’t very manga-like… but it’s still a fun little diversion. I’ve posted the manga-fied version of myself here. What do you think?
The website has caught on particularly well with the webcomics set, with manga versions of many well-known creators popping up around the ‘Tubes. Here are a few I’ve come across:
There are lots more out there, so just look around and see what you can turn up.
The most interesting thing about this to me is that so many talented creators who are capable artists on their own have become enamored with the site. As Rich Stevens of Diesel Sweeties remarked earlier today: "Draw your own darn icons, you incredibly capable people. Those B.S. generators are for kids…"
… but then again, maybe that’s why we enjoy ’em so much.
In an announcement released earlier today, Marvel Comics has released the variant cover images for Hulk issues #6 and #7 featuring the art of recently deceased, fan-favorite artist Michael Turner. Turner passed away on June 27 due to complications in his battle with cancer.
Hulk writer Jeph Loeb had this to say about the covers:
“Living in a world without Mike is something I could never imagine,” said Hulk scribe Jeph Loeb. “He was the greatest guy. The. Greatest. I wanted some way to share my love of his artwork and at the same time give something to the fans — who were more important to Mike than anyone can imagine — and spoke to Marvel about doing these covers. They are pieces Mike did of the Green Hulk (one as a gift to Frank Mastromauro)and Peter Steigerwald of Aspen Comics did the recoloring and remastering. It was terribly important to me that Peter and Aspen got to be part of this as well. They are a celebration of Mike’s enormous talent and in turn, his life. Enjoy.”
Hulk #6 is scheduled for release September 24, while Hulk #7 is scheduled for an October 22 release.
So, ComicMix readers, what are your thoughts on the use of Turner’s art in these covers? Is it a respectable tribute to a beloved creator or something a bit more… suspect? Either way, the art is as impressive as always, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on the decision to release these covers.
Full-size versions of both cover images are posted after the jump.
Attendees at this year’s ComicCon got A free Fringe comic which actually leads into the new series on the way to stores in a few weeks. Missed it? Don’t feel bad because now you can read it for free plus get even more into the world of Fringe before the show comes to Fox, plus:
We at ComicMix Radio want you to know that we endorse J.J. Abrams’ new TV show, but we cannot explain it. Don’t ask – just Press the Button!
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Over at Hypergeek, newly citizen-ized Edward Kaye has decided to celebrate his Canadian residency by profiling comic book creators who also hail from areas north of U.S. border. That in itself is an ambitious project fur sure, but he’s doing it in A-Z form. He kicked it off yesterday with a look at the career of Adrian Alphona, co-creator of Marvel’s teen superteam Runaways.
Adrian Alphona is known for his intricate linework, incredible grasp of the human figure, as well as a good understanding of teen fashion. Many fans of Runaways have commented that the characters actually look like people you could find in Los Angeles, the city which provides the primary setting for the title.
A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators looks to continue with 25 more profiles of north-of-the-border comics people, so now it’s time to start taking bets on whether he’ll be able to find that many Canadian creators with the appropriate letters in their names.
No pressure, Edward, no pressure…
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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