Author: Luana Haygen

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 3, 2009

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 3, 2009

* Quote of the day from novelist David Mack, talking about Sandman:

One story from that series, “Calliope,” continues to haunt me; a writer who tried to justify his crimes as a desperate search for ideas is cursed by Dream to be deluged with story ideas faster than he can write them down. In a handful of panels, the character rambles off nearly a dozen snippets of story concepts as he succumbs to a delusional fugue. What really haunts me about that scene is that Neil Gaiman tossed off a dozen story ideas as throwaway lines of dialogue that are all better than anything I’ve ever written. As a writer, I’ve never slept well since reading those panels.

This is all part of agent Lucienne Diver‘s weeklong discusion about comic books. Monday was Keith DeCandido‘s turn. I look forward to seeing who’s next– and slightly insulted she hasn’t asked me yet.

* Sandman, of course, is not to be confused in any way with Mr. Sandman, who, "though immortal and existing since the beginning of time, is your standard everyday teenager from the 50s. He enjoys such activities as going on dates with Calliope and Nada (rivals for his affection), meeting up with his old friend Jughead (a mortal granted everlasting life) at the same soda jerk every 100 years, and bringing into existence desirable new teenagers at the request of existing ones." Here, we see Mr. Sandman’s famous crossover with Jughead.

* This is ironic and deeply cruel: Unscrewed, which was formed to help comics creators who’d gotten screwed by a particular publisher, had funds embezzled by their former treasurer. Via Rich Johnston.

* TNT renewed the drama series Leverage for a second season, ordering 15 new episodes. Congratulations to show co-creator John Rogers, who won’t have much time to write comics any more, and the rest of the crew and cast.

* Hank Pym Is the New Doctor Who.

* And finally, our condolences to Scott Edelman on the passing of his father.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 2, 2009

* the. Speak-er is shaped like a cartoon speech bubble. Of course, if it was a speech bubble, it would have speech recognition to render text on the fly. If it was really cool, it would look like John Workman lettering.

* ICv2 – First Second to Publish Scott McCloud. "First Second Books has announced that it will publish two upcoming works by Scott McCloud, the multiple award-winning author of Zot, Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics.  First Second plans to publish a McCloud-penned fictional graphic novel, tentatively entitled The Sculptor, in the spring of 2013 followed by a non-fiction work."

* Val Kilmer to be king of Bacchus in New Orleans parade.

* Aaaah! Zombie filking… wait, I’m being redundant.

* More NYCC stuff: ICv2 says Joss Whedon will preview ‘Dollhouse’ at 12:45pm (EST) on Sunday, February 8th at the IGN Theater. Whedon will then conduct an autograph session starting at 2pm.

* The NYCC Indie After Party. I’ll be there… I’ll probably need the drink.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix Quick Picks – January 30, 2009

ComicMix Quick Picks – January 30, 2009

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Amy Goldschlager is an editor for FindingDulcinea.com.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 27, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 27, 2009

Here is today’s list of comic-related news items that might not generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* The last holdout in publishing has gotten nailed: Harper Collins announced that they’re offering early retirment packages to employees over age 55 and with at least five years experience. The offers went out this morning and the company would like to here back by February 3 from those who are interested in the buyout. Spokesperson Erin Crumb wouldn’t disclose how many positions HC is looking to cut, but a large number of packages are reported to have been prepared.

* And the shoes keep dropping: Realms of Fantasy magazine is shutting down. Thanks to SF Scope for the tip.

* And for that matter: Village Voice Media is suspending all of its syndicated cartoons, including the popular "This Modern World" By Tom Tomorrow (a.k.a. Dan Perkins). The affected cartoonists lose readers in (deep breath) Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orange County, Kansas City, Denver, Seattle, and New York. He’s covering it, along with the other cartoonists affected.

* On the bright side, Christopher Reeve’s dream is starting to come true: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical treatment derived from embryonic stem cells.

* And finally, a link to the shirt of the day, for all the Buffy The Vampire Slayer fans who are just a little bit tired of Twilight and their sparkly vampires. (Thanks, Teresa.)

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 26, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 26, 2009

Here is today’s list of comic-related news items that might not generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* V for ABC: ABC has announced that they’ve picked up the pilot for a remake of "V". Oh, don’t pretend you don’t remember the series. If nothing else, we wrote about it back in October.

* Shooting on Spielberg’s Tintin has finally started. Although I have to ask– $100 million budgeted for a motion capture film? Good grief. I would have pegged it at about $80 million.

* Because 6.5 million people haven’t gotten their act together, the Senate OKs 4-month delay to digital TV changeover.

* Cripes, now they’re laying off folks at Publisher’s Weekly, including editor-in-chief Sara Nelson and about 7% of the staff. So far, Calvin Reid and Heidi Macdonald are unaffected directly.

* And finally, Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenbery’s ashes will be shot into space next year, together in infinite eternity… unless they were picked up by V’G’r.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 22, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 22, 2009

Here is today’s list of comic-related news items that might not generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* The Way the Future Blogs: Proving that you’re never to young to start blogging, Frederik Pohl has started one– at the age of 89.

* Johanna notes what I think is yet another sign of the ongoing recession in comics: Stupid Publisher Tricks: Raising Price Dramatically After Order:

Top Cow offered hardcover collections of Midnight Nation (in November) and Broken Trinity (in December) at the price of $34.99. However, they’ve decided to upgrade the editions… and each book is now priced at $100. For a slipcase and poster? They may call the books oversized, but they’re now only the size of a sheet of copy paper.

* In the most interesting non-comics news I read today, Tivo reported a significant spike in "timeshifting" of primetime programming last year, particularly during sweeps periods. 54% of primetime programming was viewed on a timeshifted basis during broadcast sweeps in May and October of 2008, demonstrating a correlation between the most highly promoted programming and the amount of timeshifting among viewers.

* And speaking of timeshifting, a reminder: Wolverine and the X-Men premieres tomorrow night on Nicktoons. Here’s a teaser:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 21, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 21, 2009

From a prone position while dealing with a strained back (ouch ouch ouch) here are the last few days wrap-up of comic-related news items that might not generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* E! Online: Veronica Mars Movie Finally in the Works . Because you just can’t get enough of Kristen Bell.

* Oh, and speaking of Kristen Bell, the long delayed Fanboys is finally coming to theaters February 6 and the first clip is now online, courtesy of Trailer Addict:

How come this never happened to me when I was working in a comics store?

* The 10 Most Unnecessarily Horrible and Horribly Unnecessary Cartoon Sidekicks. You just knew Marvin and Baby Plas were going to show up here.

* Colleen Doran posts a list of Graphic Novel Agents on her newly redesigned weblog.

* And even in bad times, Cowboys and Aliens and Platinum keep plugging along: Damon Lindelof Joins Hollywood Brain Trust On Cowboys And Aliens.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix Six: Fictional Presidents in comics

ComicMix Six: Fictional Presidents in comics

  • Uncategorized
  • January 20, 2009

We’ve had a lot of US Presidents show up in the comics, Jossip and the Chicago Tribune both hit on the major ones– Nixon in Watchmen, Bill Clinton speaking at Superman’s funeral, Reagan in The Dark Knight Returns, JFK impersonating Clark Kent. But there are many more that stick in t here are a few truly fictional US Presidents from the comics:

1. President Ken WInd — not wind like a watch, but wind as in freedom. A dead ringer for Dan Quayle and a tool of the Beast, he was set up to become President so he could start a nucelar war. He was stopped by Elektra and a goddammed agent of SHIELD. (Elektra: Assassin)

2. President Howard Johnson Nissen. The former Secretary of Agriculture, he became president when President Rexall and the rest of his cabinet were killed in an explosion. (Give Me Liberty) Incidentally, Secretary of Agriculture Margaret Valentine also got the top spot when all the men above her in the line of succession died. (Y: The Last Man)

3. President Prez Rickard. The first teenaged president of the United States, and the only one on this list to have his own series, this creation of Joe Simon made things run on time. Later written by Ed Brubaker, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller– he does that a lot, doesn’t he?

4. President Gary Callahan, a.k.a. "The Smiler". A rictus grin in a suit, he hates everyone and only wants to be President in order to control and oppress people, and has no problems killing anyone whose death will help him gain or keep power, or even get a rise in the polls– up to and including his own wife and children. The sworn enemy of Spider Jerusalem. (Transmetropolitan)

5. President Melanie Henderson. Okay, that was the name of the actress playing the President in the Spidey Super Stories short, "Spidey vs. the Funny Bunny", where a mischievous woman dressing in a rabbit costume and damaging Easter baskets by sitting on them. Spidey eventually foils the villain’s plans to disrupt the annual White House Easter Egg roll. Some sources indicate that Melanie may have been the first African American actress to portray an American president on television.

6. President Lex Luthor. Yes, Luthor won the 2000 Presidential Election. Couldn’t have been worse than what really happened, right?

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 16-18, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 16-18, 2009

The weekend wrap-up of comic-related news items that might not generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* Tom Mason interviews Dan Thompson about his new strip RIP HAYWIRE at Comix 411.

* The Comics Reporter: Dan Vado on the recent changes at Diamond:

…the thing that slaps us up in the face most is the raising of the Purchase Order benchmark to $2500. What that means is that every book needs to generate $2500 of revenue (that would mean a little over $6000 in sales at retail based on the discount we give to Diamond) in order to be listed with Diamond. That does not mean that Diamond is going to cancel or not carry books which appear in the Previews but do not reach that benchmark, but it does mean that if you have a line of books which consistently do not meet that mark, you will not be getting your books listed in the Previews for long…

…what few books we published as floppies will probably not ever see the light of day. While a first issue might sell well enough to meet the benchmark it is more than likely that everything from a second or third issue on will not. Again, I think your average reader might be shocked at how poorly some comics sell. So, if you’re a small publisher or a self-publisher and your plan is to release a mini-series and then collect it as a trade, those plans might change.

It’s a tough spot for everyone to be in. Diamond is in essence asking everyone to sell more in a recessionary environment or find themselves out of the catalog. Short term, a lot of publishers are going to find themselves with no distribution.

Read the whole thing.

* And while we’re getting depressed on comics economics, we have Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose Comics and Games on the Current State of the Comic Market. Via ICV2. Also, who says the Book Business Is Dead? Why, Jason Epstein does… here’s his Autopsy of the Book Business. I’d be slightly more worried if Jason hadn’t been calling the alarm for 15 years… on the other hand, it doesn’t mean he was wrong then or that he’s wrong now.

* It gets even uglier: Anderson News Warns of ‘Implosion’ in Mag Business:

Magazine distributor Anderson News CEO Charlie Anderson is warning of an “implosion in the business” as his company attempts to impose new charges on magazine publishers, according to a report in Folio. Anderson, which represents over 20% of magazine distribution in the U.S., is demanding that publishers pay an additional $.07 per copy distributed (gross, not net of returns) to return magazine distribution to profitability for his company.  “The business has not been profitable and has not been for a very long time,” Anderson said.  “What we are trying to do is give some stability in the channel.  Short of that, there will be an implosion in the business.”  Anderson says he believes that three of the four magazine wholesalers that distribute magazines nationwide are unprofitable.

* Even uglier than that: theBookseller.com reports that book sales were discounted by nearly a billion dollars in England last year.

* Can it get even worse? According to Tom Spurgeon, yes: more newspapers can fold– the Minneapolis Star Tribune just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy– or they could just cut back on their comics sections. And we haven’t even heard about bookstore returns.

* Exhibits examine ties between Jews and comic books — although it amazes me that I find out about an exhibit at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island by reading a newspaper web site in Richmond, Indiana.

* Sir John Mortimer, the creator of Rumpole of the Bailey, has died.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 15, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 15, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* From, of all places, New Jersey Jewish News: "I’ve come to the realization recently that Israel and Batman have a lot in common. And in order to make sense of one, we can look to the other." Yes, I can just imagine Israel quoting Frank MIller dialogue with regards to Gaza. "Sure we’re criminals. We’ve always been criminals. We have to be criminals."

* ICV2: "Marvel has filed suit against MGA Entertainment for alleged violations of its licensing agreement with the company, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. The suit asks for $1.88 million, alleging unpaid licensing fees and that MGA made toys based on Spider-Man and Ghost Rider, which were not included in the companies’ licensing agreement." Gee, MGA isn’t having a good year, between this and getting Bratz shut down…

* Want to buy yourself the Hugo Award for your work? It might be cheaper than you think. It’s certainly within any movie company’s marketing budget.

* Like that Coraline poster over there? Order it here and help the American Library Association.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

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