Tagged: Marvel Comics

iVerse Adds Contraband Comics for Digital Distribtion

iVerse Adds Contraband Comics for Digital Distribtion

(August 15, 2012—Waco, TX) – iVerse Media, creators of some of the world’s most popular and widely used technologies for reading and distributing digital comics, announced today that the company’s Comics Plus platform has been selected as the exclusive digital distribution platform for Contraband Comics, a new independent, creator-owned comics publishing initiative.

“We’re extremely happy and excited that Contraband Comics has decided to launch with us exclusively,” said Michael Murphey, iVerse CEO. “Their creative team is outstanding and, from the work we’ve seen so far, we know that our readers are really going to enjoy their lineup.”

“iVerse’s dedication to creator-owned projects is what we were looking for in a distribution partner,” said writer/artist and Contraband founder, Jon Goff. “Their ability to deliver content on a level that meets the high standards everyone at Contraband strives for made this a very easy choice for us. We plan to utilize the Comics Plus app’s many features to their fullest, as Contraband continues to roll out titles that push the envelope of storytelling and innovation.”

The first wave of Contraband titles that will be available exclusively on Comics Plus include:

  • BLINDSIDE by Marat Mychaels (creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (writer) – The worlds of superheroics and espionage merge head-on in an all-out, bullet-riddled, adrenaline rush blockbuster! Debuts August 22nd exclusively on Comics Plus.
  • BIG HITTERS by Travis Sengaus (co-creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (co-creator/writer) – This science-fiction action/adventure follows the exploits of a pair of sanctioned hitmen – called “Hitters” – as they navigate the seedy underbelly of an advanced post-war universe. Debuts September 5th exclusively on Comics Plus.
  • JACK RABBIT by Jim Hanna (co-creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (co-creator/writer) – A supernatural crime-noir thriller that follows an ex-boxer-turned-private detective as he investigates the darker corners of 1930’s Los Angeles, where truth and myth merge in a surreal mixture of violence and hope. Debuts September 19th exclusively on Comics Plus.

“A big goal for us at iVerse is to help talented creators like Jon get their creations out to millions and millions of people,” said Steve May, iVerse Director of Business Development.  “There are many amazing creator-owned books out there just needing the right distribution partner to take them to the next level.  With talent like Jon, Marat, Travis and Jim on board, I have no doubt that Contraband Comics will quickly reach that level and grow beyond it.”

About iVerse Media. LLC

iVerse Media (http://www.iversemedia.com) is a digital content distributor focused on the world of comics and popular culture. Founded in 2008, the company was one of the first to launch digital comics on Apple’s iOS platform. As of April 2012, over 12 million products in the iOS App Store have been downloaded that are powered by iVerse, making the “iVerse Engine” one of the most popular and widely used platforms for reading digital comics in the world. The company is principally located in Waco, TX. For more information, visit www.comicsplusapp.com.

About Contraband Comics

Launched in 2012, Contraband Comics is a creator-owned, independent comic book publisher with a focus on providing quality titles across multiple genres. Founded by writer/artist, Jon Goff, and featuring a talented line-up of comic book creators, including Travis Sengaus, Marat Mychaels, Jim Hanna, Fco Plascencia, Comicraft and more, Contraband’s only goal is to entertain. Contrabrand Comics are available exclusively on iVerse Media’s ComicsPlus digital platform. Learn more about Contraband Comics on their Website: http://www.contracomics.com

About Jon Goff

Jon Goff has developed content for comic books, action figures and video games while working with many of the top companies across the entertainment industry, including The McFarlane Companies, 343 Industries, Microsoft Game Studios, Marvel Comics, MEGA Brands, Gentle Giant Studios, WETA Workshop, ABC Studios, Tor Books, DK Publishing, Prima Games and more. Jon’s credits include Tor Books’ Halo-themed anthology, Halo Evolutions, the monthly Spawn comic book title and The Adventures of SPAWN online comic. Follow Jon on Twitter: @Jonathan_Goff

About Marat Mychaels

Marat Mychaels (Grifter, Deadpool Corps) is a veteran of the comic book industry, having provided artwork for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics and more. Marat’s current focus is the launch of his creator-owned title, Blindside, as part of Contraband Comics, along with steady work on DC Comics New 52 titles, including Hawk and Dove and Grifter.  Follow Marat on Twitter: @MaratMychaels

About Travis Sengaus

Travis Sengaus is an illustrator and animator from Calgary, Alberta, who has provided artwork for various comic, video game and animation projects. His credits include The Adventures of SPAWN online comic book and production work for Table Taffy Studios. Follow Travis on Twitter: @TravisSengaus

About Jim Hanna

Jim Hanna is an artist/writer based in Mesa, Arizona. He has provided art for Arcana Studio, Upper Deck, Red 5 Comics, Cryptozoic Entertainment and Marvel/The Hero Initiative. Jim’s newest project is the creator-owned title, Jack Rabbit, part of Contraband Comics’ initial wave of titles. Follow Jim on Twitter: @jimhanna

SENTINELS: THE GRAND DESIGN– OMNIBUS PAPERBACK!

  • News
  • August 8, 2012

The First Trilogy of Van Allen Plexico’s Superhero Novel Series—At Last in a One-Volume Edition!

 (August 8, 2012)  White Rocket Books proudly announces the release in trade paperback format of Van Allen Plexico’s SENTINELS: THE GRAND DESIGN, a one-volume collection of the first three novels in the famed cosmic superhero saga!
Weighing in at a whopping 624 pages and with a stunning painted cover by celebrated artist Mitch Foust, the “Grand Design” Omnibus also features no fewer than fifteen full-page interior illustrations by series artist Chris Kohler.
The book contains all three volumes of the first Sentinels trilogy (When Strikes the Warlord, A Distant Star, and Apocalypse Rising) in their entirety, introducing the heroes and villains (and those in between) that make up this fascinating and compelling superhero universe. 
What begins as an attempted abduction of a young student from her college campus quickly spirals out to engulf a diverse collection of individuals, including billionaire inventor and hero-wannabe Esro Brachis, beloved national savior (and amnesiac) Ultraa, wisecracking daredevil Damon “Cavalier” Sinclair, and mysterious alien powerhouse Vanadium.  Can this motley crew come together as a team in time to save the Earth from conquest or destruction?
Through the eyes of central character Lyn Li, a Chinese-American teen that possesses amazing electromagnetic powers, we encounter aliens and androids, geniuses and demigods, megalomaniacal arch-villains, space-borne monsters, and everything else one would expect from a classic Bronze-Age comic series—in New Pulp novel form!
“For most of my life I’ve loved the concept of a superhero team made up of very distinct individuals who barely get along with one another,” says author Van Allen Plexico.  “The fun comes in watching them encounter mind-blowing menaces and have to find a way—some way!—to work together long enough to miraculously save the day.  Throw in the ability that a novel series provides, to allow characters to really change and grow (and even die!) along the way, and you get what I strongly believe is a saga every superhero comics fan will love.  And with Chris Kohler illustrating the whole thing, you can’t go wrong!”
Plexico’s Sentinelsseries has been praised by Kirkus Reviews for offering “a fresh take on the superhero theme,” and by Pulp Fiction Reviews as “spectacular, action-packed, imaginative and wonderful.”  Noted superhero novelist Ian Thomas Healy called them “Kirbyesque,” describing Volume One as “the first book that successfully translates the feel of a comic book into prose.”
White Rocket Booksis a leader in the New Pulp movement, publishing exciting action and adventure novels and anthologies since 2005, in both traditional and electronic formats.   White Rocket books have hit the Amazon.com Top 15-by-Genre and have garnered praise from everyone from Marvel Comics Vice-President Tom Brevoort to Kirkus Reviews.
On sale as of August 8, 2012, SENTINELS: THE GRAND DESIGN (Omnibus) is a $21.95, 6×9 format trade paperback from White Rocket Books.  (The individual novels are already available as $2.99 e-books for Kindle and other e-readers.)
624 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0-98413-925-5 (6×9” Trade Paperback; 15 full-page illustrations)

Marie Severin Gets What She Deserves – At Last!

It was 1978, and the electric current going through DC Comics’ offices could have lit Times Square. Vice-President and Production Director Jack Adler was strutting around like a proud papa. For the first time in what seemed like a millennium, Marie Severin was paying a visit.

If you were from outside the donut shop, you’d think the President was in the house. Work came to a complete stop. Everybody swarmed to the production department to meet, or to see once again, the famed artist and gifted humorist. That she toiled for the company’s competition and yet received this reception is an acknowledgement of her talent and abilities.

The masterful colorist of the legendary EC Comics line, Marie worked at Marvel Comics for decades as an art director, a penciler and an inker. Her credits read like a Who’s Who at the House of Ideas: Doctor Strange, the Incredible Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Robert E. Howard’s Kull the Conqueror. That’s quite a range, but she was best known for her satirical work in Marvel’s underrated Not Brand Echh, a book worthy of Masterwork edition if there ever was one.

She was even better known within the industry for her sense of humor. I have never met a person who wasn’t a fan of her work – and a fan of hers, personally.

TwoMorrows just published Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics ($24.95; digital from TwoMorrows for $7.95), a long overdue review of her work written by Dewey Cassell with Aaron Sultan. It was worth the wait.

174 pages of analysis, history, interviews, photographs and about a zillion examples of her work, including a healthy amount of unpublished work – much of it in-house stuff reflecting her breathtaking sense of humor. Tributes abound: Marvel and EC honchos Stan Lee and Al Feldstein, Jack Davis, John Romita, Mark Evanier, Tony Isabella, Roy Thomas and maybe a dozen more folks, all fronted by a foreword from ComicMix columnist and comics luminary Denny O’Neil.

Marie has been one of the most important and most creative people in the history of this medium. Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics tells you why. If you’re already a fan of hers, you either have this book or it’s on your short list. If you’re not all that familiar with her legacy, you need this book.

 

Captain Marvel Flies In Captain Marvel Jr’s Wake

On the left, the cover to Marvel Comics’ Captain Marvel #3, drawn by the gifted Ed McGuinness, out on sale in several weeks. If the first issue is any indication, it’s worth reading.

On the right, the cover to Fawcett Comics’ Master Comics #105, cover-dated July 1949 featuring Captain Marvel Jr., drawn by the legendary Kurt Schaffenberger .  

You might think I’m going to jump up and down screaming “Rip-off! Rip-off!” Well, what do you think this is, The Comics Journal? No, McGuinness is an honorable man (well, to the best of my understanding; I haven’t checked to see if he has an arrest record or anything) and, clearly, it’s the modern Captain Marvel nodding to the classic Captain Marvel – in each case, one of the many – and we have ever right to infer this is a tribute. A common, and noble, practice in comics. This ain’t Roy Lichtenstein trading off of other people’s work.

But it does deserve kudos (not the granola bar; get a dictionary). Ed reached back 63 years to what, in my mind, is a classic cover of the late golden age. This is no small feat, as Kurt (who I knew and worked with in the 1980s) followed in the wake of the artist most associated with Captain Marvel Jr., the astonishingly talented Mac Raboy .

So I wanted to bring this to your attention. Usually, when artists want to reflect back on previously published work, they go for the cover to Fantastic Four #1 or Amazing Fantasy #15. In fact, there’s a slew of such covers and, from time to time, I’ll be reflecting awkwardly upon them. Until then, let’s hear it for Ed McGuinness who reminds us of two legendary characters: Captain Marvel Jr., and Kurt Schaffenberger.

BLACKTHORN: DYNASTY OF MARS– Novel Continues the Apocalyptic Saga!

  • News
  • July 29, 2012
White Rocket Books proudly announces the release in trade paperback and Kindle e-book formats of I. A. Watson’s BLACKTHORN: DYNASTY OF MARS, a new novel that reveals the shocking secrets of Princess Ariawhile continuing the bold and exciting adventures of John Blackthorn, PulpArk Award winner for “Best New Character of the Year.”

Eldest child of her world’s ruling dynasty, Aria is also the daughter of the evil Black Sorcerer—one of the dreaded First Men of Mars—and has been imbued with his sorcerous might. Rebelling against her father’s tyranny, Princess Aria has joined forces with a human soldier and a savage Mock-Man, and now dares to challenge the First Men’s rule. Will Aria’s power be enough to tip the balance in John Blackthorn’s favor, and free her world—or will she betray the rebels to her father—or worse—and bring all they have fought for crashing down?

BLACKTHORN: DYNASTY OF MARS, by award-winning author I. A. Watson (Robin Hood; Sherlock Holmes) and with a spectacular cover painted by Adam Diller, takes the saga of John Blackthorn and his brave companions to the next level—and beyond—with a grand adventure stretching down the centuries and across the war-torn face of post-apocalyptic Mars!

Created by Van Allen Plexico (Sentinels, Lucian) in the spirit of “Thundarr the Barbarian” and “John Carter of Mars,” the Blackthorn Saga has already been nominated for seven PulpArk Awards and one Pulp Factory Award.  Now, says Plexico, “ Ian Watson has pulled back the curtain and given readers the chance to dig into the rich history of future Mars, and to witness the rise of Princess Aria from pampered aristocrat to powerful leader of a planet-wide rebellion—along with a couple of guys named Blackthorn and Oglok. If you thought you knew the Blackthorn story, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

White Rocket Booksis a leader in the New Pulp movement, publishing exciting action and adventure novels and anthologies since 2005, in both traditional and electronic formats.   White Rocket books have hit the Amazon.com Top 15-by-Genre and have garnered praise from everyone from Marvel Comics Vice-President Tom Brevoort to Kirkus Reviews.

On sale as of July 28, 2012, BLACKTHORN: DYNASTY OF MARS is a 250-page, $15.95, 6×9 format trade paperback from White Rocket Books, and a $2.99 e-book for Kindle.

ISBN-13: 978-0-61567-654-8  (paperback)

ASIN: B008NYCVLQ  (Kindle)

Mike Gold: Creators’ Rights… And A Big Wrong

My original First Comics partner Rick Obadiah, who is not prone to outrage (I took care of that part), sent me an email a couple days ago expressing his pissed-offness at a piece in last Sunday’s New York Times.

For those who don’t have time to click-through, the Times essentially gives credit for the whole creators’ rights movement to Image Comics, now enjoying their 20th anniversary. I have no axe to grind with Image and I don’t think Rick does either; this is another case of typically sloppy reporting from the fantastically over-important New York Times.

In his email, Rick correctly points out that the stuff attributed to Image Comics started with First and with the other so-called independent publishers of the time: Eclipse, Comico, Now, Malibu, and others too numerous to name. I won’t quibble with the definition of “independent” – back in those days the term really meant “not Marvel/DC.” The Comics Buyers Guide even listed Disney Comics as “independent,” and that was the day I stopped using the term.

As I pointed out nearly 30 years ago in the pages of sundry First Comics, the creators’ rights movement on a publishing level started with Denis Kitchen and his fellow “underground comix” providers. The actual creators’ rights movement pretty much started on Day Two of the comic book industry when folks like Will Eisner, Bob Kane, William Moulton Marston and Joe Simon and Jack Kirby negotiated their own deals with the existing publishers and retained certain rights and/or received cover billing and/or creator credit and/or royalties.

But we – First, Eclipse, Comico, Now, Malibu, and the rest – took all that several steps further. Creators received certain ownership rights, cover billing, creator credit and royalties. Perhaps that was tame by today’s standards, but in 1983 this was akin to torching the Great Teat. We paid a price for this: all of those companies are now extinct, although some lasted nearly two decades – a good run in publishing. But we had nothing to take to the bank in terms of actual ownership when times got rough, when distributors went out of business and when investment-mania boiled over.

Once we started offering fair deals, DC and Marvel pretty rapidly started offering some of these rights under certain circumstances. That didn’t make them competitive on the creators’ rights front, but they provided acceptable safe haven to creators when times got rough on the independents front. And that includes me, and I am not ungrateful.

Did Image take this one step further when they went into business a decade later? They goddamn well should have and, yes, of course they did: the company was started by a half-dozen of the top writers and artists in the field. But Image isn’t a publisher in the traditional sense – to its credit, it’s more of a vanity press without the negative connotations of that term.

Image – and Dark Horse and more recently IDW and Dynamite – were built on the shoulders of the founders of First, Eclipse, Comico, Now, Malibu and the rest, and on our investors and our creative talent who took big risks breaking from the clutches of DC and Marvel without any guarantee those doors would reopen for them should the desire arise.

Again, I do not blame Image in the least. I blame the lazy, self-important “journalists” at the New York Times for having a historical point of view that fails to go beyond recently emailed press releases.

Here’s a secret. It is well known that the New York Times has never run comic strips. But this was not because comics were too lowbrow and well beneath their dignity. That was just their typical arrogant posturing. The New York Times didn’t run comic strips back when Pulitzer and Hearst started the medium because they couldn’t afford the fancy color presses. The paper of record, indeed.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil and the God Particle

Your Avengers Movie Roundup

phase-one-bd-300x194-8478960You know you’re saving up to buy Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled but now you might need to save a little longer once you see the packaging. As revealed yesterday at MTV’s Splash Page. The package looks pretty sweet.

Additionally, Entertainment Weekly showed off the poster promoting the short film Item 47, which will be found on the Avengers Blu-ray disc. Copies of the poster will be given away following an Exclusive Premiere Screening at San Diego Comic Con later this week.

Here are the promotional details surrounding this event:

In anticipation of upcoming home entertainment release of Marvel’s The Avengers, Marvel is unleashing an all-new alternate reality game (ARG)  that ultimately grants the first 300 fans with special access to an exclusive, premiere screening of Item 47, a Marvel One-Shot , fan experience & Special Filmmaker/Talent Q&A at Comic-Con.

Beginning on July 6th, Comic-Con attendees can download the all-new App – The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen App (at the iTunes store) – that will not only garner fans unprecedented access to exclusive content building up to the home entertainment release but also give them access to partake in the alternate reality game (ARG) at Comic-Con.

Beginning on Friday, July 13th, fans will be able to start solving special codes, that when unlocked, will guide them to their next clue. The App will also have a built in map of the Gas Lamp District in Downtown San Diego that will guide them to their location spots. There will be a total of 4 spots.  Fans must complete the entire ARG experience in order to redeem access to the special screening.

Astonishing X-Men Motion Comics to be Collected on Blu-ray

astonishing-x-men-torn-hits-dvd-august-14-300x112-5067390Shout! Factory has announced that they will be collecting the Astonishing X-Men Motion Comics in one Blu-ray release this November, in time for the holidays. Based on the acclaimed run by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, the four story arcs will be united on disc for the first time.

Here’s the formal press release:

The Astonishing X-Men 2-Disc Blu-ray Collection is the perfect gift for the ultimate Marvel fan. This collection is available in stores nationwide November 13, 2012 from Shout! Factory, in association with Marvel Knights Animation. The 2-Disc Blu-ray collection boasts all four Astonishing X-Men adventures from Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind the massive hit film Marvel’s The Avengers, and award-winning artist John Cassaday. As one of the most important X-Men stories of all-time, it features over 5 hours of engaging animation combined with non-stop action, as well as all-new cover art illustration by Cassaday. The ASTONISHING X-MEN BLU RAY COLLECTION is priced to own at $34.99 SRP.

Additionally, ASTONISHING X-MEN: UNSTOPPABLE will be available separately on DVD on the same day and is priced to own at $14.97 SRP.

Venture into the minds of Joss Whedon and John Cassady through Marvel Knights Animation based on their Eisner Award winning take on Marvel’s infamous mutant heroes. This must-have 2-disc Blu-ray collection contains:

ASTONISHING X-MEN:  GIFTED

Can the X-Men protect the world’s mutants against a powerful new alien menace and the “cure” that threatens to rid them of their unique abilities forever? This DVD features the first story arc of the ASTONISHING X-MEN 3-part series. Extensive bonus content includes: a conversation with Joe Quesada and Neal Adams, ASTONISHING X-MEN “Rise Up” music video, ASTONISHING X-MEN – GIFTED trailer, visual history of the characters, behind-the-scenes, Marvel Super Heroes™: What The — ?, artists gallery – John Cassaday, and additional trailers.

ASTONISHING X-MEN: DANGEROUS

In the second installment of the Astonishing X-Men arc, the tragic death of a student at the Xavier Institute reveals that a powerful enemy is working from inside the mansion to destroy the X-Men.  It’s an enemy who knows all their weaknesses and can predict their every move.  This new foe doesn’t want wealth, power or world domination – it only wants them dead.  As the X-Men fight for their lives, they learn they’ve been deceived by one of their own.  Even if they survive, the team will never be the same.

ASTONISHING X-MEN: TORN

This third installment of the Astonishing X-Men story arc brings more action and adventure as Emma Frost’s erratic behavior has the X-Men spinning in a nonstop downward spiral. Will an unlikely union be the final straw? After secretly lying in wait for months, the new Hellfire Club makes its move!

ASTONISHING X-MEN: UNSTOPPABLE

Strap yourselves in, folks! The final arc on Astonishing X-Men! After the shocking and brain-smashing events of recent issues, the X-Men are off to protect the Earth from its destruction at the hands of the Breakworld. And when it’s all over, nothing will ever be the same! No, really, we mean it! Whedon and Cassaday prove they are more than Astonishing: They are unstoppable!

Marvel Knights Animation remains true to the heritage of panel-by-panel graphic storytelling, boasting groundbreaking illustrations, sensational soundscapes, and of course, the explosiveness of the Mighty Marvel Universe. Behind every image and every word lies the genius of Marvel’s celebrated creators.

As excitement builds for this Blu-ray collection, Shout! Factory and Marvel Knights Animation will announce in-depth bonus features and additional news in forthcoming months.

Mike Gold: Marvel Now and Again

When I first heard that Marvel was launching a new title each week for five months, I thought “What do you mean five months? They’ve been doing that for years!”

My second thought was… “define new.”

As I’ve stated before, Marvel doesn’t reboot as much as it evolves: they’ll launch the 74th Captain Marvel while still using the first. Sure, they ignore stuff. Nothing wrong with that. It’s a lot easier than explaining why, in a logical continuity, Aunt May didn’t die long before most of the readers were born. So any comparisons between Marvel Now and DC’s New 52 are strained to say the least. Apples and oranges, as they say in the produce trade.

In looking over the lists of new Marvel Now launches, I see a bunch that seem interesting from a casting standpoint – both in terms of matching creative talent to characters and matching characters to teams. But Marvel’s been up to that for decades. What’s new about it now?

Marvel, and DC and everybody else, has been killing titles and relaunching them with new creative teams and big number ones on the cover ever since the direct sales racket started, so, again, what’s new about it now?

New costumes? This must be Wednesday! Spider-Man hasn’t had a new costume since every fourth page of any recent issue of The Avengers. The Red Skull is back? Damn! It is Wednesday! So, new? (That’s an awesome pun if you know Yiddish.)

No, really. I’m asking. What’s new about Marvel Now, now? What am I missing here? It’s just another huge marketing stunt, but – thankfully – one that doesn’t necessarily involve buying a million different tie-ins, crossovers and sidebar mini-series in order to get a complete road map. I’m sure Marvel’s likely to increase its sales lead over DC a bit. Big deal. Marvel is part of Disney, and increasing its lead over DC in the teensy tiny direct sales market wouldn’t provide sufficient motivation for Disney Chairman Bob Iger to lift his head out of his morning cereal bowl.

Look. I’m fine with all of this. It’s just nothing new. In fact, it’s a big part of why I’ve found the Marvel Universe fun ever since Fantastic Four #26.

No, what bothers me is Newtonian physics. Specifically, the bit about “with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Except that in the 21st Century, I’d rewrite this to read “with every action there is a massive and opposite over-reaction.”

Yes, friends. Beware the New 104!

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil Talks Up San Diego and Sequels

 

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