Tagged: San Diego Comic-Con

SDCC: 2011 Eisner Awards Winners!

SDCC: 2011 Eisner Awards Winners!

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2:40: And that’s the way to end the show! Enjoy the after parties, everybody!

2:35: Best Graphic Album-New: TIE! Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia); Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)

2:31: Best Graphic Album-Reprint: Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)

2:28: Best Adaptation from Another Work: The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)

2:18: Best Continuing Series: Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)

2:13: Best Limited Series: Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)

2:11: That King fella on American Vampire has talent. Of course, he’s no Joe Hill…

2:08: Best New Series: American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)

2:06: Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award: Nate Simpson for Nonplayer

2:03 AM: Best Reality Based Work: It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

2:00 AM: Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

1:56: Best Short Story:“Post Mortem,” by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)

1:52: Best Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit (IDW)

1:48: Best Writer: Joe Hill, Locke & Key (IDW)

1:41: Hey, look, everybody! It’s John Stewart, Virgil Hawkins, Remy LeBeau and Samurai Jack!

1:36: In Memoriam. Can we have a year where we don’t need this segment, please?

1:31: Voters’ Choice for Eisner Hall Of Fame: Roy Thomas, and Marv Wolfman.

1:28: Voters’ Choice for Eisner Hall Of Fame: Harvey Pekar.

1:23: Voters’ Choice for Eisner Hall Of Fame: Mort Drucker! Congratulations to one of the usual gang of idiots.

1:16: Hall Of Fame Inductees: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Johnson, Martin Nodell, and Lynd Ward.

1:04: Best U.S. Edition of International Material-Asia: Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

1:00 AM: Best U.S. Edition of International Material: It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

12:51: Best Archival Collection/Project-Strips: Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW)

12:47: Best Anthology: Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)

12:44: Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Ruth Clampett to Patrick McDonnell (Mutts)

12:41: Best Publication Design: Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW)

12:38: Best Archival Collection/Project-Comic Books: Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

12:35: Best Comics-Related Book: 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)

12:31: Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: ComicBookResources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)

12:28: Best Cover Artist: Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)

12:25: Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art): Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)

12:22: Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)

12:11: The Bill Finger Excellence in Comics Writing Awards go to Bob Haney and Del Connell.

12:08: Best Digital Comic: Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc

12:05: Best Lettering: Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)
Best Coloring:
Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Neil Young’s Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)

12:02: Best Humor Publication: I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)

11:57: Best Publication for Teens: Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)

11:54: Best Publication for Kids: Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)

11:30 EDT: And awaaaaay we go! Fellow NYU classmates Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant take the stage.

Welcome to our coverage of the 2011 Eisner Awards ceremony from the San Diego Comic-Con. We’ll be updating this post throughout the evening, boldfacing the winners as they’re announced. You can also follow our updates by following ComicMix on Twitter or Facebook.

Leading the 2011 nominees with five nominations is Return of the Dapper Men, a fantasy hardcover by writer Jim McCann and artist Janet Lee and published by Archaia, with nominations for Best Publication for Teens, Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer, Best Artist, and Best Publication Design. Two comics series have four nominations: Morning Glories by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma (published by Shadowline/Image) and Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (published by IDW). A variety of titles have received three nominations, including the manga Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys (VIZ Media), John Layman and Rob Guillory’s series Chew (Image), Daniel Clowes’s graphic novel Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly), and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy titles (Dark Horse).

The creator with the most nominations is Mignola with five (including cover artist), followed by Spencer and Hill, each with four. Several creators received three nominations: McCann & Lee, Rodriquez, Urasawa, and Clowes, plus writer Ian Boothy (for Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book and other Bongo titles) and cartoonist Jimmy Gownley (for Best Publication for Kids plus coloring and lettering on his Amelia Rules! series). 15 creators have two nominations each, a new record.

Good luck to all the nominees!

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Archie Rock And Rolls All Night With KISS

This may be one of the stranger announcements out of the San Diego Comic-Con, and we think you actually can judge this book by its cover.

KISS  returns to comics later this year with two major projects from publishers Archie Comics and IDW Publishing. This marks the first time that two major publishers have entered into such a groundbreaking, simultaneous deal with such a popular property and trademark.

No stranger to the comic book medium, KISS’ latest foray into four-color adventures will build on the group’s epic and unparalleled legacy, which continues to grow among the band’s fanbase – also known as the KISS Army.

“KISS has a comic book history that spans almost four decades…but it was time to do things better than ever before,” said KISS founder Gene Simmons. “What’s bigger than two different companies sharing the KISS license? Archie and IDW will tell two unique and in-your-face tales of KISS, and we’re thrilled to be working with them on these projects.”

KISS arrives in Riverdale this November in the pages of ARCHIE #627, which kicks off the four-part “ARCHIE MEETS KISS” storyline, written by Archie’s own Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing, Alex Segura, and featuring art by Archie superstar Dan Parent. When one of Sabrina’s spells goes awry and a cabal of monsters invade the town, the Archie gang and KISS join forces to try and save the day. Full of adventure, humor and – of course – rock, the story is certain to appeal to fans of the band and the Riverdale gang.

“We’re ecstatic to team up with Gene, Paul and the entire KISS Army for this project,” said Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. “KISS is such a huge part of Americana and that goes hand-in-hand with Archie and friends. We’re honored and excited to help bring KISS back to comics in a huge way.

“This is a unique arrangement but one that we’re proud to be a part of. IDW – like Archie – know their audience and create high-quality and mass-appeal product. We’re looking forward to bringing two great KISS comic series out in the coming months that’ll appeal to the biggest audience possible.”

IDW’s KISS series will kick off in a very special way in 2012. “Having done comics with Gene Simmons for a number of years already, I’m ecstatic to now be involved fully with the ‘hottest band in the world,’” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer. “We’ve found a very unique way to launch our KISS comics, and have big plans for the series that we’ll be revealing soon. I look forward to bringing KISS back to comics in a huge way!”

Ryall added “I think this is the first time two comic publishers have shared a license at the same time, and I’m happy that setting this precedent are Archie and IDW. We both have very different audiences and distribution methods to reach our unique audiences, as well as both of us reaching traditional comics fans, too. We’ll be able to reach all ages of the KISS Army in ways never before equaled. We’re both ready to rock and roll (all night).”

Disclaimer: IDW is the print publisher for ComicMix.

SDCC Dating Ettiquite

It’s the first night of the convention proper…

…which means it’s the start of all the parties…

…which means it’s the start of free booze flowing…

…which means a lot of people think that they’re the Doctor’s, ahem, companion

…which means it’s time for Comic-Con Hookup Bingo!

Special points if you find “The Chosen One”.

Sadly, there seems to be no squares for getting it on with either comics pros or wannabes.

Certainly not for people who just blog about comics… because anybody can be a blogger.

 

First Comics, First Second Books, First Comics News, and firstcomics.com — Confused Yet?

Before the panel starts at San Diego Comic-Con, we hope somebody addresses the issues of potential for confusion in the marketplace and possible violation of trademark.

To start, we have First Comics. First Comics was a publisher co-founded by ComicMix’s own Mike Gold in 1983, notable for series like GrimJack, Jon Sable Freelance, Nexus, Badger, Whisper, Dreadstar, Shatter, Munden’s Bar, Classics Illustrated, and American Flagg! It published early work from John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, Norm Breyfogle, Mike Saenz, Mike Baron, as well as the first color appearance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It went out of business in 1991, and has published nothing in the twenty years since. Some of the series previously published by First have found their way to being published elsewhere, including ComicMix publishing GrimJack, Jon Sable Freelance, and Munden’s Bar.

It has been announced that will be a panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con heralding the second appearance of First Comics, which will be starting in a few minutes.

And speaking of second, we have First Second Books, a publisher of graphic novels, and an imprint of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, one of the largest publishers in the world. Since it started publishing in 2006, First Second has published a number of acclaimed titles including the Eisner and Harvey Award winning [[[American Born Chinese]]] by Gene Luen Yang, The Black Diamond Detective Agency by Eddie Campbell, [[[Tiny Tyrant]]] by Lewis Trondheim and Fabrice Parme, [[[Life Sucks]]] by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria, and Warren Pleece, [[[Little Vampire]]] by Joann Sfar, and Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics: Manga, Graphic Novels, and Beyond by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden. They’re up for four Eisners this year.

Then just to add to the confusion, we have First Comics News, which has been running for a little over a year, and which is using a logo that’s very similar to the original First Comics one.

Incidentally, I’d link to First Comics as well as the other two publishers, but they don’t seem to have a web site– for that matter, they don’t even seem to own the domain: firstcomics.com is for sale for just under $2000. The current owner has had it since 2007, but since First Comics hasn’t published anything in that time, they will have a very hard time getting it back under domain squatting rules since they haven’t done anything to hold onto the trademark. It’s a bit surprising, considering the way the industry has been stampeding to digital, that this hasn’t been locked down yet.

And now we’re hearing whispers that because of the potential for trademark confusion, Diamond will not be carrying their titles– which is not unlike what happened a few years ago when there were two companies laying claim to being the heir and name rightsholder for Valiant Comics.

So with this many potential trademark pitfalls, one has to ask: can the name First Comics be resurrected? Can there be a second First if there’s already a First Second? And where should we go for First Comics news?

We look forward to any answers the panel might provide.

X-Men: First Class hits Home Video September 9

September is shaping up to be a marvelous month for comics fans. Not only does the DC Universe reboot,ut while awaiting issues to be released, you can rewatch your favorite heroes on DVD. 20th Century Home Entertainment just announced X-Men: First Class is coming to disc on September 9 ( a rare Friday release) and on the following Tuesday, the 13th, Thor will arrive from Paramount Home Entertainment. Here are the details:

Before they were superheroes, the fate of humanity depended on an extraordinary group of youngsters who went on to become X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.  Based on the international bestselling Marvel Comics franchise, this box office hit bursts onto Blu-ray and DVD Friday, September 9 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. For the first time ever, “X-Men” fans will have the power to choose a side between Professor X and Magneto with two versions of premium collectible Blu-ray packaging.  Also exclusively on Blu-ray, fans receive access to over two hours of special interactive features PLUS ten Marvel “X-Men” Digital Comics including a never-before-seen “X-Men: First Class” backstory— redeemable through each Blu-ray’s unique packaging code.

Director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Kick Ass) tells the true origins of the multi-billion dollar film franchise, guiding exceptional performances by Golden Globe®-nominee James McAvoy (Atonement), Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), and Golden Globe®-winner Kevin Bacon (“Taking Chance,” Mystic River).  A “rare movie event that balances an intelligent story with solid performances, first-rate action and top-of-the-line special effects” (Ben Lyons, E!), X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has drawn an impressive $150 million at the domestic box office and nearly $350 million worldwide.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Aq7TWRevI[/youtube]

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“Amazing Spider-Man” Pushing Hard For #SDCC With New Trailer

You can’t say they don’t know their audience.

Just in time for San Diego Comic-Con, Sony is pushing hard for next year’s release of The Amazing Spider-Man. First, Columbia Pictures grabbed the cover spot in this week’s Entertainment Weekly along with a hefty photo spread, and now we’re seeing the (legitimate!) release of this teaser trailer:

We fully expect to see some of the cast in Hall H at San Diego, particularly Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. But personally, we’re pulling for Denis Leary. His reaction to seeing the audience at San Diego could rival Shatner’s “Get a life!” speech.

But still– there’s something about the costume revamp that just (sorry) bugs me.

New ‘Captain America’ Footage Released — See It Now!

To lay the groundwork for next week’s premiere, or in anticipation of San Diego Comic-Con, or simply to take some of the wind out of Harry Potter‘s sails, Paramount and Marvel released four new clips from Captain America: The First Avenger.

First how Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) got the job from General Hammond (Tommy Lee Jones) and Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci):

Then how he got the body:

Then how he got the shield:

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Friday Public Service Announcement

Friday Public Service Announcement

As we approach the start of San Diego Comic-Con next week, we’d like to remind the women going to the convention of one of the greatest dangers lurking there…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4m6CrBUvWw[/youtube]

We’d also like to remind you about Tarna the Tarakian, Catwoman, Storm, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, Emma Frost, Leeta, Shanna the She-Devil, Katma Tui, Dark Phoenix, Ursa, Rocket, Manhunter, Black Canary, Zatanna, Firestar, and if you want to make Gail Simone happy, Batgirl.

Here He Comes…

Ah, San Diego Comic-Con is getting closer and closer… that’s why I keep getting these leaked projects that haven’t been announced yet.

Any guesses as to who this is? Or shall we wait til later today?

BookExpo America: Where is DC Comics?

DC at BookExpo America

Where is DC Comics?

Rizzoli is here with their licensed art books, as you can see at right– the proofs for The Joker look great (you can see the cover over the gentleman’s shoulder). Andrews McMeel Publishing has [[[The Batman Files]]] ready for an October release. Chronicle Books has a preview copy of Michael E. Uslan’s [[[The Boy Who Loved Batman]]], which will be out in time for San Diego Comic-Con and that I’m very much looking forward to reading.

But DC Comics itself is nowhere to be seen, save for one person passing by the Diamond booth. Random House, their distributor to the trade, isn’t pushing their books at all. Marvel is somewhat better represented at the Disney booth, but not well.

Do they think they’ve saturated the market? Or do they just not care about the bookstore and library markets anymore?