Al Capp’s SHMOO Vol. 2 unveiled
Our pals at Dark Horse sent us over this peek at the first ever complete collection of Al Capp's newspaper Shmoo strips. The Shmoo was a bowling ball-shaped, highly lovable but even more edible addition to L'il Abner that debuted in August, 1948. They immediately became one of the licensing world's biggest hits as people adored these cute little critters that begged people to eat them, appearing on, according to Wikipedia, "dolls, clocks, watches, jewelry, earmuffs, wallpaper, fishing lures, air fresheners, soap, ice cream, balloons, ashtrays, toys, games, Halloween masks, salt and pepper shakers, decals, pinbacks, tumblers, coin banks, greeting cards, planters, neckties, suspenders, belts, curtains and fountain pens."
Continue ReadingNew Seth Wimbledon Green prequel in 2011
Great news! Seth has a new graphic novel fired up and ready to go to the designer and then the printer. It's called GNBCC and it's a "prequel" of sorts to his previous WIMBLEDON GREEN. Brian Munn at Sequential has more details.
Continue ReadingThe Beat’s Annual Year-End Survey, 2011 edition — Part Four
We wrap up this year's big survey with yet more picks, pans, and prognostications. Every year we're amazed by the response from busy professionals, and once again, we cannot thank them enough for taking a few moments to participate. This time out, thoughts from Brandon Graham, Hope Larson, Rantz Hoseley, Jill Pantozzi and more. Previous parts: one, two, three. Keep it locked on The Beat for our PERSON OF THE YEAR announcement!
Continue ReadingComicsPRO announces 2011 Industry Appreciation Award nominees
Share this link on Facebook!TweetRetailer group ComicsPRO has announced the nominees for its annual awards, presented to individuals who have “improved the specialty market.” PR below: The direct market remains the way most comic-book stories get from creator to fan. ComicsPRO wants to honor those people who stand in that gap and help smooth the process. [...]
Continue ReadingAvengers, Walking Dead, Marvel rule Diamond year-end charts
Diamond has just released its year-end sales data, and there aren't too many surprises. Overall, sales were down 3.4% from 2009, although things picked up towards the end of the year, according to president Steve Geppi. Marvel won the market share battle, while AVENGERS #1 was the best selling periodical of the year. WALKING DEAD Volume 1 was the #1 graphic novel of the year, while sharing the rest of the top ten with SCOTT PILGRIM, SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE and KICK-ASS. Complete charts below.
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Brick and Mortar report: B&N sales surge on gadgets; Borders offer not flying
Publishers Weekly rounds up some bookstore news. Barnes & Noble had a slammin' holiday sales surge -- ironically on the sale of the color Nook and other digital widgets, but books too:
Continue ReadingNews rewind: 2010 Top Digital Comics
As final numbers and best ofs are swirling around the net, we thought it would be useful to point out ComiXology's 2010 Top Digital Comics and they are figures that Mark Millar will be quite pleased with.
Continue ReadingIndie Month-to-Month Sales November 2010
Share this link on Facebook!TweetA new Vampirella series from Dynamite was the top launch this month, while the second of Boom’s Stan Lee inspired comics also debuted fairly well. Other than that it was mostly business as usual as issues of Buffy, The Walking Dead, True Blood, and Hellboy meant that (with Vampirella) the [...]
Continue ReadingWhat do women want …in their comics?
Erica Friedman, president of Yuricon Publishing, recently ran a survey on what women want in their comics. It was unscientific and had an agenda, obviously, but got some 424 responses, which is a decent sampling number. The results are what anyone with common sense could tell you but are worth spelling out:
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The Beat’s Annual Year-End Survey, 2011 edition — Part Three
Share this link on Facebook!TweetIt goes on and on, with contributions from Chris Roberson, Chris Butcher, Gail Simone, Tony Shenton and many many more, with some exclusive preview art and news interspersed. The iPad is mentioned many many times, as is DC, but there’s also a strong strain of supporters for the Kirby family’s ongoing [...]
Continue ReadingMarket watch: MAD circulation actually goes up in 2010
Quick -- what's DC's best selling periodical month in and month out? WRONG!
Continue ReadingStan gets Star
Jevon Phillips and Geoff Boucher have a nice write-up on Stan Lee getting a star on Hollywood Blvd. yesterday. It's pretty p;rime real estate, too - just west of the Chinese Theater and Roosevelt Hotel at 7072 Hollywood Blvd. Sadly, his star contains the movie symbol and not the comic book one (which doesn't actually exist) but true believers will know in their hearts.
Continue ReadingBonus: Is Borders ruining the few books it can sell?
Along with Borders' financial problems in the previous item, reader Larry Robertson just wrote in with a complaint regarding the placement of anti-theft stickers INSIDE books:
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