We might be stuck at the Portland Airport and unable to partake in the festivities, but Midtown Comics is ground zero for New 52 hoopla as Jim Lee and Geoff Johns promote the hell out of FLASHPOINT #5 and JLA #1 with the Midnight Madness event. Jim Lee’s busy day began with a redeye flight (he slept the whole way) and included 10 hours if interviews followed by …. a media event. The schedule has been matched by Johns, minus the redeye. Here’s the dynamic DC duo on ABC News, talking relaunchboot.
Joann Sfar, superstar
French cartoonist Joann Sfar is making the interview rounds this week to promote his directing debut: GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE, a French language film which has already won two Cesar awards (the French Oscar), including best debut film. With a lyrical portrait of the skinny pants icon of a zillion emo hipsters, this film should quickly become a classic from Williamsburg to Portlandia.
Sfar was previously know here for his vibrant, humanist comics, like The Rabbi’s Cat and Little Vampire, but like his fellow L”Association alums Marjane Satrapi and Riad Sattouf, he’s made the jump to film direction with distinction.
Guest review: Champion! magazine
by Matt Demers—
The other day, The Beat covered the launch of Champion!, a new iPad-only magazine that’s being staffed by a number of former Wizard personnel. As a huge fan of the latter, I decided to load up the free preview issue and give it a look.
Inside, I was treated to a number of different features, including interviews with Jim Lee and Will Friedle, spotlights on toys and t-shirts and a number of off-beat features (such as comic creators’ first books) that Wizard was famous for. However, capturing the spirit of the old magazine isn’t the only good thing that Champion! is managing to pull off.
SPX announces collection at the Library of Congress
Well, this is kinda a big deal. The Small Press Expo has announced they are collaborating with the lIbrary of Congress on a collection that will showcase the work of indie cartoonists. However, before you plow through your boxes of stuff to ship ’em off, only SPX guests and exhibitors can have their work considered for collection. Luckily, that covers an astonishing number of important creators.
DC 52: The Grifter trailer
Dark Horse: Welcome to Milwaukie
For some reason, we’ve seen very very few pictures of the Dark Horse offices on the internet. Maybe because we never looked? But now that void has been filled by Henry Chamberlain who visited with his daughter and snaps some nice pics. Somehow, we always knew what Dark Horse would look like, right down to marketing director Jeremy Atkins wandering across the street.
Coming: Tons of great D&Q-related comics events in New York City this fall
While we’re sitting overlooking the greenery of the last week of summer there’s already a tinge of fall in the air up here in Maine, and it will soon be time to stowaway the flip flops and dust off the leather jacket.
And not to boast, but if you live in New York City, call is going to be freaking awesome. Here’s an event list for their cartoonists courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly
Lego versions of Road House and the Bible make life worth living
If you have been around the nerdier sectors of the net in the last decade you have surely seen The Brick Testament, by Brendan Powell Smith a loving recreation of the BIble’s most gruesome, perverted and vengeful moment rendered in Lego brick men and women.
What you may NOT have known is that the whole glorious thing is coming out this month in a paperback from Skyhorse.
More New 52 trailers: STATIC SHOCK
Breaking: Nerd guy rejected by total jerk
In the interests of equal time to our male readers, we’d like to point out this story where a female Gizmodo writer did not feel comfortable dating Magic the Gathering World Champion Jon Finkel after she met him via OK Cupid:
