Court documents spotlight the falling fortunes of Steve Geppi
Is there a more cautionary tale in comics than that of the failing fortunes of Diamond Comics owner and über-scollectorSteve Geppi? Daniel Best reads through some of the court documents on the Montana Estate vs Steve Geppi lawsuit we alluded to the other day, and they are not too thrilling if you are Steve Geppi, the owner of Diamond Comics and once considered the richest man in comics. In a nutshell, back in 2006, a flush Geppi offered the family or Archie artist $1,000,000 for a collection of original Archie art, while attesting that he was worth $20 million, as the attached exhibit shows. As time went by, a few things happened -- Geppi made a series of very bad deals which ate up his money, especially as the economy and the real estate market tanked; and the art also lost a lot of value:
Continue ReadingUpdate: Hanley’s on Staten Island is open for business
Thanks to some hardworking employees, as the above video shows, the Staten Island branch of Jim Hanley's Universe which was closed due to flooding is now open for business.
Continue ReadingOne year later, Apple welcomes LGBT graphic novels
Only a year ago, Tom Bouden's gay-themed adpatation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest was fighting rejection on Apple's mobile platforms, leading to cries of a double standard where sex and violence were concerned. But now LGBT publisher Northwest Press is claiming victory by having Teleny and Camille, Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super-Tranny, and Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven's Comics all approved by Apple. All are now available via the iBooks app.
Continue ReadingMust Read: Thoughts on the comics life
Unless you have been living under a rock, you've seen Tom Spurgeon's essay on facing a life threatening illness, an illness which led to his unexpected blogging absence earlier this summer, and which still affects him, although he's recovering. Since looking death in the face usually prompts some inventory of life, Spurgeon does just that in an astonishing essay that covers his life and his life in comics, if there is a difference. That a man fighting for his life should spend that time thinking about the Green Lantern movie is both ridiculous and awesome -- Tom's thoughts on why we chose the comics life and why we stay there speak for me about 80% of the time. It's not that we have on choice, but rather why would we WANT to leave a field that is full of such honest, unpretentious work and creative, life-loving people?
Continue ReadingNilsen, Harbin, others cover Fantastic Four #9
Now this is a great way to spend your money! Cartoonist Jason Young has spent the last three years slowly commissioning an array of great indie artists to redraw FANTASTIC FOUR #9, the issue co-starring the Sub-Mariner. It's a Coober Skeeber/Strange Tales mash-up that proves the talents of all involved. Young writes:
Continue ReadingCrumb explains why he won’t go to Sydney
Last week legendary cartoonist R. Crumb disappointed Australian fans who were looking forward to a rare public appearance, when he withdrew, The cause was incendiary comments in a Sunday Telegraph piece called Smutty show a comic outrage which branded him a pervert. In a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, Crumb explains himself a length, and to those who have branded him a woman-hating creep, it's mostly to make his wife happy -- she feared for his safety:
Continue ReadingJim Hanley’s Universe Staten Island location closed by water damage
Severe rains pummeled the East Coast this weekend, leading to record rainfall at Kennedy Airport and flooding throughout the region, especially hard-hit Staten Island. And sadly, the New Dorp location of Jim Hanley's Universe comics shop was badly hit, as the above video shows. On Twitter, it was announced that Our Staten Island store in New Dorp will be closed again Monday. It suffered extensive rain damage in this weekend's storms. A clean-up effort is under way but the total amount of damage looks severe.
Continue ReadingPLASTIC MAN cartoon pilot viewable again — more episodes coming — UPDATE
Mostly the work of Tom Kenny (Spongebob), Andy Suriano (Clone Wars) and Stephen DeStefano (Venture Bros.), the PLASTIC MAN cartoon pilot was created in 2006 for Cartoon Network but didn't get picked up, alas. It seems to have been much inspired by Kyle Baker's take on the character. And it turns out that more is on the way!
Continue ReadingHappy Birthday, Jimmy Palmiotti
A special birthday shout-out to Jimmy Palmiotti, the best friend and advisor of almost everyone in comics--The Beat included--and creator or co-creator of comics from The Pro, Monolith, 21 Down, Painkiller Jane, Back to Brooklyn, and of course a long, acclaimed run on Jonah Hex.
Continue ReadingMarvel Senior Editor Ralph Macchio retiring
In the new Axel-in-Charge feature at CBR, Axel Alonso announced that the most senior editor at any comics company anywhere is retiring:
Continue ReadingGetaway special: The day Spider-Man taught the Beyonder how to use the bathroom
Great moments in comics history, via Jim Shooter, Al Milgrom, Steve Leialoha and Christie Scheele from Secret Wars II issue #2. As referenced on Twitter by Brian Reed and shamelessly ganked by us. Surprising that Peter Parker did not supply the Beyonder with a magazine to occupy his thoughts. Yet another reason why SECRET WARS were the best wars. Secret POOPIN' Wars!
Continue ReadingStudio Coffee Run 8/12/11: Walking Dead showrunner firing final word, Del Toro’s The Hulk, a Powers pic, etc.
Every little thing about how Frank Darabont worked AMC's last raw nerve as showrunner of The Walking Dead and some more TV and film news for your Friday surfing pleasure.
Continue ReadingThe Flaws of Kickstarter, part 2
For artists, (and I mostly mean indie artists) Kickstarter is a blessing and a curse. The upsides for creators have been praised by plenty of others: hey, free money! The downsides mostly boil down to stunting your artistic growth and releasing a substandard product into an overcrowded marketplace. That's not a practice limited to Kickstarter by any means, but it's greatly enabled by risk-free money.
Continue ReadingThe Flaws of Kickstarter, part 1
So before anyone gets offended: No one is a bad person for using Kickstarter. It's a tool in our toolbox for these tough economic times, and it has genuinely helped a lot of creators get their work into print who otherwise might not have been able to do that. For groups working on a project together, even better! As a mechanism for fundraising or pre-sales, when the money's put in the right hands, we can all feel nice about it. Good for you if you've been able to make it work, I am genuinely happy for your success.
Continue ReadingPREVIEW: Diane Duane’s The Misadventures of Prince Ivan
Back when the deeds of Kyrax2 were making the rounds, we'd tagged a post we never got around to spotlighting by author Diane Duane, who lists her bio as "30+ years in print, 50+ novels, assorted TV and movie work, the NYT Bestseller List a few times, blah blah blah. Also: the Young Wizards series, 1983-2010 and beyond"--the kind of long-lasting, multi-media resume that superior writers build up. In a post on her blog about DC's women troubles, Duane talked about being a comics reader and creator over the years:
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