New witness in the Michael George trial
A new Michael George trial is underway, the latest in a 20-year saga of murder and justice, You'll recall that George, a prominent comics shop owner and formerly the show runner for the PIttsburgh Comic-Con, was accused of the murder of his wife in 1990 a few years ago, stood trial, and was found guilty. However, that verdict was overturned because of evidence that the prosecution was found to have withheld from the defense. While it seems mind boggling that this legal matter is still going on, the Detroit News reports that a new witness may shed light on the crime.
Continue ReadingKibbles ‘n’ Bits, 9/20/2011
Bo Rucker likes motorcycles, Moyoco Anno is great, comics are cool, Grant Morrison and Gerard Way are talking, and more.
Continue ReadingNew 52 team breaking up already: Krul off Green Arrow
It was a magic moment but it could never last -- The New 52 creative standing together tall and proud, the best and the brightest ready to rescue the comics market. But already, the new gang is breaking up, just like at the end of Grease. Last week it was John Rozum, writer on STATIC SHOCK, announcing he was leaving, for reasons unknown. Now, JT Krul is out as Green Arrow writer, as revealed in the solicitations for December, Krul will be replaced by Keith Giffen as writer on GA, however he's staying on the Captain Atom relaunch and a new project, which also exemplifies the spirit of the New 52. Krul confirmed the moves on his Facebook page:
Continue ReadingDan Vado gives actual digital NUMBERS; announces digital JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC
Earlier today Dan Vado, publisher of Slave Labor/SLG/Eyemelt/Amaze Ink announced that SLG would be the first publisher to go all-digital with their periodical comics. While he was careful to note that the digital channel is a new business priority for them, he also noted that SLG's digital sales have been "minuscule" so far. With all the talk about what is a sales record, we thought we'd ask the always candid Vado if he would be a pioneer in another regard and actually talk numbers. Which he did -- with the caveat that, as noted above, their digital efforts have up until now been aimed at selling existing comics. "Selling downloads to people who probably already have the print versions is not really a road to success or a fair test of the platform," he said. New comics going on the platform are what will really tell the tale.
Continue ReadingWooo-ah! Lots of new TINTIN stills
And we do mean STILLS. Still not quite feeling it, but obviously this is going to be a labor of love that tries to capture the feeling of the books. Produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven Spielberg, the all-mocap TINTIN opens this Christmas, starring Jaime Bell, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, and many more.
Continue ReadingNew Teen Titan is out and proud — but will gay readers embrace him?
After some comments on Twitter surfaced, TEEN TITANS artist Brett Booth has confirmed that a new titan to appear in issues #3 is an openly gay teen named Miguel Jose Barragan, a.k.a. Bunker. Scripter Scott Lobdell wrote:
Continue ReadingSlave Labor is the first to go digital only with periodicals
Reflecting the realities of the comics market, Slave Labor, the veteran publisher of such classic comics series of Milk and Cheese and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, has decided to go digital only with their periodicals. Slave Labor has been moving towards graphic novels for some time, but they still need a way to serialize books to pave the way for books -- hence a move to completely digital serialization. SLG's books will be available on their website, and thrugh such popular digital services as iVerse and ComiXology. nitial releases include Sanctuary by Stephan Coughlin -- "The Jungle Book crossed with Lost," and Chris Wisnia's Monstrosis a follow-up to last years quirky humor/adventure comic Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures. Both are available as a free download from the SLG website and iTunes. Upcoming series to see digital first releases include Snow White:Through A Glass, Darkly by Van Jensen and Robin Holestein: Knights of the Living Dead (a zombie story set in the time of King Arthurs Round Table) By Dustin Higgins and Ron Wolfe and Peabody & D'Gorath by M.D Penman.
Continue ReadingKupperman and Beaton team for comics comedy cabaret — UPDATE
At yesterday's Funny Ha Ha panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival, Michael Kupperman, author of the newly released MARK TWAIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1910-2010 announced that he and Kate Beaton are teaming for a new series of comedy shows featuring comics and readings. The events will be held monthly at Luca Lounge in Alphabet City. We've seen both Kupperman and Beaton read many times and it's always hilarious -- plus they share the ability to see the drollery in obscure bits of history and culture. We smell good times! More info on the schedule when it becomes available.
Continue ReadingCraig Thompson: On tour with Habibi
BY JEN VAUGHN - "Eat your meat." Words accidentally lifted from the comic Blutch that made their way into a similar dinner scene of Craig Thompson's seminal graphic novel, Blankets. This week marks the beginning of Thompson's two month Habibi tour. His new graphic novel in forty words or less is the story of love (many kinds) by two orphans in an Islamic culture touched by the industrial part of the world; it is epic, sprawling and will take you more than one night and a pizza to finish. Thompson started his tour by signing one-hundred copies sold by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for $100 at the annual SPX this last weekend. Alex Cox of CBLDF happily stated that Thompson, Roz Chast, Sara Varon and an auction raised $12,500 for the organization. And since I'm currently in the midst of the 672 pages of Habibi, terrified of a broken nose (remember falling asleep reading Harry Potter in bed?), I can tell you Habibi is all meat.
Continue ReadingFriday frolic: @groovybruce’s photo stream
Here's one from the nostalgia files -- if you're not following Bruce Campbell on Twitter, you're missing out on some great photos from the vault.
Continue ReadingWebcomic alert: “Sick,” parts 1-6 by Gabby Schulz
It's not finished....and it's not exactly a feel good tale for the weekend, but this streaming comic is by Gabby "Ken Dahl" Schulz 1. a fantastic example of how to make the scrolling format comic work 2. incredibly powerful and vividly drawn 3. a great reminder that the "uninsured guy who is deathly ill" that the crowd at the Republican debate on Monday wants to see die might be Gabby Schulz. Fuckers.
Continue ReadingSome new Wonder Woman concept art by Cliff Chiang
DC Comics' Twitter account has definitely undergone a much needed upgrade in recent months -- rising from barely 1000 followers to more than 68,000 since July -- and instead of humorless hype, now has an actual (but unknown to the Beat) person tweeting things as if a real person were doing it. It's still hypey, but way more interactive. One of the things they tweeted this afternoon is this nice Wonder Woman concept art by Cliff Chiang. Chiang will be showing off more art next Saturday at Bergen Street Comics, which should be a fun evening.
Continue ReadingMarvel announces Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 broke digital comics record
Oh, it's on! Perhaps inspired by a headline The Beat come up with just to give a link a fresh spin, Marvel has just announced that Ultimate Comics SPIDER-MAN #1 broke their own record for first-day sales of a new release. Not a whisper of a real number of course, but then, that's par for the course. As David Brothers points out at length, and Spurgeon sums up in what might be termed Spurgeon's Caveat, as long as we have only an abstract discussion over degree and nothing solid to go on...it's all hype.
Continue ReadingFirst Look: Game of Thrones #4
MARTIN’S A GAME OF THRONES #4 32 pages FC • $3.99 • Mature Written by GEORGE R.R MARTIN Adapted by DANIEL ABRAHAM Art by TOMMY PATTERSON Cover by MIKE S. MILLER Death comes to Winterfell in the fourth installment of Daniel Abraham’s thrilling adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s fantasy masterwork, A Game of Thrones.
Continue ReadingIf I lived in Norway and still mailed things, I would totally use this stamp by Jason
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the first comic strip to be published in Norway -- The Katzenjammer Kids -- the Norwegian post office is releasing four stamps by cartoonists, including Frode Överli, Lise Myhre, Christopher Nielsen, and Jason -- above.
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