League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III Century #2 1969

Dark Horse

Given that pretty much all of the Spartans died at the Battle of Thermopylae — which was sort of the point — people have been speculating for years about how Frank Miller would wring a sequel out of his hit Dark Horse graphic novel and movie 300. Today, at Comic-Con, the answer came out. The sequel, XERXES, will actually take place at exactly the same time on another battlefield of the same war. 300’s director Zach Snyder revealed he is already working on a film script based on Miller’s upcoming graphic novel.

Meanwhile, Dark Horse released a never-before-seen clip from the in-progress animated movie based on Eric Powell’s THE GOON. The clip, which is several minutes long and contains a complete comedic scene, can be seen here. The movie’s producers are still seeking a studio to support the project.

Image

At the Image panel, it was announced that Marc Guggenheim is starting a new imprint, Collider Entertainment, for comics written by Hollywood scriptwriters without intending them to become movies. For extra novelty value, the projects are supposed to be original, and not repurposed spec scripts as is often the case. The first two comics from this line will be UTOPIAN, written by Guggenheim and his wife Tara Butters, a scriptwriter for REAPER, about a world in which heroes have become obsolete. The second, by Erich and John Hoeber, the screenwriters of the upcoming comics movie RED, is called THE MISSION, and is about a man commanded by possibly divine voices to kill people.

It was also announced that the upcomingWalking Dead television show based on Robert Kirkman’s hit Image comic will feature writing from none other than Kirkman himself.

Top Shelf

A sequel was announced for Jeffrey Brown’s cult classic giant-robots parody, THE INCREDIBLE CHANGE-BOTS. THE INCREDIBLE CHANGE-BOTS TWO will come out from Top Shelf and feature an amnesiac villain and lots of intentionally disposable new characters.

Also, art was revealed for the much anticipated LEAGUES OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Vol.3: CENTURY #2 1969 from Kevin O’Neill and Alan Moore.

Fantagraphics

Fantagraphics has announced it will be publishing Floyd Gottfredson’s classic Mickey Mouse comic strips in full.

IDW

IDW has announced a new ROCKETEER anthology, featuring comics from big-name creators including Darwyn Cook, Bill Willingham, Kurt Busiek, and Mike Mignola among many, many others.

Kate Fitzsimons writes for Publishers Weekly, Publishers Weekly Comics Week, and her personal comics and geek culture blog geekiferous.com.

IDW Publishing, a premier publisher of graphic novels and books, today announced the Ultimate Alex Raymond Collection: The Definitive Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, offering two timeless series together for the first time. The Definitive Flash Gordon & Jungle Jim will include every Sunday by Raymond from both classic strips, remastered, restored, and presented in the oversized, 12” x 16” “champagne” edition format.

“Alex Raymond’s lush art deserves this oversized, remastered series,” says Greg Goldstein, IDW’s COO. Coming in late 2011 and announced today at San Diego Comic-Con, this is the latest offering from Raymond, the quintessential adventure comic strip creator, by IDW’s imprint, Library of American Comics. The artist’s post-war modernist detective series, Rip Kirby, is currently being collected.

Eisner Award-winner Dean Mullaney is editing and designing the deluxe editions. “Although Flash Gordon has been previously reprinted, this—finally—is the first meticulously remastered and restored edition that prints the strip in a large size and in Raymond’s original format that includes the Jungle Jim topper. We believe this will be the definitive edition for the ages.”

Created by Raymond in 1934, Flash Gordon is arguably the most famous science fiction comic strip of all time. It follows the adventures of the title character and his companions—Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov—as they journey through space. Flash initially leaves Earth to discover the source of meteors that are threatening the planet, and gets waylaid on the planet Mongo, where they meet the evil Ming the Merciless.  Raymond’s lyrical artwork made the series a hit from the very beginning. Flash Gordon gained greater fame through several film serials in 1936 staring Buster Crabbe in the lead role. The serial followed the progression of the strip closely and helped inspire Star Wars many years later.

Jungle Jim was created as a strip topper for Flash Gordon, and followed the life of Jim Bradley, who fought pirates, slave traders, and assorted villains in the exotic Southeast Asia of the 1930s. This neglected Raymond classic also features Jim’s native cohort Kolu and femme fatale Lille DeVrille.

Raymond illustrated both series from January 7, 1934 through April 30, 1944.

In the company’s first San Diego Comic Con appearance as a premier publisher, IDW Publishing will offer an exciting and diverse array of creator signings, exclusives and panels. For complete and up to date information, please visit IDWPublishing.com/SDCC.

Exclusive items available only from IDW run the gamit from a David Messina wrap around cover for True Blood #1 to a special 100th Anniversary Krazy & Ignatz “Tiger Tea” mug, and include The Rocketeer Artist Edition, Doctor Who #13 photo cover, Joe R. Lansdale’s new novella, “Dread Island,” signed Locke & Key Ghost keys, to name a few. Visit IDWPublishing.com/SDCC for a complete list.

Take a break from the show floor to participate in IDW’s insightful panels featuring discussions with a bevy of talented creators. On Thursday, IDW’s chief creative officer Chris Ryall moderates a panel on transforming film properties into comics, with David Tischman, Max Allan Collins, Mike Johnson, Peter David, Tony Lee and Scott Tipton (4-5 pm, Room 9).

On Friday, IDW editors Andy Schmidt and Denton Tipton treat fans to an in-depth look at what’s coming for TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE and Dungeons & Dragons (12 noon-1 pm, Room 8). Also on Friday, Comic-Con International hosts guest Berkeley Breathed for a spotlight panel (1-2 pm, Room 6A).

On Saturday, learn about what IDW has in store for 2011 from Chris Ryall, Scott Dunbier, Brian Lynch and a special guest (12 noon-1 pm, Room 8); hear Alex Irvine, Jonathan Maberry, Mario Acevedo, Nancy Collins, Peter David and Steve Niles discuss working in comics (2:30-3:30 pm, Room 5AB); and learn about how experience as military service members influences the comics work of Acevedo, Larry Hama, Billy Tucci, and Tom Waltz (5-6 pm, Room 5AB).  

On Sunday, round out the convention experience with a panel about the future of digital comics, moderated by Macworld Senior Editor Jason Snell, with IDW’s Director of ePublishing, Jeff Webber, Jeff Smith, iVerse’s Michael Murphy, Sony’s Adriana Eyzaguirre, and creators J. Scott Campbell and Jeff Smith.

IDW Publishing, a leader in graphic novel and book publishing, announced today that seasoned comic-industry marketing veteran Dirk Wood has joined the company as its first Director, Retail Marketing. Additionally, IDW’s first in-house marketing manager, AnnaMaria White, has been promoted to Director, Marketing and Public Relations.

“AnnaMaria has done an amazing job getting the word out about IDW books and has substantially increased our PR efforts and convention appearances,” said IDW CEO and Publisher, Ted Adams. “As IDW continues to grow, it became clear that we needed to expand our marketing team and particularly wanted to focus on direct market retailers and customers. When we made the decision to start looking for someone, there was no one we wanted to recruit more than Dirk. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know him over the last couple of years and he’s going to help us build our business in new and exciting ways.”

With over 16 years in the industry, Mr. Wood inaugurates the position of Director of Retail Marketing at IDW, bringing his extensive experience to the rapidly growing company.  In this position, Mr. Wood will serve as the main contact for comic store retailers at IDW, expanding the company’s relationship with and presence within the direct market.

As Director of Marketing and PR, Ms. White will continue to grow IDW’s consumer marketing and outreach, oversee the company’s conventions and external messaging, and serve as the primary public relations contact.

Prior to joining IDW, Mr. Wood served as the Director of Communications for Dark Horse Comics, capping his nine-year career with the company. Mr. Wood was the Operations Manager for Things from Another World for seven years before transitioning to Dark Horse Comics.

“I couldn’t be more excited about joining the team at IDW. It’s been no secret for a while now that they’re a growing force in the Industry, and joining them at this stage of my career is a tremendous opportunity,” said Mr. Wood. “I want to thank Ted and the whole crew for welcoming me into the fold so graciously. I’ve always been a big supporter of the Direct Market, and I look forward to working with the retailers to ensure that IDW is a big part of their success for years to come.”

* Buttons: Threat or Menace?

* Naked Lambada the Kirby Way

The book comes out this October and will include 240 pages of comics and text.

As a premier publisher, IDW will have access to Previews covers and get a slot in the front of the monthly catalog — a spot that gives them prime access to retailers making their monthly orders. Some of the deal points are laid out in the press release, but perhaps most importantly, they will retain their traditional “buy/sell” status, rather than changing to the brokered status which Marvel and DC have. IDW will also move to the “final order cut-off” system that allows retailers to adjust orders close to print date.

It’s a huge step for IDW, and a recognition of their growing status and continued quality of their line. In 2009, IDW was Diamond’s #4 publisher with a 3.49 percent unit share and 4.17 percent dollar share, just behind Dark Horse and ahead of Image. In 2008, they were the #5 publisher with 2.92 percent and 3.08 percent in those categories.

IDW’s growth has obviously been spurred by their smart handling of huge licensed franchises such as Star Trek, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, but in recent years, they’ve hugely expanded their publishing line with art books, children’s books, literary adaptations (The Last Unicorn) and they’ve increasingly picked up entire lines of books, such as Dean Mullaney’s Library of American Comics, Craig Yoe’s historical books, ComicMix’s webcomic collections, EA’s comics video game adaptations, and many more.

Diamond Comic Distributors and IDW Publishing announced today that IDW has become the first publisher to advance to “premier” status since the classification was implemented in 1996. Diamond and IDW have signed a new, multi-year agreement that features a number of fresh initiatives, including premier status, in recognition of IDW’s success as a top tier comic book and graphic novel publisher. Under the agreement, Diamond will continue to be the exclusive distributor of IDW comic books and graphic novels to the comic book specialty market, and to the bookstore market through its Diamond Book Distributors division.

“This change recognizes the growth and importance of IDW Publishing,” said Diamond President and CEO, Steve Geppi, “and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

Diamond VP Purchasing Bill Schanes added, “Since IDW began publishing, they have grown consistently each and every year, while at the same time establishing one of the best editorial, marketing, and business teams in our industry. They’re easy to work with, understand our market, and are forging ahead with new strategies and plans to grow the consumer appetite for comics and graphic novels.”

In April, Diamond’s PREVIEWS catalog and PREVIEWSworld.com website will showcase IDW’s new vendor status as the company moves to the “Premier Comics” section. IDW will have an exclusive section in the front of the catalog each month, highlighting their new offerings to comic shop retailers and customers.

“We are very pleased to have completed this groundbreaking agreement with Diamond,” said Ted Adams, CEO of IDW Publishing. “By combining Diamond’s leadership in distribution with IDW’s ten-plus years in developing, creating and marketing comic books and graphic novels, we have created an ideal relationship for each of our companies. The comic book medium is trending upward in all parts of consumer awareness and we are proud to be a partner with Diamond for the future.”

Key points to the agreement include:

Premier Publisher
Under the new agreement and as a result of the company’s consistently strong market share, IDW will have premier status within Diamond and Diamond’s PREVIEWS, including an exclusive section at the front of the monthly catalog.

Discount and Terms of Sales
IDW Publishing will remain in a traditional buy/sell relationship with Diamond, with their books continuing to be sold to comic shops under Diamond’s Terms of Sale (unlike Diamond’s brokerage arrangement with publishers like Marvel and DC Comics where Diamond acts as a sales agent). Discounts will remain unchanged at this time.

Final Order Cut-Off
IDW will be added to Diamond’s Final Order Cut-Off Program sometime in the near future. “Since IDW is a traditional buy/sell vendor, we have some programming work to do, but we expect to have that finalized later this year,” said Schanes.

Book Market Distribution
Diamond remains the exclusive book market distributor of IDW’s publishing efforts. “We’re extremely proud of the progress we’ve made in helping IDW grow its sales in the book store market over the last five years,” said Diamond Book Distributors VP Sales & Marketing, Kuo-Yu Liang. “From their strong licensed properties to their successful launch last year of the Worthwhile Books line for kids, IDW has adeptly shown what products will sell into the book market channel.”

Adams talks about the dominance of event-driven comics, how to combat that, growth in bookstores and Amazon and the expanding digital world. His thoughts there show that he’s answering questions no other comics publisher is asking yet:

Who’s buying comics digitally?
I think it depends on the market.  The PSP market is clearly a gamer.  The device itself is designed in large measure just to play games.  I think you’re talking about probably an audience that’s male, mid-to-late teens would be my guess.  Sony has a lot of interesting demographic information although it doesn’t filter down all the way to who’s buying the comics.  The PSP is a device that’s not just U.S.-based.  We’re seeing some nice sales not just in the U.S. but also in the U.K. and Europe.  

When you talk about the iPhone, I think it’s probably a little broader as far as the demographic goes.  

Although best known for his music, in an interview with CBR Robert reveals much more comic book cred than your average nerdlebrity:

I’ve always wanted to be a comic book artist. I remember drawing black and white comics back in high school that I would photocopy and sell at a local Brooklyn comic shop. Yes, the content was pretty graphic back then, too! But, when I got really serious about it in the early ‘90s, I received a scholarship to study cartooning under Walt Simonson at SVA. I learned a hell of a lot about page layout and storytelling from him. Walt would bring in guest speakers all the time, including his wife Louise, who would share their knowledge about the comic industry and give us useful, practical tips about surviving in the field as freelance artists. It was a real eye opening experience, hearing stories from the mouths of these great comic book legends.

Patterson’s Maximum Ride has already been a best seller for Yen Press so this looks like a natural. for IDW.

Dara Naraghi will develop his Witch and Wizard series into a five-part miniseries and Alexander Irvine will adapt Patterson’s The Murder of King Tut later in the year.

In the spirit of full disclosure, we acted as a sounding board for IDW editor Scott Dunbier in setting up this event. As we’ve mentioned repeatedly here, it’s baffling that comic book companies don’t hold more press-only events at Comic-Cons. We asked a couple of other participants if they had been asked to any other comic book press conferences and no one could think of one (or else our acquaintances just aren’t asked to the right places).

Anyway, the books look very entertaining, and Cooke was born to draw amoral crime fiction. He also teased an announcement of his own creator-owned property later this year at Baltimore Con.