Although it was his call to arms against piracy that led to much discussion and hair tearing, in a new blog post, writer Steve Niles says that his views on piracy are beginning to change a bit, partly because of all the issues we brought up in this post, and most specifically partly because of the issues that came up in his twitversation with Neil Gaiman. Namely, that 20K downloads doesn’t necessarily mean 20K lost sales. Niles even looks back on his youth for a model:

I grew up in a music scene that lived and died by the cassette tape. We made tapes, swapped them, traded but never sold. And usually, first chance I got I’d buy the vinyl because I wanted to hold that fucker in my hands and I wanted to support these bands. 

So, maybe that will happen here. Maybe the sample and buy model will work.  Right now I know I’d rather appeal to the hearts and minds of people out there who want work like mine to continue. Since the rise of SOPA/PIPA I have become very wary of legislation attempting to control what we see and do on the internet, so for now I’m not going to worry about piracy so much and put my faith in the people instead.

Pollyanna? Or just a tired realist? It’s true that Black Flag etc. survived the cassette duping generation because means of reproduction were still primitive back in the caveman days of 1985. But now everything can be perfectly reproduced endlessly. And we “engage”, to use the social media term, differently with everything.

Still, Rich Burlew of ORDER OF THE STICK, must be feeling pretty good about the innate goodness of his audience. To the tune of $582,000 thus far. Some 7866 backers have pledged to ORDER OF THE STICK—that’s an average of just about $74 each. People will still support the creators they like—it just may not be the ones you expect.

Wanna join a rapidly expanding comics empire? comiXology has two jobs listed — the Guided View Editor job is entry level. Deets in link.

Senior Mobile Developer
We’re looking for a Senior Mobile developer who can work on one or more of our mobile platforms – iOS or Android. We develop our own application, Comics, as well as white label applications for some of our publishing partners, including Marvel and DC.
read more
Guided View Editor
40 per week plus OT, must reside in the local NYC area.

By Todd Allen

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice Marvel has a panel at SXSW.  SXSW is sort of like the Consumer Electronics Show for digital media and entertainment.  The show has been in a transitory state in the last couple of years, shifting from more of an indie-centric event to an even larger spectacle with corporate sponsors galore, but at it’s heart, it’s still about bringing products to the masses through digital technology.  So just what is Marvel announcing?

First we have the SXSW notice of the panel:

Comic fans rejoice! Marvel Entertainmenthas some ground-breaking news to reveal Sunday, March 11 at 1pm on the Arcade Stage presented by IGN . The event will take place at the Palmer Events Centerand is free and open to the public.

“Marvel has always been the industry leader in graphic fiction and digital media and with the announcements we’ve planned, we couldn’t have picked a more appropriate show than SXSW,” said Dan Buckley, Publisher and President of the Print, Animation & Digital Divisions, Marvel Worldwide, Inc. “We’re big believers that both print and digital can work hand-in-hand to bring more readers to comics than ever before — and if you’re at SXSW Interactive you’ll be the first to see just how we’re going to do that.”

After the Marvel: Digital House of Ideas panel concludes, fans in attendance will receive a limited edition lithograph (while supplies last) and a chance to have it signed by Marvel’s Editor in Chief Axel Alonso and EVP and Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb in a special Marvel signing session.

“Marvel’s fans are the best in the world — bar none — and I’m excited to meet more of them at SXSW,” said Alonso. “We have exciting new plans that you’ll see implemented with the release of Avengers VS X-Men #1 that’ll take the biggest comics event in history and make it even bigger!”

Then, over at Comic Book Resources, Marvel’s Dandy Dan Buckley reiterates:

We’ve just announced we’ll be at SXSW in Austin this March to make some major publishing announcements. That’s an important distinction for Marvel — we see print and digital as partners in the overall publishing plan, so you won’t hear us calling these “digital media announcements” or anything like that.

Does it seem like somebody is just a little too preemptively defensive?  I mean, you only go to SXSW for digital announcements.  That’s just what the festival is for.

Obviously, it’s about comics material or Buckley wouldn’t be overemphasizing the print/digital partnership.  You don’t hear nearly as many apologies for eBooks from the prose publishing community.  The question is, what could Marvel possibly be announcing that’s big enough news for its own SXSW panel?

• March/April is roughly when Marvel is supposed to have all of its books transitioned over to simultaneous print/digital release.  But Marvel’s a little late to the game there, so it isn’t huge news.
• Marvel could be launching some original for digital titles.  They did this in a minor way, a long time ago with shorter comics for their Digital Comics Unlimited program.  However, Archie’s been doing this.  DC’s been doing this (and just re-emphasized the approach with Smallville Season 11).  IDW just launched a digital-original Transformers.  The digital-first Avengers film prequel comic is already announced, too.
• March is well into the promotional run-up to the Avenger’s movie, so it would make sense for that to be somehow involved
• If Marvel were to be announcing a same-day digital tie-in with one of the following: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks; THAT would be news and also a reason for Buckley to pre-emptively be talking people down
• If Marvel were to have developed a new proprietary digital comics format/reader, that would potentially be considered SXSW-level news

What’s it really going to be?  My money’s on a combination of simultaneous print/digital release across the line and the Avengers digital-first prequel with maybe a little more digital original thrown in.

The week of Comic-Con just got even MORE momentous with “The Course of the Force” which ties the Olympic torch relay, lightsabers and Comic-con up in one totally nerdtastic bundle.

And it’s all for a good cause. As announced by Chris Hardwick and Marvin E. Quasniki in the above video, this Nerdist-sponsored event will be a relay-style run from Santa Monica to San Diego starting July 7 and ending Wednesday July 11th as Comic-Con kicks off. Participants will carry a special lightsaber along the more than 100 mile route in quarter mile segments.

On top of creating an event for Star Wars enthusiasts to celebrate and embrace their love of the Saga, Course of the Force will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Fans will have the opportunity to participate in the historic lightsaber relay through various promotions and online calls to action.

Participants in the relay are encouraged to come decked out in their best Star Wars, or pop culture- themed running gear, not only to look good but also to win prizes. Ancient Jedi Masters carried within backpacks are not required.

Hardwick will follow the event on Nerdist’s new YouTube channel.

All profits from entrance fees and so on will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Other partners in the venture include Lucasfilm, Octagon and Machinima.

After watching the above video, we’ve got one more thing to say: if Marvin E. Quasniki were really running for president, he’d be a very viable candidate.

Today’s massive four artist switcheroo is confusing enough—in a world where everyone says they want some stability, tinkering and fine tuning seem to be the order of the day. What touched off this round? Well maybe it was Travel Foreman wanting to leave Animal Man, which freed him up for Birds of Prey which made Jesus Saiz move to Resurrection Man and set the whole domino chain in motion. As he stated at the CBR forums, it was due to some personal issues:

I just want to chime in briefly, because everyone here has been so supportive of the book and because there’s so much behind the scenes stuff that goes on with these books… I read a lot of comics and I too get confused about whats going on in some books and ultimately feel like we’re getting a raw deal sometimes.

The change on Animal Man boils down to the reason I was on the book to begin with, which was that I needed to take on a job after my mother died (to deal with the financial end of someone being sick for a while and then passing) and Animal Man was the only thing DC was going to let me do. Which in any other time frame would have been perfect.

But really the context of me dealing with the death of my mom and drawing the kind of content in Animal Man just burned me out sooner than I thought.

I had hoped to stay on the book until at least the spring so that the artist I wanted to replace me was free from his commitments, but I would have ultimately just dragged the book down if I did, because it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate on the work.

Steve was bending over backwards on his fill-ins to keep the book on schedule so you have to keep that in consideration. Really, he won’t skip a beat once he’s doing the book full time.

Thanks, everyone.

To be honest, we were HUGE fans of Saiz’s take on BoP — his ladies were heroic but still sexy without being cheesecakey in any way. Foreman is a fine artist who does draw sexy ladies (here’s a Wonder Woman of his). Hopefully he’ll keep the heroic aspect of the book.

By Todd Allen

Last week, it was the DC writers getting shuffled around to new titles.  This week, the artists play a bit of musical chairs.  Four titles change artists, three artists switch books and an old face returns to his old title.

Starting off with the old friend back in town, we find Steve Pugh taking over the art duties on Animal Man as of issue #9.  On the one hand, I’m more than a little surprised they’re making a creative change on a such a critically acclaimed book.  On the other hand, Pugh is somewhat associated with the character, having spent not quite 3 years drawing Animal Man in the early ’90s with the first Vertigo run.  And yes, to continue the meme, Pugh did draw some titles like Doom 2099 for Harras-era Marvel.  I wouldn’t consider him a Harras-Marvel mainstay, but he was there briefly.  Seems like an appropriate person to return to the title.

Pugh’s statement of intent:

“For me, it’s awesome to be returning to a book that was such a milestone in my creative life and with Jeff, a killer writer who’s been punching ANIMAL MAN through the ceiling!” said Pugh. “Yeah, I was buying the book already but now I don’t have to wait so long to find out what happens next!”

That takes Travel Foreman off Animal Man and sees him moving over to Birds of Prey for issue #9.  Which is to say, just in time for the big Bat-Crossover.  My initial take on this is to remember Foreman’s excellent work on Iron Fist and think that Black Canary and Katana might have some decent fight scenes coming up.  While it’s a departure from Animal Man, it might not be a departure for Foreman.

Editor Bobbi Chase talks up Foreman (like he needs talking up):

“ANIMAL MAN is one of my favorite books of The New 52, in no small part because of Travel’s awesome art,” said BIRDS OF PREY editor Bobbie Chase. “We’re really challenging him to go against his animal instincts in his first issue; from the woods to the city streets, from a single super character (OK, with family) to a team book, from one small corner of the DC universe right into the big Bat landscape. It’s going to be exciting!”

So that leaves Jesus Saiz off Birds of Prey and sees him moving over to Resurrection Man for issue #9.  (No, I’m not going to make the obvious Jesus/Resurrection Man joke.)  This is just in time for a Suicide Squad crossover!  Hold that thought.

Saiz’s statement of intent:

“I’m going to miss BIRDS OF PREY immensely, although it’s also true that I was dying to work on the Dark line of books,” said Saiz. “There’s some very interesting stuff happening in these books, and I’ve always considered horror / creating dark settings are some of my stronger areas as an artist, and I really haven’t had many chances to flex those muscles working in this genre during my career. So…I think I’m really going to enjoy working on RESURRECTION MAN! Crrrrazy fun!”

Now, where were we?  Right.  Resurrection Man is crossing over with Suicide Squad. And as it happens, when Jesus Saiz took over Resurrection Man, that freed up Fernando Dagnino, the previous Resurrection Man artist, to take over Suicide Squad. To be honest, I kind of like the idea of an artist switching book in the middle of a crossover.  Even if DC does seem to be getting a case of crossover fever.  The subtext is, the Resurrection Man keeps getting killed off (that’s his M.O.) and members of the Suicide Squad periodically get killed off.  Fernando, you may be getting a reputation!  (On the other hand, if you can snag the assignment for the next big “Death of ______” event, there are royalties to be had.)

Dagnino’s statement of intent:

“Call me insensitive but I must admit I’ve really enjoyed killing Mitch twice or thrice per issue,” said Dagnino. “Nevertheless, it all falls into place knowing that he will be in Jesus’ hands now. This run on RESURRECTION MAN has REALLY been loads of fun but now I must confess I am even more excited to take over the responsibility of dealing with such a thrilling cast of characters as the SUICIDE SQUAD. Harley…I’m coming!”

The odd man out in all this is previous Suicide Squad artist Federico Dallocchio.  According to DC’s website, issues 6 and 7 had fill-in artists with Dallacchio back on issue 8.  No word on what Dallocchio is doing next.

By Todd Allen

Joss Whedon started something when he decided to continue Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a comic.  Now DC/Warners is following that lead and continuing Smallville as a comic, with Season 11 set to drop in April or May, depending on which format you want to read it in.

The comic will be written by Bryan Q. Miller, who was part of the Smallville writing staff and ended up as the Executive Story Editor.  He also spent a couple years writing the Batgirl comic.  Miller is as authoritative a Smallville vision as was available and he’s written comics before, so it seems like a good match there.  The art will be by Pere Perez.  Perez was on Batgirl with Miller and has done a few other things, notably some work on the Nightwing and Flamebird Action Comics run a couple years back.

The release schedule has a little bit of a quirk to it.  Weekly digital comic “chapters” starting April 13, 2012 (a Tuesday) and then collected into a print edition starting on May 16.  Offhand, I’d say the digital is there to do two things:

• Trying to find the Smallville fans that are certainly dedicated enough online, but don’t seem to have a presence in the Direct Market.  Cat Staggs is the cover artist for the digital edition and Gary Franks for the print.  Having Franks, much more famous in the DM, for the print comic does speak to different audiences.
• Mimicking the weekly schedule of a TV show.

Buffy started out with huge numbers as a monthly comic and settled into merely very good (for an independent comic) monthly numbers and a lot of trade paperback sales.  It will be interesting to see if Smallville can find similar success.

We also have an answer to an old question.  What will it take to get DC to do a regular Smallville comic?  The show getting cancelled.

Official announcement follows:

Fans of the smash-hit TV series Smallville haven’t had much to cheer about since the show ended its critically acclaimed 10-year run on The CW last May.  That’s all going to change with the upcoming new comic book series from DC Entertainment: SMALLVILLE SEASON 11.  Written by former Smallville show scribe Bryan Q. Miller, the new digital first series will be published digitally on April 13, 2012, with new digital chapters released weekly thereafter.  Additionally, the online chapters will be offered in a print periodical, along with an episode guide to the hit television series, with the first print issue released on May 16.

The new comic book series picks-up where the show left off (with Clark officially now as Superman!) and features other fan-favorite characters including Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Chloe Sullivan-Queen, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and General Lane.  The book features an all-star creative team – in addition to Miller, SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 creators include print cover artist Gary Frank (SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN), digital cover artist Cat Staggs and interiors by Pere Perez (BATGIRL).

“Six months after Clark Kent donned the cape and took to the skies to save Earth from Apokolips… enter Season 11!” enthuses Miller.  “New allies abound!  New enemies afoot!  And old friends return where they’re least expected!  Pere and colorist Chris Beckett have done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the show and the players, and Gary and Cat are knocking it out of the park on covers. I couldn’t be more excited to help give seasoned viewers and new readers an all-access pass to Clark’s first year in the cape.”

Lemony Snicket, aka Daniel Handler, is starting a new kids books series, to be illustrated by Seth. Called “All the Wrong Questions,” the first volume Who Could That Be at This Hour? will be out October 23rd. The series is getting a 1 million copy first printing.

While working with Seth sounds like a dream project for anyone, the subject matter of the series—an “autobiography” of Snicket set in a “fading town, far from anyone he knew or trusted, [working as] an apprentice in an organization nobody knows about,” sounds perfect for Seth’s elegiac and evocative art.

Altoug the art released is partially obscured, we’d be surprised, given the creators involved is this didn’t stray a bit into the meta-comics territory that is quite popular in the juvenile category these days.
Snicket’s last series, “A Series of Unfortunate Events” sold 60 million copies.

Paul Slade writes to tell us that his creepy collaboration with Hans Rickheit has now been posted in creepy full color. If you ever picked up a rock to see what was underneath you will appreciate this webcomic.

First came the comics, now come the fanfic toys—Jaunty-Step Rorschach and Sexy Pose Comedian—to be unveiled at this weekend’s Toy Fair, as well as new DARK KNIGHT RISES toys. Not shown—new MumbleTalk Bane with 25 baffling phrases.

DC Direct, the exclusive collectibles division of DC Entertainment, announced today an extensive line-up of new collectibles based on flagship publishing and film initiatives.  Leading into New York Toy Fair, DC Direct unveiled two new collectible statues based on character art from the recently announced BEFORE WATCHMEN, a series of all-new stories that expand on the universe of best-selling graphic novel, WATCHMEN. Prototypes for Rorschach and Comedian statues will be unveiled at the show, kicking off the new BEFORE WATCHMEN product line that will go on sale later this year, exclusively from DC Direct.
 
Also announced today is an extensive line-up of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES collectibles based on characters from the highly-anticipated upcoming Warner Bros. film.  The line includes statues, busts and action figures based on iconic characters from the film including Batman, Catwoman and Bane.
 
“The DC Direct team has put together an amazing line-up for 2012,” stated Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer for DC Entertainment.  “THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and BEFORE WATCHMEN lines are especially exciting, and the team has set the bar high as far as creative execution. We’re proud and psyched to share these collectibles with the world at Toy Fair. This is the tip of the iceberg with what we’ve got planned for DC Direct this year and beyond.”
 
DC Direct product descriptions include:
 
·         BEFORE WATCHMEN Rorschach – 9” resin statue
·         BEFORE WATCHMEN Comedian – 9” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Icon – 13” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Catwoman Icon – 7” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Bane Icon – 12.5” resin statue
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Bust – 6.5” resin
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Catwoman Bust  – 6” resin
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Bane Bust – 6.25” resin
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Figure – 6.38” PVC
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Catwoman Figure – 6.38” PVC
·         THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Bane Figure – 6.38” PVC
 
Other key DC Direct product lines that will be on display at New York Toy Fair include new MAD: Spy vs. Spy and Just-Us-League of Stupid Heroes products, as well as the complete new action figures series based on DC Comics – The New 52.

Ever since they roared onto the scene with inspiring patriotic zeal, tight loincloths and abs that ripple like a field of Athenian barley, the Spartans of 300 have taken hold in the popular imagination. The original movie catapulted both director Zack Snyder and star Gerard Butler into a higher league when it grossed a surprising $456 million worldwide. It also made “comic book movie” an even more popular term among Hollywood studios—300 showed that a film didn’t have to be based on Batman to make a mint—and made Frank Miller a movie icon.

Ever since, there’s been talk of a sequel, with creator Miller on board, and Snyder saying “Wow that would be cool.” But a sequel has already seemed very unlikely because—spoilers!—not too much of the original cast survived to make one. The word “prequel” was frequently invoked—and Miller found that ide to his liking, writing and drawing a comics prequel called XERXES which is due some day from Dark Horse. The exact subject matter remains vague, although Miller has promised that the story will cover a longer span of time and include naval battles, gods, and, hopefully, lots more abs.

But against all odds, a sequel has emerged, which, last we heard, was called 300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA because XERXES sounds too darned weird. (Every time we hear the title, all we can think of is the controversial life of painter Artemisia Gentileschi.) And it’s inching a teeny bit closer to reality with the very first casting whisper: Sullivan Stapleton is reported to be in talks to star. Noam Murro is set to direct from a script by Kurt Johnstad and Snyder.

Stapleton is currently seen in the TV show Strike Back, and he hails from Australia which is good, because men from Australia are thought to be manly, like Spartans.

But will he be able to provide the razor-sharp ridged abdominals that every 300 movie requires?

Verdict: Potential but he’ll need a lot of time in the gym to get in Spartan shape!

GOODNIGHT, MOON by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd is a classic for children and the parents who read to them as a drowsy tot lets go, bit by bit, of the corporeal world and drifts into slumber.

Now here is a parody for adults who—much like The Beat—ease into sleep while frantically clutching at a game of “The Creeps” or Angry Birds Halloween, and awaken in the wee hours in a panic and check email to relax.

The book is credited to one “Ann Droyd”, who, we’re told “is the pseudonym for an IRA/CBC Children’s Choice winner who has written and illustrated over twenty picture books for young readers. Droyd’s work is known for its sense of narrative, humor, and visual playfulness. Ann Droyd, who studied graphic design at Parsons, lives in Massachusetts.” (A bit of Googling reveals his real name is David Milgrim.)

For comparison, here’s the original:

You may recall an ongoing blame battle between writer John Rozum and artist Scott McDaniel over the New 52 launch title STATIC. Rozum was the first of the New 52 creators to walk, and revealed it was because of creative differences with McDaniel. Now McDaniel has told HIS side of the story — in a 15,000 word novella that covers every moment of every conference call in minute depth. McDaniel says he has never written anything before, but he seems to have a great future as a court reporter.

There’s a ton of “he said/he said” going on in the post.

Looking back on the situation, I think John simply felt there was nothing he could contribute. I solved most of the story issues to Editorial’s satisfaction, not him, and he was relegated to scripting a novice’s plots. And that infuriated him.

For my part, I am ashamed of being so angry. I am not ashamed of the work I contributed, but of the manner in which I offered it at this time.

And again, I hurled no expletives, or personal insults or insults of any kind. I simply refused to lay down before the master, instead making him earn each step.

You may not be able to get through this blow by blow account so we’ll just agree with Graeme McMillan’s take — there are no good guys/bad guys, just guys with different views.

Reading the two together – and parsing out the passive aggressiveness in both – what becomes clear very quickly is a creative mismatch between McDaniel and Rozum’s sensibilities, as well as a horrendous breakdown in communications between editorial and the two creators; instead of there being any smoking gun of “He Said He Said” gossip or controversy here, it just seems sad and a wasted opportunity all round. Static Shock deserved better.

If you can get through the whole McDaniel piece, there is a lot of perhaps unintentional insight into the state of the DC office during the whole New 52 rollout, such as this:

Again, Harvey and I were very concerned about the sales trend on STATIC. Please recall this topic from earlier in my statement. This historic sales trend is no joke. It's real. Sales cool. Harvey and I feared that, as retailers were preparing to order #4 through #6, if they didn't see evidence of real story momentum and something important and cool happening that would attract additional readers, they would not change their historical ordering patterns and the book would simply slide into cancellation, if not by issue #6, then maybe by #8 or #10. Again, John expressed a contrary opinion. To him, that stuff wasn't worthy of consideration – only story mattered. And he was gonna bring the story.

Again and again McDaniel comes back to preoccupation with sales—parsing CBR polls and Diamond charts for any meaning. (Were McDaniels and editor Harvey Richards privy to the actual numbers, one wonders.) While this seems like anathema to the creative process, it was only common sense—this WAS a horse race and the slowest horses—Men of War, Mr. Terrific, etc — all got shot on the track just like Static.

Is this really where the Big Two gotten to as an industry? A desperate dash to sales at any cost?

Well, I think you can all answer that question for yourselves.

Job postings from around the net in comics related positions reveal that some areas are still growing, mostly digital, but also brick and mortar:

§ Jim Hanley’s Universe is hiring “friendly, knowledgeable individuals to fill multiple part time positions at its Manhattan and Staten Island stores”. Come be a future Comic Book Man (or Woman)

§ DC is hiring s Content Editor for the West Coast to work in Digital. They call it “ramping up”!

DC’s looking for a Content Editor, someone who is a “creative, digitally savvy, and strategic-minded individual” to join their Interactive Marketing team.

The Content Editor “will be responsible for leading the day-to-day planning, development, and execution of DC Entertainment’s digital content strategy across all platforms (online, mobile, social media, etc).”

§ Papercutz is hiring a Marketing Director

§ Marvel has a whole JOBS BOARD. Among the most recent positions:

Senior Web Application Developer
Web Application Developer
Financial Analyst, Participations & Residuals Accounting
Mid-Level Marketing Partnerships

Comics! They’re hiring!

UPDATE: We’ve added some jobs from ComiXology here:

Wanna join a rapidly expanding comics empire? comiXology has two jobs listed — the Guided View Editor job is entry level. Deets in link.

Senior Mobile Developer
We’re looking for a Senior Mobile developer who can work on one or more of our mobile platforms – iOS or Android. We develop our own application, Comics, as well as white label applications for some of our publishing partners, including Marvel and DC.
read more
Guided View Editor
40 per week plus OT, must reside in the local NYC area.

Back when we interviewed Jeffrey Brown about his movie at Sundance, he mentioned an upcoming humor book called Darth Vader and Son that features gentle humor on the topic of Darth as dad to Luke.

Well, he’s now posted some cover sketches on his blog.

And here’s the final cover.

The book is out from Chronicle in May.