§ Grant Morrison MEDIA week! At io9, he talks all about Batman and Robin.
And at Splash Page, rapper MF Grimm interviews the Scottish raconteur.
§ Michael May picks out some promising comics from the September Previews. John Rozum is writing something fro DC again? Good news!
§ At the exact same time that the world’s best selling musician was pulling a Schrodinger’s cat on Twitter, Rich Johnston was interviewing Rantz Hoseley about Longbox. Now that we have a little distance, it’s time to link to this discussion of whether e-distribution spells certain doom for comics shops or not:
BC: So do you see yourself as the new Phil Seuling? Or is there danger of you being the new Marc Alessi?
RH: someone said I needed to invest in black turtlenecks. I’m happy to be an evangelist for LBX, but it’s about comics||& anything that really GROWS the market, gets new readers, gets the excited… that’s KEY||Our COO took his 13 yr old daughter to HeroesCon & she was very much “dad, I don’t want to, comics are dumb…”||& yet, an hour later, she’s back at the hotel with a huge stack of comics, laughing aloud, & asking ‘are there more?’||reaching THAT audience, making it easy for them to find stories they love, introducing them to what’s out there…||THAT is a HUGE part of our focus, & why LongBox is exciting for me speaking as a creator, parent & fan
§ Also at Robot 6, Brigid Alverson wonders why Archie is on iPhones, and just how many 7-year-olds own iPhones anyway.
Brigid Alverson: Why does it make sense for Archie to move into iPhone apps—does it extend your audience?
Steve Oswald: It definitely extends our audience, especially overseas. We hope that many people who haven’t picked up an Archie comic in a while try out some of our free downloads and see how great our books are.
§ Also in re online, Joey Manley at Comicspace is trying an interesting experiment in seeing which ad network has the best ROI to sell T-shirts. He’s testing Google Adsense, Facebook and Project Wonderful. He reports results on a regular basis and it’s getting some interesting feedback from readers as well.
§ Josh Neufeld writes: How to be an Obscure Alternative Cartoonist Specializing in Real-Life Topics.
§ Guillermo del Toro warns this won’t be your grandpappy’s HOBBIT
Asked about the film and what he wants to avoid with it, Del Toro said: “What I want to do is make the best movie I have ever done. What I want to avoid is to make some fastidious tracing of lines that were established by the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. We’re trying to be respectful of it, and what was shown in the trilogy is canon, but we are gleefully exploring new creatures, new set pieces, new territory and new avenues.
“As with everything, there is always something new to get excited about.”
“As with everything, there is always something new to get excited about.”
Maybe Gandalf will have a dance sequence like Bollywood He-Man!
“We’re trying to be respectful of it, and what was shown in the trilogy is canon, but we are gleefully exploring new creatures, new set pieces, new territory and new avenues.”
-Hopefully by ‘new’ he means new in relation to what has been shown over the years, not ‘new’ as in, let’s make a new creature that Tolkien never wrote about!! O.o
I’m nominating Grant Morrison for best dressed man in comics, honorary Eisner.
I loved John Rozum’s Midnight, Mass. series from Vertigo several years ago so will defo give his Red Circle book a look. It’s such a shame Vertigo never collected either of the Midnight, Mass. Series, maybe now he’s writing for mainstream DC again there will be some interest.
@ Brigid Alverson – My 9-year old nephew owns an iPhone that he uses to play video games; my 7-year-old son wants one now. If I had an iPhone, I’d get Archie comics to keep the kids entertained on long trips. A friend of mine keeps all sorts of apps to keep his kids busy. It’s just smart thinking on Archie’s part.