Indie Comics

Whitney Taylor continues to be my favorite investigative comics journalist—well, maybe investigative is too strong a word, but if "talking to a lot of people and painting a picture" is the criterion, Whit is it, as her report on Comic Arts Brooklyn shows. This was a strong show but one that experienced an unexpected glitch: a lot of people thought it was a two day show and didn't come to the exhibits on Saturday. This resulted in a smaller crowd and, for some, lower sales. On the day there was a lot of anxiety—it's like basing your business plan on Christmas sales and then there's a big blizzard the day of the big sale—but everyone seems to have survived intact. And yet, is a financial model this precarious one that is "sustainable"? I predict sustainable will be THE word of 2015, as a the last few days of posts here have been exploring. Taylor talks about the model with many publishers and creators and key behind the scenes people like publishing rep Tony Shenton, and while everyone is optimistic, there is no real consensus on whether things are working, improving or just providing a false illusion of hope:

After a lengthy hiatus, the creative team behind Image Comics' EGOs is back in action and ready to serve up more interplanetary crime drama...

Gary Spencer Millidge's Strangehaven may well be the best comic you've never read. Originally self-published in eighteen issues over the course of ten years,...

Well, sort of. It's well known that some used book prices on Amazon are just kind of...loony. Take for instance, Monsters by Ken Dahl, an excellent book about a guy who thinks he has herpes by Ken Dahl, published by Secret Acres but now out of print. (A new edition is planned for next year.) In the meantime, you can get a used copy for a mere $394.94... or brand new for $11,964.08.

Over at PW I reported on Consortium starting to distribute Alternative Comics and Secret Acres to bookstores. They currently distribute Uncivilized, Toon Books, Nobrow...

It's that time of year when we start thinking about NEXT year, and publishers nveil their schedules. And few unveilings are as pretty as those from Nobrow—their books are routinely gorgeous and display a level of artistry few other publishers can match. ANd next year's line-up (through August) are as gorgeous as you'd expect. Among the goodies: a full color expansion of Sam Bosma's award winning Fantasy Basketball, and the print debut of Jen Lee, whose webcomics Thunderpaw we've long been fans of. The latter is part of a relaunch of Nobrow's 17X23 line of "pamphlets"—24 pages long and priced at $5.95. The line also includes two french full length graphic novels. Definitely some good reading to come.

by Zachary Clemente Well, this is a wonderful surprise! Panel Syndicate announced today that a new digital comic by Albert Monteys (of El Jueves fame)...

Koyama Press is making many of its current and past graphic novels available in digital editions via the Sequential app. The titles available...

by Edie Nugent The main stage spectacles of NYCC saw panels filled with celebrity actors and moderators alike, whipping thousands of screaming audience members into...

I'm pretty sure we've posted some of Eric Haven's creepy cool Mancat comics before. But not it's all being collected by AdHouse, in UR. The publisher describes these comics as "Dark, absurdist, and deadpan, these stories reflect the apocalyptic undercurrent of the modern era. Also included is Haven's long-running comic strip "Race Murdock" which appeared in The Believer magazine." Haven is among those cartoonist's whose work is just inherently spooky. In the past his work has appeared in various anthologies, but when he isn't cartooning he's producing the TV Show Mythbusters. A real hyphenate for the season.

Magnetic Press has essayed it's maiden year pretty well with a steady stream of gorgeous books imported from France, a successful debut at San Diego...

While nerdlebrity comics lines are common now—from Shia LaBeouf to DMC—a pioneer in this regard and still one of the best in terms of quality is Burlyman Comics, which is owned by the Wachowskis, the directing siblings behind The Matrix, the much beloved Speed Racer and the upcoming Jupiter Ascending. The company has been around for about a decade and launched about a decade ago with Doc Frankenstein by the Wachowskis and Matrix storyboard artist Steve Scroce, and Shaolin Cowboy by the all around genius Geof Darrow. Burlyman put out 7 issues of Shaolin Cowboy before fading away—the seriesfollow the  adventures of a nameless Shaolin and his mule in an apocalyptic American West—a concept that seems maybe too simple until you know that Darrow is drawing it with all his hallucinogenic detail. The tagline "A buddy picture with a body count" explains it all.