Comics

This year's SPX Expo has just announced the addition of Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez to this year's show, joining previously announced Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware that means these four pillars of cartooning will be united on the East Coast for the first time since...well, maybe ever. YIKES!

Artist Gabriel Hardman has tweeted a peek at a new project which Corinna Bechko is writing. The duo is currently teaming up on some...

Ben Towle's baseball sketches remind us that pitchers and catchers have already reported.

Wow! All hell has broken loose in comic book-land! Last week's surfeit of Aquarian-born comics creators created a busy circuit of birthday parties, and if I had a dime for every time the name "Gary Friedrich" came up, his legal fees would be paid. IP Wars are breaking out everywhere.Why here, why now? As always, follow the money. The most visible and lucrative segment of comics industry has, since the great distribution collapse of the '90s, been primarily in the IP business. Entire comics companies have sprung up just to create movie storyboards masquerading as comics. Big media corporations outfit swanky offices just for the purpose of developing existing IP. It's become a cottage industry. No wonder then, that controlling and profiting from IP has become THE major preoccupation of the comics industry from the CEO selling movies to the colorist selling prints.

If you're going to be in the Bay area tomorrow through Sunday, you might think about dropping by the Oakland Convention Center for the Image Comics Expo. This is a combination 20th birthday party for Image Comics and a sorta/kinda replacement for Wonder Con, which has moved to Anaheim this year while the Moscone Center in San Francisco is undergoing a remodeling.

The internet is NOT forever. DC's website is undergoing a huge overhaul in a few weeks, according to The Source, with a new design, and new, exclusive content, and the old forums are going to be erased.

Today Derf Backderf's memoir MY FRIEND DAHMER dropped in comics shops. It's the true story of some fairly typical loserish guys in high school..one of whom will grow up to be one of the most horrifying serial killers of the 20th century. And who already shows signs of being completely without empathy.

Troy Brownfield writes to tell us of his new webcomic SPARKSHOOTER, which debuts next Wednesday. In the mean time he's been running a series of teasers, and passed one along to The Beat. Brownfield writes and Sarah Vaughn draws the series.

The new Nerdist YouTube channel is hosting the first look at the Plastic Man shorts that will be airing shortly on DC Nation. As we reported earlier, Tom Kenny voices Plas, while Andy Suriano and Stephen DeStefano are involved in the animation—the John K. influence is strong but it works with the character.

In advance of this weekend's Image Expo, Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen are teasing a new book at iFanboy but given the Daft Punk reference, smart money is on a a new PHONOGRAM. Two previous minis about the magical powers of pop music were cult favorites, resulting in mainstream work for both, an X-Men gig for Gillen but also McKelvie's famous quote about working on an indie book resulting in "a constant low level money anxiety." Regardless, its return would be a joyful thing indeed.

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Paul Pope has posted a rough of the cover for the new Legendary edition of his art book PULPHOPE .