Comics

And it makes him unhappy, writes artist Tim Kreider, who has just resumed weekly updates on his website.

IDW has a new POPEYE book and Roger Langridge is going to write it. So there is hope for the world after all.

DC and Lego have teamed for an app that offers all-new, all-free comics. This could be significant, for reasons explained below.

You wanted 99 cent comics? You got 'em. Digital comics, that is. In what's a first for the Transformer series, IDW is making one of it's premiere licensed comics available first as a digital-only 12-part series selling for 99¢ for an 8 page chapter. The chapters will be released every two weeks starting today.

Everyone is figuring out new ways to get their stuff out there. Halo-8 is a multimedia company that just funded the OCCUPY COMICS anthology via Kickstarter -- but it's being released a little differently. People who purchased the book via Kickstarter get a digital subscription until the printed version comes out. They're using a similar system for GODKILLER, a comic written by Halo-8 head Matt Pizzolo and illustrated by Anna Muckcracker Wieszczyk, previously known for LUCID (Archaia) and the OCCUPY COMICS promo image.

Viz Media is running a nice promotion: new users can download their free app for iPad, iPhone or iPod and, after registering for an account, download a free volume 1 manga of your choice.

The Society of Illustrators, an august institution long devoted to the now-vanishing artform of magazine illustration, has in recent years presented medals in the Sequential category for comics-type stuff. this year's winners include a gold medal for GB Tran's VIETNAMERICA and a silver medal for Brian Rea's Modern Love, a series of illustrations for a NY Times column column on romance.

Well, by now it's looking more and more like the new DC logo is for real.

Another cool free thing on the internet! A downloadable book collecting the best storyboard spots featured on the Adventure Time tumblr. SInce Adventure Time is just one big indie comic come to life, by presenting these comics like storyboards, now we've come full circle.

After announcing a book for Free Comic Book Day and a lot of teasing, the relaunched Valiant has announced it's first title. X-O Manowar is launching on May 2nd. That's actually the Wednesday BEFORE Free Comic Book Day. X-O's high concept is, roughly stated, Conan in Iron Man's suit. Essentially, a Visigoth warrior/barbarian is abducted by aliens and ends up with the aliens' most advanced weapon in the universe suit of armor. It's also been a popular concept a couple times around, particularly during the first Valiant run. Between the two previous Valiant launches, here's a quick partial list of creators who've worked on X-O: Jim Shooter, Steve Englehart, Barry Windsor-Smith, Bob Layton, Bart Sears, Jackson Guice, Mark Waid, Dwayne McDuffie and Scot Eaton. Which is to say, "no pressure."

In honor of his birthday yesterday R. Stevens released a DRM-free ebook of his very first Diesel Sweeties collection.

Over on her blog, former SLG Publishing editor-in-chief Jennifer de Guzman reveals she has left SLG. She's joining Image Comics as marketing & PR coordinator.