Comics

Is there a new Lichtenstein roaming the forests? Scott Edelman has brought to our attention thr work of Sharon Moody who paints trompe l'oeil paintings of comics by Jack Kirby, Sal Buscema and others -- but Edelman is bothered by the fact that the source artists are not credited anywhere:

They are infrequent and thus all the more precious.

Russ Cochran, a pioneer of deluxe comic reprints through his past efforts reprinting classic comics of the 50s, has just launched a new publication called SUNDAY FUNNIES, which will reprint classic Sunday comic strips in full color:

In this as always charming outing for Tablet Magazine, Davis explains the ins and outs of engagement rings.

Don MacPherson gathers the evidence "for".

These are being removed left and right -- but luckily the trailer will be officially released on Tuesday. Until then we'll have to make do with these handheld versions.

Dave Castelnuovo had a few words about the state of digital comics and the old arguments are coming up again. Pricing, retailing and formatting are still points of contention. The interesting dynamic here is the extent to which retailers are driving the digital process. Yes, this sounds backwards, but publishers have been bending over backwards trying not to upset the retailers since the dawn of digital. I'm sure there are a lot of retailers who don't feel that way, but I've had multiple publishers tell me they were holding back progress to pacify the retail channel for years.

"Top Shelf", indeed! Next year will see some amazing titles, and this year, there's fun stuff, as well as some quality reads. What caught your eye?

Lots of interesting stuff from Image! Some are all ages (so read them before you give them to a child, just to make sure they are age-appropriate!), some are "mature reader" (MR).

Comics from Europe! The latest offerings from Cinebook and Humanoids! Darwin! Mœbius! Milo Manara's Golden Ass! Zombies! John the Baptist!

by Dave Castelnuovo-- Just like the Arab Spring that changed much of the Middle East, It seems like Arkham Spring is upon us and will soon change the comics industry. Tensions are finally coming to a head as the comic industry continues to transition to the digital era. Creators are starting to speak out more about their potential opportunities in digital and are questioning why the industry is holding onto old practices that are preventing their comic from being accepted by more people. A good example of this comes from writer and illustrator Brian Wood in his blog post “The Digital Question Mark”. In it I think he presents a solid case as to why this dance between publishers and retailers is screwing up opportunities to give his book the best possible chance of success. It doesn’t matter whether the industry will eventually get to cheaper digital content in the next couple years, his book will be canceled unless readers buy it today. He has a good plan for making this happen but politics are getting in the way.

Marvel is expanding its new reader-friendly line of graphic novels with some strong creative teams and some characters who seem to be ripe for Hollywood development.