Comics

Have a Silver Surfin' Christmas with Diana Tamblyn's Marvel holiday cards.

As the fallout from the Dark Horse digital initiative continues to blow like a glowing cloud over the internet, one other digital initiative has been trashed pretty thoroughly by a bunch of retailers in public and private: comiXology's digital storefronts. The rollout of terms was poorly handled and pissed off a lot of retailers with fears that it was just a front for comiXology to get their customer information. Perhaps in light of this, comiXology has just made a lengthy release about the program's first few months with news that money has been paid out early and at a lower minimum payment. Also a new TOS perhaps more to the liking of retailers will be released, along with other improvements. And the retailers that did use it have called it a big success. 100 stores -- listed below -- are taking part in the program. So -- consider this a new sales pitch: "Take a look at me now."

DEFENDERS #2 (NOV110487) Written by MATT FRACTION Pencils & Cover by TERRY DODSON Inks by RACHEL DODSON Colors by SONIA OBACK FOC – 12/12/11, ON SALE 1/4/12

Oops, well just yesterday The Beat and Michael Sangiacomo were reporting that Archie Comics co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit was continuing to peacefully tell children about the joys of comics despite her past as the target of a sexual harassment lawsuit. However, it seems that a series of anonymous phone calls alerted school officials to Silberkleit's ongoing legal problems and the school visits were canceled. A comics shop appearance and the sale of comics to benefit the schools have gone on as planned. But there is much more than that going on.

DC has announced Night Force is returning as a 7-issue mini-series in March. This will be the third revival for the series, which retains its original writer: Marv Wolfman. Night Force originally dates back to 1982, when Wolfman and Gene Colan reunited after their long run on Tomb of Dracula. The first run lasted 14 issues. The second series went for 12 issues from 1996-97, with a variety of artists like Brent Anderson and Matt Smith joining Wolfman.

A new Gilbert Hernandez GN is not astonishing news in and of itself -- the guy is one of the most prolific geniuses out there. However, that it will be overtly semi-autobiographical and that it will be published by D&Q makes it even more newsworthy, as revealed this morning at The Comics Reporter. MARBLE SEASON "follows a group of children and teenagers growing up in suburban southern California of the early 1960s, and tells the untold stories from the youth of an American comics legend. Pop culture references—TV shows, comic books, and music—saturate this evocative story, giving MARBLE SEASON the distinctive narrative depth and attention to detail fans have come to expect from the acclaimed cartoonist's work."
 
The book will be released this fall with a tour to follow.

Yesterday's comments by Tom Brevoort on the lack of sales support for female characters at Marvel did not go unnoticed by the usual gender issue commentators.

DC sure is coming on steady with these writer changes. On Wednesday, you had Paul Cornell off Stormwatch (though DC really only announced Paul Jenkins writing a 2-parter, Cornell was the one announcing he was off). On Tuesday, you had Joe Harris replacing Gail Simone as Firestorm co-writer. On Monday, you had Tom DeFalco replacing Fabian Niceiza on Legion Lost. Are we seeing a pattern pattern here?

Okay you can mark off one more from the list of great comic strips without a deluxe reprint series: Percy Crosby's Skippy is getting the Library of American Comics treatment. The whimsical childhood strip was immensely popular in its day -- the film version starring Jackie Coogan was nominated for four Academy Awards -- but Crosby eventually ran into severe personal problems and spent the last years of his life in a mental hospital.

Despite Crosby's sad story, the strip remains a much loved gem that influenced the great kid strips like Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, and Cul de Sac. Library of American Comics Series co-editor Dean Mullaney sent along a swell preview of the first volume, which is due next summer.

You may have witnessed some out of control hyperbole about Marvel's recently announced Avengers Vs. X-Men. My personal favorite, courtesy of Newsarama's recap: Pre-taped words from all five writers. "There's never been an Avengers vs. X-Men super-blowout, so it's like, we have to do it," Bendis says. Never been one? Seems like I own copies of something answering that description...

When DC announced the 52 relaunch, there were a handful of titles I was concerned about: Xombi, Legion of Super-Heroes, Jonah Hex and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. As it turns out, the only one I got burned on was the criminally under-appreciated Xombi. Last week, the new volume of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents came out. The first question is: "Did the last series count or is this a total reboot?"

Best American Comics series editors Matt Madden and Jessica Abel have just posted the Notable Comics of 2011 list, those comics that did not make the contents of this year's Alison Bechdel-edited book, but are still worthy of notice. The listing includes covers, links and more information: