Comics

Not too long ago, Rob Liefeld hada long blog post about how to deal with the ups and downs of the business. When you think about it, he's the perfect person to write that piece -- his ups have been high and his downs have been low. And despite his very name being one of those push-butten codewords for bad art among many comics observers, Liefeld hasn't let that stop him. He does more public appearances than ever and every time we see him, he appears to be having a good time. Say what you will about his art, in that way Liefeld has exhibited a professionalism that a lot of people could learn from. And one of the message of his piece is that you just can't listen to the haters:

As we've previously mentioned, Derek Kirk Kim is a real hyphenate. Note only is his webcomic TUNE going strong towards a Fall 2012 collection, but he's just finished posting to YouTube 9 episodes of MYTHOMANIA, a parallel video series following cartoonist Andy Go and his millennial adventures.And now it has a poster!

Among the many excellent pieces of art up at his blog.

These Defenders don't mess around. Also, call me nuts, but on the off-chance that this just happened to be the first comics book I ever picked up, I'd rather just read a big old caption explaining who these groovy characters are than read dialog like, "Namor will not let your gamma-radiation based mutation take over, Banner!" Although considering that this is a '70s comic, they probably ALSO said something like that inside even though there was a caption.

Recently, letterer/artist Chris Eliopoulos posted some guidelines for how to stay in the business once you've broken in. There are a few comics-specific details, but mostly, this is how you stay in any field. A sampling:

In his spare time, the MUSH artist likes to doodle in a series called REED-iculous RICHARDS.

Top Shelf has just announced a team-up with comiXology that includes their own iOS app, and a separate app for the Kids Club line. Books from LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN to OWLY will be available across various platforms. Interestingly, Top Shelf is the first "alt.comix" type publisher to go whole hog with digital. D&Q and Fantagraphics and most of the smaller indies have remained remained aloof to the ecomics world. Although most art comics are best suited to the paper medium -- and are, indeed the very type of objects that will keep print books alive for quite some time -- a lot of indie cartoonists read just fine on the screen — we've found some of the "panel grid layout" types even look great on an iPhone. It seems like only a matter of time before everyone has their own app and storefront...but how long?

Not that Avengers. The ones with John Steed and Mrs. Peel. You know, Diana Rigg. The image suggests a six-issue miniseries beginning in January based on the '60s TV show The Avengers, whch featured an urbane pair of British spies. The show was a huge influence on Morrison, so it's not hard to see why he'd want to write a miniseries based on the property.

*BLUSH* I discovered a file I had overlooked yesterday... Here are some more interesting titles from IDW! Click on the titles for more information!

IDW publishes a wide variety of titles. Licensed properties, archival collections of both comic books and comic strips, original works, literary adaptations, and even the occasional picture book! This season, we see more of that, and many "wish list" items, just in time for the holidays! What caught your eye?

Artist Guillem March's work on CATWOMAN has gotten a lot of attention -- although not for the best reasons. But before he pencilled superheroes book for DC, he had a busy career in his native Spain as a pin-up artist. Now Image is showcasing that side of his art in a new book slated for January. PR below:

Here's another lost comic: a Killraven mini series by the dynamic duo of Robert Kirkman and Rob Liefeld. Although FIVE issues were finished, it has never been printed and doesn't look that will change any time soon. In 2007 Kirkman told CBR all about the series: