Comics

Marvel sent out another one of their teasers earlier today which got people talking a little. While the news that Greg Pak and Mike McKone were taking over writing and drawing duties of ASTONISHING X-MEN with #44 in November was notable enough, the idea that Scott and Ororo -- who are in pretty tight relationships with others at this time -- might be locking lips is positively TMZ territory! Pak explained:

News roundup and some personal notes on the rioting.

On Saturday we broke the news that the MoCCA Festival in New York and Stumptown in Portland, OR would share the same dates, April 28-29, as MoCCA had finalized their dates for the same weekend. Since then, all the participant have spoken out regarding the unfortunate timing. MoCCA museum director Jack Walsh has just released a statement:

As many have noted, Frances Bean Cobain, long the innocent ping pong ball in a custody battle with her stability challenged mother, Courtney Love, and other family members, will be 18 in a few days. And to celebrate, she's been photographed by fashion designer Hedi Slimane, best known for his ultra-slim cut suits. Along the way Cobain shows off a tattoo based on a character by cartoonist Al Columbia (Pim and Francie) -- which should come as no surprise, since Cobain's art alter ego Fiddle Tim lists Columbia as an influence. These pictures from Slimane have gotten wide play and they are beautiful. If you scroll down the page you see his previous subject was Amy Winehouse. Given Cobain's genetic influences, (and her swift evolution from relatively healthy looking girl to goth idol) this all looks kinda creepy. But hey, it's probably all the lighting.

B-but...you died!! Marvel continues to release teaser images for a November FF event, and the latest image shows the Human Torch in a variant cover by Joe Quesada.

Benjamin Ahr Harrison directed this swell animated video that references Winsor McCay's great Little Nemo comic strip. Check out Hoffman's website for more musical stylings.

You have to take "anonymous spy reports" with a grain of salt, but this write up on the recent DC retailer roadshow in London had some interesting candid comments from DC's SVP of sales Bob Wayne. new formets -- OGNs, digital -- seem to be inevitable:

Terry Moore has a pretty amazing track record as a self-publishing cartoonist. He's wrapped up his magnum opus STRANGERS IN PARADISE, but instead of going into that awkward "I just finished my magnum opus" mode, he jumped right back in with a new series -- the SF-tinged ECHO -- and just wrapped up THAT. And now he's a launched a new thriller series called RACHEL RISING, which debuted at Comic-Con. However, as successful as he's been, Moore still found his new #1 underordered, and #2 orders cut back even more. It's a familiar problem in the direct market. In an interview with Russ Burlingame, Moore is askedthe inevitable questions about digital delivery:

With Disney's D23 Expo coming up in a few days, the Mouse is priming the pump for some possible Marvel-related announcements. At the Television Critics Association press tour, ABC president Paul Lee confirmed that the AKA Jessica Jones and Guillermo del Toro=produced Hulk pilots are still in the works, saying both were being "aggressively" developed. He also dropped some arcane hints about...Castle?

Those who find the comic strip Garfield the apotheosis of soul-sucking banality in the comics will no doubt be pleased by this press release in which creator Jim Davis frets that a new software that allows children to easily import images, manipulate them and even add sound effects will put him out of business.

"Back in my day we had only pencils and paper. This new software is like adding a jet pack to creativity. Kids can craft characters and backgrounds and tell a story with such ease and speed that I'm a little worried I might be out of a job soon."

But in a surprise twist, it turns out this software is licensed by Davis himself!

While we were linking to the previous Michael Dooley articles, we found another one from Comic-Con, an interview with Kim Munson, whose Comix Classics: Underground Comics app for iPhone, iPad, and Android hard a hard time getting approved. The app is a survey of classic underground comics art with images from S. Clay Wilson, Reed Waller, Denis Kitchen and more. The pictures are quite dirty -- we struggled to find one to post with this piece before settling on Jimmy Durante by Drew Friedman -- but nothing that isn't legal and available in other places. However, Apple, the electronic middleman, has other ideas:

Two from Michael Dooley via Imprint, Print magazine's online component. Salon reprints a piece called How comics influence graphic designers with comments and examples from Chip Kidd, Seymour Chwast, Mark Chiarello, and more. And in this piece Dooley wanders around Comic-Con and talks to interesting people like David Mack, Peter Kuper and Matt Kindt.