Comics

Webcomics anthology Act-i-vate presents a one-shot today,HURRICANE WILMA by Miami-based artist Omar Angulo.

DC has released am image (click for larger) to mark the release of FLASHPOINT #1 today. You need to be a bit more versed in DC lore to know how entirely shocking this image is, but there is a monkey, and that's always good. There are also different versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, and so on. Alternate universe, ho! What we do know: FLASHPOINT, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert, kicks off tomorrow, featuring the Flash and ushers in a slightly ..."Different" world for DC. Which we've seen before but you know...it always works for a new generation. Retailer Larry Doherty of Larry's Comics in Lowell, Mass, himself no stranger to attention, went on yesterday's "#comicmarket" retailing discussion to say that FLASHPOINT will be the book of the summer. Selected tweets:

Click for the larger version. Also notice how they ran out of time on some of the photoshopping. Via Dave G.

Hollywood is a tough place. Grant Morrison may be a god of comics -- the most inventive superhero idea smith since Kirby, even --...

Fan of the curious antics of Michael Kupperman have been enjoying his "Mark Twain meets Einstein" adventures on his blog for a while, but it turns out that it's turned into a book, Mark Twain’s Autobiography, 1910-2010 which will be published in August from Fantagraphics. The cover hasn't been released yet but a few preview images have.

Thor is all around, no need to fake it.

Now this is smart! After FCBD, Dark Horse is making its free comics available for free download for a limited amount of time. Downloads will be available starting Wednesday, May 11, and run through the end of the month. Criminal Macabre/Baltimore and Avatar: The Last Airbender/Star Wars: The Clone Wars will both be available via computer, Mac iOS device on the Digital.DarkHorse.com, or via the Dark Horse Comics bookshelf app.

By all accounts, it was one of the biggest Free Comic Book Days yet, with most stores reporting "sell-outs" early on and crowds and -- importantly -- SALES that rivaled their biggest days ever. It was also a media event as over 200 news stories show.

To no one's surprise, THOR scored a hit at the weekend box office topping the domestic till with $66 million, adding up to a worldwide gross of $242 mil. The thunder "god" lagged only IRON MAN and SPIDER-MAN's debuts, making the third biggest first appearance for a Marvel character. (But NOTE the others didn't have the benefit of inflated 3D ticket prices. It was also proof that a film can make a big debut despite two weeks of piracy: THOR opened two weeks ago overseas to take advantage of various local holidays and the Royal Wedding 3-day weekend in Britain. Although THOR also handily blasted the Mel Gibson come-back vehicle, THE BEAVER, it was not all good news:

Canadians seem like a peaceful, tolerant folk, but they have a record of seizing a lot of material at the border, including, this week, several copies of the comics anthology BLACK EYE. Editor Ryan Standfest has a complete account in the link. Basically cartoonist Tom Neely was carrying five copies of the book across the border, when the books were seized. Neely writes:

Dan Hipp has drawn many things -- GYAKUSHU, THE AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS, BEN 10, and many, many more comics, and his MisterHipp blog is a dragon's lair of fun art. However these posters imagining STAR WARS, TRON and ALIEN as Tintin books are must-sees.

Prolific Argentinean comics writer Carlos Trillo has passed away at age 68. According to reports, he was traveling in London with his wife when he began to feel unwell and was taken to the hospital where he died.