Boom Studios

Howard Cruse is one of the groundbreaking cartoonists of the last 30 years, with his iconic BAREFOOTZ and WENDEL—the latter a pioneering gay-themed comic that ran in the Advocate—and his founding GAY COMIX, an underground anthology. His STUCK RUBBER BABY was one of the early post-MAUS examples of the graphic novel coming of age as a literary medium. And that's just the highlights of a long award winning career. Now Boom! Town is bringing out THE OTHER SIDES OF HOWARD CRUSE, a thick hardcover which includes his work from the light-hearted Barefootz strips, his take on Nancy and Little Lulu, and the iconoclastic sheep Shearwell going on a “trip” or two, and other underground comics. The book is available in May. Boom has provided us with an exclusive preview -- and yes, this story is VERY NSFW.

Is the world ready for a new graphic novel from outsider musician/artist Daniel Johnston? Probably. Johnston, whose long career as a very eccentric musician was the subject of the 2006 documentary THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON, is also an avid comics reader, and this is his first GN. It comes complete with added soundtrack and app for the 360º experience. For those not familiar, Johnston is somewhere north of Wild Man Fischer and south of They Might be Giants and early Beck.

Here it is, the stunning conclusion of new titles shipping in February! Since this is Oscars weekend, I've included some award winners below! Hugo! Edgar! Carnegie! Stoker! Even Shamus! (No, not that one!) Lots of adaptations! One is a comic based on a movie based on a prose novel!

Given that creator Pendleton Ward is a huge comics reader and sometime cartoonist and that half the staff consists of folks you would normally see at Stumptown, AND that the cartoon itself is heavily influenced by generations of alt.comix (Ward says Trondheim's Dungeon comics are a huge influence) ....it's a surprise that up until now there hasn't been an ADVENTURE TIME comic book based on the hugely popular Cartoon Network show. But now BOOM!! is remedying that with a new ongoing monthly series written by Ryan North (DINOSAUR COMICS) with art by Shelli Paroline (ICE AGE: ICED IN and MUPPET SNOW WHITE.) It's part of Boom's KaBOOM! kid line. Also of note: the book is coming out from BOOM! rather than DC, which, like the Cartoon Network, is owned by Warner Bros.

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.

To celebrate the season, Boom! Studios has launched one of its comics as a webcomic, DRACULA: THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS by Kurt Busiek, Daryl Gregory, Scott Godlewski, and Damian Couciero. To start off with, the webcomic is serializing the print version, but then will start running new material.

It's Preview Night and the ICv2 Conference at San Diego Comic-Con, and while the big announcements are still being held back for the convention proper, news has begun to come out of San Diego in a trickle that will soon become a torrent.

Via BOOM!'s mailing list, Chip Mosher has a pretty clear suggestion that shows just how publishers are living on a copy here and a copy there. With DC's massive relaunch coming up a lot of retailer dollars are going to be tied up elsewhere so a book like Roger Langridge's SNARKED needs every little boost:

Ah... Memorial Day approaches, and with it, summer vacation. Day after day of nothing which must be done, but full of possibilities! Maybe an escape to the air-conditioned refuge of your local library. Perhaps a day spent on the porch, sipping something cold and sinful (I prefer Brown Cows, served in a large ice tea glass). Or maybe hiding away up in a hayloft, or deep in a cool root cellar, where no one can find you. Whatever your preference, there's nothing like a good book to make you forget the world around you. Below are some suggestions for your summer reading pleasures. (And if you need a nap to avoid the afternoon heat, give your kids something to read. It'll keep them quiet long enough for you to recharge your batteries.)

It seems that standalone apps for authors and imprints and licenses are now the way to go on digital devices, BOOM! has just announced a new Stan Lee app for iOS devices that will includes the digital version of Stan's BOOM! books, including SOLDIER ZERO, THE TRAVELER, and STARBORN. As the PR mentions, this is part of "BOOM! Studios’ aggressive digital comics strategy to offer their entire frontlist and backlist of titles for download across multiple mobile and desktop platforms." So there.

Read all of Shannon Wheeler's I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER online right now.

With Marvel picking up most of the licensed Disney material that BOOM! Studios had published, it's no surprise that they'll be publishing the much-loved Muppets comics by Roger Langridge in a 96-page collection called "MUPPETS PRESENTS: MEET THE MUPPETS" -- previously collected by BOOM! in 2009. Bringing back Langridge's great comics is a no-brainer, but there is still the question of the Langridge comics that were left in publishing limbo. On his blog, Langridge suggested that the material in question was in a contractual limbo, with DIsney unable to publish it until it had been published by BOOM!. Asked whether the lost material would be showing up at Marvel, a spokesman had only a "No comment."