Incredibly rare Craig Thompson art auction for Manila flood benefit
As you may know, the metro Manila area has been hit by severe flooding of late, due to monsoon season, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced as a result. Local bookstore Fullybooked is organizing a fundraiser for the flood victims.
News and notes
§ You may note that the front page of The Beat looks different. I tinkered with the template in order to alleviate some of the strain on the database, so hopefully there won't be any more crashes before we move to our new, updated look and server (which is coming, promise). In the course of doing this, I crashed the database worse than it ever had been before to the point where even after rebooting the server the errant process would immediately lock it up again.
2012 Ignatz nominees announced
The nominees for this year's Ignatz Awards, to be presented Saturday, September 15th at the Small Press Expo, have been announced. As usual, it's an eclectic mix spotlighting some outstanding work from off the beaten path—Inés Estrada— and some from mainstream publishers—My Friend Dahmer.
Joe Kubert: an unparalleled life
Although it really wasn't logical to think that Joe Kubert would live forever, I think we can all be forgiven for thinking it might
just happen. So his death yesterday at age 85 comes as a real blow. With one of the longest, most productive careers in American comics, he was a pillar of such energy and strength that as dynamic as his art was, the man himself seemed to surpass it.
R.I.P. Carlo Rambaldi
Carlo Rambaldi, special effects wizard, has passed at the age of 86. Discover he achievements, from an era before computers.
Tom Brevoort: Journey Into Mystery will continue
Tom Brevoort may have just confirmed that Journey Into Mystery won't be ending after Kieron Gillen leaves...
Game changer: Color POD just got really affordable
Book distribution giant Ingram has just reduced prices on color POD by about 2/3rds, Todd Allen reports at Publishers Weekly.
"Ingram Content Group has announced a new “standard color” pricing model for print-on-demand technology that has reduced costs by roughly two-thirds, making color POD an economical publishing option for the first time. Achieved through advancements in inkjet technology, the price drop means that a greater range of book content can be printed in color and done faster around the world."
Tony Moore files suit for co-ownership of The Walking Dead and other properties
Well, if you wondered if tensions were going to deescalate between former collaborators and childhood friends Tony Moore and Robert Kirkman after Moore filed a suit to collect what he alleges are his fair share of the profits from the Walking Dead comics and TV show, the answer is "HELL NO." Moore has actually filed a SECOND suit claiming that he should be named joint author of THE WALKING DEAD, BATTLE POPE, BRIT, DEAD PLANET and MY NAME IS ABRAHAM. (The latter two are comics as yet unpublished but developed by the two when they were friends.)
Future comics: Susie Cagle's "Down in Smoke"
Cartoonist Susie Cagle and Cartoon Movement are at it again with "Down in Smoke" a report on the pot wars of Oakland. All of Cartoon Movements comics are thoughtful piece of original journalism—but it's also on the cutting edge of comics technology, with charts, timelines, animation and in this case, an "audio comic' that includes embedded interviews with the people in the comics. Impressive.
Interview: How the new Society of Illustrators/MoCCA hybrid will work
Over the weekend, we were hanging out with the local cartooning scene, and the locals were buzzing about last week’s surprise news that The Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art was transferring all of its holdings and activities to the Society of Illustrators, a more venerable New York institution that spotlights already–recognized greats like Leyendecker and Rockwell. While there was much speculation, a MoCCA insider told us that they would not be involved with the new entity, as it had been transferred in total to SoI. What we're looking at is an entirely new operation, in effect.
If the transfer has removed New York City's only dedicated comics exhibit space and social center, the new home is definitely a landmark in its own right. The Society of Illustrators itself goes back over a hundred years, and has seen all the greats from Gibson to Rockwell to Peak to Crumb come through its doors—doors of a midtown building which was once a carriage house for legendary kazillionaire J. P. Morgan. The differing paths of the comics and illustration worlds is perhaps shown by the operating budgets of both institutions—SoI's is $1.3 million; MoCCA's was $300,000.
Marvel and Fox Playing Swapsies for Daredevil Film Rights?
In an interesting move, it looks like Marvel might extend 20th Century's 'Daredevil' contract... on the condition that Fox return certain Fantastic Four characters back to them.
HYPE: ICv2 announces Conference on Comics and Digital II for NYCC
Pop culture business news site ICv2 has announced the ICv2 Conference on Comics and Digital II to be held in conjunction with this year's New York Comic-Con. It will be held on WEDNESDAY, October 10th,1:00 to 5:00 p.m. -- in previous years it was held on the Thursday prior to the Con but NYCC is essentially a 4 day show now.
As in previous years, The Beat is a sponsor of this event. Here's the line-up of panels, with speakers to be announce. All of them sound extremely interesting.
