News

It's been a while since we checked in on Disney Publishing and their impending move. Since then a lot has happened. As we recall from our own time at Disney, they have an entire department that does nothing but move people around, and this switch sounds like it was put in place just to give them something to do. Basically, as reported by Publishers Weekly, Disney is swapping its East and West Coast publishing houses, moving 100 people from White Plains and the NY office to Glendale, and 50 Disney Press people back to New York. Wha--? The moves will roll out from now until September 30th.

The 2012 'Reuben' awards were given out by the NCS (National Cartoonists Society) on Saturday night, although only one is actually called the Reuben. The full list of winners is here, but Tom Richmond, best known for his work on MAD Magazine won the top spot, otherwise known as THE REUBEN AWARD for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. Richmond is a fairly prolific blogger, and has already recorded his initial thoughts:

Warren Ellis, the acerbic writer and social critic, discusses perhaps reinstating his commenting system, an idea he quickly rejects:

A brief conversation with a co-worker starts with Archie and ends with Gary Owens, with cameos by Scooby-Doo and Batman! (No Kevin Bacon, alas.) Read on to discover the crazy linkage!

Who won big at the Eagle Awards this year? Well, Batman, mostly

Random House is hiring a manga editor to work in their Kodansha imprint/joint venture. It's a pretty senior position for the right person who knows manga and speaks Japanese. Here's the scoop:

That's the question Russo-Canadian cartoonist Svetlana Chmakova—by any standards one of the most successful North Ameircan manga creators—posed to a bunch of us at breakfast during TCAF. And Deb Aoki has responded with a comprehensive five-part series examining the question. Four parts are up thus far. Aoki starts with examining the reasons why manga by non-Japanese creators—whether you call it OEL or Global Manga or Bruce—has a hard time in the market, listing nine reasons. Among them:

Is Kickstarter the next big comics distribution outlet? Some would say it already is. Mark Andrew Smith issues a call to action.

We've been following the curious saga of Platinum Studios for some time now, and now, just as MEN IN BLACK 3 is about to open, it seems the company has suffered a blow by being delisted from the SEC:

Well, after a grueling morning spent watching The View, as one might have expected, it was the nerd of the bunch, Whoopi Goldberg, who announced that "Marvel is making history with an issue on sale tomorrow, as Northstar will propose to Kyle with a gay wedding in a future issue." This prompted Joy Behar to ask "Can Batman and Robin come out of the closet now?"

It's all coming together now, isn't it? Marvel has just sent out the following advisory:

Tune into ABC at 11a/10a E/C tomorrow as the hosts of ABC’s The View exclusively reveal a major Marvel announcement! This is your first chance to get a look at the moment in Astonishing X-Men #50 that will have everyone talking!

Artist Sara Pichelli won Best Artist and Best Newcomer awards at last night's Stan Lee Awards, which are presented at the Kapow! to recognize achievements in superhero comics or something. Pichelli was on hand to accept her awards, as you can see, which is a good thing because originally there were no women in comics to go to the show. Luckily, some were found.