News

As previously noted, we were guests the other night on Comic News Insider's gala 400th episodealong with Ben Templesmith, Chriss Cross, Becky Cloonan, Paul Pope, Emma Hayley, and many more. And we were there to announce a new partnership between CNI and The Beat!

Daniel Best digs up the bankruptcy court proceedings for Todd McFarlane Inc. and notes that the $2.2 million settlement includes $1.1 million set aside for the "Gaiman Settlement (Class 4)." As Best notes, this is not necessarily the amount of money that Neil Gaiman received, since lawyers fees were to come out of the money.

As we mentioned a few days back, DC's East Coast publicity department has been severely depopulated, first by the surprise departure of VP David Hyde, and the simultaneous ankling of publicity manager Josh Kushins, who left for a new job in California, we're told. Kushins had been at DC for about a year.

Over the weekend, Cory Marder passed away after a long illness. The wife of Beanworld creator Larry Marder, Cory was best known to a small group in the industry, but loved by everyone she touched. Charles Brownstein has a beautiful tribute here that says everything. My heart goes out to Larry on this irreplaceable loss.

Saturday night saw the Stumptown Awards handed out by host Bobby "Fatboy" Roberts as part of the annual festival. And here they are!

The Bonfire Agency came on the scene a year ago with some great ideas for giving all levels of the comics industry more information; this month they are spotlighting one of the best, FanPan, a consumer input panel of 500 pop culture users and influencers. It's free to join FanPan, but brands and products can then avail themselves of FanPan input to test how their products will be received by the highly vocal and internet-savvy early adopters.

Well, things got a little more interesting. After a two-year hiatus, Devil's Due publishing just announced they have returned—and they'll be distributed by Damond which is a bit of a surprise because Devil's Due had previously pulled out of Diamond with some hubbub. But you know, this is comics, and squabbles are rarely eternal.

We're looking for a few good people to help cover this year's San Diego experience. What you get: a press badge. What you do: write.

Second Joe Sacco item of the day! The Oregon Book Awards honored graphic novels for the first time this year, and Joe Sacco has won for FOOTNOTES IN GAZA, his most recent journalistic comic investigating a possible massacre in Palestine in 1956.

Legendary Filipino creator Tony DeZuniga recently had a severe stroke, and he is currently in critical condition. And his family does not have health insurance—yeah, this stuff happens in the Philippines, too. HIs wife Tina wrote of the details in the link below.

The LA Times handed out its book prizes at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend, and the winner in the Graphic Novel category was Carla Speed McNeil for FINDER: VOICE. The other nominees were:

As expected, today's firing of Disney Studio head Rich Ross has Tinsel Town buzzing, and a picture of a Mouse House in disarray is emerging. Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige has been named several times as a potential replacement, but Nikki Finke's must-read analysis also confirms what we wrote about last year: legendary skinflint Ike Perlmutter is very much in the mix at Disney, and his personal dislike of Ross certainly didn't help matters. (Ross was also on the outs with Pixar's John Lasseter, according to Finke.) But even Disney chairman Bob Iger is feeling the Ike pinch: