News

Over on her blog, former SLG Publishing editor-in-chief Jennifer de Guzman reveals she has left SLG. She's joining Image Comics as marketing & PR coordinator.

Last year the Beat inaugurated the Person of the Year award. In an industry where changing the status quo isn't always greeted with joy, this is our way of recognizing the people who either move the needle and shake things up or exemplify a level of excellence that others can aspire to. This year, votes were much more across the board. One person clearly got the most votes as a single person. However, a different executive team had more votes overall when both parts were added up. So, we used our executive power to declare both a Person of the Year and a Team of the Year. Who moved the comics industry in 2011 and will continue to be heard in 2012? Read on.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN triumphed in the Best Animated Feature category at the Golden Globes last night -- a surprising loss for Pixar, but then their entry this year, CARS 2, wasn't really in the same league as their other recent masterpieces. Director Steven Spielberg seemed happy to win -- but not as emotional as when he teared up during a montage of scenes from his own film WAR HORSE -- but he kind of blew it for the comics folk by not mentioning Hergé. Perhaps if TINTIN is so lucky as to be nominated and win an Academy Award, Spielberg will remember to thank the little people.

The rumor that's been making the rounds is true: Garth Ennis is the writer when Dynamite launches their ongoing revival of the classic pulp franchise, The Shadow. Joining him as the artist is Aaron Campbell, who's been doing Green Hornet: Year One and Dark Shadows for Dynamite.

By Todd Allen DC has just announced Carlos D'Anda as the fill-in artist for Justice League #8.  They describe D'Anda as a "fan favorite," but...

You can't accuse Rob Liefeld of shying away from work. While his old Extreme characters are getting relaunched over at Image, Rob's just been announced as taking over no less than three titles at DC.

Although some websites prefer not to use sources, it is our policy at The Beat to link away. Thus we can confirm that it is indeed true that Warners has applied for trademark registry on a new logo, as you can see above. The trademark is in black and white so that any color can be applied. "Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of the letter "D" flipping back to reveal the letter "C" and DC ENTERTAINMENT." To be honest, when we first thought this, we suspected it was a new logo for DC shoes. But no. As others have commented, this "peel back" logo makes the much-mocked swish — introduced in 2005 — look like the Milton Glaser-designed original in terms of readability.

The end of 2011 was a time of turmoil for the brand known as Wizard. Founder Gareb Shamus was forced out by his own board, and the new board committed to mending fences and resurrecting the media end of the brand to go along with the successful convention business. Now the company's annual report has just been posted and sadly for snoopers, the financials only go up to the end of 2010. However there is lots of other interesting reading, including the difficulty of running a web-based media enterprise -- it's not making any money, which will surprise no one -- and the convention business -- only Chicago and Philadelphia are profitable with the other events losing money.

National Cartoonists Society president Tom Richmond announces a major, inevitable evolution of the comic strip with a new webcomics division for the Reuben Awards. The Reubens have traditionally honored the best in comic strips and illustration -- two artforms now mostly associated with Mad Men-era martinis and horn rim glasses on the "up to date" scale. Richmond's post has all the salient background info but here are the guidelines and the screening committee:

ComicsPRO, the retailer advocacy group, has announced the 2012 nominees for their third annual Appreciation Awards, which honors pioneers in the direct market:

Cartoon Movement continues its notable journalistic endeavors with a new 75-page series on Haiti. Haitian cartoonist Chevelin Pierre and journalist Pharés Jerome are collaborating on the first chapter which launches on January 12th, the second anniversary of the 7.0 earthquake which flattened the island. The first chapter looks at the tent cities that still fill Port-au-Prince.

Comics are a business that is relatively insulated from the ups and downs of the economy: things are ALWAYS marginal. While there's no doubt but that the global recession has impacted the comics industry — especially with customers dealing with price increases — quite frankly, there wasn't a lot to cut back. There's a good living to be made in comics, and many people do, but no one is buying a yacht — or not very many anyway. And maybe comics are a survival industry because it seems like everyone is just one or two issues away from square one.