News

So, this weekend in Anaheim (home of Disneyland), the D23 Expo is taking place. Dedicated to All Things Disney, this show will feature Marvel Comics for the first time, with appearances by Joe Quesada, Kevin Feige, and Marvel creators. Joe Quesada will be hosting a panel on Sunday, at 10:15 AM. I hope someone pulls a "Batgirl" and questions Mr. Quesada about the "legends" of Marvel, and how Marvel honors their contributions to Marvel's legacy. Given the concentrated nature of the fan-fest at "The Happiest Place on Earth", it is very unlikely. So I'll ask them here!

Remember manga? It's still around, even if it isn't the juggernaut it was in the olden days. The big, big news in manga this week was the launch of Jmanga.com, best described as what if Marvel, DC, Random House, Dynamite, and Fantagraphics all teamed up to create their own comiXology. After years of sitting around anxiously watching piracy take a toll, the top Japanese publishers have finally banded together to create their own LEGAL online portal. The site just launched this week, and there been a ton of talk. J.K. Parkin has a great round-up of much of the reaction but it hasn't been universally loved:

The nominees for the 2011 Ignatz awards have just been announced. The nominees represent the best of indie comics and were selected by a five person panel consisting of Rina Ayuyang, Mike Dawson, Kris Dresen, Theo Ellsworth, and John Porcellino. Winners will be selected by attendees of the Small Press Expo and presented at the gala Ignatz Awards ceremony held on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 9:00 PM with host Dustin Harbin. Multiple nominees include Edie Fake, Michael DeForge, Sammy Harkham and Carol Tyler.

Is the comics shop a typewriter or a ball point pen?

My last post explored how continuities between the cover image of Action Comics #1 and subsequent material could give DC a substantial part of the copyright in the original Superman.  One question left unaddressed, however, was the issue of Clark Kent, not to mention other key elements of Superman’s character and mythos appearing in that historic first issue. In this post, let’s take a quick look at that question and the role it could play in bringing this case to an end.

Despite a lukewarm (or "dismal" as the LA Times put it) box office reception which is blamed with helping Disney get cold feet over The Lone Ranger *, COWBOYS & ALIENS will live on via licensing, if Platinum Studios has anything to say about it. A new press release has announced a deal with KKM Global Brand Strategies which will license all aspects of the property. Oh, except the movie.

An oddball story that has only been seen on comics sites because it contains the word "cartoonist" or "cartoon" and keeps showing up on everyone's google news dump, is still fairly incredible in its own right. However to really get all the excitement you probably need to live in Renton, WA., a quiet Seattle suburb that was rocked by a scandal involving cartoon mockery of the police department.

Robert Kirkman's Skybound imprint at Image -- which includes Kirkman's own books and some new ones like WITCH DOCTOR and SUPER DINOSAUR -- will be getting Asian distribution via a deal with Moving Images, an international media company headquartered in Singapore and Los Angeles.

Yesterday marked the first day at the official offices for DC Entertainment West, in Burbank, at a swanky new building called The Pointe. How swanky? It's got an extra "e"on the end for super-swank. DC's SVP Hank Kanalz was very excited about the day:

I cannot describe the excitement we all have on day one. Positively electric!

And well he should be. After looking at a series of pictures he tweeted, you can see that the DC west coast office, complete with archives and bullpen, is now the new and shiny HQ for all things DC. Let's take a tour, shall we?

Mark Evanier reports the death of Del Connell, the sadly obscure creator of a kajillion comic book stories, including Super Goof and Space Family Robinson. Connell recently won the Finger Award at San Diego but was too ill to attend the ceremony:

Is there a more cautionary tale in comics than that of the failing fortunes of Diamond Comics owner and über-scollectorSteve Geppi? Daniel Best reads through some of the court documents on the Montana Estate vs Steve Geppi lawsuit we alluded to the other day, and they are not too thrilling if you are Steve Geppi, the owner of Diamond Comics and once considered the richest man in comics. In a nutshell, back in 2006, a flush Geppi offered the family or Archie artist $1,000,000 for a collection of original Archie art, while attesting that he was worth $20 million, as the attached exhibit shows. As time went by, a few things happened -- Geppi made a series of very bad deals which ate up his money, especially as the economy and the real estate market tanked; and the art also lost a lot of value:

A special birthday shout-out to Jimmy Palmiotti, the best friend and advisor of almost everyone in comics--The Beat included--and creator or co-creator of comics from The Pro, Monolith, 21 Down, Painkiller Jane, Back to Brooklyn, and of course a long, acclaimed run on Jonah Hex.