News

Very sad news in the comics community.

As mentioned previously, we were at BookExpo America all day Wednesday, and will be there all day Thursday. The show is much smaller than in recent years -- the children's book section which once took up the entire bottom part of the Javits is now just a corner of the main floor. The Diamond alley of comics publishers seems smaller this year, as well, although Dark Horse, Image, Dynamite, IDW and Marvel are all set up, along with a few others. By contrast, Fantagraphics was set up in the Norton Booth right at the front of the hall and was practically the first thing you saw as you walked in. They are giving away galleys of Moto Hagio's HERE COMES THE SON and Joyce Farmer's SPECIAL EXITS, which we have and have flipped through, but haven't had time to read yet. Something to look forward to in life, thank God! Fanta assoc. publisher Eric Reynolds explained that he felt that this year it was more effective to pay for more galleys to give away than to have an author appearance, and given the alacrity with which people roaming the floor scoop up those galleys, it might be a good idea.

Disney has issued a memo supporting Marvel in the rights dispute with the heirs of Jack Kirby. THe document is included in the post;...

It's been seven (!) years since Neil Gaiman prevailed in a lawsuit against Todd McFarlane over the rights to characters he created in Spawn, but this is one of those undead cases that still rises from the grave. According to a story in the Wisconsin State Journal, Gaiman has asked for another trial to settle the issue of how much money he's owed for these characters. But Round Two isn't is go yet, as the judge has merely called for a evidentiary hearing on June 14.

A lot more information is coming out regarding the presumed murder of former comics and animation writer Stephen Perry. And it is sad and disturbing. Tampa Bay has a jailhouse interview with Perry's ex-roomie, a confirmed OxyContin addict, and the unflattering picture he paints of Perry is unconvincing.

On Monday Mark Evanier reported the death of cartooning vet Howard Post. Post had worked as a writer and artist on just about every...

The Eagle Awards, the British comics honors which are voted and chosen by the fans, have just been announced. It's a good year for...

It's been quite a long time since we checked in on Michael George, comic shop owner, convention runner and accused murderer. Convicted once of killing his wife Barbara in 1990 years ago, a judge has upheld the defense's request for a new trial and George's bond has just been reduced from from $2.5 million to $500K. With bond approved, instead of rotting in jail while waiting for a new trial, George would be forced to wear a tether and confined to specific, court-mandated areas.

It would probably be fair to say that a lot of people were snickering a bit when it was announced that Jazan Wild (real name Jason Barnes) was suing Heroes for similarities between his carnival plot and theirs:

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, lists similarities including a carnival that can magically appear and disappear to collect protagonists, a young boy who develops special abilities, a carney or hero running through the woods chased by a mob, a circle of mirrors tied to the key plot, similarities in dialogue, and more.

As anyone who has been reading comics or watching tv for more than, oh, five minutes can attest, none of those elements are particularly novel or special. Fact: we edited a carnival story once ourselves and at least one of those elements was in it.

• Today's must read: Michael Cavna interviews Steve Tippie, Tribune Media's VP of licensing on the end of Little Orphan Annie, the comic strip: ...

We're back from our little working vacation, but sadly, we're more tired than ever! How does that happen? The Beat feels relaxed for about five seconds upon returning home, but then. the stress of catching up on everything we missed erases all progress. Plus, there is so much to see. Within five minutes of alighting at Penn Station we had already seen TWO men wearing eye bandages!

Heroes is cancelled, a surprise twist in the Siegel vs Warners legal battle and video from the Doug Wright Awards.