Legendary Spotlight: Matt Wagner on developing THE TOWER CHRONICLES
[Multiple Eisner Award winning cartoonist Matt Wagner has long been known for his sure hand with adventure comics; the breadth of imagination for his signature creations Mage and Grendel and his distinctive re-imaginings of Batman in various titles over the years. Now he's imagining for the first time John Tower, a new character created by Legendary Pictures studio head Thomas Tull and debuting this week as part of the new Legendary Comics line. THE TOWER CHRONICLES: GEISTHAWK #1 is being published in the "prestige" format—a squarebound 64 page comics—well-known to 90s comics readers but not much used today. But it seems appropriate for the story that Wagner is telling, along with artist Simon Bisley inker Rodney Ramos and colorist Ryan Brown. In the following interview Wagner walks us through the process of developing John Tower and talks about his entire approach to making comics. We previously talked to Legendary's COO Tim Connors here. ]
Brooklyn Book Festival offers great comics programming
New Yorkers who are are still in withdrawal from the amazing SPX just concluded, rejoice—this weekend's Brooklyn Book Festival features a full line-up of comics programming, and some comics-focused programs during the week that will keep you in comics nirvana. The festival takes place all day Sunday, September 23rd, but there are satellite events listed below.
Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest announces guests: Ware, Chast, Blexbolex etc.
Those still smiling from the high of SPX can take comfort that the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festical is only 55 days away -- Sunday, November 10th to be exact. And the guests have been announced:
Interview: Former Marvel COO Bill Jemas tells us how to wake the F#ck up
[You can't run a comics company without making some waves, and the name Bill Jemas still conjures up strong reactions from many who were around when he ran Marvel from 2000-2004. Jemas, along with Joe Quesada, oversaw a period of revolution and rebirth for Marvel as they started the Ultimates line and made many other business changes. Controversial at the time, Ultimization and other bold moves definitely put Marvel back in the game and provided a blueprint for future company-wide changes—as well as making Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar and J. Michael Straczynski household names in households where comics are read.
First Look: Claudia's Story by Anne Rice and Ashley Witter
Among fall's many anticipated releases, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE: CLAUDIA'S STORY is an interesting twist on the graphic novel anticipation. Although Anne Rice's much-loved vampire classic has been adapted before, in both traditional...
Must Read: Tom Brevoort On Editing the Marvel Way (but really any way)
Each year, Marvel SVP of Publishing Tom Brevoort gives a lecture on editing to younger Marvel staffers. At this year's Baltimore Comic-Con, he presented the two-hour talk for the audience, as recounted by Alex Zalben. Although there's definitely some "Marvel Way" in the talk, most of it was the kind of common sense that everyone needs drilled into them. However, it's also a pretty interesting glimpse into the day-to-day thinking behind Marvel's editorial decision making. The whole thing is worth a read, but a few selected excerpts to give the flava:
Must Read: Shaun Tan on ideas and art
Drop everything! Paul Gravett has interviewed Shaun Tan! The Oscar winning artist of The Arrival, The Lost Thing and many other picture books is one of the most admired illustrators working today, and although Tan's work often ends up being "comics" in that it is sequential, pictorial storytelling, as this interview makes clear, doing anything like comics is only something he backed into:
Joe Kubert: an unparalleled life
Although it really wasn't logical to think that Joe Kubert would live forever, I think we can all be forgiven for thinking it might
just happen. So his death yesterday at age 85 comes as a real blow. With one of the longest, most productive careers in American comics, he was a pillar of such energy and strength that as dynamic as his art was, the man himself seemed to surpass it.
Game changer: Color POD just got really affordable
Book distribution giant Ingram has just reduced prices on color POD by about 2/3rds, Todd Allen reports at Publishers Weekly.
"Ingram Content Group has announced a new “standard color” pricing model for print-on-demand technology that has reduced costs by roughly two-thirds, making color POD an economical publishing option for the first time. Achieved through advancements in inkjet technology, the price drop means that a greater range of book content can be printed in color and done faster around the world."
Interview: How the new Society of Illustrators/MoCCA hybrid will work
Over the weekend, we were hanging out with the local cartooning scene, and the locals were buzzing about last week’s surprise news that The Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art was transferring all of its holdings and activities to the Society of Illustrators, a more venerable New York institution that spotlights already–recognized greats like Leyendecker and Rockwell. While there was much speculation, a MoCCA insider told us that they would not be involved with the new entity, as it had been transferred in total to SoI. What we're looking at is an entirely new operation, in effect.
If the transfer has removed New York City's only dedicated comics exhibit space and social center, the new home is definitely a landmark in its own right. The Society of Illustrators itself goes back over a hundred years, and has seen all the greats from Gibson to Rockwell to Peak to Crumb come through its doors—doors of a midtown building which was once a carriage house for legendary kazillionaire J. P. Morgan. The differing paths of the comics and illustration worlds is perhaps shown by the operating budgets of both institutions—SoI's is $1.3 million; MoCCA's was $300,000.
Survey: Digital book readers buying more print books
A couple of new surveys reveal some interesting book buying trends. In the bad news category, weekly sales are down 32% from 2011but that's mostly due to last summer's Borders sell off, Publishers Weekly reports.
