New world order: The Walking Dead and Ms. Marvel top October sales
The Walking Dead #132 topped the October charts, helping Image lands a 9.77% dollar share and impressive 12.28% unit share, according to figures just released...
Comic Arts Brooklyn Debuts Part One: From Bow-Wow to Wendy
Exhibitors at Comic Arts Brooklyn this weekend were kind enough to send me listings of their books—as usual there is something for everyone. I received so many listing I'm dividing this into two parts. Many thanks to the creators who took the time to send me news of their work. It looks to be a very exciting show. Enjoy!
Webcomic alert: The White Snake by Jen Wang
Jen Wang has built up a nice little shelf of graphic novels for herself—Koko Beware, which she wrote and drew, and In Real Life, which she drew from Cory Doctorow's story.
And now she's launched a new webcomics called THE WHITE SNAKE, which will update when new chapters are done.
The first chapter is a dandy one, opening with a mysterious murder by...snake? But which snake, and why, and what happened to the snake?
Joe Casey and Jim Mahfood reimagine Crockett and Tubbs for MIAMI VICE comic
Lion Forge, the mostly digital but going to print comics company, picked up some nice 80s licenses like Punky Brewster and Miami Vice.
In the modern era of licensing, it isn't about likenesses and wooden stories, but about reimagining things.
So Lion Forge hired Joe Casey and artist Jim Mahfood to do Miami Vice. Bringing Crockett and TUbbs to the modern day.
Since both Casey and Mahfood are certifiably bonkers*** this is awesome. Comic Book Podcasts for Every Kind of Listener
by Matt O'Keefe
Podcasts have had a really interesting impact on the comic book scene, a great source of discussions different from every other media outlet. They’re...
And Star Wars VII title is revealed—what can it mean?
Jeebus it's dueling franchises today as the actual title of Star Wars Vii, the very first SEQUEL was released. And it's...
And DC unveils…The Convergence Logo!
Meanwhile, DC fought back with it's OWN multi-reality spanning war that will feature all of its realities battling in a Brainiac-created wasteland.
Convergence, by Jeff...
What all those teasers led up to: Marvel reveals…Battleworld!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoN7SyWJCJI
Marvel has just released a new video teaser which s reveals that YES....all of those event teasers we've been seeing over the last few...
James Sturm hits a nerve among cartoonists with ‘The Sponsor’
On Monday, James Sturm, cartoonist and director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, posted a cartoon at The Nib called "The Sponsor". I'm sure if you are a cartoonist you've already read it, since it was the talk of the town for a few days. Basically it concerns cartoonists, jealousy, the low bar for success, anxiety over one's abilities, tumblr hits, Kickstarter and more. All in 24 panels. I'd call that a good job.
The basic conceit is that as in various 12-step programs, cartoonists have sponsors they can call in moments of stress. A young cartoonist named Casey calls his sponsor, Alan, in the middle of the night to fret about another cartoonist named Tessa who has a six figure Kickstarter, a line out the door at a Rocketship signing, and a book deal with D&Q. Tessa's success sends Casey into such a tizzy that he has to work things out and consider grad school, despite Alan's insistence that Crumb never thought about hits. And despite his "stay strong" rhetoric to Casey, Alan soon picks up the phone to call his OWN sponsor.
Report: San Diego Comic-Con brings $178 million to the local economy
San Diego Workforce Partnership, a local employment consultant, has released some stats on the con's impact on local employment, concluding that convention center staffers are paid $320,000 for working during the con, which requires 100% of the staff where other cons only need 80-90%. This information was highlighted in some PR released by CCI, which I'll quote below, but Con scholars will probably want to read the original report. Among other figures, SDWP estimates for $178 million in economic impact for the 2014 show. I believe this is the highest estimate I've yet heard for his metric.
More DC Job postings, more structural changes
More and more job openings at DC Entertainment are being listed at the WB web site, and where once a Joe Orlando just barked at people that Superman's tights were blue, now it takes a village of VPs to keep the content properly strategized. Take this job, VP, Content Strategy, who works with
the Co-Publishers (Lee and DiDio), the SVP, Editorial Strategy & Administration (a person not publicly announced, I believe), Franchise Management, Business Development, and Sales. He or she will be a busy bee indeed.
APE moving to San Jose Convention Center for October 3-4, 2015
APE—the Alternative Press Expo—moves to San Jose next year, and it will be held in the San Jose Convention Center, which already hosts the more mainstream Big Wow Comics Fest in April. APE will stay in its fall dates, in this case October 3-4. The dates, and more plans for the show, were revealed in a wide ranging interview with show runner Dan Vado conducted by Deb Aoki for Publishers Weekly. Although indie CAFs haven't exactly thrived in traditional convention centers—Stumptown in Portland springs to mind—Vado has big plans to tie the comic fest in more with other local San Jose cultural events:
















