March 5, 7:30 pm
Parkside Lounge, 317 E. Houston Street, NYC

21+ please, 2 drink minimum
$10 suggested donation to CBLDF (http://www.cbldf.org)

Best Erotic Comics 2008 (Last Gasp), edited by Greta Christina, is a groundbreaking collection featuring today’s top names in the world of comics. At this event, a fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, New York’s funniest comedians will “act out” work by Colleen Coover, Jessica Fink, Ellen Forney, Justin Hall, Rolf Konig, Erica Moen, and Dori Seda. Listen, laugh, squirm, and get turned on as they treat you to a night of sex and comedy you won’t soon forget. Hosted by Rachael Parenta and featuring comedians Dan Allen, Sara Benincasa, Jon Friedman, Margot Leitman, Matt McCarthy, Giulia Rozzi and Bex Schwartz.

More comics trouble in Connecticut, where an expelled high school student was arrested in Groton, following a threatening video he posted on YouTube which contained quotes from Naruto.

In the video, which Brown addresses to the students of Grasso Tech, he writes, “The Corpses Crimson Bitter Tears Will Flow And Mingle Through The Endless Sand Feeding The Chaos In Me and Making Me Stronger.” The quote is taken from
a fictional anime series about a character named Gaara who, according to several fan sites, claims only to feel alive when he kills.

While kid-friendly, life-affirming NARUTO would seem to be an unlikely role model for a would-be trouble-maker, school authorities now take a dim view of such videos after recent high school shooters were found to have posted video warnings here and there.

The murder trial of retailer Michael George continues, with testimony striking at the heart of his alibi being presented:

A witness gave testimony Tuesday that could be damaging to accused murderer Michael George’s alibi that he was at his mother’s house when his wife, Barbara George, was shot in the Comics World store they co-owned.

Customer Michael Renaud said he telephoned the Clinton Township store on July 13, 1990, from his job at Crowley’s department store at Lakeside Mall. He said he spoke to Michael George between 5:15-5:30 p.m. — a time the now 47-year-old was supposedly at his mother’s home in Hazel Park.

Witnessed also tesitfy that George knew information about the slaying of then-wife Barbara that he had not been told, such as that it had taken place in the back room of their comics store. However, the nearly 20 years since the murder has rendered memories of the case sketchy.

Brooklyn-based cartooner Leah Hayes is an artist/musician with a passel of news this week. #1, her new graphic novel Funeral of the Heart is coming out, and it’s previewed at The First Post. She also has a joint tour for the book and band Scary Mansions, starting with a release party this Friday at Rocketship. Complete tour in the jump:

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Speaking of PW AND videos, we have a new area for multi-media content, and one of the first is a video of last fall’s Think Future panel on “Harnessing the Power of Graphic Novels”.

PW’s Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald explored the issues around the category with some of comics’ influential players. Joining the discussion were John Cunningham, DC Comics, Dan Frank, Pantheon, Rich Johnson, Yen Press, Joe Quesada, Marvel and Bill Schanes, Diamond Comic Distributors.

You can view the video here.

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Y The Last Party - Q&A with Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra

MySpace is hosting a few videos from last months Y; The Last Party blowout at Meltdown in LA. This video features Joss Whedon, Mark Waid, Don Murphy, R. Eric Lieb, a monkey, and the live Q+A with co-creators Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra!

Monkey!

Do you miss Jennifer de Guzman’s always well-observed and trenchant column at now-definct Comics World News? SO DO WE! Luckily we were able to do something about it, and de Guzman’s NEW column “Life in Comics” will run the first monday of every Month in PW Comics Week henceforth. In her first column she discusses where the greatest hopes for comics lie:

Considering the present political climate, it probably is no surprise that the word hope has been on my mind a lot lately. Hope is a tricky concept because while it seems to indicate a positive outlook, it carries the underlying assumption that all is not presently as good as it could be. I’ve come to realize that this is perhaps what is behind some of the reactions to my last column at the now-closed site Comic World News, in which I asserted that more rigorous comics criticism will attract more literary-minded creators to the medium, thus setting the stage for a richer comics canon. In response, I was called to task for “complaining,” being “pessimistic” and having a “bleak” view of the state of comics.

De Guzman’s is one of several new columns that will be debuting this month in PWCW. You have signed up already, right?

VIA Again With the Comics

Frankly we’re surprised there hasn’t been more of this kind of thing.

§ Congrats to the awesome Brigid Alverson on MangaBlog’s third anniversary.

§ Alert Michael Chabon! This pizza delivery outfit dresses up as superheroes:

Each new employee develops an alter ego - there’s Captain Awesome, Captain Organic, Flying Squirrel, General Statement, Italian Scallion, Merman, Pink Thunder, and Weather Man - and then designs a costume that Bonahoom has custom-made by a local seamstress.

Thanks to Beat Spy “Trinity” for the link.

§ Chris Mautner interviews Alison Bechdel:

It’s a little disturbing to be institutionalized. But of course I’m immensely grateful for it. I think of people being forced to read my work and I don’t like that. I just got an email from a kid — I have to read this to you: “I just read Fun Home in an English class Intro to the graphic novel. Initially I thought it would be an angry story about the struggles that a homosexual American faces, but I’ve got to say that I was wrong and I really enjoyed it.” That’s pretty touching, but I do feel that it’s getting shoved down some people’s throats. That’s a little disturbing.

§ You will feel you were at S.P.A.C.E. after you read huck Moore’s report at Comic Related. [h/t Blog@]

§ The comics loving New York Times gets even more comics-crazy with a piece on the new issue of BUFFY, which would have a been a VERY SPECIAL EPISODE if it had been on TV.

§ ICV2 begins a run down on the comics and-or licensing themed movies opening this summer.

§ This Chris Butcher post looks at the economics of giving things away for free on the net .It also includes anecdotes from Neil Gaiman that back up the fact that indie book store owners are often as “eccentric” as comics shop owners.

§ Ongoing message board discussion of how to spruce up Zuda, DC’s webcomics site.

Sleb photo site Just Jared has a jillion photos of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth.

Above, Schreiber wonders why all X-men villains must have gnarly sideburns.

Here, Jackman/Wolverine realizes that adamantium claws make the best damn apple slicer, period.

Wolvie may look a little downscale in these photos, but can we say (in the jump) that Jackman puts the abs in “abtastic Wolverine”!

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Tokyopop has signed a deal with Hee Jung Park, a top Korean comics artist. The multi book deal calls for US editions of Fever (March), Hotel Africa (April), Martin and John (July) and Too Long (August). The company will premiere each of these series on its web site (www.TOKYOPOP.com) as well as on its MySpace profile (www.Myspace.com/TOKYOPOP). According to the PR, this will be part of a year-long effort to promote her work in the US. Some hype and descriptions of the four books in the jump.

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There are three major technical standards for credit auto michigan loan bad generation of credit auto michigan loan bad s and networks, and two major standards for the next generation 3G phones and networks.

Dan Didio and Adam “Firefly” Baldwin are joining the Emerald City ComiCon guest list.

“Dan DiDio is making his first ever appearance at the Emerald City ComiCon, so we’re sure our fans will love the opportunity to ask questions and hear news about what’s happening with the DC Universe straight from the man in charge,” said Organizer Jim Demonakos.

Also appearing is Adam Baldwin, best known for his role as ‘Jayne’ on Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly’ & ‘Serenity.’ He is currently starring as Agent John Casey on the hit NBC series ‘Chuck.’ “We’re all fans of Mr. Bladwin’s work on the aforementioned shows, as well as the numerous genre shows that he has appeared in,” continued Demonakos. “He makes a great addition to our already stellar line-up of guests.”

Other guests recently added include Kurt Busiek (Trinity), Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), Corey Lewis (Sharknife), Matt Haley (Superman Returns), Jason Howard (The Astounding Wolf-Man), Brian Reed (Captain Marvel), Matt Kindt (Super Spy), Jason Howard (Astounding Wolfman), Moose Baumann (Sinestro Corps War), Eric Canete (Iron Man), Josh Howard (Dead @ 17), Jim Valentino (Shadowhawk), Jeremy Haun (New Excalibur), Jeph Jacques (Questionable Content), Mark Sable (Grounded), Tim Vigil (Faust), Val Mayerik (Howard the Duck), Jennie Breeden (The Devil’s Panties), Brandon Graham (King City), Ian Boothby (Futurama) and many others.

Animator/cartoonist Scott Christian Sava’s all-ages Blue Dream Studios is becoming an imprint of IDW. Among the titles they’ll publish, presumably, is The Dreamland Chronicles (above) a fantasy webcomic done in a colorful CGI style:

On the heels of such recent announcements as Sava’s THE DREAMLAND CHRONICLES being awarded Best Graphic Novel of 2007 in CBR’s 25th Annual Fan Award reader and the recent Hollywood acquisition of PET ROBOTS (Disney) and Hyperactive (MTV), the IDW/Blue Dream partnership comes at a perfect time for both companies to utilize each others’ resources to expand Sava’s already burgeoning readership and to expand IDW’s place in the all-ages market.

“What a year!” said Sava. “I have to admit to being overwhelmed by the success we’ve seen in such a short time. But one year of success as an animation-company-turned-small-publisher is just a baby step. Ted was so generous with his time and insight. He knows what it takes to build a publishing company from scratch. Seeing him turn IDW into the publishing powerhouse it is today is awe-inspiring. Working with Ted and his company is a dream come true, and if THIS year has been good… I can’t WAIT to see what a year with IDW will hold.”

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Victoria “Posh” Beckham leads youngest son Cruz off to a birthday party for big brother Brooklyn the other day.

The co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons passed away this morning. He was 69. From the AP Article:

Gygax and co-creator Dave Arneson developed the role-playing game in 1974 and it went on to become one of the best-selling games ever. Dungeons & Dragons is considered the grandfather of fantasy role-playing games and has influenced video games, books, movies and inspired legions of adoring fans.

Undoubtedly, more later.

UPDATE: ICv2 has a nice obit that talks about the various legal battles surrounding GGG and DD.

posted by mark coale

As previously suspected, January sales figures released by Diamond were elevated due to a technical glitch, ICv2 reports.

Corrected figures are now available and rather than the previously reported 7% gain in periodical sales, they were actually just up 1% over January 2007, while graphic novels were up a modest 3%, not the gaudy 17% that was previously reported. Still nine comic titles sold over 100,000 copies (versus just six in December) and periodical sales did outpace (however slightly) a strong January of 2007, which posted a 26% gain over January of 2006.

The 3% increase in graphic novel sales continued to outpace gains in the sales of periodicals, continuing a trend that was apparent through most of 2007. But the gain in graphic novels was not enough to move the combined sales of comics and graphic novels above the 1% mark.

Corrected figures: Top 300 Comics Actual–January 2008

Top 100 Graphic Novels Actual–January 2008

Do you know anything about the history of comics in Germany? Us neither. Some light is shed in this Forbidden Planet International Blog posting about a German exhibit on the history of native comics:

It may be strange that, even though German expatriate Rudolph Dirks played such an important part in the origin and development of comics as a genre, it took more than half a century to really catch on in Germany itself. It was only in 1947 that the first German-produced modern comic was published, a black-and-white booklet called “Bumm macht das Rennen”.

The exhibition follows a chronological paradigm, chronicling the history and development of German comics until today, from American imports and their influence on early German comics until the current, “home grown” varieties of comic books and graphic novels. Newspaper comics, caricatures, parodies and biographical comics are highlighted, as well as current literary trends, such as fantasy, mystery and science fiction.

The exhibit has a website (in German) with more info and downloadable covers, such as the merry prank we’ve reproduced above.

Michael Chabon goes on for pages and pages about superhero costumes in The New Yorker’s new Style issue:

Now the time has come to propose, or confront, a fundamental truth: like the being who wears it, the superhero costume is, by definition, an impossible object. It cannot exist.

One may easily find suggestive evidence for this assertion at any large comic-book convention by studying the spectacle of the brave and bold convention attendees, those members of the general comics-fan public who show up in costume and go shpatziring around the ballrooms and exhibition halls dressed as Wolverine, say, or the Joker’s main squeeze, Harley Quinn. Without exception, even the most splendid of these getups is at best a disappointment. Every seam, every cobweb strand of duct-tape gum, every laddered fish-net stocking or visible ridge of underpants elastic—every stray mark, pulled thread, speck of dust—acts to spoil what is instantly revealed to have been, all along, an illusion.

Dick Hyacinth is still mulling over his meta list compiling the comics best of lists from numerous sources but his latest — and last — post on the subject is, to us anyway, the most fascinating.

In it, he assays to break down the differences between comics-focused lists and general-interest lists. In other words, while comics insiders– whom we’ll call “the Monks” just to be naughty — have their own accepted, er. canons and schools, based on a certain “comics 101″ esthetic, or as Dick puts it, they are “immersed in the language and traditions of comics.” Meanwhile, the “Moles” at places like, The Onion, Time Magazine, mainstream newspapers and so on, have a more “comics enthusiast” slant, and read comics because they like them, and not because of any intensive study or devotion to a particular school. Are there differences? A few.

Technorati Tags: Comics Criticism

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Have you ever wondered what the relationship of the “Area Man” Onion is to the “A.V. Club” Onion? Us too, and here’s the answer:

Pocket history of The A.V. Club: The Onion was founded in 1988 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a paper targeted at Madison residents and UW-Madison students in particular. (We have framed copies of some of the earliest issues here in the Chicago office; they’re pretty hilarious, not so much for the cutting-edge headlines, like “UW Students Are BUTT DUMB” and “Thompson Changes Title From ‘Governor’ To ‘Sexecutioner,’” as for the discount-pizza coupons that take up a third of the front page.) The Onion’s Wikipedia entry is pretty thorough about the history of the publication, and the various owners and phases it went through, if you’re curious.

The paper expanded over the next five years, and in 1993, Onion copyeditor and contributor Stephen Thompson started an entertainment section in the back, with music and film reviews written by Onion writers.

Why is this of interest? Well, on a tiny little comics connection, Steven Thompson is the son of CBG’s Don and Maggie Thompson, and we remember Maggie telling us many times long ago about how here son was working on the school paper and doing well, and look how that turned out.

The other reason it struck us is that in the increasingly crowded media landscape, The Onion A.V. Club is one of the few standout sites. Its staff manages to straddle the frat-to-emo spectrum fairly adeptly, and while we can’t begin to imagine who or what is influential these days, it seems as mainstream and accepted (in the positive sense) as Esquire or Rolling Stone were in their day.

The other reason that it struck us is that The Onion can also be seen as the very model of comics moledom. To the college-age crew that started the paper, comics were just another pop culture source of laughs and thrills, not a bastard medium or cause of juvenile delinquency. Their easy acceptance — and Onion interviews of carton figures like Alan Moore and Kurt Busiek, to name two at random–put comics creators squarely in the mainstream of pop culture thought.

We’re not sure where we’re going with all this, but see the next post.

It’s the beginning of the month and that means a new bunch of Zuda comics. Eddie Sharam and James Woodhead’s ROAD was the winner, as voted by readers, for February.

This month’s line-up includes a new comics by Jim Dougan and Hyeondo Park — worth checking out. Also one called “The LItterbox Chronicles” and it’s what it sounds like, but we like kitty kats, so there. More in jump.

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Oh we made that up. Stan Lee is known for teaming with everyone from Pamela Anderson to Paris Hilton, but he’s now crossed the last frontier and signed with Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei to create a new strip for Japan:

The Japanese publisher Shueisha has announced that Stan Lee, the co-creator of America’s Spider-Man and X-Men from Marvel Comics, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of Shaman King, will create a new project together to launch the Jump SQ.II (Jump Square Second) spinoff manga magazine on April 18. The announcement of the as-yet-unnamed project was made in the April issue of Jump Square magazine, which was released on March 4 in Japan.

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§ John Jakala touches on still-visceral objections to comics in the classroom via comments on a newspaper story:

What I found really interesting, though, was how the vitriol against using comics in the classroom erupted right away in the comments. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but after reading so many articles about schools and libraries using comics in their curricula, I thought the idea that comics could be a useful educational tool was more or less accepted now. Judging by the comments, however, there are still many people out there who view comics as subliterate trash. Here are some of my favorite comments:

§ Eric Adams‘ SPACE report. Joanna Estep’s

§ Rod Whigham takes over art on the Gil Thorp comics strip on April 7.

§ We missed this but Rich dragged it up yesterday: apparently Wizard has deleted most of its online archives. This seems kind of weird…you online get traffic with content, but we don’t know much about the web, really. Anyway, this caused some chagrin over at Comics Should Be Good! too:

I get that it is easier to revamp online sites if you can just do a wipe on the archives, but really, isn’t that just absolutely absurd for them to do? Wipe the archives to, what, save some time/money?

Ridiculous.

§ MEANWHILE, another post at that same blog, looks back at an issue of Wizard from October 1992Ah what a world it was 90s Nostalgia! We are so ready.

§ David Mamet’s cartooning career?

§ Hollywood needs muscle men, and they’re turning to the WWE to find them:

With Hollywood gearing up to launch “Thor,” and reboot “Conan the Barbarian” and “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” as potential new franchises, the big question is, who do producers cast?

The wiry or geeky stars of “The Matrix,” “Spider-Man,” “Transformers” or upcoming “Wanted” just won’t be able to pull off playing a muscled-up Norse god who wields a massive hammer. No, not even Shia LaBeouf.

And that has the biz quickly realizing it’s short on uber-buff action stars, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone out of contention, and even Dwayne Johnson dropping “The Rock” alter ego as he slims down and turns his attention to comedies.

Have they never heard of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds? What is the problem?

Two takes on mixed marriages:
This St. Louis Today columnist grows excited when he sees his wife reading a comic:

I’ve never known Colette to have any interest in comics. She rolls her eyes at the thought of her almost-40 husband repeatedly asking for video games and comic books for his birthday. But there she was, on the Marvel web site.

“Whatcha doin?” I asked.

“I read on Laurell K. Hamilton’s web site that she’s putting out a graphic novel,” she said. “It said this comic-book company was publishing it. I’m trying to see if it’s out yet.”

Meanwhile a comic book wife writes touchingly of her husband’s lifetime of collecting on the occasion of his donating his collection to a school.

Sometimes I’d watch him in our New Haven apartment, one leg thrown over a metal arm in the blue canvas butterfly chair, reading his comics. What was going on in that head when he read this stuff? Did he identify with Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Spider-Man? Or was it the adventure that held his rapt attention for hours? Good over evil? I still don’t know.