We’re still out and about on last day BEA business….wrap-up and photos later. For now, here’s a great story by
Steve Duin, with a photo of Paul Mavrides. Spain Rodriguez. R. Crumb. And S. Clay Wilson. Wilson nearly died a few months ago. Read the whole story for more.

We have only a few moments to blog before jaunting off to the Javits…yesterday we got to the show late, had some meetings, roamed the floor a little bit, wrote some stuff, the usual. While the New York Times write up Declining Book Sales Cast Gloom at an Expo does sum up a smaller floor with fewer galleys and so on, there are still tons of great books and people who want to read them. Books aren’t dead yet; they’ve just gone away for a while to figure thing out.

One of the definite buzz books among all segments (not just graphic novels) is David Small’s STITCHES (Norton). Small is a Caldecott Award winning children’s book illustrator, but this graphic memoir reveals a strange childhood in which his radiologist father experimented on him, leading to even more medical problems. There was a long line for Small’s signing at the Norton booth, and everyone who hears about the book wants to read it. Or as GalleyCat raved:

If you haven’t read a graphic novel before, let this be your first. I cannot say enough about this book, which will be released in September and is something to look out for. Highly Recommended. I reluctantly give this novel 5 stars; reluctantly, only because there aren’t 6 stars to give out.

More later!

… then what do you think about his new assistant?

According to the BBC website, the new companion for Doctor # 11 Matt Smith will be 21-year-old Karen Gillan.

The actress has already appeared in the series, playing a soothsayer in a Series Four episode set during the Pompeii/Vesuvius disaster.

Well, so much for all the talk about a possible return of Sally Sparrow, the spunky heroine from the episode BLINK written by new head honcho Steven Moffat.

I had been hoping for the intriguing dynamic of young Doctor/older female companion with Moffat casting longtime collaborator Gina Bellman, who worked with Moffat on both COUPLING and JECKYLL. It’s possibly her commitments to the TNT show LEVERAGE may have prevented her from taking the part. Or I’m just wacky for this suggestion.

As someone clinging to the “In Moffat We Trust” mantra, I’ll wait and see how this young pairing works. That said, wouldn’t it be great if they finally introduced a third companion to the TARDIS during the show’s revival (not counting semi-regulars like Mickey or Rose’s Mum) and it was someone totally opposite this younger demographic? You know, like Bernard Cribbin as Wilf?

Posted by Mark Coale

We’ll be off to BookExpo America for the next few days so don’t expect too much posting here. (Follow us on Twitter!)

Yesterday’s show kicked off with a full day of programming. We caught only the “African Americans in Graphic Novels and Comics” with Kyle Baker, Carol Burrell, Shawn Martinbrough and Alex Simmons, moderated by Calvin Reid. Part of the yearly “African American Book Industry Professionals Education Program & Networking Reception,” the panel thankfully eluded all those “What’s it like to be a black comics creator” questions in favor of just general talk about the industry from five smart people. Baker and Burrell talked about upcoming projects: Baker’s biography of Obama for HarperCollins, which sounds highly readable, and Burrell’s adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred. (Announcement of the latter drew applause from the attendees.) Martinbrough mentioned his upcoming Luke Cage mini and his past How to Draw Noir Comics and his current work with Verge Entertainment. Simmons recounted the history of his successful Kids Comic Book Convention and after the panel mentioned that the concept is probably gong to move to some other venues.

After that, we scarfed down a lot of very, very tasty turkey with spicy cranberry orange relish at the reception to power us for the night ahead and sped off to the CBLDF party at the very swanky Hudson Terrace. It was a really upscale venue for a comics confab, which made for a very relaxed vibe, even if a soda was $6. (We took the above photo at the beginning of the night.) Attendees included DC topper Paul Levitz and VP of sales and marketing Steve Rotterdam; writers Ivory Madison, Martha Thomases , Peter Sanderson, and Marc Bernadin; artists Nikki Cooke and Dennis Calero; editor/agent Denis Kitchen,, Marvel’s Alejandro Arbona, Dark Horse’s Michael Martens, and a sizable West Coast contingent, including Archaia’s Mark Smylie, Mel Caylo, and Stephen Christie, Top Cow’s Filip Sablik, and Image’s Joe Keatinge. There were a lot of folks talking about iPhones and downloadable comics and whipping them out and demonstrating their software, which was cool, and talk of 3.0. As someone pointed out, although people won’t pay for things on the Internet, they will pay for them on their phone.

The schmooze level at this party was incredibly high, and afterward, it turned out almost everyone ended up at the same Irish pub for yet another big comics summit, with talk of James Bond songs and so on.

Anyway we know we forgot some people in the above list, so apologies.

ComicMix’s Glenn Hauman, Image’s Joe Keatinge, Comixology’s David Steinberger and Billboard’s Evie Nagy all whip out their mobile devices and talk about apps.

MTV Splash Page’s Rick Marshall, Stacy, whose last name we don’t know, and Nikki Cooke.

The 27th annual Salón Internacional del Cómic de Barcelona is underway, if locals can rouse themselves from their post-Champions League triumphal celebrations. While the above site is in Spanish, you may find this photo from Carla Michelle’s Twitter stream of guests Mark Waid, Jim Lee, Marta Martinez, Diego Olmos, Jordi Marti, David Hernando, and a special guest following a press conference amusing.

Dwayne McDuffie, the current writer on the regular JLA book, has been removed after he made a long series of comments revealing editorial behind-the-scenes.

In this week’s Dan Didio Q&A, Len Wein has been announced as the writer of future JLA issues, which led folks to wonder what had happened to McDuffie:

8. A reader asked that, with as much as they’ve seen Len Wein writing Justice League, and as much as Dwayne has stated publically that he’s not enjoying writing Justice League, is Dwayne McDuffie still writing Justice League?

DD: As of right now, Len’s the writer of Justice League, and once his arc is done, we’ll be able to announce the new direction for the series.

At his forum, McDuffie answered a fan’s question as to why he had been removed:

Nope, it was my own doing. I was fired when “Lying in the Gutters” ran a compilation of two years or so of my answers to fans’ questions on the DC Comics discussion boards. I’m told my removal had nothing to with either the quality of my work or the level of sales, rather with my revelation of behind-the-scenes creative discussions.

I have to say I’m a bit disappointed, because next summer was planned to feature a JLA-driven crossover, where my book’s story line would have been the driving force. I’m distressed by where I left Black Canary, as my intention was to use the current subplot to strengthen her character and relationships with the new membership, and instead I’m leaving her at the bottom of a hole I’d intended to rebuild her from. I was also just about to get a regular artist for the first time since I’ve been on the book, which would have been nice. That said, I’m sure DC’s going to put together a creative team that will generate major excitement around JLA, which is as it should be.

As for me, I’m still busy story-editing both Ben 10: Alien Force (just nominated for 3 Emmys!) and the upcoming new Ben 10 series “Ben 10: Evolutions.” As far as comic-related stuff, the all-new “Milestone Forever,” is still on track for late this year/early next year, and the Milestone trade paperback program is in full swing, with Static Shock, Icon and Hardware volumes already on the way. I’ve also recently completed a console video game script that I can’t talk about yet, but that will be of interest to anyone reading this thread. I’m currently writing a Direct-To-Video animated feature for Warner Animation, the second of two I’ve taken on this year. Again, I can’t say what they are until they’re officially announced, but they’re likely of interest to superhero fans, and one of them I can’t help looking at as what-could-have-been. You’ll see what I mean.

Okay we get it–don’t cry for McDuffie, he’s busy with his Emmy-nominated TV show, etc., etc., etc.

And what were the offending comments that got him bounced? Johnston did indeed have a looooooong list of candid comments from McDuffie, of which this is representative:

I do get frustrated, but it comes with the job. The nature of monthly comics has changed drastically over the past 20 years. JLA used to be THE place to go to see the big guns together, dealing with the gravest threats in the DCU. Now there are several big event crossovers a year, and those titles are where the huge stories happen. So I have to tell stories that feed into and come out of those events. I’d prefer if, as on Justice League Unlimited, I could tell stories that were at the center of the characters lives, but that was a very different circumstance. JLA the comic is part of a larger patchwork, and my mandate is to support the bigger story of the DCU. I think we could do a much better job of making the comic feel more self-contained while still serving the needs of the DCU, and I’m working on ways to do that, but the truth of the matter is, every three or four months, I have to sort of drop everything and deal with a crossover or other event. In my next arc of 6 issues, there are three of these events (four if you count the Milestone guest shot). That makes JLA integral to the DCU, but it also makes us lurch around more than a bit.

But it all started out so well. Cut back to 2007:

Newsarama: Dan, to start off, you clearly had a wide field of writers to choose from when filling Brad Meltzer’s shoes on Justice League of America - someone who’s an unknown, a traditional, safe pick, another novelist, a screenwriter, a comic book writer…what went into the decision to go with Dwayne?

Dan DiDio: A lot of things went into choosing Dwayne, first of all the choice was made by Eddie Berganza, who’s the editor of the series. He gave me the list of people he wanted to work with, and Dwayne was at the top. I’ve been a fan of Dwayne McDuffie’s writing since his Damage Control days, and was a big fan of all his Milestone material, and everything he’s done in comics, and animation. He’s such a solid writer, and he’s been so busy in animation for so many years that he hasn’t been able to do comics that often. We’d talked over the years, and we’ve never been able to put anything together.

Then he started to come free as his schedule started to open up, and he handled the end of the Firestorm series for us, and quite honestly, I thought his three issues of that series captured the actual essence of the book that I always wanted it to be.

One of the things he does so well is write team books with multiple characters and develop the distinct personalities of each one. He can handle a big cast like very few other writers can, and we figured that he would be the person who knows the characters best who would be able to handle the team really, really well. And his knowledge of the characters isn’t just from the animated series, but also from his knowledge of DC Comics and his past history in comics as well.

He’s one of the best comic writers out there who’s not writing many comics, and I’m glad we’ve got him writing for us right now.

In a way this is a dog-bites-man story. By his own admission, McDuffie was “frustrated” working the DC way; whether because of those frustrations or some other reason, his run on the book wasn’t well-received. McDuffie’s comments weren’t particularly bitter or recriminating, (unlike those of other writers departing various comics companies over the years) just factual statements of this or that. But both Marvel and DC prize discretion and loyalty from freelancers, so ending an unhappy relationship would seem to be the best for both sides.

There are, perhaps, two salient points here; #1, having an alternate source of income (his TV work) left McDuffie free to speak his mind. #2, you understand why people sometimes roll their eyes at all the happy talk interviews these days; the real story is often way more complicated. Not that one side is any more good or evil than the other…it’s just more complicated.

Can the LA area support a big comics show? Many have tried, and many have had mixed results. Now Martha Donato, a long time force at running past Wizard World shows, is trying to get a new show off the ground, the 1st Annual Long Beach Comic Con. We’ve been hearing about the show’s effort from behind the scenes for months now, but now the website is fleshing out some of the story:

Fall just got more exciting with the premiere of the Long Beach Comic Con. This October 2-4th will boast an exciting line-up of screenings, exhibitors, artists, writers, celebrities, previews PLUS some surprises!

LBCC wants to do one thing - make you love comic books more than you did when you first set foot on our show floor.

Not just the exclusives and toy deals.

Not just autographs and sketches.

Not just the teaser trailers and game demos.

We love everything about the medium and the message - from Silver Age bottle cities, to indy mini-comics based on poetry. We want you to experience it all. That’s why we’re lining up more than the trendy guests and sneak peeks that Hollywood wants you to see (though we’ve got that, too!).

We’re getting the best, the coolest, the most experimental and the … well, quite simply, the grooviest stuff we can.

The show enters a market that has never really developed a signature big show. While the unsnappily named Los Angeles Comicbook and Science Fiction Convention has been running monthly one-day shows at the downtown Shrine for decades, most comic-friendly Angelenos zip up or down the coast for San Diego or WonderCon for their big con thrills.

Wizard World launched in Los Angeles, a few years back, but despite its name, it was actually held in Long Beach, which seemed to make for a fun, well-positioned show. After a few years, it was moved to the actual LA convention center in downtown, and many felt the show never recovered its momentum. This year’s show was slated for March but has been postponed with no new date given.

The Long Beach setting for the new LBCC has a pleasant, seaside vibe reminiscent of a mini-San Diego. While it’s a natural setting in a market that seems underserved, launching a new show in a tough economy and a tough market is a big undertaking. More as it develops.

Although anxious fanboys are always dreaming up new superheroines for comely Megan Fox to star as, it seems that Wonder Woman won’t be one of them, no matter how much Fox is rumored to be in the running for the long gestating film. She boldly told the Times Online:

“Wonder Woman is a lame superhero,” she says, clearly unfazed at the thought of ruling herself out of a potentially career-making franchise. “She flies around in her invisible jet and her weaponry is a lasso that makes you tell the truth. I just don’t get it. Somebody has a big challenge on their hands whoever takes that role but I don’t want to do it.”

Sob. Say it ain’t so, Megan. Luckily, comic book media will have plenty to keep ourselves busy with Fox’s role in the upcoming JONAH HEX movie and the starring role in a planned FATHOM film.

It’s official.

No more tickets for San Diego. That’s a full two months out. Last year, the last ticket sold out a week out, according to Robot 6. Even with this, we are hearing about people pulling out of SD due to money concerns, so we’ll see.

When geniuses collide! Cartooner Tony Millionaire does the cover for Elvis Costello’s latest album.

Via Todd Alcott.

How did Bluewater miss this? A Minnesota-based group is putting out a comic based on “colorful” US Rep. Michele Bachmann:

FALSE WITNESS! THE MICHELE BACHMANN STORY is the thrilling, behind the scenes look at the seedy, hairy, loathsome underbelly of the career of of one of America’s most notorious right-wing nuts and demagogues! This is that one that TELLS IT ALL–it leaves NOTHING TO THE IMAGINATION! It’s all there, the global conspiracy to end American freedom, the apocalyptic last days of human kind, the lesbians in the bathroom, the threats, the vengeance, the Bush-kissing, the sordid lies, Satan, Jesus Christ, the flying imams–

Bachmann is known for her wacky statements, and the comic will be taken from her actual quotes, according to TPM:

Dump Bachmann contributor Bill Prendergast teamed up with local cartoonists in Minnesota to write an illustrated history of Bachmann’s career — with her dialogue all culled from actual media appearances, such as her call for revolution against President Obama, or her request for the media to investigate Congress for anti-American views.

§ Dan Nadel uncovers the Real Deal from 1989 at Comics Comics.

One of the rare contemporary African-American created and published comics, Real Deal depicts L.A. underworld life with visceral, bone-dry humor and gross out violence rendered in Hubbard’s uniquely gnarly line. Anyhow, I was also happy to discover that Hubbard still has some back issues of Real Deal, so PictureBox will be representing with the original printings of issues 1 and 3-6 at MoCCA and, shortly, online at pictureboxinc.com. Prices at the festival will be $10 for issue 1 and $6 each for the rest.

• Two from Comixology:

§ Kristy Valenti compares two collections covering first-time sexual experiences.

§ Tucker Stone scores an interview with Queen of All She Surveys, Kate Beaton.

• Two from the sales vault of John Jackson Miller:

§ April was the first month in recorded comics history that Detective Comics topped the charts.

§ In addition, JJM compares a chart from 1994 to what is known now to see that the Top 300 occupied a very similar share of the DM when there were 600 comic book periodicals a month as opposed to today’s lessened output as opposed to today’s lessened output. (For periodicals — GNs probably add up to more comics on a monthly basis.)

So we see that in a year with likely a longer tail than we have in 2009, Capital’s Top 300 accounted for more than 95.35% of the comics it sold — or, put another way, only about 1 in 21 copies preordered were outside the Top 300. Capital itself observed that half the comics sold were represented by the Top 67.

§ Jog too has been digging into obscure US editions of Euro-comix of days past and comes up with a political horror comic by Juan Sasturain and Alberto Breccia.

§ Susan King in the LA Times writes of a large, sometimes NSFW Anime exhibit on display at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.

§ Reporters kvetch over crap access at the opening of the new Hergé Museum.

§ Wired interviews Christopher Handley’s lawyer, Eric Chase, who explains what he was up against.

Chase says he recommended the plea agreement to his client because he didn’t think he could convince a jury to acquit him once they’d seen the images in question. The lawyer declined to describe the details. “If they can imagine it, they drew it,” he says. “Use your imagination. It was there.”

The case began in 2006, when customs officials intercepted and opened a package from Japan addressed to Handley. Seven books of manga inside contained cartoon drawings of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts. One book included depictions of bestiality, according to stipulations in Handley’s plea deal.

(Note: This confirms that it was Customs, not the Post Office, which opened the package,)

§ Manga expert Matt Thorn clarifies some of the language from his previous posts. There is no “literal gag order.” Also, Thorn, who lives in Japan, is attempting to find out what are the actual manga involved in the case, as that really seems to be the crux of the matter. Some descriptions of the material make it sound like out-and-out hentai type porn; others sound like yaoi/lolicon, where the characters may appear younger than they are.

And two from:

§ Brigid Alverson. FINDER, a gangster manga by Ayano Yamane, has been “indexed” in Germany, where it’s published by Tokyopop’s German arm. This means it’s been deemed “harmful to minors,” but apparently that has something to do with minors being able to buy it, unchecked. In the US, FINDER was published by BeBeautiful.

§ AND, Yamila Abraham on Yaoi Press reports that her printer refused to print a yaoi-themed coloring book calling the images “disturbing.”

“Because of the nudity of this file we are unable to print this for you. The order before this one should not have been printed but did slide by without us looking through the entire book.”

It doesn’t pay for us to throw tantrums over things like this. However, I feel they’ve made a mistake. The coloring book is 16+. There are side views of nude characters, but naughty bits are not visible. There are no sex scenes, but some images are suggestive that sex is coming. It didn’t even cross my mind that a printer might not agree to print it. I called and told them that the characters are all male. I think they might think the characters are female and we’re showing bare breasts.

The images can be seen in the link, so judge for yourself.

Via PR, BookExpo festivities kick off tonight with a party for the CBLDF. Deets below:

This Thursday, kick off the summer convention season at the CBLDF’s Book Expo America Welcome Party! Enjoy free gourmet bites and a cash bar, while mingling with the best and the brightest authors and pros from the graphic novel world! The party runs from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Hudson Terrace, conveniently located near the Javits Center on 621 W 46th Street between 11th & 12th Ave

This event is open to all attendees of Book Expo and CBLDF supporters. The party is free for current year CBLDF members. A suggested donation of $10 is asked for non-members. Sign up for membership at the party and receive a CBLDF lapel pin!

What: CBLDF’s Book Expo Welcome Party
When: May 28, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Where: Hudson Terrace, 621 W 46th Street between 11th & 12th Ave
How Much: $10 suggested donation, and free to CBLDF members!
Dress: Business Casual

The 4thletter! blog spotlights a rare treat: HARUKU: MONSUTAA KOMIKU, a manga version of the Hulk published in 1970. The strip was written by Kazuo Koike (LONE WOLF AND CUB, and many, many others) with art by

Yoshihiro Morifuji

.

From what I and my lovely assistants managed to figure out of the story, it stars Dr. Araki, survivor of Hiroshima. Both of his parents died in the blast, and he’s come to Nevada to work on the gamma bomb. General Ross, Major Talbot, and Igor retain their names, but Rick Jones has been turned into Ricky Tenda. He’s got a Japanese mom and an American dad. Betty Ross is now Mitsuko, though Dr. Araki calls her Mitchan.

We feel that only seeing a few panels reveals a simple, salient fact: THE HULK WAS MADE FOR MANGA. It may be wishful thinking to hope this would ever come out in the US, but…Marvel! Heed our plea!

R. Sikoryak’s long-running projection project is back again tonight with a stellar lineup as always:

Cartoon slide shows & other projected pictures presented by a glittering array of artists, performers, graphic novelists, & other characters. Hosted by R. Sikoryak

Featuring:

Todd Alcott
Megan Montague Cash
Danny Hellman
Sabrina Jones
Michael Kupperman
Neil Numberman
R.S.
and more!

Tickets:
$15 (general)
$12 (students/seniors w/ valid id) or TDF
2 tickets for $25 with postcard

Advance tickets & info:
www.dixonplace.org
(212) 219-0736

We missed the news, but apparently, last week it was revealed that the new Batman is Dick Grayson (finally) and the new Robin is Batman’s strange illegitimate kid, Damian. (With a name like that, only trouble can ensue.) What could follow that up? Why, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely on BATMAN AND ROBIN, of course. Morrison talks at length about the series in a new IGN interview, and to the surprise of no one, it sounds like this new series will be something worth going to the shop for every month:

IGN Comics: It sounds like that goes back to what you were trying to do with Final Crisis, where you cut out all the quieter moments and just got down to “the drums and the bass”, as you called it – the meat of the story.

Morrison: Yeah. I went to see Crank: High Voltage when we were in Los Angeles. I had just watched that, and I thought everything else just looks like slow motion, really. I wanted to get that effect into the comics as well. To me that was just a great action film, and every action film after is going to have to try and move at that speed. I really wanted to get that into Batman and Robin. Again, the stories are really easy. There aren’t big multi-layered Gnostic parables this time around. Like I said, it’s like a really bad trip cartoon.

Many more entertaining sound bites in the link.

Via Flog, Dash Shaw’s next project will be a book from Fantagraphics, and an animated web cartoon on IFC.com, entitled The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. The book arrives in November 2009 and the web series comes soon after. The book will be previewed at this week’s BEA.

Each short episode of this five-part web series chronicles Rebel X-6, a man who works for a well-funded anti-droid organization. The fifth episode will provide behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the series. The premiere on IFC.com marks Dash Shaw’s first animated series and will be based on a story line he has developed for several years. Seattle’s Fantagraphics Books is set to publish a book by the same name and characters.

“Dash Shaw is a known entity in the comic book realm with a cult following. We’re excited to bring him, his art and his fans to IFC.com, a platform that recognizes and broadens the reach of up-and-coming, independent content makers,” said Craig Parks, vice president of digital media at IFC. “Shaw’s work on IFC.com will offer a fresh and completely unique take on the animation genre; the type of approach that defines our brand.”

The series features an animated hero, Rebel X-6, and his quest to bring out change in the 35th century A.D.. Rebel X-6 works for an anti-droid organization that opposes the use of droids in all sectors of modern society. An artist guild that opposes the use of droids in art class hires Rebel X-6. They believe living people should model for life drawings. Rebel X-6’s assignment is to enter Art School 46 posing as “Model-Droid #343.” Model droids appear life-like but do not laugh, cry, swear or exhibit other human shortcomings. His mission is to subvert the school’s ban on drawings of real humans by tricking the students into drawing him.

As Archie Comics has been teasing for a few weeks, in issue #600 of his comic, Archie Andrews, the world’s oldest teenager, is finally getting married to either Betty or Veronica:

“The longest comic book love triangle in history is coming to an end. We’re told that Archie Andrews will at long last propose to either Betty or Veronica in a special issue coming out this summer,” said The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. The series features the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe “Jughead” Jones characters by publisher/editor John L. Goldwater, written by Vic Bloom and drawn and created by Bob Montana.

While internet battles raged over Betty or Veronica, Archie has just released a cover (above) which shows whether Archie’s kids will be blond or brunette….and it’s…BRUNETTE!

Notice poor Betty crying in the background. You know, kid, there are other pebbles on the beach, other dots in the Benday. You will find another four-color character who will make your life complete, we feel certain. In fact, Jughead is looking a little jilted himself, so maybe you two can console one another.

§ Meanwhile, Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage has been retconned back IN to the daily Spider-Man comic strip. Robot 6 has more. While the strip went along with comics continuity for a while and made the marriage never happen, bowing to reader (not fan) pressure, it turns out it was ALL A DREAM.

It was a big day in comics media news, or at least a “mini-large” day. Rich Johnston announced that yesterday’s Lying in the Gutters would be the very last. LitG is, of couse, the long running “gossip” column that also functions as the last vestige of independent reporting for the comics media, with such news as publishers who are stiffing artists, the Fake Art Adams, swipe files, and lots of snarky gossip from behind the scenes at the Big Two. The final column included a lengthy dialog between Johnston and CBR honcho Jonah Weiland that explained some of the move, reminisced over olden days and alluded to a “big contributor” who would be coming, in an unrelated move, to CBR.

As if to prove the maxim, “where one falls, another shall rise,” on the very same day Valerie D’Orazio debuted her new “Comics-Op” column for Comixology:

Welcome to the first edition of Comics-Op, comics from a semi-insider perspective. What “semi-insider” means basically is that sometimes I’m just as shocked as you are with the latest comic book developments, and sometimes I just sit on big news with my mouth shut and a Kool-Aid smile on my face for months. My hope is that Comics-Op will be the mid-point between these two extremes, taking you along for the ride.

While the first column was a bit light on the gossip, who knows where it will go?

Meanwhile, via Twitter and the Whitechapel forum, Johnston revealed his new gig: a daily blog called Bleeding Cool, which will be hosted and funded by Avatar Press, publishing of Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis and so on.

Yesterday was the last Lying In The Gutters. But a good gossipmonger never dies. He just goes from a weekly column to a daily blogsite.

Bleeding Cool will feature everything you love and hate about Lying In The Gutters, but every day, reacting to topical news and featuring a host of columns, features, interviews, reviews, previews and…. let’s go with familiar names. Expect real innovation.

It’s funded by Avatar Press, who have promised a hands-off editorial process, but whom I’ll give an Avatar Plug Of The Week to to keep them happy.

Over on his blog, Ellis announced he would be contributing to the new blog.

So…a weekly column goes daily, a former daily blogger goes weekly, a proto blogger author comes back…and Avatar gets into the news business. All in a day.

As the countdown clock on BleedingCool reminds us, the new site will debut in four days…aka Monday,

Yesterday, manga expert Matt Thorn had a long post on his blog reprinting a series of correspondence he’d had with Christopher Handley’s lawyer and mother. Thorn was asked to be an expert witness, but it never got beyond the talking stage. Handley’s mother posted some comments that make this entire case even more disturbing, accusing her son’s lawyers of not properly explaining what he was pleading guilty to, and in general painting her son as a harmless, hapless victim of a series of events. (OF course, she IS his mom…) She also mentioned that Handley is a diabetic who “isn’t made for prison life”…and one assumes the kind of prison life someone convicted of ordering child porn gets is a little worse than other kinds of prison life.

The correspondence has been removed today, because of a gag order on the case, Thorn reports. There were plenty of excerpts around the web, however, including ICv2.

BTW, file this under speculation, but many people are wondering why Handley’s mail was opened by the Post Office, and why it was flagged. We’re not entirely clear on this, but if the package came from Japan, it would have to go through Customs. and it’s normal for packages to be randomly (or not so randomly) flagged and inspected by Customs, so this could be why it was opened.

More info here.

In writing a story such as the one we just linked to, one always awaits, cringing, the comments and emails on who you left off. One comment left in the section reminds us that Last Gasp, one of the founding fathers, and continued crusaders for GNs, will be at the show. Owner Ron Turner writes:

Last Gasp will be there as well, in two booths. We will show our usually lines of distributed graphic novels and pop surrealist artists. This is our 39th year and we have been attending since 1975 continuously. So, come and see us at booth(s)4651, where we will be able to sell you the titles that are not on the floor as well as our own lovely bunch of coconuts. Maybe someday PW will include us in the categories we helped invent.

Apologies all around.

§ For everyone asking us what is happening in GN-related events at this week’s BookExpo America, Calvin Reid and myself put together a big roundup of who, what, and (sometimes) why not for this week’s PW Comics Week. The show runs from tomorrow, May 28 through Sunday; Thursday is all panels, and the exhibition floor opens Friday. We’ll be on the floor from Friday on.

§ In what is sure to be a hot topic on the show floor, Jim Milliot reports that Borders sales have fallen 12 percent in Q1 2009..

Sales at the superstores, which now includes Borders.com, fell 10.7%, to $536.7 million with comp sales off 13.5%. Sales at the Waldenbooks specialty group fell 19.9%, to $76.9 million, due to a combination of 11 store closures and a 5.5% drop in same store sales. A series of one-time expenses ate into the company’s bottomline resulting in a loss from continuing operations of $86 million compared to a loss of $30.1 million in last year’s first quarter. On an operating basis, the loss was $15.9 million down from $30.5 million in the comparable period in 2008.

The story also mentions continued reductions in inventory (part of what hit publishers, particularly manga publishers, last year) and the need to become “better booksellers.” Space freed up by removing CDs and DVDs wil be be used, partially, to expand the kids’ books section.

We misplaced the link to Tom Spurgeon’s always indispensable tips for enjoying San Diego Comic-Con. Every tip has much wisdom, but we thought we’d spotlight this one:

Tip #15. Get Your Pre-Convention Stuff Done One Full Week In Advance
If you’re preparing anything at all for the show — resumes, business cards, art to sell, opening lines, books to sell, art to show, scripts to pass around, your camera, a freelance assignment — get everything done by July 15. This gives you a day or two leeway if something is screwed up, but it also means you won’t be a basket case when you arrive on the convention floor because you stayed up for 37 hours stapling your mini-comic biography of Phil Seuling. Forget entirely getting something done while you’re there. It’s not convenient and you’ll find 10,000 excuses to skip it.

So true. Over the years we remember talking to artists who would go back to their rooms to ink, or writers who were doing some script punch-up in their spare time. Or, ourselves, running back and forth to the Kinko’s in the lobby to make some last minute (and expensive) copies of something we should have done the week before. Such foolishness is no longer allowed.

Also, hasn’t everyone learned that having the printer air-ship the copies to the con at the last minute, just isn’t a good idea? How many times have we seen people standing wryly before an empty table explaining that “The issues didn’t get here from the printer.” EVERY CON!!!! That’s money you left on the table, people, money lost for the shipping, and money lost for missed sales. Ahead of time means “ahead of time”, not “at the con.”