Seriously, can we declare a moratorium on the use of the hype phrase “He’s doing the best work of his career here” by editors, writers, publishers, etc in promotional interviews. In this case it is Mark Millar talking about Steve McNiven and their new Marvel project, NEMESIS. But after you’ve read “Spike’s work on Final Secret: Attack of the Colon Dance is the best of his career” 20 or 80 times, it begins to lose some punch.
The trailers for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and THE FANTASTIC MR FOX.
A new Image book by Ben McCool and Ben Templesmith. More promo art below.
(more…)
Back in the day, the Wednesday of San Diego was an opportunity for industry networking and business — first as a retailer trade show, and, briefly, as ProCon, a professionals only conference. Both these events stopped in the 90s, but now there’s a new opportunity to get some grounding in the business before the consumer show begins. Milton Griepp’s previous afternoon conferences before the New York Comic-Con have been an opportunity to hear hard facts and exchange ideas…now he’s presenting a one-day conference in San Diego, to be held on Wednesday, July 22nd, prior to Preview Night. And in the spirit of disclosure, the conference is being co-sponsored by The Beat and PW Comics Week. We know you already have too much to do at San Diego, but this promises to be very informative, so please consider attending.
Pop culture publishing and consulting company ICv2 has announced that it will host the ICv2 Comics and Media Conference: Building Connections on Wednesday, July 22nd, in conjunction with San Diego Comic-Con International.
“Comics are increasingly the raw material for films, TV shows, and videogames and vice versa, and San Diego is where that all comes together,” ICv2 President Milton Griepp said. “We wanted to create a conference where writers and artists; publishers; producers of films, TV shows, and videogames; agents and managers; licensing pros; retailers; and librarians and educators can all come together to talk about what’s happening and about how to expand this incredibly productive cross-fertilization.”
The ICv2 Comics and Media Conference, a ticketed half-day event, will be held at the San Diego Marriott, next to the San Diego Convention Center, on Wednesday afternoon, July 22nd, from 1 to 5 p.m., just before Preview Night at Comic-Con. Comic-Con is assisting with promotion and logistics for the event.
Confirmed speakers and panelists include film, TV, and comics writer Jeph Loeb, who will deliver the keynote address for the event; Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, who will participate in the discussion of Comics after Hollywood; and businesspeople from the worlds of comics, film, TV, and videogames, with more speakers still being added.
Confirmed Sessions:
Keynote Address
Comics and Media Case Studies
Comics and the IP Life Cycle
Comics after Hollywood
Confirmed Speakers, Panelists, Moderators:
Nick Barrucci, Dynamite Entertainment
Robin Brenner, author, librarian
Milton Griepp, ICv2
Matt Hawkins, Top Cow
Rick Jacobs, Circle of Confusion
Jeff Katz, American Original
Jeph Loeb, writer for film, TV, and comics
Tom Mclean, writer for Variety, Animation
Mike Mignola, writer, artist, creator of Hellboy
Joe Nozemack, Oni Press
PW Comics Week and The Beat by Heidi MacDonald, two publications of Publisher’s Weekly, have signed on to sponsor the conference.
The Beat
The Beat by Heidi MacDonald is a news blog of comics culture in which MacDonald delivers her own brand of coverage on the world of comics.
PW Comics Week
Every week PW Comics Week reports on comics & graphic novel publishing bringing our readers business trends, artist, publisher profiles & retail information. It also delves into top stories and a release schedule of not-to-be missed titles.
ICv2
ICv2 covers the business world of comics and graphic novels, specialty DVDs, tabletop games, and movie and TV licensed products on its Website, ICv2.com, and in its magazine, the ICv2 Insider’s Guide.
For more information, click here. To register, click here.
If you have been missing Lost this last couple weeks, well, no new episodes, but this might tide you over for a day or so. The Helper Monkey was on wrestling historian Karl Stern’s podcast today to discuss the season finale, the show as a whole, the greatness of John Locke and Benjamin Linus, the not-so-greatness of Jack Shephard and more.
You can download it here.
There’s a bit of news and announcements out this morning from WonderCon. At the Image panel, Erik Larsen talked about Obama and John Layman talked about his new series:
Layman was on hand to talk about his new ongoing title, “Chew,” with artist Rob Guillory.
“’Chew’ is about a federal agent who is able to get psychic impressions from the things he eats,” Layman said. “When there’s a corpse that shows up in the sewers or the garbage dump, he is sent and has to chew on the corpse to figure out what killed them.”
The story is set after a bird flu epidemic has wiped out the poultry population, and the agent actually works for the Food and Drug Administration “keeping you from eating chicken,” Layman said. “Meanwhile he’s solving crimes by eating really, really gross stuff.”
J.K. Parkin also reports this nugget:
Duirng the Q&A, a fan asked about new technologies, and Starkings was quick to pull out his iPhone and show off “Elephantman #1.” He said the Web and iPhone aren’t the future of comics – “they’re already here.” Electronic media aren’t replacing comics, he said, but supplementing them, pointing out that if you were ever stuck in an airport without comics to read, you could always download them via Wi-Fi. He also touted Rantz Hosley’s Longbox initiative, which he said was intuitive to use.
At the BOOM! panel, a new co-publishing deal with Fox Atomic was announced, as well as a new series by Mark Waid, with covers by Paul Pope:
Waid will be following up Irredeemable with a new series, The Unknown. The four issue miniseries will deal with a globetrotting female detective who debunks the paranormal but is lost when confronted with the one mystery she can’t solve, what lies beyond death. Waid, who wasn’t able to attend the panel due to a conflict with Mega Con, calls the book “Doc Savage as written by David Lynch.” Dutch artist Minck Oosterveer is doing the interiors, with covers by the likes of Erik Jones and Paul Pope.
PR on the BOOM!/Fox deal below:
BOOM! Studios announced today that Fox Atomic, a division of 20th Century Fox, has entered into a broad multi-title comic book and graphic novel co-publishing deal that will see the formation of a Fox Atomic Comics imprint at BOOM!.
Titles will cover a vast array of different titles and characters, some very familiar to fans, others being new turns on old favorites, as well as entirely new, original series.
Fox Atomic first made a splash with a series of SpikeTV Award-winning original graphic novels in 2007 including 28 DAYS LATER: THE AFTERMATH, featuring work from 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles, followed by THE HILLS HAVE EYES: THE BEGINNING written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. A third graphic novel, the International Horror Guild Award-winning THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY was also released, adapting stories from Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award-winner Thomas Ligotti. THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY: VOLUME TWO, the second graphic novel in the series, followed in 2008.
The new Fox Atomic Comics and BOOM! Studios collaboration will see titles serialized as individual single issue comic books before being collected into trade paperback graphic novels available in the direct and mass bookstore markets.
The new venture will see a broad expansion of Fox Atomic’s titles after its previous success. Partners are keeping the specific details of the series under wraps with expectations for further announcements later in the convention season featuring marquee series and high-profile creators.
Woot! I’m proud to announce that THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY Volume 1 (which I edited) won a 2008 International Horror Guild Award for Best Illustrated Narrative!
Congrats to everyone who worked so hard on this book: Stuart Moore, Joe Harris, Colleen Doran, Ben Templesmith, Ted McKeever, Ashley Wood, Lee Loughridge, Chris Chuckry, Comicraft, and our editor-in-chief and pal R. Eric Lieb…and, of course, Thomas Ligotti. It’s especially nice to be recognized by experts in the horror field. And remember…THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY Vol. 2 is on sale now!
More big doin’s! Tonight at Jim Hanley’s, Stuart Moore, Joe Harris and the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz sign for Thomas Ligotti’s THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY Volume 2, which was assembled by your humble narrator. The NMF crew signs from 6-8. Stick around for Garth Ennis and Russell Braun from 8-10. Stuart has more info at his blog .
PLUS: THIS FRIDAY! One of the most fun events of the year! McNally Robinson’s Literary Halloween party: Or as Stuart puts it:
Friday, October 31st, 6:30 onward: McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry. This signing is part of McNally Jackson’s Literary Halloween Party, which features costumes, drinks, signings, and lots of readings. I might even read a selection from an upcoming novel myself. I did this last year with Colleen Doran, for Nightmare Factory Volume 1, and it was an amazingly great way to spend Halloween…sitting, drinking beer, signing books, looking at costumes and listening to scary stories. McNally Jackson is one of the few good-sized indy bookstores left in New York City, with a great selection and really nice staff.
This was a total blast last year, and you will not want to miss it this time out.
So come on out and check out NIGHTMARE FACTORY Vol. 2 if you haven’t already. I’m very, very proud of the book, and it features fantastic work by Bill, Stuart, Joe and artists Toby Cypress, Nick Stakal and Vasilos Lolos. If you like psychological terror and existential nightmares, this is the book for you.
• Actress Mia Kirshner talks with Laura Hudson about I LIVE HERE.
• Van Jensen learns more of IDW’s G.I. Joe plans.
• AFRO SAMURAI makes is manga debut, Kai-Ming Cha reports.
• Peter Sanderson looks at Wacky Packages, Gary Gianni’s Prince Valiant and more.
• Brian Wood talks about his very busy 2008 with Wil Moss.
• An EXCLUSIVE 13-page excerpt from NOTHING NICE TO SAY.
If you’re not receiving PW’s free comics newsletter every week — you should be!
HYPE ALERT!!! Over the summer one of the projects taking valuable time away from The Beat was work on a second volume of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, Vol. 2, a spine-tingling, mind-warping anthology of work by offbeat horror master Thomas Ligotti. I am happy and proud to say that the book is coming out NEXT WEEK and you all need to run out and buy a copy. A couple of previews have gone up this week — including a huge preview of “Gas Station Carnivals” by Joe Harris and the award-winning Vasilis Lolos. Ain’t It Cool News is also running a contest/preview. But as the editor of the book, I am proud to run the first ever preview of pages from ALL FOUR STORIES. As I always say, putting together an anthology is like casting — finding the right people for the job at hand is always a challenge but when it clicks the way it did here, the result is thrilling. I think that for NIGHTMARE FACTORY 2, we found four incredible artists, and working with them was a treat. Above is the cover by Jon Foster.
Above, an EXCLUSIVE page from “Gas Station Carnivals” by Joe Harris and Vasilis Lolos.
Above, “The Chymist” by Stuart Moore and the vastly underrated but TOTALLY brilliant Toby Cypress.
Above: “The Clown Puppet” by Joe Harris and Bill Sienkiewicz. Yes, THAT Bill Sienkiewicz. After 25 years of friendship, we finally got to work together, and the result was thrilling.
FINALLY, “Sect of the Idiot” by Stuart Moore and Nick Stakal, another brilliant young artist that we’ll be hearing a lot more from in the coming years.
I’ll have more previews and news of many events and signings in the next few days. Suffice to say I am INCREDIBLY proud of this book and the very hard work everyone did on it. I don’t think anyone will be disappointed by the results.
Below the cut, official PR from our publisher, HarperCollins: Technorati Tags: NIGHTMARE FACTORY
That is the true next level in comics’ ascendance, as WaPo sends book guy Bob Thompson to see what all the excitement is about:
To a lifelong Prose Guy, whose idea of a good time involves a comfortable couch and a book full of nothing but words, the graphic novel galaxy can still feel far, far away.
Yes, I know comics can be ambitious and aimed at adults. Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” made this indisputable two decades ago, and there has been plenty of impressive work done since. But I can’t help wondering, even as I begin to explore the rise of what’s sometimes called “sequential art,” if I can ever overcome my personal bias toward prose.
The lengthy piece is accompanied by a comic drawn by Jonathan Bennett depicting the history of RAW, etc. in an enchanting clear ligne style.
ITEM! You won’t believe your eyes, True Believer! Hero Initiative is collecting Stan Lee’s “Soapboxes” from classic Marvel comics! In this one scintillating volume, you’ll see how comic book hype was born and learn techniques that are still being mined today! Here’s the ever-lovin’ hype (note cover not final!):
The wit and wisdom of the caliph of comics is on display for all to see in one mighty volume!
For the first time ever, ALL of Stan Lee’s groundbreaking, legendary “Stan’s Soapbox” columns from 1967 to 1980 are collected in one edition, published by The Hero Initiative. Stan’s Soapbox: The Collection will be available in both comic stores and bookstores everywhere in November, 2008.
The Soapbox columns will even be presented in a historical context, so you can immerse yourself in the flavor of the day, and get a sense what was happening right outside Stan’s window when he penned ‘em. Some are poignant, some informative, some touching, and some funny. But they’re all memorable! In addition, a bountiful bevy of celebs also write about their most memorable columns, including:
• Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada
• Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige
• Former Marvel Editor in Chief and comics historian Roy Thomas
• And a vast variety of great names from the fields of comics, literature, politics and academia
“Wow! What a kick it is for me to see all my old Soapbox columns printed in one great volume!,” said Stan Lee. “Reading them now is like taking a trip back through the history of Marvel in those great ol’ days when the fans and I would rap about how our batty Bullpen was exploding with new heroes, new villains and more far-out, fun-filled, fantastic new ideas than you could shake a radioactive spider at! And, best of all, every Stan’s Soapbox book sold means more money for the great Hero Initiative cause. No wonder I’m so proud of this book and the cause that it serves! Heck, I might even buy two copies!”
Coming in at an amazing 144 pages, this full color trade paperback will retail for $14.99.
Presumably, this news will help THE BEAT recover from any travel-related mishaps that may have occurred on her trip out to SD.
Empire magazine caught up with Sir Ian at THE DARK KNIGHT premiere and said his returning to play everyone’s favorite wizard is all but a done deal.
Well, I haven’t had the contract yet but it’s everyone’s intention that I play Gandalf so yes, I will be returning to the role. Although it’s not until 2010, I’m very much excited about returning.”
Posted by Mark Coale
So, I’m cleaning and I find a random issue of AMAZING HEROES from 1989. I leave it out and save for…bathroom reading later in the day. I see that THE BEAT (before she went by that name) has a column in this issue and one of the subjects is BAT-MOVIE HYPE. How timely. So, here’s what “the Princess” had to say on the topic back before some of you kids were even born.
batmania: I swore I wouldn’t write about Batman anymore, but I can’t help it !!! Batman is everywhere! At Once.
Here in LA, the bat symbol has become synonymous with the city’s underground scene. Just as the (no doubt at least sub-consciously WATCHMEN-inspired) happy face was the symbol of last year’s Acid House music craze in Britain, the Bat Signal rules in LA. A little giveaway touting a hotline for the hottest new dance clubs is called the Batline and sports that ever-ubiquitous Bat Signal. the LA club scene is littered with kids in bat-shirts and hand-painted Joker jackets. Warner’s must be spending all of the profits from the Batman comic just on policing the bootleggers and trademark-infringers.
A recent tour of Melrose Avenue (LA’s Mecca of overpriced haute camp and black-dressed hipness) reveals that it should be renamed Batman Boulevard. An antique shop features nothing but honest-to-gosh 1960’s plastic Batman toys in its front window. Bat-symbol rings, t-shirts, and earrings appear in every gloom-rock boutique worthy of the name. The Golden Apple reigns as “Bat-man T-shirt headquarters” selling a dizzying assortment of styles.
Batman is so hot he sizzles. I dunno, it’s kinda weird…almost like the Sons of the Batman have come to life or something.
Of course, it’ll all end when the movie comes out…
Posted by Mark Coale
The hype machine rolls on.
The Washington Post did an on-line chat with Paul Levitz today talking about the movie, the WATCHMEN movie and some comics talk.
Minneapolis, Minn.: From a villain perspective, who do you think would be interesting for Nolan to tackle in the movies?
Paul Levitz: I think Chris works best with villains with very human characteristics. I’m not sure they’ll do Catwoman, but I think it would be wonderful to see what he could do playing with her.
Posted by Mark Coale
Even the Washington Post is getting into the act. The paper, which is sending reporters to Comic-Con to cover the LOST Panel, has a write-up today about the popular notion of duality between The Bat and The Joker.
Posted by Mark Coale
Did you notice a couple months ago when there was an IRON MAN themed phone?
Well, it’s Batman’s turn.
I only found out about this when I was paying my cell phone bill and saw the ad for the new Nokia DARK KNIGHT Edition. Article about it here.
Posted by Mark Coale
Finally it can be revealed! Secret Project #1!
Once in a while I hope I can be allowed a wee bit of hype here, and so here we go: One of the reasons I’ve ve been so mad crazy over the last 8 weeks or so was because we’ve been putting together a sequel to last year’s acclaimed THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY anthology. The book comes out of Fox Atomic’s graphic novel line, and will be out this August from Harper Collins.
Like the first volume, this is a 112-page comics adaptation of the short stories of horror writer Thomas Ligotti. Writers Joe Harris and Stuart Moore have returned to adapt Ligotti’s cerebrally chilling stories, but we have some new players as well.
This time out the cover is by the great Jon Foster. Jon worked on a bunch of covers for me back in the day, but his style has taken a major evolution since then, and I was really excited to see what he would do with the Nightmare Factiry concept, and I think he knocked it out of the park.
The interiors are by Bill Sienkiewicz, Vasilis Lolos, Toby Cypress and Nick Stakal, aided and abetted by the coloring of Lee Louridge and Rico Renzi, the fine lettering of Comicraft and the great design work of Symon Chow. I hope to be able to let everyone see a sneak peek of some of the interior pages, and hopefully everyone will be as pleased as I am by this incredible line-up of talent.
I haven’t been able to talk much about this project here on the blog because of an intensive deadline crunch. It was a little touch and go for a while there, but everyone came through relatively unscathed.
I’ll have more to say about this (and more previews) in the coming weeks but for now I would just like to say, for the record, that it was just the kind of project you always hope to work on: unique, intelligent material, writers and artists who understand that and have the chops to bring it to life, and who also epitomize professionalism in so many ways. I’m very very lucky to get to work with such great people as the ones I’ve just named, and to learn from them along the way.
I also have to send a shout out to my partners in crime, Eric Lieb, the Editor in Chief of Fox Atomic Comics, and Hope Inelli and Jeremy Cesarec at Harper Collins. I couldn’t ask for better collaborators or bosses.
Anyway enough thanks yous. If you’re not familiar with the writings of Thomas Ligotti you’re missing a contemporary stylist and fabulist second to none. His stories are thought provoking, disturbing, and truly, truly original. THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY II is, I hope, a true reflection of his unique world view in graphic novel form.
If you missed the article in Gamepro this month spotlighting the new LEGO Batman game, why not take a look at this clip featuring LEGO Two-Face and LEGO Scarecrow?
And before we get LEGO Batman, We’ll be getting LEGO Indiana Jones on June 3.
Apparently, toys from the upcoming Watchmen movie will make their public debut at NYCC this weekend.
But, Entertainment Weekly has some shots of the toys up now.
I’ve heard this song before. I’ll believe them when I see them on the shelves at TRU.
Posted by Mark Coale
A local politician in New York is eager to jump on the comics marketing bandwagon. Queens Councilman Hiram Monserrate wants to make “Gotham City” the official nickname of the Big Apple, which already seems to have a nickname but whatever.
“I see that as a marketing tool, ‘Come visit the real Gotham City,’ taking advantage of this movie which will be one of those gate-breaking, record-selling movies like it always is,” he said.
This led to an outcry from New York Magazine:
Gotham City is not New York! The differences are legion: Their geographies are totally dissimilar; Gotham’s street gangs are charmingly multiracial; multiple sources place the city in New Jersey, not New York. And, most glaring, the made-up metropolis is plagued by corrupt hypocrites in the highest levels of government — a ludicrous fictional conceit definitively indicating that “Gotham City” exists in a never-neverland fantasy world that only a child would find plausible.
While this outcry is one that only a child would find entirely serious, there is some grave debate here, heard yesterday morning on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Should New York be named Gotham City? Or Metropolis? Or Latveria?
What have things come to, when even the precocious and eternally cute Hello Kitty is willing to settle a grudge by stepping into the squared circle?
The presser:
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, in conjunction with Gente California and SANRIO Co., LTD., will present the first ever professional wrestling match for the Kitty World Order (KWO). On April 5, 2008, the cheerful Hello Kitty® and mischievous Kuromi® will meet inside the wrestling ring in a classic battle of The Good vs. The Bad. This match between these two beloved characters has been sanctioned by SANRIO Co., LTD. and PWG, and will be part of a live event that will feature PWG World Championship and PWG World Tag Team Championship title matches. The event takes place on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 8:00PM at American Legion Post #308, located at 7338 Canby Ave., Reseda, CA 91335. General Admission tickets for the event are $20. Please visit http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com or http://www. gentecal. com for more information.
Posted by Mark Coale
Yes, the Nightmare Factory marathon ends tonight, with a big blowout panel at MoCCA:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
MOCCA – MUSEUM OF COMIC & CARTOON ART — 6:30 p.m.
594 Broadway/Suite 401
(bet. Houston & Prince)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-3511
*Writers Stuart Moore and Joe Harris, artists Michael Gaydos and Ted McKeever, editor Heidi MacDonald, and editor-in-chief R. Eric Lieb come together for a discussion of Fox Atomic and The Nightmare Factory with moderator Calvin Reid, PW. – FREE
While we’ll be talking about the graphic novel and Fox Atomic, we’ll also be answering any and all questions as befits such a diverse panel with representatives from all ends of the comics-to-book-and-film spectrum. So come on down!
If I may be allowed a very brief period of hijacking this blog for my own purposes. Faithful readers may recall my work earlier this year editing The Nightmare Factory anthology for Fox Atomic/Harper Collins. Putting the work of unjustly little-known horror master Thomas Ligotti into comics form, I was pretty happy how the book came out, and after 14 years in the business, I finally got to have an actual book I edited come out the way I wanted. The book came out a few weeks ago, and I’m happy to say it has been very well received, with good reviews coming in from all over the place:
“In a fall season typified by much more categorizable frights, Nightmare Factory provides a bitterly entertaining treat for those attuned to its storyteller’s grim sentiments.” — BOSTON GLOBE
“Makes for deliciously bleak reading as its damned protagonists find themselves ensnared in metaphysical traps they often barely comprehend. ” — EW.com
“A large and generally very impressive gathering of imaginative and stylish horror fiction . . . Poe and Lovecraft are the obvious influences in these richly atmospheric (and often funny) tales of introversion blossoming into obsession. .. show Ligotti doing what he does best: turning the abstract matter of our unguarded dreaming moments into vivid and compelling nightmares.” — Kirkus Reviews
“These twisted tales based on Thomas Ligotti’s stories come alive in the hands of Ben Templesmith and Michael Gaydos, and others. Retaining unique styles, Ligotti’s brand of psychological terror still permeates, oozing into your nightmares.” — Wizard Magazine
As befits the spooky season now upon us, October is full of events for the book, starting TONIGHT at Jim Hanley’s on 33rd St., with a double header of Steve Niles from 5-6, followed by Stuart Moore, Joe Harris and Michael Gaydos from 6:30-8:30
After that there are several more events:
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
THE COMIC BOOK CLUB — 8:00 p.m.
@ LOCATION TBA, $5
Live radio interview/panel event with studio audience – entry fee $5.00/per person
Artists/writers: Stuart Moore, Joe Harris, Colleen Doran, Michael Gaydos
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSELLERS — 6:00 p.m.
52 Prince St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 274-1160
Literary Halloween Party event with readings and refreshments
Projections from horror comic anthology Nightmare Factory (HarperCollins/Fox Atomic) and signings by artist Colleen Doran and writer Stuart Moore
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
MOCCA — 6:30 p.m.
594 Broadway/Suite 401
Writers Stuart Moore and Joe Harris, artists Michael Gaydos and Ted McKeever, and editor Heidi MacDonald come together for a discussion of Fox Atomic and The Nightmare Factory.
Okay is that spooky enough for you? Come on down and say hi! And buy the book — you’ll be glad you did.
You are currently browsing the archives for the HYPE! category.