Director Jason Reitmangets a sneak peek at some early SCOTT PILGRIM footage and gets all misty eyed:

It is a game changer for Edgar and the genre. It moves the speed of light and carries more unadulterated joy than Ive seen in recent cinema.

SP does what everyone our age has been dreaming about: achieves the first all encompassing film of the joystick generation.

I’m in awe of the sheer control in the filmmaking. It feels like a “Matrix” for love and how willing we are to fight for it.

Excited!

Via Sean T. Collins

Bryan Lee O’Malley pays tribute to a classic Capcom poster with this Scott Pilgrim image. It will be available at the upcoming PAX show.

In preparation for its long-awaited debut on September 11, WB has released a bunch of new WHITEOUT pics. CBR has the whole gallery. Starring Kate Beckinsale and Gabriel Macht, the film is based on the Greg Rucka/Steve Lieber graphic novel.

Bryan Lee O’Malley, Marc Guggenheim, Jamie Rich, Joelle Jones, Hope Larson…just a few of the people appearing at Oni’s booth. There will be signings, debuts and a talent search!

Festering Romance
By Renee Lott
*Every copy purchased at the show comes with a free Director’s Cut Ashcan featuring an inside look at the cartoonists process from scripting to finishing touches (while supplies last).*
20 year-old college student Janet lives a quiet life in with her spectral roommate Paul. And the more she tries to withdraw, the more the world pushes back. Freya, Janet’s pushy friend, is always setting her up on blind dates, and the most recent (successful) date creates far more turmoil for Janet than happiness. Strangely, it’s the things the fledgling couple have in common that keep them apart. Will their pasts haunt them forever or will they find a way to heal their festering romance?

You Have Killed Me
By Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones
*Every copy purchased at the show comes with a limited edition book plate (while supplies last)*
Things just can’t get any worse for Antonio Mercer. A private eye by trade, a dame from his past has re-surfaced in his life as a client along with all of the emotional baggage he thought he’d left behind forever. Of course, this unusual client doesn’t have just any case, her family is mixed up with seriously dangerous people and the body count is just starting to pile up!

Wet Moon, Vol. 5: Where All Stars Fail to Burn
By Ross Campbell
*Don’t forget to pick up your brand new Wet Moon t-shirt!*
There’s lots going on in the tiny town of Wet Moon and the weirdness isn’t going to die down soon. With Cleo and her circle’s attention focused on the big softball game, the dark emotional clouds gathering in the distance have gone unnoticed. Will anybody be ready for the brutal conflict that’s on the horizon?

Special Imprint, Limited Black Cover Version of Wasteland: The Apocalyptic Edition (Hardcover)
*There will be an extremely limited number of these hand bound, black cover versions of the Wasteland Hardcover. Only available at SDCC 2009!*
The Harvey-nominated, critically acclaimed ongoing series gets the deluxe hardcover treatment with this new massive collection! Reprinting the first 13 issues of the series including the fan-favorite “Walking the Dust” prose shorts and a full color gallery of Ben Templesmith’s covers, this impressive tome chronicles the opening adventures of Michael, a mysterious wanderer struggling to find the answers to both his past and his future.

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To engage in a rare-bit of self-promotion, I finally posted an interview I did for the new Oni Press book YOU HAVE KILLED ME by Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones. We did the interview last summer, but the book was delayed and the next issue of ODESSA STEPS was delayed. And here we are. YOU HAVE KILLED ME will debut at San Diego next week. In it, we talk about the new book, some old books and our mutual love/obsession with the Criterion Collection.

And that art, by Joelle Jones, will eventually be the cover of the next issue of the magazine, hopefully debuting at Baltimore this year. (Of course, we said that last year too.)

Posted by mark coale

While director Edgar Wright continues to photoblog from the set of the SCOTT PILGRIM movie, as with the shot of Ramona Flowers, above, Bryan Lee O’Malley revealed some information about the ending, and volume 6 on his Twitter stream:

None of Vol 6 is in the movie. Note that I haven’t finished writing it yet, but they’re already making a movie. Their ending is their ending

Yeah, it is based on my ideas/suggestions/plans, but I am free to change all of my ideas at the last minute; theirs are locked in

It was always going to be one movie, guys; when they optioned the book, remember, it was 2005 and it had only sold around a thousand copies

Some scenes and jokes only work in comics form, too! I pride myself on it. I love comics, goddamn it

About the movie: YES: they used my ideas/suggestions/plans, BUT: I am free to change all of my ideas at the last minute, they can’t stop me!

He also hints that future print editors of SP may have an added feature:

vol 6 is not going to be in colour. Future colourized editions are a strong possibility, though nothing’s decided yet

SCOTT PILGRIM, the movie, doesn’t come out until 2010…how will we pass the time?????

Over at CBR, the stupendously talented Brandon Graham (see above) talks more about how KING CITY went from purgatory at Tokyopop to publishing at Image:

Graham released “King City” Vol. 1 in 2007 through American manga publisher TOKYOPOP, and gained an Eisner nomination for Best Writer/Artist - Humor in 2008. The company planned to follow it up with Vol. 2, only to cancel the release as part of blanket cuts made to their digest-sized American OGN line. To add insult to injury, Graham was already around 130 pages into drawing the book when he found out TOKYOPOP wouldn’t be releasing it, and they weren’t willing to give him back the rights to the property so he could take it somewhere else.

Enter Image Comics. There’s something that sets Image apart from most other contemporary comics companies, according to Graham: they make comics. “They don’t do movies or video games, they just want to publish comics,” Graham said. Image’s “comics first” mentality made them specially-suited to print “King City,” while letting TOKYOPOP hold onto the actual rights to the book.

Hm, now why would Tokyopop have no interest in publishing something that is so valuable that they would never give up the movie rights? Does that make sense?

There is a moral to this story, kids…can you guess what it is????????

PS: The image above is from Graham’s Oni series, MULTIPLE WARHEADS.

Technorati Tags: WORK FOR HIRE IS BAD

We interrupt our internet vacation to say: Diz-amn.

If you know what this is, you know how cool it is, but if you don’t, Laura Hudson will explain.

Technorati Tags: Scott Pilgrim

We forgot to pot this news, but everyone else did, but it’s still too good not to pass along: SALT WATER TAFFY, Matt Loux’s charming series about youthful adventurers, is going to run as a webcomic in addition to the regular printed versions:

“When I was working on THE TRUTH ABOUT DR.TRUE, SALT WATER TAFFY V3, Jack and Benny kept wanting to go on side trips, and I realized they would make great comic strip characters,” said Loux. “The Salt Water Taffy website creates a place for me to tell more of their adventures in a new format.”

Loux will premier a new comic strip online every other week until the launch of SALT WATER TAFFY VOLUME 3: THE TRUTH ABOUT DR. TRUE. The Salt Water Taffy website will also keep fans-up to-date on news, reviews, and events, and give a sneak peek of the new book.

If you go to director Edgar Wright’s Daily Photo blog you can see lots of photos of the SCOTT PILGRIM movie cast training: training for kung fu, training for being in a band, training for wearing moon boots. The above shows Wright himself developing vegan powers.

In a way, it’s the anti-WATCHMEN; instead of a lineup of superstar larger than life icons, it’s a lineup of superstar feckless slackers.

The debut of NORTH WORLD Vol 2 is the highlight of Oni’s many plans.

Oni Press is in San Francisco for this year’s WonderCon! February 17th - March 1st we’ll be strutting our stuff at booth #519. Come by and check out our eclectic library of titles including the premiere of:

NORTH WORLD VOLUME 2: THE EPIC OF CONRAD

by Lars Brown

Conrad’s given up his life of action and adventure and become an accountant — and in the middle of a quest, no less! But can our intrepid hero truly leave his days of swords and battle behind him or will he finish the job the guild sent him to his hometown to complete? It’s a clash of family loyalty and heroic destiny in the conclusion of the Epic of Conrad!

To celebrate the release of the eagerly anticipated next chapter of the North World Series Oni Press is pleased to announce the following events and specials:

EXCLUSIVE EXTENDED PREVIEW AT iFANBOY.COM!

Going live Friday the 27th to correspond with the WonderCon premier of the book, check out this gigantic preview of NORTH WORLD VOL. 2 exclusively at ifanboy.com!

Technorati Tags: WonderCon 09

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Via Edgar Wright’s MySpace Blog, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who stars as Ramona Flowers in the upcoming SCOTT PILGRIM movie.

We’re hearing that due to various factors, including Diamond’s warehouse move, many re-orders for SCOTT PILGRIM #5 — at least in New York — have been delayed. Tuesday’s midnight signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe was a complete sell-out and last night’s Rocketship signing was as well, with people lined up out the door in the cold night air to get an autographed copy.

How popular is SCOTT PILGRIM?

It’s currently at #356 on Amazon, but rising daily.

If you think SCOTT PILGRIM Volume 5 will be the book of the show, you are not alone. Here’s all the deets on the hoopla and more goings on at Oni:

Oni Press is in New York City for this year’s New York Comic Con! February 6th - 8th we’ll be strutting our stuff at booth #1413. Come by and check out our eclectic library of titles including the premiere of:

SCOTT PILGRIM VOLUME 5: SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE UNIVERSE
by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Scott Pilgrim is at the top of his game: he just turned 24, he moved in with the girl of his dreams, and he defeated at least half of The League of Ramona’s Evil Exes. But life at the top is treacherous and if things can’t possibly get any better for Scott, it means they can only get infinitely worse! Scott’s band is in total turmoil, his own exes have all boarded the train to crazy town, and Ramona’s evil exes have started appearing in pairs! And what’s up with Ramona, anyway? She’s been acting kinda weird ever since she and Scott moved in together. It’s the second-to-last volume of the Scott Pilgrim series and it looks like Scott’s precious little life has come back around to bite him in the butt!

To celebrate the release of the eagerly anticipated next chapter of the SCOTT PILGRIM SERIES, Oni Press is pleased to announce the following events and specials:

AFTER WORK SIGNING AND MIXER
Wednesday, February 4th from 7-9pm at Rocketship Comics in Brooklyn.
http://rocketshipstore.blogspot.com

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Brian O’Malley announces that most of the cast for the screen adaption of his cult hit SCOTT PILGRIM series has been revealed. In a bit of wry casting, two of the evil ex-boyfriends Scott must vanquish are to be played by noted superhero thesps Brandon Routh, who wore the tights in SUPERMAN RETURNS, and Chris Evans, who portrayed The Human Torch in both Fantastic Four flicks.

Routh plays vegan-powered psychic Todd Ingram; Evans plays skateboarder-turned-actor Lucas Lee.

Rounding out the cast are Rory Culkin, Brie Larson, Mae Whitman, Ellen Wong, Anna Kendrick, Mark Webber, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Aubrey Plaza and Sataya Bhabha. Lots of young, talented folks.

Shawn of the Dead director Edgar Wright voiced his intentions to make a Pilgrim pic back in 2006, and last spring Michael Cera was announced as Scott and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as romantic lead Ramona Flowers. With over a dozen cast members now revealed, we can only assume that production will begin soonish.
EDIT: According to ScottPilgrim.com, principal photography will begin March 30.

The penultimate Scott Pilgrim book drops next month, and it will be interesting to see if the final volume and the film adaption come out at roughly the same time next year. Will a literary/cinematic one-two punch make SCOTT PILGRIM the TWILIGHT of 2010?

Posted by Aaron Humphrey.

While we’re sipping soup and all that, Joe Nozemack, publisher at Oni Press, was kind enough to send us some brief thoughts on Diamond’s new ordering policies and we wanted to get them out there as soon as possible. We’ll be back with more linkage and analysis. Now, here’s Joe:

I would hope to think that the $2,500 minimum that Diamond is instituting isn’t an arbitrarily concocted number. I’m sure they looked at the costs of listing a title, giving it space in the catalog, cutting the p.o. and receiving and reshipping the orders. There is a hard cost to doing all of this and I’m sure this went into the calculation of the minimum. Diamond should not be forced to lose money to list and distribute a title if it cannot prove to have a viable sales history after a certain amount of time. I also don’t think anyone is saying that these judgments will be made prior to giving a title a chance.

And in response to Simon Jones use of our title Salt Water Taffy as an example of a book that might be on the chopping block, this is just not the case. While the direct market is an important and key sales outlet for Oni Press, it is not our only sales outlet. When mass market and library sales are included, this title was in no danger of having its purchase order not issued.

But I do believe that if higher limits are to be put on relisting titles in Previews, Diamond might take another look at the 3% reorder fee that it charges for items it distributes for non-Premier publishers. While the fee is understandable on low ticket items, I do think that the fee can have the effect of being a penalty for those publishers besides Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image. The fee makes perfect sense for low priced items, say under $5, to cover the costs of picking and packaging them. But for books and graphic novels, I believe the margins and profits are high enough that the fee, passed on to the retailers, makes our product less attractive to the retailers.

More SCOTT PILGRIM casting news. This is really gonna happen! Studmuffin Chris Evans, a Beat favorite despite his role as the Human Torch in those awful Fantastic Four movies, has been cast as Lucas Lee, one of Ramona Flower’s Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends that Pilgrim must defeat to win her hand.

In the same link, a few frontrunners for the role of Matthew Patel are shown, and in a refreshing break from tradition, Asian actors are apparently being considered for the role of an Asian person!

Okay, so we get it: The SCOTT PILGRIM film will spotlight many fresh-faced and talented performers who have many laughs ahead of them. Where’s the fun in that? Anyway, two more casting choices have been named. Kieran Culkin will play Wallace Wells, aka Chris Butcher, Scott’s roommate, and Aubrey Plaza will play ex-girlfriend Julie Powers. Culkin comes from an acting family, and Plaza comes from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. Previously, you will recall, Michael Cera has been cast as Scott and Mary Elizabeth Winstead will play Ramona Flowers.

Bryan Lee O’Malley unveils SCOTT PILGRIM #5.

Matthew Loux’s well-received kids comic, SALT WATER TAFFY, is back this week with a second volume:

Following closely on the success of the first volume of his new graphic adventure series, Matthew Loux brings us the second installment with SALT WATER TAFFY VOL. 2: A CLIMB UP MT. BARNABAS. In stores this week and with a third volume already in the works, critics are convinced that the American Library Association & YALSA award winning Matthew Loux is here to stay.

Cory Casoni tells us of two new books from Oni at SPX:

CROGAN’S VENGEANCE
by Chris Schweizer (w/a)

CROGAN’S VENGEANCE, the first in an ongoing series of adventure graphic novels spanning continents and centuries as cartoonist Chris Schweizer climbs through the various branches of the Crogan clan’s family tree!

Volume one of THE CROGAN ADVENTURES series introduces us to “Catfoot” Crogan, an honest sailor who finds himself thrust into a life of piracy! Crogan never wanted to be a pirate and he never dreamed he’d wind up at odds with the most dangerous buccaneer ever to sail the Spanish Main! But there’s more to this fight for “Catfoot” than just staying alive, there’s also CROGAN’S VENGEANCE!

LABOR DAYS
by Philip Gelatt (w) and Rick Lacy (a)

Benton “Bags” Bagswell is doing nothing with his life. He runs a chores-for-hire business in London and that’s about it. That is, until the day his girlfriend dumps him, and he finds himself in possession of a mysterious videotape. Thrust into a dangerous world of deceit and betrayal, it’s up to Bags to pack up his, erm, suitcase and hit the road in search of the truth!

It’s globe-trotting hijinks as our unlikely hero tries to grow out of his slacker life-style and bring some new world style to old world Europe all the while digging deeper into the enigma that’s blown up his former existence!

Right now! Buy the amazing hardcover collection next.

At the Beguiling!

Arrives at New York Comic-Con 09!

Technorati Tags: Bryan Lee O’Malley

Oni has tons of creators, tons of tbooks and some great exclusives, including the SCOTT PILGRIM COLOR SPECIAL:

Premiering at SDCC 2008:_
THE APOCALIPSTIX
by Cameron Stewart and Ray Fawkes
Mandy, Megumi, & Dot aren’t going to let a little thing like armageddon stop them from rocking a world tour, so don’t let the Comic-Con crush stop you from picking up a signed copy at the SDCC 2008 premier!
_
Only available at SDCC 2008 and other conventions this year:
SCOTT PILGRIM COLOUR SPECIAL!
Bryn Lee O’Malley has collected odds and ends from 2008 and Oni Press has compiled them into this SDCC exclusive! It’s Scott Pilgrim in full colour, it’s a limited run, and it’s only available at the Oni Press Booth during San Diego Comic-Con 2008

_New Oni Merch! _
Including: Scott Pilgrim Shirts & Buttons, Black Metal Shirts & Buttons, Wasteland Shirts, North World Shirts, and much more!

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