Someone Twittered us to check out Andrew Drilon’s THE LOVE EATERS, one of the Top Shelf 2.0 webcomics, and ya know what…we are suckers for any comic that features good pen and ink art of animals…mixed with dark fantasy and imagination. In the past, this would have been a mini-comic someone handed to us at a show. Now, it’s a webcomic.

Drilon is the artist of KARE-KARE KOMIKS, which ran on The Chemistry Set and, sadly, doesn’t seem to be online any more. He’s good!

THE SURROGATES, Jeff Lemire, and a new edition of LOST GIRLS and more highlight Top Shelf’s 2009 offerings.

Top Shelf will be at our usual booth #1721 at Comic-Con, and this year we’ll be featuring creators:

– Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele, signing the limited Signed & Numbered debut of THE SURROGATES OWNER’S MANUAL (the special hardcover edition of THE SURRROGATES — Vols 1 & 2 combined), as well as the debut of THE SURROGATES (VOL 2): FLESH & BONE, and the new edition of THE SURROGATES (VOL 1). The movie from Touchstone Pictures, starring Bruce Willis, will hit theatres on Sept 25th.

Top Shelf Productions is proud to announce that three SURROGATES books will debut at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 23-26, and series writer and artist, Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, will be at the Top Shelf booth (#1721) the entire weekend signing all three:

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Top Shelf has announced that an OWLY cartoon, created by Sprite Animation, will debut at SD. Andy Runton’s charming, wordless owl would seem to be ideal for a cartoon. PR:

Owly, the kindhearted star of the award-winning graphic novel series by Andy Runton, will come to life in an animated short at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 23-26.

It was jointly announced today by Chris Staros, Publisher of Top Shelf Productions and Junichi Yanagihara, Executive Producer at Sprite Animation Studios that the loveable Owly and his unlikely best friend Wormy will be animated in a brand-new original segment directed by Moto Sakakibara and storyboarded by creator Andy Runton. Prominently featured will be Runton’s innovative “Pictomation,” a storytelling device in which the characters’ thoughts and feelings are animated with iconic and expressive images rather than dialogue, enabling fans of all ages, languages, and backgrounds to enjoy the show.

“I’m absolutely overjoyed to be working with the entire Sprite team. Over the past months, we’ve worked very closely to make sure Owly was faithfully translated to 3D. Every little detail was important to them, and the end result blows me away! They’ve created an animation that captures the pure essence of Owly in ways I never thought possible. It’s amazing to see Owly and Wormy come to life like this. The level of artistry at Sprite is incredible.” said creator Andy Runton.

“I am very passionate about the world of ‘Owly’ and its pure, honest, and adorable star. It is such a blessing to be able to bring Owly to new audiences who have not yet been touched by these wonderful stories,” said director Moto Sakakibara.

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With The Complete Alec’s pub date approaching rapidly, we’re getting more and more Eddie Campbell , including an interview with Pádraig Ó Méalóid at The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log:
I was reading the autobiographical novels of Henry Miller, but now I can’t recall whether I was reading them because I wanted to go that route or whether they inspired it. Essentially I liked the idea of finding things to write and draw in the life I saw around me rather than just filling out the readymade narrative templates of thriller and fantasy and soap opera. There’s new stuff everywhere if you take the trouble to look for it. I do know that I didn’t see Spiegelman’s or Pekar’s work ‘til 1982.
Meanwhile, over on his blog, Campbell digresses about many essential things, such as the history of copying in art:

A note to any of those younger readers still hanging about after the pictures finished. We’re not looking at cases of artists ‘ripping off’ another artist. there was a time, long ago, before you were born, when if you wanted a copy of something, you couldn’t just scan it. Pictures in books were printed from engraved woodblocks, which would wear out after much use. Thus fifty years later, if a reprint of the book was required, it would be necessary to hire another artist to hand-copy the whole job. And each successive artist copying the same images would be likely to add his own touches. He may also not have had access to the earliest version and have worked from an intermediary copy. It was akin to a shakespearean play, which would have to be restaged and performed anew for each generation.

Superhero Hype! has a new poster for THE SURROGATES, starring Bruce Willis, based on the comic book of the same name by Robert Venditti and Brett Weidele.

The movie is out in September.

Eddie Campbell previews The Years Have Pants, the upcoming omnibus of Alec, his early autobiographical strip, and shows off some of the 45 pages of new material, including the above strip.

For those who haven’t seen Alec, it’s autobiography that probably a lot of people who don’t like autobio comics will like, as, unlike many autobio comics, it’s dramatic, funny, extremely well-crafted, and insightful about many aspects of life. Definitely one of the highlights of the second part of the year.

The new Vertigo blog, Graphic Content, previews SWEET TOOTH, the new ongoing series by Jeff Lemire.

Well, it’s a wonderful post apocalyptic story that follows Gus, from the sanctuary of the home he’s known since birth, on an adventure to find “The Preserve” a fabled safe-haven for hybrid children. Along the way, Gus not only learns he loves chocolate, but he begins to unravel the mystery surrounding the origin of the disease that ravaged the American landscape just a decade before.

And at Standard Attrition, Lemire posts the cover for the collected ESSEX COUNTY, now in Previews.

MoCCA debuts .. this is gonna take a long time so get a frosty one.

TOP SHELF will be debuting:

– Kevin Cannon’s FAR ARDEN
– Bwana Spoons’ WELCOME TO FOREST ISLAND
– Niklas Asker’s SECOND THOUGHTS

and also featuring:

– Nate Powell (SWALLOW ME WHOLE)
– Alex Robinson (TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN), &
–Matt Kindt (SUPER SPY)

Secret Acres will be debuting Minty Lewis’s PS Comics at MoCCA.

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SURROGATES trailer in HD

A bunch of movie sites are posting today that a viral teaser poster for THE SURROGATES has been released (more, see Splash Page.) While the fellow in the ad does look a bit like Bruce Willis, who stars in the film, we’re told by Chris Staros and others that it is actually one of the fake ads for the story’s Virtual Self Inc (VSI) Corporation which ran on the back of the singles of the series, published by Top Shelf.

Has Disney re-released the comics ad as a teaser poster? Or did some scamp send this out to see who would bite?

Nate Powell’s SWALLOW ME WHOLE is the first graphic novel since MAUS to earn a nomination for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. According to a press release from publisher Chris Staros:

SWALLOW ME WHOLE is one of five official finalists in the category of Young Adult Fiction, making it the first graphic novel to be nominated for this prize, in any category, since Art Spiegelman’s MAUS won the Fiction category in 1992! “I’m honored just to be considered,” says Powell, “and feel dizzy having my book even placed in the same sentence as MAUS.”

Although SWALLOW ME WHOLE was not created exclusively for young adult readers, it is fundamentally a story about the dark, quiet corners of adolescence. The book follows two teenage stepsiblings, Ruth and Perry, through the ups and downs of school, family, and suburban restlessness — all complicated by the insect armies, swirling visions, and haunting voices that no one else can perceive.

“To be a young person is to be surrounded at all times by frightening transition and the terror of losing touch with a safe and familiar world,” says Powell. “Sometimes the only salvation from that terror is in what a teenager can create for themselves.”

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Top Shelf will be right up front in the NYCC exhibit hall this year at booth #1620. And we’ll have:

– Robert Venditti (THE SURROGATES)
– Alex Robinson (TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN, BOX OFFICE POISON)
– Christian Slade (KORGI)
– Rich Koslowski (THE KING)

signing books all weekend.

Come by and meet them, along with Chris Staros & Leigh Walton, who will also be attending the show.

Sulk (Vol 1): Bighead and Friends

Grant Morrison, eat your heart out!

Disney and Top Shelf have released the first image of Bruce Willis in THE SURROGATES, or as Leigh Walton puts it:

Exciting news — Disney/Touchstone has released the first production still from the upcoming SURROGATES movie, based on the Top Shelf graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele! Here we see Bruce Willis as Agent Greer… or is it his surrogate?!

The film’s release date is September 25, 2009 — principal shooting wrapped some time ago, as I understand it, and they’re in the midst of some intense post-production work.

The SURROGATES graphic novel is in stock at TopShelfComix.com and in fine stores everywhere (and makes a great gift). The prequel graphic novel, SURROGATES: FLESH AND BONE, is scheduled for July 2009!

We especially like how Willis has mastered the “butt AND face to the camera” pose that is usually seen from female action stars. Willis is versatile, no question.

The Same Hat boys announce that the AX anthology will appear at Top Shelf. This is exciting news because AX is a respected anthology of unusual manga that rose from the ashes of GARO, the influential anthology that one might call the WEIRDO of Manga.

We’ve posted extensively about AX before, but remember that it’s an anthology book published by Seirinkogeisha, that took up the reins of GARO after they closed their doors and ran with the weirdness. Tokyo Zombie originally was serialized in AX, along with works by Suehiro Maruo, Shinichi Abe, Nishioka Kyoudai, Naoto Yamakawa, Usamaru Furuya, Toshio Saeki, Akino Kondoh, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Toyo Kataoka, and many many many other amazing mangaka.

I don’t have anything to do with this book, but recently learned about it and got permission to break the news to ya’ll (and of course, am supremely jealous I didn’t get to edit or translate for the book!). The full table of contents details have not yet been made available, but I hope to hear more specifics this Fall and post them here.

It’s am impressive lineup, so this goes high on the “eagerly awaited” list.

Apparently all the Ignatz winner lists out there have left off the Debut Prize winner, probably because the nominees weren’t part of the original press release. At any rate, the winner was Nate Powell’s SWALLOW ME WHOLE (Top Shelf.)

Congrats to all the very deserving winners.

Ryan Pequin’s THE WALK is a new webcomic at Top Shelf 2.0 that is quite deserving of your time.

Top Shelf has announced the following signings at their booth:

– Alex Robinson (Too Cool To Be Forgotten)
– Andy Hartzell (Fox Bunny Funny)
– Andy Runton (Owly)
– Christian Slade (Korgi)
– Corey Barba (Yam)
– Eddie Campbell (From Hell, Alec)
– James Kochalka (Johnny Boo, American Elf)
– Jeff Lemire (Essex County Trilogy)
– Jeffrey Brown (Incredible Change-Bots, Clumsy)
– Matt Kindt (Super Spy)
– Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele (The Surrogates)
– Tim Sievert (That Salty Air)

Special International Guests:
– Daren White (DeeVee, Australia)
– Gary Spencer Millidge (Strangehaven, England)
– Josh Palmano (Gosh! Comics, England)
– Rutu Modan & Yirmi Pinkus (How To Love, Israel)

And the Top Shelf crew of Brett Warnock, Chris Staros, Kristen Siebecker & Leigh Walton will be there to introduce you to everyone.

Top Shelf told us they will be out in force this weekend with more cartoonists than they’ve ever brought along before. Safety in numbers.

Alex Robinson — Too Cool To Be Forgotten
Jeffrey Brown — Incredible Change-Bots
Matt Kindt — Super Spy
Andy Runton — Owly
Robert Venditti — The Surrogates
Liz Prince — Delayed Replays
Aaron Renier — Spiral-Bound

Technorati Tags: HeroesCon ‘08

Chris Staros tells us who will be at the Top Shelf booth:

Alex Robinson — with the debut of his (amazing) new graphic novel: TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN
Liz Prince — with her new book DELAYED REPLAYS
Andy Runton (Owly)
Robert Venditti (The Surrogates)
Jeff Lemire (Essex County/Tales from the Farm & Ghost Stories)
Matt Kindt (Super Spy)
Aaron Renier — Spiral-Bound

And also JOHNNY BOO (BOOK 1) will debut there, even though James Kochalka can’t be there this year.

Matt Kindt’s Zatanna. YES!

Top Shelf has launched its new webcomics site, dubbed Top Shelf 2.0! . Spearheaded by Brett Warnock and Leigh Walton, it sounds like a lot of fun:

From here on out, every weekday (M-F) we’ll post a new story. It might be a new chapter in your favorite serial, it might be a new short from a previous star, or it might be a totally new artist ready to show off their digital mojo.

Thursday will be Archive Spotlight Day — each week, we’ll pick a great story from Top Shelf’s library of previous webcomics, polish it off, and give it a new chance to shine in front of you guys.

So, check back every weekday for updates! And be sure to click on each artist’s name to find out more about them. Meet some new favorites! You may not dig every single story, but that’s the beauty of Top Shelf 2.0: there’s always something new coming!

Contributors include Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos, Edward J. Grug III, Bart Johnson, Steve Lafler, Lizz Lunney, Jed McGowan, Kagan McLeod, Jessica McLeod, Aaron Navrady, John C. Ralston and Matt Wiegle. Above: Kagan McLeod’s Infinite Kung Fu.

• Continuing the intriguing trend of Euro comics getting developed for the US, NBC announced a mini series based on XIII, which Kevin Melrose tells us, is an 80s Euro-comic by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance:

XIII, originally serialized in 1984 in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou, begins with a man who washes up on the shore of the East Coast with no memory of who he is, and the only clue to his past is “XIII” tatooed on his neck. His search for his identity leads him to confront a plot to overthrow the U.S. government.

The comic has been reprinted in the US by Catalan and most recently the Dabel Bros. Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer will star in the mini-series.

• Ving Rhames, Radha Mitchell, and Rosamund Pike have joined Bruce Willis in the cast of The
Surrogates movie, which is based on the Top Shelf series by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.

• Boom strikes again, as the controversial North Wind has been optioned by producer John Davis . Creator/screenwriter David DiGilio will adapt the tale.

Boom co-founders Cosby and Richie have been experiencing a boom in Hollywood lately. The pair is producing adaptations of their “Tag” and “Talent” comics at Universal with Marc Platt and “The Foundation” at Paramount. Ice Cube’s CubeVision is adapting the Boom graphic novel “10″ for Dimension.

The film will be one of many sci-fi spectacles for Davis Entertainment, which helped bring “I, Robot,” “Alien vs. Predator” and “Eragon” to the screen.

Alex Robinson’s next book is out this July, a graphic novel entitled TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN; it’s the cmedic tale of a sorty-something man who is transported back to his high school days and gets a second chance to ask that girl in math class out.

ESSEX COUNTY’s Jeff Lemire (interviewed this week in PW Comics Week by Laurel Maury) has a new mini comic up at his blog:THE HORSELESS RIDER.: