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Weekend Reading: Gene Day, Wonder Woman and Old Indiana Jones
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Television, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics,
It’s been a great internet this week, so let’s take a look!
Comics & Media: There’s someone out there who believes that The Walking Dead comic books and trade compilations won’t see a boost in sales despite the tremendous success of the new TV series. Dirk Deppey delivers the smackdown and makes me wish I could write like that. (Scroll down a little.)
I only have anecdotal “evidence” about the book’s success from this year’s San Diego Con. I saw The Walking Dead booth doing tremendous business, and by Friday afternoon, they’d sold out of all the Volume 1 compilations they’d brought to the show (which still had more than two days to go).
And speaking of smackdowns, Lynda Carter tells Megan Fox to STFU.
P. Craig Russell: Want to have a sneak peek at his upcoming digital comic, The Gift of the Magi? I know you do.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Gene Day, Wonder Woman and Old Indiana Jones
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Weekend Reading: Halloween, Stan Lee, and The Walking Dead
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, Image Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics,
Happy Halloween to all of you!
My costume this year is simple - I’m going to walk around with my iPad and call myself The Future Of Comics. Which, I admit, is something I do pretty much every day.
First off, congratulations to my pals at Boom! Studios and their sales on Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero #1. And kudos to Boom for sharing their actual numbers.
And if you’d like a 10-page freeview of the November release of Stan Lee’s The Traveler #1 by Mark Waid and Chris Hardin, Scoop has that for you too.
Let’s see what else is out on the internets...
Zombies: Pop culture historian Jim Beard writes about the Walking Dead phenomenon that will soon be sweeping the nation thanks to the new AMC TV series.
Beard, by the way, is the editor of a new anthology that looks back at the Batman TV series of the 1960s, Gotham City: 14 Miles.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Halloween, Stan Lee, and The Walking Dead
Weekend Reading: Sherlock, Gardner Fox, Atlas Comics and Watchmen
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, Television, DC Comics,
It’s all over the internets that the acclaimed business site iCV2 has invoked the “suck” word to describe direct market comic book orders for Q3 2010.
Offering your captive audience books they don’t want and prices they can’t afford no longer seems to be a viable strategy. What lessons will anyone take away from this? Cue another Metamorpho relaunch in 3...2...1...
Let’s see what else is out on the internets...
Gardner Fox: The prolific writer is said to have written more that 4000 comic book stories. He co-created The Sandman, created the concept of Earth-2, wrote Batman, Hawkman, The Flash, Justice Society of America and many, many more. He also had a career as a writer of many so-called “sleaze” paperbacks. Paul Bishop has a nice look at a bunch of them. So many of them in fact, that you might think of the author more as “Gardner Foxy.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Sherlock, Gardner Fox, Atlas Comics and Watchmen
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Weekend Reading: NYCC, Donald Duck and The Incredible Hulk
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Reviews, Television,
I’ve been thinking over the last couple of years that with blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, podcasts, video and live internet feeds that you can probably have a decent out-of-town convention “experience” without leaving your house.
For example, the New York Comic Con is over and Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the best con report: news reports, links, observations and opinions. He didn’t attend, but it’s hard to argue with his analysis.
Incredible: In case you haven’t heard, Marvel is developing a new TV series based on The Incredible Hulk. No doubt a “Get Lou Ferrigno A Role On The Show” Facebook page will be up by the end of the day.
Duck: Jaime Weinman poses a few questions in a post he calls “Disney And The Copyright Police.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: NYCC, Donald Duck and The Incredible Hulk
Weekend Reading: Stephen J. Cannell, Shel Silverstein And The Flintstones
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television,
Sad news in the world of television and novels. Stephen J. Cannell, one of Hollywood’s legendary writers has passed away. The list of shows he worked on and created is legendary. Comic fans might know him best from The Greatest American Hero. He mentored a number of famous writer-producers, much like Roy Huggins had mentored him. When he got tired of television, he reinvented himself as a novelist – the ones I’ve read are quite fun – and actor (he had a somewhat recurring role on Castle). Jaime Weinman has a nice appreciation of one of my favorite writers.
The Flintstones: Now that they’ve turned 50 years old – yikes! – the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon show has attracted a lot of media attention this week. Jerry Beck at Cartoon Brew noticed the coverage…particularly how stupid the Christian Science Monitor was about it.
Appy: It’s not too late to check in with the Appy Entertainment blog and see what I and two friends have to say about the digital age of comics.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Stephen J. Cannell, Shel Silverstein And The Flintstones
Batman: Gotham City 14 Miles
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Television, DC Comics,
Mark Waid says it best in the blurb he wrote for the book I most want this Christmas. Says the man from Boom! Studios: “I now have a new book for my ‘Five I’d Take to a Desert Island’ list. Gotham City 14 Miles is the perfect companion to my favorite pop-culture phenomenon of all time!”
In case you need an explanation, 14 miles is the distance from the Batcave underneath “stately Wayne Manor” to Gotham City in the 1960s Batman TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Gotham City 14 Miles is the title of a forthcoming book of essays about that TV classic, edited by my pal Jim Beard.
Inside, Beard’s bunch offers up a thoughtful reevaluation of the 44-year-old show, one of the first big comic book successes on the small screen. The series had an impact not just on pop culture, but on the DC Comics Batman as well. According to Beard, “essays examine Batmania, camp, the role of women, the show’s participation in ‘60s counter-culture, its many celebrated actors, its lasting cultural effects, and other critical subjects.”
Click to continue reading Batman: Gotham City 14 Miles
Warner Bros. Comics & Stories
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Well, at least Batman will still be published out of New York!
I’m no pundit and I’m certainly no reporter or journalist, and I’m not even a DC insider, although I should point out that before Paul Levitz bought Wildstorm, he tried to buy the company I co-founded, Malibu Comics.
I was saddened, though not surprised that Warner Bros. was splitting DC Entertainment into two divisions and keeping all their old school business in Manhattan. My sympathies go out to all DC employees who are getting let go and to all freelancers who are getting their books cut out from under them. This is not an easy time, and it’s not going to get easier.
I think lost in all the discussion and rundown of DC’s recent shift is that the biggest piece of the puzzle has yet to be explained or admitted to. Warner Bros. which folded DC Comics into a new company called DC Entertainment just a year ago, now took DC Comics out of that company and moved DC Entertainment – along with all of the money-making portions of the company – to the West Coast.
DC Comics, the comic book division, is now its own stand-alone entity. An island of old-school publishing left without its support network. This has been hailed as a victory for the comic book people.
It isn’t. It’s a wake up call.
Click to continue reading Warner Bros. Comics & Stories
MoCCA: Paul Levitz, Stephen DeStefano, Robert Sikoryak
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Is The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art the smartest kid in class? Their fall education programs make me want to hit Hotwire for a cheap flight to NYC and spend a few months with a laptop and some pencils.
My old friend Danny Fingeroth, the Senior VP of Education for MoCCA, gets a tip of my cap for putting together an excellent slate of programs.
Here’s a peek at the list:
Robert Sikoryak and Kriota Willberg are teaching “Anatomy For Cartoonists Workshop” (4 sessions). “This course will teach students how to create real or imaginary characters — in any style — that are consistent and believable.” Bonus: “nude models will be employed.” Nude models should never be unemployed, even in a recession.
Sikoryak is the author of the recently released Masterpiece Comics and his work appears frequently on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Kriota Willberg teaches anatomy for cartoonists and illustrators at The Center For Cartoon Studies.
Click to continue reading MoCCA: Paul Levitz, Stephen DeStefano, Robert Sikoryak
2010 Hugo Awards: Phil Foglio, Doctor Who, Shaun Tan!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television, DC Comics, Independent,
Congratulations to all the Hugo Award winners for 2010 (just announced at this year’s Aussiecon 4 in Melbourne, Australia).
The complete list of winners is at the Hugo site, but let’s pick and choose and look only at what really matters to us: the comics. That’s right, a couple of winners with comic book connections have walked off with their own statue, named after sci-fi pioneer and legendary cheapskate Hugo Gernsback.
In the category of Best Graphic Story the winner was Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm. It’s written by Kaja and Phil Foglio, illustrated by Phil and published by Airship Entertainment. (Volume 8 won last year which should tell you that if you’re not reading GG, you really should.)
Doctor Who, because all comic book fans love the Doctor, picked up the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for “The Waters of Mars,” written by Russell T. Davies & Phil Ford.
The Hugo for Best Professional Artist went to Shaun Tan (and anyone who’s read his books like The Arrival or Tales From Outer Suburbia knows why).
Click to continue reading 2010 Hugo Awards: Phil Foglio, Doctor Who, Shaun Tan!
Comic Book Jobs: Warner Bros
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies, Television, DC Comics,
Are you tired of the hassle of trying to get a room at Comic Con International in San Diego each year? Do you want to be part of the solution and not the problem? Time Warner has your chance as they’re looking for a Director, Publicity & Special Projects in “Worldwide Television Marketing.”
You’ll be reporting to and working “closely with the Senior Vice President, Publicity, as chief consumer strategist for special projects related to, but not limited to, programming from Warner Bros. Television, Warner Horizon Television and Warner Bros. Animation.”
Fortunately, they expand on that. It means “strategizing, creating and executing consumer-facing campaigns, initiatives and events, and collaborating with the comedy, drama, unscripted and photo publicity directors and team to maximize opportunities across all of the Studio’s primetime television properties.” Consumer-facing campaigns, by the way, are those that are marketed to the public, ads and promotions that they actually see, y’know, with their face.
Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Warner Bros
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