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The Situation Makes A Comic Book
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television, Wizard Entertainment,
What’s the biggest comic book coming out this year? Is it Before Watchmen? AvsX? Archer & Armstrong?
Nope, the most exciting news out of comics this year is that The Situation, the gym-tan-laundry rehabbing co-star of Jersey Shore, is putting out his own series, in association with Wizard.
Not many details have been released about the series yet, but our imbedded industry spies have revealed to Comix 411 that a number of new characters will be debuting.
Here then are the Top 10 new characters featured in The Situation’s upcoming comic:
(10) The Macaroni Rascal
(9) Hook-Up
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Top 10 Things Overheard @ C2E2
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Wizard Entertainment,
The comic book convention season is in full swing, and that was never more apparent than this weekend in Chicago for C2E2.
Comic fans, cosplayers, celebrities, editors, artists and writers all gathered in a giant nerdpile of awesomeness.
And whenever all those things get together, a lot of chatter is going to take place. Here then are the Top Ten Things We Overheard at C2E2 2011:
10. "That new Wonder Woman costume is epic!"
9. "That new Wonder Woman costume sucks!"
8. "Wasn't C2E2 R2D2's wife?"
7. "This sure smells like San Diego!"
6. "This is really nice carpeting. What? I'm just sayin'!"
5. "At home I can follow Bendis on Twitter. Here I can actually follow Bendis!"
4. "I just saw Wizard World Chicago crying in the bathroom."
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Comic Book Jobs: All Over The World
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Wizard Entertainment,
Comic books are popular all over the world, and so, it seems, are comic book jobs. Let’s travel:
In Durban City, South Africa, an art team developing an African tribal comic book and they’re looking for “African women to pose for stock photos for it.” The twist? It’s for a Canadian comic book. Go figure.
In Mumbai, India, ACK Media (Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd.) is looking for a Senior Manager Business and Channel Development person. Your main job would be to “develop new channels (e.g., malls, SMS ordering, in flight magazines) for selling our comics, books, DVDs, soft toys and other products.”
If that doesn’t work for you, they’re also looking for: Senior Finance Manager, Senior Manager Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Product Manager, and a Human Resource Manager.
Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: All Over The World
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R.I.P. Wizard Magazine
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Image Comics, Wizard Entertainment,
Okay, who had Comics Buyer’s Guide in the Last Comics News Magazine Standing pool?
CBG is now the longest-running continuously published comic book magazine and they’ve survived all comers. Overstreet’s Fan, Hero Illustrated, The Comic Reader, The Mirkwood Times, The Comics Journal, and now Wizard.
In case you haven’t heard the news, Wizard Magazine officially shut down last week, sending its staff packing.
Wizard was lucky - they caught the wave of the 1990s comic book bubble and the launch of Valiant and Image and then helped increase that bubble (Gareb was at the first official meeting of the Image Comics founders at Marc Silvestri’s Malibu beach house way back in the early 1990s).
Once the gravy train of million-selling comics derailed, and the internet took away the need for a news magazine, Wizard’s been struggling to remain a viable publication. Watching them flail around for the past decade has not been pretty. I knew a couple of good people who worked for the magazine in those early years and they've long since gone onto other things.
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Here’s A Quick Guide To Start Reading Comics
Posted by Kris Madden Categories: Collecting, Editorials, Reviews, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, Wizard Entertainment,
1. Pickup A Graphic Novel
It can be hard to pick up a comic book for the first time. Many times you’re reading about a character who has a history spanning the last fifty years, which can cause difficulty in understanding the plot line and character’s motivations.
Graphic Novels are usually self-contained, meaning that in order to follow the plot and storyline, there is no prior comic book history knowledge required. All the characters, special powers, jargon, etc is all within the pages you hold in your hands.
If you like superhero stories with an edge, a great starting place is Watchmen. It was recently made into a film, so you can even get a headstart on your friends by reading the book, and surprise them with your clairvoyance.
Maybe you’re not a fan of super-heroes and want something more indie-flavored. Blankets is beautiful book about teen angst and a long distance relationship in the early 90’s grunge era. With quotes from songs by The Cure, it’s a can’t-miss.
And if you’d like something in between with superhero-like characters, an indie-edge, and a beautiful noir storyline; I’d suggest any of Frank Miller’s Sin City books. While you may have seen the movie, which is a spectacular translation of the work to film, the comics will introduce you to the format and structure of graphic novels.
Whenever someone tells me they think that comics are for kids, I usually give them a graphic novel to read. Though comics began with kids in mind, it has since changed drastically to include all age groups. While these are my favorites to give to friends and family, feel free to pick out whatever you find interesting.
Click to continue reading Here’s A Quick Guide To Start Reading Comics
Everybody has their pet peeves where comics are concerned. One of my biggest is misleading covers. Many times they are deceitful or worse - they give away the big surprise at the end. Let’s take this month’s “Wizard” magazine. Featured is a great cover on the new JLA. In fact, my fellow blogmate, David Torres has posted an article about it. Unfortunately, the entire Wizard article is about James Robinson’s favorite JLA titles and not the new JLA. Interesting in itself, but not why I picked up the issue. I wanted to learn about the new JLA and that’s what I expected the article to tell me. Sure, expert bloggers such as David know all the websites to get scoops and spoilers (such as this very blog, Comix 411), but people spend good money on “Wizard” and shouldn’t they deliver what they promise? Granted, last month, when they put Scarlett Johansson on the cover, most of my customers were more interested in her than her movie, “The Spirit”. But I am running a comic store and not a newsstand. When my customers ask me about an article in a magazine I, in good faith, have to tell them the truth. There was no article on the new JLA.
Another peeve is covers that give away the big surprise on the last page. The Death of Captain America is only the most recent example. I really want to be surprised if, in fact, there is a surprise to be had. Villains who spend the whole issue clouded in darkness show up on the cover. Unluckily, I have suffered a brain freeze and can’t think of any specific examples. But I bet you can, so leave some comments on some examples of comic book covers that either spoiled an ending for you or didn’t come through with the content on the inside of the publication.
Interesting Villians Help Make Interesting Heroes
Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics, Wizard Entertainment,
I just noticed in the latest issue of Wizard magazine that War Machine will be getting his own on-going series. It will be written by Greg Pak who has done some amazing things on the Hulk recently. Cool. I wonder how long this series will last.
I say this because if you are a long-time comic book fan as I am, you know that when a supporting character gets their own on-going series, very rarely do these books last more than a year or two. Some break the trend and do last awhile, but many last twelve issues or so and then get canceled. Some characters don’t even deserve their own series and get canceled because nobody cares. Marvel Comics’ Quicksilver had his own series in the ‘90s. Why ask you?!? Why?!?
I think a major reason why supporting characters don’t last in their own series is because the powers that be (writers/editor-in-chief/editors) don’t take the time to really develop interesting antagonists for these characters.
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