My LCS…RIP

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

So... my local comic book store closed down after 25 years in business. It’s the same old story - they can’t make a go of it any more following a boom period in the 1990s.

I found out about it, oddly enough, on Free Comic Book Day this year, and was part of a conversation where the owner was discussing the reasons why his store was closing. One of his comments was that he had seen a decrease in comic book-related traffic in his shop over the years and that he had not seen new, younger readers coming in for comics.

The store had between 50 and 70 regular subscribers in a community comprised of three towns, totalling around 50,000 people. It’s a mostly rural area that’s been hit hard economically over the years - there are almost no aspirational jobs for anyone in their 20s, and the population demos have less than 6% of the population between the ages of 20-25.

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Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Two-Gun Kid, Jack Davis and Monty Python

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Television, Independent, Marvel Comics,

Here are my picks for Oscar night: Nobody named Oscar will actually win anything.

So let’s see what the internets are yapping about:

You can tell that something’s brewing when creators start to go a bit public with payment problems at publishers. Bleeding Cool reported on two this week.

Cartoonist Lew Stringer finds there’s a lot to like about the new one-shot The Clock Strikes, a noirish adventure set in the 1930s that revives an old comic book character.

Longbox Graveyard tackles the news. Sure, it’s news from blogger Paul O’Connor, but it’s all good news.

Novelist and comic book writer Victor Gischler (The Deputy) hopes you’ll pick up his latest: the X-Men: FF hardcover.

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Marvel Comics And Gary Friedrich

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the last several days, you’ve no doubt heard about Marvel Comics' demand against one of their former writers, Gary Friedrich.

Friedrich sued Marvel for compensation related to exploitation of a character he created, Ghost Rider. He lost the first round, and Marvel’s coming after him. Here’s a round-up of just a handful of links and commentary to get you better acquainted.

Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy broke the story about Marvel’s pushback against Friedrich, with a post that includes documentation.

Here’s an update with a note from Friedrich.

Mark Evanier has a sane and rational view of the situation.

One of the greatly appealing things about webcomics is that the creators managed to hold onto their rights and are free to exploit their work according to their own path. Gary Tyrrell at Fleen has some thoughts on Friedrich’s situation.

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Weekend Reading: Maberry, Wes Craven, Tamara Drewe and Dave Dorman

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: DVD, Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Everyone who’s anyone in the indie comics scene is currently at MoCCA Fest 2011 in New York. But me? I’m just linking to stuff.

Write: Comic book retailer and blogger Mike Sterling is part of a group that runs Fake AP Stylebook. They’ve got a book out, Write More Good, and for those of us who love to laugh, it’s a must-have. Back away from the DC and Marvel relaunches and put your money to a better use. Here's a taste from the book: "While it's tempting to call them baristi because of the Italian roots, the plural of barista is journalism majors."

It even got a nice review in The New Yorker. “Write More Good, like the account from which it grew, is a tongue-in-cheek takedown of an industry already on shaky ground.”

Maberry: Marvel Comics writer Jonathan Maberry is also a novelist. SF Signal breaks down his latest Joe Ledger novel and gives it thumbs up. “Great conspiracy thinking with large events; misdirection; interesting, complex criminals who don't like each other; a great dog and destruction of one of Maberry's favorite writing places!”

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Top 10 Rob Granito Excuses (Allegedly)

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

If you've been following the internets all week, you've heard about the alleged fraudster, Rob Granito, who's been passing off the artwork of others as his own and enhancing his credits to brag about work he hasn't done.

Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool broke the story just before Rob showed up at Megacon to sell his alleged "work." When confronted by angry fans and artists, Rob naturally had a few alleged excuses. We've compiled the best ones below:

10. "I'm not swiping. I'm swipering."

9. "I worked at the DC Comics in my head."

8. "I'm no different than those French cartoonists like Manet and Money."

7. "Who's the internet and why is she angry at me?"

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Weekend Reading: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, R2D2 And Ronnie Corbett

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews,

Hey, 2010 is over and 2011 is here! Happy new year and in lieu of alcohol, here are a few links.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, R2D2 And Ronnie Corbett

Weekend Reading: Joe Casey, Thor, Dr. Spektor and Drew Friedman

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics, Dynamic Forces, IDW Publishing, Independent, Marvel Comics,

The War on Christmas is nearly done for another year, and there’s just enough time left for the War on New Year’s. Let's see what you should be reading this week:

Joe: This is simply a great, honest and open interview with Joe Casey, comic book writer/creator and co-creator of Ben 10. Perfect holiday reading from interviewer Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter.

Thor: So there’s some controversy from an all-white group that’s upset that Marvel has cast an actor of color to play a Norse God in Thor. Ricky Sprague at Project Child Murdering Robot has a thought or two.

Polly: Animator Michael Sporn is happy that Dean Mullaney’s new book has arrived (as am I). Polly and Her Pals: the Complete Sunday Comics 1925-1927 comes from Dean’s The Library of American Comics via IDW.

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Wildstorm: Gen 13 #1 @ 299,000 Copies (1995)

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Image Comics, Independent,

Wildstorm – the once-formidable imprint of DC Comics - is officially shutting down this month and that makes me sad.

I have friends who work there (many of whom I'm happy to say are staying on to work for the corporate parent), but I was also present at its fairly official formation.

I was sitting in Marc Silvestri's beachfront apartment in Malibu, attending a meeting of the Image founders while they were putting together what would become Image Comics. I was there as a representative of Malibu Comics along with Malibu Publisher Dave Olbrich and Editor-In-Chief Chris Ulm.

Image was represented by Silvestri, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino, Jim Lee, and Whilce Portacio. Hank Kanalz was also there. He was Rob's co-writer on the soon-to-be published Youngblood #1, and years later eventually became the head of Wildstorm. (I have a photo of Hank videotaping the meeting so there's archival footage lurking somewhere.)

Dave and Rob had known each other for years, and if you corner Dave at a convention, he can tell you the story of how Malibu nearly published a version of Youngblood #1 years before the formation of Image, and before Rob started working for Marvel.

Image had scheduled several meetings at the beach that day and Malibu Comics was the first one. The publisher of Wizard, Gareb Shamus, would later drop by, as would Harold Anderson from Anderson News, the newsstand distributor.

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Weekend Reading: DC Comics And Warner Bros.

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics,

So did you hear the big news? Marvel’s moving to a new office building in Manhattan!

Not to be outdone, Warner Bros. decided to shake things up with a large scale corporate shift. This interview with Diane Nelson from Comic Book Resources actually sheds very little light on the nuts and bolts of it.

And the lack of real answers has caused Tom Spurgeon to raise some questions he’d like to see answered about the situation forward-going.

Naturally, and because I sometimes can’t keep my mouth shut, I have my own take on the matter.

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