Quote Of The Day: Joe Staton

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

“Today would be the birthday of Bob Kane, who seems to have had something to do with the creation of Batman. We have a sequence coming up in the (Dick) Tracy strip which features the henchmen Kane, Sprang and Robinson. So Happy Birthday to all involved, not forgetting Bill Finger. I based the sketch of Kane on a photo in the Jerry Robinson book... pointy little chin, bulbous eyes, long nose, weird grin with sharp teeth. I wonder, has it ever occurred to people who know about such things that the Joker was actually based on Bob Kane?”

- Joe Staton, artist on the Dick Tracy comic strip, posted on his Facebook page

Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!

[Artwork: Dick Tracy @ King Features]

Weekend Reading: Avengers, Starlin, Finger and Bagge

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

Next week, we'll all be talking about Men In Black III, but this week was still a lot of chatter about Joss Whedon's The Avengers. Let's hit that:

Avengers creators assemble! Here’s a short but excellent interview with Jim Starlin, courtesy of Hero Complex and Geoff Boucher. It’s super-spoilery so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t click!

And speaking of Avengers, here’s writer Lance Mannion’s review, titled “The Romance Of Tony Stark.”

Tim at Balloon Juice views The Avengers: “It’s a Whedon movie, and quite a good one. Every other line of dialogue could end up on a t-shirt, characters come across as layered and real, conflicts involve profound philosophical differences where it is only sometimes clear who has the ‘right’ side of it, and one or more title character will have a very near-death experience.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Avengers, Starlin, Finger and Bagge

Weekend Reading: Kirby, Dick Tracy, Godzilla & Jimmy Olsen

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,

Everyone but me is at WonderCon this weekend. And I know this because of all the Facebook updates and Tweets that keep showing up in my inbox.

For those of us not walking the con floor and buying comics and debating the future of comics, let’s see if there’s something we can read:

Superman: Nikki Finke prints the letter that the late Joanne Siegel sent to Warner Bros. regarding the Siegel estate’s ongoing legal battle over Superman.

For those in need of some history about the current incarnation of the Warner empire, it begins with Kinney Parking Company which “was a New Jersey parking lot company owned by Manny Kimmel, Sigmund Dornbusch and mob figure Abner Zwillman. Prior to its public listing in 1960, it merged with a funeral home company, Riverside, and then expanded into car-rentals, office cleaning firms and construction companies."

Kinney National Services, Inc. “which was formed in 1966 when the Kinney Parking Company and the National Cleaning Company merged. The new company was headed by Steve Ross."

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kirby, Dick Tracy, Godzilla & Jimmy Olsen

Weekend Reading: Borders, Bruce Jones, Dick Tracy And Alan Moore

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,

Can you believe another weekend is already here? I can't, so I'd better post a few links and then hit the liquor store!

Let's see what's out there on the interwebs for those of us not already enjoying C2E2:

Borders: The bookstore chain just didn’t drop into bankruptcy overnight. Here’s a list of a half-dozen balls they dropped that you’d think they wouldn’t have.
[Link: Making Light]

Bruce: Comic book writer (remember his run on Hulk?) and novelist Bruce Jones ponders the future of fiction.

Return: John Zipperer at Weimar World Service reports that editorial cartoonist Lyle Lahey is back from his sabbatical, and in top form as he makes fun of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Dick: For those of you who don’t already know, there’s a new creative team on the venerable comic strip, Dick Tracy. It’s writer Mike Curtis and artist Joe Staton, and the whole thing is 3 daily panels of awesome. Hogan’s Alley interviews Staton about his new job.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Borders, Bruce Jones, Dick Tracy And Alan Moore

Weekend Reading: Atlas, Dick Tracy and Cowboys & Aliens

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, TokyoPop,

It’s the weekend and I have just one word for you: Winning!

Now let’s see what you’ve won:

Tie-In: I missed this: Apparently Scott Rosenberg’s Cowboys & Aliens has been reissued by It Books, a division of HarperCollins.

Plainclothes: If you’re a fan of Dick Tracy or Joe Staton, you might already know that there’s going to be a change in your newspaper on March 14. Mike Curtis and Staton will be the new team on Dick Tracy, and here’s a little profile of them, courtesy of their syndicate.

Atlas: If you remember the old Atlas/Seaboard comics of the 1970s or just love a good comic book retrospective, mark your digital calendar for March 11. Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is hosting “Atlas At Last,” which also ties in with the relaunch of the company’s characters from Ardden. Check it out!

Wulf: And speaking of the Atlas relaunch, here’s a review of one of the titles I’ve been waiting for: Wulf The Barbarian, written by Steve Niles.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Atlas, Dick Tracy and Cowboys & Aliens

Dick Tracy, Joe Staton & Mike Curtis

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, IDW Publishing,

File this under “I didn’t see that coming.” That’s why I don’t predict the future. It’s just too hard.

Tribune Media Services announced this week that it was reinvigorating their Dick Tracy franchise by changing up the creative team on the classic comic strip. With the retirement of long-time artist/writer Dick Locher, Tribune is turning the strip over to writer Mike Curtis and artist Joe Staton.

Tribune had the chance to send Tracy out in a blaze of glory like other strips have done recently - Little Orphan Annie and Brenda Starr. So either Dick Tracy’s numbers are a little better (and a Tracy-like villain named Eek A. Nomics was sent packing) or the strip has a stronger licensing program or someone sees an opportunity to rebuild the strip.

Click to continue reading Dick Tracy, Joe Staton & Mike Curtis

Weekend Reading: Scott Pilgrim, Captain Action, Dick Tracy and Mel Gibson

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies,

Comic Con International is literally just around the corner and no one’s got time for long-winded intros. Let’s get right to it:

Scott Pilgrim: Adam Sternbergh writes about Michael Cera, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and ties it all in to his fancrush on Alpha Flight. Yes, you read that right. It all takes place in The Walrus, the Canadian magazine of, oh yeah, you read that right, too. Canada has a magazine.

Captain Action: He’s not a “doll,” he’s an “action figure,” and he’s back in action courtesy of Beau Smith and Eduardo Baretto in the upcoming Captain Action Winter Special from Moonstone. Beau talks about the issue with First Comics News.

Dick Tracy: The plainclothes detective’s self-titled comic strip may soon go the way of Little Orphan Annie, but at least there’s a website devoted to his work. And it’s packed with goodies for Tracy fans to enjoy, including some never-before-published material by Max Allan Collins and Joe Staton. Click fast because the site is referred to as a “limited time tribute website.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Scott Pilgrim, Captain Action, Dick Tracy and Mel Gibson

Weekend Reading: Atlas/Seaboard, Gene Deitch and Jonny Quest

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

Lots of great stuff all over the internet this week, including a nice piece on Martin Goodman’s Atlas/Seaboard comics of the mid-1970s, a lost cartoon by Gene Deitch and a little piece of Jonny Quest/James Bond trivia. Let’s click:

Atlas/Seaboard: If you remember Howard Chaykin’s The Scorpion, Larry Hama’s Wulf The Barbarian or Steve Ditko’s Tarantula, then you’re old. And that means you remember the Atlas/Seaboard comics that Martin Goodman published after Cadence bought him out from Marvel back in the 1970s. What you may not know is that their comics were also published in Australia. Oh Danny Boy has a detailed and well-illustrated account of their adventure down under.

Gene Deitch: Over at Cartoon Brew, Jerry Beck posts a note from acclaimed animation director Gene Deitch about his first (and lost) animated cartoon. It starred Howdy Doody, and the cartoon so enraged Buffalo Bob Smith that he had it destroyed.

John Kricfalusi: Over at John K Stuff, the animator has a hilarious post about amateur artwork and some ideas about how not-yet-professionals can still find outlets for their art.

Tom Richmond: The great MAD Magazine artist and caricaturist recently remodeled his studio and put up before and after pictures. We should all work in such a great environment. Warning: safe-for-work shelf porn ahead.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Atlas/Seaboard, Gene Deitch and Jonny Quest

Weekend Reading: Webcomics, Fritz The Cat, E-Man and Batman!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Back again with more cool stuff from around the internet. Whether your tastes run to Ralph Bakshi’s version of Robert Crumb’s Fritz The Cat, webcomics, E-Man or inappropriately sexual licensed Batman products, the internet proved a bounty of great stuff this week. Let’s take a look.

Webcomics: I love webcomics - and some day we’ll all just call them comics, right? - and I love the sites that cover them. Which means I love Floating Light Bulb. In addition to coverage of webcomics, there are lots of great insights into using them as a business, plus stuff on Google, Twitter, and more. Also, this person is smarter than me. A highly recommended site to bookmark.

Here’s a taste from a recent post. This past week featured an interview with Kez who does the webcomic War of Winds. The interview’s focus is all about webcomic creators attending conventions, hand-selling, meeting fans and making fans. It’s about the “creator as small businessperson” model. Kez also breaks down how much money can be made via her website v. conventions. “I completed one short 54-page comic as a printed side-story, which has sold well. While I didn’t start out with that story from a business stand-point, I ended that way. Out of the 50 copies I had printed, I have sold 42, gave away 2, have 3 left to sell, and 3 that were mis-printed. I bought each for about 7 dollars, sold them for $10 each, and made a profit of over $100. I will be printing more books shortly, as books sell the best at conventions.” It’s great to see someone talking hard numbers like this, instead of theory. Much, much more at the link.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Webcomics, Fritz The Cat, E-Man and Batman!