The Kindle Comics Christmas

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews,

Did you get a Kindle for Christmas? Want to fill it up with comics? I went to Amazon this afternoon and searched their official comics section - but only the first 700 listings (yes, I have that kind of free time) out of around 3800 or so and found a few things that I’d put on my Kindle.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

Amazon has a ton of Harlequin’s romance manga available. But this one, Mistress, is free so if it’s the kind of thing you like, give it a try.

Icecubes is a webcomic by Lew Brown and this collection, Icecubes The Comic Strip V. 2 is just $1.99.

Tumor Chapter 1 by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon is free and it looks interesting. Tumor is described as “a dark Los Angeles noir” and it’s from the Harvey Award nominated creators who did Elk’s Run.

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Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Graphic Novel Play

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,

With all this talk of comic books being turned into movies (I’m looking at you Scott Pilgrim and Green Lantern and countless others), how about one that’s being turned into…a play? And no I’m not talking about the expensive Spider-Man musical.

I’m talking about Cheapjack Shakespeare, a comedy about a summer Shakespeare company that’s falling apart as they’re “beset by infidelity, egos, ambition and a particularly ill-timed lightning strike.” Shaun McLaughlin, a reknowned comic book writer (Aquaman) and TV producer (Batman Beyond, Static Shock and various incarnations of Justice League), created the online graphic novel that debuted earlier this year. “It’s like Glee with booze and Shakespeare,” McLaughlin says.

Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Non-Musical has finalized its casting, begun rehearsals and set its premiere date for September 9th at the Alt Theatre in Buffalo, NY. Additional performances will be on September 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25.

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Weekend Reading: Star Wars, Star Trek, Scooby Doo and Joe Kubert

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, IDW Publishing,

Welcome to the weekend on the internet. Let’s get it started with Mr. Joe Kubert.

I had the pleasure of working for a company that published one of Mr. Kubert’s books (Abraham Stone) and got to hang out with him a little at Comic Con International one year. Just a great, great guy, as well as a fantastic artist. Marty Pedler at Bookslut has a new interview with him, and if you haven’t read it yet, get over there. Here’s a little snip: “I still feel that if it’s not a children’s medium, it’s at least a young person’s medium—despite the fact that the average person who reads comic books is now, I’m told, probably in their early twenties. Maybe it’s because I’m an old fogey, I don’t know, but I still feel a little strange and awkward when I see stuff that’s so blatantly sexual.”

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Shaun McLaughlin and Cheapjack Shakespeare

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

My buddy Shaun McLaughlin was a producer at Warner Bros. and responsible for some of their best Bruce Timm-related toons like Batman Beyond, Static, and various incarnations of Justice League. It adds up to over 400 episodes of prime animated entertainment, so he knows how to make something with mass market appeal.

He’s moved on to freelancing, pushing several projects through the development wormhole, including both an animated feature (with Omens Studios) and a live-action one. But when you’re in development, you get a lot of down time while you wait for people to make decisions, give notes, and update their social networks.

You could watch a lot of TV or surf the web or blog about your cat, but Shaun’s put his thumb-twiddling time to good use and come up with a nifty little project with his biz partner Gabriel Benson: Cheapjack Shakespeare.

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