Comics Reviews: 10/11/2010

Despite Sales Drops, Manga Makes News at New York Comic Con

The merging of New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival has turned the Anime Festival into an underground party. Programming for the NYAF and the NYAF Artists Alley was held on the lower level of the Javits Center and the area was jammed with young fans attending cosplay contests, concerts and other on-stage events.

Fans Wild for New York Comic Con 2010

Roaring back after a 20 month hiatus, the New York Comic Con returned to the Javits Center with a new fall date but no drop in enthusiasm from fans or exhibitors. ReedPop group v-p Lance Fensterman said preliminary attendance figures for this year's show were around 95,000 visitors over the three days--allowing for the fact that not all passes had been counted yet--up 23% from the 77,000 that attended the show in 2009.

Comics Briefly: 10/12/2010

DC Announces Price Rollback to $2.99, Marvel Follows,NYCC 2010 DC Comics, NYCC 2010 Marvel Comics, NYCC 2010 Dark Horse, NYCC 2010 The Return of Richie Rich, This Week @ Good Comics 4 Kids, This Week @ The Beat

ICv2 Confab Reports Print Sales Down; Digital Up

On the eve of New York Comic-Con, pop culture trade news Web site ICv2 released dispiriting numbers on graphic novels for the first half of 2010. While periodical comics are up about 1% for the first half of 2010, graphic novel sales are down by more than 20%. These figures were delivered as part of the first ICv2 Digital and Comics Conference.

Photo Mania: New York Comic Con 2010

PW Comics Week staked out the Jacob Javits Center this weekend to bring back lots of photos of the artists, events, crowds of fans and cool stuff at this year's New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival.

New York Comic Con Returns to Javits Center With Big Crowds

After a switch from spring to fall, the 5th annual New York Comic Con returned to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in combination with a much-reduced New York Anime Festival, taking over the entire building--and they needed it. Although official figures have yet to be released, most veteran observers of the three-day show expect attendance will likely exceed 90,000 fans after drawing 77,000 in 2009

Comics Briefly: 10/05/2010

San Diego Comic-Con Stays in San Diego, Layoffs and Rumors at DC Comics, PW Comics Week at NYCC,'Ulysses Seen' Looks to Raise Funds on Kickstarter, Stephen King Talks to USA Today About Comics, Graphic NYC on the Cuba, My Revolution Exhibit, This week @ Good Comics 4 Kids, This Week @ The Beat

Sunday Press To Bring McCay's 'Little Nemo' to the iPad

Launched in 2005 to produce full-size hardcover reprints of classic broadsheet newspaper comics strips, Sunday Press Books is now going digital. The specialty publishing house plans to offer Windsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland along with a free mini-book preview, Little Nemo In Christmasland, as applications for the iPad in November.

Dan Goldman's Real Estate Nightmare

Cartoonist Dan Goldman made a splash with the political graphic novels Shooting War and '08, but his webcomic Red Light Properties is his real labor of love, the story of a Florida real estate exorcist told with cutting edge web techniques that mix the supernatural with the current real estate crisis.

Disparate Creators Go "Beyond the Panel"

On Wednesday, the Columbia College Chicago Comics Club and the Columbia College Chicago held “Beyond the Panel: Chicago Women in Comics,” which brought together three very different creators. C. Spike Trotman, Jill Thompson and Audrey Niffenegger.

Shanower's Age of Bronze to Become Web Comic, iPad App

Eric Shanower, creator of Age of Bronze, an award-winning series that retells the epic story of the Trojan War, is teaming up with literary web publisher Throwaway Horse, the online venture launched by the creators of Ulysses Seen, a web comic adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses, to relaunch it as a color serialized web comic and application for the iPad.

Panel Mania: The Zabime Sisters

In The Zabime Sisters, three sisters, M'Rose, Elle, and Celina, enjoy the freedom of summer vacation, with boys, fights, and even a little sneaky alcohol. Set in Guadalupe, the setting is dense with the rich brushwork by the creator, Aristophane, in this coming-of-age story. First Second will release The Zabime Sisters in late October.

Comics Reviews: 10/4/10

Random House to Shift Manga Publishing to Kodansha USA Publishing

In the latest round of changes to impact a major U.S. manga publisher, Random House, which has published manga, or Japanese comics, under its Del Rey imprint since 2003, will cease publishing its manga licenses and shift them back to Kodansha USA Publishing, a subsidiary of Kodansha Ltd. Under its new arrangement with Random House, Kodansha USA Publishing will begin publishing Kodansha-originated manga directly into the U.S. market, shifting from a licensing relationship to a sales and distribution arrangement with Random House Publisher Services in December.

Comic-Con Will Stay in San Diego

After a long and much delayed process that featured aggressive campaigns by Los Angeles and Anaheim to attract the show, Comic-con International: San Diego is going to stay at the San Diego Convention Center for the foreseeable future. Organizers of the giant comics and pop culture show have voted to stay in the city where Comic-con was launched in 1970.

Top Cow's Evolution with Hawkins and Sablik

Over the past 20 years, many comics publishers have come and gone, but Top Cow Productions has stuck around. Founded in 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, Top Cow was one of the six original studios that established the publishing collective known as Image Comics. Since then the company has weathered every boom and bust of the comics publishing world with a handful of key properties and creators. PWCW spoke with president Matt Hawkins and publisher Filip Sablik for some insights into where the company has been and where it is going.

Comics Briefly: 9/28/2010

Changes Shake DC Comics, Malaysian Cartoonist Arrested for Comic, Groceries to Help Hero Initiative, Cuba, My Revolution Exhibit, New York Comic Con Coming Soon, Banned Books Week, Last Unicorn Creators Seek Help, This Week @ Good Comics 4 Kids, This Week @ The Beat

Harras Named Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics

Robert Harras, formerly group editor, collected editions at DC Comics, has been named editor-in-chief, v-p, DC Comics, overseeing editorial for the DC Universe, Mad magazine and Vertigo. He will report directly to DC Comics co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan Didio and he will be based in New York City.

Comics Reviews 9/27/10