Comics Reviews 4/6/2010

Comics Briefly

MoCCA, Kids Comic Con Open This Weekend; Confirmed: Neal Adams Returns to DC and Batman; Publishers Weekly Purchased; Kate Beaton, Erika Moen on Penny Arcade; PWCW's Heidi MacDonald Talks iPad; Marvel's iPad App Debuts; This Week @ Good Comics For Kids; and This Week @ The Beat

Panel Mania: Market Day

Set in eastern Europe early in the Industrial Revolution, Market Day by James Sturm follows Medleman, an expectant father and rug maker. As the shops that bought his well-crafted, hand made products turn to cheaply manufactured alternatives, Mendleson finds he can no longer make a living. Market Day is published by Drawn & Quarterly and will be released in the spring of 2010.

WonderCon Takes Center Stage

Even as questions swirled endlessly about the future of the
Comic-Con International: San Diego, the show's northern California
cousin, WonderCon, proved that
the combination of cartoonists, comics, and the toys, movies, video
games and
costumes based on them, makes for an irresistible combination for local
pop
culture fans.

Matt Thorn Talks About Publishing Manga

The director of Fantagraphics' new manga line, Matt Thorn, talks about his relationship with shojo manga pioneer, Moto Hagio, and the importance of high-quality translations to a new generation of American manga readers.

Bill Ayers: Radical Education Theory Gets Graphic

A teacher, writer and crusader for social justice, Bill Ayers is also an advocate for progressive ideas in the field of education. He's also a comics fan and he's taken his 1993 book, To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher, and transformed it into a graphic novel focused on the nature of teaching.

Novel to Graphic Novel: Turning Popular Prose into Comics

Over the past few years, as serious comics publishing takes root at traditional book publishers and as comics houses diversify their lists to attract a general readership, publishers are seeking out and working closely with popular prose novelists to turn their bestselling novels and prose stories into a wide range of derivative comics works.

ComicsPRO Brings Retailers and Publishers Together

Surviving the recession and the rise of digital distribution were the hot topics as ComicsPRO, the advocacy group for comics shops, held its fourth annual meeting March 25-27 in Memphis, TN. Comics retailers from around the continent gathered to meet with publishers and kick around industry issues.

Comics Briefly

Panel Mania: Weathercraft

Set in the world of Jim Woodring's long running Frank series, Weathercraft
follows Manhog, a brutish everyman, as he searchs for enlightenment.
There are also appearances by Frank and other characters from the Frank stories. Weathercraft is Woodring's first full-length graphic novel and, like the Frank stories, is wordless. Published by Fantagraphics, Weathercraft will be released in May.

Last Gasp Marks 40 Years of Comics and Lowbrow Art

This year, independent publisher Last Gasp will celebrate 40 years of art and comics. The San Francicsco based publisher and distributor has produced comics and contemporary art books by R.Crumb, Todd Schorr, Robert Williams, and Japanese alternative/psychedelic mangaka Junko Mizuno.

U.K. Comics Mag 2000AD Crosses the Pond

With a stable of creators that has included such superstars as Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, and such popular series as Judge Dredd, the British comics magazine 2000AD is known to American readers, but mainly at a distance. That is about to change: Rebellion Publishing, 2000AD's publisher, will begin publishing U.S. editions of new and classic series in June.

Comic Book Reviews: 3/29/2010

Steerforth Goes Graphic

Independent publishing house Steerforth Press, in New Hampshire, plans an aggressive entry into the graphic novel market this summer when it launches Campfire, a new graphic novel imprint that will release 70 graphic novel titles between July of this year and the end of 2011.

New Books, New Deals at Archaia

Archaia Entertainment, in L.A., has come a long way in a short time. Originally launched in 2002 to self-publish founder/artist Mark Smylie's graphic novel/role playing game, Artesia, Archaia has used a mix of original hardcover and periodical comics, foreign licensing, and media co-development deals to grow from an ambitious artist's dream to become a significant entertainment media presence.

Action Fans are Winners with The Losers

Take all of the extraordinary things that make comic books so popular, ball them together and stuff them through a reality check. What you'd be left with is a book that read more like an action script than a super hero comic. What you'd be left with is The Losers - yet another comics-to-movies success story.

Comics Briefly

Footnotes In Gaza Wins Ridenhour Book Prize; Dash Shaw; NeoIntegrity at MoCCA; Manga Creators Protest Tokyo Obscenity Bill; New Batman from Neal Adams?; Hotwire and R. Sikoryak's Carousel; Gaiman's Neverwhere Comes to Stage; This Week @ Good Comics For Kids; and This Week @ The Beat

The Return of Alison Dare

Alison Dare is back! A series of funny, kid-friendly tales of a feisty little girl who is the daughter of an archaeologist and a superhero, the Alison Dare comics first came out in 2000 from Oni Press and were very well received, even garnering a nomination for an Eisner Award.

Found in Translation: Tsukasa Hojo's Cat's Eye and Toshiaki Iwashiro's Psyren

There's a category of untranslated manga that I think of as the ‘inexcusables.' These are manga that, by all measures, could have been tremendously successful franchises had they been localized, yet mysteriously, never were.

New Books, New Deals at Archaia Entertainment

Originally launched in 2002 to self-publish founder/artist Mark Smylie's graphic novel/role playing game, Artesia, Archaia Entertainment has used a mix of original hardcover and periodical comics, foreign licensing and media co-development deals to grow from an ambitious artist's dream to become a significant entertainment media presence.