Comic News: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Still Draining Your Balls At Dragon*Con

Well that was some fun speculation back in May. DC Comics have announced at Fan Expo Canada that next year Geoff Johns and David Finch will launch a new Justice League Of America comic, made up of Green Arrow, Katana, Martian Manhunter, Baz the Green Lantern, Stargirl, Vibe, Hawkman and Catwoman. The team is likely'

Between The Pages ' Leonardi And Bollers On Watson And Holmes

Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed by Basil Rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr, Hugh Laurie and now Jonny Lee Miller on Elementary from CBS. But host Grace Randolph talks to New Paradigm Studios about their twist on the character in Watson and Holmes, a new comic book that makes Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson african-american. In this trailer for the comic, writer Karl Bollers and artist Rick Leonardi talk about how it changes the character, and hopefully how black characters are portrayed in comics! What actor is this version of John Watson modeled after? Where is this Baker Street? Find out here as we meet this new version of Sherlock Holmes. And do you think this new version can compare with Basil Rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr, Hugh Laurie and Jonny Lee Miller? Think About The Ink is presented by Bleeding Cool.

And buy 'Watson & Holmes' right now!

Scott Murphy Interview: The Fate of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars is Decided

As with every time I've ever traveled to San Diego Comic-Con, so much happens before, during, and after that it's sometimes very difficult to address everything I'd intended. Such was the case with my interview with Scott Murphy, co-writer (alongside Zak Penn) of the Hero Worship series from Avatar Press. Happily, since these batch of interview responses pertain to his work on such shows as Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Angel, the interview is just as relevant today as it was when I conducted it last month! (Whew!)

Among his many accomplishments writing professionally for the film and television industries, Murphy was instrumental in bringing George Lucas's vision to CG life during the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And while he certainly wouldn't reveal Lucasfilm secrets (for fear of being hunted down by bounty hunters across the galaxy) in our interview, he did provide some very interesting perspectives on the Clone Wars era, the development of the television program, and how Lucasfilm will handle the eventual absence of Anakin Skywalker's padawan Ahsoka Tano from the overall Star Wars mythology.

So without further ado, here's Scott Murphy'

'on joining the Star Wars: The Clone Wars writing staff:

'on his prior film and television writing:

'on his experiences working alongside Joss Whedon on Angel:

'on the Angel episode, 'Carpe Noctem':

'on the storytelling process of Star Wars, and the involvement of George Lucas:

'on depictions of the series' protagonists and secondary characters:

'on the fate of Ahsoka Tano, the Skywalker padawan whose absence in Revenge of the Sith (following her Clone Wars experiences) is a big mystery to Star Wars fans:

'on the most challenging characters to write for The Clone Wars:

'on his contributions to the overall Star Wars mythology:

'on how merchandising plays a role in the storytelling:

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Justice League/Transformers Comic That Never Was

Red Dwarf X Plot Details And Airdate Revealed

It's official: Red Dwarf X will screen on Dave, on Thursday nights at 9pm, from October 4th. The press release also contains some details of the plot lines we can expect. I've chopped it up and spread it across the episode titles as we had them.

Trojan

The brand new series, written and directed by Doug Naylor, begins with the Dwarfer's mining ship still creaking though the wastelands of unchartered deep space, but the posse soon stumble upon the mysteriously abandoned SS Trojan. As they inspect the ship Rimmer receives an SOS distress call from an old foe and is suddenly faced with the dilemma of his life.

Fathers and Suns

Lister grapples with the problem of being his own father.

Lemons

The posse find themselves marooned in 23 AD where they rescue a famous historical figure with a beard.

Entangled

Kryten and Cat become quantum entangled forcing them to do everything in unison.

Dear Dave

Dave gets involved in a love triangle with snack dispensers 23 and 34.

The Beginning

The series' final episode finds the boys surrounded by a Simulant War Cruiser and its fleet of attack ships. Armed with only two forks and a pencil sharpener, the Dwarfers begin to wonder whether this is the beginning of the end. Only one man can save them.

Unfortunately that man is Arnold J Rimmer.

I put the 'dispenser love triangle' details under Dear Dave because, well, it doesn't not go, the title kind of makes sense, and there was nothing else for that episode. I suppose it might be a mismatch.

Some sources have a few other details of Trojan, though you may consider them spoilers. Let's take a look at TV Wise's version as they put it quite succinctly:

Things soon pick up when Rimmer receives an SOS distress call from the Trojan, a doomed Space Corp ship trapped in a death dive with impact and destruction barely 15 hours away. Rimmer's thrill at finding another ship soon gives way to horror as he discovers the Trojan is commanded by his all-conquering, younger brother, Howard. Rimmer is caught between an asteroid and a hard place. Meanwhile, at the same time, Kryten decides to install a new ship computer, the beautiful, but lethally logical, Pree.

This will be Howard's first appearance as an adult. I would expect that he'll be played by Chris Barrie as was another Rimmer brother, Frank.

More Red Dwarf X tomorrow as Dave unveil the next of their promo pieces.

X-O Manowar #5 Hits 24,000 Orders So Far

X-O Manowar launched in the marketplace in a rather strong way for a license that many had thought was on the back burner, with a creative team that the kindest would not calle A-List from an independent publisher in the back of the back of the catalogue. With a market-busting 40,000 copies.

Some thought that the sales figures would rapidly drop, just over the four figures, if that. But it seems, that hasn't happened. And issue 5 pre-orders are currently at 24,000. Which, for any book in its position, are simply rather good.

It also has the return of Ninjak, 25 pages of story and a preview of Shadowman which might help (and push it over the 30 pages for $3.99 price point)

In a marketplace stil full of launches, cancellations and publisher collapses, I thought it was worth celebrating a success story half a year in.

Well done folks.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Fourteen Thoughts About Fourteen Comics ' Locke & Key, FF, Minutemen, Crossed, Gambit, Ferals, Mudman, Phantom Lady And Doll Man, Wolverine & The X-Men, The New Deadwardians, Ultimate X-Men, AVX Versus, JIM, Morning Glories

The new Locke & Key comic is an interesting creation. Much of the plot twists are based on familiarity with the series, and if you know the comics well, you'll see them coming a mile of. But for newcomers, too much is not explained and you may be left unsatisfied. But fir all that, it's a very entertaining comic and a clear nod to the EC horror tales of old, from the lettering on'

Watchmen: Minutemen also plays with the lettering to give a direct contrast between the contrast of comic book reality of the period to the actual reality. It's a beautiful use of the medium, and cleverly played across a number of panels, but it feels like an overworn argument, one that has been played out to the extent that it seems obvious. It does however lead to a wonderful denouement with Silhouette, with other panels through the book seemingly portraying something erotic, all drenched in pink, but then revealing itself to be far more. Some of the more experimental storytelling in comics today even if, occasionally, it falters.

And that, FF style, is how you do beginning-issue exposition. Before we dive headfirst into a stellar story of grand politics, in conflict with love. If you're liking Saga this may be worth picking up'

Crossed Badlands gives us Bikers vs Crossed-style Circus folk. It's like this idea has always been here, inside the uncarved block, waiting to be uncovered. Two over the top communities, finding a reason to destroy each other. And in the middle of it, the least likely 'hero', reversing stereotypes over who your leading man would be, and what it takes to survive such horror. A fascinating arc, that through all the gore and horror, is trying to point out something even more uncomfortable about people than this comic usually delves into.

Gambit is becoming a bit of a semi-book. It does lots of things, car chase, romantic tension, rooftop fight scenes, breaking and entering, semi-well. They're okay, but hardly at the top of their league. It may be the art, mediocre-nineties style with heavy colouring as if to cover it up and provide some pizazz, but it's making a lot of the set pieces here fall flat. And a couple of good lines in a script didn't justify the mediocreness of the rest of it. It's okay, you know, it's just not really all that. Supercrooks and SCAM doe sthis better.

Ferals takes the male/female law enforcement double act, has them splitting up according to stereotype and then wrenches those stereotypes forward, the macho bullshit extended to ludicrous, visceral, violent degrees, while the gossipy women take suspected infidelity and turn it into vicious street level assault. One has less blood, but both are equally impactful.

Mudman is absolutely the best comic that no one is buying, with Paul Grist showing an absolute mastery of the comic page layout to rival JH Williams III, Frank Quitely, Sergio Toppi and Simone Bianchi. That he has a rougher, more cartoony, blockier style counts against him in certain eyes, but I find that grounds the comic book pages far more than the other names I mentioned, making the characters relatable, flawed and closer to the reader. It also helps that Grist has a Whedonesque grasp of dialogue, a Moffatlike sense of structure and an Erik Larsen approach to creating new, different, amazing characters. Buy this comic, people.

Phantom Girl And Doll Man is less vital. One of those comics where the origin story is an age a way, so they feel a need to show the superhero in action and then flashback to her life. For an issue, it feels short, unsatisfying and, frankly dull. Which is never good for a superhero comic book. It may suit a longer format, but then it should have been published like that'

Wolverine And The X-Men focuses on exactly what this does best. It keeps everyone at the school and goes from classmate to teacher to classmate working through their lives, their issues, their problems, their fights, their loves and their hates. It fits in huge amounts of teen angst, teen confidence, and the hapless feel of an adult who realises that they are not that different to their charges. There is so much here, and so well told in the wake of the Avengers Vs X-Men fight happening elsewhere that once again, it highlights how silly that comic book is, and how much better this one is. The characters complain that they are not a part of the bigger picture, I'm grateful that they aren't. Someone should really notice. Oh and Husk and Toad? It is on!

The New Deadwardians continues to inspire, and plays with the reader, encouraging them to forget what makes this world special, and then reminding you in a creepy, surprising fashion. This issue tackles head on, not just the effect of zombification and vampirism solidifying existing class structure, but also what that might mean to human concept of death and murder, and the new kinds of crimes that are suddenly possible, while doing so in a very classy, reserved and underplayed fashion. So, yes, that's pretty much why it's become my favourite Vertigo comic. Is it you?

While Ultimates shows the people trying to change the world, fix the world, or at least shore up their own patch of it, Ultimate X-Men shows people living in that world, and moving from place to place, the micro versus the macro. A very different book to the one that I used to read and then, well stopped. It's a longer, more drawn out Days Of Future Past. It's closer in tone to Warren Ellis' Doom 2099. It's basically turned from a comic book that I didn't really enjoy to the kind of comic I would have enjoyed back then. And probably still do a bit.

AVX Versus gives you a little look at superhero domestic violence. And for a comic book intended to be all about the fight scenes without the plot, delivers a far more emotionally resonant ending to the marriage of Storm and Black Panther than the main series actually managed to.

Well, in Journey Into Mystery, not only do we have a Loki that sounds like Loki, as mighty supernatural forces go to war, we also have Volstagg getting down and dirty with an iPad. It's this strange dissonance that was missing in the first chapter of the story but is very present here. As everything that Loki has accomplished is questioned and found lacking. Oh, you think you were cried out before, It seems that there are far more tears to come.

Morning Glories #21 goes through the motions of those early days at the school, and the repetitive discoveries of certain pupils, and plays with it, taking scenes we'd seen with some cast members, and sees how they play out with different students. And how they lead to a certain scene in the forest, that you've been waiting to see resolved for some time. And no, it doesn;t go the way you are expecting, and you'll find out why. Also, you know, 36 colour pages of story for $2.99.

More comics should learn from that one.

Comics courtesy of Orbital Comics, London.

You're !@#$'n Dead! Grindhouse Film Enlists Dawn's Joe Linsner and' Dr. Doom?

'If you push someone over the edge, make sure they can't crawl back up.'

There's an awesome new grindhouse flick coming. You're !@#$'n Dead! is a bloody, no-holds-barred revenge flick' or at least, it will be. So far, this independent feature film has put together some pretty impressive preview materials, and is looking to fan support via Kickstarter to help the production really kick into high gear. Their Kickstarter campaign will run through September 12, 2012.

The premise:

When Lexi's younger sister makes a surprise visit to town, both girls accidentally stumble on to their town's dirty secret and become the targets of a group of criminals looking to tie up loose ends. When Lexi's sister is taken by the criminals, Lexi has one night to hunt down the men responsible and get her sister back alive.

Here are two trailers, the first capturing a modern aesthetic and the second dripping with retro goodness'

Seek Pictures and Golden Tiger Productions recently announced that Dawn's Joseph Michael Linsner is lending his support, creating exclusive artwork as a limited poster print that will contribute to the film's fundraising campaign. There's another interesting tangential comic book-related tidbit which I'll get to down below, but first, I want to present the chat I had with Jay Spence, writer and director of You're !@#$'n Dead!

You're !@#$'n Dead! will be your first feature film. Why did you choose to tell a grindhouse horror/revenge flick as your first film?

I chose this script for two reasons. From the start, I planned for this film to be funded by the fans, and I felt the tone and subject matter of the film would appeal to the online community. These types of films are meant as pure entertainment and I wanted to release a film that people would be excited to support, as well as to watch. Secondly, these films can be a lot of fun for the cast and crew to make, which is a great vibe for any director to have on set. There's so much diversity of elements in this type of film. There's a lot of action, with a dose of drama and comedy rolled in, so our cast and crew gets to experience a range that keeps things interesting for everyone involved.

How did the specific concept for You're !@#$'n Dead! come about?

About two years ago, I decided I wanted to write a wild and gory revenge film. I'm fond of these earlier grindhouse films, mostly because of their attitude toward film-making. Many of the early films were made with next-to-no budget, with outrageous ideas that they were willing to take risks on, and I appreciate that freedom. These films often tell a simple and direct story but they still have the ability to keep audiences engaged simply because of the raw human element being revealed, and I think that element is what makes these movie relevant.

I sat down to plot the story and began the delicate balancing act of avoiding certain clichés while simultaneously embracing those common elements that are true to the genre. I avoided the common 'rape scenario' as a catalyst for the story and decided I wanted to focus more on the character's other emotions rather then focusing only on anger. A lot of these types of films start with the main character being personally attacked as a reason for their revenge, but I felt that a more interesting approach to the story would be to introduce a sister character who means more to our main character then her own life. One of the major themes of the film is the idea of struggle, both physically and emotionally, and that idea is what drove me during the writing process because it was easy for me to relate the same idea to getting the movie made.

What can you tell us about actress Ali Lukowski, and what she has brought to the character of Lexi in her initial trailer appearance, and what you expect what she'll bring to the feature?

Ali was initially introduced to me by my producer, Corey Williams. She's a talented and dedicated actress who's received quite a bit of recognition in the Baltimore film scene over the past few years. Early on, my goal was to cast our female lead right away so the actress could serve as the 'face' of our film and become a driving force in promoting our ambitious project. The entertainment market seems to revolve around the visual sense and I felt it was better to give our future fans a visual cue of the film as soon as possible rather then depend on long-winded explanations of what the film will eventually look like.

I was looking for an actress who could understand what we were trying to do with the character beyond the exterior appearance. Lexi, the character, is an angry girl for a variety of reasons besides the major events that insight her spree of violence. It was important to have an actress like Ali to be able to portray that same deep 'fire' Lexi has inside her, even during moments where she wasn't fighting someone. From day one, Ali understood what was going on inside Lexi's head and she immediately channeled the character for our teaser trailer without saying any dialogue at all.

Can you summarize your Kickstarter program and the benefits of pledging?

Kickstarter.com is a crowd-funding sight built on the idea that creators can reach out to like-minded individuals and encourage these people to contribute to their creative project in exchange for being directly involved in the process. Like others on the site, I've set a goal for the amount of money I need in order to complete the film. Fans can then pledge whatever amount they can and, for their troubles, I give my pledgers a variety of rewards which include merchandise, film credit, exclusive artwork, and a DVD copy of the finished film. I set out to offer my pledgers as many rewards as possible and make those rewards as valuable as possible. Even at the smallest pledge amounts, I feel we're offering something fun. We're also offering our rewards like an original poster print of the film illustrated by comics legend, Joe Linsner, which will be exclusive to our campaign and wont be sold anywhere else. An important part about Kickstarter.com is that our goal amount is vital to the process and we must receive the entire amount from our fans by the deadline of September 12th in order to continue with the film.

(Here's their Kickstarter video, by the by.)

How did Joe Linsner become involved in your Kickstarter promotion?

I met Joe through my day job in the comic industry. The film came up in our conversation and he showed interest in the project so, when it came time to develop the Kickstarter rewards, I reached out to him for help. He has been very supportive to our cause and I'm very grateful to him for that.

What are the qualities you feel Linsner is uniquely suited in capturing when he illustrates the heroine of You're !@#$'n Dead!?

Joe is simply a perfect match for this project. You're !@#$'n Dead! is a film about an ordinary girl, living a somewhat difficult but ordinary life. Eventually, our character is thrown into an extraordinary situation that forces her to take extreme measures that she never imagined she could, but she's never the glamorous hero, fighting justice in a slick, leather outfit. Lexi is a character meant as an avatar for the audience and we're meant to feel all the physical and emotional pain she goes though on screen. Joe is known for illustrating the female form but, most notably, for the way he represents the beauty of real-life woman in contrast to the typical exaggerated females that we see in comics. Joe's illustration will end up embodying the beauty and strength of the Lexi character without needing to exaggerate her as more than what she is, because the moment we make her a superhero, then we've lost sight of our story.

You trained as an animator. Has the animation experience helped in your storytelling and film direction?

I did graduate as an animator at the University of the Arts. One of the first things you learn in animation is the ability to tell a concise and coherent story, and that skill is just as important in live-action filmmaking. Because you spend so much time creating a scene from scratch with illustration or computers, a lot of planning goes into each scene and a lot of care is taken to make sure that every angle and every gesture is telling the story even when characters aren't speaking. Whether you're making an action movie or a drama, the subtlety of the characters and their gestures between the action is what gives a film the most meaning to the audience. We can all appreciate the excitement of the action scenes in You're !@#$'n Dead!, but without the quiet character moments, I feel the movie ends up being a collection of violence without any real payoff. In my opinion, I can direct any genre of film but the story and characters should always connect with the audience in some way, no matter how outrageous the story gets.

Are there any other creative-types involved in You're !@#$'n Dead!?

We've been lucky enough to have quite a few other talented people involved in our project. Southern blues-rock band, The Cheaters, will be providing the soundtrack for the film. They are a generous group of guys and I'm grateful they were excited to be a part of this. We're also excited to have the comedian Jim Meyer involved in the film. Some people online may know him under the alter ego 'Dr. Doom', the creator of the Doom-O-Matic. He's a very funny and talented comic, as well as a good friend, and audiences should look forward to a good bit of comic relief coming from him.

Speaking of comedian Jim Meyer, he'll be hosting 'Let's !@#$'n Party!', the film party and fundraiser promoting You're !@#$'n Dead! The party takes place on September 8th at Fullerton Pub in Baltimore, MD. Information can be found here.

And just for kicks, you may want to check out the comedic stylings of a Latverian dictator below. If you get a kick out of these clips, just wait 'til you see Jim Meyer's stand-up without the mask. He's !@#$'n hilarious!

For more info on You're !@#$'n Dead!, be sure to visit their website, Kickstarter page, and Facebook page. It's going to be a fantastic project.

The Future Of The Justice League In 2013

So, without even picking up Justice League #12, published today, you have a pretty good idea what's in. The news has told you. Superman and Wonder Woman get it on. It's on the news, DC released the first five pages of the story, and the second-to-last page' and without you knowing it, the last two pages as well.

Because the comic has an epilogue, after the smoochy smoochy, to show us where the book may be going. We get to see a glimpse of plotlines from upcoming issues, with two pages drawn by, oh look, Ivan Reis, promising betrayal, war and Captain Marvel, and another page by David Finch with Pandora handing over the skull, Superman and Batman going toe to toe and looking towards a very book

So who will it take?

Oh yes, these people'

Comics courtesy of Orbital Comics of London.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Genndy Tartakovsky's Popeye Film To Be 'As Artful And Unrealistic' As Possible

Perhaps the most exciting thing about Walt Disney's Tangled was how the CG animation rigs for the characters became complex enough to offer up something more like the kind of extreme expressions and bold poses more familiar in 2D animation.

Now it's Sony's turn to push that envelope, as Genndy Tartakovsky has gotten ambitious with Hotel Transylvania. A new piece on the film in The LA Times focuses on how this neophyte feature director asked for, and thought for, more than is usual:

Tartakovsky's monsters stretch, squish, hover and crouch in ways that challenge computer software that was designed to replicate the real world. In meetings with the Hotel Transylvania animators, the director drew over frames of the film on a digital tablet and acted out desired poses ' Dracula hunched under his cape, for instance. For animators working within the constraints of a CG model, the wildly expressive shapes created problems' For Tartakovsky, the exaggerated poses are the whole point of working in animation to begin with ' cartoons, he believes, should actually be cartoonish.

And hopefully Sony are happy with what they see ' though I expect just how happy they are will depend on the critical response and, even more, the box office that the film reaps on release next month.

The studio are already working with Tartakovsky on two more projects, and it seems he's set to continue pushing CG to take on the best of 2D technique:

One will be an original idea of his (a family comedy) and the other a new take on 'Popeye' ' which he plans to make as artful and unrealistic as possible.

Oh, yes please. Given that he's also massive and packs some real heft, the elasticity and amorphous flexibility of Popeye is pretty much the whole point of his design. I can't wait to see how he translates through Tartakovsky's eye.

It's an exciting time in CG animation, with lots of directors pushing for new ideas, strong looks and pioneering approaches. Ideally, they'll all build on one another's successes, too, and the aesthetic palette will continue to broaden.

And with it, of course, the storytelling potential.

Trailer: James Moran's Tower Block ' The Most Pleasant Surprise At This Year's Frightfest?

The closing film of this last weekend's ever-brilliant Frightfest was the world premiere of Tower Block.

I wasn't expecting great things but I almost got them. The film is a sometimes slightly silly John Carpenter pastiche with a handful of stand-out scenes, some nifty surprises and a fun central conceit. And the action work is always solid, with most of the basics well taken care of.

The trailer has premiered this afternoon. IGN got the premiere it with this plot blurb that contains, perhaps, a bit too much info ' and a factual innacuracy. You may choose not to read the blurb, or indeed watch the trailer, and go in as cold and unprepared as the crowd at last night's premiere.

Now, here's the trailer.

Don't expect anything as cogent or fully realised as Attack the Block, but I can promise you that a lot of people will have a very, very good time with this film.

The Thrill Of The Hunt ' Richard Starking's Elephantmen

Brock Dickinson writes for Bleeding Cool;

Ever since Image's Walking Dead turned the back issue market on its head, modern collectors have been driven by (perceived) scarcity. In today's market, there are a lot of titles with low print runs ' and when an issue catches fandom's attention, lots of collectors chasing a small number of copies can drive prices sky high in a heartbeat.

One of the recent books to see its value skyrocket as a result of this process is Image's Elephantmen #18. Launched in July of 2006, Richard Starkings' Elephantmen tells the stories of a group of genetically-engineered human/animal hybrids created as soldiers for an evil North African corporation. Liberated by a bloody and violent conflict with the United Nations, the series focuses on the elephantmen's attempts to fit into human society

While the series has been praised for its art and production values, it hasn't exactly been a hit ' sales hover in the range of 3,000-4,000 copies per issue. Overall, this has meant that although putting a set together can be challenging, aftermarket values are generally around cover price. Recently, though, the July 2009 issue (Elephantmen #18, with an estimated print run of 4,085 copies) has spiked in value.

Mirroring the low print run, recent ebay sales are few and far between; three recent sales closed at $41.11, $46.25 and $85.00. A sketch variant also sells well (most recently at $67.99), though prices vary more widely. The CGC census shows only 5 copies of the regular edition graded, and 11 copies of the sketch cover.

This book has a number of factors driving price' The low print run is a starting point, but the particular 'hook' for this issue is a provocative cover by resurgent 90's superstar artist J. Scott Campbell. This has spurred interest from many non-Elephantmen fans, with demand far outstripping supply. The possibility of an Elephantmen movie also hasn't hurt matters: the property was optioned in 2010 by Zucker Productions, with director Ridley Scott ' perhaps rather fancifully ' rumoured to be interested.

Thrill of the Hunt is a new weekly column tracking trends and spikes in the values of modern comics. It's written by Overstreet Comic Price Guide Advisor Brock Dickinson.

Monday, August 27, 2012

The 3D Star Wars Re-Releases Are Continuing With More Dates Announced

The original plan, if I recall correctly, was to re-release one Star Wars film per year in 3D. The Phantom Menace came along in February of this year but, bluntly, it underperformed.

I wouldn't have been surprised to hear that Lucasfilm were going to pull the plug on the endeavour, or that everything was going to be scaled down to home-entertainment releases. Apparently not, however, as both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith have now been put up on the calendar.

Both will be along next autumn, with Clones on September 20th and Sith on October 11th. Leaves it a bit late for a Blu-ray date ahead of Christmas, but you never know.

This is as far as the announcement goes, but this accelerated schedule may well have been designed to get through the list more quickly, and bring us to the original Star Wars in Spring or Summer of 2014. That's my hunch right now.

I would even be surprised to see the original trilogy spaced out across 2014 somehow. Guesswork for now.

One Thought About Doctor Who: Pond Life Part One

It's not long is it?

The first webisode of Pond Life, filling in the gaps between the last time we saw Amy and Rory Pond and the beginning of the new series, is up. Which means a few cutaways over what the time travelling soul has been up.

Including at one point, Matt Smith doing his best impersonation of Wallace'

'More cheese on my crumpet, K9?'

Peter David Writes Avengers Season One

The other day, Bleeding Cool broke the news that the mysteriously-absent Avengers Season One original graphic novel would be released by Walmart and Asda as part of an exclusive DVD/Blu Ray combo deal.

Some mocked Bleeding Cool's reportage, insisting that it would be some anthology, collection of reprinted tales and smaller than we claimed.

But then the writer of the book went and confirmed the deal. Peter David posted;

Ha Ha. I have a scoop on 'Bleeding Cool'

Bleeding Cool announced yesterday that Marvel is releasing a special edition through Walmart of 'The Avengers' on Blu-Ray and DVD, packaged with an all new, original 'Avengers' graphic novel. But who (they wondered), WHO could possibly have been involved with the creation of it?

Yeah, uh, that would be me. One hundred page original 'Avengers' graphic novel. I'll let you find out the artist(s) on your own, but the entire story is by yours truly.

And to those on the Bleeding Cool forum who doubted the original story;

Oh! SO wrong. But thanks for playing! And enjoy the entirely new, never before seen graphic novel along the same lines as their other Season One GNs.

So' who is the artist? Anyone?

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Pete Woods Joins In The Liefeld Debate

Marat Mychaels filled on pencils for Grifter #11 last month, instead of Scott Clark and, it seems, will be doing the same on issue 13. And then he's on the book for good. In what is becoming, for people on Twitter that is, an increasingly entertaining departure from DC Comics, Rob Liefeld has told us'

Iron Man Forever' Eventually

Kick-Ass 2 Grows A Tumor

Talented actor, writer, director and sometime brilliant magician, Andy Nyman has taken on a villainous role in Kick-Ass 2.

As confirmed on Nyman's official website, he'll be playing The Tumor, one of the film's villain team, The Toxic Mega-Cunts.

Nyman's hanging out at Frightfest this weekend, as am I, and mentioned this afternoon that he'll be off to film his Kick-Ass 2 role in September.

It's an amusing bit of casting and, hopefully, will help Nyman's profile a touch. It would be great if this, or anything, would help his recent film The Glass Man lock down distribution ' it really deserves to be seen.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Predator Of The Daleks Doctor Who Trailer ' One Week To Go

Rob Liefeld Versus Tom Brevoort. Oh, It's On.

When I speak of re-writes at DC, I'm speaking of having to implement the latest editorial directive. Mostly at the last minute. Deathstroke was left alone, mostly due to the fact that the sales on that series went up the most, furthest. GRIFTER is an important book to DC they want it to succeed. Grifter was supposed to be part of a huge fall cross-over. Grifter was to cross-over into a larger story with Helspont and the Daemonites. The other titles were Superman, Supergirl, Red Lantern.. I was told that Voodoo was ending and to implement her into the story. I had to connect to the events in the Superman annual. Grifter was featured in the Superman annual, as was Hawkman. I wrote Grifter #13 and it placed him in the center of the Daemonite plot.

I arrived at Comic-con to be informed that the Superman office changed their mind, whatever that means and there was now no fall cross-over. So issue #13 had to be re-written from page one. The Superman annual was also changed and Grifter was removed as was Hawkman. Voodoo still needed to be featured though as Grifter was her new home. All fine and good. You take a corporate assignment you take direction But when I speak of re-writes, they are of this nature and agenda. Then followed by, how are we going to get Grifter sales up? Again, part if the freelancer workload, but wanted clarification as to what I'm referencing in regards to re-writes. Not a dialogue change. After getting clearance on Grifter #0, late in the process, he could no longer be of alien heritage as I was writing him in issues #9-12. Took pride in making every change as fast as possible. But eventually U realize the loop is non-stop. I chose to exit-Loved the opportunity.

Deathstroke had not been problematic, the smoothest sailing until the #0 and the co-opting of Dstroke origin by another office doing Team 7. You roll up your sleeves and try to be fair dividing the baby up, fought to keep important plot and origin motives in the Dstroke book. Lots and lots of territorial fights. The entire time you must keep in mind that your book needs to show sales traction. I loved being deep in the corporate culture for a year. Did my best to be a good team player, was well compensated. Hawkman really worked, they let me rip, then there was an editorial shift and everything I'd laid out and was approved was unraveling.

I stood my ground in defense of what I thought was a strong, positive vision. Felt the editor wanted to write the book himself, quit July 4. On July 5th I was assured that there would be an editorial change, this cat had a bad track record and had previous creator conflicts. The top brass approves, is enthusiastic and then the editor says, let's change things. You're like, no, this is what has been approved' There was a directive of let's make Helspont and important figure, let's make him the focus. I like Helspont, no problem, then, sea change. And no, this isn't juicy stuff, this is nuts and bolts stuff. Work process.

The new corporate culture of both companies has never been more stressful because they are in the cross hairs of parent companies. Hope that clarifies the nature of changes, comes with the game if you accept the assignments. The burn out us accelerated on your workload. There are plenty chairs that are being re-arranged as I type this. Guys on books now that won't be there in January.

Ann Nocenti, God bless her, read my Hawkman #0 and suggested that it be a dream, uncertain, something we could drag out' I said NO, the readers deserve clarity and certainty, a reward for their investment of the last 6 months. My editor entertained her notion..

So I left. Then they said they would remove him. He was gone and 3 months of trying to undue what I'd started with previous editor was gone By July, I had a new editor, my 3rd on Hawkman in 6 months. My concern is it will be all Batman comics in 2 years as the Batman brand holds strong across the board. Batfamily accounts for 16 books.

Hawkman came together really well for all involved. I wrote 3 parts of WANTED, be interesting if those make it through. The synergy in trying to fuse the comics with the larger entertainment component can be very exciting. And rewarding. Last thing, there was one editor that had like 5 books canceled and was given a promotion? I was like huh?

All my DC work is going up for sale the next few weeks http://www.ebay.com/sch/mtwice/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686 ' everything must go

Review: Spike #1 by Victor Gischler, Paul Lee and Andy Owens

Louie Falcetti writes;

I'm a Buffy fan, but I never got into Angel so don't yell at me. I know the first season is rocky and I'm supposed to stick with it and I'm going to get to it. Part of the reason why I never went for the big, brooding haircut was my love of his chain smoking, trash talking, English counterpart, Spike. Angel is the tortured crush for sweet, love sick, high school kids, doe eyed and quivering lipped, who want nothing more than to rest their heads on his beefy chest and'I don't know. In the 90s it'd be 'read Jewel's poetry', but I don't know what the 21st century equivalent is. The lyrics of skrillex? I digress. Spike on the other hand, speaks to a different sort, those who want their boys bad (ok I'll grant you that they probably don't want to be nearly raped, but he didn't have a soul at that point, cut him some slack) and their love tough (again, not that tough).

Spike doesn't give a shit and that's why we love him. He's like the Deadpool of the Buffyverse, in that he's a trash talking, fan favorite who fans can't get enough of. Just look at any convention footage of actor James Marsters, and watch the poor man get hassled time and time again by fans desperate to hear him sexily belt out 'Rest in Peace'. Dark Horse has given the people what they want with new 5 Issue Limited Series Spike: A Dark Place.

If you haven't been following the Buffyverse since it returned in comic form with Season 8, you may not know that Season 8 was a clusterfuck of enormous proportions. It caused rifts in fandom and even Joss himself commented on it's flawed (yet noble) execution. Season 9 has been an (as promised) back to basics approach to Buffydom, concentrating more on the Slayer and her immediate world of broken hearts and urban danger rather than enormous world changing mystical'things. (Confession Time! I've read it a few times and still have trouble explaining Season 8) Add to the fact that Spike was a part of a little cross-company copyright character hot potato, in which stories from two different publishers had to be taken into account and continuity and canon did somersaults that would make the X-men blush, you can be excused for not knowing how Spike ended up to be a captain of a bug piloted spaceship.

Which is how Spike: A Dark Place #1 starts off, with Spike as captain of a spaceship crewed by bugs. Don't laugh. Well you can laugh at the funny parts, which there are plenty of ('Amphibapocalypse' immediately springs to mind), but don't laugh at the concept. At least not in that deriding way that you do. Like you're soooo above a comic with a vampire playing Mal to a firefly crew of giant insects in steampunk looking spacesuits. This comic is a perfect example of the conflicting demands of most genre fans, from Buffy to beyond. We say we don't want to see the same stories we've seen a million times before, but then when someone does something different, we get angry and demand a return to our old standard. Anyone can write a story where Spike lurks around city streets, hassling low level demons, pissing off the majors, chain smoking and acting like a bastard. But it takes a real talent to, well, just for the sake of writing it again, have Spike captain a spaceship with a crew of giant bugs.

Gischler has Spike's voice down, from his cynical world view, to his caustic wit, to his genuine loneliness at having to leave Buffy. Granted anyone would feel down if they fled to literally the dark side of the moon to try to forget about a heartbreak. Gischler also finds ways to tell the story so far organically within it's pages, rather than opting for a cramped (and confusing) paragraph of seven attempting to explain how we got to this point. At no time in the book does any of the exposition feel like exposition which is an incredibly tricky thing to get right in comics. Gischler also manages to pace the book splendidly allowing Spike his real moments of emotional angst to fully play out before, you know, having him hoisted on to the shoulders of his insect crew to be thrown into a solarium re-outfitted to resemble a beach themed beer ad.

My only experience with Gischler before this was writing X-Men and I have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of his run, though I now realize that he probably didn't have a lot of creative room to wiggle when scripting company mandated cross over events, although those did involve vampires too' In any event, whatever apprehensions I had to his work are gone as he's proven with this comic to be a writer that can balance humor, drama and action in an entertaining, fast paced package.

The art is great too, with Owens' inks giving Spike's features the right amount of solemn introspection or violent anger and Lee's pencils capturing the freaked out weirdness of the invading frog aliens as well as Spike's fanged out, punch filled rebuttal.

From what I've heard while this maybe only a 5 issue limited series, that doesn't mean we necessarily won't get more Spike minis in the future. Which is great news, especially since tall, dark and annoying gets his own ongoing. (Much love to the Angel & Faith team, you make that tortured tough guy with the dead heart of gold work) If you've been following the Buffy books odds are you've purchased this book already, and to you I say, 'Well done'. If you've been waiting for a moment to come back to Buffydom, give Spike a chance, unless you're afraid you might like it?

Friday, August 24, 2012

Swipe File: Greg Land's Iron Man #1

It's rare that one gets to run a swipe file quite so quickly. But yesterday Marvel released three pages of artwork from the new Kieron Gillen/Greg Land Iron Man #1. And because it's Greg Land' well' it was worth checking, at least.

In Swipe File we present two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences or works of the lightbox. We trust you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself? If you are unable to do so, please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. The Swipe File doesn't judge, it's interested more in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously, as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit where writers and artist collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from the Comic Journal who originally ran this column, as well as the now defunct Swipe Of The Week website.

Red Dwarf X Finale To Rework Unused Movie Ideas, Feature Space Dog Fight

Before Red Dwarf was resurrected with the Back to Earth mini-series, the eighth series wrapped up with a relatively complex mirror universe plotline that fans will understand and more casual viewers won't want me spewing all garbled into their heads right now.

It's worth noting, though, that the jump from that episode into the mini-series was quite abrupt and left a lot of questions and dangling loose ends.

As you might expect, Red Dwarf X is going to tie some of these up, but not until its final episode.

Speaking with Broadcast, Doug Naylor has revealed the depth and breadth of ambition for that finale in particular:

Most of the ideas are fresh but for the last episode I borrow things from the very early drafts of the film and explain what happened after the conclusion of series eight. That final episode also features a spectacular dogfight. Well, spectacular for Red Dwarf.

So, that might mean actually quite dynamic or' a few model shots and some FX going off. Not that anyone watches Red Dwarf for slam and bam.

That final episode is called The Beginning, mirroring the title of the first ever episode, The End. Again, fans will be able to get one step ahead with this information, and lay viewers' probably want to invest some time in the first series, at least, before diving into Red Dwarf X.

Series star Craig Charles also spoke to the magazine, giving a somewhat broader overview of the new series:

We've stopped being an action adventure series and gone back to being more of a sitcom. Back To Earth looked fantastic and was very clever but it wasn't as funny as it could have been, choosing to be more of an emotional journey. We're now back to being four clowns in a room, each trying to be funnier than the next man. We're still 3 million years into deep space, looking for a way home and really hot curry. But now it's a bit more like Grumpy Old Men.

It looks like Red Dwarf X is going to air on Dave this October. It's Friday, so the station will wheel out another promotional' something today. It's rumoured to be a trailer, so watch this space.

Justice League #12 Already Getting Bids Of $25

Okay, this is crazy.

There will have been around 150,000 of these ordered. It comes out next week. It will have a cover price of $3.99. There should be plenty to go around.

Except this now has had a media craze that keeps rolling, day after day, about Superman and Wonder Woman liplocking on the last page, a new status quo between the characters.

And as a result people are bidding up to $25 in advance to get a copy.

This is not an isolated example, bids here are up to $20.50, up to $12.50, up to $10.50. Things are going nuts here. Remember, this is not a variant cover, this is the regular cover.

I think, next Wednesday, there will be lines' that is, if you actually want a copy.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

The ComiXology Chart ' How Much Does China Love Sexy Alice In Wonderland?

Here are the top twenty selling comic books on ComiXology, after new comic day yesterday.

1. The Walking Dead #101
2. Smallville: Season 11 #13
3. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4)
4. Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12)
5. Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3
6. Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4)
7. Invincible #94
8. Amazing Spider-Man #692
9. Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17
10. Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14
11. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #3 (of 4)
12. Saga #6
13. Batman: The Dark Knight (2011-) #12
14. Green Lantern: New Guardians (2011-) #12
15. Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4)
16. Robin: Year One #1
17. Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1
18. Robin: Year One #2
19. Robin: Year One #4
20. Robin: Year One #3

That's the Top Twenty. Notable that DC do well on their exclusively digital content, but Marvel dominates the top of the digital charts far more than they do in print, though that may be partially down to Marvel releasing their comics earlier on Wednesday than DC do. But a week old Walking Dead comic still beats everyone. And Deadpool sells better than Avengers Vs X-Men. Invincible, Ultimates, Before Watchmen and Saga do really well, and new releases of old material such as Robin Year One, especially after Dark Knight Rises make an impact.

But there are even more interesting charts when you look at the in-app iPad and iPhone purchases of comics made on ComiXology outside of the USA. Britain is pretty similar, though America's Got Powers does a lot better.

The Walking Dead #101 £1.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) £1.99
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) £2.49
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) £2.49
Smallville: Season 11 #13 £0.69
Amazing Spider-Man #692 £3.99
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 £1.99
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 £2.49
Invincible #94 £1.99
America's Got Powers #3 (of 6) £1.99

Canada really loves Saga'

The Walking Dead #101 $2.99
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) $3.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) $2.99
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) $3.99
Saga #6 $2.99
Amazing Spider-Man #692 $5.99
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 $2.99
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 $3.99
Invincible #94 $2.99
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 $3.99

France are bigger fans of Spider-Man and Invincible does really well.

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Amazing Spider-Man #692 4,99 '
Invincible Omnibus Vol. 11 9,99 '
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 2,99 '
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Smallville: Season 11 #13 0,79 '
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
America's Got Powers #3 (of 6) 2,39 '

Japa loves Transformers, naturally, Tank Girl, Invincible and America's attempts to copy them, such as the Ame-Comi line.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Ongoing #8 ¥350
The Walking Dead #101 ¥250
Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1 ¥85
Saga #6 ¥250
Tank Girl: Bad Wind Rising #1 (of 4) ¥250
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) ¥350
Invincible #94 ¥250
Invincible Vol. 9: Out of This World ¥500
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) ¥350
Invincible Vol. 8: My Favorite Martian ¥500

Germany like Masters Of The Universe, in the same way they like David Hasselhoff.

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Masters of the Universe #4 0,79 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Invincible #94 2,39 '
The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye 6,99 '
Saga #6 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12)2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
The Walking Dead Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us 7,99 '
Batman (2011- ) #1 0,79

Ireland love Green Lantern more than anyone. Well, it's green'

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 2,39 '
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Green Lantern: New Guardians (2011-) #11 1,59 '
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 2,99 '
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 2,99 '
Amazing Spider-Man #69 24,99 '
America's Got Powers #3 (of 6) 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99'

Mexico respond top Americans copying Japan, and also a bit of Rocketeer

Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1 $12.00
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) $48.00
Amazing Spider-Man #692 $72.00
The Walking Dead #101 $36.00
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) $36.00
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) $48.00
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 $36.00
Saga #6 $36.00
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) $48.00
Rocketeer Adventures Vol. 1 $48.00

Italy likeBefore Watchmen more than anything.

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Invincible #94 2,39 '
Batman (2011- ) #1 0,79 '
The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye 6,99 '
Batman (2011-) #12 2,99 '
Batman: The Dark Knight (2011-) #11 1,59 '
Amazing Spider-Man #69 24,99 '

Spain give Robert Kirkman the top three, and also like a little of Terry Moore's Rachel Rising.

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Invincible #94 2,39 '
Invincible Omnibus Vol. 1 19,99 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Rachel Rising #10 2,99 '
Saga #1 1,59 '
Invincible Vol. 4: Head of the Class 4,99 '
Invincible #89 0,79 '
Invincible #90 0,79 '

Singapore loves its Before Watchmen and Ultimates, with Iron Man making an appearance

Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) $ 4.98
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 $ 4.98
Invincible Iron Man #523 $ 4.98
Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1 $ 1.28
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 $ 4.98
Amazing Spider-Man #692 $ 6.98
Green Lantern: New Guardians (2011-) #12 $ 3.98
The Walking Dead #101 $ 3.98
Smallville: Season 11 #13 $ 1.28
Saga #6 $ 3.98

Russia love Deadpool. And Zenescope's Salem's Daughter. Can anyone love Zenescope more than Russia?

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #3 (of 4) $2.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) $2.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #2 (of 4) $2.99
Salem's Daughter: The Haunting #5 $1.99
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) $3.99
5 Days to Die #5 $1.99
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) $3.99
The Walking Dead #2 $1.99
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) $3.99
Batman (2011-) #2 $1.99

Yes. China. With only Invincible and Millar's Spider-Man getting a look in. Wow. A lot of love for sexualised Alice In Wonderland there.

Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #1 ¥12.00
Invincible #48 ¥6.00
Grimm Fairy Tales Digital Omnibus Vol. 2 ¥278.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #3 ¥18.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #2 ¥12.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #6 (of 6) ¥18.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #5 ¥18.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #4 ¥18.00
The Complete Alice In Wonderland ¥50.00
Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 ¥12.00

Top Shelf should really try to sell Lost Girls there. As well as just print it tere'

Here are the top twenty selling comic books on ComiXology, after new comic day yesterday.

The Walking Dead #101 £1.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) £1.99
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) £2.49
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) £2.49
Smallville: Season 11 #13 £0.69
Amazing Spider-Man #692 £3.99
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 £1.99
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 £2.49
Invincible #94 £1.99
America's Got Powers #3 (of 6) £1.99

Canada really loves Saga'

The Walking Dead #101 $2.99
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) $3.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) $2.99
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) $3.99
Saga #6 $2.99
Amazing Spider-Man #692 $5.99
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 $2.99
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 $3.99
Invincible #94 $2.99
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 $3.99

France are bigger fans of Spider-Man and Invincible does really well.

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Amazing Spider-Man #692 4,99 '
Invincible Omnibus Vol. 11 9,99 '
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 2,99 '
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Smallville: Season 11 #13 0,79 '
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
America's Got Powers #3 (of 6) 2,39 '

Japa loves Transformers, naturally, Tank Girl, Invincible and America's attempts to copy them, such as the Ame-Comi line.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Ongoing #8 ¥350
The Walking Dead #101 ¥250
Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1 ¥85
Saga #6 ¥250
Tank Girl: Bad Wind Rising #1 (of 4) ¥250
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) ¥350
Invincible #94 ¥250
Invincible Vol. 9: Out of This World ¥500
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) ¥350
Invincible Vol. 8: My Favorite Martian ¥500

Germany like MAsters Of The Universe, in the same way they like David Hasselhoff.

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Masters of the Universe #4 0,79 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Invincible #94 2,39 '
The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye 6,99 '
Saga #6 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
The Walking Dead Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us 7,99 '
Batman (2011- ) #1 0,79

Ireland love Green Lantern more than anyone. Well, it's green'

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 2,39 '
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Green Lantern: New Guardians (2011-) #11 1,59 '
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 2,99 '
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 2,99 '
Amazing Spider-Man #692 4,99 '
America's Got Powers #3 (of 6) 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99

Mexico respond top Americans copying Japan, and also a bit of Rocketeer

Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1 $12.00
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) $48.00
Amazing Spider-Man #692 $72.00
The Walking Dead #101 $36.00
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) $36.00
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) $48.00
Batman Incorporated (2012-) #3 $36.00
Saga #6 $36.00
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) $48.00
Rocketeer Adventures Vol. 1 $48.0

Italy likeBefore Watchmen more than anything.

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Invincible #94 2,39 '
Batman (2011- ) #1 0,79 '
The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye 6,99 '
Batman (2011-) #12 2,99 '
Batman: The Dark Knight (2011-) #11 1,59 '
Amazing Spider-Man #692 4,99 '

Spain give Robert Kirkman the top three, and also like a little of Terry Moore's Rachel Rising.

The Walking Dead #101 2,39 '
Invincible #94 2,39 '
Invincible Omnibus Vol. 11 9,99 '
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) 2,99 '
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) 2,99 '
Rachel Rising #10 2,99 '
Saga #1 1,59 '
Invincible Vol. 4: Head of the Class 4,99 '
Invincible #89 0,79 '
Invincible #90 0,79 '

Singapore loves its Before Watchmen and Ultimates, with Iron Man making an appearance

Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) $4.98
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #14 $4.98
Invincible Iron Man #523 $4.98
Ame-Comi V: Supergirl #1 $1.28
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 #17 $4.98
Amazing Spider-Man #692 $6.98
Green Lantern: New Guardians (2011-) #12S $ 3.98
The Walking Dead #101 $3.98
Smallville: Season 11 #13 $1.28
Saga #6S $ 3.98

Russia love Deadpool. And Zenescope's Salem's Daughter. Can anyone love Zenescope more than Russia?

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #3 (of 4) $2.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #4 (of 4) $2.99
Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #2 (of 4) $2.99
Salem's Daughter: The Haunting #5 $1.99
Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1 (of 4) $3.99
5 Days to Die #5 $1.99
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1 (of 4) $3.99
The Walking Dead #2 $1.99
Avengers vs. X-Men #10 (of 12) $3.99
Batman (2011-) #2 $1.99

Yes. China. With only Invincible and Millar's Spider-Man getting a look in. Wow. A lot of love for sexualised Alice In Wonderland there.

Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #1 ¥12.00
Invincible #48 ¥6.00
Grimm Fairy Tales Digital Omnibus Vol. 2 ¥278.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #3 ¥18.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #2 ¥12.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #6 (of 6) ¥18.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #5 ¥18.00
Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #4 ¥18.00
The Complete Alice In Wonderland ¥50.00
Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 ¥12.00

Top Shelf should really try to sell Lost Girls there. As well as just print it tere'

Gendercrunching June 2012 ' And A Little Ethnocrunching Too

Marvel was back on top in June as both companies had notable swings overall, Marvel for better and DC for worse. We also mix it up, and potentially court controversy, by looking at stats by nationality and ethnicity.

DC COMICS

I don't know if Alan Moore has cursed DC because Before Watchmen premiered in June or what, but after a solid May they dropped a fair amount this month. In June 2012, DC Comics published 80 books with 673 credited creators, 605 men and 68 women. Here are their stats:

DC was down 1.4% overall, which is a fair amount given the low numbers we're dealing with and their usual consistency. Almost everything was down in June, with only pencillers remaining the same and assistant editors gaining 1.8%. Colorists fell almost 5% and editors were down a whopping 7.5%, and the other four categories were each down in the range of a percentage point or so. It was a pretty bad month for DC.

Compared To A Year Ago: DC was at 10.8% in June 2011, so they're down 0.7%.

MARVEL COMICS

Marvel pulled out of their skid with a solid month that propelled them back to the top of the charts. In June 2012, Marvel put out 72 new comics featuring 645 credited creators, 570 men and 75 women. Let's look at their stats:

Marvel went up 0.9% overall, which is a pretty decent gain. Things were generally up across the board, with colorists more than DOUBLING their May totals, while artists bounced back from a terrible May with gains of 2.5% for pencillers and 4.5% for inkers. Editors and writers had modest gains, and cover artists fell 3% along with assistant editors who were down just 1%. All told, June was a solid month for Marvel. Now they just need to hire some letterers.

Compared To A Year Ago: Marvel is up 1.6% from a year ago, when they posted 10% in June 2011.

JUNE SOLICITS BY NATIONALITY AND ETHNICITY

Yes, yes, I can hear you all. It's not enough that I wage a battle of the sexes each month, now I've got to start a race war too? Shame on me.

Actually, these numbers are really interesting, especially compared to the gender stats. People have been asking about ethnicity in the comments for a while now, and the results were surprising in terms of the white majority vs. the male majority. Now, of course we're not pitting one against the other or trying to say one minority group has it worse than another. Instead, this is about how WOW the majorities are HUGE at the Big Two and that maybe this sheer dominance by white dudes is a little bit much.

But before we get to the stats, let me point out a couple things. First, tabulating people by ethnicity is a tricky situation. Race is so much about self-identification; some people identify strongly with a certain group, or groups if they are of mixed race, while others try to eschew these classifications altogether. By categorizing people this way, largely just by looking at them, I've basically removed this self-identification and that's a bummer. However, that's the only practical way to do this sort of count. I can't talk to nearly 400 people and find out how they self-identify. I'd be doing this forever.

Second, we've got some pretty broad categories that lump together groups that are sometimes disparate and that may use terms that some people don't use for themselves. Again, sorry, but it's just for practicality. Creators that were Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Korean, or Malaysian have been lumped together as Asian. This is a big generalization, I know, but separately they'd all be about 0.25% each. Maybe I should have called it Pacific/Asian though. Terminology is tricky. Case in point: Black people are categorized as 'Black', since 'African American' doesn't really fit non-Americans, and I went with 'Hispanic' over 'Latino' to represent both groups together even though they are slightly different groups that overlap.

Point being, ethnicity is a difficult scene and if anyone is offended for any reason, my apologies and I assure you that the offense was unintentional.

Okay, onto methodology. I listed all the names in DC and Marvel's June 2012 solicits, then after much googling I tabulated them all by nationality, ethnicity, and gender. I just went with the solicits because it was hard enough finding pictures of some of the more famous creators' tracking down colorists and letterers would have been just out of hand. I've combined the stats for both companies into one set of data because they were reasonably close and there's no point in going through it all twice. Finally, these numbers are for DIFFERENT creators, not CREDITED creators, a distinction I'm sure you're familiar with if you're a regular reader. So here we go.

I was going to start this bit with a chart showing ethnicity in the United States, since I figured that Americans would make up the bulk of the creators and it would be a decent comparison. However, while Americans are the majority, it's not a big majority at all:

In fact, it's barely a majority. Nobody else even comes close to the Americans, but they're still just over half. England was second at 9.1%, which was more than I anticipated, and I was very surprised to see Spain in third. I figured Brazilians would have been higher, given that there's been a big influx of Brazilian artists over the past few years, but they're tied for fourth with Canada and Italy.

There were several countries below 1% who didn't make the chart: Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Guyana, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela. That's 28 countries overall!! Oh, I suppose I could have combined England and Scotland into the United Kingdom. Just pretend James I never happened.

We've got a veritable United Nations here, with the Americans with a slight majority, but now let's look at how things go by race, with gender stuck in the chart as well for comparison:

That is a lot of white people. And, given the huge stats for men, a lot of white dudes. Almost 80% is a HUGE majority, and Hispanics are way behind at 10.9%. The various groups we've combined into 'Asian' are third with 6.8%, and black creators accounted for a surprisingly low 2.4% of all creators. Apart from these four groups, the rest was just 2 Turks who made up 0.6%. There were a lot of ethnic groups with no representation at all, including Arabs, Indians, Persians, and several smaller groups.

What's clear is that white dudes run the show at the Big Two, and by far. No one else is even close. We've had many conversations about the problems inherent in a lack of diversity, and the lack of diversity at the Big Two is astounding.

Especially in terms of writers. Artists are vitally important, of course, but writers really dictate what's going on in the books. The writers at the Big Two are 94.8% white, which is a LOT of white. They're also 92.7% men. As a rough comparison, white males make up only 32% of the USA's population, and DC's Nielsen survey results puts their white audience at 59-75% (dock a few percentage points off of each for female readers to get a general idea of the white male audience). This is some disproportionate representation.

So the news that white men are a huge majority at the Big Two might not be terribly shocking to you, but it's handy to be able to go from a vague awareness of white male hegemony to specific numbers that show you just how dominant white males are. This lets us check back in from time to time, which we'll do down the road, and see how things are going. I'm sure the diversity will improve dramatically now that we've shone a light on the lack thereof, much like the gender stats have led to so many more female creators.

That's sarcasm, of course. The Big Two don't particularly care what I say in these posts.

But we can care, and be disappointed by this lack of diversity, and maybe the more we talk about it the more other people will notice and be displeased too, and eventually someone up the food chain will listen and try to do something about it. We've already got Paul Cornell. Or maybe the Big Two will just keep hiring homogeneous creators to make homogeneous comics for a homogeneous audience and the superhero industry will slowly die. Either or.

NOTES:

To learn more about this statistics project and its methodology click here, and to see the previous stats click here. You can visit Tim at Straitened Circumstances and follow him on Twitter @timhanley01.

Bleeding Cool's Exclusive Look Into Disney's Pioneering New Film, Paperman

For a short film, Disney's Paperman has generated an incredible amount of buzz. The excitement was building even before it had a confirmed release schedule, but now that we know that it's going to roll out with Wreck It Ralph we can really start to get carried away.

Word originally started to spread from just from a handful of screenings, when almost everybody who had seen it was a member of Disney staff. This film had even the seen-it-all insiders talking.

There's two good reasons why. The first is that the film uses some pioneering, dazzling animation techniques. The second is that, for all of this new tech and jaw-dropping imagery, what makes the biggest impact are still the characters and the story.

The film has played a few times now, and the buzz has only grown after each. Amongst these screenings, the film came to London as a special treat for the VFX society and it was there that I was lucky enough to see it, followed by director John Kahr's presentation on just how this cutting edge project came together.

Then, after the show, Kahrs was kind enough to spend a while answering my own particular questions.

So here's what I learned about Paperman, starting with the most basic of basics.

To begin with, the characters in the film were modelled as the same kind of three-dimensional, virtual puppets used in the now 'traditional CG' film, as exemplified by Pixar or recent Disney.

Using these models, the scenes are blocked out and the first animation pass is done in the 'normal' fashion. So far, nothing has wandered too far from what you'll have seen in your Toy Story behind-the-scenes supplements. But then we get to the special twist.

Because now there's an overlay done, wherein an animator gets to draw with the electronic equivalent of a pen, and directly onto their screen. They create a 2D animation drawing 'on the top' of the 3D 'puppet' and then the software ties these two things together.

The 2D illustration, which can use all of the techniques, and therefore have all of the charm, of the old-school hand drawn look, is wed to the underlying 3D model and its animation rig.

The end result of this new technique is incredibly fresh looking. It would be reasonable to argue that this new 'best of both worlds' approach is the biggest CG breakthrough since Pixar first started making movies.

The new piece of software, given the misleadingly casual name of Meander, is an exciting new box of tricks that can open up all sorts of new, exciting worlds for CG toons. We're only getting started with the beautiful, black and white city of Paperman.

The film has a story that's all the sweeter for its simplicity. George and Meg lock eyes for the first time on a train platform, but the daily commute means their meet-cute is over almost as suddenly as it began. Later that day George is amazed to realise that Meg works in the office across the street. Sadly, she doesn't notice him. With only a stack of paper, and under the watchful eye of his boss, he hatches a plan to try and get her attention.

Disney's last, and very different, approach to blending 2D know-how with CG was seen in Tangled, thanks in no small part to the ambitions of that film's animation director Glen Keane. After I saw Keane make a few appearances in Kahrs' Paperman behind-the-scenes slideshow, I wanted to know the extent of his involvement in the short.

Kahrs told me:

Glen was really into trying something new and pushing for something that's new and cool. He's always up for something like that. He's exceptional at design and translating discussion of character into drawing and then taking those drawings and translating them into sculpture and then translating that into animation. That difficult transition between drawing and CG, he's really good at that.

He was involved very much in the beginning, but I think that as we got going, the responsibilities shifted around quite a bit. I guess he moved off to other stuff.

And indeed, Keane has now moved on from Disney to work on his own projects. But Paperman is a remarkable final addition to his legacy at the studio. You'll see his hallmarks in the character designs, which he worked up alongside fellow designer Jin Kim.

Kahrs told me:

I let the character designer Shiyoon Kim and, to a large extent Glen, help tremendously in defining the design of Meg. The way Shiyoon and Glen articulated their ideas is amazing. Glen, for example, would say ³Well, the upper lip is too long, you need to shorten it² and Bam! He arrived at that in two seconds. He assessed what was wrong, and what the change should be and then he draws what the change should be.

And Shiyoon, he's much younger but a blistering talent. He's always drawing from a million different sources but some of it just comes totally from the gut.

I wanted the character to feel like he wasn't too plain, so that when she saw George again she'd say 'Oh there's that guy again. I remember him, he's cute' but he also had to be kind of endearing, and humble.

She had to be beautiful, but not so beautiful that she'd seem unattainable. They had to seem to be at a peer level, like a couple that were made for each other, and that they'd have a long life together. That's just a matter of balance. There's a slight nerdy geekiness in her, just a touch of it, in the way she moves and acts, and in him, his lanky design and his self-defeating way.

One word you'll often hear in animation circles is 'appeal' and the characters in Paperman definitely have it. It's a visual characteristic that Disney and Pixar have mastered. But what is it exactly ? I asked Kahrs to try and pin it down for me.

I don't think you can talk about appeal very easily because it's one of those 'You know it when you
see it' type things.

So, I guess we should take a look at George and Meg so you can know it now you see it.

There. Appeal.

Paperman certainly has a wonderful look, but I asked Kahrs why he wanted this style. Could he not have told this story with the same CG techniques we know from, say, Up or Finding Nemo?

A lot of the time, we make these movies because they're things we think would be cool. We make the movies that we want to see.

I think, for me, there's a sense that, we're in a golden age of CG right now, there's a great push to get better storytelling, better imaging, better art direction and better animation, better design work, and it's all happening. This wave has been going on for the last ten or fifteen years now and I've been riding on that wave and I've loved it, it's been a fascinating
journey, but I have to believe that kind of stylised photorealism isn't the only way that animation can be, that there's a way of celebrating that line, the primal energy of the hand drawn line.

Of celebrating the way that a mark can create emotion, the way that drawings can communicate emotion, it's a wonderful
thing. Also, in terms of 2D, I think it's okay to push that medium too, to do something new and fresh with that as well. I had this silly idea that you could have drawings and CG smushed together, lots of silly ideas about what would happen technologically. Ultimately, the solution was something I didn't expect.

I wanted the film to live on a knife edge where the audience is confused as to whether it's 2D or 3D, and yet totally accept it at the same time. I was wondering if we achieve that.

This blend of looks is only possible because of the blend of techniques. I asked Kahrs to explain specifically the pieces of technology they used, allowing them to input hand drawn lines as computer information, right into a set of CG data.

What we're working on is a Cintiq and for us, it's the best you can get. It can pay attention to pressure and pen angle, though we would leave that option turned off most of the time.

A menu offers us different line textures. Do we want that sleek sinuous line that gets thick and thin like a calligraphy line? Or a more brushy, thick stroke that we'd use to roughen up the transition between light and dark? There's a small arsenal of textures and tones.

I think a lot of artists would argue that you should always have a connection to pen and paper. First of all, you have it as a unique thing. There's something special in that you've just made a drawing and you can hold it and give it to someone and it's the only one. You can scan it, but there's a true original. I know there's a romance still to that idea, for me.

Watercolour, for instance. The way watercolour works and the artistry and nuance you can get from people who are really good at watercolour, no one digitally is even coming close to what's possible with the real watercolour. I have no idea why we'd even want to solve that problem because it's still just so nice to have the original watercolours.'

But as special as the look and technology of Paperman might be, they exist simply in the service of the same, crucial thing: that love story.

Kahrs says:

I think a lot of these things blossom out of the story in a natural way of pushing the characters to the limits and these visual ideas tend to come on their own terms, to serve the story.

And, yes, film ' some would say particularly animation ' is a visual medium, but the sounds of Paperman are crucial to the storytelling too. I asked Kahrs about the music and sound effects, starting with the all-important sounds of George's paper.

Some of it is sandpaper, which I was totally surprised by. The sound work was done by Laurent Kossayan who did the sound for Amelie. We went to his studio and he had this bag full of paper planes, wrappers from party city and just a million different things. Things that made little wispy sounds, things that made heavier sounds. And he had all of these different weights of sand paper, because they have a little more resonance and depth.

I never thought Paperman would be like a Fantasia short where the music is driving it absolutely from beginning to end but there is a moment where the music is really driving the film and we pulled all of the sound way back and it really became secondary. You feel the driving emotion of the music and it carries you right up towards the end and past the end.'

The score by Christophe Beck has certainly got that Whistle Test factor. It's something you could whistle on your way home. Don't ask me to hum it, but I can still conjure it up in my imagination now.

Both this technique and the Meander software are just starting out. It's been rumoured that Disney veterans, and directors of the Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog, John Musker and Ron Clements are interested in exploring this new approach for their upcoming feature film.

I asked Kahrs about the future of this new 'third way'.

There are a lot of different looks still possible with this technique that haven't even been touched upon. I'd love to see other artists and other directors take it off in a new direction.

What we thought we were doing at first was just using this technique to put the line work in, but a lot of what we were doing was paint decisions of tone and colour. You could push that idea even further, towards a moving painting.

Indeed, it seems like animators could push off towards just about any 2D look you can imagine. Paperman itself could have looked like just about any painting or drawing or art style you can name, had Kahrs and co. decided. It's just so that they chose a story and characters that benefited best from this beautiful, 50s-tinged look.

A nice juxtaposition to the shiny, digital world of Wreck-It Ralph. They'll make a great partnership.

Look for Ralph and Paperman in US cinemas this November, and in the UK next February.