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Richmond, VA.. Just in time for Halloween and beyond, The Poe Museum’s highly successful exhibit, “Poe in Comics” has announced that the show will be on display for at least another month at their Virginia home. This first-ever museum exhibit devoted to Poe’s presence in comics and graphic novels opened to the public with a bang last April, and brings together sixty years of comic books featuring adaptations of Poe’s tales and poems, stories in which Poe appears as a character, and parodies of Poe’s works. In addition to the comic books on display are dolls based on comic characters and fantastic original artwork by major comic artists including Michael Golden, Gahan Wilson, Richard Corben, and Rick Geary.

According the museum curator, Chris Semtner, Michael Golden’s work is a prominent part of the show. Among the items loaned to us for the exhibit are Golden’s illustrations for “The Cask of Amontillado” for Marvel Classics as well as a copy of that issue of Marvel Classics,confirmed Semtner. “The drawings have been a great addition to the exhibit. Since we normally devote our exhibit space to manuscripts and artifacts from Poe’s time, this show has given us a good opportunity to appeal to a younger audience, particularly the school groups who visit.”

Other highlights of the show include the superb draftsmanship and dramatic composition in Corben’s drawings for “The Tell-Tale Heart.” And, Spanish artist Isidro Mones interprets “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” with the accomplished technique of a seventeenth century Dutch master. It’s no wonder that the works of Edgar Allan Poe have been an inspiration to comic book artists. Called “America’s Shakespeare,” Poe created or mastered the short story, detective fiction, science fiction, lyric poetry and the horror story. His dark genius has invited children and adults to read and love literature for over 150 years.

Richmond’s Poe Museum boasts the world’s finest collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s manuscripts, letters, first editions, memorabilia and personal belongings. Opened in 1922, in The Old Stone House, the museum is only blocks away from Poe’s first Richmond home and his first place of employment, the Southern Literary Messenger.

You can find out more about the museum and the “Poe in Comics”

exhibit by visiting: www.poemuseum.org.For more information on the artist Michael Golden, contact his agency at:

www.evaink.com

PRESS RELEASE - TODD MCFARLANE AND WHILCE PORTACIO SPAWN AN IMMEDIATE SELL OUT!

SPAWN #185’s all-new direction completely sells out!

 

30 October 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - The comic book event of the season started off with a bang as SPAWN’s new direction, courtesy of Image Founders Todd McFarlane & Whilce Portacio, resulted in an immediate distribution-level sell-out!

 

“Obviously it’s good news to have the initial issue sell out so quickly, but now the bigger task is to continue that momentum in the issues going forward,” Spawn creator Todd McFarlane said. “As a reminder, the first few issues will be a lot of setup before we kick this into high gear.  Each issue isn’t meant to be its own stand-alone book.“

 

As if SPAWN #185’s cataclysmic and unforgettable opening wasn’t enough, readers were also introduced to the awakening of the mysterious and comatose Patient 47. In the pages that followed, secrets boiled to the surface and lives were lost, creating one of the greatest mysteries to hit the SPAWN mythos. While limited amounts of the first printing may still be available at your local comic book store, a second printing will hit stands soon to meet the additional demand. 

 

SPAWN #185 2nd ptg., a 32-page full color comic book for $2.95, will be available in stores soon. 

Well,if like me you are still trying to figure out how that Facebook announcement works and still can’t find the page,here’s a distraction!

Renee has been in touch with more news:

“Hi Everyone–

Just to let you know that Mark’s sketchlist is open for the Big Apple show, November 14-16th.  Write me for details.

Michael Golden will also be at the show and will be accepting a limited number of sketches to be done at the con, since his take home list is still full. He’ll also have copies of his new sketchbook, “Michael Golden: Heroes and Villains,” which are $100 with a sketch included on the inside, $40. without.

Hope to see you all at the show.

Regards,
Renee”

Eva Ink Artist Group

A rather rude and ignorant publisher has been in touch.

PRESS RELEASE - CELEBRATE THE CHINESE NEW YEAR WITH ARCHIBALD!

Archibald Aardvark returns in an all-new noir mystery this January!

 

29  October 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - Image Comics‘ Shadowline presents an all-new mature readers adventure with the greatest unknown cartoon star of yesteryear, Archibald Aardvark, as ARCHIBALD CHASES THE DRAGON!

 

“As always, this one’s definitely not for the kids,” said Archibald Aardvark creator and artist Grant Bond. “Having Dara Naraghi take over the writing is perfect, as ARCHIBALD CHASES THE DRAGON puts a whole new spin on the murder behind the murder of Archibald’s brother.”

 

ARCHIBALD CHASES THE DRAGON is the third Archibald one-shot illustrated by Bond, following ARCHIBALD SAVES CHRISTMAS & ARCHIBALD SAVES EASTER, and the first written by Naraghi. This time around a tip-off about a long thought solved murder brings Archibald to Little China, in search of the mysterious “Compassionate Wind of Death”. However, it doesn’t take long before this noir tale of greed, secrets and a deal with the devil threatens to have Archibald fall victim to the red dragon haunting his dreams.

 

ARCHIBALD CHASES THE DRAGON (NOV082277), a 32-page two-color one-shot for $3.50, will be in stores January 7th, 2008.

 

Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists.  Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently five partners in Image Comics (Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com. 

This is the Winter 2008/Spring 2009 Catalogue from Cinebook that you really ought to get.  Some 48 glossy paged gems of info on current and up-coming titles.

Just use the Cinebook link on the Blogroll and sign up for the online newsletter or to find out how to get this catalogue.

Time to look at the latest from Cinebook and a moment of confusion for me! 

  

Green Manor 2:The Inconvenience Of Being Dead  

Authors: Bodart - Vehlmann

Age: 12 years and up

Size: 18.4 x 25.7 cm

Number of pages: 96 colour pages

Paperback

Publication: September 2008

ISBN: 9781905460649

£9.99  A cup of tea? A drop of milk? A spoonful of poison? At first sight, nothing would make the very select club called Green Manor stand out from any other English club. Yet behind its thick walls, sunk into its deep chairs, hides the biggest bunch of con artists, bandits and murderers that Queen Victoria’s England has ever seen.  

When I read this the first time for reviewing I commented that I got very confused –then realised that some pages were printed twice!  Well,Olivier Cadic immediately contacted the Cinebook printer as their own copies did not seem to have this problem. It seems I had a one off and Olivier kindly replaced this within a week. My comments are the same as in that review;incredible artwork,great stories and tippy-toeing bobbies [coppers,scuffers,rozzers,Roberts whichever term you prefer] and a lovely title that I wish I’d thought of..hmm. Maybe I will –no! A fantastic book. 

 

Melusine 3:The Vampires’ Ball  Authors: Clarke - Gilson

Age: 8 years and up

Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm

Paperback

Number of pages: 48 colour pages

Publication: October 2008

£5.99

ISBN: 9781905460694 

Take out your nicest shrouds, dust off your coffins, and slick your spider webs: Melusine invites you to the great vampire ball. The little witch is back in a new series of gags, dreadfully funny as always. All her family is there: the witches Adrazelle and Cancrelune, of course, but also Mister and Madam, the owners of the haunted castle. 

Not sure why this artwork appeals to me. But,as I’ve said in the past,if I keep analysing everything to find out why I like it I could be here a loooong time. 

Mopping up the floor,spell-casting lessons,riding a broom,vampiric sleep-walking accidents,being chased by a religious maniac and even more incidents seem destined to make the young witch a very busy witch indeed. The story is nice and I’d sooner read a Melusine than a Tin-Tin any day. Wonderous. 

 

Lucky Luke 13:The Tenderfoot  Authors: Morris & Goscinny

Age: 8 years and up

Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm

Paperback Number of pages: 48 colour pages

Publication: October 2008

£5.99

ISBN: 9781905460656 

At the funeral of old Baddy, everybody is moved except Ready, who has waited for the 100-year-old man’s death a long time in order to buy his ranch. Unfortunately, the old fellow has an heir, Waldo, a “tenderfoot” who arrives straight from his native England accompanied by his butler Jasper. Two worlds clash: the ancient, so refined, and the new, equally “rustic.” Lucky Luke,like The Blue Boys/Bellies,seems to have defined how lots of European kids looked at the Wild West –until they discovered Blueberry,of course! 

I always seem to be looking down on LL but I’m really not. Sadly,my humour just seems to have left me as I’ve gotten older –though I can smile at Melusine or Green Manor!  Lucky Luke is one of those eternal European comic characters who will be around long after I’m gone from this mortal coil –probably proving a very valid point! Kids and a lot of adults love Lucky Luke! 

 

Blake & Mortimer 4:The Francis Blake Affair  Authors: Benoit & Van Hamme

Age: 8 years and up

Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm

PAPERBACK

Number of pages: 68 colour pages

Publication: September 2008

ISBN: 9781905460632

£7.99 

Scandal breaks in the London press: There is a mole in the Intelligence Service! And it appears without a doubt, on a photograph taken by agents of MI 5, that the mole wears the face of Francis Blake! Mortimer is determined to believe that his friend has been forced to act against his will. But the initial investigations sweep away this hypothesis: Blake has opened, under an assumed name, an account fed by payments coming from the

Bahamas. In a few months, he has withdrawn ₤30,000—more than 10 times his annual pay! With MI 5 agents planning to try Blake for high treason, or to kill him if needed, Mortimer decides to find his friend before they do. A long hunt begins.

Of course,£30.000 was a lot of money in the old days but that’s when the story is set and it’s nice to see that hasn’t been changed. And the story is good and pacey with it looking like Blake IS a traitor.  There was a very big chunk of confusion in my mind,though.  I read the book and thought:”Now hang on…this isn’t right!” I tried to remember the last B&M title I reviewed –“The Mystery Of The Great Pyramid”. It took a while to find in my cluttered,uh,’studio’,but when I did it was obvious why “The Francis Blake Affair” confused me.  At the end of volume 2 both Mortimer and Olrik were swearing to find the evil swine who had,apparently,killed Blake. In this latest book Blake was chairing a meeting at the outset. This was volume 4. 

I checked CBO [a site so big that it took me an hour to go over every Cinebook item reviewed. I’d not missed out reviewing volume 3,just never received it.  Phew! I really thought my memory had gone.  I loved the conclusion of the book where the troops looked positively like Dr Who U.N.I.T. men of the 1960s/1970s.  Storming the castle even reminded me of the Jon Pertwee “Mind Of Evil” Dr Who story. 

I think this series appeals to me because I was a BIG fan of John Creasy’s “Dr Palfrey” and “Department Z” books and there are touches of those here.  If you haven’t read Blake and Mortimer yet,you really should! 

Baz at BICS 2008

Had this missive turn up at the Yahoo Independent Comics Group so thought it might be of interest to those CBOers out there.  Take it way,Baz:

“Hi all

Thought I’d throw this idea out there to the groups, see what people think.

Back in one glorious month of August 2005, a group of comic creators across the UK took part in a simultaneous event over the bank holiday weekend. The “Comics Nation- 365 days and counting” event included workshops, signings in creators local comic stores, libraries, and bookshops. The results can be seen here: http://comicsnation .blogspot. com/

I’ve been think its probably time to do another Comics Nation event next year, but this time bigger better and leading into a major comics convention.

Looking at the schedule of 2009 on Paul Gravett’s site, we have a few to choose from:

February 14 to 15, 2009: Hi Ex ‘09, Inverness.

March 14, 2009: UK Webcomixthing, London

May 8 to 10, 2009: Bristol International Comic Expo, Bristol.

June 4 to 6, 2009: 2D Festival 2009, Derry, Northern Ireland.

July 18 to 19, 2009: London Film and Comic Con, London.

And more than likely, later in the year, another BICS and ComICA events to be added to the list.

With all this going on you’re probably wondering why bother doing another Comics Nation. Well, rather than wait for the people to come to you at these events, we’re saying go to THEM, in the places where you know they’ll be: galleries, libraries, comic shops, cafes, bookshops, schools, universities. By you engaging with them, opening their eyes to what is going on around them will encourage them to be more involved and more creative themselves. If this event happens just before a major con, they’ll probably want to go and check out other peoples work too. At the very least, as creators, you will sell more copies of your book.

Last time I created a questionaire for people to complete and provide their chosen venue with any relevant info on what they would be planning to do and sell; a press contacts list which can be added to by individuals; and a standard press release which people could alter to fit with their event, and a general FAQ. The results were added to the blog.

I’ll be doing the same this time round, and of course with the benefits of facebook, youtube, podcasts and numerous other sites, we can get greater coverage than ever before.

So if you fancy organising an event, if you already have an event that you’d like to include under the banner of Comics Nation and benefit from the cross publicity, if you have any ideas or queries, let us know. At the moment I’m looking again at the august bank holiday 2009, but I’m open to suggestions.

Email us offlist at editor@enginecomics .co.uk.

cheers

Baz
www.enginecomics. co.uk”

And you never know what I’ll do!

Image and Arcana back on CBO? “What?!” you may ask. No,rudeness and ignorance has prevailed I’m afraid and no responses to my emails.

 So why?

Because publishers have always tended to be rude jerks.  But by not promoting the titles that creators have worked hard on it is those creators who suffer.  So,the creators win out every time.

Ahhh,it’s good to be the King -but can I have the money instead?

PRESS RELEASE - THE SECRETS OF SPAWN REVEALED IN THE BOOK OF THE DEAD!

Steve Niles, Ashley Wood and David Hine reveal Spawn’s secrets this December!

 

23rd October 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - The secrets behind the Spawn universe are revealed in this December’s SPAWN: BOOK OF THE DEAD, courtesy of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT creator Steve Niles, STRANGE EMBRACE’s David Hine and HELLSPAWN’s Ashley Wood. 

 

“Spawn: Book of the Dead is an overview of more than 200 issues of various stories spread out over multiple titles. The intent of this book was to try and condense those thousands of pages, ideas and characters into a digestible version for those who haven’t been keeping their own notebook about my flagship character, ” said Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. “To help bring this idea to life, Steve Niles took my ideas and strung together a timeline of some of those events. Then, the near impossible task of putting artwork to the huge mythology of Spawn fell on the shoulders of Ashley Wood. With the help of David Hine and my able staff (as well as Ashley updating a handful of the art pieces), I hope that you will agree with me that the wait was definitely worth it.”

 

SPAWN: BOOK OF THE DEAD acts as the ultimate guide to the SPAWN mythos, putting new perspectives on fan favorite characters past, present and hints for the future. The 104-page, full color hardcover will feature a bundled edition strictly limited to 3,000 units, which includes an all-new Pewter Raven Spawn figurine that will never be made available anywhere else. In addition, every single hardcover will be hand-signed by SPAWN creator, Todd McFarlane. 

SPAWN: BOOK OF THE DEAD HC (OCT082256), a 104-page full color hardcover and limited-edition toy for $32.99, will be in stores December 3rd, 2008.

 

Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists.  Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently five partners in Image Comics (Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com. 

The Girly Comic Book 1

Edited by Selina Lock – Book Design by Jay Eales – Cover Image by Des Taylor 

The first collection of stories culled from the pages of The Girly Comic, featuring the talents of industry professionals such as John Stokes, Mike Collins, Simon Fraser, mpMann and Martin Millar, veteran indy creators such as Lee “Inner City Pagan” Kennedy, Terry “Sleaze Castle” Wiley and Jeremy Dennis, alongside exciting new talents from the British Small Press scene and beyond. 

“Make them rich, and hopefully they’ll keep on doing what they do for a long, long time.” - Mike Carey (from his introduction) 

“An absolute gem of a publication” - Comic Creators Guild 

“One of the undisputed stars of the small press” - Savantmag 

“Basically, you have to read this” - Regie Rigby, Fool Britannia 

The Girly Comic features self-contained comic strips across all genres with female protagonists. From the autobiographical tales of Lee Kennedy to the Two Fat Ladies meets Ghostbusters of Oddcases by Alistair Pulling and Bevis Musson; From Terry Wiley’s Surreal School Stories to Martin Millar’s Good Fairies of New York with Simon Fraser. 

Hardback – 280 B/W pages - ￡15 – Published October 2008 – Introduction by Mike Carey 

————————————————————————————————————-

Factor Fiction is the publishing imprint of Jay Eales and Selina Lock. Formed in 2000 with the publication of Walking In Eternity, a highly acclaimed unofficial Doctor Who collection raising funds for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death (FSID). In 2002, Factor Fiction launched the first issue of ongoing anthology The Girly Comic, followed in 2004 by the addition of Violent! to the Factor Fiction stable with it’s sixth issue. In 2008, Factor Fiction launched twin webcomic sites to showcase strips from the archives in order to increase the international readership of our titles. As of writing, The Girly Comic #18 and Violent! #14 have recently been published. For more information, visit our website: www.factorfictionpress.co.uk

Girly webcomics at: www.factorfictionpress.co.uk/webcomic

and Violent! webcomics at: www.factorfictionpress.co.uk/violentwebcomic

————————————————————————————————————-

Jay Eales is the Editor of Violent! He was News Features Editor of the award-winning comics magazine Borderline and co-organises Britain’s longest running comic convention, Caption. His comic strips have featured in the UK DVD of the movie American Splendor, The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga Volume 1 (Constable/Robinson) and in Negative Burn (Desperado/Image) 

Selina Lock is the Editor of The Girly Comic. She co-organises the Oxford-based comic convention Caption. She has been published in the Norwegian teenage comic Baddis, Borderline, Redeye, Tribal Magazine and the Crazy Like Us blog. 

The Girly Comic Book 1 will be launched officially at Thought Bubble in Leeds on November 15th, where several contributors will be in attendance. 

For further information: jay.eales@googlemail.com and selina.lock@googlemail.com