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PRESS RELEASE - WAR HEROES DEPLOYS A SELL OUT!

Mark Millar and Tony Harris‘ superhero miniseries sells out upon release!

 

30 July 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - Within twenty four hours of release, Mark Millar and Tony Harris’ WAR HEROES has sold out at a distribution level and a second printing is on the way to meet demand!

 

“Much like KICK ASS, the response to WAR HEROES has taken a lot of people by surprise,” said Millar. “Stores all over are reporting sell outs and are reordering as many as possible, even as the initial supply is exhausted! Those fans from ULTIMATES are coming to WAR HEROES in droves so we’re putting even more copies out there! Retailers are advised to order up as our initial printing had a substantial overprint and that clearly wasn’t enough for the fans!”

 

With WAR HEROES, Millar and Harris have created a thematic sequel to their many works including CIVIL WAR, KICK ASS, EX MACHINA and especially THE ULTIMATES as a United States torn by terrorism gives its citizens the one thing they can use to fight back against a world gone mad - superpowers. The second printing will feature a new cover by Harris, spotlighting the super-powered nature of their soldiers of tomorrow.

 

WAR HEROES #1 second printing, a 32-page full color comic book for $2.99, will be in stores this August.

 

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 four partners in Image Comics (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 from John Freeman.

“Hi All

downthetubes.net Beano Birthday Tribute Live

British comics news and links site downthetubes.net is proud to publish the first art and memories we’ve received from a range of creators, including Garen Ewing, Stephen Baskerville and Kev F Sutherland, to mark The Beano’s 70th Birthday this month.

You can find our special tribute section here:

http://www.downthetubes.net/features/comics/beano/beano_at_70/index.html

If anyone wants to offer their own memories or art, you can send them to me via johnfreeman6-downthetubes@yahoo.co.uk or post to this thread on the downthetubes forum – art and comment allowed… (registration required to try to prevent spammers and scammers):

http://preview.tinyurl.com/5ah9lc

The Beano is of course © DC Thomson.

Cheers, and best wishes,

John Freeman”

Tuesday,30th July,2008.  Mark that day well.  As Paul Brown [alleged artist] and Darron Northall [alleged and rumoured but never proven] paid their usual weekly visit to the Black Tower [or Uncle Terry’s Studio of the Macabre and Weird].  As usual,Mr.Brown scoffed every biscuit without the scantest regard for how a poor old man pays for them.  In fact,being honest,Mr.Brown did bring along a packet of Jaffa Cake biscuits to ease the strain.  He ate all of them as well.

Darron Northall complained about a speck of dust on his mug of tea,dog hairs and,temporarily,blacked out as I tried to explain what was going on in the Marvel universe with specific reference to Captain America’s death,his reappearance as a Skrull,then as Bucky wearing Cap’s outfit and a renegade loony Captain America -oh,and the Invaders time warping to modern NY along with Captain America.

Discussed was Blake Bell’s excellent -SUPERB- Steve Ditko book which Mr.Brown will be reviewing,as well as the Alan Moore introduction to issue One of Brown & Northall’s hit 1980s Vigilante Vulture series. And Mt.Brown announced that he may revive the anthropomorphic vigilante.  Mind you,he also said he was awaiting the script for the now almost mythical Outlaws 4022 part 2.

And Darron [”I ain’t casing the Bank”] Northall’s reaction?  He promises to complete all six Outlaws scripts by January,2009 and to re-write some of his Vulture scripts.

One should bear in mind that,after heavy consumption of tea and biscuits little Paulie does get a little hyperactive -he promised to produce 69000 pages for Indian comics by September.  One should also bear in mind that Mr.Northall [”the lock-in Kid”] is a fibber.

That said,look at the photo below.  Would these tough honchoes lie?  Go on -look!

 Below,Paul Brown quivers with excitement as he announces that he is still “The Daddy” and will “re-imagine Vigilante Vulture for the post-Thatcherite 21st Century totalitarian fascist right wing Labour UK”.  Nice boy.

Will these men now deny their promises?  And what of the alleged deal they made with DC comics to incorporate Vigilante Vulture into the DC Universe?

Only time will tell.

ps. some of the above may be nothing more than lies a joke.  Maybe.

Victor Gorelick is given the Inkpot Award

Archie Comics‘ Editor-in-Chief, Victor Gorelick, was honored with a surprise presentation of the legendary Inkpot Award during the 2008 Comic-Con International. The Inkpot Award was presented to Victor by the Comic Con’s Gary Sassaman, during Victor Gorelick’s Spotlight Panel.

Victor Gorelick has worked at Archie Comics for 50 years, and is a veteran of the comic industry. Victor joined Archie Comic as an art assistant, and has served as production coordinator, art director. After being art director for a number of years, Victor was promoted to Managing Editor and Richard Goldwater became President and Editor-in-Chief. Victor now services as Archie Comic’s Editor-in-Chief. Victor has unique knowledge of every facet of the editorial process required to create and publish successful comics. He has done everything from writing to coloring, and everything between. He has highly regarded artistic skills and an eye for meticulous detail. He also has a well honed sense of the wholesome content of Archie Comics that has been the basis for the bond of trust built with readers by Archie Comic down through the years. He has worked closely with numerous companies designing various custom comic books. For example, he has overseen collaborations between Archie Comic and Kraft General Foods, Radio Shack and even the F.B.I.! He is a moving force on the Comic Magazine Association of America’s Code Authority Guidelines Committee, a member of the Board of Advisors of the Joe Kubert School where many of today’s comic artists first learned their craft, and he has taught cartooning as an instructor at the Kingsborough Community College in New York City.

Since 1974, Comic-Con International has awarded the Inkpot Award. It is an achievement award given to professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields.

Past Archie Comics Recipients of the Inkpot Award include, Al Hartley in 1980, Bill Woggon in 1981, Dan DeCarlo and George Gladir in 1991, Stan Goldberg in 1994, Irv Novick in 1995, Batton Lash in 2004, Bob Bolling, Bob Fujitani and Dexter Taylor in 2005.

We at Archie Comics would like to congratulate Victor Gorelick on receiving Comic-Con International’s 2008 Inkpot Award.

The announcement came out of the blue [well,San Diego Comic Con actually]:DC announced that it now had the Archie Comics “MLJ” heroes such as the Black Hood,Shield and so on. The characters were going to initially appear in The Brave & The Bold comic -hence the above illo featuring Batman.

I’ve had a few hundred emails since and Yahoo groups dedicated to these much loved characters have seen a virtual hurricane of activity asking “What?” “Who?” “When?” And more specifically:”Why the hell didn’t you tell us this was happening?!”

Well,for one thing,although I do heavily promote Archie on CBO as well as elsewhere,I am NOT privvy to company info.  I rely on what Archie tells me.

As it stands what I know is this:at San Diego,Dan Didio announced that it had “licenced” [?] the MLJ characters from the Golden Age -Silver Age also though Joe Simon copyright excludes the use of Lancelot Strong and The Fly [in the illo above rather deceptively has the Fly in it–I’m told DC had not realised that Fly and Strong were copyrighted to Joe Simon,pointing to a lack of knowledge on comic book history].

The characters will appear in The Brave & The Bold and then spread out into the DC universe,guesting in other books and so on. 

This is rather odd.  If the characters are licenced then when a trade paperback of B&B or JLA or whatever featuring the characters is put together a NEW licence would be needed. Very odd.  Not how DCs owners work normally.

 J. Michael Straczynski,having now left Marvel after years of writing the same old story again and again and having written The Twelve which showed his “love” of these characters probably never existed in the first place,is set to sort through the 1940s MLJ characters to see which he wants to use. 

Straczynski,apparently,”loved” these characters as a kid “but needs to do more research on them”. Yeah,obviously a ‘major’ fan.  And echoing the usual bilge,when asked by Newsarama about his move from Marvel to DC,JMS stated:

“I think the DC universe is a bit lighter and more polished in some respects, but that’s neither better nor worse than being grittier or darker, it’s mainly a philosophical thing. Growing up, I always enjoyed Marvel, but I was a massive DC fan particularly in terms of Batman, Superman and the core DC characters. I have one of the biggest collections of Superman stuff on the Western seaboard.”

Oh. Right. “..a bit lighter and more polished” –sorry,are we talking about THE DC comics?! But didn’t JMS say how he was the “biggest Marvel” fan when he signed to them?

And didn’t he “love” those Marvel characters as a kid as well?

Sorry,but JMS was brilliant -BRILLIANT- when it came to Babylon 5 but comics,well,he has run out of ideas.  Having chanced The Twelve I’ll not be chancing his take on the MLJ characters.  I’ll leave that up to the hardcore “JMS can do nothing wrong” mob.

A major problem has been that DC made all the announcements and rumours have filtered through of DC and Didio stating at San Diego that they “own” the characters.  Archie is silent and will not make a PR statement on the matter.

I’ve had several mails from people saying they have heard Archie may sell out completely to DC next year.  This is RUBBISH.  There is no commercial sense in doing that and getting rid of a much loved family business.  However,the Archie silence is fuelling the rumours which could harm the company in a number of ways.

I cannot see the sense in remaining silent.  A simple statement such as follows would scotch ALL rumours:

“Archie Comics has licenced its adventure characters [referred to generally as the “MLJ heroes”] to DC comics for a specified period.  Archie still owns all copyright on these characters. News on how DC will use these characters will be released by DC.”

So,watch this space as we try to sort out what the rumour mill is grinding up!

BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #186

 “Party Game”: Dragged to another high-society party by Veronica, Betty resigns herself to the fact that Veronica will once again get all the attention… or will she?

SCRIPT: Mike Pellowski.

ART: Tim Kennedy.

“Picnic Panic”: The girls are looking for something to do, so Jughead suggests a picnic… as long as he can come along!

SCRIPT: Mike Pellowski.

ART: Jeff Shultz.

Shipping Date: July 30^th, 2008

On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: August 6^th, 2008

On Sale on Newsstands: August 12^th, 2008

Full color digest format

$2.49 US.

BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #163

PART 3 OF A 5-PART, INTERACTIVE STORY WHERE THE READERS DECIDE THE OUTCOME!

“And the Winner Is… Part 3 of 5”: 2008 is an election year, and Archie Comics is no exception as we present a special election of our own: your chance to vote for Cheryl Blossom’s new boyfriend! Two issues ago, Reggie and Cheryl broke up, and Cheryl wound up on the TV show “The Lonely Hearts Club” in search of a new beau. Three hot contestants stepped up for the challenge, and you the reader will witness each of their dates with Cheryl and vote for who you think Cheryl should choose online at www.archiecomics.com! This issue, Cheryl goes on a date with Brandon . He’s a computer genius and entrepreneur, but even clumsier than Archie! That might be more than Cheryl can handle… unless your votes decide otherwise! Don’t miss out on the Archie Comics event of the summer – be sure to reserve every issue!

SCRIPT AND ART: Dan Parent.

ALSO: “Pool Players”: Tired of all the splashing kids at the public pool where she lifeguards, Betty can’t wait to “relax” around Veronica’s pool… or will she?

SCRIPT: Mike Pellowski.

ART: Tim Kennedy.

PLUS: Other new and classic tales!

SCRIPT AND ART: Various talents.

BONUS: Puzzles, games and pin-ups!

Shipping Date: July 30^th, 2008

On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: August 6^th, 2008

On Sale on Newsstands: August 12^th, 2008

Full color digest format

$3.69 US.

ALETHEIA #3 (of 3)

story, art & cover BOB LEFEVRE

32 PAGES, FC, $3.50

The mysterious

Ruse reveals his true identity, only to leave Medusa with a stone cold choice that forces her to decide between love or death – with the fate of the Ancient Gods in the balance! Don’t miss the stunning conclusion to this acclaimed miniseries!

 

And one for Mr.Brown!

  

 

AMERICAN FLAGG! VOL. 1 HC

story HOWARD CHAYKIN, art HOWARD CHAYKIN, JAMES SHERMAN, PAT BRODERICK & RICK BURCHETT, cover HOWARD CHAYKIN

440 PAGES, FC, $49.99, LTD SIGNED & NUMBERED HC $69.99

At last: AMERICAN FLAGG! — created, written and illustrated by HOWARD CHAYKIN and winner of numerous awards and honors, including nine Eagle Awards — available for the first time as a deluxe hardcover collecting the series’ first groundbreaking story arc!

Plus! Additional cover paintings, sketches and promotional pieces by CHAYKIN, a MICHAEL CHABON introduction, an afterword by JIM LEE, and as a special bonus – a brand-new AMERICAN FLAGG! story written and illustrated by HOWARD CHAYKIN exclusively for this edition!

Collects AMERICAN FLAGG! #1-14

 

 

COMIC BOOK TATTOO OGN

by PIA GUERRA, JOHN REPPION, LEAH MOORE, DAVID MACK, MIKE DRINGENBERG, COLLEEN DORAN, JONATHAN HICKMAN, JAMES OWEN, ERIC CANETE, TED McKEEVER, JOCK, ANTONY JOHNSTON, and over 70 more!, edited by RANTZ A. HOSELEY, cover JASON “STUNTKID” LEVESQUE

480 PAGES, FC, SC $29.99, HC $49.99

LTD SIGNED & NUMBERED HC $149.99

INSPIRED BY THE SONGS OF TORI AMOS!

Over 80 of the best creators from every style and genre, have contributed over 50 stories to this anthology featuring stories inspired by the songs of multi-platinum recording artist, TORI AMOS. Featuring an introduction by NEIL GAIMAN, with stories by creators such as CARLA SPEED McNEIL, MARK BUCKINGHAM, C.B. CEBULSKI, NIKKI COOK, HOPE LARSON, JOHN NEY REIBER, RYAN KELLY and many, many others, COMIC BOOK TATTOO encapsulates the breadth, depth and beauty of modern comics in this coffee table format book.

 

DEAD SPACE #5 (of 6)

story ANTONY JOHNSTON, art & cover BEN TEMPLESMITH

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

REAL SPACE. REAL TERROR.

The infection has begun! The colonists of Aegis VII begin a desperate fight for survival in the face of the necromorph onslaught, as the true scope of their fate becomes clear. Can anyone escape before the colony is overrun?

 

 

ELEPHANTMEN #13

story RICHARD STARKINGS, art MORITAT, covers KEVIN EASTMAN & BOO COOK

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

SPORE WARS!

Don’t go down to the beach in

Santa Monica today, people are dying – and it’s not because they didn’t put on their sun block! LAPD’s resident Elephantman, Lieutenant Trench, investigates and what he finds isn’t pretty.

I just about nabbed the last copy off the shelf because standing orders don’t seem to exist in Forbidden Planet [

Bristol] any more!  This next one is a GREAT read!

 

 

 

INVINCIBLE #51

story ROBERT KIRKMAN, art RYAN OTTLEY & BILL CRABTREE, cover JIM LEE & BILL CRABTREE

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

New costume! New beginning! New home! New Partner! Everything is all-new starting with this issue. Featuring an all-new cover by comic book super-star JIM LEE! If you’ve ever thought about reading INVINCIBLE this is the jumping-on point you’ve been waiting for. The next fifty issues start here!

  

 

LIBERTY COMICS: A CBLDF BENEFIT BOOK (ONE-SHOT)

stories ED BRUBAKER, DARWYN COOKE, GARTH ENNIS, MARK EVANIER & MARK MILLAR, art SERGIO ARAGONES, DARWYN COOKE, JOHN PAUL LEON, SEAN PHILLIPS & DARICK ROBERTSON, covers J. SCOTT CAMPBELL & MIKE MIGNOLA

32 PAGES, FC, $3.99

DEFEND YOUR

LIBERTY!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Image Comics defend your freedom of speech with LIBERTY COMICS, an all-new 32-page, full color comic book crammed cover-to-cover with work by many of today’s top creative talents. This mature readers anthology is printed in a high quality format and features all-new stories of THE BOYS and CRIMINAL as well as all-new creations from some of your favorite artists. All proceeds benefit the CBLDF and their efforts to protect your creative rights!

RETAILER WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

 

I lost track of Madman due to already standing order problems but…

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS, VOL. 1 TP

story MICHAEL ALLRED, art & cover MICHAEL ALLRED & LAURA ALLRED

“EXISTENTIAL EXITS!”

This if the first collection from MICHAEL ALLRED’s acclaimed and groundbreaking new MADMAN series. Many story elements from the Madman mythos fulfill their promise in this volume collecting the “Madman in Space!” arc and the now legendary “Swiped From Dimension X” issue. Everything you need to know about where Frank “Madman” Einstein came from and where he’s going are contained herein!

Collects MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #1-7

  

 

NOCTURNALS: CARNIVAL OF BEASTS (ONE-SHOT)

story DANIEL BRERETON, art DANIEL BRERETON, VIKTOR KALACHEV & RUBEN

MARTINEZ, cover DANIEL BRERETON

64 PAGES, FC, $6.99

Celebrate the return of Nocturnals with three rings of savagery in NOCTURNALS: CARNIVAL OF BEASTS. In the fully painted “Beasts”, Doc Horror unleashes an inner demon while settling an old score with a viper’s nest of disturbed scientists. “The Scrimshaw Crown” follows amphibian girl, Starfish, tracking a haunted sea monster. In “Candy Butchers,” Halloween Girl, the Gunwitch and Polychrome encounter toothsome carnies.

PROOF #10

story ALEX GRECIAN, art & cover RILEY ROSSMO

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

“THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO,” Part One

Are there angels in

America’s corn belt? That’s what Proof’s going to find out. Meanwhile, Ginger Brown returns to

New York where she meets a golem. Again.

 

SCUD: THE WHOLE SHEBANG! TPB

story ROB SCHRAB, DAN HARMON, & MONDY CARTER art & cover ROB SCHRAB & JACK GREY

786 PGS, BW, $29.99/$99.99 HC

“BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END”

Scud is programmed to destroy a basement monster but he will self destruct if he does, so the robotic assassin puts the wounded creature on life support and becomes a freelance assassin to pay for the hospital bills.

Collects SCUD #1-24, plus the super-sweet one-shot DRYWALL: UNZIPPED.

 

WAR HEROES #1 (OF 6)

story MARK MILLAR, art & cover TONY HARRIS

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

THE WRITER OF CIVIL WAR, THE ULTIMATES, KICK ASS AND WANTED! THE ARTIST OF STAR MAN, EX MACHINA AND SPIDER-MAN: GREAT POWER! TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME! If you’ve been wondering what MARK MILLAR had planned for ULTIMATES 3, then wonder no more – this is it! The mind that reinvented superheroes for the 21st Century joins forces with one of comicdom’s best artists to chart new courses for superhero action in a series that will definitely be one of the most talked about of the year!

 

YOUNGBLOOD #4

story JOE CASEY, art & cover DEREC DONOVAN, variant cover ROB LIEFELD

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

The ratings are through the roof and the critics have labeled it a smash hit! And it’s all leading up to the big showdown: Youngblood vs. Mayhem, Inc! Head-to-head combat! Who lives? Who dies? And who’s sponsoring the whole thing? Celebrity superheroes like you’ve never seen them before! Plus, the return of a hero and a messenger from beyond the stars!

Kapteeni Kuolio:Tampereen Sankari

Pekka A. Manninen

Zum Teufel

Graphic novel                                                                                                                                                      

96pp

B5 [slightly smaller than US Comic size]

Black & white +9 colour collectors cards

ISBN: 978-952-5754-00-1

Price: €14.00

 

If you do not know it by now let me make it clear:I am a BIG fan of Finnish creator Pekka A. Manninen. And a big fan of his great creation Kapteeni Kuolio [or,Captain Gangrene if you prefer].

Sadly,little of Manninen’s work has made it into the English language –mainly strips Pekka translated and I’ve published in Zine Zone or Comic Bits.  Waaaaaaay too few to show any appreciation for the talented creator or the creation!

Looking through this collection of Kapteeni Kuolio strips from Pekka’s Sarjari comic,the one thing that shows through is that there is fun here –a tongue planted firmly in the cheek of the creator. I keep trying to see just what it is that I love about Kapteeni Kuolio –or even Igor Motor.  I sat at my desk ready to draw but got distracted by this book and so spent time going through it again. I then realised that it’s pointless trying to dissect and analyse the work. I just like it and that’s what counts.

I do not read Finnish so maybe the odd message in a strip flies past me,but I find a good comic strip can tell its own story.This book also comes with colour Kapteeni Kuolio collectors cards!

This collection,like Pekka’s other KK books –“Tamperkele” and “Pispalan Vampyyrit” and even the Napoleonic war based “Edesta Maan Ja Kuninkaan!” [written by Pekka but drawn by the brilliant Petri Hiltunen]—really ought to be published in English.  I think Dark Horse,or better still Image Comics with its increasing reputation for quality creator owned works,would be a perfect home.

If you do not mind the language [and Finnish is said to be the most difficult language to learn] then you can purchase the books,as well as issues of Sarjari,online via Zumteufel! 

The link is:

http://www.zumteufel.fi/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1446 

Give yourself a treat and get this book because it is a collection of quirky,great work.

If you haven’t been checking out the G4 coverage of San Diego now is the chance to catch up! The Watchmen movie,Hugh Jackman on Wolverine,comics and more -and the cute Blair Butler!

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/tag/72/Fresh_Ink.html

It seemed to be a very simple and run-of-the-mill request.  A company in India was going to publish three titles -one in colour.  They needed complete stories and asked what I could provide and what my lowest price was.

Okay,the £ is worth a lot of Indian Rupees.   So I suggested a pretty standard deal. THEY make me THEIR best offer and we’ll do the contract thingy.

The company seemed very happy with my response and said “…we will be taking 5000 pages from you to be delivered to us by beginning of 2009″.

er,5,000 pages,some in colour by January,2009.  Complete stories between 90-100 pages in length. I re-checked -that’s what it said.

I pointed out that there is absolutely no way that one artist can write/draw/colour 5000 pages in 5 months. 

At Western page rates the cost of complete comic packages as requested runs into thousands of pounds. But I wasn’t even told what the company would pay.

I pointed out that I could put together a certain number of packages and scan these to send them.  Oh no,they wanted hard copies of the pages. That would cost around £50 in postage alone!

So,I suggested they go over my package proposal,suggest a price and then we could sign a contract.

Another email asking for my address and phone number as they had a “friend” in London who could perhaps work out a deal. Well,no. I asked who this “friend” was and pointed out that I could only deal with the company involved for very obvious legal reasons.  I told them to re-check my proposal and get back to me.

Nothing.

It is sheer insanity as well as a fantasy to think one artist could draw 5000 original pages featuring original characters and send a complete package in five months -without a contract or payment details.  There is a tradion in India of reprinting and reprinting and not necessarily legally [as IPC pointed out to me].

Were it even possible to draw the 5000 pages and copying them [you are talking about a couple thousand for that alone and in excess of £50.00 postage and more for insurance I would be giving it all away with no guarantee of..anything.

Normally,a company would ask for a package and suggest a starter price as well as deadline date. If okay then a contract is signed and work gets under way.

Today,with an ever-growing comic industry in far away lands,the risks increase for writers/artists to be ripped off.  If you get offered a big project as an artist or writer then,after signing of a contract,you should at least expect 50% in advance payment -if you can do the work and keep to a deadline.

Just be aware of the risks.