I have to admit, I thought the actual Cowboys & Aliens webcomics were predictable and boring, but that the concept was near genius. It practically pitches itself. The movie has a lot going for it including Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig plus Director Jon Favreau:
Whew! Made it to Friday.
NEW/SHINY!: Blaise Larmee’s new webcomic 2001 uses a sprawling, scrolling canvas. Fits the subject. (h/t Sean T Collins)
iWEBCOMICS: Joey Manley covers the latest kerfluffle arising from Apple's App Store policy changes.
REVIEW: Pop Matters reviews Cameron Stewart's Sin Titulo. (h/t Comics Reporter)
MAILBAG
Paulo Patrício writes that they are celebrating the tenth issue of Le Sketch, and decided to cross the paper-digital divide Le Sketch #10 – The Augmented Reality Issue. The sketches in this issue literally pop out and float in space, showcasing previously unpublished sketches by Jorge Alderete, Matt Madden, Nick Bertozzi, Peter Kuper, Marcellus Hall, Steven Weissman, Craig Atkinson & Matthew Thurber. Soon after going on line, a limited print run of folded cards will be available for collectors at selected comic bookstores. Free, as usual! Please, before downloading your PDF, read the "Instructions" section carefully. Use under normal lighting conditions.
Claudio Ghirardo writes about the debut of his monthly comic, Paintedcomic, a drama/comedy series of short, introspective stories where the main character, an enigmatic artist, is usually seen drawing in a sketchbook and the circumstances he confronts and deals with. Some stories are based fon Ghirado's real life experiences and some are fictionalized. The premiere stories for this month will be “Inspiration and Muse” and “Aging”. On this project, Ghirardo plans to combine his background in modern and contemporary art with his sequential storytelling training.
In addition to the update this morning mentioning the Joe Shuster Award nominations for this year, it's also time for professionals to send in nominations for the 2011 Harvey Awards. The Harveys are named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry's most innovative talents, and recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art.
Ballots can be downloaded from HarveyAwards.org and completed forms can be e-mailed to harveyballots@hotmail.com.
Returning for his third consecutive Harvey Awards, Scott Kurtz will be the Master of Ceremonies for the awards banquet, to be held Saturday, August 20, 2011 as part of the Baltimore Comic-Con. This year's Baltimore Comic-Con will be held August 20-21, 2011.
There's a lot to catch up on this morning so let's get to it:
AWARDS
MILESTONES
INTERVIEW
REVIEW: Ed Sizemore reviews Ben Costa's Pang the Wandering Shaolin Monk.
MAILBAG
Rigby, by Lee Leslie, may have already ventured into the world of high fantasy, but now the heroine and her eponymous webcomic are venturing into the world of print comics. Pre-orders are currently open and will run until February 11. This is RiGBY’s first official print appearance, and the 20 page, full color comic will only be available at conventions and signings after the pre-sale. Those fans pre-ordering the comic will also be treated to a high resolution digital version.
IN MAPS & LEGENDS, illustrated by Niki Smith and written by Michael Jasper, continues with its fourth issue on February 2, 2011. With Bartamus' world falling apart around them, LaVonne, Jeremy, and Antawn venture deeper into unknown territory, while Kait travels into the darkness between worlds — and she's no longer alone. Smith and Jasper were named "Digital Creators of the Year" (along with Alex de Campi) for their work on IN MAPS & LEGENDS in 2010. Artist Niki Smith is an artist and writer who is currently working on a handful of creator-owned comic projects such Some Did Rest. Her work has also appeared in several English language and German comic anthologies. Writer Michael Jasper has published three novels, a story collection, and over four dozen short stories in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, Polyphony, Writers of the Future, and the Raleigh News & Observer, and other fine venues. His most recent novel is A Gathering of Doorways (Wildside Press, 2009).
Nominations open on Friday February 4th and run until March 7th for the world-famous Eagle Awards. The top five nominations in each section will then be verified and voting gets underway on March 14th. The Eagles award winners will be announced May 27th in a live ceremony the London Comic Con at London MCM Expo. The awards ceremony will be streamed LIVE to the world over the Internet.
Sorry for the lack of updates this week, but your ace reporter is feeling a bit under the weather right now. So let's open up the ComixTALK mailbag! First there's a note from John Allie who wrote an essay about feminism as it pertains to webcomics. There have been more than a few controversial comics and statements by cartoonists all of which Allie tackles in the essay. It's very interesting work and well worth reading. Here's one snippet from it that sets out its thesis:
The openness of the webcomics medium has made it fertile ground for female cartoonists, which has led to an influx of women into the field, both as creators and readers. While misogyny may still exist in many popular webcomics, readers do not allow these slips to pass without comment, and the number of webcomics by, for, and about women is increasing.
And of course how about a little hype for some new webcomics:
Nathan Bonner writes that after some 900+ pages and nearly seven years, my space adventure webcomic Indavo ended last May. I have recently switched gears and worked with my partener-in-crime, Jamie Miller, to produce a new webcomic – Shamus Stone. It's a film Noir-style Detective comic set in 1946 Chicago. It updates twice a week in glorious Black & White (No offense!)
steven "Scruffy" Atherton writes about his new webcomic Warts…And All which chronicles the misadventures of a somewhat disfunctional, riddled with "isms" American family. Comprised of a well meaning (albeit befuddled) father, a perpetualy at the "end-of-her-rope" mother, and an assortment of psychological disorders disguised as children. Sometimes raw, sarcastic, violent, blunt, it is always spinkled with a touch of love (haha). Anyone who has ever had to suffer a family should take consolation in the fact that they are not alone.
A few things from the web worth reading this morning:
DIGITAL COMICS: Brigid Alverson compares a couple of recent stories on pricing and profits in digital comics distribution. One of those stories is Todd Allen's breakdown of the revenue on a digital comic sale versus a print comic sale.
AWARDS: Are the Reubens the only major comics award program that doesn't recognize webcomics in some fashion? Btw, submissions for nominations to the 2010 Reubens are dues by February 6th.
THE MORE YOU KNOW: Brigid Alverson links to Paul Gravett's series of creator profiles and recommended reading.
CRAFT: Evan Dorkin posts some panel work he's done recently for Oni's upcoming Yo Gabba Gabba! anthology. Jeph Jacques also posted a sketch of some new characters for his webcomic Questionable Content.
PLUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
The blog TechDirt covers the dust-up between the webcomic Schlock Mercenary and the Franklin Covey company which has a trademark on the title of the popular book by Stephen Covey, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." Schlock's creator Howard Tayler has a funny and concise post up on the cease and desist letter he received regarding his parody "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates" which he is now retroactively changing to "The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries."
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