Webcomics in paper formats
I just received a review copy of Bone: Quest for the Spark Book Two by Tom Sniegoski with illustrations from Bone creator Jeff Smith. I reviewed the first book in March of this year. This second book in the series isn't going to be available until February of next year. So if you're looking for a Bone-related gift this month go with the first book and I'll get my thoughts up on the second book sometime in January next year.
Boo! An unexpected update from the undead ComixTALK.
FANG TEN: Just in time for Halloween, Boom Studios is serializing Dracula: The Company of Monsters on the web. About 14 pages so far, it looks like it might be fun, so far jumping between the time of Vlad the Impaler and a present-day ruthless corporate boss. Also it's credited as created by Kurt Busiek so it's got that going for it.
SUPERTORT: The ABA (American Bar Association and that's bar as in lawyers not martinis… er well maybe both) Journal has a list of the top 10 superhero lawyers. (Side Bar: I'd never heard of the character of Manhunter before but I'd hate to see what DC would do her costume — there's not much there to be rebooted… if you know what I mean — and I hope you because I don't.)
DINOMITEOSAUR: Are y'all reading Hipsters? The hipsters versus dinosaurs storyline is pretty funny.
YOU WILL SUBMIT: The videogame-themed website Joystiq is still soliciting videogame-themed webcomics to suggest themselves to its Weekly Webcomic Roundup. I may have found the comic Brentalfloss from there — I definitely chuckled at the ones I got although some… whoosh, didn't get.
MILESTONES: Brad Guigar made his 2000th pun this month. Wait wait — I meant to say he posted his 2000th Evil, Inc strip October 22nd. He made his 2000th pun before he could walk.
PRINTED THINGS: Shaenon Garrity has a new giant omnibus collection of her first webcomic Narbonic with all six years of the strip into two fat volumes. Copies are available through the Couscous store.
TO THE BOING-CAVE: Cory Doctorow, technologist, writer, possible superhero, has reviewed some webcomics on Boing BOING recently including Scenes from a Multiverse and Red Light Properties.
GOTTA KEEP THOSE: I watched the pilot online when Michael Jonathan tweeted about it but I'll just borrow a bit from Gary who was diligent enough to keep blogging every single day for EVER…. taking a deep breath for a second… Anyhow Jonathan and others are working on a new MTV animated show called Good Vibes which runs after the resurrected Beavis and Butthead show (which by the way — I guess they're now going to watch MTV reality shows since the network doesn't play videos anymore).
MAILBAG: Harvey Award nominated Terry LaBan writes that the webcomic Muktuk Wolfsbreath, Hard Boiled Shaman is nearing completion. This actually has gotten a ton of praise from other creators and critics and it's on my list to check out. It's "a dark tale of love, metaphysics and obsession set among reindeer-herding tribesmen in the chilly forests of Siberia" — probably perfect for this time of year!
NOT WEBCOMICS: And I leave you with this montage of clips from Big Trouble in Little China — watch it and wonder if Kurt Russell actually knows what's going on!
As long as I am an American citizen and American blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write and to publish whatever I please on any subject.
– Elijay Lovejoy
Elijay Lovejoy was a real life abolistionist and newspaper editor who died in Alton, Illinois at the hands of a mob intent on squelching his right to a free press. Lovejoy was in Illinois because a mob had attacked and destroyed three press during his tenure as an editor in St Louis, Missouri. The Death of Elijay Lovejoy by Noah Van Sciver seemed a good book to tackle for a review on the day we celebrate the American Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights that ultimately flows from the establishment of the United States of America.
Sidekicks by Dan Santat is pretty cool. It's a story about animal sidekicks to superheroes, specifically the four pets of Captain Amazing, Metro City's aging superhero. Each of the four pets has their own story: Fluffy the Hamster is trying to become a hero, Metal Mutt wants to spend more time with Captain Amazing, Manny the cat needs to reconcile with Captain Amazing and Shifty the Chameleon… I guess he wants to belong too. I think Fluffy is probably the core of the book but just barely — Santat does spread the story around Captain Amazing and the sidekicks.
Ellen Lindner, Mardou and Jeremy Day, collectively the U.K.-based comics band Whores of Mensa, invited a big group of their friends to participate in the fifth issue of their anthology series. Subtitled "Small But Mighty Mini Edition" this book's theme is parties and celebrations and features a collage cover in a style somewhere between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's.
I had a crush on a Latvian-American girl in college. She preferred the stoner surfer guy down the hall. That's the extent of my knowledge of the Baltic country. Earlier this year I received four mini-comics from Latvian publisher kuš! komiksi. Kuš!" (pronounced kush!) puts out the only comics magazine in the Baltics. The aim of "kuš!" is to popularize comics in a country where they claim comics are practically non-existant. That's a worthy goal indeed.
The four mini-comics I received include The Story of Gardens, Weeding, Being, and Bearslayer Returns.
Pilot & Huxley by Dan McGuiness is shorter graphic novel – coming in around 60ish pages. I have to admit on my first read I found it a bit ehhh, a little like a younger version of countless Cartoon Network cartoon series. The x-girls, however, both assured me they thought it was really funny.
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).
After a well-received first graphic novel, Jake Parker returns with another action story featuring his rodent hero, Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3.
Ansis Purins' Zombre #2 The Magic Forest dropped out of nowhere on me last week. I wasn't familiar with Purins' work beforehand and therefore missed Zombre #1. Purins won a Xeric grant earlier this year for this project so it's great to see the finished comic out in the wild. It's a really well done production clocking in at 48 pages and you can get it at his website.
Purins' pitch for the comic is “It’s Harry Potter meets Yogi Bear meets Night Of The Living Dead!” I don't know about that, but there is something oddly charming about this very low key, sweet tale of a magical (in a sort-of-Saturday morning cartoon kind of way) forest. Zombre is, well a zombie, but a friendly one who has apparently kicked the brains habit. It's a reinvention of zombie as nonthreatening and cuddly forest creature.
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