Independent Comics Thread

Topic

This is the thread to talk about comics that aren’t DC or Marvel Comics.

Replies

It seems that the only piece of De Campi’s recent work is Twisted Romance – everything else is not on Comixology (and image digital sales is no more)

I liked Twisted Romance, but I like much of her work. It might not suit all here.
No Mercy was fun, but had its own voice and style.
She also had a fun spy series – but that’s disappeared.

 

 

She also wrote the two Archie vs Predator mini-series. The second of which I coincidentally finished reading a couple of days ago. It was a lot of fun, in a nudge nudge wink wink kind of way; with some pointed commentary on the need to stay relevant in the marketplace. It also made me laugh out loud in a couple of places. Worth reading if you find the basic concept appealing.

[Sean Robinson]

The world may be ending and over half of us aren’t invited North(?), but who cares!

The Solicitations for June 2020 thread is up and running with:

AfterShock, Antarctic, Boom! Studios, Mad Cave and Scout

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Sean Robinson.

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DavidM, Todd

and we’ve also added

AC Comics, Archie, Dark Horse, Titan, and Valiant

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

[Sean Robinson]

Image for June – Newsarama

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Sean Robinson.

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Vikram, Todd

Any Witchblade fans here? Humble Bundle is doing a Witchblade sale at the moment. The entire “core” Witchblade series, plus Artefacts, Magdalena, the original Darkness Compendium and other bits & pieces on a pay want you want deal. Charities include the Hero Initiative. 10 days left.

I haven’t read Witchblade or the Darkness regularly since the early Michael Turner days, but got to say I’m tempted by this. Is this good stuff on the whole?

They also have a James Bond bundle on sale from Dynamite, including Ellis, Diggle, Robinson, Pak, and Parker’s work.

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njerry

If you like Sejic’s art, it was Witchblade that gave him his break, with the character getting a redesign to move away from being T&A.

Was nice to see this in both the Vancouver Sun and Province this week (both had a nice chunk of a page with a big piece of art).
(Writer is from Vancouver and the artist is from Portland).
I’m interested. Hope they get to keep it going (2 issues out so far).

Image Comics Link

Star Wars meets Breaking Bad in Johnnie Christmas’s new sci-fi tale Tartarus

Johnnie Christmas has a pretty good elevator pitch for Tartarus, his new comic book: “Star Wars meets Breaking Bad.”

The Image Comics series marks the first time the Vancouver-based creator is credited solely as writer. Two of his recent projects included adapting an unproduced Alien script by William Gibson and collaborating with Margaret Atwood on the Angel Catbird trilogy of graphic novels. For his 2018 series Firebug, Christmas took care of both writing and drawing chores.

For Tartarus, Portland artist Jack T. Cole is providing the interior art while Christmas plots and scripts.

“We started discussions way back in 2015,” Christmas said. “We met at VANCaf (Vancouver Comic Arts Fair), met and started talking about this idea I had. This was even before the Gibson project was on my radar. So when it did come online, it was fun adapting his script while starting to write Tartarus, and seeing his approach to sci-fi within the movie genre franchise of Alien versus what we were trying to do.”

Image has published two issues of Tartarus so far. It’s a tale about Tilde, a promising soldier who is trying to return to her home planet when she is implicated in an attack on a space station. She learns her mother was a ruthless warlord, and she finds herself a fugitive.

Two years ago, Christmas set about adapting the Alien script by Gibson, written as a sequel to James Cameron’s 1986 film Aliens. He’s bringing some of that experience to Tartarus.

“I had to adapt something that was meant to be experienced all in one sitting into five parts,” he said. ” I had to amplify certain parts for cliffhangers, so some things needed to be cut or moved. It was interesting how tight the script was. Anything I cut might create this butterfly effect that would cascade into the rest of the story. It was very inspiring to see something this well put-together.”

While Christmas has planned Tartarus several issues ahead, getting to those beats is the fun part.

“We have these very big crossroads where things happen, and every issue has a turn that pushes the story in another direction,” he said. “For each issue, I’ll call up Jack and pitch him: ‘We need to have this happen to character X by the end of this issue, so this is what I want to do to get us there.’ And he’ll throw some ideas back at me and I’ll write the script.”

Other influences on the series include Akira, Blade Runner, and “a little bit of the feel of” David Lynch’s 1984 movie Dune, says Christmas. Outside of sci-fi, he called Mad Men “a big influence in terms of characterization, where these characters have their needs and wants in the moment which are very relatable and push the story forward.”

Christmas is already on issue number eight, while Cole is drawing number five. But, as with everything these days, the comic book industry is trying to adapt to a world it never made. Publishing and distribution of new comics have been suspended, but many creators will go on making new work.

“Of course you don’t want this glut to hit the shops all at once, it would be a tsunami,” Christmas said. “Some projects will probably be canceled, some will be pushed back. This is all so unprecedented. And there’s a concern over how many stores are going to be left to distribute the material. Of course, that’s a small concern over health and safety, but it’s a concern.”

Local artist/writer Johnnie Christmas has adapted William Gibson and collaborated with Margaret Atwood. His new Image Comics series is a science fiction adventure called Tartarus.

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Dave

This sounds (and looks) interesting – I’m going to have to pick up the first couple of issues.

I have the Alien 3 hardback and while it had some pacing issues, his dialogue and art were great.  I’ll have to seek out a trade of this

[Vikram]

<u>Furlough Read #1</u> (yes, I’ve been put on furlough for at least four weeks, maybe more) – Copperhead #1-5

These comics came out at the end of 2014, from Image. It’s a western set on an alien world, sometime in our future. Written by Jay Faerber, and drawn by Scott Godlowski. Neither creator is a favourite of mine, based on prior work, but the premise here was quite intriguing.

These five issues comprise the first arc of the book, with the new sheriff arriving in town, upsetting the status quo, and solving her first murder. Add in a recently finished war, unruly natives, and genetic infantrymen to make a frothy brew that’s right up my street.

I blitzed through all five issues one after another this afternoon. It was immediately captivating, with some great characters and lovely artwork. It does lean very heavily into well established tropes of the genre, so don’t expect anything revolutionary here. But, it’s very enjoyable for what it is.

I see the series went up to #19 before stopping unexpectedly mid- arc, just 3 issues before the series was due to be wrapped up. That was a couple of years ago now. No idea if the series will ever finish now. I would certainly be interested in picking up the rest of the series if and when it does conclude, but I’m not investing in another abandoned series at this stage.

 

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Vikram.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Vikram.

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DavidM

What’s worse is it all fell apart on the final run – it was Copperhead’s finale.

[JRCarter]

Yeah, Jay has a bad habit of leaving loose ends untied. He did it with Noble Causes and Dynamo 5.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by JRCarter.

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Ben

[Vikram]

Furlough Read #2 – Cry Havoc, is a six issue mini-series by Si Spurrier, Ryan Kelly, and three different colourists (Nick Filadi, Lee Loughridge, Matt Wilson). The colouring is important as the story encompasses three different periods of the main character’s life; each coloured with a different palette.

The story is really difficult to encapsulate in a sentence or two. It is a dense read of interweaving storylines, that never goes where you expect it to. On the surface it’s a grown up take on the Howling Commandos, with a unit of shape shifting monsters on a mission in war torn Afghanistan. But that belies the complexity of the storytelling contained within.

Alan Moore himself provide a cover quote “An electrifying account of black ops, black dogs and weaponised folklore that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” That’s as good a description of the book that you’re going to get.

It feels very much like an Alan Moore tale too, or another old school Vertigo book. If you like Spurrier’s The Dreaming, for example, I would think this is one that should appeal to you too.

The ending of the book implies that the story will continue; it’s even labelled as “Vol 1”. But, three years after and there’s no sign of a sequel. Don’t let that put you off. This is a pretty self contained story, that stands well on its own even if nothing more is forthcoming.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Vikram.

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DavidM, Christian, Todd

Hickman humble bundle.
Pretty much get all Hickman’s writing. I have no idea why they would offer so much for so cheap.
I might spend 12 quid so i don’t have to faff making my individual CBRs into collections

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/creator-spotlight-on-jonathan-hickman-image-comics-books

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Christian

[Vikram]

Furlough Read #3 – Loose Ends; a four issue mini by Jason Latour, Chris Brunner, with colours by Rico Renzi. Originally a self published indie comic, the final issue was never published until Image picked the book up and reprinted it all a couple of years ago. I picked the issues up digitally in a ComiXology sale a while back.

This creative team have contributed a couple of issues to Southern Bastards, and Loose Ends is very similar to those issues in sensibility. It’s a crime noir set in the south, featuring ill fated lovers, corrupt cops, and a drug deal gone bad.

Heavy on atmosphere, you can feel the humidity in these pages. It’s well drawn and convincingly written. Although, given the brevity, it is hard to really connect with any of the characters, and the story is maybe a little too obvious if you’re familiar with the tropes of the genre.

I enjoyed it, but there’s nothing new or unexpected here.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Vikram.

Furlough Read #4 – Jeff Lemire’s The Underwater Welder, an original graphic novel from Top Shelf Productions. Black & white, 200+ pages, written & drawn by Lemire.

Created alongside Sweet Tooth at Vertigo, this book harkens back to Jeff’s earlier work on Essex County and Lost Dogs. An intensely personal story of one man coming to grip with his impending fatherhood, and at the same time coming to terms with the relationship he had with his own father.

The story grabs you from the very first moment, and never lets go. You quickly grow to care about Jack and Susie, and the book strikes a familiar chord with anyone who has gone through the same status quo altering change. And, the moment where the proverbial penny drops is very well done; all the clues are there leading the reader to piece it all together moments before the title character does.

A very impressive display of comic book storytelling from Lemire here. Definitely worth checking this out.

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Will_C, Todd, Dave

Underwater Welder is very good. I didn’t read it myself until recently and I enjoyed it a lot.

Dan wrote:

Hickman humble bundle. Pretty much get all Hickman’s writing. I have no idea why they would offer so much for so cheap. I might spend 12 quid so i don’t have to faff making my individual CBRs into collections https://www.humblebundle.com/books/creator-spotlight-on-jonathan-hickman-image-comics-books%5B/quote%5D

Cool, thanks. I usually don’t read comics digitally, but this was too good to pass up on.

Dan wrote:

Hickman humble bundle.
Pretty much get all Hickman’s writing. I have no idea why they would offer so much for so cheap.
I might spend 12 quid so i don’t have to faff making my individual CBRs into collections

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/creator-spotlight-on-jonathan-hickman-image-comics-books

That’s how Humble Bundles work, they’re rarely more than $18 to get the top tier, regardless of whether it’s books or games or what.  You can pay more if you want, and a lot of people do on account of the charity aspect.

I think a key part as well is they attract a certain audience. The value of Humble Bundles is more than usually crazily generous but if you look at how many they’ve sold it’s rather modest. The James Bond comics one is a couple of thousand even if contains several trades that would cost you upwards of $200 to buy at RRP. That’s less than they’d sell a month in book shops.

Like they found that digital day and date didn’t really cannibalise sales I think the primary audience for Humble Bundle is computer game enthusiasts and they may well think it’s worth paying a dollar to try out some Bond comics, hopefully if they like them come back for the higher tier and become a long term reader.

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lorcan_nagle

Furlough Read #5 – Chronicles of Wormwood: The Last Battle #1-6, by Garth Ennis and Oscar Jiminez.

Whilst I really enjoyed the original mini-series, I had never read this sequel. I picked it up on the cheap in the last Avatar ComiXology sale. It’s better than I expected it to be, but doesn’t quite justify its own existence.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the premise, this series tells the ongoing story of the literal anti- Christ; who works in NYC as a successful TV producer, has a talking pet rabbit, enjoys lots of great sex, and hangs out in a local midtown bar with his best mate Jesus Christ.

It’s a little bit insane. But, the set up gives Ennis plenty of opportunity to indulge in his favourite things – irreverent piss taking out of organised religion, lashings of crude humour, and guys sitting around in bars, setting the world to rights over a couple of beers. Underneath it all, there’s Ennis’ famous heart of gold with Wormwood having to make some fairly grown up decisions in life.

Oscar Jiminez’s artwork is almost photo realistic here, and makes for a somewhat disconcerting read given some of the crazy shit going on elsewhere in the book. I preferred Jacen Burrows’ work on the original series, but this is actually one of Avatar’s most professional looking books ever I think.

Overall, this was a good read, although it’s certainly not as enjoyable as the first mini. I would be open to revisiting this world if any more was forthcoming. The potential is there. But, given Avatar’s current state of affairs I think that unlikely.

And, I would much prefer Ennis to write his final Crossed storyline if I can only have one of them.

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DavidM, Todd

The first mobile manga subscription service, Mangamo, launches today, offering readers unlimited access to the largest legally licensed library of English-language titles available, from publishers like Kodansha, Toppan and North Star Pictures.

Manga readers around the world can now download Mangamo on iOS for iPhone and iPad and sign up for a two-month free trial of the service, which is only available for a limited time. For a $4.99 USD fee per month, subscribers gain access to the entire catalog, without interruption from ads and with no additional purchases necessary. At launch, this catalog includes Hajime Isayama’s hugely popular Attack On Titan and Atsushi Ōkubo’s Fire Force, which received a successful anime adaption last summer, as well as the newly-adapted Somali and the Forest Spirit and Arte. Titles are updated daily with new chapters with an extra 300 titles and over 1,000 volumes set to be added over the next three months, including some new English-language releases like Dropkick My Devil, Akatsuki Babies, Reset Game and Daily Meteor Strike.

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Todd

Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin have a new ongoing series at Panel Syndicate:

http://panelsyndicate.com/downloads/publicdnl/friday001

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Ben, Dave, Vikram, Todd

I’m going to have to check that out.

[paul f]

It’s a good first issue, and always nice to have Martín art.

It also made me check when The Private Eye first came out: it was over seven years ago, and now I feel old.

I was checking because this is in the standard comics format, rather than the designed-for-computer screens landscape style of TPE and Barrier. But when TPE started, tablets were a lot less common than they are today. I didn’t get my first one until later that year, and it was a tiny 7″ one that was terrible for reading comics on.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by paul f.

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Will_C, garjones, Todd, Dave

paul f wrote:

It also made me check when The Private Eye first came out: it was over seven years ago

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Will_C, RonnieM, Ben, paul f, Todd

paul f wrote:

I was checking because this is in the standard comics format, rather than the designed-for-screens landscape style of TPE and Barrier. But when TPE started, tablets were a lot less common than they are today. I didn’t get my first one until later that year, and it was a tiny 7″ one that was terrible for reading comics on.

Ah that’s interesting. I was never completely convinced by the landscape format of Private Eye (although part of that was also reading it on a PC rather than a tablet as you say) so I’m glad this is different.

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paul f

Furlough Read #6 – Deadly Class: Reagan Youth (vol 1). Like many people I only started paying attention to Rick Remender’s work after Uncanny X-Force.  That was an epic series, that I feel continues to stand up even when compared to books from the current Mutant renaissance. After that I rabidly followed him from book to book, but have cooled on his work recently after the dreary and anti- climatic finale to Black Science.

However, I do still have a big stack of his work in my “to read” pile, and with plenty of time on my hands, I dug into volume 1 of Deadly Class today.

For those of you unfamiliar with the high level concept of this book, it’s centred around a school for assassins, hidden in San Francisco, in the late 1980’s. A new kid, Marcus, with a dark history, joins the school and struggles to find his feet with all the school cliques and other teenage angst.

It’s immediately relatable material to anyone with a passing familiarity with US high school dramas. But, told through the lens of an adult with issues to work out. Marcus exhibits a self awareness that no teenager going through this themselves would display. But, hey, I was always a straight laced kid at school; maybe the wilder element were always like this.

As this is a Remender book, the characters are all likeable yet deeply flawed. The 1980’s setting is very deliberate too, with callbacks to the music, film, and political issues of the time.

Whilst not as immediately flashy as the artwork in some of Remender’s other books, Wes Craig and Lee Loughridge still steal the show here with their artwork. It’s incredibly dense & detailed, and yet flows cinematically from panel to panel. It‘s very like Guerra’s artwork in Scalped, to my eyes.

Overall, I liked this a lot. Tempted to plough straight on to the other volumes of the book that I already have, but suspect that this may be one to read in smaller chunks to appreciate it more. I imagine it could get very samey before too long otherwise.

There’s been a TV adaptation of Deadly Class by Syfy, with Remender in a producing role and writing some of the episodes’ scripts. It was very good, so of course it was cancelled after the first season.

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Vikram

TMNT: The Last Ronin Brings Lost Eastman & Laird Story to Life

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njerry

Eye-popping Walt Simonson, Frank Cho, Erik Larsen & Ryan Ottley covers for highly anticipated SAVAGE DRAGON #250 issue revealed

PORTLAND, Ore. 5.12.2020 — Legendary artists Walt Simonson (Thor), Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows), and Ryan Ottley (Invincible) join Rob Liefeld (Deadpool) and Skottie Young (Middlewest, I Hate Fairyland) in contributing to the eye-popping covers of the milestone Savage Dragon #250 issue by Image Comics partner and CFO Erik Larsen. This record breaking issue is set to release from Image Comics in July.

For 28 years, Erik Larsen has chronicled the lives and times of the Dragon and his extended family in one of comics’ only series set in real time. This monumental oversized milestone issue is a sweeping culmination that sets the stage for the next phase of comics’ most uncompromising series with its most shocking story yet!

Forces have conspired against Malcolm Dragon and his family—but is this a turning point or…THE END?! Find out as Savage Dragon becomes the second original Image title to reach its 250th issue and begins the countdown to #300.

Savage Dragon #250 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 15.

Savage Dragon #250 cover A by Erik Larsen (Diamond Code DEC190056)
Savage Dragon #250 cover B by Frank Cho (Diamond Code DEC190057)
Savage Dragon #250 cover C by Rob Liefeld (Diamond Code DEC190058)
Savage Dragon #250 cover D by Walt Simonson (Diamond Code DEC190059)
Savage Dragon #250 cover E by Skottie Young (Diamond Code DEC190060)
Savage Dragon #250 cover F Blank Sketch variant (Diamond Code DEC190061)
Savage Dragon #250 cover G drawn by Erik Larsen, inked by Ryan Ottley (Diamond Code FEB209190)

Savage Dragon #250 will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.

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njerry, DavidM

I might be persuaded to buy that issue… 

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RonnieM, Sean Robinson, Todd, Dave, JRCarter

I think Larsen is counting on you buying all of them.

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RonnieM, njerry, Todd

The Solicitations for August 2020 thread is up and running with:

Dark Horse, Antarctic, and Titan

Also have some July solicits in there from some…

I expect Image tomorrow

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Todd

Image solicits for August – Imagecomics.com

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JRCarter, Todd

SPLANK!

https://www.boxofrainmag.co.uk/splank/

More than 160 pages of comics and art from an array of talented creators to keep you and your kids occupied and entertained during lockdown.

Designed to evoke memories of Christmas presents past, the 2020 Splank! Annual mixes madcap humour with adventure strips and one, very special, text story.

With contributions from, Mike Higgs (Pow!, Smash!, Buster etc.), Nigel Parkinson (Beano), Steve MacManus (Battle, 2000 AD).

Featuring the cream of the UK small press scene, coming together with leading professionals from comics like, Beano and 2000 AD our aim is to raise funds for ‘NHS Together’ and to promote the work of creators who have seen their income badly hit by the cancellation of Comic Cons across the country.

We hope you will download and enjoy, “Splank! Annual 2020”, take a look at the special links page for creators and buy a comic or print or art commission to support them at this time. Available as either a PDF or for those of you in the know, as a two-part .cbr file. Links are just below. Enjoy!

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Dave, garjones

Stjepan Šejić announces DC exit for creator-owned comics

Harleen writer/artist Stjepan Šejić has announced his intention to leave DC and work-for-hire-comics entirely to focus on creator-owned comics full-time.

“Tomorrow I complete my last pages in the standard comic industry, and then moving my ass into the glorious world of webcomics,” Šejić tweeted last week. “I’ll still publish my stuff in print once done through Top Cow of course, but I think I’ll spend the last few creative decades of my life having fun :)”

The day after, the writer/artist remained true to that sentiment, writing “and so my work with the comic industry is completed. The remaining few decades if I got them in me, I’ll be doing my own stuff and making a metric fuckton of webcomics. you are all free to join me. they will all be printed eventually but as graphic novels only.”

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JRCarter, Ben, Dave, Todd

Erik Larsen aims to portray real-life – including COVID-19 – in milestone Savage Dragon #250

A landmark issue, featuring “the world outside your window” as Marvel would say

Comic books have reached high issue numbers for decades, but it’s rare for a run reaching issues in the hundreds to be created by the same writer and artist for the entire run. On July 15, Image Comics co-founder Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon reaches such a milestone with issue #250.

And unlike other books which present ‘the illusion of change,’ Savage Dragon will be doing so while recognizing what’s going on in the real world – so much so that as Larsen tells us, he ended up changing his original plans for #250 to recognize the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I don’t want to say too much but what I ended up doing wasn’t what I had initially thought I’d do,” Larsen tells Newsarama. “The end result is better, certainly, but not your typical extravaganza.”

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njerry, Todd

Sean Robinson wrote:

Stjepan Šejić announces DC exit for creator-owned comics

Harleen writer/artist Stjepan Šejić has announced his intention to leave DC and work-for-hire-comics entirely to focus on creator-owned comics full-time.

“Tomorrow I complete my last pages in the standard comic industry, and then moving my ass into the glorious world of webcomics,” Šejić tweeted last week. “I’ll still publish my stuff in print once done through Top Cow of course, but I think I’ll spend the last few creative decades of my life having fun :)”

The day after, the writer/artist remained true to that sentiment, writing “and so my work with the comic industry is completed. The remaining few decades if I got them in me, I’ll be doing my own stuff and making a metric fuckton of webcomics. you are all free to join me. they will all be printed eventually but as graphic novels only.”

Ah that’s a shame, I had been hoping for his Poison Ivy series to come out.

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lorcan_nagle, Ben

Sean Robinson wrote:

Erik Larsen aims to portray real-life – including COVID-19 – in milestone Savage Dragon #250

Hmmmm… I may have to give this issue a look… 

Maybe I’ll pick up a second copy for @RonnieM ; I’ve heard he’s a HUGE fan!!

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Vikram, garjones, Sean Robinson

[Sean Robinson]

The Solicitations for September 2020 thread is alive and kicking with:

Dynamite, Valiant, Aspen, Rebellion, and a bunch more. 24 in total
Also Previews Order Forms

still awaiting Image, though…

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Sean Robinson.

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Todd

[Sean Robinson]

and I’ve added Dark Horse and Image

@njerry , a little something for the X-mas tree this year?

Hellboy Holiday Ornament
On sale Oct 28 $29.99

Santa isn’t the only big red guy that loves the holidays! Now you can celebrate with Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. Based on the limited-edition Holiday Hellboy game piece from Mantic Games, this fully painted 3.75” x 3.25” ornament can be hung or displayed on a flat surface. The hell-iday season is here!

__________________________

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Sean Robinson.

Sean Robinson wrote:

and I’ve added Dark Horse and Image

@njerry , a little something for the X-mas tree this year?

Hellboy Holiday Ornament

Not on the tree, but definitely on a shelf between Santa and the Nutcracker

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Sean Robinson

New Humble Bundle has lots of Image comics in it

 

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/image-comics-showcase-books?linkID=&mcID=102:5efb7da035f3ec4f5a57c1f9:ot:56c3d7fd733462ca893f00b9:1&utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020_07_01_imagecomicsshowcase_bookbundle&linkID=&utm_content=cta_button

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garjones

Steve Orlando sets the stage for three new creator-owned series

Donny Cates gears up to launch three new creator-owned series

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Todd

As I write this, I am finishing work on Red Sonja #24, which concludes my contractual obligations to @DynamiteComics. After which, I will no longer be accepting any further work from Dynamite for as long as they continue any affiliation whatsoever with Comicsgate. 1/

— Mark Russell (@Manruss) July 19, 2020

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Todd, lorcan_nagle

I haven’t followed any of this – what has Dynamite been doing in relation to Comicsgate?

Dave wrote:

I haven’t followed any of this – what has Dynamite been doing in relation to Comicsgate?

They’ve let at least one CG-adjacent person do their “you pay us to print a variant cover with your art on it” scheme, their owner has been buddying up to prominent members in public, and they’ve been promoting CG crowfunders from their official social media.  And possibly other stuff I haveb’t heard about.

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Todd

Backing them.

I had no idea there were Comicsgate comic characters – whotta revolutin’ development – but for Dynamite to be backing gives a credibility boost they shouldn’t have.

Only seems to have been picked up as a news story in the last 24 hours.

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Todd

Ah ok, thanks both.

On another subject entirely, has there been any recent indication of when Saga is likely to come back?

The hiatus seems to have lasted a couple of years now and I haven’t seen any sign of the book returning. I had mixed feelings on how good the series was but it seems a shame for such a big success to completely kill its own momentum like this.

Valiant Relaunches Ninjak With Jeff Parker and Javier Pulido

https://www.cbr.com/valiant-relaunching-ninjak-2021/

Dave wrote:

On another subject entirely, has there been any recent indication of when Saga is likely to come back?

Jul 1, 2020: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/brian-k-vaughan-video-interview-on-whats-next-for-saga

10:30 in – “Working on it” “Banking issues” “its coming”

 

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Dave

Cheers, hadn’t seen that.

Yeah, thanks Dave and Dan, I’d been wondering, as well.

I hope it does continue soon. It’s maybe my favourite ongoing series at the moment (if you can say that about a book that’s been on hold for such a long time…).

Banking issues kind of makes sense in the current climate though, I’d be inclined to let 2020 pass before relaunching anything.

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Dave

EXCL: Ninjak Creative Team Explains Their Approach to the Fan-Favorite Hero

https://www.cbr.com/ninjak-creative-team-explains-approach-valiant-hero/

Big Humanoids Humble Bundle just went up

 

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/incal-and-more-humanoids-books?linkID=&mcID=102:5f172d20523cf11fc707b83e:ot:56c3d7fd733462ca893f00b9:1&utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020_07_22_humanoids_bookbundle&linkID=&utm_content=cta_button

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njerry

TRANSFORMERS / BACK TO THE FUTURE Comic Book Crossover Debuts from IDW Publishing

TRANSFORMERS / BACK TO THE FUTURE Comic Book Crossover Debuts from IDW Publishing

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Dave

garjones wrote:

Banking issues kind of makes sense in the current climate though, I’d be inclined to let 2020 pass before relaunching anything.

Yeah, that’s true. Though honestly, 2020 could use a few good things happening…

If you can make your way to either of the October solicit threads:

SOLICITATIONS FOR OCTOBER 2020

The Real October 2020 solicit thread

then a few things have started for this thread

Archie, Dark Horse, and Zenescope

Sean Robinson wrote:

If you can make your way to either of the October solicit threads:

Still getting the 404 – Error message when I click those links. Who did you piss off, Sean?!

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Sean Robinson

Image Comics Solicitations for October

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njerry, Todd

njerry wrote:

Still getting the 404 – Error message when I click those links.

So I’ve started a new thread “THINGS THAT GO ON SALE IN OCTOBER”
Less stuff in a post, more posts overall. Hopefully it’ll work.

njerry wrote:

Who did you piss off, Sean?!

Probably easier to list who I haven’t pissed off.
Yet people know my heart’s in the right place, even if the head goes up my *** (on the rarest of occasions…)
Or there’s so few of us now the bar has been placed remarkably low

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njerry, Todd

I can’t quite believe it, but… Black Magick is back this Wednesday!

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DavidM, njerry, garjones, Todd

"The Seeds" (aka "Most Important Graphic Novel of Last Two Decades") will be out December 23!
128 pages, Softcover with French Flaps, Matte Paper, Duotone, Distinctive Great Smell!
ISBN: 978-1-50670-588-0
DIAMOND CODE: AUG200439
Expect daily spam. pic.twitter.com/hfKFK24G9N

— David Aja (@davaja) July 26, 2020

Only the first two issues (of four) were released, many months ago, but due to the current situation it’s now skipping straight to trade.

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njerry, Todd

Wow, thought The Seeds would never be out.

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Todd, Dave

Was just watching the cartoonist kayfabe interview with Ann Nocenti. I mean the book was slow coming out but she said she had the finished pdf months ago but Image held off the release date due to lockdown.

I don’t know who would choose December 23rd as a release date though, get it out 2 weeks earlier so people can buy it as a Christmas present.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle, Todd, Dave

Yeah, Aja has been providing semi-regular updates and it seems that he’s had the art largely done for a while.

garjones wrote:

I don’t know who would choose December 23rd as a release date though, get it out 2 weeks earlier so people can buy it as a Christmas present.

Two shopping days before Christmas, plenty of time!

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Ben, lorcan_nagle, Todd

That’s when all the real men do their shopping.

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DavidM, Todd, njerry, Dave

Maybe they should stock them exclusively at 24 hour service stations.

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Rocket, Todd, Dave

Not too sure where to put this but heres as good a place as any I guess.

 

IT’S HERE, #ComicSurvey2020!

The full UK Comics Creator Survey Report is now available to download

An interesting and frankly a bit of a sad indictment of the current state of play in the UK comics industry.

I contributed to it and found most of the results to hold true

https://mcusercontent.com/d326307902c2241ff2b633b5e/files/d7c30918-a6c6-4fb6-ae6f-6d34fb552077/UK_Comics_Creators_research_report_2020.pdf

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garjones

To be honest it doesn’t surprise me much Mark. I read recently that in prose writing (including journalism) the annual average earnings in the UK were £11,000, which is barely any more than the comics figure there.

It’s probably similar in music because with such a desirable career for many there’s always a much larger number wishing it could be their full time job than there are places to support that.

There isn’t a huge amount of professional work out there. There’s Rebellion, Titan and then a bunch of kids comics that have short strips mixed with games and quizzes. Of course there’s always the option of working for the US market which I’m pretty sure all the guys who answered ‘over £50k’ do.

Didn’t know this existed before this tweet but I’m a big Tom Taylor fan so will now seek it out.

Boom Studios is putting out some really good stuff at the moment.

Exciting Brubaker-Phillips news:

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips to Launch Graphic Novel Series ‘Reckless’

I’m loving their stories in the OGN format so this is great news.

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Ben

I love how many of the protagonists of these are basically Grifter

At this point I will buy anything by Brubaker/Phillips without knowing anything about the contents. Their worst stuff is still better than what many other creators are doing these days.

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Dave

njerry wrote:

At this point I will buy anything by Brubaker/Phillips without knowing anything about the contents.

The rest of us don’t have millions to spend, buddy.

Anonymous wrote:

njerry wrote:
At this point I will buy anything by Brubaker/Phillips without knowing anything about the contents.

The rest of us don’t have millions to spend, buddy.

You’d be amazed how much money you save when you don’t buy any Marvel and DC books. 

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lorcan_nagle, Christian, Todd, Dave, DavidM, Ben

True that.

Dave wrote:

Boom Studios is putting out some really good stuff at the moment.

Just saw this one too:

https://comicbook.com/comics/news/al-ewing-simone-di-meo-we-only-find-them-when-theyre-dead-series/

New sci-fi series from Al Ewing. We just discussed in ‘new comics’ how much I like his writing when it doesn’t seem to be constrained by Marvel editorial changing directions every 5 minutes. I’ll be getting this one.

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Ben

Yeah, I’ve had that one on pre-order for a while, looks like it could be good.

Gideon Falls will end later this year with an 80 page final issue. Love this book. Hope we see Lemire and Sorrentino team up again for a new story. (Also another Image book that transposes the writer and artist order on the cover credits after Saga started it).

As far as I can tell there are still no copies of Gideon Falls #23 in the UK. #24 comes out next week I think, which would have this issue come out in Nov or Dec. Hopefully I’ll get to read the missing issue before that happens.

And hopefully they will follow the example of Postal v1 and put it out as a big Omnibus later.

Vikram wrote:

As far as I can tell there are still no copies of Gideon Falls #23 in the UK. #24 comes out next week I think, which would have this issue come out in Nov or Dec. Hopefully I’ll get to read the missing issue before that happens.

To be honest it’s tough. I’ve been reading weekly comics since digital came in but a combination of 3 things has put me off.

1) Comixology’s crazy price increase, albeit they moderated it back down later thanks to the VAT changes for e-books – it’s still higher.

2) So much material being written for trade and hard to follow monthly.

3) The Covid mess meaning everything’s coming out all over the place.

I will finish off the runs I am on in singles and I’m returning to my 2003-2011 status of solely being a trade reader. They run sales so often I can get stuff for 3-5 quid that costs me 15-20 buying singles.

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Ben, Vikram

I agree 100%. I’m in a similar boat. I’m mentally preparing myself to do likewise, or very similar. I think the end of Death Metal, the cancellation of Hellblazer (and others), along with Bendis wrapping up his run on the Superman books in 2021 (I assume) will bring me very close to the edge. It’s not going to take much to push me over from there.

I really enjoyed the Covid break to be honest, as it gave me a lot of opportunity to just chill and read what I wanted when I wanted to. And, as I’ve said beforehand, I have enough unread stuff lying around to keep me going for years.

Given that I’m not getting any younger either I think I really need to do something about that.

It’s only my loyalty and affection for the staff at my LCS that give me pause.

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Sean Robinson, Ben

Vikram wrote:

It’s only my loyalty and affection for the staff at my LCS that give me pause.

There’s always just buying stuff you like from them, order in trades and OGNs and the like.  It’s basically what I do, plus buying Gundam kits and second-hand transformers from them

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Vikram, Sean Robinson, Ben

It’s funny as I’ve gone the other way and have pretty much ditched Comixology now.

Even with the sale prices I buy very little these days as I’ve found myself often buying stuff digitally and then forgetting about it and not reading it.

In comparison I’ve really been enjoying reading physical books (trades and OGNs) over the past few months and have really ramped up my buying there given the relative paucity of other entertainment options. There must be something about a physical to-read stack that I find more attractive than a digital one.

And since my LCS reopened I’ve been trying to support it by buying plenty of singles – I currently pick up four or five a week on average.

I suspect comic shops now have to look more at how they can derive income from trades and OGNs. It is hard because of competing with the online discounts but it is actually easier for them to deal in books as they are returnable.

It’s probably too much like herding cats but FP have shows with their multiple outlets they can compete on price, if they teamed up I think there could be similar outcomes but I sense from the retailers I follow on Twitter that some are very conservative. They probably won’t last, some I think can thrive.

Dave wrote:

It’s funny as I’ve gone the other way and have pretty much ditched Comixology now.

My slant is a little different as I have no choice. It’s not print v digital but more monthly v collection/OGN.

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Dave

Dave wrote:

It’s funny as I’ve gone the other way and have pretty much ditched Comixology now.

Don’t get me wrong. I love paper and won’t go entirely digital. But, I do think I’m getting closer to dropping new comics so I can focus on the ridiculous amount of unread material I already have. Anything current that I must have I would likely pick up digitally on the cheap or in trade/ hardcover, but suspect that would dwindle away too once the habit is firmly broken.

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Todd, Dave

garjones wrote:

Dave wrote:

It’s funny as I’ve gone the other way and have pretty much ditched Comixology now.

My slant is a little different as I have no choice. It’s not print v digital but more monthly v collection/OGN.

And I think that’s the way the industry is going in general. Certainly I’ve gone from buying many, many monthly titles in the early 2000s to a more select handful now, and most stuff I’m unsure about I wait and check out in trade. That’s partly due to the way writing habits have changed – giving a book a chance today often means reading the first TPB rather than the first issue – but it’s also more economical that way.

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Todd

Vikram wrote:

but suspect that would dwindle away too once the habit is firmly broken.

I’ve never had a ‘habit’. I love the medium, will always read it in whatever format it presents itself.

In truth I became a comics fan at maybe age 3 when my mother got me a weekly called ‘Magic’. I have never stopped or taken a break.  I am now 47 and at no point in my life or adoration of comics ever bought comics on a Wednesday from a comics shop.

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lorcan_nagle, Ben

garjones wrote:

Gideon Falls will end later this year with an 80 page final issue. Love this book. Hope we see Lemire and Sorrentino team up again for a new story.

I’ve been really enjoying this book since issue #1; a truly creepy horror book.

The “Things on sale in November” thread now has Dark Horse.

Lots more to come…

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njerry

So earlier this year (April 4th) I posted about the Image series Tartarus (upthread), with a link to this story.
Mind you, I haven’t read any yet, just hope it’s good and pre-ordering the TP’s.

Just a reminder that the first TP arrives September 30th
Contains issues 1-5

And a bit of ‘Amazon fishing’ (on the Canadian site, but not found on the US or UK sites)
shows the second TP (containing issues 6-10) arrives April 6th (or March 31st at your LCS).
Contains issues 6-10

Sean Robinson wrote:

So earlier this year (April 4th) I posted about the Image series Tartarus (upthread), with a link to this story. Mind you, I haven’t read any yet, just hope it’s good and pre-ordering the TP’s.

I’ve been reading it, prompted by that post, and I quite like it. Slightly rough around the edges but full of imagination with some great art.

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Sean Robinson