July 13, 2012
Neil Gaiman Announced a Sandman Prequel

Author Neil Gaiman revealed during Vertigo Comics’ panel at Comic Con that he is prepping a Sandman prequel mini-series for them in 2013, with artwork by J.H. Williams III.Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the influential series and Gaiman said he wants to tell one story in particular.

“When I finished writing The Sandman, there was one tale still untold. The story of what had happened to Morpheus to allow him to be so easily captured in The Sandman#1, and why he was returned from far away, exhausted beyond imagining, and dressed for war,” said Gaiman in the official statement. “It was a story that we discussed telling for Sandman’s 20th anniversary… but the time got away from us. And now, with Sandman’s 25th anniversary year coming up, I’m delighted, and nervous, that that story is finally going to be told.”

I’m sure this is where we collectively say, “shut up and take my monies.”

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Filed under: tumblrize comics Neil Gaiman Sandman Vertigo Comics 
July 3, 2012
Marvel’s ‘Item 47’

Marvel’s latest short film, or “one shot” in the parlance of comics, will star Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Bradford as a down-on-their-luck couple who find one of the discarded alien guns from The Avengers finale. Bad decisions and repercussions transpire.

Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (Maximiliano Hernández, returning from Thor and The Avengers, and Titus Welliver (Lost, Deadwood, etc.), making his Marvel debut) are given the job of cleaning up the mess and stopping this modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

The previous Marvel one shots starred Agent Coulson and clocked in around four minutes in length. This one will be roughly 12-minutes and included on The Avengers’ DVD. Further, Marvel is wrestling with the idea of using these shorts as a way to bridge various movies and introduce new characters — hello Ant Man, Wasp, Black Panther, etc.

I actually if Marvel could use the one shots in that capacity to build excitement and buzz for certain characters and at the same time put them into the Marvel movie universe the potential would be off the charts. Imagine getting a rebooted Daredevil one shot, or a Guardians of the Galaxy one shot, etc. They would essentially be extended trailers for upcoming movies.

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Filed under: tumblrize comics Item 47 Lizzy Caplan Marvel Entertainment one shots shorts 
June 24, 2012
First New Art From ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Creator in 16 Years

This painting by “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson is the first new art from him in the 16 subsequent years since he stopped publishing his famous strip. The artwork, a 6”-by-8” oil on board, depicts the character Petey Otterloop from Richard Thompson’s comic strip “Cul de Sac.” It’s Watterson’s contribution to the Team Cul de Sac fundraising project for Parkinson’s research, which hopes to raise $250,000. [via WaPo]

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Filed under: tumblrize Bill Watterson Calvin and Hobbes comics Cul de Sac fundraisers Parkinson's Disease Richard Thompson Team Cul de Sac 
June 20, 2012
Life in Hell Signs Off

After 32 years, Simpsons creator Matt Groening unceremoniously pulled the plug on his Life in Hell syndicated comic strip.

In a telling tale of the times, Groening not only wasn’t getting rich off the comic (papers paid just $18 a week for the strip), but he also was losing money on it for 10 years, says Sondra Gatewood of ACME Features, Life in Hell’s syndicator.

At its height, Life in Hell was distributed to 379 newspapers, she says. Now it’s down to just 38. The final strip ran June 15, but reruns will continue through July 13. Life in Hell’s circulation fell as alternative papers — hurt badly by the loss of classified ads, which went to Craigslist and other websites — cut back.

Still, editors are “shocked” at Groening’s decision, she says. “The strip is part of the history of their papers.”

I’m less surprised about him no longer doing the strip, than I am that he kept doing the strip after all the success with The Simpsons.

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Filed under: tumblrize comics Life in Hell Matt Groening The Simpsons 
June 1, 2012
Green Lantern is Gay

Literally: “Today, DC has confirmed Internet rumors that the character in question is Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, currently appearing as a lead character in DC’s Earth 2.”

I was pulling for Superman or Batman once the rumors started a few weeks ago, but I kind of assumed it would be Aquaman. Wrong on both my assumptions and desires.

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Filed under: tumblrize comics DC Comics Green Lantern homosexuality 
April 25, 2012
State of the Web: Spring 2012 Edition

As usual, The Oatmeal totally nails the state of the web in the Spring of 2012.

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Filed under: tumblrize comics internet The Oatmeal 
April 17, 2012
Shia LaBeouf’s Self-Published Comics are Delightfully Crazy

Actor Shia LaBeouf has self-published three illustrated books for $20 a pop that contain no real story, but instead a collection of illustrated thoughts. They are, of course, delightfully crazy and bordering on insane.

Comics Alliance’s Matt Wilson stumbled onto the books at last weekend’s Chicago Comic Con, ended up buying two of his books, because when The LaBeef self-publishes a bunch of comic-books you have to buy them right?

“I’d be lying if I said LaBeouf’s comics — if you can call picture books consisting entirely of splash pages and only the occasional word balloon comics — are any good. They aren’t,” Wilson writes. “So, at the very least, let’s learn a lesson from the former star of Even Stevens. If he can create and publish comics that look and read like this, pretty much anyone can.”

Further, as Wilson notes, on the back of both books LaBeouf claims he made his books “on a Mac” instead of using fancy software. I suppose that’s as good as advertisement as any for the creative powers of a Mac. A few more illustrations after the break.

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Filed under: tumblrize Chicago Comic Con comics self-publishing Shia LaBeouf 
March 29, 2012
Inside the Home of Cartoonist Chris Ware

Trip City’s Seth Kushner traveled to Chicago’s Oak Park to convince cartoonist Chris Ware to show the inside of his house. Honestly, this is exactly what I would imagine Ware’s house to look like, based only on an admiration for his work.

Don’t forget to check out the GRAPHIC NYC profile of Chris Ware by Christopher Irving. Irving and Kushner profiled 60 other comics creators for their upcoming book, Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics. The book will be published in May and is available for pre-order now.

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Filed under: tumblrize cartoonists Chris Ware comics Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics 
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