PW Comics Week
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New York Comic-Con 2008: Comics, Books and Kids
 The third annual New York Comic-Con, to be held April 18–20 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, opens next month with a record of impressive growth—covering a 60% expansion of the exhibition floor this year—that suggests the ongoing mutual embrace of comics publishing and traditional book publishing is even more apparent and more inevitable than ever. Even more importantly, young readers—once largely ignored by comics publishers—are now being courted in force.
This year’s Con is shaping up to be one of the biggest and most comprehensive of all with a day of programs devoted to kid’s comics; an impressive list of superstar guests of honor, including Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, star superhero artist Alex Ross and anime J-pop singing sensation T.M. Revolution. There will be a bigger film and TV presence on the exhibition floor as well as a host of traditional book publishers, from Simon & Schuster and Del Rey to Macmillan and Harry N. Abrams, promoting the most recent titles to come out of their own aggressive investments in the comics category. In fact, much like the comics medium itself, the show has become more than just a mecca for fans of superheroes, and whether you’re a fan of manga and anime, literary graphic
novels, or a librarian or teacher looking for educational comics, the show has something for everyone.
The show’s popularity and growth continues, and show organizers are estimating a projected attendance of more than 60,000 after drawing 50,000 last year. Show manager Larry Fensterman believes that the only limit to NYCC is the building that contains it. “The show will grow as much as the space we have,” he says. (Publishers Weekly is a sister company to NYCC show organizer Reed Exhibitions.)
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 Dark Horse Expands Web Comic Collections
Achewood, Wondermark and The K Chronicles are being added to Dark Horse's already successful line of Web comics collections.
The Crumbs Move to Norton
Norton has acquired the rights to various books by R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb.
 The Saga of the Guin Saga
Vertical is bringing the long-running Japanese fantasy classic to the US with both novels and manga.
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In Avengers Fairy Tales by CB Cebulski, João Lemos, and Christina Strain, familiar Marvel characters take on roles from famous literary stories. In issue #1, on sale this month, Captain America stars as Peter Pan, the Scarlet Witch is Wendy, Quicksilver is her brother, the Wasp is Tinkerbell and Klaw is Captain Hook.
Click above for the full preview. |
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Religion as Apart and a Part of Comics
According to its FAQ, Preston Hunter's Adherents.com aims to "see a more complete picture of religious/faith adherent statistics" by providing data "for thousands of religions, churches and belief systems." Included is a subsection, "The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters," a genuinely impressive resource for the secular and faithful comic reader alike. It details roughly four dozen faiths and sects spread across the publishing landscape, taking care in its language not to make one more important than the others.
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The Complete Jack Survives
JERRY MORIARTY. Buenaventura (SCB, dist.) $27.95 (80p) ISBN 978-0-9800039-3-2
 Moriarty is probably best known now as a painter, but "Jack Survives"—his series of short painted comics vignettes about his father's life in the '40s and early '50s—first appeared in RAW magazine and a short book more than 20 years ago. (This edition begins with short essays by Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware in praise of Moriarty's work.) These pieces, none longer than four pages and most only a single page, are generally tiny anecdotes about the way Jack clings to dignity. He's at the mercy of his environment, but he's armed with the props of his generation—coffee, a businessman's suit and hat, the politesse of universal small talk. In a typical story, Jack is
awakened by a ringing phone, finds his arms asleep, knocks the receiver onto the floor and lies down to talk into it, only to hear the person on the other end hanging up. The virtues of Moriarty's work, though, are mostly fine-art virtues: immaculately designed compositions that suggest a psychological state; forms suggested by a minimum of thick, tactile marks; a sense of being thoroughly layered and revised. A few word balloons have earlier drafts of dialogue faintly visible through white paint, and this volume includes ravishing pen-and-ink studies for several strips. (July)
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The Haunting Essex County Trilogy
Xeric-winner Jeff Lemire's Tales from the Farm was published to literary acclaim last fall. It was followed by Ghost Stories, the second book of a trilogy, which is coming to be known as the Essex Country trilogy, because much of the story is set in the semifictional Essex County in Canada. The third book, The Country Nurse, will be available at Comic-Con and released widely in early fall '08.
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March 12, 2008
- DMZ Vol. 4: Friendly Fire (DC/Vertigo)
- Avengers The Initiative Vol. 1: Basic Training (Marvel)
- X-Men: Die by the Sword (Marvel)
- Robin: The Big Leagues (DC)
- Switch Vol. 1 (Viz)
- Third Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
- J-Pop Idol (Tokyopop)
- Arab in America (Last Gasp)
- Hanami International Love Story Vol. 4 (Dark Horse)
- Metro Survive Vol. 1 (DR Master Publictions)
- Wise Man Sleeps Vol. 1 (Go! Comics)
- Don't Blame Me Vol. 1 (Digital Manga Publishing)
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- Bone movie rights go to Warner Bros.
- Stephen King on NPR
- Marvel Comics on Facebook
- GNs in Schools and Libraries
- Shaman Warrior Online
- Street Fighter Book and Contest
- 2008 Web Cartoonists Choice Awards
- Paul Pope in Wall Street Journal
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