Succumbing to the siren's song: Comic World News' Ed Cunard finally joins the legion of the damned bloggers with The Low Road, his chartreuse-colored look at comics and, um, HGTV. Welcome aboard, Ed. Here's your pitchfork.

Diamond adds "manga specialist": To show it's really getting serious about this manga thing, Diamond has announced it's added a "manga specialist" to its inside sales team. I'm not sure what that means to readers, retailers or the industry as a whole, but there you have it.

It's just like Christmas: Well, sort of. I started buying all my comics through Discount Comic Book Service in June, because my local retailer is lacking, and the only good shop is more than an hour away. My August shipment arrived today -- well, most of it -- but it'd been so long since I placed the order, I'd nearly forgotten what I'd bought. Ah, the joys of preordering.

I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (Humanoids/DC)
Gotham Central #22 (DC Comics)
The Losers #15 (DC/Vertigo)
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime #2 (DC/Vertigo)
We 3 #1 (DC/Vertigo)
Demo #9 (AiT/Planet Lar)

Delayed were Clamp School Paranormal Investigators Vol. 1, Digital Webbing Presents #17, Hot Gimmick Vol. 6 and Sylvia Faust #1. In that regard, it is like Christmas: prolonged and filled with disappointments.

Just call me Angel of the morning, Angel: Don't forget the Why Aren't You Reading Fallen Angel? contest at Cognitive Dissonance. It's fun. It's easy. And it's the law. Well, maybe not the last part. Deadline for entries is Sept. 8.

Review revue: Crows Nest reviews Wendy and Richard Pini's ElfQuest: The Searcher And The Sword.

Killing them softly: Canada's Exclaim! takes a curious look at Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers and Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis:

"Killing off important characters isn’t easy, even for Bendis. In doing so, he has paved the way for new stories, a new mansion and new characters that could easily succumb themselves to the whim of Bendis. He knows precisely how to pace a story, how to hook readers and most importantly when to deliver the goods. Especially when something needs to die."

"Killing off popular characters is difficult, but doing it properly takes skill and a devotion to the medium. There are so many characters in the DC universe that Meltzer could have chosen, but by selecting the wives of the heroes he’s accomplished something else entirely, throwing readers into a whole different emotional realm. Not since the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline has so much been at stake. The super heroes are facing their greatest challenge and by killing off those closest to them they are learning a valuable lesson. Through them, the readers are also learning that no one is innocent and no one is infallible."

Getting the word out: The Jakarta Post reports on a festival organized by the Indonesian Comic Society to promote local comics:

"I didn't realize that Indonesian comics are as good as foreign ones Why aren't they as popular as foreign ones, and why don't bookstores carry them?"

Acclaim shuts down: IGN.com has official word that Acclaim Entertainment, the game company and former comics publisher, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Review revue: The New York Times reviews Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers:

"It is a testament to Art Spiegelman's uncompromising vision that In the Shadow of No Towers -- his account of 9/11 and its aftermath -- makes no effort to contain or domesticate the surreal awfulness of that day. But while the volume seems meant as a kind of bookend to his two Maus books (which memorialized his father's experiences at Auschwitz and his own efforts to understand his father), it lacks those earlier books' hard-won intimacy, their layered complexity and metaphorical weight.

"No Towers is ultimately a fragmentary, unfinished piece: brilliant at times, but scattershot, incomplete and bizarrely truncated."

The melting pot: The Toronto Star rounds up last weekend's Canadian National Expo, which drew more than 26,000 fans of sci-fi, anime, horror and, apparently, illegal swords and nunchakus:

"The expo, the biggest event of its kind in Canada, has grown from its beginnings as a modest comic book fair 10 years ago to a lively mass of humanity — with the occasional vampire, storm trooper and animated character thrown in. And while there appeared to be no disharmony between different adherents and species (apart perhaps from the police carting away a display of replica swords, crossbows and throwing stars and arresting six people the first night of the fair) the black-clad seemed to stay with the black-clad, the comic-book enthusiasts with the comic-book enthusiasts."

In a separate article, the newspaper follows up on the seizure of illegal weapons from a booth operated by SwordStaff.com:

"Police displayed some of the haul — including metal throwing stars, wooden nunchakus, push daggers and brass knuckles — and cash seized at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where the booth had been jammed with buyers. Some $5,000 in weaponry had already been sold in the few hours before police swooped in, Inspector Rick Stubbings said."

Anime at center stage: Wired examines how the release of three major films by three titans of anime -- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence by Mamoru Oshii, Steamboy by Katsuhiro Otomo, and Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki -- finally could mean success at the box office, something that's eluded the artform in the United States:

"In the immediate aftermath of Astro Boy, anime was considered pabulum for kids. But something changed in the early 1970s. Like every nation in the developed world, Japan brought forth an impatient new generation of artists. Unlike other countries, though, Japan's music, theater, and film industries didn't welcome boat-rocking young people. Meanwhile, manga publishers were abandoning their previous self-censoring code of content. Suddenly, what had been subliterature began looking like an opportunity for creative newcomers.

"'There was tremendous energy in Japan bubbling up then,' says Masuzo Furukawa, founder of Mandarake, Japan's largest manga store. 'In your country, someone like Martin Scorsese got to make Mean Streets. In our country, somebody like Otomo went into manga.'"

Marvel announces it's moving books back to Diamond: Although ICv2.com reported the news way back on Aug. 10, Marvel now has officially announced it's moving its book distribution back to Diamond Book Distributors after just two years with Client Distribution Services. Here's Marvel's Gui Karyo:

"While we have had a great partnership with CDS, this was an important opportunity for Marvel to consolidate and strengthen our distribution as we continue to sharpen our focus on this growing segment of the business. As our key distributor in the Direct Market, Diamond is a powerful partner for Marvel, and we couldn't be happier to expand our relationship with them."

The envelope, please: The nominees have been announced for the eighth Ignatz Awards, which will be presented Oct. 3 at the Small Press Expo.

Angel, Angel, down we go together: At Cognitive Dissonance, Johanna has kicked off a great contest called, simply enough, "Why Aren't You Reading Fallen Angel?" She wants you to tell her why you want to try Peter David's Fallen Angel series (she's even linked to some reviews). First prize is a signed copy of the Fallen Angel trade paperback, along with the three most recent issues. Second prize is a copy of the trade; third is a copy of the most recent issue. Pretty good deal, if you ask me. So, go enter the contest. Deadline for entries is Sept. 8.

NYX won't go gentle into that good night: When news came of NYX's cancellation, I feared I would no longer have a chronically late-shipping book to mock. After all, what title this side of Spawn or Youngblood could run eight months behind schedule and still taunt readers with promises of a next issue? It seems my fears were unfounded, though, as Marvel prolongs NYX's death throes. Diamond's latest shipping update shows that Issue 5 -- originally set for a Feb. 11 release -- now will come out Sept. 22. Issue 6 has been resolicited for Nov. 17, with the series finale bumped to -- wait for it -- Jan. 12. Yes, that's 2005.

Too much is never enough: Also at Ninth Art, Paul O'Brien looks at Marvel's expanding Ultimate line and asks, "How much is too much?":

"There was a time when the X-books could deliver sales with pretty much anything, because they did so sparingly. The franchise crawled up to four books a month by 1991, which seems positively conservative in retrospect. And then it exploded. The turning point, for my money, was MAVERICK - a competent but unexceptional title about a Wolverine supporting character, which managed to get cancelled inside a year. For an X-book to fail that quickly was previously unheard of.

"On the other hand, compare the Ultimate books - one of the few imprints that has been diligently protected over the last few years. Marvel can release pretty much anything under the Ultimate imprint and be guaranteed that it will be received as an event. ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR was big news. ULTIMATE ELEKTRA will doubtless do respectably, despite having no connection with the other Ultimate books, featuring a lead character whose solo title was recently axed due to low sales, and having a writer unfamiliar to many superhero fanboys. True, it's got Salvador Larocca, and he's certainly a selling point. But the strength of the Ultimate brand name will play a huge part in delivering sales to this book. If the same creators had done a miniseries about the mainstream Marvel Universe Elektra, called simply ELEKTRA, I suspect it would sell rather worse."

November spawned a monster: Writing for Ninth Art, Greg McElhatton combs through September Previews for a look at Things To Come in November.

Renovating the House of Mouse: The New York Times spotlights Andrew P. Mooney, the chairman of Disney's cosumer products division who's putting the spring back in Mickey's step by turning the company name into a lifestyle brand:

Since 1999, when Mr. Mooney joined Disney, the publishing group has inaugurated its first original comic book series - W.I.T.C.H., a collection of stories about teenage girls with supernatural powers. The series sells well worldwide, and is being developed as a television show for Disney's cable networks.

And Disney's even embracing anime. Sort of:

At Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Disney recently tested Snap watches, which have interchangeable faces and wristbands and are based on Disney characters but with a hipper, more urban appeal. In his interview at the hotel, Mr. Mooney held up a pink T-shirt from the Disney Cuties line for young girls and teenagers, introduced 15 months ago. The shirt was printed with a blue and white Eeyore outlined in thick black lines, more anime-style than conventional Disney animation.

"This is Japanese anime meets the library," said Mr. Mooney, a grin sliding across his face. "We started in T-shirts and now we're making pillows and cellphone cases. We are always looking for sustainable ideas that cross all lines of business."

Mooney also notes that the W.I.T.C.H. comics sell a million copies worldwide each month. The first W.I.T.C.H. graphic novel, which was released in June in the United States, already has sold 650,000 copies.

Marvel's teen idol: The Denver Post takes note of Anya Corazon, teen heroine of Marvel's Amazing Fantasy. Although she was created largely to appeal to a young Latina audience, one retailer notes a different readership:

"I haven't seen a rush of Hispanic girls to buy it. Our regular fans think it's a good story, and that's who is buying it right now."

Web of profits: The White Plains, N.Y., Journal News looks at how Marvel is cashing in on the current popularity of Spider-Man:

"... [T]there are skeptics on Wall Street who wonder whether Marvel can keep up its marvelous performance. Some of its more obscure characters may be tougher to turn into money machines than Spider-Man, perhaps its best-known creation. Another highly promoted movie, The Hulk, was a box-office disappointment.

"Spider-Man's novelty also could gradually diminish as more sequels come out.

"'It is always a big risk to assume that there are other blockbusters out there,' said Peter Mirsky, an analyst at Oppenheimer in New York."

Review revue (Part 2): The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reviews DC Comics/Humanoids' The Horde.

Spiegelman's looming Towers: Newsweek's international edition talks with Art Spiegelman about In the Shadow of No Towers, which is set for a Sept. 7 release.

Local boy does good: The Knoxville News-Sentinel profiles Crossville, Tenn., native Michael Turner, focusing on the popularity of his "detailed and subtly sexual work." Here's Wizard magazine's Gareb Shamus:

"Michael Turner represents the next wave of very talented creators in comics. He's been able to spark a lot of people's imaginations and create a style of art that is really appealing. He is able to draw very sexy characters, both male and female."

More manga mania: The Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press discovers that local teens are crazy about manga and anime:

"When Jim Jones opened his Comic Quest comic-book store in Evansville in 1990, he had only a few Japanese manga titles. 'By 1994 you would have been lucky to come into the store and find one shelf with 20 books.'

"Today, however, walk into Comic Quest and you'll see an entire section, front and center, with more than 1,800 different manga books, 'and that's not counting the magazines or how-to-draw books,' said Jones."

Moving into the mainstream? The Houston Chronicle uses the release of Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2 as an opportunity to trace the rise of the graphic novel:

"The near-simultaneous arrival of these two important books invites a look at the emerging art form. For years graphic novels have been seeping out of the comic-book ghetto and into the mainstream, and now the current seems to be picking up speed."

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Daily News -- via the Memphis Commercial Appeal (registration required) -- chats with Satrapi, Glen David Gold, Jonathan Lethem and Sean Howe about the "acceptability of comics."

Review revue: Newsweek's international edition and The San Francisco Chronicle review Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return:

"Satrapi's comic-book style, featuring blunt black-and-white graphics that evoke Persian-style miniatures, makes the story accessible and underscores the narrative's most surprising quality: its humor. In one of the most delightful sequences, Marji is running to catch a bus when she is stopped by government-sanctioned Guardians of the Revolution (armed enforcers of Islamic codes and morality), who scold her for running because it causes her posterior to make 'obscene' movements. 'Well then don't look at my ass!' Marji replies."

Minicomics, big plans: The Kansas City Star profiles local cartoonist Scott Ziolko, who just completed the fourth and final chapter of his minicomic series, Test-Tube:

"Comic books aren't all about superheroes and spandex and good guys and bad guys. It's just another way to tell stories. I'm hoping to be a part of that."

Classical studies: The Boston Globe looks at how Gareth Hinds' comic-book adaptation of Beowulf is being used as a teaching aid at some high schools and universities:

''Gareth is a literate guy. He's read his history and his literature. He knows the culture of Anglo-Saxon England. [Hinds's book] afforded me an opportunity to re-invite their interest in a story that they may have been disillusioned by."

Somewhere, a Dungeon Master weeps: The National Post reports that nine types of illegal weapons were seized and six people arrested Saturday when police raided a booth at the Canadian National Expo. Plainclothes Toronto police officers purchased several banned weapons from a vendor at the comic convention after "someone raised safety concerns about the merchandise":

''They're targeting younger people - teenager males - they're the ones that are going to buy this stuff, take it to school and get suspended. That's what we're worried about.''

The Toronto Star provides a few more details, specifying that, "police cleared 12 tables worth of swords, double-edged knives and nunchakus, and carted away two truckloads of still-packaged weapons."

What was I thinking? I blogged this item innocently enough on Thursday, without pausing to consider the ramifications. Who would've thought a passing, parenthetical reference to "hot shemales" would send such disturbing Internet searches my way, and in such large numbers? One sex portal has sandwiched poor, naive Thought Balloons between "Dickman's Shemales" and "Shemales-4" in its directory for "best sites for shemales."

I feel so ... violated.

Garfield sues Chinese publishers: Reuters reports that Jim Davis' Paws, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against three Chinese companies it accuses of publishing Garfield books without permission. According to China Daily, the copyright-infringement lawsuit asks that the companies stop publishing and selling the books, recall and destroy all unsold copies, and make a public apology. In addition, Paws requests more than $93,000 in compensation for legal fees.

However, an attorney for one of the defendants, Xiwang Publishing House, claims Paws has no standing because the Garfield copyright is actually held by United Features Syndicate. Paws has furnished a copyright-transfer agreement, but the lawyer asserts it's invalid because it doesn't include a signature from Paws.

Manga maniacs: Animation World Magazine discovers that the kids -- particularly the girls -- love the manga:

"What has got the public — and publishers — so enthralled with manga? Unlike many North American comicbooks currently sold in comicbook stores, manga storylines venture beyond superheroes and action/adventure. With a wide variety of themes — romance, science fiction, mystery, even non-fiction — manga has successfully migrated from comic shop shelves to bookstore shelves, and are enticing a whole new reading audience — girls."

Spiegelman's Shadow: UK's Guardian spotlights Art Spiegelman, whose In the Shadow of No Towers is released next week:

"Spiegelman's drawings are evocative, but they are seldom elaborate. They lack the frenzied inventiveness of some of his contemporaries in the underground comics movement, such as Crumb, inventor of Mr Natural, Honeybunch Kaminski ('Jailbait of the Month') and scores of other energetic creations. He describes his 'signature way of drawing' as 'really a result of my deficiencies'. It is partly modesty, but Spiegelman suffers from ambylopia, or lazy eye, 'which means that I don't have binocular vision, and have difficulty seeing in three dimensions. This might have been part of what made me a cartoonist rather than a baseball player. I was rotten at sports, but I found that if I could draw good caricatures of the teachers I wouldn't be doomed to be the butt of everybody's scorn.' The condition might help to explain the thickset nature of many Spiegelman figures, and their broad-stroked execution."

Review revue: Writing for The Washington Times, Joseph Szadkowski reviews The Flash: Blitz, Tales From the Bully Pulpit, Spaghetti Western, Aria: The Enchanted Collection and Witches #1-2.

"Superman" clashes with police: The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the Man of Steel finally has met his match: the St. Paul Police Department. John Fillah, who for the past five years has dressed as Superman and charged visitors to the Minnesota State Fair $5 to have their photos taken with him, ran afoul of the law when his sidewalk sign violated his peddler's permit. When police approached Fillah on Friday, he was anything but mild-mannered:

"He became extremely argumentative with the officers and began to use vulgar language. He was warned to stop and settle down."

However, police spokesman Paul Schnell notes, Fillah "never invoked any Superman powers with officers." So, the Last Son of Krypton was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct.

Going nuclear: The Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune previews a lecture by University of New Mexico professor Ferenc Szasz called "The 60-Year Saga of Atomic Comics," which looks at how comic books have depicted "the peril and the promise of the atom" over the past six decades:

"The atomic bomb invented by Donald Duck in a 1947 Disney comic book causes no apparent damage - except that 'invisible rays' spreading outward cause passers-by to lose their hair.

"Donald's nuclear adventure also includes a couple of academic experts - Prof. Mollicule, who says the addition of 'two cat hairs' might make the bomb more powerful, and Prof. Sleezy, who turns out to be a foreign spy eager to steal the secret of the bomb."

Comics, in the raw: The Chicago Sun-Times still loves "Raw, Boiled and Cooked: Comics on the Verge," which runs through Oct. 3 at the Chicago Cultural Center:

"The basic premise of the show, inspired by Art Spiegelman's 1980s underground comic book Raw, is that comics are an art form that until the 1960s was confined to a limiting repertoire of subjects and styles. Liberated by the iconoclastic mood of the era, artists began to use the medium to tell other stories, and what had been a frivolous entertainment for children became an adult art form."

Going digital: Animation World Magazine examines how comics publishers -- particularly manga publishers -- are experimenting with cell phones, Internet streaming and video on demand as ways to market and distribute their titles:

"In general, manga and anime property owners are ahead of the leading U.S. comicbook publishers — Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse — in experimenting with these technologies. The main reason for this is that the core manga/anime customer tends to be an early adopter of advanced technologies such as broadband, digital television and smartphones, all of which make transmission of graphics-driven and animated content possible. For example, virtually 100% of U.S. anime/manga distributor Central Park Media's customers already had DVD players two years ago, according to John O'Donnell, CPM's managing director, while only about two-thirds of the populace at large owns such a device today. Traditional comicbook publishers tend to target a more mainstream, younger audience, which is less likely to have the technological capability to receive comics through nontraditional channels."

Road work hurts retailer: The Detroits News reports on construction delays on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, and talks with Green Brain Comics owner Dan Merritt, who says his business is down more than 25 percent since April, forcing him to take out a loan to pay bills:

“I’m at my wits’ end in terms of believing anything ... I can only trust in their inability to get the job done.”

Life, unscripted: At Silver Bullet Comic Books, Tim O'Shea chats with Neil Kleid about his Xeric Award-winning Ninety Candles:

"I’ve gone on record saying that Ninety Candles began as a journal comic, me wanting to draw one thing a day, keep myself drawing. When I realized 'Um, I’m a cartoonist. Who cares that I spent half the day drawing demons and the other catching up on Six Feet Under?' I had to alter my plan. I still wanted to draw something every day, but decided that I would attack a larger narrative. Around that time I was heavy into improvisational acting- you know, acting without a script. I trained at Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre in NYC and was running a troupe of my own called Straight Jacket Required. So, as I sketched with no goal or story to tell, I realized that what might be cool would be too apply improvisation to comics. A viable, printed comic book created with no script, no net. Each panel would depend on the panel before. And as I started to form the experiment in my mind, I realized that I could explore other devices such as timing, space and gutters between panels and so forth."

One hell of a play: The Boston Globe reviews Say You Love Satan, the latest play by comics writer/playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Marvel Knights 4, Nightcrawler):

"Aguirre-Sacasa's creativity is the star here, with the Zeitgeist cast delivering performances that occasionally fall short of the sharpness the text requires. The playwright proudly weaves his creative influences into the script and infuses each scene with twisted humor, no matter what the source material. Whether the dialogue is based on The Amityville Horror or The Brothers Karamazov, Aguirre-Sacasa provides a unique perspective."

Fitting tributes: The New Haven (Conn.) Advocate takes note of DC Comics' series of tributes to Julius Schwartz, and recommends his 1987 autobiography, Man of Two Worlds

Morrison's magical mysteries: The September issue of Arthur magazine, which hits newsstands Aug. 31, features a profile of Grant Morrison, "the 21st century's Philip K. Dick":

Magic works, says Morrison, and he would know--he's been exploring it for 25 years. He talks with Jay Babcock about what he's experienced, and What It (Maybe) All Means.

The cover illustration is by Seaguy artist Cameron Stewart.

The dating game: At Newsarama, Comic Buyer's Guide's Maggie Thompson lobbies for a May 7 date for Free Comic Book Day 2005, while DC Comics' Bob Wayne makes the case for June 18 -- the opening of Batman Begins.

Manipulation examination: Just when you thought we were done with the controversy surrounding the treatment of Sue Dibny in Identity Crisis, Sequart's Julian Darius weighs in for the defense:

"Is Sue Dibny’s rape manipulative? Well, yes. But no more than an image of Aquaman crying.

"Put another way, 'manipulative' has two definitions. The first is simply to manipulate in the sense that we manipulate a pencil when we write with it. There’s no negative connotation here. A good work of art is manipulative in this sense. The pieta is manipulative. Showing that a character is a good person may be characterization, but it’s also manipulation -- getting you to identify with that character. Apocalypse Now showing a boar sliced to ribbons instead of Kurtz is manipulative, but it is also one of the most powerful sequences on film.

"The way most people use 'manipulative,' however, is in the sense of 'crassly manipulative.' The same characterization of a woman as a busy but good person, preparing food and petting her dog, becomes crassly manipulative when the wide-eyed serial killer enters, stabs the dog to death in a scene with copious spurting blood, and then brutalizes her. Whether we’re shown the brutalization or it occurs off-panel or off-screen is by itself irrelevant: saying that the sweet wife in Seven has been beheaded can be even more manipulative than showing her death. The question is whether the 'manipulation' is artistically crass.

"And whether something is artistically crass -- or 'cheap' or 'easy' -- is entirely contextual. Few would be so crass as to condemn a drama about a woman who was raped coming to terms with that abuse and learning to relate again to men. Although, it is worth pointing out, such a drama would more than likely be staged in the vein of Lifetime’s original movies, which notoriously play with the line of crass manipulation in order to advance emotionally a particularly fact-starved version of feminism. But using rape casually, particularly to escalate the emotional stakes of a story, would be artistically crass."

Fuzzy memories: Newsarama talks to Nightcrawler writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who reveals that, like many comics readers, he'll be ignoring Chuck Austen's recent origin for the character:

“I read ‘The Draco’ — but it just doesn’t fit in with the kind of stories were going to be telling in Nightcrawler - at least not at first. Also, it’s really important for all of us working on the book that people who haven’t read ‘The Draco’ don’t feel like they’re missing some essential part of Kurt’s history when they pick up our book — which they won’t be. Although we’re not ignoring continuity, it’s going to be dealt with on ‘as needed’ basis. And whatever you’re going to need to know to enjoy the story will be there in the pages of our book.”

"Hot" comics: Also in Eye Weekly, sex columnist Sasha heads to Toronto's The Beguiling to find comic-book porn:

"Gilbert Hernandez, who did the brilliant Heartbreak Soup series in the comic Love and Rockets (co-created with his brother Xaime Hernandez), made an independent collection called Birdland for Eros that is really sexy, and features very powerful women. I would also recommend The Adventures of a Lesbian College School Girl by Petra Waldron and Jennifer Finch, Casa Howhard (hot shemales) by Roberto Baldazzini and Small Favors by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin about Annie, 'a bisexual, masturbation-crazy nymphomaniac.'"

More than meets the eye: In Toronto's Eye Weekly, Guy Leshinski previews this weekend's Canadian National Comic Book Expo with a look at Pat and Roger Lee and Dreamwave Productions:

"This September marks the 20th anniversary of the Transformers, which began airing in the US in 1984. With their crotchety transforming noises -- a favourite DJ sample -- the Transformers were a phenomenon, pioneers of what today is the commonplace collusion of cartoons and toys. Like sci-fi Rubik's cubes, each character/figurine was a fierce robot that folded into some random object: a fighter jet, say, or, improbably, a portable stereo (complete with transforming cassette). From '84 to '88, the Transformers turned their young, TV audience into devout consumers, clamouring to be the first kid on their block to own the red and blue semi-trailer Optimus Prime or, if the block was especially solvent, the two-foot-tall Fortress Maximus.

"The ground is still fertile, a generation later, and the Lees have tilled it with skill, sowing far more than simple nostalgia. They've updated the rusting source material, taking great care to make their artwork painterly and modern. Their Transformers comics apply some of the most sophisticated digital design tools on the market, and the work achieves a breathtaking theatricality."

"This Land" does belong to you and me: Wired News reports that Ludlow Music has dropped its demand that JibJab.com stop using Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" in a satirical Flash-animation cartoon. Jason Schultz, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represented the website, says Ludlow doesn't own the rights to the song, which apparently has lapsed into the public domain:

While researching the case, the EFF discovered that Woody Guthrie published a songbook in 1945 that included "This Land Is Your Land." The EFF found a copy of the songbook at the Library of Congress. At that time, copyright holders owned their work for 28 years, and could renew the copyright once during the first term, for another 28 years.

When Guthrie published the songbook, that "started the clock ticking on the 28 years," Schultz said. Guthrie never renewed it, meaning the terms of the copyright expired in 1973.

Ludlow, meanwhile, registered the song in 1956 as an original copyright, not the renewal. The company was apparently unaware that because Guthrie had already published the song, the terms of copyright began in 1945, not 1956, Schultz said.

Ludlow's attorney disputes the idea that the copyright has expired, and contends the music company settled with JibJab "to avoid the expense and difficulties of litigation."

Under the terms of the settlement, JibJab agreed to donate 20 percent of proceeds to the Woody Guthrie Foundation, and link to the original lyrics.

Return of the teen detectives: Newsarama also checks in on the new Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series from NBM Publishing's Papercutz division:

“Creating original graphic novels for the tween market featuring popular established characters. When the opportunity presented itself for Papercutz to obtain the graphic novel rights to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, we jumped on it! We've got a few other properties in development and hope to announce those in the months ahead.”

The Hardy Boys will be released first as a monthly comic, beginning in November, while Nancy Drew will debut in February as an original graphic novel. The Hardy Boys collected edition also will be released that month.

Go West: Newsarama chats briefly with Brian Azzarello about his upcoming Western series from Vertigo, Loveless, which re-teams him with Hellblazer artist Marcello Fruisin:

“This is Marcello’s dream project. He’s bringing so much more to this than he was to Hellblazer. There are certain parameters you have to work within when you’re working with a company-owned character -- we don’t have those here, so we’re both really, really excited to get this thing off the ground.”

Ten years in Paradise: Silver Bullet Comic Books talks with Terry Moore about a decade of Strangers in Paradise:

"I went through a lot of ideas over a five year period until I decided to stop ramming my head against the wall of syndication. So I looked over what I had made in that time, pulled out the original ideas and characters, put them all in front of me and made them into a cast. Because they came from different ideas, they didn't have a lot in common and the natural friction between them made it easy to come up with story ideas. They were tumbling around in my head and I wasn't sure where to begin. I could picture their day to day life and interaction, but I wasn't sure where to jump in. I was thinking about them all the time, imagining moments and scenes, taking notes, when I decided to begin with the scene of Francine, my clean-cut girl next door type, stripping in the park. I built the first up around that moment, the entire first mini-series actually."

Tracking otaku: Japan's Asahi Shimbun reports on a new study of otaku that found the obsessive fans of manga, anime, video games and young female singers spend 260 billion yen each year on their hobbies. The report, released Tuesday by the Nomura Research Institute, places the number of otaku in those four areas at 2.8 million people:

"Although the term otaku has negative connotations such as 'reclusive' in Japanese, their lavish spending habits mean they are 'no longer a target of niche marketing only,' says the report.

"The research institute defines otaku as 'people who spend much of their time and money on a focused area of interest.' Based on the definition, NRI estimated the number and spending habits of people with a hard-core interest in the four areas, all typical otaku pursuits."

Getting theatrical: The Lansing, Mich., City Pulse chats with local artist Scott McKowen, an illustrator of theater posters, magazines and newspapers, and designer of Canada’s 2001 silver dollar -- but best known to comics fans as the cover artist for Neil Gaiman's 1602 miniseries.

Taking shots at video games: The Seattle Times spotlights Penny Arcade creators Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, and previews this weekend's Penny Arcade Expo:

"About 1,400 people have registered, a testament to Penny Arcade's rabid fan following. Even some companies the comic has shredded will be there, a testament to Penny Arcade's influence. The site gets about 175,000 viewers a day.

"'Penny Arcade is very well-respected in the gaming industry,' said Larry Hyrb, director of programming for Microsoft's Xbox Live service. 'They poke a lot of fun at us, which is OK because we poke a lot of fun at us as well.'"

Taiwan comics exhibit: Taiwan's Central News Agency notes that a five-day comics exhibition kicked off today at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung City. Organized by the Chinese Comic Publishing Guild, the exhibit gives fans an opportunity to view the latest and most popular titles, and to meet Taiwanese and Japanese creators.

For McCubbin, sexy sells: The San Francisco Chronicle profiles Laurenn McCubbin, illustrator of Rent Girls and co-writer/illustrator of the Xeric Award-winning XXXLiveNudeGirls:

"A naked girl can't help but be sexy -- there is something inherently sexy about a girl wearing lingerie, in certain poses ... but I don't draw them to get men off. I've had a male friend say, 'Damn you, Laurenn, you've ruined girl-on-girl action for me!' I don't know. I do want people to think about what they're looking at. "

"... "You know, I don't just draw sexy girls. I am a little obsessed with underpasses, old neon signs. Drawing women is a moneymaker. ... I mean, I don't use models that aren't real girls. My models are rounder or skinnier or somehow unconventional, although to me, of course, they are pretty."

The newspaper also spotlights Rent Girl writer Michelle Tea.

Marvel, from the top: Last week, ICv2.com interviewed DC's Paul Levitz. Now it's Dan Buckley's turn for a two-part sitdown, in which he discusses the state of the market, and Marvel's editorial strategies and policies on overprints and retailer exclusives, and more:

On creator exclusives: "There's an equal amount of investment going on with both parties, writers probably a little less [than artists], except for some guys that are very important to our business like Brian Bendis, and JMS, and Mark Millar. That's more to protect what we've got going on. For pencillers, especially if you're talking about the Young Guns and things along that line, we're going to spend some time and effort investing in their careers and their names, and there's a limited amount of good output that you can get out of these folks. You want to make sure they're comfortable with what they're doing; you want to make sure that everything looks great and you want to make sure that we get a little bit of return on it too.

"So it has more to do with stabilizing our plans and our lines. It makes it a little bit easier to plan out a year to two years in advance for projects, and allows us to have a little bit of a market lever. Because we can elevate names, we can match up creators with projects and help manage things. It's been a fairly good strategy. It's been one of the biggest dynamic changes in the comic book publishing business over the last ten years. How publishers have been managing that has been one of the biggest changes in the last two or three years. When I was here the first time, I don't think Marvel did a very good job of that. The creators and the publishers seem to have a pretty good relationship, and see the value of it for both sides. Will we have creators stay exclusive for the next ten years? I doubt it; people will come and people will go, but hopefully both parties will be the better for it at the end of it."

On pursuing the manga market: "We're still struggling with the young girl readership, and we're developing it and we're working on it and it might be that we don't know how to do it internally. We see the digests as a first step in going after the younger readers or providing product that can be available for younger readers. That's one of the first strategies, because the format's comfortable and we can get racking. I don't think there's a lot of investment being done by bookstores and other folks for the racking of those products. That was our first step. For the next step, it's going to take a little bit more work and we're still formulating it."

Distribution woes: India's Calcutta Telegraph reports on a two-month comics drought triggered when Gotham Comics changed distributors:

“We have changed distributors, which has resulted in delay and unavailability in certain areas. But by the month-end, things should be normal again.”

The shipping news: Ninth Art also looks at the books shipping this week, highlighting The Losers, Ultimate Elektra, Singularity 7 and Flight Vol. 1.

Comics roundtable: At Ninth Art, Alex De Campi chats with Laurenn McCubbin, Tristan Crane and Lea Hernandez about Comic-Con International and the state of the comics industry:

McCubbin: "It was the same shit, over and over! I mean, I barely know anything about comics, and even I can see it. Everyone is talking about the X-Men getting their old costumes back, like that is an important plot point, somehow. I have gotten to the point where if I even see the words 'Green Lantern', I just tune out. My eyes glaze over. There is so nothing for me there.

"Sometimes, comics are so embarrassing. Rampant misogyny and homophobia aside - far, far aside, please - the short-sightedness of the industry is just stunning. Comics is ten years behind all other media, and it's starting to show. Everything about comics is so behind the times; the stories, the politics, even the way most of y'all dress. Get some new clothes, people!"

Hernandez: "The tits and ass factor's still there at San Diego, and popped up in some surprising places this year - like the cheerleaders at the AD Visions booth. Cheerleaders in a setting other than a school are about fetish. Considering that ADV's grown into a company that puts out a broad range of anime and TV show collections, and a lot of that product is for kids and women, the addition of adult women dressed as cheerleaders was bizarre and disappointing."

Faster than a ... The Detroit News reports that, rather appropriately, Greg Biffle's Flash Ford won Sunday’s GFS Marketplace 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Six cars were painted with DC's Justice League characters Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter:

"What a neat deal — Flash on the car, fastest man alive, and he paid off."

Comics relief: The New York Post spotlights the work of Michael Bitz, founder of the Comic Book Project after-school literacy program.

The case of the missing comic strips: The New York Times looks at moves by newspapers across the country to cut some of their comics to try to combat sagging ad revenues and rising paper costs. Here's Dilbert creator Scott Adams:

“I think newspapers need some percentage of attraction to young readers to get them interested, get them hooked, get them off the Internet. The comics page is their portal. And right now, they risk having no portal.”

I've worked at a daily newspaper that dropped some comic strips while shrinking others; reader response isn't pretty. Don't think anyone could possibly read -- let alone enjoy -- Mary Worth? Leave it out of the paper one day, and see how many angry phone calls, letters and emails you get. Heck, some devotees will even show up at your office. The only greater offense, I think, is cutting the bridge column. Do that and you sign your own death warrant.

Rall against the machine: The San Diego Union-Tribune catches up with political cartoonist Ted Rall at, of all places, Comic-Con International to discuss his latest works, Wake Up ... You're Liberal: How We Can Take America Back From the Right and Generalissimo El Busho: Cartoons and Essays on the Bush Years:

"I don't do very well at these shows. I'm not, like, the inker for Iron Man #38."

Towering figure: UK's Sunday Herald talks with Art Spiegelman about his new book, In The Shadow Of No Towers. The best part of the article, though, is novelist Philip Pullman's take on Spiegelman and his work:

“Maus is a work that should be firmly in any canon of great narratives. It is at once familiar and deeply, permanently strange. If this world were run properly, there would be international awards for ‘Artistic Treasure Of The Human Race’ or ‘International Living Supreme Master,’ and among the first winners would be Art S.

“Also, he is a smoker of Olympic class. I was talking to him on the stage of the ICA in London, and his cigarettes actually set off the fire alarm.”

The Aug. 30 edition of Newsweek also previews In The Shadow of No Towers:

"In the Shadow is the strangest book you'll pick up this year. It's a 32-page board book, like the ones babies teethe on — only bigger. The idea, Spiegelman says, was to get pages almost as big as the ones that held the Sunday funnies. Then he filled them with scenes from his own life cross-pollinated with comics characters — Happy Hooligan and Little Nemo, right alongside Osama bin Laden and George Bush. It's a crazy quilt of cartoons, real-life headlines, humor and horror. There go the Katzenjammer Kids wearing hats in the shape of burning towers. Here comes Spiegelman as Ignatz toting a brick (in the shape of a tower) to toss at Krazy Kat. You don't have to be a comics aficionado to see that Spiegelman has done a superb job of capturing the tragic absurdity of life in New York City on 9/11 and for months thereafter."

Review revue: Following in the heels of The New York Times, the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram reviews Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return:

"Satrapi shows the side of Iranians we in the West aren't usually shown -- the irrepressible life underneath the veils and the persecution. She takes us behind closed doors, where there are intellectual discussions and aerobics classes, parties and love affairs and satellite TV. Her clean, clear drawings illuminate without oversimplifying; her characters communicate with one facial expression what might take pages using words alone. Hers is an important voice to hear at a time when Middle Eastern life is portrayed simplistically to Americans as a foreign, strange, 'axis of evil' existence."

They're dropping like flies: I missed this on Thursday, but it looks as if Shawn Fumo is rethinking comics, and re-evaluating his blog, Worlds Within Worlds:

"... [I]t is time to refocus and figure out what is really important to me. All of you in the comics blogosphere are really great, and I've enjoyed being a part of it, especially back when the bookstore and manga issues were just starting to become noticed. I'm not going to drop out of things completely, and would still like to meet a lot of you in person, get to a comic convention, and all of that. But I think I really need to scale things back until I can find a happy medium. People have mentioned in the comments and e-mail about how they've found the blog to be informative, and I hate to cut those people out, but I also feel like I can really contribute more to the yo-yo world right now, and also that the amount of information I was trying to absorb before was starting to overwhelm me. I was starting to feel kind of lost at times, trying to squeeze into my head every little thing going on in the comic/manga world. ...

"... I'm thinking for the near future, the blog will be somewhat light, with hopefully reviews of the comics/movies/manga that I'm reading, but I wouldn't expect much in the way of industry news commentary and linkblogging for a while."

I hope Shawn's change of focus doesn't take Worlds Within Worlds too far afield; he's one of the most knowledgeable manga bloggers out there.

Going Vertical: Vertical, American publisher of Ring, Buddha and Dark Water, now has a blog. (Thanks to "Anonymous" for pointing it out to me.)

Amelia rules the air waves: Johanna points out that the Amelia Rules! TV commercial has begun airing on WABC in New York during the station's Summer Ticket series. The comic is a favorite of my mother and niece. (How's that for "all ages"?) Here's creator Jimmy Gownley:

“We made an outreach in the last issue of Amelia for people to support an ongoing campaign to promote kids’ comics to the general public. The opportunity to air a commercial in a major market became available because of networking to people and businesses that also believe in our mission. This is the type of program we want to make happen for more creators in the kids’ comics community.”

Learning with manga: The Japanese Language Center in Bellevue, Wash., is offering a "Manga Course" that uses popular manga to supplement the textbook Japanese for Busy People:

"This course is open to teens and adults. It is designed for those who love Manga and have a beginner's level of Japanese skill. This course is perfect for those who wish to learn casual Japanese language. You will learn standard Japanese conversation including grammar for one hour using the regular textbook and for another hour using Manga as alternate text for each lesson. This course is designed to cover reading (Hiragana/Katakana and 100 Kanji), writing, listening, and speaking the Japanese language."

Review revue: The New York Times continues its comics love affair with a review of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis 2, complete with excerpts.

Meanwhile, Toronto's Globe and Mail takes note of Give Our Regards to the Atomsmashers: Writers on Comics.

Conventional wisdom: The Toronto Star previews next weekend's Canadian National Expo, the country's largest sci-fi/fantasy/comics convention, and focuses on guests such as George Romero, Patrick Stewart, Ty Templeton and Jill Thompson. Here's Thompson:

"It's great to be able to actually speak to someone who may be able to critique your work, or give you pointers. When I started in comics, it was even more male-dominated. So the people that I met (at conventions) were mostly men. But I just wanted to be a comic-book professional. To do good comics. I really tried to pick their brains, to find out what I was doing wrong, doing right. And now I try to return the favour."

Pacific's legacy: San Diego Reader examines Bill and Steve Schanes' Pacific Comics, which grew from one store in 1974 to a distribution company in the late '70s, then to a ground-breaking publisher in the early '80s, releasing books by the likes of Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, Dave Stevens, Mark Evanier and Bruce Jones:

"In many ways, Pacific formed the template for Image Comics, today's most successful San Diego­-based comic company. Image began in 1992 as a publishing imprint where creators could own and profit from their characters. It was founded by Todd McFarlane (who'd made his name drawing Spider-Man and the Hulk), San Diego illustrator Jim Lee (known for an acclaimed run on the Punisher comic), and several other mainstream Marvel artists. Others joined up to form a staff of creators, including Jim Valentino, who'd once worked as a shipping clerk at Pacific's San Diego warehouse (I'm told I was hired at Pacific as Valentino's replacement). Sales of Image titles, such as Spawn and Wildcats, quickly rivaled Marvel and DC in numbers that nobody before them, not even Pacific, had ever managed to pull off. Once again, the Big Two were forced to play catch-up with an upstart new indie publisher. Reportedly over a million copies of Todd McFarlane's Spawn #1 were printed and snapped up in multiples by eager comic consumers who made Image comics the best-selling independent titles of the past quarter century."

(Thanks to Matt Maxwell for pointing out the story.)

Battle of the art-board stars: Canada's Mote Magazine reports on the Fourth-Ever Comic Art Battle held Aug. 14 in Portland, Ore., which pitted Team "Alternative" -- Bwana Spoons, Nathan Beaty, Nicole George and Aaron Renier -- against Team "Mainsteam" -- David Hahn, Drew Johnson, Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker:

"A big part of these events for me is putting the decidedly reclusive pursuit of making comics into a very interactive, and exciting public arena. People really get into these things. At Saturday's battle, there was a whole section of people who came with giant foam fingers to help cheer on their team."

Team "Alternative" won.

Cartoons, in contrast: The Portland (Ore.) Tribune chats with singer Aimee Mann, whose latest CD, Lost in Space, includes a "gift with purchase" in the form of cartoons by Seth:

"I love the work of Ghost World artist Dan Clowes and wanted to do something in the same vein. The cartoons provide the contrast to the music that I was looking for. Because even when things are serious and you’re trying to talk about intense feelings, there’s can be a lightness and irony at the same time."

Review revue: At Time.com, Andrew Arnold reviews Mark Beyer's Amy and Jordan, and Ted Naifeh and Tristan Crane's How Loathsome.

Meanwhile, Australia's Sydney Morning Herald takes a look at Joe Sacco's The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo.

That's, what, 210 in cat-years? Australia's The Age examines the cultural impact of 30 years of Hello Kitty:

"As a trend, it's all about being pink, soft and vulnerable. But the girlish sweetness is micro-managed by her creators who have strict rules.

"For example, they license the sale of all-pink kitty-endorsed kitchen appliances but refuse to allow her image to be used for anything sexy or even vaguely violent. Yes to microwaves, no to paring knives."

You can go home again: Greater Milwaukee Today profiles Wisconsin native Sean McKeever, who returns to his old stomping grounds on Saturday for a signing at Neptune Comics:

"There’s a lot more to comics than two guys in tights beating each other up."

... and party every day: At Newsarama, Chris Arrant talks with comics wonder twins Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá and brothers Kako and Bruno D’Angelo about Rock'N'Roll:

"Most of the fans in the U.S. keep being fans of comics when they grow up, so you see a lot of old guys with the entire collection of Action Comics and such. With the exception of Maurício de Souza, who has a big enterprise studio and makes comics for children, we have mostly mature reader material being made by Brazilian creators. Unfortunately, the overall idea of comics is that it’s for kids and most of the comics still comes from outer seas, mainly super-heroes and, of course, manga.

"Comics grew in variety and improved in quality over the years, but they are not as cheap as they were in the past, so it has become more difficult to reach a broader audience in a country with economic problems like Brazil. So, the same way we see happening in the U.S., comic creators are looking to bookstores and doing graphic novels, what puts the price up."

Good-bye, All Too Flat: Sean Collins takes a new job, and bids farewell to comics blogging:

"I’ve recently accepted a professional position that I’m pretty sure precludes me from running a blog of this kind. Believe me, I’m happy about the gig, which is great for me in nearly every conceivable way… except this one. I’ll miss the medium, I’ll miss the regular freestyle exercise of the old criticism and commentary chops, I’ll miss my fellow comicsbloggers (a ton), I’ll miss the sense that a decent number of people regularly read and enjoyed what I was writing here, and I’ll miss talking about comics (which I’ll still be doing, I assure you--just not here)."

Shipping blunders: In the latest installment of "Tilting at Windmills," Brian Hibbs addresses "market responsibility":

"Do you want to know why it is so hard to launch new books into the market? Why we need 'comics activism' for She-Hulk or Fallen Angel? It’s precisely because we get weeks where there are 9 X-Men books and 5 Batman titles, and that is when those books ship. Of course, that’s also the week that someone at DC thinks it’s a grand idea to ship two of the struggling 'Focus' titles. 'Uh, but why doesn’t this sell?' they then ask.

"Rocket. Science.

"It’s really easy to kill the golden goose – as we’ve been busy proving again and again through the years. Not only have we strangled existing franchises by not having the slightest thought for market forces, but we’ve created a circumstance where it’s almost impossible to launch new works because they arrive into weeks where all of the consumer’s cash has already been vacuumed out of their pockets."

Welcome to Sin City: For those wondering what all the hype is about, UnderGroundOnline provides a guide to Frank Miller's Sin City:

"At the end of the day, the entire Sin City franchise of graphic novels is worthwhile (except for Hell and Back, which is a drastically weaker affair than its predecessors), but it's the original that probably holds up the best. Sin City is an ugly, visceral tale about a disturbed man's blood-soaked quest for revenge, but at the same time, it's a moral story. Marv knows he'll do prison time, at the very least, for what he's planning, but he does it anyway simply because he genuinely believes it's the right thing to do."

Satan's little helper: The Boston Globe profiles Marvel Knights 4 writer and playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who discusses his latest play, Say You Love Satan -- and reveals he's working on a cartoon series for Nickelodeon with singer Jewel:

"In Say You Love Satan, a Johns Hopkins graduate student meets a handsome, charismatic stranger who (he discovers when they start dating) has a 666 on his forehead. Who is this guy? The devil's son? Or something worse?

"Aguirre-Sacasa describes Satan as both a relationship comedy and an occult comedy. 'It nods to the movies I grew up with, The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and The Omen,' he adds. The play was written five years ago, and while Aguirre-Sacasa says he has a lot of 'ex-plays' (ones he's 'broken up with'), this isn't one of them."

The art of comics: The Seattle Times takes a look at an exhibit of hand-knitted superhero costumes and beaded-and-embroidered comic-book covers at Greg Kucera Gallery:

"The 'Superheroes' hang limply on the wall or, in a few cases, are suspended from the ceiling. Thus, Spiderman, Ironman, Daredevil and others come alive with the brittle colors of the acrylic yarn and slightly oversize dimensions. Tallest of the lot at 10 feet high, 'Fantastic Four (Reed Richards)' (2003) goes beyond normal human size to a weirdly stretched effigy that delights and disturbs at the same time."

The geek games: Toronto's Globe and Mail looks at Hollywood's courtship of the geek market, perhaps best illustrated by the enormous film presence at Comic-Con International:

"Hollywood has long been called 'high school with money,' and it's hilarious that these days, the cool kids are so actively courting the nerds -- the Pradas wooing the Pocket Protectors. The powers that be thank geeks for the $2.9-billion (U.S.) earned worldwide by The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and for Spider-Man 2's $650-million gross, not to mention I, Robot's $150-million so far, The Day After Tomorrow's $535-million, Van Helsing's $269-million, and even the $700-plus-million brought in by both Shrek 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. They also credit geeks with starting Internet buzz, streaming to opening weekends, and shelling out for movie merchandise.

"And, perhaps most importantly, they pin the failure of hyper-hyped films like Catwoman and King Arthur on negative Internet buzz. Contributors to Catwoman websites, for example, dissed the kitty costume and script long before critics, and eventually audiences, did. The reaction on King Arthur websites -- a big yawn -- was also echoed in its sleepy grosses."

Elf quest: At Comic Book Galaxy, Alan David Doane attends the book-release party in Burlington, Vt., for James Kochalka's American Elf collection.

That's me in the spotlight ... At Comic World News, Ed Cunard thought I might make an interesting interview, so I did my best to prove him wrong. We discuss my involvement in Scryptic Studios, my comics work, and blogging.

Finding Paradise: ICv2.com has word that Hero Video Productions will release Terry Moore: Paradise Found, a two-hour DVD documentary about the life and work of the creator of Strangers in Paradise. The DVD will be solicited in September Previews.

The king of all media: Reuters reports that Spike TV has ordered 13 episodes of a new animated series tentatively titled Howard Stern: The High School Years, based on the radio personality's teen-age years growing up on Long Island. Stern will serve as executive producer of the series, set to launch next summer.

Rule Britannia: Silver Bullet Comic Books talks with editor George Khoury about True Brit, which celebrates the work of UK comics artists like Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Alan Davis, Bryan Hitch, Dave McKean, David Lloyd and others:

"The main reason I did this book was because I was always surprised that most of my favorite comic book artists were Brits. To a degree, I've also felt that UK artists were a bit under-looked in comparison to the recognition writers like Moore, Morrison and Ellis received. This book is for every British artist of any generation, because I hope they never forget the contributions they've made in comics. Another thing I wanted to capture was the beautiful heritage of British comics, remembering some of those who are lesser known in the States because they deserve that right to be exposed to artists like Mike Noble or Syd Jordan, both of who are simply fabulous artists. At over 130,000 words and 250 images, I feel that this is easily the essential book on English comic art."

Scott Pilgrim's precious little site: Bryan Lee O'Malley has launched the sharply designed scottpilgrim.com to help promote the equally sharp Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. Go there now.

This is a job for -- oh, wait: The Associated Press reports that police in Austin, Minn., are searching for more than $2,400 worth of Marvel comics stolen from a man's home. James Jones told authorities that he returned from vacation yesterday to find someone had broken into his house and taken between 600 and 800 comics stored in four large boxes.

By the power of ... Powerade: In an announcement that triggers memories of The Adventures Of Kool-Aid Man, DC Comics and Powerade have teamed up for a Powerade Flava 23 promotional comic starring NBA player LeBron James and featuring 10 different covers by the likes of Damion Scott, James Jean, Udon, John VanFleet, Jock and Ariel Olivetti. Four of the covers will be available only through mail-in redemption, four only at Kroger grocery stores, one only at military commissaries, and one at retail and via mail-in redemption. Here's David McKillips, DC's vice president of advertising and custom publishing:

"DC assembled a talented team of comic book veterans and rising stars to create a universe of new villains, competitors and, of course, a new hero named King James that will appeal to athletes, sports fans and superhero fans. With ten different covers and three million copies in print, the King James project is the largest sports-related custom comic book DC Comics has ever created."

ESPN.com has more on James' $2 million endorsement deal with Powerade and Sprite, and makes mention of the King James comic:

"Both Powerade and Nike appear in the promotional cartoon, which could grow into something much bigger for LeBron, who, after seeing the first proof, requested that his character be portrayed with larger muscles."

Crisis management: At Movie Poop Shoot, Scott Tipton turns his attention to the history of Ralph and Sue Dibny, and to the controversial events of Identity Crisis:

"The biggest problem I have with the story is that, dramatically, it’s still something of a cheat. The reason the murder of Sue Dibny is so shocking is because of the emotional investment that longtime readers like myself have in the character, thanks to the fine work of others, and to first cash in on that for shock value by brutally murdering her, and then to taint the older appearances by inserting this horribly degrading assault years into her backstory, making it hard to re-read those appearances without recontextualizing them through the prism of this brutalization, seems to me at best a cheap and lazy manner in which to generate an emotional response in the reader, and at worst an outright slap in the face to all of those writers and artists who came before you. Without cashing in on the readers’ investment in Sue Dibny, it’s hard to say that the story would have any impact at all. As the late great Mark Gruenwald said, 'Every character is somebody’s favorite.' You shouldn’t kill them off lightly, or worse, ruin their old appearances in retrospect.

"Still, even though I disagree with the decision, I have to admit that the story is gripping and well-told, and at least DC isn’t reveling in the murder and torture of its characters the way Marvel is nowadays, with the gleeful stripmining of the proud, four-decade-spanning Avengers heritage (complete with a ghoulish 'check-‘em-off-as-they-die' chart at the Marvel Web site – no thanks, Marvel, I don’t need to pay that close attention as you disembowel my childhood), all so they can replace the team with a slapped-together mishmash of top-selling Marvel characters that have little to do with the Avengers concept. Feh."

Windy City memories: At Comic Book Resources, Augie De Blieck Jr. files the first installment of his report from WizardWorld Chicago, including audio recordings of the much-discussed Bendis panel. He also attended the Wizard Fan Awards:

"Most awkward moment of the night came when JLA/AVENGERS won an award. Dan DiDio and Joe Quesada got up on stage to accept the awards, each receiving a little statuette. Quesada talked first, with DiDio noticeably hiding in the back corner of the stage. Then Quesada retreated to the opposite corner of the stage while DiDio gave his acceptance speech. After that, Quesada waited for DiDio to leave the stage first, then let award presenter John Cassady follow him before walking off himself. If it's anything like the Eisners, they usually like to take winners' pictures backstage after the award presentation. I'd love to see what that picture looked like."

The H.E.A.T. is on: At The Pulse, Lee Barnett examines the return of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, and who, exactly, determines the destiny of corporate-owned characters:

"In the appearances in recent years of Green Lantern outside comics, one had Guy Gardner as his alter ego, in an abysmal movie that is only saved from utter helplessness by saying that the recent Thunderbirds movie was worse. And, of course, the Justice League cartoon uses John Stewart as their Green Lantern. So there’s no reason for DC to bring back Hal Jordan ... other than that the ‘fans’ want him back. It’s worth remembering at this moment that the word fan is an abbreviation of ‘fanatic’. A group of fans of 'Hal Jordan as Green Lantern' have maintained a campaign, ever since his replacement made his debut, to get rid of the new guy and get Jordan back in the costume that they love.

"It's also worth remembering that Hal Jordan doesn't actually exist. But that's a huge advantage in one way, since because he's a fictional creation and his adventures have been published for so long, his fans appear to have feelings of ownership in the character that doesn't seem to exist in any other field of entertainment.

"I guess in some way it's an understandable sentiment. After all, some of these fans have been reading the adventures of Jordan as Green Lantern far longer than any individual creator had actually worked on them. Unless you're talking about creator-owned characters, it's likely that with any company owned character, there will be fans that have read the character long before the creator came on board."

DC, from the top: ICv2.com sits down for a three-part interview with DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz and Vice President Direct Sales Bob Wayne, in which they discuss the state of the industry, the impact of movies on comics sales, and the company's recent partnerships with European publishers:

"I think the connection between the Catwoman film's creative and most of our publishing program is so tenuous that I'd be shocked if there were any direct connection on anything beyond the movie adaptation. We put out one trade paperback, Nine Lives of the Feline Fatale, to tie in with it. We'll sell a few of those. I don't think you'll see anything much more than that.

"When we get to Batman Begins next year, I think that will be really interesting. Constantine will be very interesting. That's a movie that will, in some ways, have the potential to have the same effect the first Batman movie had in that people will not have seen anything like it, and they may come out of it and say, 'This is cool! You mean this comes out of comics? Maybe I should check out some of these.' That may drive people in an interesting way."

Thinking of the children: Also at The Onion A.V. Club, a collection of celebrities -- including Frank Miller, Harvey Pekar and Dave Sim -- is asked, "If you could send one message to the children of the world, what would it be?" Miller gets right to the point with "Shut up," while Pekar and Sim predictably meander a bit.

Review revue: The Onion A.V. Club reviews Jeff Smith's Bone: One Volume Edition:

"Bone began with deftness, but, like the Star Wars franchise, it devolved into arcana. ... Or so it seemed to a lot of readers. The devoted stuck with Bone for the 13 years it took Smith to complete it, often waiting for the trade-paperback collections and reading the story in larger, smoother chunks. Those more patient souls had the right idea. Within months of releasing the final issue, Smith has put the whole 1,300-page monster in one heavy, bound volume. What seemed numbingly dense in 22-page installments now has a magnificent shape, and a momentum that carries the narrative from its light comic beginning to its light comic ending, while seamlessly encompassing the darkness between."

Death Jr. becomes him: GameSpy chats with Courtney Crumrin creator Ted Naifeh about the upcoming Death Jr. comic book, based on the PlayStation 2 game:

"It's hard to say how much freedom I get. I was picked to do it because my style was perfectly suited to the look and feel of the game. Most of the decisions to bring the look of the comic closer in style to the game are my decisions, such as the color scheme, etc. However, Death Jr. is Backbone's baby, and they hold onto it pretty tightly. I know that sounds a bit oppressive, but let me explain further.

"If I were working on, say, Batman, and I decided to change the costume a bit, I'd have a committee of editors looking at previous comics and saying, 'No, no! We have a brand to service. We've got to maintain brand recognition.' But with Death Jr., it's different. I deal directly with Terri, who's responsible for the look and feel of the game. So if I make changes, she has a look at them and decides if they suit the overall vision. She has a strong personal attachment to the character and reins me in when I get too far away from the original design.

"As an independent comic creator, I find that characters created by committee never have the impact of characters created by a unique vision. It's a danger that every company falls into when trying to develop new brands -- the creation of ideas that try to please everyone and end up pleasing no one. Too many chefs spoil the broth.

"Death Jr. was created along with a whole slew of characters as possible concepts for the next Backbone project. The original sketch of him became the template. He hasn't changed much at all. Terri's job is to be keeper of the vision, so that it doesn't get watered down. I have the utmost respect for her opinions. After all, I wouldn't want someone coming in and redesigning Courtney Crumrin. Without someone like Terri, a character like Death Jr. could end up mutating into a goddamned Care Bear, and no one wants that. It's not about branding … it's about purity of vision."

Pret-a-porter: Seattle Weekly spotlights an exhibit at the Greg Kucera Gallery featuring Mark Newport's hand-knit superhero costumes. Among the outfits on display are Spider-Man, Aquaman, Batman, the Fantastic Four, the Escapist, and Newport's own creation, the Patriot. The exhibit runs through Aug. 28.

DC in November: DC Comics released its November solicitations last night. Highlights include:

*Detective Comics hits the 800th-issue landmark with a 48-pager that includes the prelude to David Lapham's upcoming arc.
*I love Tim Sale's cover for Catwoman: When In Rome #3.
*JLA: Classified kicks off with a three-part story written by Grant Morrison.
*John Ostrander writes Aquaman #24, which guest-stars the Sea Devils. Is this simply a fill-in, or is Will Pfeifer no longer writing the series?
*Because you asked for it: a Firestorm/Bloodhound crossover! Okay, Dan Jolley asked for it.
*Marcos Martin's cover for Green Arrow #44 is striking, but unusual for the series.
*H-E-R-O ends with Issue 22.
*Know how you can tell Justice League Elite is "edgy" and, um, "gritty"? By the bloody head on the cover. I guess that's so no one will confuse it with Justice League Unlimited.
*In another case of a striking-but-unusual cover, check out J.H. Williams' piece for JSA #67.
*Rick Veitch and Tommy Lee Edwards resurrect The Question.
*The CMX Manga line expands with Musashi Number Nine and Swan.
*WildStorm's The Intimates -- not to be confused with The Ultimates -- launches, with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Sandra Hope and Jim Lee. You know, the guy who drew Batman: Hush.
*Gary Phillips' Angeltown miniseries kicks off.

Late-shipping shocker, revisited: Are you sitting down? Good. Diamond reports that NYX #5, resolicited just last week for Sept. 1, now is scheduled for a Sept. 15 release. Yeah, we've heard that one before. For those keeping track at home, Issue 5 originally was scheduled for Feb. 11. Meanwhile, at DC, Enginehead #6 is listed as "TBA." That doesn't bode well for the final issue of the miniseries, recently cut from eight because of horrendous sales.

July, by the (not-so-good) numbers: ICv2.com reports that dollar sales on comics were flat in July, increasing just .2 percent overall -- and that's thanks to a 1 percent increase in graphic-novel sales. The retailer website contends, "The market improved by even that amount only because of an increase in the average cover price of comics from $2.80 to $2.91 per comic." July also saw a drop in piece sales, with just two titles in the Top 25 -- Avengers #500 and Spectacular Spider-Man #17 -- seeing an increase. Sales of the No. 1 book, 143,712 for Superman/Batman #11, were the lowest for a No. 1 title since February.

Another telling sign of a weak month is that the bottom title on the Top 300 list sold an estimated 1,187 copies, down from 1,332 in June. A breakdown of the Top 100 graphic novels can be found here.

Recounting Hiroshima: Japan's Daily Yomiuri talks with translator Namie Asazuma about the publication of the English-language version of Barefoot Gen, a manga depicting the horrors of nuclear warfare:

"I really want Americans, who dropped the atomic bombs, to read the comic. I believe if more people read it, the threat of nuclear weapons and the horror of war would be understood worldwide."

What condition my condition is in: The Chicago Sun-Times takes a look at Comics Guaranty LLC, the industry's arbiter of all things mint and near-mint:

"Out of the nearly 500,000 comic books graded by CGC since its founding in 2000, only 641, or about one-tenth of 1 percent, have merited a perfect 10, a rating known as 'gem mint.' But rating alone does not determine a comic book's market value. Rarity factors in. For example, while a Spider-Man Number 53 given a 9.8 might fetch a few thousand dollars, a Spider-Man No. 1 in the same condition would go for about $200,000, Haspel said."

Vertical to tweak focus: Publishers Weekly (subscription required) spotlights changes being made at Vertical, American publisher of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha and Koji Suzuki's The Ring:

"Despite being a small house (a staff of five that includes Vertical president Hiroki Sakai), [publicist Anne] Ishii said, 'we didn't act like a startup,' pointing to a lavish advertising campaign, pricey hardcovers and cutting-edge book jackets by noted designer Chip Kidd. Now the house is doing some cost cutting, said [marketing director Micah] Burch, and taking a closer look at the kind of fiction it publishes. ...

"... Originally, Burch said, the house published 'a little bit of everything.' Now it plans to focus more on 'general fiction, with some genre, horror, psychological thrillers and crime. We're not trying to be literary.' With The Ring in mind, Burch said the house is on the lookout for titles with a U.S. movie hook, like the forthcoming thriller Naoko by Keigo Higasino, which is slated to be made into a film."

This fall, Vertical will publish seven new prose novels.

Stunt drivers? At Ninth Art, Paul O'Brien takes a skeptical look at the Bendis/Wayne/Batman/Daredevil brouhaha:

"The question is why anyone would think this was a sensible way to do business. It attracts attention, to be sure. But it doesn't attract attention to the books, and it just makes all concerned look like squabbling brats. I realise everyone in the industry is supposed to be looking for ways to appeal to children, but does that have to mean acting like them? To be honest, the main argument against it being a publicity stunt is that it does nothing whatsoever to build appeal for a BATMAN/DAREDEVIL book. All it does is build a spurious Marvel/DC feud. Where's the money in that? Publish another MARVEL VERSUS DC series, with a photostrip of Joe Quesada and Paul Levitz mudwrestling in thongs?

"(Please don't. Not even for charity.) "

And the cycle begins anew: The other big shocker out of Chicago is that Jean Grey/Phoenix will be resurrected ... again, with a five-issue miniseries by Greg Pak and Greg Land that begins in February.

So that's how sausage is made: The only big "news" from WizardWorld Chicago was Brian Michael Bendis' questionable public announcement of Paul Levitz's private refusal to allow a Batman/Daredevil crossover (written, in part, by Bendis). As you've likely read elsewhere, it apparently has something to do with Levitz's professional problems with Joe Quesada.

Now, it seems, Bendis wishes he hadn't aired inter-company laundry:

"I regret the whole thing. Can’t say it any simpler that that. What I intended was to start a grass roots campaign to get the proposed Batman/ DD book off the ground, not to create a wrestle mania circus.

"I apologize to everyone involved at DC comics. It was wrong for me to try and do this without your involvement. My frustration with the current climate between the companies pushed me to make what I feel now was the wrong choice. ...

"... For the record, I do not know and had never met bob wayne from dc comics. I have never spoken with him on the phone. I was genuinely surprised by his involvement in my panel. and while I greatly admire his blunt honesty that day it did take the panel into places I would never have gone. Things were said in the debate that I was not going to say outloud and the tone of the panel, by the nature of crowd reaction turned very circus like. In fact, for those who know me, I am the polar opposite of a wrestling guy and have never pulled a stunt like that in my life. And I can almost guarantee that I never will again. ...

"... There was one thing in particular I said during the debate that I instantly wished I could take back. I wished I could grab the words out of the air and pull them back. And that was the line about dc being mad about joe’ kicking their ass every month.’ I truly regret saying that immature line. I am not a professional public speaker, in fact, I spend 99 percent on my life not speaking but writing. And my inexperience at public speaking is to blame."

Review revue, Part 2: Toronto's Globe and Mail reviews Osamu Tezuka's Buddha series:

"As an earnest exploration of the sanctity of life in all its forms, Buddha is also very, very funny. Liberally sprinkled with Tezuka's penchant for anachronistic jokes, toilet humour and violence, this lyrical life of Buddha owes as much to Disney as to slapstick Saturday-morning cartoons -- think Bernardo Bertolucci by way of Looney Tunes. Lavishly drawn, at times outlandishly cartoony, Buddha is, above all, a very human story, illustrating timeless issues on the nature of freedom, equality and enlightenment."

Manga cafe culture: The New York Times spotlights Atom, a manga cafe that opened in June at 38 West 38th St., near Fifth Avenue, in the garment district. The shop is stocked with more than 20,000 manga volumes that owner Daisuke Sasano collected in Japan:

"For $5, customers at Atom can sit and read manga to their hearts' content. Atom stocks not only the adventure-heavy series that are a staple of the genre, but also stories about ordinary people. Many manga stories have more in common with pulp fiction and prime-time television than Marvel or DC comics."

Main attractions: The Library Journal reports on the American Library Association's annual conference last month in Orlando, Fla., where, it notes, "Libraries' growing interest in graphic novels was evidenced by the crowds swarming the section for graphic novels and manga, where publishers like DC Comics and Dark Horse drew greater traffic than many larger publishers."

Review revue: The Rochester, Minn., Post-Bulletin reviews X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda:

"The dialogue-heavy book is generally incomprehensible and inaccessible to readers. It doesn't read like a succinct story, but rather like page 162 of a 300-page book. Readers can extrapolate some meaning, but no passage deciphers what's happening."

"Ray" of sunshine: At Time.com, Andrew Arnold reviews the much-discussed Eightball #23, by Dan Clowes:

"Just as Clowes uses the dramatic cliches of superheroes to twist new meaning out of them, with 'The Death Ray' he uses the genre's visual signifiers to achieve a post-modern effect. For example, panels of banal scenes such as Louis and Andy watching TV or shopping obscure the traditional two-page 'splash' panel of the Death Ray socking a bad guy. But familiarity with the genre's motifs is not required to enjoy the book. With each new issue of Eightball Clowes gets more and more skilled at manipulating the formal elements of comix while keeping the narrative clear. Divided into short vignettes, many with a distinct coloring scheme or dramatic approach, the storytelling stays constantly fresh. Readers may not even notice some of the more radical elements like word balloons that get cut off by the panel borders. They'll be enjoying the playfulness of it too much."

Hot properties: Japan Today examines that country's "character business," the growing industry based on the licensing of video game, anime and manga properties:

"Japan's character business market matured in the 1990s. According to Character Databank, Ltd, a consulting firm for the Japanese character business market, domestic retail sales between 1996 and 1999 surged from 1.65 trillion yen to 2.07 trillion yen. To some extent this was essentially a bubble era that slimmed down in 2000. Character Databank's representative director, Kazuo Rikukawa remains optimistic, 'Since the start of 2003 the market has been on the rebound.'"

Kid teaches comics-art class: The Zanesville (Ohio) Times Recorder spotlights Carl Lucas, a 14-year-old published cartoonist who's teaching comics-drawing classes at the Zanesville Art Center.

The escapist: The Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal previews a local appearance next month by author Michael Chabon:

"Comic-book heroes have been a recurring theme in Chabon's life. Growing up in the planned community of Columbia, Md., he started reading comic books when he was 8. He is not among those who have strong opinions about whether Superman or Batman is the better character.

"'To me, they were complementary, not exclusive,' he said."

No blogging today: Urgent family matters require my attention, so there will be no blogging today.

Retailer perspective: Newsarama chats with Jamie Graham, owner of the Graham Cracker’s Comics chain, about the sometimes grim financial realities of the convention circuit:

“So, when I go to say, WizardWorld Philadelphia, I’m expecting to make x number of dollars. That’s a bit of a haul. This year, when I didn’t make my goal because sales were down, I don’t have to sit down and analyze about returning – that show I know, can turn itself around. On the other hand, I’ve gone to Pittsburgh for ten or eleven years, and that one I do analyze, because it hasn’t been good in a long time, and it may not be worth me returning to. Or say, if someone would come in and start a show in Chicago, I’m not going to just hop in, because my logistics are expensive to do something like that. Even if it’s just me, it’s still a lot of work – hauling boxes – taking them off the floor of the store, put them in the van, drive the van, unload the van, set up, and then reverse everything. It’s a lot of work, so it’s got to be worthwhile.”

Niles, DWP and ... me: Newsarama chats with Digital Webbing Presents publisher Ed Dukeshire about the anthology's approaching third anniversary, as well as DWP #19, which features a cover story by Steve Niles (I have a little somethin' in there, too). Dukeshire's also kind enough to mention my name among the "new talent that appears in the book on a pretty frequent basis."

Meanwhile, at Comic Book Resources, Niles promotes Bloodsucker Tales and several other projects, including the DWP story.

Diamond signs Meisha Merlin: ICv2.com reports that science fiction and fantasy publisher Meisha Merlin Publishing has signed an exclusive deal with Diamond Book Distributors for U.S. bookstore distribution. Under the agreement, Diamond also has exclusive distribution rights in the hobby, specialty game and comics markets, and non-exclusive worldwide distribution rights. Meisha Merlin publishes books by George R. R. Martin, Robert Asprin, Michael Resnick and others.

The Pulse has the press release.

Cartoonist Breisacher dies: The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reports on the death of George Breisacher, the last cartoonist to tackle Mutt and Jeff. He was 64.

Native sons: Fairfield County Weekly briefly highlights the works of Connecticut natives Al Capp, Walt Kelly and Jack Cole.

Publisher buys school: South Dakota's KELO-TV spotlights Keenspot Comics, which moved from California last fall and bought the old Cresbard High School:

"The community could get back some of the school. The town is working with Keenspot to open a library in part of the building and save the gym for community events. Long range plans include transforming the old football field into a drive-in movie theater."

Magic Eightball: Writing for Toronto's Eye Weekly, Guy Leshinski looks at Daniel Clowes' Eightball:

"Clowes' nearest antecedent may be David Lynch, whose work also vibrates on a separate frequency, and whose ascent to madness has found him toying with our understanding of character and narrative. Both artists imprint the lunacy of a dream onto their medium's skintight customs."

Comics' growing influence: The New York Times News Service thinks "comic book fans are transforming popular culture":

"Much of the reason comics are in vogue can be attributed to the fact that writers and filmmakers who grew up on them are now of an age where they can dictate cultural values, whether they are filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Bryan Singer or highly regarded writers like Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem.

"... 'The acceptability of comics has really made great strides,' notes Sean Howe, editor of Atomsmashers, which offers appreciations of comic books by authors such as Gold, Lethem, Aimee Bender, Gary Giddins and Greil Marcus. 'People say it's cool to like comics, but it's one thing to talk about them on message boards, and another thing to bring them up on first dates.'"

More on Marvel's bookstore distribution switch: Publishers Weekly (subscription required) confirms yesterday's report from ICv2.com that Marvel will switch its bookstore distribution back to Diamond after just two years at Client Distribution Services:

"[Unnamed sources] say that Marvel would make the move to save money by consolidating all its books in a single warehouse -- and because Diamond is simply more knowledgeable about Marvel's books and the category overall. ... Marvel has not responded to calls for comment. And a spokesperson for CDS says that the company 'will not confirm or deny' the switch. But the report, which first surfaced on comics trade site ICV2.com, has since been confirmed independently."

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Vol. 1
By Bryan Lee O'Malley
Oni Press

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Vol. 1 is easily one of my favorite books of the year. It's sharp, funny, fast-paced, unpredictable, unapologetically silly and just plain fun. What more can you ask for?

Scott Pilgrim is 23, "between jobs," sponging off his roommate, and dating a high-school girl named Knives Chau, whom he met on the bus (“We almost held hands once, but then she got embarrassed,” Scott tells his incredulous friends). None of that fazes the happy-go-lucky Scott, who plays bass for his band Sex Bob-omb, and sports a rating of “awesome.” Things change, though, when Ramona Flowers rollerblades into his dreams, and Scott is transformed into an obsessive bumbler with whom many of us can identify.

It’s with that shift the book itself changes, but not so much that it’s jarring. It becomes layered, so that it’s more than simply a light romp through the life of a care-free slacker. Scott’s obsession with Ramona is funny, but it’s also touching and, yes, even charming. The previously self-assured rocker is completely disarmed by Ramona, and falls fast and hard. Yes, “charming” is the perfect word for it.

But just when it seems Scott Pilgrim has settled into an enjoyable slice-of-life tale about 20-something under-achievers and a quirky love triangle -- and I would’ve been perfectly content with that -- Bryan Lee O’Malley throws us a curve in the form of a Dragonball-style fight scene between Scott and Ramona’s evil ex-boyfriend (well, one of Ramona’s evil ex-boyfriends). See? I said it was unpredictable and fun.

O’Malley’s art here is looser and even more cartoonish than in Lost at Sea, but it's perfect for the tone of the story. With their oversized heads and enormous eyes, his characters convey an impressive range of emotions. Like the plot, the art offers some wonderful surprises as O'Malley demonstrates he can produce some stunning sequences.

Anyone who thinks comic books have lost their sense of fun and whimsy should buy Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. Heck, everyone should buy it.

The book, which ships Aug. 18, slipped under a lot of people’s radars, so your local retailer may not have it. If that’s the case, you can buy it direct from Oni Press, or keep checking with Amazon. If you're still not sure whether Scott Pilgrim is for you, check out Oni's PDF preview, or read the 13-page excerpt at iComics.

Infantino v. DC: While we're on the subject of lawsuits, Newsarama also checks in on Carmine Infantino's $4 million claim against DC Comics, in which the creator contends the publisher infringed upon his copyrights by using characters he created between 1943 and 1967 (including the Silver Age Flash and Batgirl):

"As Newsarama reported, legal experts in the comic field are somewhat puzzled by certain aspects of Infantino’s complaint, specifically, the claim made by Infantino in the complaint that DC infringed upon his copyrights in using the characters he created between 1943 and 1967. The statute of limitations for copyright infringement is three years. The statute would apply to claims made, in the generic sense of, 'I created X and Company A used it without my approval.' It’s a different matter if there was no knowledge of the use, or the use was kept hidden.

"Additionally, no action for infringement of copyright can be made until registration of the copyright claim has been made with the Copyright Office. In other words, if an individual or company wants to sue for copyright infringement, that individual or company must have filed a registration upon which to sue - there must be official, competing claims.

"Unless it was neglected in the complaint, Infantino has not filed any registrations for the characters named in the complaint. Given these two facts, it was suggested to Newsarama that a Motion to Dismiss could be filed – and successfully entertained by the court."

Ring toss: ICv2.com catches up on a July 20 story about World Wrestling Entertainment suing Marvel in an attempt to maintain the rights to the name "Hulk Hogan."

Update: Newsarama finally takes notice, too, with a summary of the 20-year-old agreement between Marvel and the WWE, and more details of the dispute.

Propelled by piracy: At Technology Review, Henry Jenkins examines how the rise in popularity of manga and anime in the United States has been fueled by piracy:

"Two decades ago, the U.S. market was totally shut to these Japanese imports. Today, the sky is the limit, with many of the most successful children’s series, from Pokemon to Yu-Gi-Oh!, coming directly from Japanese production houses. The shift occurred not through some concerted push by Japanese media companies, but rather in response to the pull of American fans who used every technology at their disposal to expand the community that knew and loved this content. Subsequent commercial efforts built on the infrastructure these fans developed over the intervening years. In this essay, I am drawing heavily on a detailed chronicle of the early history of American anime fandom developed by the former President of the MIT Anime Club, Sean Leonard.

"Japanese animation was exported into the western market as early as the 1960s, when Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and Gigantor made it onto American television primarily through local syndication. By the late 1960s, however, reform efforts, such as Action for Children’s Television, had used threats of boycott and federal regulation to push back against content they saw as inappropriate for American children. The next wave of Japanese content aimed at adults in its country of origin, often dealt with more mature themes and was a particular target of the backlash. Discouraged Japanese distributors retreated from the U.S. market, dumping their cartoons on Japanese language cable channels in cities with large Asian populations.

"The rise of videotape recorders significantly changed this picture. American fans could dub shows off the Japanese language channels and share them with their friends in other regions. Soon, fans were seeking contacts in Japan‑both local youth and American G.I.s with access to newer series. Both Japan and the United States used the same NTSC video format, easing the flow of content across national borders. American fan clubs emerged to support the archiving and circulation of Japanese animation. The clubs, such as the MIT Anime Club, functioned as lending libraries and dubbing centers as well as holding marathon screenings to attract new members."

(Link via Johanna Draper Carlson.)

Copyright weasels: CNET reports the Business Software Alliance trade group is using a four-page comic book to promote its "Play It Safe in Cyber Space," designed to scare kids away from swapping software, games and music through peer-to-peer networks. The comic, which features a cartoon ferret tentatively named, ahem, Copyright Crusader, will be distributed in conjunction with Weekly Reader magazine:

"The ferret, by the way, does seem to be an odd mascot choice for an organization devoted to strict legal adherence, given that the weasel-like mammals are outlawed in California and several other states."

It ain't easy being green: According to the Animal Concerns Community website, the nonprofit group is searching for volunteers to survey attendees at this weekend's Wizard World Chicago about shifting the comics industry toward the use of "post-consumer recycled paper." This, of course, would mean a price increase:

The Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve is current in the research phase of a "Greening the Comics Industry" campaign, intended to shift the comic book industry towards the use of post-consumer recycled paper.

We are currently conducting a comic book readers' survey to gauge interest in and support for this shift and to determine if comic fans would support a price increase to make this possible.

Wizard World Chicago, a major comic book convention to be held August 13th through 15th, will be an ideal place to reach a large number of comics consumers in one place in a short time. We are looking for volunteers who can attend the convention, approach attendees with a clipboard and survey forms and ask them to take the survey (takes about one minute). The survey explains itself, so you won't need to answer lots of questions.

I'm sure they'll get enthusiastic support from comics fans.

Manga gathering: The Taiwan News reports this weekend's Taipei Comics Fair is expected to draw at least 100,000 manga fans:

"We expect it to break previous records. ... A lot of comic book fans failed to attend last year's show because of the SARS scare, and this only made them anticipate the fifth fair even more."

Stock-market hero: The Associated Press reports on Kelmoore Investment's use of Kaptain Kelmoore comic books to teach investing basics to 20- and 30-somethings -- a story that's just five months old:

"Aside from Kaptain Kelmoore's name and the corporate logo adorning his chest, the comic books don't mention Kelmoore products at all. Instead, the stories stick to basic investor information. In between the large slabs of cheesy dialogue, bad puns and nefarious superhero plots, the explanations are clear and the examples useful so much so that the comic has been approved as an investor education publication by the Securities and Exchange Commission."

Astonishing love affair: At Comic Book Resources, Joss Whedon talks about Astonishing X-Men and his love of comics:

"I learned a lot of what I know about storytelling and moviemaking from comic books. They never really left me. Well, they did leave me for a while in the '90s. Not that I didn't like comics. I just didn't like the ones they were making."

Lapham's "twelve-issue beast": Newsarama talks with David Lapham about tackling Batman in his upcoming 12-issue run on Detective Comics:

"If they'd have said, ‘Here's the Blue Beetle, see what you can do with him,’ that would have been all right with me. I had in my mind just to have fun and be thirteen again. So, actually, when Bob threw Batman at me, it was at that moment when I let the kid out and let my imagination take off. Really, at first I thought Batman might not be a good character for me. He's such an icon. There's so much about him that is fixed and unchangeable and really unbelievable, that he didn't seem to be enough of a real human being to tell the kinds of stories that interest me. But, of course the more I got into the character, the more I realized the just how much was there. The wealth of mythology -- Batman and Robin, the great villains, Gotham City -- turned into such a great strength. What a rich and dark world I was getting into. It made me smile because then I knew I could interpret and play up on that and bring this character and the world of Gotham City into some frighteningly dark places. After that the stories just came and kept coming until it developed into this twelve issue beast.”

Marvel to move books back to Diamond: ICV2.com reports that Marvel will announce it's moving its book distribution from Client Distribution Services to Diamond Book Distributors. It's a return journey for Marvel, which left Diamond two years ago for CDS:

"The move will put two of the largest graphic novel publishers, Dark Horse and Marvel, at Diamond, and one each at CDS (Tokyopop), Simon and Schuster (Viz), and Warners (DC). Diamond has been aggressively building its book trade distribution operation since it formed its new division a little over three years ago. It also has a large number of medium and smaller graphic novel publishers as book distribution clients."

Growing up in Riverdale: Writing for the Visalia (Calif.) Times-Delta, recent high-school graduate Diana Hallare sings the praises of Archie Comics:

"... Comics were a break from reality and partially molded my outlook on life.

"Their best message: Be yourself.

"At my former school, Archie was the adolescent's gateway to teenage life, from fashion trends to romance. It helped us create friendships and promoted politeness.

"Not many people could afford collecting comics, so we always had to say the magic words: 'May I please borrow ... ?'"

Pilgrim's progress: At Comic Book Galaxy, Alan David Doane reviews Bryan Lee O'Malley's wonderful Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Vol. 1, which I've been meaning to review for the past few days (good intentions and all that):

"... Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is charming, funny, sexy and packed with creative power and the love of storytelling."

At iComics, Greg McElhatton also heaps praises on the graphic novel:

"Scott Pilgrim is fast and goofy, catapulting Scott from one situation to the next. From the cast of characters that Scott gets to interact with to the scenes just with Scott, there was always something to bring a smile to my face, be it the little 'ratings' that appear next to each character as they're introduced, to the dry wit where the reality of the world is casually noted in contrast to Scott's crazy actions. That's not to say that there isn't any seriousness in Scott Pilgrim. Scott's first extended encounter with Ramona Flowers, for instance, starts off silly but gradually moves into something that shows a great amount of maturity. If it had just shown up that way it might have felt out of place, but O'Malley slips these moments into the book so perfectly and gradually that it never feels like the tone of the book has shifted until you stop and think about it afterwards."

I really need to get my review written. You can get a peek at Scott Pilgrim here.

When manga attacks: Montana's Ravalli Republic looks at the increased competition American comics are facing from manga:

"I remember when they (comics) just flew off the shelves. It's mostly manga these days."

As Franklin Harris points out, the article curiously centers on Free Comic Book Day, which makes me think it's been gathering dust in an editor's queue for the past month or so.

Arcana knowledge: The Vancouver Sun profiles Arcana Studio's Sean Patrick O'Reilly, who says that, six months into the venture, he's now making money. He also has an agent to help broker deals for video games and television series.

Pulling Weeds: At Newsarama, Mark Millar talks about the new Spider-Man storyline, which features his take on Venom. Keen eyes will note the unfinished preview art in which four men hold signs with the names of deboarding airline passengers. Among them: "Richard Weed." Get it, Dick Weed? Hyuk-hyuk. However, a glance at the finished preview at Mile High Comics reveals the joke didn't make into the final product. It's now "Richard Deen."

Wildcats post-mortem: Also at Silver Bullet Comic Books, Brandon Thomas and Joe Casey play "What Might've Been" with Wildcats: Version 3.0:

"Issue #25 basically picked up six months after the end of Coda War One and a lot had changed with many of the characters. The corporate angle was going to explode as we incorporated more politics into the mix. The Presidential elections would’ve played a big part in the book, just as they were occurring in the real world. The technology we’d been developing over the course of the run, the cars, the energy source, etc. was finally going to make the global impact that longtime readers always predicted it would. In fact, I’m not entirely sure we’d have been able to get away with the ending to our run as I’d envisioned it. It was a whole new way of looking at the Wildstorm Universe and there’s always a chance that editorial will resist things like that. So, maybe we’ve all actually been spared enormous amounts of pain …"

Column fodder: Comics veteran Donna Barr, a frequent and hilarous contributor to "The Panel," launches a weekly column at Silver Bullet Comic Books:

"Did I read [comics] growing up? Well, other than the raggedy copy of something with the Hulk in it, that my brother and I used to sit on his bed reading out loud from in funny voices? Over and over and over and I still don't remember the plot? Or my two whole copies of ENEMY ACE? Or the number of Archie that I redid as a sort of Beatle-Bailey version of the World War Two German Army? Oh, yeah, and you think YOU've done the weirdest-ass version of a commie book, have you? Until you've seen Mr. Smithers dressed up as Colonel Klink and Yugheat going 'I know nothing! I see nothing!' to Frau von Veronika, you don't know warped. Hell, there are REASONS Robert Crumb thinks I'm weird, although I very much doubt he remembers saying so, there was a lot of smoke in the bar in Angouleme that night, but what's new? The only advantage One Bomb has over the Frog Show is at One Bomb you don't get raving bronchitis afterwards, from all the blue cigarette smoke.

"Okay, for those of you who've been living under a rock – SDCC is called 'One Bomb' because if you wanted to wipe out the entire industry, you need only wait until a certain weekend in July in San Diego, and it would only take One Bomb. And don't look at me, because I didn't make that one up, I'm just sharing. I'm generous that way (I'm a fricking gossip is what I am; don't tell me anything I think is funny or everybody will know)."

Character witnesses: At Broken Frontier, Graeme McMillan (no permalink) presents a conversation between Power Man and Iron Fist about comics criticism and the "mainstream":

"The idea that mainstream comics, or corporate comics as Alan David Doane calls us, are either multi-layered works of genius or else worthless is a lazy dichotomy that ignores mainstream tastes and needs. Every medium has a mainstream which isn’t cutting edge or, occasionally, even intelligent entertainment at all, but is entertaining nonetheless. Both of us were created without any great artistic intent, the kind of thing that Doane took offense at in his column. We were created as quick cash-ins for what was popular in the larger mainstream culture at the time but, despite the lack of any 'higher meaning', we still were entertaining and popular enough to enjoy over 100 issues of our original book, and countless revivals afterwards."

Late-shipping shocker! Diamond has released its list of shipping adjustments and, it should come as little surprise, NYX #5 appears. Again. Originally scheduled for a Feb. 11 release, NYX #5 now has been resolicited for Sept. 1. That's almost seven months late. Of course, Superman/Batman #12 is lagging a bit, too.

Retailer settlement packages: ICv2.com has details on the settlement packages retailers are receiving from Marvel Comics as part of Brian Hibbs' class-action lawsuit. As has been previously reported, retailers will receive 24 percent credit on late books, and 17.5 percent credit on books with content that differed from the solicitation:

"We examined the specific calculations applying to one retailer. In his case, the gross order amount of the books Marvel delivered late totaled $8,197,59. Those orders ranged from 200 copies of Origin #4 down to single copies of a number of books, including Marvel Knights Magazine #5. Our sample retailer also received $31.82 worth of books that were delivered late only to some retailers. He had previously returned $185.85 worth of late books. Accordingly, the calculation in his case provided for credit of $1,931.17, or 24% of the net late books.

"Our sample retailer had also received $655.53 worth of books that arrived with different contents than those solicited. He is eligible for $114.72 in credit for those books, or 17.5% of the total. The total credit for our sample retailer will thus total $2,045.89, if he accepts the settlement and it clears the other remaining hurdles to approval by the court."

The shipping news: Ninth Art sorts through the comics arriving in stores this week, highlighting The Demon Ororon Vol. 3, Identity Crisis #3 and The Hire.

Toy fare: Marvel Enterprises, that "global character-based entertainment licensing company," has announced it's consolidating its toy licenses with Russ Berrie and Company for the plush and gift categories. Expect a glut of Spider-Man plush toys for the holidays, followed by Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Namor and others. Okay, I admit I want to see the plush versions of Silver Surfer and Namor.

Duck tales: To mark the 70th birthday of Donald Duck, Canada's National Post offers 70 facts about the blustery bird:

"(30) In 1942, Donald began appearing in comic books, (31) where an artist named Carl Barks (32) turned the incomprehensible, short-tempered ne'er-do-well into an bumbling but articulate adventurer with a short temper. (33) Barks created the town of Duckburg, (34) which is located in the fictional American state of Calisota, (35) and introduced new ducks like rich Uncle Scrooge McDuck, inventor Gyro Gearloose and the terrible Beagle Boys. (36) This Donald continues today in the work of such artists as William Van Horn and Don Rosa, (37) and is particularly popular in Europe. (38) In Norway, Donald Duck still sells more copies that any other publication and (39) one out of four people read the comic every week in Finland. (There is a story that Donald Duck comics were once banned in Finland because the main character wears no pants, (40) but that is simply untrue.)"

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star (registration required) previews today's ceremony in which Donald will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Marvel's NYC: The New York Daily News previews Marvel Super Heroes Guide to New York City, a special airing Sunday on the Travel Channel that takes viewers on a tour of real-life locations that have been immortalized as settings for Marvel comics. Stan Lee and Roy Thomas are among those interviewed.

Me and Edith Head
By Sara Ryan and Steve Lieber
Cold Water Press

Frumpy and insecure Katrina longs to play Titania in the high-school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, if only so she can escape her parents' arguments. But when the cast list is posted, Katrina finds she's been relegated to "costumes" -- the rough equivalent of being stuck in the chorus of the Christmas pageant. Although initially crest-fallen, Katrina discovers she actually has a knack for costuming and organization, thanks largely to the advice of her mentor and the books of famed Hollywood designer Edith Head.

Me and Edith Head is smart, touching and funny, with Sara Ryan delivering a richer, more complex story in just 15 pages than many writers can accomplish in twice the space. We're exposed to Katrina's growth, her unnamed mentor's wisdom, and her parents' deteriorating marriage, all within a handful of pages. But the story never seems rushed, nor does the reader feel short-changed.

Steve Lieber's art is a good match for Ryan's script, with his confident and simple lines lending a wonderful expressiveness to the characters. He's an expert storyteller who shines here with his depiction of the passing of time and in the playful daydreaming sequences.

Me and Edith Head is a well-crafted tale that demonstrates how entertaining and how fulfilling a short story can be. This should be required reading for all writers and artists who are considering tackling the format. It's that good.

Me and Edith Head can be purchased for $2 from Steve Lieber's website.

Tomorrow: Family Reunion and Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1. Really!

The road to hell is paved: I need time-management classes. I have a lengthy blog-related "to-do" list, but nothing on it is getting done. So, here's the plan: By the end of the day, I hope to post long-overdue reviews of Sara Ryan and Steve Lieber's Me and Edith Head, Sean Stewart and Lieber's Family Reunion, and Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1.

If that happens, I'll tackle my version of Lieber's Eleven tomorrow. I've started my list, but choosing those titles is more difficult than it seems.

Action figures: Writing for Toronto's Globe and Mail (registration required), author Andrew Kaufman examines the culture of the superhero, focusing on Wonder Women: Feminisms and Superheroes, Girls Who Bite Back and The Kryptonite Kid:

"[Feminist scholar Lillian] Robinson argues that the rise and fall of feminism in the 20th century is mirrored in the rise and fall of Wonder Woman, the comic-book heroine. It's a heady argument, but Robinson manages to provide serious insights without taking the fun out of the whole thing.

"Using the pen name Charles Moulton, U.S. psychologist William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman to illustrate his belief in the superiority of the female sex. Marston believed that women are naturally less aggressive, and disposed to making peace over war. This is not exactly cutting-edge feminism today, but it was radical when the first Wonder Woman comics were published, in 1941.

"The origin of Wonder Woman sees Marston borrowing indiscriminately from both Greek and Roman myths. It presents the story of an Amazon princess who left her beloved Paradise Island to fight the Nazis in the United States. This parallels what happened to U.S. women at the beginning of the Second World War; they were urged to leave their homes and enter a depleted work force. These women were fighting the Nazis by keeping homeland industrial production going. When the war ended and women were urged back into the home and back into traditional gender roles, things didn't fare much better for Marston's Amazon warrior. The comic was taken over by writers and illustrators who didn't share Marston's feminist vision. Wonder Woman's costume got skimpier and her body went from athletic to voluptuous. The content didn't fare any better, either. Robinson illustrates how Wonder Woman was forced back into the domestic sphere."

Comics on the go: The Associated Press, via USA Today, looks at comics delivered to cell-phone screens:

"We see our mission as distributing bite-size information for short attention spans. In less than a minute you get a little chuckle. It's really appropriate in today's world where people have less and less time."

Review revue: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reviews Marvel Knights 4: The Wolf at the Door.

Meanwhile, Alaska's Juneau Empire reviews Hellblazer: Rake at the Gates of Hell, A Contract with God: And Other Tenement Stories, The Path: Crisis of Faith, Bone: Ghost Circles #7, and 300.

Spiegelman gets political: The New York Times interviews Art Spiegelman about In the Shadow of No Towers, due out next month from Pantheon:

"... I think like a typical American who can get narcotized by the mass media. For me, politics was always put in a strange box, sort of like 'baseball for nerds.' But since Sept. 11, that bubble has burst. 'The personal is political,' to put it — yawn — in its most T-shirtlike form.

"That's the thing that's swept me into doing something I'd always wanted to avoid: caricaturing presidents for a living. Nothing ages faster. If you look at these old Herblock cartoons, they can only be seen in the context of marginal images in the history book. You've got to read too many footnotes to get what's going on, like, 'What is this Taft-Hartley Act, anyway?'"

Fantastic moment: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with novelist Walter Mosley (Devil in a Blue Dress), who considers the publication of Fantastic Four #1 "an important moment in literature":

"With popular interest in graphic novels and comics growing among younger readers, Mosley plans to write an introduction to a reissue of the Fantastic Four, annotating this watershed work frame by frame and adding 'to the lore.'"

Pursuing his passion: The Oakland Tribune profiles retailer Lennie Chancey, who took over in April as owner of Comic Ink after more than 32 years as an insurance claims supervisor:

"A lot of people at my old job said, 'Do you know what you're doing?' I did, because even though I knew that this kind of business has slim profit margins, I had lost my passion for (insurance). I knew that comic books was something I could be passionate about."

Delay of blog: Wow. This is shaping up to be the slowest news day in quite some time. So, that's it for blogging until this afternoon, when I return (I hope) with my Lieber's Melrose's Eleven list, and maybe some more links and such.

Art community's hub: The Vancouver Sun spotlights the Butchershop Floor Gallery, which plays host to a monthly comics jam:

"[Comic artists] are quite reclusive. We sit and draw alone at home a lot, so it's great to see people coming out and working as a community."

Comics as art: The Chicago Sun-Times takes another look at "Raw, Boiled and Cooked: Comics on the Verge," a touring exhibit that opens Saturday at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Ringo star: At Newsarama, Alan David Doane has "Five Questions For ..." Mike Wieringo:

"I got pretty angry over the whole situation at first when Bill Jemas decided to go in a completely different direction with Fantastic Four last year. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized that the characters belong to Marvel -- and at the time, Bill Jemas was Marvel, essentially -- and so whatever he wanted was what was going to happen. And I don't think that the internet furor that happened in the wake of Mark's removal had much effect on our return. I think it was more that with the success that Marvel has been having in Hollywood and all the money and added attention/scrutiny that it's bringing to the company, Bill Jemas's 'risk taking' style of helming the company made the higher ups uncomfortable and they removed Jemas from his position of power and started guiding the company back in a more conservative direction. The kinds of stories that Mark and I were doing fall into the 'mainstream superhero' mode, and so I think it made sense to continue in that vein-- so they brought us back.

"I look back at that time as simply an odd one for me. It was kind of fun having a 4 month 'vacation' from the grind of drawing comics ever day all day long -- but on the other hand, it was an unpaid 'vacation.' I don't think that there's much the industry can learn from the situation -- but I think that creators should learn and plan their careers keeping in mind that the neither Marvel nor DC have our best interests in mind. They're in the business of making money, and they will do whatever they feel is necessary to do that without regard to any individual creator. So it behooves everyone in the creative community to make themselves as independent from the whims of the majors as they can. It's not something that I can say that I've done myself, unfortunately. But after working full time as a comic book artist for around 12 years, I've seen too many creators getting tossed to the side at the drop of a hat. It could be anything -- an editor's whim, a change in editorial teams - who usually bring in their own favorites to a book they're taking over, an artist's style simply falling out of favor -- no longer 'hot,' a creator having fewer and fewer editorial connections to the point that they're 'frozen out' of the business ... it's any number of reasons. So ALL creators should do what they can to build their own financial legacy to carry them into the future. It's the only way to feel safe in such a volatile situation as we find ourselves in -- especially in the present market."

DC Comics in June: At The Pulse, Marc-Oliver Frisch sorts through DC Comics' month-to-month sales figures for June.

Learning Japanese: The Wall Street Journal reports that Japanese-language programs, once the domain of international business majors, are now populated by fans of manga and anime:

"At UGA, about half the 100 Japanese-language students surveyed cite Japanese pop culture -- including animation, comics, pop songs and videogames -- as their top reason for studying the language, according to Natsuki Fukunaga, a Japanese instructor at the school. Impressed by her students' interest in Japanese pop culture, she wrote her master's thesis detailing the phenomenon. 'I was excited to see these kids really picking up this authentic Japanese culture,' she says."

Kiddie-lit list: At Mercury Studios, Steve Lieber responds to the big to-do over Michael Chabon's call for more children's comics with a challenge for bloggers to compile their list of 11 titles libraries should have. His "Lieber's Eleven" is a solid list. I'll try to come up with my own later today.

Changing of the guard: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announced founder Denis Kitchen has retired as president after 18 years of service; Top Shelf publisher Chris Staros will replace him:

"The challenges facing comics are different from when I founded the Fund. In the eighties, comics were still fighting for respectability and it was perhaps easier for them to be stigmatized as kid stuff. Two decades later, comics have attained a certain respectability, but are facing new sets of challenges. I think it's fitting that the generation directly facing these challenges, led by Chris Staros, a publisher after my own heart, should be the ones standing up to them."

Better late than ... Tuesday's technical difficulties threw me off-kilter, and I neglected to link to Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker's hilarious report from Comic-Con International. There. Oversight remedied.

Closeted 'toons? Spurred by the Comic-Con revelation that a Simpsons character will come out of the closet next season, the Las Vegas Mercury turns its attention to what other cartoon characters should make the move. (My favorite is Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh.)

Amateur cartoonist's view of war: UK's Guardian reports that two albums of World War II cartoons once pinned to a bulletin board to cheer up workers at the Ministry of Food have been donated to the Cartoon Art Trust. Little is known of the artist, Ken Rolfe:

"We don't normally accept the work of amateurs, but these are fascinating, and we would love to know more about him. The development is remarkable, from very crude pencil sketches to really quite sophisticated coloured drawings."

A case for fair use? Wired News has more details on the lawsuit filed by Ludlow Music against the creators of the free "This Land" Flash-animated cartoon.

Comic art on tour: The Chicago Sun Times previews the "Raw, Boiled and Cooked: Comics on the Verge" touring exhibit of comic art, and chats with local cartoonists Ivan Brunetti and Chris Ware:

"I'm actually rather worried about comics being infected by the same theoretical viruses that afflict much fine art because that's when readers cease to see art for what it really is, blaming their own ignorance rather than the quality of the work when they don't understand it."

Tomine, left to his own devices: UC-Berkeley's Daily Californian covers a bookstore appearance by Adrian Tomine to promote Scrapbook:

"For those stuck in a Marvel rut, 'alternative comics' are comic strips with a more literary, high art take on writing and drawing stories, while exploiting the specific artistic possibilities of comics as a medium. Tomine distinguishes alternative from mainstream comics by this highly edited, personal style versus 'an assembly-line product with a lot of the creative decisions made by editors.'

"He said that an alternative comic is instead the work of a single artist, 'left to his own devices.'"

Games on display: The Chicago Tribune (registration required) thinks that, with more than three-dozen video games on display, Comic-Con International is beginning to look like a miniature E3:

"Naturally, most vids on parade were directly linked to comic books. Activision is raking in millions from its relationship with Marvel Comics. NPD (a retail tracking group) recently released a list of the top-selling games of the first half of 2004, and Spider-Man 2 for the PlayStation 2 made it despite being out for only a few days. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based publisher is surely hoping lightning strikes twice with its upcoming X-Men game Legends. The action role-playing game allows gamers to satisfy their inner mutant far better than last year's clunky X2: Wolverine's Revenge. Taking control of several members of the team, such as Ice Man and Jean Grey, gamers can tap into dozens of flashy mutant talents to combat legions of bad guys and solve puzzles."

Summer reading: For the latest edition of Robot Fist, Matthew Craig offers a list of graphic novels ideal for reading in the airport, on the beach -- or any of those other places where you have loads of time: Astronauts In Trouble: Master Flight Plan, Three Days In Europe, Lost At Sea, Shutterbug Follies, Top 10, Vol. 1 and 2, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Losers: Ante Up, Dumped, Box Office Poison, Jack Staff: Everything Used To Be Black And White, and The Ultimates: Book One.

Robot Fist also reviews J. Marc Schmidt's Egg Story, and James Kochalka's American Elf.

Online cartoonists sued: Canada's Globe and Mail reports the creators of the popular Internet cartoon that satirizes President Bush and Sen. Kerry are being sued by the copyright holder of Woody Guthrie's folk song This Land Is Your Land for using the tune without permission.

Ludlow Music complains the parody has caused substantial harm to the value of Guthrie's song, and has asked Jib Jab Media to remove the cartoon and provide an accounting of all revenues derived from it. Acting on behalf of creators Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, the Electronic Freedom Frontier responded that the use of the music is protected by the fair use doctrine of U.S. copyright laws.

Mascot spurs cartoonist outcry: Moscow News reports that 40 of Russia's top cartoonists have signed an open letter to Russia's Olympic Committee demanding an apology be made to artist Leonid Shvartsman, whose Cheburashka cartoon character is being used as the Olympic team's mascot.

Although writer Eduard Uspensky, who holds the copyright to Cheburashka, gave the committee permission to use the character, the cartoonists believe he insulted Shvartsman -- and all Russian cartoonists -- by not first consulting with the artist. Early versions of Cheburashka bear little resemblance to Shvartsman's rendition, which is known to millions of people in Russia and has gathered a cult following in Japan. As for Shvartsman, he only wants to be recognized as the author of the image, and doesn't want any payment for its use by the Olympic team.

Marvel in June: At The Pulse, Paul O'Brien sifts through Marvel's month-to-month sales figures for June. It's kind of jolting to see Marvel's recent casualty list all in one place: Thor, Thanos, Weapon X, Venom, X-Statix, Silver Surfer, Iron Fist, Captain Marvel, Runaways and Hawkeye.

Trouble in Smallville: At The Beat, Heidi MacDonald reports on recent rumors of a challenge to DC Comics' ownership of Superboy, and traces the often-dicey legal history of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creations:

"As well documented, Siegel and Shuster sold all rights to Superman to National Periodicals in 1938 for $130. Within just a few years, the character had become a sensation, with a radio drama and movie serial in addition to the comic.

"In 1947, while the character remained enormously profitable, the duo were getting less and less work, and sued DC (as the company was then known) to regain the rights to Superman. Although the judge ruled in favor of DC, he assigned the rights to Superboy – a separate character who had recently been introduced in the pages of MORE FUN COMICS – to Siegel and Shuster, citing the fact that the editorially created character was an unfair infringement on their original copyright. According to Gerard Jones' upcoming history of the period MEN OF TOMORROW, Siegel and Shuster, devastated by the loss of the Superman suit and fearing DC's legal might, settled by selling the rights to Superboy back to DC for $100,000. In addition, so bad were feelings surrounding the lawsuit that their names were removed from the credits. ...

"... While the Superman claim remains mired in legal red tape, the Superboy claim appears to be a bit more clear cut – Siegel and Shuster were granted ownership of the character in the 1947 decision, and their subsequent sale of the character to DC would come under the jurisdiction of Section 304 of the copyright law.

"For everyone who has a headache after all this legal talk, the question may be, what's the bottom line: well, here's one word for you: SMALLVILLE, an enormously successful show about a young Clark Kent, who is about to become Superboy. Should the copyright termination stand, DC could be forced to make a very large payment to the Siegel family. "

Update: At Newsarama, Matt Brady weighs in with his own analysis.

Penguin to enter manga market: Technical difficulties prevented me from posting this yesterday, so just in case you missed it elsewhere: Publishers Weekly (subscription required) reports that Penguin Group USA and Digital Manga have entered into a three-year agreement to publish a line of manga. Penguin will publish eight to 10 titles next year, and 10 to 15 titles in the following years. Anime News Network has the press release.

Penguin is just the latest publishing house to enter the comics market. Random House launched Del Rey Manga last year, while Scholastic and Henry Holt recently announced plans for graphic novel imprints.

Review revue: The Onion A.V. Club reviews Tales To Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, And The American Comic Book Revolution:

"Kirby had a habit of falling into gray areas. A singular talent in an industry that valued uniformity, and a creative whiz in a business that cared little for creators' rights, he's one of the prime movers of postwar 20th-century pop culture. But Lee became the household name, and while Ro admirably refuses to take sides in the impossible debate over who deserves more credit, it's clear that he constructed Tales To Astonish at least partly to give Kirby a bit more of his due. Kirby's relationship with Lee emerges as a fruitful partnership between men who never really understood each other, and the tensions between them were heightened by a company that rarely had either's best interests in mind. (By the end of the book, Marvel seems only slightly more caring an employer than Ro's previous subject, Suge Knight's Death Row Records.)"

Gathering Absent Friends: At Silver Bullet Comic Books, Tim O'Shea chats with Phil Elliott about the collected Absent Friends:

"I've always tried to pare down my writing, trying to avoid verbosity, and to try and make the words and pictures flow. I'm not that interested in having folk linger over a panel, admiring its technique or detail. I'd prefer to have the reader get to the end and think 'Hey, what did he say back there?' and go back. I've always been particularly pleased with the short Monsters strip, which I think captures what I like to think I can do best."

Political stakes: The Seattle Times unearths John Kerry's cameo in Image's Sword of Dracula #5. Here's series creator Jason Henderson:

"I didn't put Kerry in to push a leftist doctrine. I just thought people deserved to remember that this man, when he was a young man, actually walked away from a wealthy and comfortable life and went to a place where there were pieces of metal flying around that could tear you apart."

Stamp act: UK's Gibbons Stamp Monthly notes that Finland will issue a stamp next week celebrating the 90th anniversary of author-artist Tove Jansson, whose creations included the Moomin comic strip and cartoon series. Jansson died in 2001 at age 86.

Devoted fanbase: The Springield (Ill.) State Journal-Register looks at the popularity of manga and anime, and speaks with local devotees:

"Some devout fans say the average American doesn't understand the anime phenomenon. Many people are unaware of the amount of anime that exists, because only a small portion is shown on television. And certain shows, such as the popular TV series and card game Pokemon, have become overrated.

"'Just because you're into the newest trend on Cartoon Network or the WB does not make you a hardcore anime fan,' said Ashley Lynch, a freshman at Lincoln Land Community College who was home schooled."

24 hours to go ... Saturday, April 23, has been set as the date of next year's 24-Hour Comics Day. Event founder Nat Gertler is looking for sponsors.

Call to action: The Los Angeles Times reports on efforts by artists to draw attention to the murders of some 370 women since 1993 along the Texas border in Mexico. Among the related works is a book organized by actress Mia Kirshner that will include art by Phoebe Gloeckner:

"I would never say I'm doing it to bring attention to something, because then it smacks of propaganda. I think the danger in art trying to craft a message is that it's often going to fall flat as a piece of art. On the other hand, stepping back, I do want [the killings] to stop."

Damn you, Blogger! Damn you! It's 4:34 p.m., and Blogger finally is allowing me to post. Try as I might throughout the day, I couldn't get anything other than the time stamp-thingy -- not to be confused with the Terence Stamp-thingy -- to publish. Oh, well. You get what you pay for, I suppose.

Blogger permitting, Thought Balloons will return to its regular schedule tomorrow morning.

Hack and burn: Newsarama reports that its message board was hacked Sunday evening, causing the site to lose about a week's worth of stories and posts. Post-Crisis has a screen capture of the message left by the mysterious "MeM" in place of the usual forums.

August in Tartsville: The August edition of Sequential Tart is up and running, with the usual mix of interviews, reviews and commentary. Highlights include:

*Interviews with Ted Naifeh, Mike Hawthorne, Mike Norton, Holly Golightly and Prism Comics' Rich Thigpen
*Point and counterpoint responses to the New York Times Magazine cover story on the comics industry
*An "All Access" look at Neotopia
*A review of Mike Kunkel and Randy Heuser's The Land of Sokmunster

She's Miss World: ICv2.com also notes that Courtney Love's Princess Ai topped the Bookscan graphic-novel bestseller list for the week ending July 25. All of the Top 10 graphic novels sold in bookstores were manga.

The dating game: At ICv2.com, retailers have begun chiming in on the proposed dates for Free Comic Book Day 2005. So far, the call is for consistency over movie tie-ins.

Reign of Terra: At Silver Bullet Comic Books, Tim O'Shea chats with Terra Obscura's Peter Hogan:

O’Shea: "In an industry where controversy over one character or relationship can sometimes overwhelm and negatively impact an overall strong story, did you fear the lesbian relationship between the Fighting Yank and Ms. Masque might derail readership reaction to the series?"

Hogan: "No, not at all. We didn’t make them gay for shock value or to court controversy – we did it because it made sense within the framework of the story. As in Top Ten, with that many characters it seemed logical that at least one of them would be gay – if statistics are to be believed we’re talking about 10% of the population, after all. It didn’t even occur to me that that would put any readers off, this being the 21st century … but if it has, then that’s pretty small-minded of them.

"And I was surprised that a lot of people seemed to find the ending kiss between Carol and Diana a shock, as I thought we’d made it pretty obvious throughout that something was developing between them … but perhaps I was just too subtle. We’ll see a bit more of the girls’ relationship this time around, though Tim is also trying to win Diana back again."

Graphic novels for everyone: Alaska's Juneau Empire combs through the public library's graphic novel collection:

"Titles for all ages include the Bone series by Jeff Smith (one of my favorites - this is the story of the three Bone cousins (who look sort-of like Casper the ghost) and their escape from Boneville into a land populated by dragons, princesses, and cow-racing grandmas), Meridian, by Barbara Kesel (about Sephie, who inherits the title of Minister to the floating city of Meridian, only to learn that her uncle, the minister of another city, is out to get her), and H.E.R.O. Powers and Abilities, by Will Pfeifer and Kano (if you found a device that could give you super-powers, would you be a hero or a villain?). We've even got some Japanse graphic novels (manga) - perhaps not as much as manga fans will wish for, but enough to whet your appetite: look for Marmalade Boy by Wataru Yoshizumi, Dragon Knights by Mineko Ohkami and InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi, to name a few."

Review revue: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviews Birth of a Nation, written by Aaron McGruder and Reginald Hudlin, and illustrated by Kyle Baker.

Out to launch: Also at Ninth Art, Paul O'Brien ponders what drives the big publishers to launch so many titles "that don't have a hope in hell" of commercial success:

"It really does seem as if many of these books are dumped on the marketplace on the basis of a glassy-eyed optimism that this time things are going to be different. Many, in fact, feature existing characters with a proven track record of failure. Both major publishers have what amounts to an informal list of well-known but cancelled characters whom they feel compelled to keep bringing back despite the fact that not many people care when they do. Books like NAMOR and MARTIAN MANHUNTER keep coming back every few years, less due to public demand than because of a vague feeling that these characters somehow ought to have their own titles - whether anyone wants to read them or not.

"At least those characters tend to have a few hardcore fans, though. Completely new books don't even have that benefit. They have to rely on whatever publicity they can gather and whatever name value their creators have. Often - irrespective of the quality of the actual work - that name value is virtually nil. The result is yet another rapidly cancelled book."

Spanning the blogoverse: At Ninth Art, Hector Reeder fires a few broad shots across the bow of the comics blogosphere:

Right... But seriously, why is the comics blogosphere even dignified with a name? What do they actually do?
Mainly ground level, reactive criticism; reviews; critiques; and linking to things of interest.

Such as?
Well, mostly each other. Wherein they analyse each others' opinions about the importance of Gwen Stacey's death after the End of History. Or something.

So it's all superhero stuff, then? Shhh!
...What? They're a little touchy about that one. And it's not entirely accurate, anyway. Every blog is as individual as its creator, dealing with a slightly different array of work... Though, speaking generally, most blogosphere writers definition of "everything" does gravitate heavily around the skin-tight flying folk.

Now hang on, didn't they all recently spend pages and pages talking about Dan Clowes' EIGHTBALL #23? Have you read EIGHTBALL #23?
Erm... No. It's the one with a superhero.

Ah. So do they cover anything else?
Well, lots of AIT/Planetlar stuff.

Any particular reason?
A good way of deciding whether a new media outlet is gaining acceptance is whether the industry starts actually treating them like an outlet worth taking time over. And slowly but surely, publishers are actively courting blogs. AiT/Planetlar is very much ahead of the curve, here, recently giving exclusive images for their 2004-2005 line to a number of prominent comics blogs. Cue huge amounts of buzz, heat, word-of-mouth viral infection and other exciting marketing gobbledigook.

Ah, let the round-robin blogging/Ninth Art Forum games begin ...

Lessons to learn? The Scotsman wonders whether DC Thomson, Scotland's comic and media giant, can take some cues from Marvel:

"It is unfair to compare the likes of Dennis the Menace and DC Thomson with Spider-Man and Marvel. Marvel is purely an entertainment company whereas children’s publications are just a part of Thomson’s portfolio.

"For some years we have licensing, syndications and products based on Beano characters. There have been animated films on the BBC, videos with Universal, and the Beano Club which has more than 40,000 members. We do exploit our brands, but not hugely. We could make them enormous, but would you want to?"

Comic-Con's indy side: At Time.com, Andrew Arnold focuses on the less mainstream aspects of Comic-Con International, including these interesting tidbits:

... Monsters of manga TOKYOPOP have plans to start a more adult-oriented imprint sometime in the near future. They have also begun soliciting gay comics creators for a series of shonen-ai books — the gay-themed soapers that traditionally appeal to girls.

Pantheon will be publishing Dan Clowes' "Eightball" #22, the "Leopold and Loeb" issue, with all new material, fleshing it out to a full graphic novel.

The artist known only as Rebecca, author of the porno series "Housewives at Play," is actually Fantagraphics' highest-paid author, with sales at least equaling that of FG's top-selling "legit" cartoonist Dan Clowes. Who knew?

Arnold also has, I believe, the first official attendance count: 87,000.

Book of magic: The New York Times Magazine (registration required) has an interesting profile of fantasy writer Susanna Clarke, whose much-heralded debut novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, is due out in September. The article takes a brief detour, assessing the position of fantasy within the publishing world:

"The two most successful commercial franchises that have come into the book and entertainment worlds over the last five years are 'Harry Potter' and 'Lord of the Rings,''' the literary agent Simon Lipskar said. ''Anyone who's going to be honest about that is going to see a marketplace that's rewarding fantasy.''

Fantasy has not, of course, been absent from literary fiction, but it has been admitted to the mainstream generally only when pedigreed (Martin Amis's ''Time's Arrow''), political (Margaret Atwood's ''Handmaid's Tale'') or exotic (which is to say, Latin American). Fantasy and science fiction as a capital G genre, meanwhile, has largely been shelved separately from the rest of the culture, in part because of the genre's mania for self-classification into ever-narrower niches (high fantasy versus alternate history, hard science fiction versus space opera, cyberpunk versus steampunk) and in part because of pure snobbery.

Still, it is hard to deny a sense that the boundaries between genre and literary fiction are slipping. Gaiman's ''American Gods,'' in which an ex-con joins the Norse god Odin on a road trip, was marketed as a mainstream thriller. Philip Roth is just about to publish his alternate history novel, ''The Plot Against America.'' And Kelly Link's self-published ''Stranger Things Happen,'' with its ghosts and giant dogs and men with tin noses, was named among the best books of the year by Salon at the end of 2001.

Gaiman-spotters should note that he's quoted in the profile, recalling Clarke's first short story, "The Ladies of Grace Adieu": ''It was terrifying from my point of view to read this first short story that had so much assurance. It was like watching someone sit down to play the piano for the first time and she plays a sonata.''

Bow to the Comic-Con hordes: The Portland Oregonian files a lengthy roundup of Comic-Con International:

"What is now a four-day festival sprawling through the vast expanse of the San Diego Convention Center began in 1970 as the Golden State Comic-Con, which drew 300 diehards to the basement of San Diego's U.S. Grant Hotel. Since then, the event has gotten bigger and bigger, an incredible hulk of merchandise, marketing and massive numbers. Attendance for this year's July 22-25 Con was in excess of 75,000 people. Hall H, which accommodates 6,500, was inaugurated after the previous big room's capacity (4,000 or so) proved too small for the demand. At any given hour there are as many as 10 panels and discussions in upstairs rooms, while upwards of 15,000 people may be milling about the immense Exhibit Hall on the main floor.

"Why do we care? Because the committed hordes who attend Comic-Con aren't just fools for love, they're a gold mine of consumer dollars. These are fans who stand in line and buy tickets for that all-important opening weekend of a comic-to-movie adaptation. These are fans who buy every imaginable piece of merchandise tied to such properties as The Lord of the Rings.

"These are fans who immediately jump on the Internet to spread high-fiber good buzz -- or venomous anti-buzz if they're displeased. Authenticity is all. Hellboy, from a lesser known comic, was a hit because it captured the spirit of creator Mike Mignola's work. Catwoman, on the other hand, substituted Halle Berry and a peekaboo costume for the comic character's true roots. Unhappy comic loyalists turned up their noses, turning Catwoman into so much box-office kitty litter."

Cashing in on comics: The Rochester, N.Y., Democrat & Chronicle reports that a Pittsford man sold his comics collection for $250,000 to a Colorado comic-book dealer whom he declined to identify.

Nerve center: The Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Westchester, N.Y., Journal News profile cartoonist Adrian Tomine:

"I've always said that if you want to create a pretty good cartoonist, you've got to have the parents get divorced at an early age. You've got to have an older brother whose shadow looms over the cartoonist for much of his life. (You) have to be extremely underweight or extremely overweight."

Kirby, the next generation: The Ventura County (Calif.) Star reports that Jack Kirby's youngest daughter, Lisa, hopes to publish an eight-book series based on her father's unreleased work, called Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters. Dark Horse is reviewing the project for possible publication.