More Marvel

A few more Marvel tidbits:

* The press event for the opening of the Marvel Super-Heroes Science Exhibition was Tuesday at the California Science Center in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, so expect to see lots of coverage like this story in the L.A. Times over the next few days. We couldn’t make it, but rest assured we’ll be heading down there as soon as possible to check it out.

* You're going to have to pay more if you want Stan Lee's car. The co-creator of most major Marvel characters was selling his 1987 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL on eBay, offering to autograph the car anywhere the buyer preferred. The auction included Lee's personalized California license plate, MRVLCMX. Alas, the high bid of $5,800.77 did not meet the reserve before the auction ended.

* Activision released some information on the upcoming X-Men videogame that will tie in to the release of "X-Men: The Last Stand." Most interesting was that the game will reveal why Nightcrawler (played by Alan Cummings in "X2") is absent from the new film, and that the game's story was written by screenwriter Zak Penn and longtime X-Men comics scribe Chris Claremont. Claremont also is writing the novelization of the film, something he also did for the second film.

Panini expands the Marvel Universe

Marvel has renewed its master licensing agreement with Italian publisher Panini — and added a few new wrinkles at the same time. Under the new deal, Panini will develop original content using Marvel characters for the international market. According to the press release, those projects will include:

• An X-Men mini-series and a Young Dr Strange mini-series produced by Red Whale, artists of the top selling Disney W.I.T.C.H. title and acclaimed creators of the Monster Allergy comics
• A Women of The X-Men graphic novel written by X-Men icon Chris Claremont and illustrated by top-selling European artist Milo Manara
• A Wolverine graphic novel written by Jean-David Morvan with art by Philippe Buchet, two of the main stars of the French comic book industry and authors of the best selling series Sillage.
• A Daredevil/Captain America graphic novel written by Tito Faraci and drawn by Claudio Villa, top artist of Italy’s iconic and top-selling comic book title - Tex.
• A complete collection of Stan Lee and John Romita’s Spider-Man daily strips and Sunday pages, originally published in 1977-1980 and never before re-printed in their totality in book format.

These projects — especially the Claremont-Manara collaboration — should generate plenty of interest from older fans on this side of the pond, too.

Cool Events We Will Miss

Things will be a bit quieter on the convention front the next little bit, but there are still some fun shows for comics fans to check out.

* New York will play host this weekend to the Big Apple Con at Penn Plaza Pavilion, featuring a kind of unofficial convention within the convention focused on Valiant Comics. There will be plenty of talent who worked on titles published by Valiant, which began in the late 1980s and blossomed in the early 1990s with licensed books “Magnus Robot Fighter,” “Solar: Man of the Atom” and “Turok: Dinosaur Hunter” as well as cool originals “Harbinger,” “X-O Manowar,” “Archer & Armstrong” and “Eternal Warrior.” There will be plenty for fans of other comics, too, with Frank Miller and Neal Adams topping the guest list.

* Tim Leong of the website Comic Foundry is hosting a comics networking mixer on the evening of April 3 at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York. The event also is celebrating the debut of Comic Foundry Magazine.

* Alternative Press Expo, or APE, returns to San Francisco on April 8 and 9 at the Concourse. Guests include Black Olive of "Outlook Grim," Alex Robinson of "Box Office Poison" and "Tricked" fame and Raina Telgemeier of the Eisner-nominated online strip "Smile." The programming schedule for the two-day event is online. And if you make it to the show, be sure to check out the APE Aftermath party at Isotope Comics — an event that will include the presentation of the 2006 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics.

Two for TOKYOPOP

Los Angeles-based manga publisher TOKYOPOP has signed a co-publishing agreement with book publisher HarperCollins. The deal will have HarperCollins take over sales and distribution to the North American book trade of all TOKYOPOP books, starting in June. On the creative end, the companies will develop a new line of manga titles that will start appearing in 2007, with the first books to be adapted from Meg Cabot’s best-selling young adult novels. The folks over at ICV2.com have an interview with TOKYOPOP Publisher Mike Kiley on the deal. 

TOKYOPOP also made a deal in the burgeoning mobile market sector, announcing a partnership with uclick to deliver manga to mobile phones all over the world using a new application uclick has developed based on Java and Brew technologies. (Manga fans will appreciate that capitalization preferences apparently aren’t an issue in the deal). The new application will allow subscribers to download and view manga titles in their original multipanel format. The first six titles to be offered will be “Princess Ai,” “ShutterBox,” “Psy-Comm,” “Peach Fuzz,” “Van Von Hunter” and “Dramacon.” The service is planned to launch sometime in the second quarter of this year.

Weekend reading

Some interesting comics-related coverage over the weekend: Variety's Ted Johnson sums up what is perhaps the ultimate comics movie faceoff as Marvel's "X-Men: The Last Stand" and DC's "Superman Returns" prepare to face off at the box office. Even more interesting is the L.A. Times' editorial on Sunday decrying Marvel and DC's joint trademark of the term "Super Heroes," which has forced name changes on many comicbook, videogame and movie projects. The Times is aggressive in saying that the term has become too generic to deserve trademark protection and that case should be made to the feds.

Your shot at being a superhero!

For all of you closeted superheroes, now is the time to break out the tights, leather and capes.  The SCIFI Channel has announced a one-time, in-person casting call in Los Angeles on April 4th for its new reality series "Who Wants to Be a Superhero."  Aspiring mutants, meta-humans and masked avengers will have the opportunity to strut their stuff under the watchful eye of comic book legend Stan Lee.  If you can't fly, run or teleport to the audition, don’t' worry.  After all, everyone has a day job and alter-ego to protect.  Contestants may send in their audition tapes for consideration too.  Details about the audition process and other entry requirements can be found here: www.whowantstobeasuperhero.com.

POW! Entertainment, Inc. and Nash Entertainment are producing the six episode reality series that will immortalize one lucky winner in a comic book.

Marvels of Science

It looks as though museums are the latest victims of the comics lovefest sweeping the nation.
The California Science Center opens on Sunday the Marvel Super-Heroes Science Exhibition. The exhibit will feature exhibits based on various Marvel characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hulk and the X-Men. It also offers a history of Marvel itself, including artwork, a timeline and a video interview with Stan Lee. The exhibit runs through Sept. 4, then should be hitting the road. The exhibit is very kid-friendly, and there's a teacher's guide for K-12 teachers available online.

This means L.A. only had to go a two weeks without a comics-based exhibition at a major museum. The Masters of American Comcis exhibit, which ended its run at the Hammer and MOCA on March 12, is headed to Wisconsin next, where it will come to the Milwaukee Art Museum from April 29 to Aug. 13.

Friday wrapup

* Attendance at last weekend's Wizard World Los Angeles was announced as 27,000, up from the previous year's announced total of 24,500. Not everyone buys that number as accurate. Counting attendance at these shows has long been something of an issue. Standard practices for trade shows count each day of attendance as one person, so if someone attends all three days of a show that counts as three attendees. Comic-Con Intl.: San Diego on the other hand counts badges, so if you get a four-day pass, they count that as only one attendee. Next year's Wizard World is set for March 16-18.
* In related news, Wizard chairman Gareb Shamus is featured on the cover of the new issue of Inc. magazine. In addition to Wizard's publishing and convention businesses, Shamus is starting up a team-based mixed martial-arts league called the Intl. Fight League, which will stage its first event at the end of April in Atlantic City.
* One of the problems Wizard World had was a dearth of major studio presentations. With "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "Superman Returns" on the horizon, presentations from Fox and WB at the show would have been well-received. Not that the studios were sitting on their hands. They were in Las Vegas last week for ShoWest, the annual gathering of movie theater owners. There was footage shown at the show, which gave honors to Hugh Jackman and Brandon Routh.
* The exclusives war has been heating up of late, with Marvel signing a number of creators to deals. Among those who've joined J. Scott Campbell in signing up with Marvel are writer Zeb Wells, artists Yanick Paquette, Tom Raney, Skottie Young, Tommy Lee Edwards and Simone Bianchi.

Alex Sheikman ... Mr. Robotika

Bags & Boards interviews "Robotika" creator Alex Sheikman as Part 2 of our "Digging into Archaia" spotlight.  We get behind the genesis of his steampunk samurai story and get seriously educated on some of the other great artists who have inspired Alex's work.

Bags & Boards: On your website, you say that you have been working on "Robotika" for a long time. Exactly how long has it taken to get "Robotika" into readers’ hands?

Alex Sheikman: I seriously started working on "Robotika" a little over two years ago. The first year was spent on designing characters and trying to write the script for the first 48 pages. At the time, I was thinking that I was going to self-publish "Robotika" as a 48-page graphic novel, so I spent a lot of time figuring out the printing and distribution aspects of comics. Last April-March I got hooked-up with Archaia Studios Press. Since ASP took upon themselves all the responsibilities for printing, marketing, and distribution, I was able to devote myself to drawing and writing. That has been awesome, and I just want to say how much respect I have developed for independent creators who self-publish their work. There are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done!

BB: What inspired you to create this futuristic world and tell this tale of a new age ronin?

AS: For me, "Robotika" began as a sketch of Niko the "SteamPunk Samurai". I drew a warrior that was a cross between a Mexican bandit and a futuristic samurai. I kept doodling and making up other cross genre mind benders that combined past with future and West with East, like "wasabi western" and "cossack yojimbo". As time went on I realized that I was coming up with something that I would be very much interested in expanding into a real story and drawing.

Given a chance to write my own story, I used that as a mechanism to expand on my thoughts about heroic fantasy and how to portray a hero. As I got more comfortable with writing, the tone of "Robotika" changed. The first issue reads more like a fable than an adventure story, in the second issue I started shifting away from captions and doing most of the action description through dialogue. By the time I was writing issue #3, I was in full swing writing an adventure story in the tradition of books like Three Musketeers and Treasure Island.

BB: "Robotika" seems ready made for telling in an anime or manga format with its techno-organic cityscapes, conniving corporations and genetic manipulations. Yet the Western look is the exact opposite of those mediums. How did you arrive at the aesthetic of your world?

AS: I think that the look of the series is a reflection of where I am in my continuing development as an artist. I am not someone who can switch art styles to suit different assignments. I spent the last few years drawing RPG illustrations and during that time I worked out an approach to visualizing my ideas a certain way. When it came time to start drawing "Robotika," I just continued working the same way.

I think like everybody else. I tend to draw the kind of artwork I like to look at. I have not mastered putting down on paper exactly what I see in my mind's eye, but I hope that as I get more practice that I'll get closer to that.

BB: You have a visual style that feels new yet familiar. Who and/or what have been influences over you illustration style?

AS: That is a tough question. Everything influences me. I tend to absorb many things from movies and books, as well as comics and book illustrations.

Two artists have very much influenced my approach to drawing and specifically my approach to "Robotika." Alphonso Mucha is known as one of the most influential Art Nouveau artists and I just love how organic his line work feels. I have tried to learn how to put down lines like that using a brush.

On the other side of the spectrum is a German graphic artist, Ludwig Hohlwein. His forms are so simple, yet very expressive, powerful, and yet subtle. I love his work and have been looking at it a lot. So I am struggling to achieve a balance somewhere in between the organic Art Nouveau and the graphic Art Deco look.

I am also very excited about the artwork by Tony Salmons, Rodolfo Damaggio, and Leif Jones. Tony Salmons is able to communicate movement and energy in his drawing that is just incredible. Rodolfo Damaggio is a superb storyteller and reading his comics or following his movie storyboards is just a real pleasure. Leif Jones is a friend and a fellow artist whose artistic quest and experimentation has been inspiring me for years. He is just one of these guys who can draw anything and make it look good.

BB: You silhouette and use shadowing generously. Are these deliberate techniques that you use for pacing and storytelling?

AS: "Yes" and "No." I do try to spot my blacks in such a way as to draw the reader's eye across the page and direct the story flow. At the same time, my approach to drawing tends to be very graphic with solid black areas indicating shadows and helping composition. So it is a combination of trying to draw the best that I can, and at the same time trying to keep in mind the overall composition of the page and the flow of images across it.

BB: Have you collaborated with Ryan Sook (cover artist) or Joel Chua (colors) prior to "Robotika?" How did you connect with these guys?

AS: Ryan is an old friend who was very influential in the beginning stages of "Robotika." In fact, when "Robotika" was called "SteamPunk Samurai" and was only a short story, he was actually going to write it. From his script came some of the building blocks around which the first 4 issues are constructed. Ryan has always encouraged me to pursue my artistic endeavors and his work has been an inspiration that kept me going through the rough spots in the creative process. Ryan is a natural storyteller and every time I hit a "bump" I always think of him as someone who can help solve any storytelling problem.

Art wise we only collaborated once. I inked Ryan's pencils for a Wizards of the Coast championship contest. It was a fun assignment and I learned a lot from it.

Joel is a new friend, whom I met when Mark contacted him to color "Robotika." He is a great artist in his own right and I must admit that I did not make "Robotika" easy for him. I always think in very graphic black and white, and I even completed the first issue thinking that the book will be published in black and white. I merged gray tones right on the digital files and Joel had a tough time separating the different layers. He is doing a great job, and I very much hope to work with him in the future.

BB: On your website, you have links to two French artists: Claire Wendling and Benoit Springer. How would you describe the difference between American and European illustrators? Do you feel a greater affinity to the work being done in Europe?

AS: Good comics are good comics, no matter where they are being published.

I worked and lived in Netherlands for a bit, and while there I was exposed to the work of many fine European cartoonists. It was a great experience that helped me broaden my artistic horizons and "discover" some very cool artists like Wendling, Springer, Palacios, and Toppi. Since than, I have noticed that more and more of European artists are starting to get exposure in North America. Sergio Toppi is doing covers for Marvel, Juanjo Guarnido's "Blacksad" is being published by iBooks, and Claire Wendling's Iguana Bay 2.0 got published in an English edition. I think that is awesome because I can't read French and I look forward to the day when all of their work will be available in English.

As far as the differences between American and European illustrators goes, I think it is mainly a difference of "expectation". Here in North America a comic book artist is expected to pencil 10 issues of 22 pages each to stay in the comic book public's eye. In Europe, an artist pencils/inks and colors about 50 pages a year. That is a huge difference of expectation and workload. I think both are fine because they are describing two different markets and I think I am fortunate that I am able to enjoy both versions of creativity.

Join us for the final installment of "Digging into Archaia" as we interview David Petersen, the creator of "Mouse Guard."

Sizing up V

V for Vendetta has finally arrived with a strange mixture of success. The pic opened atop the weekend b.o. with $26.1 million, below the expectations for it to hit $30 million. Reviews were generally positive, though in some instances in the sort of backhanded way critics often treat movies they don't expect to (or think they should not) like. The movie did particularly well in the IMAX format and drew a slightly older audience than expected.

The film itself is a surprisingly satisfying affair that hews closely to the graphic novel until the end. The pic is energetic and in many ways artful. It's not every day that you see mainstream "action" films take the sort of plot detours and espouse the ideas that this one does. The performances are superior, with Portman doing an excellent job carrying the film. The filmmakers also deserve credit for not Americanizing the film, which could have easily been done but would have taken away so much of the Orwellian vibe and universal nature of the story's politics.

Digging into Archaia Pt. 1

Archaia Studios Press is enjoying a banner year even though it's only March. David Petersen's "Mouse Guard" issue #1 has sold out its initial 8,000-copy print run, and ASP plans a second printing of issue #1 to hit shelves with issue #2. On the critical front, the hardcover edition of "The Lone and Level Sands" has garnered nominations for the Glyph Award (Best Reprint Publication) and the Howard E. Day Memorial Prize. All of this success comes after an expansion in 2005 into publishing other creator owned properties.

With three major cons behind us, Bags & Boards takes a moment to sit down with ASP founder Mark Smylie and Aki Liao to discuss their books, the biz and the future for ASP.

Bags & Boards: Archaia Studios Press ends 2005 by getting "The Lone and Level Sands" on shelves.  Then ASP starts off the New Year with two new titles, Mouse Guard and Robotika, and more on the way.  How long has ASP had this expansion in the works?

Aki Liao: Mark and I initially talked about working together and expanding the line of Archaia Studios Press offerings in early 2005.

Mark Smylie: Well, it might have been even a year or two before that when we first started talking about it, but early 2005 saw our first official expansion talks with Alex Sheikman’s submission of Robotika. We didn’t want to proceed with the expansion idea until we were sure we had at least one solid book to base it on, and Alex’s book was the one that made us say, "Hey, maybe we can do this." And as we were working on landing Robotika, David [Petersen] showed us Mouse Guard, and I think we absolutely knew that the expansion would work.

BB: What other titles does ASP plan to introduce in 2006?

AL: As announced, we’re looking forward to working with Chris Moeller on the next installment of his Iron Empires series, entitled "Blood und Iron," slated for Fall/Winter 2006. Peter Bergting (The Portent) has been attached to do the artwork. And we’re in very preliminary talks to launch at least one other project in 2006. In general, we’re looking at adding a title once a quarter

MS: We hope to have our late 2006 and early 2007 projects in place by the summer convention season to give us good promotion time. In the meantime, the next Artesia limited series, Artesia Besieged, will begin in June…finally!

BB: Is ASP still looking for more creators to collaborate with in the near future?

MS: Yup.

AL: As we’ve stated, ASP is interested in publishing creator-owned comic books in the fantasy, horror, pulp noir, and science fiction genres that contain idiosyncratic and atypical writing and art. We’ve been very fortunate to be working with such a wonderfully talented and easy-to-work-with group of individuals, producing really fantastic work. What we’re also careful about is not just to publish comics for the sake of publishing comics. So a lot of it will depend on what we come across in the submissions.

BB: How did you find David Petersen (The Mouse Guard) and Alex Sheikman (Robotika)?

AL: First and foremost, it is clear that Mark Smylie is the consummate professional and his reputation as an even-keeled individual precedes us.

MS: Huh?

AL: I’m fairly certain folks are working with us because of him. Alex’s Robotika was pretty much a cold submission. David Petersen was an introduction through a mutual friend, Bill Baker. David also credits Mark’s helpful and insightful portfolio review of his work at a Wizard Chicago Con some years earlier as leaving a lasting and positive impression.

MS: Well, you’ll have to check with David about that. But yeah, I’d met David at Chicago several years ago. Then at San Diego Comic-Con last year, Bill had told him that I was looking for new submissions. I think I pretty much offered to publish Mouse Guard on the spot.

BB: Have their titles met your expectations in terms of creativity, audience demand and critical response?

AL: We’re quite proud of all of our titles. We are very pleased with results of Mouse Guard #1 and #2. Fans and retailers alike have been very positive about the series. I hope the momentum will continue to build throughout the course of the series. David is already hinting at another Mouse Guard series after this initial 6-issue run is completed. Alex’s Robotika has done fairly well considering the odds of getting a new title to market. There’s a strong following already and hopefully this is only the beginning. Alex is quite a talent, and I look forward to the coming issues. Critical response to all of our titles has been really positive. Even our historical fiction hardcover graphic novel, The Lone and Levels Sands (by A. David Lewis, MpMann and Jennifer Rodgers) has been getting high marks. It’s terrific that all of our books including the mainstay, Artesia, are critically acclaimed.

MS: The Lone and Level Sands has already been nominated for a few awards—the original black-and-white edition is short-listed for the Howard Day Prize, it’s up for a Glyph Award for Best Reprint Publication, and it just got nominated for Best Graphic Novel of 2005 in ForeWord Magazine’s annual Book of the Year Awards—so we hope that the book continues to attract the kind of favorable critical attention that it has so far, and that it’s a harbinger of things to come for our other titles as well. And the complete sell-out of Mouse Guard #1 in less than a week (even though we had printed over 2,000 copies over initial orders) was a pleasant, though not totally unexpected, surprise; Mouse Guard in particular seems to appeal to a wide demographic, far wider than Artesia or Robotika, so we thought there might be a strong response from retailers and readers to David’s book.

BB: What’s the common theme that runs through ASP projects?

AL: Great art and storytelling. Our creators and artists have been terrific to work with. We’ve been really lucky. All of them are very supportive of each other, which is wonderful to see as well.

MS: I also hope that the books we’re publishing are all very personal works, true labors of love. For example, Alex’s Robotika has gotten some critical flack over his decision to use a vertical font for one of the characters, deliberately making it somewhat difficult to read what she’s saying. But it’s that kind of risk-taking and personal artistic and design creativity that we’re looking for. I think we hope our books won’t look like cookie-cutter factory product, but instead will look like the intense expressions of stubborn individualists. [laughing] Though come to think of it, there’s already been some talk of having an ‘annotated’ or ‘translated’ collection of Robotika so people can understand what Cherokee Geisha is saying…

BB: How has the RPG Artesia: Adventures in the Known World been received by Artesia fans and the general RPG audience?

MS: It’s still early on that so far. The reviews and feedback from people that have picked it up have been great, but the gaming market and the comics market are two different beasts and in effect I have to introduce myself and ASP as a gaming publisher to a new market almost completely from scratch. It also took way too long to finish (it’s 352 pages) so Artesia’s absence from the store shelves has probably had an effect as well.

BB: Aside from you own titles, what other books excite you?

AL: I’m a closet superhero guy at heart. As I’m fairly new to all of this, I’ve been going through quite the education with Mark handing me stuff to read. Anything from the classics—100 Bullets, Ghost in the Machine to Arvid Nelson’s Rex Mundi and Sean Wang’s Runners to new stuff. I recently picked up DMZ, Queen & Country, Fables, GunCandy, Roach, Dark Mists. So a variety of stuff. I love going over to Midtown Comics in NY and browsing the new releases shelves.

MS: [laughing] I, on the other hand, hate superheroes. 100 Bullets and Hellboy are probably the most mainstream books I read. Normally I tend to gravitate more towards fantasy and science fiction—books like Finder, Age of Bronze, Thieves & Kings, Rex Mundi—and books that have art that intrigues me—painted European books like Raptors from NBM, or Japanese manga by Shirow or Miyazaki. I guess I read books I’d like to publish.

Join us as we continue the discussion with Alex Sheikman and discuss his "Robotika" series in "Digging into Archaia Pt. 2."

WWLA, Day 2

Day three of Wizard World L.A. is getting going as I type this, and whatever happens today with crowds and the L.A. Marathon, Saturday was definitely a success for the show. There was a good crowd at the L.A. Convention Center, though it was never unpleasantly packed. Fans were actually buying from dealers at a pretty good clip, and the overall mood was relaxed and fun.
Running into Wizard chairman Gareb Shamus at the end of the day, he was definitely pleased with the show's evolution and the way it is positioned to go forward. That's definitely the next big step for the show, which needs to do some work on attracting a wider audience than die-hard fans and bringing in some more exhibitors. There were a few notable absences on the floor, such as Dark Horse and L.A.-based manga house TOKYOPOP. A few indies, such as Top Shelf and AdHouse also would give the show a boost.
There was plenty of news coming out of the panels held by Marvel and DC, most of it involving new comicbook series and creative teams. The comics-creating producers of "Lost" — co-creator Damon Lindelof, Jeph Loeb and Javier Grillo-Marxuach — talked about comics and TV in an entertaining panel. Kevin Smith was on hand to congregate with his flock.
Spike TV and Lions Gate were there on the Hollywood end, but that's a roster that needs to expand. The show also could use more Hollywood promos, as the sort of actor-packed, preview-screening panels for the major studios' major releases that are so popular at San Diego and WonderCon were sorely absent. Sure, the Mattel booth was showing the "Superman Returns" teaser and Marvel had the trailer for "X-Men: The Last Stand" at its booth, but this is the last really big show before those movies really start to hit and neither Fox nor WB was on hand to whet fans' appetites.
Scheduling is obviously going to be something that the industry has to deal with, and something will have to give with WonderCon in early February, the new New York Comic-Con and this show all crowding the early year calendar. The New York show is the least flexible, as the Javits Center in New York is booked so heavily that the space they obtained this year was the only space and the slot they could fit the show in. WizardWorld L.A. has been working to get itself into the L.A. Convention Center since it kicked off and has a good slot for an L.A. show, the marathon notwithstanding. That leaves WonderCon in a tough slot, and a change of schedule and/or a downgrade in venue from the Moscone Center West seems most likely for that show. But as long as there's this many shows so close together, smaller publishers and even a few minimajors are going to have to pick and choose as attending all three is an expensive proposition.
Obviously, there's some big questions for the industry to answer. Attendance patterns at pretty much every con indicates that the fans love these shows and are happy to show up in big numbers regardless of weather, planning difficulties, hotel shortages or road closures. So the question becomes how to manage the shows so not to crowd the calendar and maintain the quality of guests and events that keeps people coming back. The growth this show has over the previous Wizard World shows makes it a hit for the company and gives it the platform it wants to grow the show in the future.

Wizard's new world

Day one of Wizard World Los Angeles 2006 is in the books. Despite the rain that fell in town today, the crowd and the buzz was positive. Wizard shows have a flavor all their own, and they focus on pretty specific things: show exclusives, shopping and autograph signings with talent. The L.A. Convention Center makes a good home for the show and on Friday there were plenty of people without it being crowded or cramped. As you got farther into the hall, it actually got less and less crowded, with the back quarter of the space being pretty spacious — and that's with the widest aisles I've seen in an artist's alley in quite a while.

Friday seemed full of die-hard fans, those of us who enjoy spending three consecutive days hanging out at a comics show. (For fans, a day spent hanging out at a comics show is more fun for fans than than a day spent hanging out most anyplace else.) Crowds should be heavier on Saturday, though the con should still be a pleasant experience for fans and families of all stripes.

Caught a few panels, including DC Nation, with writers Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns and Marv Wolfman, as well as DC editor Matt Idelson, DCU exec editor Dan Didio and VP sales Bob Wayne. Having seen this panel at the past two cons, there were few surprises as the crew talked about Infinite Crisis, One Year Later and 52 with answers that teased fans without reavealing too much. These panels have proven to be damn funny, with Didio making it policy to ask a question for each question answered by the panel. Hearing Grant Morrison try to describe Hypertime and the time plane in his Scots accent is great, as is Mark Waid trying to explain why he prefers Bouncing Boy of the Legion of Superheroes to a female character who can split herself into three.

Unusual for a Wizard show, there was some news! And it came out of Marvel's Cup of Joe panel with editor in chief Joe Quesada.

* Lisa Kirby, daughter of Jack Kirby, was on on hand to announce a new series based on various unpublished work by the King that will be called Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters. This will come out under the Icon imprint as a six-issue series starting in July.
* Daniel Knauf, exec producer of the late HBO series Carnivale, will take over Iron Man with issue #7. Art will be from Patrick Zircher.
* Marvel also announced an original graphic novel, based on the popular Xbox videogame Halo. The book, which Marvel is producing in conjunction with game develpoer Bungie, will feature artwork from Simon Bisley, Tsutomo Nihei and Moebius.
* In typical JQ fashion, Jeph Loeb came up on stage to say he'd love to write some Spider-Man if only he could get the right artist. Quesada scratched his head as to who that could be, and Loeb said it was J. Scott Campbell — who just happened to be in the audience! Quesada then said Campbell had agreed to draw a significant stretch of interiors on Spider-Man with Loeb writing. Which title their work would appear in was as yet unclear, but their collaboration would hit shelves in 2007.
* In the Q&A, Quesada said there would be more adult-rated MAX projects in the future, including some possible ongoing series.

Superman #650

Creators: Kurt Busiek & Geoff Johns, writers; Pete Woods, artist
DC, 32 pages, color, $2.50
So? It’s hard to review any single DC title these days, because the DCU is at the heights of Infinite Crisis, One Year Later is here and the whole universe awaits the soon-to-hit weekly series 52. This issue of Superman reclaims the series’ original numbering from Adventures of Superman; the second series titles just Superman ended with issue 226. That leaves just this title and Action Comics as the main Superman titles. Kicking off the One Year Later era for Superman, we have a nice, quiet very character-oriented issue that does a lot to re-establish each of the characters in their archetypal role: Perry White as the tough newspaper editor, Jimmy Olsen as the slightly bumbling intern, Lex Luthor as the cunning villain, Lois Lane as a top reporter and loving wife. Clark is here too, though he’s all Clark. His alter-ego is nowhere to be found, and when trouble hits Metropolis, it’s the Maid of Might, Supergirl, who ably answers the call. While there may not be enough change here to evoke oohs and aahs from longtime readers, the new status quo (really the old one) is perfectly reestablished to make the many people who are going to be interested in Superman in the coming months (there is a new movie coming, you know) feel engaged in the story instead of having to figure out who’s who and what’s what. Woods makes the book look extremely terrific with storytelling that’s modern without being so stylized as to be confusing. This bodes well for creating mainstream Superman comics that fans of the movie will be able to jump on and enjoy right from the start. Grade: B+

Detective Comics #817

Creators: James Robinson, writer; Leonard Kirk and Andy Clarke, artists
DC, 32 pages, color, $2.50
So? As with Superman #650, One Year Later restores a lot of the status quo to the Batman franchise. Jim Gordon is once again Commissioner Gordon and Batman and Robin return after a year’s absence to battle Poison Ivy. Not much happens in this issue, but it is nice to see Robinson back writing comics. Kirk does some nicely detailed and atmospheric artwork that’s perfect for Gotham City. This book is not without its mysteries. There’s reference to terrible events in the past year and it’s not clear that this Robin is the same Robin we’re used to. There’s less to sink your teeth into in this issue than in Superman, but with seven more episodes to go this is a good jumping on point and Robinson is always good for some excellent character work that’s well worth reading. Grade: B

Batman Annual #25

Creators: Judd Winick, writer; Shane Davis and Mark Morales, artists
DC, 48 pages, color. $4.99
So? I have to admit that it’s fun to watch continuity make a comeback and be used in interesting ways to make these fictional universes do what they should: Tell big, exciting serialized stories. This is the first annual in quite a while from DC, and Winick answers all the questions surrounding the resurrection of Jason Todd. This is all Jason’s story, and it’s continuity heavy while proving that doesn’t necessarily have to be clunky, convoluted and dull. For those who missed it, Jason Todd replaced Dick Grayson as Robin back in the early 1980s, when Grayson adopted the Nightwing identity as leader of the New Teen Titans. Jason was less than popular and in 1988 DC experimented with interactivity by publishing a story in Batman #427 in which Jason could live or die and letting readers call 800 numbers to vote on the story’s outcome. Jason was voted down and eventually replaced by the more palatable Tim Drake as Batman’s sidekick. But a couple years ago, Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee made us all think Jason was back in their blockbuster “Hush,” and Jason was indeed back later in tales written by Winick in Batman. Finally, this issue tells the tale of how Jason survived and features the unexpected delight of seeing the alternate page Jim Aparo drew for Batman #428 -- in which Jason lived -- appear for real in a DC book. Again, these days DC is doing everything right when it comes to creating a universe with continuity and fun tales based on it that pay off for the fans. That’s what this is, and it works. Grade: B

Storm #1

Creators: Eric Jerome Dickey, writer; David Yardin, artist
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? Novelists seem to be the next big thing to hit comics, and judging by this first effort from Dickey (author of “Sister, Sister,” “Friends and Lovers” and “Milk in My Coffee”) that’s going to make for some fascinating reading. This story goes back to the childhood days of the X-Men’s weather-wielding leader, Ororo Munroe, and succeeds in giving the sketchy details of her past convincing reality. Storm always had an origin seemingly borrowed from Modesty Blaise, with her parents killed in an accident of war and her growing up an orphan and pickpocket on the streets of Cairo before she developed her powers and went to Kenya, where she was worshipped as a goddess before Professor X found her in Giant-Size X-Men #1. This book makes modern Africa and its problems a bigger part of the story, and Storm’s mixed heritage (her father is American; her mother African) and unusual features come into play. Nicely drawn by Yardin, this turns out to be the most enjoyable Storm story in a long time. With future issues promising to reveal the details of Storm’s meetings with the Black Panther and setting up their reunion and upcoming wedding, this will be a top-tier X-book for the duration of its six-issue run. Grade: B+

WWLA's new home

It’s taken three years for Wizard World Los Angeles to grow into its name. But having proven itself with two strong shows at the Long Beach Convention Center that saw attendance grow by more than 20 percent from the first year to the second, the show has a new home in the heart of the city it’s named for.
This year’s show, which begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday, is set for the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, a venue that allows the show to expand its exhibit floor and add more programming. It’s also helped attract more attention, especially from the Hollywood community, says Wizard chairman Gareb Shamus.
“In Long Beach, only the Hollywood die hards who were major comicbook fans were able to come down to it,” says Shamus. “We’re in the heart of L.A. now. We’ve got so much more of Hollywood coming out to see our event.”
Spike TV has come forward with a big presence at the show as it promotes its June-premiering “Blade” series, based on the Marvel movie series and classic comicbook character. David Goyer, who wrote all three “Blade” pics and co-wrote last summer’s “Batman Begins,” and “Infinite Crisis” writer Geoff Johns will be on hand to talk about (and likely preview) the show.
Wizard shows always are big on the genre celebrity quotient. This year’s lineup includes Efren Ramirez from “Napoleon Dynamite,” actor Brian Posehn, “Lost” exec producer and “Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk” writer Damon Lindelof, and Marlon and Shawn Wayons. There’s also nostalgia celebs such as former Hulk Lou Ferrigno; Noel Neill, Lois Lane from the 1950s Superman TV series; and 1980s Superman movie actors Margot Kidder and Jack O’Halloran.
There’s also plenty of big-name comics pros, with a heavy emphasis on Marvel and DC. The lineup includes writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Jim Lee, Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada, DCU exec editor Dan Didio and Vertigo exec editor Karen Berger.
Attendance at last year’s show was reported as 24,500, and Shamus says another healthy bump is expected again this year.
The exhibit floor is in Halls H and J, basically half the center’s cavernous South Hall, offering more than 150,000 square feet of space, up from 133,000 last year. The con also has Rooms E and F, with maximum theater capacity of 1,500 each, for larger presentations. The space means that tickets are not required this year for some of the more popular events, such as the perennial Kevin Smith panel.
The logistics of attending will be nowhere near as difficult as they were at the recent New York Comic-Con, but it will not be without its challenges. The 30th annual Home Remodeling and Decorating Show will be going on at the same time in Kentia Hall (though this may be a great way to convince significant others to spend the day at the show), and Sunday attendees will have to deal with street closures and crowds associated with the L.A. Marathon.
None of that worries Shamus, as attendance at shows such as New York and San Diego are undeterred by long lines or parking difficulties. “I think really there’s just going to be more people there. There’s going to be a lot more excitement because the community of Hollywood is going to see a lot more of itself there,” he says. “This will be one of those great shows for us in terms of what can happen in the future. A lot of people that we want to work with us in the future are actually going to be at the show.”

Nextwave #1-2

Creators: Warren Ellis, writer; Stuart Immonen, artist
Marvel, color, 32 pages and $2.99 each
So? The subtitle on the cover of the first issue is “Healing America by beating people up.” That’s pure Ellis, in his pop comics mode, and it makes for an exhilarating and very fun read. There’s nothing serious here. The Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort (H.A.T.E.) is led by Dirk Anger, and deploys Nextwave to take on old-time Marvel monster favorite Fin Fang Foom. Nextwave is led by Monica Rambeau, the former Avenger known first as Captain Marvel and then as Photon and now as Monica Rambeau. Ellis has always had a great sense of humor, but his darker tendencies often overwhelmed that aspect. In that respect, this feels like it should be on Adult Swim, paired with The Venture Bros. Ellis still comments about Fin Fang Foom’s lack of genitals and the absurdity of a giant green monster wearing purple pants, not to mention the general craziness of the superhero itself. This book features lots of the “kick” and “’splode” and it’s all brought to lovely life by Immonen, who’s cartoony style perfectly suits the tale. Great fun and worth a look. The first issue was just released as a director’s cut edition, with the usual extras such as sketches and the script. Grade: A.

American Virgin #1

Creators: Steven T. Seagle, writer; Becky Cloonan, artist
Vertigo, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? The new wave of Vertigo titles continues with a book that looks to tackle sex and religion straight on in its first issue. Story concerns teenage Adam Chamberlain, an evangelical Christian who leads an abstinence movement under the approving eye of his parents. Adam’s very committed to his principles and to waiting to marry his girlfriend, Cassie, who’s working with the Peace Corps in Africa, before having sex with her. He’s tempted to stray by girls who admire his principles and his friends, who stage an impromptu bachelor party for him. All his efforts appear to be undone by the climax of this first issue in an event that promises to throw Adam’s entire belief system into disarray. Seagle has a terrific hot-button topic that hasn’t been so overtly explored by a mainstream comics American publisher and it has tremendous potential to probe into some fascinating corners of the American psyche. Cloonan’s art retains the raw fun and hip style she demonstrataed on “Demo,” and it’s well-colored by Brian Miller. The cover by Frank Quitely is, naturally, a knockout. The only drawback is the first issue is a little, well, anticlimactic as a reading experience on its own. Here’s hoping subsequent issues ratchet up the must-read factor required to get readers to come back in large enough numbers for it to stick around for a while. Grade: B+

Amazing Spider-Man #529

Creators: J. Michael Straczynski, writer; Ron Garney and Bill Reinhold, artists
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.50
So? Marvel’s follow-up to last year’s House of M event is Civil War, which hits in May. This is one of the first issues to start setting up that series, as well as the official debut of Spider-Man’s new costume — a scarlet and gold high-tech affair designed by Spidey’s fellow New Avenger Tony Stark. Straczynski is an underrated writer and he brings an enjoyable sense of humor to this issue that keeps it from feeling dark, oppressive and boring as it could so easily be. The best bit is on Page 3, where Peter Parker and Tony have an on-panel discussion to explain away a previous continuity gaffe, even breaking the fourth wall to glare at the fans who complain about such things. The nice thing that Marvel has done with Spider-Man the past few years is put him in new situations. This issue sees Stark, who recognizes Peter’s scientific accomplishments, grant him a position of trust worthy of his intellect that also leads to some interesting plot points. For some reason, Marvel’s recent events have not captured the attention of fans the way DC has with Infinite Crisis. Perhaps that’s because DC’s restoring its characters’ iconic status quo while Marvel’s pushing them into new and unusual situations. Fans these days have no illusion that the costume change is only temporary, having been through this before. But it’s a shame that the cool things that are being done seem to not be as appreciated by fans who at least say they like to see this kind of growth in established characters. Grade: B

What a week!

It’s a big week in comicbookland, as things begin to ramp up for what promises to be a big summer.

Friday sees the release of “V for Vendetta,” a pic that’s been getting tremendous advance buzz and tons of coverage. The New York Times put the film on the front of its Sunday Arts & Leisure section with Dave Itzkoff talking to Alan Moore about his unhappiness with movies made from his work and his desire to disown works he doesn’t own, such as “V” and “Watchmen.”

Today’s Los Angeles Times looked at the heavy lifting Natalie Portman’s doing on the publicity front for the movie. There’s a lot to do there, with the Wachowski brothers avoiding the press, Moore wanting nothing to do with the film and actor Hugo Weaving wearing a mask for most of the pic. That leaves Portman, with her immense geek cred from Star Wars and her shaved head, front and center.

The L.A. Times was in full geek mode of its own this weekend, putting a long feature on 1950s pinup queen Bettie Page on the front page. There are photos of Page — now 82 — signing prints, but her face is not shown at her request. Of course, there’s a film on the way, called “The Notorious Bettie Page,” starring Gretchen Mol, due for an April release.

Wizard World Los Angeles completes the year-opening trifecta of cons when it hits the Los Angeles Convention Center this Friday. More on that event will be coming in a separate post.

And the ramp-up begins for what may be the ultimate comicbook movie summer tentpole battle, with “X-Men: The Last Stand” still riding high from its trailer and eliciting a swing in buzz that surely makes Fox execs happy. WB has a mega-blockbuster on its hands with “Superman Returns,” and DC’s solicitations have a little surprise with a quartet of 40-page comicbook specials plotted by director Bryan Singer and the film’s writers telling what happened between the end of 1980’s “Superman II” and “Superman Returns.” The books will be subtitled: “Krypton to Earth,” “Ma Kent,” “Lex Luthor” and “Lois Lane.” WB is also pumping out more DVDs, with more season-by-season box sets of the 1950s George Reeves series, the 1990s “Lois & Clark” series, and at long last the late 1980s syndicated “Superboy” series.

Changing Tides, etc.

A few things we've not yet noted:

* Actor Justin Hartley has taken over the lead role in the CW's Aquaman TV pilot, rumored to be titled "Mercy Reef." That means original choice, Will Toale, chosen from more than 400 actors who auditioned for the part, is out. Also joining the cast are Ving Rhames as a mentorish lighthouse keeper and Denise Quinones as a fighter pilot and love interested.

The next DC-inspired project out of WB Animation is going to be the Legion of Superheroes. Expect the series to skew younger, more like Teen Titans than Justice League.

A CGI animated feature adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to be released March 30, 2007.

Can you Stand it?

The new trailer for "X-Men: The Last Stand" hit the airwaves during this week's two-hour episode of "24" on Fox, making its way to the web shortly therafter.

The trailer is chock full of the same sorts of cool stuff that got fans excited about the first two films in the series. We get glimpses of more berserker Wolverine, a resurrected Jean Grey pleading for death, glimpses of the Beast and Angel in action, and Magneto assembling an army of mutants for the ultimate battle. The look of the trailer is very slick and, most importantly, consistant visually with the previous films. It's not jokey and the film looks to maintain the serious tone of the previous films.

Fans have been highly skeptical of the pic since Bryan Singer left the franchise to make "Superman Returns" and was replaced first by Matthew Vaughn and then by Brett Ratner. The lengthy process of getting the movie off the launch pad also was cause for worry.

First reactions have been very positive. Even Moriarty at Ain't It Cool News, which has led the anti-Ratner charge, admits the trailer works and he's now prepared to keep an open mind toward the film.

Fans' worries about the film may ultimately work in its favor. Based on reaction to the trailer, fans that were once derisive may find themselves pleasantly surprised by how the film turns out. And given the fitting history of the film franchise as a major underdog — X-Men is all about outsiders — this may turn into that rare thing: a satisfying conclusion to a popular film trilogy.

Here's some screenshots from the trailer.

Oscars and Comics

While the comicbook adaptations "A History of Violence" and "Batman Begins" failed to take home an Oscar last night, there a few little references here and there to comics that show at least some of the influence they have on Hollywood.

First up was the opening graphics on the ABC telecast, which in addition to showing images of Spider-Man and Superman, included a sound bite of James Dean from the 1955 classic "Rebel Without a Cause" saying "You read too many comicbooks." Don't expect Hollywood to give up the graphic novel bug anytime soon.

George Clooney mentioned his turn playing Batman in 1997's "Batman & Robin," one of the few comicbook films universally dispised by fans, general audiences and critics, as he accepted the best supporting actor award for his turn in "Syriana." "Listen, I don't quite know how you compare art. I just, you look at these performances this year, of these actors, and unless we all did the same role -- everybody put on a Batsuit, we'll all try that -- unless we all did the same role, I don't know how you compare."

It was nice to see comics creators John Wagner and Vince Locke get mentioned as the creators of the graphic novel that inspired "A History of Violence" during the show as well. Especially since it was definitely called a graphic novel -- not a book or just plain novel.

NYCC wrap up, part 2

The photos I tried to post the other day obviously didn't take, so I'll repost some pics I took from the floor with my cell phone, just to give you a taste of what it was like.

Panels on Panels in NYC

A few more Vertigo announcements were made at the show.

* Mat Johnson, writer of the novel "Hunting in Harlem" and winner of the 2004 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, will write his first graphic novel, "Incognegro," a noir mystery based on true tales of undercover race spying in the Jim Crow South. A college professor and scholar specializing in the Harlem Renaissance, this is Johnson's second comics gig after having written last year's "Papa Midnight" miniseries.

* Writer Jason Aaron defied the odds and sold his first comics work, an original graphic novel about the Vietnam War called "The Other Side," as an unsolicited pitch to Vertigo. The book will be drawn by Cameron Stewart, best known for his work on "Seaguy" with Grant Morrison.

* A new Deadman is in the works from writer Bruce Jones, though this will be a completely different character than the one created in the 1960s.

Over at the Marvel X-Men panel, much was made of the upcoming ongoing series Wolverine: Origins, which will get into the hero's past now that he's regained all his memories in the wake of House of M. Astonishing X-Men, which just came out with a new issue by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, will be a continuing title that will go on after that all-star team wraps up its plans for the next 12 or so issues.

Comic strips also got some play at the show, with a fun panel held by "Mutts" creator Patrick McDonnell. Check out the strip's website at www.muttscomics.com.

Writer/director Kevin Smith talked about his role in the Jennifer Garner starrer "Catch and Release," saying he enjoys just acting in projects like that and had the opportunity to ad lib enough of his lines to better reflect his personality. He also talked about his cameo on Canadian teen sudser "Degrassi: The Next Generation," saying he originally wanted to direct but was barred by doing so by rules attached to the funding of the show that require all major roles on the show to be filled by Canadians. That led to plenty of jokes about all the things he can't do because he's not Canadian.

I regretted having to miss some of the panels, including Saturday's Comics and Hollywood: The Crossover Continues panel with Platinum Studios' Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, and the Comedy Central and Spike TV Development Panel.

More from McFarlane

The Batman/Spawn announcement dominated the news at the McFarlane panel, though there were some other interesting bits revealed about the comics publishing, toy and entertainment sides of his business.

Sports toys do well for McFarlane, and he has a long list of new figures coming — most interesting to me were the hockey toys, which will include Wayne Gretzky in his New York Rangers uniform and a figure of former coach and longtime CBC commentator Don Cherry. No word on whether he'll have loudmouth action or replaceable plaid jackets.

They're also doing some 3-D classic rock album covers, which allows them to do some kind of toy for bands that have been difficult to get likeness rights for action figures on. McFarlane repeated plans for the "Torso" movie, the new "Spawn" animation, and the live-action "Spawn" film he plans to finance, write, produce and direct himself by the end of the year for less than $10 million. The film was inspired by "Crash," which McFarlane says made a huge impact on him and shows you can make a successful film for less than $10 million. To work, the film and the animation will be darker and more urban than previous versions, with Spawn as the sole fantasy element in the picture. Sam and Twitch, the detectives spun out of Spawn and into their own comics series, has been pitched as a TV series, he says. McFarlane also will be directing a musicvideo for the band Disturbed.

McFarlane says plans are afoot to highlight certain film projects on Spawn.com with trailers and exclusive behind-the-scenes clips on various films. First such film will be "Pathfinder." Upcoming comics projects include "Spawn: Godslayer," by Brian Holguin and reproduced from the pencil art of Jay Anacleto. Collections of old Spawn issues will continue, as will the current manga series and new collections of Brian Michael Bendis' Sam and Twitch run and Ashley Wood's work on Hellspawn.

McFarlane had some fun stories to share at Friday's preview of his retrospective at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in SoHo. One of the more fun stories was the tale of Spider-Man #16, the last issue McFarlane drew for Marvel. In that issue (which was the sideways book that crossed-over with X-Force), the character Shatterstar was fighting Juggernaut, who's indestructible. McFarlane says he felt the sole weakness the character had was the openings in his helmet for his eyes, so Shatterstar's sword found its mark there. The original page (on display in the exhibit; the final is shown at right and you can click for a closer look) showed the sword in Juggernaut's eye with a good amount of bloody splatter. McFarlane says Marvel required the panel be altered because eye injuries violated the Comics Code, a holdover from the days of "you'll put your eye out!" The code allowed stabbing anywhere else on the body and it didn't matter if Juggernaut recovered from the injury a few pages later, the panel had to be change. The same kind of logic held that stabs were fine, but exit wounds were not, which is the reason why in Frank Miller's famous death of Elektra, the panel in which she's killed by Bullseye shows the knife going through her body but not piercing the back of her outfit. McFarlane walked from Marvel after that issue and went on to Image, Spawn and toys. The exhibit runs through May 1.

NYCC wrap up, part 1

The inaugural New York Comic-Con is in the books, but we'll take some time to fill in some details and thoughts about how the show went from the safe distance of rainy Los Angeles.

The crowds on Saturday will dominate most of the discussion, especially for those who had trouble getting on the floor. There was a fair bit of grumbling as pros and press had to stand in the same line as fans. Exhibitors did a little better, but still had trouble. One exec at a top comics publishing company said he had to remind the show staff who he was and threaten to not pay the remainder of what the company owed for its exhibition space if he didn't get on the floor immediately. His request was granted, but again it shows the sort of problems that everyone was having.

A lot of this may come down to show organizer Reed Exhibitions, a sister company to the publisher of Variety, being more experienced with trade shows than consumer shows. By their nature, attendees at trade shows preregister as attending is essential to doing business and the often high-cost of attending is paid for by their employers or is a business expense. A fan show where tickets cost $25 and the decision to attend can be a spontaneous one is another matter. A lot of San Diego attendees have learned to preregister and plan ahead to avoid lines and delays, but that's harder to guage for a new show like this one. The staff at NY Comic Con are definitely working on getting more space for next year's show and given the size and experience of the Reed Exhibitions staff it's almost certain that these issues will be much better handled next year. Next year's show is already set for Feb. 23-25.

Speakeasy shuts down

Speakeasy Comics has announced it's shutting down due to low sales and payment problems. The books the company has scheduled to release through May will come out, but everything set for June or later has been canceled. Speakeasy's problems have been developing, with the company struggling to make a dent in the periodical comics market, which is so heavily dominated by DC and Marvel. Speakeasy's Adam Fortier was set to appear on a panel Friday at New York Comic-Con about the future of periodical comics, but canceled due to a personal situation unrelated to the Speakeasy shutdown.

And iBooks, the company founded by Byron Preiss, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Preiss died in an automobile accident last July.