Valiant hits the road with the Vans Warped Tour

The comics publisher will set up a booth at select stops, where attendees can buy merchandise and get a free comic.

This summer Valiant Entertainment is joining American Authors, Goldfinger, The Ataris, The Dickies, Bowling for Soup, Gwar, Eternal Boy and a host of other bands for the Vans Warped Tour, which kicks off June 16 in Seattle. In addition to using Valiant’s characters in its promotional pieces and merchandise (and its website) as part of its “super hero” theme, the Warped Tour will also include a Valiant Entertainment booth at several of its stops. And with the booth come merchandise and free comics.

Via press release, Valiant shared a look at the merch they’ll have at the show, including T-shirts, bandanas and stickers featuring their characters. In addition, they’ll offer an as-yet-unrevealed free comic for attendees, which will debut at the tour stops.

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D + Q announces, then cancels, Berliac’s ‘Sadbøi’

Publisher sites 2015 essay “comparing cultural appropriation and transgender people” as a reason they canceled the project.

Three days after announcing plans to publish Sadbøi by cartoonist Berliac, Drawn & Quarterly issued an apology and said they no longer plan to release the graphic novel.

The quick version:

  1. The project was announced last Tuesday, which spurred several reactions on social media.
  2. The issues raised mainly centered around statements Berliac made in 2015 in an essay comparing cultural appropriation and transgender people, and his subsequent reaction to criticism of that essay.
  3. Berliac responded to D+Q’s decision on Facebook.

So what’s this all about? Let’s break it down …

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Andrew MacLean’s ‘Head Lopper’ goes vinyl

Get your own vinyl figure of Norgal, the head-lopping star of the Image Comics title.

Norgal, the star of Andrew MacLean’s Head Lopper title, will become a fist-pumping vinyl figure, thanks to Skelton Crew Studio.

Skelton Crew will produce two different Norgal figures — your standard Norgal, and your “bog blue” variant. You can purchase them now for $48 each; after July 2 the regular Norgal will go up in price to $55, while blue Norgal will no longer be available. Also, if you order the regular one in June, you’ll get a map of Barra, the setting for Norgal’s head lopping in the first four issues of the Image Comics title.

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Comics Lowdown: The woman behind Wonder Woman

Plus: ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ returns, Red Planet opens in Albuquerque, Melanie Gillman, Alex Segura, Harley Quinn and more.

The Wonder Woman movie has lots of people looking at the history of the character and how she has evolved over the years. The Fresh Toast has a great interview with Trina Robbins, the first woman to draw Wonder Woman and a pioneering underground comics artist and comics historian as well. She’s a delightful person who has had a fascinating life, and this interview is a great way to start off your week.

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