Quick Hits | Graphic novels face scrutiny in Texas schools

Plus: Todd McFarlane wants ‘Batman/Spawn’ to be the biggest comic of the century! ‘Still Alive’ wins another award! And a look at Alan Moore’s funny funnybooks!

Book challenges | A police officer employed by Katy ISD, a suburb of Houston, Texas, removed a copy of the graphic novel Flamer by Mike Curato from high school shelves after a woman filed a criminal complaint alleging the district was providing “harmful” material to minors. The removal occurred last month, when school wasn’t in session, and was later returned to shelves after police concluded “the claim was unsubstantiated.”

The book had previously been challenged, reviewed and approved for high schools by a committee after earlier challenges by parents — although it was removed from junior high shelves at the time. The woman also threatened to report the district to the Texas Rangers if they didn’t remove the book.

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ECCC, C2E2 postponed until December 2021

Both shows will be delayed from early 2021 due to the coronavirus.

ReedPop, the parent company that produces the Emerald City Comic Con and Chicago’s C2E2 convention, has announced that both conventions have been delayed until December 2021.

ECCC will now take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle Dec. 2-5, 2021, with C2E2 following it at McCormick Place in Chicago on Dec. 10-12, 2021.

The 2020 C2E2 was one of the last comic conventions to actually hold a show; it took place at the end of February, right before the coronavirus hit the United States and everyone started going into lockdown. The 2020 ECCC show was not so lucky; it was originally scheduled for March 12-15, and was one of the first events that had to decide whether to postpone or continue on. They did postpone, pushing the show back to August, when they hoped COVID-19 might no longer be a concern. Eventually they cancelled the show completely for 2020.

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Emerald City Comic Con canceled for 2020

A live convention, which was postponed to August, is now off the books for this year due to COVID-19.

It seems like such a different time now — compared to all way back in March, when Emerald City Comic Con had to decide whether to move forward with their annual convention or postpone to a later date. They opted to postpone, looking toward the end of August as their new dates, and became the first major comic book convention to be affected by COVID-19.

Three months later, everything else has been canceled, too, to the point that the surprise is gone when you hear about another event that won’t move forward. But ECCC has officially announced that the convention won’t go on as planned in August. Instead, they’re planning to hold a digital event, with the hopes that a live convention can occur next March.

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Emerald City Comic Con rescheduled for Aug. 21-23

Ticket holders for the March event can transfer their badges to the August show.

After postponing this weekend’s show due to the coronavirus pandemic last week, ReedPop, which hosts the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, has announced their new dates for later this year — Aug. 21-23, which is one day less than the original show.

If you had tickets for this weekend’s show, you can transfer your registration to August using this form. You’ll need to do this by March 27, or else you will automatically receive a refund. If you do transfer a four-day badge, you’ll receive a refund for that extra day.

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Staying home this weekend? Stream these comic-related events

In the wake of Emerald City Comic Con being postponed due to the coronavirus, there’s a lot going on online this weekend you can take part in.

While the coronavirus pandemic is causing event cancellations across many — heck, every — industry, one of the first events in the comics sphere to face the tough decision about whether to cancel or postpone was the Emerald City Comic Con, which was scheduled for this coming weekend in Seattle. ECCC was official postponed last week, with plans to pick a new date this summer.

But if the comic industry is anything, it’s resilient, made up of creative minds that can adapt to a changing landscape. This article in the Seattle Times spotlights several creators impacted by the cancellation and efforts to support the comics community this weekend — which includes many “pop up” online events.

Here’s a round-up of both live and virtual events that have popped up in the wake of the ECCC news. If we’ve missed any, please email me at jkparkin@yahoo.com.

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ECCC postponed until summer 2020

Seattle’s biggest comic book convention won’t happen in March as planned.

Following the many exhibitors and creators who opted not to attend this year due to coronavirus concerns, the Emerald City Comic Con has announced they will postpone the convention until this summer. An exact date has not been announced yet.

“Our hearts go out to the entire Seattle community, everyone impacted by the COVID-19 virus, and all of you, the nearly 100,000 amazing human beings who look forward to this event each year,” ECCC said in a statement on their website. “Our team was incredibly excited to see you at Emerald City Comic Con next week, however, fans, artists, exhibitors and the rest of the community are what make Reedpop events so special and it is our duty to make sure that your safety comes first.”

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Exhibitors, creators pull out of ECCC over coronavirus concerns [Updated]

Emerald City Comic Con offers refunds to attendees who aren’t comfortable attending.

Multiple exhibitors, including DC Comics, Dark Horse and Penguin Random House, have announced they will no longer attend this year’s Emerald City Comic Con, citing concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19). Seattle, ECCC’s host city, has seen nine people die of the virus since Feb. 26.

In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, DC Comics said they are cancelling all of their convention appearances for the rest of March.

In addition, several comics creators, including Jim Zub, Jen Bartel, Benjamin Percy, Richard Pace, Christian Ward and Jody LeHeup, have said they will no longer appear at ECCC.

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ECCC: Black Crown announces new titles from Sebela, McManus, Howard, Robles

‘Euthanauts’ and ‘House Amok’ join Shelly Bond’s imprint.

At this weekend’s Emerald City Comic Con, IDW’s Black Crown imprint has announced two new titles: Euthanauts by Tini Howard and Nick Robles, and House Amok by Christopher Sebela and Shawn McManus.

“A year ago, we announced Black Crown at Emerald City Comic Con,” editor Shelly Bond said in a press release. “It’s the perfect venue to debut our newest titles. Euthanauts and House Amok share the dysfunctional irreverence you’ve come to expect from the cross street of comics + chaos. We’ve saved you the best table at the Black Crown Pub, and your favorite song is on the jukebox. 2018 is just getting started! Viva Comics!”

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ECCC: Two new Jinxworld titles coming from Bendis, Gaydos, Mack

‘Pearl’ and ‘Cover” due out later this year from the imprint, which now resides at DC Comics.

At Emerald City Comic Con today, writer Brian Michael Bendis announced two new creator-owned titles coming soon from his Jinxworld imprint, which recently moved to DC Comics.

“I’m BEYOND excited to announce these new titles at Emerald City Comic Con,” said Bendis in a press release. “The show has always stayed true to its comics roots and that makes it a perfect place to talk anything Jinxworld, especially new titles I’m working on with creators like Michael and David whom I value and respect so highly.”

Bendis will join with two artists he’s very familiar with on the new comics, titled Pearl and Cover.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Sloane Leong on ‘Prism Stalker’

‘It’s a weird sci-fi biopunk adventure about colonization, autonomy, the pain of desire and the wonder, power and horror of expression.’

Comics readers might know Sloane Leong as the artist of From Under Mountains. She’s also drawn fill-in stories for a number of comics, including Prophet, Glory and Bravest Warriors, and has contributed to gallery shows, but starting this week, she will be known for Prism Stalker.

The ongoing series launches next week from Image Comics, and the first issue is simply stunning. It manages to convey a lot of information about this world, much of it through suggestion. Her pages quite frankly do not look like most comics pages but are instead complex works of design that echo the musicality within the story and defining the pacing. The story itself, which is about language and culture, memory and what is passed down, could not be more relevant today. Like the very best science fiction, the issue manages to depict something strange and truly alien, while drawing parallels to the present, the past and our own experiences.

For many, writing, drawing and coloring a monthly series is more than enough, but Leong is also finishing a graphic novel, A Map to the Sun, for First Second Books, and writing a regular review column for The Comics Journal. Happily, she somehow found the time to talk with me.

Leong will be at Emerald City Comic Con this weekend at Table #208 where she’ll have advance copies of the first issue for sale. It will be available in stores on March 7.

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ECCC’s ‘Monsters & Dames’ art book returns this year

With a cover by the Allreds, the 2018 edition includes 88 pieces by Kyle Starks, Brett Blevins, Devin Lawson and more.

The Emerald City Comic Con’s annual Monsters & Dames art book has raised more than $100K for the Seattle Children’s Hospital since the convention first started publishing it in 2009. The charitable book returns at this year’s show, set for March 1-4, and they’ve got a pretty awesome line-up of artists slated for this edition.

With a Madman cover by Mike and Laura Allred, the book will include 88 pieces by Jim Mahfood, Cassie Kelly, Devin Lawson, Camilla d’Errico, Kyle Starks, Bret Blevins, Brian Denham and many more. Check out the full list on the ECCC website, and check out a few of the submissions below.

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Image announces everything and the kitchen sink at ECCC

New projects from Ales Kot, Joe Casey, Joe Keatinge, Declan Shalvey, Matt Wagner, Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester and more announced at Emerald City Comic Con.

For the past few years Image Comics has held an Image Expo, which is kind of their own mini-convention where they feature creators and make announcements. Since they ended up skipping it this year (it’ll be back in 2018) they used their Thursday panel at the Emerald City Comic Con to unleash a huge slew of comic book announcements.

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