The Comics Super Blog!
Sport some Gilbert Hernandez artwork while helping out a good cause.
Fantagraphics is offering a new T-shirt to raise money for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or Binc.
“Ripped straight from the pages of Love and Rockets Vol. IV #8,” the new shirt features artwork by Gilbert Hernandez:
Continue reading “Support comics retailers by buying this ‘Love and Rockets’ shirt”Davis’ graphic novel about an activist couple takes home the prize in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category.
The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis has won the L.A. Times Book Prize in the “Graphic Novel/Comics” category this year. The graphic novel was published by Drawn and Quarterly.
The Hard Tomorrow tells the harsh-yet-optimistic story of Hannah and Johnny, an activist couple trying to have a baby as they live in their truck while Johnny works on building them a house.
Continue reading “‘The Hard Tomorrow’ wins the L.A. Times Book Prize”The Comicbook United Fund will provide one location to make contributions to support comic book shops and their employees.
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or Binc, has announced the launch of the Comicbook United Fund, a dedicated relief fund designed to provide financial assistance to comic shops and their employees. Both DC Comics and the Oni Press-Lion Forge Publishing Group joined them in the announcement, with both offering funds to the organization.
The idea isn’t new — last year, the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group teamed with Binc to create the “Forge Fund.” It provides monetary support for comic retailers and their employees during times of hardship, like during Hurricane Harvey. The company continues to donate 5% of proceeds from their titles to the fund, and so far have donated $100,000 to the Forge Fund, which is operated by Binc
“The comic industry has a long history of banding together to protect and promote the art form we all love. We hope that this incredible action from DC will inspire a new wave of generosity and support for the great number of individuals and shops struggling through these times,” said James Lucas Jones, President and Publisher of Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group. “Comics is an expansive community that still feels like a close-knit family, and these efforts feel like we are helping family members.”
Continue reading “Oni Press, DC, Binc unite to announce new fund for comics retailers”Starting today, look for daily almost-new comics through the DC Digital First program.
DC Comics today announced that they will make stories from their 100-Page Giant anthologies available digitally, starting today with a Superman story by Robert Venditti, Paul Pelletier, Drew Hennessy and Adriano Lucas. Additional stories will be added daily for at least the next week.
“Comic book fans want more access to content than ever before,” said Jim Lee, DC Chief Creative Officer and Publisher, in a press release. “This strategy is intended to get daily content to fans immediately, and also to ensure that when comic shops open back up for business, they will have new content and product that their customers will want. In the meantime, we will have properly stoked and protected the demand for comics, keeping fans interested in our characters and stories.”
Here’s the line-up for the next seven days:
Continue reading “DC to release ‘100-Page Giant’ stories digitally”See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their “to read” list lately.
We’re back this week with another look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately; we’ve been sheltering in place with several vigilantes, some sci fi characters and a girl that talks to squirrels. Now that’s a party …
Continue reading “What Are You Reading? Daredevil, Mister Miracle and more!”Artist Evan Stanley will write the main Sonic title as Ian Flynn focuses on the four-issue “Sonic: Bad Guys.”
IDW has announced Sonic the Hedgehog’s summer plans, which include a new writer for the main title and a spinoff series featuring several Sonic bad guys.
Beginning with issue #33, Sonic illustrator Evan Stanley will take over both writing and drawing the main title.
“Sonic the Hedgehog comics have been a constant source of joy and inspiration for me for well over 10 years, and the truth is, this opportunity is a dream I didn’t believe could come true,” said Stanley. “The world of Sonic has a truly amazing creative legacy, and I’ve always pushed myself to make my contributions as meaningful and worthwhile as they can be — and that’s more important than ever now. I hope I can deepen the world of IDW’s Sonic The Hedgehog comics, exploring new places and characters while continuing to deliver exciting adventures about Sonic and his friends!”
Continue reading “IDW announces Sonic spinoff series, new writer”DC will work with two new distributors with ties to comic retailers to deliver comics in late April and the first half of May.
It’s been a crazy day on the comics distribution front. Since Diamond Comics Distributors announced in March plans to temporarily halt comics distribution because of the coronavirus, the question has been when we’ll see new comics start to hit direct market shelves again. Now Diamond has provided an answer, as one of their biggest customers has given a different one.
Let’s start with the Diamond news, which you can find on Newsarama. That article quotes from a letter sent to retailers and publishers, saying that “While there are many steps and conversations that need to happen between today and resuming distribution of new weekly product, we are currently targeting mid- to late-May with the hope that, as an industry, we can all work toward that timeframe.”
The way that’s worded is interesting, as it was not long after that DC put out a press release of their own, saying they planned to have a limited number of comics in shops on Tuesday, April 28, as well as on May 5 and May 12. “After surveying more than 2,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada, it became clear that many comic book store owners are finding new and creative ways to get books to the fans who want them,” the press release reads. They’ve also set up a comic shop tracker on their site so you can see who will have their comics on April 28.
So what exactly is DC doing to get comics out to shops?
Continue reading “Diamond targets May to restart comics distribution, as DC makes their own plans”For the first time in its 50-year history, the San Diego Comic Con will not happen due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Comic-Con International has announced that the annual San Diego Comic Con has been officially canceled for 2020. The convention will not return until July 22-25, 2021.
“Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer,” their page reads. “Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.”
Continue reading “Comic Con International in San Diego canceled for 2020”Creators have begun to host Twitter auctions that you can find via the hashtag #Creators4Comics.
Several comic book creators have banned together and created the initiative Creators 4 Comics, in an effort to raise money to benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (binc), which supports both independent bookstores and comic shops.
“#Creators4Comics is a group of comic creators who are coming together to help save comic book retailers and independent bookstores by holding online Twitter auctions to directly benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC). BINC is taking applications now and they will start providing direct aid to stores at the end of April,” their site reads. The effort was started by Kami Garcia, Brian Michael Bendis, Gwenda Bond, Sam Humphries and Phil Jimenez.
Continue reading “Creators 4 Comics is raising money to benefit the Book Industry Charitable Foundation”The first installment of the digital series is available now.
Criminal writer Ed Brubaker is teaming up with Barrier artists Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente for a new Panel Syndicate title called Friday. It’s about a former girl detective/occult expert who returns home from college for the holidays and gets wrapped up in a new mystery.
“One of the first things I said to Marcos was that this book feels like Lovecraft’s New England is colliding with Edward Gorey’s,” said Brubaker. “And I like to describe Friday as post-YA, which is a genre that doesn’t really exist. It’s an idea I’ve been circling for a long time, that lets me tap into my own nostalgia for my youth and the YA books I loved back in the 70s and 80s – stuff like The Great Brain, or John Belliars books, or Harriet the Spy, or Encyclopedia Brown. I want to take that concept of the teen detective and those supernatural mysteries aimed at kids, but then let the protagonists grow up, so they have all the same problems we all do… and they encounter a much more dangerous world.”
Continue reading “Panel Syndicate announces ‘Friday’ by Brubaker + Martin + Vicente”The ‘Kim & Kim’ team of Magdalene Visaggio and Claudia Aguirre team up again for a five-issue miniseries.
There may not be much new stuff arriving on comiXology right now deu to the coronavirus, but here’s something to look forward to — this Wednesday they’ll release the latest in their comiXology Originals line, Lost on Planet Earth.
The Kim & Kim team of Magdalene Visaggio and Claudia Aguirre team up again for a five-issue miniseries set in the year 2381, featuring “a conflicted lesbian relationship in a socially reactionary future.”
“This is a series about the ones who stay behind, the ones who don’t like what they see. It is an examination of choice and self-determination and self-knowledge,” said Visaggio. “At its heart, Lost on Planet Earth is a sci-fi slice-of-life comic about a burgeoning group of friends making their own way in a world that has no place for them.”
Continue reading “‘Lost on Planet Earth’ coming from comiXology Originals on Wednesday”See what the Smash Pages crew has checked off their “to read” list lately.
Hey, Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny stopped by the blog and brought not only delicious chocolate eggs, but also brought back one of our favorite features — What Are You Reading? Like the title suggests, it’s a casual look at what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately. So without further ado …
Continue reading “What Are You Reading? Squirrel Girl, Grendel and more!”
