Tag: Abrams ComicArts

Abrams ComicsArts will collect the story of Guard Dog from ‘Mutts’ next month

Check out a preview of Patrick McDonnell’s long-running story of a dog chained up in his yard who is ultimately abandoned by his owners.

One of the most endearing characters in the comic strip Mutts by Patrick McDonnell will take the spotlight in a new collection this September. Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story tells the heartbreaking and uplifting story of Guard Dog, the dog that spent more than 20 years chained up in his yard before ultimately being freed.

Abrams ComicsArts will publish the collection of strips that detail how Guard Dog’s owners abandoned him as they moved away, and his subsequent rescue by his friends Mooch and Earl, and a little girl named Doozy who frequently visited him over the years.

“This wasn’t a villain; this was a tragic character,” McDonnell writes in his introduction to the book. “I thought of all the real dogs in this country and around the world who suffer the same unbearable fate. Maybe my dog could be their voice. He could represent the cruelty that animals endure at the hands of humans, and the cruelty we inflict upon ourselves by staying chained to our own unconscious ways of thinking.”

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Quick Hits | Free Comic Book Day founder prepares for the last event at the location where the event was born

Plus: The Comics Journal website has new editors! Frank Miller Presents and Abrams ComicArts strike a deal! Aurora Awards nominees announced! Plus news on Marjane Satrapi, Bubbles Con and a controversial ski town comic!

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, an opportunity for retailers to not only bring new customers into their stores, but also to get media coverage. You can do a quick search of Google News to see all the local coverage the event has been getting, but this story in particular jumped out at me because it involves Joe Field, who came up with the idea of Free Comic Book Day back in 2001.

Field’s store, Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff in Concord, California, has been a staple of the community for decades, but will have to move to a new location early next year after their lease expires — making this Saturday the last FCBD at their current shop.

“We’re very hopeful and now actually pretty excited by what the future of Flying Colors could be,” Field told the San Jose Mercury News. “There are a lot of unknowns — like how many of our faithful customers will want to create a new habit of going to a different spot to support us? How many new customers can we cultivate moving to a different spot? How strong will the market for comics and graphic novels be over the next bunch of years? Can we afford to do this when we are already technically past the standard retirement date?”

Despite those questions, Field says they hope that “we continue to build community and continue to spread happiness through our comic book business. That’s when everything will be a success.”

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Nate Powell’s ‘Fall Through’ will land in 2024

‘Fall Through is emotional, critical, kinda sexy & funny & queer & idealistic & creepy— and it was the most fun I’ve ever had making a book.’

Nate Powell, the multiple award-winning artist of the March trilogy, as well as the creator of Any Empire, Swallow Me Whole and numerous other graphic novels, returns with a new graphic novel next year from Abrams ComicArts.

Fall Through sounds different than a lot of his recent projects, as it falls somewhere in the realm of science fiction and punk rock: “It’s an interdimensional 1990s punk soap opera starring Jody & Diana, whose band Diamond Mine is lost indefinitely on tour— always seeking connection and free space,” Powell said on Twitter.

“I love all these characters— Fall Through is emotional, critical, kinda sexy & funny & queer & idealistic & creepy— and it was the most fun I’ve ever had making a book. And there’s bootleg magic & curses involved! YOU KNOW I LOVE CURSES,” he added.

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Slugfest | Scholastic outlines their plans for the new ‘Dog Man’ book

Plus: The Oloris, Poison Ivy, The X-Cellent, Whistleblowers, Patrick McDonnell and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

The graphic novel phenomenon Dog Man will return at the end of the month with a new book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, continuing the adventures of our hero, Li’l Petey, 80-HD and the rest of the gang.

Scholastic has announced their promotional plans for Dav Pilkey’s latest, which include a Free Comic Book Day issue, the return of Dog Man: The Musical and Dog Man Day celebrations.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Noah Van Sciver

The critically acclaimed cartoonist discusses his two latest projects, ‘Joseph Smith and the Mormons’ and ‘As a Cartoonist.’

Noah Van Sciver has always been a prolific cartoonist. This summer he released two new books, which represent the best work he’s done so far in his career.

Joseph Smith and the Mormons, which is out now from Abrams, is a project Van Sciver has been working on for more than a decade. To say that it’s Van Sciver’s best book, which I believe, is to sell it short, because the book is also the most ambitious project that Van Sciver has attempted. The book looks at the life of Smith and, without captions or word balloons, manages to convey so much information as it charts the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s an incredible work of cartooning and of history.

His other book is As a Cartoonist, a collection of short comics published by Fantagraphics, which were made in the same period, and share a number of concerns and approaches. Both books are deeply personal in different ways. I’ve talked with Van Sciver a few times over the years, and I was thrilled to be able to talk with him about these two books.

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Alex Ross will write and draw large-format ‘Fantastic Four: Full Circle’ graphic novel

Marvel teams with Abrams ComicArt for a unique project from the renowned artist.

Marvel and Abrams ComicArt will team up to present a unique project from artist/painter Alex Ross — Fantastic Four: Full Circle, a large-format hardcover graphic novel featuring Marvel’s first family.

The book will be presented in a format that mirrors the Marvel Graphic Novel line from the 1980s. It also ill include a full-color foldout poster featuring the fully painted origin of the Fantastic Four. According to Marvel, this publication also marks the launch of MarvelArts, a graphic novel collaboration between Marvel Comics and Abrams ComicArts.

“This is the Fantastic Four story I have been wanting to tell for years, and visually it is one of the greatest artistic experiments I have attempted,” Ross told Marvel.com. “I’m excited to share this work with everyone, as it unites the two great publishing forces of Marvel and Abrams ComicArts in a bold new collaboration.”

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