Bundled, Tossed, Untied And Stacked: A Publishing News Column

By Tom Spurgeon

* it's not comics, but I was happy to see the Auad book on Robert Fawcett was published.

* the big story this week in terms of traditional publishing initiative-type news is that Marvel is going to do a comics-centric magazine featuring the Pixar characters, and looks to have the rights to do collections of the existing Boom! material. You get those kinds of deals when you're a fellow division of the big companies, although Disney does still have licensing deals with companies like Boom! and Fantagraphics. This kind of magazine doesn't seem to be the most forward-thinking strategy in 2011, but I would imagine that there are advantages to a traditional approach. Plus a great deal depends on execution. Another thing to make note of is that such a publication falls into the first kind of buzz phrasing to emanate from the Axel Alonso-era Marvel, the desire to bring in younger generations of readers.

* the move away from Pixar and other properties might allow Boom!, at least, to set itself up more firmly in the classic serial and with television properties that Disney ran in syndication five, ten, fifteen years ago. Almost as if on cue, they've just announced a DuckTales comic book series.

* Mugwhump Returns.

* catching up with Jody McGregor's list of 100 comics to read before you die reminded me that Paul Gravett's team of scholars is finishing up work on this Fall's book version of 1001 comics to read before one keels over. Should be good.

* I completely missed that there was one of those University Press Of Mississippi "conversations" book with Howard Chaykin. Chaykin can be a really fun talker about comics.

* that the Spider-Man character is joining up with the Human Torch-less Fantastic Four for several issues if very old news at this point, and barely news in the first place, but I quite like the look of the new costumes on the Fantastic Four or whatever they're calling them. Spider-Man joining the team for a while makes sense, too, if you look at the moves as what they almost certainly really represent: Marvel trying to set a new baseline sales number for one of its most moribund sales franchises. It's nearly impossible to say that it hasn't been successful so far, although comics fade more quickly than ever. I still think it's distressing for the long-term that you can't build sales on a book simply by making a good book -- not like this, anyway.

* a reprint of the key mid-1970s Steve Ditko small press effort Wha..!? is apparently now available. That's one for the permanent collection.

* writer Joe Harris will be handling scripting duties on one of the mini-series driving Dynamite's revitalization of the Vampirella property. Speaking of properties, Dark Horse is doing some comics with the Avatar franchise.

* I did not know that JM Ken Niimura had launched a webcomic, but I welcome the news.

* it's not comics, but cartoonist Brian Sendlebach has a children's book coming out later this year. I would think his style might lend itself to a kids' variation.

* the news that Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross are teaming up to do a Kirby-related project isn't really my kind of thing, but if a rock band of whom I was fond got back together to do an album of Led Zeppelin covers I guess I'd like that, so I can understand why people might be excited to see this.

* Lee Bermejo is writing and drawing a Christmas-themed Batman stand-alone. Bermejo provided the art to a 2008 Joker book that received a big bump from the Heath Ledger portrayal in that year's Batman movie. Speaking of movies, DC has announced a bunch of one-shots to go along with the release of the Green Lantern film -- each one feature a character spotlighted in the movie.

* Alexander Danner has finished Gingerbread Houses.

* I'm not sure I totally buy Douglas Wolk's argument here -- at least as I understand it -- that the new issue of Osborn represents much of anything in terms of current appetites for a limited type of mainstream comics art. Same as it ever was. Plus things with those kinds of comics are so rigid and ossified right now, on any number of levels, and also more focused on comics writers, that it's hard for me to imagine any artist making a huge difference right now. In other words, my hunch is that art is more invisible than it is aesthetically constrained with those kinds of comics right now.

* DC is launching a Strange Adventures anthology, which among other features will house the Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso effort Spaceman. It's almost more worth noting for the fact that they're putting this out there as a major announcement than what they're putting into the comic, which is weird and sad, I k now.

* news that Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev will be doing Moon Knight is old news at the on-line news sites that cover mainstream comics more closely, but I figure there are probably some fans of their run on Daredevil out there that might not read a whole from sites like that, and would appreciate a least a heads-up to check that one out on the stands.

* Markosia is doing a Henry Flint art book.

* a few random links I initially missed putting this together. This interview with Grant Morrison is about comics he wants to do rather than comics he's doing, but when Morrison sets his sights on something he usually eventually gets it. Over at Marvel, Canadian superhero team book Alpha Flight returns to battle Heroes For Hire as the most soft-launched series title in company history. More Paper Science is on the way. Here's word of Josh Hagler's next project. DC cancels five.

* finally, Drawn & Quarterly has a couple of preview images from Matt Forsythe's Jinchalo here.


 
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