The Last Comics Blotter

Comics Lit Spotlight in New York Times MagazineIf you are already a member or you don’t mind registering with the online version of New York Times Magazine, there is a great article by Charles McGrath that discusses the sophistication and importance of Sequential Art.

JLA‘s Continuity Twist

If you’re a regular here then you know that we like to talk about continuity. Now, normally when you get an inter-company crossover it’s an ugly mess that takes place in an alternate universe so there are no repercussions in either company’s main continuity. Well here’s a new one for you. If you read the JLA / Avengers crossover you probably assumed the above statement was, as usual, correct and the story took place outside of DC’s and Marvel’s main continuities. Kurt Busiek, who wrote that crossover and will be writing an arc (possibly two) of JLA, has something to say about that. Without giving too much away the JLA / Avengers crossover storyline ended with this mysterious space egg (anyone want to take this one?) leaving the reader with questions. The interesting thing is that Busiek will now use this egg in his JLA arc, an arc that takes place in the main DCU. What could this mean for the relationship between Marvel’s and DC’s main continuities? Is there a way for Iron Man to hang out in the real Gotham for a while? Can Supes really come over to the X-Mansion for tea? Those questions probably won’t be answered but you’ll be able to see what’s going to happen for yourself when JLA #107 comes out this Fall.

Mile High X-Force Preview

Over at the Mile High Comics website you can check out the entire first issue of the new X-Force series by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld. Hell, all we need now is Peter David and Larry Stroman to bring back X-Factor and the X-Backlash can begin.

Also, at the above link, you will be able to check out every page of Ultimate X-Men #50, X-Men: The End #1, Marvel Knights Spider-Man #4 and more.

Wachowski Bros. To Conquer Comics

Andy and Larry will continue in the comics genre but they’re planning on kicking it up a notch from their Matrix Comics days. They have teamed up with a few artists and an editor to form Burlyman Entertainment. Burlyman will start by publishing two bimonthly comics entitled Shaolin Cowboy and Doc Frankenstein. The artists are Geoff Darrow and Steve Skroce, the editor is Spencer Lamm and they all worked with the Wachowski brothers, in some capacity, on the Matrix trilogy. These first two titles will each premier later this year and will both be made into trade paperbacks after six issues. An extra noteworthy bit is that Darrow, whose art is detailed as hell, has been working on Shaolin Cowboy for a few years already.

McFarlane Appeal

Between lawsuits from Neil Gaiman and Tony Twist it seems like the Toddmeister just can’t stay out of court. This past week an NHL hockey player named Tony Twist was awarded $15 million in a suit against McFarlane because Todd supposedly “infringed upon Twist’s publicity rights”. Todd created a mob boss character for his Spawn comic and named him Tony Twist. So the real Twist took him to court because he didn’t want to be associated with a character that “was involved in murders and kidnappings and rapes”. Twist won but it was then appealed and overruled. Later Twist took it to a higher court and this court awarded him said $15 mill. McFarlane plans on appealing this all the way to the Supreme Court if need be. If the ruling is allowed to stand it could be a disaster for authors’ rights in the U.S.

More Sandman Mystery Theatre to be Collected

Just to remind you, only the first story arc of that series, “The Tarantula”, was ever collected.

Although not specified as to how much of Sandman Mystery Theatre will collected, it has been announced that two trade paperbacks will be released in October. At press time I didn’t find out how many pages these trades will be or which story arcs will be published. I also checked out Amazon.com but they are not listed there yet. Check back for updates.

Spider-Girl Gets Another Six Months

This poor title. It’s been going through the wringer lately with all of this news of possible cancellation and a new Spider-Girl title (Amazing Fantasy) butting in on Mayday Parker’s newsstand space. But Tom DeFalco posted some news online this past week stating that his Spider-Girl has gotten a little breathing room. He also gave Mayday’s rival a little elbow in the ribs. Here’s most of that post:

Thanks to the efforts of Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley and Andy Schmidt–and ALL of you guys–Spider-Girl has been renewed for (at least) another six issues. We are currently guaranteed to run until Spider-Girl #87. While #87 could be our last issue, we could also be extended beyond #87…if we can increase our sales.

Thanks for being there!

Tom D.

Mayday Parker–
The one, true Spider-Girl!

Accept NO substitutes!

At the end there it looks as if Tom is telling everyone to not buy any Marvel titles that spotlight a different Spider-Girl. I wonder what the brass thinks of his post.

The Devil’s Due’s Aftermath

All is quiet on the DBPro front but Devil’s Due has wasted no time using its recent publicity (see the Blotter #14) to announce their new imprint Aftermath. This snippet of Devil’s press release about the upcoming San Diego Con discusses their foray into the madness that is superhero universe building:

Don’t miss the Devil’s Due Panel (12:30 to 1:30 Saturday, July 24th in Room 1A) for a major announcement, and the first glimpse of artwork, from the new Devil’s Due Imprint: AFTERMATH – an all new universe of super powered heroes launching this fall. Tentatively scheduled to appear are the AFTERMATH series writers: Ron Marz, Marv Wolfman and Joe Casey (not to leave out writer Chuck Dixon, who will not be attending the convention).

I think I may start a shared superhero universe as well. Check back here for details.

Alas, Poor Comics Blotter

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Okay, first the bad news. This will be the last installment of The Comics Blotter at least in its present format.

But here’s the good news: The Comics Blotter is coming to an end because it will be rendered redundant — by a new Sequart.com News section! That’s right: we’re launching our own news section with up-to-date stories. Perhaps even more exciting, now you can make your voice heard by posting comments to these stories as they appear.

It’s all part of a larger redesign of the site that will see added functionality and even new sections. Right away, you will be able to create your own account — complete with your own customizable webpage. And a new and expanding help section will aid you as you add comments to the site and customize your own page.

Sequart.com has a great future, and we hope to see you there!

Thanks to all of you doing the reading, and we’ll see you in the news section!