kate

Prisoner of None

Earlier this month, writer Vito Delsante and artist David Bednarski launched their new webcomic Prisoner of None. I was intrigued by a project that is partially inspired by the true story of Shoichi Yokoi, a sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II who was found in 1972, hiding in the jungles of Guam, more than a quarter century after the United States had retaken the territory. In their fictionalized reinterpretation, Delsante and Bednarski set out to portray “a Japanese hero, Fantomudoragon (the “Phantom Dragon”), and his struggle to adjust to the changes in his country and the world after a 70-year absence.” In addition to Fantomudoragon, it also details several other characters with superpowers.

Tim O’Shea: How long had you known about Shoichi Yokoi‘s unique post-World War II life up to 1972 before realizing it was inspiration for a story?

Vito Delsante: It was roughly (and I say this after looking up the first email I sent to David) around Feb. 26, 2012. It was literally a few days after David replied to an email I sent “soliciting” him to do a comic. That’s the best way to put it, right? My wife, Michelle … she was obsessed with this site, OMG Facts, and … she knows I’m a World War II nut, and she read this article out loud and I said to myself, “THIS is a comic!” David emailed me back, and on the 27th, I sent him that article and Yokoi’s Wikipedia page. So, it was literally within 72 hours or so.

David Bednarski: I remember Vito saying that he had a vague idea for a story based on Shoichi Yokoi and the next thing I know we were firing ideas back an forth.

David, how hard is it to juggle the demands of producing a webcomic in your free time (when not at your day job as a scientist)?

Bednarski: It hasn’t been too difficult, so far.

I do research for a biotech company during the day and spend time with my family in the evenings. After the kids are in bed, when my wife and I relax on the couch I almost always have a drawing pad or laptop with art software running. I’m always multitasking. Before Prisoner of None I was working on my own things, following whatever idea I had to get out of my head or working on various pieces for art threads in forums around the Internet.

I already had the time blocked out to work on a project, provided the project could move at a slower pace. I’ve never done anything like this before so I have been playing around with methods and techniques to streamline my output to produce something like this. I’m getting more efficient with every page. Wow, that sounded technical.

Simply put, I like to draw comics and I’m getting faster at making them in my limited free time.

When did the two of you realize it was important to do the 14-part origin series of posts prior to launching the webcomic?

Delsante: I don’t know how we decided to do it, honestly. I know my motivation was to really get folks to understand what was going on, who did what, etc., before the comic started because … it’s incredibly hard to launch a new comic these days, whether it’s online or in shops. And all I wanted to do was have reader recognition. I didn’t want anyone to say, “I’m not going to read this because I don’t know who these characters are.” There’s no excuse. I think you can read the story without the origins, but they certainly help.

Bednarski: From our end, it was great way to get to know the characters before we got to the actual story itself. I saw it as a way to immerse ourselves in their world to figure out how it worked and what it looked like. I hope that readers take away something similar.

With the pace that Vito and I are working at and the length of the story, it was also a good way to jump into the action quicker without having to stop and explain who’s who.

In some background on Origin Part 1, you admit this project has demanded a great deal of patience. Also in the past year, Vito, you became a dad. Would you say non-creative commitments (such as family) have forced you to become more organized in terms of your creative pursuits (question for you both)?

Delsante: We both have families, and David has a day job. I’m currently lettering and editing one book, Liberator for Black Mask Studios, and writing somewhere in the area of eight projects. I think we both really wanted to do the book, but we were realistic. Having Sadie, my daughter, has been an incredible experience, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s cramped a lot of my creative time. Thankfully, she’s at an age where she just sleeps for most of the day.

I’ll illustrate it another way. I took my time writing the first installment. Mostly because I was trying to catch up to my workload. But in the back of my head, I kept saying, “David WANTS to take this slow, so just take your time, and do it right.” I’m on Page 6 of Chapter 2. Normally, if this were a deadlined job, I’d have the whole thing done by now. But thankfully, I can really take my time to explore a lot of the internal characterizations and motivations. Because of how slow and steady we’re being. My intended beat for Page 5 moved to Page 6. It’s flowing in it’s own way, so yeah, you have to take your time.

Bednarski: My science-y day job and family (wife and two small kids) pretty much make my life relatively organized. Art has always been my creative outlet, now I can focus that into creating a comic.

I’ve been a comics fan since I was kid, and have always wanted to make my own. Vito is giving me that chance with Prisoner of None. I like that he was willing to work on something at a slower pace and really give me time with my first comic, as I am happily doing all of the art with a limited schedule.

Vito, how long had you been following David’s work before realizing you wanted to collaborate with him. David, what interested you in working with Vito?

Delsante: For me? I saw him in the first 30 Characters Challenge I participated in, which was either 2009 or 2010. Before then, our paths never crossed, but during the contest…I hate using hyperbole too heavily because, in our industry, it really leaves a person open to criticism or ridicule. But during the challenge, I saw someone with an imagination that I just couldn’t keep up with. I swear, to me, David represents everything I love about comics, everything I love about art. The person I personally compare him to is Kirby. He’s just … unbridled. I don’t think David has ever wasted a line. So, to answer, it took me less than 30 days!

Bednarski: You flatter me. Kirby is The King!

And for the record, the 30 Characters in 30 Days Challenge is pretty grueling. Granted I may have made it harder for myself by trying to tell a story of sorts over 30 days with as many characters. This past year I enlisted my three-year-old son to help me create enough characters.

Delsante: Honestly, this last 30 Characters Challenge was one of your best ideas. Everyone should seek out David’s two runs, but this last one … I’d read those characters!

It is a finite series, but is there any chance that as things go along you might find ways to extend the finite?

Delsante: There’s a chance. I’m leaving a lot of pockets and … I hesitate to call them plot holes, but intentional blanks. I have an idea to extend the life of the series, but it’s still early. I would love for the story to be told by someone other than us. To build something that inspires people to take the ball and run. The idea, in my head, is to put the characters in the creative commons, but, like I said, it’s too early to talk about. David and I have to really figure it out. I’m not willing to do a lot of work and let someone else get the credit for it. I’m also not willing to let David’s work be in vain. So, if we can figure out how to do that, we will. Like I said, I’m all for adding to the community and the greater public work to create a narrative that stands for years to come, even without me, but … it’s not a conversation I’m ready to have other than to let folks in the industry know, “I’m thinking about it.”

Bednarski: I like the idea of “intentional blanks,” nothing to detract from the story, but points of interest to be explored later or what happens after the dust settles.

Prisoner of None

I thought it interesting that you opened the series with black-and-white archival footage. Creatively did either of you see that as a risk (given some people’s inexplicable aversion for black and white storytelling)?

Delsante: I don’t think I ever considered it. I wanted to set the piece firmly, give it a time stamp, and that Truman speech does that. And it’s in black and white. It’s just … that had to be the opening.

Of the U.S. characters, Ethan Charles/Sgt. Agent fascinates me the most. You hint at racial relations/strife with his origin. Is that something you both want to explore more?

Delsante: There are … wow, I don’t know how to answer this. (Laughs) I want to explore anything and everything these characters tell me. It’s their story; we’re just telling the readers on their behalf. I am certainly more interested in something that is uncomfortable than something cliche, especially if it moves the story. With Ethan, there’s a bit of Tuskegee and some other awfulness in American history. His story is quite … I really love his character arc. He and Fantomudoragon, our main character, have an amazing scene in the first chapter that will be key to the whole series, in terms of those two characters and in terms of the overall theme of the story.

Which of you came up with the idea of Homerun Hercules sporting the number 12 on his jersey?

Bednarski: That would have been me. When I created the character a number on his back was obvious and when I think of Hercules the only number I think of is 12, as in his Twelve Labors.

Am I correct in thinking that you two feed off of each other’s ideas when brainstorming? That is a storytelling asset, particularly given that does not happen with all creators?

Delsante: That’s hard to answer, because … this is going to sound funny … we bounce ideas back and forth, yes, but sometimes we’re better off when we just do the job and come back to the other guy with something we’re proud of. Does that make sense? What do you think, David?

Bednarski: That sums it up pretty well.  We do bounce ideas off each other, but when it comes to writing I trust Vito and I think that Vito trusts what I’ll put together visually.

Delsante: Implicitly. I keep saying it, but David doesn’t need (emphasis mine) me to tell a good story; he can do it on his own (and he has). I’m very lucky to know him and to have his trust.

With the advent of digital comics, would you say it is easier or harder to market a webcomic these days?

Delsante: Well, if you have no talent or aptitude for it, it’s harder. If you do, it’s less about the making of it, and yeah, all about the marketing and trying to get the work out there. You never truly know who’s reading or who’s enjoying it. Thank God for Twitter, because I get feedback from a few folks there. Facebook is a good tool, too. I find making the comic easy, but I swear I drive myself crazy because I have no idea if I’m just doing it for myself or for some hypothetical audience.

Look, let’s be honest. I’ve tried to do two webcomics (Stuck and FCHS) and both were … I’d never call them failures, but no one really noticed them beyond a small niche. This is the first time I’m doing superheroes on the web, and I think that lends itself better to … let’s call it “casual browsing” as if the internet were one big retailer of comics (’cause it is). I’m learning. Slowly, but I’m learning.

Filed under: DC, Culture

Confession time: I've always been super nervous while riding in cars that other people are driving. I think it has a lot to do with watching the episode of Dragnet where Joe Friday did a slow motion breakdown of the various injuries you can ... Read more

 

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donutrabbit:

Katie said I should put up the whole set, so here it is!

You know I love Nancy

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You just want to see the image, don’t you.

Announced on, of all places, Nerdist.com, Itty Bitty Hellboy came about due to the all-seeing eye of Dark Horse editor Scott Allie. Doesn’t everything? After the Aw Yeah! Comics kickstarter got funded, Allie got in contact with the creative team. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola had been looking for some form of all-ages content he could have on his convention table, because a lot of kids like the idea of Hellboy, but the comics themselves… may not be the most appropriate thing for them. So people spoke to people, people got thrilled about the idea, and Itty Bitty Hellboy was formed.

The first story will see the Hellboy team take on the ghost of Rasputin. The comic itself is currently standing as being a three-issue miniseries released by Dark Horse, with Art Baltazar and Franco in charge, and Mike Mignola’s blessing given to the project. Just look at it! Little Hellboy up there with tiny Abe Sapien. Adorbs!

You don’t like breasts? You must like men: The disappointing conversation and art of Dragon’s Crown

Or perhaps that headline should read “I think Nintendo could make a Legend of Zelda series with Zelda as the hero,” because while I was playing Skyward Sword earlier this year in preparation for my review of the Hyrule Historia, I noticed that the game had left an interesting back door open that no one seemed to catch. A back door that, probably unintentionally, allows Nintendo to create an entire Legend of Zelda series of games featuring Zelda as the heroine.

[Onward. Spoilers for Skyward Sword]

Spoilers for Skyward Sword ahead.

The Legend of Zelda game series has always featured the young (sometimes really young) elfin Link as the hero that the player controls. And this is no accident. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto designed the game with the intent of recreating the feeling of exploration he had experienced as a young boy, searching through the forests and foothills around his home. Towards that end, he named the hero “Link” to signify the literal link that the hero provided between the gamer and the world of The Legend of Zelda.

So although Link is based on a young boy, the character is ultimately supposed to be inclusive of anyone playing the game. But while the intent is pure, the choice of gender does sometimes get in the way of an intrepid woman’s desire to reforge the Triforce of Wisdom, or seal the Golden Power away, or prevent that huge scary moon from smashing into Termina. Animator Kenna W. felt that way, and went so far as to swap the characters in the first Legend of Zelda game so that Zelda is actually the one rescuing Link. Here’s how she did it, and how you can do it yourself.

She’s not the only one wishing for a Zelda-centric game. Aaron Diaz, creator of popular webcomic Dresden Codak, created a pitch, complete with amazing art, for a Skyward Sword-style Zelda-centric adventure titled The Legend of Zelda: Clockwork Empire.

Although I can’t speak to how marketable a Zelda-centric Zelda game is (i.e. would such a game sell enough copies to justify its existence) the desire to see it certainly seems to be growing. Nintendo itself has never been shy about introducing radical new elements to the Legend of Zelda series, either. Zelda herself became an apocalyptic (though unplayable) ninja hero in the late 90s in Ocarina of Time, a pirate in the early 2000s installment The Wind Waker, and a reincarnated goddess knight in 2011’s Skyward Sword. These aren’t even the biggest changes the franchise has undergone.

Given this history, Nintendo seems amenable to making Zelda an active participant in the series. And I think the events of Skyward Sword and the timeline established in Hyrule Historia pave the way for a Legend of Zelda video game series.

The timeline in Hyrule Historia shocked a lot of fans of the series, for two reasons. The first being that all of a sudden all the games were in an ordered timeline and all took place in the same world. The second being that this timeline eventually splits into three distinct timelines thanks to a paradox resulting from the events in Ocarina of Time. Apparently the series creators were taking the rules of time travel in this fantasy world very seriously.

What’s interesting about the timeline splitting into three is that it does so by taking all possible actions into account. In Ocarina of Time, the series’ villain, the evil Ganon, succeeds in his mad quest when Link is a child, so Link is sealed away until he becomes an adult and therefore is able to defeat Ganon. Adult Link does so, and as a reward is allowed to travel back to the era of his childhood and live out his days naturally in a now Ganon-free world.

This results in two timelines. The one where Ganon took over but then was defeated, leaving Hyrule devastated in his wake. And the one where Ganon never took over at all and Link lived a happy little life. In either case, Ganon is defeated. A third timeline apparently exists where Link was defeated by Ganon, allowing the evil demon king to run rampant until finally halted by overwhelming opposing forces.

The mechanism that allows for different timelines in the Legend of Zelda series is the fact that Link time travels from present to future and back again in this one game. Interestingly enough, this mechanism also appears at the end of Skyward Sword. The Link of the present era succeeds in re-sealing the demon king Demise, the game’s villain, but is then forced to travel back into the past to outright destroy the same demon king, moments after he was sealed away the first time. Link succeeds, then travels forward in time to a peaceful present day.

The ending of Skyward Sword presents the events as a single timeline, ignoring that the game just created the same paradox/timeline-split that Ocarina of Time did.

There are now at least two timelines after the events of Skyward Sword:

1.) Demise is initially sealed hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago, then begins to re-emerge but is re-sealed by Link brandishing the Triforce. Demise still exists in this timeline and the cycle of rebirth that Link, Zelda, and Ganon constantly go through in the Legend of Zelda series is not established.

2.) Demise is initially sealed hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago, is unsealed by his minion from the future but then destroyed shortly thereafter by Link. He returns to a present day timeline where Demise does not exist. The Link/Zelda/Ganon rebirth cycle is established.

Timeline #2 is what we see in the epilogue to Skyward Sword, and this is the timeline that eventually leads to Ocarina of Time and the resulting games. But what about Timeline #1? What adventures spring out from those circumstances?

We don’t know, which makes it a perfect opportunity to make it a timeline where Zelda becomes Hyrule’s action hero savior.

Even better, Nintendo could create two strains of Legend of Zelda titles, one where Zelda is the hero and one where Link is the hero, and just release them concurrently. Sure, they could have done this years ago, timelines be damned, but doing so now and making it so devoted fans could trace it all back to a single point in the timeline would create a larger sense of authenticity.

All in all, Nintendo doesn’t need an excuse to make Zelda-centric Zelda games. But it kind of gave itself one anyway.

---

Chris Lough is the production manager of Tor.com and thinks the timeline where Skyward-Sword-Link failed probably has Tingle as the hero and is therefore something we should never see.

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@briansteez has informed me that #NYCC 4 day tickets are now sold out.Look for 3 days on sale soon….

— lfensterman (@lfensterman) April 25, 2013

Meanwhile, NYCC continues to count down to sell-out. Four day passes are sold out (just under six months in advance of the October 10 show dates), and three-day passes won’t last long when they go on sale, I’m told.

In other ReedPOP news, the PAX West show in Seattle sold 90,000 tickets in half an hour. So yeah, people like their shows.

On Monday, three days after Boston police arrested 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings, Reddit general manager Erik Martin issued an apology. It had not been the best of weeks for his online community. Law enforcement officials had explained that one of their motivations for releasing surveillance camera footage of the Tsarnaev brothers was to put an end to the wild speculation on sites like Reddit, where anyone with a backpack was being floated as a possible suspect. Redditors never came close to identifying the Tsarnaevs, instead casting their suspicions on a missing Brown University student named Sunil Tripathi. (Tripathi was found dead in the Providence River on Thursday morning.)

Martin was contrite. "[S]ome of the activity on reddit fueled online witch hunts and dangerous speculation which spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties," he wrote, referring to a smaller sub-community, or subreddit, on his site that was devoted to catching the Boston bombers. "The reddit staff and the millions of people on reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened."

Redditors have, for years, worked to use the resources of crowds as a force for good. There's an entire subreddit dedicated to Redditors ordering pizzas for families and raising money for surgeries. But Boston represents a reality check. Can Reddit harness its greatest asset—the tireless brainstorming of millions—while reining in the speculative impulse that makes the site tick? And even if Reddit could solve crimes, would it be worth it?

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Filed under: Vertigo, Interviews

Next month, writer Scott Snyder and artist Sean Murphy team up for the new Vertigo mini-series The Wake. Early promo materials are short on details, but they say this much: The series is a "thrilling new underwater horror adventure" in which ... Read more

 

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Filed under: Interviews

A few weeks ago, Ken Lowery and Robert Wilson IV launched a Kickstarter campaign for Like A Virus, a one-shot ghost story about a medium trying to uncover the mystery of a local haunting. Within a few days, they'd met their goal, but then ... Read more

 

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With thirty-two days remaining until the launch of more Arrested Development on Netflix, this is the latest the streaming service have made us wait for a trailer to one of their originals. I expect they’ll drop one when there’s just a month to go, and make some fanfare over the schedule.

They’ve certainly not left us hanging with the postering, though. Here are nine new ones, to go with the nine we already got. And, as a bonus, we’ll open with three new Entertainment Weekly covers.

So, if you were in any doubt to the extent of ageing that this show’s cast has or hasn’t gone through…

The post Arrested Development Character Posters And Magazine Covers appeared first on Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors.

What’s that? You say that no one is making exciting 2D animation anymore? You say that you’d like to see some drawn animation that’s so fun and entertaining it’ll bring tears to your eyes? Well, we have just the thing for you. Kairos is a one-of-a-kind action-packed trailer for a new French comic book that looks pretty amazing in its own right.

The promo was produced by Studio La Cachette, a young Paris-based outfit founded by four Gobelins graduates: Nuno Alves Rodgrigues, Oussama Bouacheria, Julien Chheng, and Ulysse Malassagne.

CREDITS
Réalisation & Production: Studio La Cachette

Idée Originale & Direction Artistique: Ulysse Malassagne

Storyboard: Oussama Bouacheria

Dévelopement Visuel: Nuno Alves Rodrigues, Alice Dieudonné, Julien Chheng, Ulysse Malassagne, Rémi Salmon

Animation: Nuno Alves Rodrigues, Oussama Bouacheria, Alice Bissonnet, Julien Chheng, Hanne Galvez, Rachid Guendouze, Sandrine Han Jin Kuang, Ulysse Malassagne, Stéphanie Mercier, Bung Nguyen, Stéphanie Pavoine, Julien Perron

Décors: Alice Dieudonné, Ulysse Malassagne

Compositing: Ulysse Malassagne

Design Sonore et Mixage: Florian Calmer

Musique: X-Ray Dog

Disney announced today that they will release a ‘lost’ Mickey Mouse short called Get A Horse! featuring Walt Disney himself as the voice of Mickey Mouse. The hand-drawn short “follows Mickey, his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow as they delight in a musical wagon ride, until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road.”

The never-before-seen work will be presented at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France on Tuesday, June 11. Lauren MacMullan (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Wreck-It-Ralph), Dorothy McKim (Meet the Robinsons) and animator Eric Goldberg (Winnie the Pooh, Princess and the Frog, Aladdin) will be on hand to present the film.

Well, there are upsides and downsides. When it comes to soap amnesia, those who are perfectly aware of the amnesiac situation must never give advance notice to any loved ones or acquaintances in advance of the first meeting. No warning to the extended family, no heads-up to friends. Shit, y'all. The Spencer/Falconeri gang seemed to have even made an appointment with Patrick for Lulu without having even mentioned that the most acute need for this particular exam was that she's FORGOTTEN HER WHOLE LIFE. Why would her doctor need to know? He'll find out when she shrieks that she doesn't know him! Oh and another thing that happens with soap amnesia: they only forget their personal lives. They remember their command of the English language, they remember what year it is and who the President is. Nobody ever asks them if they remember learning to read and write, or if they remember whether or not they voted for this particular president, or how they even know that they can legally walk into a bar and order a drink. And they never want doctors to help them actually get their memory back, they just want to be LEFT ALONE! (Does Lulu...

Maybe that’s why the old man disappears in the beginning of the Legend of Zelda. He couldn’t deal with the fate he forced upon an innocent child.

source: Magical Game Time

Takara Tomy releases toys of familiar & Japan-exclusive characters starting this month

No surprises here, but in a new study the Bloomberg administration has found that half the residents of New York City are "poor" or "near-poor," meaning that they were "making less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold." A small increase in the number of poor-- 3 percent since 2009 -- yet again, a telling marker in the city with the billionaire mayor and over 50,000 homeless men, women and children sleeping in shelters each night.

The city’s analysis warned that cutbacks in federal programs could threaten any recovery and place pressure on the next mayor to maintain or expand public assistance.

“The recent increase in the state minimum wage affects the working poor and near-poor, and paid sick days are important, but missing rungs in the ladder make it really hard to climb out of poverty,” said Nancy Rankin, vice president for policy research and advocacy at the Community Service Society, which lobbies on behalf of the poor.

New York City's billionaire mayor, btw, opposed both the minimum wage increase and paid sick days.

America’s most iconic city now has the same inequality index as Swaziland, note the editors at The Nation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stadium Comics of Ontario unpack their Free Comic Book Day comics. And go through all of them….

The post Unboxing Free Comic Book Day 2013 – See Every FCBD Comic Here First appeared first on Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors.

In Babs Tarr's "Bōsōzoku Sailor Scouts" illustration, Sailor Moon and her fellow princesses get inked and become a candy-colored biker gang. Now we just need Tuxedo Mask in a leather coat and tails.

Bōsōzoku Sailor Scouts [Babs Tarr via Betty Felon]

Colin O’ Mahoney writes;

A few weeks ago I had my first experience with digital comics on my brother’s iPad. I read the first eight issues of Saga, and some recent Walking Dead. And I fell in love. Not with Saga’s lead character Alana, (ok, maybe a little), but with the digital experience. The retina display made the pages appear to be higher quality than the actual printed books. The colours were pure and perfect; even the whites seem whiter. It was easy to read, a simple flick taking me from page to page, and even issue to issue. I started reading in an armchair, and finished it in bed. In between, I read issues on the move, and never had to worry about carrying too many issues with me.

Recent events with Saga have coloured this experience somewhat, but I think that backward censorship policies are just an aberrant blip, albeit an annoying one, in the broader digital vs. print debate. This is a debate that should not be clouded by the completely separate issue of censorship, which exists in print stores as it does in digital, just in different forms.

So, back on topic; despite my overwhelmingly positive experience with digital, I am still sticking with print. Not because I like printed comics, but because I love comic stores. I love what they offer. There I can have a friendly, social experience: browsing, chatting about comics, seeing what’s available, flicking through new series. Because of this unique, niche experience that a store can offer, I don’t think digital is going to kill the comicbook store.

I think it is more likely that print itself will kill the comic store.

Or to be more precise; the publishers of print comics. In a nutshell, variant covers are most often at the retailer’s expense. The retailer has to order a certain number of the regular cover for every variant he can get. So orders, and the market, is artificially inflated, and retailers are left holding the can.

Rich explains it well here, so I will quote;

retailers are ordering huge numbers of comics, far more than they can sell, to get these rare covers. Which means standard comics go unsold, or hit the quarter bins fast. Which brings down the perceived value of buying a new, standard, every day comic. And eventually the penny drops – why buy a full priced comic when in a few months you can buy it for pennies?

When these combine, and people stop buying the variant comic for a massive markup, leaving retailers stuck with tonnes of unsellable comics – because customers know that if they wait, they’ll get a bargain – then that is the end time for the comic shop.

And if you think this is far-fetched or alarmist, bear in mind this is exactly what happened before.

In order to boost numbers, publishers are targeting and promoting collecting comics rather than reading comics. They are cashing in off the back of speculation, limited variants, and collector’s editions; all these aspects that fetishise the hobby, and help to ensure it remains a niche pursuit. And they are doing this at the expense of comic stores.

Case in point: SEX #1, out last month from Image comics had ‘First Issue –Collector’s Item’ on its cover. Not ‘great story’ or any review quotes and praise. No, the main selling point of this book, in the view of either the creator, editor, or the publisher was that it would seemingly accumulate value over time. Talk about a lack of faith in your product, or at the very least, highly cynical selling of your product.

All this brings me back to Comixology. What I really love about Comixology is its ability to neatly separate ‘reading’ comics from ‘collecting’ comics. Obviously there is crossover in these terms, so let me be clear; for the purposes of this article, I define reading comics as buying and enjoying them for story, art, and characters. Collecting is all other aspects of the hobby. Everything you will not find on Comixology. There are no variant covers here, no limited or ‘collectors’ editions, no foil or embossed covers. There are simply the comics and the stories they contain. And timing is no longer an issue. If I miss an issue, I don’t have to go to eBay and pay over the odds because it was under-printed and is now considered ‘rare’. If I hear about a comic I think I would like, and it is already on issue 4, I can simply click a button and pay cover price for the previous issues.

Comixology, and presumably other apps like it (I can’t speak from experience here), take away the flotsam and detritus of collecting, and allow me to simply read and enjoy my comics. This is what will bring new readers to the hobby; this is what will increase comic sales and grow the industry. Story and art. Nothing else. No marketing gimmicks are going to bring sustainable growth and attract new (not lapsed) readers.

If the publishers don’t realise this, they will lose the stores that support and help grow their industry.

[Rich adds – Since you quoted me, I thought I’d jump on I don’t see this quite so plainly, Marvel and DC have stepped back from their cover excesses since I wrote that piece, something Bob Wayne calls “maintaining a balanced diet”. And collectability can be a real way to reward artistic experimentation from the fringes. If you had bought a copy of Rachel Rising #1 in print, then you could sell it and buy quite a lot of digital comics on ComiXology,,, or your local store.)

The post Will Print, Not Digital, Kill The Comic Store? appeared first on Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors.

A new podcast is out where the Veef and myself discuss that most radical of idol-themed science fiction anime, AKB0048.

We cover personal opinions on the show, the influence of director Kawamori Shouji and writer Okada Mari, favorite characters, trends in current and old anime, and I make a remark about AKB0048‘s connection to neo-Marxist theory.

AKB0048 is available on Crunchyroll for free.

By Shiva Polefka

Today, Saturday, April 20th, marks the third anniversary of the explosion aboard BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers and set off the largest accidental spill in the oil industry’s history. The ruptured Macondo well spewed nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil over the course of the summer, ultimately fouling more than 1,000 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline and bringing the vast fishing and tourism industries of the region to a standstill, before the Macondo well was finally sealed and “killed” on September 19, 2010.

Following the Deepwater Horizon blowout, President Obama appointed a panel of experts that convened as the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Its final report, issued in January 2011, revealed the irresponsible practices of BP and its contractors, uncovered a lack of federal oversight, and provided a comprehensive set of policy reforms that would make the offshore energy industry safer.

Earlier this week, members of the Commission, now acting independently as a group called Oil Spill Commission Action (OSCA), released their second “Report Card” on the progress major actors were making to implement their recommendations.

So, three years after the catastrophe, what has changed? Have we acted on the painful lessons taught by Deepwater Horizon? Are government and industry leaders taking steps to reduce the risk of another destructive spill or blowout? The answers are decidedly mixed.

Department of the Interior and Industry

OSCA awarded the Obama administration a B, in recognition that the Department of the Interior has enacted some of the safety reforms recommended within the official report, and brought about a 15 percent increase in offshore rig inspections occurring in the Gulf.

OSCA gave the oil industry a B-, noting that it has voluntarily contributed in meaningful ways to the reduction of risk future oil spills in response to Deepwater Horizon, by implementing new safety standards and readying four oil well capping systems for the Gulf of Mexico like the one ultimately used to stanch the Macondo well’s blowout. Before Deepwater Horizon, no such systems existed.

Congress

OCSA was much harsher on Congress, and rightfully so, as the legislative branch has yet to pass a single law strengthening federal oversight of offshore oil and gas development. Congress did enact the RESTORE Act which allocates 80 percent of BP’s civil penalties to the affected Gulf Coast states, so they can apply it directly the environmental restoration and economic recovery. Enactment of this bill was enough to boost Congress’ grade from a D in 2012 to a D+ this year.

As OSCA puts it, other than the RESTORE Act, Congress has done “nothing about the many other critical issues the Commission identified to improve safety and environmental protection.” A year ago, my colleagues at the Center for American Progress highlighted the need for Congress to raise the absurdly low $75 million limit on spill liability that oil companies currently face. While BP voluntarily excluded itself from the cap, the cleanup cost for Deepwater Horizon to date stands at over $14 billion, demonstrating starkly the fiscal as well as environmental risk to the American public from Congressional inaction.

Similarly, Congress has refused to codify any new safety standards for offshore drilling. As a result, the gains made through Obama administration rulemaking, and voluntary industry efforts, could easily be easily lost to the whims of the next administration.

The Courts

Federal courts continue their slow progress toward meting out justice for the full array of criminal and civil violations committed by BP and its contractors. In November 2012 the Justice Department secured a $4.5 billion settlement in the criminal case against BP, the largest criminal penalty in history. The company also pled guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter as well as additional charges of lying to Congress and other environmental violations.

BP’s separate, and much larger civil trial for Clean Water Act violations has already lasted more than two months, and is expected to continue well into the fall. In line with the unprecedented size of the spill, BP faces additional, record-setting fines that could reach as high as $17 billion if Federal District Court Judge Carl Barbier agrees with prosecutors that BP was grossly negligent in the disaster.

Ongoing Costs

Despite the mobilization of tens of thousands of workers and volunteers and thousands of public and privately owned vessels to assist with oil clean up, direct impacts to the Gulf Coast’s fisheries, beaches, wetlands and seabed corals were severe and widespread.

Three years later, the Gulf Coast faces a rising specter of persistent, long term impacts from the BP blowout similar to those affecting the marine environment in Valdez, Alaska, where the once robust herring fishery has yet to recover from Exxon’s 1989 spill. Gulf of Mexico fisherman and scientists have reported bizarre, unprecedented mutations of shrimp and crabs, and they continue to catch fish from the spill area with large lesions and organ failure. And while still not conclusively linked to the BP spill, the National Wildlife Federation recently reported that mortality in marine mammals and sea turtles in the region is occurring at rates multiple times higher than historical averages.

Recent studies have provided at least one clue for the ongoing effects. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that the chemical oil dispersant Corexit 9500A becomes extremely toxic to marine organisms when mixed with crude oil. BP dumped at least 1.8 million gallons of Corexit into the Gulf in an attempt to mitigate the impacts of the spill, including the unprecedented practice of injecting the fluid directly into the oil spewing from the ruptured well.

The Gulf Coast’s valuable wetlands also continue to suffer from the disaster. As the New Orleans Times-Picayune recently reported, the oil spill greatly weakened wetlands in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish. When Hurricane Isaac hit in 2012, “large swaths” of these normally storm-resilient habitats were obliterated and have yet to return. Because wetlands provide nurseries for fisheries, buffer coastal communities from storm surge, and stabilize coastlines by preventing erosion, this loss represents the destruction of green infrastructure that underpins Gulf Coast communities and businesses. Until BP and its contractors fund the restoration of these ecosystems, their absence will continue to exact a financial toll from Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states.

New Lessons

In a recent pro-drilling opinion column in the Wall Street Journal, the editorial board took measure of the offshore oil industry in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill. The Obama administration’s “toughened” drilling regulations, they say, “have amounted to little more than a speed bump for the energy industry,” which today is “booming in the Gulf of Mexico.” That observation belies claims from some in Congress that the more rigorous safety controls—aimed at averting the next environmental catastrophe — will cause undo harm to the oil companies or coastal economies.

Alternatively, it could suggest that the federal response so far has simply been too weak to substantially alter industry practices.

Three years on, governmental leaders must keep in mind the grave costs that all parties affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster continue to pay, and do all they can to prevent another spill. The evidence suggests that continued inaction from Congress — while perhaps their easiest option politically — could be the riskiest, most expensive choice they can make.

Shiva Polefka is a research associate with CAP’s Ocean Program.

He might not be as jolly and bouncy, but this interpretation of Mario does seem more logical… Especially in a world of full of talking fungus, floating coin boxes and bullets with arms.

source: deviantART

Few ideas have more support from voters and less from national politicians than legalizing marijuana. While major polls now show that most Americans back the concept, the president and leaders in Congress won't touch the issue except to laugh it off.

Like pothead soccer dads in the sitcom Weeds, however, some of the biggest backers of legalization are turning up where you'd least expect them. Take, for example, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who last week introduced a bill designed to prevent the feds from arresting pot growers and tokers in states where the drug is legal. "This approach is consistent with responsible, constitutional, and conservative governance," the 13-term congressman from California's ultraconservative Orange County told me.

Until recently, Republicans who supported ending pot prohibition were about as common as unicorns. There were US Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), and, well, some prominent former Republicans such as New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo. After ditching her Alaska governor job for a Fox News gig a few years ago, Sarah Palin finally stuck her neck out: "If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else any harm," she said on Fox's Freedom Watch in 2010, "then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in, and try to clean up some of the other problems that we have in society."

Back then that was crazy talk. Now it's mainstream enough that Rohrabacher's new marijuana bill has already attracted two other Republican cosponsors: Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan and Don Young of Alaska.

Rohrabacher got turned on to marijuana activism about 10 years ago, when he had to spoon-feed his dying mother because she'd lost her appetite. He learned that medical marijuana might help her eat. "My interest has evolved from there," he says.

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When we found out that one of the lead characters in Brad Bird‘s Disney movie Tomorrowland – and I mean ‘Disney movie’ at least in part because it’s set in one of the parks – is going to be a young girl robot, my mind didn’t jump to martial arts. But perhaps it should have.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the robogirl character “knows several fighting styles.”

They also tell us that Raffey Cassidey has won the part. She was the younger Snow White in the Huntsman movie. Looking at her and thinking of her breaking out into martial arts gives me a bit of a River Tam feeling.

Tomorrowland is expected to be huge, hugely ambitious, but family-friendly. Cassidey will be starring alongside George Clooney, whose character knew her when he was ‘her age’, and Hugh Laurie, who is rumoured to be getting quite an unusual look as the film’s villain.

The film is set for release in December of next year.

The post Brad Bird Casts His Fighting Girl Robot For Tomorrowland appeared first on Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors.

Filed under: Humor, Ask Chris

Over a lifetime of reading comics, Senior Writer Chris Sims has developed an inexhaustible arsenal of facts and opinions. That's why, each and every week, we turn to you to put his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader ... Read more

 

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How great is Daniel Krall’s redesign here, especially Harley Quinn?  Love the shoes, tights, shorts, hat.  All of it!

Promotion prizes include ife-size black clad Fujiko featured on pink refurnished 2008 Harley-Davidson FLHT

Japan's Bike-O ("bike king") has teamed up with criminal gang from classic anime/manga Lupin III to promote their motorcycles. In addition to a commercial campaign, a prize lottery features the thieves Lupin and Fujiko, gunman Jigen, samurai Goemon and police officer Zenigata on prepaid QUO cards, with a grand prize life sized black clad Fujiko on a pink refurnished 2008 Harley-Davidson FLHT. Get a look at the animated ads after the jump.

The ongoing series from  "Strangers In Paradise" and "Echo" creator Terry Moore is will be the latest horror property to make the jump from the page to the small screen.

"Rachel Rising" tells the story of the titular young woman who awakens in a shallow grave and must solve the mystery of her own murder while exploring the mysteries of the supernaturally-afflicted small town where she lives. Those mysteries include a strange bond to an enigmatic blonde and a vicious child on a killing spree. "Rachel Rising" received a Best New Series nomination during last year's Harvey Awards.

According to THR, Alcon Television Group has picked up the rights to produce and has it out to potential showrunners, with Moore on board as an executive producer. This would be the first project for Alcon in its ten months of existence.

So what do you think? Does this sound like a meaty, hour-long drama? Shades of "The Secret Cirlce" and "The Killing" (with a little "D.O.A." thrown in)? I could see Syfy picking "Rachel Rising" up in a heartbeat--maybe the CW as well.

For more head over to MTV Splash Page

[Source: THR]

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