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ComicsPRO Gets Everyone On the Same Page


Retailers and publishers came together to discuss industry issues and opportunities last week as ComicsPRO, an organization for comics shop owners, held their second annual meeting in Las Vegas, March 19-21. About half of ComicsPRO's 115 member roster attended, and sponsors included DC, Graphitti Designs, Cartoon Books, Dynamite Entertainment, Diamond, Slave Labor, Top Cow and the POS software system MOBY. Representatives of Marvel and Dark Horse attended informally.

By all accounts it was a very positive meeting for everyone. "This was one of the most valuable events I've attended in a long time," said Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik. "Hopefully the retailers who attended felt the same way."

With the recent changes in the comics industry and current economic concerns on everyone's minds, it was an opportune time for the different levels of the industry to come together. The meeting's theme was "Full Steam Ahead" and according to attendees contacted by PWCW, the mood lived up to the motto. Andrew Neal, owner of Chapel Hill Comics, an 800 square foot, 5-year old store in Chapel Hill, N.C., said this was his second ComicsPro meeting and he was most impressed by, "the way publishers are taking ComicsPro very seriously as an organization. It's become an organization we can funnel our concerns through."

Stranded: Virgin’s New Sci-Fi/ Superhero Drama

Mike Carey's new tale of aliens who don't even know they're from another planet is headed to the Sci-Fi Channel after debuting from Virgin Comics.

Realbuzz Studios: Panels and Parables

Longtime comics producer Buzz Dixon and partner, Marlon Schulman are challenging the stereotype of religious comics with RealBuzz Studios.
more on comics
In this 10 page preview of acclaimed French cartoonist Lewis Trondheim’s Kaput & Zösky, two hilariously inept intergalactic alien invaders look around for a planet to conquer. The book will be published in April by First Second Books
Click above for the full preview.
See all Panel Mania


Hergé at One Hundred

Last year was the centennial of the birth of Georges Remi, who is better known around the world as Hergé, the creator of The Adventures of Tintin. These 23 graphic novels chronicle the adventures of an intrepid teenage reporter around the globe (and even on the moon!). Beloved worldwide, Tintin is less well-known in the United States, although that will change when Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s forthcoming Tintin movie trilogy commences.

The Education of Hopey Glass
JAIME HERNANDEZ. Fantagraphics, $19.99 (144p) ISBN 978-1-56097-939-5

In this perfect confluence of stunning illustration and gripping narrative, Hernandez returns to his early Love & Rockets roots with aging punk-rocker Esperanza "Hopey" Glass taking the spotlight in this collection's first half. "Day by Day with Hopey" chronicles a week in the feisty Latina's life as she transitions from tending bar to teaching kindergarten while her low-rent personal life teems with girlfriends who come and go, her lifelong friend and sometime-lover Maggie the only constant. In terms of action or intrigue, not much happens, but Hernandez spins narrative gold from the mundane straw of his protagonist's existence, as Hopey's awkward romantic and social tribulations add more layers to her complex character. The second half features Ray Dominguez, Maggie's long-ago boyfriend, now in his early 407s and still carrying a torch for her. Ray finds himself caught up in a pulp fiction maelstrom hinging on the fallout from a murder and his lust for the gorgeous but borderline-psychotic Vivian, an aspiring actress also known as "Frogmouth," who has her own history with Maggie. Fraught with grimy intrigue that evokes a Chicano Mickey Spillane yarn, the second half of the book comes as an unexpected and pleasant surprise that rivets both old fans and newcomers to the page. (Apr.)
see all reviews


Johnny Boo: Kochalka for Kids

In June, Ignatz Award-winning creator James Kochalka will release his latest work for children, Johnny Boo: The Best Little Ghost in the World. The book follows the whimsical adventures of a young ghost and his best friend, Squiggle, and will be published by Top Shelf. A second Johnny Boo book, Twinkle Power, follows in December. The third volume of his Web comic, American Elf, and Little Paintings, a 48-page hardcover of 2"x2" images, are both slated for November from Top Shelf.

March 26, 2008
  • Haunted (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Flight Explorer Vol. 1 (Villard Books)
  • Apocalypse Nerd (Dark Horse)
  • Night Wing: The Lost Year (DC)
  • Last Winter (Image)
  • Spiderman: One More Day (Marvel)
  • Stardust Kid Vol. 1 (BOOM! Entertainment)
  • Paul Goes Fishing (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Funeral of the Heart (Fantagraphics)
  • The Salty Air (Top Shelf)
  • Fairy Tail Vol. 1 (Del Ray Manga)
  • Strawberry Panic (Seven Seas Entertainment)
  • Blood Alone Vol. 3 (Infinity Studios)

  • Stan Lee at NYCC
  • Dark Horse Gets K Chronicles
  • Penguin Classics Design Award
  • PictureBox Store
  • Booklist GN Issue
  • The Stranded on Sci-Fi Channel
  • Comics Website for Kids
  • Comic Foundry Release Party
  • Tony Millionaire and Nicholas Gurewitch Exhibit
  • Comics on NPR
  • SVA Cartooning Exhibit

    read more

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