To ensure our emails reach your inbox, add PWComicsWeek@email.publishersweekly.com to your address book. Click here to learn how.

June 23, 2009

• DNL eBooks - turning laptops into ebook readers
• DNL eBooks launches DNL MAC Reader

Editor's Note

It's been three and a half years since PW Comics Week launched, and as you can see, we've had a major makeover. The redesign of PWCW will give the newsletter a cleaner look, with all the content easier to find, but it will also give us more editorial flexibility in terms of the number and types of stories we publish each week. We're especially happy to be able to run more reviews—including some that are web exclusive—and to be able to give Comics Briefly and the On Sale Calendar a far more visible spot on the sidebar. In the months to come we'll be able to roll out more new and exciting content. Obviously, we're pretty excited about the redesign, but let us know what you think of PW Comics Week's new look. We're always eager to hear your feedback.

News

• Heroes Con Holds Steady in Tough Economy
  As a banking center of the southeast, Charlotte, N.C., has been hit hard by the economic downturn. So several retailers said they were pleased that sales at the 2009 Heroes Con either held level or dipped only slightly from previous years. “It’s no secret that Shelton Drumm runs one of the best shows in the country,” said Boom! Studios publisher Ross Richie. “Even in an economic downturn the fans came out and great fans they are."
  more » » » 
• Henson Co., Archaia Ink Graphic Novel Pact
  Indie comics publisher Archaia has reached a multiyear agreement with the Jim Henson Company to produce a series of comic book serials and graphic novels based on popular Henson properties as well as creating new and original co-branded properties. Henson and Archaia will jointly put together the creative teams for each property; the first title will be released this fall.
  more » » » 

• Yet Another Evangelion Manga Spinoff
  This month Dark Horse will launch The Shinji Ikari Raising Project manga series by Takahashi Osamu, the latest spin-off of the immensely popular, award winning Neon Genesis Evangelion animation series, which has spawned two previous manga series, several video games, three feature films, and countless toys and figures. 2009 marks the 14th anniversary of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise in Japan.
  more » » » 
• Garth Ennis’s Preacher Returns in Hardcover
  Garth Ennis’s Preacher, a profane religious satire full of gleeful death and dismemberment, is being collected into thick hardback volumes by Vertigo. The first volume clocks in at a hefty 352 pages and reprints periodical issues 1-12 with a publication date of June 24 and a pricetag of $39.99. The first volume will also reprint the pinups drawn by the series' admirers—artists like Dave Gibbons, JG Jones, and Tim Bradstreet—for Preacher nos. 50 and 66.
  more » » » 

Comics History

• Doug Wright: Rediscovering Canada’s Master Cartoonist
  Writer Brad Mackay and cartoonist Seth are attempting to restore Doug Wright's life and work to the public memory. As co-founders of the Doug Wright Awards, they have explicitly elevated Wright to patron saint status within Canada's comics art tradition. As co-editors of the first volume of The Collected Doug Wright (published by Montreal-based Drawn and Quarterly),they seek to restore Wright's work to public view within a broader world of contemporary comics publishing.
  more » » » 
• Comics History Retold at MoCCA Art Festival
  The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s annual Art Festival is primarily dominated by the latest in alternative and small press comics. But many of the panels at the event (held June 6-7 in New York), programmed by scholar Kent Worcester, dealt with classic works and creators from comic books’ long and rich history.
  more » » » 

Reviews

• Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
  APOSTOLOS DOXIADIS, CHRISTOS H. PAPADIMITRIOU, ALECOS PAPADATOS, AND ANNIE DI DONNA. Bloomsbury, $22.95 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-59691-452-0
  An ambitious full-color exploration of the life and ideas of philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell, the book meticulously interconnects Russell's life, the timelessness of his ideas and the process of creating the book. While a comic about the "quest for the foundations of mathematics" may seem arduous, it is engrossing on many levels; the story moves, despite heavy philosophical and technical information, as the images, dialogue and narration play off each other. Russell's story is framed within a speech he gave on the brink of America's entry into WWII, in which he expounds his life and philosophical journey.
  more » » » 
• Northlanders, Vol. 2: The Cross and the Hammer
  BRIAN WOOD AND RYAN KELLY. DC/Vertigo, $14.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2296-3
  This reader-friendly second collection of Wood's series, illustrated by Kelly, tells an engaging tale of cultures clashing. A self-contained story, it relates to the previous volume only as an overall portrayal of the impact of the Vikings in Europe in a way that doesn't reduce them to the familiar blustery stereotype of ocean-faring, land-pillaging warriors. This volume is set against the backdrop of Viking colonies in Ireland in the early 11th century, a land portrayed with a harsh beauty by Kelly's artwork. Magnus, an Irishman, blames the conquerors in his lands for robbing and killing his people, and so begins to kill Viking settlers near Dublin.
  more » » » 
• A Distant Neighborhood, Vol. 1
  JIRO TANIGUCHI. Fanfare/Ponent Mon, $23 paper (200p) ISBN 978-84-92444-28-1
  Taniguchi employs a familiar plot device to begin an amiable story. One morning, 48-year-old business traveler Hiroshi Nakahara boards the wrong train—a recently built express to his old hometown. Upon arriving, he visits his mother's grave, where he is mysteriously transported back in time. Hiroshi finds himself 14 years old, with full adult foreknowledge of all that is to come. The book proceeds to hit plot points typically associated with this genre at an easygoing clip, as the lead character visits long-gone people and places. As this volume progresses, Hiroshi slowly embraces his ability to relive his youth differently and prepares to address the great mystery of his childhood: the disappearance of his father.
  more » » » 

Panel Mania

• Panelmania: Stuffed
  In this preview of Glenn Eichler and Nick Bertozzi's Stuffed, Tim Johnston and his wife explore his late father's "Museum of the Rare and Curious." In the museum they discover, "The Warrior," the life like statue of an African, which leads to confrontations of race and family.
  more » » » 

Worth Repeating

"To be honest, I'm a luddite. I don't have an iPhone. I'm interested in technology for political reasons."

—Ed Piskor, artist for Harvey Pekar's Macedonia, on creating and self-publishing Wizzywig: Phreak, a graphic novel about a phone hacker. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

You are receiving this email because you have requested either a newsletter or a magazine from Reed Business Information.

Unsubscribe from this eNewsletter | Manage Your eNewsletters | Privacy policy

If this eNewsletter was forwarded to you, please go to our eNewsletter subscription page to sign up for your own copy.

Begin or renew your Publishers Weekly magazine subscription

---

PW Comics Week
Editors: Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald
Contributing Editors: Douglas Wolk, Kai-Ming Cha and Laura Hudson
Panel Mania editor: Ada Price

Send editorial questions about this enewsletter to: pwcomicsweek@reedbusiness.com
Send advertising questions about this enewsletter to: cbryerman@reedbusiness.com

For additional assistance, contact us by email or at the address below:
Publishers Weekly, Customer Service, 8878 Barrons Blvd, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129-2345 USA.

© Copyright 2009, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.