Changes Shake DC Comics
Although verified details still remain thin on the ground, after last week's rumors it has been confirmed that DC Comics is moving their DC Entertainment division to Burbank, CA, to be closer to the film division of Warner Brothers. All multimedia and digital content production will move to California, while the comic book publishing offices will remain in New York. Also, the Zuda and Wildstorm imprints will be closed. There will be layoffs, and DC staff have been in confidential meetings all week. Beyond that, everything is speculation, and ample speculation is going on. PWCW's Heidi MacDonald's blog, The Beat, has covered the subject in depth and some of the most daring theories going have been discussed on the controversial comics blog Bleeding Cool.
Malaysian Cartoonist Arrested for Comic
Malaysian political cartoonist Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque, who works under the pen name Zunar, was arrested under his country's Sedition Act last Friday for his new comic Cartoon-o-phobia. His studio was raided several hours before the book's planned launch and police confiscated 70 copies of the book. Cartoon-o-phobia contains a variety of controversial material including a caricature of the Malaysian prime minister's wife on the book's cover. The book has nevertheless still gone on sale, for now, and is available online at www.cartoonkafe.com. Zunar's previous two cartoon compilations have been banned in Malaysia. More details are available in an article on MSN News here.
Groceries to Help Hero Initiative
Comics non-profit The Hero Initiative has added a whole new way you can contribute to their mission of helping veteran comics creators in need – now you can help simply by shopping. West Coast grocery chains Ralphs, Foosd4Less, Cala Foods and Bell Markets are offering The Hero Initiative as one of the options in their “Community Contributions” program. Customers can choose from a range of non-profits, and then, every time they use their customer rewards card, a contribution is made by the supermarket in their name. More details are available on the Hero Initiative website.
Cuba, My Revolution Exhibit
A special exhibition of work from the new graphic novel autobiography Inverna Lockpez's Cuba, My Revolution will include the premiere of six of the original artworks by the author that got her arrested in 1960's Cuba. Originally confiscated by the Castro government, the drawings have been retrieved from and smuggled out of Cuba and will now be put on display alongside artist Dean Haspiel's work for the comic. PWCW's own Calvin Reid wrote the essay accompanying the exhibit and will be the moderator for a public Artist's Talk with Lockpez and Haspiel at 4 p.m. on the exhibit's opening day, Saturday, October 2. The talk will be followed with an opening reception from 5 – 7 p.m. “Cuba, My Revolution”, the exhibit, will be hosted at the Kentler International Art Space in Red Hook, Brooklyn from October 2 – December 12. The Kentler is located at 353 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY and admission is always free.
New York Comic Con Coming Soon
New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival (now combined into one event) is coming October 8-10 at New York City's Javits Convention Center. Guests and events include Stan Lee, and a special presentation from the creator's behind AMC's new comic adaptation zombie series The Walking Dead, Brian Michael Bendis, Amanda Conner, Peter David, Darwyn Cooke, Gail Simone, Jane Yolen and many more. As well as guests, vendors and panel programming, the convention will also contain live performances from Japanese musical guests including Puffy Ami-Yumi and The Boom Boom Sattelites. The con is open from 1 – 7 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and admission ranges from $30 for Friday or Sunday entrance to $50 for the weekend, with children 12 and under entering free on Sunday. The Jacob Javits Convention Center is located at 655 West 34th Street, New York, NY.
Banned Books Week
Now through October 2 is Banned Book Week, a week protesting the banning of books in our schools and libraries. These books include comic books. As the existence of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund implies, comics have often found themselves on the receiving end of book bans and first amendment violations. A full list of Banned Book Week events is available here from the American Library Association.
Last Unicorn Creators Seek Help
Author Peter Beagle and the creators working on the IDW comics adaptation of his fantasy classic The Last Unicorn are raising funds to add additional unbudgeted pages to the book, in order to do full justice to the story. $3,000 needs to be raised and funds are being solicited from interested fans. More details can be found here.
This Week @ Good Comics For Kids
This week School Library Journal’s blog Good Comics for Kids had a preview of Mickey Mouse and Friends #300 , the latest people to come to Archie's Riverdale, this week's What We're Reading list andthe 9/22 listing of comics suitable for all ages.
This Week @ The Beat
This week PWCW editor Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat covered the upheaveal at DC in depth, including DC's partial move to the West Coast, the end of the Wildstorm imprint, the wider context at Warner Brothers, legal documents hinting at their next move, a collection of news on the subject and Bob Harras's elevation to Editor-in-Chief. The Beat also covered new experiments in webcomic tech, whatever happened to the indie comics class of 1997, Bollywood robot superhero Endhiran, Skottie Young on comics for kids, and a rare photo of Marvel Comics executive Isaac Perlmutter.
