San Diego Comic-Con Stays in San Diego
A question which has been on the minds of comics professionals and California city planners alike has just been settled – Comic-Con International has announced that San Diego Comic-Con will be remaining in San Diego, at least for the next five years. The con, which is the largest civillian convention of any kind in the United States, has been in talks with Los Angeles and Anaheim among other cities for the last year considering alternate venues. Considerations included hotel rates and the amount of convention space and hotel rooms available; Comic-Con memberships sell out months in advance and the convention cannot grow without a larger home. Now a contract has been agreed upon, but only for the next five years. More details are available here, in an article at the San Diego Tribune.
Layoffs and Rumors at DC Comics
DC Comics, which has been undergoing huge upheavals since the announcement two weeks ago that its Zuda and Wildstorm were being shut down and segements of the company were being relocated to California, has unsurprisingly begun to lay off some members of the staff. Confirmed are the departures of Vertigo editors Joan Hilty, Pornsak Pichetshote and Jonathan Vankin, as detailed in Heidi MacDonald's The Beat here. Robot 6 and Bleeding Cool weigh in on the subject here and here.
PW Comics Week at NYCC
Once again, PW Comics Week will be making a live appearance at the New York Comic Con. Come by Booth #534 to try for the fabulous prizes of our free raffle and as chance to say hello to your favorite newsletter writers and editors.
New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival (now combined into one event) is 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. 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.
‘Ulysses Seen’ Looks to Raise Funds on Kickstarter
Beginning this week, Ulysses Seen, the Web comic adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses, is also a Kickstarter Project. Created and adapted by cartoonist Robert Berry and his cohorts at Throwaway Horse LLC, an online venture to turn “literary masterworks” into accessible web comics, Ulysses Seen offers readers not only a visual recreation of Joyce’s commanding novel, but an online reader’s guide created by Joyce scholar Mike Barsanti. The Readers Guide offers historical context, definitions and a scholar’s insight into every page of the Web comic. Berry is only completed the first chapter of the book and Throwaway Horse is launching a Kickstarter Project to raise funds ($6,300) to assist in the completion of the work. “With your support, Rob Berry can draw the comic full time over the next several months rather than interrupt his drawing with waiting tables; we can defray the basic costs of production; and we can devote more resources to developing the site as web-based community.” The deadline for raising the money is Dec. 4.
Stephen King Talks to USA Today About Comics
Bestselling author and now comics writer Stephen King, who has just completed a run on Vertigo's American Vampire speaks to USA Today in a new article about his comics work.
Graphic NYC on the Cuba, My Revolution Exhibit
Seth Kushner at the Graphic NYC blog has a review of the new special exhibition of work from Inverna Lockpez's graphic novel autobiography Cuba, My Revolution. The exhibitincludes the premiere of six of the original artworks by the author that got her arrested in 1960's Cuba and PWCW's own Calvin Reid moderated the public Artist's Talk with Lockpez and Haspiel at the exhibit's opening last Saturday. “Cuba, My Revolution”, the exhibit, is 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.
This Week @ Good Comics For Kids
This week School Library Journal’s blog Good Comics for Kids had a preview of Boom!'s Toy Story #7 , a review of The Incredible Rockhead vs. Papercut, as well as the History's Kid Heroesseries, Alternacomics Spectacular and Young Bond: Silverfin, an interview with Scott Chantler on his new book Tower of Treasure, the latest people to come to Archie's Riverdale, a Mouse Guard, Anne Frank and Dark Swan themed links roundup from Brigid Alverson, andthe 9/29 listing of comics suitable for all ages.
This Week @ The Beat
This week PWCW editor Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat covered the details of Diamond Comic Distributor's new day early delivery plan, U2 singing Spider-Man songs from their new Spider-Man musical, some rare comic book people who heard good news about their jobs, Wizard's Big Apple Comic Con – the battle of the Con Wars that fizzled, linked and discussed “The Ladies' Comic Project”, Kodansha's takeover of Del Rey manga, racially insensitive comics fan comments, Wonder Woman's return to television in a starring role, the latest news from DC Comics and Marvel, not to mention Universal, Sea Lion Books – comics from the other Dabel Brothers, comics creator Chip Zdarsky for mayor?, Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the Macy's parade, the best comic stores in the USA, Penny Arcade's Liefeld pose contest Heidi's annual Halloween art extravaganza and featured this month's coming attractions in graphic novels, courtesy of Torsten Adair.
