The Man Behind Wednesday Comics

Mark Chiarello, the DC Comics editor behind the art series Solo, is launching one of the most ambitious and unconventional forays into superhero comics with Wednesday Comics, which debuts this week. The 12-issue weekly series features one-page stories by some of the top creators in comics on 20-by-14-inch newsprint pages.

Naval Academy Hopes Comic Will Attract Minorities

The Naval Academy has published a free comic book aimed at attracting minority kids to the service academy. Entitled, Bravo Zulu, the Navy’s codeword for “good job,” the comic follows the lives of five unnamed ‘plebes,’ or Academy freshmen, as they deal with life at the Naval Academy.

Asian American Comicon Debuts in New York

The first annual Asian American Comicon will be held on Saturday July 11 at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. Organized by Jeff Yang, editor of the New Press’s anthology of Asian-American superhero stories, Secret Identities, the AACC is intended to “recognize and celebrate what Asians are doing in comics. ”

Comics Briefly

One Piece Accelerated; Anime Expo 2009 Coverage; Iranian Protests Marked in Persepolis 2.0; Robot Chicken Tour; Female Force Graphic Novel; Straczynski’s Thor Gets Giant Sendoff; Yui Makino is GOH at NYAF; Frazetta Rights Letter Retracted; and This Week @ Good Comics for Kids

July Comics Bestsellers

Jeff Kinney’s runaway bestseller Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Last Straw remains top dog of the list, followed by Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; Joss Whedon’s Buffy: Time of Your Life; Akihisa Ikeda’s Rosario + Vampire and lots of Naruto.

Life in Comics: Tips for Aspiring Comics Pros at Comic-Con

Comic-Con International in San Diego is less than a month away, and I as I mentioned in my last column, publishers are busy preparing for the big show. But comic book creators seeking to break into the industry should be preparing as well. If you're planning on going to Comic-Con to meet publishers, I have a single piece of advice for you: Do your research first.

Panel Mania: The Summit of the Gods

The Summit of the Gods by Yumemakura and Jiro Taniguchi, author of The Walking Man, is the story of a Japanese expedition photographer, Makoto Fukamachi. This is the first volume in a series of five volumes about conquering Mount Everest. The Summit of the Gods Vol. 1 will be released in July 2009 by Fanfare/ Ponent Mon.

Comic-Con '09: Sold Out in San Diego

The San Diego Comic-Con International is full up. With every inch of the San Diego Convention Center booked for the show years ago, and every ticket gone and hotels sold out months in advance this year, the annual comics-themed pop culture extravaganza has gotten as big as it can physically get.

Vertical Inc. Is Still Here

Although Vertical Inc., a New York City publisher specializing in translations of contemporary Japanese prose literature and manga, has struggled during the economic downturn, the house has secured a new investor, hired a new marketing manager and plans to make adjustments to its list beginning in 2010.

Diamond’s New Minimums Shape a Tough Comics Market

Earlier this year, Diamond Comics Distributors, the dominant distributor to the roughly 3,000 store comics shop market, raised its minimum sales order and if a comic doesn’t reach the new advance minimum sales order, Diamond will not distribute it. The change sparked an immediate outcry from small comics presses, self-publishers and some retailers, who complained that the new minimum forces them out of the marketplace.

New ICv2 Confab on Comics and Media Crossovers

Milton Griepp, longtime comics and pop culture business analyst and CEO of ICv2, a pop culture trade news website, decided to take a closer look at the powerful connections between comics, the Hollywood film industry, TV and the videogame industry and has organized the Comics and Media Conference to be held on July 22, just before preview night at the San Diego Comic-con International. The new conference will focus on the lucrative business of turning comics into other kinds of media.

Scars and Stripes Forever: Peter Bagge’s Everybody Is Stupid Except For Me.

This July, Fantagraphics Books once more unleashes the works of best-selling Hate comics creator Peter Bagge in Everybody Is Stupid Except For Me (And Other Astute Observations), a decade’s worth of cartoon reporting for Reason magazine. Armed with a Libertarian-leaning viewpoint and his signature bemused approach to his exploration of human foibles, Bagge skewers the early-twenty-first century American zeitgeist.

Graphic Novel Lifts Curtain on Modeling Business

Petite model Isobella Jade has already written a memoir, Almost 5’4”, and now she's written a fictional graphic novel based on her experiences in modeling. Model Life, illustrated by Jazmin Ruotolo, will be published by Soft Skull Press in October.

Comics Briefly

Quebecor Leaves Bankruptcy; Diamond Drops Yen Press Books; Asian American Comicon; Eisner Awards iPhone; iPod App; Netcomics at San Diego; Diamond Deal; Frank Frazetta Regains Rights to Art; Transformers Comics Top iTunes; Runaways Theme Song & Video;Bluewater Michael Jackson Comic; Archaia Launches Hardcover Promotion; Prism Comics Press Grant Call; Oni; Viper; Starz Talent Search; ICv2 Confab; G4 at San Diego; and This Week @ Good Comics for Kids

Ms. Finnegan Goes to Tokyo: The Manga Taisho Awards

I'm in Tokyo to be fitted for my zero gravity wedding dress, but that's another story. I meet up with Ed Chavez, an American-born manga translator, freelance writer and now marketing director at Vertical Inc., for the Manga Taisho Award ceremony. We're waiting outside the Nippon Housou Building with a small group of other journalists. It's cold for March in Tokyo, and the sakura (cherry blossoms) have not fully bloomed, much to my disappointment.

Yet Another Evangelion Manga Spinoff

In June 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.

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.

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."

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.

Comics Briefly