WWTX PROGRAM GUIDE FINISHED!!! WELL, SORTA…

Hey everybody! Wizard World Conventions Programming Director Adam Tracey here. It’s my first time bloggin’ on the Convention Report, so I thought I’d make it an important entry. Brett White, Joe Yanarella, Jodie Westhoff and I have FINISHED THE WIZARD WORLD TEXAS PROGRAM GUIDE! Well, we’ve finished one portion of it, anyway. We’re changing things up a bit this time with the Program Guide and we’re doing it in two portions.

A full-color Program Guide portion (which is the one we just finished) will contain all of the guests, events and exclusives that we have at the show, as well as additional info about FearFest, a Frequently Asked Questions section and a couple other things. A black & white Program Guide supplement (which will be finished next) will contain a complete programming schedule (with a handy grid!), panel listings, signing times, a color map and an index with the Exhibitors, Retailers, Small Press and Artist Alley listings in it. We’re doing that black & white supplement later so that it can have the most up-to-date info in it.

So if you see Brett, Joe or Jodie at the show in Texas, be sure to tell them “Great job!” on the Program Guide. And if you have any suggestions or gripes about the guide or its new format, post ‘em on the Message Boards after the show.

OH, superheroically big props go to Travis Escarfullery and Eric Goodman, the designers and overall Pretty Colors Masterminds behind the Program Guide. Travis will be at the show, too, so hug him!!!
Travis

Jodie

Brett

Hug these people!!!

Now I’m off to get a little shuteye before we get back to work on the black & white supplement. Later!

One tired monkey.

-Adam

Fan Proof

I know it’s said a lot, “we’re fans too,” and that we want a good convention because we still get excited about this stuff. It can be hard to attach a real, back-issue-reading, cheap-X-Men-number-ninety-four-hunting, Storm-with-a-mohawk-doodling, Mr. Sinister-action-figure-posing comic geek to a random name on a message board. Well, if nerd-cred is what you want from me…

…then there it is. And this was for an improv comedy show this past Saturday that my team assembled. So yeah, this wasn’t at a comic convention or a movie opening, the socially acceptable places to wear spandex, makeup and duct tape. So when I say I’m excited about our new Wizard World Texas guests Rags Morales, Craig Rousseau and Matt Wagner, just remember that this is the guy saying it:

A real comic geek.

-Brett

McMutants

Wizard World Programming Director Adam Tracey alerted me to the awesome piece of art below. It was originally posted on Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good blog, which I subscribe to in my Google Reader (hint hint, faithful readers, or reader).

This image is awesome in a number of ways.

1. It depicts the X-Men as weird tiny-baby-creatures, a phenomenon I absolutely adore and miss. “Muppet Babies” is indeed my favorite show of all time, but let’s not forget the underrated “A Pup Named Scooby Doo” and the, okay, forgettable “Flinstone Kids.” The world needs more adult characters as weird tiny-baby-creatures cartoons!

2. It depicts the X-Men at, in my opinion, their most megastar cool. This is the 1991 relaunch lineup minus Colossus and Archangel. You can’t tell me, oh children of the ’90s, that you don’t think of these costumes when you think of the X-Men. Jim Lee’s redesigns are classic, absolutely!

3. I like fast food, especially the new angus burgers at McDonald’s. Man, now I have much hunger and not even the weird force-feeding thing Jean Grey is doing to Cyclops can deter it!

4. This is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of the type of crazy commissions you can get done at conventions! Honestly, superhero/corporation mash-ups is a great idea for a book, and the more specific superhero/fast food corporation mash-ups is even better. Batman making a run for the border, Ms. Marvel eating fresh, Superman having it his way…come on, the possibilities are endless!

So there you have it. Get your sketchbooks ready because Wizard World Texas is this November 7-9. You can purchase your tickets now online and save up to 20%.

-Brett

WWTX GETS ‘MOORE’ GUESTS!

And that was my lame attempt at a New York Post-style headline. I think I got the bad pun down, but not the grossly inappropriate part. I guess only the New York Post is the New York Post. In all seriousness (you plugging this date into your Google Calendar, because this don’t happen often), we have some truly stupendous things happening with Wizard World Texas (this November 7-9, if you haven’t heard). On Friday we booked Terry Moore, the amazing and (is it too soon to call him?) legendary creator of Strangers in Paradise and Echo.

Superhero fans will undoubtedly recognize his name from his current work on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Runaways.

Now, I love my Runaways. Crying at callbacks, thinking about them when they aren’t around, drawing them bunches and recommending them to everyone. And truth be told, I wasn’t sure anyone could fill Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan’s Fistigons…but Terry Moore has kept the quality up and exceeded all my expectations. Truly great stuff guys, truly great. Check it out, now.

We also have Sean McKeever and Billy Tucci coming to the show now, which is like topping off double-chocolate chip chunk ice cream with a mound of peanut butter and M&Ms. Which, um, means it’s super awesome. I enjoy dessert. Billy Tucci is relaunching the iconic character Sgt. Rock and, from hearing him talk about it and seeing his art, this is the book to read. Don’t believe me? Check this out.

That’s some awesome peanut butter, am I right?

And Sean McKeever is both a super nice guy (who humors my ridiculous game show talk) and the writer who’s carving a name for himself with his slam-bang run on Teen Titans. Seriously, the man’s making waves over there. You gotta see it. He also created this…

I. Love. Gravity. I have that issue signed, actually, by both Sean and the artist (and Wizard World chum) Mike Norton.

Yep, I’m proud of that.

That’s about it for today. There’ll be lots more soon, just you wait!

-Brett

Baltimore Comic Con: For the Love of Comics

DC’s Editor-in-Chief Dan DiDio, Senior Coordinating Editor Jann Jones, Tiny Titans’ Franco, Teen Titans’ Sean McKeever and Senior President of Marketing Steve Rotterdam got together with audience members this afternoon in Baltimore to talk about their love of comics and some of their favorite comic moments. Here are the highlights:
- In the panel room, there was one person who had been reading comics for over 50 years.
- Some of the weirdest places people had ever bought comics were Costo, People’s Grocer, a rest stop on the Ohio Turnpike, Vending Machines, Rite Aid, Gas Station, a Video Arcade with tickets, a bookstore in Sao Paulo Brazil (“What’s the matter, you couldn’t find it in Brooklyn?” joked DiDio) a Junk Shop, Barber Shop, and Flea Market in Rome.
- DiDio related that Jonah Hex scribe Jimmy Palmiotti used to buy comics by the pound. Franco used to dumpster dive to get some of his comics. Jones walked into a drug store at one point and bought Valiant Comics off the rack.
- One audience member who was stationed in Kuwait took a convoy to get comics.
- In terms of favorite covers, McKeever said he liked Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man covers, Rotterdam liked Michael Turner’s Supergirl covers, Franco liked the Amazing Spider-Man cover with the Tarantula, Jones liked the Dave Johnson Renee Montoya/Two-Face cover, while DiDio professed to enjoy the cover from Spider-Man #40.
- DiDio surprised a fan by mentioning that he had 100 longboxes full of comics. (The fan had 60)
- Some of everyone’s favorite ridiculous comic moments included Daredevil having a picture of Karen Page hanging in his home, DC Superheroes versus Super Gorillas, Daredevil having his glasses on under his mask in early issues, Green Lantern professing to all that his ring could not affect the color yellow, Wolf-Man Captain America, and the many strange sports adventures that would occur.
That’s it from For the Love of Comics! Stay tuned to Wizard Universe for more!

Baltimore Comic Con: Marvel: Your Universe

Keeping with tradition, Marvel’s Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, X-Infernus writer C.B. Cebulski, Amazing Spider-Man’s Dan Slott, and the ever-popular Brian Michael Bendis sat in front of the panel room in Baltimore to run the Marvel: Your Universe panel. Brevoort immediately opened up the room for discussion of the fans’ favorite moments and constructive criticisms of Marvel’s heroes, villains and events. Here are the highlights.
- One of the main complaints about the events from the crowd was that they were too long and too close together. Brevoort assured the crowd that Marvel will be trying next year to do fewer and shorter events that don’t span as many books.
- A fan mentioned that he was slightly miffed at the treatment of the Hulk and his devolution back into the “Hulk Smash” days. Bendis commiserated, but offered an explanation: “I’m with you. A lot of times I’ve been beating my head against the wall… Then I took my kid to The Incredible Hulk [movie], when [The Hulk] went, “Hulk Smash!”, she was blown to the back of the theater!” Dan Slott agreed, “The first time we heard “Hulk Smash!” it was amazing.”
- Bendis mentioned that his enjoyment of an event was not only the ending, but the journey getting there. “More and more people want to hear the end of the story. I love the journey. My favorite parts are the middle. I’m fascinated by it.”
- Bendis related an anecdote about Marvel’s retreats started by Bill Jemas and the process of going through each book and asking the question, “Why do we publish this?” The panel agreed that changes take place when more stories can be told as a result.
- Bendis and Slott related their experiences with McDonalds. Bendis, while working at McDonalds, realized that he no longer wanted to work there. When he decided to quit and pursue other interests, his manager came up to him and said, “Brian, you’ll always have a place at McDonalds.” Bendis says that whenever he doesn’t feel like writing, he thinks of that moment. “Then I go sit down and I write my ass off,” he laughed. Dan Slott, had another experience playing McDonalds Monopoly. He realized that there is no purchase necessary to get game pieces, so he would drive around to every McDonalds in town while thinking of script ideas. It ended when he saw a recent graduate friend of his handing Slott his game pieces for the day. Slott then got an internship at Marvel.

That’s it for the Marvel: You’re Universe Panel! Keep clicking Wizard Universe!

BALTIMORE COMIC CON: BOOM! STUDIOS

Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid and Ross Ritchie, co-creator of Boom! took the stage this morning to highlight some of the exciting new projects coming out of Boom! Studios. The panel began with Waid asking the audience what titles they were reading. The audience responded with some of Boom’s recent hits like Heroes Squared, Challengers Deep and Pottersfield. Waid and Ritchie then began a very casual rundown of their upcoming projects and plans. Here are the highlights:
- A Farscape series, written by creator Rockne O’Bannon is in the works. There’s a live interview with O’Bannon on Boom’s website on his involvement in the project.
- Boom recently acquired the license for Pixar material. They’ll be launching a line from The Incredibles (written by Waid) followed by Cars, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc and WALL-E. Boom will also be investigating tying into the Pixar film that releases next year. “We’ve got so many venues that are interested in working with us on this stuff,” said Waid.
- In March of next year, Boom will launch a new line based on the Muppets. “I think it really captures the off-kilter flavor that the Muppets have,” said Ritchie. The same people involved in the approvals for the comic were also involved in the original Muppet Show. Their plan is not only to do a Muppet Show comic, but to do a great many Muppet spin-offs like Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty and King Arthur. “Anytime we can put Kermit as King Arthur, I’m in,” mentioned Waid.
- Galveston, a new four issue mini series detailing the adventures of Jim Bowie and French pirate Jean Lafitte will be realeasing in a couple weeks in late October.
- The Remnant, an idea put forth by actor Stephen Baldwin, is described by Ritchie as a “Supernatural 24. High tech super spy stuff.” Waid is of the opinion that it’s “some of the best stuff we’ve ever published.”
- Hexed, a new series, is described by Waid and Ritchie as a “What if Hellblazer was Gwen Stefani?” It follows a Brazilian street theif who becomes the go-to thief for supernatural artifacts.
- Mark Sable is onboard to do a five issue mini series called Unthinkable. Not many details are available, but it has to do with the government think tank of imaginative people who come up with odd conspiracy theories on how to strike at the United States. Unthinkable releases in March of 2009.
- There are going to be even more comics for digital download on the Boom! Studios MySpace page.
- Stuart and Kathryn Immonen will be releasing a deluxe edition hardcover through Boom called Never As Bad As You Think. It will be coming out at the end of the year and will be designed by Stuart Immonen.
That’s it from Boom! Studios. Check out Wizard Universe for more Con Report!

[BALTIMORE COMIC CON:] IMAGE COMICS SHOW

Joe Keatinge started the Sunday panel by introducing the panelists Richard Starkings, Jimmy Palmiotti, Erik Larsen and Robert Kirkman.

“Barak Obama will be guest starring in every issue of Invincible,” joked Kirkman after Keatinge pointed out that Larsen’s issue of Savage Dragon that endorsed Obama went through three printings already.

Keatinge talked about Mark Millar’s War Heroes, now optioned for a film, and Tori Amos’ Comic Book Tattoo. Keatinge also talked about upcoming works from the Man of Action studios: Bad Dog by Joe Casey, the Great Unknown by Duncan Rouleau and Soul Kiss by Stephen Seagle.

Keatinge premiered the cover to Madman #14, which features a jam cover by Mike Allred, Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone. The issue features two stories—one by Allred and one by Cooke and Bone.

Next year celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Dawn. Keatinge said to expect announcements coming down the pipeline as time goes on.

Dynamo 5 comes out with an issue #0 in January and introduces a new character to the series.

Keatinge showed a slide for a new series Jersey Gods, which features variant covers by Allred, Paul Pope, Cooke and others.

A cover of Elephantmen came on screen featuring the character Sahara naked in the bath.
“It’s not designed to exploit,” joked Starkings. “It’s a key story moment.”
Ian Churchill drew the cover.

Kirkman announced that starting in January his books will be guaranteed to ship on time.
“We’re going to be on time in 2009,” said Kirkman. “To help me along, I’ve hired former Marvel editor Aubrey Sitterson. That late in 2008 thing did not work out too well for me.”

Keatinge then showed the promo jam piece for Image United—the six-issue jam series written by Kirkman and featuring pencils of the Image Founders. Keatinge also debuted the cover to Image United #2.
“Robert is like the wayward son bringing the divorced parents back together,” joked Starkings of Kirkman’s involvement and the Image Founders working together on the project.

Kirkman talked about the Image United Production Blog, which shows the progress of the series as time goes on. Check out: http://www.imagecomics.com/ImageUnited for the blog.

Baltimore Comic Con: Dark Horse

Publicity Director Jeremy Atkins and Senior Managing Editor Scott Alie took the stage and despite some technical problems made some exciting announcements for Dark Horse fans today at Baltimore Comic Con. Here are the highlights:

- In the Conan titles, Soloman Kane was launched this week, and Kull launches in November.
- BPRD continues basically monthly with its Lovecraftian apocalypse ideas, while Hellboy continues with its apocalyptic vision of monsters and demons. There are major changes in store for both books in the upcoming series Wild Hunt. Mike Mignola will return to write and illustrate Hellboy for the first time in four years with a one issue story coming out in the last week of October.
- Umbrella Academy will release with series 2. The first issue will be 32 pages with no ads, checking in with all the major characters. There’s a lot of violence and an excellent fight scene.
- Beam World is coming back to Dark Horse and will be featured prominently on Dark Horse’s MySpace page.
- Many online comics will be making the transition to print through Dark Horse including Achewood, Nothing Nice to Say, Wondermark, K Chronicles and Applegeeks.
- Concerning Buffy, Issue 19 will be late by at least a month. It will (hopefully) release in six weeks to wrap up the Buffy/Fray arc. Following that issue, there will be a one shot written by Jeph Loeb dealing with the almost-created Buffy Animated Series. The next storyline will have five different writers for five different issues. It will check in with Faith and Giles, Kennedy, Satsu, Andrew and Dawn. It will mainly focus on how vampires have become popular with Harmony Kendall in the forefront.
- Dark Horse has made a deal with CLAMP Studios to release Manga concurrently in American, Japanese and Kroean markets. This means that for the first time, Americans will be able to get new installments of Manga at the same time as the Japanese market.
- Star Wars: Dark Times is coming back next March. There will also be two trades released of the Star Wars: Vector crossover.
- Alien and Predator are both coming back to Dark Horse, with Alien versus Predator to come back soon.
- The Goon’s Tenth Anniversary is next March. There will be a Tenth Anniversary issue along with trades collecnting all of The Goon’s past year arc. Other special events are planned.

That’s it from Dark Horse! Stay tuned to the Convention Report for more coverage! -SS

[BALTIMORE COMIC CON:] KIRKMAN VS. BENDIS: THE FUTURE OF COMICS

Arguably the most anticipated panel of the convention—evident by the filled-to-capacity room—C.B. Cebulski started off the event introducing the two stars of the show: Brian Michael Bendis and Robert Kirkman.

The room fell into an immediate hush as the panel started. The format basically stands as an open forum. Cebulski congratulated Kirkman on his partnership at Image and gave a little background info on the company.

Giving a little background info Cebulski talked about the video Kirkman made online about a call to arms for creators and the follow up video Bendis made in response.
“I would just like to say, ‘F–k you, Brian Bendis,’” said Kirkman to much applause and laughter.
“F–k you,” Bendis retaliated.
This continued for another minute before Bendis responded with, “That’s a good point.”

[EDITOR’S NOTE: WHAT FOLLOWS ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PANEL. BE SURE TO KEEP CHECKING WIZARDUNIVERSE.COM FOR MORE!]

“I’d like to start by saying that Brian is a friend,” said Kirkman. “We’re good buddies, we’ve known each other for a while. And I hope nothing we say tonight skews that away.”

Kirkman recapped his now infamous video—and initial instigator for the debate—for those who did not see it.
“Part of the thing I wanted to do was stand up and say going all creator owned can be done. It’s not easy. I’m not saying it can work for everything but it can be done and it should be done. The other thing was that I figured something like that happening could benefit the industry as a whole. I think the bigger companies are catering to a locked in fanbase that has dwindled as times goes forward. I don’t think I have all the answers, of many answers, but I just wanted to point that out.”

Bendis said his video expressed his agreement with Kirkman to an extent.
“But in your diatribe—or whatever we’ll call it—you were using yourself as an example, and I was worried that we are breathing rarified air. They are certain creators who are able to do both and who are successful at both. We are able to do something that others are not able to do. So, in your call to arms I was worried that what you were expressing wasn’t accurate. That truthfully most creator owned books fail. Should you not make them? No, but know that you might fail. I don’t want to be Debbie Downer but I wanted to be clear that you can go ahead and make your own comic, but know that unless god shines down on you it’s not going to be successful.
“Know that going in,” continued Bendi. “Torso never sold more than 200,000 copies. I just broke even. Thankfully years later the book found an audience. But I didn’t care [about the difficulties] because I have mental issues. I want to put that image out that that’s the reality for most creator owned books. You can’t live on it.”

“You’re exactly right,” concurred Kirkman. “I had those exact same days on Battle Pope and Tech Jacket and all those other gems collected now at Image Comics. My argument is that rarified air is not as rare as you say. There’s definitely a cycle where a creator works as hard as they can to breathe that rarified air. You start in creator owned work, you work your way up there. But they stay on corporate books when they don’t want it.”

“But that’s one cycle, not the only cycle,” retailed Bendis.

“I do not think you can argue that there are creators than can do Green Arrow for the rest of their life and still stay viable creators,” said Kirkman.

Bendis said he disagreed with that because some creators have no interest at all in superhero comics.
“There are many creators who don’t adhere to the cycle you stand by. It’ just like showbiz; there’s no right and normal way to break in. In our field, just like many creative fields, there’s no rhyme or reason why anyone’s successful. Just because it worked for you this way doesn’t mean it has to work for everyone this way. I actually feel there are a lot of people who are gigantic fans of these iconic characters. You know who I want on Green Arrow? The guy who wants to be on Green Arrow. The guy who f–king loves Green Arrow.”

“My stance is talking to the guy who is doing Green Arrow because he needs that paycheck and Green Arrow is selling because of him because he built himself up to that level,” said Kirkman. “I’m not saying there’s only one course to take in the comic book career but if you’re sitting there and you’re unhappy…
“There is an entire wealth of creator owned people out there making good money. And there are people at Marvel and DC that are making money a fraction of what they could be making [as independent creators].”

“There’s no artist I work with that I wouldn’t kill to make a creator owned series with,” said Bendis.

“But you can do it Brian,” said Kirkman.

“I’ve been doing it since 1999,” responded Bendis.

“You’ve been dabbling,” retaliated Kirkman. “You did Powers, and then you did nine Avengers titles.”

“For writers, it’s a lot easier [to work in both] because a writer can produce more in a month than an artist,” said Bendis. “John Romita Jr. and Mark Bagley are the unique guys who can produce a comic book and do two more. This money you speak of…For literally as long as I’ve been making comics, to pretend that for sure you’re going to sell this, it’s wrong. All of the market share proves otherwise. Even if you’re at Image and even at if you’re at Dark Horse and they’re good books, they’re good quality. It takes a while for the money to start really pumping and it’s just because of the nature of the beast. The buzz doesn’t affect your book for the first six months or the first year. When the trade comes out, that’s when it starts rolling. The market place as it is structured right now is set up for books like this to fail. And it sucks that it is. Make a comic because you want to. But if you’re planning on quitting your job, it’s probably isn’t going to happen. I just wanted to put it out there that what you’re putting out there is almost irresponsible because it’s selling the best version. When the reality I see isn’t the same. My point of view is that I need to do both. I don’t feel like I dabble. I feel like I spend a great amount of time doing both types of books. I think the experience of creating Powers and creating Ultimate Spider-Man really helped me. I like the fact that in Ultimate Spider-Man there’s certain things I can’t do because it forces creativity.
Bendis gave an example saying that he can’t swear in Spidey and finds ways to work around it. And when it becomes too much he goes “to Powers and I swear and swear and swear.”

“It’s very hard to do creator owned work,” said Kirkman. “I’m never going to say it isn’t hard to do creator owned work.”

At one point in the conversation, Kirkman began joking about Bendis’ multiple Avengers titles.
“Did you announce Dark Avengers? That’s amazing. Another Avengers title.”
As Kirkman went on, Bendis jokingly pretended to scratch his eye with his middle finger.

Kirkman said that one of the things that upset him about Bendis’ video was Bendi saying that his work at Marvel helped his sales on Walking Dead.

“Not what I said,” said Bendis. “There’s many reasons why books are successful. One of the reasons I think Walking Dead is more successful than Invincible—even though Invincible appeals more to the mainsteam market—is because of Marvel Zombies. I’m very aware that my constant showcase at Marvel for my illustrious talent is a commercial for Jinx and Powers. When Dark Avengers #1 comes out a handful of people might like it and go, ‘What else has this guy done?’”

Kirkman then asked for a slide to be put on the screen. While technical difficulties occurred, the conversation went on until the slide came up.

“I’m not saying that people aren’t aware that creator owned comics that exist,” said Kirkman. “I’m saying they’re unaware that they can make creator owned comics and making a living.”

“Some people just can’t afford to do it and it just stops them cold,” said Bendis. “Working at Marvel or DC and working on something that you own at the same time is a very special thing.”

The slide eventually came up and showed a graph of comparison of sales of Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies. Then the sales of Marvel Zombies 2 vs. Walking Dead.

The argument turned back to whether Walking Dead Sales were affected by Marvel Zombies.
Bendis pointed out that the graph did not consider Trade Paperback sales. Bendis compared the charts to a Republican and Democrat debate, where each see the graph as confirming their points.

Another chart showed the life of Walking Dead and life of Invincible. Bendis points out the dip in sales of the first three issues saying that all comic books drop in the second issue.
“Most people can’t survive the three issue dip,” said Bendis.

“I think most people not being able to survive that dip is a broad generalization,” retaliated Kirkman.

“Most books never continue,” said Bendis. “It hurts man. It hurts to put out a book and the world goes, ‘Don’t care.’”

The next chart showed the sales of Bendis’ books. Kirkman said that the sales of his Marvel books do not affect the sales of Powers.
Bendis said that the chart is incomplete because it doesn’t include trade sales and that online numbers are inaccurate.

Kirkman then immediately brought up a chart showing the online numbers vs. actual numbers. An argument ensued over the validity of the online numbers. Kirkman pointed out that the different between the online numbers and actual numbers remained consisted, thereby making the overall results—not directly affected by just numbers—the same.

An audience member chimed in with support of Bendis’ argument, saying he bought Walking Dead trades after reading Kirkman’s Marvel work.

Nick Barrucci said that a chart showing financial gain from leaving a big company would be very effective and would show in black and white numbers how coming to creator owned work would benefit.

As the forum ended a fan asked “What now?”

Bendis said his greatest hope is that now people will go back to their room and whether they agree with them or they don’t and just want to express themselves, they’d write or draw or create something amazing that would blow everyone’s mind.

The panel ended with Kirkman lifting Bendis off the ground in a bear hug.