Fun Friday

Big Trouble in Little China trailer

Party Was a Success!

(Photo swiped from Calvin Reid and Publisher's Weekly)

Thanks for all of you that came out. And if you didn't, you missed a helluva time. It was definitely one for the record books. All of our 50 gift bags were gone within the first hour and people just kept on coming in.

We had guests from DC Comics, Men's Health magazine, In Style magazine, TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Complex magazine, Midtown Comics, CondeNast, XXL magazine, iStyle magazine, Wizard magazine, Publisher's Weekly, DNR news, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and tons of other cool places.

We had writers, artists, editors, readers, bloggers — I'm not going to try and call out specific people because 1) there's too many and 2) I'll definitely forget someone. Needless to say, the part was a definite hit and I appreciate everyone coming out.

And of course - a big, big round of applause for Laura Hudson, who organized the soiree and bought me a quesadilla. Thanks!

Comic Foundry Launch Party Tonight!

If you live in New York City, you are lucky for many reasons. Today, one of them is that you will be able to attend the COMIC FOUNDRY LAUNCH PARTY, celebrating the inaugural issue of the new comics magazine that hit shelves last week.

WHERE?
The Irish Rogue
356 W 44th St.

WHEN?
Wednesday, August 29th
6 PM - whenever

BONUS: We'll be giving out a limited number of gift bags to the first however many people get there, containing a free issue of Comic Foundry, a comic book pulled directly from my or Laura Hudson's personal collection, and potentially other... mysteries.

Wednesday also happens to be ladies night at The Irish Rogue, which means 2 for 1 Cosmos for the fairer sex. We aim for female friendliness! Bring your women, your men, your lovers, your friends, and your thirst for liquid courage--we're having a party, and you're invited!

VIDEO: CF on Pulp Secret

Those crazy kids at Pulp Secret talk about the magazine, along with a bunch of comics. Hilarity and snark ensue...

Tim kills the radio star

PR time! For those of you gracing the Boston area tomorrow morning, I will be on 101.7 WFNX. It should run some time between 6 and 10, but possibly around 730 or 830 to be more specific. I'll be chatting with the Sandbox gang to talk about Comic Foundry and the rest of the industry.

Tune in!

Brill Building Back

Ian Brill returns to the Brill Building to give a director's commentary on his short story from the first issue of Comic Foundry:

A quick summation: "Whatevers" is about a young man getting serious about comics and his life at the same time. He starts of being a guy who reads whatever is big at the time to finding a book that really means something to him, namely the collection of "A Game of You" storyline in Sandman. Parallel to his taste in comics growing the dude, Jack, gets serious about his creative endeavors with a friend of his Dennis.

Comic Foundry Q+A

These sure are some confusing times. With the change in the release date and other mysteries abound, allow me to clarify some things.

When does the issue come out? Sept. 5th, right?
Wrong. Sorry, chap. The good news is that there's no need to wait. You can get your grubby hands on an issue tomorrow, Aug. 22nd.

So tell me more about his "magazine" of yours. Why isn't it in color?
I'd love for it to be in color. I think it works well in black and white, but color would add a layer of depth and information that can't be conveyed in black and white. We're already working on ways to go color for the next issue.

Next issue?
Ah, yes. We're going quarterly in 2008.

You keep saying it's in between Wizard and The Comics Journal. Kinda like Maxim, right?
Well, it is between Wizard and TCJ content-wise. CF covers both mainstream and indie projects, but I definitely wouldn't call it like Maxim. Maxim deals in lowest common denominator thinking and has no real interest in building a female audience. I'd say we're more of a mix between Wired and Entertainment Weekly. You know, but with comics.

I guess that makes sense...so are the print stories like what your online issue have been like?
Hmm. Not really. The website was originally concepted to be an educational and teaching site. As such, a lot of the stories had an educational spin to them. The site slowly moved from that but I still don't think it's exactly like the print edition. That's part of my reasoning for the magazine — because I couldn't execute my ideas online the way I could in print. So, while I'm proud of the work we did online, I don't think it's completely representative of the new print magazine.

What else do you have on the horizon?
Well, we're relaunching our website soon, but we're also having a LAUNCH PARTY next Wednesday, Aug. 29th. It's at Irish Rogue at 356 W. 44th st. - Upstairs. It'll be from 6 till whenever.

That sounds fun...
Of course it'll be fun! We'll have gift bags. Gift bags! What party can be lame if they have gift bags?

C'mon, level with me. You really did cry in that video blog you did, right?
No!!!!!!!!!

Billy Dee Willams + Kristen Bell

Over at the MTV Movie Blog, Fanboys star Dan Fogler retells when Billy Dee Williams and Kristen Bell met on the set of Fanboys.

Obviously, his response would be the same as my own.

Mind...Blown

Kristen Bell is going to be on Heroes!

For an exclusive interview with Bell, pickup the first issue of Comic Foundry Magazine — out in stores Aug. 22nd.

Comic Foundry In Stores This Week!

So yesterday I found out from Diamond that instead of the Sept. 5th on-sale date that was solicited, Comic Foundry Magazine will actually be in stores next week on Aug. 22nd. Color me surprised and excited. Though it caught me off-guard, I'm terribly excited about seeing the first issue on stands, as you should be.

Get ready because here we come!

Comics In Magazines

Anyone see the new GQ? There's nice write-up on Matt Fraction and Casanova in there.

What about Wired? Anyone see that? There's a very lengthy piece on the guys behind Penny Arcade.

Batman Toy Recall

Mega toy manufacturer Mattel has issued a massive recall — their second in a month. This one is for 9 million toys sold in the US because of lead paint and potential magnet choking concerns. There are 63 toys being recalled in total — including 4 Batman toys.

Marvel and Dabel Bros Split

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Dabel Brothers Productions, LLC announced today that they are mutually ending their publishing relationship. In 2006, Marvel and Dabel Brothers signed an agreement for Marvel to market, print and distribute several limited and ongoing series, in addition to some other dynamic new properties. Founded in 2001, the Dabel Brothers have specialized in creating comic books and graphic novels based on the works of best-selling authors’ series such as Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter; George R. R. Martin’s Hedge Knight; and Orson Scott Card’s Tales Of Alvin Maker and others.

24/7 Volume 2 Party!

To kick off the release of the second volume of the robot anthology 24/7, Ivan Brandon and his gang (that means you) is meeting up for drinks tomorrow, Wed. the 15th at the Village Pourhouse, 64 3rd Ave and 11th st. While there will be some drink specials, it's BYOR (Bring Your Own Robot). Unfortunately I have to miss the shindig (mandatory booze cruise), I have no doubt the place will be popping.

Back from Dallas

I was in Dallas the past few days busy shooting handguns and riding mechanical bulls (though not at the same time). While I didn't get to visit any of the cool stores they have down there, I did go to some old tourist general store that sold bullshit cowboy stuff. But in the back they had this spinner rack of comics, including the first issue of Machine Teen, a limited series from Marvel that came out in 2005. Odd.

CF Shout Out on Fantagraphics

At SDCC we ran into Eric Reynolds, the ever-chill PR guru for Fantagraphics and gave him an issue of the new mag. This week he was kind enough to write up something on Flog the Blog:

"Definitely one of the most unique new mags about comics in awhile."

Click for the rest.

Transformers Sneaker Pack

Today Nike's Transformer sneaker pack goes on sale. Nike is releasing three different shoes inspired by the Transformers (no, the shoes themselves don't turn into anything). It's an Air Trainer III, an Air Max 90 Boot and the Air Trainer Huarache.

It's already been announced that the Trainer III is based of Optimus Prime and it's speculated that the Huarache is Galvatron and the boot is Starscream. If you want them — and you should — get in line now before it's too late.

More at Freshness

Douglas Wolk! Reading Comics! Rocketship!

Douglas Wolk has a book signing/discussion tonight at Rocketship. Be there or be squre.

Gabriel Macht is The Spirit

Macht was most recently in The Good Shepherd, and is in another comics-to-film adaptation, Whiteout (along side Kate Beckinsale). Frank Miller is writing and directing the big screen version of Will Eisner's book, with an October '09 release date.

What's interesting is that this story came out the Thursday after Comic-Con. Why? This could've been one of the big announcements of the show. Either they weren't able to get the deal in time or they were holding until after so they could be the first big post-con news. Then again, I'm just spitballing here. Source

R. Kikuo Johnson in NY Times

The Night Fisher creator and Russ Manning award winner has a full-page comic in the Op-Ed section of today's NY Times. You can also check it out in slideshow form online.

Why Kevin Smith Is Still Cool

From SDCC 2007

PopPicture at Comic-Con

Me at Comic-Con, as photographed by PopCandy's Whitney Matheson

Dead Spider-Man

Source