Rucka answers QUESTIONS

not from us, but from the Vic Sage website.

http://www.vicsage.com/wp/?p=6

Buffy talk

CBR has an interview up with Joss Whedon and new Buffy writer BKV. Funny stuff.

Up at the BEAT

an article about CHIKARA's wacky comic book-themed DVD covers.

First of Many Baltimore Comic-Con posts

Programming Schedule

http://www.comicon.com/baltimore/programming.htm

Gideon II website

Check out this article at THE BEAT about the new viral website tied into the new issue of CHECKMATE. Pretty cool for all us hardcore DC nerds.

It's Over. It's All Over!

The settlement of the infamous Harlan Ellison vs Fantagraphics lawsuit has been posted on the net.

here it is.

RIP Mike Wieringo

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2007/08/13/mike-wieringo-dead-at-44/

I had just finished reading Ringo's Spidey/FF book that he did with Jeff Parker.

I was a big fan of TELLOS back in the day.

Who’s on first? Spider-Man??

Minor league baseball teams are always doing wacky stunts or having fun giveaways to try and get people into the ballpark. The Memphis Redbirds are targeting the nerd audience with an upcoming giveaway.

The first 1500 fans through the turnstiles at the August 10 game between Memphis and the Omaha Royals will receive a Marvel comic featuring Spider-Man, the Hulk and Iron Man sharing the cover with the Redbirds’ mascots and outfielder Rick Ankiel.

“Baseball and comic books - the perfect partners; boys and girls, for generations, have spent hours reading comic books and passing countless summer hours playing baseball,” Redbirds President/GM Dave Chase said.

“Today’s children are watching super heroes on movie screens, but the heart and soul of the big screen version is the paper and ink of comic books. Triple-A Baseball would be hard pressed to find a more perfect partner.”

The Redbirds certainly appear to be a popular culture-friendly ballclub. In recent weeks, the club has sponsored both a Harry Potter Night and pro wrestling featuring local icon Jerry “the King” Lawler. And, the night after the comic book giveaway, they are supporing another local legend: Elvis Presley.

Zero Hour

SD is here!

Most of my comics writing will probably be done at the Beat during the Con, since Heidi is there "in country" and I am (thankfully) not.

SD Countdown

2 days.

No, I'm not going this year.

It really was too much for me the last time I went. Plus, if I went, I'd much rather be watching the Padres or going to TJ to see lucha.

for what it's like for A-level pro, read this interview with Neil Gaiman.

I'll just make do with Heidi's reports on the Beat and the inevitable podcasts that will turn up.

Aide de Camp

If you haven't heard, I'll be helping out Heidi MacDonald on The Beat.

Cue nelson

From the Simpsons Movie website, create your own avatar.

It's Not a Lie if You Believe It

(note: We hope to have a follow-up article later tonight and tomorrow discussing this topic with some noted comics creators. Stay tuned.)

When it is okay to lie? And, if not lie, how about engage in “Misdirection” and “Obfuscation?” Those are questions that comics fans should be asking themselves today in the wake of DC Comics announcing this past weekend that they had done some of those things regarding “The Flash.”

For those too busy with Fathers’ Day or the US Open to hear the news from Charlotte or Philadelphia, “The Flash” will be ending with issue 13 (shipping this week) and re-starting (again) with former “Flash” writer Mark Waid at the helm. Good news all around, right?

Well, it would be, except that DC Comics had already put out solicitations for issues 14 and 15, knowing that they would be cancelled, presumably as soon as they announced news about the book’s future this weekend at Heroes Con and Wizard World Philadelphia.

Okay, you say, comics companies have always played fast and loose with the solicitations, especially in this Era of Spoilers, when every Tom, Rich and Harry are trying to find out what the next crossover is going to be or who will die in this book or that book. Recently, Marvel did some of that with their Civil War and Fallen Son titles, but did they run a solicit for “Captain America” # 25 that lied about the ending?

It’s one thing to run no solicitation at all or just write “a surprise so shocking that we can’t say what will happen in this issue.” And that’s just what the solicits for “Flash” 14 and 15 say. Fourteen says “Fastest Man Alive's world changes forever!” and 15 says “Continuing the storyline so explosive we can't give anything away — and it's destined to be one of the most talked-about tales of 2007!” There’s nothing wrong with being vague, if those books were every going to come out, that is.

Admittedly, before this was announced, DC Comics had planned on making those issues returnable, provided retailers double their usual orders. But, since Waid’s first issue of “All-Flash” comes out in July and regular “Flash” series (back to the pre-reboot numbering) comes out in August, those issues are presumably going to be cancelled.

The bigger issue here would seem to be that current “Flash” writer Marc Guggenheim did a number of interviews when he took over the book and deliberately gave out false information about the future of the book, when he knew that he would only have a short tenure on the book. According to what DC head honcho Dan Didio said at Heroes Con this weekend, this plan has been in the works for over a year, which would predate Guggenheim’s entire run.

Maybe this is an inside baseball issue that would only concern people in the media, but there’s something very disheartening about an interview subject deliberately putting out false information. Play the “it’s only comics” card if you want, but that’s not really the point.

Didio apologized to fans for what they did, but that doesn’t really put the cat back in the bag. Many creators already have reservations about doing interviews about up-coming work, wanting things to be as spoiler-free as possible. And that’s completely understandable in this hyper-mediated world. But there now be a little tickle in the back of fans’ brains now, one that says “I hope this is true and not some fake-out.”

Popular culture critics love to talk about the similarities between superhero comics and professional wrestling – the gaudy costumes, the larger-than-life costumes, the knock-down brawls. It looks like we can add another to the list: those in control of the product willing to swerve the audience if it suits their needs. Wrestling is a business built on a lie. That is not something to which the comics industry should aspire.

xxx

COMING SOON

reviews of

CRIMINAL
ROCKETO
AGENTS OF ATLAS