Costumes and Comics at Dragon Con

Dragon Con, North America's largest fan-run pop culture convention, was held in downtown Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend. Now in its twenty-second year, Dragon Con is remarkable not merely for its size—the annual show generally attracts more than 30,000 fans—but for its remarkable variety.

Panel Mania: Beast

In Beast, the first solo graphic novel by Marian Churchland, Colette, a struggling young sculptor, is commissioned by the mysterious man to carve his portrait in marble. Over the course of the job, Colette discovers it is more sinister than it seemed. Beast, published by Image Comics, will be in stores on September 23rd.

Comics Briefly

Breaking Down Disney's Acquisition of Marvel

Can a mouse and a spider make lots of money together? We'll soon find out. The entertainment world was rocked Monday morning by the news that Disney plans to buy Marvel Entertainment for a cool $4 billion. Even the Kingpin would say that's a lot of dough.

Candlewick’s ‘Vermonia’—Multifaceted, Mythic Manga

Like the characters in its own story, Vermonia has a distinguished and almost mythic beginning. The manga series is the brainchild of a renowned editor and a manga professor and has a multifaceted existence in print and online. The series is being published in the U.S. by Candlewick Press (the initial printing is 25,000 copies); in the U.K. by Walker, and in Italy by Mondadori.

Why I Wrote 'Stitches'

As part of our on-going series, Why I Write, PW invited the award-winning illustrator David Small to comment on the incident that sparked the writing of Stitches, his graphic account of a harrowing childhood, which will be published by W. W. Norton in September.

Life in Comics: Competing with the Old Guard

In last month's column I parenthetically mentioned graphic novel publishing imprints that are a part of large traditional publishing companies. Several prominent publishers have established themselves with strong graphic novel showings in recent years.

Hackers are People Too: Ed Piskor's 'Wizzywig'

In an unusual creative effort that mixes fictional techniques with serious nonfiction research, cartoonist Ed Piskor has self-published the first two volumes of Wizzywig, a planned four-volume graphic novel that folds the history of the hacker community into a single fictional character named Kevin Phenicle in order to document the history and technological and social development of hacker and online culture.

Panel Mania: Ball Peen Hammer

In the dark, post apocalyptic world of Ball Peen Hammer in which plague has infected the city, Welton, infected himself, has locked himself in a basement to stay safe. In this preview, Welton opens the door of his refuge. Ball Peen Hammer is written by Adam Rapp, with art by George O’Conner, and will be released by First Second on September 29th.

Disney to Acquire Marvel Comics for $4 Billion

In a blockbuster deal that brings together two of the biggest brands in American film, animation and comic books, the Walt Disney Co. has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock.

‘The Pekar Project’ Webcomic Debuts on ‘SMITH’

After moving from the comics page to the big screen, acclaimed autobiographical comics creator Harvey Pekar has now made his way to the Internet with a new webcomic series called, The Pekar Project, to be published on SMITH, an online magazine featuring personal storytelling.

New Book Deals For Yang, Roman, Kibuishi, Knisley

First Second will publish new graphic works by Gene Yang, author of American Born Chinese, Teen Boat creator Dave Roman and a new work by Lucy Knisley, author of the French Milk. And Villard and Scholastic Books have signed on to publish additional volumes of Kazu Kibuishi’s Flight anthology and Amulet series respectively.

Digital Comics Get a New Platform with Sony PSP Deal

Last week, Sony announced they will be offering comic book content as digital downloads for the PSP portable gaming device, via the Playstation store. This confirms rumors of Sony seeking significant comics content for the device dating back to March 2009.

Confessions of an Immature Pervert: Erika Moen Overcomes Puritanism

Those who still think young women's diaries are full of blushing and crushes will be shocked by Erika Moen's online journal. DAR! A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary (found at www.darcomic.com) is a webcomic that can be raw, ribald, and revelatory.

Last Gasp Finds Beauty in The Strange Tale of Panorama Island

The literary manga market is expanding further with the announcement that San Francisco art book and manga publisher Last Gasp has licensed Suehiro Maruo’saward-winningThe Strange Tale of Panorama Island.

Comics Briefly

Taking Millar’s ‘Kick Ass’ from Page to Screen

Originally released as a periodical comics series in 2008 under Marvel’s ICON imprint, Mark Millar’s Kick Ass been already adapted into a feature film directed by Matthew Vaughn, director of such films as Layer Cake and Stardust. Lionsgate has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights and the film will be released in 2010. But with its hard R-rated world of pop culture references, extreme violence, language and tween serial killers, Kick-Ass has never had a simple route to the public.

Fletcher Hanks Rides Again

Get ready, fans, the second volume of odd-ball 1930s comics creator Fletcher Hanks has hit the shelves. You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation! completes the collection of Hanks’ work begun with the 2007 volume, I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, edited by Paul Karasik, published by Fantagraphics Books and winner of the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project.

In Marvel’s ‘Strange Tales,’ Indie Artists Take on Superhero Icons

This September, Marvel Comics unveils their long-awaited Strange Tales MAX anthology series. Culling creators from all over the world of alternative comics and literary graphic novels—from Paul Pope and Matt Kindt to Molly Crabapple and Peter Bagge—the stories in the three-issue Strange Tales comic recast such Marvel super heroes as Spider-Man and the Black Widow as quirky and complicated indie comics icons.

Comics briefly