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

Doug Wright: Rediscovering Canada’s Master Cartoonist

Writer Brad Mackay and cartoonist Seth are attempting to restore Doug Wright's life and work to the public memory. As co-founders of the Doug Wright Awards, they have explicitly elevated Wright to patron saint status within that country's comics art tradition. As co-editors of the first volume of The Collected Doug Wright (published by Montreal-based Drawn and Quarterly),they seek to restore Wright's work to public view within a broader world of contemporary comics publishing.

Comics History Retold at MoCCA Art Festival

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s annual Art Festival is primarily dominated by the latest in alternative and small press comics. But many of the panels at the event (held June 6-7 in New York), programmed by scholar Kent Worcester, dealt with classic works and creators from comic books’ long and rich history.

Panelmania: Stuffed

In this preview of Glenn Eichler and Nick Bertozzi’s Stuffed, Tim Johnston and his wife explore Tim's late father’s “Museum of the Rare and Curious.” In the museum they discover, “The Warrior,” the life like statue of an African, which leads to confrontations of race and family. First Second is publishing Stuffed this September.

Go, Girls! Trina Robbins Brings Back The Brinkley Girls

In a new collection of work by Nell Brinkley from Fantagraphics, beautiful girls travel the world in fabulous dresses, rescue and then marry their men, and generally have a lot of gorgeous fun. Between 1913 and 1940, Nell Brinkley’s characters, a.k.a. the Brinkley Girls, were everything your average American girl wanted to be. Brinkley zestily described this every-girl as, “Frank and strong, and happy and good, just a girl—an American girl such as many of you know."

Books About Comics: The Kurtzman Legacy

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics (Abrams ComicArts, $40) begins with startling, sweeping statements of its subject’s importance not just to comics, but to American culture as a whole. Time critic Richard Corliss asserts that "almost all American satire today follows a formula that Harvey Kurtzman thought up." In his introduction, Harry Shearer declares that without Kurtzman there would be no Saturday Night Live or Simpsons.

June Comics Bestsellers

Jeffy Kinney’s Wimpy Kid: Last Straw rules the roost but Stephen King’s Dark Tower: Treachery; IDW’s Star Trek: Countdown and Marvel Zombies 3 all make the Top Ten.

Kidjutsu: A Kid-Safe Site for Webcomics

The internet is full of great comics created specifically for children, but young readers don’t have any way to find them. After all, there is no children’s room on the internet. But Brian Leung is hoping to solve that problem with Kidjutsu, a site that collects kid-friendly webcomics and displays them using an easy-to-use online comics viewer.

New Graphic Novel, Film from Melvin Van Peebles

Acclaimed film director, actor, playwright and composer, Melvin Van Peebles, director of the groundbreaking 1971 black film Sweet Sweetback’s Badass Song, is teaming up with Brooklyn indie Akashic Books to publish, Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-Itchyfooted Mutha, a graphic novel created by Van Peebles and the odd-named artist Caktus Tree…? that was also the basis for a new film that Van Peebles will screen this summer.

Comics Briefly

Finder Ties Comic To Novel

Late last year, bestselling thriller writer Joseph Finder was walking around Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, and ran into “a couple of guys” from DC Comics. He had just finished Vanished, a novel coming out this August featuring a young alienated teenager who is creating his own comic book.

MoCCA Festival's Heated Success

Overcoming some administrative snafus and a lack of air conditioning, this year's MoCCA festival was another successful show for indie comics, with long-awaited major works—David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp, Seth's George Sprott—vying with unexpected treats—Kazimir Strzepek's The Mourning Star #2—and a wealth of foreign cartoonists showing off their chops.

The Wages of Sinfest

After nearly 10 years of writing and drawing Sinfest, a popular satirical webcomic about angels, devils, sex and politics, Tatsuya Ishida is publishing a book collection of the strip due from Dark Horse this month.

Terry Moore Talks Echo; SiP Omnibus and More

Terry Moore prepares to release a three-volume hardcover Strangers in Paradise omnibus at San Diego Comic Con, while he also publishes the sci-fi romance/thriller, Echo.

Comics Briefly

Sales, Temperatures Sizzle at MoCCA 2009

Despite having to overcome the daunting combination of a new venue, an overheated hall and organizational gaffes, this year’s MoCCA Art Festival drew impressive crowds and offered another vibrant display of the state of indie comics and graphic novel publishing.

Photo Mania: MoCCA Art Festival 2009

Pictures from the 2009 MoCCA Art Festival at the Lexington Avenue Armory

BookExpo America 2009 Remains Strong for Comics Publishers

The book publishing industry may be in a crisis over the future of BookExpo America, but you couldn’t tell that from talking to comics and graphic novel publishers at the show. Comics publishers big and small seemed to have nothing but praise for this year’s BEA, citing a steady stream of foot traffic, meetings, deals and new opportunities during the show.

Q&A: Geoff Johns Prepares for 'Blackest Night'

One of DC's biggest sales successes is the revitalization of their space-bound hero Green Lantern. Driven by fan-favorite writer Geoff Johns, test pilot Hal Jordan and his fellow Green Lanterns square off against an army of multi-colored Lantern Corps in the epic Blackest Night, and Johns opened up about building an accessible mythology with an emotional base and Green Lantern's potential for success as a Hollywood blockbuster.