Dash Shaw, Pantheon Ink Deal
Pantheon has acquired the next book from Dash Shaw, the 25 year old comics artist that created the impressive new graphic novel Bottomless Belly Button, just published by Fantagraphics. Pantheon has acquired Shaw’s Body World, an unusual comic that Shaw currently publishes online. The comic will stay online until it’s finished. PWCW’s Heidi McDonald profiled the artist in May and he was interviewed by PWCW’s Sunyoung Lee in 2006.

The deal was negotiated by agent Bob Mecoy. The book was acquired by Pantheon editorial director Dan Frank along with editor/designer Chip Kidd, who will both edit the book. Mecoy also said there was “unprecedented” interest in both Bottomless Belly Button and Body World from Hollywood film studios, although no deal has been reached. Pantheon will publish Body World in 2010. In addition, Duke University will mount an exhibition of Shaw’s work from September 25 to October 31 and Shaw will be interviewed at the showing on September 26 by acclaimed comics artist Gary Panter. Mecoy said another exhibition of Shaw’s work is also planned for New York City.

Jake Parker Two-Book Pact
The Flight generation—cartoonists included in artist/editor Kazu Kuibishi’s acclaimed anthology of color comics—continues to prosper in the new graphic novel era. Cartoonist/animator Jake Parker has signed a two book deal with Graphix, Scholastic’s graphic novel imprint, to produce two graphic novels starring Missile Mouse, a cute crime fighting mouse character that will star in Parker’s two sci-fi adventure graphic novels.The deal was negotiated by agent Judy Hansen of the Hansen Literary Agency. Missile Mouse was introduced earlier this year in Flight Explorer, an anthology based on Flight with comics created for young readers, published by Villard. Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher, the first of the two graphic novels, will be published in 2010. Parker’s work has also appeared in Out of Picture, another color comics anthology that collects the comics works of animator that is also published by Random House/Villard.

PW The Beat: Watchmen Fight; More
Over at the comics industry and culture blog The Beat, PWCW’s Heidi Macdonald surveys the blogosphere so you don’t have too. She collects items on legal fight between Fox and Warners over the rights to Alan Moore’s Watchman and surveys which of the DC Universe’s heroes will make it to the movie screen next. She also checks discussions by comics retailer Brian Hibbs on Point-Of-Sale systems; on the history of French comics publisher Humanoids and by librarians talking about Sarah Varon’s Robot Dreams, which was picked by Oprah Winfrey for her children’s reading list.

Nickelodeon Kids’ GN Award
Nickelodeon Magazine is holding their first “Best Kids’ Graphic Novel” Awards. Submissions must be submitted before September 30, 2008. The books submitted should be appropriate for ages seven through thirteen. The voting will take place in December; a list of books, selected by the editorial staff, will be included in the December issue, and also available online. The winners will be announced in the cartoon themed issue in the spring of 2009. Publishers should send two copies of their entries to Chris Duffy or Dave Roman, Graphic Novel Award Nickelodeon Magazine 1515 Broadway 37th Floor New York, NY 10036.

Japan Society at NYAF
The New York Anime Festival has forged a year-round partnership with the Japan Society. As part of this partnership, the Japan Society will offer five introductory Japanese lessons at NYAF on September 28 from 1:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Workshop room; the lessons are open to all NYAF attendees. The Japan Society will also give a presentation on their history and preview an upcoming exhibit, Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime, Comics, and Video Games, which will run from March 13th through June 14, 2009.

DMP to Rent Manga Online
Digital Manga has launched eManga.com, a new online manga rental site. The site harkens back to the rental shops in Japan where patrons could rent comics for a small fee, similar to dvd rentals in the U.S. The site is going through beta testing, and will use a point system where patrons buy and use points to rent manga.The site uses a point system ($10.00 = 1000 points) and points can purchased with a credit card. Readers have the option of renting a book and reading it online for 72 hours for anywhere between 200-400 points ($2.00-4.00). There is also an unlimited option where customers can rent a book for 400-800 points ($4.00-8.00) and are granted unlimited reads. There will also be an option to buy the physical book from the site as well.

The site will incorporate DMP's Manga Academy program, an online how-to-create-manga course, allowing students to upload their work. While DMP is a major yaoi publisher, marketing and public relations manager Rachel Livingston says that the site won't be strictly yaoi. "It depends on the individual titles, publisher and creator,” She says, adding that some creators are concerned about piracy and wary of making their comics available online. Livingston says that DMP does have the online distribution rights for some of their 801 Media books, a mature content line of yaoi titles, but she emphasized that, "we are still trying to figure out how to do age verification on those since they are so explicit."

Response to Tokyopop’s Postponed Titles
Comics retailer Chris Butcher posted a response about PWCW’s recent article about the postponement of Tokyopop titles on his blog, Comics212. Butcher includes a list of Tokyopop titles which were scheduled to be released this fall, but whose publication is now under review..

Spider-Man Free Online
Marvel is offering the first issue of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane to read online through Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited for free. Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane is a five issue series, which is written by Terry Moore with art by Craig Rousseau.

Kyle Baker on NPR
Cartoonist Kyle Baker was a guest on the NPR program Studio 360, hosted by Kurt Andersen, to discuss his new book Nat Turner. The segment can be listened to at the Studio 360 website.

Fresh Ink in Tokyo
Blair Butler’s latest episode of G4TV’s comics review segment, Fresh Ink, was centered on manga. Filmed in Tokyo, Butler reviews Monster, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol. 1, and Parasyte. The episode can be watched on theG4 website

Joe Chiappetta Interview
ComicNews has an interview with cartoonist Joe Chiappetta, author of Silly Daddy, up on their website. Chiappetta discusses his work, the comics industry, and self-publishing.

Paul Sizer Interview on The Pulse
The Pulse has an interview with Paul Sizer available about his new graphic novel B.P.M.B.P.M is being serialized online at Sizer’s website; three new pages are released each week. The story follows an aspiring DJ in New York City. The book will be released November 2008.