Longbox Digital Launches Public Beta
Longbox Digital launched its much anticipated digital comics distribution system in public beta on June 17, and will be debuting new content for it on a weekly basis starting June 28. The current open beta release works for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and netbooks as well as Mackintosh 10.5+, and future versions will work on Android, handhelds and various tablet computers. While it will become available for the iPad and iPhone, Longbox differs from iTunes in that it lacks iTunes’ strong restrictions on content, instead substituting a movie-like ratings system which allows parents to choose what kind of comics their children may read. Longbox Digital is a freestanding program which does not require iTunes to operate and currently includes offerings from publishers as Boom!, Topcow and IDW, and is open to creator published comics if they meet certain quality standards. Generally, older comics will be priced at $1 each and new releases at $2, with discounts during the beta-release period to make up for the inconvenience. More details are available in this interview by Brigid Alverson at Comics Reporter.
Black Panther Epic Motion Comic Premieres June 23
In anticipation of the upcoming Black Panther cartoon from BET and hot on the heels of Marvel’s success with various Marvel Knights motion comics, Marvel Animation is releasing a motion comics adaptation of Black Panther: Who is Black Pantheron June 23. A twelve-part series, a new part of Who is Black Panther? will be released every week for iTunes, X-Box LIVE, Playstation Network and Microsoft Zune. The series stars the same cast as the upcoming cartoon, with Djimon Honsou as T'Challa, the Black Panther, Alfre Woodard in a dual role as the Queen Mother and Dondi Reese, Kerry Washington as his sister Shuri and Carl Lumbly as his uncle S'Yan.
Dark Horse’s FCBD Comics Available Free Online
Dark Horse Comics promoted Doctor Solar and Magnus, Robot Fighter, two classic comics series originally from Gold Key, with a special Free Comic Book Day comic featuring both. Now this free comic book day book is available for free on iTunes, promoting the restarted series coming out from Dark Horse later this summer.
Cartoonist Al Williamson Dies at 79
Al Williamson, who drew comic books and comic strips for more than 50 years, died June 12, 2010, at age 79. In recent years he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by his wife of thirty-two years, Cori, his daughter Valerie and his son Victor. Williamson began his career in the late 1940s and worked Bill Gaine’s legendary EC line as well as for a variety of comics publishers including Atlas/Marvel, Charlton, Classics Illustrated and Harvey. He worked for the King Features Syndicate from 1967 to 1980 drawing the Secret Agent Corrigan Strip and from 1981 to 1984 the daily and Sunday Star Wars strip. However, he was probably most closely associated with the character of Flash Gordon, a character that had inspired him as a child in the 1930s. Williamson worked on King Comics’ Flash Gordon comic books in the 1960s; and produced a Flash Gordon min-series for Marvel in the 1990s and later worked on the Sunday newspaper strip. In lieu of flowers a donation in Williamson’s memory can be made to the Al Williamson Scholarship Fund at the Joe Kubert School; 37 Myrtle Ave., Dover, N.J. 07801. In addition cartoonist Rick Vietch has written his own remembrance of Williamson on his website.
Comic Art for Kids Class at MoCCA
Beginning on June 19, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art will be offering its first special class in comic art for kids. Children 8-12 will be eligible to take the class, which will run from 10-11:30 a.m. on June 19 & 26, July 10, 17, 24 & 31 and will take place at the Museum itself. The class will be split into two parts – the first three classes will be an introduction to comics drawing and the second three classes will be an introduction to comics storytelling. Students may choose to take both parts together or either separately. Tuition for the whole course is $245, with a reduced rate of $220 for the children of MoCCA members and tuition for a single half of the course is $130, $120 for the children of members. Tuition includes all materials. More information is available on the MoCCA website. MoCCA is located at 594 Broadway, Suite 401, New York, NY between Houston and Prince streets.
This Week @ Good Comics For Kids
This week School Library Journal’s blog Good Comics for Kids had the June 2010 listing of Good Manga for Kids, a roundtable review of Jane Yolen’s Foiled, a preview of Boom! Studios’ Darkwing Duck, interviews with Chris Schweizer, Ben Towle, Chris Giarusso, Rich Faber and John Gallagher, the 6/16 listing of comics suitable for all ages and themed links roundups from Brigid Alverson.
This Week @ The Beat
This week PWCW editor Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat covered the estimated rise in comics sales this May, Ty Templeton’s new webcomic, Art Spiegelman’s collaboration with dance group Pilobilus on a comic-themed program, the Graphic Medicine Conference on medicine and comics, Boom! Studios bringing its entire back catalog to digital editions and an all-around exciting week in digital comics, and had a guide to the World Cup and comics and hosted a guest column by Yen Press’s Rich Johnson on the BEA entitled “Driven to Distraction.”
