Slate To Serialize Reagan Graphic Bio
The online political and cultural journal Slate has acquired first serial rights to Hill & Wang’s forthcoming Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography by Andrew Helfer, Steve Buccellato and Joe Staton. Slate will serialize the entire 112-page graphic biography over the course of 5 days beginning September 3; after which the serialization will be taken offline.

Laura Bonner, sub rights manager for FSG and H&W, told PWCW that Slate paid, “a price competitive with prose serial rights” for the Reagan graphic bio. Slate also bought first serial rights to H&W’s bestselling The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation in 2006. “The 9/11 book did really well for them,” said Bonner,” the web is a great platform for this kind of book.” Although there is no deal as yet, Bonner said Slate has also expressed interest in future works in the graphic series including Rick Geary and Andrew Helfer’s book on J. Edgar Hoover; and Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon’s forthcoming work on the War on Terror, both due in 2008.

CBLDF San Diego Auction
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is holding their largest auction of the year at San Diego Comic Con. Over a hundred items will be up for auction, including original art by Jim Lee, Jeff Smith, Paul Pope, Terry Moore, and many others. One can get a bidder number at the CBLDF booth #1831. CBLDF is also taking pre-bids online. Online bidding started last week and will go on until Friday July 27 at ten PM. Bids can be emailed to info@cbldf.org with “CCI SD Auction Bid” in the subject line. The online bids will be used as the opening bids during the live auction on Saturday July 28th. More information about the auction and a full list of available items can be found at the CBLDF website.

Virgin Comics on Myspace
Virgin Comics and Myspace are launching “Coalition Comix,” an online format which will allow readers to collaborate with comics professionals to make new comics. The readers will give artistic direction by voting on the plot and script. Each issue will be created over a two-week period, during which artwork and scripts will be uploaded to be viewed by the community. Coalition Comix will begin on August 2, 2007, and the first professional will be Mike Carey. More information can be found at Coalition Comix’s Myspace.

DC To Publish WoW Comic
DC Comics announced plans to publish a comic book series based on Blizzard Entertainment’s popular World of Warcraft online massive multiplayer role playing game. Preview art for the new series will be on display at San Diego Comic-con. The monthly series will be written by comics veteran Walter Simonson (Thor, Orion) with art by Ludo Lullabi. The inking will be by Sandra Hope. The first six issues of the WoW comic series will each feature two covers, one by superstar comics artist Jim Lee and a second by Blizzard Entertainment senior art director Samwise Didier.

Hollow Fields Goes Back to Press
Madeleine Rosca’s manga Hollow Fields is going back to press. Rosca was the only Western creator among the four finalists for Japna’s International Manga Award, also called the “Nobel Prize of Manga.” The initial print run was 25,000. This is the first time a Seven Seas Entertainment book has gone back to print a month after release. Hollow Fields is a three-volume manga about a girl who accidentally gets enrolled in a school for mad scientists. More information about Hollow Fields can be found at the Seven Sea’s website.

PWThe Beat On SDCC ‘07Naturally Heidi MacDonald is posting information on The Beat about creator signings and general publisher information at SDCC 2007. And of course point your browser to The Beat for up the minute blogging on everything going on at SDCC throughout the event.

PW Comics Week

at San Diego
PWCWeditors Heidi MacDonald, Calvin Reid and Douglas Wolk will be participating in a number of panels at this year’s San Diego Comic-con.

Thursday, July 26
12:30-2:00 Drawing Style and Storytelling—In a classroom-style workshop, Darwyn Cooke (The Spirit), Cameron Stewart (The Other Side), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), and Colleen Coover (Banana Sunday)—and maybe another special guest—discuss design, look-and-feel, and how they develop the visual style of specific projects. Moderated by Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics). Room 30CDE

Friday, July 27
4:30-5:30 New Voices in Graphic Novels— The medium is exploding with new opportunities and new creative talent. Six graphic novel creators who have published their first books in the past year—Miriam Katin (We Are On Our Own), Leland Myrick (Missouri Boy), George O'Connor (Journey into Mohawk Country), David Peterson (Mouse Guard), Christian Slade (Korgi), and Jamie Tanner (The Aviary)—talk about their inspirations and about the place their books have in the changing graphic novel market. Moderated by Calvin Reid (Publishers Weekly). Room 4

Saturday, July 28
10:30-11:30 Meet the Press: Writing About Comics— From blogs to books to magazines, the public conversation about comics is livelier—and faster—than it's ever been. Heidi MacDonald (Publishers Weekly), Nisha Gopalan (Entertainment Weekly), Tom Spurgeon (The Comics Reporter), Tom McLean (Variety), Graeme McMillan (The Savage Critics), and moderator Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics) discuss the state of the art of comics criticism. Room 3

Sunday, July 29
10:30-11:30 The Graphic Novel Explosion— Up until the last few years, graphic novels were published primarily by specialty houses that produced only comics and related works. Now, however, traditional mainstream publishing houses are producing graphic novels and even setting up graphic novel divisions, spurred by bookstore sales trends, library demand, and critical recognition. What has led to this trend? What sorts of books are these publishers looking for? Who is the audience? What role has manga played? And is the graphic novel market going to continue to expand, or will the bubble burst? Panelists include Charles Kochman, senior editor, Harry N. Abrams; David Saylor, creative director, Scholastic/Graphix; Karen Berger, executive editor, Vertigo/Minx/DC; Mark Siegel, senior editor, First Second; Dallas Middaugh, associate publisher, Del Rey Manga; Chris Schluep, editor, Ballantine/Del Rey/Villard; and Calvin Reid, news editor, Publisher’s Weekly, and co-editor, PW Comics Week. Moderated by Jackie Estrada, Eisner Awards administrator and consultant to Foreword magazine’s Comique graphic novel supplement. Room 8

11:30-1:00 Comics Are Not Literature— For years, comics have presented themselves as a new kind of literature—but cartooning isn't prose, and graphic novels aren't novels. What if conflating comics with "literary" storytelling is a terrible mistake? Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics) moderates what should be a contentious discussion with Cecil Castellucci (The PLAIN Janes), Dan Nadel (PictureBox Inc.), Austin Grossman (Soon I Will Be Invincible), Paul Tobin (Spider-Man Family), and Sara Ryan (The Rules for Hearts). Room 8

3:00-4:00 San Diego Museum of Art: Contemporary Art and Animation—Recently, the San Diego Museum of Art has seen an increase in production of animation works by contemporary artists working within the gallery system. This panel considers one strand of this explosion, focusing on artists who are shifting painting and drawing to the time-based practice of handmade and digital animation, while also accessing popular culture and music. This panel is organized in conjunction with the San Diego Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition Animated Painting, on view from October 13, 2007 to January 13, 2008, to include works by 14 international contemporary artists including William Kentridge, Julian Opie, Kota Ezawa, Jeremy Blake, and Ruth Gómez. Moderator Calvin Reid (artist, art critic, and co-editor of the online comics newsletter PW Comics Week) talks to panelists Betti-Sue Hertz (curator of contemporary art, San Diego Museum of Art), Lisa Cartwright (professor of communication, University of California), and Jody Culkin (artist and assistant professor of media arts, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York). Room 3