Weidenbaum to Leave Viz Media
Rumors have been circulating that Viz Media's Original Content line may be put on hiatus and that v-p of Original Content Marc Weidenbaum will be leaving the company. While Viz Media has confirmed that Wiedenbaum will leave the company, Viz senior director of public relations Evelyn Dubocq denied that the Original Content project will be delayed and said "There is no official news regarding this." Likewise, PWCW was told by Viz marketing staff during New York Comic-con that more original content for the magazine Shojo Beat was forthcoming. The rumor began with a blog entry from American boys love writer Tina Anderson on her site, www.gynocrat.com. Anderson, who also writes for television, had pitched a series to Viz's Original Content line.
Viz Media's foray into original content manga was announced at last year's New York Comic-con in April with the launch of ULTIMO, a joint venture between Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei which premiered in Japan, and will eventually return to American shores from Viz. The company's Original Content project was spearheaded by Weidenbaum who also served as editor-in-chief of Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat magazines. Weidenbaum had visited New York's School of Visual Arts during last year's New York Comic-con. He and Viz editors Eric Searleman and Pancha Diaz held portfolio reviews during the San Diego Comic-con over the summer.—K.M.C.
Glyph Award Nominees Announced
The nominees for the 2009 Glyph Comics Awards have been announced. The Glyph Comics Awards recognize the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year. Awards include Story of the Year, the Rising Star Award, Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Male Character, Best Female Character, Best Reprint Collection, Best Cover, Best Comic Strip and the Fan Award. Notable contenders this year include Bayou, Incognegro, Pilot Season: Genius, Young Avengers Presents #1 and Vixen: Return of the Lion. The awards will be distributed on May 15 at the Skyline Room of the Free Library of Philadelphia as part of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. Voting for the Fan Award is open now through the ECBACC website now through March 31. Write-in votes are accepted.
Stumptown Awards Call for Nominations
Nominations for the Stumptown Trophy comics awards have opened. The Stumptown Comics Fest, a creator-centric comic convention held on April 18-19 in Portland, Oregon, is currently taking nominations for their comic awards from creators, publishers, self-publishers and interested bystanders. Anyone can nominate any comic published in the past year for the awards ballot, provided that they send in two copies of the book and a $5 fee. The deadline for nomination is midnight, April 4. Attendees of the indy-friendly event will then be able to vote for their favorites at the convention on Saturday, April 18, and the winners will be announced that evening at the Stumptown Comics Fest after party/award ceremony at Cosmic Monkey Comics. The award categories are for Small Press, DIY, Writing, Art, Publication Design, Webcomic, Debut and The Mystery Award which can be awarded to anything, person, event, book or comic . The 2009 Stumptown Comics Fest will run from 10a.m. - 6p.m. April 18 — 19 at the Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center, 1000 NE Multnomah St, Portland, Oregon. Admission is $6. Cosmic Monkey Comics is located at 5535 Northeast Sandy Boulevard, Portland, Oregon.
Static Returns to Comics
Static, the popular African-American teen superhero last seen on his Kids WB cartoon Static Shock, entered the mainstream of the DC Universe last month in issue 4 of the Terror Titans mini-series, and will soon be joining the cast of the ongoing comic Teen Titans. Static was created in 1993 by television and comics writer Dwayne McDuffie and artist John Paul Leon for the now cancelled Milestone line of black superhero comics. DC has been trying to clear the rights to bring Static into the DCU since Geoff Johns' reboot of the Teen Titans comic in 2003. The cartoon Static Shock ran for four seasons and 52 episodes from 2000 — 2004 and will be airing on Disney XD starting this month.
Marvel Offers Lincoln, Obama Digital Comics
In celebration of Presidents Day and Lincoln's 200th birthday, Marvel Comics is unveiling two free digital comics about two different Presidents. Gettysburg Distress is a six-page digital original comic written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Andy MacDonald that went up online on February 16. In it, Captain America and Spider-Man battle a Lincoln-impersonator and Captain America witnesses Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address. Also, in recognition of the holiday and the historic interest in Spidey Meets the President, the Spider-Man and President Obama story in Amazing Spider-Man #583 that went into five printings and caught the attention of news programs around the world, Marvel has made the entire story available free online. The online edition, which went online on February 13, is complete with a brand new four page exclusive introduction by writer Zeb Wells and artist Todd Nauck, the team behind the original comic. The comics are part of the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited web service.
SLG Publishing Seminar
Slave Labor Graphics is hosting their third Creator's Studio event at the SLG Publishing office and warehouse in San Jose. The event will include panels, seminars, a portfolio review and a live demontration by artist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Featured panels include Comics Econ 101 with SLG President Dan Vado and comic store owner Dan Shahin, Imagining The Page - a panel on writing visually for comics and Conjuring The Page, in which Krumpholz demonstrates his approach to drawing and storytelling. Tickets are $14.95 and available from Eventbrite.com. Creator's Studio 3 takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday March 7 at the SLG Publishing Compound, 577 South Market Street, San Jose, CA.
Bluewater Comics Go Green
Comics publisher Bluewater Comics, known for such media comics adaptations as Ray Harryhausen Presents... and their Female Force series of comic book political biographies of notable women, has announced plans for their printing methods to become "100% green." Printed by the environmentally friendly firm B&B Print Source, the new comics will be printed with environmentally-safe vegetable inks on Forest Stewardship Council approved paper made by sustainable forestry. B&B Print Source recently won a BRAG award for excellence in business recycling practices.
This week in the Beat, Heidi MacDonald's blog of comics culture:
ICv2 releases a list of 2008's top GNs in bookstores Diamond will no longer list over 1000 Viz backstock titles The Maine Comics Arts Festival has announced its lineup Diamond has released their backlist charts and the line-up reveals some surprises MoCCA exhibitor info is now available Headline writers worldwide adore lesbian Batwoman Alvin Buenaventura captures the world's greatest cartoonists in unguarded moments at this year's Angouleme festival.
