Vertigo to Publish Demo
Vertigo has acquired rights to publish a new edition of Demo, the Eisner-award winning collection of short stories by comics writer Brian Wood and artist Becky Cloonan, originally published in trade paperback by AiT/Planet Lar in 2005. The book features 12 self-contained short stories about teenagers facing issues of love and loss at the cross roads of their lives. Vertigo will publish the new collected book edition in June 2008.
Amazon Picks Dark Tower
Marvel’s comics adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, just published on November 7, has been chosen the top book in Amazon.com’s list of the Best Books of 2007. Other titles in the Top Ten include Dark Horse’s The Perry Bible Fellowship, Fantagraphic’s The Complete Peanuts 1963-66 and PWCW’s Douglas Wolk’s Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean from Da Capo Books.
‘Unseen Peanuts’ Exhibition
Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery is exhibiting rarely seen works by Charles Schulz; the exhibit, "Unseen Peanuts," opens November 23rd and will remain up until December 31st. Although Peanuts is the most-reprinted comic strip in history, several thousand strips were never collected until Fantagraphics' The Complete Peanuts series. In the exhibit, nine of these strips will be displayed, including two giant Sundays, provided by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA. Also, a 32-page "Unseen Peanuts" comic book catalogue, which includes over 150 of the unseen strips, is free with any purchase at the Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery. The exhibit will open with a day-long preview on Friday November 23rd from 11:30 to 8 PM, with an "Unseen Peanuts" slide presentation by Kim Thompson, co-editor of The Complete Peanuts Series, at 6 PM. More information about the exhibition can be found at Fantagraphics' website.
RH Signs Iron Man Novels
Random House's Keith Clayton has acquired the rights from Marvel Entertainment for four prose works based on Iron Man. Two of the books will tie in directly with the Iron Man movie from Marvel Studios; one is an adult novelization of the movie, and the other is a non-fiction book which includes an inside look at the movie and information on the creation of Iron Man and his history within the comic book world. These two books will be released in the weeks before the film opens on May 2, 2008. The other two books will be original Iron Man novels, and will be released at a future date.
NYAF Unveils Programming
The programming for the New York Anime Festival has been posted at the event's website. The New York Anime Festival will be held December 7-9, 2007 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Along with numerous panels focusing on both Anime and Manga, there will be a variety of contests, movie premieres, cosplay events, and a "Maids Café" at which shows from The Anime Network will be screened.
The Spirit Movie Website
A website is up to promote the movie adaptation of Will Eisner's classic comic The Spirit.The website features a message from writer and director Frank Millar, the movie poster Miller created, a synopsis of the movie and a listing of the cast and characters.
Rivkah on PBS
The cartoonist Rivkah, creator of the Tokyopop series Steady Beat, was featured on the show Docubloggers on PBS station KLRU. The show focuses on life in central Texas, where Rivkah lives and works. A video of the segment is on the shows website.
PW's Best Comics 2007
Publishers Weekly has posted a listing of the comics chosen for the print magazine’s "Best Books of 2007". The books chosen for the Comics section are Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings, Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland, Rutu Modan's Exit Wounds, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman, Jason's I Killed Adolf Hitler, Nick Abadzis's Laika, Nick Bertozzi's The Salon, Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie's Aya, Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together, Taiyo Matsumoto's Tekkonkinkreet: Black and White, Osamu Tezuka's MW, and Eiji Otsuka and Sho-u Tajima's MPD-Psycho Vol. 1. PW Comics Week's Critics Poll of the Best Books 2007will run in the newsletter in December.
Del Ray Debuts Blog
Del Ray Manga has started a blog on their website. Some of the Del Ray editors write about Del Ray Manga titles as well as the life of an editor in the manga business.
Anime on Starz
The Starz Channel, Starz Edge, is launching a new anime programming block, Animidnight. The block began broadcasting on November 6th with Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society. This block of anime programs will air every Tuesday at midnight. On November 13thFullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa will air, and on November 20th the series DesertPunk will premiere. The series consists of 24, half-hour episodes; two new episodes will air each Tuesday for twelve weeks. In 2008 the shows Hellsing Ultimatum and Black Lagoon will air. Also, Anime: Drawing a Revolution, a program which explores the influence of anime on worldwide culture and leading filmmakers, will air as part of the monthly original series Starz Inside; this program will be broadcast December 17th on Starz at 9 PM.
New York PreviewsShooting War
An excerpt of Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman's Shooting War, a biting satire of the media, the American military and the Iraq war,has been posted on New York Magazine's website. Shooting War, an expanded graphic novel version of the webcomic, is being released this week.
