After a rocky start, our SPX journey got into gear yesterday, as The Beat, Jah Furry, Brian Heater and Josh Neufeld set off, after a brief detour to drop FMB off at the airport. Despite such setbacks as a strange bug biting The Beat, faulty GPS leading us on an eerie tour of Elizabeth, NJ (the toxic effects will have the most harm on our future children,) and an equally scenic tour of nighttime Baltimore on the way to Atomic Books, the merry caravan did arrive at aforesaid Atomic Books party last night.

The SPX happy vibe was in full effect as greetings and beverages were flying everywhere. The Nerdlinger Awards–presided over by Liz Baillie, MK Reed and Robin Enrico– unfolded in all their glory, with a few winners even on hand to accept their handsome trophies. (We do have a list of the winners, but will have to transcribe it later.) Everyone was super impressed by the venue — Atomic Books is the kind of eclectic treasure trove of a store that thrives in quirky neighborhoods, tended by caring owners, and we could have spent hours just poring over the magazines(!), toys, books, comics, and minis on sale. Well worth the trip.

Following some grub at the equally quirky Golden West Cafe, we were back on the road, arriving safely at the NORTH Bethesda Conference Center. Then, sadly, the ailing The Beat passed out, overcome by the day’s parade of bug bites and toxic fumes, while Brian and Furry cavorted into the wee hours, as various Twitter photos during the night show.

We’ll update with photos and more later. Things we’re looking forward to — more great comics, the Ignatzes (hosted by It Girl Liz Baillie) and Brian using his night vision goggles!

It seems that the Amazon Artist Fail matter we reported the other day has led to the entire situation being reexamined. You’ll recall that cartoonist George O’Connor was thwarted in his attempt to list the books he drew on his Amazon Author page. However, there seems to have been a happy ending. O’Connor writes:

It might be obvious if you’re reading this post via the rss feed on my Amazon Author page, but Amazon has reversed their previous decision that I was not a prominent enough contributor to several titles that they had recently pulled from my page. Amongst the pulled-but-now-reinstated titles are the upcoming graphic novel Ball-Peen Hammer, written by the amazingly talented Adam Rapp, but with artwork by yours truly. Comics are truly a collaborative effort (a comic without pictures is something entirely different) and I am heartened to see that my letter has played some part in having Amazon reexamine this practice of theirs.

Full text of Amazon’s reply below:

Dear Mr. O’Connor,

My name is Sarah Beaudette of Author Central. I’ve reviewed previous correspondence with you, and would like to apologize for the misunderstanding. Normally illustrators are not allowed to add books to their bibliography, but we’ve researched these titles and have concluded that you are a primary contributor to them. Your example has driven us to re-consider our policy, and we appreciate your feedback as we continue to look for ways to make our service more useful to authors.

Your bibliography now includes “Alien Feast” and “Ball Peen Hammer,” as well as “The Glass Cat of Oz.” These changes will appear online within 3 days.

I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Justice! Congrats, George!

(tip of the hat to the always-right Kurt Busiek who posted this on his Facebook page.)

The Small Press Expo kicks off tomorrow. Official info

Here’s Comicsgirl’s excellent (and much needed) dining guide. And her also excellent Survival Guide.

Brian Heater has a guide to some of the new comics debuting. Also excellent, Chris Mautner’s guide at Robot 6. Rob Clough also has a guide.

Quick publisher links:
Drawn and Quarterly
Buenaventura Press
PictureBox
Fantagraphics
Sparkplug

AND, don’t forget, the big Friday pre-party at Atomic Books, with Nerdlingers — TONIGHT!

The awesomeness is off the hook.

Seth — yes, THAT Seth — has designed a parade float of the Wine King for the Niagara Arts Centre. Can we somehow get this into the Tournament of Roses parade? The petition begins NOW.

Via D&Q.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, NJ Transit and allergies, we won’t be able to do the SPX Debuts like we usually do. Deepest apologies to everyone who sent us stuff, and we’ll try to make up for it somehow.

We will, however, be at SPX this weekend, moderating the Jeffrey Brown panel at some point, and generally enjoying the camaraderie and ambiance that only Bethesda can offer. See you there!

Events- Bergen Street Comics:

More info here.

Yamila Abraham, the publisher of Yaoi Press and a frequently quoted manga industry observer, has been indicted on seven counts of mail fraud, one count of misbranding a drug, one count of introducing goods into domestic commerce by means of false statement and criminal forfeiture for selling “Snurf.” The drug was billed as an “herbal alternative” to street drugs, but actually contained DXM, (dextromethorphan hydrobromide), a stimulant found in over-the-counter cough syrup. Arrested and indicted in Las Vegas, authorities say Abraham sold as many as 20,000 pills via mail order.

Abraham later posted to the Yaoi Press blog saying that while she was not allowed to talk about the ongoing investigation, she wanted to let readers know that Yaoi Press would continue in business:

Please keep a cool head, and have faith. This situation is not going to end Yaoi Press. Don’t believe the hype.

However, Yaoi Press survives on our convention income. A great portion of that income comes from those shows where I make personal guest appearances. You would think that if a show is willing to put the author of the Trach the Tentacle monster stories on their guest-list they aren’t too concerned with her reputation.

[snip] I will be at OtakuMex this weekend. Yes, I really will! You can also meet me at the Hollywood Book Fair on October 4th, then Anime St. George October 10th. I’m seriously looking forward to Yaoi Con October 30th.

There are no cancellations. I will be at these shows. I should have panels at them all. People may ask me about this situation. I probably won’t be able to answer them. I’m hoping for a fast resolution, but the sky started falling over 3 years ago, in 2006! If it’s taken this long to drop I’m not hopeful about this being over with fast.

We’d like to echo what Deb Aoki wrote:

A gentle reminder to readers: This indictment only means that charges were filed against Abraham, and it is not evidence of guilt. She’s innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. As she mentions in her statement, she will be continuing business as usual at Yaoi Press and will be honoring her convention appearance commitments. However, understandably, she will not be able to answer questions about these pending charges at her upcoming appearances.

This long article in the NY Times Magazine talks about Carl Jung’s mysterious Red Book, a journal he worked on for years which contained his most profound ideas but which has never been published — until now.

This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.” Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils. If you didn’t know the book’s vintage, you might confuse it for a lost medieval tome.

Jung is, of course, one of the founding fathers of psychology, and his invention of the idea of the “archetype” has been a life preserver for many a comics writer as they sought to explain why the adventures of men in tights punching one another was of some import.

Of some interest to us in the present instance is that Jung’s great book has got lots of pictures in it. Our correspondent Torsten Adair sent this to us with the provocative title “Carl Jung: Proto-graphic novelist?” We wouldn’t go THAT far, but let’s jut say that if he were still around, he’d probably have a booth at Comic-Con.

Two great cartoonists, two great books:

R.O. Blechman and R. Sikoryak are two multifaceted artists who have achieved international acclaim in the fields of animation, illustration and cartooning. Their literary comics have been featured in The New Yorker, RAW and Humbug, among others. Talking Lines collects a decade’s worth of Blechman’s comics, including The Juggler of Our Lady(1953), which was the first full-length graphic novel by a contemporary cartoonist. Sikoryak’s Masterpiece Comics collects 20 years of his comic adaptations of the classics, culled from anthologies such as Drawn & Quarterly, RAW and Hotwire. 

Thursday, September 24 
7:00PM – 8:00PM

The Strand Book store
828 Broadway 
(at 12th St.) 
New York, NY 10003-4805 

We received an email from Denis Vural of Adidas Global Sports Marketing in Amsterdam alerting us to three new promotional comics featuring some of soccer/football’s greatest stars portrayed by three ace cartoonists. Here’s the links:

Adebayor by Jae Lee
Stevie Gerrard by JG Jones
Kaka by Ryan Benjamin

We’ve attached some screenshots below, and these are definitely a step up from Rick Barry and Dr. J and Joe Namath’s Dingo Boots. The heroic/mythological angle really works for “the beautiful game.” What’s next Ronaldo by Alex Ross?

Technorati Tags: Sports

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D&Q is having an impressive sale.

How often does this happen?  We’re cleaning our warehouses and we have put virtually all of our titles on sale, serious sale, like 30-50% off on sale. 

This is an online sale only.  Online prices are not good at the D+Q Librairie in Montreal (though D+Q titles are on sale there for 25% off) or any conventions (though we have specials at all of our conventions). 

Wow, the mind boggles at what to buy. Chester Brown? Julie Doucet? Jason Lutes? Seth? The main question: How big are your shelves!

§ Robert Venditti, creator of THE SURROGATES, has a blog! Here, he shares some concept art for his next project, THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVE, with art by Mike Huddleston.

§ Scott McCloud has a little bit more on the influence of the silent GI JOE issue, with some interesting comments that cast more light on the impact of this issue. We’ve often heard it said how important the G.I. JOE comic was to readers of its generation in helping them see comics as a storytelling medium. Are there other comics of the ’80s and ’90s that had a similar impact?

§ Even before our post yesterday on Amazon’s odd author policies, David Welsh was looking at current practices for credits, especially where the author is the selling point.
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As the New York Anime Fest starts on Friday, tonight Del Rey and the NYAF sponsor a kickoff party. Free!

The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) and Del Rey Manga today announced a party taking place from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at Dave and Buster’s (234 West 42nd Street) in NYC’s Times Square.  Jointly produced by NYAF and Del Rey Manga, this special event held on the eve of the 2009 New York Anime Festival is both a celebration of this year’s NYAF as well as a celebration of Del Rey Manga’s Fifth Anniversary — and to mark this special occasion, NYAF and Del Rey Manga invite fans and professionals to partake in food, drink, giveaways, and a cake crafted by Baltimore’s famed Charm City Cakes specifically for the NYAF and Del Rey Manga party.
 
Free and open to the public, the NYAF and Del Rey Manga party welcomes NYAF attendees, anime fans, manga readers, industry professionals, and casual New Yorkers interested in the world of Japanese pop culture.  The party will take place in two parts…

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Via Hypebeast, a new line of on beyond tasty Jaime Hernandez T-shirts. Want, want, want.

Well, then you can enter this contest!

Kicking off a year-long series of events celebrating Peanuts’ 60th Anniversary in 2010, Peanuts announces the launch of its first-ever PEANUTS 60th Anniversary Photo Look-A-Like Contest (www.peanutsphotocontest.com), which will benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org).

Moms and dads across the country are invited to submit photos of their children looking like one of these Peanuts characters: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Schroeder, Franklin, Peppermint Patty, Marcie or Pigpen, or one of Snoopy’s classic alter-egos, Joe Cool or the World War I Flying Ace.  Submissions will be accepted through November 3.

Finalists, selected by a panel of celebrity judges, will be posted on November 11.  The public will then be able to vote for their favorite finalist through November 30.  The winners will be announced in December.

Celebrities have already kicked this off with some suggestions which you can see in the jump. Can we just say that Michael Cera/Linus really works for us?
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Recent SEC filings reveal more of how the Disney-Marvel deal went down. You can read the whole thing here, but if it gives you a headache,
Ben Fritz explains in layman’s terms.

In June, Iger made his intentions clear and the two companies embarked on a nearly three-month-long series of negotiations that involved four in-person meetings, numerous phone discussions and an intense back-and-forth over price that culminated in the $4-billion deal announced Aug. 31.

Plus, lots of Marvel execs made lots of money on the deal. No shock there.

Meanwhile, the search for a new Disney studio head goes on, following Dick Cook’s abrupt departure.:

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger must act quickly to replace studio head Dick Cook to avoid further destabilizing the Burbank-based movie operation.

Cook’s abrupt departure Friday is upsetting employees, many of whom are finding it difficult to focus on work because they are anxious about their future. In addition, stars and filmmakers do not like to face uncertainty and want assurances that their projects will remain on track.

High on the list: Disney Channels Worldwide president Rich Ross, who has overseen the rampant success of things like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. He’s also been instrumental in reaching the boys with Disney XD. Not too much to parse in regards to Marvel developments except that mark our words — DAZZLER: THE MUSICAL.

§ Are they really gearing up for a second GHOST RIDER film? Looks like it. Star Nicolas Cage and writer David S. Goyer are expected to jump on the flaming motorcycle again. The move is part of a flurry of activity regarding Marvel characters at rival studios, now that Disney has bought the Marvel library:

Fox is: rebooting “Fantastic Four” with “Green Lantern” scribe Michael Green and producer Akiva Goldsman; mobilizing a “Wolverine” sequel and several “X-Men” spinoffs; is quietly developing a new version of “Daredevil” and working on a Silver Surfer film. Sony recently set James Vanderbilt to write the fifth and sixth installments of “Spider-Man,” and Universal continues work on “Sub-Mariner.” Paramount continues as distributor for “Iron Man 2” and several others expected to include “Thor” and “Captain America.”

§ Meanwhile, a few toys that were kicking around on the living room floor are being cleaned up for the screen. Barbie, at long last, is being developed for the big screen, following a successful series of low budget direct to DVD movies:

According to Mattel, the 50-year-old Barbie has 99% worldwide brand awareness, and it’s the No. 1 girls property in the toy industry, the top doll property in the U.S., and the No. 1 worldwide property in the traditional toy industry.

“Barbie is the most famous doll in history, a unique cultural icon in the world of brands,” said Universal Pictures chairman Marc Shmuger. “So many representations of Barbie frequent pop culture. We’re grateful to Mattel for entrusting us with this extraordinary opportunity.”

Mark said the next step will be to canvass writers and decide on a creative take for a family-friendly movie.

Gee whiz, the possibilities are endless! Maybe Barbie can be a dentist. Or a veterinarian! Or a astrophysicist! Maybe they will bring Skipper, Cock-Ring Ken, and potty-training Kelly along for the ride.

On the boys side, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe are also getting a revamp, landing at Sony after some false starts at Warner Bros.

The fantasy actioner will revolve around a prince who becomes the warrior He-Man and battles the evil Skeletor for control of his magical homeland, Eternia.

John Stevenson (“Kung Fu Panda”) had previously been attached to direct, with Justin Marks and Evan Daugherty having penned versions of the script. Rights to those scripts now belong to WB, meaning a new writer will likely be hired.

Both deals were negotiated by CAA, which reps Mattel.

§ Remember Platinum Studios and their library of 5,600 characters — bigger than Marvel, even? Looks like things are heating up! Variety reports that producer Tony Krantz is developing MAL CHANCE.

“Mal Chance” tells the story of Lola, part of an ancient clan of assassins targeted for death by a powerful gangster. Her only recourse is to bring down the gangster’s entire operation with the help of an honest FBI agent who is unaware of her true identity.

Pic will be exec produced by the Greenberg Group’s Randy Greenberg and Ross Dinerstein of Flame Ventures. Greenberg recently brought in the financing for Platinum Studios’ recent film, “Dead of Night,” done with Hyde Park Entertainment and Omnilab Media.

No one seems to know exactly what the graphic novel MAL CHANCE actually is, but it’s created by Spanish creators Martin Pardo and David Morancho. Maybe it’s the same thing as RED MANTIS? Pre-awareness is not high on this.

MEANWHILE, another Platinum property, THE WEAPON, is going into production. While the book is about a Chinese-American teenage superhero, is set in Chinatown, and is filled with Chinese imagery, and will now be made into a movie, the movie version will star white Disney Channel star as “Tommy Zhou”. Which has annoyed some people. (Thanks to Kate Fitzsimons for the link.)
 
Looks like Platinum’s film slate is getting off the ground. Collider looks at some of the other Platinum projects bubbling on the stove.

UPDATE: Rich Johnston solves the MAL CHANCE mystery: it’s a Spanish comic from the ’90s originally called LOLA.