Joel Priddy has been posting monsters all month at his blog.

In other holiday news, Priddy’s adpatation of The Gift of the Magi will be out from HarperCollins next week.

Artist T.D. Ward contributed this piece entitled HOWL-o-ween.

Erika Terriquez, of BOOM! Production and Design gets all YO HO HO for the day. More costumes here.

Day Prize nominee Tom Williams of Draw Robot shared this piece with us.

Steve Emond, creator of EMO BOY and the upcoming HAPPYFACE, shared his seasonal drawing of the classic NEWS game Maniac Mansion with us.

Artist Jude Beers, who goes by the name Grimbro, shared his own Halloween countdown: a tribute to horror illustration great Basil Gogos. You can see more of his art here.

Newcomer Jean Arrow writes to introduce herself:
I am an up and coming comic book artist, currently working on my first comic book that I am going to debut at the Phoenix Comic Con in 2010. I am also currently mentoring under Steve Rude. You can see more of my art work at jeanarrow.deviantart.com.

Check out his Flickr set: Creatures, Creepies and Crazies.

A stunned world woke up to the news that now you can read Marvel Comics on your iPhone, via the four platforms best known for their comics offerings: Comixology, iVerse, Panelfly and Scrollmotion. A story on Marvel.com talks to EVP, Marvel Digital Media Ira Rubenstien.

Marvel digital comics availability on the iPhone Apps system joins the recently announced venture offering individual classic Marvel comics for download on Sony’s PSP device and, of course, the pioneering Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited subscription service that launched nearly two years ago and features an ever-expanding selection of over 7,000 comics!

“As technology grows, the ways fans can consume our comics must expand as well,” Rubenstein said. “We’re very cognizant of that and will continue to explore avenues to offer the widest variety of fun ways for fans to read Marvel comics. Stay tuned for announcements coming soon regarding not only more iPhones apps, but ways to enjoy Marvel digital comics on other devices!”

Although what’s available on Scrollmotion wasn’t readily apparent, Bleeding Cool had a rundown of the comics available:

Comixology: (71 issues, $1.99 each)

Age of Apocalypse #1–6
Astonishing X-Men #1–24 (Full Whedon Cassaday run)
Captain America #1–30 (Brubaker, Epting)
Marvel Zombies #1–5
X-23 #1–6

iVerse: (37 issues, $1.99 each)

Age of Apocalypse #1–6
Amazing Spider-Man #519–524
Astonishing X-Men #1–12
Captain America #1–6 (Brubaker, Epting)
Invincible Iron Man #1–6
X-23 #1–6

Panelfly (84 issues, $0.99 each)

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #1-25 (Lee, Ditko)
Amazing Spider-Man #519-524
Astonishing X-Men #1-24
Invincible Iron Man #1-16
X-23 #1-6
Age Of Apocalypse #1-6

Obviously there is some overlap, but also exclusives for each.

Most interesting, if the email we’ve gotten since the announcement is any indication, is the pricing: Comixology and iVerse have priced comics at $1.99, a dollar more than their usual offerings. Panelfly is sticking with 99 cents.

It seems that the Wizard Universe Message Board, home to seditious postings on bad customer service, personnel changes, joyless conventions and other, hoi polloi, topics, has been shut down, part of a total reworking of the Wizard Universe family of sites. Ex-Wizardeer Sean T. Collins has more:

The board was launched in 2006, at the start of Wizard’s often-shaky attempt to maintain a web presence in a comics-news scene increasingly dominated by online outlets. The WUMB was a priority for then-Editor-in-Chief Pat McCallum, who mandated daily posts from all editorial staffers as a way to increase the sense of community with readers of Wizard’s publications (at the time, there were four monthly magazines). McCallum and many other high-ranking editorial figures — among them, Wizard Editor Brian Cunningham, ToyFare Editors Zach Oat and Justin Aclin, VP Joe Yanarella, Anime Insider Editor Summer Mullins, WizardUniverse.com Editors Rick Marshall and Jim Gibbons, and Wizard and WizardUniverse.com Managing Editor, uh, me — posted on the board frequently, even though its hosting on an outside company’s server prevented its hits from being counted toward Wizard’s main site.

As mentioned, the move comes in the midst of many format changes and relaunches for Wizard roducts both in print and online. For instance, the long running price guide has also been dropped from the print magazine:

However, as the WUMB thread shows, many of Wizard’s most die-hard devotees saw the section as key to the magazine’s identity — a magazine about comics, as the opposed to general nerd-friendly pop culture touted by Wizard over the past few years and at Shamus’s GeekChicDaily e-newsletter. Coupled with the apparent move away from comics-focused conventions toward nerd-celeb-heavy shows that seems to be the Shamus/Wizard strategy for its Con War with Reed Exhibitions, the price guide’s elimination is another step away from the traditional Wizard brand, and a step toward some future Shamus 2.0, less dependent on the comics industry and its customers.

WUMB spin-off Panels on Pages has its own eulogy by Jason Kerouac.

Finally, in other Wizard-related news, Comic Foundry makes a zombie return from the dead with Last-minute Halloween Costume! Be the SCARIEST CHARACTER IN COMICS! MEEEEEow.

We don’t mean to belittle this sobering story with a funny headline, but…well we did it anyway. However, it seems that Angoulême, France, cradle of the greatest , biggest comics convention of them all, a town-spanning festival where well over 200,000 people gather just to watch Seth tie his shoes, is having the same kind of townie drama some other shows have. Tom Spurgeon has the story with this quote from Angoulêmeologist Bart Beaty:

I am so not privy to the high stakes negotiations that would take place between the town and the Festival, that I am almost tempted to just keep my mouth shut and listen to the signals. The essential problem for the moment seems to be the idea that Angouleme does not want to take on the cost (400,000 Euros) of erecting the tents and the security barriers that allow the Festival to function. Like every other government in the world, they’re faced with declining tax revenues and a financial crisis. This has led them to question whether or not the city really derives that much economic benefit from the Festival, and the suggestion that the costs of erecting tents so that publishers can sell comics should be borne by the publishers. There is also concern moving forward about future funding for the Festival for 2011-2013.

It is sad to see commerce rear its head in one of the few places that celebrated comics as an art form first, but, you know, baby needs new escargot.

Topless Robot reports that the lackluster new CGI Astro Boy movie tanked in Japan and sticks the knife in a little deeper:

PERHAPS YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN JAPAN’S MOST BELOVED CHARACTER AND STUCK HIM IN A SHITTY CG MOVIE WITH VIRTUALLY NO REGARD FOR HIS ORIGINAL STORIES, WHICH MOST OF JAPAN KNOWS BY HEART. AND PERHAPS YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE CAST NIC CAGE AS A VOICE ACTOR, BECAUSE THAT’S LIKE HIRING CHARLES MANSON AS A BABYSITTER. NEITHER OF THEM HAVE THE APPROPRIATE SKILL SETS. Seriously, Astro Boy is so popular in Japan that he’s an official citizen — really. So if you make an Astro Boy movie which can’t beat Fast & Furious in Japan, you have failed beyond all measure. Well fucking done, assholes. Well fucking done.

Seriously, can we declare a moratorium on the use of the hype phrase “He’s doing the best work of his career here” by editors, writers, publishers, etc in promotional interviews. In this case it is Mark Millar talking about Steve McNiven and their new Marvel project, NEMESIS. But after you’ve read “Spike’s work on Final Secret: Attack of the Colon Dance is the best of his career” 20 or 80 times, it begins to lose some punch.

Here’s a nice Halloween exclusive, courtesy of The Pekar Project

Pekar Project artist Rick Parker, fresh off drawing Tales from the Crypt: Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid, series “Deaditor” Jeff Newelt and Dr. Harvey Pekar concocted this Halloween treat featuring the Pekar Project artists and other frequent Pekar collaborators and subjects.

Click for larger version.

BTW, we have a ton more Halloween art to post so it’s just going to go up all day and night! Celebrate the season!

When R. Crumb does a book tour, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thus, his appearance Tuesday with Françoise Mouly in Richmond, VA has gotten lots of online coverage.

Here’s Harry Kollatz Jr. at RichmondMagazine.com.

Last night, R. Crumb entered with a pratfall that seemed to surprise the University of Richmond’s director of museums, Richard Waller. Waving and smiling, the artist tripped off a platform, his arms flailing and cap flying, and went “SPLAT!” But he dexterously rebounded with a grin. Perhaps this demonstration of agility came from the physical regime of his wife, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, herself a noted cartoonist.

Chris Pitzer has a report on the talk as well as a panel with Anders Nilsen, Kim Deitch, Hope Larson and Gabrielle Bell that was part of the week’s festivities.

The panel discussion brought in Gabrielle Bell, Kim Deitch, Hope Larson, and Anders Nilsen. All fantastic comic creators coming with different views and histories of making comics. So, that was kind of troublesome, since I wasn’t really sure how to tie them all together. Erling stepped in and suggested the scope should probably fall into creation, history (with a nod to Crumb), and publishing. He also suggested a few questions, which turned out to be very helpful.

And at Comics Worth Reading, Ben Towle has a blow by blow. Since Mouly is moderating each stop of the Crumb tour, we were wondering how she would keep it fresh, but based on this, it’s clear she’s not playing pattycake:

Next on the screen was Crumb’s two-pager, “Don’t Touch Me” (from Snatch #3) which depicts an apparent rape, followed by the “punch line” in the last panel: “I never get to come!” In a rare bit of almost-regret (maybe? almost?), Crumb recalled showing this strip to a woman he knew and being genuinely surprised by her horrified reaction. Mouly wondered though if it wasn’t his intention to shock. “I intend to shock–but I don’t want them to run away in horror!” he replied. The discomfort in the room became almost palpable when he glibly remarked about “all women having rape fantasies, right?” and mentioned that “even Freud said all women were masochistic.” Then, after a moment, “Let’s move on…”

BONUS: A picture of Crumb from 1968, taken by animator Ward Kimball, and hosted by Michael Barrier:

Ward Kimball gave me this snapshot of Robert Crumb, the great underground cartoonist, when I interviewed him for the first time, at the Disney studio on June 6, 1969. The photo is dated December 1968, which I believe is when Ward first met Crumb, in San Francisco. I was publishing Funnyworld in those days, and Ward had written to me about Crumb in November 1968: “Have you seen Robert Crumb’s new comic book, ‘SNATCH’? I dare you to run reproductions from this public hair-raiser in ‘Funnyworld.’” (No, I didn’t take him up on that dare.)

[Thanks to the fellow who wrote to us in what looked to be Romanian to send us this link.]

Wednesday past saw MarvelFest

NYC 2009 unfold at NYC’s Union Square, traditionally one of the most traversed public spaces of the city. A cold, gloomy rain dried up just in time to make for a cold, brisk night that was just the right mood for a pre-Halloween costume contest. CBR’s Josh Wigler has a report and an interview with Marvel’s MIke Pasciullo:

Was that a big reason behind bringing this event outdoors – so that you can literally drag people off the street and get them involved?

Absolutely. There’s a lot of traffic here just walking by, and when you have a spectacle or a festival like this, you kind of get their attention. They probably haven’t been to a comic book store or read a comic in years, so it’s a great opportunity for us to get that walk-by traffic. It’s basically us taking the message to the people, as opposed to trying to get the people to the message.

The entire event was a bit unorganized to say the least, but it definitely had a festive mood. While we’re still unconvinced by the motion comics format in general — it is safe to say that projection onto the side of a building did not degrade its quality — it was a fun event, and the number of cute girls dressed as Marvel characters zooming around on Segways alone made it a memorable night. Lest we be accused of sexism, there were also some cute Nightcrawlers and Spideys.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins has signed up as Odin, all-father and dad of the the hero in the Thor movie now underway.

The NY Times teams up Lizzy Ratner and Seth for some haunting views:

Even in this cheek-by-jowl town, the realm of other people’s apartments remains resolutely mysterious. Sure, New Yorkers share walls, overhear fights, inhale the sweet-spiced victories (and, all too often, failures) of sundry kitchen experiments. But the odd, unholy secrets of our neighbors’ homes remain hidden — and some of these secrets are very odd indeed. Voices whisper, spirits hover, stereos scream and stuffed animals rearrange themselves on beds. While we enjoy cozy, sleep-filled nights in our shoebox-sized sanctuaries, our neighbors toss and turn in the Gotham equivalent of Whaley House or Bly. And why not? New York is a city built on the dead, on mass graves and potter’s fields, old battlefields and spiffed-up shooting galleries. Surely some spirits are hanging around.

Via Peggy Burns

New York’s long schedule of comics conventions has its penultimate outing next weekend November 7-8, with Brooklyn’s King Con. The panel and guest lineup has been announced¸ including Al Jaffee, Harvey Pekar, Peter Kuper, Jonathan Ames, Cliff Chiang, and more. It’s worth the trip just to listen to Al Jaffee.

Kinda speaks for itself.The old order changeth,