It’s almost autumn here in the northern hemisphere, and that means that comic con season is almost over. WWACers are already planning what conventions and festivals they’ll make it to next year, but let’s take a look at a few recent events.
Comic Con Corner
Las Cruces Comic Con cosplayers turn out, including the Society for Creative Anachronisms
Oz Comic-Con in Australia returns to success for third year
Space Coast Con boasted local authors and Trekkies
“Amazing Houston Comic Con” was attended by Spider-men of all kinds
Eau Claire Con moves to new location, filled to capacity
The whole city of Florence, SC invested in con
Salt Lake City Comic Con did not skimp on the Star Wars
The fifth year of Portland’s comic con saw even more attendees
Other News
Alan Moore has announced that he’ll be retiring from comic books. The author of V for Vendetta and Watchmen just released a giant novel (see my review later this week), so perhaps we can expect more longform writing instead. Speaking of Watchmen, actor Billy Crudup, known for his portrayal of the nudist Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen, has been cast as as Barry Allen’s father in The Flash.
Entertainment Weekly sat down to chat with Margaret Atwood about her recently released Angel Catbird graphic novel. She says, “Part of the weirdness of this is that people don’t quite get why I, esteemed novelist, would be doing this, but I grew up in the ’40s when everyone read comics.” The Golden Age, indeed!
Star Trek stamps are available for purchase, but that’s not all! Trekkies can look forward to new Discovery comic books and a novel, as announced at the Mission: New York event by Star Trek writer Kirsten Beyer.
The New York Post would like us to believe that the movie industry is dying and that the murderer is the comic book industry. That same comic book industry where Stan Lee is no longer content to cameo just in Marvel movies, but has suggested DC could also use his iconic face in their films.
“LINE Webtoon, the popular digital comics publisher pioneering the development and distribution of comics worldwide, announced a new comic series from legendary comic duo Warren Ellis (Red, Iron Man: Extremis, Gun Machine) and Colleen Doran (Sandman, The Amazing Spider-Man) entitled Finality.”
Image Comics, publisher of The Walking Dead, is moving to Portland with the rest of the United States’s hipsters! ““Image moving to Portland solidifies its place as one of the three major hubs for comics in the United States, with the other two being Los Angeles and New York,” says Charles Brownstein, the executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.”
Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack) is writing the new Luke Cage project from Marvel, Cage! He’ll also be handling some of the artistic responsibilities, hopefully bringing some of his distinctive style to the project. According to the Nerdist, this Luke Cage story will not be contemporary to readers, but seems to be set in the psychedelic 70’s. Do you dig it? Don’t forget that the Netflix series debuts at the end of this month!
https://youtu.be/ytkjQvSk2VA
Zines, Zines, Everywhere
The Action Collective in Worthing, UK is putting out a new zine for outsider art. “The first issue of The Action contains features on art, local experimental noise music, outsider literature, and politics of the fiercely non-Tory kind. There is also new short fiction, poetry and art work.” It’s expected to be a lot of weird, and a lot of political.
An interview with Susan Cianciolo reveals a bit about New York’s zine culture, and the drive to create in a medium where “anything goes.”
If your heart is hurting over the loss of Gene Wilder, check out this 1970’s zine made by his fans. “Geneology” ran from 1976-1980 and was uncovered after Wilder’s death by a professor at the University of Iowa.
VICE spoke with the creators of Hate Zine to see what it is they love. This London-based publication focuses on a lot of important topics, such as mental health, and collects pieces from collaborators for each issue.
“Every year or so Pau Wau Publications releases a zine packet called Muses. Muses comes with five zines of from five artists who each focus on one person who’ll look good in photographs.”
According to the Hindustan Times, “Studio Kohl recently launched a zine titled Unfolding the Saree. Draped on a tiny metal hanger, the 24-fold zine showcases sari prints on one side, and a brochure on the many aspects of a sari on the other.”
