Previously on Comics: Junji Ito Heads to Toronto

Critically acclaimed horror manga creator, Junji Ito, will appear at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May where he will debut the new horror short story collection, Smashed. “Ito-sensei’s work crosses so many traditional comics boundaries, and he has such a wide and enthusiastic audience for his work,” says TCAF Artistic Director, Christopher Butcher. “Whether it’s horror fans, comics fans, manga fans, or anime fans, there are so many people that count Ito among their favourite creators in the world, thanks to the omnipresence of his work across popular media including manga, film, and anime. I know that meeting Ito-sensei will be a treasured memory for many visitors to TCAF.”

TCAF 2019 poster designed by Junji Ito

TCAF has just announced its first round of guests who will be joining Ito this year. As always, their lineup is wonderfully diverse — something Fan Expo’s North American shows could learn from.

Archival Quality Earns the 2019 McDuffie Award

Congratulations to Christina “Steenz” Stewart and WWAC alum Ivy Noelle Weir’s Archival Quality won the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics. The 2018 young adult graphic novel from Oni Press is a ghostly story that explores mental health and relationships. At the recent Long Beach Comic Con, Archival Quality was awarded this honour by a selection team comprised of “nine prominent comics and animation professionals who personally knew and worked with Mr. McDuffie and/or have demonstrated a serious commitment to his vision of excellence and inclusiveness on the page and behind the scenes.” The other nominees for the award are: Papa Cherry, Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, and The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya.

“Go Fuck Yourself Trump”

Non Sequitur political cartoonist Wiley Miller took his commentary too far last week when a cartoon titled “Bearaissance” featured scribbled profanity against Trump. The scribbles got past editorial eyes and resulted in several publications dumping the comic strip. Miller’s work has been known to be controversial, but he admits that this was indeed a mistake on his part, having scribbled “Go fuck yourself Trump” in a corner of the image and forgetting to erase it before sending it off. “Had I intended to make a statement to be understood by the readers, I would have done so in a more subtle, sophisticated manner.” His apology implied that the error was unintentional and that he had forgotten about it, but a tweet (since deleted) teasing an Easter egg in Monday’s comic implies otherwise.

The Good and Bad of Comics and Manga on Screen

Further allegations against Vic Mignogna have arisen, prompting conventions to drop him from their roster. Most recently, Funimation removed the voice actor from The Morose Mononokean 2, recasting him for season two. Fans are crying “innocent until proven guilty” and harassing the victims who have spoken up, to which Mignogna has responded on Twitter, saying, “I would NEVER condone anything approaching this whatsoever. And I call upon anyone doing it to STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY.”

Netflix’s Marvel team up has tapered off with cancellations of all but Jessica Jones and Punisher — [ETA] nevermind — but now Hulu is getting in on the Marvel streaming exclusives with the announcement of four new Marvel titles. Howard the Duck, Dazzler and Tigra, M.O.D.O.K, and Hit-Monkey will each have their own series before teaming up in an animated special called The Offenders.

The Offenders: Dazzler, Tigra, Howard the Duck, Kill-Monkey, MODOK

Millennium Films appears to be stepping back from its support of Bryan Singer as the director of their upcoming Red Sonja film, amidst allegations of sexual harassment. Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner walked back comments he made earlier praising the director, saying that the comments “came out the wrong way.” Singer has not officially been removed from the project, but, Lerner says, “I think victims should be heard and this allegation should be taken very, very seriously. I just don’t agree to judge by Twitter. I want [the accused] to be judged by the court.”

“Ultra-posable,” They Say

MacFarlane Toys announced that, in partnership with Warner Bros., the company will be producing a lineup of DC action figures. Come early 2020, MacFarlane Toys promises to bring dozens of DC Multiverse characters to “ultra-posable” life, along with vehicles and accessories.

Quick Hits

Kyle Starks’ graphic novel, Kill Them All, has been picked up by Paramount.

Greg Pak and Gang-Hyuk Lim are teaming up with a new team up of several of Marvel’s new and established Asian and Asian American superheroes in Agents of Atlas #1.

And finally, you have to read Victor LaSalle’s “love letter” to Miles Morales.

Advertisements
Wendy Browne

Wendy Browne

Publisher, mother, geek, executive assistant sith, gamer, writer, lazy succubus, blogger, bibliophile. Not necessarily in that order.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Close
Menu