Current Transmissions
Harley Quinn breaks free in stylish ‘Red Queen’ fan film
Viewers are taken inside the fractured mind of Harley Quinn in Red Queen, a dark and stylish fan film that depicts a confrontation between the fan-favorite character, her original personality and a Joker stand-in.
Directed by Salim Tighnavard from a script by Kerryn Williams, Dan Maher and Sheridyn Fisher, who stars also as Harley, the short is billed as “Episode One,” which suggests we should expect more installments.
Quote of the Day | Greg Rucka on fandom, sexism & community
“What in the name of everlovingfuck is the matter with you? Are you simply stupid? Are you just ignorant? Are you broken? Newsflash: you are owed NOTHING. Not a thing. Not a goddamn thing. This fandom, that fandom, guess what? It doesn’t belong to you.
You don’t own it. You partake in it. It’s called community.
You want something to be your thing, make a club, build a tree-fort, and do us a favor. Don’t come down.”
– writer Greg Rucka, addressing the anti-”fangirls” T-shirt specifically, and the territorial, anti-woman elements of comics fandom generally, in a blog post that should be read in its entirety
(Photo taken by Landry Walker at WonderCon Anaheim)
Dark Horse celebrates Earth Day with ‘Massive’ digital deal
As you’ve likely already been reminded by Google or morning television, today is Earth Day, a worldwide observance designed to demonstrate support for environmental protection. To celebrate the 44th annual event, Dark Horse is offering a special digital deal on an ecological cautionary tale: The Massive.
Six by 6 | Six largely forgotten heroes from Marvel’s Golden Age
Before Spider-Man, before the Fantastic Four, before even Captain America, Marvel was creating superheroes. Sure, the publisher went by Timely rather than Marvel, but it had costumed heroes — in spades. Some, like Namor, Ka-Zar and the Human Torch, were dusted off years later as memorable guest stars in other books or for trivial flashback appearances, but these veterans of the publisher’s first experiments ith the superhero genre are largely forgotten anecdotes in the publisher’s path to greatness. For some, it’s unfortunate — but for others, it’s perhaps for the best.
In this installment of ROBOT 6′s Six by 6, we cherry-pick six heroes of the late 1930s and early 1940s that didn’t fare as well as Captain America or the Sub-Mariner, and talk about when they have popped up since and why some have never been seen again.
‘Unsounded’: Fantasy rebooted
Most of the time, high fantasy is set in a world based in historical Europe. There are some wonderful backdrops there — beautiful castles, scenic farmlands and thick forests; there’s also a big challenge to the setting, however: To retain the authenticity of its historical roots, most of the characters are typically depicted as Caucasian. You can perhaps create diversity by using standard Tolkien races (dwarves, elves, orcs and such), but usually the common, everyday people often look like the same kinds encountered in Arthurian legend or a Robin Hood story.
One of the most remarkable things about Ashley Cope’s Unsounded is how she twists the formula of the typical fantasy setting. Most of the characters, for example, seem to be of African descent. How do the people of Cresce look like when dressed in Renaissance-fair garb? Pretty darned cool, it turns out. Their hairstyles are a little modern, but that’s been a problem with a lot of high fantasy.
‘Chew’ goes high fantasy with ‘Warrior Chicken Poyo’
Two years after the release of Secret Agent Poyo, a one-shot starring the cybernetic kung-fu rooster from Chew, Image Comics promises another spinoff that will put that one to shame: Warrior Chicken Poyo, again by the Chew team of John Layman and Rob Guillory.
“Secret Agent Poyo was the most important comic ever published by Image, in addition to being the best comic book ever published in the entire history of humanity,” Layman, never one for hyperbole, said in a statement. “And Warrior Chicken Poyo is SO good, it will make Secret Agent Poyo look like rancid, smelly garbage! THAT’S how good it’s going to be! Warrior Chicken Poyo will change comics forever, as well as the life of anybody who reads it.”
Related: Image Comics Solicitations for July
While Secret Agent Poyo put a James Bond slant on the world of Chew, Warrior Chicken Poyo is described as high fantasy — “The Lord of the Rings, Conan, and with a dash of The Wizard of Oz thrown in.”
Priced at $3.50, the 36-page comic includes a pinup gallery by a host of artists. Chew: Warrior Chicken Poyo #1 arrives July 9.
7,000 comic books stolen from California collector’s garage
Comic stores from Los Angeles to San Diego have been notified following the reported theft of 14 longboxes from a home in Eagle Rock, California.
Collector Adam Rose tells CBS Los Angeles that someone removed the garage-door opener from his unlocked car and entered his garage, making off with about 7,000 comic books he stored there. They represent three decades’ worth of purchases.
Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience draws more than 100,000
The first Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience, a spinoff of last fall’s Salt Lake Comic Con, attracted more than 100,000 attendees over the weekend, organizers say, making it the third-largest comics convention in the United States, behind Comic-Con International and New York Comic Con.
“I’ve said all along that we have the best fans in the world right here in the western United States, and they proved it again with their support and attendance at Salt Lake Comic Con FanX,” Salt Lake Comic Con founder Dan Farr said in a statement. ”We set our sights high with a goal of 100,000 attendees and because of the tremendous backing and encouragement from the fans we knew that we could achieve this lofty achievement.”
Comics A.M. | Man sentenced for role in plot to kill cartoonist
Mohammad Hassan Khalid
Legal | Mohammad Hassan Khalid was sentenced last week in Philadelphia to five years in prison for his part in a failed 2009 plan to kill Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who drew the head of the Prophet Mohammed on the body of a dog. Khalid, now 20, was a teenager and an honors student when he became involved with Colleen LaRose, aka “Jihad Jane,” who in January was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her part in the plot. Prosecutors pointed to the fact that Khalid also translated violent jihad videos into English, which may have helped recruit new terrorists, but they also asked for leniency because he cooperated with them after his arrest. The defense claimed he was simply a vulnerable, awkward teenager who has since been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Khalid, who had been offered a full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University but was arrested before graduating from high school, will get credit for the three years he has already served in prison. [Reuters]
Talking Comics with Tim | Nat Gertler on 10th anniversary of 24 Hour Comics Day
Thursday marks 10 years since the first 24 Hour Comics Day. In recognition of this milestone, Nat Gertler, who organized that first day and orchestrated the event annually through 2007, was more than happy to share his recollections of its formation. One detail that surprised was that the 2005 collection features the first sold story by award-winning artist Fiona Staples.
In addition, Gertler briefly chats about his work on Kaboom’s Peanuts series, as well as his publisher search for Tess Fowler‘s Jenny’s City.
‘Marvel Universe Live!’ teases stunts, explosions & Cap’s shield
Feld Entertainment has released a new look behind the scenes of Marvel Universe Live!, complete with explosions, flipping S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles, dirtbikes, a skateboarder, Captain America’s flying shield … and a cameo by Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada.
Employing a combination of state-of-the-art special effects, pyrotechnics and aerial stunts, the multimillion-dollar arena tour show centers on the Cosmic Cube, which has been split into pieces by Thor to keep the device out of the wrong hands. But when Loki hatches a plan to clone the item’s powers, the Marvel superheroes must unite for a globe-spanning mission to secure all of the pieces before the villains can.
Fan celebrates Batman’s 75th with ‘GDBTMN’ license plate
From “All Star Batman & Robin” #2
Even if Frank Miller and Jim Lee never finish All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder — and, let’s face it, they’re never going to — they can take satisfaction in introducing a grateful world to “I’m the goddamn Batman,” a phrase that launched a thousand memes and ended at least as many comic-book arguments. (“How could Batman survive a fall from that height?” “He’s the goddamn Batman, that’s how.”)
And now it’s been immortalized on an Arizona license plate as “GDBTMN,” registered by Phoenix resident, and Batman fan, Art Landis (seen below). “I decided to finally personalize my plates, as celebration of Batman’s 75th,” he tweeted over the weekend. “I honestly didn’t think the MVD would let it happen.”
Now Landis just has to come up with something for next year, the 10th anniversary of the release of All Star Batman & Robin #1.
‘Savage Chickens’: Office humor on office supplies
Ah, Post-it notes. Legend says they was created by accident: Spenser Silver was tasked by 3M to create a super-strong adhesive, and in a folly that would rock the office world to the core, he created the exact opposite, a weak, pressure-sensitive adhesive. That invention would go on to grace the backs of small scraps of paper all over the world.
Post-it notes come in all sizes and colors these days; on my desk are blue, green, orange and hot pink Post-it notes ranging in sizes from as small as 2 inches by 2 inches to as large as 4 inches by 6 inches … although I’m told even bigger sizes exist. Still, the color and size immediately recalled when you hear “Post-it note” is the standard, pale yellow 3-inch square.
Post-it notes serve a variety of purposes: You can fold them into a paper airplane, you can paper them on your window as a tribute to Super Mario Bros., and sometimes you can take notes on them. What Doug Savage does, however, is turn them into a long-running webcomic, Savage Chickens.
Magnetic Press announces ‘Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands Omnibus’
Magnetic Press, the independent publisher launched late last year by two comics veterans, former Archaia publisher Mike Kennedy and former BOOM! Studios executive Wes Harris, has announced its third book: a hardcover collection of comics, illustrated stories and art set in Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands universe. The book, titled Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands Omnibus, will debut in July.
Dorman is best known for his Star Wars art, and he won an Eisner Award for his artwork on Aliens: Tribes, a graphic novel based on the Alien movies. His work has appeared on the cover of Heavy Metal, and he has done cover art, trading cards and toy design for a host of publishers.
Wasted Lands, on the other hand, is Dorman’s creator-owned work, a high-adventure story with Western and steampunk influences. It’s set in an industrial megalopolis linked to a forbidding outback by a vast rail system; here’s his description of the story from the official website:
Awesome Con falls way short of cosplay world record
Although an attempt on Friday to set an new world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as comic book characters fell considerably short — 1,294 people short to be exact — it did manage to attract a lot of media coverage for Washington, D.C.’s Awesome Con.
According to WUSA Channel 9, just 237 cosplayers rallied at the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool, leaving intact the record of 1,530 people set in April 2011 in China.
