meltblog

Check out this trailer! Javier (El Muerto) Hernandez  and Ted Seko will be launching a new co-published imprint, XOMIX COMIX. It’ll be a mini-comic anthology featuring my DEMOLITION DOVE and ZOMBIE MAN ZERO. 

Coming this Fall from XOMIX COMIX!

via: wired.com

SAN DIEGO — You just made it home from Comic-Con and are looking forward to sleeping in your parents’ basement and having something to eat other than a craptastic pretzel, but as you rummage through your ginormous swag bag you realize you got nothing but three lame television show T-shirts, a handful of temporary tattoos and a promotional poster.

We don’t want to rub it in your face, but instead of standing in line for hours to see the “Is Your Cylon Girlfriend Cheating on You?” panel in Room 907, you could have waited in line to take home one of these boutique baubles. Here are the 10 things you should have bought. 

 King Kun, designed by Jarvis and Bounty Hunter, created such a stir that gaggles of people had to be turned away. “Aesthetically, I think it’s dope,” said Jim Crawford, co-owner of Strangeco. “It’s got a gorilla-gone-punk rock thing.” King Kun sold for 75 greenbacks.

 Beastlies by our very own, Leslie. Stop by the Meltdown to get yours!
The Beastlies are handcrafted polymer clay creatures brought into this world by L.A.-artist Leslie Levings. Show attendees were seen walking past the booth again and again, unable to forget the gaze of these little fellas. Then it was just a matter of time before they plunked down the 15-20 bones necessary to adopt one.
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Wednesday, July 30th, 5:30PM
Cloonan, Moon, Ba & Lolos signing at Meltdown, Sunset Blvd location.

Thursday, July 31st, 7PM
Steve Niles & Kime Buzzelli signing at Meltdown, Sunset Blvd. location.

The highly anticipated debut episode of DC Comics “Watchmen” is now available exclusively as a free iTunes download for the next two weeks. Click the link below to download.
Watchmen Motion Comics.
*Note: It’s a big download, approx. 280 megs.

While you’re waiting for the download, why not purchase the entire TPB at 20% off.
Click here to purchase.

With the clock ticking on the film’s release, Warner Bros. has decided to eschew the traditional console videogame tie-in and is producing a pair of downloadable games based on “Watchmen.”
The studio’s Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment unit plans to publish at least two “Watchmen” game episodes, with the first coming upon the theatrical release next March and the second around the DVD launch.
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via: http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/

The big annual comic conference, Comic-Con, is underway in San Diego. Host Kai Ryssdal talks Joe Field, president of the comic retailer’s trade group ComicsPro, about the summer blockbuster movies’ impacts on comic book sales.

KAI RYSSDAL: It’s a Friday in the middle of the summertime. So let’s take a detour for a minute into something a little less weighty than energy prices and
home foreclosures, shall we? How about comic books. If you’ve ever watched the Simpsons on TV, you know the neighborhood comic book store there is a dingy, low-rent place run by a pasty-looking guy who sounds like this.

SIMPSONS CHARACTER: I’ve spent my entire life doing nothing but collecting comic books. . . . Life well spent!

Easy talk coming from a cartoon character, I know. But there’s an element of revenge of the nerds here. Because comic book stores are hot. Unlike a lot of book retailers, comic stores have actually managed to increase their business the past couple of years. One of the ways they’ve done it is to become more than just stores. Meltdown Comics here in Los Angeles has a gallery space for art. It hosts special events to draw customers in, too. Like an open mic night this past Wednesday with stand-up comics talking about comics.

COMIC: Batman, he doesn’t really find much funny. And I don’t blame him. He’s been through a lot. I think the one thing that Batman would find funny, though, would be Superman jokes. . . .

I think a lot of the reason that people like performing here is, “Oh my god, I never thought I was going to be able to do this joke, and I can.”

MATT TODD: My name’s Matt Todd. I was looking for “War Heroes #1″ by Mark Millar and Tony Harris. I dropped $40. Yeah, this is the second trip of the day.

LINDA PINE: My name’s Linda Pine and I actually . . . I started buying comic books at places like head shops. And those are creepy places, if you’re a little girl. This place is like Nirvana if you’re a little girl.

CHRIS ROSA: Chris Rosa. The stores back, maybe 15-20 years ago, had more of a secret clubhouse quality to them which now is more of an open feel. You don’t need to know every member of the Avengers to be able to walk into a store.

PINE: Meltdown’s main customer base has disposable income now. The people who come to a store like this would rather have these things than a Lexus.
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Part 1:

Part 2:

Best Short Story: “Mr. Wonderful,” by Dan Clowes, serialized in New York Times Sunday Magazine

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): Justice League of America #11: “Walls,” by Brad Meltzer and Gene Ha (DC)

Best Continuing Series: Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan, Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

Best Limited Series:The Umbrella Academy, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)

Best New Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, and Andy Owens (Dark Horse)

Best Publication for Kids: Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, by David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Publication for Teens: Laika, by Nick Abadzis (First Second)

Best Humor Publication: Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, by Nicholas Gurewitch (Dark Horse)

Best Anthology: 5, by Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon, Vasilis Lolos, and Rafael Grampa (self-published)

Best Digital Comic: Sugarshock!, by Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon,

Best Reality-Based Work: Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)

Best Graphic Album—New: Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, by David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Strips: Complete Terry and the Pirates, vol. 1, by Milton Caniff (IDW)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: I Killed Adolf Hitler, by Jason (Fantagraphics)

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According to a report from PC World, your newest way to read comic books may just be that Wii sitting in your living room.
Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha and Shogakukan – the four largest manga publishers of Japan have formed a joint venture which will bring digital versions of comics to the console. The new venture, called “Librica” will deliver comics through the Wii Ware software channel to Wii users, according to PC World, and expansion to Ninentdo DS is planned.

The launch timing and pricing of Librica was not announced.

Clearly, the distribution, which has the ability to literally put comics in living rooms will play a role in the future of manga, both in its native Japan, and in the Unites States.

The timing of the announcement, although not officially heard around the floor at San Diego Comic-Con or currently seen to be noted at any panels of the weekend comes as digital distribution of comics is seen as both one of the challenges and promises of the future of comics.
In terms of American publishers, Marvel Comics currently has thousands of its comics available online via its Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited subscription program, and DC Comics’ material has recently been made available via Warner Premiere Motion Comics. Other publishers, such as Boom Studios offer comics online via their websites and other channels.

Large-scale distribution wise, Marvel’s Digital Comics are available through its website, and Warner Bros. has a distribution deal in place with Microsoft’s Xbox, with Batman: Mad Love having debuted on the service this week, while the first chapter of Watchmen is currently available as a free download on iTunes. Warners also has distribution deal in place with Verizon’s V Cast service.

No American publishers were named in the initial report, but if “Librica” works and succeeds in reaching a larger manga audience, it certainly seems that it would be an open door for Marvel, DC, or other publishers looking to reach a larger audience, as the Wii has just been named the top console system, worldwide, with 11 million consoles sold –something which would be clearly seen in publishers eyes as 11 million households with possibly more than one potential reader inside.