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London MCM Expo Comic Village Expands to Size of Actual Village

Carl Doherty — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:59:19 +0000

When: 28^th 30^th October
Where: Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock

The all-consuming MCM expo appears to be getting bigger and more claustrophobia-inducing with each iteration, but a greater focus on movies and games doesn’t necessarily mean that the organisers have forgotten their roots.

The MCM Expo London Comic Con is apparently expanding its Comic Village by 50% area after tables for the October show sold out in record time. It’s encouraging news for the UK’s comic community, creators, and that ever-diminishing demographic who actually visit comic conventions for the comics.

“When all of the Comic Village tables were snapped up only a week after going on sale, we decided to expand the area so that some of those comic artists and writers who missed out can still come to MCM Expo London Comic Con,” commented show co-organiser Bryan Cooney.

“Attracting over a 100 top comic creators and 60,000 fans, London Comic Con is now one the most important weekends in the UK’s comics calendar, and the unprecedented demand for tables only goes to underline this.”

For further details and tickets visit www.mcmexpogroup.com/store

Sean Dietrich Takes New Kid’s Book on 10,000 Mile US Tour

PR — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:58:31 +0000

After 900 live art shows in Southern California over 11 years, Sean Dietrich hops in his car to drive his unique live painting, and a new kid’s book ‘The Fruits of Our Labor’, to the rest of the country on a six month tour to promote creative living, and arts awareness.

Press release: In the age of the internet when most artists rely on online sales to promote, or a rare decent paying, steady gig at a big company to pay the bills, Sean Dietrich is going against the grain with a six month, 10,000 mile U.S. Live Art Tour starting Aug 1st to promote several new books, including a brand new kid’s book ‘The Fruits of Our Labor’, and introduce thousands of new people to his own special brand of live art. With all the art programs being ripped out of California schools, Dietrich insists on a public tour de force to promote his books, art, and a way of life he’s spent the last 30 years developing since he first put crayon to paper. And he’s doing it all with his wife, and co-author of ‘Fruits’, and 3-year-old daughter out of the back of his Volvo and tent trailer.

Sean Dietrich’s Catalepsy

Sure, you can see artists at galleries and at comic cons every so often, but Dietrich is driving across the U.S. hitting comic stores, comic conventions, galleries, nightclubs, festivals and more to promote, in person, his books and art. While you will be able to sample the darker art Dietrich is known for, the tour itself is focusing on a new kid’s book ‘The Fruits of Our Labor’, illustrated by Dietrich and written by Rachel Dietrich and Lexi Sadler. The book itself, simply put, is AWESOME! We always tell our kids, “Eat your fruits and veggies, and you’ll grow up big and strong!”, but what do you do when you DO grow up big and strong? Well, our cast of garden grown characters will show you. By coupling fruits and veggies with occupations in an alphabet style book, such as the ‘Artistic Artichoke’, ‘Stay at Home Strawberry’, and ‘Onion the Optometrist’, we are able to teach children about different and unique things to eat, and allow them to learn about a multitude of cool job possibilities they can strive for as they grow up.

The main themes the creators are surrounding the promoting of the book with are raising awareness of healthy living, creativity with food, supplementing children’s knowledge of art, and teaching them how to apply creative thinking in their day-to-day life; a concept and commitment of the creators that hits close to home as they watch art, music and drama being taken out of the California schools because of budget cuts. In San Diego, the creators are teaming up with chefs and fitness experts to throw events that will offer demos to children, covering everything from how to make food fun, to simple exercises they can do, to discussions on how to enhance their lives creatively.

Also available on this tour will be the full line of the artist’s art prints, original art, and his new books ‘Bubbles from Atlantis’ written by Richard A. Webster, and Dietrich’s 10 yr. anniversary live art book ‘I Brought the Gutter’. Both books are also available from Colosseum Publishing online at Amazon.com and at BarnesandNoble.com.

Current tour dates are as follows with many, many more dates to follow including club dates and store signings in most of the cities:

5/31 – Poster Show @ Bar Basic (San Diego)
6/4 – Dragonfly (Hollywood, CA)
6/5 – Happenin’ Harry @ The Cat Club (Hollywood, CA)
6/23 – NOHO Studios Show (North Hollywood, CA)
6/24 – Beer and Sake Festival (San Diego, CA)
7/19 – Poems, Rhymes and Tales @ Bar Basic (San Diego, CA)
7/21 – 24th – San Diego Comic Con (San Diego, CA)
8/11 – 8/14 – Wizard World Chicago (Chicago, IL)
8/20 – 8/21 – Baltimore Comic Con (Baltimore, MD)
9/24 – Jet City Comic Con (Seattle, WA)
10/29 – 10/30 – Long Beach Comic Con (Long Beach, CA)
11/11 – 11/13 – Wizard World Austin (Austin, TX)
1/28 – 1/29 – Wizard World New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)5/31 – Poster Show @ Bar Basic (San Diego)

Sean Dietrich currently lives in San Diego (at least for the next 2 months!) and has been published since he was 15. He used his live art as a marketing tool when his first book ‘industriacide’ came out because he was too broke to buy ad space to promote, and it’s since become a successful career. Dietrich has painted at the lowliest dive bars on up to celebrity filled clubs in Beverly Hills, and has been able to maintain his status in the underground art scene in San Diego, helping new artists break into live art and make a living off of their craft. The artist has also been apart of numerous charity events raising thousands of dollars through donated paintings that are auctioned off.

Help fund the tour on Kickstarter.com: http://kck.st/lsrexT

For more information on the tour, the books, tour blog and more, log to www.industriacide.com or follow Dietrich at www.facebook.com/seandietrich.

Memorial Day Sale at Ink Pen Mutations’ Revamped Site

PR — Mon, 30 May 2011 10:45:18 +0000

Press release: Ink Pen Mutations announced today that in celebration for huge website redo they are launching a huge Memorials day sale. From May 28th to May 31st everything on their website www.inkpenmutations.com will be 30% off. All of their illustrated fiction hits including Zombie Cadence to Mother’s Urn are included in the sale. Click on the preview links to Sick and Fragile Bodies to get a sneak peek at books coming this July!

“I wanted the website to be more user friendly and inviting,” explained Ave Rose creator of Ink Pen Mutations. “Our subject matter runs a huge gamut from Apocalypse Nair to women’s issues. We needed to make sure that our website reflected the scope of the line”.

httpv://youtu.be/x6FwXYJRXJY

About Ink Pen Mutations: In 2005, founder of Ink Pen Mutations Ave Rose searched for an outlet that reflected her unique, no holds barred vision and found the world lacking and thus Ink Pen was born. Her business model was to partner with the best unconventional West Coast artists to create products that brought new ideas to established genres, formats and themes. In 2008, a permanent installation in the renowned Hive Gallery in Los Angeles was secured to give all Ink Pen artists a place to display their work. Primarily a West Coast business, Ink Pen is making the moves to go nationwide and put their avant-garde creations to the mainstream. Ink Pen Mutations:-Your underground storybook generator.

Why do Comic Books Rule the Box Office?

Terry Cronin — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:14:54 +0000

Of course, there are many successful films these days that didn’t start off in the world of comic books. But if we take a close look at the box-office results over the last five years, each year we find that a comic based film is in the top ten. The only exception was 2009, which while dominated by genre films like Avatar, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Star Trek, it’s comic book blockbuster representative was X-men Origins:Wolverine which was only the 13th top grossing film of the year. In 2008, we had both The Dark Knight and Iron Man as the top two films respectively. Iron Man 2 finished out this year as the number 3 top grossing film of the year beaten only by Toy Story and Alice in Wonderland.

It’s certainly obvious that these comic book stories are appealing to a mass audience and making movie studios a bundle. What you might not know is that comic books and filmmaking have a very special relationship. They are based on a very similar idea on how to communicate called visual story-telling.

Words and pictures have been an effective method of communication since mankind learned to draw on cave walls and the Egyptians developed their pictographs.

In fact, most television and film productions utilize a method called storyboarding before shooting their project. A storyboard is basically a sketched out comic book version of the planned film. The process involves graphically organizing the film with a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequential order for the purpose of pre-visualizing a production. This helps with communication between the director and the DP and crew because everyone already knows how the shots should look. This process allows a higher level of communication between the filmmakers than just the written word.

So my point is that basically every film begins with the production of a storyboard which is really a comic book. Comics and film synergize and really can’t be separated.

I have heard disparaging remarks that Hollywood has no imagination left and that is why they plumb the supposed lower levels of entertainment like comic books and genres like science-fiction and horror but I would tell you that Hollywood makes its decisions for financial reasons, first and foremost, and then, with communication.

Certainly you don’t mess with success take a look at the buzz over AMC’s new comic-book based series “The Walking Dead“. Since some of the bigger block-busters have come from the world of comics, Hollywood is going to continue to seek out concepts and properties from the comic book universe.

But comic books allow readers to visualize the story based on the comic book artist’s illustrations and so communication between potential developers of the comic into a show are all talking about the same imagery. They are not re-imagining what a character looks like because they already know. They do not have to imagine what happens during the story because they’ve already seen it.

Some film producers have had the foresight to remain faithful to the source material and avoid making a cardinal mistake of alienating their built-in fanbase. Examples of these films include 300, The Watchmen, and The Dark Knight. The level of star power portraying these roles has improved as well with Robert Downey, Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man, and the unforgettable Heath Ledger as the Joker. Gone are the campy portrayals of silliness by Adam West, and even, Michael Keaton. Comic book movies are serious business.

As a comic book writer and aficionado, I know that there are great properties out there that would translate well into more Hollywood blockbusters. I don’t understand why comics such as Headlocked by Michael Kingston, Zoom Suit by John Taddeo, Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, and a plethora of other greats haven’t been picked up by studios looking to make a bundle.

The best news that I can predict is that as comic books continue to dominate the box-office and the television screen, we can look forward to some more great stories coming our way from the incredible comic book universe!

Terry Cronin is the creator and writer of the comic horror-adventure series Students of the Unusual. He is also the program chairman for the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival and the Megacon Indi.

Marvel’s Villains Wreak Vengeance

Carl Doherty — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:30:57 +0000

Fear Itself #1 hit the shelves just last week, but the folks at Marvel are already are teasing us with their next big event, Vengeance, which, as Tom Brennan told IGN, will offer “an exploration of villainy in the Marvel Universe through the eyes of the next generation.”

Not the sequel to Acts of Vengeance I was hoping for, then, but an examination of the villains of the Marvel Universe from the perspective of a generation of aspiring rascals and rapscallions. Emulation appears to play a great part in the series, as writer Joe Casey and artist Nick Dragotta’s new character designs reveal; and when it comes to gaudy spandex threads these villains-in-the-making aren’t necessarily paying homage to the bad guys.

So, whereas Dark Reign put the MU’s villains behind the steering wheel, Vengeance will see them revered. Hardly a hook worthy of Civil War, but Casey a good deal to get his teeth into here; especially since we already live in an era in which drug dealers, pimps and gangsters are idolised over the puritan heroes of yesteryear.

God, I suddenly sound like a bitter old man…

Marvel vs Capcom 3 DLC List is Fake. For Now…

Carl Doherty — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:52:34 +0000

Since releasing Shuma Gorath and Jill Valentine for MvC3, Capcom have kept rather schtum on exactly who will be filling in those two additional DLC slots – though the current crisis in Japan is probably of more concern to the game’s developers.

Marvel vs Capcom 3

But this hasn’t stopped one beaver from spreading a 14-strong roster of new characters; a list that, while most assumed would be fake, is simply too tantalising to pass on. Just imagine what Capcom’s art department could do with Dr. Octopus and Jon Talbain…

Marvel
Apocalypse
Dr. Octopus
Elektra
Iceman
Juggernaut
Ms. Marvel
Thanos

Capcom
Mega Man X
Phoenix Wright
Strider Hiryu
Frank West (Dead Rising)
Gail – (Dino Crisis)
Gene – (God Hand)
Jon Talbain (Darkstalkers)

Unfortunately, these new characters apparently aren’t to be, following Christian Svensson’s dismissal of “I’ll save you all the trouble… not legit,” in an interview up at EventHubs. But, that’s exactly what they’d want us to think, I say, spoken like a true conspiracy nut.

However, if the two remaining DLC characters happen to correspond with any of the above, expect the geek community to erupt.

Michael Jai White at Black Dynamite Comic Panel

Carl Doherty — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:22:24 +0000

Where: Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, Ca 90046
When: Monday, April 4th

6:30 PM Screening
8:00 PM LIVE Podcast
9:00 PM Comic Book Signing and Live Music

Chris Hardwick will lead a panel that includes Michael Jai White (“Black Dynamite”, co-writer), Byron Minns (“Bullhorn”, co-writer), Scott Sanders (director, co-writer), Brian Ash (comic author, writer for The Boondocks) to chat about the making of the greatest Blaxploitation comedy of all time, and its extension into the comic world. There will also be a live music performance by the film’s score-master Adrian Younge and The Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra.

Black Dynamite: Slave Island

Black Dynamite Explodes in Your Face

PR — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:12:20 +0000

First issue of the BLACK DYNAMITE Comic Book to release April 2011

Press Release: Ape Entertainment, in partnership with Ars Nova, is proud to announce the release of the original 48 page one-shot Black Dynamite: Slave Island, inspired by the major motion picture Black Dynamite.

Black Dynamite: Slave Island

“Between the streets, Vietnam and the C.I.A., Black Dynamite thought he had seen it all. But nothing could have prepared him for his most dangerous mission yet! In BLACK DYNAMITE: SLAVE ISLAND, the world’s greatest Blaxploitation sensation uses his fists of fury to shut down a secret island where the Man still plays by 1850’s rules!” SLAVE ISLAND is based on a story by Michael Jai White, Byron Minns and Scott Sanders. Written by Brian Ash (The Boondocks),with inks by Jun Lofamia, one-shot is due in stores April 2011.

“We pick right up where the movie left off and continue with the same over the top action in the one-shot,” explained Brent E. Erwin, COO of Ape Entertainment. “When you are dealing with the quintessential badass, tough-as-nails hero, why would you change a thing?”

“SLAVE ISLAND is a blacktastic journey into a dynamite new world,” says the film’s director, Scott Sanders. “Ash and LoFamia created a spot-on recreation of the comics I loved as a kid, with an added Black Dynamite twist!”

Check out a preview of the book at http://www.ape-entertainment.com/marketing/BD_01_10PG_PREVIEW.pdf

For more information on Ape Comics, visit www.apecomics.com

About Ape Entertainment:

Founded in 2003, Ape Entertainment is the brainchild of lifelong comic book devotees David Hedgecock, and Brent E Erwin. Home to such popular titles as GO-GO GORILLA AND THE JUNGLE CREW, SUPERHUMAN RESOURCES, BLACK COAT, ATHENA VOLTAIRE, and THE TROUBLE WITH KATIE ROGERS, it is also the North American publisher for DreamWorks Animation licensed properties SHREK and THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR.

About Ars Nova:

Ars Nova Entertainment is a New York-based production company specializing in multi-platform programming for film, television, web and live entertainment. Upcoming projects include: BLACK DYNAMITE: THE ANIMATED SERIES and a live-action adaptation of Rick Veitch’s BRAT PACK. www.arsnovaent.com.

2011 Eagle Awards Voting Opens

Carl Doherty — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:45:56 +0000

Due to my ongoing technical problems this is going up a little late, but nevertheless: the voting selection for the 2011 Eagle Awards is now up here.

It’s a vast and varied list, too, comprising 29 categories. Voting will close at midnight BST on Monday 11 April, and the winners will be announced at the MCM Expo London Comic Con on Friday 27 May.

Having recently helped organise a national publicly voted awards ceremony myself, I now have even greater reservations towards anything which relies on the general consensus. But I still look forward to seeing what titles and creators are the preferred choice of other comic readers, if not necessarily the best choice – though I’m fully aware that whatever I/you/we think deserve to win is equally subjective.

Favourite Newcomer Writer
-Al Ewing
-Bryan Lee O’Malley
-Nick Spencer
-Paul Cornell
-Scott Snyder

Favourite Newcomer Artist
-Bryan Lee O’Malley
-Fiona Staples
-Rafael Albuquerque
-Sara Pichelli
-Sean Murphy

Favourite Writer
-Ed Brubaker
-Grant Morrison
-John Wagner
-Robert Kirkman
-Warren Ellis

Favourite Writer/Artist
-Bryan Lee O’Malley
-Darwyn Cooke
-Gabriel Ba with Fabio Moon
-Jeff Lemire
-Mike Mignola

Favourite Artist: Pencils
-Becky Cloonan
-Carlos Ezquerra
-Dave Ryan
-J. H. Williams III
-Mike Mignola

Favourite Artist: Inks
-Becky Cloonan
-Bill Sienkiewicz
-Carlos Ezquerra
-Gary Erskine
-Mike Mignola

Favourite Artist: Fully-Painted Artwork
-Alex Ross
-Ben Templesmith
-J. H. Williams III
-D’Israeli
-Jock

Favourite Colourist
-Dave Stewart
-Jeff Balke
-Laura Allred
-Laura Martin
-Len O’Grady

Favourite Letterer
-Annie Parkhouse
-Chris Eliopoulos
-Jim Campbell
-Richard Starkings
-Russ Wooton

Favourite Editor
-Matt Smith/Tharg
-Scott Allie
-Steve Wacker
-Todd McFarlane
-Tom Brevoort

Favourite Publisher
- Dark Horse
- DC Comics/Vertigo/WildStorm
- IDW
- Image Comics (inc Top Cow)
- Marvel
Favourite American Comicbook: Colour
-Amazing Spider-Man by Various (Marvel)
-Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison plus Various (DC Comics)
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight by Various (Dark Horse)
-Doctor Who by Tony Lee plus Various (IDW Publishing)
-Hellboy by Mike Mignola plus Various (Dark Horse)

Favourite American Comicbook: Black and White
-Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower (Image Comics)
-Demo Vol.2 by Brain Wood and Becky Cloonan (DC Comics)
-Echo by Terry Moore (Abstract Studio)
-RASL by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Comics)
-The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (Image Comics)

Favourite British Comicbook: Colour
-2000AD by Various (Rebellion)
-Dandy by Various (DC Thomson)
-Doctor Who Magazine by Various (Panini Comics)
-The Man of Glass by Martin Flink (Accent UK)
-Torchwood by Various (Titan Books)

Favourite British Comicbook: Black and White
-Commando by Various (DC Thomson)
-Dogbreath by Various (Futurequake Publishing)
-Futurequake by Various (Futurequake Publishing)
-Paragon by Various (David Cavendish)
-Zarjaz by Various (Futurequake Publishing)

Favourite New Comicbook
- Alan Moore’s Neonomicon by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows (Avatar Press)
- American Vampire by Stephen King, Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque (DC Comics/Vertigo)
- Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (DC Comics/Vertigo)
- War of the Independents by Dave Ryan (Red Anvil Comics)
- S.H.I.E.L.D by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver (Marvel)

Favourite Manga
-Bleach by Tite Kubo (Shueisha/Viz Media)
-Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (Shueisha/Viz Media)
-One Piece by Eiirchiro Oda (Shueisha/Viz Media)
-Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (Square Enix/Viz Media)
-Berserk by Kenatro Miura (Hakusensha/Dark Horse Comics)

Favourite European Comicbook
-Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Darguad/Dark Horse Comics)
-Sky Doll by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa (Soleil/Marvel)
-Requiem: Vampire Knight by Pat Mills and Olivier Ledroit (Nickel Editions/Panini Comics)
-The Scorpion by Desberg and Enrico Marini (Dargaud/Cinebook ltd)
-L’Histoire Secrete by Edward Gauvin and Jean-Pierre Pecau (Delcourt/Archaia Studio Press

Favourite Web-Based Comic
-Axe Cop by Malachai and Ethan Nicolle
-Freak Angels by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield
-Hark! A Vagrant! By Kate Beaton
-Questionable Content by Jeph Jaques
-xkcd.com by Randall Munroe

Favourite Single Story
-Daytripper #8 by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (DC Comics/Vertigo)
-Amazing Spider-Man #625: Endanger Species by Joseph Kelly and Max Fuimara (Marvel)
-A Cat Named Haiku by Mark Poulton and Dexter Weeks (Arcana Studio)
-Legends: The Enchanted #0 by Nick Percival (Radical Comics)
-Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark by Ryan Ottley and Jason Howard (Image Comics)

Favourite Continued Story
-The Walking Dead #73-79: Too Far Gone by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (Image Comics)
-2000AD #1650-1693: Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty (Rebellion)
-Fables #94-98: Rose Red by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham (DC Comics/Vertigo)
-Hellboy #47-49: The Storm by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo (Dark Horse)
-Invincible #71-continuing: The Viltrumite War by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley (Image Comics)

Favourite 2010 Cover
- 2000AD Prog 1700 by Jonathan Davis Hunt
- Axe Cop: Vol 1 by Ethan Nicolle
- Batwoman #0 by J.H. Williams III
- Daytripper #2 by Gabriel Bá
- War of the Independents by Dave Ryan

Favourite 2010 Original Graphic Novel
-At The Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft and Ian Culbard (SELFMADE HERO)
-Hellblazer: Pandemonium by Jamie Delano and Jock (DC Comics/Vertigo)
-Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke (IDW Publishing)
-Scott Pilgrim Vol 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Fourth Estate)
-Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis (DC Comics)

Favourite Reprint Compilation
-Absolute All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly (DC Comics)
-Batwoman: Elegy by Gregg Rucker and J.H. Williams III (DC Comics)
-Charley’s War: Great Mutiny by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun (Titan Books Ltd)
-Doctor Who: Fugitive by Tony Lee, Al Davison and Matthew Smith (IDW Publishing)
-The Walking Dead: Volume 13 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn (Image Comics)

Favourite Comics-Related Book
-75 Years of DC Comics by Paul Levitz (Taschen GmBH)
-Cover Run: The DC Comic Art of Adam Hughes by Adam Hughes (DC Comics)
-Icons: The DC Comics and Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee by Jim Lee and Bill Baker (Titan Books ltd)
-Mega-City One Archives by August Hann and Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Mongoose Publishing)
-The Horror, The Horror: Comic Books The Government Didn’t Want You To Read by Jim Trombetta and R. Spiel (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.)

Favourite Comics-Related Movie or TV Show
-The Big Bang Theory
-Iron Man 2
-Kick Ass
-Scott Pilgrim Vs the World
-The Walking Dead

Favourite Comics-Related Website
-Bleeding Cool
-Comic Attack
-Comic Book Resources
-Comics Alliance
-Girls Read Comics Too
-Newsarama.com

Favourite Magazine about Comics
-Alter Ego (TwoMorrows)
-Back Issue (TwoMorrows)
-Comic Heroes (Future Publishing)
-Tripwire (Tripwire)
-Wizard (Wizard)

Roll of Honour
-Bryan Lee O’Malley
-Carlos Ezquerra
-Dave Gibbons
-David Mazzuchelli
-John Byrne

Indie Comics Magazine #1 in Comic Shops Today

PR — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:01:01 +0000

Press Release: Comic book readers who are interested in Aazurn Publishing’s Indie Comics Magazine and did not preorder #1 need to buy today at their local comic shop, said Editor Gary Scott Beatty.

“We have no huge overprint, no digital version and no back issue sales,” Beatty explained. “Indie Comics Magazine #1 is an instant collectible.”

Appearing in the first issue is Tim Vigil (Faust), Terry Cronin (Students of the Unusual), Douglas Paskiewicz (Arsenic Lullaby), Tom Kelly (DC’s Zuda), K.J. Kolka (The Cardinal), David Branstetter (Straw Man) and Beatty himself. The painted cover is from Marcus Boas (Heavy Metal).

“It is likely this talent will never appear in the same publication together again,” said Beatty. “I’m very pleased with the diverse styles and storytelling techniques in this issue and I’m happy to be able to introduce readers to talented comic book pros with regional fan bases that deserve wider audiences.”

Indie Comics Magazine features done-in-one stories so readers can get a feel for what the featured creators can do, said Beatty. Short biographies and contact information are included so readers can easily seek out more of the creators’ work. “These details make Indie Comics Magazine a valuable resource for anyone interested in the world of independent comics. We help readers cut through the reviews and hype to experience these creators’ raw talent.”

Indie Comics Magazine #2 appears on shelves in April and #3 is slated for summer release, for preorder through the Previews comic book order catalog under Aazurn Publishing. Information is online at http://indiecomicsmagazine.com.