Comic Book News

Alex Ross Art


02/08/2010 07:56 AM
pI was perusing some of the other comic book sites recently and one thing I noticed over at a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://www.comicbookresources.comCBR.com/a was that one of their listed sponsors was alexrossart.com, which is the site for comic book artist and painter Alex Ross. I spent some time at his site and one of the things that struck me was that he seems to have a very good business sense. Or he has at least hired someone with a very good business sense. His site is very polished, he has a good amount of recent updates, and is using his site as an additional revenue stream. pIn that revenue stream, one of the things that caught my eye was the prelim and unused sketches Ross is selling. He has art that wasn't used for projects and first drafts of other sketches that went on to become covers or pages in comics. A very innovative idea in that some would toss out those sketches while here we see one trying to sell it as a one of a kind item. p Comic book creators are very much part small business owner, another part entrepreneur, salesman, PR agent, etc., etc., etc. You got to love what it takes to make it as a successful independent creator. Some excel at certain aspects of the business side of things while others bury their heads in the sand. One would appear to need at least a certain amount of all these things to truly succeed, or at least a whole lot of talent to make up for it./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/08/alex-ross-art.htm"Alex Ross Art/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 12:56:13./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/08/alex-ross-art.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/08/alex-ross-art.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/08/alex-ross-art.htmzItl=Alex Ross Art"Email this/a/p
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World Record In Sight For Heritage Auctions


02/07/2010 06:39 PM
pa href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comicbooks.about.com/od/buyingcomics/tp/topauction.htmHeritage Auctions/a is all set to break the World Book of Guiness Records for the price of a comic sold. They are expecting it to go over $350,000 and the comic in question is Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman./p pThis latest auction, set to take place February 25-27, is a very exciting one for classic comic collectors. An enormous amount of high profile comic books are being offered up, such as Marvel Comics #1, Green Lantern #1, as well as comic strips and art such as the original cover to Thor #132 by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta. The cover to Thor #132 is set to start at twelve grand, which seems small since I've seen some recent cover art go for three to six thousand./p pThese classic comic books have two big things going for them. The nostalgia of an era where brand new characters and worlds were being created regularly and now the fascination of the kind of money it takes to secure them. We all have fantasies of finding such items at a garage sale or in our grandparents attic, and it is funny to hear that such situations are still occurring now and again. Keep your eyes peeled as that box in the attic may just contain a record breaking comic book./p pYou can see more about the auction at the a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comics.ha.com/common/auction/catalog.php?SaleNo=7017#038;ic=homepage_catalogHeritage Auctions site/a/p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/07/world-record-in-sight-for-heritage-auctions.htm"World Record In Sight For Heritage Auctions/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 23:39:39./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/07/world-record-in-sight-for-heritage-auctions.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/07/world-record-in-sight-for-heritage-auctions.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/07/world-record-in-sight-for-heritage-auctions.htmzItl=World Record In Sight For Heritage Auctions"Email this/a/p
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Only 89 More Days Till Free Comic Book Day!


01/31/2010 08:12 PM
pAh, a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comicbooks.about.com/od/conventionsandevents/p/fcbdprofile.htmFree Comic Book Day/a. It is such a delight for comic book fans to go to their favorite local comic book shop or two and pick up some free comics. We're already seeing some of the offerings, with a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://www.asylumpress.com/FCBD_2010_Preview.htmlAsylum Press/a putting out the latest with a sample from their lineup. Their comics are not for the young, or even the faint of heart, so I hope we avoid another a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://www.cbldf.org/articles/archives/000354.shtmlGordon Lee incident/a. pThe full lineup of 2010 FCBD comic books are up over on the a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://www.freecomicbookday.com/official FCBD/a site so go check them out and make a checklist of the ones you want to get and then give to spread the love of comics./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/01/only-89-more-days-till-free-comic-book-day.htm"Only 89 More Days Till Free Comic Book Day!/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 01:12:12./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/01/only-89-more-days-till-free-comic-book-day.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/01/only-89-more-days-till-free-comic-book-day.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/02/01/only-89-more-days-till-free-comic-book-day.htmzItl=Only 89 More Days Till Free Comic Book Day!"Email this/a/p
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Marvel Retailer Resource Center


01/31/2010 03:26 PM
pMarvel has taken on a pretty cool endeavor to help retailers know what Marvel titles to buy for their store fronts. For years, Marvel (and other publishers) would send out advance issues of their comic lines via UPS to comic shops all over the United States. Costly? You bet, but needed for retailers to gauge which comics they wanted as well as being a way to showcase to customers what comics were coming down the pipe. p Now, instead of getting a hard copy, retailers can access a new site that will allow them to preview the comics marvel produces online. For quite some time, comics have been moving to a digital format, with more and more of the process of creating a comic going electronic an this is just another aspect of that process. I know there will be those that say that reading it online is not the same as holding it in their hands, but it would seem that this is a win win for both retailers and Marvel. Marvel can save a lot of money by not sending out countless hard copies, some of which found their way onto auction sites, retailers can get an advance peek in a rather quick and painless fashion, there is less waste for the environment, I could keep going on. p I'm hoping to get a peek myself at the site, but you need a Diamond Distributors ID to get registered, so I'll just have to imagine it for now. Some publishers would have just cancelled sending previews to store fronts, so it was great to see Marvel take the step to put something else in place that serves not only retailers, but the bottom line as well./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/marvel-retailer-resource-center.htm"Marvel Retailer Resource Center/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 20:26:32./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/marvel-retailer-resource-center.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/marvel-retailer-resource-center.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/marvel-retailer-resource-center.htmzItl=Marvel Retailer Resource Center"Email this/a/p
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ECCC Monsters and Dames Convention Book


01/30/2010 08:03 PM
pimg src=http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/5/s/mnd10cover.jpg align=left width=110 height=170 border=0One of the great things about conventions are the exclusive material available only while your there. You won't be able to find them at your local comic book shop, and if you try to buy them at an auction site like eBay, you can expect to pay a pretty penny. The Emerald City Comic Con has recently announced their latest convention exclusive, the Monsters and Dames Artbook./p pFrom the press release:/p pThis full-color, 9x12, 48-page hardcover is limited to only 850 individually numbered copies and features contributions from artists such as Tim Sale, Mike Allred, Darick Robertson, Whilce Portacio, Eric Basaldua, Aaron Lopresti, Philip Tan, Michael Golden, Carlos D'Anda, Brian Churilla, Gabriel Hardman, Jamie McKelvie, Jim Rugg, Timothy Green, Steve Rolston, Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, Mark Texeira and dozens more!/p pThis book is packed with some fantastic artwork and can be previewed in the a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comicbooks.about.com/od/emeraldcitycomiccon/ig/ECCC-2010---Artbook/index.htmECCC 2010 Monsters and Dames Preview Gallery/a. It is worth a look and may just be worth a trip to the pacific northwest to pick up./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/eccc-monsters-and-dames-convention-book.htm"ECCC Monsters and Dames Convention Book/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 01:03:43./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/eccc-monsters-and-dames-convention-book.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/eccc-monsters-and-dames-convention-book.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/31/eccc-monsters-and-dames-convention-book.htmzItl=ECCC Monsters and Dames Convention Book"Email this/a/p
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Comics Sweeping Theodore Geisel Awards


01/24/2010 07:53 PM
pThis past year, a comic book has swept the Theodore Geisel Awards. For those of you who don't know who Theodore Geisel is, you may know him by his other name, Dr. Seuss. From the Geisel Award website - The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The winner for 2010 is Benny and Penny and the Big No No!, written by Geoffrey Hayes and published by TOON Books. pOne of the groups that is really embracing comic books is the librarian. Graphic novels are really becoming more and more in the spotlight and I know that the focus of most recent librarian conference was solely on comic books and graphic novels. This kind of thing has really elevated comics into the public mindset and we are now seeing more comics for young and early readers, such as the winner above. It's is awesome to see a comic book receive such a prestigious award and I look forward to checking it out./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/25/comics-sweeping-theodore-geisel-awards.htm"Comics Sweeping Theodore Geisel Awards/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 00:53:30./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/25/comics-sweeping-theodore-geisel-awards.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/25/comics-sweeping-theodore-geisel-awards.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/25/comics-sweeping-theodore-geisel-awards.htmzItl=Comics Sweeping Theodore Geisel Awards"Email this/a/p
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Comic Book Artists - The New Classic Illustrators?


01/23/2010 07:38 PM
pimg src=http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/u/Q/lexluthor.jpg align=left width=110 height=170 border=0/p pI'm taking a class right now entitled, Advanced Studies in Children's Literature, and one of the assignments was to look at some of the classic illustrators of early children's book works. The thing that caught my eye was how detailed these artists were. Many of today's children's illustrators have a more cartoony style but these artists drew lavish pieces of highly detailed art depicting elements of the story. These illustrators really reminded me of some of today's comic book artists. One in particular was L. Leslie Brooke, who illustrated classic nursery rhymes and fables in the book Golden Goose. When I saw his art, I swear I saw an uncanny resemblance to the work of Frank Quietly. Check out this picture from a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/goldengoose/brookegoose8.htmlThe Golden Goose/a and this one from a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/9/7/9742_400x600.jpgAll Star Superman/a. I think the resemblance in style is great and remarks to the detail that these current and classic illustrators are putting them into their work./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/24/comic-book-artists-the-new-classic-illustrators.htm"Comic Book Artists - The New Classic Illustrators?/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 00:38:16./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/24/comic-book-artists-the-new-classic-illustrators.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/24/comic-book-artists-the-new-classic-illustrators.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/24/comic-book-artists-the-new-classic-illustrators.htmzItl=Comic Book Artists - The New Classic Illustrators?"Email this/a/p
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ComicsPRO - Industry Appreciation Award


01/22/2010 07:01 PM
pComicsPRO, the new retailer organization that has been working to band together comic book retailers all over, has announced that they are going to do an Industry Appreciation Award to honor two groups of people. One for those that are in the comic business and helping to make the comic industry a better place and a second to posthumously award those that have gone before and aided the world of comics. The 2010 nominees are:/p p The 2010 nominees for the ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award:br /br / o Neil Gaimanbr /br / o Steve Geppibr /br / o Paul Levitzbr /br / o Dave Simbr /br / o Bob Wayne/p p The 2010 nominees in the posthumous category for the ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award:br / o Will Eisnerbr /br / o Carol Kalishbr /br / o Phil Seulingbr /br / o Julius Schwartz/p pIt's great to see movements to better and solidify the industry, making the industry stronger and work for fans and retailers alike. You can find more information about the awards at the a h ref=http://www.comicspro.org/ComicsPRO website/a. The awards will be given out at the annual meeting on March 25-27./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/23/comicspro-industry-appreciation-award.htm"ComicsPRO - Industry Appreciation Award/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 00:01:26./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/23/comicspro-industry-appreciation-award.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/23/comicspro-industry-appreciation-award.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/23/comicspro-industry-appreciation-award.htmzItl=ComicsPRO - Industry Appreciation Award"Email this/a/p
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Stan Lee's Coming to the ECCC


01/17/2010 08:23 PM
pThe largest convention in the northwest, the a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comicbooks.about.com/od/emeraldcitycomiccon/a/ecccprofile.htmEmerald City Comic Con/a, is making another milestone by having a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comicbooks.about.com/od/comicbookcreators/p/stanlee.htmStan Lee/a come for his first appearance to the convention. I've always wanted to meet Stan Lee, or in this case admire from afar as it were, and hope I get the chance to attend. I've heard ECCC described as one of the last good comic conventions where the major focus is about the actual comics. With the economy the way it is and money being so tight, I was doubting my attendance, but this one is going to be so hard to miss./p pI've always wanted to meet Stan Lee as he has given so much to the world of comics. He still works hard to be an ambassador for the comic book world and whether you agree with him or not, without him comic books would not be the same./p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/18/stan-lees-coming-to-the-eccc.htm"Stan Lee's Coming to the ECCC/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 01:23:57./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/18/stan-lees-coming-to-the-eccc.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/18/stan-lees-coming-to-the-eccc.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/18/stan-lees-coming-to-the-eccc.htmzItl=Stan Lee's Coming to the ECCC"Email this/a/p
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Smartphone and Laptop GelaSkins


01/16/2010 07:35 PM
pComic book fans are always looking for cool ways to accessorize their lives with comic related material. T-shirts and other clothing are the obvious choice, but lately there have been many new ways to showcase your favorite comic characters. Tattoos, desktop wallpapers, and art on the wall are just a few. I recently got a press release about GelaSkins, a company that makes cell phone and laptop skins. They have just garnered a deal to make skins based on Marvel characters./p pI run a Blackberry Curve, and even went so far as to download the application to make my own background, locked screen, and icon layout. Yes, a href=http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc#038;zu=http://comicbooks.about.com/od/captainamerica/p/captainamerica.htmCaptain America/a populates all of them. Take a look at some of their new line and see if something catches your fancy. I plan on getting a review item to report back on later./p pX-Menbr /br / img src=http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/-/s/X-men.JPG width=150 height=150 border=0/p pSpider-Manbr /br / img src=http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/1/s/Spiderman.JPG width=150 height=150 border=0/p pIron Manbr /br / img src=http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/0/s/Iroman_laptop.JPG width=150 height=150 border=0/p pI'm really digging the classic skins. Now if I can find a Captain America skin, I'll be all set!/p p style="background:#f5f3ef;border: 1px solid #d5d0bf;padding:.5em;"a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/17/smartphone-and-laptop-gelaskins.htm"Smartphone and Laptop GelaSkins/a originally appeared on a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/"About.com Comic Books/a on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 00:35:39./ppa href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/17/smartphone-and-laptop-gelaskins.htm"Permalink/a | a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hczu=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/17/smartphone-and-laptop-gelaskins.htm#gB3"Comment/a | a href="http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://comicbooks.about.com/b/2010/01/17/smartphone-and-laptop-gelaskins.htmzItl=Smartphone and Laptop GelaSkins"Email this/a/p
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