Panelology: San Diego CCI 2009 Round Up

by Brandon

In case you have been buried under a stack of Alpha Flight comics the past few days, The San Diego Comic Con wrapped up this past weekend. This weekend marked a huge landmark for the convention. Comic-Con International turned 40 this year. While the focus on comic books has been lessened in recent years by the influx of other media such as television, movies, and video games, there was plenty of comic book news to be had by all.

Welcome to the 21st Century!
While comic book news updates during big conventions like CCI are hardly a new thing, the pace at which updates hit the Internet this year was bordering on frantic. In addition to comic book news sites, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter also were alight with constant updates. Contributing to the insane amount of up-to-the-second updates was the fact that iGoogle provided free wireless throughout the convention hall. Though some fans reported spotty reception, those of not in attendance were plenty happy with the deluge of updates we received throughout the weekend.

Also in 21st Century news, it appears Dark Horse will be releasing some of their Star Wars titles for download on the ever popular iPhone. Dark Horse will start out modestly by releasing three stories from their back catalogue. Stories from Empire, Legacy, and Clone Wars will be released first. If all goes well, expect more iPhone comics from Dark Horse in the future. I guess the impact of this announcement really depends on two things. One, do you like Star Wars? Two, and more importantly, do you have an iPhone? If you're like me, an iPhone is really beyond the realm of my interest. I'm going to be interested in seeing how well this program works. And why only Star Wars? Dark Horse has plenty of great books. It just seems odd that these stories would be the one they would pursue. But congratulations to Dark Horse for pushing their technology experiments one step further!

The trend appears to be continuing throughout the medium as well. CBR has an interesting look at the prevalence of digital comics. The future is here, or at least it's coming. These new developments could be tempting especially if they cost less than $4 an issue.


Marvelous
The announcement from Marvel that they own the rights to Mick Anglo's Marvelman is without a doubt the biggest news to come out of CCI. Hand's down. I'd dare any DC, Image, or indie fanboy or fangirl to give a comparable story. Anything? Yeah, I didn't think so. The announcement has left readers with more questions than answers. What does this mean for the Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman Marvelman/Miracleman stories? Will there be new material soon? How many reprints can fans expect? Regardless of the questions, it is damn exciting news to hear that new Marvelman material will be coming down the pike despite years of legal wrangling. I'll comment more on this issue later this week.

Kirkman's Progress
I believe Robert Kirkman has already arrived as a major creative force, but if anyone needed any more proof, just take a look at his presence at CCI this year. While news of the end of his Astonishing Wolf Man comic saddened many fans, that sadness was eventually washed away by some interesting preview art for Haunt from Todd McFarlane. Whether you love Todd or loathe him (personally, I'm more the latter), this book at least sounds interesting. With Kirkman backing up the Toddster on writing duties, I think this will sell like hotcakes when it finally sees the light of day in October.


Vertigo Commits to Crime
An odd, yet welcome, announcement came from DC/Vertigo that they will be making a new crime line. Listen to the audio podcast from the panel by clicking here. In a way, I'm glad to see Vertigo putting an emphasis on the crime genre. This is the perfect place for a new focus like this. However, was it really necessary to create a new alternative comic book line within an already established alternative comic book line? DC doesn't exactly have a great track record with this type of line. Remember Helix? Paradox? Piranha? Minx? Focus? Yeah... Vertigo has already had some strong crime comics in the past. It's just a bit odd that they would want to underline it even more. Vertigo is an established name within the medium. Adding the title "Crime" to it doesn't really do anything besides giving it a cosmetic boost.

Dark Reigning on the Blackest Night
Did you know DC has a huge event going on right now involving all of the ROY G. BIV color spectrum called Blackest Night? Did you know Marvel has a mega non-event event going on right now called Dark Reign? Sweet. Jesus. The guys at DC could hardly shut the hell up about the damn event. Same with Marvel. You couldn't throw a stone at the convention without hearing about Blackest Night or Dark Reign. I mean, Sweet Jesus! Guys, I know you're the professionals and all, but this just seems like a situation of the tail wagging the dog instead of the other way around. Can't we just tell good stories without there being a thousand tie-ins?

Video Games - E3 2009 - Comic-Con '09

The Mandalorians Are a' Coming!
The second season of Star Wars: Clone Wars had a new preview trailer that was premiered at CCUI this past weekend. In a word, I would have to say it was awesome. If I had to use two words, I would probably say it was flipping awesome. It looks as if the handlers for the television show are doing all they can to bring a darker feel to this season. The bounty hunter angle looks to figure in heavily to this season's plot. Oh, and there were Mandalorians.

That's not all folks!
It really isn't all! These were just the highlights as I saw them. There were tons of media presentations from television, movies, and video games represented here that I just don't give a rat's ass about. You might, you sick and twisted reader, you. Be sure to check out San Diego Comic Con International's website for more details on the actual convention. Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, IGN, and Bleeding Cool also have a plethora of CCI news for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check those sites out for exhaustive coverage of the comings and goings of CCI.

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Can Comic Books Go Green?

by Brandon

Do you make Al Gore cry? Chances are you do if you still buy monthlies, or "floppies" if you are one of those irksome individuals who often tosses off "616" when referring to the Marvel Universe.

As you may or may not know, Earth Day was this past week. For the first time in my life, I marked the day with a sense of fervent pride because I have turned the environmental corner. That's right; I'm going Green. I feel like I almost wanted to have a Green coming out party. You know, invite some folks over, drink some water straight out of the spigot with all the lights off, eating plants I picked from the neighbor's yard as refreshments. Totally sustainable. Totally cool. Totally Green. But sadly, I didn't have a Green coming out party.

But you see, Al Gore has had somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek impact on me. As a teacher, I tease my students often about being Al Gore Friendly. I make Al Gore jokes and crack wise about crunchy granola types. But I don't hate Al Gore or environmentalists. Quite the opposite. I really do love Al Gore. I love the environment more. However, I wasn't really doing much to lower my environmental footprint. If anything, I was being a typical American and doing jack-diddly-squat.

That is until about a two months ago.

I made the switch to those reusable cloth grocery bags. I have changed all the lights in my townhouse to energy saving bulbs. I have started to change my spending patterns to buy items that have little packaging or buy items secondhand, in particular my entertainment needs such as music, books, and movies. If anything comes from this, at least my Green Karma will be in better shape than it was before. Maybe I'll reincarnate as a slug now rather a mite.

As I started my own Green Revolution, I started to look at all areas of my life, comic books included. What impact do these little flimsy books have on our dearest Mother Earth? Is my obsession with "funny books" killing our planet? Would Al Gore approve? The questions made me think long and hard about my hobby. Like a junkie, I looked at my collection and thought, "Dear God, am I a part of the problem?"

The uncomfortable answer is probably yes. God knows I have tried very hard to convince myself that I am a reader and not a collector, but my twenty some odd long-boxes tell a different story. They sit there in my second bedroom, the room I affectionately call the Fanboy Room, staring at me with big, ugly eyes that clearly state, "I am an unsustainable drain on the earth's environment." Like Jesus and Hillary Clinton, I wept at the possibilities. What about other individuals with more comics than I had? What about all of those wasted trees used to print those issues of Youngblood, Super Pro, and Rai and the Future Force that now populated the dollar bins of the local-yokel comic shops? What about that comic fan who keeps purchasing Uncanny X-Men not out of joy for reading, but the necessity to keep his anal retentive collection intact just in case the second coming of Jack Kirby happens during his life time?

Surely the Amazon River Basin defames my good name every time I open a comic book!


These dizzying questions posed quite a conundrum for me. For several days, my brain and my inner-fanboy fought an epic battle. What to do? Inspiration did not strike until I was downloading a few songs the other night on trusty iTunes. I need to make the switch to digital comics. The thought made my inner-fanboy cry foul. Why, oh why, would I want to do that? I mean, isn't part of the joy in being a comic book fan holding the book ever so carefully as you read from page to page?

Let's face it; I'm a bit of a Marvel nerd. With their recent Digital Comic push, I thought this might be a good alternative. Browsing the Marvel Digital Comics Website did little to ease my geeky mind. While there is an impressive amount of books there already, the diversity and amount just aren't there yet. The price is right for me, a notorious el-cheapo, but the amount of books just seemed all wrong. My favorite title, Punisher Max, had only a few issues, and none of them being recent issues. Many of the books were oldies but goodies, some not so much, but the fact of the matter remains; they have already been published. That did little cut down on the use of paper. And back issues no doubt already populated the bins at the aforementioned comic shop.

There are other digital services out there. A few of them are legal, but many are not. My friend Chris is always extolling to me the greatness of reading comics online from some peer-to-peer hack shop. The el-cheapo in me also likes the free price point, but I have ethical issues with reading comics online illegally, you know, because it's illegal.

What's a poor fanboy to do? To borrow a phrase from Joe Quesada, "Wait and see." While digital comics remain a possibility, I don't think the comic companies have fully caught up to the technology currently available. I'm obviously open to suggestion at this point, but it doesn't seem to be a viable option for me now. I hope these companies prove me wrong soon, but I somehow doubt it. For now, Al Gore will have to weep while I let those unread issues of Jack of Fables collect dust on the kitchen table.

Lesson learned: going Green is harder than you think for comic book fans.

FYI: You can calculate your own carbon footprint by clicking here.

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