In case you haven’t seen the news yet, Publishers Weekly has the confirmation that Virgin Comics has for all intents and purposes shuttered its doors.
What does that mean to YOU, oh comics fan of discriminating taste and exceptional hygiene?
It means that if you had any interest in Virgin titles, now may be the time to pick some up. Here’s the listing for Virgin Comics here at HeavyInk; I’d also recommend highly perhaps their highest-profile title from the comics community perspective, the seven-issue Dan Dare miniseries by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine.
HI is out of #1 and #2, and I must’ve bought one of their last copies of #3, but #4-7 seem to be available…I expect some of their more highly regarded efforts to become quite collectible in the weeks to come, so if you’re interested, I suggest you act now.
A new volume of Atomic Robo is about to begin… and it’s looking pretty sweet! I know exactly how sweet, because I’ve got a copy right here in my hands… we just got our shipment of the HeavyInk exclusive variant cover of Atomic Robo Dogs of War Part 1! Want one?
Cool! Because everyone who gets a copy of the regular issue through HeavyInk will get a copy of the variant cover for free. Get yours!
We just rolled out a little feature: on your profile page, you can see a list of other people on the site who have similar taste in subscriptions to yourself. Maybe they’re people you already interact with, maybe not. When I find someone who likes the same stuff I do, I always like to see what they’re reading that I haven’t checked out yet… hopefully you’ll find this useful too!
This is just a little update to your profile page, which hasn’t changed much recently… Tyler and Dan are working on something much, much bigger!
ComicMix has the details on the DVD for this summer’s blockbuster Iron Man flick. Due on September 30, the two-disc set includes not only all the movie-specific googaws you could want, but also a documentary on Iron Man in the comics, entitled The Invincible Iron Man.
For that alone, I cannot wait to get this set. I’ve seen some great DVD documentaries for superhero films and TV series that actually address the comics and their creators—the Space Ghost DVD set has an AMAZING feature-length flick on Alex Toth, the Josie and the Pussycats set has a short doc on Dan DeCarlo, and the Superman: Doomsday set has a feature-length doc on (of all things) the creative process behind the Death of Superman storyline. I’ve heard there are similarly great docs on the FF2 and Daredevil sets, so I always keep my eyes open for those DVDs in the clearance bins (I like these docs, but not enough to pay full price for movies I don’t really need in my collection).
Anyways, save your pennies and dimes for this one. I have high hopes.
One of my all-time favorite comics is the classic Giffen/DeMatteis run on Justice League from the late eighties and early nineties. They were great superhero comics, first and foremost, but they also displayed a rare focus on characterization and humor.
Giffen and DeMatteis delivered a fresh take on superheroics for BOOM! Studios with Hero Squared, and they’ve made the first issue of the series available free online. Check it out, along with several other BOOM! first issues.
Virgin Comics is giving away the chance to be a REAL COMIC BOOK CHARACTER. Not like those fake ones, your Batmans or Spider-Mans or Zots. No, you will REALLY BE A REAL-LIFE COMIC BOOK CHARACTER IN A REAL LIFE COMIC.
Have you always aspired for comic book immortality? Well, here is your big break! To celebrate this fall’s debut of the highly anticipated new Virgin Comics series Nowhere Man, from the creative team of Hugh Jackman, Marc Guggenheim and Paul Gulacy, Virgin Comics is giving 5 randomly selected winners a chance to be a real Nowhere Man (or woman) and get drawn into an issue!!
Will you be a government agent? A bad-ass assassin? You’ll have to win to find out. Not only will you appear in an issue, but Hugh Jackman, Marc Guggenheim and Paul Gulacy will all personally autograph the copy of the issue that you appear in!
And if you’re not one of the few lucky winners, don’t worry… you could always be one of the ten runner-ups to receive a copy of Nowhere Man #1 autographed by Hugh Jackman!
Enter now at www.virgincomics.com/nowhereman or send an e-mail to nowhereman@virgincomics.com with DRAW ME as the subject. The contest runs through September 15th, 2008.
Nowhere Man takes place 500 years in the future, when the Earth’s population has been infected with a virus that allows an oppressive government to monitor their thoughts. It’s the Patriot Act gone haywire. But a group of rebels have engineered the ultimate weapon: a genetically altered child, born immune to the virus. He’s the only one on the planet who can bring some semblance of privacy and individuality back to the world. He is the Nowhere Man.
We’ve now built two websites using Ruby on Rails: SmartFlix.com, and some kind of online comic store thing. According to at least one source, both sites are among the 100 most popular sites built with rails:
Voting is now open for Top Cow’s Pilot Season competition. Out of a series of one-shots, two will be selected to move on to get their own series.
You’ll recall our interview with Adam Freeman on his book Genius. That’s who I voted for, but I’ve also heard good things about a few of the other books, especially the Jay Faerber title.
One of the coolest things about HeavyInk is that our community is growing to the point where it can really make an impact on the titles, publishers, and creators we love. We’ve been able to support indie books like Atomic Robo, Nearly Infamous Zango, and Johnny Hiro in ways that bigger comics retailers can’t always manage.
Now we have the chance to make a tremendous impact on one person’s life: Josh Medors. Josh is a comic book artist recently diagnosed with cancer who is facing a health battle along with the usual medical coverage concerns that independent contractors deal with on an all-too-regular basis.
The good people at BOOM! Studios are releasing a benefit book this fall, Pulp Tales, to help raise funds for Josh and his family. HeavyInk will be donating all our proceeds from sales of the book directly to Josh.
Check out the talent lineup on this book: Steve Niles and Sarah Wilkinson; B. Clay Moore, Seth Peck, and Chris Samnee; Josh Fialkov and Andy B; Kody Chamberlain; Tony Fleecs; and covers by Ben Templesmith and Josh Medors.
THAT is some good comics right there. Plus, your purchase supports a very worthy cause.
We’ll have some interviews coming up to help promote the book and tell you more about the awesome contents. In the meantime, place an order if you can, and read more about the book over at Comic Book Resources.
One of the more hysterical “webcomics” I’ve come across is Garfield Minus Garfield…and I put “webcomics” in quotes because it’s really more of a print comics satire, but there is a creative motivation involved, and it is on the web. ANYWAY!
It’s exactly what the title says—a daily Garfield strip, minus the titular cat. Instead it becomes, in the words of site creator Dan Walsh:
...a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.
There were many exciting bits of news that emerged from San Diego, but this might be my favorite, the trailer for the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series, coming this fall.
It’s like some trippy mix between the old Batman TV series and Bob Haney’s whacked-out work on the original BatB comic. Plus, that music!
