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+++++ From Newsarama at http://www.Newsarama.com/ DC's WEEKLY "52" COVER PRICE SET at $2.50 "Special Retailer Incentive Programs To Accompany Premiere" On May 10, DC Comics presents one of the most eagerly anticipated new debuts of the year: 52: WEEK 1, the first issue of the incredible weekly DCU series written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen and covers by J.G. Jones. And if 52 wasn't exciting enough already, each issue will be priced at the special, low price of $2.50 U.S. The first four issues will feature art by Joe Bennett & Ruy Jose. In addition, beginning with WEEK 2, the series will include the 10-part back-up feature "The History of the DC Universe, " written and pencilled by Dan Jurgens with inks by Art Thibert. "This is one of the most extraordinary and challenging projects ever to come from DC Comics," says Dan DiDio, Senior VP - Executive Editor, DCU. "We are the only publisher that has the ability to deliver quality and excitement like this on a weekly basis." "We've been working with Diamond and the retail community to help retailers stock 52 appropriately and to make it an event that will bring fans into comics shops each and every week," says Bob Wayne, DC ' s VP - Sales. "With that in mind, we will not collect or reprint any chapter of 52 until the final issue is published in 2007." To accompany this historic debut, DC Comics offers retailers a special ordering incentive. For the first three months of 52 (WEEKS 1-12), qualifying retailers will be allowed to make full returns on these twelve issues. Please note that retailers must meet DC's qualification levels each month to take advantage of this incentive. To qualify to make returns on 52: WEEKS 1-4, retailers must place final orders on each of these issues equal to or greater than their orders on RANN-THANAGAR WAR: INFINITE CRISIS SPECIAL #1 (DEC050245). DC Comics will announce qualification terms for 52: WEEKS 5-12 at a later date. Qualifying retailers will be required to return stripped covers from returnable issues of 52 and an affidavit of destruction to Diamond Comic Distributors at a date to be named later. Retailers will be then be issued credit for each copy, minus 10% of the cover price ($.25). 52: WEEKS 1-4 will be solicited in the March Previews (Volume XVI #3). UPDATE: In a Thursday follow-up conversation with retailer and Comic Shop News publisher Cliff Biggers, DC's Bob Wayne explained that this program was created, "to ensure that there are the maximum number of copies on the shelves the first day this book comes out." "We're trying to stress the urgency and the immediacy of 52 as a reading experience," said Wayne. "In order for that experience to be successful, you have to have an adequate supply of the book available at that retail level for the first day of the first week, and you have to make sure that readers who come in week after week are confident that the book will be there. "We're guaranteeing the book will ship every week. We're pricing it very affordably. We think this is going to create a great deal of demand for this series. You can't count on demand for something as exciting as this to work through the traditional one or two week reorder cycle. Stores would be getting those reorders several issues late, and that sort of delay becomes too much to ask of people??”both readers and retailers. We're trying to make it as easy as possible for retailers to have those books when people want them, that week of release." In a market where fast reprints have become more and more prevalent, both as individual issues and as rapid-release collected editions, this plan returns to the focus to the periodical??”in this case, a weekly periodical. "You can't wait until issue 26 comes out and assume we're going to have all 26 issues available at DC," continued Wayne. "You can't say, `I'll just wait for the first collected edition.' You gotta get in now??”it's time-released! You don't want people postponing joining this. With this low entry price and the retailer incentive program, they won't have to. There's no excuse for readers not being able to find this book on the stands. "That's also why we're saying up front that there will be no collected edition until the entire series concludes in 2007. We're assuring people right now that there will be 52 issues out before the trade. We won't ship any collected edition before the entire series is over, although it's possible that we might solicit some sort of collected edition prior to that time, considering the structure of the whole ordering cycle??”but this will be a weekly comic book experience first and foremost." Even with the overship, Wayne said that "there will be some overprinting??”but we're not talking about a massive overprint. I don't expect to have issues left after four weeks. I'm not gearing this to meet demand on a long-term basis; as I said, the way to ensure that 52 succeeds with the largest possible audience is to have it available to them on time, week after week, and that means we have to have it in stores, not in a warehouse." In any given three-month period, there will be thirteen Wednesdays/release days; does that mean that retailers will have to order that final issue on the third month sans returnability? Not at all... "The release schedule is set up so that the first issue of 52 comes out the second week of May??”May 10th??”so that retailers will be ordering through #12 in that third month, before they run out of returnability," Wayne explained. And what happens after that? "By the time retailers have ordered the first twelve issues and have gauged sales on the first few issues, the book will be sold under our standard terms to retailers. That will give people an adequate time to establish their base line and work with their traditional magical skills and runes that they use to calculate their orders all the time!" And will stores be able to keep the book on the shelves for a while before returns are due? "We have not yet finalized what the return dates are going to be on these individual titles; we will be making that decision sometime between now and the end of May," Wayne said, adding that, "We're willing to listen to suggestions." To take part in this program, as the press release indicated, retailers must order each issue in quantities equal to or greater than their orders for the Rann/Thanagar War Infinite Crisis Special. "I don't anticipate a great deal of volatility on Infinite Crisis Specials," Wayne said. "Using this book as the qualifying title should make the target number reachable by every retailer who wants to be a part of this. We don't want to make it a financial hardship so that retailers will feel reluctant to participate. And of course, we've set a low cover price on this series to help sell-through. That $2.50 cover price, coupled with our efforts to help retailers minimize their financial exposure if they have unsold copies for the first twelve weeks, will help this book reach the largest possible audience during that time." Not only is DC stressing the periodical nature of 52 over the eventual collected editions, they're also emphasizing the straight-ahead, no-gimmicks-or-incentive-covers approach as well. "We have no plans for variant covers or for incentive covers at this time," Wayne concluded. "With this returnability plan, we don't think incentives covers and variants are necessary to get this book out there so that readers can be a part of the whole event. And I think that, as consumers learn that it's only going to cost $2.50 an issue, that's going to increase the excitement for this book far more than any variant cover or ordering incentive would." RUDE ANNOUNCES SELF-PUBBING PLANS Earlier this month, creator Steve Rude took it to his fans. As Rude explained, he was mulling moving into self-publishing in the near future, but didn't know which format to take with his projects, Nexus and The Moth. Now he does. In his latest e-mail newsletter, Rude explained his publishing plan. Rude wrote: Well, the votes are in. And so is the Dude himself, as he nimbles his fingers and prepares to write once again! I've reviewed all the letters, and have picked the winner, which is Duke Harrington. Other exceptional notables, and every bit as helpful, were Keven Gardner, "Thavius", Mark Weiss, Joe Frank, Titan Comics, some guy who logged in as BL&M, and my always helpful friend, Milo George. The winner will be receiving a copy of the MOTH TPB, both the 2003 Sketchbook and 2005 Commissions book, AND the Nexus Animated DVD! I'll start off by stating something obvious-- something that I encountered as I read all the submissions; The amazing diversity of opinions. I would finish one letter delineating the virtues of why Anthologies can sell, when the next I.I.P. ( Incredibly Informed Person) will tell me why they can't. No one is wrong. At Dude Central, the word impossible, or can't, does not exist. But what does exist, and what one does need to have--is to be informed. For example, based entirely on the dazzling wit of your persuasive and informed letters , I have weighed options other than my own. As Gino and I discussed the various letters that came in daily, the word that kept coming into my game plan was--a No Fail policy. Meaning, that If I were to make this work, beat all the odds of a constantly dwindling business, and still make enough bread to keep the crew and myself happy, every plan I implement needed to have a no fail policy to back it up. To do any less is to open myself to the fate of every other self-publisher with dreams bigger than his britches. For example; consider this imminent probability... I'm anticipating stronger sales on Nexus than the Moth. Therefore, a no-fail policy would be to combine the Moth and Nexus into one book. This is what many readers asked me to consider, and it certainly made solid business-sense. Yet, something inside was bugging me. What I wanted from the beginning--were separate books. So if this combination idea made the most sense, why, why would the shrewd Dude go against a no- fail policy and deliberately risk failure? I suppose you could blame it on my intuition and stubborn personal preference. If I invite failure by not combining the Moth with Nexus, then I'll have to find another no fail policy to promote the Moth. This is where I thank everyone for the internet sources that promote comics, which I will invest much time in. So, here's how we're gonna do it, folks... 1. 4 issues of Nexus followed by... 2. 4 issues of The Moth followed by... 3. The Rude Dude anthology book followed by... 4. The Trade Paperbacks. 'Ah believe ah'm ready to rock. Thanks for all your help. Humbly Yours, The Dude FROM: DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM Lovely 'bone' Comic-inspired production redefines human anatomy by Alex Brown January 26, 2006 Zora Senat, assistant stage manager (or "Assistant Boner," as the crew called her), of a new play called Bone recently sat down with PLAY to discuss many facets of the innovative show. A Sit & Spin production, Bone is inspired by a comic created by Jeff Smith and will open Feb. 2 in Shanley Pavilion. Sitting under pink twinkling lights in her Foster-Walker Complex single, Senat, a Communication freshman, detailed a two-dimensional world of talking bones and great red dragons. PLAY: Tell me about Bone. Zora Senat: The director, Aaron Weissman, wrote it along with the help of stage manager Alex Hartzler. They took the main story out of this comic book series and made it into a play. PLAY: What's the significance of the title? ZS: There are three bones that the whole play is centered around, and they're cute little 2-foot-tall off-white puppets that look like actual bones. They have faces and arms and legs and weird bone-shaped heads. I'm very excited about the puppets. That's actually the main reason why they brought me on - they wanted some artistic help with the puppets. Every week we have what we call "Bone Class," which includes me, the director, the stage manager and the puppet designers (Katie Foster and Dan Kohler). We all collaborated to mold the clay into what we thought the bones should look like. PLAY: Are there any other puppets besides the bones? ZS: There's a big, red dragon that's comprised of a head and an arm. Chris Hejl, who plays the character, manipulates the head and the arm to make it look like a full dragon. It's really cool looking, but it's pretty creepy. PLAY: What's the set like? ZS: It's pretty intricate. There are two large wheels on either side of the stage. We're really trying to go for this comic book- y look. When the audience sees the play, we want them to think "big comic book." PLAY: What is the significance of the wheels, if any? ZS: At certain points in the play, the wheels turn to reveal 12 different scenes that are inspired by the comic book. PLAY: So if this is a comic book, who are the superheroes? ZS: The bones aren't technically superheroes because they don't really realize that what they're doing is all that heroic. They're just these three little characters who stumble into this new world, and the show is about their reactions and interactions with the population of this world. It's really hard to explain, because it's a bunch of comic books packed into one 60-page play. PLAY: What are the costumes like besides the three bones? ZS: Brittney Lower, the costume designer, is doing an awesome job, as usual. She's really taking the whole comic theme and running with it. She's making the costumes look as 2-D as possible by drawing in shadows and emphasizing shadows where they ought to be. PLAY: Is the show like Avenue Q? ZS: (Laughs.) That's what everyone says when we try to explain the show. Yes, it's very much like Avenue Q - except not a musical. - Alex Brow +++++ From ComiX-Fan at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan CAREY, BRUBAKER ANNOUNCED AS MARVEL'S NEW X-MEN WRITERS Lucifer writer Mike Carey is set to replace Peter Milligan as chronicler of Marvel Comics' X-Men series beginning with issue #188 in July, according to Wizard magazine. At his official Website, Carey spoke about his upcoming X-Men tenure, saying, "It's been very hard not saying anything about this, because it's been in the forefront of my mind every day for the past few weeks as we firmed up plotlines, team rosters, longer-term plans and so on. I've been having the time of my life, to be honest: this is exactly where I've wanted to be for the last couple of years. Now, courtesy of Messrs Marts and Quesada, I'm here, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. I hope a hundred-and-some thousand other people are too..." "Am I a lucky bastard or what?" Carey will team-up with artist Chris Bachalo, who will be replaced on Uncanny X-Men by X-23 artist Billy Tan as he joins inbound writer Ed Brubaker as that title's new creative team in July. +++++ From ICV2.com Del Rey Gets 'Air Gear' By Oh! Great January 23, 2006 Del Rey will publish Air Gear, by Tenjho Tenge creator Oh! Great, in America. An extremely popular series in Japan, where 5.5 million copies of 12 volumes are in print, the series features the story of a powerful high school wrestler who lives with two sexy and mysterious sisters. When he leads his school to victory over a team with gangster connections, the sisters help him save the school and bring him to a thrilling, and terrifying, new world. The 16 and up series will launch in on July 25th. Del Rey is making a point of letting buyers know that the series will not be edited in any way. Dynamite Ships Red Sonja Hardcover In May January 23, 2006 Dynamite Entertainment will release its first Red Sonja collection, the Red Sonja: Definitive Hardcover Collection, in May. It will collect the first six issues, plus issue #0, along with a cover gallery, a Mel Rubi sketchbook, and a tip-in sheet featuring the signatures of Michael Avon Oeming and Mel Rubi. MSRP will be $24.99. 'Priest' Movie Set to Shoot This Summer January 26, 2006 Variety is reporting that the long-in-the-works live action movie based on the Tokyopop manhwa Priest is set to begin shooting this summer. It will be directed by Andrew Douglas, who directed Amityville Horror, probably a good choice for this supernatural material. Sam Raimi is one of the producers. The priest in the story sold his soul to the devil for the power to come back from the devil and fight evil in the old West. Tokyopop has published 14 of the 15 volumes of the Priest manhwa by Min-Woo Hyung (Ragnarok). Bandai Announces 'Samurai Champloo' Film Manga For April January 26, 2006 Bandai Entertainment will launch a series of "Film Manga" (adaptations using screen shots as the images) based on the hit anime Samurai Champloo in April. Each $9.95 volume will include full-color adaptations of three episodes of the anime, plus bonus material. The bonus material in the first volume will be an interview with anime director Shinichiro Watanabe. At the announced pace, Bandai will publish nine volumes of the Samurai Champloo film manga. Bandai has previously announced Eureka 7, a traditional b/w manga, for release in its manga launch month of April. Tokyopop has previously released two volumes of a traditional manga, with original b/w art, based on Samurai Champloo. 'Manga Without Borders' Art Anthology Available in April January 27, 2006 Japanime Co. Ltd. has announced the April release of Manga Without Borders, a compendium of manga illustrations by artists from all four corners of the world. Compiled from the Manga University archives, these award-winning works reflect not only the unmistakable influence Japanese manga has had on artists in Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Oceania, but also the unique cultural perspectives those artists themselves have brought to the genre. Manga Without Borders includes an introduction by legendary Japanese manga-ka Takao Saito, creator of Golgo 13. The Manga Without Borders art anthology will have a cover price of $14.99 and will be available in the U.S. through Diamond. The Tokyo-based Japanime has previously released the Kanji de Manga box set, four volumes that use manga to help students learn how to read and write Japanese. +++++ From The SCOOP! at http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/ Neil Googe Signs DC Exclusive Industry News, Scoop, Friday, January 27, 2006 Neil Googe, whose art is seen in the series, Majestic, from DC Comics' WildStorm Productions imprint, has signed an exclusive contract with the company. "I've really enjoyed working with the guys at WildStorm, and the company on a whole has been really understanding and good to me in my first year back in comics," Googe said in a press release. "I'm also hoping I'll get the chance to sink my teeth into a few of the supporting characters of the DCU, guys like Robin, Booster Gold... there are a few others I'll be tapping various editors about...and maybe I'll even try a little writing again. All in all it should be a highly enjoyable time." "Neil's work is full of energy and excitement, and he's only just started to reach his true potential as an artist," WildStorm Executive Editor Scott Dunbier said in the release. "I look forward to seeing him continue to grow." +++++ [ALL THE RAGE and LYING IN THE GUTTERS are originally posted online on Sunday and Monday respectively so the information here is almost a week old. Other items above are more current.- D.L.] From Blair Marnell in his ALL THE RAGE Gossip Column at: http://www.SilverBulletComicBooks.com Write to him at: blairm@silverbulletcomicbooks.com RUMOUR BARRIER "I accept that the following material is rumour and gossip, intended to entertain only. I won't repeat the information inside as fact. I understand if I want the truth, I will go to Silver Bulletins. I enter freely with my mind open and my blinkers off." Now, on to the rumours . . . [NOTE: this column may be slightly edited for language. - D.L.] No Middle Ground By Blair Marnell Welcome back to another edition of ATR. We've got a lot to go over, so let's get to it. Westward Expanse There are some early rumors going around that Marvel has an event coming in June that will focus on their Western heroes. From what I hear, it will be similar to their "Marvel Monsters" and "I (Heart) Marvel" events, with various creators working on four one-shots. The characters involved are said to be drawn from the classic Marvel/Timely heroes like Two Gun Kid and Kid Colt along with a few "all new" characters. Naturally, they're also planning a Marvel Western Handbook to bring everyone up to speed. As for the creators attached to the project, lineups are hard to come by at the moment, but I hear that Eric Powell (The Goon) will be providing the covers... This Has A "Blaze Carson" Factor of Eight Out of Ten Cool Exec With A Heart of Steel As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, Patrick Zircher is moving over from Cable & Deadpool to provide the art for Daniel Knauf's (Carnivale) run on Iron Man starting with issue 7. As far as I know, Zircher is staying with the book full time. And I hear there's a chance that Knauf might stay on as well... This Has An "Extremis Enhancile" Factor of Nine Out of Ten Heart 2 Heart I hear that one of Chris Clairemont's last stories for Uncanny X- Men will be a sequel to his story from Marvel Team Up #100, which was the first time that Storm and the Black Panther were linked together romantically. The new story is said to be a lead in to their pending nuptials. However, it won't be in the regular Uncanny monthly. Instead it's going to be in Uncanny X-Men Annual #1, which should be out around June. This Has A "Bride of The Panther" Factor of Eight Out of Ten Arabian Knights According to an article in today's New York Times, Kuwait based Teshkeel Media will publish a super hero comic geared towards a Middle Eastern audience. It's called The 99 which refers to 99 qualities that embody God, according to Muslim beliefs. Reportedly, each character in the book personifies one of the 99 qualities. The article also featured a picture of the lead characters with a description of their powers: Other points of interest: Fabian Nicieza will be involved with the project in some capacity, and there are plans to piggyback the distribution of The 99 with Teshkeel's Arabic translations of Marvel comics, like X-Men and Spider-Man. Marvel has already signed with Teshkeel and Naif al-Mutawa (owner of Teshkeel) says that he is "in talks with Archie and DC Comics for similar deals." This Has A "Cosmic Rationale" Factor of Five Out of Ten Here There Be Dragons In about two weeks, Javier Grillo-Marxuach's (writer and supervising producer of Lost) will follow up his creator owned miniseries with the release of The Middleman v2 #1. ATR readers should recall, that The Middleman is an action/comedy that follows a girl named Wendy who is recruited by a secretive organization that takes on comic book style menaces. In this world, there are no superheroes. There's just The Middleman, Wendy's new partner and her comedic foil. For the sequel, Grillo- Marxuach has reteamed with Les McClaine (Jonny Crossbones) and applied the lesson gleaned from the first mini, as Grillo- Marxuach elaborates: With the new miniseries, we're basically taking everything to the next level. It actually starts the day after the first miniseries ended. Les McClaine, is a masterful artist to begin with and he's pushed his own art to the next level also. As for myself, I tried to take some things that I learned while writing the first miniseries (turning it from a TV pilot script and into a comic book) to create something that's a lot more attuned to the comic book world. It's been a real learning curve to figure out how to write effectively for comic books. As far as character, we're following Wendy's continuing arc of personal growth and part of that is her role as a superhero in training (as it were). A lot of that is gonna come from how being a member of the world's most covert organization is really going to foul up her life. I'm playing with that while broadening the scope of the adventures we can have. I think that the previous story was a little smaller in scope because we were trying to introduce other characters and the world they live in. Now, having done that, we can jump into an adventure that's really big. To start, we've got hundreds of masked wrestlers attacking an ancient martial arts master and it gets bigger from there. The action really picks up fast and furiously from the first issue. There's a character that we mentioned in the first miniseries called Sensei Pin, who is going to be the person that trains Wendy to as physically adept as the Middleman. She was hired for this job because of her mental aptitude, but she is still a 20 year girl fresh out of art school. When Sensi Peng arrives from China, he's attacked by a clan of masked wrestlers, who have chosen this particular time to lash out against the man they accuse of killing their master. Wendy and the Middleman are caught in the crossfire throughout the second miniseries. I don't want to spoil any more of the story at this point, but let's just say that a cursed Mayan pyramid features prominently in the last two issues. I think that the first Middleman miniseries was really well liked, but as a small comic from an independent publisher, it had some trouble standing out from the glut. So one of the things we've done is dropped the price on the first issue of the second mini to 99 cents. And the new first issue is a great introduction to the Middleman as an ongoing story, Hopefully, along with the trade paperback of the first miniseries that will give readers an incentive to sample the series. This Has A "Secret Rage Imperative" Factor of Ten Out of Ten Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. All contributors are required to use their real name and have a valid Email address for their columns to be published. Send Email comments to: ComicBkNet@aol.com Material for inclusion in the Emag - press releases, solicitations, column submissions, Letters to the Editor, guesses for the trivia contest should be sent to ComicBkNet@aol.com The EDITOR, not the submitter, has final approval and edit rights on ALL material. Printed comic books and advanced copies for review in the Emag should be sent via US Mail or UPS to David L. LeBlanc 84 Heather Circle Jefferson, MA 01522-1419 TO Subscribe send a message FROM the intended address to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-subscribe@yahoogroups.com TO Unsubscribe send a message FROM the address to be dropped to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com You may also unsubscribe from the Egroups Web page at the short cut below. Shortcut URL to the Egroup page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ComicBookNetworkEmag All contents COPYRIGHT 2006 The Comic Book Network. This messages may be reproduced only in its original form, and in its entirety for non-commercial purposes. Contact the original author(s) or the Editor for permission to use individual items. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ComicBookNetworkEmag/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ComicBookNetworkEmag-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
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