February/March 2024 Devin’s Comics NEWS Digest
Still working on the name for this part
Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the NEWS digest, unless this is your first time here. This is an aggregation of all the top comics and comics-related stories that caught my attention that I thought you might enjoy reading. I post these two weeks after every regular newsletter.
NEWS
Lots of exciting news for fans of comics new and old this month! Let’s get the dopamine hits of nostalgia out of the way first. DC and Marvel announced that they’ll be reprinting their crossover comics, including the Amalgam Comics that smashed characters from both universes together in sometimes fun and other times baffling ways. I know plenty of people with fond memories of these, some of whom still have their originals from almost thirty years ago.
Oni Press is bringing back EC Comics as an imprint. They’re starting with the titles Epitaphs from the Abyss and Cruel Universe, and will continue with at least two monthly titles. It’s not a coincidence that one of the most famous victims of censorship is returning when book bans and other fascist tactics to restrict art and expression are on the rise in this country.
The last “everything old is new again” item is the return of the X-Men to cartoon form in X-Men ‘97, which includes updating the shapeshifter character Morph to be non-binary. This upset so many stupid people so badly that one of my favorite political commentators decided to weigh in on it.
Bridging the old and new, publisher Kodansha Comics is giving classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe) an official English translation. This series was first released in the 1960s and 70s, but this is the first time it will be available in English. Sports manga is one of my favorite genres of comics and I’m excited by this.
In other manga news, Nobel Prize-winning musician Bob Dylan was the subject of a 30-page manga by acclaimed creator Naoki Urasawa. It was made to accompany a compilation CD, but, unfortunately, probably won’t be available outside of Japan.
As for forthcoming new comics, creator
has started a new production studio. Tiny Onion will be, in Tynion’s words, an “attempt to bring the idea of an independent film production studio into the comics publishing space.” This feels like something comics could really use.I didn’t like linking to a Forbes article any more than I had to, but in more financial news, Naver, the parent company of Webtoon, is reportedly getting help from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to make the webcomics platform publicly traded. They’re reportedly looking for an initial public offering (IPO) of $4 billion. (Just typing that made me dry heave a little.)
In fun comics news, Marvel announced the one shot X-Men: The Wedding Special #1 for Pride Month and gay X-fans lost their minds over Hercules and Iceman posing as a couple. I also love this article because the writer confused Gwenpool with Spider-Gwen and I hope nobody pointed that out in the comments. Suck it, nerds!
In more good news, the European Union has passed a new law restricting the use of generative AI. This isn’t directly related to comics, but it does further limit anyone trying to use generative AI to “create” comics. In my day job, I learn a lot about cybersecurity and many of the experts I talk to think the EU is light-years ahead of the U.S. This is just another example, in my opinion.
This next link may seem like a random article that I’m including for being somewhat related to comics, but even a cursory glance at this newsletter’s output should reveal that I’m a friend of libraries and a staunch opponent to book bans (heck, see above). Here’s a history teacher writing about how he uses graphic novels to teach Black history (another target of the right wing goons behind book bans). There are reasons to be hopeful out there.
Perhaps the biggest news story of the past month was the near-total collapse of indie comics publisher Scout Comics. After one creator tweeted about not getting paid, stories started flooding in about late or nonexistent payments, bullshit charges to cover “overstock,” and all sorts of unprofessional behavior. Personally, I’d been hearing about poor communication and marketing efforts from this company for months if not years. I’m not entirely surprised, but I am angry and disappointed that so many people are getting cheated out of fair compensation for their work, which may not even see the light of day now.
Shortly after their behavior became more publicized, Scout Comics announced a partnership with Element Media, which will start in the summer. “Internet sleuths” (aka a creator on Bluesky with experience and knowledge in tracking down such publicly available information) have uncovered that Element Global, Inc., the parent company of Element Media (there’s that term again!), seems to be barely solvent and owned and operated entirely by one guy in Florida. Will this be a mutually beneficial relationship that rescues Scout Comics and all the creators they’ve cheated? Or will this be yet another example of some chiseling opportunist treating a comics publisher like an IP farm?
I feel terrible for all the creators affected by this, and I hope they aren’t too discouraged. Finding a publisher is supposed to be the realization of the dream of making art, not the end of it. I hope we all get to enjoy and appreciate their work soon.
Interviews
Fortunately, there are plenty of indie comics publishers out there producing great work while still treating talented creators fairly. SKTCHD interviewed Silver Sprocket’s Avi Ehrlich. It includes several pictures from inside the Silver Sprocket store in San Francisco that practically had me salivating.
On the creative side, here’s a conversation between Lucy Knisley, whose work Relish was one of the first comics we read, and Gaytheist creator Lonnie Mann, whose work I hope we read someday.
Awards
The Ringo Awards are open for nominations! Fans and pros alike are able to fill out a form and hope that their favorite comics, creators, and characters will be nominated for the award named after Mike Wieringo. The actual awards will be announced at Baltimore Comic-Con on September 21.
The first round of GLAAD Media Awards were announced last night in Los Angeles, and included Outstanding Comic Book going to Star Wars: Doctor Aphra by Alyssa Wong, Minkyu Jung, Natacha Bustos, Jethro Morales, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Joe Caramagna and Four-Color Heroes by Richard Fairgray winning for Outstanding Graphic Novel/Anthology.
Obituaries
There is always sad news to share, it seems. Creator Ramona Fradon died at the age of 97. She was perhaps best known for creating the superhero Metamorpho, who is set to make his feature film debut played by Anthony Carrigan. She obviously had a much longer and more interesting career than one gonzo character, and I encourage everyone to read up on her.
The death that really sent shockwaves through the comics community this past month was that of Akira Toriyama, creator of the manga Dragon Ball. Tributes and remembrances have poured in from all over the world, including a crowd in Buenos Aires, Argentina paying their respects. If I attempted to provide even a small sample of them, I’d have room for nothing else. Instead, I’ll close on one more: a short memorial from Wednesday Toast that summed up how much Toriyama’s work meant to people.
That’s all for now! I was hoping to include dispatches from ComicsPro, Indie Comics Creator Con, Awesome Con, and Emerald City Comic Con, but time got away from me. What comics news stories are you excited about? Feel free to share any thoughts or comments below! Please subscribe if you haven’t already. The Comics Book Club will be meeting again on March 20 to discuss Come Home, Indio, and you can expect another one of these sometime in mid-April. Thanks again for everything!