It’s Friday and that means time for another round up of news and links spotted over the last few days as Richard and Joe bring you Stuff (& Possibly Nonsense):
D’oh! Simpsons Comics to end
The long-running Simpsons may be about to enter its thirtieth season on TV, but the also long-lived and successful Simpsons comics are coming to an end. It was mentioned during San Diego Comic Con and since then publisher’s Bongo have confirmed the series will end in the autumn with issue #245. As SyFy Wire notes the comics have been running since 1993, and along with Spongebob comics are Bongo’s main series; the latter is also on a hiatus so it does leave observers wondering if the publisher too will cease?
“We hate to say goodbye, so let’s just leave it at ‘Smell ya later!”
gen:LOCK
Former Time Lord David Tennant and Black Panther’s Michael B Jordan are lending their voice talents to a new animated show gen:LOCK from cult studio Rooster Teeth (see here for our review of Rooster Teeth’s recent and fab Blood Fest flick). From ScreenRant: “Set during a time of war in a dystopian future, the 3D animated gen:LOCK centers on a diverse team of young pilots recruited to operate a new generation of giant mecha, or human controlled armored robots. Creator Gray Haddock lists several classic anime titles as his inspirations for the series, including Ghost in the Shell, Gundam, Aldnoah Zero and Kiznaiver.”
Black Summer
ScienceFiction.com reports that Netflix is working on a new zombie series (surely we can never have enough undead brainmunching??), Black Summer, with Sin City’s Jaime King announced for the lead role as a mother parted from her family and forced to travel on a harrowing journey with other refugee survivors as the zombie apocalyse runs rampant. The show is the brainchild of Karl Schaefer and John Hyams who created the Z-Nation series.
More Altered Carbon
When Richard Morgan’s debut noir-SF novel Altered Carbon first came out some friends and I all wrote reviews for The Alien Online (sadly long gone, but perhaps some of you remember it), and we raved about it. Over the succeeding Takeshi Kovacs novels I went from loving it to utterly hooked, and I often wondered if the much-touted film adaptation would ever happen. Then many years later we got not a film but something even better, a high quality series from Netflix. While following the main story arc of the novel it changed around and added some new elements, as you’d expect, but I thought most of them worked well for a television adaptation, and I loved the show. So I am pleased to hear that a second series has now been greenlit, with Anthony Mackie being the new sleeve (you can be downloaded into different bodies, called sleeves) for Takeshi Kovacs. (via Live for Film)
The Pineapple
Malcy Duff announces a couple of new releases, The Pineapple: “which was featured in the ‘DCA Thomson’ exhibition, has been published by DCA Print Studio in an edition of 10. The comic features a screen printed hard cover, is hand stitched, and hand bound with cloth book binding tape from DC Thomson (which you would usually find on The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals!). I have one artist proof which I am selling, or you can buy a numbered and signed edition direct from DCA”
And Counterflow: “A collection of drawings made by Malcy Duff during and around Counterflows 2018, where Usurper were featured artists. These have been beautifully presented and published by the wonderful Jelle Crama under his ‘les niveles’ imprint in a numbered edition of 29.”
True Believers Con in Gloucester
This weekend sees the True Believers Comic Festival: Summer Variant Edition 2018 running from 11am to 4pm on Sunday 5th August at Blackfriars Priory, Ladybellegate Street, Gloucester: “The team behind Cheltenham’s popular True Believers Comic Festival are returning to Blackfriars Priory in Gloucester on Sunday 5th August 2018 for a second Summer comic con that will see comic creators from all over the country come to the city to talk about and sell their work.
With a strong focus on comic books and creativity, The True Believers Summer Variant Edition will see comic creators, artists and cosplayers taking over the city’s medieval priory. The event will feature two halls of tables selling comics, toys and original art for fans to discover and enjoy. There will also be panels and workshops designed to set people on the path of telling their own stories and creating their own art.”
““The UK comic scene has become a major force in storytelling in recent years and features some of the best stories being told in any medium at the moment” says event organiser Stuart Mulrain “It’s great to be putting on an event in my hometown that celebrates UK comics and their creators”
Among the creators who will be at the event are the hugely popular Etherington Brothers, who feature regularly in the weekly kids comic The Phoenix and are the creators behind the How To Think When You Draw series, which earlier this year became the UK’s highest funded comic book project on KickStarter.
If you’re looking for a great family day out, full of colour, creativity and comic books, the True Believers Summer Variant Edition is packed full of things to see and do. Tickets for the event are just £3.50 each for adults, with children aged 12 and under getting into the event for free with a paying adult. Tickets are available on the door or in advance from www.oktruebelievers.com/tickets.”
Shalvey on the Booker nomination
As we mentioned in last week’s Stuff, Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, published by Drawn & Quarterly, has become the first graphic novel to make the hugely prestigious Man Booker literary prize longlist. Although the Booker is open to all fiction, it is rare even the finest genre fiction such as SF makes it in, much less comics, so it’s quite a moment. Although as Irish comicker Declan Shalvey notes in an opinion piece in the Independent, there are still a lot of misconceptions about comics (all for kids or all superheroes) among many, and the media that is now making claims that the medium is “growing up” miss what we already know, and knew for a long time, that it grew up many years ago…
“Drnaso’s Sabrina being nominated for a Booker is a significant achievement, but it is not the first graphic novel to break through and receive literary acknowledgement and praise. In 1992, Art Spiegelman’s Maus won the Pulitzer Prize. In 2004, cartoonist Alison Bechdel received a MacArthur Genius Grant, while Alan Moore and Gave Gibbons’ Watchmen was named one of TIME’s 100 best novels in the following year. Jillian and Mariko Tamaki won a Caldecott in 2015 for This One Summer and in 2016, the National Book Award was awarded to March: Book 3, the final part of the graphic novel trilogy telling the events surrounding Congressman John Lewis’s activism during the Civil Rights Movement.”
Iron Fist teaser
Marvel and Netflix have a teaser trailer for the second season of Iron Fist (via ScienceFiction.com):
Kickstarter
Wow, but Julie Dillon’s artbook looks all kinds of awesome – it seems to be way over its target on Kickstarter already (always nice to see) but I’m sure she would be happy of any further support:
I’m a big fan of The Nib, and now they have a Kickstarter running for a second physical print collection, which will include work by Jillian Tamaki, Thi Bui, Joe Decie, Sarah Glidden and more:
Contains Male Nudity
The One New Street Gallery in Herne Bay hosts the exhibition Contains Male Nudity (as the title infers, it is the chaps whose skin is on display for your visual delight, for a change), from Friday 3rd of August to September 1st (via Pro Cartoonist).
Carrie Forever
Last weekend the cast for the next Star Wars film was officially announced, and among our returning heroes and villains, and a very welcome return for Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, there was also confirmation that the late Carrie Fisher will return as Princess Leia. Thankfully this is not through the clever use of CG recreation (as was done for young Leia in Rogue One), but utilising unused footage of Carrie shot for the previous film. Later on following the announcement Mark Hamill commented online: “It’s bittersweet facing my final chapter without her—she is simply irreplaceable. I’m finding solace in the fact that she won’t BE replaced and would love the worldwide outpouring of affection from those who loved her when they heard the news.” (via IO9)
Miller regains Sin City rights
Frank Miller has regained the rights to television and film adaptations of his iconic Sin City tales. (via The Hollywood Reporter)
New Venom Trailer
A second trailer for the Tom Hardy-starring Venom has appeared online this week, ahead of the movie’s release in October (via Live for Film):
“Come with us if you want to live…”
We’ve had our first proper look at the kick-ass leading ladies of the forthcoming Terminator movie being directed by Tim Miller, and produced by original Terminator director James Cameron. From left to right, Natalia Reyes as “Dani Ramos”, Mackenzie Davis as “Grace” and of course Linda Hamilton returning as the formidable “Sarah Connor”
Cartoon Round Up
Tom Gauld, one of our absolute faves, provides the latest cover artwork for the New Yorker, which of course has a long tradition of getting cracking comics creators to do their visually striking cover pieces:
And while we’re talking about Tom Gauld, here’s his “commute of the future” for New Scientist:
Open Culture directs us to Doug Gifford’s site which has every cover from the famous MAD Magazine to browse.
Chris Riddell in the Guardian:
And last week it was Happy 80th Birthday to the dear old Beano…
Fantastic tribute by young cartoonist Davey Kirkham on his Facebook – “Dennis the Geriatric and Slobber (to commemorate 80 years of The Beano)”
And here’s Emmaline Pidgen celebrating Beano on her Twitter:
Meanwhile, the Beano Official Twitter suggested that Google commemorate the occasion with a doodle… sadly not, but cool image anyway…
And here’s the 80th Birthday edition cover by Nigel Parkinson:
DC Thomson have created a special Beano: 80 Years of Fun box set (exclusive to their own site), which is a cornucopia of delights from all eight decades of the Beano – you can read Rich’s review here on the blog.