Three years ago, the San Diego Comic-Con started trying to bar the Salt Lake Comic Con from using the term “Comic Con”. The Salt Lake show used this legal case as an excuse for more publicity. Until now. Last week, at the San Diego show’s request, a judge placed a gag order on the Salt Lake organizers. The San Diego show seems to be concerned that the case is being tried in the court of public opinion, and they’re losing. […]

Back in the day, there was a tradition of Superman and the Flash racing each other. It began in Superman #199 in 1967, and it’s understandable that the young male readers of the time loved “who’d win” showdowns. Superman was super at everything, but the Flash was “the fastest man alive”. Which was more important, overall power or a specialized skill? Most of these races end in a tie for various plot reasons. Recently, I discovered that Snickers, the candy […]

Beasts of Burden was an award-winning series about a group of dogs (and the occasional cat) that protected their neighborhood from supernatural monster. It was written by Evan Dorkin, painted by Jill Thompson, and published by Dark Horse from 2009-2010, with occasional one-shots in 2012, 2014, and 2016. The most recent release was Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In, which was published in May 2016 and just won an Eisner for Best Single Issue/One-Shot. Now comes news that […]

Well, that was quick! (And explains why Sega was so forthcoming about taking the Sonic the Hedgehog license away from Archie.) Beginning next year, Sega will be publishing Sonic the Hedgehog comics through IDW Publishing, “the leading publisher of licensed comic books”. And that’s not just a tagline — they’re big and successful based on their many licenses, including a number of Hasbro properties (My Little Pony, Transformers) and such well-known media franchises as Ghostbusters and Jem and the Holograms. […]

In addition to their own properties, Archie Comics has been publishing the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, based on the Sega video game character, since 1993. Now, that run has ended after 24 years. Per a tweet from the official Sonic Twitter account (featuring a screenshot of the Facebook page), An important update from SEGA regarding Sonic comics: pic.twitter.com/qy9BKkmIvA — Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) July 19, 2017 “SEGA of America will conclude their Sonic the Hedgehog publishing partnership program with […]

I enjoyed reading Slam!, Boom! Studios’ roller derby comic series, so I was concerned when last month’s Previews catalog listed future issues as cancelled. The series, by Pamela Ribon and Veronica Fish, launched last November and ran monthly through issue #4 in February. Now it’s returning as a four-issue miniseries called Slam! The Next Jam with a new artist. Fish will provide the cover but interior art is by Marina Julia, who has previously worked with Boom! on an Adventure […]

Ethan Rilly does amazing work in his Pope Hats series from AdHouse. My favorite part is the main story, about roommates Vickie, an aspiring actress, and Frances, who struggles in a mundane job at a law firm. As with many self-created, detailed independent comics, it takes a while for a new issue to come out. #4 was released in May, two years ago. Rilly has posted about the next, coming issue, which concludes that storyline, with some sample art. It’s […]

My earliest venture into comic discussion online was Usenet, then CompuServe, but the first bulletin board/webforum I remember being a part of, back more than 20 years ago, were the boards at Comicon.com, a site then run by Rick Veitch and Steve Conley. There were lots of cool people there, pros and fans alike, back when online hangouts were both more egalitarian and focused. That’s also where Heidi MacDonald got her blogging start. Two years ago, she noted that the […]