Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Dark Horse seems to owe much of their survival to the movies. On the one hand, they publish Star Wars tie-ins; on the other, several of their graphic novels have been adapted into successful films (Sin City, Hellboy, and now 300). Usually, a comic company tries to take advantage of that kind of free promotion by selling lots of related comics. DC, for example, had a consignment program with V for Vendetta where retailers could stock up and then return […]
Read more(Hey, at least the controversy I helped uncover doesn’t involve actual lawyers.) So, in an attempt to turn discussion in a more positive direction, I raise a topic for input and constructive suggestion: How does a volunteer group without the resources for paid staff effectively keep its members on message? What are good tools to keep focus on the group instead of individuals? In case something goes wrong, what’s a good way to restrain the over-enthusiastic without hurt feelings?
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Continuing coverage of the Friends of Lulu Empowerment Fund controversy, this time with more catfighting (at the end): Board member Leigh Dragoon has additional comments (link no longer available), including a statement that all fund contributions are being returned. …what we’ve decided to do is give all fund contributors full refunds. We contacted PayPal and, according to the customer service representative we spoke with, these refunds should go through over the next couple of days. If you contributed to the […]
Read moreFree Comic Book Day is scheduled for May 5 this year, its sixth. At this point, it’s a fairly well-established promotion for direct market comic book shops, designed to entice new customers into stores where they can be reminded comics still exist and see the variety of stories now available. In order to benefit them all, publishers create free comics (which may be new material or reprints) and offer them at reduced prices to retailers, with Diamond Distribution also pitching […]
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This year, 24 Hour Comics Day will be October 20, 2007. (It’s moved from April to put it further away from Free Comic Book Day.) Watch for more information later in the year about which locations will be holding events. Update: In the interests of providing greater context to new readers, the 24 Hour Comic is an artistic exercise created by Scott McCloud in which you attempt to create 24 pages of comics in 24 hours. 24 Hour Comics Day […]
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After last week’s revelations about the now-defunct Empowerment Fund, another Friends of Lulu board member, Leigh Dragoon, comments. Here’s an excerpt (link no longer available): 3. The Empowerment Fund is a defunct concept which Friends of Lulu will no longer be pursuing. 4. I have examined the PayPal statements. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Ronee misappropriated any funds. In fact, she donated funds. 5. We offered Fund contributors a refund period. 6. Money was spent ONLY on the […]
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I’m very happy to hear that there’s going to be another Whiteout comic. I just adore Steve Lieber’s art, and Greg Rucka’s writing has never been better than in this story of a U.S. Marshal in Antarctica. From an interview at Comic Book Resources: in the fourth quarter of 2007… Rucka and Lieber reunite for the third chapter of Carrie’s story, Whiteout: Thaw, once again from Oni Press. Like the two previous series, Thaw will likely debut as a four […]
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I guess asking questions in public does work! In response to my earlier posting about how Friends of Lulu hadn’t answered my followup questions about their Empowerment Fund, I got an email from the current president of the group, Shannon Crane. Please note that she again didn’t actually answer my second round of questions (about their timeline for wrapping this up and their 501(c)(3) status), but we do get more information about the beleaguered project. Here’s some excerpts: We did […]
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