IDW Publishing Forums

[mister allen]

They are indeed the "omnibus" collections! Volume one should be delivered tomorrow. I can't wait to jump in and go straight through. That's three nice big books.

Thanks for the info, emb. I don't know anything about Stumble Inn, but the cover on amazon is beautiful. I look forward to reading that one (as well as the LoAC Herriman book).

[ericb33]

[emb021]

[Cnwl]

Tons to get done today, but quickly, before I get sucked into the maelstrom ...

EMB & MR. A -- I have both the KRAZY omnibus hardcovers -- bought "Vol 2" years ago at Comicopia, the fine shop in Boston's Kenmore Square, and recently acquired the new "Vol 1" (only in comics do such weird things happen such as a Vol 2 appearing before a Vol 1! And what's with "issue # 0?" Thanks, Jim Shooter, for that "innovation" ...). The Vol 1 omnibus replaces my old Eclipse softcovers of the same material -- don't forget, Dean was the original KAT reprinter. I let the Eclipse stuff go with some misgivings, because there is feature material in the Eclipse editions that the Fantagraphics editions do not contain. But shelf space is always a concern, so ...

ERICB & EMB: Dean and I have discussed BRICK BRADFORD, and continue to do so. The name sounds clunky ("brick" can be a slang term with many negative connotations -- though that's a reflection of how language changes over time, because in the '30s it wasn't unusual to say of a good-looking girl, "She's a real brick"), but Clarence Gray's BRADFORD artwork is really very nice.

IN GENERAL: [1] Hoping everyone enjoys the last weekend in May, and that U.S. residents enjoy their Memorial Day holiday! I'll be pounding the keyboard, working on GENIUS, ILLUSTRATED. [2] I've also been doing research to support POLLY & HER PALS ESSENTIALS (the 1933 dailies) and have uncovered some terrific stuff, I like to think. I expect to write a piece for the LOAC website about some of the researching process for this book. [3] FLASH GORDON/JUNGLE JIM Volume 2 is in the printing process; STEVE CANYON Vol 2 is being assembled as we "speak." I've begun work on LI'L ABNER Vol 5 text -- there'll be a lot of fun stuff in there, including the debut of Al Capp's DICK TRACY parody, "Fearless Fosdick" ...

Off to the races; have fun, everyone!
_________________
Best wishes --

- B -

[bem1]

Just bought Archie's Sunday's Funnies, and enjoyed it. It's not great literature, but it is fun to see Betty and Veronica and Archie go through their paces. And how stunning and ravishing Betty looks. I was hoping that the second part of Maggie Thompson's essay would be continued from the Archie dailies. Hopefully Dean Mullaney is working on another set of dailies, but I understand they're hard to come by.

The book itself is labelled as a best of, but it does contain most of the Sunday strips from Oct 46 to 1950, with ironically enough the fewest strips from 1950. Again I'm hoping Dean Mullaney is working on another book for Sundays. As I said, I enjoyed this book.

[Cnwl]

Whaddaya do on a rainsy Saturday? In my case, you edit STEVE CANYON Volume 2 galleys in the AM, work on the second Alex Toth book in the afternoon. The second CANYON looks terrific -- it reflects the facts, artwork, photos, and artifacts we unearthed in December-'11 during our visit to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum & Library at Ohio State, several of which will be published for the first time. Great fun bringing this stuff to light for Caniffites everywhere (Dean and I are in their number, of course!).

And Roger Ash at Westfield Comics has released an interview about Percy Crosby and our upcoming Skippy at http://westfieldcomics.com/blog/interviews-and-columns/interview-jared-gardner-on-idws-skippy-vol-1/. Well worth a look -- you'll see Crosby work on display that inspired both Charles Schulz and Bill Watterson!

Here's to a fine month of June for one and all --
_________________
Best wishes --

- B -

[emb021]

Got the latest Dick Tracy volume last week.

Have to agree with Max Allan Collins that the writing of this period was excellent. I have put up my review on Amazon. Can't wait for the next volume.

I pre-ordered the next Little Orphan Annie volume, and hope to get it soon. Can't wait to FINALLY read the full conclusion to the Shanghai Peg/Rose Chance storyline (only read the sundays of the conclusion in the Smithsonian Book years ago).

I see Hermes is finally getting their Buck Roger's volumes out. v6 is out (and ordered), and v7 comes out in a couple of months (supposedly). Sunday v2 should be out soon as well. The delays in this series has been terrible. I want them to move past the early, weaker stuff, to get to the later better stuff.
_________________
MB

[ericb33]

[Cnwl]

Hi, EricB -- FLASH 2 is at the printer's, CANYON went to the printer's within the last handful of days, and RIP Vol 5 is going to the printer's before the end of this week. I just did edits on the text section for the latter and there's some fine John Prentice info, some lively quotes, and some beautiful non-comics illustrations waiting for you!

Meanwhile, everyone may know how much I respect author Tom DeHaven and enjoy his work (the novels FUNNY PAPERS, DERBY DUGAN'S DEPRESSION FUNNIES, and DUGAN UNDER GROUND, plus the non-fiction OUR HERO: SUPERMAN ON EARTH are of especial interest to comics lovers). My Wednesday was considerably brightened when I received e-mail from Mr. DeHaven, with good words to say about my current blog entry at www.libraryofamericancomics.com. Yes, that put a B*I*G smile on my face! Very gratifying when those you admire get enjoyment from your efforts. Tom D. also mentioned how glad he is that we're continuing RIP KIRBY into the Prentice years.

Finally, hoping many of you, like me, took a moment today to think good thoughts as we send Ray Bradbury on his way to whatever lies ahead for him. He's one of the few who left an indelible and unmistakable imprint on 20th Century American letters. I never met him, but I was a great admirer since I read The Martian Chronicles at age eight or nine and had the p!ss scared out of me by his story, "Mars is Heaven!" Looking back, I think it was Bradbury who made me aware of the power of style; well worth latching on to a copy of The Stories of Ray Bradbury or Bradbury Stories if you're unfamiliar with his work ...

Time for some shut-eye, then back to work bright and early Thursday. Manoman, is Li'l Abner Volume 5 going to be a ton of fun ...!
_________________
Best wishes --

- B -

[Casey Burns]

X-9 question: Will you guys be able to include the backup story from an issue of Flash Gordon that Goodwin and Williamson did prior to taking over the strip? It'd be a great way to round out the final volume.
_________________
http://caseyburns.com
http://facebook.com/caseyburnsart
http://twitter.com/caseyburnsart

[XIII]

Ray Bradbury's favorite comic strips that he collected from 1928-1938:

http://navarrobadia.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/los-tebeos-preferidos-de-ray-bradbury.html

Buck Rogers
Flash Gordon
Cap Stubbs
Out Our Way
Mandrake the magician
Our Boarding House
Tailspin Tommy
Jungle Jim
Tim Tyler's Luck
Brick Bradford

[Cnwl]

Lotsa LOAC books hit my doorstep in the past week -- the new TRACY, ARCHIE, and LOA volumes. OUTLAND will be coming very soon, I'm told, and we know FLASH/JUNGLE JIM Vol 2 and CANYON Vol 2 are in the offing this summer, as well. Sure, I get to see what passes for galleys before our titles ship out for printing, but nuthin' but nuthin' beats having the actual, physical, finished BOOK in your hands! (So sorry, all those "digital will same comics" folks -- "Oh? The way it's saved newspapers?", is my wiseguy retort ...)

Briefly ...

"Dr." XIII -- That's a fine list of Bradbury-loved strips, isn't it? It's mighty easy to imagine Ray liking BRICK BRADFORD. So that begs the question -- what strip would you have expected to be on that list, but was not? (Me, I find it hard to believe Ray didn't like DICKIE DARE, especially when it involved Dickie stepping into fictional worlds and interacting with characters like Robin Hood ... o'course, maybe Ray never _saw_ AP strips because they weren't carried in the local paper[s] he frequented.) Most pleasant surprise on the list: Edwina's CAP STUBBS. That's a delightful strip, that is!

Casey -- That's a great X-9 idea, but if it's in the cards, it's been kept a secret from me. Now, Dean can be sneaky for pleasant reasons sometimes, so it _could_ be planned, meaning we'll all be surprised, but if I had to go to Vegas and bet ...

Finally -- I hope everyone will join me in wishing a "Happy Birthday" to LOAC Art Director Lorraine Turner, who's turning *mumble-mumble* soon. She's as charming as she is talented, and I'm mighty gl;ad she's on our side! Besides, she once worked for an NBA franchise and knows Sir Charles Barkley. I think that's pretty cool. So: H*A*P*P*Y B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y, Lorraine!
_________________
Best wishes --

- B -

[Gryphon]

Will IDW's reprinting of the star trek comic strip be handled by you guys?

[Edward J Grug III]

[Cnwl]

Hey, Gryph -- Yup, we'll be doing the STAR TREK comic strip. I grew up on the original STAR TREK, which endlessly played in syndication in my local TV market. It had some high "highs" (Ted Sturgeon-penned episodes; "Doomsday Machine") and some low "lows" (Kirk reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to stop the "Yangs" and the "coms" from fighting; big chunks of the final season), but I've always retained a real soft spot for the original. By the time of the spinoffs, I was older, life was busier, and I never got the opportunity to watch any of them regularly. SPFX sure had come a long way since the '60s, though! Production values on the spinoff episodes I saw consistenty proved that.

EJG3: May you be right about digital comics helping the "serial" side of the business. I don't see it, personally, but I've been wrong before, and I admit my prejudices toward "touchable" artifacts may be affecting my viewpoint. I know music has become less a factor in my life since I put all my CDs onto an iPod and sold off 98% of the discs, because my music now seems less tangible, and knowledge about what I'm listening to is no longer at my fingertips (because the jewel case with the lyrics, credits, production notes, etc. are gone with the discs themselves). Again, mebbe that's just me ...

Have a good weekend, all!
_________________
Best wishes --

- B -