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The original comic-book industry rumour
and news column, by Rich
Johnston. |
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Elmo Health Warning: This column is RUMOUR. Do not take anything here seriously. These RUMOURS are presented here as GOSSIP for their ENTERTAINMENT value. |
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| What is Ramblings 99? | Logo by Kirk Kimball, Pop Rocket Comics |
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Dateline: 20 January 1999 |
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Jim's Krew. A source close to Jim Krueger states that Earth X issues 0 and 1 have pipped the 100,000 mark. Jim Krueger is also planning to work on a Superman/Green Lantern project shortly. Lee Way. We also receive an anonymous message from a industry creator confirming our Stan Lee story, adding that it was simply a part of the ever-growing Marvel cutbacks. They canned Stan Lee because they didn't want to keep paying his salary. Remember when it was described as a 'lifetime salary'? Yeah, so do we... Award Ward. And so the Squiddies are here, the awards organised and supported by Usenet's rec.arts.comics geezers for the comics industry (which mostly means the North American comics industry, distributed through comic shops... strange that). Pop to http://www.innocence.com/~squiddy/squid-ballot.cgi for a new style voting form that allows you to use pull down menus to vote. Nice touch, gives you a lot of prompting... but is there the ease that stops you thinking up new ones for yourself? Anyway...so what looks good? This could be Warren Ellis' year for best writer, he's been doing a lot and while the second run of Stormwatch wasn't exactly top notch, his Transmetropolitan has shined. Especially since Alan Moore's work was pretty much the From Hell epilogue. Alan Davis should be a top contender for penciller, though competition from Dave Sim, Travis Charest, Peter Bagge, Paul Grist and Chris Ware is evident. Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library gets my attention for best comic although Love Bomb, Transmetropolitan, From Hell, Kane, Finder, Cerebus, Viz, Desert Peach and Naughty Bits vie for a lot of it. Limited series... well it's Jay And Silent Bob isn't it? Maybe Whiteout? Oni could get quite a lot here, what with that Trout guy, Kevin Smith on board and a reprint of St Swithin's Day. They could be up for publisher along with Kitchen Sink, Fantagraphics, Alternative and Abaculus. New series, well Daredevil, Black Panther and Inhumans weigh in heavily for Marvel. Periodical, I'll go for Tripwire or Journal. Both good fun. Editor? C'mon, let's give this one to Gary Groth. Anthology, well its The Factor for me, I guess. And since I was only in January's issue 2, my bias isn't there. I just think it's great. Maybe Hate Jamboree? I forget... did we have a Blab this year? Maybe Gyre... Oni Double Feature of course. Howabout those SPX pieces? So many web sites, so little time. This could be a great debut for Comicon, Warren Ellis' web page hasn't been updated enough to make the impact for me, Newsarama is still a great read, the Fantagraphics page used to be one of the best and hell, CSNsider is always on my bookmarks. And Savaged Dragon is just plain funny. If this year, Dave Sim doesn't get best letterer (as well as many other nominations) then there's no justice. And of course, from our side, Rich's Ramblings for Web Site, X-Flies for Web Comic, Rich Johnston for writer, penciller, inker, letterer, favourite R.A.C.er, Mike Meyer for colourist, editor and Twist And Shout Comics for best publisher might appeal to some strange people. Hell, let's see if we can at least get the Web Site in there shall we? Looks like someone's voted for it at least. Correction Granted. We recently posted a Steven Grant story, we knew it differed from Steven Grant's version on CSNsider. Steven recently e-mailed us to expand on this. "It's entirely possible that Matt Smith will become the new plotter on Sentinels Of Magic (which started as a 6 issue 32 page mini, then became a 3 issue 48 page mini, then became a 4 issue 48 page mini, then became a 6 issue 32 page weekly mini, just for the record). Matt Smith was one of the artists being bandied about to replace Chris Schenck, who was fired off the book. Nobody ever discussed a demotion to "scripter" with me, and as far as I was made aware, Matt wasn't signed on to draw the book at the time I left. Like I say, it's entirely possible that Matt may have come up with his own story, since they're not using mine. But there's no cause and effect there." Steven adds "By the way, the book was never called Circle Of Magic. It went straight from Circle Of Light to Sentinels Of Magic (a change DC suggested after Dan left), though it had a few different names which escape me prior to Circle Of Light. I originally joked that it should be called The Justice Coven Of America. So there." This could mean that someone close to our original source is trying to rewrite history. But who? |
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Dateline: 18 January 1999 |
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However, one Marvel editor is alleged to report that this change came from Marvel, not Stan, that Marvel weren't happy with Stan's contract and refused to renew it after the expiry date of December 31st 1998. Hence the new 'agreement' which takes away much of Stan's previous salary. The editor in question states that Marvel letting Stan Lee go like this equates to the Walt Disney Company letting go of Walt Disney. The Colour Of Money One of our more reliable rumourmongers e-mails to tell us that "Marvel has told Comicraft to cut its rate for lettering theit titles. Currently they pay about $500,000 total." Apparently, Marvel recently took back most of the letter column and production work in an effort to cut costs. But the management insist on yet more cuts, hence the new price wrangling. Marvel are Comicraft's largest customer, but how much can Comicraft realistically discount? And if they do, will we be seeing more "proofreading errors?" Our monger also states "Also look for a new wave of layoffs in Editorial." Like that's news... We've been handed a writer line-up of the new Marvel-Tech books that are spinning off the next big X-Crossover in an attempt to get tyhem some initial sales before they are quickly and hurriedly cancelled (what, cynical, us?) No idea if these have been seen before, probably Doran or CSNsider, someone might be interested anyway. Magus: The old Warlock character from New Mutants. Writer: Prof. James Felder Machine Man X-51:Writer Mike Higgins Deathlok: Writer Joe Casey Talking of Joe Casey, he's the fella picked to script over Davis' plots on X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. CSNSider reported a behind-the-scenes story of Steven Grant's decision to leave Sentinel Of Magic after three years of shenanigans. We've been handed a different version. To read Grant's, go to www.csnsider.com. Anyway. This is what we've been told. Elmo Warning applies. First it was called called Circle of Light, then Circle of Magic then the editor (Dan Thorsland) quit. New editor (Kevin Dooley) gave the book the new title Sentinel of Magic. Then the 4 issue 48 page mini becomes a 6 issue 32 page mini. Then the artist Christopher Schenk is fired. New artist Matt Smith is hired. Then Smith submits his own plot which the editor likes better. And Dooley dismisses Steven Grant, who had to sit through all of the above beacuse he didn't want to be demoted to scripter. On the CSNSider page, Grant claims a more active role in the decision to leave the book and Matt Smith's involvement in that isn't mentioned at all. |
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Dateline: 14 January 1999 |
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April Shower Some anonymous chap was kind enough to forward DC's Diamond listing in advance for April. Bloody hell, there's a lot of it. How about a glimpse of some bits. Mostly what interest me. Let's start with America's Best Comics. Alan Moore says that ABC "will distill everything that's great about comics into a single energy...four titles that should be just as accessible to the non-comic-reader as they are to seasoned fans." Alex Ross will be doing the covers for the first issues all four books. So let's get some info on the first, Tom Strong. DC describe him as "A physical and mental superhuman, Tom Strong has a complex history -- born on a mysterious South Seas island at the turn of the century, orphaned by his scientist parents at an early age, raised by a scientific wonder (a steam-powered robot butler named Pneuman) to adulthood, turning his home in an extinct volcano into a fortress blending advanced science with natural beauty -- and stunning visuals, courtesy of the Supreme team of Chris Sprouse and Al Gordon. Like all four of the new Moore-scripted ongoings, TOM STRONG has visual and story elements that are simultaneously retro and futuristic, synthesizing past and present ideas into "something that is timeless," says Moore." "The extra-length TOM STRONG #1 tells the story of "How Tom Strong Got Started." Raised to be "a perfected human specimen," Strong has toured the world, developing a strong affinity for America's Millennium City, but able to go almost anywhere -- even to other worlds -- through the technological marvels he has created. In upcoming issues, readers get to know some of the unique array of allies Tom has acquired over almost a century of heroism and exploration -- his beautiful wife Dhalua, daughter of a mighty chieftain; Tom and Dhalua's illustrious daughter, Tesla Strong; the enhanced ape King Solomon -- and an equally distinctive range of enemies, such as the ruthless Moriarty-like villain Paul Saveen, the pre-human monster called The Pangean and Nazi super-woman Ingrid Weiss, who regards Tom not only as an enemy but as an ideal mate. And with the main character's access to realms under the Earth's surface and in other dimensions, TOM STRONG offers a stunning variety of backdrops for his battles and voyages of discovery, a series that is guaranteed to be one of America's Best.Plus, this month WildStorm Emproium offers a stunning 100% cotton TOM STRONG T-SHIRT, featuring artwork by Chris Sprouse on a white, 100% cotton heavyweight t-shirt." Aren't you just bursting to buy one? Seriously we're all juiced about it anyway. And issue 1 of Tom Strong? One out of every four copies of this issue features a variant cover by Chris Sprouse and Al Gordon. No offense, but we think we'd rather have the standard Ross cover. Ross's covers are always fantastic... and they don't have the sanctimonious tripe of Uncle Sam or Superman: Peace On Earth permeating them. Stuart Moore mentioned Flinch on r.a.c.d.v recently... let's see what the promo puff says. "A surprising array of writers and artists tell modern horror stories for the new millennium in FLINCH, a new ongoing VERTIGO anthology series (suggested for mature readers) that is everything you fear...and nothing you expect. And beginning the surprises is WILDSTORM's Jim Lee, who illustrates his first story for DC Comics in the pages of FLINCH #1." "From surveillance technology gone amok to out-of-control cloning experiments, from double-cross murders in the Outback to corporate backstabbings by the water cooler, FLINCH takes a hard look at what scares us today, with culprits who are anything but usual.In FLINCH #1, "The Rocketman," written by Richard Bruning (ADAM STRANGE) and illustrated by Jim Lee (DIVINE RIGHT: THE ADVENTURES OF MAX FARADAY) updates the Icarus myth, as a fledgling inventor with his head in the clouds embarks on the ride of a lifetime; "Wolf Girl Eats" reunites the seminal horror team of Bruce Jones and Richard Corben as a traveling minister with gold in his eye and blood on his hands brings his act to a backwoods town with secrets of its own; and, in "Nice Neighborhood," written by Jen Van Meter (Dark Horse Presents) and illustrated by Frank Quitely (THE KINGDOM: OFFSPRING), a gang of suburban teenage girls comes face-to-face with the outlandish side effects of a certain "performance-enhancing" drug. The whole scary business is wrapped in a disturbing painted cover by renowned horror novel cover artist Phil Hale (Stephen King's Insomnia and The Drawing of the Three).Future issues of FLINCH feature writers and artists such as Garth Ennis, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bernie Wrightson, Paul Gulacy, Phil Jimenez, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Bradstreet, Kent Williams, Jim Woodring, Ted McKeever, Brian Azzarello, and Eduardo Risso doing their best to scare readers to death. Be afraid to miss a single issue." I must admit, these DC anthology books have been pretty much on the money, and anything with Frank Quitely gets me excited. Let's see how this thing works as an ongoing... Okay, I've been far too nice. Let's find something crap. Green Lantern Month. Ah.... that's the bunny. Oh, I could give you this unmitigated bilge, but I won't bother. Here's a snippet, " He glimpsed his future glory during DC ONE MILLION. He's scouted the stars for new Green Lanterns in GREEN LANTERN: THE NEW CORPS. Now back on Earth, Kyle must face the challenges of the present day" You see what I mean? Let's look for any highlights... a Priest/M.D. Bright story for Green Lantern 80 Page Giant 2 maybe... lots of old stuff, lots of new stuff, trust me on this. Okay, Preacher 50. That's better, we know Lee is doing a pinup... but what else? Well it's extra sized looks like some kind of story turning point, stuff about Jesse's father in Vietnam and pinups by Jim Lee (Gran'ma, Jody and T.C.), Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti (Starr, D'Aronique and the Child), Tim Bradstreet (Jesse and Tulip), Doug Mahnke (Arseface and Hugo Root), John McCrea (The Saint of Killers), and Glenn Fabry (Cassidy). Oh and it's offical, Jesse Custer gets a doll (sorry, action figure) with removeable eyepatch and glowing red eye! Woo hoo! Also Plastic Man (with stretchable arms) and Death with an ankh and umbrella. Useful in case it rains. Right, let's get past some of this DC Diamond bollocks, Mark Millar is writing a story for Books Of Magic Annual 3, Leave It To Chance is back with issue 12, there's a Gen 13 Western-style comic... Something we talked about a while back, Cruel and Unusual by Jamie Delano, Tom Peyer, John McCrea and Andrew Chiu, a 4 issue Limited series from Vertigo. It's about prison and the system that creates it. Delano has done good stuff on this path before, Hellblazer was a great example. Nevada gets a TPB, Top Cow get a Darkness/Batman crossover, there's loads of this stuff. Okay, let's pick one at random. SCENE OF THE CRIME #2 Written by Ed Brubaker; art by Michael Lark and Sean Phillips; cover by Lark In stores April 7. Cynical yet sentimental one-eyed detective Jack Herriman's latest case turns a crucial corner as this stylish miniseries by writer Ed Brubaker and artists Michael Lark and Sean Phillips continues. In Part 2 of "A Little Piece of Goodnight," Jack finds success yanked from his grasp as the missing girl he just located is found murdered the next morning. Searching the San Francisco streets with the help of his junkie ex-girlfriend, his crime-photographer uncle and a self-styled 1930's-type P.I., Jack tries to connect an abandoned New Age facility, a violent assault, and the dead girl's mother, who doesn't seem all that surprised by her daughter's death. Now let's have a look at what Warren Ellis is up to... TRANSMETROPOLITAN #22 Written by Warren Ellis; art by Darick Robertson and Rodney Ramos; cover by Geof Darrow In stores April 14. "The New Scum" continues with an issue featuring the first of three covers by original TRANSMETROPOLITAN cover artist Geof Darrow (Hard Boiled). Spider Jerusalem's investigation of Vita Severn's murder heats up as he takes to the street, discovering that a bizarre cult has grown up around her memory. PLANETARY #3 Written by Warren Ellis; art and cover by John Cassaday In stores April 21. For twenty years, Hong Kong residents have told stories of a cop who came back from the dead to bring justice -- and vengeance -- to the streets of his city. Now, after a verified sighting of the spectral policeman with thundering guns, Planetary comes calling, looking to disprove what they feel must be an urban legend. They come looking for a lie, but what they find is something very different. THE AUTHORITY #2 Written by Warren Ellis; art by Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary In stores April 14. The WildStorm Universe's ultimate super-team faces its first test -- an army of super-powered terrorists! Kaizen Gamorra, ancient patriarch of a nation of terrorists, is leaving his mark on the Earth -- a circle with three knots, each knot to be a ruined city. Moscow is already decimated. London is the next target. But THE AUTHORITY, risen from the ashes of StormWatch, is waiting. How will this untested team of seven succeed against a hundreds-strong army of ultra-powerful terrorists who are willing to die for their cause? HELLBLAZER #138 Written by Warren Ellis; art by John Higgins; painted cover by Tim Bradstreet In stores April 28. Writer Warren Ellis' run on HELLBLAZER continues with Part 5 of the 6-part "Haunted." In the penultimate episode of Warren Ellis's first story arc, a revitalized John Constantine navigates London's interstices as he sets his trap for Isabelle's killer. Ha! And DC are making Batarangs! But what's this? "Note: Not for children. Not a toy -- intended for display only." Boo hiss! And no League Of Gentlemen this month? Shame. All this stuff will be officially released shortly. |
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Dateline: 13 January 1999 |
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Shooter Doesn't Say Anything Shock! We have a confirmed comment on the possibility of Jim Shooter returning to Marvel. Or rather we don't... We know that Marvel's new top fella worked with Shooter at Broadway Comics and that they're on friendly terms. Jim Adcock, Manager of Dragon's Lair Comics and Fantasy, Austin TX, at http://www.dlair.net e-mails us to tell us that he e-,mailed Shooter about the matter and Shooter replied... "No comment." Great. No conclusions there then, I only tend to believe things when they've been officially denied. Kitchen Stink Adcock's been a busy boy, profiting from the fall of Kitchen Sink Press as he's been getting good discounts off their back stock (is you retailer doning this yet?) John Lucus, artist on the (now) final isssue of Spirit New Adventures (and on Starman 80pg Giant and Starman: Mist) popped into his store (which is, if you haven't got it yet, Dragon's Lair Comics and Fantasy, Austin TX, on-line at http://www.dlair.net) and said he has yet to be paid for his Spirit work, and doesn't expect to. He said he suspected something was up, because he had to work with three or four people to get the issue done, as they each left KSP during the production of that issue. Will Eisner's books published by KSP have been turned over to Eisner and are not being liquidated. Eisner's brother will be marketing Eisner's stuff for the forseeable future. Bach To The Future As can be seen on www.comicon.com, a lot of creators have a lot to say about the Marvel requests and writs for repayments. Note, these requests aren't for overpayment, but for rightful payments that Marvel's creditors argue should have gone to them instead. It does seem that certain prominent creators that Marvel hope to work with in the future or are already working with have, however, been taken off the request list. But for your jobbing freelance, this could turn into a nightmare. Chris Bachalo avoided the situation by being on an exclusive contract that had to be approved of by everyone in the company, so apparently he's covered. As well as a preview of Witching Hour, he's also working on designs for the Avengers animated series in production ans is the latest to be seduced by the evil Dynamic Forces and their exclusive variant covers that sell for 5 times the price and in 3 years time will be worth nothing. Look for overpriced Evil Ernie, Lady Death and WildCATS stuff in the next few months if you've got the stomach for it. 'King Stupid Looks like either the marketing or legal people at DC have been working hard, their Superman Rex mini-series is being changed to the more literal and wordy Superman: King Of The World. Perhaps a certain Marvel comic Magneto Rex could be to blame. Or maybe some people could hear the phrase 'Superman Wrecks' a little too hard. Later... As to hopes that DC would ensure more timeliness for the Wildstorm Cliffhanger books? Crimson 11 has been delayed for a month. |
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Dateline: 08 January 1999 |
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Back Right, I'm back again. A busy few weeks, I've been to South Africa to arrange a certain wedding, been doing some work for Cartoon News, a British newstand magazine about the animation industry, started work on a new piece for Nat Gertler's The Factor (go buy issue 2, out now, with 8 (count them) panels of my work! Ahem. Anyway, I'm also (finally) going to make a start on Spawnfeld, hopefully for autumn (fall) release and then in a few weeks time you'll be seeing a weekly cartoon strip about American separatists called Holed Up! Right, now on with the Ramblings. Not much this week... Out Again A sequel to the successful mini-series Whiteout from Oni Press is being planned. Again written by crime-writer Greg Rucka and drawn by Steve Lieber (I still want to write Hawkman artist whenever I mention his name), the new book will see Whiteout star Lilley on an international adventure of an espionage nature. The House Of Demands The latest misadventures of Marvel have been all over the internet. Comicon's Splash Page does a marvellous job of contacting the many Marvel freelancers who have just recently received demands for payments purporting to be overpaid royalties or payments made at a time when payments shouldn't have been authorised - check it out for the full details and quotes from the likes of Paul Neary and Mark Badger. It looks like the requests are being targeted at non-high profile creators, current Marvel favourites are not being targeted. We have received a tip-off that Warren Ellis, past writer on Marvel titles such as Hellstorm, Ghost Rider, Doom 2099, Excalibur and Storm has received a request for payment of ten grand (dollars or pounds, we don't know). Ellis was unable to comment, but posted on his Message Board that he will return to the topic next week. We can't wait. He's already threatened Marvel editor Mark Powers with violence there, if the Sign Of The End Times story on Cable leads to an End Times series for Marvel. E-mail Us. Ramblings '99 is only as good as its sources, and you'll find our sources sitting happily in every major comic company ready to spill various gossip when the press releases don't. However, we're always interested in new sources, particularly freelance creators and those with junior editorial positions. Just e-mail me at twisting@hotmail.com and we'll talk. Confidentiality guaranteed (just ask Robin and Elayne Riggs!) |
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