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Bay Area Bugle: Bay Area Comic News Round-Up – October 26, 2016

By on October 26, 2016 in Bay Area Bugle, Bay Area Comic News

Comics in the Bay

goldengatespidermanDid you know Spider-Man is currently in San Francisco? Apparently, he’s been operating in our backyard with a whole host of Spider-Folk for at the least a year. I haven’t been spending much time in the Marvel Universe so this fact managed to fly under my radar. Anyway, he’s here and over the last couple of issues of Amazing Spider-Man has been investigating a San Francisco-based medical lab called “New U.” This investigation leads to a run-in with the Jackal in the well-received first issue of The Clone Conspiracy.

Dynamite Comics has signed a deal with CBS to start publishing a comic based on the TV show Charmed. Its likely Dynamite will continue to use the show’s hometown, San Francisco, in the comic.

Speaking of witches, Marv Wolfman is currently writing a mini-series for DC based on his creation and long-time Teen Titans member, Raven. She’s currently residing with her Aunt in San Francisco and attending the fictional Madison High School.

Comics by the Bay

Oakland artist Carlos Ramirez rarely gets the recognition he deserves for creating the iconic Trollface. The image made its way to television last week via the third season of the series Black Mirror. This weekend, Bleeding Cool ran a profile on the history of Ramirez’s Trollface.

trollface

San Francisco-based writer Dani Colman has launched a Kickstarter for her Couture graphic novel project. Colman has enlisted the help of 15 artists, including Bay Area artists Kevin Wada and Justin Greenwood, to bring her stories influenced by moments in haute couture history to the page. Per the Kickstarter, “influenced by designers from Christian Dior to Hussein Chalayan, Couture’s short stories span romance, science fiction, historical drama, fantasy and horror, drawing from fashion that shook the runway and changed the face of haute couture.” The additional artists are Alexander McQueen, Marguerite Sauvage, John Galliano, Thom Browne, Jen Bartel, Thierry Mugler, Robbi Rodriguez, Howard Chaykin, Tony Parker, Taki Soma, Comfort Love, Adam Withers, Jed Dougherty, and Valentine De Landro.

Bay Area Comic Industry and Shop News

Flying Colors Comics (Concord, Calif.) owner Joe Field is stepping down from the ComicsPRO Board of Directors. Field was the founding President of ComicsPRO which is a trade association of comic book retailers. Under Field’s stewardship, ComicsPRO started the popular annual Free Comic Book Day event.

Berkeley-based Madefire has partnered with Oculus to bring a whole new dimension to comics. The company is known for developing motion comics for both independent publishers and some of the industry’s top publishers. According to The Daily Californian, MadeFire previewed the new technology at New York Comic Con, “The free preview app for Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR, a virtual reality device, features digital comics that are specifically optimized for virtual reality reading. The comics include motion, sound and the ability to see the story in 3D.”

The Skyline View has released a list of “the five must visit comic stores in San Francisco.” For the record, there are seven comic shops in San Francisco proper. The comprehensive list is here.

The SF Bay Guardian is back (sort of) and they’ve released their annual Best of the Bay issue! Hayes Valley’s Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge has once again snagged best comic shop in San Francisco.

Cape and Cowl Comics has started preparations for a one-year anniversary celebration on November 19. The Oakland comic shop is posting event updates on both Facebook and Twitter.

For a list of upcoming Bay Area comic events visit this link.

For a list of Bay Area Comic Shops visit this link.

Bay Area Bugle: Bay Area Comic News Round-Up – October 5, 2016

By on October 5, 2016 in Bay Area Bugle, Bay Area Comic News

This is a round-up of Bay Area comic news from the last few weeks.

A number of comic books related events and signings are happening in October. Signings include Mike Mignola, Marjorie Liu, Hope Larson and more. See my round-up here.

Writing for The Bold Italic, Mel Burke (of Mel Reads Comics) showcases Four Bay Area Comic Shops You Gotta See. Mentions include Cape and Cowl Comics, Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge, Mission: Comics and Art, and Flying Colors.

Bay Area graphic novelist and cartoonist Gene Luen Yang is the recipient of MacArthur Foundation Genius grant. The grant gives each fellow $625,000 to spend how they see fit. Yang is the author of American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints, and is the current writer on DC’s New Super-Man.

Berkeley’s Doe Library’s Bernice Layne Brown Gallery is featuring an exhibit, Beyond Tintin and Superman: The Diversity of Global Comics, which focuses on how the comic book medium is used around the world. The exhibit includes comics from “Mexico, Egypt, Argentina, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Colombia, Poland, Israel and other nations.”  A video about the exhibit is below:

Steve Wozniak’s Silicon Valley Comic Con is preparing to return to San Jose in April of 2017. The tech and comics convention put general admission tickets on sale last month and has begun announcing guests.  Recent announcements include Buzz Aldrin, cast members from multiple iterations of Star Trek, Art Adams, Adam Savage, and more.

Berkeley’s Fantastic Comics is getting name dropped in articles discussing Greg Rucka’s recent clarification that Wonder Woman, for all intents and purposes, “must be queer.” In an interview with Comicosity the author said:

By the same token, going back to the question of sexuality on Themyscira, we spent a long time thinking about what this means. I did a talk at Fantastic Comics in Berkeley, California, where I said that no Amazon is going to look at another Amazon and say they are Amazoning wrong. Because that wouldn’t be paradise. The society accepts everyone in it. The requirement is, you’re here and you’re female.

Now, that opens up a separate question. For the purposes of Themyscira, as the Amazons experience it, and as we represent that experience, nobody looks at Io and says, “You’re too butch.” Nobody looks at Kasia and says, “You’re too femme.” Nobody says a dress is inappropriate. Nobody says, “Why are you wearing pants?” Nobody says you’re too heavy. Nobody says you’re too skinny, or not strong enough.

It has to be an inclusive and accepting society, for a number of reasons — paradise being one of them. But also because, Nicola, Liam, and I believe very strongly that Diana is beautifully and very actively inclusive.

That’s not to say Batman or Superman are not, but for Diana, it’s a very active inclusivity. That’s just part of what she is. Her arms are always open wide. There’s room for everybody. That’s an active part of her. I mean, Batman doesn’t have an issue, but he doesn’t spend his days thinking about how best can he understand his fellow man.

 

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