Comic Book News

So, with all the rumblings going on and major changes to Marvel’s line up, what do you all think this is? Is it an act of public sensationalism to drum up more sales or to screw potential former artists out of their would-be royalties (if the courts change their collective minds)?

The basic concept of a female Thor is nothing new

Thor was even a Frog.

On the Captain America front, I always felt that Sam should be captain America’s replacement and yet I am a huge fan of Steve Rogers.

But as fresh as it is to have Falcon be the new Cap, it’s not like this type of story hasn’t been told before.

So, the new face of Marvel is now taking shape.

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Aaron Conley Wins the 2014 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: San Diego, CA – Artist Aaron Conley won the 2014 Russ Manning Newcomer Award at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, held on Friday, July 25 at Comic-Con International. Conley is the artist The Sabretooth Swordsman, published by Dark Horse Comics. Former Manning Award recipient Jeff Smith (BONE) presented the award.

The Manning Award has been given out annually at the San Diego Comic-Con since 1982. It is presented to a comics artist who, early in his or her career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics. It is named for Russ Manning, the artist best known for his work on the Tarzan and Star Wars newspaper strips and the Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book. Russ was a popular guest at the San Diego convention in the 1970s.

The first recipient of the award was former Manning assistant Dave Stevens. Other past recipients include Jan Duursema, Steve Rude, Scott McCloud, Art Adams, Eric Shanower, Dan Brereton, Jeff Smith, Gene Ha, Alexander Maleev, Goran Sudzuka, Eric Wight, David Petersen, Cathy Malkasian, Eleanor Davis, Marion Churchland, and Tyler Crook. 

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Grammy Award Winning Artist Alicia Keys Makes Her Children’s Book Debut This August At IDW Publishing!

‘Blue Moon: From The Journals Of Mama Mae And LeeLee’ Is An Adventure Fit For All-Ages

San Diego, CA (July 28, 2014) – Today, 15-time Grammy® award winning Alicia Keys announced the expansion of her groundbreaking storytelling app Mama Mae & LeeLee into an upcoming children’s book from IDW Publishing. In 2012, Keys debuted her digitally interactive app The Journal of Mama Mae & LeeLee, immersing users in a vibrant and heartfelt tale. The first story from the acclaimed app, Blue Moon: From The Journals Of Mama Mae And LeeLee, will published in book form this August.

The Journals of Mama Mae & LeeLee offers a poignant and interactive experience that revolves around LeeLee, a creative young girl who struggles with moving to a new city. Aided by her grandmother Mama Mae, LeeLee is introduced to tales built around Mama Mae’ four pillars: authenticity, empowerment, self-confidence, and exploration. With these stories opening her eyes to new characters and circumstances, LeeLee learns to recognize her inner potential. Featuring original and exclusive music from Alicia Keys herself, the app provides a truly dynamic experience for child users.
 
“I love the written word! It’s been an inspiration for me my entire life! And to be a part of The story of Mama Mae and LeeLee means so much to me and is so close to my heart! It’s something that is meant to be shared by all generations,” said Alicia Keys. “What I love about the book is that it keeps the spirit and values we admire about Mama Mae and LeeLee alive, while also introducing them to new characters that bring their own personalities and real life lessons to the magical world. I’m excited to build on the app’s powerful message and evolve this beautiful story in a way that continues to touch the hearts of children, parents and grandparents.”
IDW Publishing’s hardcover adaptation of Blue Moon features beloved characters LeeLee, Mama Mae, and introduces the inspirational story of Abey, a young 17th century Native American girl, whose extraordinary adventures challenge her curiosity and test her courage. Though obstacles stand in her way, Abey finds her way home with a little faith in herself and help from new friends. Written by Alicia Keys, Jessica Walton,Cheryl Abood, and Victoria Racino, this new book is brought to life by the same captivating visuals from Bento Box Interactive.
Fans of Mama Mae and LeeLee and Alicia Keys can download the original app through the iTunes App Store. In addition, an all-new adventure in the newest story Mookey the Tiger, is also available now.
About AK Worldwide
AK Worldwide, Inc. serves as the base of operations for all of Alicia Keys’ endeavors in and out of the entertainment industry. Keys, 15-time Grammy Award Winning singer, songwriter, and producer founded AK Worldwide in 2009 with the mission to invest in the “business of inspiration”. Through the company, Keys nurtures projects she is passionate about from philanthropic initiatives to film, and digital productions. In 2012, AK Worldwide launched the interactive children’s app series, The Journals of Mama Mae & LeeLee in partnership with Bento Box Interactive. Most recently, AK Worldwide produced the Film Independent Spirit Award nominated feature, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete. 
 
About Bento Box Interactive 
Bento Box Interactive (“BBI”) designs, produces and distributes interactive storytelling experiences for multiple platforms, from audio-enhanced interactive storybooks to apps for mobile, tablet, and other digital devices. Titles include The Journals of Mama Mae & Leelee with Alicia Keys, award-winning storytelling app The Paper Fox and 26 episodes of Sweet Pickles, based on the classic series. Bento Box Interactive is the interactive media sibling of the award-winning animation studio, Bento Box Entertainment. For more information, visitwww.bentoboxent.com.

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IDW Entertainment And UCP To
Develop NIGHT MARY As A Live-Action Series

John Pogue To Write The Pilot

San Diego, CA (July 23, 2014) – IDW Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions announced today they are co-developing IDW Publishing’s horror comic book, Night Mary,created by Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer, as a live-action television series. Night Mary will join an impressive roster of innovative and original scripted content from Universal Cable Productions.
 
John Pogue, who wrote and directed the recently released film,The Quiet Ones, has been tapped to write and direct the pilot.
 
“We love genre at UCP and thankfully so do audiences. We’ve made it a priority to seek out great properties that will attract equally great creators to adapt them,” said Dawn Olmstead, Executive Vice President, Development, Universal Cable Productions. “The dark and suspenseful world of ‘Night Mary’ gives us a great landscape to work from and has a lot of promise to deeply immerse fans.”  
 
“Remender and Dwyer’s Night Mary is a shockingly inventive and ingenious story with mind-bending potential,” said Pogue. “And I’m thrilled to be collaborating with UCP, IDW and Circle to bring this to television. Night Mary explores the next frontier—the human brain—through the dark adventures of a lucid dreamer, and what happens when conspiratorial elements attempt to turn our reality into a living nightmare.”
 
Based on the acclaimed IDW Publishing graphic novel, Night Mary follows a young woman trained to be a lucid dreamer. Her father owns a sleep disorder clinic where she enters the dreams of his patients. When a patient is revealed to be a serial killer, she is placed in jeopardy as nightmares and reality become frighteningly intertwined.
 
“Of my creator-owned projects, Night Mary has always held a special place, definitely the best thing Kieron Dwyer and I created together,” said Rick Remender.  “It’s very gratifying to see it finding new footing as a television series, ten years after its initial publication, and with such a skilled team at the helm.”
 
Ted Adams and David Ozer from IDW Entertainment and David Alpert and Rick Jacobs from Circle of Confusion (The Walking Dead) will serve as executive producers.
 
Night Mary is available now as a collected trade paperback at local comic book stores (CSLS), bookstores, and on digital devices. 
 
John Pogue is represented by Resolution, Circle of Confusion, and Matthew Saver.
 

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IDW PUBLISHING KICKS OFF
SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON WITH
THE TRANSFORMERS HUMBLE BUNDLE

Transformers Fans Can Pay What They Want For The Ultimate Transformers Digital Comic Collection While Also Supporting A Child-Focused Charity

San Francisco & San Diego, Calif. – July 23, 2014 – Here’s a bundle that’s “more than meets the eye.” Humble Bundle and award-winning publisher IDW Publishing, under license from Hasbro, are kicking off San Diego Comic-Con with a digital comic collection of epic proportions. Customers can pay what they want while also supporting a child-focused charity in the Transformers Humble Bundle presented by IDW.
 
https://www.humblebundle.com/books
 
Customers can name their price for Transformers Classics, Volumes 1-4, featuring a digital reincarnation of 48 issues from the original comics. Those who pay more than the average price will also receive Transformers: All Hail Megatron, Vol. 1-4, Transformers: Autocracy and Transformers: Spotlight, Vol. 1. Customers who pay $15 or more will receive all of the above, plus Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, Vol. 1 and 2 andTransformers: Robots in Disguise, Vol. 1 and 2, bringing a total of nearly 100 comic book issues to the bundle.
 
“The iconic TRANSFORMERS brand is celebrating its 30^thAnniversary this year and can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with this bundle offering.  Whether a new reader who wants to get in on the epic TRANSFORMERS adventure, or a long-time fan looking to round out their digital comic collection, this offering is the perfect combination of classic and current stories,” said Michael Kelly, Hasbro’s Director of Global Publishing. “Add the fact that a portion of the proceeds will be used to support an amazing charity like the Hasbro Children’s Fund, and you’ve got an event Optimus Prime himself would be proud to join.”
 
“We’re very happy to collaborate with Hasbro to offer this mega selection of Transformers comics,” said Jeff Webber, IDW’s VP of Digital Publishing. “This bundle highlights all the facets of IDW’s Transformers line – Classics from the ‘80s, stories from the beginnings of the IDW’s stories of the TRANSFORMERS Universe, and some of the latest and greatest comics!”
 
As with all Humble Bundles, customers can choose how their purchase dollars are allocated, between the comic creators, Humble Bundle, and the determined charity (the Hasbro Children’s Fund).
 
The Transformers Humble Bundle runs for two weeks and ends Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 11 a.m. Pacific time.
 
About Humble Bundle
Humble Bundle organizes pay-what-you-want plus charity promotions for awesome digital content and puts the power directly in the hands of the consumers, offering them fully-featured titles at prices they set themselves. Consumers pay what they want and decide how to allocate their money between content creators, charity and a humble tip. Humble Bundle also offers the Humble Store, a digital storefront that features great games at great prices with a portion of sales going to select charities. Since the company’s launch in 2010, Humble Bundle has helped empower its community to allocate more than $40 million toward charity to date. For more information, please visit https://www.humblebundle.com.
 
About Hasbro Children’s Fund
The Hasbro Children’s Fund, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to empower childhood by bringing “the sparkle of Hope, the joy of Play and the power of Service” into the lives of the children across the globe. Working with strategic charitable partners, the grants made through the Hasbro Children’s Fund support programs that deliver; stability for children in crisis; pediatric physical and mental health services; hunger security; educational programs; quality out of school time programming and programs that empower youth through service.  To learn more about these programs and how they are making a difference for children worldwide, please visit www.hasbro.org.
 
About Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company dedicated to fulfilling the fundamental need for play for children and families through the creative expression of the Company’s world class brand portfolio, including TRANSFORMERS, MONOPOLY, PLAY-DOH, MY LITTLE PONY, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, NERF and LITTLEST PET SHOP.  From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, digital gaming and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its global customers with innovative play and entertainment experiences, in a variety of forms and formats, anytime and anywhere. The Company’s Hasbro Studios develops and produces television programming for more than 180 territories around the world, and for the U.S. on Hub Network, part of a multi-platform joint venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK). Through the company’s deep commitment to corporate social responsibility, including philanthropy, Hasbro is helping to build a safe and sustainable world for future generations and to positively impact the lives of millions of children and families every year. It has been recognized for its efforts by being named one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” and is ranked as one of Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens.” Learn more atwww.hasbro.com.

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