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The Cape, the new NBC series about a wrongly-accused cop who dresses up as a Batman-like hero to fight corruption in the mythical Palm City, has debuted.

Trained by circus people – that's right; he has all the powers of the Big Top – cop Vince Faraday (played by David Lyons) uses his cape like Cirque de Soleil uses ropes.

He's got a regular villain too, because the evil businessman who framed him also moonlights as the series' bad guy. Plus, Firefly's Summer Glau is also on hand.

NBC needs a big hit, or even a little hit, following their fall to fourth place in a 4-network race. So how did the debut actually do in the ratings?

Click to continue reading The Cape Not Booted Yet


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Do you have a knack for the retail? Do you think you could convince a hardcore Marvel zombie to pick up a copy of The Walking Dead or Chew?

Would you like to spend your Wednesdays rummaging through a huge stack of new comics before most people get to see them?

You could be a retailer. Or an Assistant Manager of a comic book store.

An “Eisner Award-Winning Comic Book Shop Chain in Northridge, California” is looking for one who can spare 30-40 hours a week for $8-10 an hour, depending on skills and experience.

You gotta have knowledge of the current market for comics and graphic novels, and at least a year of retail experience. You’ll be expected to handle the register, inventory, restocking, and maintenance of the sales floor.

If this is the store that I’m thinking of, it’s one of the best in the Valley and very close to Cal State Northridge so you get some college clientele in there too.

Good luck, job seekers!

[Artwork: Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons (you knew I was picking that, right?), © Fox]



Liberty Unlimited
  My pal Martin Powell and artist Jay Piscopo have a project coming up that I really can’t wait to see: Liberty Unlimited.
 
Martin says this all-ages sci-fi/mystery adventure series is “in the grand tradition of Doc Savage and Jonny Quest,” with a little bit of Nancy Drew thrown into the mix too.
 
According to Martin, the series is “still in its early development stages.”
 
The really nice piece of promotional art here highlights the cast: Libby the future-girl, her best friend Zoey, Libby's super-scientist dad, and their bodyguard, the mechanical marvel Red Rover.
 

Click to continue reading Sneak Peek: Liberty Unlimited by Martin Powell & Jay Piscopo


Lady Kanoko

The Los Angeles-based manga empire of Tokyopop is looking for “a well-rounded intern” for their Foreign Sales department. You’ll work directly with their International Rights Manager assisting in “research, marketing, editorial, administrative and design work.”
 
You’ll have to be “fluent in written Japanese, have excellent written and oral communication skills and some technical aptitude, as well as a general interest in manga and graphic novels.” 
 
You’ll be using both a Mac and a PC, with all the usual office-based programs. And if you know Japanese slang, and have a familiarity with American and Japanese/Asian culture, it’s bonus points for you.
 
The internship doesn’t pay, you have to be in L.A. for the duration, and while the schedule of work is flexible, your hours have to be regular.
 
Good luck, interns!
 
[Artwork: The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko from Tokyopop]

Punch, the venerable British humor magazine known for its many cartoons and contributions from a who’s who of British humor, including my favorite P.G. Wodehouse, is up for sale and can be yours.

Punch began in 1841 and made it all the way to 1992 before it was suspended. (Charles Dickens was once an editor there.) The magazine got a new owner in 1996 and finally went out for good in 2002.

In college I spent many hours in the library reading bound volumes of the magazine from the 1950s-1980s and thought it was time well-spent.

Of course, it’s not the actual magazine that’s up for sale, and you don’t get access to the original publication’s archives.

Nope, you get none of that for your loot. But there’s a clever fellow out there who goes around re-trademarking brand names that have expired, and one of those trademarks was for Punch.

Click to continue reading British Comics: Punch For Sale


Villains & VigilantesLet’s roll...and punch 2011 in the face!

Writers Without Borders: J. A. Konrath, an excellent writer and a smart guy especially on publishing subjects, has some thoughts about the current spiral of Borders bookstores.

Comix: The Forbidden Planet blog introduces me to a new “underground” style newspaper available in London. “The tabloid size is absolutely lovely for reading comics. It’s something our ancestors knew so well, but we’ve forgotten it over the years.” I really want The Comix Reader to succeed, so if you’re living over there, go get one.

Sci-Fi: My old friend Scott Bieser has a new webcomic that he's started called Quantum Vibe. I'm bookmarking it and you should too.

Archie: Blogger Steven Thompson at Booksteve’s Library reviews Archie: The Best of Stan Goldberg: “Unlike the usual Archie house style, his Betty and Veronica look different from each other, with Betty in particular showing a unique cuteness when drawn by Stan.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Stan Goldberg, Steranko And Villains & Vigilantes


 

 

Man Of Steel

Freelancing is a tough business and the safety nets aren't always there to help someone in trouble.

Veteran comic book colorist Tom Ziuko could use a helping hand. Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy has all the details that he got from Alan Kupperberg.

If there's any way you can lend a hand - and I know the economy is tight for all - please consider.

Ziuko is one of the industry's premiere colorists with a body of work that stretches over 3 decades - lots of it at DC Comics.

Go read Best's post and see if there's anything you can do.

[Artwork: A Ziuko-colored cover, snagged from Best's site and © DC Comics]


New X-MenI love words and phrases and funny names. I love it when new ones pop up and I love it when they get shortened, abbreviated and all slanged up as technology alters the way we communicate.

I especially like the words, slang and proper names that show up in comic books.

Back in the 1970s, Marvel Comics' writers contributed lots of great character names, words and phrases to the MU.

Sometimes it was driven by censorship - the Comics Code Authority didn't allow mainstream comics to use the word "zombie," so Marvel invented "zuvembie." Or giving Luke Cage a Code-approved exclamation like "Sweet Christmas!"

Mostly it was driven by tremendously creative writers like Steve Gerber twisting and tweaking the language and coming up with names like F. A. Schist and Dr. Bong, and Steve Englehart creating Roxxon Oil, and Don McGregor, Archie Goodwin, Gerry Conway, and others piling on.

Click to continue reading My New X-Men Team For 2011


Garbageman PinupDC Comics’ relaunch of the anthology title Weird Worlds begins this week with an impressive array of creators and characters.

Kevin VanHook and Jerry Ordway are presenting new adventures of the bad-ass fan favorite Lobo. Kevin Maguire debuts a new character called Tanga.

But for me, the one I’m most looking forward to is Garbageman, a new variant in the “monster-as-hero” genre from Aaron Lopresti (most recently the artist on Wonder Woman).

I’ve known Aaron for a number of years, ever since he worked on the Ultraverse on a book called Sludge. Aaron pencilled and occasionally wrote issues of the UV’s monster-hero that was created by Steve Gerber, who created an earlier monster-hero called Man-Thing for Marvel Comics.

Garbageman fits perfectly into the monster comic genre that includes Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, The Heap, Sludge and others. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for someone to step up and revive the concept.

Click to continue reading Weird Worlds #1: Garbageman by Lopresti


InternsLooking to kick off 2011 with an internship?

A Los Angeles-based comic book publisher is looking for two interns in two different departments.

The first one is for a Web/Programming Intern for someone who can create websites, do web programming, and is SEO savvy. It’s an unpaid internship in their IT department.

The second one is for a Marketing intern who can “bring the goods.” That means “an aggressive, personable, internet savvy, marketing intern to do a little bit of everything.” This includes the essential social media, web updates, help out at trade shows.

Details for both internships are at the links. If you’re ready to punch 2010 in the face and jump into the warm embrace of 2011, get your resume ready.

Good luck, interns!

[Artwork: The Interns]


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