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At the top of the comics news ...

Submitted by administrator on Tue, 12/11/2007 - 14:47

From some of the comics news lately, I'm beginning to think this strange, new "series of tubes" thing might just catch on.Item! Spider-Man (and Friends) Hit the Web!Marvel Comics has cracked open its vault and scanned the contents for this, the Age of the Internet. Thousands of issues starring Spidey, the Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the rest of the Hee-Haw gang are now available online at Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited (Marvel.com/digitalcomics).The selection runs the gamut of Marvel's catalog, including the first 100 issues of both "Amazing Spider-Man" and "Fantastic Four" from the '60s, as well as new stuff, like "Astonishing X-Men" by Joss Whedon (creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). More than 2,500 books are already online, according to Marvel, with 20 to be added weekly.And with subscriptions starting at $4.99 a month, it stands to be substantially cheaper than buying the actual comics -- old or new.Speaking of new, Marvel has already added the first chapter of "Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born" graphic novel, by writers Peter David and Robin Furth and artists Jae Lee and Richard Isanove. This origin story for Roland Deschain, the hero of Stephen King's series of "Dark Tower" novels, began life as a Marvel miniseries earlier this year. But it's hit No. 1 on the Bookscan national sales chart as a collection, in addition to being the top hardcover graphic novel at Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders.com and Target.com.So, you know, it's turned out to be pretty popular. Popular enough for a sequel, at any rate, as a "Gunslinger: The Long Road Home" miniseries (by the same creative team) is scheduled to begin in March.Item! The Comics Empires Strike Back!But all is not happy in cyber-ville. Veteran comics columnist Heidi MacDonald describes in the Dec. 4 Publishers Weekly how the two biggest comic-book publishers, Marvel and DC, are siccing their lawyers on illegal downloads of funnybooks at BitTorrent sites. I don't mean to steal her thunder, so you can check out her story at http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6509408.html?nid=2789/.But think of the hoo-ha over pirated music downloads a few years ago, and I think you can get the drift.Item! Comics Aren't Just For Boys Anymore!I had an opportunity to chitchat with Canadian graphic novelist Von Allan as his "the road to god knows ..." began serialization on GirlAMatic.com Dec. 3 (http://www.girlamatic.com//comics/godknows.php?view=current). And, of course, I had to check out the story, too. Eight pages are up now, with four new pages to be added each Monday."the road to god knows ..." (planned for print publication in 2008) is the story of Marie, a 13-year-old girl dealing with the usual problems of adolescence, but also the very unusual problem of her mother's schizophrenia. Allan's somber, affective style is perfectly suited for this weighty tale of a troubling and difficult illness, and GirlAMatic.com -- which has a number of engaging, girl-friendly strips -- is a perfectly suited site for it.Which is cool in many ways. On the Web, subject matter doesn't have to bow to what sells best (i.e., superheroes), creator and audience can interact in almost real time and, as Allan notes, the barriers that stop many budding talents are much lower."When it comes right down to it, I believe that artists of all stripes need eyeballs looking at their work," he said. "This is very true for me and I'm crossing my fingers that this will do just that. If nothing else, it should prove to be an interesting ride and I'll be curious to see what people think."Item! Captain Shoots Himself In Foot!A few weeks ago, I talked up "Shooting War" ($21.99, Grand Central Publishing), a graphic novel written by Anthony Lappe and illustrated by Dan Goldman. I discussed how this tale of a lefty, amateur videoblogger covering the Iraq War in 2011 managed to be both darkly funny and wryly political, and accurately noted it could be seen on Smithmag,net (http://shootingwar.com/chapters/chapter-1).Where I was not accurate was in failing to say that what's online is just a preview -- a "rough draft of the first 40 percent of the book," according to Lappe. I also tried to denote that the online stuff seemed easier for my aging eyes to read, but used the technical term "resolution" -- when, in fact, the online material is actually a low resolution optimized for the Web. Mea culpa.Still good either way, though.(Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit www.captaincomics.us.)