Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #28 by Drew Barth

Pros of Cons

Another year and another round of San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to keep track of  the avalanche of information continually coming out of the San Diego Convention Center. The problem with a lot of that information is that most of it now isn’t really related to comics as a medium. SDCC has become more of a convention for geek media as a whole with many panels and reveals being for films and shows kind of, sort of, not really related to comics. I’m all excited for that Steven Universe movie, but if this blog is going to be doing a round up of all the most interesting things coming out of Comic-Con, we’re going to focus on the comics. Mostly.

1. Ahoy Comics’s Steel Cage series-winner is revealed!: If you recall our review of Steel Cage some weeks ago, you’ll remember its unique concept: three short stories enter, one leaves with a full series. Readers were encouraged to vote online and the final winner was announced, as promised, at SDCC. And the winner is … everyone? Due to “voting irregularities” all three of the series in Steel Cage will be getting their own series next year. So, good news, your favorite of the three won no matter which one it was.
2. Kofi Kingston demands his own graphic novel from Boom! Studios: If there is any way to absolutely get a graphic novel about your fictional life as a wrestler, it’s to burst into a publisher’s panel and demand it yourself from the editor-in-chief. Which is exactly what current WWE World Champion Kofi Kingston did during Boom! Studios’ Discover Yours panel this past weekend. This is the kind of absurd moment I love hearing about, especially at SDCC where a new series announcement is kind of just a panel in a slideshow. Who doesn’t want a man in head-to-toe pancake apparel carrying a championship belt over his shoulder cutting a promo to demand his own graphic novel? Someday, that will be me!.
3. The Eisner Awards: Probably one of the biggest nights of the year in comics, the Eisners have been compared to the Oscars in terms of their prestige for many creators. This year saw creators like Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, Jen Bartel, Faith Erin Hicks, Chip Zdarsky, and Tom King all winning for various projects. But the biggest stand out was John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal winning both “Best Humor Publication” and “Best Continuing Series” for their Giant Days series that comes to an end this September after five years. This award actually got me incredibly excited since I’ve been reading Allison’s webcomics for coming on fifteen years now.
4. The return of Strange Adventures: Announced fairly late in the convention, DC announced the return of a staple series from the sixties: Strange Adventures. Once home to anthology pieces about gorillas defending themselves in court, a man made of Radium, and a host of other oddities from the post-Comic Code years, Strange Adventures has been absent (save for a brief stint from Vertigo) for about ten years now. Focusing on Adam Strange, Tom King and Mitch Gerads come back together along Doc Shaner for a story we’re not quite sure of just yet. But with the attached creative team and Strange’s penchant for the…strange, we can only guess at the marvels that await.
5. Snap Snap: The Addams Family lives! Back to the medium that birthed them so many decades ago, the Addams Family have returned to comic pages once again. IDW is bringing the family back for a one-shot special this October (of course) and are bringing their original designs with them. It’s always nice to see the return of something so delightfully devilish.
6. Life on Mars: I, like most everyone else, had completely forgotten HBO was making a Watchmen For good reason. The TV series adaptation felt as though it was only going to be much like Zack Snyder’s forgettable film with a little more budget and foresight and less awkward sex scenes set to “Hallelujah.” But I’m concerned. Because what HBO is doing isn’t adapting the comic. They’re randomly expanding upon its universe and characters. But the trailer looks good. I don’t know how to feel.
7. I hope Blade is rated R: If only so we can get this line spoken by Mahershala Ali in a massive budget, mainstream movie. Please.

Drew Barth (Episode 331) is a writer residing in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida. Right now, he’s worrying about his cat.