One of the greatest things about being involved in comics for as long as I have is that it has enabled me to travel around the country and see places I normally would never go. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, San Francisco, San Diego… I’ve been lucky enough to have visited all these great cities and more, and to have met so many different people, all as a direct result of being a writer/artist/editor/whatever. In many ways, it has made me appreciate my hometown of New York that much more. To an extent.

I’m a New Yorker through and through, and a part of me always will be. There are so many great things about this place that I enjoy, and I’m always finding new things to like as well. At the same time, however, there’s an awful lot about this town that I not only hate, but despise. As a result, I’ve had to question whether the former outweighs the latter. I’ve decided that it doesn’t.

Seeing other parts of the country (and other countries as well) has instilled in me a longing to travel more. As New Yorkers, we become so used to being the center of attention all the time and having so much of everything that it’s easy to forget sometimes that there are other places to live… and that while some of those places might not stack up to NYC in some aspects (and few do, let’s be honest), they have their own charms that make them just as worthy to settle down in.

At this point in my life, I need to live someplace smaller. Someplace that’s not as hectic and hostile and expensive. No place is perfect, I know that, but I need to see how other people live and try living differently, for awhile, at least… which is why I’m leaving NYC at the end of the month. I’m not ruling out the possibility of moving back one day – it’s certainly possible – but for now, I’m treating this like it’s permanent.

I thought about many different places to go to, but I finally settled on Columbus, Ohio. It’s a great comics town; I’ve been there before lots of times for both SPACE and the Mid-Ohio Con and I’ve made many friends there. It’s small enough to not be this great big monolith of a town like NYC, yet big enough that I wouldn’t be bored. They have a vital art community in general, in fact, and it has a growing reputation as a multicultural hub. This is exactly the kind of place I was looking for. It would be nice if it was closer to the east coast, but that’s the only drawback I can see (I’ll miss going to the beach in the summertime).

This is by no means an easy decision. I’m leaving my family and many of my friends behind, not to mention a lifetime of memories. It’ll be scary as hell. This is what I want to do, however.

I don’t expect this blog to be affected by the change. Jon and I have already talked about my move and he’s cool with it. Certainly I can still write about comics from Columbus as easily as from New York, and while I can’t guarantee that there’ll be as many comics-related events to go to over there, I expect to find new and different things to write about.

I’m looking forward to it.

This June, NBM will release the hardcover edition of the critically-acclaimed Bluesman series of graphic novels. They also made a promotional video to go with it.

“…Like a lot of people, I thought [Young Avengers] was an attempt to do a Marvel version of DC’s Teen Titans. Not that I was all that opposed to something like that, but outside of Bucky and Rick Jones, Marvel really wasn’t very ’sidekick intensive’. But when I actually read the first 5 issues, I was like… ‘Whoa’. This is something entirely different. After that, I was an instant fan.”

Kevin Grevioux

Plus: I think I missed this Grevioux interview from the NYCC about New Warriors.

“‘Final Crisis’ happens in ‘Final Crisis.’ And Justice League will continue their adventures in ‘Justice League of America.’ The timelines do gel. But you don’t have to figure out where everybody is every five seconds. At some point, [the events of ‘Final Crisis’] happened to the Justice League and it will be pretty clear when it happened, relative to the rest of the story, particularly when the story is over.”

Dwayne McDuffie

I’ve had a particularly bad allergy season this year and yesterday I came home feeling really crappy.

Iron Man: War Machine TP
Wikipedia entry on War Machine
yet another Terrence Howard interview about the Iron Man movie

Now that you’ve seen the movie, rush right out and buy the comics! But start with this one.

JLA Presents Aztek the Ultimate Man TP

N. Steven Harris draws this short-lived but well-received series collected in a trade for the first time.

Also this week:
Buffy TVS #14. Pencils by Jeanty.
DC Special: Raven #3 (of 5). Pencils by Scott.
Infinity Inc. #9
New Dynamix #3 (of 5)
The Question: Poisoned Ground TP. Art by Cowan.
Fantastic Four: The New FF TP. Written by McDuffie.
GRRM’s Wild Cards: The Hard Call #2 (of 6). Pencils by Battle.
Gold Digger #96, GD Swimsuit Special, GD Sourcebook #17, Pirates vs. Ninjas: Up the Ante TP. Story and/or art by Perry.

Also notable:
Rann/Thanagar: Holy War #1 (of 8). The sequel to Rann/Thanagar War, by Starlin & Lim.
Tor #1 (of 6). Joe Kubert. Nuff said.
Avengers/Invaders #1 (of 12). The Ross/Kreuger team behind the Earth X trilogy and Project: Superpowers brings you this new mini-series that unites the Invaders of WWII with the modern-day Avengers.
Invincible Iron Man #1. Which of the six - yes, SIX - variant covers will you get?
Secret Invasion #2 (of 8)
Amelia Rules: When The Past is a Present HC, SC. This new collection of the 4-time Eisner nominee for 2008 includes the critically acclaimed war story “The Things I Cannot Change.”

Friends and neighbors, a new standard has been set for superhero movies. Iron Man was everything a superhero movie should be and more. Everyone was on top of their game, including director Jon Favreau, who took a character looked upon by many as a tough sell to the non-comics crowd and made it the buzz movie everyone agrees on. I should also note that when I went to see it, the crowd was extremely diverse. Black, white, young old, men, women - this was a film that cut across all lines, going by what I saw of the audience, and that’s nice to see as well. By now you know to stay after the credits for the Sam Jackson scene. I’d say somewhere from a fifth to a fourth of the audience at my showing stayed, and what surprised me was that among those who cheered loudest at the mention of “the Avengers Initiative” (well, besides me) was a small group of black women in the upper deck. Go see it if you haven’t already.

Here’s a roundup of African comics and comic strips.

BOOK OF THE MONTH:
Sabre 30th Anniversary HC (Desperado)

Sabre is the first direct market graphic novel (though not the first graphic novel; the solicitation for this was a little bit misleading, IMO). It’s being released in hardcover for the first time, and it also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this book.

Also notable:
The Complete K Chronicles (Dark Horse). 500 pages of Keith Knight at his best.
DC Special: Cyborg #1 (of 6) (DC). The fan-fave character gets his own mini-series at last.
Young Avengers Presents #5 (of 6) (Marvel). Kevin Grevioux writes a stand-alone tale of the character Stature.

The list:
Buffy TVS #14. Pencils by Olivier Coipel.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #3 (of 12), Tangent Comics V3 TP. Jamal Igle draws the former; the latter reprints the first apearance of Tangent Superman.
DC Special: Raven #3 (of 5). Pencils by Damion Scott.
Batman and the Outsiders #7. Cover by Doug Braithwaite.
JSA Classified #38. Pencils by Shawn Martinbrough.
Justice League of America #21, FF: The New FF TP. Written by Dwayne McDuffie.
Infinity Inc. #9
The New Dynamix #3 (of 5)
Bomb Queen V #1 (of 6). A new mini-series featuring the sadistic supervillain, with story and art by Jimmie Robinson.
’76 #5 (of 8)
The Perhapanauts #2
Spawn #182
Black Panther #37. Written by Reggie Hudlin.
Immortal Iron Fist #15. Pencils by Khary Evans.
Thor #9, Marvel 1985 #1 (of 6). Olivier Coipel pencils the former and does the cover for the latter, a new mini-series set in the “real world.”
New Warriors #12. Written by Grevioux.
Iron Man: War Machine TP
Gold Digger #96, GD Sourcebook #17, GD II Pocket Manga V4 TP, GD Swimsuit Special, GD’s 12 Pocket Manga pack, GD Ultimate GD-ROM Collection V1, How to Draw Manga the Fred Perry Way DVD, PeeboManga 1.0 Pocket Manga GN. All by Fred Perry.
Archie & Friends #119. Written by Alex Simmons.
Ant Unleashed #6. Story and art by Mario Gully.
GRRM’s Wild Cards: The Hard Call #2. Art by Eric Battle.
Return of the Super Pimps #5
The O+MEN Positive Issue. Story and art by Robert Walker.
Everybody’s Dead #3. Art by Dave Crosland.
The 99 Annual 2008
UVC #7

Yes, it’s that time of year again - Free Comic Book Day, our national holiday for comics, is nearly upon us, and as it coincides with the new Iron Man movie, it comes at a very fortuitous time indeed. There are at least two free comics this year of relevance to this blog. The first is a sampler for the graphic novel Gunplay, as part of:

COMIC BOOK CHALLENGE SHOWCASE #1—FCBD 2008 EDITION

by DJ Coffman & Jorge Vega, Coffman & Dominique Vivona

This Free Comic Book Day comic showcases the best of the best in the Comic Book Challenge, including 2006 winner DJ Coffman’s Hero By Night and 2007 winner Jorge Vega and Dominique Vivona’s Gunplay. This jam-packed book is sure to inspire, entertain and inform!

32pgs, FC

The second is a Dabel Brothers sampler, and although they’re the publishers and not the creators, they still count:

DEL REY & DABEL BROTHERS PREVIEW—FCBD 2008 EDITION

by Various

The Dabel Brothers make their Free Comic Book Day Debut with a jam-packed issue that offers exclusive previews of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle, George R. R. Martin’s Wild Cards: The Hard Call, and Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son. But that’s not all! The Dabels are also including some never-before-seen artwork and a preview of Del Rey Manga’s upcoming graphic novel, In Odd We Trust, by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan. It’s hard to believe they’ve fit so much into one book!

32pgs, FC

A full list of the free comics can be found at the FCBD site. For the comic shop nearest you, may I direct you to the link on the left for the Comic Shop Locator Service.

From Keith Knight’s newsletter:

The Knight Life is the new daily strip being syndicated by United Features Syndicate!! It’s premiering on Monday, May 5th (Cinco De Mayo AND National Cartoonist’s Day)!!

Honestly, folks. This is a dream come true. This is what I dreamt about as a kid. It’s the big leagues. I want to thank everybody who has supported my work over the years. I hope you will continue to support it as it grows and expands like an American waistline.

FAQs - WHAT’S THE KNIGHT LIFE ABOUT?

It’s autobiographical like The K Chronicles. But different. It has to be, because of the format. It’s a much more character-driven strip. Sundays will be a combination of reformatted K Chronicles and new stuff — all in sparkling, vibrant color!!

WHERE IS IT RUNNING?

It’s starting up in a few choice places (Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Detroit, the Washington Post and more), but not enough places. THAT’S WHERE YOU COME IN!!

HOW CAN I GET THE KNIGHT LIFE IN MY LOCAL PAPER?

I need everybody to send a polite email, letter, or make a phone call to your local newspaper editor and kindly request that they consider adding The Knight Life to their comics page. You can tell ‘em that the artist won a 2007 Harvey Award for Best Comic Strip [and a 2007 Glyph Comics Award for same! - R], and that their circulation will quadruple if they add it. Don’t threaten. Don’t nag. Don’t be too harsh about other strips. It may back fire. Please be nice.

Newspapers will sometimes ask their readers directly about the comics page. Others sometimes do a test run of strips. The Sacramento Bee and the Contra Costa Times will be testing the Knight Life for a week or two, so if you’re up for it, hit ‘em with good feedback after they start running it. Remember: AFTER IT APPEARS IN THE PAPER!! I’ll be sending an email out about it.

BUT GET THIS: THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE HAS NOT PICKED IT UP!!

After all the years I gave to San Francisco. Damn.

Definitely send some emails the Chronicle’s way. They’ve been asking for feedback..

*Also, talk it up on yer blogs, podcasts, websites and all that stuff.

*If you know any publications/radio/TV shows who could possibly do a piece about the strip or mebbe an interview, let me know!!

WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN TO THE K CHRONICLES AND (TH)INK?

I’m gonna keep on doing them. Plus the daily. Plus MAD and ESPN. With a baby on the way. NO PROBLEM!!

IS THERE A PLACE ONLINE I CAN FIND THE STRIP?

You’ll be able to see it at comics.com, I believe. I will also be carrying it a week later on my site.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME AN
EMAIL. AGAIN, THANKS FOR YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT!!

Here’s a press release for the newest project from New Warriors writer Kevin Grevioux - a horror comic where zombies are used to fight the war in Iraq.

This article contains highlights from interviews with the original and new Uhuras about the forthcoming Star Trek film (which, in case you may not have heard, has been pushed back to May 2009). There might be spoilers.