Batman: The Killing Joke ad

by Mike Hansen

With all the recent noise about a newly discovered page from The Killing Joke that was redrawn to be less graphic (and no, in no way does this imply that the Joker is a rapist, you sick bastards: she was shot in the belly), I thought I’d post this cool ad I came across recently from 1988:

I dig the logo – it wasn’t used in the actual comic. I wonder who designed it.

(Count me as one of the readers who prefers the original fantastical colors to the 2008 edition’s recoloring. The original colors added another dimension to the storytelling, while to me the newer colors give the book a more flat, illustrative quality. I like them both, but I’d rather read a comic than just look at the pretty pictures.)

Related articles

• Original ‘Killing Joke’ art reignites debate about torture scene (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
• NSFW: Original Page From Alan Moore’s KILLING JOKE Reveals More Explicit Artwork (comicbookmovie.com)

San Diego Comic-Con 2013 pictures (part 1)

Photos by Orion Tippens

Captions by Mike Hansen

It’s been two weeks since Comic-Con, and I’m still finding my feet! What an amazing time. Elvin and I had lots of interest in our comic, THE BEAT DOWN! – I’ll post more pages in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy these terrific pics from my main man Orion: A whole lot of cosplay, plus one handsome gentleman…

LOOK WHAT I MADE!

I made a comic

by Mike Hansen

Hey everybody,

I’ve finally finished my work on my first original comics project, just in time for Comic-Con next week! WOOT!

It’s a new series called THE BEAT DOWN! and it’s written by me and drawn by comics newcomer Elvin Hernandez. Elvin’s a terrific artist, and I have a feeling he’s going to get a lot of comics work thanks to his work on this book.

Here’s the cover art for the teaser comic we’ve printed for Comic-Con, colored by Donovan Yaciuk (creator of the awesome SPACEPIG HAMADEUS series) – click to big-ify:

Is that sweet, or what?

Elvin’s drawing this series in no less than THREE different art styles. It’s looking pretty fantastic so far.

We’ve published a “teaser” comic that Elvin will be selling at his Comic-Con table in Artist’s Alley (booth #EE-15). If you’re at the Con, swing by and say hi!

I’ll post some more of Elvin’s art over the next few days, before I drive down to San Diego.

My Comic-Con ticket buying experience

by Mike Hansen

So unlike a lot of folks’ horror stories, I had no problem buying Comic-Con tickets this year.

I got a Member ID in advance. I clicked the link in the email. I read the instructions. I watched the video. I clicked the green button and waited for the screen to reload, until the webpage loaded the waiting room. I was number 450 in line. I waited for the page to refresh every two minutes, until it allowed me to purchase tickets after about 5 minutes. I bought tickets. A few hours later, I got confirmation emails.

That’s it. Feel free to hate me now.

If it makes you feel better, I’m applying for professional status (thanks to my comics writing and freelance research work for Marvel), so hopefully you won’t have to worry about me taking a paid badge from you next year.

Hot Bendy Brokeback Girls: The Modern Artist’s Reference Tool

by Mike Hansen

Apologies for being away for a bit, folks. I’ve had a few back-to-back deadlines for paying (and potentially paying) comics-related work lately (a few Marvel books I got to research, and a script for my first original comics project). More on that soon…

Over the last few months, there’s been renewed controversy over some superhero artists drawing completely unrealistic poses for heroes impossibly bending in midair, from Catwoman to Wolverine. I think I’ve finally found the source for their crazy-ass drawings:

“Of course I can maintain this pose in mid-air! Meow!”

“Take THAT, office furniture of evil!”

More posts real soon. Stay tuned!

Start the year with a great read

by Mike Hansen

It’s not comics, but it applies to comics as much as text books: Here’s a fantastic, award-winning essay on copyright and piracy, and how modern technology will make books as easy to copy and share as music and movies. (Don’t fear the length: it’s a smooth, fast read.)

Here’s a taste:

Neil Gaiman thinks that releasing a free digital copy of American Gods (2001) increased sales by three hundred per cent, and he no longer fears piracy. ‘It’s people lending books. And you can’t look at that as a lost sale,’ he says. ‘What you’re actually doing is advertising. You’re reaching more people. You’re raising awareness … And I think, basically, that’s an incredibly good thing.’ But he doesn’t know. Cory Doctorow says half a million free downloads of his Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003) helped the book through five physical print runs. ‘Giving away books costs me nothing, and actually makes me money,’ he says. Maybe he knows. There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence. But nobody really knows whether that kind of strategy will work for all books and all authors, or whether it will work for long.

Most comics get scanned and uploaded to the internet as soon as they’re released, but a digital screen (even a tablet) is still not preferable in most cases. Comixology and other services have developed some workarounds for the unusual size and shape of comics pages and panels, but few comics are optimized for digital viewing – at least, for now. The future’s going to be very interesting indeed…

Related articles

• Pirate Cinema: Review (lipdo.wordpress.com)
• The Best of 2012 (alldaycomics.com)
• 5 people who are making a killing off of piracy (geek.com)
• HarperCollins to Publish Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” Speech, Designed by Chip Kidd (tor.com)

News: Some people still buy back issues (at least Walking Dead, but probably not Deadpool)

by Mike Hansen

Who wants some freshly baked bread? Mmmm.

A few weeks ago, a grade-9.9 copy of The Walking Dead #1 sold for over $10,000. That is INSANE for any comic under 50 years old, much less one from a decade ago – I mean, even a 9.8 copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1 is offered at only $4,000 at Lone Star Comics! The Walking Dead is one of the few series that still has demand outpacing supply, despite the zillions of reprints in various formats (including Walking Dead Weekly, which even included the original letters pages!). I have a feeling that there’s a small group of very rich comics collector/investors out there buying this, probably the same folks who have been pushing up the prices of key 1930s-1960s comics like Action Comics #1 or X-Men #1 or whatever.

On the other end of the scale, folks are finally waking up to the fact that the first appearance of Deadpool in New Mutants #98 is WAY overpriced. I’ve been talking about this for years now – while most Marvel comics sell 10,000-50,000 copies these days, in the early ’90s they generally sold hundreds of thousands of copies. NM #98 is one of the most common back issues in comics history, but retailers have hoarded copies and jacked up prices because of a brief resurgence of interest in Deadpool stories after the Wolverine movie came out. Now there’s a website devoted to this absurdity! I love it.

The fact is,

Donations now welcome

by Mike Hansen

On the advice of readers and friends, I’ve added a Paypal donation button to the site. Up until now, all work on All Day Comics has been done for free, in my spare time – which, unfortunately, takes time away from other paying work. If you like what you see, and would like to see more posts (and more often), please consider showing your appreciation by donating – all donations will fund additional work on ADC and allow for more opportunities to share more stuff with you. Thanks very much for reading!

Incidentally, today’s my birthday: donations would be especially valued today! In fact, for every donation in the next 24 hours – of any dollar amount – I will write an extra post on this site within the next seven days. Heck, I’ll even dedicate a post to a donator upon request (please include a contact email, and your website if you want me to share it*). Thank you!

*website must not have a “red” or “yellow” warning on Web Of Trust.

R.I.P. Craig Miller

by Mike Hansen

I just received this notice from Lone Star Comics owner Buddy Saunders as part of Lone Star’s weekly email, and I thought I should share an excerpt:

Everyone here at Lone Star Comics is mourning the loss of our good friend, Craig Miller.  Craig died Nov. 7^th from a heart attack at the age of 53.  You may know Craig from the magazines he published.  Publishing under the name Win-Mil Productions, he edited and wrote much of the content for Following Cerebus (12 issues), Wrapped in Plastic (75 issues), Spectrum Magazine (35 issues), and Renegade Rabbit (5 issues).

Craig was my first employee at Lone Star Comics, coming to work for me back in 1977. In those days the Lone Star Comics warehouse was my two car garage, and there Craig would join me to pull comic orders after he completed classes at the local university. Craig continued to work for Lone Star off and on right up to the end. During that time he became one of my best and most trusted friends, and a man I will always admire.

I’ve read several issues of Following Cerebus, Wrapped in Plastic, and Spectrum. The passion and effort that went into these publications was undeniable. Craig Miller and his efforts will be missed.

Go to Google’s home page, right now, today only!

by Mike Hansen

1906 Little Nemo in Slumberland cartoon by Winsor McCay (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, Google.com has a stunning animated tribute to the Little Nemo in Slumberland comic strip by comics/animation genius Winsor McCay on its 107th anniversary that has to be seen to be believed. Go click now!

(Sorry for not updating the site in a few weeks – I’ll share all of the news over the next few days.)

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• Little Nemo Tumbles out of Bed and Into a Google Doodle (wired.com)
• Enjoy adventures with Little Nemo! (randomlyabstract.wordpress.com)
• You: Google celebrates 107th anniversary of Winsor Zenic McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland (allvoices.com)
• Google doodles adventures of Little Nemo in Slumberland (panarmenian.net)
• Little Nemo Google doodle becomes gorgeous animated comic strip (pocket-lint.com)
• Google Doodle celebrates Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo (geek.com)
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