Comics | Frank Miller says he has finished his upcoming graphic novel, Holy Terror, which is due from Legendary Comics in September. The book, which once was set to feature Batman fighting terrorism, now stars a character called The Fixer: “I took Batman as far as anyone, and this guy is just not him. He’s been playing the crime fighter to stay in shape. What he really wants to do is fight terrorism. He knew the day would come. The story is essentially New York under attack by suicide bombers and our hero is out to find out their greater scheme. He’s much more a man of action than a detective. He’s a two-fisted Dirty Harry type, really.”[Hero Complex]
Comics | Calling it a "sick magazine comic strip depicting shootings in schools," The Daily Mail reports on "Beat My Score," written by UK comedian Jimmy Carr with art by Ryusuke Hamamoto. The reporter says the comic, which appears in the latest issue of Mark Millar's CLiNT magazine, "will horrify the families of school shooting tragedies such as Dunblane and Columbine with his ultra-violent story." CLiNT responded by saying the strip is "a nihilistic satirical sideswipe at the glamourisation of violence, tackling the difficult and disturbing effects as seen in school shootings around the world." The comments are fun. [Daily Mail]
Organizations | Johanna Draper Carlson checks in with one of the interim group directors of the nonprofit Friends of Lulu and learns the organization is "pretty much dead." [Comics Worth Reading]
Organizations | Gary Tyrell responds to a comic strip by Ryan Sohmer and Ryan Lee on The Gutters, which parodied the recent advertising campaign for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The comic strip says the CBLDF fights "for your right to view graphic depictions of naked children" and features silhouettes of adults approaching children. "The very straightforward, declarative nature of that sentence gives the impression that that is all that the CBLDF does, which isn’t true," Tyrell says. The original strip has more than 300 comments. [Fleen]
Digital | Following his comments earlier this week on the digital strategy inherent in DC's line-wide reboot, Warren Ellis looks at Marvel's digital strategy—or lack thereof: "Their digital store, then, is a big back-issue bin, with the occasional experiment in day-and-date simultaneous release in print and digital. They’re unlikely to go line-wide day-and-date like DC unless DC’s numbers are explosively successful and stay that way for six months — in digital AND print. Right now, Marvel own the comics stores in terms of dollar sales and market share, and probably see no compelling reason to risk a dilution of those figures." But he would like to see them do more original material for digital release anyway. [Warren Ellis]
Creators | Justin Giampaoli interviews Brian Wood about the third volume of DMZ, Public Works: "At the time, I remember getting some of the first negative feedback over some of the choices I made in this story, specifically making the bad guys, the terrorist cell, Muslim. This decision came out of a back-and-forth with my editor (Will Dennis) because I had originally made them white guys. He called me on it, essentially, for making ALL bad guys in the book up to that point white, and perhaps I was playing it safe, or avoiding some potentially tricky decisions. His logic, which I agreed with, was that all these various ethnic groups who live in NYC didn’t just vanish once the war started. They’re still there, and just as apt to be up to no good as anyone else. And since Trustwell was using them as a front, that was another reason. They are obvious scapegoats because of their religion and skin color." [Live from the DMZ]
Creators | Artist Riley Rossmo discusses his work on Proof, Cowboy Ninja Viking and Green Wake, as well as his career and schedule: “I have to be super disciplined — I don’t really have an immediate boss, so if I don’t work nothing gets done, and I don’t get paid. I work every day [except] Sunday, [from about] 7 am to 4 pm or so, then email the day’s work to the writer [or] editor. With the little bit I’ve done for Marvel, I send thumbnails before doing the final pages just to be sure they know what they’re getting.” [Planet S]
Fandom | Laura Hornack, organizer of the protest against DC's upcoming relaunch of their superhero line, says she decided to organize a "peaceful walk" when she saw the redesign of Harley Quinn. "We don't expect an open ear from -everybody-, neither do we demand some weird sort of respect for what we do. We just do it, because we're fans. And we love being fans." [ComicBookMovie.com]
Criticism | Sean Michael Robinson reviews Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, Shigeru Mizuki's tale of doomed Japanese soldiers in World War II. [The Comics Journal]
Digital | 2000AD creator Pat Mills and critic Paul Gravett discuss the potential of digital media to expand comics beyond the supehero fanbase—yes, even to girls. Says Gravett: "Superheroes are a very niche thing but they seem big because everyone’s heard about the movies. In actual fact, sales are pretty pitiful. There are more comics readers who don’t read superheroes than do." [Metro]
Awards | Bakuman, Maid Sama!, Drops of God, and A Distant Neighborhood all won Japan Expo awards for manga. Japan Expo is a French convention that takes place in Paris each year. [Anime News Network]
Conventions | The Associated Press profiles the this weekend's L.A. Anime Expo. [Associated Press]
Conventions | GeekWire profiles Jim Demonakos, director of Emerald City Comicon, comics retailer and member of the rock band Kirby Krackle. He also has a graphic novel coming out in February. [GeekWire]
Conventions | Erica Friedman offers some networking tips for con newbies. [Okazu]