San Diego Comic Con 2016 Coverage

It is approaching that time of year again. The originator and biggest convention of the year SDCC, with over 130,000 attendees last year.

SDCC will take place July 21st-24th. We at skatronixxx.com have formed a little coverage team to cover the pop culture event. I will be personally covering comic news and announcements. Unfortunately, we won’t be at SDCC, but it will still be fun none the less reporting from the comfort of my computer desk.

Here are some of the signings already announced.(for those of you lucky enough to attend and for the curious people unable to attend)

 

The Creator of Scott Pilgrim, Bryan Lee O’Malley is giving an exclusive preview to fans of his new graphic novel. It’s not the traditional preview you might be thinking of. Bryan is giving out 50 art print’s based on his new graphic novel per day (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at the Penguin Random House Booth #1515. If you want 1 of the 200, exclusive prints get to the booth early as possible each morning to grab a ticket for the 1 pm signing.

 

Kidrobot will be hosting some big name talent at SDCC this year. Kidrobot will have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator, Kevin Eastman and Street Fighter creator Yoshinori Ono. You will need a specific wristband for each signing for Eastman and  Ono. The only way to get a wristband is on preview day and purchase a medium Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figure for the Eastman signing or buy a medium Street Fighter figure for the Ono signing. Only the first 50 purchases of each type of figure will get wristbands. Kidrobot’s booth number is #5645. Here is their complete  signing schedule

Thursday, July 21st Kevin Eastman 2:30pm-3:30 pm

Friday, July 22nd Scott Tolleson 11:00am-12:00pm  Jesse “J*RYU” Yu 1:00pm-2:00pm
Yoshinori Ono 3:30pm-4:30pm

Saturday, July 23rd Frank Kozik 1:00pm-2:00pm  Josh Mayhem 4:00pm-5:00pm

 

Action Lab Entertainment is bringing a huge variety of creators to their booths for signings this year. Some of the Creators include:

Dan Mendoza-Creator of Zombie Tramp

Jamal Igle-Creator of Molly Danger

Emily Martin-Artist of Princeless

Nicole D’Andria- Editor and writer of Miraculous

Brian Hess– Artist and co-creator of Awake

Enrica Jang– Writer of The House of Montressor

Daniel Logan-Artist of Puppet Master: Halloween1989

And more will be signing at booth #1735 and Action Lab: Danger Zone #2006 in the Independent Publishers Pavilion.

Stay tuned to skatonixxx.com for more SDCC news and announcements, also check out Skatronixxx’s article on wave one of Funko’s Pop Vinyl SDCC exclusives here .

 

Weekly Bookette #2 New Books of July 2016

New books are released every day, so it might get confusing checking them all out. Here at Skatronixxx we care about you, so we compiled a little list of the books that will release in the month of July we are excited about.

Angouri Rice Added to Cast of “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

It feels like only yesterday that we filled you in on three more cast members joining on for Spider-Man: Homecoming, but already we’ve been given further news of someone else signing on for the movie.

 

Angouri Rice (The Nice Guys, These Final Hours, Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows) is the most recent addition to the cast of Spiderman: Homecoming.  The Australian actress recently had her break-out role in The Nice Guys, starring opposite Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, Drive, The Big Short) and Russell Crowe (Les Miserables, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind).

Like virtually every other cast member, there’s no confirmation on who Rice will be playing.  Marvel and Sony have yet to comment on her addition to the line up.

This may be incredibly speculative, but I feel like she might be Gwen Stacy. Whilst Sony and Marvel have indeed confirmed that there will be no love interest in this movie, and that Zendaya (Shake it Up!, K.C. Undercover, Zapped) is the leading lady, the casting of a small blonde girl has made me wonder if they will be re-introducing Gwen Stacy into this universe, and if so, what path will she take in this installment?

However, we will never truly know what Marvel and Sony have in store – she could be the Green Goblin for all we actually know. So for now, we will sit and wait.

Spiderman: Homecoming is filming now in preparation for a release on July 7th, 2017.

 

 

Fight Club 2 Signing With Chuck Palahniuk

Hundreds of people lined out the door of Hypno Comics in Ventura, California waiting to meet Chuck Palahniuk, author of books like Fight Club and Lullaby and get their copies of his new graphic novel, Fight Club 2 signed. I was lucky enough to work the event and have a couple wonderful experiences with Chuck.

Let me start off by saying that Chuck is a very nice and down to earth guy. He wasn’t late for the signing like some famous types. In fact, he even arrived at the event before I did.

I had him sign a few items for me throughout the day and he seemed so genuine every time I spoke with him.

Now lets get to the actual signing, as I said before we had tons of people lined out the doors waiting to meet him. The event was sold out but we had many people trying to get in anyway throughout the day.

I expected that I would have to deal with a few crazy fans but everyone there was great and had a mutual love for Chuck.

We had many fans give him items to show their appreciation and one was especially cool that I will show down below. Chuck spent a few minutes with each person and signed what they had and took photos where he either pretended to fight them or choke them. From what I heard from the fans who walked through, they all loved those photo ops and everyone walked out happy

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I can’t state it enough how nice and genuine Chuck was. I suggest you all pick up a copy of the Fight Club 2 graphic novel. It’s a great read for any comic fan, fan of the film/book or a fan of Chuck. And heck if you’re in California, go check out Hypno Comics and  you’ll probably see me and my buddies working there.

(All photos courtesy of Hypno Comics. Check us out at @HypnoComics on Twitter and Instagram. Just make sure you tell them Steve sent you!)

Interview with ComixTribe Co-Creator Tyler James

Here at Skatronixxx.com we are passionate about independent/creator-owned comic books as well as their creators and publishers. When we get the opportunity, we love to shine the spotlight on them.

Tyler James is a comic writer, publisher, game designer/producer and teacher from Newburyport,  Massachusetts U.S.A.

What inspired you to create comic books

Matt, my mother, will tell you that her biggest fear when I was a kid was how heartbroken I’d be when I learned I couldn’t actually be a superhero when I grew up.

I’d come home from pre-school every day with a brand new Batman utility belt made with scissors, glue, tape, and construction paper.

So, superhero comics definitely pulled me into the medium, and it wasn’t long before I wasn’t only reading the books, but throwing tracing paper over Spider-man and “drawing” him myself.

I credit the Image explosion of the early 90’s with triggering the “aha moment” realisation that these characters weren’t something that “always existed” but rather were created by actual human beings. Being there from the very beginning of the Image universe definitely had a major impact on me.

It wasn’t long after that that I decided I didn’t want to draw Spider-man as much as I wanted to create my own characters and tell my own stories.

When you decided that wanted to create your own stories what was your biggest challenge or obstacle?

When first starting out, and this was early 90’s so virtually a lifetime ago… I really didn’t have any challenges or obstacles.

I had paper and pencils and a copy of How to Make Comics the Marvel Way by Stan and John, and I was off to the races.

In that regard, I was lucky… when you’re a kid, you don’t really care that there’s so much you don’t know that you don’t know… you just go.

Of course, there were no internet resources, comic cons weren’t a thing I knew about, and my local comic shops were more places of commerce than true communities… so I did things wrong and would later have to unlearn a lot of bad habits.

What do you mean comics aren’t drawn on plain printer paper?

Why would I script out pages in advance rather than draw them one page at a time?

How else would I letter my pages but to draw in the word balloons and letter by hand?

That said, I’m incredibly grateful that I started logging my 10,000 hours at a very young age.

What is the origin story of comix tribe?

Flash forward twenty years or so, and I started working on more and more collaborative projects. After about a dozen years of working on comics entirely as a solo act, I realised that I’d never be able to create all the comics I’d wanted to bring into the world alone.

At that time, I started becoming increasingly obsessed with the craft of making comics and started writing some articles on craft and creating over at ComicRelated and on my own blog.

Eventually, I started working with editor Steven Forbes, who was also writing great how-to content. I hired him to edit a book I was working on… he tore it to shreds. We’ve been friends ever since.

Because I was working on books with other creators, publishing under “Tyler James Comics” didn’t seem like a very compelling option.

So, Steve and I conceived of a site called ComixTribe, which could act as both a resource of articles for comic creators and a publishing imprint for our future books.

ComixTribe.com opened its doors on 1-1-2011.

Having had quite a few successful Kickstarter campaigns, how has Kickstarter changed Comix Tribe?

ComixTribe has been bootstrapped from the ground up. Steven and I were big on ideas and short on cash to invest into ComixTribe.

Cash is oxygen to a business… without it, a business suffocates.

With it… well, you have options.

In 2012, we launched our first successful Kickstarter and in one month raised $26,000 on Kickstarter.

After Kickstarter took its fees, that still meant that more than $23,000 hit the ComixTribe business bank account.

To put that in perspective, that was more funding in one month than I had made in the previous 12 years creating comics, selling them at shows and online, etc. combined!

That infusion of cash helped us not only fund the production of a hardcover graphic novel that the direct market alone could not have supported, but it helped finance print runs for other series, marketing, and other publishing investments.

You can draw a straight line from that first Kickstarter to where we are today… it’s not wrong to say Kickstarter was a game changer for us.

It also continues to be a major part of our overall publishing strategy.

The reality is this… there is no path to victory for a small, bootstrapped, independent publisher selling only $3 comic books through the direct market. None. The numbers don’t work.

But when you’re able to put a system in place that combines Kickstarter, the direct market, conventions, Amazon, and digital sales… those numbers become a little easier to make work…

And then once you start piling upon additional revenue sources such as foreign licensing and media options… they start to get rosier.

And the truth is, success in one area often leads to increased success in other areas…

But you need to get the snowball rolling somehow, and in 2016, I have no doubt that the best platform to get that snowball rolling is Kickstarter.

Many readers are frustrated with the way Marvel and DC have handled their respective universes. Do you see independent/creator-owned comics popularity and sales coming close or equal to Marvel and DC’s in the next five year’s or so?

In the direct market (i.e., Comic Book Shops), no. No chance of that happening. But that’s a pretty narrow view of the comic book industry, isn’t it? I mean, Raina Telgemeier latest graphic novel Ghosts is getting a 500,000 first print run that is more than 700 times what DC’s top selling graphic novel sold last month.

There are webcomics that are read by far more people than any direct market series.

In the direct market, though, you have a Diamond providing 95-99% of the comic product to shops, and Marvel and DC taking up 70-80% of their comic product offerings… that’s not going to change anytime soon.

The good news is that independent creators and publishers don’t need to compete with Marvel and DC to win.

Erica Moen isn’t competing with Marvel and DC. She’s winning.

Jason Brubaker isn’t competing with Marvel and DC. He’s winning.

Greg Pak is working for Marvel and DC… but also doing his own thing outside of the Big Two. He’s definitely winning.

Are there any books or Kickstarter campaigns in the works you can talk about for 2016 or possibly 2017?

Can, I talk about Kickstarter campaigns… oh, man, that’s a loaded question, Matt!

Well, first I’ve got to give a shoutout to two creators who took part in The ComixLaunch Course I taught earlier this year who just wrapped up successful Kickstarter campaigns. Michelle Palmer’s Meraki and Jim Whiting’s Margo: Intergalactic Trash Collector.

The great thing about teaching The ComixLaunch Course and hosting the ComixLaunch.com podcast is that even when I don’t have a project going… I feel like I’ve got an investment in the Kickstarter platform.

Some projects we have in the queue are hardcovers for CHUM and AND THEN EMILY WAS GONE, the next OXYMORON: Killing Time anthology, and THE RED TEN OMNIBUS.

And those are just the projects that we’re talking about publicly.

We are very wary of asking too much of our fan base, and we do try to space out our Kickstarter’s so they can get primary focus when it’s the book’s time to shine.

But you can be we’ll be on the platform again soon.

However, the absolute coolest thing going on right now is what’s happening with SINK, the new John Lees Alex Cormack series. Nearly 500 readers have “got in the van” already, and the early reaction has been phenomenal.

Thanks to Tyler for taking the time to talk with us! Follow him on Twitter @TylerJamesComic also follow @ComixTribe. Subscribe to Comixtribe’s email list http://www.comixtribe.com/subscribe and get five free digital comics!

Check out Tyler’s podcast on 50 creators sharing the #1 Kickstarter Tip  www.comixlaunch.com/50tips

MORE Casting News for “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

At this point, the world could collectively play a game where we throw some names in a hat, pull it out, and chances are they are in this movie.

Following casting news from last week, a further three actresses have been added to the cast line up.

Garcelle Beauvais (The Jamie Foxx Show, NYPD Blue, Grimm) has officially signed on for the Marvel blockbuster, as has 17 year old Tiffany Espenden (Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures, Earth to Echo, Phineas and Ferb).

 

Alongside these two, six time Emmy Award winner Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey, The Enforcer, Judging Amy) has also added her name to the list of impressive actors joining on for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Marvel and Sony have yet to comment on their roles – they seem to be keeping an extremely tight lid on who’s who in next summers Marvel and Sony production, as the only official roles are Tom Holland (Billy Elliot The Musical, Captain America: Civil War) as the famous web-slinger, Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, Rescue Me, Empire) as Aunt May, and Zendaya (Shake It Up!, K.C. Undercover) as leading girl Michelle. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, The Judge, Sherlock Holmes) will be making a cameo as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

Otherwise, the rest of the cast are all rumours, be them strong or weak ones. However, it is very clear that Marvel and Sony want to re-introduce Peter Parker with a bang, and seal his place once and for all in the MCU.

Spiderman: Homecoming is currently filming, and is scheduled for release on July 7th, 2017. However, if you just can’t wait that long, you can catch Holland making his debut in Captain America: Civil War. 

Book Review: ‘This Savage Song’ by V.E. Schwab

“Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,
Shadow and bone will eat you raw.
Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,
Smile and bite and drink you dry.

Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,
Sing you a song and steal your soul.”

V.E.Schwab, also known for Vicious, and her Shades of Magic series once again delights fantasy novel fans with her darkest tale yet.

August Flynn is a monster, a Sunai burdened by who he is and with a deep longing to be human. Kate Harker wishes she could be as monsterous as her father, who provides safety to their cities citizens at a cost. So what could go wrong should the two collide as an unsteady truce begins to crumble?

Once again, Schwab’s world-building is so flawless – it’s so gripping and detailed, and yet the text seems to flow effortlessly. The world she’s built is so vast, and she manages to also include political divisions between the city our two main characters are set in and other cities that are (so far) unknown to us.

The characters in this text are absolutely wonderful, especially the two main characters. August is a monster, hating the weight of what he is and the physical signs of it, marked by tallies on the skin, and by the hunger for human souls – ones that can only be brought to him by his music. He’s such an original character with such an amazing premise – if not just for the soul stealing violin alone. He’s so sweet, genuine and lovable, which is why his monstrous side is especially chilling.

Kate Harker was an absolute gem to read – burdened with her fathers legacy, she longs for his attention and approval, and seeks to get it by trying to be as violent and cruel as he is. While she plays the part of cold and calculating (and she is exceptionally intelligent), she has a lot of heart to her, and a lot of emotions linked to her childhood and trauma. She was so interesting to read, and her inner conflict was beyond fascinating.

All of the supporting cast of characters were fantastic aswell, from the cold Callum Harker and the Holier-Than-Thou Leo, to the students August befriends at Colton. However, audiences will fall head over heels for August’s sister Isla. Trapped inside the base where August lives with his two adoptive parents and heads of the FTF (Flynn Task Force), she’s gentle, sweet and holds a great deal of power. She’s a complete fairy tale princess trapped in a tower character, but with a terrifying twist hiding under her skin.

The whole story carries itself incredibly well, with this gorgeous imaginative world where monsters born from violence and shadows stalk regular people after dark. The three breeds of monster displayed in this book are such unique and terrifying creations – you won’t be comfortable looking at your shadow for a very long time.

This book cannot receive enough praise – Schwab displays incredible talent as she builds this wonderful world, inhabited by new monsters, and some you might recognise yourself. Schwab does an amazing job of showcasing both sides of the war in Man vs. Monster, using a descriptive and diverse cast of characters.

The adventure you’re taken on with August and Kate is thrilling, emotional, and at times, uncomfortably brutal. It’s her darkest book yet, and I highly recommend fantasy lovers pick this up for a read – just keep an eye on the dark corners in your room once you’re done.

Kickstarter Spotlight: Sharkasaurus

Kickstarter has been one of the biggest platforms to get your comic book out to the world, and it shows with over 700 projects currently looking to be funded. One of those projects is Sharkasaurus.

Sharkasaurus is a graphic novel about “a pair of star-crossed lovers; the rebellious emo son of Paleontologist falls for promiscuous daughter of a widowed creationist. After they accidentally awaken a prehistoric tunnelling dino-shark, they must evolve their ideological difference or succumb to the inevitable jaws of Sharkasaurus.”

 With the mention of satire and one-liners as well this seems like a very promising and entertaining graphic novel.  Along with the graphic novel, there is also a short movie based it, with a trailer on their Kickstarter page.

The project has reward tiers for every type of budget. 8$ (Canadian) gets you a digital version of the graphic novel (PDF) and a download link for the short movie, which is a sweet deal. For 25$ (plus shipping) you get the physical copy of the graphic novel including any stretch goals and extra.  For the same price, there is currently 44 of 100 First Backer Version available of the physical copy of the book. It comes signed and number, I choose this tier because signed comics and graphic novel are excellent! So if you’re like me, and like signed books get your pledge in ASAP. If you ever wanted your likeness in a graphic novel and have some extra cash Sharkasaurus can make it happen for a pledge of 250$ or more.

Sharkasaurus currently has 94 backers and raised 5,492$ of its 20,000$ goal. There are 23 days left to pledge (July 28th, 2016 12 am EDT) Pledge Here https://t.co/bDMzqsoHoc if you can. We here at Skatronixxx are happy to support and spread the word about Sharkasaurus.Follow them on  Twitter at @Sharkasaurusnow.

UPDATE: Friday, July, 15th 2016: Sharkasaurs Is now over 50% funded with 12 days to go. Please support If you can!

UPDATE #2 July 22nd, 2016: There are 5 days left for Sharkasaurs to reach its funding goal of 20,000$. They have currently raised 16,555$. If you can support, please do so asap. If not, please share on social media to help them out, the deadline for funding is  Thu, July 28, 2016, 12:00 AM EDT.

Spencer Estabrooks (writer) and Tyler Jenkins (Illustrator) are the Canadian creators of Sharkasaurus. 

ICYMI – This Week in Skatronixxx

Hey Skatronixxx followers and occasional readers!

You guys are AWESOME, just in case you didn’t already know that. (Occasional readers, we love you and we really, really want you to follow us, lol).

You may have noticed that we are growing…. we are aiming for World Domination! To get us there, in addition to the writers and regular articles you have come to know and love, we have new writers, and new features. My contribution to the newness of it all is going to be a weekly post called ICYMI – This Week in Skatronixxx, which will feature a few of our weekly posts and news,  just in case you missed them. This is the very first article, and since it is the first, I’ve included quite a lot. Read on for details of the past week.  It was a busy one!

Let’s Meet The Owl-Vengers

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Let’s face it the internet is full of dark and depressing news these days apart from at Skatronixxx.com of course. Whilst doing my daily rounds looking for breaking news I stumbled across a DeviantArt artist who drew the ‘Owl-Vengers‘ well, what are the Owl-vengers I hear you cry? Well it is what it says on the tin! It’s our furry feathered friends crossed over and mashed up with Marvel’s Avengers. Yes I know it may not be news as such, but as I’m boss of the site, I thought people could do with a cheering up, and a smile on a Sunday afternoon 🙂 So sit back and click through the slideshow and enjoy!

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P.S. Yes I know there’s Deadpool in there and he’s not an Avenger but evetyone loves Deadpool, so why not!